There were a few electronic key designs that surfaced in the '50s,
maybe even late '40s, usually appearing in QST. But then Jim Ricks
W9TO designed his TO Keyer which Halicrafters started manufacturing
and that pretty much ended the other designs such as the MON-KEY.
Vibroplex made a single lever paddle, the Vibrokey, in colors to match
the TO Keyer and the combination was and is unsurpassed in my opinion,
if you want a fully automatic key that feels like a bug.
I never liked sending with a straight key and not long after I was
first licensed I found a J-36 at a hamfest and stuck with that for
years. I tried an iambic keyer and paddle set around 20 years ago and
never really liked it. Then I fixed up a used TO Keyer and Vibrokey
paddle and felt like I'd found a fully automatic bug, to me it was
wonderful. A friend sold me a spare Original Deluxe a few years ago
and I think that model is the best bug you can buy. If you look at
old photos of commercial radiotelegraph operators, they're usually
using Original Deluxes. Sadly, I don't operate CW much at all now and
lately have been wanting to get back into it because believe it or
not, I think it might help stave off dementia. Sending and receiving
CW, if you don't use any gadgets to copy, uses your brain a lot more
than yakking into a microphone.
Rob
K5UJ
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