[CW] Vibroplex Use on Ships, Coastal Radio Stations & Aircraft
Michael Kashuba
wn6yqs at aol.com
Fri Mar 25 10:24:15 EDT 2022
Dick
I use larger spacing than most with my bugs unless I am going 20-30...then I tighten it us a bit...
In the 70's I worked on many a Global Marine vessels...as a wellsite geologist not as a radio operator. Surely it must have been exciting to be searching for the more rare.sunken treasure you guys were exploring for... 100% CW..... 50% bug, 40% single lever keyer paddle, 10% straight key here since 1967
Mike K6LQ
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Singer <k6ksghamrdo at gmail.com>
To: CW Reflector <cw at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sun, Mar 20, 2022 6:29 pm
Subject: Re: [CW] Vibroplex Use on Ships, Coastal Radio Stations & Aircraft
In the late 1960's being a ham since 1958, I used to use a bug with close spacing. Then I was braking in at KOK ITT Coast station in Los Angeles. The main operator there was an excellent bug operator and I noticed his spacing was quite wide.I began sailing shortly after that and kept my bug with a wide spacing.3/32 inch. I still use it that way on the ham bands. When sailing I was on a roller of a ship and never had problems with sending with the bug. The whole point is to send good code and not run things together. In the Navy I used to copy a lot of coded groups. In the early 1970's I was hired by the US Govt and was Radio Officer on the Hughes Glomar Explorer. Again good code sending and receiving. Enjoy your bugs.
73Dick Singer/K6KSG
On Sun, Mar 20, 2022 at 5:43 PM spud roscoe <spudrve1bc at outlook.com> wrote:
Hi: 99% of the Canadian Coast Guard Radio Officers used Vibroplex bugs in the Coast Guard Ships with no trouble at all. They all had beautiful fists of around 20-25 WPM and I would give anything to be able to sit down and work anyone of them today. The weather around here is never the best and I have no knowledge of that ever presenting a problem with any of them. My two cents worth! 73Spud VE1BC Sent from Mail for Windows From: Richard Knoppow
Sent: March 20, 2022 6:05 PM
To: cw at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [CW] Vibroplex Use on Ships, Coastal Radio Stations & Aircraft Interesting but I wonder about the number of dots.
Somewhere, perhaps in a military handbook, I read that a properly
adjusted key should produce at least 15 dots of reasonable
spacing. My experience is that if there is some energy loss
somewhere the key will produce fewer dots. The number of dots of
course depends on the amount of energy imparted to the vibrator
and that depends on the amount of swing the lever gives to the
vibrator. The larger the displacement of the lever, as set by the
stop, the more energy is imparted to the vibrator and the more
dots it will produce. This is within some limits because if the
displacement is too large the dots become irregular for some reason.
It is interesting to tilt the key to see how much difference
it makes. If tilted in the direction the dot paddle moves it,
counter clockwise on a normal right -handed key, of course it
will move the vibrator toward the dot contact. Eventually if you
tilt it far enough it will hit the contact and of course will not
vibrate. Tilted in the other direction it will reach a point
where the vibrator just doesn't vibrate because it is locked to
the stop. I find the amount of tilt either way is not very large.
To a limited degree the tilt can be compensated by compressing
the dot spring. I mean the coil spring that regulates the amount
of force it takes to move the lever toward the dot side, not the
U spring on the dot contact, which is not adjustable.
I have never operated a key on board ship but it seems to me
that the ship would not have to roll very much to make a bug
useless. Its been too long since I read the mail on commercial
stations and ships to remember what I heard exactly. But from my
little experiment just now I suspect a sideswiper is a better
choice for use on board ship. I suspect that no adjustment can
make a bug work on a strongly rolling ship.
I will of course take Dave's opinion over mine on this since
he has the experience and I am mostly guessing.
On 3/20/2022 12:26 PM, Edward Tanton wrote:
> Interesting David!!!
>
>
>
> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: "D.J.J. Ring, Jr." <n1ea at arrl.net>
> Date: 3/20/22 12:40 PM (GMT-05:00)
> To: CW Reflector <cw at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: Re: [CW] Vibroplex Use on Ships, Coastal Radio Stations
> & Aircraft
>
> Dennis,
>
> I just saw your email.
>
> Commercial radiotelegraphers adjusted their semi-automatic keys
> to produce 8 to 10 dots, and when they sent on their straight
> keys they made the dots heavy to counteract tropical static. I
> have heard from UK operators who were seeking employment that
> they sent their dots too lightly and weren't hired!
>
> The close spacing that some Amateurs use for their semi-automatic
> keys wasn't used at sea because on the average day there was
> enough mechanical vibrations from the ship's engines, that the
> spacing had to be wider. When rougher weather was encountered,
> we learned to widen the vibrator gap even more and lastly when we
> were in a violent storm we had to abandon the Vibroplex and use a
> straight key - or if you had some foresight, a sideswiper which
> was faster than the straight key for many operators.
>
> 73
>
> DR
> N1EA
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 10, 2022 at 3:11 PM Dennis Berry <dennisberry at att.net
> <mailto:dennisberry at att.net>> wrote:
>
> You always have fascinating stories in this forum. I have
> never been a shipboard op. But your comment here made me have
> to ask the question.
> Did shipboard ops learn to have the spacing wider on the bug
> keys to further compensate for ship movement? Or was it
> fairly standard spacing for the most part as the seas were
> “calm” on average? I can understand you comment about
> storing the key and only using a hand key with really rough
> seas.
> Just curious if any other adjustments to the key spacing were
> developed out of necessity
> Thanks in advance if you can reply.
>
> Dennis, NU8S
>
>
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--
Richard Knoppow
1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
WB6KBL
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