Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011 — It’s been a few days since my last rambling screed, so I better lubricate the old keyboard and let loose with a few lines before I forget how its done!
THE OLD BUG-A-WHO? I’ve been forced to take a step back from my “see-it, gotta-have-it, “hide-it-from-the-XYL-when-it-arrives” eBay activities as of late. Forced? Well, not really, just decided I need to revamp the shack before adding more to the mess.
Most of “the mess” has to do with my CW keys — bugs and the rest. I have a couple of shelves on the book case and I’m going to subdivide them for display purposes in order to keep my keys safe and better display. My fear is that one of my more desirable keys will suffer an accident; I don’t like any keys to receive damage, desirable or not!
I have a couple of homebrew keys in a box behind me that I’ve not had time to mess with, and I have a mint condition Vibroplex Lightning Bug of 1941 vintage that just arrived that’s still in its shipping box out in the car. I decided not to tear into either box until I have the rest of my bugs in safer surroundings. Makes sense to me.
ANOTHER QST CD FIND. Check out the bug at right that appeared in the 1958 Lafayette ads in QST magazine. It’s a Dentsu Seiki BK-50 “Swallow” bug. Dentsu Seiki was the predecessor of the Skillman company that produced the BK-100 bug that was sold under a variety of names by retailers in the U.S.
The BK-50 was its earlier version that is much more difficult to find than the BK-100 key. The BK-50 has no cover; it has a strong resemblance to the BK-100. It features a shaped thumb piece that is quite comfortable to use — more so that the plain paddle on the BK-100. The Swallow is in my book a nicer bug; the cover on the BK-100 is nice, but due to the design you’ll seldom find one without a cracked or broken cover. The Swallow key is easier to adjust since there’s no cover, and even fat fingers like mine can quickly adjust the Swallow.
MORE ON EBAY CHANCES. I *did* recently take a chance on an auction, hoping to win or at least avoid money — a seller had a Yaesu FT-757GX listed. The seller said it had a tx issue, and then wound up where it wouldn’t turn on. The power cable is a short pigtail, so I’m guessing someone reverse the leads, and it probably took out a transistor or other components involved in powering up the rig. I’m not interested in getting it to transmit, but as a receiver, just for the heck of it.
I got this thing cheap enough to part it out and make some money. The encoder — if not screwed up — is worth nearly as much as I paid for the rig. As little as I paid, I believe I can part it out and break even if the rig can’t be restored to at least receiving condition. We’ll see. XD