I have been trying to work toward my General ticket in Amateur radio, mostly due to the desire to use QRP as efficiently as possible on the lower bands and with some pretty awesome digital modes. That said, I also have a fascination with CW (what most people know as Morse Code).

I also think that the Homebrew tradition of radio should stay alive and well. When I decided to learn to use an Iambic Paddle (I had a FUNKeyer from a good friend) I decided I was going to make one. The concept was simple. In essence an iambic paddle is simply two switches, one that triggers a keyer to send a “dit”, or one that triggers a keyer to send a “dah”. If held down, the keyer will, generally, repeat the “dits” and “dahs” with a regular interval until the key is released.

With that in mind I settled on building one out of some Aluminum sheet, and some hardwood cutoffs.

I used two aluminum lengths as the paddles themselves. These were connected to a common post in the back with two bolts. This gave a common ground to use for the paddles.

Two 90 deg brackets (that’s for you crazy Radian fans.) form the standoffs for the “dit” and “dah” closures for the switches. The paddles, when depressed, short ground to these two brackets.

For connection, each bracket has a wire that connects it to the respective connections on the keyer circuit. (left-hand right angle is “dit”, right-hand right angle is “dah”).

For anyone who would like to follow along at home, here’s a diagram with some simple instructions on how to handle the sheet metal.

Paddle Parts CAD

I plan on upgrading these paddles and making them with some brass parts, a solid post for the common ground in the back, brass paddle lengths, some nice wood paddle ends, and 2 custom angle brackets. I will probably make it with a walnut base instead of the cherry I used this time. It will use 3-conductor cloth braided wire, and hopefully look and feel amazing.