TELEGRAPH KEY

The Vibroplex Lightning was produced from 1927 through 1980.  There were different versions of it such as the less expensive Champion and various variations of it made by Bunnell and Lionel during WW2.  I've owned all of the Lightning style keys. Including the WW2 knock offs.   Something I noticed about the Lightning was the tendancy to have more critical adjustment range.  There was slightly narrow range of adjustment compared to the Original keys.  After I looked over the mechanical design -- trying to figure out why, I noticed the difference was the articulated dot contact assembly and the use of a dot arm coil spring that attached to a moving rod rather than directly to the keys dot arm--  as in the Original.  Also, the damper on the Original provides better damping with its articulated damping assembly.   The Lighting is capable of producing good code if adjusted correctly, but I think you will find the adjustments on the Original keys less critical.   The coil spring could be replaced by using a coil spring around the left side adjustment screw like shown on the Les Logan picture in this Journal.  That might help give a wider adj range for dots.  There were a lot of Champion keys sold to beginniners due to being so inexpensive.   When Bunnell made their version of the Lightning under license from Vibroplex during WW2, Bunnell improved on the design by using part of the features of the Lightning, and some features from the Original.  But it wasnt perfect since they used a tiny little damper wheel that isnt all that great.

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