Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: N3ZN KEYS Model ZN-4A

Category: Keys & Paddles

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : N3ZN KEYS Model ZN-4A
Reviews: 16MSRP: 165.00
Description:
Iambic paddle, ball bearings, magnetic lever return, short lightweight arms, ideal for QRQ operation
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.n3znkeys.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00165
KD8G Rating: 2009-05-12
Favorite paddle at KD8G Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I didn’t need another paddle but was very impressed with all the N3ZN paddles after trying them out on Tony’s tailgate in the 2008 Dayton flea market. Their looks drew me in and the solid feel sold me. My son, K8ATA, ordered the ZN-4A for me as a Christmas gift. He was extremely pleased with Tony’s quick responses as they worked out the “special order” black bearing plate details. The finished key is beautiful and can be seen in the Personalized section of the N3ZNkeys website. The smallish paddle is heavier than it looks and stays put. I still enjoy looking at it as much as I do using it. The craftsmanship is excellent and I’ve never needed to adjust it since day one. I’m very pleased with my ZN-4A and heartily recommend it to anyone.
K6CN Rating: 2009-02-27
Fantastic Iambic Paddle Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered and received my ZN-4A key (serial #048) in very quick order. I had mine customized with black bearing plates, short finger pieces and with my call sign. It is a beautiful piece of fine, USA craftsmanship and a true pleasure to use. Heck, I enjoy just sitting here looking at it. It arrived very well packaged and required only very minor adjustment, from Tony's original settings, to suite my CW sending style. The keying levers operate as smoothly as silk and any required adjustments, in magnetic tension or contact spacing, can be made quite easily. And, because of the key's excellent design, the tension and spacing adjustments stay exactly where you set them. Although not a large key, the ZN-4A is sufficiently heavy enough to remain in place on my operating desk. That's important to me, because I tend to be a little heavy handed at times while sending. The bottom line is that the ZN-4A is the best key that I've ever owned in my 50 years as a ham. Nice job, Tony, and THANKS!
VK3JY Rating: 2008-10-28
Terrific Paddle Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a quality product. I have used other paddles - all spring loaded - and this would have to be the smoothest in operation and best made Paddle I have used.
Tony tells me I am the first VK to have one of these Paddles, and it arrived extremely well packed and Tony kept me in the loop on delivery etc.
The 'touch' of this Paddle is extremely smooth and makes CW a real pleasure.
Highly recommended product and dealer - and he offers a refund within 30 days of purchase if you are not happy - a good indicator of product quality and dealer integrity.
SM7CMY Rating: 2008-10-22
A very nice paddle Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The ZN-4A paddle is one of the best paddle I ever have used and I am using. Tony responded prompt to my questions about the paddle and the delivery to Sweden was fast and reliable.
RUSS324 Rating: 2008-09-22
Excellent! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just recieved my ZN-4A. What a nice looking piece of equipment. Was packed extremely well. I really like the fine adjustments that are available. Just set it to your touch and go. No allen wrenches or tools are needed. I am very pleased with this key.
As a side note Fedex delivered my key to the wrong address. I had no luck dealing with Fedex, but Tony stayed in touch through this entire process. He was wonderful and filed a claim. Two days later my neighbor up the street stopped buy with the box. It had been on his porch for 11 days. Keyer was packed well and was in perfect shape. I called tony and he cancelled the claim. Tony, could not have been any more helpful in dealing with the shipping problems from Fedex. Great product, fantastic workmanship and the very best customer service. Russ K8QF
N4TKC Rating: 2008-06-11
A Work of Art Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The craftsmanship is excellent. I even paid extra for the personalized brass callsign plate. I have no intention of selling this key! It is also very good value for money. Compare with other keys. Definitely a work of art!
WA1HSU Rating: 2008-06-03
N3ZN ZN4A is Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After deciding to get back into CW I shopped the reviews and consulted with a number of our local club members and finally decided on a ZN4A. I could not be more pleased. Tony's craftsmanship is superb and the key performs beautifully. You will not be disappointed and there is no reason to spend any more for other high quality keys.
K1YAN Rating: 2008-04-17
Well Made & Responsive Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Over the 45 years I have run CW I have used several paddles ( and a bunch of bugs ) .. Vibroplex Iambic and Square Brass Racer models ,a Bencher BY-1 and a Kent iambic model. After a lot of internet searching, I decided to try the ZN-4A.

In a couple of weeks I was unpacking the key, which was wrapped to survive any shippers best efforts to damage it. Delivery was a few days ahead of what was quoted.

My initial impression was that the key was a lot smaller than I had envisioned it. Fit and finish were top shelf. The finish on the black painted base was flawless and with the polished brass it makes a handsome package. A few minor tweaks to adjust the magnetic lever tension ( generous, knurled adjustment screws make this easy and precise ) and everything was set as I wanted.

