Home Made Paddle Morse Key - (almost) no soldering !

I have never really been interested in "side swiper" type keys... always considered them to be something of a "toy", and  "for amusement purposes only"... Always been a dedicated fan of the straight key, in all its various manufacturing types and forms... to me, they are "history", and things of beauty to the eye... ( most of them , anyway...).. I have a collection of 8 straight keys, which are detailed in earlier blog pages... if you are interested in Morse Keys, then you might find them interesting too !.. However, I digress, as the saying goes... this item is about how I came to make a paddle key... The idea came from seeing one on YouTube... but that was just "an idea"... and not really pursued... until,... I heard about a guy on CWCOM, who had made his key out of an old wire coathanger, and an even older piece of scrap wood...  ( pic below )..

so.... I thought.. "oh well, let`s see if I can make one, and see if I can operate it when it is made "... I know there are many radio amateurs that use these keys, exclusively, and there is a "culture" of which make of key is the best, and also which type... single or twin paddle... well, this one that I have made, can be used in either format... single or twin paddle,.. and you will be able to see that during the construction phase on this blog...

I can send with it... but not good enough to hold a qso ( conversation ). with it... so I am not going to give a video demo when I have finished this piece.... anyway.. as I mentioned in the first lines of the first paragraph...it`s "for amusement purposes only"  LOL !

OK.. first of all...  What do you need to make a paddle key like mine ?  well view the pic below...it`s all there ... Oh yes, in the title it says "(almost) no soldering"... the only soldering required, is for the 3.5 mm jack plug... but if you are clever, and have one already wired up from another job/equipment (earphones).. then you won`t need to solder anything...

In the above pic, is all the bits needed to make the key...   on the left there is a length of 30 amp ( cooker wiring ). 3 core solid copper "twin and earth"... I used the blue and the brown wires stripped down, to make the paddles, as you will see later.. the "earth" is a shade too thin and bendy...

Note.. there are two plugs at the top of the pic,... one is a 5amp round pin. ( the one I used ). and the other is the standard U.K. 13amp mains power plug. with the square pins.. you can use either, so long as you have the relevant wall socket plate, to fit the pins.

First of all, you need to remove the pins from the plug,... and using some Araldite, on the pins just under the little "sticky out" pins ( that stop it twisting in the plug ). insert them into the face plate, ensuring that the earth pin is fitted first, to give the safety plate a shift, so you can insert the other two pins... when inserting the other two, you will notice they have black insulation on them...

 this MUST have some araldite on it, along with the brass part under the "sticky out" pins... DO NOT PUT THE ARALDITE ON THE FACE PLATE it will be drawn into the plug contacts, and may insulate them ! ! .. The reason for making sure the araldite goes on the black plastic insulation is, that, if not, then the pin will tend to move in the socket, especially when using twin paddle operation. They need to be secure....

Note... make sure the holes in the pins are facing in the right directions.... the single pin (earth pin) needs to be aligned to "face the front" i.e. down between the other two pins... to insert the single paddle...   The two other pins, need to be aligned "east/west" so that you can insert screws for the gap adjustment. 

Don`t forget, to allow about a couple of hours for the araldite to set off, before proceeding... I know it`s a pain.. but if you don`t and you start twisting the pins around, they will not be secure...

Once you have waited for them to set off,...you can proceed to make the single paddle using some of the blue or brown copper wire, as mentioned.... Cut off about 6 inches ( i think that`s about 150mm in forren measurements).. If you have a vice available, cut a small part of the insulation off one end, and insert the copper wire in the vice, to pull off the main part of the insulation with a pair of pliers. If you want, you can fashion a curly bit on one end, like I did,.. or bend it into a triangle or square shape... your choice...you could even leave it straight !..  You now need to insert the other end in the single "earth" pin... and adjust the length before screwing down tight...

Two screws are needed to fit into the smaller pins... Originally I used two small wood screws that fitted into the holes on the pins.. with the heads in the centre as contacts.. but I intended to, and did, buy a small pack of 4  3mm pan head bolts in brass as these "look the part"..

Now you have the basics of the key put together.. all you need is the paddle, and the wiring...

Wiring up is simple... drill a hole in the back box on one edge... feed in your connection cable ,... bare off the ends,... and simply connect up using the screw connections on the back of the socket... ( see ... no soldering ! !  ! ! )..

Just before securing down the face plate (paddle key)... if plug in your key to CWCOM ... or if you have a multi-meter, you can confirm that you have made the connections properly, by "shorting out" the single pin, to the other pins in turn... once you are satisfied they are properly connected to the 3.5mm jack, you can secure down the faceplate and fix your paddle....

Whilst the araldite was setting off, you could have been making the paddle, but it is best to wait, and do it now...

below is a choice of paddles I made, after first using the single paddle

To make this single paddle , I used a paper clip, bent in half, then soldered at the folded end ( for more solid screw down connection), and then, holding the preformed "curly" bit in the vice... and the paperclip in a pair of pliers, rans some solder down to join them... 

To change the single paddle into a twin paddle, you need to form a pair of paddle shapes from the copper wire, or , as I did , from a couple of large paper clips... again. I doubled over the end going into the pins on the key plate, and soldered where necessary... Trial and error will give you the best combination and something to do when it rains  ! ! ! ! ... making new paddles... 

You will, of course, have realised that using the twin paddle version needs the plate to be turned around 180 degrees, so that the connecting wire is coming out at the top of the key....

and there you have it... It was great fun making it... and fun trying to figure out how to use it... I enjoyed the challenge, and will "play" with it fromt time to time... but doubt if I willl ever be convinced that this is a "proper morse key"....