01/06/2007 | K3PX SKN - 2007 was the best one yet. It seems to become more popular and active each year. I think alot of this can be attributed to the growing ranks of SKCC and FISTS. They are doing a great job of promoting the joys and traditions of CW despite the recent dropping of the morse code requirements by the FCC.
I made 35 very nice QSO's in 21 states on 40, 80 and 160 meters. Some of the best fists I copied were from K4NVJ, AA5JC and W1FZY.
Some of the most memorable QSO's was with AA5JC, AA9DH, K8DO, W2ESX, K1Y/2, K1Y/8 and W1FZY. I used a Kenwood TS-570SG at 100 watts to a 176 foot zepp fed with ladder line via an MFJ-962D antenna tuner.
This year I put aside 18 keys from my collection for SKN, but only got to use 9 of them. 7 of the 9 were beautifully hand crafted, unique, one-of-a-kind keys from Ron Ayling, G3RUH in the UK. Each key has a small serialized "builders plate" attached to its base saying "G3RUH MASTER KEY". Each key has its own feel, personality". He enjoys designing and painstakingly building and selecting the springs for each key and trying new ideas or emulating other famous keys. He uses them for awhile, lends them to friends, radio clubs for feedback and then keeps them for awhile and then "turns them loose" to the world for sale. I am pleased to own 11 of these wonderful keys which is more than 10% of all he has built so far which is a total of around 90 in total.
My favorite G3YUH key is S/n #080, built to emulate the "feel" (not the appearance) of the famous Danish made Amplidan key favored by many career marine CW operators. They are hard to find and bring "BIG BUCKS". In his opinion he claims he got his key extremely close to the Amplidan. I recently tried to buy an Amplidan from Morse Express but they are sold out! I must say the long arm, race bearings and balance make the #080 effortless to send and a real pleasure and has nice sounding mechanical feedback. In fact I received 2 "nice fist" compliments using this key, one fellow said I sounded like a keyer!
I used 2 other long armed keys from G3YUH. One is S/n# 046, a "gravity type key" and is a mix of the past and modern in appearance. It sort of looks like "Art-Deco" to me and on a heavy, black ebonite base. Very pleasant to use and nice to look at. I also like the long armed S/n #019 using an old style leaf spring which gives it a great response. It is massive in size, uses brass and steel hardware on a solid composite looking type base. Great to use and nice appearance. One of his smaller keys is a definite favorite of mine, S/n #074. It is made from nickel plated British type plumbing supplies. It is on an oak base and uses neodymium magnets instead of springs. Nice crisp, snappy feel and the mechanical feed back is nice. The adjustments are made by "tommy bars". Real nice. It looks "high tech", a real cool key.
The other 2 keys I used were quite different. One was a training key with a buzzer on a nicely finished wood base from the 1920's-1930's. It has a metal plate riveted to it indicating "RCA INSTITUTES, 75 Varick St., NY, NY. The key sort of looks like and feels like a J-37 or J-38. I graduated RCA Institutes in the early 1960's. Their training served me well over my career in the electronics industry and this key was a "retirement" gift to myself. The other key I used was a miniature military key with a sliding protective metal cover. A slick little key (marked M 1955) and made by the French company, Jardillier, for the South African Army.
I am already looking forward to the next SKN. LONG LIVE MORSE CODE and CW! Happy New Year to all...Robert "Bob" Sechler, K3PX. -- K3PX