Yesterday I received a new paddle from BaMaTech in Germany – the TP-111 paddle (link).

The TP-111 is a small, ultraportable CW twin paddle from a shop run by Markus Baseler – DL6YYM – and located in Bad Düben, Germany.

There are several products in Markus’ portfolio, from morse keys to antennas. There are even flight decks – portable desks that I’m really interested in looking into more sometime.

Today, however, we’re focused on the TP-111 paddle.

I placed my order on May 22nd and received it on June 14th, and true to the listing on the product webpage, it shipped in about 2 weeks after I placed my order.

The package arrived and was well padded, and even included a small pack of gummy bears. A nice touch.

The key itself is extremely well made. There is an attention to detail here that is to be admired.

All edges and corners are smooth.

The top acrylic (?) cover mates with the machined base with exactness.

Inside of the key one can see the connection between the port and the paddles, and the soldering is nearly invisible. No blobs of solder or flux to be seen.

The 4 magnets set into the bottom of the base are flush with the bottom, no gaps and no protrusions.

Size-wise it is small enough to go unnoticed inside my portable kit, but not so small that it is cumbersome to use.

The published dimensions are 0.79″ x 1.38″ x 1.97″ (2,87)”, or 20x35x50 (73)mm. The portion in the parens is including the paddles sticking out the front.

The paddles are fantastic. There is a rubber sleeve over each one that ensures solid finger contact and is somewhat “grippy”. (if you rock climb you’ll understand that reference to rubber)

The paddles also move very smoothly with almost no play.

In fact this is where this little paddle really shines – in use.

Upon first hooking up to a radio to generate a sidetone, I was struck by how smooth this thing is. While adjustable, I don’t feel the need to change anything out of the box. I find myself overcompensating movements based on other paddles I own and have to train myself to not need to do so much to get good results.

So how would I rate this? I need more time on the air with it but out of the box I am sold. As always, time will tell, but first impressions are difficult to recover from if not done right.

This paddle gets first impressions right.

It’s even Max-approved.

Right Max?

You can see from below the relative size next to my American Morse Ultra Portable Paddle. Both are superbly built machines.

So if I was a new buyer which one would I get?

Flip a coin. Both are great paddles. Both are well made and adjustable in all ways you’d expect. Both are also quite sturdy in their construction.

If you have one of the BaMaTech paddles, let me know your thoughts in the comments. Agree? Disagree?

Thanks for reading!