Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015 — Well, my wife has a couple of additional reasons to kill me — but what else is new, right??
I have a nice 1921 Vibroplex Original due to be delivered tomorrow, and then I have picked up a couple (as in “2”) additional keys this weekend on eBay.
The first is a 1969 Vibroplex Presentation in pretty fair shape. Its the second Presentation model I own, and it is in better condition that the 1950s version. On that one, I ended up sanding the remaining gold plating off the brass plate and then giving it a brushed finish with some fine wet sandpaper. Not gold, but still fairly nice in appearance … at least an improvement over the poor condition plate with bad plating.
The second key is one I’ve watched for days — a 100th Anniversary Original. Yeah, yeah, I know, like I need another one. Well, they don’t show up very often, and this was dirt cheap … surprisingly cheap, given the fact it was one of the Mobile, Ala. anniversary keys. Don’t know the serial number, but we’ll know once it arrives.
“Merry Christmas to me” is in order, I suppose.
MEA CULPA, MEA CULPA. You know the old saying about what can happen when one assumes? Well, that’s what happened to me.
The net I’ve been checking into at 9 p.m. Eastern time wasn’t the Kenucky CW Net, but the Georgia Training Net. The KYN is down the band at 3535 kHz.
I only realized my error tonight because I arrived on the net frequency just as NCS AD4DX was starting the net preamble. I copied — or thought I copied “training net” and so I listened a little closer and realized he was calling up the GTN, not KYN.
And that explains why I didn’t recognize the calls of the other stations who checked in, and why they were weaker than the NCS, who is here in Kentucky. Once the net closed (I was the only check-in), I slid down to the KYN to hear AD4DX, the GTN NCS, check in with KYN NCS, KO4OL. I had already moved the key off the desk or I would have followed behind him. Maybe tomorrow night, eh?
73 es GN de KY4Z SK …. dit dit ….
We’ve been watching the same keys again! Ebay prices on bugs seem to be down right now. Keep up the good blog, see you on the low bands sometime!