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Reviews For: N3ZN Keys ZN-1

Category: Keys & Paddles

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Review Summary For : N3ZN Keys ZN-1
Reviews: 11MSRP: 150
Description:
Magnet Driven, Aluminum Arms, Excellent Warranty, Priced at a Real Bargain
$150 for the black base and $175 for the brass base.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.n3znkeys.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00115
K6SDW Rating: 2012-07-01
Better than the best! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I was fortunate to "discover" N3ZN's keys early on and have owned a ZN-1 for several years now. My ZN-1 manufactured Dec 17th, 2006 with serial number 010.... His craftsmanship is outstanding, the guy is an artist!! I wish I had the $$$ to buy his later keys, but this early version is a keeper.....

You Rock Tony!!
2E0BBP Rating: 2007-05-09
Excellent Time Owned: N.A.
From the moment that I placed the order with Tony to taking delivery was a very smooth transaction. The key arrived here in the Uk double boxed , and well packed out inside. This key is a quality item, from the box this key exudes quality was straight forward to set up and felt very comfortable. It performs exactly as it should , I cannot find any negative aspects to this key. Thanks again Tony.
SM5BOH Rating: 2007-03-17
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Having used the key a couple of weeks I find that the main characteristics are:
- a solid feeling of quality and craftsmanship
- superb possibilities to adjust the settings to your preferences
- allows you to further develop your cw capabilities.

All in all a very nice key that will stay in the shack!
AA4MC Rating: 2007-03-06
compares with the best Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
i have Tony's zn-2a key also. both have excellent feel and action. i have a schurr profi and really prefer Tony's key over it, and others i own. if you really enjoy cw you need to try one of his keys!
K8JH Rating: 2007-02-10
Very pleased Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my first real professional key and I love it. It came promptly and already adjusted. Tony, N3ZN, communicated with me right away after my purchase on eBay. He included a 1/4" adapter at my request without charge. Moreover, I mentioned that the cord was a bit short. Without my asking he quickly put a longer cord in the mail, again no charge. Great quality key and great service. An excellent purchase experience.
W5LXG Rating: 2007-01-30
Great buy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Beautiful fit and finish. Tony obviously takes great pride in manufacturing his keys. Neat design and I could not a flaw anywhere. The size is relatively compact in all dimensions. Exchanged several e-mails with Tony who was very prompt in replies. Nice firm feel and much superior device to more expensive paddles. Shipped in double box. Suspect these paddles may become collector items.
K8RBW Rating: 2007-01-27
Terrific Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Tony makes a great paddle and is extremely responsive to your needs. He obviously spent a great deal of time trying to learn and adapt the better features from a lot of top end paddles. I found the leverage to be excellent for my particular style, thereby reducing the number of errors I make resulting from my carpal tunnel syndrome.
It is too bad that the code requirement has been dropped and many future operators may miss the pleasure of using a fine paddle like Tony's. I studied Chinese for over twenty years and I get the same feeling of achievement from CW as I do from meticulously drawn calligraphy.
A minor problem, like with many paddles, is that the finger pieces are attached with a single screw and have to be adjusted sometimes to keep them parallel with one another.
WC3O Rating: 2007-01-04
A fine key! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
As with another reviewer, I first met Tony through e-bay. Upon seeing his key I decided to try one. Great key! You can set the contact gap as tight as you like. The magnetic tension also offers a wide range of adjustment from a "heavy hitter" to the feather light touch that I like. The key stays where you put it on the desk and it looks great with the brass upper and black base. Good luck Tony and thanks for the great key. It's a keeper.
W6GDK Rating: 2006-12-28
Very nice key Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is the first high end set of paddles I have used. Delivery was very quick ( 4 days) and the paddles were adjusted optimally, for me anyway, right out of the box. The Begali paddles may look a little more finsished than these, but for the price, these are very nice.
N3CW Rating: 2006-12-03
Gem of a Paddle! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I too first saw this paddle on Ebay. I have been very lucky with almost all of my Ebay (and other ham list) purchases over the years, in that the pictures and descriptions represent fairly well what I actually receive when the product arrives. I must say however, that these new N3ZN paddles are a rare pleasant surprise; the paddle I ordered far exceeds what I expected, in many ways. The paddle was very carefully packed and boxed, and Tony's e-mails followed up on shipping to make sure I had received the paddle. I have found that the time spent packing a piece of hardware usually correlates with the pride the seller has in his ownership and/or fabrication of the item, and here I have a key that I know Tony was proud to put his call on. The brushed satin finish on the brass pieces is far more attractive in real life that in the photos, and small touches like the beveling on the brass contact posts represent solid quality in fabrication and design. The base is suitably heavy and stays put...not always a given when the wrong feet are used (here we have a nice sticky rubber foot which helps keep the key in place). Another one of my pet peeves are fingerpieces that flex; why have solid machine work and infinite adjustments if the fingerpieces deform past the stops? The N3ZN paddle uses a very attractive weave pattern. I'm not sure what to call it, perhaps a fiberglass weave? But the important thing is that the fingerpieces are just the right thickness and are very solid-feeling in use, with no flex like some $500 paddles; coupled with the lightweight aluminum arms, you have a very high-end feel when sending. I really like using this design. It is elegant simplicity combined with excellent machine work. It's a real sleeper, and a super bargain at Tony's asking price (with free shipping to boot).