I've been following Ian at gopher.icu and his recent sterling work
to restore an old McElroy bug key [0]

I'm amazed at the work he's done and really look forward to
following his progress should he venture out on the airwaves with
it.

I've been using a bug key for the last few years - I don't operate
much so I tend to get a bit rusty between bouts of activity - and I
find it entralling to see the pendulum oscillating back & forth and
a string of dots issuing from the rig....

Many people have very exagerated "bug fists" and this often makes
their sending difficult for "non-bug" people to read. While I like
to hear a bit of individuality in sending style, I too find the
really way-out swings a little off-putting.

But you must have some personal style, simply because it's a
manual, mechanical method of generating morse code, and a person
will always deviate from the "perfect" ratios for dots, dashes and
spaces.

Robotic electronic keyers are not for me. I only use a straight
manual key or a mechanical bug key. If you're sticking with a
communication mode of the late 19th century, then you might as well
cultivate the skills to send with the tools of that time.

I found some old pdf files about Ted McElroy and I've added them to
my rambling collection of files [1], [2], [3] &  [4]

I've had quite a few QSOs with operators using McElroy bugs, and
love to find one myself. One regular McElroy user is Rupert G4XRV,
who is often found on the 30m band.

At the moment I use a pair of Vibroplex bugs from over 60 years
ago [5]

Vibroplex Presentation model from 1957
Vibroplex Champion model from 1960 


Bug users often congragate on or near frequencies ending "33"

e.g 7033kHz on 40m, 14033kHz on 20m etc.

On the 30m band it's 10123kHz though.

I will keep an eye on Ian's progress with the McElroy.

[0]: gopher://gopher.icu:70/0/phlog/Radio/McElroy-Bug-Key-Project.md
[1]: gopher://g4slv.cloud:70/d/media/pdf_files/hints_on_improving_keying_tmcelroy-_qst_nov35.pdf
[2]: gopher://g4slv.cloud:70/d/media/pdf_files/mcelroy-part1_radio_1935-01.pdf
[3]: gopher://g4slv.cloud:70/d/media/pdf_files/mcelroy-part2_-_radio_1935-02.pdf
[4]: gopher://g4slv.cloud:70/d/media/pdf_files/mcelroy-part3_-_radio_1935-05.pdf
[5]: gopher://g4slv.cloud:70/I/media/image_files/bugs.jpg