Hi! I’d like to introduce my project.
A few months ago, despite having no amateur radio background, I randomly came across Forrest’s YouTube Shorts. It immediately caught my attention, and I quickly became curious about Morse code, not only the skill itself, but also the technical side, the tools, and the different types of keys.
I wanted to buy a paddle, but the models that interested me were either out of stock or difficult to find. So I decided to build my own.
I went through several prototypes, and I’m finally reaching a point where I’m genuinely happy with the result. I had a very specific set of design goals:
- It had to be compact enough to be easily portable without worrying about losing its adjustments.
- It had to be solid and durable, mainly made of aluminum.
- It had to perform well in cold weather. I live in Canada, so I wanted to minimize the impact of aluminum’s high thermal conductivity on usability.
- Adjustable magnetic return force and adjustable lever travel.
There may still be some small changes to the final design as I’m continuing to run tests.
Given that I’m still new to this field, I plan to have the key beta-tested by more experienced operators. (Probably some youtuber so the good of the key, and the bad, can be "public")
In the near future, the project will be open source.
Since most people don’t own a CNC machine, I also plan to create a 3D-printed version that could be built using a minimal parts kit — mainly the levers and a few components that need to be electrically conductive by design.
I’d also eventually like to explore more design-focused and aesthetically refined versions of the key.
I’m also considering producing a few small batches to sell at some point, but that’s not where I’m at right now.
Thanks for reading, any feedback, criticism, or suggestions are more than welcome. I'm on Youtube and IG if you want to follow the project. I'm kinda bad at it, but I'm learning ahah. Thanks