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.
As I wrote earlier, this key won't win any awards for its great condition. I got the thing cheap, so that makes it ok, right?
The chrome on the base isn't very good. It's still mostly intact, but its just had a hard life. The chrome on the rest of the parts is intact, but the key appears to have just had rough handling. I still haven't disassembled it, but probably will soon. Even after cleanup, its still a “rode-hard-and-put-up-wet” key, one of those 30-foot keys … the kind that look great from a distance of 30 feet.
Well, how does it work?
It's complete and once the contacts were clean, it only needed a bit of ajdusting to dial 'er in. I've been using the key on the air, and it works very well. It is a very heavy key, and very wide — a full 4 inches. On the air, it's been a very good key. The action, even after adding my homebrew bug tamer, is still very crisp and fast.
The weights on the key aren't the ones usually found on the TAC line of bugs. The weights actually are identical to late 1930s Mac Key weights. I figure either the factory used some old parts it had on hand for these keys, or the owner used the older weights with the newer key.
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Tonight I reassembled a key I've had for a while and started cleaning seriously this week. The key is a 1922 Vibroplex Original that was a dirty as any I've ever seen. The base was coated with a grimy black coating, and the nickel plated parts looked fair. All in all, this key worked hard during its life.
The original owner, L.W. Shuff, wrote his name on the bottom of the key. Judging by the wear on the key, I'm betting this was a landline key.
For starters, the circuit closer switch shows a whole lot of wear. This switch was necessary for use on telegraph lines, but not necessary for use in radio. Radio keys will not have the wear that landline keys show.
The original gold pinstriping is mostly gone from the base, something that's pretty standard for keys that were well used like this one. The nickel plating was worn thin in many spots, but the parts all cleaned up very nicely. I buffed them up and also buffed the base lightly. It's amazing how well the base buffed, considering you're looking at paint that's 85 years old. There are chips on the corners and edges, again normal wear for a hard-working key.
I don't have a photo of the key, apparently I never saved the photo from the listing either. It doesn't look like the same key. It's still a worn key but it sure looks a lot more respectable, if a key can demand respect, hi hi!
The key arrived missing the thumb piece. I bought several of the triangular paddles off eBay a couple of weeks ago, so I had a brand new paddle for it. The finger piece is original, and its funny because it has the original owners' finger pattern worn into the finger piece. It's a very comfortable wear pattern, but it caught me off guard.
At some point in this key's past, the dot and dash contact screws (and points) were replaced. They weren't replaced by Vibroplex parts, but instead by what looks like machined replacements that are nearly identical to factory parts. The only clue they aren't is that they aren't nickel plated, but brass. They're very precisely made replacements.
The feet on the key are the originals, and are a bit mashed by time and heat, but not bad considering. I've not had it on the air, but I did clean up the contacts tonight and have tested the key and adjusted it. I think it's going to peform just fine, but then again, when have I not liked a bug?
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And speaking of bugs, I have at least three coming that are recent eBay auction wins. One of them I sniped and got stung a bit by entering my true top price (I seldom want to actually pay that). The others were priced right. We'll see what I end up with.
I've started back on my Les Logan Speed-X Model 501 key refurbishing job. The base I painted with the crinkle paint and botched the job — I sanded it all down and it looks ready for painting (again). I'm anxious to get this done and get this nice bug back in the shack where it belongs.
That's all for now …. 73 es cu agn … de ky4z … sk … dit dit …