[CW] Low Mass Finger Piece of SAG Cootie Key

[David J. J. Ring, Jr.]

A low mass finger piece that's a frequently overlooked "feature" of the 
KungsImport sideswiper which was sold through "QST" in the early 1980s, 
it minimized the hacksaw blade chattering when the contacts were closely 
spaced from the key lever (blade).

 From W1TP.com website:

Aluminum mechanism on wood base with hacksaw blade armature & wooden 
knob. 3 Suction cups on bottom of base. Label reads: FIRMA KUNGSIMPORT, 
Box 257, 434 00, KUNGSBACKA, Postgiro 9 10 99 Sweden. About 200 of these 
keys were made in the late 1970s by Hank Svard a Swedish Radio Operator 
at the SAG Goteburg Sweden shore station and his friend, Bengt-Arne 
Jockert / SM6CKU. About 50 of them were sold to Americans. He writes 
that his key business did not thrive so he had to keep on working at 
SAG. He said "it was a thrill at the beginning of every watch to caress 
the wooden handle. The ability to switch between sending very very 
slowly or very very fast made you feel totally in command. You created 
your own style and therefore you were greeted by name by the other ships 
calling in". The suction cups were notorious for losing their suction 
causing the key to suddenly and surprisingly drift across the operating 
table.

Photos are of my KungsImport sideswiper, QST ad for this key, a photo of 
SAG Goteborg Island Radio Officer, Hank Svard (SK), a photo of Hank's 
well used key, notice the suction cups which attempted to keep the key 
held down, a frequency list sticker sent to ship radio officers in 
ports, and old SAG and newer SAG QSL cards.

73
DR

N1EA Kungsimport Sideswiper

KungsImport QST ad from 1980s
Hank Svard of SAG (Silent Key).
Hank Svard's key used at SAG
SAG Frequency List
Earlier SAG QSL
Later SAG QSL
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