[CW] Better fingerpieces for the Vibroplex Vibrocube?

Sat May 3 20:11:44 EDT 2014

Danny ....  thanks ... my xyl and I do all the home and yard maintenance here ...  we moved to East Sandwich on the Cape in Dec 2011 ... 
Fortunate to find a smaller home that was built in 2000...  but there are "things" to fix and maintain ...  I am 81 ... and in fairly good physical 
condition in spite of emergency colon cancer surgery in Aug 2012 .... yes I did have a colonoscopy ... in 2009 at the Brigham and Women's Cancer center in Boston and they MISSED IT ....The VA found I was severely anemic by a blood test I went to the Cape Cod Hospital ER ..... 
It took 18 months to recover ... gained back the 35 pounds I lost and regained the physical strength and stamina I had when I was 60 years old .... I was very lucky .... 

Continuing your physical activity all your life is what will keep you alive longer ... roofing like you did ... yard work ... etc ... 
Most people who hire SOME ONE ELSE to mow their lawn and take care of their yard .... also go to the gym 3 times a week..... it is no substitute for a full life of physical regular activity ....  even washing your car will get the blood pumping ... also saves $20 which you can use for 
beer money .... 

The other thing I learned from my dad was when that doing a job and you first get tired ... THE JOB IS NOT OVER ....  you sit and pause for 5 
minutes and then start again  .....I remember one time when I was about 12 years old ... my mother said to me " Don't plan anything for this weekend, you father has plenty for you to do"  ... and he did ...he and I hand mixed cement in a larger metal cement mixing tray for a FULL GARAGE FLOOR ... there were no breaks ... we had to work all day ..  could NOT let the cement cure and harden before we finished the floor ... and we did finish it ...   I have had this happen with our daughter and husband a few times ... moving was one time ... I had to say it 
.... come on get off your butts or we are never going to finish this .... almost everyone below 50 years old has had it too easy ... 
The Hispanics will take all the trades jobs .... just like the Italian immigrants  did in the 19020's ....   I Italy they worked TWO jobs just 
to get food for their families ...   a lot of people curse the Hispanics ... but they are probably the best thing that could happen to the country ... 

Whitey  K1VV 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Danny Douglas" <n7dc at comcast.net> 
To: "CW Reflector" <cw at mailman.qth.net> 
Sent: Saturday, May 3, 2014 5:53:01 PM 
Subject: Re: [CW] Better fingerpieces for the Vibroplex Vibrocube? 

Amen to the last there Whitey.  Two of my grandkids live with us, and I do most of my own repairs around here, and the day I retired I was on the roof stripping it down and replacing both the shingles and the tar paper.  It was an awful lot of work and I declared NEVER AGAIN.      Here it is, almost 20 years later, and guess what- Yep gonna need a new roof soon.  Then about 4 years ago, I completely removed the old pressed wood siding from the house, and put on new cement siding that looked just like the wood - meanwhile I replaced all the windows, outside doors and, of course, wrapped the whole house while doing it.  The kids, almost 13 and 15, are involved as much as I can get them to help.The only thing I don't have them involved in, so far, is changing out wall sockets, etc.  The older cuts grass, and both help in the garden.  The older has also passed 5-8 WPM in code when I taught the whole Scout troop the Signaling Merit Badge about 3 years ago, and the younger learned some of it, by just sitting around as the old practiced on his home brewed key/sounder, at the house.  Both help me build/repair dipoles and inverted L, etc. and lift them in the air.  We are presently laying out a new sidewalk from the kitchen porch, to the front of the house, and down the front to the front door porch.  Just framework of 1x6s and laying in 12 inch squares, but it is a tedious job, as the land is slopped and it takes a bit of fiddling.  They are learning.   Both are working, as we do different odd jobs, the Home Repair Merit Badge, and it seems a bit harder to do than when I earned it lo  60 years ago.  Distraction is indeed the problem, not only with them, but every kid I come across.  All these electronics in the pockets need to go.  I had a whole lot less to do at those ages, and managed to do more.  

k1vv at comcast.net 
Friday, May 02, 2014 11:58 PM 
Joe .....  yes ... it is a different world .... we used to make "things" and use them ... today people BUY "things" and use them ... 

