Vibroplex: the Fastest Key in the West
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ค. 2024
- Invented by Horace Greeley Martin in 1905, the Vibroplex semiautomatic key was developed as a faster, more ergonomic, and more consistent alternative to the classic or “straight” telegraph key. Though more challenging to master, the beloved “bug” is still manufactured by the Vibroplex company to this day and is used by thousands of radiotelegraphers around the world.
0:00 Introduction
1:43 “Glass Arm” and early alternative keys
2:24 Horace Martin and the Autoplex Key
3:24 The UEM/Mecograph patent battle
6:02 How the Vibroplex works
7:17 Other Features: damper and circuit closer
8:38 Summary of Vibroplex models
9:48 Model 6 “Lightning Bug” history and features
11:00 Origin of the term “bug”
13:25 Digital Vibroplex keys
14:11 Outro
Buy your copy of “Calling All Stations” at: www.gillesmessier.ca (links to Amazon, Indigo etc. on webpage)
Today I Found Out video on the term “Bug”: • The Real Reason We Cal...
SOURCES
patents.google.com/patent/US7...
www.vibroplex.com/contents/en-...
www.museumoftechnology.org.uk/...
www.arrl.org/the-first-bugs
www.telegraphkeys.com/pages/bu...
www.radioblvd.com/telegraph_k...
1z8.bb5.myftpupload.com/?page_...
www.vibroplex.com/techdocs/Vib...
www.telegraph-history.org/bug/
Morse in beginning says "If you understand this you're a giant nerd"
Nerd Alert!
I used to have a patient that was a former Navy man from back in the day and he could tap this stuff out and listen to it so fast. It was ridiculous.
I don't know if you've ever heard it being broadcast, but it's way quicker than this and he would just be sitting there acknowledging what was happening and then he would like tell you like oh this boat's broken down on the water over there and blah blah blah
I find giant nerds cool.
Lols
I understand because I'm a "real" Extra -- one who passed a 20 wpm code test at a FCC field office.
I was a RadOp for the Canadian Military in the very early 80's. The bug was legendary by then and old-timers swore by it and amazingly, bugs are still in use. Brilliant content young lad. Great stuff.
I got my ham license and learned CW (up to about 15wpm) during the pandemic. These days, iambic paddles (which generate dits and dahs electronically) are by far the most common, but bugs are still in use to this day. Every CW test (contest) always has at least one bug user, and you can tell - it is common courtesy to match your speed to a slower contact if you're faster, and while paddle can simply turn a knob to change speed, bug users have to do a lot more work, so they often just send slower dahs but leave their dits speed alone, which sounds like a weird jazz swing.
Similarly, the irregularities of straight keys are easy to pick out, too.
What did he say in the beginning?
@@christianterrill3503 He means to say:
"if you understand this you're a giant nerd"
but what he actually sent was sorta like:
"If niou utederstandthis nmoureaneiant neaed"
I think the famous log entry shown at 13:10 that gets claimed as the "first computer bug" contradicts the idea that the term originated there---the log entry wording "first *actual* bug found" and the rather extraordinary step of saving a dead moth clearly indicates that they found it very funny that a metaphorical bug had for once turned out to be a literal one, but that only makes sense if they already used the term.
Was watching a mate at a hamfest use one of those double paddle vibroplexes to send. I put my laptop near his setup and put a mic next to his transmitting radio so it could pick up the sidetone and he was doing over 60wpm on the thing. I'm lucky to do 5!
There are apps for phones that teach the Koch method for learning high-speed code. Get one, set it for 35 WPM and do a 5-minute run-through. Then keep the 35 WPM character speed, but boost to 21 WPM spacing. You won't believe how quickly you learn, then when you're ready, cut the spacing to 31 WPM, then 35 WPM). The Marine Corps used this method in the 1940s to train operators who would work on the battlefield (35 WPM was the USMC standard for Low-Speed Operator, 40 WPM for High-Speed Operator), while the Navy used the paper-tape machines . . .and took at least twice as long to get operators to 25 WPM (USN, USAAF and US Army standard for Low-Speed Operator, 33 WPM was High-Speed Operator).
60 WPM! That's faster than most people can type on a modern keyboard.
@@aotmr1604, a friend of mine left me his 1952 Vibroplex Zephyr when he passed away. He sent and received on the ham bands at a speed approaching that until arthritis slowed him down to about 40 wpm. He could receive very fast code and write it all down while he was talking to me. It was entirely subconscious. I'm working on trying to get up to a speed where I don't need to use a clothes pin on the pendulum arm to slow it down to a speed I can work. Most of the Vibroplex's start at a bit over 20 wpm, and adjust to over 50 wpm without any mods.
