Fig
1  GØNVT
Guillotine
SN 01 By Phil
Boyle. The base is
9" x 5" and the
weight 3 lb.13 oz. This is a replica of a
Marconi Co. Maritime key made sometime
between 191Ø - 192Ø. The key is made from
high quality brass with a Silver (German)
steel fulcrum. The hard rubber and ebonite
parts are from PVC. The main contacts are
replaceable, the NO contacts are tipped
with coin silver, the NC contacts and
auxiliary contacts are
from brass. Phil
even designed and built his own engraving
machine to engrave the brass tags.
See a real one
HERE. |
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Fig. 2:
GØNVT
Titanic
SN 03 By Phil
Boyle. A replica of a Marconi Co. key as may
have been used
on the R.M.S. Titanic. Circa 1912.
The base is about 9" long,
5" wide. It weighs 3 lbs - 1/8 oz.
See a real one HERE. and HERE.
A
real one of these just sold for $3205
on EBay (9/4/2ØØ5) from the Murray
Willer collection.
Another Titanic replica was made by the late
Don Fitzgerald, W2CUV which has already been
sold. |
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Fig.
3: GØNVT G.P.O.
SN Ø2 made by Phil Boyle,
GØNVT. The base is
about 7"
long,
3-1/2" wide. It weighs
(roughly) 1 lb,
13 oz. This was the standard single
current key used by the British Post Office. Early keys such as this may have
had platinum or gold-silver alloy contacts.
To see my real Elliott Brothers London
Ltd. single current GPO key click
HERE. |
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Fig. 4:
GØNVT "C. Plumb"
Made (again) by Phil Boyle, GØNVT.
He made
this from a picture in Louise
Moreau's book.
It weighs in at 15.25
oz and measures roughly
6-3/4" x 3".
Click to see MORE .
Here another one of Phil Boyle's keys
-- a
Signal Electric key, which he made
from photos taken from Moreau's book. |
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Fig. 5:
GØNVT Grasshopper
SN 01 By Phil
Boyle. This
is a replica of the famous Marconi
spark "Grasshopper" key circa 1896.
Pressing down on the awkward, heavy handle lifted the rear contact acting as a receive antenna disconnect switch
during the
transmission of a dot or dash.
Marconi did NOT actually discover radio
wave propagation but is credited with the
first practical usage of it through his numerous demonstrations.
It weighs 4 lb 7 oz. and is 13" x 5" at the
skirt of
the base. For an idea of the
circuitry involved,
HERE is a nice write
up. For in depth history of Marconi and
the Marconi company, read HERE. |
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Fig.
6: G0NVT
"7777 patent"
SOLD
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SN 03 By Phil
Boyle. This is an accurate
reproduction of the key
used by Marconi during his
experimental
work at the Haven Hotel in
Poole which
resulted in the famous 'Four
Sevens' patent
of April 1900.
The
key measures 6-1/2" by
4-7/8" and is
4" high to the top of the
knob. The key weighs
in at 2lb 5oz.
Manufacture
is of high quality brass
on a mahogany base, the
pivot is of Silver steel
and the operating contacts
are tipped with
coin
silver.
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Fig. 7:  CT "MK2
Asia"
SOLD
A hand key
manufactured in the
Ukraine, distributed through Anton
Koval, MW0EDX.
Anton uses a Pseudo
name, "Anthony Welsh"
and distributes
worldwide from his UK store.
CT keys also are distributed in
the U.S.
by
Milestone Technologies / Morse
Express. CT keys are excellently made
and very attractive keys.
This is Serial # 035.
This key is 4-5/8"
long by
2-3/4" wide
and weighs 1 lb -
12 oz. CT also
make a chromed
version
simply
marketed
as an "Asia"
and most recently, a highly
polished
brass version. |
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Fig. 8:
CT Deluxe
SOLD
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This is the CT Deluxe, Serial # 047.
This is a heavy chrome plated key,
6" long by
2-3/4" wide. It weighs
about 3-1/2 lbs. Morse Technologies
markets it as a
CT-6. These keys once cost about half the U.S. price
if you bought it from the U.K. store
direct, but no more. CT's are all very
well made keys and even with their
present prices are still well worth the
asking price. |
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Fig.9:
CT Camel
SOLD
This is
one of the latest CT creations
out of the Ukraine. Distributed by both
Anthony
Welsh , and sold in the U.S.
by Morse Technologies. . 2-3/4 lbs of solid mirror polished brass and mounted
on a solid oak base.
