Tom,
IIRC, somewhere I read that the morse key was removed for the second attempt but don't know where I read that. It could have been speculation on someones part as AE's radio operator was not on board and it might have been his equipment. Lighten the load don't you know. And Richey, I did find the morse key pic. Thanks again. The caption on the photo kept by the library of congress said something to the effect that Earhart sent out a distress message with this equipment?
Newspaper article though so not reliable.
Along with many others, I tend to discount the post loss messages from Earhart, but who really knows?
Randy