so ive been at this for about 6 weeks now and can copy maybe 10-12 wpm on a good day but my sending is just embarrassing. im using a cheap single lever paddle i picked up on ebay and i wonder if thats part of the problem or if its just me being bad at this. the letters i mess up most are C and Y and anything with a bunch of dahs in a row, my spacing gets all weird. been using the K1EL keyer chip in a little kit i built and i think the settings are fine but honestly i dont really know what im doing with the iambic modes. someone at the club told me to try mode A instead of mode B but didnt really explain why. anyone been through this and come out the other side actually able to send decent code?

oh man, six weeks and already copying 12wpm is actually pretty solid, dont be too hard on yourself. the sending thing takes longer than people expect because youre basically training muscle memory and that doesnt happen fast. the paddle tension and spacing adjustment makes a huge difference though — if its a cheap ebay paddle the contact gap might be inconsistent or the tension spring is just garbage. try backing the gap off a little wider than you think you need and slow the keyer way down, like 8 or 9 wpm, and just drill your problem letters over and over until they feel automatic before speeding back up.

on the iambic mode A vs B thing, mode B keeps sending the last element when you release the paddle which some people like but a lot of folks find it creates extra dits or dahs they didnt intend especially when first learning. mode A stops cleaner. i'd just stick with A for now, less to think about.

same boat as you were about a year ago lol. honestly what helped me most was just recording myself sending and listening back, its brutal but you hear exactly where the spacing goes wrong. also Chuck Adams K7QO has free code courses online that really helped me with the rhythm side of things. dont worry too much about the keyer modes yet, thats kind of a rabbit hole