I thought I covered that.
When the ship rolled (and rolling port-to-starbord along the was much more common than pitching from stem to stern), you had to positron your Vibroplex 45 degrees from the axis of the roll, you can see my Vibroplex is positioned looking 45 degrees to the left, but this is also natural for a right handed operator like myself. If the key was pointed towards the bow, when the ship rolled to the port {larboard) side, if dots were being sent, their weight would grossly increase, sometimes to the point of sending a continuous long dash, always to the ire of the professional radiotelegrapher using it and likewise the frustration of the coastal station copying the Morse; conversely when the ship rolled to the starboard side, dots would become extremely light as the pendulum was barely able to strike the dot contact, and in great swells, not be able to make a dot at all resulting in frustrating silence from the key. At this point, or perhaps at the next occurance, the Vibroplex would be abandoned, and the station's straight key would be used. Slower, surely but the message could be sent. In times of swell, the radio room had to be secured for rough weather, and that meant making sure your Vibroplex was off the desk, in a cabinet so it wouldn't end up on the deck with a broken pivot pin as happened to me on my first trip around Cape Horn in 1980. After my McElroy bug broke, all traffic had to be sent with the station's Nye Viking straight key in the blue box. (photo).
A stock photo just like my repaired McElroy deluxe bug that fell to the deck whilest transversing Cape Horn, on TT WILLIAMSBURGH, nicely repaired with a new pivot pin (trunnion pin).
A ITT/Macay Marine key with the cover off. A gift from K4NCG, Tom Chirhart, ex- USN, ex- USCG NMN, NMA, NMG, NMR.
73
DR