Thursday, June 19, 2025

Sacrilege?

From recent posts, you all know that I recently built my 4 States NM0S paddle kit. I had purchased it specifically for Field Day use. Personally, I love it! I love its small size, its action and feel. It occurred to me, however, that it might not be the best choice for Field Day for one reason.

I will not be the only CW op there. I will be one of two, or three at the most; and somehow I have a feeling that the paddle's small size will become an issue to the other ops. I'm definitely not bringing my Mercury or Begali paddles. They are too near and dear to my heart, so I decided that I will bring my trusty Vibroplex Vibrokeyer.


It works perfectly, has a good weight to it and is large enough where it will be comfortable in even hands older than mine.

I have one problem with the key, though. That (as far as I'm concerned) ugly tan base. Why in the world Vibroplex chose that color is beyond me. Sorry for the graphic image, but it reminds me of the colors I used to find in our kid's diapers when they were infants.  YUCK!

If memory serves me correctly, I picked this up at a Hamfest years ago. I don't use it all that much and it's usually tucked away on a shelf in the shack. And that's a pity as it's really a fine key. I just can't stand that tan base, it just irks me.

After Field Day is over, I think I am going to disassemble it and re-paint the base with the same Rustoleum Black Hammer Finish paint that I used when I restored my Vibroplex Original Bug. That may devalue it, but I don't really care. I'm not planning on selling it and maybe the new look will merit a place for it on the operating table instead of on the shelf.

I hope I haven't driven any Vibroplex purists to begin pulling out their hair. "You're going to do WHAT?!??"

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:22 AM

    Hi Larry
    It was customary for CW ops in our club to bring their own key. That way everyone had their favorite and your settings never got changed.

    There was a "journeyman" operator that would hit 3 or 4 different sites just to add to their score. Carried his key in a custom made box that had every adapter he would ever need to connect to our radios. There was always a group of hams watching in awe as he ran the pileups. Great fun!

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    Replies
    1. My problem is two-fold. 1) For the most part, there are only two of us CW Ops, Marv K2VHW and myself. 2) The CW rig is my KX3, which only takes a mini stereo plug connection. I don't have any adapters that will allow Marv's 1/4" plugs to convert down to the KX3's size, so I supply the key for both of us.

      Tha being said, I will bring along the 4 States paddle and one or two other portable paddles that I like for when I'm behind the key.

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