[GreenKeys] Ebay's Mystery Machine

[George B. Hutchison]

GreenKeyers - - -

I recollect that Don House has two or three of those ebay Mystery
Machines in the NADCOMM pile of stuff.

The best info I have is that there was a time when the government
requested manufacturers to come up with a new, lightweight, more
portable handy-dandy design to replace the Model 28 in field service
applications.

I do not know how many manufacturers entered this foray, but Teletype
and the Mite Corporation were two of the contestants.

The Teletype Corporation entry was known as the "242" or "TT-242". The
Mite Corporation product was the MITE Series of machines, and of course,
we all know who won.

I had one or two Mites in my time, and though they were clever, I just
could not stand the "whack-whack-whack" sound they made as they ran.
They are ugly, and the one I had had been used in a smoking environment
at some time, and internally it smelled like hell..

Speed change was easy enough due to the different colored gears that
were stored on a spindle arrangement on the back of the machine. The
keyboards were cute in that they would slide into the front of the
machine for storage, and by clicking a lever on either side of the
keyboard it would pop out and Voila!, (pronounded "wah-lah") (French for
"Presto"}you had a machine with a keyboard.

Getting back to the what I can remember of the 242, the typing mechanism
was very similar to the model 32. Jack's comments about the type wheel
verified my vague memory of the internals. The 32 style mechanism was
more rugged than that found in the 32, but when playing around with it,
it soon became obvious it was a system that demanded a lot of torque on
the main shaft, and that was the machine's Achilles heel.

The intermediate gear between the motor and the mainshaft drive gear was
a two step arrangement made of molded nylon. The outer diameter was
roughly 2 to 2 1/2 inches. The inner gear was maybe 3/8 inch in
diameter. The machine Don gave me was in good shape, except that the
inner spur of the intermediate gear had wrung off, making the machine
useless. When twisting the mainshaft and realizing the amount of torque
it took to turn it, it was pretty obvious to me that the machine was a
failure-prone device if for no other reason than the flimsy design of
the intermediate gear. I ultimately gave it back to Don, as I could see
no reason for having a machine that would never run, and he could use it
for spare parts for the others he has.

If you must have a "rarie" then by all means bid on those items on ebay,
but their major application in my mind would be to drill a hole up
through the bottom and put a cord, light socket and a shade on it and
make a lamp out of it. The local Goodwill probably has an old end-table
that would make it a suitable place on which to place it in your living
room.

I generally praise the Teletype designs, because, if for no other
reason, they just run and run and run. The 242 instance, however, was,
in my mind, a product from some thinking which was so far in left field
that had it been accepted they would have lost money in warranty
repairs. It pains me to say that the Mite was the better choice. It was
more reliable.

The 32/33 style mechanism, when modified and incorporating the
motor/gear/belt design one finds within, became an unqualified success,
to this day when nutcases will pay gigantic bucks for them.

73,

George - W7TTY