Cheap paddle kit from the Bay

O

OC71

Star Member
Hi,

I was just browsing the *bay and I found a very cheap paddle kit. ?15.00 including postage.

I am not sure if I am allowed to post a link but the item no. is 333831574957.

I am tempted but I wonder if it's robust enough or it will break over time.

Pics follow...
 

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ottavio said:
... I am not sure if I am allowed to post a link...
Click to expand...

You certainly can, as can anyone else. :cool:

The only time links are frowned upon is where folks post *LOTS* of links pointing to one website, and the whole thing starts looking like spam.

73, Admin.
 
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Ok, thanks. This is the link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morse-Code-Paddle-Practice-Oscillator-/333831574957

@G0KZZ, can you please remove the images for me? I can't edit my previous post.
 
ottavio said:
Ok, thanks. This is the link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morse-Code-Paddle-Practice-Oscillator-/333831574957

@G0KZZ, can you please remove the images for me? I can't edit my previous post.
Click to expand...
I've 'modified' it ;)

The images are now hosted by the forum though I've left them the original size.

73, Admin. bd
 
ottavio said:
Hi,

I was just browsing the *bay and I found a very cheap paddle kit. ?15.00 including postage.

I am tempted but I wonder if it's robust enough or it will break over time.
Click to expand...
I had the "PCB Practice Key" from the same seller... https://hamradioforum.com/threads/pcb-practice-key-buzzer-kit.222/

The material used looks the same colour/type of PCB. The base section of the straight key is quite rigid, but I found the arm a little too flexible (I prefer more tension). Having said that the same tension would most likely be fine for a paddle key. Unless you stamped on the key I would be surprised if it were to break!

I don't think it is SRBP board, in the flesh it looks like a high quality fibreglass material (it's possible to make out the 'webbing' or 'weave' of the cloth used).

Go on, buy one. You know you deserve it, and you could review it for the forum too! :)

73, Mark...
 
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I just checked out the ad on eBay and I noticed that if you just purchase the PCB without any components then the cost is only £4.50 😮

So OK, you wouldn't get the pre-programmed PIC or AVR IC, but the ad suggests that it "can be used as standard paddle and connected to a radio", so for £4.50 and a few items from your junk box it would make an extremely lightweight key for portable/SOTA use.

Certainly worth thinking about at that price.

73, Mark...
 
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G0KZZ said:
I just checked out the ad on eBay and I noticed that if you just purchase the PCB without any components then the cost is only £4.50 😮

So OK, you wouldn't get the pre-programmed PIC or AVR IC, but the ad suggests that it "can be used as standard paddle and connected to a radio", so for £4.50 and a few items from your junk box it would make an extremely lightweight key for portable/SOTA use.
Click to expand...
But the pcb doesn't include the other mechanical parts, such as the levers, I think. I could ask the seller about that. I don't think the kit would be functional without all its components.

EDIT: Second look: it looks like the levers are actually part of the PCB and must be "snapped out". Interesting. Would it still work as a standard paddle without the electronics?
 
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ottavio said:
But the pcb doesn't include the other mechanical parts, such as the levers, I think. I could ask the seller about that. I don't think the kit would be functional without all its components.

EDIT: Second look: it looks like the levers are actually part of the PCB and must be "snapped out". Interesting. Would it still work as a standard paddle without the electronics?
Click to expand...

Yup, they do snap out from the overall PCB as it arrives (my straight key version did that to create the arm of the key).

The metal fittings are just a few M2 or M3 screws and nuts, with a 'matching' M2 or M3 threaded PCB stand-off for the common contact.

I think it will operate as a paddle without needing the keyer chip provided with the full kit. If you look closely at the photos, on one of them it is possible to see where the 3.5mm stereo jack pins connect directly to the left and right paddles, with a third track running from the jack to the common contact post at the front of the base.

The straight key version I have here works the same way, with the key contact going to the socket.

There was a kit for a keyer available many years ago, that came from a design that appeared in Ham Radio Today (HRT) magazine, or possibly Radcom, and that used some PCB material to form a home brew paddle key. I think it was designed by G3WPO (possibly), and I 'think' the kit was available from Ambit International (they became Cirkit in later years).

Going back to the eBay one, I was thinking that instead of fitting PCB stand-offs underneath as legs/feet in the way the designer has, maybe it would be more useful built straight in to a small plastic box?

I'm tempted just thinking about it now! :)

73, Mark...
 
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Just found the article online. It was published in Radio & Electronics World back in 1983!

https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/I...or-IDX/IDX/80s/R&EW-1983-01-OCR-Page-0046.pdf

And there is a video of one in use here... Sort off ;)


I actually have one here that I have stripped down to the empty PCB at the moment. The kit had been built by someone else when I acquired it, rather crudely, so I decided to fully rebuilt it. I was going to make a new 'key' for it, but seeing those kits you highlighted has made me wonder whether one of those would make for a neater replacement?

Hmmm, even more tempted now! :sneaky:

73, Mark...
 
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Whoops :(

Didn't notice that the above link for the article was only for the first page... 😠

The link below is for the full magazine that it featured in, and the article starts on page 44.

https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Radio-&-Electronics-World/R&EW-1983-01.pdf

Brings back so many memories while looking through those articles and adverts :)

If you take a look at the design you will see what I mean about the key being made from PCB material. As I mentioned above, the kit you highlighted reminds me of the design very much.

73 again, Mark...
 
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I wonder if the output from the buzzer can be diverted to the input of a PC, so that it can be fed onto Flidigi. This could make it more interesting.
 
ottavio said:
I wonder if the output from the buzzer can be diverted to the input of a PC, so that it can be fed onto Flidigi. This could make it more interesting.
Click to expand...

Can't see why not. Maybe the socket could be reconfigured so as to allow a neat 3.5mm cable to be used.

I'm not sure how he is generating the tone. If the buzzer he uses does not have an internal driver then a true tone output would be available to tap off. But, he may be using a simple DC output from the PIC and using that to power a buzzer with inbuilt driver. This would mean that there would be a switched DC voltage available but no tone output.

He mentions using a resistor in series with the buzzer to control the volume, and he uses the same 'system' in the straight key version I purchased. That uses a buzzer with inbuilt driver. Although there would be some 'audio' to be derived from the voltage drop across the series resistor, I have a feeling it would be a very rough waveform, most likely with lots of distortion.

If so, maybe a better approach would be to reprogram the PIC (or AVR) to give a tone output rather than switched DC.

73, Mark...
 
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