Friday, June 10, 2016 — I’ve not had much time to enjoy my new-to-me rig, the Icom IC-746, but I have confirmed its optional filters. It has the optional narrow SSB filter installed in one of the 9 MHz slots, and also has a 500 Hz CW filter installed in the 455 MHz filter position.
Of course, in the last few days I saw a PRO model 746 sell for about $40 more than what I paid for my non-PRO! The PRO was a steal, it really was, and had I been around at the auction’s end, you know what I would have done — buy the PRO and then list the non-PRO.
I’ve also seen an IC-756PRO and PROII sell very, very inexpensively, though the problem with those rigs is that they aren’t nearly as compact and portable as the 746. No, not going to buy one of those too, but it sure makes them attractive.
KEY OF CHOICE. I continue to enjoy using my 1937 Mac-Key as my go-to key on my operating desk. I have temporarily pushed aside my beloved 100th Anniversary Vibroplex and the 1979 Vibroplex Original.
I’ve said it before, but the 1937 Mac-Key is a sweet operating key that will slow down to about 13 wpm — slower than the majority of my other McElroy keys. I’ve done nothing to the key other than clean the contacts. For a key that is rapidly approaching 80 years old, its a sweetheart.
I wonder if Horace Martin or Ted McElroy ever gave much thought to the durability of the bugs they created? Of course, the bug was never designed as a collectible, it was a tool for a craftsman, much the same way a hammer and level are to a carpenter. And I guess it is inevitable as key collectors that our collections will outlive us. I just hope there will be future collectors interested in them.
CAN’T OWN TOO MANY! I was recently diagnosed by my family doctor as having a chronic case of case of telegraphic impetus, otherwise known as the “McElroy 
Syndrome.”
This ailment is characterized by the inability to avoid the purchase of telegraph keys with attractive Buy It Now prices — particularly those manufactured by T.R. McElroy.
Such was the case with this key, which was listed on eBay as a “1934 Mac Key.” The seller did a great job documenting the key with photos, though he made a common mistake among non-collectors — he thought the casting date on the bottom of the base was accurate for that key. The key was actually a 1936B Mac-Key.
Initially I thought perhaps it was a 1936A key, but the steel, two-pivot keying lever arrangement made it clear it was a “B” model. This key has the later aluminum nameplate and one-piece “U” bar connector between the front and rear contact points. A previous owner wisely installed terminal connectors on this key.
The key is relatively complete, despite the incorrect paddle and some use of knurled nuts in places they typically aren’t found on this key. Something else I need to fix is the damper — it isn’t correctly mounted and as installed it doesn’t move up and down freely (other than the actual damper wheel, there’s no “give”). But everything in time.
I unboxed the key (which was very carefully packed and double-boxed (!) by the seller), then reboxed it for the time being for safety. I’ll get it out for my own photos in the near future. Until then …
73 es CUL de KY4Z SK … dit dit …