Fwd: [GreenKeys] I have been to the TTY graveyard!!!!

Wed, 31 Jul 2002 20:00:26 -0700

What a convoluted puzzle...  Somehow the brand new boxed and crated 
machines must be saved.
I will have to give this more thought when I get rid of this damn headache.

Don

>Delivered-To: [email protected]
>From: "Jack" <[email protected]>
>To: <[email protected]>
>Cc: "Denis Sharon W1AOK" <[email protected]>
>Subject: [GreenKeys] I have been to the TTY graveyard!!!!
>Sender: [email protected]
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>
>Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 20:56:38 -0400
>
>ZCZC
>
>Greenkeyers...
>
>I visited the famous "Paterson NJ warehouse" today and was
>just amazed at what it held. (The building is an old Government
>armory, built around 1903.) Amongst the TONS of 1940-1960 electical
>and electronic stuff, there was a lot of  TTY gear:
>
>It appears the owner was the recipient of Western Union's entire
>TTY parts inventory (maybe from multiple locations). E.g., there are
>more than 100 28ROTR bases in boxes (no covers or
>perf units or gear shifts).
>
>I counted three unused Model 28ASR cabinets with
>some sheet metal missing, unfortunately, and
>there was another half dozen incomplete 28ASR's. Some of the
>ASR's had oddball TD's with WU markings instead of the
>normal Teletype Corp. LXD. There was a large fan on
>the back of those machines with some sort of electronic
>package in the base.
>
>Counted 10 28KSR's in various condition (mostly "sad").
>
>Anyone for a Model 35ASR? There's six of them there (private
>line models) and two are crated.
>
>Siemens machines were all over the place. There are a few Model
>33ASR's (no covers or bases) and a BRAND NEW 33ASR
>TWX machine in a box. There is also a BRAND NEW 32ASR
>TELEX machine in a box (unopened). There has to be tons of
>parts, mostly 28 stuff that I have never seen break. Lots of Model
>33 covers and lids (some look new) and boxes of new keytops (the
>ones that always go bad and turn moldy white)..
>
>I found about a dozen of the oddball LBXD TD heads and one
>complete stand-along LBXD TD. There might be some standard
>LXD TD's there, too.
>
>Found a WW 2 Model 15 (TG-7) in the elusive crate (table). Good chance
>there's a few more of them there. No other Model 15 vintage stuff
>was seen except a banged up 14TD.
>
>A few Kleinschmidt TT-76's were in a pile and they didn't look
>salvageable.  And, to top it off, there was a lonely UGC-74A on
>the floor.
>
>The person who is cleaning out this stuff wants to unload everything
>as quickly as possible. Since he has TONS of ship's radars, ship's
>gyro's and other really HEAVY stuff to worry about, I told him I'd
>tend to the TTY stuff for him. (I saw a huge gray box
>marked "NIMITZ"!) It is not practicle to try to ship the
>bits and pieces, so the only way to get at it would be to visit. He
>has some restrictions on access and the area is not the garden spot
>of NJ, so visits would have to be coordinated carefully (wear Kevlar).
>And, he wants the stuff gone; he doesn't want to bother with selling
>a dozen keytops.
>
>After wandering around for a day, I can pretty much guaranty that
>the TTY stuff is not operational and would need work (every machine
>seems to have something missing). And most of the 28's have
>oddball widgets and electrical whatsits that would have to be
>surgically removed to get the basic machine working. Except for those
>few unused cabiknets, most of the machines are banged up in
>one way or another.
>
>The 35's appear to be the most complete, orphans that they are.
>
>Depending on the timing, I might try to grab most of the incomplete
>TTY's and store them somewhere with the intention of getting
>them working (borrowing parts from here and there). I cannot
>fathom taking the boxed parts...I'd need a lot of space and
>a lot of time and, honestly, most of those parts were the ones
>that would never be used in normal maintenance. (for example,
>I didn't find any clutches, or gears, or the like...parts that would break
>under heavy use). I'm guessing that this stuff might have been from
>a repair depot that rebuilt machines, not from a local "TTY shop"
>that serviced customers.
>
>If anyone is interested, let me know off-list and I can help make the
>arrangements.
>
>Jack WA2HWJ
>
>NNNN

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------
Don Robert House
North American Data Communications Museum
URL: http://www.nadcomm.org
Computer Museum of America
URL: http://www.computer-museum.org