AME Porta-Paddle 2

foggycoder

foggycoder

Super Member
Sold by American Morse Equipment, this double paddle has been around for a long time and gained a good reputation as a solid beginner's paddle. As the name suggests, it's optimised for portable operations by being physically small (the base is 37mm x 47mm, the paddles protrude a further 18mm, and it is 30mm high) and solidly built.

Curiously, you can purchase a heavy metal base for it although why you'd want to accept the compromises of a "portable" paddle and then lumber it with a block of steel, I really can't imagine.

In the USA, it is regarded as a cheap-ish paddle. But I paid £71 for the paddle plus shipping, £7 for VAT, and £8 Post Office "handling" charge, coming to a total of £86.

It arrived as a bag of bits for self-assembly. You have to obtain, prepare and solder a stereo audio cable to the solder tags on the hollowed-out underside of the base. There's no strain relief provided so I applied a dob of hot glue to the cable. The assembly was straight-forward, helped by the good instructions. All the parts are very well made and fit together with close tolerances. The paddles move in plain bearings so I applied a drop of 3-in-1 oil. The paddles can be fitted either way up, depending on your preference. As you can see, I mounted my PP2 to a MDF base board, with an extra layer of MDF to raise the paddle height. My rubber bands provide a non-slip grip to prevent the paddle/board moving around during use (not pretty but they are effective).

As you can see from the photo, there are three adjustments - one for spring tension, and one for each paddle contact gap. The plastic knobs mean that no tools are required to make adjustments in the field. Only very small movements of the gap screws are necessary. I have the gaps set slightly bigger than I would prefer, to avoid spurious contacts. Fixed stop pins (visible in the photo) limit the outward travel of the paddles.

In operation, it does feel nice and solid compared to plastic paddles. Personally I would prefer the paddle blades to be bigger but that is one of the compromises of a "portable" paddle. It is fairly noisy ("clackety-clack") - you may enjoy that, or you may find it distracting.

It does what it says on the tin - it is a simple, small, robust paddle for portable operations. For portable ops, I've moved on to other things but it remains on my desk as my go-to double paddle.
 

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Does the key have any kind of coating on the metal used (brass?), or is it untreated?

Also, has any kind of contact material been used, are there inserts say, or do they simply rely on the steel screws forming a contact against the brass(?) contact posts?

I'm surprised about the lack of strain relief on the cable, especially as this key is presumably intended for portable use where there might be no end of pulling and tugging at the cable.

On one of the keys I have here they use a soldered on ring connector on the braid of the keys cable, which when screwed to the base of the key acts as a combined connection point and strain relief. The only down side is that it takes a little longer to prepare a replacement one, and care is needed when soldering the ring connector so as not to melt through the insulation of the dit and dah wires within.

I must say though it does look like a nice solid little key, and it also looks very compact too! bd


73, Mark... :w:
 
The gold parts are cast aluminium with some sort of coating (anodised?). AME previously did a blue version.

The steel screws make direct contact with the brass contact pins.
 
Looks like a nice paddle, and looks like it may be good for portable working.

It's a shame it's not easier to get here in the UK, you'd think with the fairly good rep these have some local emporium would have picked them up. Having said that, they'd probably charge ?120 for them, so maybe getting them from the US is still the best bet...
 
I have one and use it for mobile use, mounted in my truck.  I really like the size.  Like the OP said, the gap has to be a little wider than I like to keep from making opposite side contacts.  The only problem really that I have had is sometimes it fails to make a contact.  Like will stop after 2dits even though I?m still holding it down.  Same sort of contact problem when I?m using it as a straight key, by turning off the keyer. I don?t know how to get a better contact.  That said I would surely buy another and may do so for portable use.
 
" The only problem really that I have had is sometimes it fails to make a contact.  Like will stop after 2dits even though I?m still holding it down.  Same sort of contact problem when I?m using it as a straight key, by turning off the keyer. I don?t know how to get a better contact. "

I had the same problem with a Vibroplex Code Warrior Jr.  The paddle arms are ground and short out the center contacts, so if the ground thru the pivot isn't good they are intermittent.

If you can make the rear pivot posts rougher maybe the contact will be better.  Can you remove the arms and run some emery cloth across the posts?

Glenn AE0Q

 
Maybe add some grounding wires so as to get around the pivot losses/resistances?

I see this problem a lot om MFJ-550 straight keys (I have a few laying around the place). They are well know for continuity issues, many think it is the contact not working properly, so they clean and clean them, but still the key is very erratic when used with some circuits.

I found out that it was not the contact that was causing the problem though, but the pivot points. My 'fix' is to solder a short length of coiled wire between the underside of the key arm and the surface of the pivot bracket. I coil the wire to allow it to flex more easily. I've never had any issues with them after fitting the soldered link.

It might be worth occasionally passing some current through the contacts/pivots of the paddle key, to 'burn off' any oxide. I suggest this based on an article I read many years ago about a "transistor assisted ignition" system that was published in one of the electronics magazines of the time. Back then electronic ignition was a novelty for the home experimenter! The article mentioned that originally the design had operated at a high impedance, using the original 'points' on the vehicle for triggering the circuit. The designers found though that the circuit would very quickly stop functioning due to a build up of oxide on the contact surfaces of the points.

After much experimentation they came to the conclusion that it was best to pass around 250mA through the contacts, this being enough to 'burn off' any oxide build up, but not enough to cause the points to pit.

So maybe wiring the paddle key up to a bulb or resistor and passing some current through the key once in a while might help(?).

Just a crazy random thought from me! :))

73, Mark...
 
I?m gonna have to try some of theses suggestions.  I turn off the keyer for SKCC contacts and the thing sounds awful sometimes.  Using it with the keyer is better but still messes up some.
 
I have found a fix to my intermittent contact problem.  It seems that it is the end of the screw not making a good contact at some parts.  So if it is messing up, I can unscrew it or tighten it about a quarter turn and it will work fine again.  This is the screw that sets paddle travel.  It also is the contact.  The end isn?t flat I suppose.
 
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