Touch Paddle
The touch paddle consists of a metal base plate and two metal paddles mounted on an insulating support. The palm of your hand rests on the base plate and you send by touching the paddles with your thumb and fingers. The resistance of your hand completes the circuit between the base plate the the paddles to actuate the electronics.
In the schematic below, the 56 M resistor pulls the input of two of the inverters of the 4069 high causing their output to go low, biasing the 2N2222s off through the 2.2 K resistors. When your hand completes the circuit between the base plate and one of the paddles, the input of the inverter is pulled low. The output of the inverter goes high, turning the 2N2222 on to pull the keyer input to ground.
The circuit board layout is for "Manhattan Style" construction.
