LW3EX's keys.

4¢00tie (4 cents) homebrew cootie.

This was my first attempt to make a Sideswiper key, It was designed in August, built during September and used on the October 2008 SKCC Week End Sprint.
All the materials are junk parts, I used a tin of paté de foie for the base (not empty, I filled in the tin with molten lead, so the total weight of the cootie is around 1.2 Kg, in this form does not go away slipping on the desk :) a stainless steel knife blade for the lever with an SO239 for it´s back support, the handle paddle was handmade with a piece of Red Quebracho firewood, the adjusting screws made with surplus PC and old alarm clock parts, the locking nuts are 4 coins of a cent with a nut welded to the center, also used some pieces of brass sheet, PCB, springs, two audio cable connectors and some other miscellaneous stuff. [LW3EX].

Top of page.

Homebrew Vertical Cootie.

There is not much to say about my vertical cootie, first of all I decided to make one because none other has ever been made before I guess :) and also to save space on my small radio desk (base measures 5x5 cm)... I used all junk parts, mostly of them were hand fabricated.
The action is very similar to the horizontal cootie; they have the same distance between the end fixing point of the blade and the contacts (35mm) but in this case I used a hacksaw blade (it's a bit stiffer than a stainless steel knife blade) so I did not put a damper on it. Gravity acting on the hanging lever and finger piece acts to automatically stabilize and center the lever of the key. [LW3EX].

Top of page.

Homebrew DSK-Bug.

It was my 2011 winter project... Key parts are mainly Copper and Bronze, mostly of them handmade of junk stuff.
My first thought was build a small bug like a Midget... when assembling the parts I realized that if I locked the vibrating lever arm and properly adjust the contacts spacing it could be use as a Cootie too, so I added a lever at the damper in order to fasten the arm and prevent the oscillation...
It works fine in both modes as a DSK or Bug !
In the construction I take into account some old bug details like, the assembled frame, the boxed spindle (hard time doing this thing) and the dot spring & stabilizer, Ahhh also added a nameplate.
The base dimensions are 6,5 x 2.0 in. and the total weight is 650g. [LW3EX].

Top of page.