Last year at Dayton, I bought a used Vibroplex Original bug for $50. The stainless steel plating wasn’t in the greatest shape, and the silver contacts needed cleaning, but I thought I’d gotten a pretty good deal.
Well, I never could get it to work quite right. I thought it was just that I didn’t know how to adjust it properly. Whatever the reason, it just didn’t work quite right, so while I played around with it from time to time, it mostly just sat on the bench.
About a month and a half ago, I decided to once and for all to figure out what was going on. I played with the adjustments, but again didn’t get good results. I did notice, though, that the contacts were in really bad condition. It looked as though someone had taken a file to them. That’s a real no-no for key contacts.
Fortunately, Vibroplex has a relatively low-cost service for contact replacement. For $40, they’ll send you a complete set of new contacts. There are a couple of caveats, though:
- You have to send in two contact posts so that they can replace the contact point on them.
- The order form on their website has the wrong address on it.
Both of these issues caused a delay. I first sent the order to the wrong address, and it took a week for the Post Office to return the letter to me. Then, I didn’t understand that I had to send in the posts, so that delayed my order. The second issue was my fault, but the first is Vibroplex’s fault.
I finally got that all straightened out, and the parts arrived on Wednesday. I put the bug back together yesterday, and now it works like a charm.
The only problem is that the dits are very fast. I’m going to have to experiment with ways to slow that down. Vibroplex makes a thing called the Vari-Speed that does this, but it costs another $35, and I’m not sure I want to spend that much more. In any case, I’ll be practicing with the bug and hope to “get buggy” on the air soon.
Dan,
WB9LPU’s BugNapper is a much better choice for about the same price – $37, I think.
Larry W2LJ
I just Googled “bug napper” and found a bunch of references to the device. I didn’t, however, find a place to order one. Do you have a link for that? From reading your blog, you apparently have one.
Dan
Congrats on the bug …..
Here are a couple of YouTube movies that will help you properly adjust your bug. Both have been very helpful to me, so thought I would pass them on to you:
For the Vari-Speed ….. I was going to buy one, but at the time they didn’t have any in stock. There are a couple inexpensive things you can do yourself.
One thing you can do is to use a couple of drill stops. These are the little rings that you put on a drill bit to stop drilling a hole at a desired depth. I think Home Depot sells them in the tools section. They come on a card pack with 6 or 7 different sizes for the drill bits. Use as weights on your pendulum rod. I use one small size with a larger size over it.
I also use an old squeeze type paper clip device with a magnet attached to the back so you can put it on a file cabinet or any metal object….. the hang your memo’s or papers from it. I squeeze it open and put it over the bug weight screw, then add metal flat washers or objects to get the weight I like. If you want to send faster at any time, just take the clip off.
Always enjoy and learn from your blog. Thanks.
73 de Jim/W8JPM LARK member. ZUT