Begali Intrepid

 The Perfect Bug?

In the Western World we are consumers.  Advertising drives us to think we'd be a bit happier if we had that new "thing", whatever the thing is.  It drives much of our economies and unfortunately keeps many burdened in debt.

That's certainly a pessimistic way to begin this but let's be honest.  No one needs a ~$580 morse code key.  Most of us are handy enough to make a straight key out of stuff laying around the house for free.  I have a number of very fine keys that I've purchased used. I've purchased most of them for well under $70, including my 1970s Standard Vibroplex Bug.

BUT... If we are ham radio operators regularly doing CW, then we spend a lot of time with a morse key under our hand.  I've said this previously, but when you are a CW operator you touch your key more than anything else related to the hobby.  You are moving it many hundreds to thousands of times as you send code.  Your keying becomes part of you and you are intrinsically linked with the ease or difficulty of operating the key for hours at a time.

So...  having a key that is easy to operate; a key that disappears under your hand is an enjoyable thing. 

Operating a Bug correctly, or more precisely in a manner that is pleasing to the person copying your code is more difficult than operating paddles with an electronic keyer.  When the bug was invented it was a tool used by professional telegraphers.  There were no electronic keyers, and having a tool that allowed them to send good code for hours on end with less mechanical stress on their bodies than a straight key was important, and they sought the best tool they could afford to allow them to do their work.

But no one reading this is a professional telegrapher, because that ship has sailed.

For those of us that choose to use a Bug, we do so for different reasons.  For me, I enjoy the control I have in forming my characters, as well as the extra level of difficulty in sending good code.  Why would I want it to be more difficult?  Well, why do we do anything that is challenging.  Being challenged is fun.  It drives me to improve.  It takes my mind off of things that might otherwise crowd my thoughts if I were not doing something challenging that is also fun.

I have operated a bunch of different bugs at my club gettogethers, from different makers.  They all have a different feel.  They all intrigue or annoy their user.  I have two Vibroplex Bugs at my station.  I've previously written about them.  They each have advantages and challenges but they share the same design and they have more in common than they do differences.

A New Design

Fortunately for amateur radio operators there are still new keys being developed, and in this case a new design for a semi-automatic key that has a markedly different design from most of the bugs that came before. 

The Begali Intrepid is distinctive in a few ways:

• The pendulum hinge is at the rear of the key rather than the middle
• The adjustments are all based on magnets rather than springs
• The dwell for the dits has a real control, rather than using various pieces of foam, string or clips to change dwell time
• The dit contact is a sprung plunger that always remains centered on the contact rather than brushing against it at various angles
• The split lever mechanism operates at the center of the key placing the DAH and DIT contacts much closer to one another than a traditional bug
• There is less mass in the pendulum itself than a Vibroplex Bug
• It has a sprung, nylon wheel damper that doesn't clatter
• It weighs a TON (well about 6 lbs) and feels welded to the desk without having to use non-slip material or using spit to semi glue them in place (yech, yes I use spit to hold my keys to my desk)

These differences really add up to make a semi-automatic key that feels markedly different than all other bugs available to amateur operators.

I've not had the chance to try the GHD fully automatic bugs, nor their bugs that use optical contacts.  That would be interesting, but they still fundamentally follow the Vibroplex model.

Preparing for Use

The Intrepid ships with a cable but there's nothing to plug it into on the key.  It's up to the owner to solder the connections.  I understand that some transceivers require different plug wiring but in general they are fairly common.  Be prepared to spend some time soldering under the key to wire it up.

I had some spare 1/8" plugs for projects, and with some heat shrink tubing and a couple pieces of wire I created a tidy connector for the male to male cable shipped with the key.

In Use

I spent about 2 hours practice sending into the practice oscillator that I built.   I had a Vibroplex Deluxe Bug next to it that I alternated with.  The range of DIT speeds on the Intrepid is impressive.  Other makers like Vizkey have created bugs with a similar range of adjustment, and the Deluxe Bug I use has a Vari-Speed that can match the Intrepids speed range, bu the Intrepid is easier to quickly adjust and more importantly can be done one-handed.  It will comfortably go from about 15 wpm up to 35 wpm and with the dwell adjustment makes changing speeds and keeping the DIT dwell correct, is singular.  I don't think any bug can match it in that respect.

It did require a change in how I operate.  The Vibroplex Bug fingerpieces stick out further and I have the habit of placing my index finger out over the top of the Bug.  The Intrepid doesn't allow for that.  I have to curl my index finger down to avoid hitting the bracing for the pendulum.

Because there is less mass in the pendulum it operates with a much lighter touch than Vibroplex Bug.  The pendulm movement is initated with less force and due to the isolation of the pendulum from the paddles you don't feel the pendulum moving as you do with a Vibroplex.  I kinda like the feedback I get from Vibroplex pendulum.  The Intrepid feels more like a single paddle key with an electronic keyer than a bug.

Because of the how the lever is split in the middle, the actual DAH contact is almost dead center in the key rather than toward the front.  It is far closer to the DIT contact than a bug.  I have no way to describe it other than to say it feels as if the DAH and DIT operations are more similar than they are different.

I tend to pivot at my wrist when I operate a Vibroplex bug, to control the timing of DIT to DAH transitions.  That doesn't seem to be as necessary with the Intrepid.  Again, it feels more like a paddle than a Bug.

The DIT contact is a sprung plunger that is always centered.  This is one of the biggest problem areas on a Vibroplex Bug and Begali has masterfully designed the proper contact.  Most Bug operators spend more time adjusting the U-spring to try and get proper contact than any other part of the key.  I assume this level of precision is just not something that Vibroplex wanted to spend the time on in manufacturing.