Interestingly many of the very fast CW operators can't copy 5 wpm code. They forgot the sound of the patterns of single letters long ago. They have learned to hear the sound of patterns of whole words of dits and dahs just like the people using spoken English no longer hear the sound of the letters they learned, but whole words.
@@johnwest7993 Actually, the military and Naval operators didn't forget -- they never learned the sound of slow characters in the first place.
I did once treat myself to a brand new, genuine Vibroplex and learnt to use it. While they are, indeed, beautiful pieces of precision engineering, they are very tricky to set up and, if not used and correctly adjusted, can enable the operator to send FAR worse Morse than a straight key ever could. ;-)
I'm convinced he was actually calling in an air strike at the start
That makes me think of the movie Independence Day. It strained credulity when every military force still in existence managed to find a bunch of Morse code keys, and people who knew how to use them.
@@eyerollthereforeiam1709that's one of the more believable parts of the movie - telegraphy is still very much alive and well among ham radio operators.
When you can copy morse code at better than 20 words per minute, 5 wpm is HARD!
@@eyerollthereforeiam1709
Telegraphy service was still avalible when independance day came out. Ships still had wireless keys. And learning how to send a morse code signal was still part of basic training for many branches, alongside radio training for many jobs.
The military might still be using morse code for radio; dots and dashes just survive longer distances then analog voice and are compatable with longer wavelengths of radio that travel further then you can get away with other binary encoding schemes. I.E. ASCII requires a shorter wavelength to encode, so it cannot travel as far over radio.
@@aa3konthego I think you could only start using a Vibrokey at 20wpm and above.
7:25 -- The closer is supposed to go UNDER the flat spring -- that little tab at the end stops the pivot at the right place for proper contact. The closers continued to be used on radio keys for keying the transmitter during tuning. 13:15 -- near miss, Grace Hopper is credited with the first computer-related use of the phrase "debugging." In aviation, "bug" was another word used like "gremlin," to indicate a mystery problem. "De-" was a commonly added prefix for such words, to give a humorous "officialese" tone.
One interesting note: some old Vibroplex keys can be found in a wooden carrying case, with a cable that has two flat contacts at one end, separated by an insulating layer. These were made for professional telegraphers, who had their own personal keys (adjusted to their preferences). One end of the cable would be connected to the Bug with ring terminals, then the contacts would be inserted between the pads of a straight key, which was then adjusted to minimum gap (thus holding the contacts in place). This adapted the Bug to operate the transmitter without having to remove the straight key, so an operator would be able to use his own key for his shift, then the next operator could do the same thing with a changeover taking only seconds to complete.
Yes you're absolutely right! If I'm not mistaken, the device at the end of the cable which was inserted between the contacts of the straight key was called the "wedge"
Thanks for the video. My Bug was built in 1945 and was used on the Rock Island Railroad. I even know the name of the telegrapher. I put it on the air every once in a while, but I'm not proficient by any means. Usually, I just use a straight key. 73 de N7KBT
My father had one of these. I recently donated it to the NS Savannah, for use as a display item in the radio room there.
Bravo! Many thanks!
de N8 IIO
Another great video! Thanks for clearing up the origins of the term "bug". I had always assumed it was the moth story.
Very nice and interesting. Now I know how the vibroplex key works, although I own just some "normal" Morse keys. Sometimes I power a circuit with a little model steam engine (+dynamo) and can Morse with a little light bulb, powered by steam. People love this, when I am at a model fair or similar.
There seems to be a bug in the amazon kindle page for Calling all Stations itself. The reviews on your page are all for a genesis album. A lot of comments saying it is just meh without Peter or Phil leaving low star reviews. It might be hurting your rating. I Will be buying your book when i have a little more scratch. I love your channel. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for an entertaining video. I kept waiting to comment about Grace Hopper and the moth, but then you covered the topic of modern computer "bugs" correctly. I started in 1963 with a J-38, then bought a Johnson bug, moved on to a real Vibroplex, and have had many such keys into today. Quite an edifying presentation - thanks!
That last plug for your book reminded me of the years I was intercepting radio Morse from southern Spain for the USN. One of the activities (not mine) had the job of listening to north African militaries out in the field. Their radio operators would sometimes send via a straight key strapped to their legs....and it sounded like it. But the intercept ops got good at copying bad code....the opening to this great video is an example of a bad "fist". KC1CCG
I got my Novice license (WN6UQB) in 1965 at age 11 and used a straight key. I was taught to use my thumb and first two fingers to actuate the knob, not a single finger as you demonstrate at the opening. Older hams I met and became friends with all used bugs on CW and while I wanted one, my allowance money never allowed me to get one. Thanks for this great exploration of a wonderful piece of gear!
