Friday, Jan. 22, 2016 — Well, I’m happy to report that this formerly grumpy Bug Man has a reason to smile! We finally dug out a path through the snow to our mail box and found that my replacement keying lever from Vibroplex arrived. I was also happy to find that the pivot screws I requested were also included — I wasn’t sure I needed them both, but given the likelihood of damage, I decided to buy a pair just in case.
The lever was a thing of pure beauty; gleaming chrome and wrapped carefully. I just finished replacing the lever and have the key adjusted … like butter!
However the key suffered some minor damage to the finish behind the damper due to the broken lever (and its attached bug tamer ) rattling around in transit … but even with that I’m very pleased. This key will replace my 100th Anniversary Original No. 100A-406, which I will place back in careful storage.
With the arrival and installation of my new keying lever, I consider “The Case of the CW Nightmare Before Christmas” closed — to my complete satisfaction.
CODE WARRIOR JR. In today’s mailbox we also found the Vibroplex Code Warrior Jr. 
I recently purchased on eBay, and it was every bit has nice as it appeared to be.
Did I need another Code Warrior? Probably not. The price was right and the key was very, very nice. I have a soft spot in my (heart? head??) for the Code Warrior Jr.
Actually, this purchase is a symptom of an RF-induced disease that a friend of mine (now a Silent Key) discovered about 10 years ago called Prodigo nimium viaticus (translation: “Spending too much money”).
Its symptoms are indeed activated by RF, and the typically manifest themselves when viewing eBay. The victim commits acts that my healthcare provider refers to as “therapeutic shopping” — uncontrollable urges to “snag a great deal.”
OK, well all seriousness aside, I do have a “thing” for the Code Warrior Jr., which actually began in the days prior to the launch of the Vibroplex version of the key.
The Code Warrior Jr. was designed by Wayne Smith, K8FF, of Aurora, Ohio, and submitted to (and won) the 1997 Northern California QRP Club Design Contest and kitted by NorCal.
I saw my first NorCal K8FF key at a hamfest in Northern Kentucky. It was sitting there for sale, and I was struck by its small size and the use of magnets instead of springs for the paddle return. This example had a base painted bright red. The plastic paddles were functional but not well-finished. I bought some pieces of plexiglas off eBay and made new paddles that looked more like the Code Warrior-style paddles.
The NorCal club sold the key for a couple of years before Vibroplex — then owned by ”
Mitch” Mitchell. W4OA — purchased the rights to manufacture the key, which they began selling either in 1999 or 2000.
In addition to the first one I purchased — in 1998 I believe — I also have two other NorCal kit keys. The original K8FF key is solid design; the only flaw I can find has to do with the brass keying levers. On the first Vibroplex Code Warrior Jr. I purchased, one of the levers was slightly bent. It didn’t affect is operation, it just looked bad. I called Vibroplex to inquire about a replacement (when Mitch was owner), and Betsy told me that they had a problem with the Code Warrior levers having slight bends in them since the lever tapers down in thickness. While I was on the phone with her, she located a straight replacement lever and promised to ship it to me — which she did.
OTHER K8FF KEYS. I have heard about the Vibroplex Venus iambic key, which was also designed by K8FF. Fewer than 2 dozen were made due to quality control issues with the chrome plating on the levers. And interestingly, the levers on the Venus are very similar in design to those on the Code Warrior Jr.
In February 2011, K8FF listed two iambic keys for sale on eBay that his listing said were proof-of-concept keys. Wayne said he made three of them and was keeping one and selling the other two.
I spotted the auction listings 30 minutes after he posted them. They were both listed with attractive Buy It Now prices, so I immediately purchased one. The second key (they were identical) sold the next day. However, that key turned back up on eBay several times. I finally decided if it ever surfaced again, I would buy it — and when it did in November 2011, I did just that.
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