Mini Morse Radio Key Double Paddle Morse Code Key with Stainless Steel Body Three Neodymium Magnets Base Red

Very clever design! Much better than any of the 3D printed paddles that are everywhere. Looks like the body parts were produced using EDM and tumbled to provide super clean and precise cuts and edges. Incredibly solid with no play in the bearings. The magnetic return of the paddles is smooth with no springs to fiddle with. Magnetic mounting with the three magnets is strong and will hold up under vigorous keying. The only delicate part is the PC board that holds the jack and switch and makes the connections to the paddles. I say delicate because if you were to drop this chunk of stainless and have it land on the PCB the 1/8" jack or the reversing switch could be compromised but with even modest care that should never happen. For home use I cut and finished a 3"x4" quarter inch thick steel plate and added some single sided foam tape to the bottom to keep it from sliding around while in use. I found that just a few drops of water spread out on the bottom of the foam helps the assembly stick to the desk or pad of paper but lifts up without any problems when moving it to another location. I can see this being quite a nice paddle for SOTA or field day as it will stick to whatever piece of steel is convenient and hold tight.My disappointment is with the two adjustable grub screws that come installed and the fact that each screw required a different size hex key 1.5mm and 2mm, guessing burrs on the socket head were the culprit causing the discrepancy. The second set of grub screws that come with the kit have sharp points instead of flats for the contact surface and actually perform better anyway. The locking nuts are best tightened with a small 5.5mm metric ignition wrench and I was able to use a 0.0015mm shim to set the contact gap quite easily. I found this to be as much fun to use as my Begali and is less fussy to set up.The telescopic QuadroPack style shipping container does make a nice way to keep the unit clean and safe for transport. It's large enough to hold the key along with a shim and wrenches for making adjustments if necessary along with a double 1/8" male connecting cable. I was a little skeptical until I started playing with it and now I have to admit it really does deserve 5 stars.

I don't like reinventing the wheel. RB left a pretty good review of the key so I encourage that as additional reading. I must admit after reading some of the negative reviews, I was a bit skeptical about getting the key. However, my fears were put to rest when I tested the key. Simply put, its a great key.My thoughts: The key is great. It is made of high grade stainless steel. I took a magnet to the paddles and and lower part of the body and found no attraction i.e. austenite, meaning it is non-ferromagnetic. Which means no rust! Not cheap by any means. So this is a great key to take camping or POTA, SOTA, LOTA and/or just in your shack.The key comes with a wide paddle contact stance which for me was unacceptable, personal taste. This is where you need to have some mechanical abilities and PATIENCE.Have the key plugged into your rig and turn your transmitter break-in to off so that you wont be transmitting on the air when you make spacing adjustments. Or you can use a tone oscillator.Now you can use a set of feeler gauges or do what most amateur operators do, adjust it by feel for each paddle.In-depth Directions:You need a 5.5mm wrench and a 1.5mm hex key.You loosen the 5.5mm nut on each of the paddle arms which then allows you to use the hex key and turn the screw in the center of that 5.5mm nut.Turn screw clock wise (CW) and the screw will get closer to the the contact post which makes it require very little pressure on the paddle to key the radio.Counter clockwise to move the screw away from the contact post thus making more of an effort, wider distance, to push the paddle to key the radio.Remember keep the 5.5mm wrench on the loosened nut while adjusting the screw. Turn each screw until you hear a tone. Then back off CCW the screw until the tone stops, about a 16th of an inch. Keep the wrench on the 5.5mm nut while doing this and then tighten the nut while holding the screw with the 1.5mm hex key. If you prefer more distance, then adjust more CCW. Do this for the other side and you are done.It would have been nice had the MFR included directions but lets get real here, what ham operator reads manuals.The three neodymium magnets are great. However, if you are going to place the key atop the radio, I would recommend using felt to protect from scratching the top of the radio. When you want to remove the key, it really holds well, just tip the key and then lift the key off. If you slide the key, I'm sure that the magnets will cause scratches over time.I hope that this review/directions helps and will forever silent the complaints about not knowing how to adjust this key, which will also hopefully stop the mischaracterization that this key receiving.Incidentally, the key comes with a 3.5mm stereo cord, nifty box case and two contact screws for future replacement, if needed.73 and see you on the air, Dit Dit

Love hate relationship with this key so far. Some notes that should be helpful to future buyers:* It's one of the cheapest keys available for some weird reason.* You need two special tools to tune the spacing on this. I'll bet you have neither of these: * 7/32-Inch socket * 1/16" allen wrench* The magnets are a nice feature, but chances are sticking it to the top of your rig isn't ergonomic. * I bought a Metal Bench Block for Jewelry Stamping and stuck it to that, so now it has a decent base for 1 hand operation.* The front part of this key is an exposed pcb that will make you nervous about damaging. So far I've not managed to undo any solders with some field use* TLDR you get what you pay for. This is a good starter key.

I'm getting back into ham radio after 50 years away, and needed a key since CW is my favorite mode. All available keys seemed overpriced to me, but the lowest-cost ones looked flimsy to me. This was among the lower-to-medium cost ones and looked solid and substantial. It turned out to be just that. It's working well for me. While adjustments are possible, I use it as it came right out of the box and haven't had to change anything. I'm pleased with this purchase.

il est fragile du coté du connecteur, c’est son point faible.. sinon il va très bien.. moi mon ajustement est de tourner la petite vis (après avoir desserré l’écrou) jusqu’à entendre le beeeep et détourner 1/8 de tour (de chaque coté).. pour pratiquer sur un table, j’ai acheté un ‘HimaPro Bloc de banc en acier 10,2 x 10,2 cm’ de 1/2 pouce d’épais (c’est suffisamment lourd et avec des pads en caoutchoucs, il ne bouge pas du tout).. la clef vient avec une petite boite de protection, 6 pads de type silicone (collant sur un côté), deux clefs d’ajustements et deux vis de contacts en extra.. j’ai utilisée cette clef plusieurs heures et comme c’est ma première, j’en suis très content.. en plus, elle est élégante..

These are great paddles for portable of mobile operation. They are adjustable for spacing and have strong magnets on the base that really stay put on a metal surface. They also have a polarity switch to which makes it easy to set for your radio. Not the smoothest but adequate for field use.

Il tasto e fatto bene. Le regolazioni sono facili, nella scatola ci sono le chiavi per le regolazioni, come il cavetto intestato con due jack da 3,5 stereo. Non bisogna stringere troppo la corsa della leve altrimenti il tasto si attacca. Non ci sono molle , il ritorno e magnetico. Così come ci sono i tre magneti che lo fanno aderire in maniera molto forte in tutte le superfici metalliche di ferro, come sopra FT817. Tutto sommato vale la spesa, considerando che un suo simile di una blasonata marca, costa tre volte di più.

Muy bien construido, quizás un poco pequeño, però si tienes una base en la cual se pueda amarrar los imants no será problema.

Måste placeras på magnetiskt underlag, annars får man hålla den i handen...Det lilla kretskortet baktill är en sårbarhet, därför har jag köpt 2 st. i reserv.Något dyr i jämförelse, men man slipper vänta i veckor på leverans...