wythall radio club

The Marconi Nato Morse Key
…..or to give its proper nomenclature 5805-99-541-1439 Key Telegraph. This is a
serious morse key, clearly for use in a military or service environment.

Unlike most morse keys which basically have two terminals that you connect via a jack plug to
your transmitter KEY socket, this beast has a 6 way terminal block under the cover
and an internal wiring loom. But before we get into the detail, why did I purchase this
particular key? Well it was on my list of “always wanted” keys together with the
Vibroplex semi auto bug; the Eddystone Semi-auto Bug; the Marconi Marine 365
straight key and a Kent straight key. I have promised myself that, apart from the
Marconi 365, the list has been satisfied, and it will have no further additions. There
were also historical connections of a past life working for the Marconi Company,
where we made the communications systems equipment for the Navy that these
morse keys worked with. 

Nato key with cover removed

This key was designed for use by NATO forces by Marconi S & R Systems and
made by Pryce Edwards Ltd in the 1970-80s and has the serial number PES 022 85
which would indicate a manufacture date of 1985. The key weighs 3 ½ ls (1.6kg) and
the cover measures 8” x 3.25” (203mm x 83mm) with an overall length including key
of 10.5” (268mm). My key has an ABS cover, others with slightly different NATO
numbers had covers made of brass or steel painted battleship grey.

The key is based on the Swedish Twin Contact design key c1940 by Lennart
Petersson, which is also known as the Swedish pump key; It uses a spring plate for
the support and spring tension on the main rocker/sending lever arm. There is a
spring tension adjuster, using a spanner and an allen key, that can only be accessed
by removing the cover.  The key has preset contact gap adjustments using a round
black knob on the top marked 0 -9. 0 being closed contacts; 9 being widest open.

Swedish Pump Key Spring action

I bought this key at an auction in Newcastle, so had no opportunity to examine
before bidding on it. It was with a collection of 5 other morse keys. Some few months later I took it off the shelf and decided to have a close examination of it. The first thing I noticed was that it had a ON/OFF switch which is unusual in a morse key.
Second, there did not seem to be any cable entry point, although there was a blank panel at the rear of the cover. Two thumb screws hold down the cover which slides off the base, revealing the key, the terminal block, contact adjustment knob, and ON/OFF switch. This was clearly a complex piece of equipment. Behind the terminal block there was a removable aluminium panel which could be removed and have a hole drilled for a cable gland. This made me think that the key had never been usedin service or modified for amateur use.

The Terminal Block can be seen at the rear of the key and it has the following label
markings;

6- C
5- S
4- LINE
3- MK (MARK)
2- SP (SPACE)
1- E (EARTH)

As this is a “two contact” key, I assumed that key lever was LINE and the UP contact
when key is pressed is MARK. When the key is at rest (down) this connects the LINE
to the SPACE contact. Trying to prove this with a continuity meter proved
problematical for reasons I will explain later. I could clearly see stand-off insulators
interfaced between the terminal block and the base of the key. Further investigation
led me to unscrew the base from the bottom place. This turned out to be some
hollowed out plastic material containing a pair of Capacitor – Resistor Key click
filters. (See below for a comment on Key Clicks). Faced with this and the continuity
problem, I decided to trace out the wiring diagram for the key, but I still couldn’t be
sure how the key click filter was wired into the circuit. Fortunately FISTS member Bill
G0ELZ sent me a circuit he had which confirmed everything. The circuit is shown  below.

C & R Key click Filter in base

I made some enquiries on the FISTS forum and Facebook about the key and was
told that the ON/OFF switch on the front of the key, is for switching the key out of
circuit of any transmitter, thus giving the operator control, and can prevent
accidental keying of the transmitter by knocking the key. Given that these keys would
be controlling transmitters located somewhere else on the ship or establishment this
seemed a reasonable explanation. Dave M0VBY another FISTS member said that
the S and C on the terminal strip probably stood for Screen and Common.

