so ive been a tech for about two years and just upgraded to general last month, and i always told myself id learn morse even though its not required anymore. been using the G4FON trainer for a few weeks now and my copying is getting ok i guess, maybe 8-10wpm on a good day. but when i actually try to send with my paddle its a mess. i borrowed an old straight key from a guy in my club to start but someone told me i should just go straight to a paddle which i did, got a cheap MFJ paddle off ebay.

the problem is my dits and dahs come out all uneven and sometimes i get these weird extra dits squeezed in when im not trying to. my keyer is the built in one on my ic-7300. is this a timing thing i need to adjust or is my paddle just bad or am i holding it wrong or what. honestly a bit frustrated because it sounds nothing like the CW i hear on the air

oh man i remember this phase, it does get better i promise. a few things — first check your paddle tension and spacing, the MFJ paddles are decent but they come from the factory with the contacts set pretty far apart which makes your timing all over the place. you want them close but not so close they chatter. take a thin screwdriver and back the contact screws in just a tiny bit at a time until a light touch closes them. second thing is slow way down, whatever speed feels comfortable cut it in half. seriously. most beginners try to go too fast too soon and you end up reinforcing bad habits.

the extra dits thing sounds like you might be squeezing the paddle when you dont mean to, its a really common thing. try resting your hand differently — some people do better with their hand more relaxed and coming at the paddle from the side rather than gripping it. took me probably six months before my fist started sounding decent on a paddle, dont get discouraged

yeah the icom built in keyer is fine, dont blame the radio. id say mess with the iambic mode setting too — some folks do better on mode A vs mode B and most people dont even know there are two modes. worth trying both and see if one feels more natural to you. also just lurk around 7.050 or so and listen to people send, you start to internalize what good rhythm sounds like even when youre not at the key