Vintage Homebrew

Recently I was asked by the Long Island CW Club to  give a zoom talk about my vintage homebrew projects. The transmitters, receivers and power supplies I discussed covered the late 20s through the mid 50s. My talk, though, wasn't just about recreating some pieces of ham radio history. I also covered the economics, technology and current events that drove ham radio during this period.

My power point charts with my speaker script is at   http://www.wiegandfamily.org/HomeBrewTalk_March25/VintageHomebrew_LICW_31Mar2025.pdf

 

A Siamese Paddle

Recently my local ham radio club asked for members to show off homebrew CW keys. I decided to build something that would fit in with the club show-and-tell and, even better, be usable in my shack.

 

The July 1952 issue of QST describes "The Siamese Paddle". It is two J-38 straight keys mounted on edge and bottom to bottom to form a set of dual lever paddles, great! I didn't have two J-38s but I did find two EF Johnson Speed-X straight keys on my shelf. I could use these for my paddles and still have two original Speed-X keys if I ever decide to disassemble my Siamese Paddles. I also found a couple pieces of aluminum to form the new base and vertical support. 

 

After drilling four mounting holes and creating new finger pieces I now have a new set of paddles.

These paddles aren't a Begali but they are certainly cheaper and my typical CW speed is only around 16 WPM. They work fine for me and fit in well with the rest of my vintage gear.

 

73,

Niel - W0VLZ

 

 

Vinage Radio Homebrew - Handy Links

QST Magazine 1915 – 1969: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/QST.htm 

 

 ARRL Handbooks: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Bookshelf_ARRL.htm   

 VE7SL Radio Notebook: https://www.qsl.net/ve7sl/

 

6C4-5763 transmitter by WB8DQT: www.arrl.org/files/file/QST%20Binaries/Jan2012/w1ts_project.pdf