Demonstration sending at Double-Lever BUG

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D.J.J. Ring, Jr.

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Sep 21, 2023, 6:13:55 AM9/21/23
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R/O UA3AO Lery, Валерий Пахомов/UA3AO. 
sending on a "Special Radio Services" Double-Lever BUG

Watch his dashes! 

David J. J. Ring, Jr.

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Sep 21, 2023, 8:10:55 AM9/21/23
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73
David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA  
Life Member ARRL, VWOA  SOWP #3709-M  OOTC #4439 LICW #1212 FISTS #9227 SKCC #587 RadioClubofAmerica
1994 Radio Officer RV KNORR/KCEJ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute - last ship

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Radio KH6O

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Sep 21, 2023, 12:40:46 PM9/21/23
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I don't get it. What's the right lever for? He's using just the left lever about 95% of the time.

Jeff KH6O

D.J.J. Ring, Jr.

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Sep 21, 2023, 1:03:35 PM9/21/23
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The right lever is an additional dash paddle used with characters with more than one consecutive dashes.

It really reduces fatigue with numbers especially. 

73 
DR 

On Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 12:40 PM Radio KH6O <radio...@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't get it. What's the right lever for? He's using just the left lever about 95% of the time.

Jeff KH6O

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Lawrence Cohen

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Sep 21, 2023, 5:51:22 PM9/21/23
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It looks to me like the right dash key allows the operator to hit a second dash immediately after the first with only one motion of the finger to  the right immediately after the first dash as opposed to having to move his finger first to the right then back to the left to form the second dash.  This could be a bit easier once you master it.
Larry Cohen
WA2TRJ

On Thursday, September 21, 2023 at 12:40:49 PM EDT, Radio KH6O <radio...@gmail.com> wrote:


I don't get it. What's the right lever for? He's using just the left lever about 95% of the time.

Jeff KH6O

D.J.J. Ring, Jr.

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Sep 21, 2023, 6:10:34 PM9/21/23
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Yes, that's it. I started calling it a "cootie dasher" because of the back and forth motion in making dashes. 

I translated a portion of Lery's book on telegraph keys concerning this type of modification. These keys were modified by the Soviet Electrical Manufacturing factory for use by the elite Radiotelegraphy Corps prior to WWII. 

I'll see if I can find it. 

73 

DR 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/radio-officers/145929664.5325364.1695333079084%40mail.yahoo.com.

Jeremy Allen

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Sep 21, 2023, 7:48:13 PM9/21/23
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Anyone still making these?  Anyone willing to?

73
Jeremy

D.J.J. Ring, Jr.

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Sep 22, 2023, 1:32:28 AM9/22/23
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Hello Captain Jeremy, 

Piero Begali, I2RTF, Italian machinist and Morse key manufacturer made one for me.

It works very well, but the spacing between the two flat inner surfaces of the left and right dash paddles has to be 25 mm as confirmed with UA3AO Lery who measured his. Piero's Intrepid semiautomatic key design uses button shaped dash finger pieces instead of having the dash finger piece be the shape of flat paddle exactly like he makes the dot finger piece. 

Because of this design Piero had to give additional width between the two dash paddles. I removed the two buttons on the prototype he sent me as seen in the short video in this link. 


I've emailed him and his daughter, Bruna who recently got married this summer but I see from their postings that Bruna has been vacationing in Alaska hopefully catching some of the recent vivid auroras, and her father, Piero has been busy making keys and going to amateur radio conventions as this is their busy season for USA and European hamfests. 

I didn't get an immediate response to my two emailed requests for two machined spacers to put in back of the left and right paddles to make them closer together so that the distance between them is 25 mm. This is the spacing that is needed because any less doesn't have enough room for the operator's thumb to be between the two paddles without accidentally hitting one of them which would produce an unwanted keying error, and spacings above 25 mm increase the time that it's physically possible to accurately bounce the thumb back and forth between the two dash paddles to produce a nice even sequence of multiple repeated dashes approximatimg the sequence of an electronic keyer producing endless dashes. 

You can see in the video that the back and forth motion of my thumb is just too much for me to produce multiple dashes without unnecessary spacing between the dashes. The key needs the two inserts to move the two paddle finger pieces closer together (25 mm) in this prototype so I can send at 25 WPM and faster which as a professional radiotelegrapher I'm certainly capable of. 

I decided to give the Begali's some time, they must realize that designing a prototype overseas is difficult and probably tedious. 

This "Russian Bug With Two Levers" has to be designed with two paddles WITHOUT the buttons that Piero designed his beloved Intrepid with. Otherwise there is just too much space that the thumb has to travel to produce smooth, well formed and spaced multiple sequencial dashes. 

I guess I could get some foam and make spacers. 

I'm sending this to Pierre and Bruna in case they will reply to me. 

I love the Intrepid semiautomatic key, it has a very light touch much different than the McElroy, Speed-X, and Vibroplex keys that I've been using for over 58 years, and it took me several months before I got it adjusted to send excellent Morse. (Compare this with a Vibroplex that I can totally loosen up with everything as far apart as the adjustments will allow and get it back to perfect timing and feel (spring tension) about three minutes. 

Piero Begali originally wanted to add this to his product line but it needs my suggested modification to be usable. Then for the production model, the right angle bends in the two dash levers have to be minimized so the two temporary spacers that I'm trying to get Piero to make for me can be eliminated and the final design have two levers with just three paddle finger pieces, two on either side of the left lever and one on the left inside side of the added dash lever. 

73 

David N1EA 

Jeremy Allen

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Sep 22, 2023, 11:00:29 PM9/22/23
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Hi David,

My internet searching did find your Begali bug, but your explanation fills in quite a few gaps.  I am wondering if a few of us clamor for a production run, it might convince Piero to modify the design as you describe and make a few of them over the winter.  I would certainly be interested.  I wonder if you cross post what you wrote to the qrz.com forums, it might drum up some more interest, or at least some curiosity.  


73
Jeremy



D.J.J. Ring, Jr.

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Sep 23, 2023, 12:42:26 AM9/23/23
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I am speaking to Bruna and Piero about changing the design.

I think a better construction would be to substitute the shape of  finger pieces for the Swing sideswiper.
swing.jpg
Two of these instead of the paddle/button combination Piero used on the Intrepid.

Begali_Russian_Cootie_Bug.jpg
MY PROTOTYPE BEGALI "RUSSIAN BUG WITH TWO LEVERS" like UA3AO's bug.

Also I have told Piero that the spacing between the flats of the paddles is too wide to be used comfortably.

The spacing should be around 20 mm.

Right now it's 30mm and the turn-around time to press the left paddle for the first dash to then swing and press the right paddle for the next dash is too wide and cannot be done smoothly.

NOTE: The extra dash paddle is only for even numbered dashes. I'll label them L and R for the number 1.

dit-L-R-L-R

Zero
L-R-L-R-L

73

DR

D.J.J. Ring, Jr.

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Sep 23, 2023, 1:07:43 AM9/23/23
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Here is the original article from UA3AO R/O Lery's book about Morse keys:

UA3AO's Cootie Dasher Bug used by elite Russian Radiotelegraphers during "The Great Patriotic War" (WWII)


Original book by Валерий Алексеевич Пахомов / Valeriy Alekseevich Pahomov, UA3AO 

Translation by David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA

I've uploaded a new thread to qrz forum QRZ Forum about New Begali Russian Bug with Two Levers

If I call it a "cootie dasher bug" people object because it's NOT a cootie, but the action of going back and forth to produce successive dashes is LIKE a cootie key!

73
DR
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