I have a friend who is in the process of learning Morse Code, and in the past, he’s asked me about the best way to position one’s hand and fingers when using a paddle. To be honest, I’ve never given it much thought.
I just reach over from wherever I’m situated and start sending. Sometimes, I’m not positioned quite right and make a few mistakes. When that happens, I shift my arm a little, or move my chair, to make it easier to send.
Yesterday, he sent me a link to this YouTube video:
This video also references an eleven-page article, “The Secrets of Easy Morse Code Sending.
My first reaction was, “Whoa! This guy has really analyzed the heck out of this.” Personally, though, I think he’s making much too big a deal out of it. It’s kind of like bowling. If you think too much about how to do it, you’ll never really be able to do it. At the very least, it kind of takes some of the fun out of it.
Also, what works for one operator may not work for others. For example, the video shows a diagram that says that the arm should be positioned at a 30 – 45 degree angle to the paddle. That may work for some operators, maybe even most operators, but not for you. I know that I don’t operate that way.
Like I said before, I just reach over to the paddle from wherever I happen to be when it’s my turn to start sending. Heck, sometimes I’ll even get up and walk around the shack when the other operator is sending. If the other operator turns it back to me before I can sit down again, I may even be standing and reaching down to the key.
I also never curl the pinkie, ring, and middle fingers into the palm of my hand. I just let them hang loose. I think that curling them in like that might encourage one to tighten up one’s grip, and that’s not something you want to do. If curling those fingers is natural for an operator, fine, but to say this is the way it “should” be done is bad advice.
I also completely disagree with his statement that if you’re a beginner it’s just as easy to learn to send with your off hand as it is your dominant hand. The argument for learning to send with one’s off hand is often made by saying that will free up your dominant hand for copying. That argument makes no sense to me, as you will rarely, if ever, have to copy anything while you’re sending, and if you’re goign to get above 18-20 wpm, you should be working towards head copy anyway.
My advice to my friend was to just start sending and adjust as you go along. Every operator’s hand, arm, and key are different. Try different keys at different positions and different heights and different spring or magnetic tensions, and you’ll figure out what works best for you.
Over and above that, just make contacts. Making contacts will make you a better operator much faster than watching YouTube videos or reading books.
My friend replied, “I am not sure if I enjoy the art of sending and receiving more than the actual QSO.” I’m cool with that, but to me, making QSOs is what it’s all about.
What do you think? How do you use a paddle?
I’m a lefty when writing, so in the days when paper logs were the norm, it was an advantage for me to send with my right, and write with my left. Even if there is nothing to copy while sending, during the transmit/receive switch over, it’s much easier to not have to pick up and put down your pen/pencil when you go from the key to writing and back again.
I agree that this is all well and good for someone who is doing hard copy, and there are occasions where that may still be the case, even at moderately higher speeds.
In contesting, the focus tends to be on the computer keyboard, and function keys to send bits ‘n pieces from memory, with the occasional filler from the paddle if need be. I try to keep the latter down as much as possible, because it tends to break the rhythm of the typical contest QSO for me. If someone needs a fill on my exchange, I tend to mash the function key to send the entire exchange again, rather than try to peck out just the required information on the paddle or on the computer keyboard.
It may take a few milliseconds longer, but in contesting accuracy as well as speed is the name of the game, and it helps the operator on the other end to be as consistent as possible.
I have a problem getting my left foot on the desk so I sometimes put the paddle on the floor.
I’m getting close to 50 years as a ham and never worried about where the position of my hand is on the key or the paddle. What I use is what’s comfortable to me. It may or may not be the same as what’s comfortable for you.