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I like your pencil! I also prefer a pencil. I bought this pencil which fits perfectly:
ZEBRA Mini Mechanical Pencil, 0.5 mm, Silver Body (TS-3)
It is not the most comfortable pencil to write with because it is so short / small diameter. I use it as a backup.
HNY es 73
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Suggestion: sharpen both ends in case you break the lead…
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did the Magnet Mod
it has not the desired result
the angle of the pressed paddle is to large - the magnet came with the side near to the other - so to weak push up between booth magnets results
had to rebuilt the spring
have a 3rd Party Paddle as Backup on order…
Need stronger magnets. Also, I set mine so they were flush and not inset. I have been very happy with the magnets… much better than the spring.
tnx for the info
tomorrow i will be on OE/ST-391 and testing a softer spring from a ballpen in snowing wx
3rd Party Paddle
see N6ARA.com
After several iterations, I think I nailed the KH1 key interface from a mechanical perspective. The crooked connector made it tricky to get right, but if field testing of this new TinyPaddle Plug goes well, we should have 3D files and printed units available in the coming weeks!
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A major USP of the KH1 seems to be that you can go skiing without a backpack (on-piste or nearby obviously) and still get a casual HF activation in, as the rig is small enough to fit in a large jacket pocket. The weight bothered me a bit though, so I replaced the oversized stock battery with something smaller/lighter:
A 650 mAh 3S LiPo RC battery was used along with a simple BMS PCB from China and a 3D printed spacer.
This modification shaved off about 85 grams – doesn’t sound like a lot, but it makes a very noticeable difference in a pocket. Given the KH1’s low current drain, the battery should last for about two hours of continuous operation. It charges fine using the internal charger with its ~250 mA charging current.
A happy KH1 activator on HB/GR-109
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Thought I’d relate my recent little KH1 adventure here 
As detailed in the post above from almost a year ago, I like to use the KH1 when skiing in resorts that have summits nearby, so I can go without a backpack (always inconvenient on chairlifts) and still get an activation or two on HF.
Yesterday I was at Les Diablerets, which has a summit with a chairlift almost straight to the top (HB/VD-020), and another summit only 100 vertical meters away from a piste (HB/VD-024). I arrived at the first summit, counterpoise unwound, antenna screwed on, headphones plugged in, and… the power switch was already on??? This must have happened while the KH1 was being transported in its case, as the power switch protrudes ever so slightly.
The protruding power switch
Needless to say, the battery was dead, and I had to leave without an activation. Frustrated, I spent the rest of the day skiing amidst the crowds (it’s obviously peak season) with a paperweight in my jacket pocket.
The crowds
Back at the car in the evening, I contemplated my options. Two new uniques almost “for free” were just too good to pass up (yes, even I like to do things the easy way from time to time! 
). Unfortunately, not counting on doing many activations on this trip, I didn’t even bring a charger or a barrel plug cable. How could I get this thing charged? One idea was to sacrifice a USB cable for the wires and somehow try to connect the KH1’s DC jack to the 12 V socket in my car. But that sounded like a recipe for a short circuit. Plus, the BMS that I attached to my battery (see post above) cuts off the output when the voltage is too low, and needs an external “jolt”. I wasn’t sure whether the KH1 would begin charging without sensing a voltage.
I went to the grocery store in the village, hoping to find something that could help, perhaps some cheap gadget with a DC barrel plug cable. I found no such thing, but the 4.5 V lantern batteries (3R12) caught my eye. From experiments in my youth, I knew that paperclips connect easily to the tabs on those batteries. So I bought three of them, and some paperclips. The idea was to connect the batteries in series and hope that their internal resistance would limit the charging current to something that the BMS would accept (and the little LiPo too without going up in flames).
As the battery of my VW ID.Buzz was also nearly empty and I was going to sleep in the car again, I had to get that sorted first. Finally, one of only two working charging points (for a parking lot with hundreds of spaces) freed up, and I got some juicy kilowatt-hours for cozy temperatures inside the car while it was -8 °C outside. Time for some tinkering!
The makeshift charger
There were no sparks, no smoke, and nothing even got warm. I wasn’t sure whether this was working at all, but when I reconnected the battery to the KH1 after a few minutes, it turned on! So I left it connected to my alkaline activation savior for an hour or so, and when I checked again, the voltage shown by the KH1 was around 12 V. I have no idea what the BMS did, if anything – the documentation on these cheap Chinese BMS boards is scarce. Perhaps my plan with the internal resistance worked, or the BMS somehow PWM’ed the current. But now I knew I wouldn’t have to drive 250 km again for these two summits!
Today, I merrily went up again, put the climbing skins on my skis for the short ascent to Chaux Ronde HB/VD-024, arrived at the summit, started activating… but at some point the paddle stopped working – only dashes, no more dots. I’d already had the same problem last season: the paddle jack had become unsoldered due to mechanical stress. This was fixed by Lutz Electronics @HB9NBG @HB9FZC under warranty. I was able to save the activation by using the working side of the paddle in hand key mode. So now you know why my CW was so odd today.
When I arrived at the bottom of the chair lift that would take me to the second summit, I discovered to my horror that the KH1 was missing. So I went back up towards Chaux Ronde, following my descent tracks. Sure enough, there it was, lying in the snow – it had obviously fallen out of my jacket pocket, which I hadn’t closed properly, while I was having fun skiing the powdery slope.
Hello again
Back home, I discovered that this time the paddle jack wasn’t broken, but the paddle was. But not to worry, it was the old version paddle (which I liked better, but OK), and I also have the new version that Lutz Electronics gave to me for free after the last repair.
I now keep a piece of duct tape stuck to the KH1’s case to lock the power switch in its off position for transport and make sure to always close my jacket zippers all the way…
All’s well that ends well 
I wish you a happy 2025!
73, Manuel HB9DQM
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This 3D printed “lock” works well for me. It is so small I am sure I’ll lose it some day, so I printed a few spares 
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Thanks for a really enjoyable report. Well done for your resourcefulness on the battery front, and I’m glad you were able to find your KH1! Phew!
73, Matthew M0JSB
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An Excellent Adventure Manuel!
It sounds like you ticked all the boxes of Murphy’s Law there, “Everything that can go wrong will go wrong”.
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Ah perfect – looks like I’m not the only one with this problem, and there’s already a solution. Will print a couple of those. Thanks for the pointer! 
all advertising of Elecraft products (especially KH1) is, I would say, quite aggressive in social media, it would be good if it was combined with better implementation of deliveries …
73, Jarek
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Good recovery Manuel! Very lucky to find your KH1 where you dropped it, it could have been very expensive!
I keep my KH1 in a clear poly bag, inside the case. I think the smooth bag will prevent the switch getting pulled on by accident, as the radio moves around.
I found a cheap USB => 15v shaver charger on ebay. It works perfectly for the KH1 or KX2 with internal charger. It supplies 250mA and the voltage is about 14.5v under load. Does not get hot and been reliable so far. Super cheap, I keep a spare in my vehicle! Like this :
73 Gavin
GM0GAV
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Manuel. I mounted the whip on the left side of radio and that prevents switch from accidentally turning on. Good job with the batteries
So simple and elegant… thanks for the idea!
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