A telegraph key is the switch used to send Morse code. The simplest, the straight key, makes a signal for as long as you hold it down, so you time every dot and dash yourself. Faster designs take some of that work away: the semi-automatic "bug" makes the dots for you, and a paddle connected to an electronic keyer makes both dots and dashes, perfectly timed.
The straight key
The straight key is the one in old films: a lever with a knob on top and a contact underneath. Press it, and the circuit closes; let go, and a spring opens it. The first telegraph key was invented by Alfred Vail, Samuel Morse's partner, and the design has barely changed since.
Every dot and dash is timed by your hand. Operators range from about 5 words per minute as beginners up to about 30 words per minute on a straight key. A good straight key operator has a recognisable rhythm, called a "fist", and experienced listeners could tell who was sending just from it.
The straight key's weakness is the rapid pumping needed for strings of dots. Telegraphers who spent years on one often developed a repetitive strain injury they called "glass arm". The tall knobs on many keys were designed to encourage a lighter grip and reduce it.
The side-swiper
A side-swiper, also called a cootie key, moves from side to side instead of up and down, making contact on either side and springing back to the centre. The alternating action gives the sending a distinctive swing that experienced listeners can hear. It is still a manual key: you time every signal yourself.
The bug
The semi-automatic key, or "bug", was invented and patented by Horace G. Martin of New York City in 1904, and sold from 1905 by his Vibroplex Company, which still makes them. Many operators still call any bug a Vibroplex.
A bug has a single paddle, held between the thumb and the knuckle:
- Press with the thumb and the paddle sets a horizontal pendulum swinging, which taps the contact repeatedly: a stream of evenly timed dots, as many as you hold it for. The speed depends on the length of the pendulum.
- Press with the knuckle and the paddle makes a steady contact for a dash, which you time yourself.
Because the dots, the hardest part to send by hand, are made by the mechanism, a skilled operator can send at more than 40 words per minute with a bug. The catch is that the dashes are still manual, and matching them to the machine's dots takes practice.
Paddles and electronic keyers
From the middle of the twentieth century, electronic keyers took over. A keyer is a circuit, often built into a modern amateur radio, that generates perfectly timed dots and dashes. You control it with paddles:
- Single paddle: pressing one way sends dots, pressing the other way sends dashes. It looks like a side-swiper but the keyer does the timing.
- Double paddle, also called iambic or squeeze: two separate levers. Squeeze both together and the keyer sends alternating dots and dashes,
.-.-.-or-.-.-.depending on which lever touched first. Letters like C,-.-., can then be sent with a single squeeze.
With a keyer, the timing of every element is perfect, and the only skill left is the rhythm between them. It is the most common way to send Morse on amateur radio today.
Which one should you start with?
Most teachers suggest one of two routes:
- Start with a straight key to learn the rhythm of every letter with your own hand, then move to a paddle when you want speed.
- Start straight on a paddle and keyer, because the clean timing makes your sending easier to read from day one.
Both work. What matters more is that you learn to receive by ear first; see how to learn Morse code.
Check your fist
Whatever you choose, record your sending and play it into MorseBeep's decoder. It works out your speed and reads what you sent. If it gets your text right, other operators will too. If it turns your E into an I, your gaps are too short. For the timing rules behind all this, see how Morse code works.