so ive been a tech for like 3 years and just upgraded to general last month and i told myself i was gonna learn CW even though its not required anymore. just feels like the right thing to do i guess. anyway ive been using just the software stuff to practice receiving and im getting better slowly but i want to start actually sending too and i have no idea where to start with hardware.

theres so many paddles out there and the prices range from like 30 bucks to several hundred dollars and i genuinely cant tell what the difference is beyond looks. do i need a fancy keyer built in or can i just use an external one. ive heard people say the MFJ keyers are fine to start and ive also heard people say theirs broke immediately so im confused. whats a reasonable first setup without spending a fortune. im practicing with the Koch method on LCWO right now if that matters.

welcome to the dark side haha. honestly for a first paddle dont overthink it too much — the Vibroplex brand paddles are nice but you dont need to start there. a lot of people start with a cheap single lever paddle and that works fine. i used a Begali for years and loved it but thats overkill for learning. the MFJ keyers are... okay. mine lasted a long time actually but i know people whove had issues. if your radio has a built in keyer (a lot of modern ones do) you might not even need a separate unit at all, just plug a paddle straight in and go.

for learning to send i honestly think slowing way down and focusing on rythm is more important than which paddle you use. like really slow, slower than you think you need. the muscle memory takes a while to build and if you rush it you just reinforce bad habits. im still unlearning some stuff from when i started 15 years ago lol

im in basically the same boat as you, been working on CW for about 4 months now. what i ended up doing was getting one of those cheap GHD paddles off amazon just to have something physical to practice with and honestly its been fine. nothing fancy but it works and the adjustments stay put which was my main concern with cheap stuff.

one thing that really helped me that nobody told me upfront — dont just practice the letters in isolation, start copying actual QSOs as soon as you can even if you only get like half the words. theres a site called RufzXP and also just tuning around 40m around 7.050 or so and trying to copy real traffic made a huge difference for me compared to only doing drills. your brain starts to hear whole words instead of individual dits and dahs and it clicks eventually