Any advice on super portable paddles?

I recently acquired a Mountain Topper MTR-3B from LnR Precision. So far, I really love this amazing little 3 band rig.

I’m looking for a set of portable paddles to put in the activation kit with the MTR-3B.

My go pack will be very compact, so I’d like a set of paddles that could easily slip in the pouch or case with the transceiver.

I’m currently using a set of Whiterock paddles with my KX2 (see photo above) and they work well enough, but I’d prefer something perhaps a little more robust and possibly even more portable.

What portable paddles do you use? Any suggestions? Please comment!

9 thoughts on “Any advice on super portable paddles?”

  1. The Kent touch key and keyer is a twin paddle key and electronic keyer combined. The key is all electronic with no moving parts and the keyer is based upon our well tried iambic keyer kit which we have produced for many years.
    The KEY/KEYER combination, although small, is still within the building capabilities of a novice constructor using only a few basic hand tools and a small soldering iron. The compact size and light weight makes this the ideal portable unit while the relative low cost makes a perfect introduction to electronic keying.
    The key/keyer is only supplied in kit form, the kit having a good quality main PCB together with the two paddle PCB’s. All components are supplied together with a hardware pack and base.

    http://www.kent-engineers.com/touchkeyer.htm

  2. I like the Te-Ne-Ke (“Teeny Key”) by the North Ottawa Amateur Radio Club. It’s a very small but durable steel body with beryllium-copper fingerpieces that do the keying. It can be held in one hand while keying with the other, or a conveniently placed hole lets you screw or bolt it to a base of some sort. The website has an example picture of the key bolted to a clipboard, upon which the operator’s log is clipped. I have two of them, one without a base, the other with, a wooden base with about a pound’s worth of stick-on epoxy-coated iron tire weights to keep it from skittering about.

    http://www.w8cso.org/teneke.php

    Steve W1SFR has a portable version of his Torsion Bar cootie paddle, that can be attached to a heavier base when using it at home. It’s pricy, but his keys are pretty much universally worth it. I have his Torsion Bar Cootie Paddle, retrofitted with the heavier base from the Fat Boy model, so it’s a bit of a hybrid, but it’s probably the best key I’ve ever used. I’d consider the TBP if I had the money.

    https://w1sfr.com/torsion-bar-portable-key-the-tbp/

    I’ve been meaning to get this touch-paddle board from kit-projects.com, but it just BEGS to be mounted inside the case of some nice radio, with the paddle fingerpieces carefully mounted to the corner of the case, so it can be operated with thumb and forefinger with the smallest possible cross-section to get damaged in a go-bag or crash case.

    https://shop.kit-projects.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=98

    I have another touch paddle that doesn’t have the fingerpieces at right angles to the board, but instead has them as concentric target circles on the touch circuit board itself. I don’t know that I like the layout, but it does function fairly nicely. I got it on Ebay, and it has a very low profile and low power requirements.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Touch-Sensitive-Morse-Paddle-for-Iambic-keyers-with-paddle-orientation-adjust-/164111732094

    I got these 3d printed paddles, but frankly, I don’t like them. Like the White Rook paddles, they’re too lightweight and feel flimsy and too flexible even if they aren’t. They work, and they’re cheap, but they’re they’re a tad bigger than W1SFR’s TBP and the only anchoring feature they have is that the metal feet on the bottom corners are neodymium magnets with countersunk holes through them that double as the screws to hold the box closed. There’s thousands of sellers selling these things all over the place at prices from $9 to $60 or so. The $9 is probably closest to reasonable. I don’t list them here to recommend them, but to warn you AWAY from them.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cw-Key-Automatic-Key-Short-Wave-Automatic-Key-Double-Radio-Report-Paddle-V6L3/293639161738

  3. I’d agree with you, Nathan, except that Palm Paddles went out of business when the owner went SK. If you can find a pico paddle for anything less than the mortgage on a house, yes, you’re absolutely correct. But nobody is parting with any model of Palm Paddle they already own at this point.

    There’s a 3d printed paddle that’s very small, that I just found on Thingiverse. If you have a 3d printer, you could print it yourself, or have a friend do it, or worst case, pay to have a 3d print provider do it for you. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2333019

  4. I have an N0SA SSP mini-paddle. While I’m no expert it seems to be really well made and has a good feel. There’s a good video of NJ7V using one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrTab0ywtog and he also has a link to one of Larry’s data sheets in the video description. The 3M Dual Lock stuff Larry ships it with is pretty awesome for sticking it to something yet still having it be removable.

  5. Was not aware palm went out of business. Too bad. I have a couple of the standard size and use the frequently on travel trips. The UMPP looks promising. Thanks@WB7DWF for the tip.

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