This morning brought a new “bug” to my front door step … a 1946 Vibroplex Zephyr, purchased from “The Crew at 22,” the ham-radio-at-school project run for 20 years now by Joe Fairclough, WB2JKJ.
The key, of course, was a donation to their school program. Joe sells the donations on eBay to fund the program. It works.
The key works too. The photo and description really didn't tell much about it, so I feared buying a pig in a poke with this key, but snared it for $33 and change. For my money, I wasn't disappointed.
The Zephyr is the rarest post-War Vibroplex. It was launched in 1939 and was discontinued in the early 1950s, making it one least-produced models.
This isn't the minty-est Zephyr you'll find. The base has a good deal of paint loss, particularly on the left side. The circuit closer is missing, though clearly it had one for many years before it was removed. The main spring is somewhat loose, but liveable. The key is missing it's square weight too — I've got plenty of Lightning Bugs and J-36s to borrow a weight from, but clearly, I would like this key to have its own weight.
The action of my new Zephyr is surprisingly fast. I don't mean just “fast,” but lightning fast. It's the fastest flat-pendulum bug in my collection. There's no way in Hades I could run the bug without adding a lot of weight.
This is unusal, since nearly all of the flat-pendulum bugs — the Lightning Bug, and the Champions — typically run slower than their brothers, the round pendulum bugs (Original, Presentation, etc). With a square weight on this bug — plus an alligator clip with an appreciable amount of solder wrapped on it — I was able to slow it down to a reasonable speed.
The contacts were tarnished, so I broke out the Tarn-X and cleaned them. Boys, she runs good and clean now.
There's some pitting on the chrome, but not bad for a bug that's nearly 60 years old. Sometimes I think we forget just how robust these old keys are!
MORE BUGS! Since my last entry, I've added a few additional semi-automatic keys — BUGS! — to my shack.
I have a total of 3 E.F. Johnson Speed-X bugs now, all in mint or near mint condition. These are interesting bugs, they are much lighter weight and construction than a Vibroplex, but the action is still very good.
The Speed-X bugs use a round weight that uses a tension-type “clip” to hold it's position on the pendulum. It's simple to adjust, and stays put. It isn't easy to clip on additional weight, however. I'm still a bit shy of 20 wpm (to say the least) so I have to be careful about how I add weight.
I also got an early Les Logan Speed-X T-Bar key. I've not done much with this one yet, simply because I don't have time. It needs a good cleaning. I got bought this key from Tom French, owner of Artifax Books and author of collectors' guides to Vibroplex and McElroy keys.
One of my new favorite keys arrived last week — a 1920 Vibroplex Blue Racer. It has the U-shaped damper, and the pinned dash lever, so it's the real deal.
The base of the key, unfortunately, isn't blue. It's finished in a black crackle, and I'm not sure it's original at all. The other keys of the era were usually blue or black japanned.
Of course, most collectors keep them either in as-found condition or have them immaculately restored. I can refinish the black japanned finish, no problem there (I've shot plenty of lacquer in autobody work). I'm confident I could make it presentable. And I'm working on a home plating setup that I'll use to replate the nickel parts.
The catch is I still need to determine exactly what the base is supposed to look like. You just don't see many 1920 Blue Racers in restored condition. I've seen some nice De Luxe examples, and that's fine. If I can determine that the base should be japanned with gold trim — like the Originals — then I'll likely refinish that base in the spring when I take on a couple other project bugs.
Aside from the restoration issues, I've had the Blue Racer on the air. It's a solid little key. I've done my usual contact clean-up (careful use of Tarn-X on the silver contacts) and it's amazing how well that works. The Racer holds adjustment very well.
I had heard the theory that Racers were prone to maladjustment. The theory goes that the Racer's adjustments were “miniatures” compared to the Original, and were more difficult to adjust.
Hogwash says I, by Gorm!!
Any gink who lays claim to adjusting a standard bug can also adjust the old No. 4 Vibroplex. The adjustments are NOT miniatures; it's not really any different from the standard bug! It's a sweetie, let me tell you.
I've been playing with my new Zephyr, and it's running smooth. The paddles on the thing look clunky and chunky. I think they're something on the order of 3/8-inch plastic, which is a lot thicker than normal paddles. Because the two paddles are so thick though, it does simulate the separation you feel when you have the stock finger and thumb pieces. I really want to put some stock ones on this key.
I'm going to watch eBay, there was a rather rusty Vibroplex Lightning Bug on that didn't bring a bid. I may go after it if it is relisted so I can take the circuit closer and other parts from it. Or maybe Vibroplex can supply the parts. On the Zephyr and the Lightning Bug, the circuit closer is pretty simple.
BREAKING NEWS! I won an auction for **yet** another Vibroplex Original Deluxe bug tonight!! See the photo at right.
I have been wanting a mint condition Deluxe model forever, and I found one that was reasonably priced. Lately they've been going well over $100, so this one was much below that. It's a late model bug, not a 40-year-old one, but I don't mind. It's a Maine-built bug, but again, that's ok. It's going to be my desk display-for-use bug.
Right now my standard shack key is a 1961 Vibroplex Original De Luxe that works slick as a ribbon. The base is lightly pitted, evenly across the surface. It's a 10-foot bug — it looks good as long as you stay 10-feet away. It's missing the red jewel, otherwise it is complete. I have a weakness for these damn keys, I guess. This particular bug doesn't show any real wear on the contacts; of course, I'm comparing these contacts to the ones on my pre-WWII bugs that had to actually work for a living.
Monday night is the monthly meeting for our local ham club, and I'm giving a program on the history of the Wouff Hong, along with the history of the period in radio when it came about. Hopefully it'll be an interesting one.
I'll have on display my own Wouff Hong specimen — a cast iron replica that was given away at the ARRL National Convention in 1948.
Speaking of the Wouff Hong, I registered the domain “wouffhong.com” today. I was thinking of assembling my information I've collected for my talk, perhaps it would make a web site that might spark interest once again in the Wouff Hong, Rettysnitch, Uggerumpf and other instruments of correction as told by The Old Man in the pages of QST magazine.
That's all from this old gink for tonight. It's time for me to take Kitty in to see the Little Wife, relight the Old Cob, and enjoy a little time by the fire.
73 … de KY4Z SK dit dit …