With the CQWW CW contest this past weekend, I thought I might test the contesting waters again.
I programmed my Icom's memories for the exchange and what-not needed for the contest Q's. There were some incredibly fast CW ops, which is nothijng new during a contest, but for a time it took a little hunting for someone sending at less than 35 wpm.
What sounds like 30 wpm to me is copyable — I can listen to someone calling CQ and get the call after hearing it a time or two. The exchange isn't a problem, and if I miss it I'll listen to the next QSO. I'm not in it for the contest, just for the experience of operating the CW test itself. If I don't get the Q right, that's fine, just chalk it up to experience.
Some of the Cuban stations I heard reminded me of their former Communist-bloc brethren in the former Soviet Union — I assume its their power grid that makes their signals so raspy and wavery. They remind me of the over-the-Pole signals I used to hear on the Soviet hams.
I don't know what it is, but the sound of a CW pileup is almost musical to me. I can't imagine being the DX station and hearing the wall of signals that come in wave, crashing into your headphones.
I only worked a handful of stations on 80, 40 and 15 meters but I had a lot of fun. Instead of using one of my bugs, I had my round Brazilian-made iambic paddle at the operating position. The guy who was selling them no longer shows up on eBay.
They were available in both brass and chrome plated finishes. I wanted to get a chrome one, but it looks like I'll have to be happy with brass. The key's good looking and unique. Since most of the needed info was in the radio keyer's memories, I only needed the key a few brief moments.
Yeah, I had other options for keys, but the Brazillian key is compact and easy to move around. I keep it on the keyboard tray of my shack desk, along with a Vibroplex Lightning Bug DeLuxe and a Cedar Rapids bug and my MFJ keyboard keyer.
SPEAKING OF BUGS… What would Black Friday be without my contribution to the National Economy? After all, isn't it part of my patriotic duty to support my country? What right do I have to live here as an American and expect to be able to do so without doing my fair share??
No friends and neighbors, your ol' pal did his patriotic best on Black Friday to insure that unlike the housing market bubble, the CW semi-automatic key economy stays fit and active.
And perhaps it was because people were out shopping, but I got what I believe to be a very respectable deal on a 1942 Vibroplex Blue Racer DeLuxe complete with its hard-to-find factory carrying case.
The key has a history too — according to paperwork submitted with the key, it was used by a Navy Radioman during World War II.
The key isn't immaculate; yes, it shows some wear and tear. Nothing too bad, not for a 65 year-old key.
What's unusual is the carrying case. Since the Blue Racer is only 2-1/2 inches wide, the carrying case was specially made for the narrow width. This is the only Vibroplex Blue Racer-specific carrying case I own. They're not that common. I could probably sell the case for what I paid for the key and case together.
AND SPEAKING OF THE ECONOMY … I again chipped in this weekend with a recession-fighting effort with a winning bid on a 1938 McElroy Mac Key DeLuxe.
The deluxe models of the Mac Key have the unusual “marbelized” finish. The keys are massive compared to Vibroplex, they're large cast keys that are tough as a battleship. This one sold surprisingly cheap.
It's a 1938B model key, noted because in mid-year Mac changed how the dash lever was attached to the main keying lever. With the “B” model, Mac moved from a complicated hinged lever to one patterned after the “bent lug” design of the Vibroplex. It's a much simpler way to attach the dash lever, and Mac never went back to his earlier setup on any key after this revision.
In addition to the faux marble finish, the 1938 deluxe Mac Keys also featured a dot stabilizer that was designed to eliminate half-dots at high speed. It doesn't look like the one I won still has the dot stablizer. After 70 years, its probably a testament to Ted McElroy that any of the keys still remain in serviceable condition.
The key shows some chips and wear. I don't think I'll attempt to refinish this key. I've got several Mac Keys and I hope to put this key on the air with the rest. Straight Key Night is coming up, so I'll be putting some of my lesser known keys on the air.
I'm going to pull my new Blue Racer DeLuxe out of the case and work on it some tonight. I have 30 minutes before the KSN, heck, I might get the ol' girl adjusted in time for the net.