[GreenKeys] Bell System History
Don Robert House
[email protected]
Fri May 7 17:41:53 EDT 2004
Thanks for adding to the history Eric.
The two extra buttons on the 12 button dial were changed over time.
The * was originally a five pointed star. The # was originally a
diamond shape. The AUTOVON version with 16 keys had those extra keys
with the star for the asterisk and a large A for the octothorpe.
One of the reasons for changing was that Bell Labs had developed a
touch tone receiving dataphone that operated a Teletype. I installed
one for Schwinn Bicycles. Obviously there are no stars or diamonds
in a typebox. The offical function of the two keys are:
* = cancel, back up or start over
# = terminate, finish, or accept
The other keys on the 16 button pad were FO, F, I, P
The octothorpe can be called a pound sign only if it follows a number.
The octothorpe can be called a number sign only if it preceeds a number.
Don
At 10:03 AM -0400 05/07/2004, Eric Scace K3NA wrote:
>Don and Ben --
>
> This message provoked a lot of old brain cells! Here is some
>ancillary information.
>
> Frieden explored applications for their machines in at least one
>other area beside 'data processing' (as described by Ben). I
>had first hand experience with Frieden equipment in the newspaper
>typesetting world.
>
> In one implementation, Frieden provided an ASR-style machine with
>a keyboard, printer, reperf, and TD. This machine was used for
>manually composing an article; more on this process in a moment. A
>second, similar machine was used to produce a finished version
>of a column of newsprint by typing the article using a one-time
>carbon film ribbon on high gloss, extremely white paper. This paper
>sheet was photographed and the negative was pasted up in the
>preparation of a photo-typeset page for the newspaper printers.
>
> The second machine differed from the first in that it had TWO
>tape readers. The reason for this lay in a clever solution of the
>problem of justifying a line of proportional-spaced type.
>("Justification" is the process of causing a printed line to exactly
>fit
>with width of a column; it's achieved by making the spaces between
>words slightly fatter or narrower, by clever use of hyphenation,
>and very occasionally by inserting minimal spaces between letters of
>a word.) TTY machine lovers will delight in learning how it
>worked.
>
> As the keyboard operator typed a line of text, the composing
>machine would punch a paper tape with each character typed. I
>believe this was a 6-level tape, with the 6th bit used to indicate
>upper vs. lower case... but it might have been a 7-bit code.
>When the operator reached the approximate end of the line and hit
>the Return key, the composing machine would add a special code
>indicating the total width of the line to the tape. The width code
>was preceded by a single character on the tape that was not
>assigned to any printing character. I think the width code was 2
>characters long; it was just a binary representation of line
>length.
>
> The typescript on the page in front of the operator was just for
>the operator's reference to see if he made any typing errors,
>and to see when he was approaching the end of the line. It was
>usually typed on junk paper with a cloth ribbon.
>
> After the article had been punched into tape, the tape was moved
>to the second machine. The head of the tape was threaded
>through the first tape reader, and then immediately to the second
>tape reader, which stood a few inches behind the first. The first
>tape reader would read through the first line of text, hunting for
>the justification code at the end of the time. Meanwhile the
>printer just sat idle. As soon as the first tape reader found and
>read the justification code, the printer now knew how large a
>space to insert between the words of text. The second tape reader
>would then re-read the first line of text, and the printer would
>type it, inserting a space of appropriate width between the words.
>[There were some special codes used for spaces that should not
>be adjusted; e.g., indentation at the start of a paragraph or in a
>bulleted list.]
>
> Meanwhile the first reader was ticking away, looking for the
>justification code at the end of the 2nd line of text. And off the
>system would go, working its way line by line through the entire article.
>
> Now, if the operator made a typing error, there was just one
>recourse -- to cancel the entire line and retype it. The "line
>cancelled" code was simply a variant of the justification code added
>at the end of the line on the paper tape. When the first tape
>reader on the final printing machine read a "line cancelled" code,
>it just munched away to the next line... and the second tape head
>would munch through the cancelled line without allowing the printer to print.
>
> The character codes were just ITA2 plus a case bit. This meant
>that a clever operator had a second option available to him upon
>making a typing error. He could read the paper tape holes and
>decide if he could over-punch the paper tape in a way that would
>correct the error -- without screwing up the justification
>arithmetic! If so, he just backed up the tape and repunched it.
