so ive been trying to get back into CW after about a 15 year break and honestly its like starting over. i picked up an old Bencher paddle at a hamfest a few months ago and its been sitting on my desk mostly collecting dust because every time i sit down to practice i just get frustrated with myself.

the main thing bugging me right now is the keyer timing — im running an Icom 7300 with the built in keyer and i cannot for the life of me find a speed and weight setting that feels natural. like if i slow it down enough to be accurate the dits and dahs feel too mushy and spaced out, but if i speed it up to where it sounds good to my ear i start making all kinds of errors. i think part of the problem might be the paddle tension too but im not sure. anybody else gone through this coming back after a long break and what did you do to get the feel back.

also should i just bite the bullet and get a standalone keyer or is the 7300 built in good enough for practicing

oh man yes this is exactly what i went through last year. coming back after time off is rough because your brain kind of remembers the code but your hands definitely dont. what helped me was actually slowing way down — i mean painfully slow, like 10-12 wpm — and just doing one letter at a time until it felt effortless, then bumping up a couple wpm. the frustration usually comes from pushing speed before the muscle memory is solid.

on the keyer timing stuff, the built in 7300 keyer is honestly pretty decent, ive heard worse in dedicated units that cost real money. but i would play with the weight setting more than you probably have — try bumping the weight up just a hair from default and see if that helps the dits feel a bit more defined at slower speeds. paddle tension is personal but a lot of people set it too loose when they first start, which causes bounce and errors. snug it up a tiny bit and see if that helps your accuracy. and give it time, seriously, its not gonna click overnight but one day itll just start feeling right again.

the 7300 keyer is fine dont worry about that. i actually compared it to my Winkeyer USB a while back and for casual operating and practice there wasnt much difference i could notice. save your money on a standalone keyer for now.

one thing nobody told me when i was learning — check that your paddle contact gap is set consistently on both sides. if the dit contact is closer than the dah contact or vice versa you'll fight yourself constantly. bencher paddles are nice but they do need a little tweaking out of the box sometimes. theres a good video on youtube from W7ATC i think that shows how to set up a bencher properly, might be worth a look.