Dan, KB6NU, just brought the Begali contacts thread from this past
March to my attention, and I hope it's not too late to weigh in:
I've had all of the Begali keys, and helped a bunch of others with
theirs. When we got them, the gap had to be changed often, close one
day, not so close the next. I had a conversation with Bob Crane (W8SX,
not Col. Hogan,) who learned me that the contacts should be slightly
convex and as smooth as possible, to minimize the effects of
atmospheric changes on the contact characteristics. He also provided
me with a set of a few different grades of fine, abrasive paper, to
use on the contacts.
I've treated about 10-12 keys with this method, and never seen it not
dramatically improve the paddle's performance. The entire process
takes about 15-20 minutes, if you take your time. My keys can be set
quite close now, and do not need further adjustment.
These keys all had the old-style alloy contacts, which were relatively
flat and rough. I haven't heard of this problem occurring with the
new, gold-plated contacts, though.
LL/K3ESE
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