Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013 — while I have been browsing eBay pretty regularly these days, I haven’t been a buying a great deal of ham radio-related stuff. And that’s by design; I’m not adding to my shack unless it is something significant or something I really want.
And of course, these parameters haven’t stopped me from watching a plethora of keys — mostly bugs of course. Once in a while, you see something that really catches your eye and prompts you to think “What the hell??”
That thought came to mind recently when I ran across this Bencher paddle for sale. The eBay seller didn’t know much about it, but presented it as a “vintage” key — which might be true, given the number of years Bencher has been making the BY-1.What’s that gunk in the middle of the key mechanism? Not sure I want to know! Click to enlarge.The Bencher BY-1 is a version of the famous FYO key developed by Jospeh Hills W8FYO of Dayton, Ohio. Hills only made a few keys in the early 1960s; the FYO-style key was later manufactured by HAL and later, Bencher. Of any version, the Bencher far outnumbers any other version, with more than 100,000 keys sold.
I have three or four Benchers, two of which are combined with the MFJ keyer gizmo that attaches to the key. It’s a good key and one of the best light-touch iambic keys I’ve used with any success.
This example you see at right has lots of life in it yet; however, if I were to buy it I think its first stop out of the box would be a thorough bath! There’s accumulated …. not sure what … in the nooks and crannies inside the key mechanism. And check out the paddles — the translucent brown ones? No, that’s not a factory option, that’s what looks like nicotine from years of cigarette/cigar smoking. UGH!
I say that knowing however that given a lot of soap and some time, the key would be revived to nearly as-new condition … it just looks grungy at present. In fact, had it been priced lower, I might have considered buying it as a project. As it stands, the entry-level bid was about what I think the key is worth, and I’m not willing to overpay for a key I don’t really need simply for the enjoyment of bringing it back to full function … or that’s my story right now, lol.
My wife told me in a fit of honesty a couple months ago that she no longer is going to complain about the size of my key collection. The told me she considers it our “retirement fund” … hopefully she won’t want to cash in before I’m ready to cash out.
73 de KY4Z SK … dit dit …