Hi to all.

On the 29th of October I attended a garage sale for the family of the late Rex Wales. Many interesting sets as well as parts and books were available at very reasonable prices. However some low life pathetic individual saw fit to steal a rare Morse key from a B2 spy set (WW2 era) prior to the start of the sale. I'd guess most people there, maybe 50 in total, were all members of the HRSA. What strikes me as very sad is that someone from within such a supportive group would do such an incredibly selfish thing. The sale value of the B2 was likely reduced due to the loss, and this obviously flows on to the family.

I've been thinking about this incident for 2 weeks, particularly as I was asked to display a rare radio at next year's Radiofest. The set in question has a very difficult to replace plug in reaction coil. It's disappointing to think that there are others in our collecting community that I now worry might pinch such an item for their own selfish ends. All I can say is that please don't become too suspicious, but also make sure your valuables are as safe as possible - particularly when on display in public.

Rob

A low act indeed.

Is there a photo available of that Morse key or a similar one?

A photo of the key would be very helpful and I am happy for it to be posted here for as long as needed. The historical value of stolen property doesn't change but when there is widespread knowledge of a stolen item it becomes worthless in the commercial sense.

If the culprit is found he should be reported to the police, though please wait until the individual is convicted before publishing details. I will happily ban anyone from this site who has been convicted of stealing valve radios and/or related equipment.

Yes, a photo will help spot it if it turns up at a swap meet, etc.

There is a vast repository of Military & other keys on the WEB I used it to help search for one's origins from it. I am sure it works the other way.

Apparently these were supplied with some different types of keys however if you move down this page you should be able (should you have seen it / someone took a photo of the unit) to ascertain which one it was & then it can perhaps be advertised in the HRSA mag.

http://www.cryptomuseum.com/spy/b2/

Of course, the thief may not realise that, if there was a registration of everyones name there, you have a list of suspects and his / her name is on it.

Whilst it shouldn't come to this, at least the theft of the item will become common knowledge now, making disposal (or even display) of it hard to achieve without arousing suspicion.

There's a lot to be said for the usual protections such as CCTV, insurance and even security officers on site but for a community gathering these things really shouldn't be required.

What does happen at events like the Radiofest though? Last time I went, which I think was in 2010, there didn't seem to be any overt security measures in place watching over the displays of equipment, although these displays were near the front entrance where the tickets were being sold.

Thanks for the photo. No mistaking that key once seen.

I reckon this matter should be raised with VIC HRSA and mentioned in Radio Waves, asking the "borrower" to return the key anonymously to the HRSA VIC office.

I'd second that. I'd even suggest that the person of interest post the item outside their own suburb/town to better mask their identity. In some instances it is better that the thief not make themselves known as this just creates further animosity. The return of the item and some remorse from the person who took it is the best result.

The theft of this key was an insult to the family of the late Rex Wales. Whoever took the key was given the opportunity to quietly return it on the day of the garage sale. Hopefully all this publicity will be sufficient enough to shame this person into returning the key.

Here is some more information on the B2 spy set from the Silicon Chip Vintage Radio pages by Rodney Champness:

http://messui.the-chronicles.org/valves/SC199809.pdf

http://messui.the-chronicles.org/valves/SC199810.pdf

By itself, to me that key looks to be nothing special as Morse keys go, so it strikes me that the person who lifted that key may have a similar set that lacked the key.

Those are quite dangerous units when run on the mains. The key in the photo needs a major repair, like a new arm.Looks pretty basic. to make. Looks like it may be die cast (Pot metal) by the break. Bit of cast off aircraft Duralium would make a better one.

Marc