K1 + KTS1 + Palm Paddle Dilemma Solved!

At the NoVaQRP meeting last Saturday, I got to see first hand the Palm Paddles that have been so popular.

Fortunately my XYL (KD4WGU) was also at the meeting and saw the paddles so I got the

go ahead to order them.

Also at that meeting Bill Harding (K4AHK) had come to the meeting with a sample of his steel plate bracket for attaching the Palm Paddles to the side of the K1.  In involved attaching a steel plate to the side of the K1 using the screw opening in the side of the K1.  This opening is intended for the KTS1 K1 stand but it is a standard screw so parts are easy to find.  Using the optional magnets for the Palm Paddles, you can then temporarily mount the Palm Paddles to the side of the K1.  This is similar in concept to Bob Hammond's Paddlette attachment but it is at the side of the K1 instead of below the K1.

Well, a dilemma arose.  You can't attach a steel plate to the side of the K1 AND attach the KTS1 stand at the same time.  They both use the same screw hole.  What's a person to do??

Well, I pondered and tinkered and came up with the following plan that works great.  Pictures are included to get the idea across.

Attach the plastic base of the Palm Paddles to the side of the K1 using the KTS1 hole and a standard screw.  You can't use the screws that came with the KTS1 but you can use a shallow headed screw like I did.  To do this, I had to drill out just a bit of the hole in the plastic base.  Figure 1 shows the plastic base attached to the K1.

Figure 1 - K1 with Palm Paddle Plastic Base Attached.

But this puts the Palm Paddles in the way of attaching the KTS1 to the K1.  No problem, he says.

The side pieces (vertical pieces) of the KTS1 are attached to the base of the stand with two smaller screws.  On the RIGHT side of the stand (when you are looking at the radio/stand) remove the vertical piece and then re-attach it ON THE INSIDE of the base (it's normally outside) AND attach the BACK hole of the vertical piece with the FRONT mounting hole AND use only one small screw.  This will allow you to rotate the vertical piece from its normal vertical position BACKWARDS to that it laying on the back of the base of the KTS1 stand.  A picture is worth a thousand words.  So look at Figure 2.

Figure 2 - Modified Stand.

Now if you mount the K1 on the stand using the regular mounting screw on the LEFT side of the K1 but rest the K1 case on the right side vertical-now-horizontal leg, the K1 fits just fine on the stand and it is fairly stable.  Figure 3 shows the mounted K1 from the right side and Figure 4 shows the mounted K1 from the bottom left (shooting under the K1 so you can see it resting on the right vertical piece.

Figure 3 - K1 on KTS1 stand from right side.

Figure 4 - Stand from under the rig.

What this nows gives you is a K1 on the stand and the paddle mounted on the right side.  Of course, if you want the paddles on the left, just reverse which vertical piece you rotate backwards.

Because the Plastic Base for the Palm Paddle is secured with just one screw, you can still rotate the housing for the Palm Paddle to whatever angle you want.  Figure 5 shows the Palm Paddle attached to its base and the base is attached to the K1.

Figure 5 - K1 with Palm Paddle and Palm Paddle Plastic Base Attached.

To show that the rig is still level, look at figure 6.  If you have a really keen eye, you'll notice that the K1 is leaning ever so slightly lower on the right side.  But not enough to affect your operations.  And since the right side is resting on the vertical-now-horizontal side piece, it is very stable.

Figure 6 - Note there is a very slight lean to the right.  Part of that is camera angle and part is the vertical piece.  That can probably be adjusted and tighted to be perfect.  Note the paddles on the right side but this would work on the left side as well.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at bowerm@ix.netcom.com

Tehcnical Note: For those who are interested, these pictures were taken with the Olympus C3000 digital camera with a 1+, 2+ and 4+ add-on close-up lens attached to the front of the lens.  Most were shot in natural light (no flash) and in standard focusing mode (not in "macro" mode).