Straight Key Night (SKN) has come and gone again. This year’s was kind of fun. I managed to make six SKN contacts—three on Thursday evening on 80m and three on Friday morning on 40m—before I decided to call it quits.
I used my KX-3 with a Bunnell Nr. 9 straight key (see above). The key has an old-style, 1/4-in. phone plug on it, while the KX-3 has an 1/8-in. jack, so I had to adapt somehow. I have an adapter, but the old-style phone plug didn’t really fit well, so I decided to just use a couple of clip leads.
When operated from an AC supply, the KX-3 is capable of 15 W output. I thought perhaps that might be a problem, but band conditions were pretty good, and I worked everyone I called (except for W1Aw; I just couldn’t crack that pileup). I even called CQ a couple of times and got replies.
I made a couple of interesting contacts. One of them was with K9TJL. He was using a J-36 bug, and we had a nice discussion about that key and the J-37 with leg clamp (a key I’ve used in previous SKNs).
Another interesting contact I had was with Howard, WB2UZE. He’s one of the cofounders of the Long Island CW Club. He was using a 1940s-vintage Vibroplex bug.
Finally, although I didn’t work him, I heard Don, W2LID. I first worked Don in 2005, when he was 82 years old. He’s had that call since the age of 15. By my calculations, he’s now 97 years old and has been a “LID”
Gee Dan, I guess I was not very exciting… I too worked you on SKN and you were certainly my top pick for Friday morning on 40m. I have worked a few famous folks in my life but not sure I found one more interested in keys! My grandfather was a railroad telegraph operator near Pittsburgh PA in the early 1900’s. He operated from an elevated building along the tracks and was on duty with a 7-day a week schedule. Probably enjoyed the schedule as my grandmother could not bend his ear! I believe playing with his key as a child was one of the reasons I become interested in Amateur Radio.