Titled: Vibroplex Adjustment, Cleaning and Sending Technique
GOOD BUG SENDING TECHNIQUE
Your wrist is "rocked" with the same motion that you use when opening a
door knob, the wrist and arm lie on the desk and rock with that motion.
The position in which you assume to use the bug would be just like you
would grab a door knob or to receive a beverage bottle. You roll your
wrist on the fleshy part of your hand back and forth. No finger movements
at all!
Finger motions are not to be used as they give carpal tunnel syndrome
(glass arm) the idea is to rock the wrist with a bug and cootie key.
Unfortunately the paddle used with an electronic keyer must be tapped with
fingers at high speeds :(
I know it might be silly to say this, but it is much easier to send when
both feet are on the floor not angled to the left or right, but straight
and senders body is straight and not turned. It is much easier - try it
if you don't believe this.
BUG CLEANING
The following is time consuming but I find it always works and I do this
routinely and it takes time but it saves time because it eliminates
problems.
If your bug is old, take it completely apart and clean (especially) the
contacting surfaces, including the underneath connecting strips
(especially around the screws), the countersunk hole for the grounded
binding post, the silver contacts, the surface where the U shaped dot
spring contacts the vibrator, and the two beveled pins of the trunnion
assembly (the pins on which the main lever pivots in the frame), and make
sure that the cups into which the pins fit are clean of debris.
I use the cotton wadding with metal polish which is sold nationwide, and
a stick pencil type eraser to clean the more stubborn parts and then use
Flitz metal polish to finish the metal cleaning. If you have an
ultrasonic cleaner (jewelry cleaner) put some ammonia and water in it,
with a few drops of Dawn dish cleaner liquid and use for 15 minutes, then
repeat with clean water. To make sure all the water is gone, you can dip
the key in denatured alcohol before sun or toaster oven drying.
I dry everything in a toaster oven for 1 hour at 140 degrees F.
"Rub N Brite" or "Flitz" are highly recommended to polish metal.
A bug has to swing far enough to compress the U spring - it doesn't send
like a paddle - you use your wrist - you shouldn't get tired with this
key - if you are, your probably doing it incorrectly. The dash spacing
and tension should be adjusted for reliable dashes.
See the "Art and Skill of Radiotelegraphy" by N0HFF available several
places and in several languages on the Internet for good advice on sending
and general tips.
CONTACT ALIGNMENT
Old bugs have a screw which holds the lever against the trunnion post.
This can be adjusted up and down. Later bugs do not, and the alignment
of the dot contact and the dash contact must be done by adjusting the top
and bottom trunnion screws. The bottom trunnion screw is held fast (and
will strip unless this screw is loosened) by a screw on the rear side of
the frame. You must use a long handled screw driver to get to this
screw! Loosen this screw and you will be able to loosen and tighten the
bottom trunnion screw and raise and lower the position of the lever.
The lever should be adjusted so that the height of the lever / mainspring
/ vibrator assembly is such that the contact on the U shaped dot spring is
vertically aligned with the dot post contact.
The alignment of the dash contact can be done (after the above is done)
by loosening the small contact plate and adjusting.
All final adjustments should be done so that the contacts are touching and
completely aligned so that the contacts meet as fully and directly as
possible.
DOT ADJUSTMENT
Bugs used for radiotelegraphy vs bugs used for landline telegraphy were
set to approximately 60% of a VOM meter reading in resistance.
If your power is 1500 watts key down, it will still be 1500 watts on each
dot closure - but the dots will give different meter ballistic movements
different results - but rest assured they are still full power.
That being said, dots with a dot/space ratio of about 100:60 OR 1.67:1
will give better copy than dots with a 1:1 ratio during radio conditions
on typical hf bands. Or instead of 1.00 to 1 - dots sound better about
1.5 to 1.67 to 1.
CONTACTS
If you buy some silver cleaner you can clean them. If you can find 1500
grit wet/dry sandpaper, you can smooth them out. You can also buy a
burnishing tool from GC Electronics for $1.57 which is an extremely fine
file that is about 1/4 inch wide and about 1/32 inch thick which was
designed especially for that purpose. I use 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper
(very lightly and with care) then 1500 grit wet/dry and finally I polish
with Flitz metal polish which is a very very low grit polish;. The
contacts if done this way will come out like mirrors.
BUG ADJUSTMENT
Old-timers insisted upon sizable gaps. In fact, a significant gap for the
dit lever moved against a significant spring resistance sets up a good
vibration of the mainspring for producing dits and avoiding scratchy and
bouncing dots.
The limit screw adjustment for the damper is adjusted just so the end of
the swinging pendulum contacts the damper. The bug is also quieter when
the damper doesn't move as dramatically.
The dot spring will have more tension than you might be accustomed to.
The spring tension returns the lever after sending dots quickly and it
also makes the lever move with more force which sets up a stronger impact
on the dot spring which results in much stronger and less problematic
dots. This is the cure for poor dots if the contacts and the other
connections are clean.
HARD TO FIND PROBLEMS
When you have bad dots, the hard to diagnose problems that I've routinely
found are: The terminal connectors are loose and the round cylinder
shaped nut is not holding the base tightly when the bug sends dots the
contact is intermittent. The dot spring is loose on the vibrating arm.
When the contacts crash, the spring conducts intermittently. Similar
happens for all the contact path on the connecting straps - if one is
loose or corroded, it will produce poor dots.
Bug sending:
Roll your wrists!
1. Fix the distance between fingers (say 3 cm) and never change it
during keying, Freeze it.
2. The fingers do not work during keying. They are like steel wrench.
3. Touching of your hand to the table is in one point only. This is
point of rolling right and left of your wrench. :)
4. Don't move fingers. You need to roll hand (wrench) against one point
you are touching the table.
5. Start form sending dots (endless R-L-R-L-R-L-R-L... rolling)
..........
Alex, UR5FIL wrote the above about sending, it is the way I do it but,
I like the idea of calling it a "steel wrench" so I copied it.
73
David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA
Former Commercial Radiotelegrapher
I also call this file “Vibroplex, care and feeding.”