Gills is a writer for several TH-cam channels, has his own channel and is a published author…..
I’m excited when I remember to bring my coffee to the bus stop
Amazing! Old school tec is beautiful!!!
Such a great video! You do such excellent research! I’m a computer engineer (retired), and a ham. I’ve heard Grace Hopper retell the “moth bug” story for many years, but linking it with the 19th century origin of the term makes so much more sense. Again, such excellent research!
Fun fact, the reason amateur radio is called "ham radio" is because the personal affectation you produce when pounding on a straight key is called your "fist" - the best telegraphers back in the day could actually recognize each other by how their fists sounded. A sloppy amateur could be said to be "ham fisted" if their code wasn't neatly and skillfully spaced.
You mean like the opening sequence? :-(
Amazing - as ever, something I hadn't known much about until you took me down the rabbit hole! So much design & engineering for a simple task.
It suddenly struck me how much we rely on the presence, or not, of electricity. Binary is just that, Morse the same. It all comes down to dots, dashes, ones, zeros, Yin, Yang, black, white, left, right...& we've built this amazing world on the back of it all!
I can hardly work CW but I know some hams that have amazing skill.
One I know has a leg mounted key he uses while driving down the highway on long trips. What’s amazing is he can be sending and receiving 20 wpm while talking to the passenger in his car with him.
Great history summary! I am an amateur radio operator who regularly uses this key daily! They are an absolute blast. On my channel I have a demo sending highish speed telegraphy using a vibroplex from 1921!!
I’m a young ham radio operator who is currently learning the code. When I hit 20WPM I hope to get a bug key to learn on. Thanks for the video!
Very good coverage of the Bug.
I believe you're correct about the word "bug" being in use well before to the moth-in-the-computer story. I'm sure the latter did occur, but the staying power of the story was due to the irony that the bug they were searching for turned out to be an actual bug-later misremembered as the origin story.
There is a chance that this will be the video that gets you to 100k subs. Congrats!
I love this video! The first key I ever got after the ubiquitous 'Japan' key was a Vibroplex Original. Super tricky to set just right, but when you finally lock it in, it stays for years.
1975, I bought a new Vibroplex Original, with the optional "circuit closer" for an extra $5. I never knew it was called a circuit closer or the real purpose it was designed for. I just called it the shorting switch. I used it when tuning the TX tube's plate and load.
You're right, it was always called the shorting switch among the hams. As you say, you could adjust the PA tuning and loading, one with each hand, to get that 10% "plate dip" and do it faster, to avoid overheating anything expensive. My brother had a Vibroplex, Silver Streak I think it was, it was OK but I preferred the precise rhythm of a good straight key, especially at my low speeds of 15-20 wpm. Higher speeds were for Teletype!
love all your videos mate
I was in /u.S. Navy 1962 - 1970, radio operators still used Morse. My memory is that Navy radio operators were allowed to use Bugs, but Navy only supplied straight keys. Radiomen who wanted to use one bought their own.
I remember when I was a boy back in the 1950s going down to the UP Depot in Marysville, KS, to watch the telegrapher use his Vibroplex Bug.
Once I heard you sending Morse, I had to start the video over and take out pen and paper. I do not see myself as a giant nerd but have been a amateur ham operator for 50 years and Morse code is my favorite mode. Love the Bug. I had one many years ago :-)
Another superb video. I can imagine hundreds of morse nerds having an organism watching your video. (Sorry about that one.) I did many, many years ago build quite a high-powered transmitter only to be told that it's output would qualify me for being hung, drawn and quartered.
Great vid, Gilles...👍
Giles book is amazing. Waiting for the sequel.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thanks - - . . . . . . - -
Very cool that people have soooooo many hobbies including this curiosity :) :)
Fascinating!
Great Video !
Vibroplex also came out with a "straight" key, built to the same standards and quality; I love mine!
I knew some cw ops who detested bug keys. I think they never got the knack of using them to be honest. I find them charming and their swinging cw sound is a breath of fresh air amongst all the iambics on air.
Never had a bug but do have Vibroplex paddles to use with a keyer. Love it.