I guess I was very fortunate ... my farther could fix ANYTHING ...  he was a plumber by trade ...When I was 8... I went out on jobs with him ... his brothers ... my uncles ... one was a sheet metal worker ...... another a joiner ( finish carpenter .. cabinet maker) ... the third a painter ... I saw him do gold leaf work ... I never forgot how ....I learned a LOT....from all of them ... how to solder copper pipe ... mix cement ...  plumb a wall with studs ...  etc .... 

Today about half of all marriages end up in divorce ...We have a generation or more of boys and girls who grow up with a single parent ... most of the time it is a female because the women always get custody of the children ...many of the mothers do an excellent job raising their kids alone ...  But the kids never saw their father change a washer in the kitchen sink faucet..... or change a tire on their car .....the kids have little or no "technical" exposure as they grow up ....But they could tell you what kind of wine goes with a fish dinner .... 

Almost every school here on Cape Cod has a STEM learning program ...  Science ... Technology ... Engineering and Math .... it runs from about 
the 4th grade through the12 grade ...  it teaches them how a flash light works ... or how to make crystal set ...  things that most people 
my age did in the boy scouts or on our own .... add to this Twitter ... with 300 Twitter texts a day .. 
. and you have a LOST generation that is DISTRACTED ..   How are they ever going be employed on a job that requires 6 to 8 hours 
every day of FOCUSED concentration ...  in Medicine or Engineering .... God help this generation who will have to be treated by the doctors 
who are the products of this period .... or drive over bridges designed by the engineers ....  

Whitey  K1VV  ...  59 years on the bands...   99% CW ....  

From: "Joe V31JP" <v31jp1957 at gmail.com> 
To: "CW Reflector" <cw at mailman.qth.net> 
Sent: Friday, May 2, 2014 11:24:59 PM 
Subject: Re: [CW] Better fingerpieces for the Vibroplex Vibrocube? 

I will partially agree with you, Whitey.  But, it just isn't like days 
gone by. 
I do a lot of repair work and build things.  When I got back into making 
different 
items, I was very disappointed at how difficult it is and/or expensive 
for what 
used be common items, parts and supplies.  It causes some folks to choke 
when I quote them a repair.  Sometimes I spend as much time locating the 
materials as I do in the job itself any more.  Also, many folks did not 
grow up 
doing wood working as part of normal household chores, learning from fathers 
and uncles. That is a real shame. I have tried to pass the skills along 
to all 
my kids, that range from nearing 50 and down to 6 years old, boys and girls. 
And I cook and sew as well. ☺ 

On 5/2/2014 9:08 PM, k1vv at comcast.net wrote: 
> Dave .....     did these guys ever think about making the wood or 
> plastic fingerpieces themselves ? 
> This is not brain surgery ... 
> This is ham radio ...  have they forgotten that REAL hams used to do 
> this .... 
> Whitey 

-- 
Regards, Joe, Ronnie (Rowena), Marty & Sidney Pontek 
P.O. Box 280, Dangriga, Stann Creek District 
(Hopkins Village) Belize 
011-501-666-3564 Belize (cellular) 
or 
5204 Texas Highway 49 W 
Omaha, TX 75571-6474 
U.S.A. 
903-434-9111 (My NEW cellular when in Texas) 
903-884-5990 (Skype telephone number, Belize & TX) 
Also, K8JP, member FOC-1743, CWops-876, QCWA-LM21894, OOTC-4607, A1OP, SKCC-3171T, NAQCC-5798, Flying Pig-2819, FISTS-7625CC951, A1C-2299, 
PG1915841 
Skype: v31joepalooka 
Facebook: Joe Pontek 
I am looking for Vibroplex Model X, Double lever and prefer basket cases to restore. 
V3FOC, I am SKCC 10691 

