Monday, Oct. 14, 2013 — I’m still waiting to put my new Rotoplex to work at the operating position, just too many irons in too many fires it seems. But I promise, I’ll get to it! I need to put my Rotoplex someplace safe, though it won’t be the target of a theft — unless he wants to throw it our dog as a defensive weapon.
I’ve seen some really nice collectible keys pass through the portals of eBay; unfortunately I’ve shot my expense budget on anything of major value for a while. I have been buying on eBay, but things I actually need and plan to use — like a monitor.
My nephew is an IT guru, and he is King of the Scrap room — he brings home computers and items that are destined for scrap. One of those things was a 22 inch Dell monitor, which sat around in a closet for a while before I decided to give it to my son to use on his new Dell Precision server, the Godzilla of desktop computers that he bought at a hamfest. Long story short, the monitor has an issue: The screeen goes dark intermittently. After researching the issue, it turns out there’s a bad SMT capacitor that needs to be replaced, which will fix the problem.
While trying to troubleshoot the monitor, I put it on my office PC, and boy howdy, did I love the “big screen!” I decided I had to have one too. I have the parts in hand now to fix the one monitor, and Sunday night I successfully sniped an identical 22 inch Dell monitor, which happened to paired with a Dell Dimension PC identical to the one I’m using now. It isn’t a new system, but adequate.
Now I’ll have a desktop system and a monitor, and I’ll only really want the monitor. My plan is to put the PC back on the web for sale after it arrives and I double check it works. In the next day or so I’ll fix the monitor, and go ahead and give it to my son, and then I’ll wait for the PC and monitor to arrive. I got the combo cheaper than alot of the Buy It Now prices on the monitor by itself, which is kinda crazy when you think about it.
MYSTERY KEY ARRIVES. Who doesn’t love a mystery? Perhaps I need to write a pilot for a weekly TV mystery series about key collecting … but what would I call it? “Vibroplex, She Wrote”? No, no, too obvious. I could borrow the name of a Japanese detective TV show, “Key Hunter,” which is an activity I am engaged in frequently. Or how the British
TV series “Inspector Morse”? Or simply adapt the name of a U.S. TV detective show and call it “The Code Key Files.” Ok, let’s decide a name later … what’s the pilot episode going to be about?
SYNOPSIS. (Fade from black) We see Detective Crystal (a reverse of “crystal detector” … get it??) sitting at his wooden desk in a corner office of what can only be described as a building long past its prime. We see the firm name in reverse on the window, “Crystal Clear Detection Agency,” and see our main character, A.M. Crystal, feet up on his dusty desk chewing on a stogie while reading a 1949 issue of CQ magazine.
There’s a loud knock at the door — its a delivery boy with a box marked “Fragile.”
“Thanks son,” Crystal tells the youth, “but there’s no Mr. Fragile workin’ here — ” Crystal stops in mid-sentence when he sees his handwritten name on the address label and realizes it was the work of a tall, leggy brunette with long flowing hair and sparkling blue eyes … wearing a tight-fitting, form-fitting skirt topped by a matching silk blouse cut down to here, , revealing her deep and . . . . well, you get the picture. Crystal opens the box (using the key to his 1947 Hupmobile that was towed from his spot behind the building months ago), pulls out layers of bubble wrap and finds a carefully packed semi-automatic bug.
Said bug had no nameplate; in fact it had no markings at all. It resembled a Vibroplex Original, but it wasn’t a Vibroplex … or was it?
“Gee Mister, what’s that thing supposed ta do?” the delivery boy asked.
“Sonny, what you see here is an instrument of communication that has probably worked harder than either of us will in our life times. It has been used to communicate births, deaths, business news, breaking news and sports reports of every sport under the son! In the right hands, this thing was a crucial part of communications for half of the 20th Century!”
“Golly!” the boy exclaimed. “That’s a lot of fancy stuff for nothin’ more than a switch!”
Crystall frowns and points to the door. “Thanks for your expert analysis, son. Time for you to make another delivery, isn’t it?”
“On no sir, I’m not expected back until after — ” The boy feels Crystal’s glare staring him down, and decides it is time to retreat. ” — I’m done with this delivery! See ya!”
Crystal placed the key carefully on his desk and examines it more closely. No gold carriage stripping … the dot contact screw and dash contact screw are not from the same maker. The key is a wealth of inconsistency …. even the terminal posts are different — similar design, but slightly different size.
This key clearly was purchased back in the day when a bug was little more than a tool used by the best telegraphers. I’m going to have to compare this one with some of my other box hinge keys in my collection. The base has no holes which would have once been where a nameplate would have been affixed (unless they’ve been covered by paint). The finish looks well worn and period. The damper is missing the wheel, but it is that rather oddball flat and wide damper arm found on some very early Vibroplex Double Lever keys. The damper lacks the adjustments screw of the first couple of years production keys, so this one came after that …. Norcross perhaps? The mystery continues for now … more to come later!
73 de KY4Z