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@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@arrl.net>
Inviato: venerdì 12 luglio 2024 06:46
A: BRUNA BEGALI <bbegali@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