During my 1950s USN days, one radio guy showed me a WWII gadget that they were still using to send Morse Code. It looked like a regular telegraph key but had a long arm that would rapidly vibrate every time the guy hit the key. They were so trained that they could bang out the dits and dahs in seconds. Another deal he said they used was to copy the code to a phonograph record and then speed up the rotation when broadcasting so the whole message just took seconds. The receiving station would record it and slow their record player down.
Our radio guys drove us nuts as they wouldn't talk regular at chow time - just sit there and talk to each other in dits and dahs. When they'd REALLY get ticked off, they'd yell "THREE DITS, FOUR DITS, TWO DITS, DAH!" and think it a knee-slapper.
Look it up. :-)
Right - that’s called a “semiautomatic key” or in radio lingo, a “bug.”
The most famous manufacture of bugs was/is Vibroplex:
http://vibroplex.com/original_bug.html
Most interesting Oatka...Funny too.
I’m luck to read 10-15 wpm and can probably send about 15. I enjoy the occasional CW contact from around the world, but at this point, I’m pretty slow.
Thanks