Topband: Topband cw - bugs rhythm, swing

[Wes]

As a new Novice in 1958, a high school friend (not a ham) introduced me to an 
older neighbor of his (also not a ham). The old guy lived in a two-story house, 
a rarity in our Tucson neighborhood.  The second story was just one big room 
filled with keys, sounders, clocks, etc.  IIRC, the guy had been a Western Union 
operator and he built a replica of a station.  He did have a homebrew receiver 
and a surplus Navy TRF receiver, but he and my friend were experimenting with 
common-carrier communications over the power line.

After learning that I was a new ham and operating with some junk key, he gave me 
a Western Union Telegraph Co, "1 B, Pole Changer Key" made by Bunnell.

My rig in those days was a crystal-controlled Millen transmitter (6L6-807) and a 
BC-342 receiver.  I remember making a 40 meter QSO one day with a guy with a 
two-letter call, who painstakingly rag chewed with me for 30 minutes or so.  
When we ended our QSO he was called by another two-letter guy, probably a 
friend, and they proceeded to comment, very favorably, on my fist.  I about 
popped a button or two.  Regrettably, I no longer have the logbook, but I still 
have the key, 65 years later.

Wes  N7WS


  On 7/2/2023 3:37 AM, Rob Atkinson wrote:
> 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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