I have always loved bugs, and always planned to learn how to use one once I got my ham radio license. They just look so awesome, all big and chromed and Art Deco-looking. So, I bought an old Vibroplex, which was advertisted as "good condition, all parts move freely." I guess that's true, inasmuch as the parts were moving freely around the bottom of the box. :-\ But hey, that's the way it goes with buying used - you pays your money and you takes your chances. Plus, I like a fixer-upper, so I've gone ahead and torn it (mostly) the rest of the way apart. I think all the parts are actually HERE, which is a big plus. The contacts are so corroded that I can scrape the top layer with a fingernail, and about half of the screws either have gunked-up threads or seized locknuts, but that's OK. I think I understand how it's supposed to work mechanically, so if I just get each individual part back to a usable condition, then gob all those parts together.... well, it will probably take a few hours and a lot of cursing. Wish me luck! :)
Hi Ray,
At least once you're done, you'll know EXACTLY how it works!
Gil.
If my progress so far is any indication, when I'm done I think I'll know enough to go out to the shop and build a new one from old motorcycle parts. :-\ Actually, it's not too bad so far. First thing I did was go through all the screws and bolts. A couple of them were bent, one of them about 15 degrees near the head. Straightening them out was tense. This thing is no spring chicken, and those bolts weren't meant to be bent in the first place, let alone bent back again. But, everything went well. I had to use a needle file and clean up some of the threads where I straightened them out, but a test-fit shows they all thread in OK, and that all the locknuts are freed up and usable. I've got all these fasteners soaking in a little cup of Rem Oil right now to loosen up the rest of the gunk, and I'm firing up the Dremel and the polishing wheels to see if I can clean up the brass plate a little bit before starting on the body of the thing. Onward!
Prepper-related note: Aside from all the electronics tools you'll use, I've found that gunsmithing tools are some of the handiest things to have in your ham radio arsenal. A small brass mallet, a high-quality caliper and inch mic, a can of Rem Oil and a set of USAMidway gunsmithing screwdrivers will end up spending as much time on your radio bench as they do on your reloading bench. It's always good to have stuff that will multitask.
The operation was a success, and the patient survived! It works really well, but even at the slowest setting it's pretty fast. It'll take some practice to be able to keep up with it. For now, I stuck a clothespin on the end of the 2nd weight to slow it down to about 15WPM character speed. This thing is awesome.
Wow, Ray...that's every bit as pretty as a '49 Panhead!!
Yeah, but this doesn't leave a little puddle of oil on the floor underneath it. ;D
EDIT: The serial number shows that this bug was made in 1949, so it isn't a pan, but you're on the right year!
For what it's worth, Vibroplex is very good about having replacement parts. They aren't the cheapest in the world and may take a little time to get them, but they do have the parts. I've only run across one other company that's better in that category, but they don't 'do' Vibroplex keys. :)
- Paul
I love a bug. Sure and they're not as "efficient" as a set of paddles with electronic keyer, they can 'get away' from use a bit and it's not perfect, computer generated code, but who cares? My voice is not like the voice synthesizers that corporations use to keep their customers away frm the owners of the business... In short - each bug has a slightly different feel, sound and 'texture'. As long as I am sending from my own bench, I use a bug or a straight key, which is funny because I love miniature QRP rigs... somehow having a key that weighs two or three times more than the transceiver is funny to me...
And if there is a Queen of Morse, it would have to be DA, from the coastal station KSM/KPH. This is using a bug with real 'flair and doing it with inch and a half polished nails.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYhrSEERvbI&feature=colike (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYhrSEERvbI&feature=colike)
ZUT (Morse Forever!)
de RadioRay ..._ ._
Quote from: raybiker73 on October 07, 2012, 01:23:54 AM
Yeah, but this doesn't leave a little puddle of oil on the floor underneath it. ;D
EDIT: The serial number shows that this bug was made in 1949, so it isn't a pan, but you're on the right year!
Hah! I'd love to say "I knew that"! ...but it would only be too obvious! But all that chrome screamed Harley "Panhead" !
Had a friend who had one..rebuilt it several times on the dining room floor, the oil puddle told him "all was well"! Love the pic man, and I'm not even into CW!
Nice restoration raybiker73!
For those who've caught the bug...
http://www.ae4rv.com/tn/education/bug.htm
(un-mute your sound)
Where does the energy come from to keep it working as the dot paddle is kept pressed?
Gil.
It operates on momentum from the pendulum, like one of those desk toys with the steel balls. Here's a quick phone video:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/105252/bugmov.avi
So, it would eventually stop after so many dits...?
Gil.
Yes, this one gets about 30 dits per press of the paddle,then it runs out of steam.
"Yes, this one gets about 30 dits per press of the paddle,then it runs out of steam."
How do you re-fill them with DITS?
QuoteHow do you re-fill them with DITS?
You have to buy new ones...
Gil.
I make my own dits from parts of recycled dahs.
That's a great idea, since you're supposed to get three dits per dahs...
Gil.
That's thrifty, because in an economic collapse, you might not be able to import any DITS. Since you make your own DAHS, your plan to cut them down 3 to 1 as DITS makes perfect sense!
::)
Self-sufficiency is a GOOD thing.
>RadioRay ..._ ._
Can you get them on the eBay?
...because I LOVE the eBay!
Quote from: RadioRay on October 08, 2012, 08:40:13 PM
That's thrifty, because in an economic collapse, you might not be able to import any DITS. Since you make your own DAHS, your plan to cut them down 3 to 1 as DITS makes perfect sense!
>RadioRay ..._ ._
Uh, guys, that's so NOT how an electrical engineer would do it.
Look, let's get it right, shall we?
The rule is that the dah must be three times longer than the dit. Ergo, you can't just cut the dahs down. You must take three precisely-formed dits, paste them side by side, test it for ...
... oh wait. The test failed. When testing, the EE can easily determine that we end up with the letter "S" and not a dah at all.
I'll back away now and let a second grader provide the correct solution.
73 de WA4STO
I'd like to hear the 2nd grade assessment as well. A physicist would point out that none of the above applies, since they only exist in relation to each other, one being defined only by the interval of silence (absence-of-carrier) surrounding them. Otherwise all is silence, or constant carrier. If you make a dah from 3 dits, what do you do with the left over matter? (the interval)
You may make a dah from 3 dits, but is the inverse true, do you have enough matter? Is the silent interval really nothing? Is it just matter in some other form? Did the engineer find something?
:o
OK, where's the 2nd grader?
"Do, or do not." - Yoda (the original binary counsellor)
It would be fun to use inverted Morse, with a constant tone and silent dits and dahs...
Gil
Some philosophy majors might point out that none of this actually exists anyway...so it's just as relevant to try something that might not work - as something you think might - we're only actually discussing the perception of the value of an intended Dah...
Or was that a DIT...?
Quote from: White Tiger on October 07, 2012, 01:22:57 AM
Wow, Ray...that's every bit as pretty as a '49 Panhead!!
Ray, that is nice and pretty amazing!
BTW, and bragging....my husband has a 49 Panhead. It is on exhibit at the Harley Davidson dealer Hays, KS. It is all original except for the old paint job (Mustang yellow-very pale, almost off white)