I've come across a two paddle electronic 'vibroplex' which had a neat feature. You can keep the dash paddle activate and insert dots in between dashes with the other paddle. AFAIK this is not possible with any of the mechanical keys. According to the ham that used it he said he really liked it and that it was very convenient, fast and produced perfect lengths of dash and dots an pauses in between.
I am on the younger side of licensed Amateur radio operators at the oh so young age of 35 (currently). I had to learn Morse code at 5 wpm to obtain my General license when I was 15. I never used CW (Morse code) but dad who is 70 did on low power. He strung an antenna atop the General Motors plant in Moraine Dayton where he was a maintenance electrician. When everything was working at the plant - he would work low power DX CW contacts. He would operate on 40 meters. He used a straight key at first and then a semi auto key although I forget the brand and type. QSO?
Did you mean QSL?
@@jeepien oops. Yep.
My bug is a chrome deluxe "original" from 1946...with its original cardboard box (serialized to the key). I also have a USN marked straight key Dad brought back from the radio operator's position of the PBY he flew in WWII.
Cool history, thanks!
I tried to learn morse in Boy Scouts but was better at signal flags...
Thank you, keep working.
"IF BOU UNDERSTAND THIS YOURE A GIANT NERD" (sic.)
This is very technology connections esque but different enough. My first video of yours that I'm watching and I'm damn hooked, then again, I love radio tech and Morse code is in radio so 🤣🤣
Awesome keyb
If you can find one, the McElroy is a far more versatile spring loaded semi-automatic key. The McElroy works like a Vibroplex but the McElroy has lugs on the arch frame so it can simply and quickly be flipped up on it's side and used as a simple straight key for any telegrapher who is not familiar operating with Vibroplex type semi-auto keys. Gravity keeps the dot feature from functioning. Bugs would get into old magnetic telegraph sounders. The slang term "lid" in ham radio referred to telegraphers who put a lid from a tin of tobacco or other product on the sounder so they could hear it better. The term "ham" refers to ham fisted telegraphers. Some famous wealthy 1920s socialites and business moguls were electrocuted by their amateur radio equipment. Electrocuted means killed dead.
I wanna play with all the cool stuff on the shelf behind him!!!
ohh! that typewriter..! alternate history..! : o
good video
My image of Morse code operators comes from watching James West and Artemis Gordon do it so easily on TWWW, one of my favorite 1960s TV programs. Of course they were acting and the messages meant nothing. Today I'm trying to learn Morse Code for use in ham radio. Today's ham operators are the modern telegraphers. They can read and send Morse as quickly, often many times quicker, than what was depicted on TV half a century ago.
Nice book ❤
The term bug was probably inherited by IT from previous fields, what Admiral Hopper registered was that the bug in the computer was caused by a real bug.
BTW, my grandfather learned telegraphy during the Great War, and was able to decode morse by ear even from a distance from the telegraph station.
This was later useful later when, as a Station Master, he decoded a message regarding a runaway carriage on the train line, and he got out of the station and started yelling orders to all the personnel on the tracks, which started turning switches, and they were able to send the carriage on a dead track where it could not damage anything but itself.
Fist needs some practice spacing between letters are a bit inconsistent kudos for the demo...vibroplex is alive and well supplying keyers to Ham radio. I have 3 Vibroplex keyers including a "bug" single keyer which my wife owns and uses.
Saw a fellow ham use an iambic paddle key, was amazed at just how fast he went, 25 words per minute!
And there are hams who can go even faster than that! There is even an organization called "CW Ops" and to become a member you have to be able to send at least 25 WPM. Though, the fastest I've seen in person was around 40 WPM.
You've written a novel? That's awesome!
Now I'm curious about the current production of telegraph keys- I'm surprised that there's still some demand for them, always thought that the Morse code was somewhat antiquated method of communication. So, thank you, seems like I have something to read about now:)
This is cool. I was just looking at this model at the local tiny museum and was wondering about it being sideways and what the extra arm did.
It's easy to forget how much technology has changed in the past 100 years
I have several, the oldest is 1920, works as well today as it did 104 years ago
I thought the code at the beginning was going to be a Rick roll 😂
Theres also the story of the moth that got into the Atanasoff-Berru Computer and caused an error - a literal computer bug! Its immortalized on the Iowa State campus outside the electrical and computer engineering building by a large art piece
I would be interested to see your analysis of one of the old (1910s) western electric bell wall phones. they are simple but I am guessing that not many people know how they work.
today i learned that sending messages this way is still alive and well.
My dad was a wiz on one of those "bugs." - I never could get the hang of it, or even later keyers and just stuck with a straight key.