Dave’s first encounter with the Marconi NATO key was late 1972/73 when he served on
HMS Bristol taking the new Integrated Communication System 2 (ICS2) to sea for
sea trials and later as a fully operational capability. (Dave was a maintainer, not an
operator).

Dave said he had no evidence that this key was used anywhere other than the RN
and that the Nato stock number plate has given rise to the assumption that it was
Nato use. All naval equipment had a Nato stock number, replacing the old Admiralty Pattern no. The two digit 99 was the indicator that it was manufactured in the UK. In ICS2 the key was fitted in a comms bay on a sliding tray and could not be removed. It was connected by a Switch Unit Radio to the KMM control system, (Thanks for that
information Dave)

The continuity problem I referred to earlier concerned the MARK contact. When I
pressed the key lever the LINE contact on the lever should make with the MARK
contact and complete the circuit resulting in the key tone. There was nothing.
Eventually I realised that there must be corrosion on the key contacts so I removed
the screws holding the lever arm to get access to the contact points on the lever and
the key base.

Up/Down contact

The contacts proved easy to clean up with a light file and when I re-assembled the
lever arm back on the key I was able to get a tone when the key was pressed. The
contact spacing knob is very stiff to turn so that could also do with a check out.
Seeing how it is put together, its looks to be a very fiddly job so I will leave that for
later.

I haven’t restored this key yet. It only needs a good clean to remove marks and dust.
I also haven’t modified the rear cable entry plate behind the terminal block, I will
defer a decision on this until later. What I have tried to do in this article is to find out
how the key works and how it was used in operation. I have learnt a few things which
is never a bad thing. Until the next one!
Chris G0EYO 31/1/25

Key Clicks – a perpetual problem
Nothing can be more annoying (and a quick way to ruin your reputation) to your
fellow operators, when, unknowingly, you generate key clicks on your signal. Clicks
are generated by any transmitter whose RF carrier amplitude rises or falls too
rapidly, (which essentially is what a square wave CW signal is). They are heard as
clicking in time with the CW but audible on many frequencies right across the band
and are nothing to do with the operator keying speed. They arise because of the
rise-time of the carrier when the key is depressed. A very fast rise-time can be
thought of as a small part of a high frequency audio signal and it produces very wide
side bands. Conversely, a slower rise time equates to a lower frequency audio
signal. Key clicks can be reduced by a simple CR timing filter in the keying stage
which will round off the edges of the CW square wave. See Figs 7.3; and 7.4 below 1
Note 1: copied from the RSGB Intermediate Training Manual 2nd edition

No, it wasn’t the Flowerpot Men wot done it!

But my Flowerpot antenna – a ‘single’ band vertical dipole for 12 meters.  Those ‘inverted commas’ are significant – read on!

This is an antenna that’s cheap and easy to build (you just need to be able to strip some coax and solder on a PL259 or similar), and it’s hardly noticeable.  It can be hung from a pole, tree, window, etc.  It doesn’t have radials or a counterpoise.

I like experimenting with homemade antennas, and I wanted to take advantage of this sunspot maximum to work as much DX as possible on 24MHz.  My doublet works quite well, but perhaps a vertical would help by giving me greater low angle radiation?

The Flowerpot antenna is a centre fed vertical half-wave dipole made from coax. 

It comprises a quarterwave radiator made from the centre of a length of coax, below which is a quarterwave of complete coax that is then wound into an rf choke.  The tail of the coax beyond the choke forms the feeder.

The antenna radiates from the top quarterwave section of coax core, and from the outer braid of the bottom quarterwave section.  The choke prevents the outer braid from radiating further along the feeder.

There’s lots of material on-line about how to make one.  

It didn’t take long to measure up some RG58 and expose the inner core at one end.  I then marked a further quarterwave for the position of the choke, which I wound around some 40mm plastic pipe.

I used a dipole length calculator for my measurements.  As I usually do with my antennas, I cut it a bit longer than the calculated figure so I had room for adjustment.

I tied the top to my 8 meter Sotabeams telescopic mast, and pushed the mast up between the branches at the bottom of my garden.  The radiating section cleared the fence on one side and the shed on the other.

