A revolution in communication occurred with the development of the telegraph. However, the early telegraph keys used to send messages caused severe strain on the telegrapher's wrist - a condition now known as carpal tunnel syndrome.

  In 1902, inventor Horace G. Martin patented the first in a line of devices which solved the problem: the Martin Autoplex, an electro-mechanical sending device which required batteries.

  Two years later, Martin went into business with a group of entrepreneurs, forming the United Electrical Manufacturing Company. It was also in 1904 that Martin filed his second patent for a new sending device which used a weighted, vibrating arm and did not require the use of a magnetic coil or batteries. This device was the basis for the first Vibroplex^©.

  In 1908, the association between Martin and U.E.M. ended when the latter went out of business.  However, J.E.Albright, who began a business catering to the telephone industry in 1890, began marketing the Vibroplex for Martin. On March 12, 1915, Albright filed a certificate of incorporation in New York for The Vibroplex Company, Inc. Within a few short years, Vibroplex^© came to represent the best of the telegraphic, and later Amateur Radio, industry.

  Since 1994, the Vibroplex^© Company has been owned by Mitch, W4OA, the first ham to own the firm. Today, as in all of its proud history, the heritage of Vibroplex^© symbolizes the interest, camaraderie, and esprit de corps of the worldwide ham radio community.

  To read John Casale, W2NI's history of Horace G. Martin and Vibroplex^©, please click on the following link: 

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