The small size of the key and the large size of my hands were not a perfect fit. I found my thumb hitting the edge, rather than the flat surface of the fingerpiece and my pointer finger brushing the base as I keyed. An e-mail asking about bigger fingerpieces resulted in an offer of a longer and larger set for the right price ( $0.00 ). Problem nicely solved ... you folks with bigger hands might ask about this when you order.

Overall a solid, well built key that should easily handle QRS to QRQ operation for many, many years and look good doing it.

Customer service and communication rate five stars ... a company that asks for your feedback on how you like the product and really means it ... how often do you see that?

VY 73,
Gary K1YAN
N9ZI Rating: 2008-01-19
Very Good Paddle Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got this as a Christmas present from my Mother, wounder how she knew what to get me, hi hi.

This is a real high quality paddle, got the all brass one & it looks great, has great feel and touch, am extremely happy with this one.

Also have one other keeper, a Begali Simplex Mono.

Have been a CW op for over 54 years now & thank Tony for providing such a fine paddle for me to use now.

Terry N9ZI
K3EY Rating: 2008-01-18
Sleeper Time Owned: more than 12 months.
One thing I know about in this hobby is paddles because I am very interested in them plus I had a ton of them over the last twenty five years. That includes the high-end models costing plenty. I owned three different WBLV22 paddles which are the best of the best for feel. I have been a journeyman machinist since the early 70’s worked as a machinist for a major airline until forced retirement due to 9/11. I now work as a journeyman machinist for General Electric. This is my field-- paddles included.

There are very well made paddles being manufactured by individuals using only top grade materials with the very best bearings and gold contacts, still the WBL paddles are by far the best--for feel, where no others have come close. That is until Tony decided to produce paddles himself based on different types of high-end paddles. Tony also owned a ton of paddles before deciding to make them himself to gain the knowledge and experience necessary.

I did proto type work for Tony critiquing his paddles with my impressions of what was good and what was not in the paddles he sent me to test. I was harsh with my critiquing. Tony responded accordingly. The end results were paddles that use high quality bearings and very strong magnets, light weight arms, short ratios, and most of all the ability to set the contacts so close they just about touch without needing constant adjusting to maintain that extremely close spacing no matter the temperature or harsh fist using them

When you accomplish a very close spacing (which almost all paddles being produced just can’t do) you have a very unique feel. The WBL does this. As Ulrich/N2DE named it-- Black Magic-- which I agree with. Any of Tony’s paddles are capable of this very close setting by virtue of the design, the materials and construction that goes into them. I can set Tony’s paddles to such a close setting that the feel matches the WBL. I must qualify here explaining that my N3ZN paddle uses wood finger pieces, just like WBL. The feel is as close as you can get to the WBL and why it’s the only paddle I use these days.

I know there are truly fine paddles being produced out there with the best of materials used. I owned just about all of those paddles and they will outlive me ten to one. I also found that not one of those paddles, even the ones costing five hundred dollars match the N3ZN paddles for feel. It’s impossible to accomplish unless you take the path Tony did.

The WBL feel is what Tony took into account when going through the headaches and heartaches of making and trying paddle after paddle until he found what it required to produce that perfect paddle. At the same time the paddles had to be priced accordingly so people could afford to buy them. I use his Vertical paddle because that is what I prefer being the WBL fan I am, it’s the WBL match.

I have used all of his paddles and they all have the architecture within them to produce the best feel you could possibly get out of a set of paddles. For those who never used a paddle like the WBL a good example would be a capacitance touch paddle. One with no moving parts that functions with capacitance touch. A extremely light touch is all that is required which produces this great feel that with practice you can send at extremely high speeds without fatigue or errors.

Tony’s paddles are the best kept secret out there. Like the WBL that made black magic and then vanished from the scene. These paddles give the owner a feel like no other paddle can, and they are extremely well priced.

If you want a paddle for ease of operating with the best feel then I strongly suggest you get yours while you can. Like the WBL these great paddles can and will disappear someday and become an eBay treasure hunt. Look at the Hensley and others who were there and then gone. It’s not an easy endeavor to do and keep doing year after year for what amounts to peanuts. Passion is the bigger payoff, but passion dies over time.

I appreciate what Tony and others like him are doing because it was at one time my dream to do this exact thing since I am a machinist and enjoy great paddles. My life circumstances made that dream impossible.

One day totally unexpected I received this package in the mail. It was the N3ZN ZN-3A Vertical. Tony knew I loved the WBL so he made that model and gave it to me for helping him by critiquing his efforts, which he called valuable input and I called slamming his work. That unexpected gift from Tony is now exclusively the only paddle I use. That’s after owning everyone you can name. I still have a Profi that sits here.

I know I was long winded here but that was necessary to explain the story of the man and the paddle. There are others out there no doubt, cheaper too, but after my extensive and long time experience it’s my strong opinion that nothing available at this price range and even much higher priced touches the N3ZN paddle for feel and real life operation.

73 -..-. Curt/k3ey