Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Vibroplex VibroKeyer

Category: Keys & Paddles

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Vibroplex VibroKeyer
Reviews: 35MSRP: 149.00
Description:
Timeless Classic.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.vibroplex.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00354.3
IZ1PON Rating: 2021-02-03
VIBROPLEX a legend in telegraph history. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Today I received my Vibrokeyer of very recent production from WIMO (Germany).
Well built, the bright finish is excellent.
Vibrokeyer is ergonomic, confortable and precise even for those who use the semi-automatic "Bug" key.
I've always been very satisfied with the VIBROPLEX keys.
The legend "Made in U.S.A.".
AA4WA Rating: 2020-08-15
Very nice vintage paddle! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After using a straight key, exclusively, for over 40 years, I thought I would take it a bit easier on my arm, so I bought a single lever Vibroplex paddle a few years ago and have been very pleased. It's the chrome deluxe, with a serial number that puts it around 1970. It was easy to adjust for my use and sure makes sending a breeze! I made a thin mounting plate and used longer screws to secure the feet to it and used kitchen drawer matting on the bottom of the mounting plate to keep the paddle from sliding on my desktop. Using that works very nicely. I also use the kitchen drawer matting on the bottom of my straight Nye Viking speed-x key mounting plates. They hold very securely to a slippery desktop. I was very fortunate to get the older, high quality Vibrokeyer for a good deal!
K2AZ Rating: 2019-06-14
NOt what I expected Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Today I received my Vibrokeyer from HRO. I have to say I am not entirely pleased with the quality. It does not stand up to the Vibroplex products of old that I remember.

1 it is somewhat noisier than my Bengali, but then it is about half the price.

2 The post hole threads for the gap adjustments do not match the adjustment screws. There is considerable play in the screws, which makes it hard to adjust and when the lock nuts are tightened it throws the setting off.

3 There is a lever stop adjustment but no information about its function or how to adjust it. Adjusting it throws the other settings off.

4 The dot contact point adjustment is hard to get to and set. it is hidden behind the dot contact screw.

5 The trunion pin screws are tedious to adjust to get free lever movement and minimal up/down movement.

6 Even when the trunion is set properly there is still noticeable up and down movement in the yolk for which there is no adjustment.
N7RD Rating: 2018-01-27
Outstanding but Simplle Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned many Vibrokeyers. I have 4 as of now which I refurbish and resale. These are a pleasure to use and after a little tuning on the springs and cleaning of the contacts these are such a joy to use. If you want to cut down on mistakes being made with a paddle, I suggest you try one of these great old keys. Of all the keys out there to choose from I am glad I ran across the VibroKeyer when I did, OUTSTANDING.
W0WCA Rating: 2017-11-14
Great Key! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently listened to a podcast featuring Scott robins – the owner of Vibroplex – in which he states that he uses a Vibrokeyer. Robins gives a couple of pretty good reasons for using this particular key and so I decided to try one. I bought one from an Ebay vendor that turned out to be heavily damaged and filthy but salvageable. After several hours of straightening, fixing, cleaning, polishing and painting I have a pristine and wonderfully functional single paddle Vibrokeyer. From the very first, I love the thing!
It is ergonomic, comfortable, precise, stable and solid. I use it with the contacts set very close and the springs light to medium.
Five full stars!
AA4OO Rating: 2017-10-23
Got it right the first time Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased a used Vibroplex Vibrokeyer. According to the serial number it was made in 1960 which is the first production year of the Vibrokeyer. That makes it 57 years old at the time of this writing. It's chrome is still bright and the jeweled pivot bearing still moves smoothly. But this is no shelf princess; it has been used so much the textured paint under the dah finger-piece has been worn nearly through to the metal by a previous owner. It has stood the test of time.

The Vibrokeyer key looks like a stunted Vibroplex Bug. Vibroplex took the frame, pivot and lever mechanism straight from the Bug and simply did away with the spring pendulum. After all, why wouldn't they? The Vibroplex Bug had been one of the best selling keys for sending Code for decades, and its design had barely changed since 1947. Vibroplex had a winner with the Bug.

But did that same design translate well to a key for use with an electronic keyer?

The roots of the design
Vibroplex carried over the roots of their design principles, and two things stand out that make them different from other modern day keys designed for use with an electronic keyer... The finger-pieces and the non-symmetrical, left-right movement.

