A Paddle




Tumd morse paddle (key)

I'd like to learn morse, so my partner kindly bought me a morse key.
Actually it's a paddle, not a key, but I may refer to it as a key in this post. Please give me a pass on this.

The main reason for this page is just a place to keep a copy of the cut-away image from the online sitre, just in case it dissapears from the rest of the internet. That image is probably the only help I'll get if I need to pull the paddle apart. Or more likely if I give in to the urge to pull the paddle apart because hacker nerd engineering head.
But I hope some of the words I've stuck on here along with that picture are useful or interesting to someone.




This key is called a "Tumd" - I think that is the brand name of the manufacturer - as I have seen some other paddles under the same brand.
I'm not sure of the excact model name, but the AliExpress listing title was "Tumd CW Paddle CW Key Handheld Tapper Modern Morse key Double paddle Amateur radio key".
So maybe it's called the "Tapper". The "Modern Morse" is a reference to a key made by a smallish US manufacturer. A little more on Modern Morse
below.

The other key I was originally looking at was the CW Morse  pocket paddle. CW Morse make a number of keys/paddles, but the one I was looking at was the  Pocket Paddle or Outdoor Pocket Paddle used by Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL of https://qrper.com/ and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@ThomasK4SWL "fame".
The PocketPaddle is 3d printed and more expensive than the Tumd.

So I'm gonna go with the Tumb which I suspect is a smidge more durable and is about 40-50% of the price.

The key I yearn for is the Modern Morse key - but they are around $400AUD landed, which is not obscense for a morse key, but more than I am willing to pay as a Foundatio Licnese HAM who is just starting out in morse. I'm sure the Tumd key will do everything the other two keys will do to a level that I won't be able to tell the difference.
The real reason for wanting the Modern Morse key - at least right now - is because I like beautifully crafted objects, and apprectiate them.
The other downside on Modern Morse keys is they are made by a small manufacturer, who I think manufacturers his paddles as a side business, on plant that he uses to manufacture other things as his main business, so they are made in relatively small drops and he has recently decided not to sell to non US customers at least for a while because he has not had the time to work properly work out the logistics and has had a couple of bad experiences with non US sales recently.

I found the Tumb paddle on AliExpress while looking for other radio related stuff - project boxes.
I'm a new convert to AliExpress - and I think we paid a little more than the real value of the paddle because the link I gave my partner was not from the manufacturer's Ali Express store, but was from a rent seeking middle man. Even so we didn't do to bad. I think where we bought it from was selling them for something like $60AUD. I later saw stores selling the same key for ~$180AUD.
The manufacturer sells them for about $57AUD - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008943529383.html -  at least I think this is the manufacturer's store. Do your own research, both on the best place to buy them and as to whether thay are a good key.


I really know nothing about what makes a good morse key (paddle), but this paddle appears to be nicely made. and I believe everything that needs to be adjusted/tuned on a paddle is adjustable on this paddle.

One possible downside is that the paddle is largely aluminum and has no magnets for attaching it to a have base so it is really intended for use in the hand - I'm not sure what the correct term for this mode of key/paddle use. If you don't know what I mean here, a lot of morse keys designed for use in a shack/on a desk are quite heavy, they often havea thick steel baseplate, so they don't move around while you're using them. Some lighter keys have magnets built into them so you can attah them to a metal plate or some other ferrous object to achieve a similar effect.
This paddle does not have enough ferrous metal in it for my strong rare earth magnets to attach to and it does not have any magnets built in to it to allow you to attach it to a base.
So if having a weighted/static base is important to you you'd need to come up with some other means.
This is mentioned on the product  page - at least on the OEM's product page.
I reckon you could 3d print a frame that could be used as an interface to a heavy base, e.g. a frame that has magnets in it, or has bold holes or whatever.
Or - what I am thinking - is devise a an interfaces that lets you run some webbing through it so you can strap it to something - a lot of field morse operatoes strap their key to their thigh, which works well if they are sitting/squatting. You could also then strap it to something like a battery or your pack.
So not an insurmountable problem but one you should know about it you are considerign thsi key.

And how do I propose to learn morse?

There are lots of ways including teaching yourself using an app.

I tried self teaching and haven't advanced as fast as I'd like so I'm going to try a more formal course. Luckily Glam Ham Radio's Learn Morse Code For Free from Anywhere in the World turned up in my You Tube shorts and points to https://cwops.org/ 

https://cwops.org/ provides free online courses available in many time zones around the world via Zoom. I think instruction is provided in English only so that may be an obstacle to some - but probably not a problem for anyone reading this post. You will need some local resources (see https://cwops.org/cw-academy/cw-academy-options/ for minimum requirements) but the tuition is free.

I have not enrolled yet, but that is where I am looking to try.

I believe the Long Island Morse Club https://longislandcwclub.org/  is a pretty popular option in the US, however I think most of the training is (understandably) convenient for the US eastern time zone, so if you live close to that time zone it might make a good alternative for you.






Links

Keys and Paddles

  • Tumd Ali Express page: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008943529383.html
  • CW Morse site: https://cwmorse.us/
    • https://www.ebay.com/usr/cwmorsecodekeys - CW Morse eBay store for "international" buyers. 
  • Modern Morse: https://www.modernmorse.com/

Morse Code Training










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