so ive been trying to learn CW for about 3 months now and i finally got myself a set of paddles (cheap Bencher clone off ebay) and a MFJ keyer to go with the radio. practiced a lot on the software and thought i was doing ok but when i actually try to use the paddle setup in real life my sending sounds like garbage. like i squeeze for a dit and get a dah, or i try to send a letter and the timing is completely off and it sounds like noise.

i think part of it is i keep accidentally squeezing both sides at the same time which sets off that iambic mode thing where it alternates dits and dahs and i dont want that. is there a way to turn off iambic mode or do i just have to practice until my fingers stop doing weird things? also my keyer speed is set around 13 wpm which i thought was reasonable but maybe thats part of the problem too

anyone else go through this phase or did i just buy the wrong setup to start

yeah this is pretty much exactly what everyone goes through, don't sweat it. the iambic thing tripped me up for months when i was starting out. what helped me was actually switching the keyer to mode A instead of mode B if it has that option — mode A stops the alternating as soon as you release both paddles which feels a lot more predictable when youre learning. the MFJ keyers usually have that in the menu somewhere.

also honestly 13 wpm might be a little fast if your muscle memory isnt there yet. some people say to just power through at speed but i found dropping down to like 8 or 9 and really nailing clean characters did more for me long term. the paddles take a while to feel natural, its basically like learning a musical instrument. your hand will stop doing weird things eventually, it just takes more hours than you think it will.

oh man i remember this exact feeling. for what its worth the cheap bencher clones can sometimes have the paddle tension way off which makes the accidental double-squeeze thing worse. there should be little tension adjustment screws on the sides — try tightening them up a bit so you need more deliberate pressure to close each contact. made a huge difference for me when i figured that out, was blaming my hands for weeks before i realized the paddles were basically flopping around on their own.