[CW] To Bruna Begali about keys and PRINSENDAM

Fri Jul 19 06:56:28 EDT 2024

Hello Bella Bruna,

I am testing the 70th Anniversary key again. It oddity of dashes activating
with the slightest touch which resulted in false keying of dashes seems to
have gone away without adjusting anything which is very odd, so I observing
carefully.

I think I can also switch the fingerpieces from left to right, then when
fixing them to the key, flipping both so the profile of the fingerprinted
will then be higher above the desktop.  I think my fingers and thumb will
be able to use the paddles more effectively.

Even though I used to be an expert commercial radiotelegrapher who for 8 to
10 hours a day could send nearly flawlessly, I gave up sending with paddles
about 20 years ago and have gotten used to sending with semiautomatic keys
(Vibroplex, Frattini and Intrepid), Sideswiper (Sculpture Swing is the best
ever made and my favorite to use,) and straight key (the PS-213 Marconi
produced for United Kingdom Post Office radio stations is without equal and
is my choice. )

I am surprised I am so out of practice with paddles, but I haven't used
this type of key in nearly 20 years, so I am out of practice and older with
slower reflexes.

After using Vibroplex, E.F. Johnson type keys for nearly 60 years including
as a professional radiotelegrapher, as I previously wrote you, learning to
adjust the Begali Intrepid was a difficult challenge until I realized it
adjusted like a mechanical wristwatch instead of a mechanical clock,
meaning the adjustments were considerably different as they were more
precise and required a different sequence to achieve well formed dots with
the appropriate feeling on the fingers to accuate them flawlessly.

The prototype Begali Russian Cootie Bug works well with the removal of the
button fingerpiece on the side used by the fingers. I have previously told
you this and sent my suggestion that the button and paddle be changed to a
fingerpiece as used on the Begali Sculpture Swing which eliminates the
button and presents to the user a wide ample area for the fingers and
thumb.  I suspect that the removal of the button would allow
reconfiguration of the dash activation configuration as there would now be
less required lateral movement to produce dashes resulting in easier and
more accurately timed series of repeated dashes as when sending numbers
with sequentially repeated dashes.

What is your father's birth date? I am guessing around 1932? It's been a
while since I saw you both in 2015 at the ARRL National Convention in
Boston, Massachusetts where I presented a lecture on the SOS from MV
PRINSENDAM which was burning out of control and had been abandoned with all
535 passengers and crewmembers fleeing in lifeboats who all successfully
rescued by Canadian Armed Forces helicopters, United States Coast Guard
Cutters and United States Merchant Marine ships including my ship TT
WILLIAMSBURGH which had twe helipads and provided shelter and return
transportation back to Valdez, Alaska the only port that could accommodate
our deep water draft. (We had just loaded full cargo of Alaska North Slope
oil there the day before and were proceeding towards Cape Horn South
America for eventual cargo discharge off the Texas coast.) I gave up my bed
to five female survivors and I slept under the desk in the radio room.

Photos show lifeboat, rescue ships around my ship (largest TT
WILLIAMSBURGH), Canadian Armed Forces Helicopter on WILLIAMSBURGH's
helipad, MS PRINSENDAM passengers sleeping on the deck outside the radio
room taken from near the Captain's dayroom. )

Am I right about your father's birth date?

73
David Ring N1EA

On Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 2:59 AM <bbegali at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello David,
>
>
>
> Thanks again for your email!
>
> Please, did you get my answer ?
>
> Please, let me know !
>
> Thanks Bruna
>
>
>
> *Da:* D.J.J. Ring, Jr. <n1ea at arrl.net>
> *Inviato:* venerdì 12 luglio 2024 06:46
> *A:* BRUNA BEGALI <bbegali at gmail.com>
> *Oggetto:* BB from DR
>
>
>
> BRUNA,
>
>
>
> English below.
>
>
> Ho questa chiave del 70° anniversario ormai da diverse settimane e sto
> cercando di capire perché commetto così tanti errori!
>
>
> All'inizio pensavo che fosse solo perché ero più vecchio e fuori
> allenamento (e sono sicuro che sia parte di ciò), ma stasera ho fatto
> qualche indagine.
>
>
> Ho aperto il contatto della mano destra (trattini) e se tocco il pilastro
> che sostiene il contatto del cruscotto e la vite a testa zigrinata, ottengo
> un trattino. Ma il contatto non può chiudersi perché c'è uno spazio di
> circa 3 mm. Se premo il pilastro in modo da provare a spostarlo verso di
> me, ottengo anche dei trattini. Il montante non si muove ma è solo una
> leggerissima pressione - un tocco - che fa scattare i trattini, anche se è
> impossibile perché il contatto del cruscotto non si chiude mai. Metto una
> QSL tra i contatti e se tocco il pilastro in qualsiasi direzione ottengo
> dei trattini. Almeno ho trovato la causa della maggior parte dei miei
> errori!
>
>
> Eventuali suggerimenti?
>
>
> Grazie,
>
>
> David Ring N1EA
>
> BRUNA,
>
> I have had this 70th Anniversary key for several weeks now, and I've been
> trying to figure out why I am making so many errors with it!
>
> At first I thought it was just being older and out of practice (which I am
> sure is part of it) but tonight I did some investigating.
>
> I opened up the right hand contact (dashes) and if I touch the pillar that
> holds the dash contact and thumbscrew, I get a dash.  But the contact
> cannot close because there iis a gap of about 3 mm.  If I press the pillar
> so that I try to move it towards me, I get dashes also.  The pillar doesn't
> move but it's just the very light pressure - a touch - that makes the
> dashes - even though it's impossible because the dash contact never
> closes.  I put a QSL card between the contacts and if I touch the pillar in
> any direction I get dashes.  At least I found the cause of most of my
> errors!
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thank you,
>
> David Ring N1EA
>
>
>
>
>
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