I keep forgetting this blog, so please bear with me as I remember to update!
Right now I'm surrounded by bugs. No, not the crawling kind, but the Morse code kind — specifically Vibroplex varieties and most recently, the J-36 varieties.
The J-36 variety I've been getting the last couple of days are eBay items I've won in the last couple of weeks. I've gone plain nuts for semi-automatic Morse code keys (known as “bugs”) in the last few months, and I went on a buying spree in late July/early August.
An eBay seller who didn't know what he had listed two Lionel J-36 bugs for sale on eBay. These were items the seller found at an estate auction, and he admitted not knowing much about them.
In the photos, they were plumb ugly, looking extremely dirty and forelorn; covered with decades of dust, they didn't look like much. The seller knew they were code keys, but little else.
He did not list them as Vibroplex keys, nor did he use their military designation in the listing title. I think he called them Morse code keys in rather generic terms.
As you might imagine, they didn't get much attention. And anyone who looked at them could see in the single photo they looked very dirty. The bidding didn't go far. One of the J-36 bugs had a broken finger piece, the other was intact as far as I could tell.
In sniped the both for about $40 for each one — quite a nice haul, too. Of course, you don't know what you'll get until they arrive at your house, and yesterday I was absolutely tickled when they both arrived in a well packed box.
They looked just like the photos, only covered with more dirt. One of them had a portion of the original Lionel “L” logo of the name plate hanging on a rivet. The other key had no label at all — a very common problem with these keys.
The labels Lionel used were cheap plastic, and heat would curl them up and they would break away from the five pins used to secure the labels.
I put down a soft towel, grabbed my tools, 409 cleaner and Flitz metal polish, and went to work last night.
I took apart the first J-36, the one with the broken paddle, inspecting it closely. Other than some minor dings in the top pivot plate, there was no damage to any of the hardware, save for the paddle. I disassembled the key, flooded the base with 409, and began scrubbing the brightwork with 409 and a toothbrush.
A former owner apparently smoked, as there was some light discoloration on the metal work. Not bad, but still there. It all came clean with little effort.
The metal work on the J-36 looks to be cad plated; it's not as shiny as chrome or nickel plating. The metal parts of the first bug looked very good, and cleaned up fine.
The base took a couple of applications of 409 and some light scrubbing with a toothbrush before it came clean. All-in-all, this 60-year-old bug has survived the years in decent condition.
The real prize was the next J-36 out of the box. This one was filthy, so I prepared to disassemble it and clean it like its brother before it.
Some 409 and Flitz, and the metal work — all in perfect condition — came out looking nearly new. Some scrubbing on the base left it in near-mint condition too. I was excited when I reassembled the key, it looked just perfect!
One of the biggest joys of fooling with these old keys is connecting them up the first time. It's like Christmas in August when you do! It takes a number of adjustments to get a bug “right”, and while I'm no expert, I enjoy “the hunt” for a liveable adjustment.
It's like an orchestra tuning up … first I adjust the keying lever's travel against the righthand stop. This insures the damper works well without beating it up too much. Next, I adjust the dash contact post. This is adjusted fairly close to the keying lever. Too big a gap makes it awkward to complete Morse characters and leaves a gap in the transition from dahs to dits.
Then I adjust the dit contact. On J-36s (and just like their civilian brethren, the Vibroplex Lightning Bug), there's a lot of adjustment as far as alighnment of the contact.
There's also adjustable spacing of the dit contact; in other words, you adjust the dit contact to keep the dits formed correctly.
The pendulum is weighted by a sliding square weight. The farther to the end of the pendulum, the slower the code speed. I keep mine on the slowest setting, lol!
I also add an alligator clip with solder wrapped around it for more weight. Keeping up with the Lightning Bug at its slowest speed can be demanding for my brain!