This year for Christmas my wife bought me a Czech morse key from Mike Bowthorpe G0CVZ (http://www.czechmorsekeys.co.uk). And what a fine key it is.
The key receives rave reviews on eham.net (18 reviews with an average rating of 5.0) and after it was recommended to me by John VK4TJ, an order was placed a week before Christmas. Imagine my surprise then when I found it under our Christmas tree.
This key is old, yet brand new. Although they are now over 50 years old, they come still in their factory wrapping.
It even had the original factory label attached, in Czech, of course.
The original label.
The key came with the gap and spring setting wide and hard, for safety sake during transportation. I made adjustments to suit my sending style. This was achieved easily by adjusting the two screws found inside the nicely made housing that happens to be sealed with a rubber gasket.
Inside the sealed housing. Everything seems over-engineered to last a few life times!
My next job was to make a connector so I could plug it into my FT-450. I had ordered the two connectors with the key and followed the instructions on the web site. Too easy.
I turned on the rig, tuned up o 17m and heard Atsu 5W1SA calling CQ from Samoa. I replied and we had a fine business QSO. So how did the key perform? Magnificently. It certainly lives up to its reputation and is one of ham radio’s best kept secrets. What a fabulous key. It is so smooth I can’t begin to tell you. All I can say is buy one before they run out. You won’t be sorry.
The Czech DK 10 Morse Key might look unusual but it is a beauty to operate.
