Ham since april 2011.

Served as a 2nd and 1st class radio-officer in the merchant navy, travelling around the world for about ten years. Worked as a service technician in harbours. Specialist in radar and control engineering. Then 30 years long had jobs which had little to do with technics at all. When retiring after 42 years I rediscovered my old hobbies, electronics and research, building self-improved antennas and making my own morsekey as shown below. Even found my first transmitter (while clearing the attic), built when I was 10 (moved house 18 times). Had to pick up morse-speed again and it proved I did not forget the code after more than 30 years. It was a bit rusty though. I like to use a straight key cuz at the time we had no automatic keys, had we? And no bugs at all. Just the honest handwork for obvious reasons*. (* see fully below)

Below the 4U radioconsole of the Radiomarine Corporation, a division of RCA, designed to be mounted on any oceangoing ship and on Victory- and Liberty vessels in WW-2 around 1942 in particular. A 200 Watts carrier spanning the globe. She was used still in the Vietnam war and until 1970 on Dutch oceangoing vessels too. When working the transmitters one would use a headset because of the loud noise of the alternator running on DC-mains. It was located inside the right panel under in the console. Signalling was like playing a little drum by clapping the big relays. Fine to work with though. Only for telegraphy. Later supplied with a separate telephone set (http://www.radiomarine.org/).

4U

These days I built some new features into my morse-keys which makes them more balanced and speedy. Restoring old equipment and making it work like new, a great thing to do! Hearing the old tube-sound and walking through the bands, smelling the old machinery. Replacement is done only by original parts found on markets.

Below left in 2011: All wave amateurstation 100W (CW/SSB/HF/VHF/UHF). On the right in 1940: RCA medium/shortwave TX 200 W (CW A1 A2 dsb). The RCA ET 8010 and 8019 were still used effectively until 1976. A nice sturdy set, good watch companion, cannot remember any repairs.

RCA: ET 8010 / 8019

On the right in the shack, the British Eddystone receiver 730/4 from 1958, 2nd from right the Sailor 66T receiver (S.P. Radio Aalborg Denmark) from 1966. They amaze me sometimes with their frequency stability and sensitivity. Under the Sailor 66T is the control unit. The MFJ-200 Pro tuner is on top of the Yaesu 897D, they are both built into a mobile box. The box has power supply, extra meters, a loudspeaker and a regulated cooling fan with speed indicator. Most left is the Philips BX-925A/09 receiver (N.V. Philips Telecommunicatie Industrie, former N.V. Nederlandsche Seintoestellen Fabriek Hilversum NSF) from 1952. She has served at sea many years and 14 years 24/7 at Scheveningenradio/PCH, 2nd from left the Telefunken ELK-639 receiver from 1957, and 3rd from left again the contemporary Yaesu 897D from 2011 for stationary and mobile use. Outdoor is a 21 m wire dipole with synchrone feeder and a 1:1 balun, a 16 m horizontal L, and a longwire of 12m. All happily in mint condition. Aim is to reach as far as possible with as little power as possible. Preferably in the oldfashioned way (on a straight key)* ! (* see fully down below)

The 'Long Steamer' key works up to 24 wpm and adjacent the 'Silver Bullet Speedmaster' :

Good Friend Bob, a real hero, greedy follows commands at distances over more than 200 yards. A fine hunting dog.

The balanced counterweight needs very little spring-tension and the length of the balance-arm-weight is adjustable. The counterweight is also tilt-adjustable.The 'Bullet' has ballbearings. Keys feel just right for smooth signalling. When not on radio, building radioshack items, roaming about the fields with my best friend Labrador Bob (12 years, 32 kg of muscle), riding my XT 660z, I might be on cwcom, the fine cw program where one takes time to listen to one another, in these hasty years for most.

- never think of the future, it comes soon enough -

- beauty is measured by the quality of signals we send, and by the qso's that take our breath away -

On the picture below ms Simonskerk / PHMU (Koninklijke Java China Pakketvaart Lijnen) (R.I.L. Royal Interocean Lines)

other ships were:

m.s. 'Montferland' / PGBA (Kon. Hollandsche Lloyd)

s.s. 'Overijsel' / PGPW (My Nederland)

m.v. 'Solon' / PHPO (K.N.S.M.)

m.v. 'Rotte' / PHEL (Vinke Rotterdam, Houtvaart, charters, K-line)

s.s. 'Gulf Italian' / PELR (Gulf tankers)

m.v. 'Britsum' / PJKV (Vinke Amsterdam)

m.v. 'Straat Magelhaen' / PHTW (K.J.C.P.L.) (R.I.L.)

m.v. 'Begonia' / PJTW (My Oostzee)

m.v. 'Straat Fresco' / PHUZ (K.J.C.P.L.) ( R.I.L.)

m.v. 'Straat Luzon' / ex 'van Spilbergen' / PIEC (K.J.C.P.L.) (R.I.L.)

K

m.v. 'Simonskerk'

'

PD2PCH/r                                                                         PD2PCH/p

* From 'Morsum Magnificat' - magazine (editor: Tony Smith/G4FAI) april 1997: a letter from Peter J. Smith, Seaford, East Sussex GB:

- In 1948, Cathay Pacific Airways employed 6 Radio Operators. We had 6 DC3's and a Catalina, 7 Captains and 7 First Officers. When we saw a fully automatic key advertized in a magazine, three of us sent for them. It was the 'Melehan Valiant Automatic' - mechanical key made for Melehan Radio Products Co. of Ananheim, California USA, by Schultz Tool and Machine Mfg. Co. The base measured 7 in x 4 in. It had two vibrating arms, a fast one for dots and a slower one for dashes. Equipment was very hard to come by so soon after the war and, although we knew about semi-automatic bugs like the Vibroplex, we all used up-and-down handkeys. However we couldn' t resist the temptations of having a fully automatic key.

Flying very long hours and having to stay awake for the whole trip, we still wanted to make things even easier. Unfortunately , although the 'Valiant' was a very well made key, it proved to be unsuitable for our work. We overlooked the fact that any automatic key which depended on swinging weights was completely useless in a small aircraft flying in the very rough weather that we encountered. The weights would swing around wildly and render the key useless - so we went back to our handkeys - memories from long ago -

Needless to say that in the Mobile Service, in the air and at sea, on rolling and pitching vessels or planes, in a distress situation, in a lifeboat or -raft, a handkey always proves to be the most effective. Regularly using the handkey on normal duty would guarantee high skills of Radio Officers in just those lifesaving situations. The essence of them morsians to be around we 'd say. Speed always was of secondary importance. It was lifesaving to be signalling steady in good readable morse in such a case to be read by anyone.

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** The callsign PCH, originally SCH, before WW II was transmiited as .--. ---- ('ch' being ----). PCH in PD2PCH will be a tribute to the unforgettable Dutch coast station Scheveningenradio/PCH. Remembering the outstanding service of the station and of course her operators amongst also Norddeich Radio/DAN, Ostende Radio/OST, Portishead Radio/GKA, Amagansett Radio/WSL, Chatham Massachusetts Radio/WCC, Hongkong Radio/VPS, Capetown Radio/ZSC but also Dakar Radio/6VA and many many others. An era of professionalism and sometimes more than excellent craftsmenship on morse.

There were so many good stations at the time: KPH, CFH, WNU, KLC, WSC, WLO, PPR. It would be too long a site to name them all. But they are, some of them, still around on the internet. Just put in a callsign like PCH or GKA and see what happens. Speaking for myself I 'd rather be working on a small station like Aruba or Bonaire Radio. If it only were a choice.