Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Using some antique telegraph keys to make morse code QSOs

I've had the great pleasure of borrowing several old morse keys from Pat EI2HX, who has quite an interesting and varied collection of antique telegraph keys of varying ages. The three videos below show me making QSOs with three of these keys. Thankfully, each time I made a CQ, someone came back to my call. The first video features a well-known model, the American World War II era J-38 telegraph key:


The second is this old GPO key. In this video, my CQ is answered by EB5GGB, who is also using a straight key to complete the QSO:


In the third video, I am using some form of old army key, but I don't know anything about it. Perhaps someone who knows a little bit about this key could comment below with information, or send me an email? Again, my CQ was answered immediately, this time by CT1CPP, who was also using a straight key, which was a great joy.


I have to admit to being a little bit heavy-handed with my keying. I don't have the best fine motor skills in the world, so can be a tiny bit awkward. However, I had great fun using these keys and I look forward to trying out more and making further videos.