The antenna analyser showed there was a dip at about 24.9MHz and an swr of 1.7:1, easily resolved by my rig’s ATU.  To my suprise, there was a bigger dip on 28.5MHz and an swr of 1.1:1 that covered the CW and SSB sections of that band.

So it looked like the antenna wasn’t too long, but too short!  Perhaps this was caused by the close proximity of tree branches?

Two bands for the price of one!

My K3 has dual antenna sockets, so switching between the Flowerpot and doublet on receive, I immediately noticed signals were affected by up to +/- 2-3 s-points on both bands.  Presumably signals ariving by different paths.  There was not much difference in the noise floor.

Now I can alternate between antennas when I put out a CQ call, and also choose the antenna with the strongest receive signal when I call someone.

Each January it’s Wythall Radio Club’s ‘How low can you go?’ month devoted to QRP operating.

And what great results!  41 countries worked on CW and 66 on digital modes.  Several also on SSB.

Power was restricted to 5 watts CW and 10 watts SSB and digital – although several members thought this was too generous and used even less power!

Wire antennas were used – no beams to boost the dbs!

Kev G4XLO – our own DX member down there in Devon – worked 55 unique DXCC entities using digital modes, closely followed by Martin 2E0XFI (now M0XFI) with 48.  Lee G0MTN worked 59 countries using multiple modes. 

John M6KET topped the CW table with 38 countries.  Meanwhile Neil worked 10 countries using SSB with a mix of HF and satellite.

To add some fun, we ran a ‘miles per watt’ challenge. 

The top scorers were John 2E0XET with a stupendous 3543 miles/watt for his 1-watt CW QSO with Virginia USA and Lee G0MTN’s 713 miles/watt from his 10-watt digital contact with Argentina.

John used his trusty K2 (or was it his KX3?) and dog-leg doublet antenna. Great result!

Down in devon, Kev started off using 10 watts of FT8 but then dropped down to 5 watts for the last 2 weeks to see what could be achieved. 

Here’s his report….. 

“January was a really interesting month for me on the QRP challenge.  I was on 10 watts digital the first couple of weeks and my main bands were 30m and 40m. 

These gave me the normal European regulars as well as the USA one morning. 

The fourth week it all came alive.  I swapped between 5 watts and 10 watts maximum. 

Tuesday, I had a totally awesome day, working China, Japan, Brazil as well as Puerto Rico and Ceuta & Melilla in one day, and yesterday bagged Turkey as well.

Was good to work Belize yesterday – that was my best DX for the week at over 5000 miles away – ones that got away included Venezuela, Indonesia and Brazil although they were quite audible for me in the shack.

It’s been encouraging too to see other members efforts thru the month.”

As well as everyones’ great QSOs, our QRP signals have also been spotted in a variety of locations, including Australia and New Zealand.

Several members have 10 watt maximum rigs, but others have decided to turn down the wick to see what they can work with QRP during the rest of the year.

Just for comparison, here’s our report from last year’s QRP challenge!!

12 DAYS IN GUYANA  8R7X AS TOLD BY  JAMIE M0SDV AT WYTHALL RADIO CLUB LAST TUESDAY.

73,500 QSO’s ..  poisonous snakes  and machetes.. 30 degrees of sweltering heat and high humidity…. welcome to Jamie’s world (M0SDV) last February 2024 as he and three other like-minded  young operators visited this rarely activated country on the northern  tip of South America for an operation that proved to be enormously popular.

Include , whilst there, successful forays into the ARRL 160m SSB competition and the ARRL CW contest then it is surprising that there was any time for sleep but there was time for a great day at the Mashramani Festivities (known locally as ‘Mash’) where they experienced  the true hospitality and friendliness of the Guyanese.

In a highly entertaining talk on the activation Jamie took us through the logistical challenges of such an expedition (but emphasised the independence of the four young operators involved in choosing their own antennas  etc.), the radios used (Icom 7610’s and K3S) , the challenges  to get the necessary visas and permits, and even handed out some valuable tips on where to call amongst those mighty pile-ups . (V73WW coming up!)

