Sunday night, Feb. 10, 2019
When is a Kent Twin Paddle TP-1 key not a Kent Twin Paddle key? When its a Chinese copy of one.
I was browsing eBay last night and ran across this key — listed as a “Kent style” iambic key. It is indeed very similar to the Kent TP-1; however on closer inspection there’s some differences.
For example, the contact arms are angled toward the rear of the key; on the genuine Kent iambic, the contact arms are at a 90-degree angle to the paddles. I remember when eBay had a bunch of listings for “Kent style” keys but which were not Kent key or quality. The one on eBay was priced cheap; of course, it should be cheap since its just a Kent knock-off.
I wondered if the angled-arm key was an early version of the Kent iambic; I can only find a couple of keys with these angled arms, one of which was in a Youtube video of the key being used as a cootie-style key.
HALLICRAFTERS TXMTR. On a lark, I purchased a Hallicrafters HT-44 transmitter with an inexpensive Buy It Now price. The matching SX-117 receiver got past me, but that’s ok. I have a couple of power supplies for the transmitter, and I look forward to giving it a try. The SX-117 is a worthwhile companion for a CW station because it has variable bandwith down to 500 Hz. My SR-150 and SR-160 transceivers have no CW filter or bandwidth adjustments, so its not a very good CW rig, despite the fact it operates the mode.
I have the complete Hallicrafters SX-117 / HT-44 / PS-150 station in the basement. The equipment spent a few days under water when the basement flooded. I need to bring it upstairs and clean it up. I love running that gear; it just takes a lot of desk to run it!
Also on eBay there’s a 1970s transceiver that’s one of my favorite hybrid rigs — the Tempo 2020 HF rig.
The Tempo 2020 has a rocking CW filter; the sidetone is smooth, and the received audio on the Tempo is just really pleasant to listen to. I have two complete Tempo 2020 stations — the rig, the matching VFO and matching speaker.
I’ve decided (again!) to pull out some of the boxed gear I purchased years ago but never put on the air. I know I have a couple of National transceivers (NCX 200 and the NCX 500) I’ve never unboxed, and should sell those. I think both have the matching power supplies too. There are some National rigs I’m interested in still — the NCX-5 and the National NC-300/303 receiver.
If my memory is correct, I should have an NC-300 receiver in the attic. Another primo receiver I bought way back when is an SX-101A. Twenty-five years ago I had the SX-101A / HT-32 station, and I sold it at a hamfest to finance the purchase of a Yaesu FT-757GX, my first all solid-state rig. Wish I had them back, lol!
73 es CUL de KY4Z SK ….. dit dit ….