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Reviews For: MFJ-564x Dual Paddle Key

Category: Keys & Paddles

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Review Summary For : MFJ-564x Dual Paddle Key
Reviews: 54MSRP: 49.95
Description:
Nice beginner's key. Needs adjusmentt quite often though. Again a good starter key. Did not take me long (1 yr) begin looking for an upgrade.
Product is in production
More Info: http:// http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-564X
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00543.3
WA6MOW Rating: 2022-01-09
Beautiful paddle with one caveat. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I own a 5 paddles including a Begali. My son gave this to me for a Christmas present. It really is a handsome looking paddle in chrome with clear red plexiglass finger pieces. Not to hurt my sons feelings, I installed it in my shack and proceeded to use it. It has one engineering flaw where the contacts can't be tightened down adequately. A simple fix was a little clear glue on the threads to prevent shifting. I love the feel of this paddle and it is now my main paddle.
N2BZD Rating: 2020-12-26
Poor Manufacturing ruins quality of CW Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had this dual paddle model MFJ-564B for three months. During that time the CW contact screws will not stay locked and will eventually work loose and either add extra dits or dahs. Most adjustments once untightened such as the Hex screws offer resistance to tighten. I have operated amateur CW for 41 years using magnetic paddles, vibroplex and bencher paddles. By far the MFJ-564B is the lowest quality paddle I have found.
N1EE Rating: 2019-08-21
Works for a while. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was my first dual paddle key. I had a straight key in High School.

The good: It is cheap. I worked fine and got me through learning the basics of CW. I learned one important thing. I like dual paddle setups way better than a straight key, and used with a built in keyer in a radio, it is a fantastic option. You can easily transmit at 20 wpm with this.

The bad: It does not stay in adjustment. While it is not difficult to adjust, it is a nuissance. Next the bushings have worn out. Well one of them. I have had difficulty reaching MFJ for replacements. I'd like to replace all of them, and sell it on eBay. I'm about ready to simply toss it out. Additionally, it stopped me from doing CW for many years. I didn't want to buy another one and have it fail again.

Final thoughts: I recently bought a ZACH iambic paddle from CZ. It should come in shortly. I and looking forward to getting back into CW again. The ZACH uses magnets and I'm told never goes out of adjustment. That is what I want.

Bottom line: Don't buy this. Get a good set of paddles.
W6SWO Rating: 2019-07-17
Works great IF... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I got this second hand and it was WAY out of adjustment and all screws turned freely in their threads, so it was obvious that the previous owner was frustrated with the key. BTW, I also own a Bencher BY-1 (and others) to compare it to, so you can take this for what it's worth.

In my non-hamming hours, I ride a Harley, and have for 35 years. The first rule in owning a Harley: LockTite EVERYTHING!.

I took the whole thing apart and put LockTite Blue on everything. All possibilities of it not holding adjustments were solved. It works great and everything stays in adjustment. It now feels like my BY-1.
K6TLA Rating: 2019-01-16
Good after adjustment Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I need to correct my previous review. The bushing needed to fix this is being sent by MFJ. In the meantime I made a temporary insulating bushing from some thick paper which works. After much mechanical trial and error I have the paddle working well. We'll give it a solid 4 now.

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Earlier 2-star review posted by K6TLA on 2019-01-15

Got it here tonight with anticipation after operating straight key for almost 50 years. It was a bundle of loose parts that I experimented with and figured out how to adjust. After hooking it up there was a continuous string of dits whether they were keyed or not. Turns out there is an insulated bushing that passes through the grounded base for both the dit and dah terminals with the cable connections under the base. The dits bushing was missing which means the dit contact was constantly grounded. This makes me wonder about QC and testing before shipping products at MFJ. I'm going to have to send the thing back now and will probably replace it with a more reputable and expensive brand. You get what you pay for.
AE7NM Rating: 2018-09-11
Poor Ripoff Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The MFJ-564 is a cheap ripoff of a Bencher BY-1 iambic paddle. It works rather well, for a while. It is not difficult to adjust, but it has a great number of things that require adjustment. Furthermore, it wouldn't it stay adjusted. The screws that adjust the paddle spacing (the ones with the pointed ends) have no method to lock them in place. There are two screws that retrain the bearing assemblies that cannot be secured either. They are loose. I finally resorted to a little super glue when I got them where I wanted them. The spring tension is not adjustable. The paddles are riveted onto the arms that bear the moving contacts, so they are not replicable. The aforesaid arms are kind of flimsy. Finally, when a paddle assembly was accidently dislodged (happens frequently), one of the needle bearing pins fell out.
SP9HZX Rating: 2018-07-20
Very good paddles Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am very glad about it.
Reliable and nice to operate.Looks very smart,too.




73
Andy SP9HZX
www.qsl.net/sp9hzx
KB9ERU Rating: 2018-04-15
Not a Bencher, but not $150 either Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Lots of bad reviews because of poor alignment. Do yourself a favor and check out K7QO's alignment video on YouTube. Setting up my key along with the video was a breeze.
Like I said in the summary, it's not a Bencher. But for half the cost, it's good enough for me :)
K9RE Rating: 2018-01-11
Give it a chance! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This paddle is a "steal" compared to what you would have to pay if you were to buy the "original" from the "big name" company. I already own one of theirs but the price has gone way up and I could not justify spending so much money for a second one on something that is basically a fancy SPDT switch.

It is attractive looking and the base is heavy. It feels like quality for sure. That said, mine was WAY out of adjustment when it arrived. Even though it was well packed and did not show any signs of being dropped or damaged, one paddle was jammed closed while the other one was completely off the bearings and out of alignment. It took me quite some time fiddling with all of the various adjustments to get everything lined up and working properly. I was worried that it would not work, but it does.

As others have pointed out, some of the adjustment screws are very loose and I doubt they will stay in adjustment unless I do something to lock them down. I don't know if thread-locker is the best choice because I may want to change the settings in the future. I may look for a different solution.

They do not include the Allen wrench that is needed for adjustment. This is unfortunate; none of the ones I have in my toolbox appear to fit properly. This is an inexpensive item and it is absolutely needed to set up the key properly. They should certainly have provided one with the unit.

In summary, it is not the "big name" unit but if you are patient, you can get it working correctly. I'm pleased with mine.
AF4KK Rating: 2018-01-06
Not a problem at all! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Yes, a few tiny drops of Thread-Lock solves the problem in short order! After that, it works and it works well. I have several (among other brands) and they all do very well for me!

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Earlier 4-star review posted by AF4KK on 2006-03-22

Yes, they do need adjustments every so often but they work great, otherwise! For the money, they are a very good deal. I've used one on my Yeasu FT-857 for years and another on my Kenwood TS-480SAT for just over a year now. No problems at all!

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Earlier 4-star review posted by AF4KK on 2003-11-12

I own both the 564 and the 564B (the black and the chrome models) and they both work very well. They're a bit finiky (sp?) regarding the spring and spacing adjustments but I find it quite easy to send "decent" CW on either paddle! Good job, MFJ! For only $50.00, they can't be beat!