KDØCA' SIDE SWIPER
TELEGRAPH KEY
KDØCA Side Swiper [Side View]
Made From Vibroplex Original Bug Serial #169289 [c. 1955]
KDØCA Side Swiper [Top View]
Note the rectangular brass strike plates located where the original silver
contact plates used to be. They are fabricated from the brass
prongs found in a Leviton replacement AC plug. The former dot contact
post was moved to a new hole that I drilled so it lined up with the
strike plate.
KDØCA Side Swiper [Bottom View]
Note the hole (arrow) where the dot contact
post "used" to be. Post was moved to a location where the former dot
contact lined up with the new strike plate. The insulated, flat strips
on the underside were altered to fit the locations of the 2 contact posts
and the insulated keying line post.
HISTORY
My Side Swiper is made from a Vibroplex Original
Bug Serial #169289 [c. 1955]. I was given this bug in 1971 by a friend.
It had a home-made weight on it which was a lipstick case filled with molten
lead. When cooled, the original owner drilled it lengthwise to fit
on the pendulum, and added a set screw to keep it in place.
I was already using back-to-back J-38's as a side swiper at the
time, when I read an article
in a ham magazine (April Fools article maybe?) about cutting off the
bug pendulum, squeezing the dot spring flat with a pair of pliers to form
a side swiper. The article contained basic information on how to send
CW on a swiper. This poor old key was doomed!
After a few years, I got tired of the soft, spongy feel of the
squashed dot spring, so I modified the key to the configuration you now see
in the pictures.
I discarded the worn out contacts attached to the arm and pendulum
and replaced them with small brass plates fashioned from the prongs taken
from an AC plug. They are attached with tiny machine screws and nuts.
I moved the former dot contact post so it lined up with the new location
of the brass strike plate. The mainspring was removed by punching out
the tiny rivet pins that held it in place. Last, I removed the finger
piece and installed a 2nd thumb piece so the paddle had a narrower, more
sleek feel.
I noted that the old finger piece had a threaded screw sticking
out of it, so at my local hardware store I
obtained a tiny machine screw with an indented hex fitting to replace it.
This screw is installed so that it is screwed into the threads of both thumb
pieces and also into the threaded hole in the arm. I picked a length
that completely disappeared inside the hole when fully screwed in.
Jerry L. Bartachek KDØCA
Washington, IA
QRP ARCI #5166
FISTS #7064