so ive been a tech for about 3 years and just upgraded to general last month and i really want to learn CW. not required anymore obviously but theres something about it that just pulls me in. ive been using an app on my phone to learn the characters and im at maybe 8-10 wpm copying but sending is a whole other story.

i borrowed an old straight key from a club member to start with and honestly its harder than i expected to make consistent dits and dahs. my spacing is all over the place. someone at the club suggested i just skip straight to a paddle and iambic keyer but i dont know if thats good advice or if i should really get the straight key down first. also i have no idea what to look for in an entry level keyer, theres so many options and price ranges it's kind of overwhelming. any advice for someone starting basically from scratch here would be really appreciated

the straight key vs paddle debate is one of those things that goes around forever in CW circles. my honest take after 30+ years of sending - start with the straight key long enough to understand timing and what good code actually sounds like when you make it yourself, maybe a few weeks, then move to a paddle. the keyer will handle a lot of the timing mechanics for you once you get there and most people find their speed picks up faster with a paddle setup anyway.

for a starter keyer the MFJ units get a bad rap sometimes but they work fine to learn on. lots of people also really like the Begali or Vibroplex paddles but those are serious money for someone just starting out. honestly a cheap set of paddles off amazon combined with a decent keyer IC like whats built into most modern radios will get you going just fine. the important thing is the paddles feel comfortable in your hand and have adjustable tension. and for the love of everything practice copying more than you practice sending - your ear has to be ahead of your hand or youll plateau fast.

im kind of in the same boat as you actually, been at this about 6 months now. one thing that helped me a ton was just tuning around 40 meters in the evenings around 7.050 or so and just listening even when i cant copy everything. your brain starts to pick out patterns after a while its kind of wild. also the LCWO website is way better than most apps for building real speed imo, you can set it to random 5 letter groups and it forces you to not overthink each letter.

i ended up getting a cheap set of paddles from amazon and just using the keyer built into my radio for now. works fine for learning, ill upgrade eventually maybe