Vintage Vibroplex Martin Junior / Lightning Bug Deluxe Telegraph Key Code 87983
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:23458530 | Model: Lightning Bug / Martin Junior |
| Brand: Vibroplex |
Up for sale is a Vintage Vibroplex Lightning Bug Deluxe Telegraph Mores Code Key serial number 87983. This was made by the Vibroplex Company Inc. 825 Broadway, New York. I am not exactly sure what year this was made. It appears to be original and to have the original clips, and wire.
This was a message I received from someone Just info - this is not a Lightning model, that has a fabricated pivot frame with a triangle top plate, and the damper ass...y was 2 upright posts with a flat bar across the top and the damper weight suspended from that. Looks like a Junior model, as far as I have seen that was the only model built with the label tag having the flat side toward the binding posts. The base plate is narrower than the other Vibroplex keys, except for the #4 Blue Racer.
The Junior is a relatively scarce model, Best wishes. Bill T - K5THO
Vibroplex is the brand of side-to-side mechanical, semi-automatic Morse Key first manufactured and sold in 1905 by the Vibroplex Company, after its invention and patent by Horace Greeley Martin of New York City in 1904. The original device became known as a "bug", most likely due to the original logo, which showed an "electrified bug". The Vibroplex Company has been in business continuously for 114 years, as of 2019. The company is located in Knoxville, TN
The most common Vibroplex models have a single lever with a flat thumbpiece, or paddle, on the left side and a fingerpiece, or knob, on the right side.The advantage of the key over a standard telegraph key is that it automatically generates strings of one of the two pulses from which Morse code characters are composed, the shortest one or "dot" (dit), so that the operator's hand does not have to make the rapid movements necessary to generate multiple dots. When the knob is pressed from the right, it makes a continuous contact suitable for sending "dashes" (or dahs, as most operators call them). When the paddle is pressed from the left, a horizontal pendulum at the opposite end of the lever is set into motion, intermittently closing a set of contacts, sending a series of short pulses "dots" (dits) at a speed that is controlled by the position of the pendulum weight. A skilled operator can achieve sending speeds in excess of 40 words per minute with a bug.The Vibroplex Original Bug key has been in continuous production for over 100 years, with only minor cosmetic changes. Numerous Vibroplex keys are available to this day; the company presently markets and sells 27 variations of Morse code keys, including the Original Bug, iambic paddles, the Vibrokeyer (an electronic variant of the Original Bug) and traditional straight keys.
In 1934, Vibroplex began advertising the “Martin Junior, ” which was an Original on a 3” base instead of the standard 3.5” base. Except for the base width, everything else was the same as on the Original. However, Vibroplex had apparently been making the same bug on special order since about 1920. Maybe the early ones should be called the “small-base Original” but to almost everybody they’re a Junior.Later on, the model was called the “junior-model Vibroplex, ” and it was discontinued about 1939, when the Zephyr, Champion and Deluxe Vibroplexes were introduced. Late Juniors have a black crackle base, some with pinstriping, and it’s possible that nickel-base Juniors exist, although none are known to collectors. Colored-base Juniors were never advertised. One green-base Junior was found, but the color was sandblasted off because the owner thought it wasn’t original.
This was a message I received from someone Just info - this is not a Lightning model, that has a fabricated pivot frame with a triangle top plate, and the damper ass...y was 2 upright posts with a flat bar across the top and the damper weight suspended from that. Looks like a Junior model, as far as I have seen that was the only model built with the label tag having the flat side toward the binding posts. The base plate is narrower than the other Vibroplex keys, except for the #4 Blue Racer.
The Junior is a relatively scarce model, Best wishes. Bill T - K5THO
Vibroplex is the brand of side-to-side mechanical, semi-automatic Morse Key first manufactured and sold in 1905 by the Vibroplex Company, after its invention and patent by Horace Greeley Martin of New York City in 1904. The original device became known as a "bug", most likely due to the original logo, which showed an "electrified bug". The Vibroplex Company has been in business continuously for 114 years, as of 2019. The company is located in Knoxville, TN
The most common Vibroplex models have a single lever with a flat thumbpiece, or paddle, on the left side and a fingerpiece, or knob, on the right side.The advantage of the key over a standard telegraph key is that it automatically generates strings of one of the two pulses from which Morse code characters are composed, the shortest one or "dot" (dit), so that the operator's hand does not have to make the rapid movements necessary to generate multiple dots. When the knob is pressed from the right, it makes a continuous contact suitable for sending "dashes" (or dahs, as most operators call them). When the paddle is pressed from the left, a horizontal pendulum at the opposite end of the lever is set into motion, intermittently closing a set of contacts, sending a series of short pulses "dots" (dits) at a speed that is controlled by the position of the pendulum weight. A skilled operator can achieve sending speeds in excess of 40 words per minute with a bug.The Vibroplex Original Bug key has been in continuous production for over 100 years, with only minor cosmetic changes. Numerous Vibroplex keys are available to this day; the company presently markets and sells 27 variations of Morse code keys, including the Original Bug, iambic paddles, the Vibrokeyer (an electronic variant of the Original Bug) and traditional straight keys.
In 1934, Vibroplex began advertising the “Martin Junior, ” which was an Original on a 3” base instead of the standard 3.5” base. Except for the base width, everything else was the same as on the Original. However, Vibroplex had apparently been making the same bug on special order since about 1920. Maybe the early ones should be called the “small-base Original” but to almost everybody they’re a Junior.Later on, the model was called the “junior-model Vibroplex, ” and it was discontinued about 1939, when the Zephyr, Champion and Deluxe Vibroplexes were introduced. Late Juniors have a black crackle base, some with pinstriping, and it’s possible that nickel-base Juniors exist, although none are known to collectors. Colored-base Juniors were never advertised. One green-base Junior was found, but the color was sandblasted off because the owner thought it wasn’t original.
