Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016, 12:06 a.m. — Just finished up some ice cream as a midnight snack, just about ready to go back in the shack for a bit.
With all my bitching and moaning about my recent acquisition of a 100th Anniversary Vibroplex, I thought it pretty amazing when not one, but two 100th Anniversary keys showed up on eBay this past week.
The first one that ended Friday was No. 100A-194, and it sold for $236. This key was in good condition, but had some wear to the carriage striping on the right side of the pivot frame. The second one (No. 100A-398) sold less than an hour later for $152.50. It has the original box. The box notes it was a “second”, one of the keys Vibroplex sold that had a scuff on the base.
While a beautiful finish, the high gloss finish of the 100th Anniversary keys is much more prone to damage than the original japaning, which used asphaltum mineral for pigment in a varnish-type of base. The old asphaltum is very tough; the early keys had to work for a living — and note that the old coating was replaced with a wrinkle finish that was also extremely durable.
The high gloss thin paint coating on the 100th Anniversary keys resembles the old keys but lacks the durability. Anyway, two of these Anniversary keys sold the same day, which is probably a rare occasion on eBay.
The key I’m really after is a 100th Anniversary key with the Knoxville nameplate. I’ll keep my eyes open for one because it doesn’t look like Vibroplex will be gearing up for another run of them.
HOW POPULAR WERE THEY? Vibroplex sold the Anniversary keys to celebrate the anniversary of the company in 2004. The question I want to know is how many of these keys ultimately were produced? It seems to me that there was a limit on the number manufactured, hence the special serial numbers.
I purchased No. 100A-603 brand new late in 2009 … if the keys were sold sequentially, one could presume that five-plus years after they were introduced they had sold just over 600 of them. The highest serial number I’ve seen so far is in the mid-700s. I don’t know if Scott Robbins continued the “100A” serial numbers when he introduced his nameplates or not.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING REALLY DIFFERENT. At 8 p.m. I found the Tennessee Slow CW Net, and copied the mail for most of the net. I was going to use my bug (as usual) for my check-in on the Georgia traffic net, but decided late to try my CT599 iambic key.
It’s been sitting in the shack — unused for the most part. It’s a strikingly beautiful key in my book.
My CT599 is serial no. 683 and dated to 2010. The only thing that you have to get accustomed to is the fact that the levers may have vertical play in them. Not a big deal, but if you are a high speed operator it would be a very big deal.
The CT599 comes from the Ukraine and are built by UR5CDX. My version of the key is the earlier one that has the old style paddles. The brass finish on the key is really, really nice, and operates well. It just took me some practice to get used to using an iambic key again, but I checked in with the iambic.
Admittedly, at the speeds I operate, the vertical slop in the keying levers is not going to make a lot of difference. Can’t say that for the faster ops out there. The reviews I’ve read tend to be more critical for those users who are long-time high-speed CW ops. As such, your mileage may vary.
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