It was great to welcome Jamie back to the Club where it all started for him some 11 years ago and a well attended gathering in person and on Zoom thoroughly enjoyed hearing the talk.

 We welcomed  Philip DK6SP to our  Zoom call on the night. Philip was one of the other operators on the Expedition which included Tomi HA8RT, SvenDJ4MX.

The team on Guyana..Jamie 2nd from the left?

Many questions afterwards and more in the bar.

Postscript: On Saturday 8^th February Jamie is off again to the Marshall Islands( look it up!) for another DXpedition V73WW.

 WE WISH JAMIE ALL THE BEST IN THIS NEW VENTURE AND HE LEAVES US WITH A MUCH CLEARER IDEA OF THE CHALLENGES: WHO WILL BE THE FIRST TO WORK HIM AS V73WW??

COMING SOON.. 

FRIDAY 21ST FEBRUARY ; 9.45-11.45  a.m. OPEN PRACTICAL SESSION IN THE DARTS ROOM 

TUESDAY 4TH MARCH  ‘ASK THE EXPERTS’  8.15 PM. GET YOUR QUESTIONS READY NOW – TECHNICAL OR OPERATIONAL

Ask the experts-Last year’s team in full flow.

David G7IBO proud winner of the 2m/70cm competition. The 2E0BLP Trophy

Mike G4VPD winner of the All Modes Xmas Competition 2024. The G7OJO trophy

Congratulations to David  G7IBO (2m/70cm trophy)  and Mike G4VPD (All modes trophy) on their successes in the recently held (and hotly contested) Wythall Radio Club 2024 XMAS contest.

In an award ceremony at Wythall House  hosted by the organiser Lee G0MTN  Lee spoke of the welcome increase in activity in the event with 16 Club members involved

Other highlights of the 6 day competition were:

Increased activity from members; ; unusual bands and modes tried; more focus on the HF bands this year but a dip in the FT8 activity.

A regular CW get together involving 5 of the Club members

Remote activation by Lee from Poland , Munich, and the centre of Birmingham.

Good use made of the 145.225 frequency and GB3WL

IN THE END, AS LEE REMINDED US, THE AIM WAS TO HAVE FUN AND INCREASE ACTIVITY WITHIN THE CLUB (AMD PERHAPS PROVIDE A VALUABLE ESCAPE ROUTE FROM THE XMAS RELATIVES?!)

Many thanks as ever to Lee for masterminding the whole operation and even now we look forward to the Easter Competition. April 17th-April 21st.

COMING NEXT .. 8R7X DXPEDITION TO GUYANA; A PRESENTATION BY JAMIE M0SDV

 WYTHALL HOUSE. THE DARTS ROOM FEBRUARY 4TH

8.00 P.M. START … 8.00 PM START… 8.00 PM START 

The K2 ready to go .. no wasted power there and heading for 14060

Members of Wythall Radio Club limber up for the January challenge ( note the dress code!)

THE JANUARY 2025 WYTHALLRADIO CLUB QRP(P) MONTH.

Not contest .. just a challenge to work in whatever mode .. reduce the power.. push the boundaries..and let fellow members know of your experiences.. best bands .. antennas used and of course the power.

Lee has set up the DXCC QRP ladder  and comment board so we can all learn of  each others successes and, as a bonus,  the current World Wide Award (WWA) activity can provide extra stimulus. Good luck!!

      The mighty FT 817

I will if I may recount fairly  briefly a tangle I had with the 817 from Vic (SK)  Mostly mechanical issues as opposed to electronic component  failures RECEIVE AUDIO or rather LACK OF.

I was so captivated in reading David’s fault chasing in Pete’s FT817, component level fault finding at its  best!

Many Congratulations David- hope the final issue is resolved.

The rig was a early one which  originally had the limited transmit range on for example the 40m band. It had been opened and extended and that is where the problems began.

Clearly working fine for Vic, it gave no audio output although like Pete’s it gave audible beeps upon key depression.

