I’m still awaiting contact from UPS over the damaged Les Logan bug I received in the mail. I sent the seller a rather pissed-off e-mail, telling him the sole reason the key was damaged was due to his inadequate packing job. I was polite but firm, mostly because its true. UPS will tell you to pack an item so it can survive a 4-foot drop onto a hard surface. BTW, that’s one reason I don’t use UPS.
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New information on the semi-automatic bug front — something besides bad news for a change.
I received my Cedar Rapids bug — in original box — on Friday by USPS. It arrived unmolested and in great shape. It really looks NOS too. The key is a little dusty, but doesn’t show any use. There’s no chips on the key anywhere.
The box has a date on it — August 1942 — and it also has a price: $3.89. Now THAT’s a bargain, eh??
I have several Cedar Rapids bugs — the nickname for “Vibrating Telegraph Speed Keys” manufactured by the Electric Specialty Manufacturing Co. of that city.
The keys were the only bugs to be produced in kit form. The reason was to keep from infringing on the many patents owned by Vibroplex. Vibroplex had a reputation for actively filing legal action to protect its patents.
The Cedar Rapids bug — in kit form — didn’t infringe on patents since it wasn’t a complete product (Editor’s note: Correction needed here …there was no patent infringement at this point. The company offered two versions of this key, the landline telegraph version, which was sold as an assembled key, and the radio version, which was sold both as an assembled key and for less when it was sold in kit form). I’m not sure if the key I have was sold as a kit — there’s certainly nothing on the box that indicates it was still in kit form.
I may wind up selling the other Cedar Rapid bugs I have. A couple of them (I think I have 3) are a little beaten up … actually, they simply show normal wear and use over 60 years, lol!
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My surprise purchase was on eBay — I bought a Vibroplex Blue Racer 2000.
Vibroplex brought back back its Blue Racer model about 1999, calling it the Blue Racer 2000. The company smartly capitalized on that model’s long-running popularity with collectors and bug users alike. My Blue Racer is show here, in a photo from the eBay auction.
I probably paid too much for it, but its still cheaper than new. While the key is called a Blue Racer, its really different from the “original” Blue Racers. The difference?? The size of the parts.
The original Blue Racers used scaled-down parts that fit the reduced size of the base (it was only 2.5 inches instead of 3 1/2 inches). The frame, damper, all the large parts are scaled down a bit for the Blue Racer.
The Blue Racer 2000 uses Vibroplex Original parts — the only difference between the Original the Blue Racer is the base. A Blue Racer Standard (with the painted blue base) costs $20 more than the Vibroplex Original does. The difference is the width of the base and the fact the Blue Racer uses the De Luxe jeweled pivots — a move that I think Vibroplex should make on the Original too.
I’m tickled with my new key, but I’ll admit I paid a premium price for it. Call it a birthday present!
Well, I need to head to the shower. I’m tired.
Been having some interesting CW QSOs on 80 — despite the high noise levels of late. Worked a guy in Detroit last night running 5 watts QRP. Copy got rough sometimes, but still gave him a 467 RST. He was running homebrew equipment, and his TX signal was drifing a good bit. Still not bad for late summer on 80. He gave me (running the 746PRO) a 599. Go figure.
Anyway ….
73 es CUL … de KY4Z SK …. dit dit ….