Thursday, February 23, 2012

WOBBLY MORSE CODE

Good for me, I actually used my ham rig and had a nice (but short) CW conversation.

...Oh, it was short. My semiautomatic telegraph key, a Vibroplex Blue Racer 2000 (their "Millenium Bug") was really uncooperative. I didn't realize why until after the QSO was over: the speed is set by a weight; the weight is held by a little thumbscrew...and I had not tightened it. Therefore, it had fallen out. So as I sent, the weight wobbled. This made forming the letters and numbers very tricky!

Better luck next time. I really should make up an extension jack panel for the transmitters -- there's half a dozen keys on my operating desk and if the jack was easily reached, changing from one to another would be easy.

9 comments:

  1. At least you're on the air using CW!
    Good for you!
    I use the built-in keyers in my radios with a Vibroplex Vibrokeyer single-lever paddle.
    I chug along at about 10~15 wpm, and just have fun.

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  2. All I could think of was "And what do IWW Telegraphers communicate about, and does Palmer know about this...?"

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  3. Yes, a jack panel works great. I have four keys online all the time and use whichever one conditions or my mood calls for. Paddle/keyer, bug and straight keys -I love them all.
    73, Mike W8MDE

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  4. It's great to see someone young using CW. My own skills have dropped from 20WPM to almost nothing. Retired recently, I want to get the Ten Tec Corsair on the air with some old Schurr paddles and work up to a comfortable 15WPM. I put CW, manual typewriters, and black powder firearms in the same category: useful, productive, and fun to use. 73,

    Jeff The Bear

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  5. Had to learn code. Can't do VHF/UHF weak signal and contesting without it. Mines terrible
    but I manage 15wpm using a old heath memokeyer.

    It not dead and the transmitters are the simplest.

    Eck!

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  7. You inspire me - I just moved the kit CW rig from the shelf to the work table. Is that progress or what?

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  8. Congrats on the CW, sorry to hear about the weight slipping. My 100th Anniversary Original needs to get used more but a paddle is a little easier on the arthritis. I mostly run phone these days, altho there are some fine boatanchors here that glow in the dark.

    FYI, sad news
    http://www.techspot.com/news/43491-last-typewriter-factory-in-the-world-shuts-down.html

    73, Jim

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  9. Oops, old news. Sorry, just saw it at American Digest and thought it was new news.

    73, Jim

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