I’ve been using this set of paddles for my activations for a while now and I just thought I’d toss this out there.
I picked this little guy up because I saw a bunch of operators on Mastodon were using it. At about $60US it wasn’t that much of a gamble. And frankly, after the scare I had of thinking I’d lost my Begali in the field, I was looking for something that was solid enough, but wouldn’t make me lose my mind if I lost it. This fits into that niche very nicely.
I’ve got other keys that I use in the field. I have some from CW Morse and they’re good too. Lightweight, plastic, easy to work on in the field. But even the metal key I got from them feels a bit lighter than what I’d like. I asked a couple of questions on Mastodon and then hit the buy button. I didn’t quite know what to expect, but this little guy is pretty great.
I have a metal base that I carry around with me and the magnetic legs on the Putikeeg attach in a serious fashion. That thing really isn’t going anywhere. I like that a lot.
The keys take a slap well, but don’t require it. It’s very adjustable and I haven’t found myself fiddling with it too much. I have it Set and am clearly into the Forget portion of Set It And Forget It.
For my activations from the Jeep, I’ve used a crab clamp to hold the metal base and then attach the key to that. It works really well. It also works well on table top with the base or even held in the non-keying hand. I’ve dropped it a few times, tossed it into a bag loose, and probably given it more abuse than it deserves but it hasn’t seemed to mind. That said, I gave it a better home after reading a Field Report on QRPer.com and seeing a picture of the foam from the case’s box that it ships in dropped into a Pelican case.
When I think about some of the things I use for field operations, I tend to go for High Value. Sometimes I pay a little more for something that is just a touch nicer than a lower cost item, but I turn that on its side. Does it really cost more if it delivers on reducing friction or improved performance in some domain? In the case of this set of paddles, I think it is more than worth it at the current price. I’m quite pleased.
This isn’t much of a review and No, I wasn’t compensated for it. I’ve just seen people ask recently about this little dude and I want to say that Yes, You should.
73 and thanks for reading along!