My J-38 is about a portable as one can get, since it survived combat conditions in WWII!
The important thing is to protect the bearings that allow the lever to move up and down, especially on any key that uses "pins" like the J-38. By pins I mean the sharpened ends of the metal shafts that sit in a concave cut in the ends of the adjustment screws. They can be damaged by hitting the finger pad end of the key too hard with a side force. Still, the J-38's used to be all thrown in large barrels of maybe 100 or so keys just tossed in with no protection in the War Surplus stores and darn few were injured by the rough handling. I'd not be afraid to grab my J-38 and throw it in a box of stuff to go to the field. If I wanted to be *real* fussy, I might wrap it in a small towel first. But, hey, my J-38 is at least 70 years old! It deserves a little "senior care"... BTW, for portability I have my J-38 mounted on a thin piece of hardwood, long enough to extend under the finger grip. That way, it sits still and firm on most surfaces with no further anchors. It won't tip no matter how "heavy" the fist. Some "modern" straight keys have roller or ball bearings instead of the "pins". They're quite robust but pricy (I consider $20 about top dollar for a straight key ;-) 73, Ron AC7AC On Jul 27, 2009, at 9:44 PM, Frank MacDonell wrote: > Thanks to all in advance. This reflector is fabulous. Can someone > recommend a portable straight key for use in the field. Thanks. > > -- > Frank KD8FIP ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
