[Milsurplus] Re: GB> Equipment Review: "Chinese Army" telegraph key

[Rich Arland]

Hi Tom:

I have looked those keys over several times and the picture they show on
e-pay certainly looks good. Glad someone took the plunge and got one. I
think I may invest here shortly.

I just got a Bulgarian military surplus key...you can certainly tell it was
made in Bulgaria!! It is quaint, to say the least. I haven't used it on a
radio yet (have to replace the two prong plug that looks like a UK AC plug
with a 1/4 phone plug) but as soon as I do I will report to the list.

73

Rich K7SZ
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ben Dover" <quixote2 at ix.netcom.com>
To: <glowbugs at piobaire.mines.uidaho.edu>; <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 8:34 PM
Subject: GB> Equipment Review: "Chinese Army" telegraph key


> Howdy!
>
> For some time now I've been curious about the so-called "K-4"
> hand keys that have been touted as military issue to the Army
> of the People's Republic of China.
>
> Most of the prices on them have been higher than I wanted to
> go for a hand key, but they've been showing up on EBAY lately
> at what I consider to be a more reasonable cost from a seller
> in Hong Kong. Watch out tho...   that mailing cost is a real
> KILLER!!!  All told, the beast came in for $36.00, with a one
> month surface mailing wait.
>
> The key ain't bad overall, and in some ways it's IMPRESSIVE.
>
> The seller claims these are 1990s production from the warehouse,
> and I have no reason to doubt that claim; some warehouse wear
> on the package.
>
> What strikes me as a bit unusual...  on opening the box the
> first thing I saw was an envelope containing sort of a "Good
> Luck Charm"! Did they issue THESE to the newly graduated Army
> Ditty Boppers???
>
> It's a bundle of eight Chinese coins with square holes in thier
> centers, bound together with a silk cord and with two green
> silk tassles attached. I have NO idea what it's supposed to
> symbolize, other than perhaps good wishes from the factory to
> the new user.
>
>
> As for the key itself...  it's SOLIDLY built, tho a little bit
> crude (as most Chinese manufactured stuff is); the skirted ball
> knob is a one peice molding out of thermoplastic material, held
> on the key trunion by a wood screw driven into it's base. The
> knob itself is quite comfortable, but a bit rough with molding
> marks on it. That should clean up nicely with some final hand
> polishing.
>
> The contacts are BEEFY!!! They're showing the faintly yellow
> tarnish of pure silver.
>
> The makers did one thing I LIKE to see on a key. They added a
> jumper wire so that the transmitter keying current is NOT
> going thru the trunion pivot bearings! That's a touch that way
> too many keys don't have.
>
> There's a LOT of chrome plating on these keys! Unfortunately,
> some of it isn't great; the trunion lever has a few bad spots
> in the chrome that would have never gotten by quality control
> in an American factory, but nothing that's too bad. I can't
> tell if the flaws were from the factory, or if they might be
> from enountering a drop or two of water somewhere along the
> way that caused tarnish over the years.
>
> A bit of evidence that this truly IS surplus that has been
> sitting in a warehouse for about a decade; the rubber jacket
> of the cord has that milky deposit that froms on rubber items
> in long term storage (despite the small packet of silica gel
> that was with it in the internal plastic bag). Also, the
> rubber jacket is a bit dried out with age; when I unfolded it
> from it's shipping position, it split in a couple of places.
> Not a big deal, but the cord is being replaced with a vinyl
> covered one eventially, but in the meantime a short bit of
> heat shring tubing will be added where the cord is held on
> the base by a U bracket.
>
> On the other end of that dried out cord, there's a good
> quality 1/4" phone jack.
>
> I sort of expected the chrome base to be one peice, but it
> isn't; the main base is apparently a slab of iron or steel
> with a thin, chrome plated decorative cover over it. The
> bottom of the slab is covered with rather crudely placed
> and trimmed black felt; that's the only change I'll be
> making to the key. A nicely trimmed sheet of pool table
> felt is definitely called for here.
>
>
> As far as using it is concerned... I'M A VERY HAPPY CAMPER!
>
> The key feels REAL good to my fist, and is silky smooth!
> Part of that, IMHO, is caused by the makers doing things
> sort of backwards compared to most keys; the pivots are
> pointed screws in the yoke, rather than putting points on
> the trunion that ride in cupped yoke screws. This has to
> be the best feeling hand key that I've used in YEARS.
>
> What impresses me the most...   this is the ONLY key I've
> ever used that I don't immediately want to screw down to
> the operating desk! It sits in place nicely, and it has NO
> tendency to tip toward you while sending like my Vibroplex
> hand key does. It's not just a matter of the key's weight;
> it's much more a matter of exactly where the key is attached
> to it's base. These folks got it JUST RIGHT.
>
> All in all, the key has a solid feel without screwing it
> down...   VERY unusual for a hand key. In fact, there are
> no holes in the base if you DO want to screw it down; the
> K-4 is supposedly issued to the individual operator as
> his personal property, so that makes sense.
>
> The knob placement is higher than most other hand keys.
> Some folks may not care for that, but I like it.
>
>
> I've used other foreign keys, including several Soviet
> designs that I've picked up. They're OK, but the Chinese
> K-4 feels a whole lot better than ANY of the Russian
> keys I've used. It's bulkier than the keys that most of
> us Yanks are used to, but not objectionably so IMHO.
>
> On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it about an 8.
>
>
> 73's,
>
> Tom, W9LBB
>
>
>
>
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