Up a Creek: Adventures Home Brewing a TFR Paddle
Special to The ARS Sojourner
In September 1996 my YL and I hiked up a spur onto the Appalachian Trail toward Jarrard Gap, GA, which is at about 3,300 foot elevation. We found a neat little site near the Gap and set up my very first /PQ station.
It went well. I had two 40 meter contacts in a short period (West Virginia, 599; and Illinois, 559). "This is too easy," I said quietly to myself, fingers and toes crossed. The setup was an NN1G SW-40 transceiver with 8-AA batteries, a vertical OCF dipole (which performed well), in a true "Spartan" effort. I used a straight key. Really, though, I should say I abused a straight key. I didn't want to put any more people through the torture of listening to it, plus the sky clouded up like rain. It was an unusual experience, combining amateur radio with hiking. I liked it.
As a kid, I spent more time "out back," in the southern Michigan woods, than I did inside. There was a pond out back (more often a swamp) that drew Mallards during migration. Whitetail cruised that area leaving tracks and getting into the farmers' crops. I was always on the lookout for arrowheads, or at a minimum some flint to mess around with. Anyway, that was many years and many miles ago. I found, however, that I really missed it. So our little adventure to Jarrard Gap made a connection, bringing back familiar sights, sounds, smells.
My dilemma was that there was no future for me with that straight key. I was fairly good with an old Vibroplex bug back at home. But the bug just wasn't right for /PQ. The obvious solution was to become proficient with a small electronic keyer and light weight paddles.
The first Adventure Radio Society "Trail Friendly Radio" contest was underway at the time, and maybe I could finish a paddle in time for the contest. So my motivation for the "TFR" paddle was to conjure up a usable set of paddles with a small electronic keyer. I'd have to perfect it enough to take it on the requisite hike, enter it in the "TFR" contest, and then use it for all field operations hence forth. During that time frame I actually designed and bread-boarded an electronic keyer using a CMOS counter and a few CMOS gates. In hindsight, I wonder why. There were already several keyer chips, with many features. I guess I just wanted to do it my way first.
The ARS Spartan Sprints had started to run on a monthly basis. With the same rig I carried to Jarrard Gap, I added the TFR paddle and breadboard keyer, removed the straight key, then entered a Spartan Sprint or two. The reason for the checkerboard hole pattern was to reduce weight. Those sprints were fun, but they were late in the day and out of sync with my work schedule. So this was my start at contesting with a paddle and electronic keyer.
My first attempt was with two paddles. As hard as I might try, the transition from bug to dual paddles was not happening. After experimenting with gap sizes, spring rates, iambic modes, left hand, and right hand, the scheme that worked best for me was with the two paddles taped together as one. It looked silly. After all, I only needed one paddle to effect this functionality. So one paddle was removed, and the following design evolved from this ARS inspired story. A closer look at an older W4ED TFR CW paddle shows that the key to this paddle (pun intended) is the plastic spring material.
I spent a year trying out various samples before finally finding a keeper. Goals for this paddle were: rugged, lightweight, cheap. The older one is about 2 ounces. The new one is 1.5 ounce. It can be built in a few hours. Collecting the parts takes longer!
[Construction details for Bob's paddles, including photos, can be found on his web site.]
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Bob Edwards, W4ED, is an avid QRPer, outdoorsman and builder living in Stone Mountain, GA.