I had to stop at Radio Shack yesterday to invest in some more RCA chassis jacks and ring terminals. I've decided to make some extra key jack gimmicks for some of my other keys. See the photo at right for a look at one of them installed on a 1942 Vibroplex Original DeLuxe.
This is the key shown in the my last post. I still need to give the key a thorough cleaning. You can see the haze and crud on the chrome finish. The spots at first appear to be pits in the chrome, but they aren't.
This RCA jack gimmick sure makes it handy to swap keys out. It eliminates the pigtail that I had to add to every key. Why didn't I think of this?? Sometimes you miss the obvious, or I sure do.
I've been monitoring the KYN CW net, trying to get the hang of both their net procedures and develop the ability to copy faster code. Since net operations are fairly routine, I can pretty much keep up with the group. I'm still missing letters and losing my place. They're running anywhere from 18-20 wpm, which is on the ragged edge of my CW ability. These guys are working QSK and ocassionally they break back and forth so quickly I lose track of whose transmitting, particularly when the individuals are perfectly zero beat.
Some of the KYN guys seem to shift their transmit frequency a tad, and I appreciate the slight shift in tone. It helps me keep track of whose transmitting if I lose my place. I'm going to keep working at it because I want to check-in to that net, and I want to do so with some semblance or being a competent CW op (hey it's a goal).
At any rate, I'll keep listening and playing with my bugs. 73!