[GreenKeys] any ideas Western Union Telegraph Co Tape Transmitter 23-B

[jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu]

Yes, it's a magnet-operated tape reader, with a slip connection base and
some rollers to feed the tape into a tape winder.  I'd say it's worth
$10 or $20.  It's not readily usable as-is because there is no 
transmitting distributor.  W.U. liked magnet-stepped tape readers.  One
application was time-division multiplex systems, all electromechanical,
where contacts on the transmitting distributor faceplate stepped the
readers.  They were also used in store-and-forward message switching
systems for cross-office transmission.  In that application you want
the transmission speed to be higher then the incoming or outgoing line
speed.  They got that by using magnet-stepped readers, parallel wire
transmission, and multi-magnet reperforators.  Still another application
was called Varioplex, where they shared channels of a time-division
multiplex among a larger number of customers, creating what we would
today call virtual circuits.  This required reperforators and tape readers
for buffer storage.

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jhaynes at alumni dot uark dot edu