[GreenKeys] Re Teleprinter Collecting - Letter from new subscriber

[wa2hwj at att.net]

Richard,

Sounds like you're a natural for the Greenkeys list. Welcome aboard. 

Jack WA2HWJ
New York




-------------- Original message from "Grizzly" : -------------- 

> Post Office Box 977 
> 
> Slacks Creek 4127 
> 
> 28 September 2004 
> 
> 
> 
> The President, 
> 
> Greenkeys. 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, my name is Richard YOUL and I live 15 miles south of Brisbane Australia. 
> 
> 
> 
> I first heard about your organization some months ago through Larry Rice of 
> Perth, and more recently have been in contact with Jim Haynes, including by 
> telephone. I have been interested in Teleprinter and to some degree 
> switching systems on and off for over 30 years. 
> 
> 
> 
> I would be interested in knowing what is required to join Greenkeys, so this 
> is a little of my background. 
> 
> 
> 
> In 1968 I attended the Postal Training School in Sydney. As well as learning 
> general Post Office counter duties, we had to learn to touch type for 
> sending telegrams. 
> 
> 
> 
> There were about 20 Creed teleprinters in the classroom, and the noise was 
> thunderous when all were running together. The Creeds have a pretty horrible 
> keyboard, but if you can get up a rhythm on a Creed, you will fly with 
> anything else. Anyway these machines caught my attention. I had no idea they 
> existed before that. 
> 
> 
> 
> About 5 years later when living about 50 miles south of Sydney, I found a 
> Creed on the ground at a local scrap yard. I think he wanted $7 for it, and 
> I could not get it home quick enough, and had it working locally within an 
> hour or two. That was just the start of my collection, which really took off 
> once I moved to Brisbane and became involved with the Telecommunication 
> museums here and in Sydney. 
> 
> 
> 
> I now have around 20 machines, keyboard as well as reperforators and 
> transmitters from a variety of manufacturers. All but one is connected and 
> ready to run, either back to back with other machines or to other 
> teleprinter collectors, via modems over the phone lines. 
> 
> 
> 
> There is a network of around 100 former post office telegraphists who are 
> set up with Morse sets and modems at home and they can call each other up 
> (or museums similarly equipped) for Morse conversations. Nearly all worked 
> for the post office, the last Morse line being replaced by teleprinter in 
> 1962 (most were replaced with teleprinters in 1959 using a system based on 
> Western Union principles). Anyway with some guidance from other people, I 
> adapted or devised interfaces which would allow either single current (make 
> and break) or double current (polar) teleprinters to work with modems of the 
> same type as the Morsecodians use. Later I adapted a combiner or hub circuit 
> used by Morse people to have 3 and 4 way conversations (using several phone 
> lines into the hub location), and this allows me to operate single current 
> and double current printers back to back, as well as into the modem at the 
> same time. 
> 
> 
> 
> Ultimately there were around a dozen people or museums fitted up for printer 
> modem use, but unfortunately most rarely bother to use them. 
> 
> 
> 
> A longtime friend Barry Neilsen now lives a few doors up the road from me. 
> His career path and hobby interest is extremely similar to mine. The main 
> difference is he started earlier in the post office and did a lot more 
> telegram transmission than I did (unfortunately for me). 
> 
> 
> 
> I am now Secretary of the Telstra (phone company) Museum in Brisbane, and 
> until we were given a new computer system a few weeks ago, I had never had 
> any experience with E-mails, and still have never browsed the web myself. 
> Mostly there are more interesting things to do than waste hours trying to 
> get a computer to work. My museum duties dictate I check and send E-mails, 
> so I have now to learn, want to or not! 
> 
> 
> 
> If I can get this onto disc, then put it into an E-mail I'll send this 
> tomorrow (Wednesday, and normal museum day) from the museum. Barry has 
> internet at home, and we hope to check out Greenkeys site on Thursday night. 
> 
> 
> 
> Very sincerely, 
> 
> Richard YOUL 
> 
> 
> 
> P.S. I could not get the disc to work but another neighbour has assisted 
> with this. for the monent, Barry's E-mail address has been quoted for 
> correspondence. Thanks 
> 
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