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Reviews For: ElectroInstruments Key-8

Category: Keys & Paddles

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Review Summary For : ElectroInstruments Key-8
Reviews: 5MSRP: 139.95
Description:
Dual Paddle with Built-in Keyer
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.MorseX.com/key8.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0054.8
DL8BFV Rating: 2018-05-23
Great Key(er) with unique haptic feeling Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This beautiful Soviet Morse key was a gift to me from somebody who got it for free from a flea market in DL. The key was in moderate condition. It worked, however the bearing of the left paddle has too much clearance and elastic contact sheet was not the original one. Perhaps it was damaged and somebody has replaced it by his own construction. That’s why the dots feel a bit softer than the dahs, but it does not disturb me.

As I did not have any further information about this key, I was searching for the type and the manufacturer. Finally, I got a first hot track as I saw a picture on the qrz page of a German ham. He told me that these keys were used for military telegraphy purposes as well as in Soviet embassies. The full story about their development can be found here in Russian language: https://www.qrz.ru/articles/article512.html

Briefly summarized, the Soviet radio industry wanted to build their own paddle key with a quality level compared to the Bencher keys. First designs came from Novosibirsk; the final version was produced in Voronezh in collaboration with Gennady (RX3QA, NT2A). The official name is "Key 8" which can be found in Cyrillic letters along with the serial number (both written with a felt-tip pen) on the bottom side of the round base plate. For the American market, the key was imported by “Novosibirsk-Seattle International” under leadership of Yuri (N3QQ, UA9OPA) and Yuri (UA9OBA). The production stopped some decades ago making this key a real rarity.

But now to the Key 8 itself:
It is not only a dual lever Morse key but a combination of a key with integrated keyer whose speed is adjustable by the big black knob on the base plate. However, the keyer hardware located inside the base plate, does not allow the iambic mode. For me it doesn’t play a role as I am using external keyers that work really well in combination with my Key 8.

Some words about the connector: It is a standard 5 pin 180° DIN connector. The pins are labeled by very tiny digits. On my Key 8 pin 1 and pin 3 are used for sending dits and dahs, respectively. More information can be found here: https://www.mtechnologies.com/ei/key8wire.htm

The key has a total weight of about 1300 grams. The base plate is machined from solid brass. The polished chrome cover and the round chromed ring make the key to a real eye-catcher in the shack. On the bottom there are 3 rubber rings that prevent the key from sliding around the table. However, in the meantime they became quite hard and have to be replaced by new ones.

The Key 8 offers 3 screw pairs for adjustment: The big knurled black ones on the base plate with the lock nuts are for the contact spacing adjustment. From time to time it is necessary to retighten these contact screws. As the pivot of the lever is about in the middle and the contact sheets are a bit elastic (see below), keying requires the paddles to be moved 1 to 2 millimeters despite close contact spacing. The paddle spacing is 4 mm and cannot be adjusted which could be a minor shortcoming for demanding CW operators. The screws on the top of the chrome ring are the bearing screws that influence the force needed for swinging the levers. If they’re tightened too strong, the levers sometimes do not jump back in their original position. But when adjusted properly, no significant friction of the bearing is noticeable. The big knurled screws on the side of the chrome ring adjust the force of the return spring and thus the lever tension. However, their impact is comparably low for my Key 8. More maintenance information can be found here: https://www.mtechnologies.com/ei/key8adj.htm

The key has large triangular shaped 3 mm thin paddles made of violet transparent plastic. The longer the paddles, the less force you need to apply. Their surface is roughened and contains little indentations for the finger tips that prevent them from slipping off the paddles. The thin paddle levers are short enough such that the moving mass is relatively low. At the end of the levers, thin contact sheets are attached. They are responsible for the mechanical contact to the screws on the base plate to produce the dits and dahs. They are equipped with little silver pearls for an optimal galvanic contact. These contact sheets are to some extent flexible (!) giving the operator a very unique soft feeling. It’s like letting your head fall down onto a large soft pillow. When using other keys one can often feel the abrupt end of motion of the paddle levers when they hit hard metal parts to close the contact. I have to admit that I have not an extensive experience in CW and some high speed CW operators would perhaps miss some precision, but personally, I like the pleasant soft tactile feedback of the spring contact very much.

To summarize my review, after about one year of use, I am still fascinated by this Morse key with its distinctive design and the benefits of the elastic contact sheets. Despite occasional screw readjustments, it is made of excellent workmanship and is constructed very robustly that qualifies the key to be even used for light portable activities. One has to remember that this is a key from the 1980s – and for that reason, in my opinion, it is of high quality albeit my exemplar is slightly damaged. Although a little movement of the paddle is always required, the soft feeling on the paddles makes sending Morse code a unique haptic experience that no other key can offer.

I can only congratulate all hams who still have such a Key 8 in their shack.

vy 73 de Sebastian, DL8BFV
KA5QMA Rating: 2015-05-14
Very Nice Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This self-contained Russian keyer is no longer in production and very rare. It functions solely in the Ultimatic mode, which is the best ;) It's a real work of art.
KC0WMN Rating: 2011-04-03
Great Paddle Keyer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Nice paddle, great addition to the shack. Got mine from e-bay under $60.00 to get it to my door. It had 1 original fingerpiece and 1 Vibroplex seller threw in other Vibroplex and it luks gud. At first i found it a bit stiff but after reading E-Ham review found there was a break in period, that and few adjust. I find the key to operate as smooth as my bencher by-1. It isnt iambic but with a 3 wire and 3 alligator clips it works great with my memory keyer. I to built a pwr patch box wid headset plug in. It is a nice look on the bench es hammys like to stop es luk.
73
Ray, KC0WMN
NE4TT Rating: 2004-05-02
Great Key !!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Picked up the ElectroInstrument Key-8 at a hamfest recently, and I'm very impressed with the key.

It is a robust designed key, that has individual spring tension adjustments for both the dot and dash keys.
Beautifully chromed brass body, with large paddles.
The large paddles make the keying easy for this "Ham-Fisted" Ham.
There's no skating around the desk with the key's substantial weight.

The beauty of the key garners interest from the visitors to my radio room.

It does have an internal keyer, but the keyer is NOT iambic.
The keyer WILL repeat dots and dashes,
and I find it satisfactory, considering its limitations.
You can also bypass the internal keyer and use your favorite outboard keyer.

The concise instructions available on the Morse Express website, makes set up a breeze.

73,

Jamie NE4TT
KC8MIG Rating: 2000-04-01
A nice package if you need paddle and keyer. Time Owned: unknown months.
Just received my Key-8 in the UPS from Morse Express. Instructions were clear, and the workmanship on the paddle/keyer appears quite good. Am still working the paddle through the advertised "break-in" period. I have noticed that it is changing, and getting better, as I use it. I like the keyer. It is not iambic, but I never got the hang of "squeezing" anyway. nice heavy paddle (3.5 pounds). I had to make up a patch box to translate the 5 pin DIN conection from the keyer to my rig and power supply. Overall, a nice addition to the shack.