Hello Alan,

My name is David Ring, I hold USA call sign N1EA. I was one of Bill Smith's friends, and I am the owner of his Magnavert semi-automatic key. If I can send you any information let me know. I'm happy to hear your comments on Bill's writing, I thought most of my difficulty was because I didn't know clockmakers terms, which Bill used as frequently and correctly as he could, but I found his descriptions of placement of objects – one object was behind the other – or inferior to the other as I would say, or proximate, or mediate, as the physicians have taught me, superior, inferior, etc. Just like port and starboard are very useful especially on a ship because they give a frame of reference, not like left and right which lack that. In any event, if I can supply measurements or photographs, let me know. I have currently lent out the Magnavert for a fellow key lover's enjoyment and for my edification because when the key was shipped to me by Bill's widow, the pendulum mechanism came all apart, and without an engineering diagram, I'm not 100% sure that the alignment is correct as it bent when shipped. Also I am an excellent telegrapher and the dots were bothering me, I could not produce enough of them, but Bill said he got continuous dots, so I must have assembled the key wrong. There are multiple layers of linkages in the dot lever and perhaps I got them out of layered order. Maybe I have ACBDE instead of ABCDE. Being off one thickness can make a difference.

Regards,

David

I how to work Lance using it. I've dropped him an email.

Hopefully we will hear you on the air,

73

David N1EA