RC wrote
>It is a J37 key by the E. Johnson Co. mounted on a J-44 Black Bakelite
>base. What do you use to clean a key and can/should this key be
>dismantled in the cleaning process
The J-44 key was designed to slide into a bracket on the wooden cover of the
US Army Signal Corps SCR-178 and -179 "portable" HF radio sets. Major
individual components were the BC-186 receiver, BC-187 tranmitter, and
BC-188 modulator. It is an early 1930s design that for some reason was
being made up to 1942. The MOPA transmitter output is about five watts, and
the receiver is super-regenerative. Total weight of the radio in its wooden
case *without* the batteries and hand-crank generator is about 80 lbm, and
it is the size of a large suitcase. So your key goes with a pre-WWII
military portable QRP rig, but one that's a little harder to tote around
than, say, a K1.
There isn't any reason you can't disassemble the key, though I wouldn't
think much of that would be required. Common contact cleaner should work.
Please consider keeping the key *and* base* intact and unmodified. It's
somewhat hard to find (compared to just a J-37), and it has collector value.
73,
Mike / KK5F
(Who has both a K1 and a SCR-178)
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