Sideswiper
| Sideswiper | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Cootie key, sidewinder, bushwhacker |
| Type | Manual Morse key |
| Action | Single lever moved side to side between two contacts |
| Timing | Every dit and dah formed by hand |
| Operating | |
| Typical speeds | About 5–30 wpm |
| Advantage | Less tiring than an up-and-down straight key |
| Net | SideSwiper Net (SSN) |
| Club eligibility | Counts as a manual key for the Straight Key Century Club |
A sideswiper, usually called a cootie key and occasionally a sidewinder or bushwhacker, is a manual Morse key with a single lever that moves side to side. A contact on each side keys the transmitter, and a spring returns the lever to the center. Unlike a bug or an electronic keyer, a sideswiper does none of the timing itself: the operator forms every dit and dah by hand, but alternates sides, rocking the lever back and forth. The result is a relaxed, swinging rhythm that experienced listeners can recognize on the air.
History and design
The sideswiper is regarded as the first widely accepted alternative to the up-and-down straight key. Professional telegraphers adopted it partly for speed, but mainly to escape "glass arm," the painful strain injury caused by long hours on a straight key. Moving the hand from side to side uses different muscles from pressing down, and most operators find it much less tiring. The later bug developed from the same sideways action.
Mechanically, a sideswiper is simple: a horizontal lever with a finger piece at the front, a contact on each side, a centering spring, and screws to set the gap and tension on each side. Both contacts are wired together, so it plugs into a transceiver's straight-key input, and either side sends.
That simple design makes it easy to improvise one from other keys:
- A single-lever paddle becomes a sideswiper if its dit and dah connections are joined together and it is plugged into the straight-key jack.
- A bug can be made to work like one by tying its vibrating arm to the damper with a rubber band, then readjusting the dit contact so it closes firmly. The change is fully reversible.
- In the other direction, separating the two contacts of a sideswiper turns it into a single-lever paddle for an electronic keyer.
Sending technique
Because both sides do the same thing, there is no fixed rule about which side sends which element, and that freedom is what new users find hardest. A common approach is to start each character the same way every time and then simply alternate: characters that begin with a dah start with the fingers, and characters that begin with a dit start with the thumb. Some operators instead let the motion decide, swinging whichever way feels natural from where the previous character ended. Whatever the method, the aim is a smooth flow without pauses inside a character.
Many operators send more clearly with the two sides adjusted differently, for example with a wider gap and firmer spring on the side closed by the fingers. The goal is clear, well-spaced code rather than any particular feel.
Practical speeds range from about 5 to 30 words per minute; around 30 is fast for a cootie, much as it is for a skilled straight-key operator. Practicing off the air with the sidetone on, and checking the result with a CW decoding program, helps even out the timing.
SideSwiper Net
The SideSwiper Net (SSN) is an informal group of operators who promote the cootie key and meet on the air. Its regular nets have included an intercontinental net on Sundays (1500 UTC on 14.055 MHz and 1600 UTC on 18.088 MHz), a US net on Thursday evenings at 8 p.m. Eastern time on 7.044 or 10.1215 MHz depending on the season and band conditions, and a European net on Sunday evenings on 3.566 MHz. Outside net times, sideswiper operators gather near calling frequencies including 3.566, 7.033, 10.1215 and 18.088 MHz, and near 055 kHz above the band edge on 20, 15 and 10 meters (for example 14.055 MHz). Schedules change, so check the net's website before calling.
Listening to the net is a good way to hear what well-sent sideswiper code sounds like, and all cootie users are invited to check in at whatever speed suits them. The SSN website also hosts a gallery of members' keys. The Straight Key Century Club counts sideswipers among its eligible manual keys, so cootie operators can take part in its sprints and awards too.