Top cover removed restored full audio, just placing the cover back without securing it gave full audio but re-inserting the fixing screws  and inverting the unit cut the audio! Upside down- no audio, right way up- Audio! 

With the lid  fully unscrewed by trial and error, the issue was narrowed down to just one mounting screw causing the audio to cut out. Leaving that pesky screw out (Front right hand side) you could position it anyway and it was fine!

The screw in question must be shorting something to ground, nothing appeared obvious. Close examination showed that screw to be fractionally longer by two thread pitch so  I filed a microscopic amount off the screw- job done ..or so I thought.

DC CONNECTOR ISSUE

Next problem: the well-known and documented dc plug to socket intermittency.  Whilst the  plug can be obtained it is usually the pcb mounted socket at fault. ‘Unobtanium’ of course so bodge (a safe bodge I hasten to add) was to sleeve the dc plug with the thinnest  metal I could find- actually of another dc type plug with a wider barrel. This gives enough barrel to (worn) contact to restore happiness to the user.

“Job a goodun”.. Unless of course the user disconnected the dc power lead in which case the bodge most likely would fell apart- literally leaving the sleeve behind.

As the rig was to go to a purchaser I fitted a permanent connector into which the original dc lead fitted. I consider the purchase of one of these dc adapters to be a sound investment for the 817 and 818 which used the same ‘unobtanium’ socket for dc power. Two versions are shown, one twice the cost of the other but protection of the rather fragile dc connector is ensured. Both fix to the rig by the screw that previously gave a chassis earth connection. Existing DC lead fits or Power Pole to suit.

Please Note:

Both types do however impede the proper  fitting of the Yaesu vinyl protection cover.

DISPLAY FADE

Lastly the display with moderate  panel movement partially faded and the right hand side  was unreadable.  

When this rig had been wide-banded by ANOther, the very fragile cable pcb to display ribbon cable had been over stressed and   was held together with a touch of blu-tack!   Where the ribbon cable is inserted in the connector it is push fit-no clamp and had to be cleaned of all the blue gunge. Fortunately all was well when it had been treated.

You do  need to take great care with these  ribbon cables which are essentially pcb tracks on thin acetate or similar.

Ian M0IDR

Ed. we await David’s (G7IBO) next instalment of  his journey to  get the 817 working again.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL IN THE FAMOUS WYTHALL RADIO CLUB XMAS CONTEST 2024.

THIS IS NOW, FROM 10.00 A.M. THIS MORNING , UP AND RUNNING

GEEZ A JOB- I CAN DO THAT!

David G7IBO, the author, on the right.

I really enjoy fixing stuff. I had fixed almost everything I had picked up from rallies, ebay etc. so I was a bit bored and wondered if I could get something else to fiddle with. Be careful what you wish for….

Pete (M5DUO) had a ATU which had not been working for months and I’d said that I would have a look at it. One quick look and it was obvious what the problem was. There was a resistor array that had split in two. I replaced this and it was fixed – easy peasy. Pete was well pleased.

Phil (2E0WTH) then suggested that I take a look at Pete’s FT-817. Bolstered by my success I agreed. I then discovered that it had been with a real service engineer for 9 months after which it had been deemed BER (beyond economical repair). This was going to be more of a challenge! However, I reasoned, that only meant that it required too much of the engineers valuable time to track down the fault. I thought I might as well have a go. Little did I know…..

 FIRST FAULT

The board of the 817

There was no audio. Nothing out of the speaker and nothing out of the 3.5mm jack connected to headphones or speaker. This was a bit weird because the radio seemed to be receiving fine according to the lcd display, the squelch looked as if it was working AND there was a beep with various keypresses.
I looked at the audio amplifier chip. Seemed ok but no audio signal. I traced the path back through a pre-amp and a multiplexer and bingo, there was the audio signal. The control line to the multiplexor had a couple of inputs, one of which was a MUTE line. Ah-ha, I thought. I traced this all the way back to the main processor and all seemed intact. After much searching and head scratching I discovered that I was wrong. Pin 97 (of 100 around a 1cm square processor) had a bad solder joint. After much cursing I managed to correct the problem and the audio came to life. Receive fixed. Brilliant!

