Thank you Stan. I've seen photographs of a vertical bug but I've never used one.
I also have a Vibroplex bug - a standard model that came to me in the 1990's through an old friend's widow when he became a silent key. My regular bug is an E.F. Johnson Speed-X. The Speed-X slows easily to 10 to 15 wpm using it's nifty standard weight that has a finger grip clamp - just squeeze and slide, let go and it's securely locked in its new position. I was surprised to find that the Vibroplex would not slow to less than about 25 wpm, even with two weights. My friend had been a commercial CW op both at sea and at KPH in California so I knew he had to slow it down to under 15 wpm to match the speed wanted by the other operator. Les accomplished that with a common cable clamp secured to the pendulum. (See it at http://www.radiomarine.org/gallery/show?keyword=kphhistory&panel=pab1_1#pab1 _1 Scroll down to Les Burger and click on the image to enlarge it). You can see the threaded shafts of the cable clamp sticking up through the crossbar. It works great, but it's a very heavy feel. Talking with a number of OT Vibroplex owners whose bugs slowed down in into the 15 WPM easily without special weights and comparing keys closely, we discovered that Vibroplex made two different leaf springs for their key pendulums back in the 1960's. One was much thicker with a higher vibration frequency than the other. I've never been able to find out why they did that. The sound and feel of a nice bug is, for me, just as basic to Ham radio as stringing up antennas and melting solder on a new project ;-) 73, Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- I just want to share a recent discovery with other Elecraft listers who appreciate 'bug' keys. The following short video is a demo I made of my new vertical 'bug' compared to the more traditional ones. This vertical key is a fabulous slow speed performer and doesn't need a pipe wrench hanging off the forward end to slow down - it's naturally slower but dropping the weight brings it up to 35 WPM. Until recently I knew very little about vertical keys and pretty much concluded that with so little marketing going on, they must not be very good. GOSH, WAS I WRONG !! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5EU6wubkaE&feature=related 73, Stan WB2LQF ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
