The Latest Development in CW Sending: Trochaic Keying
Morse code has been used in amateur radio since the beginning, yet ways to send and receive it are still developing. If you’re familiar with this history, feel free to skip three paragraphs ahead, otherwise, read on: First, it was sent by tapping on a straight key. A semi-automatic key, called the “Bug,” used lateral motions, and would send a “dah” if the lever were pushed from the right, and a string of “dits” as long as the lever was pushed from the left. Then came the electrical single paddle and the electronic keyer. The paddle and keyer went one better than the bug, sending not only a stream of “dits” with the paddle pushed one way, but also a stream of “dahs” when the paddle was pushed the other way.
Juliet (above) and Romeo (below) converse in iambic pentameter, while the envious moon (upper right) looks on.
n the penultimate development, iambic keying, the single-pole, double-throw single paddle is replaced with a pair of paddles that provide double-pole action. Both paddles can be triggered simultaneously. In so-called “squeeze keying,” alternating “dits” and “dahs” are produced, as well as a string of one or the other as long as only one of the paddles is pressed. The keyer will produce “di-dah-di-dah-di-dah-…” as long as both paddles are squeezed. Because “dits” and “dahs” alternating this way, starting with the “dit,” sound like Shakespeare (think of “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?”), with alternating unaccented and accented syllables, this is referred to as “iambic keying.”
We won’t get into what happens if you release the paddles mid “dit” or “dah” (other than to say it makes a difference if you’re using iambic “A” or iambic “B”), but the actual generation of the pulses is performed by an electronic keyer. At first, these were made using logic gates, pulse stretchers, one-shots, and a potentiometer to control the speed, just as they were for single-paddle keyers. More recently, microcontrollers replaced the other ICs, and keyers were incorporated in the firmware of many HF transceivers.
To send the “C” in “CQ” using iambic keying, one must first press the right (“dah”) paddle, then, very quickly apply the squeeze maneuver so both paddles are pressed, then release both (when depends on whether iambic “A” or “B” mode is being used). Sending the “D” in the “DE” (“from”), which follows CQ, does not really lend itself all that well to iambic squeeze keying, and is often sent with “one paddle at a time” action.
The Latest: Trochaic Keying
To make it easier to send the “C” in “CQ,” the “D” in “DE,” and the “N” used as a cut number instead of “9” in signal reports, a new type of keying has been developed. It uses the same paddles as iambic, but the keyer logic and action is different. When only one paddle is activated at a time, it behaves the same as a single-paddle or an iambic keyer. The difference is with squeeze keying.
When both paddles are activated simultaneously, an alternating stream of symbols is still generated, but with an important difference: the sequence will begin with a “dah.” Squeezing both paddles will produce “dah-di-dah-di-dah-di-…” as long as they’re both squeezed.
This makes it much easier to send the “C” in “CQ:” jut squeeze both paddles, and release them both at the right time again, just when depends on whether you have mode “A” or “B” selected). For the “N” in the “5NN” signal report, just squeeze both paddles and release after the “dit” has started (in mode “A”) or while the “dah” is being sent (in mode “B”).
Because the string of alternating “dahs” and “dits” sounds like alternating accented and unaccented syllables (think “Once upon a midnight dreary/While I pondered, weak and weary...”), the new mode of keying is called “trochaic” keying.
If You’re Already Using Squeeze Keying…
...it may require a bit of “un-learning” to get used to the new method. For example, to send “R” (“di-dah-dit”) you will need start with a “dit,” then squeeze. But, for “C,” you’d start out with the squeeze, as if you were sending an “R” with iambic, and then release both paddles during the second “dah” (in trochaic “B,” which is the default).
Learning More
It’s featured in several online videos, and more are being added every week. Your local club may feature it at an upcoming meeting. We hear that a booth at Hamvention will be dedicated to it, and an article has been accepted for publication in QST.
How to Get It
First of all, a pair of “iambic paddles” will work fine for trochaic. There is no difference in the paddles themselves. The difference is in the logic in the keyer. If your keyer is built up from from TTL or CMOS ICs and 555 timers, it’s difficult to switch to trochaic keying. But it’s a simple firmware upgrade to any microcontroller-based keyer, including those built into transceivers. Ask your manufacturer for the upgrade to this exciting, useful new mode of keying. If they tell you they’ve never heard of it, they’re only April Fooling you.
Once you start using it, when do we think you will return to iambic keying?
“Quoth the Raven, ‘NEVERMORE!’”
Posted Apr 1, 2026, 5:57 AM UTC