On Apr 5, 8:18 am, Jeffrey Angus wrote:
On 4/4/2010 5:46 PM, notbob wrote:

Thank you all for the great replies to my query.

But you didn't answer any of the questions I asked.

Jeff-1.0
wa6fwi

Jeff,

I started with the $20 MFJ brass straight key. Good adjustment span.
Set the contact space with a business card. Make sure you remove the
telegraph short bar or set it right. Office friends pitched in and got
me a Bencher RJ2 for retirement. It's all I use now. Retail
$155...discounted $130.

Probably the reason you never got the answers is there probably are
only opinions. Straight vs. bug. vs paddles? Reality does have top
speed capable is with the iambic paddles, but is top speed best means
of communication? I've known straight key users to send consistently
35 wpm. They use those speeds with others of like ability. Remember,
you have to copy at/near the speed you send, so being able to blaze
away with an iambic paddle at 60-70 wpm means you expect to copy from
the lone ham out there at the same rate.

90% of my CW contacts are 20 wpm; most around 15. That seems to be
about average copy ability for information QSOs.

Our CW group of 6 has 5 paddlers and 1 straight. My now-SK CW Elmer
could move between paddle and straight for SKNs (straight key nights).
He expressed that it is easier to learn on paddle and move later to
straight keys -- but that was his opinion. Most contests pass
rudimentary information and you develop a pattern of copying and
sending based on the contest info. Often you are copying a recorded
'macro'.

73,
Carl
KB9RVB