The wonderful thing about amateur radio is that you never quit being hit with opportunities to learn. That doesn't mean we all grab these opportunities, but when you stumble across a solution that makes you ask yourself “Why didn't I think of that?” you don't really want to ignore it.
As the owner of a great many different keys, one of the headaches I've had is making connections as I change from one key to another.
Putzing with the knurled terminal nuts isn't really that big a headache, but there's a 50 percent chance that I'm going to drop at least one of the nuts in the process. With as much stuff as I have stored under my radio desks, the damn nuts roll into the nooks and crannies and require a manhunt (nut-hunt?) to locate.
Because I switch so many keys in and out, the keying line to all my rigs is terminated in an RCA jack (Radio Shack makes the cable with a 1/4-inch phone on one end and the RCA jack on the other). For the last few years, I've simply added to my key(s) of choice a short pigtail with an RCA plug. And in the process, I've gone on more than a few “nut hunts.”
The pigtail cables are cumbersome to deal with on the keys that aren't being used. I needed some very small but flexible wire for the pigtails because I wanted the cables to not be so stiff. The most flexible small cable I found (that works very well for lots of applications) is 3-conductor rotor cable sold by Radio Shack. I use it for speaker wire, iambic paddles, and lots of other uses. It's the most flexible small cable you'll find.
Making the pigtails flexible helped, but the real solution arrived by USPS Priority Mail a couple of months ago. I didn't really notice it for quite some time.
The solution was simple, and it came from an oldtimer who was former owner of a 1942 Vibroplex Original I now own. He started with a chassis mounted RCA jack and two crimp-on terimal ring connectors. He split open the crimp on one of the terminal ring connectors just wide enough for the ground lug (show in the gold-plated example at right) to fit into the gap. He then soldered the ground lug to the terminal lug.
He soldered a short length of wire to the center pin of the RCA jack, and using the other ring terminal, attached that to the other key terminal. The ring terminal and the RCA jack were soldered together well in order to give the lash-up some physical strength.
Yeah, its a very easy, simple solution that I should've thought of. It makes every key have its own RCA jack and eliminates the pigtail. I can outfit a bunch of keys with these and more easily swap keys in and out without having to chase pigtails.
It's already made the operating desk neater and eliminated the hassle of the extra pigtail. I have several keys on the desk at one time, so eliminating the wires and plugs flapping about is an improvement.
Speaking of that 1942 key that got me rollling on this idea, it arrived sans finger and thumb pieces. I was waiting to order some from Vibroplex, but I recently found an eBay seller who had the thumb pieces for pre-1945 Vibroplex keys.
The earlier keys have a triangular shape. About the end of the World War II, the company retooled the keys to use the rounded castings, they also moved to the oval shaped thumb piece, and they also changed the finger knob. Vibroplex still carries the old bakelite thumb pieces, but I found a cheaper souce for them on eBay.
I didn't have a finger piece, but I did some scrounging in a coffee can of parts I bought from eBay last year and found a couple of them in fair condition. At $9 a pop new from the company, I was delighted to find two usable examples in the can. That can of parts cost me nearly $30, but I've gotten way more value from it than that. I also found a trunion screw that I need for that Vibroplex Zephyr that came last week. I should get that key back together in short order now, assembled and operating like it did when new.
ONES THAT GOT AWAY. There are some keys that I let pass by recently, though not without considerable thought. My wife has car fever, so she sees the occasion (or frequent) eBay purchase as a threat to her buying a new car. Actually, our bank account is the bigger threat to her hopes of scoring a new car, my eBay addiction won't phase that so much, but I'm not the one who is going to be the bearer of THAT news.
There was a beautiful new and mint 100th Anniversary Vibroplex Original with the matching case for $225 recently. I believe the guy bought it at Dayton and wanted to make a few bucks on it, and trust me, I wanted it and in retrospect I should have bought it. I still want one, but didn't want to spend that much for it.
Another one that got away was a Bencher RY-1 for $50. That's their straight key. I'm intrigued by the Bencher keys, but not nearly enough to buy one new. The $50 price tag was inviting, but how many contacts have I made with a straight key? Hmm … SKN was the last one.
The key is certainly unique, in a kinda chunky, funky, ugly way. I don't know if it can compare with the smooth feel of this WWII Junkers key that's here at the computer desk. I'm still amazed at the precision feel this old key has. I don't believe any of the other straight keys I own comes close to it, though when I look around, most of those keys are patterned from the old Triumph style key. I like the rectangular base Speed-X, but this Junkers still beats that hands down … whenever I feel like using a straight key, that is!
PREMIUM PRICES. A couple of auctions I was following brought some very good prices.
A 1978 Vibroplex DeLuxe STILL SEALED in the box brought $200. Apparently the key came from the estate of a key collector, and had never been opened. Not a bad buy, but I guess I'm a low-level collector, I couldn't buy the key and leave it sealed. I have enough paperweights around here as it is!
A Vibroplex Dual Lever key in original condition brought more than $700. It was complete and looked like it had been put away in storage 50 years ago. I'm sure all it needed was a little adjustment to get it going again. The seller was an antique dealer who didn't know exactly what the thing was. The bidding stalled on the key at the $200 level for several days, and then the last minue or two shot thru the roof. A very nice, collectible key.
The prices on bugs seems to be swinging to the high side again. A 1965 Original DeLuxe in good shape brought $177, and its only real claim to fame was it still had the original cardboard box. The key was in great shape, but rather pricey. It's cheaper than a new one.
A 1980 Vibroplex Original in good shape sold for $122.50 recently. While it isn't collectible, it's a nice key for someone who wants a bug. There are still better bargains out there than this. This was a key from “the Portland, Maine” years of the company, and these keys are generally less desireable. My complaint is that the keys made in Portland didn't pin the ID plates to the base, they glued them. And nearly every Maine-manufactured key has the ID tag lifting or lifted.
Enough of my ramblings, it's time to get out of the shack. 73!