>
> I worked at a small newspaper that was replacing its Linotype
>(hot metal) typesetting equipment with Frieden machines. (I was
>one of the very last people trained to operate hot metal Linotype
>machines. If you think TTY machines are a thrilling Rube Goldberg
>device, you'd love working on a Linotype! It was bigger than an
>organ console, with hot lead, motors, bands and belts, and all
>sorts of marvelous mechanical inventions.) Of course the management
>decided to give the "new-fangled stuff" to the 18-year-old kid
>on the staff. (That would be me.) By the time I got involved with
>this, I had been operating RTTY for several years as a Navy MARS
>operator and knew ITA2 codes by heart. The other typesetters were
>amazed that one could fidget with a paper tape and correct these
>kinds of errors -- something clearly not in the operator's manual.
>
> The Frieden printers used type baskets in order to keep the
>printed line precisely aligned on a page. They were not terribly
>fast -- perhaps typing around 80-90 WPM but with frequent pauses to
>let the mechanics settle down after case shifts, returns, etc.
>And they were temperamental. As I recall these machines lasted only
>a couple of years at that paper.
>
>=========
>
> Touch Tone dials: In fact, DTMF keypads were initially designed
>with 16 buttons. Ben is correct that only the digits 0-9
>appears on customer telephones. But the operator switchboards
>included all 16 buttons. Special network functions were assigned at
>some point to some of those extra buttons, but I can't recall when
>this was done (before my time).
>
> By the way, the # key is properly called "octothorpe" (the
>typesetter's name; i.e., eight points) or "square" (ITU's definition,
>when used in this context). If you look carefully at a European or
>Japanese version of the 12-button keypad, you'll see the square
>symbol has vertical lines and horizontal lines crossing
>perpendicularly, like a square with little extensions.
>
>=========
>
> Anyone going to Dayton? I normally hang out at the contest,
>160m, and DX events... but I would enjoy meeting Greenkeyers!
>
> -- Eric K3NA
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [email protected]
>[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Don Robert House
>Sent: 2004 May 7 00:01
>To: [email protected]
>Cc: Ed Hickey; Bob Liddy; Bob Cnota; Ken Clinkman; Phil Schelinski;
>Steve Kissinger; Warren Brader; David Weil; Rush Glick;
>[email protected]
>Subject: [GreenKeys] Re: Model 29 History
>
>
>Thanks a million for this history Ben,
>
>You will have to come over and see the last machines of the TELETYPE
>marke in my garage. I think I am the only one left with a Model 45
>printer!
>
>Give me a call when you get a minute. Sometime soon Jim Haynes is
>supposed to be in our area, it would be nice to get together.
>---------------------------------------------------
>Don R. House
>4716 Patty Lane, Ringwood, IL 60072
>Tel: 815-653-0683
>FAX: 815-653-0684
>*****************************************
>North American Data Communications Dept. of CMA
>URL: http://www.nadcomm.org
>Computer Museum of America (CMA)
>URL: http://www.computer-museum.org
>
>
>Don
>
>>The AOL server lost your inquiry regarding the Model 29, but I
>>recall you were looking for some history, so here goes.
>>
>>I started at Teletype in 1960, and that was before ASCII. As you
>>know, the biggest problem with Baudot code was the FIGS-LTRS shift,
> >which slowed things down and used a 3-row keyboard. The military
>>and others had been asking for a 4-row keyboard for some time, and
>>the Model 29 was the answer at the moment.
>>
>>The Model 29 was styled just like the Model 28, but used one inch
>>wide 8-level paper tape. The big technical achievement was a front
>>plate which would go immediately from a letter to a number and back.
>>There were some shift links on the front plate which would break
>>with extended use, but nevertheless the Model 29 was good enough for
>>service. The same typing unit went on to be called the Model 35
>>with a different type box and some other minor modifications.
>>
>>There were two markets for the Model 29. The first was the
>>military, and their units had Fieldata code. I never got into that
>>code, and I don't think the military bought all that many. The
>>other market was for as a console for main frame computers, and we
>>sold a bunch to the likes of GE, RCA, Univac, Honeywell, etc. The
>>reason they bought the Teletype machine was because IBM was driving
>>its computers with heavy duty IBM typewriters and IBM punched card
>>equipment, and their competitors would rather die than ship a
>>machine with an IBM typewriter as the console. Although Friden had
>>a similar heavy duty typewriter, Teletype was much better known and
>>their equipment was more rugged.
>>
>>The Model 29 headed for data processing ran on the Extended Binary
>>Coded Decimal Interchange Code, or EBCDIC. This was a pure IBM
>>code, and "extended" meant that it included characters for both
>>upper and lower cases, although the lower case letters were never
>>implemented by Teletype. The first on-line multipoint Teletype
>>circuit run by a computer was the Westinghouse "whistle" system,
>>with an RCA computer in Pittsburgh driving the whole show. The
>>console printers there were Model 29's; I don't know whether the
>>machines on the circuits across the country were 28's or 29's.
