so ive been trying to get back into CW after a long break, maybe 15 years off the key, and i picked up a used Bencher BY-1 a few months ago and im running it into my old K2 with the internal keyer. the problem is every now and then — not all the time which makes it worse — ill get a double letter in the middle of a word, like im sending 599 and it comes out 5999 or something close to that. at first i thought my paddle tension was off but ive messed with that a lot and it doesnt seem to help consistently.

speed is around 18 wpm which shouldnt be taxing anything. i wonder if its my squeeze technique from years ago getting mixed up with the iambic mode B setting, like my muscle memory is fighting the keyer logic. anyone dealt with this kind of thing coming back to CW after a long layoff? or is there a way to tell if its actually the keyer settings vs just me being sloppy with the squeeze.

yeah that squeeze timing thing is a real issue coming back after a gap. mode B vs mode A trips people up constantly and most guys dont even realize which one theyre using. mode B will insert an extra element if you release both paddles at the same time, which is probably exactly what youre describing. try switching the K2 keyer to mode A and see if it cleans up — a lot of old-school operators actually prefer mode A because it behaves more predictably until your timing is really locked in again.

also dont ignore the possibility that the Bencher contacts just need a good cleaning. a used paddle can have oxidized contacts that cause intermittent behavior that looks like a timing issue. little dab of caig on the contacts and a few squeezes usually sorts that out. if you can borrow another paddle even temporarily itll tell you pretty quick whether its the paddle or your technique.

im in pretty much the same boat, just getting into CW for the first time and the iambic modes completely confused me for the first month. ended up just watching a bunch of videos slowed way down to see what my hands were actually doing. one thing that helped me was using the straight key practice mode for a couple weeks before going back to the paddle, just to get my ear back in sync with what correct timing sounds like before i tried to be clever with squeeze keying.