SECOND FAULT

I thought I had seen a glitch in the screen earlier and had asked Pete if this had been the case. It had been OK up to now but the display almost disappeared after the previous fix. Mmmm…I looked at the processor more closely and finally found a loose connection somewhere on the opposite diagonal to the original faulty pin. after more soldering and cursing – fixed

THIRD FAULT

Fixing the main processor and a bad solder joint.

Now to the TX side. There was no power out on transmit. The dealers had thought that the Finals Board had gone so I took a look. I noticed that there was no power to the PA board or the Finals. A surface mount fuse had blown on the line supplying both these boards. After much debate and further probing I decided to take a chance and just bypass the fuse. I waited for the bang! Phew, it seemed ok. But still no power out.

 FOURTH FAULT

Amplifier Q1007 (dual gate MOSFET)- faulty and in need of replacement

I found the first IF 68.33MHz and thought I’d start where it combines with the transmit IF signal. There is an amplifier Q1007 (dual gate MOSFET) to provide gain and its also where the ALC and VSWR protection can adjust the output. The mosfet had a short circuit on the output. I determined that it was faulty and removed it. The short had disappeared from the output terminals. I was relieved as I had burned my boats. I needed a new component and fortunately Yaesu UK were able to help. They could provide the part and very kindly sent it for free (its a 1mm square surface mount thingy). Thanks Yaesu. A week later I replaced the part and hoped that the power out would be restored – no such luck. There should be power to the MOSFET. There was none. More investigation required.

More investigation required

 FIFTH FAULT
Having found the Amplifier to be without power ONLY ON TX I began to wonder if there was some inhibitory circuit switching off the power. Indeed there was. If the reflected power was high (high SWR) a transistor switched the power line to earth. In fact there was another line, AFP (which I found out was Automatic Finals Protection) which also caused the power to be routed to earth. I had to prove my theory so I had to provide power to the MOSFET somehow. I suspected that the AFP line should be high to allow transmission and on pulling pin 6 of Q1098 High (5v through 1k resistor) I found that the transmitter burst into life. A full 5w of power on top band FM – WOWSER!!! In fact it gave out full power on all bands.

This was brilliant. Not only had I confirmed my theory, but I had fixed the transmit side and proved that the FINALS were intact. That makes this whole project a damn site cheaper :-)
Now, all I had to do was figure out how why the protection systems were kicking in?

The REV (reflected power) line had a voltage on it but it didn’t seem high enough compared with the FWD line. The AFP line was at 0v but I didn’t really know what that meant. And I noticed that when I transmitted the SWR on the display was high on the front antenna (7bars) but full (9bars) and an HSWR showed on the rear antenna. This lead me on to a long search for a reason for this high SWR. The really weird thing was that it did not matter if a carrier was present or not (FM or CW or SSB mode), the HSWR would always be present. The other thing that lead me to believe that this was spurious was the fact that I was able to get full power out on all bands with my power bypass bodge.

The AFP line came from a chip (Q1077) that was directly controlled by the central processor via a serial link. With my previous problems with bad joints on the processor I tried to relate the problem to that. Nah, unfortunately that wasn’t it.
The processor controlled the AFP in response to a high SWR but the REV line didn’t go to the processor, a D/REV line did. I discovered a multiplexor chip which took REV and FWD and sent them to the processor via the D/REV and S/FWD lines (switching between DISCRIMINATOR/REVERSE and S(ignal)/FORWARD on Rx vs Tx. Could this chip be at fault. I looked at the voltages on all the pins and the one for D/REV did not look right at all. The input on Tx did not match the output (0.8v vs 3.6v). The chip must be bad. I was just just about to remove it and order a new one when I took another look. The voltage on the D/REV line almost matched that on the N/ALC line. There was clearly a short between the two. Still thinking the chip was bad I went for a cup of tea and a good think. Both of these lines went to the central processor (on the front panel) via a 50 way ribbon cable. Now suspecting that the short may be on my old friend the CPU I disconnected the ribbon and as surmised the short across the multiplexor chip disappeared. Getting there.

