The latest addition to the family arrived Monday morning about 10:30, delivered not by the stork, but FedEx. She's about 7 inches, 3-1/2 pounds of painted steel and chrome-plated brass … yes, my late-model Vibroplex Original is in the house.
It's every bit as clean and as mint as the seller said it was. After I contacted him about shipping the key, I found that he has been collecting keys longer than I've been a ham. He did a superb job packing the key, and it arrived in perfect condition. It's every bit as clean and as nice as the key in the photo with this entry — looks just like it, too.
I think its my imagination, but the key has a “like-new” feel to it; I guess its because — for once — I bought a key that wasn't 75 years old! This key is essentially in unused condition; there's no wear on anything, and its just super mint, and plays that way. So yeah, it was nice to open the box and have a key that's so “new” and ready to play. No de-gunking necessary, no polishing, no nothing.
I kind of wish I had some sort of dust cover for it, but I absolutely detest the ones that Vibroplex has for sale. They're just damn ugly. I think a clean wash cloth might suffice!
At one point I had a nice cover for my IC-756PROIII and used it to help keep it clean. I wish I had one for my FT-2000 … are you listening, Santa??
This latest bug is the first of three to arrive; there's a second nearly-new key that was too good a price to pass up (made when Vibroplex was in Mobile, Ala.), and then that 1958 Vibroplex Original DeLuxe that I MIGHT part out … emphasis on “might.”
Actually its an “eight-footer” … the key looks great at a distance of about eight feet or so. It may find a place in the rotation as the “KY4Z Key of the Week.”
Right now, those slots are occupied largely by T.R. McElroy-manufactured keys — plus my latest late-model bug. I have some chores to do, but did some tuning around on 40 between 7100 and 7125, hope to get the key on the air later today if I have the opportunity.
I'm thinking of designing my own shelf for some of my keys, in order basically to store as many as possible in a way that will make the accessible and keep them out of harm's way — especially my coveted first-year-of-manufacture 1905 Vibroplex and my other nice rarity, the Double Lever Vibroplex. A shelving unit comes to mind, but I would have to add additional shelves to increase capacity; maybe put it on wheels too to make it “shove-able.”
I need to pick up more solder lugs and RCA chassis jacks; I use these to make my own key-mounted RCA jacks to make it easer to swap out keys. It works well when you have umpteen keys laying around (though it won't work for iambic paddles).
My wife and I are going to Lowe's later this evening, maybe I can look at some shelving ideas there too. We're going to look at bathroom fixtures, so a side trip down the storage aisle won't be a problem.
73 es CUL … de KY4Z .. dit dit