A Tale of 2 (Straight) Keys

The Vibroplex and the Begali

I never thought I would become one! But like the cliched cat lady with many cats I have become an OM with many CW keying devices. However, that will be the subject for a discussion another day! Today I want to talk about two of the straight keys and the interesting differences in the way I operate them. The following video demonstrates the difference:

I made a gross simplification in the video. There are subtle differences in the keys in terms of their heights above the table plane and the height to the top of the knobs as shown below. But the difference is subtle and I did not think they would have mattered, but yet they do

Differences: Vibroplex on the left

I did not know of the operating style differences between Europe and North America when I initially tried both keys and was having issues with the Begali. But I ran into the following this link which prompted me to try the variations. The results really surprised me...Does the Begali know it is European? Does it want to be operated the European way? Pray tell me...