You'll notice there are spare holes.  I assume they are to allow the frame to be used for left handed operation.

The sprung teflon damper makes for clatter free operation.  No more ker-thunk as you transition from DITS to DAHS.  They key is markedly quieter in operation than any other Bug I've tried.  The only other key that comes close is the right-angle Vizkey.

The weights are easy to adjust but I have found that the set screws don't bite the pendulum as firmly as a Vibroplex bug and I have had them come loose a few times. When they accidently come loose they flop to one side and touch the frame, completing the circuit, resulting in a continous carrier. I'm a bit concerned about leaving the bug connected unattended to my tranceiver and having one flop over into transmit while I'm not at the station.

The laser etching is nicely done.  The model name can appear, white, gray or black depending on the angle of light.

The pendulum is hinged at the back of the key, making easy access to the adjustment weights.

Conclusions?

This is a very fine piece of engineering.  It will take me months to decide if stick with it over a Vibroplex Bug, but for now I'm thinking it was a fine birthday gift.

That's all for now

So lower your power and raise your expectations.

Rich, AA4OO https://hamradioqrp.com

Portable Ops in Comfort

Towable Shack

Working my rolling shack portable station from air-con comfort

We've had a few RV's over the years, but for some reason I've never thought to operate from inside the RV.  I have always tossed a wire over a tree and operated from a picnic table or from my camp chair, as here...

But I thought, "Hey, I have a 12v power supply built-into the RV and the built-in ladder makes a nice solid mount for an antenna mast."

Early try with a military fiberglass pole mast

Now I use a Flagpole Buddy with a 30 foot telescoping mast

Here's a link to the flagpole buddy... link

Our RV has a Converter / Inverter with a spare 25 amp 12v circuit.  I tapped into that and ran a power pole wire to the dinette table.  

The camper had a coax outlet to watch a TV outside the camper... that's obnoxious.  So I cut the cable TV coax and crimped on a UHF connector, and ran that to the dinette table.  I simply attach my coax from outside the camper to cable TV coax adapter to get the antenna connection inside the camper.  Wallah, coax through the wall with no drilling. The cable TV coax run from the dinette to the wall outlet is only a couple feet so it's not really impacting the impedance of the coax run to the antenna.

I've tried a couple of antenna's and have settled on my end-fed 44 foot wire fed with a 9:1 balun and some clip on radials.   I pull the antenna wire through top end of the telescoping mast with kite string, counter-weighted with a heavy sinker.  That keeps the wire taught from the end-fed point up to the top of the mast and out at an angle.

Gone RF fishing with a 30 foot pole and a big sinker.

The Elecraft KX3 and Ten-Tec Eagle will both match a bent spoon with their auto-tuners and have no trouble with the end-fed on 40m and above. 

For a portable key I use my Palm Radio Single paddle.  Either magnetically attached to the steel side of the Eagle or just held with one hand while operating with the KX3.

Palm Radio Single Paddle

On the Eagle the Palm Radio Single magnetically attaches to the side

One thing I find interesting about operating while "camping" (if you call towing a small house to a campground camping) is that I seem to also work a suprising number of other stations that are operating from a campground.

Note the power and antenna connections under the table

The KX3 can stay on the dinette and doesn't take much room.  Keeping the footprint small and the earbuds in, keeps the XYL happy when operating during an outing.

I worked a number of stations on 40m, 30m, 20m and 10m this weekend.  It's always fun to tell a station that you are portable, even if you are essentially operating in your home away from home.

Thats all for now.

Lower your power and raise your expectations

Rich AA4OO HamRadioQRP.com

Benefits of the Yaesu XF-130CN 300 Hz Crystal Roofing Filter

Do You Need That Filter?

The Yaesu FT-DX10 comes standard with a 500 Hz crystal (xtal) roofing filter, but offers an optional 300 Hz roofing filter.  Should you purchase the optional filter?

The 300 Hz roofing filter is twice the size of the 500 Hz filter so it must be twice as good right?  

If you casually switch back and forth between the two filters on a noisy band, it sounds like the 300 Hz filter markedly improves selectivity and quiets the noise.  But try this: Select the 500 Hz filter and narrow the bandwidth (using the bandwidth control) to 300 Hz, then switch to the 300 Hz filter. 

When you digitally narrow the bandwidth of the 500 Hz filter to 300 Hz you will "hear" the same reduction in noise as you have cut out 200 Hz of higher frequency sound.  Engaging the 300 Hz filter lowers the volume a bit (3-6 dB) due to insertion loss.  

So what you are actually "hearing" when you switch back and forth between the filters without changing the digital bandwidth is the reduction of the higher frequency noise that can be accomplished using the bandwidth control alone with the 500 Hz filter.

So, from a selectivity standpointthe 300Hz filter doesn't gain you anything over using the digital filtering with the 500 Hz filter.  The real benefit should come in the form of adjacent signal rejection.  So let's look at that.

In the video below I demonstrate the signal rejection of a 40 dB over S9 adjacent signal to a weaker S3 - S5 signal.

From the video you can hear that there is a very small demonstrable difference in strong signal rejection when using the 300 Hz optional filter, but the difference is so small that I doubt many of us would find practical benefit over simply narrowing the DSP bandwidth while using the 500 Hz filter. Even when contesting.  The digital filtering built into the FT-DX10 is really, really good when using the included 500 Hz roofing filter alone.

Yes, I spent the $200 for the optional filter thinking it would help, but I wished I had known what I do now.  I would have $200 for some other nifty radio gadget to spend instead. 

That's all for now.

Lower your power and raise your expectations

Richard AA4OO

https://www.hamradioqrp.com