[GreenKeys] Fred Schmidt's Typetronics

[W8MAQ at aol.com]

Nick and Robert,
 
I knew Fred from hamfests and his tables with well-priced tubes. Although I  
did buy some 28 and 15 parts from him, he also had a vast accumulation of  
documentation which he shared for the cost of copies. Fred was able  to supply me 
with a lot of drawings for the FRXD that I found, for  example.
 
Did Nick also acquire Fred's base of documents?
 
73's Jim
W8MAQ
 
 
In a message dated 9/22/2007 11:26:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
WA5CAB at cs.com writes:


I was supposed to forward this a week ago but got interrupted and just  
discovered it still sitting here.

To All:

Recently, many have  been asking about the status of Fred Schmidt's 
Typetronics and, since his  passing, if someone has acquired his old stock of 
Teletype 
parts

I  can answer those questions. Typetronics is no more and I bought all of  
Fred's teletype parts.

When I was in high school...in the late  1960's...a whole group of us in New 
Orleans got interested in rtty. We all  bought parts from Fred. Anyway, in 
2003 
I had married a lady that I met  through my work who, due to her prior 
divorce, 
could not relocate to  Covington (my old QTH)...So, I relocated my consulting 
business, moved to  Jupiter, Florida and became a step dad. It was then I 
reestablished myself  with Fred. Hurricane Katrina happened and I had to 
relocate 
back to New  Orleans to support my public safety clients, but kept track of 
Fred. 
I was  worried about him...He was aged and really didn't have anyone. I 
enjoyed  just meeting him for lunch at his local "haunts". He would tell me 
about his  
newspaper days and his second interest: trains. So, as often as I could I  
would just drop by and visit and occasionally buy parts for my 28ASR or the  
two 
M-15s I was restoring.

Fred wanted to sell me the stuff when he  was still going to hamfests...but I 
didn't really want a warehouse full of  Teletype parts....But, slowly he 
hooked 
me...got me back interested in them  and then made me a deal I couldn't 
refuse...for if I did, those parts would  have been destined for the dump. 
Originally, I only wanted to purchase the  M-28 parts, but he insisted I take 
them all. 
He was right.

Fred had  Teletype parts and prepackaged modification kits that simply don't 
exist new  anymore...I just couldn't stand to see the "dump option" happen as 
these  machine have present/future historic value...and they are just plain 
fun!  
What was equally amazing was that Fred had three warehouses at one time  
filled 
with Teletype parts. He told me he sold them in the mid 1980s as a  single 
lot. Thought he would concentrate on tubes...but then he gradually  
replenished 
his Teletype parts stock in a rather big way! How he found all  of those 
parts is 
a story in itself.

Last year I was also contacted  by a fellow who was clearing an estate in 
central Mississippi...said he had  a few TTY machines to unload to either the 
dump 
or me. I picked them up: two  28ASRs; five 28KSRs and another few tons of new 
parts! This Silent Key  apparently had a repair business going on for the 
local 
businesses and  university.

That's it for me...bagged the parts limit! We have a WW-II  museum in New 
Orleans. I plan to donate some of my restored Model 15s and  Model 14 stuff 
to it. 
Would be great for kids and people who have never  gotten close to a real 
Teletype machine before to hear and see them in  action. 

Of course, once I know what I have, I'll be in a position help  the Greenkeys 
guys keep their machines running. I am building a new  office/workshop and 
home 
in Covington, Louisiana...just a few miles from my  old location. It has 
taken 
an unreasonably long time to get this to happen  due to the local effects of 
Hurricane Katrina and the fact that I'm clearing  11 acres for the homesite 
(Boy, did I underestimate the grief of dealing  with 11 acres!). Once the 
warehouse 
part is completed, I'll start moving the  parts over from Fort Lauderdale (I 
have half of them already packaged for  shipment). I took over the rent of 
Fred's old storage units in the interim.  Expect to make the move to occur 
either in 
December or January  2008.

Oh, as for the tubes. Fred had many millions of NOS tubes....in his  
warehouse, van and stuffed everywhere at his small house. The tubes were  
sold as a 
single lot to Radio Daze. It took those poor guys a long time to  get them 
all 
rounded up and headed North. The Radio Daze people are  extremely nice and 
their 
tube prices are fair...and they certainly have a  well rounded stock of them 
to 
choose from!

So, that's the  story.

73 Nick K5EF





Robert Downs -  Houston
<http://www.wa5cab.com> (Web Store)
MVPA  9480
<wa5cab at cs.com> (Primary email)
<wa5cab at comcast.net>  (Backup email)

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