I had forgotten about a rather forelorn and forgotten cw bug that I picked up on eBay back last month. Historically, its an important key, though it doesn't look like much.
The key is the Electro-Bug, manufactured by the Electro Manufacturing Co. of Fresno, Calif. This key comes from the mid-to-late 1920s, and it was manufactured for the telegraph industry in both painted and nickel plated bases.
If the bug looks familiar, it should — it was the predecessor to the later Speed-X “t-bar” 500 and 501 bugs manufactured by both Les Logan and later, E.F. Johnson.
My Electro-Bug is not complete. The Electro-Bug is unique among bugs in that it had an electromagetic relay that gave the key even-weighted dits. With the Electro-Bug, you were assured of having good solid dits on the telegraph line.
My Electro-Bug has the nickel plated base, but it is missing the electromagnetic contact assembly, which was housed in a box on the key's righthand side. I suspect the key — which was designed for landline use — had the relay removed for radio use.
The Electro-Bug has a rheostat at the front of the key instead of a circuit closer. The rheostat was used to adjust the weight of the dits. It's a pretty interesting key when you think of all of the variables with fists and how dits and dahs translated into clicks and clacks on the telegraph line. Competitor keys had no way to vary the dits in the same manner (unless there was an outboard device to do the same thing).
Electro-Bugs are fairly rare to find for sale on eBay. I only grabbed this one because its not a complete key. The missing parts make it less desireable. I've wanted one of these keys forever, mostly because I wanted to compare them to its Speed-X kinfolk.
I took some Flitz and rubbed a little on the top of the t-bar, and it was surprising how well it shined up. It won't be mint, but I suspect the key will at least be respectable.
The key had been assembled incorrectly, with the lever return spring in the wrong spot. It took some work to get everything working correctly. The contacts are fairly dirty, but it was still good enough to check out the key. It's missing the weights, and the rod is thicker than Vibroplex Lightning Bug weights, so I'll wind up fabricating one. My homebrew bug tamer — all by itself — clamed to the keying lever works fine so far in my tests.
The springs on the key were fabricated out of some very heavy wire, and way too stiff. I found some of my infamous throttle return springs of proper size for the springs and the key began to really shape up.
I'll play with the key some more tomorrow, maybe tear it down to clean and polish it. There's little doubt that this key is the parent of the Speed-X line, there's too much alike between the designs for it to be chance.
This isn't my only Electro Mfg. Co. key. The version of their bug they made for radio was called the Electro-Bug Jr. The key appears to be the same size, just the base isn't drilled for the relay box. That key is in excellent original shape and one of my pride and joys of my key collection.
The Electro-Bug is in fair shape for an 80-year-old key. I'll do more on it, perhaps even put it on the air the next night or two. It has a surprisingly smooth feel, and snappy action.
I doubt I'll ever plop down the bucks for a near mint condition Electro-Bug, given their collectible status. But this derelict will still be a nice addition, and a key I'll be happy to put on the air next SKN.
73, de KY4Z …. dit dit …