Topband: Bugs

[Richard (Rick) Karlquist]

On 7/6/2023 10:38 AM, W3HKK at roadrunner.com wrote:
> I stepped up to a keyer from my Lightning Bug in the early 90s' but
> could never get the hang of both. My fist kept wanting to do the bug
> W3HKK (since 1956)

First of all:  "its not your fault"

There are many different keyers available, and then there are
single and dual action paddles.  Some keyers have multiple
personalities to choose from.   This is a huge topic to
try to wrap your mind around.

The reader's digest version is that you can minimize the learning
curve by using a single action paddle.  This largely eliminates iambic
action (which you won't miss), even if the keyer supposedly supports
iambic.  Some built in keyers in rigs have an option to select
"A" or "B" iambic type.  On one rig I had, I absolutely could not
send with one of these selections, but the other one worked
fine for me.  On my current rig, A and B seem to be the same.
I only use a single action paddle (IE, "dot" and "dash" are
mutually exclusive).

Hope this helps.

73
Rick N6RK