Year: 2007

One of my recent eBay winnings arrived today, my 1945 Vibroplex Zephyr. The Zephyr is one of the rarer Vibroplex keys, though most people who see one will assume it is a Champion — a […]

The 1922 Vibroplex Original I mentioned a couple of posts ago seems to be hanging around my operating position. I've disassembled the key and cleaned and polished the metal parts, and while worn through to […]

Yeah, maybe I'm being too much of a fussbudget about it, but how hard is it to properly pack something for shipment?? After gleefully breaking my own campaign promise of “No New Vibroplexes,” I was […]

I've done a little cleanup work on that old Telegraph Apparatus Co. bug I won on eBay last month. The TAC bug is the McElroy/Hallicrafters consortium that built keys during and after World War II. […]

Ever heard of a Boettger & Wittig semi-automatic key? Neither had I — until about a week ago when one appeared on eBay. The key appears to be a plain vanilla Vibroplex Lightning Bug. It […]

Ever heard of a Boettger & Wittig semi-automatic key? Neither had I — until about a week ago when one appeared on eBay. The key appears to be a plain vanilla Vibroplex Lightning Bug. It […]

Some sanity seems to have returned to the semi-automatic bug market on eBay. Surprisingly, the rare ones are the keys that are bringing the big bucks, rather than random keys, many of which had little […]

My love affair with radio has been a part of most of my 47-plus years on this Earth. I still have the bakelie 1945 Philco 5-tube AM BC receiver my parents received as a wedding […]

Today's mail contained a semi-automatic bug that I've been waiting a while to get. No, no, this isn't an ultra-rare, high dollar, near-mint jewel that collectors across the world were lusting for. It's a well-worn […]

I've been cruising a little bit around on eBay tonight before bed. I have my standard searches I perform, just to see what might be out there newly listed. Tonight I spotted an eBay listing […]