so i've been licensed for about 6 years now mostly doing SSB and some digital modes but i always told myself id eventually learn CW and just kept putting it off. anyway this winter i actually committed and ive been doing the lcwo.net lessons for a couple months now and im getting close to 10wpm which honestly feels like a huge deal for me.

my question is about keyers and paddles. right now im just using the built-in keyer in my IC-7300 with a cheap amazon straight key to practice, but i keep reading that paddles are better for anything above like 8wpm or so. is that actually true or is it more personal preference? also is there a big difference between a single lever paddle and a dual lever (iambic)? ive seen people get pretty passionate about this topic online and im not sure what to make of it all.

i dont want to spend a ton of money but also dont want to buy garbage. any thoughts appreciated, even if its just what you personally use.

congrats on sticking with it, 10wpm is a real milestone especially if you got there on your own. the straight key vs paddle thing is kind of personal but most people do find paddles more comfortable once you get moving faster. the repetitive motion on a straight key gets tiring after a while and your fist tends to get sloppy.

the iambic vs single lever debate is one of those things that can go on forever. iambic mode (mode A or B in your keyer settings) lets you squeeze both paddles together to automatically alternate dits and dahs which is efficient once you learn it, but a lot of people — including some very fast operators — just use single lever or even use dual lever paddles in non-iambic mode. i personally went back to single lever after years of iambic because i was making too many squeeze errors.

for budget paddles i'd say look at the Begali Traveler if you can stretch a little, or honestly a used Bencher BY-1 is a classic and you can find them for pretty reasonable on qrz.com classifieds. the Bencher is a dual lever but you can just use it in single lever style if you want. main thing is get something that feels solid and adjustable — the cheap amazon stuff usually has too much slop in the pivot and it drives you crazy.

im in basically the same boat as you, started cwops beginner course a few months back. i picked up a used振鍵 (chinese brand, forget the exact name) off ebay for like 25 bucks and honestly for learning it was fine. probably wont use it forever but it got me started without worrying about breaking something expensive while my technique is still all over the place lol

one thing that helped me a ton was recording myself with the keyer sidetone and listening back. its kind of painful to hear but you catch weird stuff like your dits being too short or uneven spacing that you dont notice in the moment.