Dimensions of the
base are 8-1/2" x 4".
I don't like to overuse
verbs but "massive" is not out of
place here. It has a surprisingly light and well
balanced "feel" to it just
dry keying it. |
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Fig.10:
 VGA S-1
Cannon
SOLD
From the Republic of Belarus,
comes
this unusual
hand key made in small
quantities by a local HAM
and then
carried out by hand to the outside world
due to oppressive
government
restrictions
banning
private enterprise of this nature.
Marketed
first as an "Eclipse" and
now
"VGA S-1
Cannon
Key", it is
5-1/2 " long
by 2-3/4" wide and weighs 2 lb 3 oz.
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Fig.11:  Japanese GHD
GT-502MIL
Made
by Toshihiko Ujiie in Sendai City.
This key was touted as being for the
American market with a bent down
lever. $379.95 delivered to the door.
Mine is also marked "CL5111T"
This key has a mirror quality chrome
plating, and is built to the highest
standards of any key I have ever had
the pleasure to own. I was intrigued
about it when I read of a recent DX
expedition to Belize which carried a
pair of these donated by Marshal Emm of Morse Express.
More later.
Distributed by Milestone Technologies /
Morse Express. The base measures 4-7/8" long
by 3-1/8"
wide, it weighs in at about 2 lbs. 14
-1/4oz. |
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Fig.12: HI-Mound HK-702
Straight key on a marble
base. Presently
distributed by Morse Express, $159.95 +
shipping / insurance.
The marble slabs sits on a plastic
base, 5-3/4" x 3-1/2" and it
weighs abt. 1 lb.
10 oz. A
plastic dust cover is in place in
this image.
Profile view with cover click HERE
Profile view without cover HERE
HI-MOUND ELECTRO CO.
(Takatsuka)
3651 Shirowa Omaezaki-shi
Shizuoka-ken 421-0602
Japan
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Fig. 13:
Japanese HI-Mound
HK-1Z
This particular key
has a metal tag stating it was made
by Hi-Mound Electro Co. It is a
another older straight key on a marble base,
sitting on a plastic base. The user wiring
connections are located upon the
base.
It measures roughly 6-1/2 " by 4" and weighs about 3 lbs.
Profile view: Click HERE
See Tag HERE |
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Fig.14: Japanese HI-Mound
HK-802
HI-Mound's version of a "Swedish
Key". HI-MOUND
for a
short time also made a short production
marble based model
labeled the
HK-908DX also.
Note the wire
springs and that the contacts are
on top of
the lever. They make closure going up at the rear - not
down in the front. This is really superior in workmanship and design
to the Pettersson Swedish Key.
The base
is 5-1/8" x 2-3/4" and it weighs
2-1/2
lbs. |
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Fig. 15:
Japanese HI-Mound
MHK-831
Hi-Deluxe
Left profile
Right Profile
Front
SOLD
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I have not found out
much about this scarce
and unusual dual key, the MHK-831 by Hi-Mound. It is a brute, weighing in at 3.5 kg or 7.7 lb.
I saw
a date on another web site of 1985. This is the
actual key (with keyer on opposite page) Murray
Willer referred to in the N7CFO News letter P. 119
that he bought at the Dayton Ham fest from a
distributor. I don't know what he paid for it,
but
it would be interesting to find out.
The base measures 5-1/8" x
5-1/4". The knob on
the right side of the base physically adjusts the
separation of the two identical paddles. The
little round shaft protruding forward on the hand
key is actually a spring loaded plunger that acts
as a shorting switch. To use the key, you pull it
out and twist it to keep it open while keying.
If it
snaps back in, you get a steady key. The rear
adjustments are for contact gap. The piggy
back piece on each assembly is insulated from
the main chassis. |
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Fig.16: Japanese HI-Mound
EK-831
Keyer
This is the companion keyer, the
EK-831. It weighs a tidy 1 lb 6=-3/4 oz.
You connect a -12V wall wart to the
power socket and the 5 pin connector
from the MHK-831 likewise plugs up to
it in the front. It works as expected, but
I find the side tone pitch a bit higher than
I prefer even with it turned all the way
CCW. I may work on that. You can hear
an internal relay when you key.
It has a 3-3/4" x 3-3/4" footprint.
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CLICK