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Joe V31JP 
Friday, May 02, 2014 11:24 PM 
I will partially agree with you, Whitey.  But, it just isn't like days gone by. 
I do a lot of repair work and build things.  When I got back into making different 
items, I was very disappointed at how difficult it is and/or expensive for what 
used be common items, parts and supplies.  It causes some folks to choke 
when I quote them a repair.  Sometimes I spend as much time locating the 
materials as I do in the job itself any more.  Also, many folks did not grow up 
doing wood working as part of normal household chores, learning from fathers 
and uncles. That is a real shame. I have tried to pass the skills along to all 
my kids, that range from nearing 50 and down to 6 years old, boys and girls. 
And I cook and sew as well. ☺ 

k1vv at comcast.net 
Friday, May 02, 2014 11:08 PM 
Dave .....     did these guys ever think about making the wood or plastic fingerpieces themselves ?    

This is not brain surgery ... 

This is ham radio ...  have they forgotten that REAL hams used to do this .... 

Whitey   

----- Original Message -----

From: "Joe V31JP" <v31jp1957 at gmail.com> 
To: "CW Reflector" <cw at mailman.qth.net> 
Sent: Friday, May 2, 2014 11:01:41 PM 
Subject: Re: [CW] Better fingerpieces for the Vibroplex Vibrocube? 

Oh, I did not know Gregg stopped making them, Jim. Sorry. 
When I get home, Belize, I am in the hunt for a couple of woods. 
Dave knows my quest. One is a wood with contrasting light and dark 
sections and the other is a Rosewood burl.  I want them for both key 
bases and, maybe, finger pieces.  And, I hear good reports about 
2B Radio Parts. 

On 5/2/2014 8:39 PM, Jim Lowman wrote: 
> Those do look very nice, Joe, but apparently he's no longer making the 
> wood fingerpieces. 
> 
> 72/73 de Jim - AD6CW 
> 
> On 5/2/2014 7:15 PM, Joe V31JP wrote: 
>> Try here, Jim. 
>> 
>> http://www.egr.msu.edu/~mulderg/ 
>> 
>> Gregg does nice work. 
>> 
>> I did not see in a quick look of the "Cube", but maybe. 
>> I have the older Kent iambic and its paddles are a bit soft. 
>> On the newer model iambic, the brass goes out further, 
>> thus stiffens the paddles. 
>> 
> 
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-- 
Regards, Joe, Ronnie (Rowena), Marty & Sidney Pontek 
P.O. Box 280, Dangriga, Stann Creek District 
(Hopkins Village) Belize 
011-501-666-3564 Belize (cellular) 
or 
5204 Texas Highway 49 W 
Omaha, TX 75571-6474 
U.S.A. 
903-434-9111 (My NEW cellular when in Texas) 
903-884-5990 (Skype telephone number, Belize & TX) 
Also, K8JP, member FOC-1743, CWops-876, QCWA-LM21894, OOTC-4607, A1OP, SKCC-3171T, NAQCC-5798, Flying Pig-2819, FISTS-7625CC951, A1C-2299, 
PG1915841 
Skype: v31joepalooka 
Facebook: Joe Pontek 
I am looking for Vibroplex Model X, Double lever and prefer basket cases to restore. 
V3FOC, I am SKCC 10691 

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Joe V31JP 
Friday, May 02, 2014 11:01 PM 
Oh, I did not know Gregg stopped making them, Jim. Sorry. 
When I get home, Belize, I am in the hunt for a couple of woods. 
Dave knows my quest. One is a wood with contrasting light and dark 
sections and the other is a Rosewood burl.  I want them for both key 
bases and, maybe, finger pieces.  And, I hear good reports about 
2B Radio Parts. 

Jim Lowman 
Friday, May 02, 2014 10:39 PM 
Those do look very nice, Joe, but apparently he's no longer making the wood fingerpieces. 

72/73 de Jim - AD6CW 

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-- 
Danny Douglas 

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