It's All About the Morse Key
I have always liked Morse Code, even if I rarely use it, but that is more of feeling like I can’t or that I will let myself down a little, messing up a QSO therefore I chicken out and use RTTY instead that said I have always had a morse key next to a radio, well when I have one setup[ that is. But I have always wanted to create a morse key myself, just a basic one, nothing fancy, but in the meanwhile, I seem to have a strange wish to collect old morse keys.
One thing that is cool about collecting something so tactile as an old morse key and that you get to feel what they are like, whether they be as basic and a Bencher or Kent Style of Key of as High-end as the Begali, Chevron or Shurr Keys, Keys need to not only be functional, but need to feel nice, as well as look good, some are even works of art, but each key that we collect enables us to spot the differences between keys that look similar, sometimes it is hard to see why one key feels better than another that look identical, this can sometimes be easier to spot with straight ‘Pump’ keys as being simple means that you can take measurements and soon work out why two styles are feeling totally different, but then when you look at Iambic, Mono, Twin Padel, Digital the differences can be miles apart, trying to work out what the differences are is a real detective novel, and it is so difficult to work out what the differences that make two very similar keys ever so different, it may be down to the Metal Used, The Magnets and the Polarity of the in that the way that they have been used, even strange things such as wooden paddles instead of plastic or metal can make a key feel so different, but just looking at these different keys and what they were used for can make you feel although you can at least make sense of the choices why keys are shaped the way that they are.
So new to the collection are the following keys:
The Kent Twin Paddle Morse Key TP1-B
According to Kent’s own website this is a moderately heavy at 2.64lbs most of which is the base, it is often sold as a kit or pre-built and is a good all round key, I really hate to use the term ‘Basic’ but compared to some of the keys I own this is in the first third, I know people that use this key as a main key and it can be setup fairly well, but tuning it in to a narrow gap is a little of a struggle, this I feel is down to the thread on the adjustment screws not being fine enough, it also struggles with the same problem of all things made from Brass, they need a lot of cleaning¸ and to clean these keys you really need to dismantle them, and then you need to spend hours polishing them, you cannot really spray them with a lacquer due to the exposed bearings.
One thing that I have noticed though by checking out the Kent website is that my key is slightly different to the image on the website, so maybe mine is a previous version of this key.
The Kent Hand Key (Unknown Variant)
While we are in the realms of ‘Kent’ we have a ‘Standard’ Pump Action Key, Now I like Kent, I have at least 4 keys in my collection, maybe more, but this key is just not nice, I am hoping that after a little playing with it I can get it to a place where I can be happy with it. It is in a great condition and looks as though someone has taken a lot of care over it but even so, certain things have not been polished such as thew thumbscrews and I would say that it has not been taken apart to clean, but it is still a good key with all that said, and certainly a nice key and for someone first starting out it is proberbly one of the first keys that they come across.
The Unknown Basic Pump Key
Now this little key is as basic as they come, it looks home made and is the sort of design that would be easy to make as a first attempt, the action of this key is actually quite good, it is a little back heavy but not so much as to be awful to use, the underside of the key is crude and almost rushed as though the maker was more interested in getting the key working and not the quality of its construction.
Turning the tensioner down makes the key totally unusable, increasing the tension turns it into a totally different pump key, it becomes okay, making the gap smaller which I normally prefer makes the key feel nothing special, increasing the gap a small amount, certainly more than I would normally have makes this key a basic but okay key.
The Croatian Military Key?
Now this is a beautiful key in every sense, not just because it looks finished and made for a purpose which it pretty much owns, as straight keys go, this one is by far the best I have felt, its action is perfect and it feels like you could send with this for hours on end, I certainly wish I had one of these when I was in the army going through basic training, my CW would have been perfect compared to the rubbish that I used to get away with.
The internals of this key are very interesting, well thought out, not over the top but still something special.
It have ‘PRIJEM’’ which translates to ‘Reception’ and on the other side is ‘VYSILANI’ which is ‘Broadcast’, it kind of makes sense but seems a little stupid really, even for those first learning CW, I would think that by the look of the base plate it might have slotted into something strapped around the leg or maybe a mobile mount in a vehicle.
