[CW] Mac Straight Keys

Richard Knoppow 1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
Sat Oct 5 21:36:12 EDT 2024


    This is pretty much what Tom French has in his book. McElroy's 
company concentrated on automatic telegraph equipment and code teaching 
gear for the military. He quit making keys sometime around 1940, details 
in the book. Then TAC was started to make keys and sell them to the 
public. TAC advertised bugs in QST but I don't remember seeing any 
straight keys. TAC showed two bugs, one chrome plated, the other painted 
satin gray, otherwise identical. These were the "hole in the wall" 
pattern named after the shape of the support bridge. I have one of each. 
They were perhaps 3/4 the price of a Vibroplex key. The keys I have look 
good but there is a certain sloppiness in their construction. Makes them 
hard to adjust  but they feel OK once you get things to stay put.
     Now, I have heard of companies that were started expressly to 
obtain government contracts but this was the opposite. One wonders if 
the partners had an assured market. As you say, it didn't last long. Mac 
was up against a shrinking market. Automatic telegraph, in fact 
telegraph in general, was being supplanted by Teletype plus there was 
competition for what market there was left. The history of business 
after WW-2 is one of the failure of many small businesses that were 
created to fulfill government contracts that just dried up. A few found 
new products but many just died.
    I am glad someone else finds this interesting.

On 10/5/2024 6:18 PM, Benny K5KV wrote:
> RICHARD
> 
> I HAVE READ THE TAC COMPANY WAS FORMED WITH MAC AND HIS PARTNERS TO 
> PROVIDE KEYS TO THE CIVILIAN MARKETS.  STORY WAS MAC'S OWN COMPANY WAS 
> BURIED IN GOVT CONTRACTS.  TAC DID NOT LAST TOO LONG AFTER THE WAR.  ALL 
> FROM MEMORY SO ANYONE FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ANY ERRORS OR PROVIDE MORE 
> DETAIL IF KNOWN.
> 
> 73
> BENNY K5KV
> 
> On Sat, Oct 5, 2024 at 7:16 PM Richard Knoppow <1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com 
> <mailto:1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com>> wrote:
> 
>           I have several straight keys of the Stream Key style. One of
>     them I
>     bought new in the box in my teens. I long ago lost the box which might
>     have answered some of my questions. I have looked through the bio of
>     McElroy by Tom French but it has minimal information in it on the
>     straight keys. I have several of these keys, some of which might be
>     fakes. I have one which I bought new in my teens. I long ago lost the
>     box. I think it is a J-38 type. It has the extra terminal posts for a
>     practice set up. According to Tom French some of these keys were made
>     by McElroy and some by TAC, I think the one I bought new and another
>     are
>     TAC keys, they have a bulge in the lever where the contact is fastened.
>     A couple of these keys have odd sized bases and have cracks typical of
>     badly cast zinc. I think these are the "fakes". The key I bought new in
>     the box has a MFP stamp on the bottom dated 1951, this is the one I
>     think is a J-38.
>           Now, both keys have a very faint marking near the "anvil"
>     contact.
>     It appears to be cast into the base. I can't quite make out what it is
>     but its the same on both keys. Sort of badge shaped. There is a number
>     near it, 6 on the key I bought new and 1 on the other key. There may be
>     other markings cast into the base on both but they are very faint.
>           So, can anyone tell me anything about these keys? Does anyone
>     know
>     what the marking is, its definitely there.
>           I am curious about the "fake" keys, I can't understand how anyone
>     could make a profit from making them. Even the genuine keys are rather
>     crude but the fakes are coarse. I have seen other old castings that
>     disintegrated, mostly zinc but might be something else. Curiously
>     enough
>     the keys feel OK or maybe I am just good at setting them up.
>           Any information is welcome. I have researched these before
>     with no
>     success.
>           BTW, in his book on McElroy French does mention the two partners
>     McElroy had in TAC but little information on why it was formed. My
>     guess
>     is that the "Not Incorporated" which McElroy stressed may have been the
>     result of resenting the amount of control incorporation allows others
>     (the government) to have in running a business.
> 
>     -- 
>     Richard Knoppow
>     Los Angeles
>     WB6KBL
>     SKCC 19998
> 
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-- 
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
SKCC 19998



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