the touch paddle could work with those smartphone gloves on perhaps.
you can get them from anything from £2 up to £22 like these
I have never tried these gloves. The simple version for SOTA: I keep a pair of gloves where I have cut off the tips of index and thumb on the right hand.
Works for me - Heinz
I used the pico-Palm with my MTR series rigs for several years. It works reliably.
For the past year I have been using a touch paddle with the circuitry built into the MTR3. It uses about 2ma of power so that’s inconsequential. There are many ways to make the touch piece. I cut away the shield of two RCA plugs and use the center posts,
The touch key has the following BIG advantages:
no moving parts so nothing can be damaged in transit
no contacts so they can not get dirty or corroded
much smaller overall profile so the rig fits in my shirt pocket (no pack needed for many hikes)
cheaper than almost any paddle
The two protruding touch points are visible to the bottom left in this photo. Note that I clip my log to the back of the radio, hold the radio in my left hand with the log, up, and send with my right hand.
P.S. the piece of blue foam shown to the right of the radio uses tiny magnets to stick to the face of the radio and protect the delicate switches during transit. The white dental case seen plugged into the antenna jack houses a broadband EFHW impedance transformer into which the antenna is plugged using no feedline. A tiny space-pen is tethered to the radio and transports in the pink soda straw seen taped to the blue foam. A 300 mAH LiPO velcroes to the top edge of the radio completing the set-up which weighs about 8 oz complete.
- Fred KT5X (aka WS0TA)
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Hi Heinz,
I tried one of those touch sensitive sensor paddles many years ago and I found it very faulty with my dry skin. It worked perfectly when it was being touched by other two hams with me at that time, but was very faulty whenever I did it.
My conclusion was that it was a matter of skin conductivity. My skin seemed to be too dry for that.
Never tried them again though.
73,
Guru
I own both the DCP and the Porta Paddle. The Porta Paddle is a step above the DCP. One big difference I like about the Porta Paddle over the DCP is making adjustments. They might look similar but the feel is not the same.
I was put off touch keyers by a reply to me by Richard G3CWI years ago -
Touch keyers are probably great in good weather but not so great in soggy, damp Britain!
73, Colin
Hi Colin,
I cannot confirm Richards findings at all! My keyer works flawlessly in rain and snow. The only critical issue is, you have to touch it with your bare skin. This is no fun in sub-zero temperatures. I think that there was progress in circuit design. The circuit I am using does not rely on resistance but uses the capacitance created by your touch to detune an oscillator. The circuitry then converts this into a key closure.
I do not know about Gurus skin type. But again never an issue for me even in the extreme cold where skin gets dried out a lot.
I estimate that my touch sensitive keyer was succesfully used in over 500 SOTA activations. I have also used it during my 2013 and 2014 Scotland tours where I had the occassional opportunity to operate in pouring rain from beginn to end of an activation. The keyer never made any problems even under these high humidity Britain conditions.
Maybe Richard could share the circuit he has been using so we can compare.
73 Heinz
A thought, the Teensy line of microcontrollers comes with capacitive touch ready pins and will run Arduino libraries. Could be a good place to start. Here’s some info: CapacitiveSensor Arduino Library with Teensy, for Capacitive Touch and Promimity Sensing
what about the advantages of using a straight key in cold weather. surely you could tap out mrose easier with gloves on than use paddles?
or am i on the wrong track?
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Same as many others, I am a very happy user of the Palm Pico Single and the Palm Single. They work great in all weathers, and I can operate the single lever version even with frozen fingers. I do not think that a straight key would be any better for me in cold situations; quite to the contrary, I guess my code would be much worse.
73 de Martin, DK3IT
My two cents:
I use the Pico Paddle for most of my activations, although I prefer the Palm Paddle.
I do not like capacitive touch paddles, and have never found one that is sufficiently accurate.
If you are looking for something a bit special, then you might consider this:
They are about half the price of a Begali. I got to play with one in Friedrichshafen and the feel is very precise. As to how and where you would mount it, well that’s a thread waiting to happen…
73 de OE6FEG
Matt
oooo soo shiny and nice. It is pricey however, but so shiny.
Regarding the Touch Paddle with which I have had great success… others I have tried were as others have reported, but this one has been perfect. It has adjustable response with a pot on each lever. I have used it in the dry sou9thwestern climate, and I have used it in a rain storm, in the snow, in the cold and in the heat. It has never failed. It is on a tiny board the size of a postage stamp and came from CWTOUCHKEYERS.COM I have built three of them and they all work flawlessly. NONE of the problems others are reporting for other keyers have been a problem with this one.
Also built one of his larger versions, mounted it on a slab of soapstone. It, too, operates flawlessly.
I am thunderstruck to learn that the maker of these wonderful keys, WA1JOS, became a silent key in August.
- fred kt5x (aka WS0TA)
I use both the Chinese paddle mentioned and the DCP. The DCP needs a base if you didn’t buy one with the kit. I haven’t installed it on a base and have to hold the paddle with one hand while sending with the other.
The chinese key, which is priced right, works fine but cannot be adjusted as finely as other paddles I own. I accept some rough sending results at times. Chasers need to figure out what I meant sometimes and if it is a critical bit of info, I repeat it anyway.
A good feature of the chinese paddle is that it has a stereo 3.5mm or 1/8" socket and you can use any stereo cable with it to connect to your rig. It observes the paddle wiring standard of tip=dot, ring=dash, sleeve = common.
73 Andrew VK1DA VK2UH
If you are not just “plug-in” ham, you can make one by yourself.
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OK, I guess there’s a first time for everything.
Yeah, €145 is almost 2 Palm Paddles (which are what we use at the CW Schule Graz). But compared to a €248 Begali Adventure it seems almost reasonable. Like the Scheunemann, it’s a not so ridiculously priced high end key. Of course, there’s the additional weight as well…
de OE6FEG
Matt
An article in next month’s (December) Funk Amateur magazine is how to print a micro paddle (I presume 3D printer but it doesn’t say). So that might be of interest to some on this thread.
73 Ed.
Good one Adrian,
Though I don’t use anything to hold my Palm Paddle down. Just hold it in my left hand like a microphone.
And I have three of these little beauties - one for the shack, one for the car and one for the hill (+ Plam Cube).
73
Jack(;>J
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