David’s helpful notes on this journey

The D/REV and N/ALC lines on the front panel PCB were adjacent to each other at two places. Firstly at pins 34 and 35 of the large ribbon connector then at pins 80 and 81 of the the CPU. I confirmed that there was a short between the lines but at which end? The track between the two possibilities disappeared into the multilayer board. However, I could get to both ends to test the connections. Checking it with a multi-meter did incur some risk to the CPU but I didn’t have much choice. A good trick is to measure the short at both the CPU and ribbon connectors and see which has the lowest resistance. The ribbon cable end won (0.2ohms vs 0.5ohms). The short proved elusive but by poking a thin wire under the connector I must have managed to dislodge something as eventually the short disappeared. For the hundredth time I put the radio back together. It had worked! Full power on all bands. At last! I could take it back to Pete in triumph that evening!

BUT WAIT… Oh no. The Front panel was showing good SWR as expected but was unfortunately only partially displaying. I know what that is – no it wasn’t. I ended up taking the whole front panel apart (bad idea) but only succeded in in loosing the display altogether. After much cursing and searching the internet I came to the conclusion that the only way to fix this problem was to get a new LCD screen.

The new screen and,at some cost .. but worth it

Really disappointing considering I thought I was done a few hours earlier. And then it got worse. You can’t buy the LCD screen on its own. You have to buy the the front panel PCB at the cost of £163 from Radioworld (£202 from Yaesu!). This was really frustrating considering that most of the problems had arisen and had been fixed on the original front panel PCB.

       The front panel laid bare

I had a discussion with Pete and he said he would go ahead and buy the new PCB if I was still willing to install it. I was only too willing to do this as it was a relatively simple task and I was confident that I could then present Pete with a working radio.

The PCB was complete except for the need for a connector to be soldered to the old AF-SQL/RF control. The tuning control just plugged in to the board, ribbon cable connected and there you go.

ARGHHHHH…….. The display was blinking, there was no audio, the Tx/Busy light didn’t work with squelch and there was no transmit (Tx ERR displayed) after a brief red TX/Busy light.

Maybe it was arrogant of me to think that I could have any chance of fixing this monster. I am on to the sixth individual fault now and I’m running out of hair to pull out. But, I have spent money on it now so I will continue until it and the wall become very good friends. Wish me luck and any helpful suggestions will be gratefully received.

David G7IBO

 OR…. ‘ CONFESSIONS OF A JUNKEY’!!

             Chris in his workshop

My name is Chris G0EYO and I am an addict!

My problem is fairly recent,  but I have to say I never saw it coming.

It started with a desire, after holding an amateur licence for 40 years, to try and master CW, having enjoyed SSB and FT8. My inspiration was fellow club member and Chairman, John M6KET. His dedication to amateur radio using only CW and QRP powers, kept reminding me of the true origins of this great hobby of ours.

I had learnt to receive morse some 60 years ago having been a trainee GCHQ Intercept Operator at Bletchley Park, but was never required to send it. With John’s help and encouragement, I slowly picked up my sending speed, first with an ordinary Hi-Mound straight key and then with an old Kenpro Electronic paddle.

I bought a vintage Japanese Ameko K-4 telegraph key from a club member’s SK sale and I sold the Hi Mound to John M6KET.

Then in February 2024 I saw a collection of morse keys for sale in a Midlands auction and bid on and won those. Amongst them was a couple of lovely Kent Heavy brass straight keys and a rather battered Vibroplex Champion, which I restored. But, even then, I wasn’t satisfied.

I saw another lot morse keys in a recent auction in Newcastle which included a rather nice Marconi NATO morse key and several other interesting keys. I bid on those and won them. Amongst the lot was a rather plain, GPO  type, telegraph key made by W.G. Pye of Cambridge.