The ergonomic finger-piece
The tip of our thumb obviously does not reach as far as our index finger without contorting your hand, so why do most key manufacturers make finger-pieces that assumes your thumb reach is equal to your other fingers?

The Vibroplex finger-piece takes the shorter thumb into account by allowing the thumb to contact nearer the hand than the index finger. It just makes sense, right?

Non-symmetrical lever operation
The split, and unequal length design of the lever requires different forces from the DIT and the DAH side. Again, this is a carry over from the Bug, but it makes ergonomic sense. We employ more force from our thumb than our index finger when moving the paddle lever. It's simply the natural mechanics in the hand when it's in that position. So, the Vibrokeyer not only provides different spring pressure adjustments, but also makes the mechanics of the DIT side different from the DAH.

I don't know whether this was intentional or just making use of their existing Bug design, but in my opinion, the result makes the Vibrokeyer a better paddle with regard to the dynamics of our hand movements than keys with a symmetrical design. Our thumb and forefinger do not move symmetrically. The force and stroke length of the unequal lengths of the Vibrokeyer lever compliment our non-symmetric design. Maybe it's my imagination, because other keys allow for independent tension and distance adjustment but the Vibrokeyer just feels different. It feels more natural.

What's not to like?
The Vibrokeyer seems to check all the boxes, and patents have long since expired. So, why don't other modern keys copy this design? For one thing it's a single lever paddle... In the 1970s IAMBIC keyer circuitry became popular, sparking the surge of dual-lever paddles that took advantage of squeeze keying. Single lever paddles seemed to fall from grace for all but the QRQ crowd.

When Vibroplex created their first paddle-key, I think they got it right the first time

Article, photos and video at:
http://www.hamradioqrp.com/2017/10/vibroplex-vibrokeyer.html
KG7OR Rating: 2017-09-21
Well built; easy to adjust, solid performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My headline pretty much says it. I had initially purchased an MFJ iambic paddle--insert photo here of me doing forehead slap!

After getting my money back from the MFJ (which tended to fall apart upon use), I invested in the Vibroplex. A world of difference! I can count on it to do what it's supposed to do upon the first touch, then keep on doing it, every time.
K5MH Rating: 2017-01-30
It's my favorite paddle Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After decades of using a classic Brown Brothers dual-lever paddle, I began making too many sending errors. I thought a single-lever paddle might help me resolve my “crisis of confidence.” My wife bought me a Deluxe Vibrokeyer for my birthday and I quickly began using it as my primary paddle. My keying accuracy has improved significantly, but probably the improvement can be attributed more to extensive off-the-air practice than to the new paddle. I discovered that only a small minority of my sending errors with the dual-lever paddle were caused by unwanted insertion of dits or dahs by the iambic keyer in my transceiver.
Nonetheless, the Vibrokeyer is a splendid device (and a lovely work of art, in the eyes of this radio ham). It has that special, lively feel that is characteristic of a Vibroplex bug. I belong to a cohort of hams that often transitioned directly from straight key to electronic keyer. We often did not become proficient with a bug, and squeeze keying was not yet available. The Vibrokeyer is perfect for those operators who, like me, love the feel of a bug but prefer to use an electronic keyer and resist learning squeeze-keying techniques.
Two years have passed, and I continue to use the Vibrokeyer with my transceiver. I would not part with the Brown Brothers paddle, but it has been relegated to code practice duty. I enjoy using both paddles but feel more confident on the air with the Vibrokeyer.
N6BIZ Rating: 2015-06-07
GREAT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I HAVE THE DELUXE MODEL...
GREAT KEY...
N2QFD Rating: 2015-06-07
Great Key Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I use my Vibroplex as a Vibro-Cootie preferring Sideswiper sending to keyers. It was a factory re-built from Vibroplex and used. A 1977 key and works very well for my purposes. S/N 383209

It was bought to replace my American Morse Equipment Bushwhacker, which developed a dirty contact problem. Tried for a few months to overcome this with cleaning and conductive pastes to no real solution. The guys at AME were good enough to test in parallel and found the same problems and are working on a fix but I sent mine back. The Vibro-Keyer has none of the continuity problems I experienced. These issues are no-problem with a keyer but when you send cootie style you need a good clean electrical contact.

Can't say much more about it, it's am American classic, the chrome is nice, the red phenolic finger tabs feel nice. It says put on the desk but above all it does what I need and I have had compliments on my Morse sending with it. Never thought I'd own one when I was just a no-code tech back in the 90's but now that I am 99.99% QRP CW I've pleased with my purchase.