Learning CW has been on my TODO list for a while. This tends to be a very long list with no signs of shrinking. Admittedly, I’ve never been able to put enough consistent effort into making it ‘stick’.

During my last attempt a year ago, I purchased a Sonderedition BaMaKeY TP-III from BaMaTech. 2023’s colour was green (this years is blue). Its a fantastic key and I know its very popular for SOTA/POTA and portable ops.

As anyone who’s trying to avoid doing something knows, the trick is to do something else. So, I started looking for a 3D printable case. I ended up remixing VK1HF’s design so it was a better fit for my print and also added some grooves to more easily retrieve the key.

I’ve updated this article on the 6th December to reflect a design change.

Markus from BaMaTech noted that the polorisaion of the magnets in the TP-III keys aren’t necessarily constant. To protect against this eventuality I’ve updated the base to use two large steel washers in place of the magnets for the key to mount to. This will ensure universal fitment and still provide a strong bond.

Fast forward to this year and I’ve topped that by desinging a new case which leverages no less than eight magnets - because everyone knows magnets are cool!

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I have uploaded the files to Printables under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence soon for anyone who wants to adapt for print their own for non-commerical purposes. You’ll require 8 8x3mm magnets and 2 M10x2.5mm steel washers (these will be avalable in my shop soon). You will need to pause your print at the appropriate layers in order to fit these before restarting the print.

If you would prefer to purchase a high quality PLA print, prefitted with all the magnets then please check out shop.g7ufo.radio or drop me an email.

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My CW is coming along, thanks to a two week streak. My secret trick is the sheer number of clubs by kids go to and as a result the time I spend in the car waiting for them!