[GreenKeys] NOS What's it

[Bob Camp]

Hi

What's left of hurricane Ivan came to visit early this morning knocking 
down trees and generally making a mess of things. Obviously the ideal 
setting for a Teletype acquisition adventure. Fortunately the Teletype 
recovery vehicle is a suitably four wheel drive equipped Explorer. 
Other lesser vehicles where noted stranded at the large puddle in the 
Dunkin Donuts parking lot, but we traversed this and other obstacles in 
our path with ease.

One of the interesting items that followed me home is a bit odd. It's 
definitely in the *rare* category and probably worth at least three 
times it's weight in model 33's on eBay. The item in question has no id 
on it at all other than a marking on the outside case in magic marker 
identifying it as SN 5. The outer case is plywood and a lovely OD green 
color. The contrast with the rug in the living room is dramatic.

The gizmo inside the case is painted in the ever popular Teletype / 
WECO  gray color scheme. Sticking out of the front panel is the head of 
a model 14 TD.  Inside the case is a governed motor off of a 14 and 
some of the parts normally found inside a 14. The major odd thing is 
the presence of a four ring top on the distributor and the lack of a 
clutch magnet. The inner two rings on the system are slip rings and the 
outer two are cut for normal five level / 1.42 stop bit code. The outer 
ring moves relative to the other rings and is driven by a big front 
panel knob labeled "distortion control".  Just below this knob are two 
switches labeled clutch control on/off and pulse/steady. (clutch .. 
what clutch). The governed motor seems to be controlled by the "line 
reg" pot on the front panel. A cute Frahm Tachometer on top of the 
motor probably helps in setting the motor speed.

The rest of the front panel is taken up by a couple of things. There is 
a patch panel that attaches to a big Jones plug on the side of the box. 
There is a meter for reading bias or end distortion. There are also a 
set of switches for turning the data bits and start pulse on or off. 
Finally there is a test DC on/off, motor on/of and punch AC (punch what 
punch ...) on/off switch.

After digging into this I'm kind of wondering if this half of a pair of 
devices that the Jones plug hooked together. Who knows ...

Obviously the gizmo in some way generates a precision distorted test 
signal to drive a Teletype. If anybody has any information on this 
beast I'd be interested in hearing about it. If somebody's been 
desperately looking for one I know where Serial Number 6 is located 
....

More on the other goodies as I have time to dig into them ...

	Enjoy!

		Bob Camp
		KB8TQ