Slow on the uptake

That’s me …. W2LJ …. incredibly slow on the uptake at times.

For FOBB and again yesterday for the Skeeter Hunt, I ended up using my Whiterook single lever paddle instead of my American Morse Dirt Cheap Paddle.  Not because I don’t like the DCP, in fact I love its action and feel.  The problem was that every time I would go to pick the paddle up with my big, hammy hands, I would inadvertently squeeze it and start sending unwanted dits or dahs.

This paddle is too good to not use – so tonight I had a “V8 moment” where I hit my forehead as the obvious solution occurred to me.  And actually, I ended up killing two birds with one stone.

I carry my ear buds in an old Velamints tin.  It occurred to me that the tin could do double duty – carry my ear buds AND serve as a base for my paddles.

I punched a hole through the top of the tin and secured the paddle to the top lid with a #4 screw, lockwasher and nut.

Now the tin does double duty, perfectly!  And when I put my big mitts on the tin, I am no longer accidentally squeezing the paddle levers and generating unwanted Morse.  Not a good thing in the middle of a sprint (or anytime for that matter!).

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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