The EK106 before Chris got to work (and pictured below left))

 It was very tarnished and in need of some TLC. I did a bit of research and discovered that these keys could be quite rare, but of good quality, being solid brass on a Bakelite base. It has a serial number of EK106. Others with similar serial numbers are known; viz, EK107 (in the Brundit collection) and EK105 ( in the G0RDO collection).

The Telegraphkeys.com website identifies this key as probably being manufactured between 1913 and 1929. W.G. Pye & Co was originally a scientific instruments manufacturer.  Out of that company was spun the famous Pye Radio Company, now part of Phillips  Group.

 Whenever I do a key restoration, I take lots of pictures of how the key is put together, I then mark up a couple of prints and number the main parts, especially the fixings. I then mark up small plastic bags to put the  relevant parts in as I disassemble it. There are many ways to clean brass. My preference is to use Brasso metal polish with a very fine wire wool. Once the oxidation tarnish is removed, I buff the item with a Dremel buffer tool. Bakelite can also be cleaned up with Brasso but instead of wire wool I use a soft cotton wool pad. I give all parts a final clean over with a microfibre cloth.

This particular key presented few difficulties when it came to taking it apart. The retaining hexagonal nuts on the underside were tight in on the recess preventing a box spanner being used.

The nuts had a slot in them and fortunately I had a screwdriver bit known as a “snake bit” in my tool box which did the job.

Having stripped the key down, I cleaned up the base and key knob, which were both made of bakelite. Each of the various brass parts were cleaned and buffed. The tension spring looked rather rusty so I decided to find a replacement. Amazon came up trumps but I don’t think it has the same tension characteristic as the original although the same size. If I do sell this key I will include the original spring with the replacement so that the purchaser can fit it if they so wish.

THE FINISHED AND BEAUTIFULLY RESTORED PYE EK106 STRAIGHT KEY

AN EYE FOR DETAIL IN THE PYE EK106

THE RESTORED KEY LOOKS RATHER NICE . I HAVEN’T USED IT IN ANGER YET BUT HOPE TO DO SO BEFORE SELLING IT ON.

CHEERS AND 73’S

CHRIS G0EY0

All roads led to the operating room at  Wythall House recently as The Friday Morning Club met again after a long absence.

With the 240’ doublet in action David G7IBO was able to see if his recently assembled QRP lab QMX mini transceiver would come to life and  with John M6KET  on hand (and using David’s home-made paddle) worked Nigel G4BSW  on 40m with 5 watts..  (THE QMX ? -an excellent little radio with crystal clear audio).

Winston looks on as David inspects Phil’s operating table

David shows his delight at the first QSO made with the QRP Lab QMX transceiver

In a quiet corner Chris G3YHF was anxious to try the Club’s 6m beam  and rotator and enjoy the recent excellent conditions on this band: alas the conditions did not cooperate on Friday morning but contact was made with fellow member Martin G8VXX/M on his canal boat at the Black Boy Pub in Knowle, Warwickshire, via GB3WL and 2m FM. And half a QSO with an EI on 2m ft8.!

6m not responding but Chris able to contact Martin G8VXX on 2m

  On another table Phil 2E0WTH assembled his carefully thought out rig- in- a box and magnetic loop and Martin 2E0XFI brought in his very neat Icom 705 and lap top to try the magnetic loop on ft8.

Neil and Debra popped in to say hello. (Perhaps some satellite operation next time ??!)

Witnessing this hive of activity was Winston 2E0EGP  and Neil G1TCZ and Debra.

Neil’s account of his help in tracking the escaped  Gyrfalcon can be seen in the recent edition of Radcom.

With the success and support for  this opening of the Club on a Friday morning it is hoped to make this a regular event , meeting on the third Friday of each month.

Our next meeting of THE FRIDAY MORNING CLUB therefore would be on Friday December 20th

Watch this space for confirmation of date and times.

COMING SOON TO WYTHALL RADIO CLUB

 Tuesday December 3rd Wythall Radio Club on Air 

Tuesday December 10th Xmas Social in the bar

December 26th-21st: the famous Wythall Radio Club Xmas Contest