"Rick Nevill" ) writes:
Hello!

I would like to to make a custom iambic keyer for a person with
quadraplegia. She mainly has use of only her index and ring finger. She
can only flex her thumb and cannot release the thumb pressure at will.

Does anyone know of an iambic keyer kit or inexpensive keyer that I could
dis-assemble to build a keyer with side-by-side rather than opposing
paddles? That way she could use her ring finger for the dashes and her
index finger for the dots (or visa-versa) . She cannot move her arm at all,
so I will have to make a splint that can hold the keyer and her hand in the
correct position.

The closest I have found is this site that lists alot of keyers:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/16 and the MFJ-561K Minature Iambic
keyer kit.

BTW, she cannot use a straw, so I cannot build her the keyer that was in QST
last month!

Thanks for any help I can get!

73,
Rick
WD5FRZ


I can't give any specifics, though I thought some of the keyers had
terminals on the back for a good paddle. Come to think of it, there
was a time when the paddles were not build into the keyer, so you had
to come up with something or buy something after you had the keyer.

But I can't see any problem taking any keyer, and merely adding some
wires across the paddles so you can have an external "paddle". No
matter what the keyer, those points have got to be available to solder
on some wires.

As for they "paddle" maybe try two microswitches sitting next to each other?
Maybe that's too small? I'm sure I've seen such "paddles" described in
the ham magazines in years gone by, and it was shown as an alternative not
something specific for the disabled, though I sure couldn't offer up
any dates.

Michael VE2BVW