If you’re anything like me when operating ham radio in the field, mobile, or portable, you’re always looking for a better way to make the trip easier and hassle free.


One of my biggest problems was not having an operating desk to use when copying and sending code without jugging everything in my lap. This brought me back to my Navy days when I was an aviation electrician at NAS Whiting Field in Milton, Florida (http://www.pafw.com/whiting.htm).

Back then all the pilots had a kneeboard that they used during their training flights to write on and retain any information. I thought that this could take care of part of my problem, but I still needed a way to send with my MK 44 keyer paddle without having to hold it in my hand.

Searching the Internet I found a kneeboard sold by a company called "Flyboys" in Houston, Texas (http://www.flyboys.com/kneeboards.html).

The kneeboard is made with nylon and has Velcro leg straps. There’s also a acrylic clipboard that slips in and out of a pocket that might be useful to mount my keyer paddle.

I had to have something that was easy to set up and didn’t weigh too much. Needless to say, in a few days I had my new toy delivered to my front door along with a free calendar to hang in the ham shack.

After a little trial and error I came up with a bracket made from 5/16th inch plexi-glass that I had in the workshop. All the sizes and angle cuts in the bracket can be changed for your personal operating comfort zone.


If you use a different kind of clipboard and paddle they will in all likelihood be different. I made a drawing of what worked for me with the MK 44 paddle and the kneeboard from Flyboys.

After the bracket was constructed, a hole was drilled in the bottom of the keyer and mounted too the bracket with one small bolt, nut, and washer. The heavy spring on the clipboard now snaps into the groove on the bracket and will hold the keyer in a very stable and comfortable operating position when slipped into the nylon kneeboard pocket.


You may notice from the pictures that I have an extra key jack and plug coming out from the back of the MK 44 keyer paddle. What I did was add the Elecraft K2 external keying auto-detect option with two diodes inside the keyer base. This option is for a straight key connection, but also serves another purpose when I want to use my ZM-2 antenna tuner. I just jack the plug out and it will key the transceiver for tuning up the antenna.

With my new kneeboard, I went out to the Ludington State Park for a day trip to see how everything would check out in the real world. I’m very fortunate to live in such a beautiful area in Michigan. Our Ludington State Park has 5,300 acres of scenic sand dunes, shorelines, ponds, marshland, and forests.


With my K2 and 40 meter dipole I went up on one of the scenic bluffs looking out over Lake Michigan. The band conditions where not too good that day, but I did manage two QSOs – one in Illinois and the other in Ohio. This operating setup worked great and added very little weight to my daypack. Now I don’t feel like a (Juggler on a Log.)
I’ll give you the information on the kneeboard dealer if anyone is interested, but I have no affiliation in anyway with this company, just a satisfied customer.


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Harcourt Quick, W8BHK, is an avid QRPer and outdoorsman living in Ludington, MI.