Craig

Craig Miller, W8CR

Brash Brass Some days you just gotta get back to the basics, the way things used to be done to appreciate what you have today. Instead of heating up an Eggo in a toaster, pull out the mixing bowl and waffle iron. Instead of vegetating in front of a 65” 4K TV, pull out the old family movies on super-8 and project on a wall. Instead of flipping on a solid-state transceiver and making some impersonal exchange on some exotic digital mode using a computer, pull out an old-fashioned straight key and warm up some vacuum tubes. Long before FT8, PSK31 and single side band, ham operators only communicated using a make-n-break switch called a straight key, the essential instrument of primordial radio communication. Back in the olden days, pre-2003, U.S hams were required to be proficient in Morse code of at least 5 words a minute, that’s only 25 characters in one minute, roughly a letter every two seconds. Those of us oldsters that took our first code test, way back when, that seemed to be a blistering speed with beads of sweat forming on our brow as we write down in pencil, letter by letter, hand shaking. We all got through it and breathed a sigh of relief. Once a year, radio Hamdom celebrates our heritage by reserving New Year’s eve (and the next day) by encouraging the use of the old fashion straight key to make contacts (holding a REAL conversation) with other like-minded amateurs on the air. Called simply “Straight Key Night”, it’s a favorite event that I personally always look forward to. Not only do hundreds, if not thousands, of radio amateurs dust off their wrist-breaking keys, but also use this night as an opportunity to fire up some old vintage gear, commonly using a crazy little device called a vacuum tube. I doubled our monthly electric bill by firing up a 1950’s vintage pair of Collins gear called the Goldust Twins. The KWS-1 transmitter is capable of putting out 1,000 watts of ham radio goodness while receiving weak signals with the then state-of-the-art receiver, 75A-4. Back in the day, you were top dog if you owned this pair. The price of these babies approached the cost of a new car if not a small house. Times have changed. The straight key of choice for this year’s festivities is a key from Britain made by Kent. A classic, time- tested, design. Good looking and functional. Sadly, I haven’t been too attentive in keeping its brushed brass in tip-top condition. The last thing I needed was some ham, a thousand miles away, deriding me for sending him code on a tarnished device. The shame. So, I had to get busy. Setting up a TV tray in front of, you guessed it, a TV with a football game on, piece by piece, the Kent was disassembled. A nice soft cloth, Brasso polish, carnuaba wax and some elbow grease, the dot-n-dash machine was brought back to its glorious luster. I made many contacts over the next 24 hours. I can’t say I had the best fist on the air, I heard some worse, mostly better. It is fun to copy someone that can play one of these things like a musical instrument. It is a skill that simply takes practice, anyone can do it. You cannot give nor receive a better complement than “Great fist, easy to copy”. At least my key is shiny!