>>
>>I mentioned Friden, and they were pushing a concept called
>>"Integrated Data Processing" (IDP) in which paper program tapes were
>>used to type repetitive letters and forms, with an output tape
>>capturing the data for subsequent processing. The Model 29 IDP set
>>was specifically designed to go after this market. We were afraid
>>that Friden was going to get all of what looked like a juicy new
>>market opportunity.
>>
>>The Model 29 IDP set looked like a conventional ASR of the day,
>>except that there were two tape readers. I worked on a system for
>>the Western Electric works in Kansas City, and its application was
>>for Purchasing and Receiving. When a purchase order form was
>>processed, a loop of tape, containing a program, was in one of the
>>readers. When the operator stepped on a foot pedal, it started up
>>and printed in fixed stuff like the "bill to" and "ship to"
>>addresses. The current date could, if you wanted to, be printed
>>from another loop of tape in the other reader made up on a daily
>>basis.
>>
>>When it was time for the "items" in the purchase order, the reader
>>would stop so that the operator could type them in by hand. When
>>finished, the operator would step on the pedal and the program tape
>>would complete the form. Key factor: while all this was going on,
>>the reperforator on the keyboard was punching out selected data from
>>the PO, and this tape went with receiving's copy of the PO in a
>>special pouch which included a plastic lined pocket for the tape so
> >the oil would not seep through.
>>
>>Later, with the ordered stuff arrived in Receiving, the clerk would
>>get out the original form and put the data tape in the second
>>reader. With a program loop tape in the first reader, the process
>>was repeated, with the receiving clerk adding whatever information
>>was needed when the program tape would stop for same. When the
>>job was done, the new tape punched by the reperf at the Receiving
>>Department went to Accounting, where it went into some sort of
>>computer to pay the bill for the shipment.
>>
>>The big problem here was legal and political. The 1956
>>(1953?) Consent Decree said that the Bell System must confine its
> >stuff to "common carrier communications, and services incidental
>>thereto." This meant, in plain English, that the Bell System was
>>to keep the hell out of data processing. It was the direct result
>>of the BSDP (Bell System Data Processing) project at Bell Labs, in
>>which AT&T was fixing to build and market a main frame number
>>cruncher targeted directly at IBM and Univac. The Consent
>>Decree changed the course of the BSDP project into a different
>>direction, and it finally became the main gizmo driving the 1ESS.
>>
>>But when you read the Consent Decree, how can you justify the Bell
>>System building Teletype machines as computer consoles? The trick
>>was twofold. First, they were fundamentally start-stop telegraphic
>>communications machines, vs. the Friden Flexowriter which was a
>>parallel transmission office machine. Second, the Teletype Model 29
>>was not allowed to do arithmetic functions. That is, it could not
>>total up a column and print the results automatically. Doing so
>>would constitute data processing. We lost lots of business to
>>Friden, who could not only do arithmetic functions, but also
>>type lower case.
>>
>>This concern not to be perceived as doing data processing was so
>>strong that for several years the Touch Tone dials had only ten
>>digits, without the * and # keys which are standard today. The fear
>>was that someone at the Justice Department would view a phone with
>>the 12 key pad including the * and # as a data terminal, being
>>marketed in competition with some early low grade key pad terminals
>>made by IBM. Western Electric made 16-key dials for Autovon, but
>>the POTS user only got ten keys.
>>
>>The ASCII was a neat end run around the data processing issue, since
>>the code was clearly designed for "information interchange", which
>>suggests communications. Teletype recoded the Model 29 to run on
>>ASCII, and called in Henry Dreyfuss to restyle the case, and the
>>Model 35 was born. The Model 29 became instantly obsolete.
>>
>>So the Model 29 only ran for a couple of years, 1961-1963. That PO
>>system in Kansas City, which was provided by Southwestern Bell, ran
>>at least until 1970, because I got occasional phone calls from the
>>technician about it, even after I left Teletype in 1969.
>>
>>A final technical note. The one inch tape included even parity, and
>>they never made a printing reperforator nor a tape printer for the
>>Model 29. The case never said "Model 29" on it, and the only way
>>to quickly tell if a "Model 28" is just that or a Model 29 is to
>>look at the keyboard. The 4-row keyboard was a Model 29.=
>>
>>Ben Stephens=
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>--
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