[GreenKeys] TTY Era in AP

[Betty Clark]

The last M-20 retired from service from AP in the US was removed from
the West Plains, Mo. Daily Quill in August 1986. Almost all radio
stations and newspapers are using direct computer input, but there are
actually some that do not have a computer that use an Okidata M-320
printer.

Earlier this year, AP donated an M-20 printer and a tape punch to the
museum at the Emporia, Ks. Gazette for their 100th anniversary of
membership with AP. We pulled some stories from the archives filed by
the Emporia Gazette in the 1960's and used a computer to print out on
the M-20. It was a great demonstration of the teletype operation and the
sound of the M-20 doing its thing was great.

I have an M-20 in my rec room at home and I know of at least 2 more in
the KS-MO area. It's a real shame that nobody knew about the interest in
old TTY equipment when we sent most of it to the scrap heap. We also
scrapped a lot of Laserphoto transmitters and receivers. We threw away
all kinds of spare parts, modems, filters, and power supplies. Sorry
about that!

I worked as a technician for AP for twenty years before retiring in
1999. Before that I worked as a cryptographic tech for the Army Security
Agency and the State Department. Anybody out there know about any cipher
equipment collectors? Would appreciate any info on the subject.

Wes Clark