Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011 — Today’s mail brought a small box that I was expecting. I was watching a Vibroplex Code Warrior Jr. auction recently on eBay, and my last-second bid (which was low!) actually won the auction. I didn’t really need another Code Warror Jr., I have one new in the box I picked up last year, as well as the first one I bought several years ago, and now this one. I have two of the earlier incarnations of this key, the NorCal QRP Iambic key designed by K8FF.
As you can see in the side-by-side photo, they keys are much the same. The NorCall key (painted red) has finger pieces that are not shaped like the kit suggests, but they do fine just the same. If you look at the detail photos, you can see the refinements Vibroplex applied to the key when it purchased the rights to make the key.
One of the issues that I frequently read in the eHam reviews of the Vibroplex version of the key are complaints of adjusting the magnetic tension requiring the removal of the keying lever. I read that and thought “WTF?”
When I acquired my first Code Warrior Jr., the magnetic tension was way to high and the contact spacing was huge — the key clacked almost as much as a bug. The first thing I did was to reduce the magnetic tension. This is done by increasing the air space between the magnetic in the center and the metal screw head facing inward from the brass lever. For some reason, people think you have to remove the lever to adjust this screw; no, you don’t! The easiest way to adjust the tension is to simply remove the lock nut from the tension adjustment screw; grab the threaded part and screw it counter-clockwise to increase the air gap between the screw and the magnet. Check the feel of the paddle tension. Next, I reduced the contact spacing way down, and checked the feel. Once the tension was where I wanted it, I folded over an old business card and stuffed that between the magnet and the screw to keep the 
screw from turning as I reinstalled the lock nut. It can be anything, just as long as it puts enough friction to keep the screw from turning while you put the locknut back in place. With that done, the job is complete.
The Code Warrior Jr. is very easy to adjust this way; the original NorCal paddle is not so easy to adjust; I find the lock nuts more difficult to loosen than the knurled ones on the Vibroplex key.
The new Code Warrior Jr. sold cheap, and probably for a reason — the right lever was sticking pretty badly when it arrived. I disassembled the key, and the best I can figure out there’s an issue with the bushing in that lever. If you tighten the screw really tightly, the arm binds. Back it off a hair, and its fine. The Code Warrior Jr. levers have some up-and-down play that’s difficult (if not impossible) to get ride of. Nature of the key, I suppose. It doesn’t affect use at my speeds, but it can be disconcerting.
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