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Reviews For: uniHAM UNI-730A

Category: Keys & Paddles

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Review Summary For : uniHAM UNI-730A
Reviews: 20MSRP: 79.95
Description:
uni-HAM is a Chinese company making paddles and other amateur radio equipment, primarily for the Chinese market. Their designs are well thought-out, materials are well chosen, and performance is equal to equipment costing much more in the western world.

The UNI-730 dual paddle is a compact but solid paddle capable of standing up to the rigors of portable operation as well as providing excellent service in the shack. The base measures 3 inches by 2-1/2 inches, with the levers extending another inch to the front. Despite the small footprint, the UNI-730 weighs just under a pound (15.5 Oz) and it has non-skid pads on the bottom for stability.

Contact spacing is adjusted easily, without tools, via the large thumb-screws on either side of the paddle body. Spring tension is fixed for a light, precise action. Click here for a photo of the back of the paddle, and here for a photo of the mechanism after removal from the base.

Connection to rig or keyer is via a standard 3.5mm stereo phone jack on the back of the paddle body. The UNI-730 comes with connection and adjustment instructions in English, and feel free to visit uniHAM's web site at www.uniham.com
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.uniham.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15203.8
KT8DX Rating: 2022-12-12
Surprisingly nice little key Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ok - so I'm going to give this a five star. Not because it will compete with my Begali Simplex, but rather because for its intended purpose it does its job very well. It is heavy enough, stable, cheap, and frankly works a heck of a lot better than I expected. I would say it feels almost identical to my Vibroplex Code Warrior, without all the external stuff to catch on things. I bought this for POTA and portable activations, and I think it will do just fine for those apps. I also think it is very nice looking - better than the pictures IMHO. I bought mine on AliExpress and received it in 20 days. Total cost with shipping $47. I do have the UNI-730c. Made a few contacts with it this evening at around 25 wpm, and it didn't blink or even take any getting used to.

As always, your mileage and opinions may vary. 73s de KT8DX
IGORPANOV Rating: 2021-12-21
nothing to be picky Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Consulted with the seller of AliExpress, the current model is an upgraded model (UNI-730C) . It takes about 17 days from signing the order to shipping to Russia, and it will be delivered safely. Used for a period of time, there is no inertial rebound, the sound is crisp, the adjustment nut is relatively tight, there is nothing to be picky.
ON4AA Rating: 2021-02-09
Beginner iambic key Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The uniHAM UNI-730A dual lever iambic morse key arrived in a spectacularly quick nine days with free AliExpress Shipping; right before the Chinese new year.
The key came in a taped up cardboard box with bubble wrap.
To my surprise, a red coloured, 1 m long medium quality 3.5 mm jack to jack cable, allowing one to start using the key straightaway.

The key housing is made out of a rigid and durable black plastic.
The paddles are of a translucent plastic that was painted red.
One of the paddles actually misses a bit of red paint on one edge.
I expect the paddles to lose colour over extensive use.

The base of the key has no magnets, but contains several layers lead sheet material, weighing in at 292 g.
However, once the protective plastic film removed, the silicone antislip pads work phenomenally; especially on the glass surface of my shack desk.
The base can be unscrewed from the actual key, whereby the key remains protected at the bottom by a plastic panel.
This plastic panel can be turned upside down to cover a rim that might otherwise collect dust over time.
The key weighs 73 g without the base and 365 g complete with the base.

The keying levers have no ball bearings, but rest on spindles.
These have a tendency to protrude from the plastic base panel when no attached to the heavy base.
This could be prevented by installing a large metal washer, hence allowing the key to be used as a low weight portable key.

The key contacts do have silver contacts on a copper substrate soldered to the screws and lever studs.
However, due to sputtering during soldering, these contacts were contaminated with soldering residue.
The key only started to operate correctly after cleaning these contacts with isopropyl alcohol and some friction with paper.
Do not use any abrasives on these contacts, as the silver layer on these contacts is really thin!
On the plus side, the contacts are well protected by a dust cover, which is something many truly expensive keys miss.

The contact distance is coarsely adjustable with a hand operated screw on each side.
However, the force required to press the paddles is not adjustable.
Nonetheless, the actuation force is at a comfortable level.

The wiring on the contacts looks very frail and may break over time.
This has happened to at least one other ham; but it is repairable.
For this reason, I would not overly rely upon this key for expeditions.

Shack sloths may fare well with this key, especially as a beginner iambic key.
This happens to be the exact reason why I bought this key.
I already owned a single lever key and wanted to get a feel of iambic keying before investing (or not) in a more expensive dual lever key.
DAVIDKLOUGH Rating: 2020-10-08
Worth having Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I waited for a long time to buy it, And consulted the seller of AliExpress and told me that I was waiting for the production of the new version. The long wait made me forget it, until one day I received a parcel
It was initially thought to be unstable, but it was later discovered that the protective film on the bottom should be removed. The price is very cheap, the gap adjustment is very smooth, and the feel is very good, which I did not expect. The appearance and color of the real object look better than the photo, it is worth recommending.
GM0WED Rating: 2020-08-20
With some work OK Key Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A reasonable key at its price, once you have dismantled it (remove the top screws) and: 1. because the gap-adjusting screws won’t tighten up far enough to give a narrow gap, cut 1.5 turns off the gap-adjusting screw springs; 2. because the paddles foul the body, filed the paddles to give some clearance; 3. oil the screw threads and springs, otherwise very difficult to adjust. I found the tension on the paddles too great (it is a pity this is not adjustable) and the effort required to operate the paddles causes the key to move about the desk at times unless there is a very good non-slip mat underneath. With all that done, now works well, good key for /P.
KF2YD Rating: 2016-08-18
Poor Quality & Hard To Adjust Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Typical "Poor Quality Chinese Junk. Maybe of for kids to play with. Save your money and buy a real paddle.
AE5HL Rating: 2016-08-13
Great paddle! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've only owned one other paddle, the Pico Paddle from the folks in Germany and am by no means a great CW op, but for about $45, this is not a bad deal. The paddle is heavy and has a sturdy feel to it. Obviously you are limited to adjusting the spacing and I did not note any issues with turn screws. The paddle does exactly what it is supposed to do and at a great price.

Highly recommend!
BG2GN Rating: 2016-07-02
Deserve to have Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This paddle use feel very good, contact sensitive, easy to adjust the contact gap.
W5QM Rating: 2016-06-16
Don't waste your money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The ad copy is a pipe dream. Better quality could be found at the bottom of a box of Cracker Jacks. It is very difficult to adjust the thumb screws and even when the contact spacing is set to its narrowest, the spacing is huge. Any other key has to be an improvement over this one.
VK6IS Rating: 2016-05-05
good cheap key Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought one for about $47.00 & with free shipping.
The spacing adjustment knobs are very difficult to turn, best to set and forget, once they are set.
The key is solid with a black body and red plastic paddles.