Now we come to the plug on the end of the lead, none of this looks as though a radio ham has had their grubby hands on it, it looks professionally made and certainly of the sorts that would be made for the military. Now I am possibly way wrong here, I was told this was a military key and I hope that it is, and if it is, what did this plug into? And where can I get hold of one, working or not, I would love to see if the quality of the radio is that which is built into this key.
I have never truly found a strait key that I truly love, but this one is presently one of the top ones that I own, I have a problem in that to use it presently I have to bodge a connection between the 2-pin plug and a jack plug, I do not have the female plug that this fits into and at the moment I do not wish to take off the old connector and fit a jack plug, it just feels wrong somehow, I will have to do some research and try and locate the plug and hopefully a socket so that I can keep this as original as possible
If anyone has any information on this key, then I would much appreciate it.
Now the ‘Oddity’
I was told that this could possibly be a key that was used for sending Semaphore from ships, that said it is very strange.
Now like most of these keys there does not seem to be a makers make on it, well except for the Kent keys above, this does seem to have a makers make though but it is a little hard to make out, the make seems to be ‘A(Crown)M Type B Ref No 5c/372 SWITCHBOX IDENTIFICATION’. I have no other makings that I see and certainly not the normal MOD markings that I would be use to, if it is navy then they really made things hard for themselves.
The action is weird, strange and not at all useable, I certainly would not be happy about using this for a QSO, it would be really hard work.
There are two 3-way switches on the side that would be facing the operator, the first is labelled ‘STEADY OFF MORSE’ and then ‘DOWNWARD’ and the second switch is labelled ‘MORSE OFF STEADY’ and then ‘UPWARD’, it is again another key that I would like to get more information on, there does seem to be two holes that look as though this was used to mount this key on something, so maybe this was mounted on the ships hull so that the person sending would also be able to decode any signals send back, just a thought, I could be totally miles off with this one.
The Bakelite Brick
This is a strange key that I cannot work out its origins, on one side you have a really heavy key, the base is a solid lump of Bakelite and the underside has a cover hiding the fixings that are holding the key in place, the key itself is solidly made and has a nice feel to it, I get the feeling that this is a commercially made key, there are small touches that look as though a lot of thought was put into this key, and then you come across small bit that just seem crude such as the use of electrical wire that is on the surface and kind of an after-thought, it could have been hidden under the base and if this is a commercial key then surely that would have been done, the patina of the brass and all the fittings places the key as an oldish key, I could imaging this being connected up to an old KW Vanguard, Drake or early Collins equipment, so I think that this is an old key, The Brass work is exceptional it looks polished and built in such a way that I am sure that this is a commercially manufactured key, made, milled, and polished by a good engineer, it is certainly a crafted key and is a piece of quality which is only let down by a strange hole in the base that was once used, so is something missing, there are two holes that are used to hold the key to a table top but these look as though they have never been used, no marks of fittings ever touching them, it leaves me with many thoughts.
So, is this a Commercial Key or a key that was homemade by a talented engineer at heart?
The more that I play with this one I feel that it has a quality about itself
The Marconi Key
This another solid key, it has a name plate on it stating that is made by ’Marconi International Marine Communications Company Limited, London’ it is on a large brass metal base, the patina of the key cries out its age, the fittings are ever so crude but functional.
Ignore the lump of coax used to connect this key to a transmitter, it is crudely cable-tied to the base and very much like the previous key here it looks home-made, it looks as though some places have been skilfully lade out , the underside of the key is certainly ‘Industrial’, and for a very old key it has a really nice feel, it is a bit of a shame that some of the fittings are a bit of an after-thought, but it certainly has a quality about itself, it so needs a clean but I am also worried that doing a polish would maybe ruin the look a little, maybe just a mild clean and a little oil rubbed into the steel will do.
I should say that this is a great little key, but it feels far from ‘Little’, it has a large presence about it, it is a touch of ‘Old’ quality that would look great next to any really old transmitter.
But it does need a good clean.
I have to give a big Thanks to Godfrey (GD4EIP) for letting me grab these keys off him, it is ever so much appreciated old friend.
Last Updated : 14th June 2025
