Belgian Military Leg Mounted Key

[G4HAA]

I acquired a couple of these keys a while back, and they sat in a cupboard for up to 10 years doing nothing. Then, after passing one on to a new owner, and hearing of their refurbishing ideas I decided to dig this one out and follow along similar lines.

Originally these keys were fitted with a bright red cable with a chunky two pin connector. I found that when testing the continuity of these keys that they had a 'hidden' 2K Ohm resistor inside of the white tube that can be seen in the photo below. While swapping the cable for one terminated with a 3.5mm plug I also removed the resistor. It may have formed part of an RFI filter system.

The keys were supplied without the leg straps, but I'm sure some modern strap or belt could be used if you really wanted to use one fastened to your leg. These are very small keys, and will easily fit in the palm of your hand, so they are great for portable use. You can also remove the metal strap 'plate' from the key (six screws), and use the key by itself.

This key was sitting idle as I mentioned above, but these days it gets used out and about either running CW-Com from in the car (via Wi-Fi), or else plugged in to a practice oscillator for some much needed sending 'workouts' while having my tea breaks at work!

73, Mark...

 

[foggycoder]

That 3.5mm stereo jack plug gives a real sense of the size of this key - they're tiny!

 

[MI0PYN]

They are tiny, but I really like the one I have, it is very useable even with it's small size. I've left the strap plate on as I think it's a little more stable with the wider base. That could be just bunkum of course, but it feels like it, and with the plate I'm happy to use it on a slightly softer surface like a leg or seat cushion.

I did the same mod, attaching a 3.5mm jack permanently without the resistor (that made me scratch my head for a while when I was first testing the key with a multimeter I tell you!) and I have to say it's my favourite portable key.