I was paging through the October issue of CQ while eating some dinner about a half hour ago and came across the ad for Vibroplex on page 47. While most Vibroplex ads attempt to sell their bugs and paddles, this ad reads as follows:
FOR SALE – Vibroplex
Mitch, W4OA, Owner of Vibroplex, is retiring.
Please e-mail [email protected] for details.
Substantial Investment Required
I haven’t e-mailed to get any more details, but this is certainly a chance to really acquire a piece of ham radio history. The Vibroplex home page tells this story:
In 1902, inventor Horace G. Martin patented the first in a line of devices which solved the problem: the Martin Autoplex, an electro-mechanical sending device which required batteries.
Two years later, Martin went into business with a group of entrepreneurs, forming the United Electrical Manufacturing Company. It was also in 1904 that Martin filed his second patent for a new sending device which used a weighted, vibrating arm and did not require the use of a magnetic coil or batteries. This device was the basis for the first Vibroplex.
In 1908, the association between Martin and U.E.M. ended when the latter went out of business. However, J.E.Albright, who began a business catering to the telephone industry in 1890, began marketing the Vibroplex for Martin. On March 12, 1915, Albright filed a certificate of incorporation in New York for The Vibroplex Company, Inc. Within a few short years, Vibroplex© came to represent the best of the telegraphic, and later Amateur Radio, industry.
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