My father was WWII RAF Aircrew as an AG/Sigs 1939 - '46, and used straight key (I suspect auto keys weren't good in turbulence, or evasive manouvers)
Glass arm is an apt term, also more polite than what it feels like, like cru..., like being nailed-up. Or acid dripping out the parts of your hand and wrist that you still can feel.
Or you could call it doorknob despair/rage.
I use a Vibrokeyer as a sideswiper. Code on CW may be rare. But it isn't dead.
I think I have the signal corps box that the training set was kept in. PRS-5, nothing else stamped besides company and battalion.
Saying "think" b/c it has been years since my research, but it is a test/training rig hinged box. I just think if it was a radio, I'd remember. Not unfamiliar with WW2 T/R's. Nothing comes to mind. So, I think it is for telegraphy. Too bad you don't do Japanese stuff, I hoard vacuum tube electronics. Even my metal detector has a tube amp in it, a detectron. Anyways, a few things are gems, hen's tooth diamonds.
Don't be put-off by my Jackal persona, it is just that. My name was a limits test in a game years ago. I had changed it but I made a Latin spelling mistake with a greek origin word and made a fool of myself and went back to this.
Rug beaters, buggy whips, spoke shaves, telegraph keys...what other relics of the past are still being manufactured today?
Lots. There is a viable market for those items and many more besides.
There are still many hobbyists and craftsmen who like to use the older manual tools in their work.
Also there is a huge reproduction market for people who like to re-enact life in various historical periods.
Everything from histrical clothing and cookware to tools and weapons are being made.
From ancient times to the recent past there are hundreds of technically out of date items still being manufactured to supply these markets.
This was a great deep dive for those who are not ham operators or know very little about Vibroplex. Well done!
PS. The book cover shown at 14:34 has a spelling error in Morse. Do you see it?
I *don't* see it. Apparently there are alternating bands of code. One says CALLING ALL, repeated, and the other says ALL STATIONS, repeated. Is that what you consider the error?
@@jeepien No. Look at the Morse directly under the letters. "Calling" has one letter incorrect.
@@WECB640:: Oh, you're right, it says CALLIAG. I looked at it a dozen times and didn't see it. I was expecting to see an N and I thought I did.
Interesting
I've got a Lionel J-38 straight key. A video about Lionel would probably be pretty interesting ..
That series arrangement must've caused a LOT of headaches!
Does the circuit remain closed when the telegraph is at-rest?
A Marconi marine operator I knew could have two CW QSO's and still engage in a conversion in the radio room, nice chap but hard work. My CW is poor but I can read RTTY (teleprinter Murry code)
The moth story is likely to have been a re-imagining of the "bug bear" idea as it resulted in the first "debug" of a programmable computer. Technology always builds upon earlier developments and electromechanical relay computers were based upon the already troublesome electromagnetic multiplex telegraphic systems.
I can't do morse to save my life, but I've always kinda wanted one. There was a guy running a ham store near me who could do (IIRC) 70WPM while holding rudimentary conversation on a digital but still semi-automatic keyer. My twelve year old mind refused to accept this.
2 Thumbs up!!! 👍
Were there portable telegraph key sets that could be attached in remote locations, alongside rail lines , for adventurers in remote areas that contained telegraphy lines or military scouts? Would they require battery banks to function?
Nearly there now....
Alfred Vail also invented the cipher (not "code") that to this day we call - "Morse code".
There is something about this video that I've noticed. It's not the accuracy of the subject matter, nor the overall quality (both excellent), but........the shelf behind you is back to front 😅
In your channel description, you have the title of your book written as the title of your channel, just a heads up
My cousin had a gorgeous Bug, Ive never picked one up.
Turn of the 28th century? I can hardly wait! I hope they develop life extension technology in time for me.
(You have a lousy "fist", by the way.)
Re lousy fist: what can you expect with keying with index finger and no wrist movement. ;) Still nice touch to intro the video with that and interesting details in the video.
Okay, who decoded it?
How big were the biggest (most operators) networks of wired telegraphers?
Imagine not books on tape, but books on telegraph...
The keys look worth collecting even if you have no intention of using them.
So basically a telegraph bug and a software bug are what linguists would call "false friends." Different etymologies (entomologies?) for the same word in different contexts.
Notification Squad! :D
Figures I don't know my Morse 😂😂
At 13:07 Supposedly that's where the term "debug" came from.
. . .but it didn't. The word was used in the 1930s -- "bug" and "gremlin" were interchangeably used in aviation.
00:56 starts the real video
You and fact boii, eh? Never would have guessed 😁
wow and zamzam water
DJ Mercy