01/03/2006 | KC4AUF As my wife Becky KS4RX and I shared the radio we didn't share our choice in keys but used a "Y" connecter so we could use our favorite straight key. Her preference is a "Spark Proff" Navy key that came off of a Navy destroyer. My key is an adaptation of a classic J-38 with a button from a Navy "Pee" coat making it like the original modification used to make what was later to be called "The Navy Knob". It was a fun SKN for both of us and look forward to this event each year. Attached is a picture of my J-38 with a "Navy Knob".

A theory was advanced that the so-called "navy knob" began to appear on spark keys about 1904. The extra "skirt" added to the base of a conventional telegraph key knob was meant to protect the operator from the high voltages present on the key. Thus a spark key with a relatively plain knob and no skirt identifies it as a key from the very early period of wireless.

Legend has it that the disk portion of the navy knob was a button from a Navy uniform Pee Coat. If you look closely at the attached picture you can see the Navy anchor insignia on the flat portion of the Navy Knob. I will be using this key tonight for SKN tonight.

73, KC4AUF Robert D " Tony " Day -- KC4AUF