The ugly duckling

 The Elecraft KX-3 is the radio that I use for POTA activations. I got my radio with the KX-PD3 paddle. While the KX-PD3 is well built and works like a charm, it seems to require periodic maintenance. Every other outing, I find I need to clean the contacts out or the paddles keep missing dits or dahs. So I found myself using the compact morse paddle such as this one https://www.amazon.com/Mini-Key-Automatic-Morse-Stainless/dp/B09KC3JYC8

While the compact morse paddle is great, it adds to setup and tear down time as I have to remove it from the box and hook it up to the radio and reverse it when I QRT. The convenience of the paddle attached to the radio such as the KX-PD3 cannot be beat. While looking around in the web, I ran into a post by fellow ham mentioning the QRPBuilder kit for a single lever paddle for the KX2/KX3: https://qrpbuilder.com/kx_single_lever

Now this intrigued me. It was cheap and I do not have to worry about putting it through the rough paces in the field. Granted, that this is not an iambic two lever paddle [ they sell a kit for that one if you need it ], but I rarely use the iambic feature and was not a concern to me.  The kit comes with all that is needed to build it. The instructions for building it are downloadable from their website. They rate the build at medium high difficulty.

I am not an experienced kit builder and in fact this is the first kit that I have built. Bear in mind, I have done some tinkering with soldering iron though, such as the occasional ESP32 project builds and replacement of busted USB ports etc. This build was a little challenging. I took it very slow and built it over 3 days. I went through their assembly instructions several times. The instructions are clearly written and easy to follow. The challenge is to keep everything aligned through the process as there are no detents or jigs to help with the alignment. Another factor contributing to the challenge is the fact that the structural rigidity of the kit depends on soldering.  I used a small dollop of gorilla glue between the plastics to tack them  give more strength to the final assembly. The wait for the 24 hour cure time accounts for the 3 day build time. After soldering the 2x2 connector in the first step, I verified that the connections are solid using a multimeter. The patience did pay off in the end as the paddle worked the first time I plugged it in. The 2x2 connector and the mounting screw holes are perfectly aligned and plug in smoothly even when compared to the KX-PD3

The QRPBuilder paddle for KX-3

So there it is, the assembled paddle attached to the radio. Not a great looking piece, but boy does it work! After a few tweaks, I got the paddle travel to work to my liking. If you get a KEY ERR message when radio starts up, do not despair; verify that the contact screw is not making constant contact as you power the radio on.

So off I went POTA activation and got two parks with this paddle today.  I was a little worried that the stiff paddle piece would cause the radio to move while in operation, but so far it has not been the case. This is my first paddle that does not either use springs or magnets for return. I found the operation very fluid. It takes a little getting used to as I did make a few errors, but overall, I rate this kit build a 5 out of 5.

Besides the cost, an advantage I see over the KX-PD3 is that the paddle is quite a bit away from the surface with the radio legs extended. This translates to the ability to operate the radio on slightly uneven surfaces. The KX-PD3 skims so close to the surface that the paddles experience interference even on moderately uneven surfaces such as picnic tables. 

In summary, I had quite a bit of fun building this kit. I may pick up the iambic paddle version of this kit and build it just for kicks!