View Full Version : Twenty Buck Bug
Picked this up from the daughter of an SK ham:
http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz79/gyrogeerloose/1639F91A-1544-4DC0-8D59-AFA005A5CBE0-2782-00000A7852C1C124.jpg
No marks or labels of any kind on the thing, does anyone recognize it?
The chrome plating on the base is pretty rough (he lived less than a mile from the ocean) but I spent a few enjoyable hours cleaning it up and it works just fine. Funny, my code skills still suck but I enjoy collecting keys none the less and find bugs particularly pleasing for some reason.
N2CHX
11-24-2012, 10:08 PM
Sure looks like a vintage Vibroplex to me.
Sure looks like a vintage Vibroplex to me.
Found a picture online, it's a Speed-X, a fairly old one.
N2CHX
11-24-2012, 11:02 PM
Found a picture online, it's a Speed-X, a fairly old one.
Nice. The two companies had very similar designs, almost identical. However, Johnson used chrome for the base and it doesn't seem Vibroplex ever did. That was the one discrepancy I found when trying to figure out who made your key but I couldn't figure out who did.
Nice. The two companies had very similar designs, almost identical. However, Johnson used chrome for the base and it doesn't seem Vibroplex ever did. That was the one discrepancy I found when trying to figure out who made your key but I couldn't figure out who did.
Took a little searching but once I found one picture, I was quickly able to find more to confirm that it is indeed a Speed-X. This one could date from as far back as the early Thirties. It's definitely pre-WW II. Made in San Francisco, just like me.
Cool find. Go peruse eBay and see how much bugs of that vintage are fetching. :shock:
K7SGJ
11-25-2012, 12:03 PM
Took a little searching but once I found one picture, I was quickly able to find more to confirm that it is indeed a Speed-X. This one could date from as far back as the early Thirties. It's definitely pre-WW II. Made in San Francisco, just like me.
Yeah, but it doesn't show it's age.
Yeah, but it doesn't show it's age.
Unlike me, you mean? Thanks. Bitch
K7SGJ
11-25-2012, 05:25 PM
Unlike me, you mean? Thanks. Bitch
Who you calling bitch? Whore
wa6mhz
11-26-2012, 11:13 AM
Great Carl! Worth ALOT more than $20! Maybe ad a Zero or two!
Great Carl! Worth ALOT more than $20! Maybe ad a Zero or two!
I sort of doubt that it's worth into three or four digits since I saw one in better condition listed on eBay for ~$90.
I hooked it up to the T-4X last night and played with it (into a dummy load, of course) and discovered that there's a bit of a learning curve involved in using a bug properly. Still need to work on it, but it's fun.
And I thought you were talking about THIS kind of bug.....
8119
K7SGJ
11-26-2012, 08:00 PM
I got a bug for 20 bucks, once. They have shots for that. That's what you get when you fall in love.
I got a bug for 20 bucks, once. They have shots for that. That's what you get when you fall in love.Ah! The Love Bug!
http://www.herbiemania.com/ Got it!
kb2vxa
11-27-2012, 07:59 PM
I have no idea why they called it the love bug, have you ever tried getting in on in a VW???
K7SGJ
11-27-2012, 08:34 PM
I have no idea why they called it the love bug, have you ever tried getting in on in a VW???
I never had a problem. Oh wait, ah, did you mean IN or ON a VW.
Les Logan SpeedX, i have one of those too....$20?? Awesome score! Worth about a bill.
KA9MOT
12-04-2012, 10:57 PM
Les Logan SpeedX, i have one of those too....$20?? Awesome score! Worth about a bill.
According to this website, http://www.radioblvd.com/telegraph_keys.htm the paddles are wrong for the Les Logan. Looks more like their picture of the Stewart Johnson Speed-X.
Yes, I believe that Steve is right. It's the Steward Johnson unit. The clues are the shorting bar and the knob on dah side of the paddles. That means two things: it's the very oldest Speed-X model and it may have been made in beautiful downtown Fresno rather than San Francisco.
Mine is about 1929. I agree about the paddles.
KA9MOT
12-05-2012, 06:24 AM
Yes, I believe that Steve is right. It's the Steward Johnson unit. The clues are the shorting bar and the knob on dah side of the paddles. That means two things: it's the very oldest Speed-X model and it may have been made in beautiful downtown Fresno rather than San Francisco.
Fresno [shudder]. I spent a week there once.........
Fresno [shudder]. I spent a week there once.........
Me too. Well, it was actually only a day, it just felt like a week.
K7SGJ
12-05-2012, 09:21 AM
Many years a go, I flew from San Diego to Fresno, in a DC-3 no less. It felt like it took a week to fly there.
K7SGJ
12-05-2012, 08:20 PM
THAT...would be awesome!
It really was pretty cool. Naturally the cabin isn't pressurized so you fly below 10k, the engines are noisy as hell, and there was no doubt the thing had radial engines. One of the best things about night flight in one, was the long flashes of orange exhaust coming out the nacelles. Truly a thing of beauty. The other neat thing was that being a tail dragger, the hike up and down the isle while on the ground was quite a workout. I think the DC-3 comes in at # 2 for my all time favorite civilian multi-engine prop plane. The Lockheed Connie and Super Connie will always comes in first.
It really was pretty cool. Naturally the cabin isn't pressurized so you fly below 10k, the engines are noisy as hell, and there was no doubt the thing had radial engines. One of the best things about night flight in one, was the long flashes of orange exhaust coming out the nacelles. Truly a thing of beauty. The other neat thing was that being a tail dragger, the hike up and down the isle while on the ground was quite a workout. I think the DC-3 comes in at # 2 for my all time favorite civilian multi-engine prop plane. The Lockheed Connie and Super Connie will always comes in first.
Same here on the Connie! Thats quite an experience. I want to do that.
K7SGJ
12-05-2012, 08:27 PM
Same here on the Connie! Thats quite an experience. I want to do that.
Once done, it's never forgotten. Although you can get to far away places faster these days, modern flight has lost all the excitement, romance, and mystery of early aviation. It's kind of interesting, back in those days, you got dressed up n clothes that were better than going to Sunday meeting clothes, and no one was in any particular hurry to get anywhere. For me, I guess it was just the thrill of travel by air.
I am willing to shell out good money for a ride on one of those old round engined monsters.
K7SGJ
12-05-2012, 09:51 PM
I am willing to shell out good money for a ride on one of those old round engined monsters.
There used to be a company that had several refurbished DC-3s. Everything was restored to original, including the upholstery and all the intricate cabin woodwork. Anyway, they used to go to major cities for a few days, and people could buy tickets for about an hour tour to see some of the sites around their city. I can't remember what the cost was, but I'm sure it was worth it. I was CE at a local AM station, and we did our whole morning show aboard one of them. What a blast. The only remote I ever did that was better, was when we did the morning show from a B-17, while flying all over the place. Just being in that war bird and among all the ghosts that fought died in a B-17 during WW2, was a very humbling experience.
You might inquire around because they may still be around, and I'm sure Las Vegas would be a great spot for their business. I would think with Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, and part of the Grand Canyon so close, it would be a natural.
Might even try to Google DC-3 tours in LV, or something along those lines. Oh, should you get a chance to do this, take your camera. Flying low and slow, I guarantee you'll get some once in a lifetime shots.
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