[GreenKeys] ST-8000A and ST-6000 (was "More where these came from")

Thu Jun 4 22:42:25 EDT 2009

Coupla questions for anybody....

For the ST-6, ST-6000, etc.,....what does the 'ST' stand for?

And any ideas where the DT-600 fits in all of this....I suppose it had a 
short life as not much mention is made of it.

Richard kn7sfz

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Henry" <ghenry at halcomm.com>
To: "Don Cunningham" <wb5hak at martineer.net>; "hsvham" <hsvham at yahoo.com>; 
"Jeffrey Angus" <jangus at socal.rr.com>; <larryradio at att.net>; "Greenkeys" 
<greenkeys at mailman.qth.net>; "Herb Graeber" <hhg at suddenlink.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 10:20 AM
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] ST-8000A and ST-6000 (was "More where these came 
from")

> Thanks for the kind words, guys.
> Here's a short time-line of RTTY modems by Irv Hoff, HAL, and Dovetron.
>
> Nov, 1964 RTTY Journal, Irv Hoof, K8DKC and Keith Peterson W8SDZ -
> "Mainline TT/L FSK Demodulator" (TT/L-1)
>
> Sept, 1967, HAL Devices RT-1 RTTY Demodulator.
>         I designed the RT-1 for USAF MARS duty and it worked - but
> "I've had better ideas".
>
> Sept, 1967 RTTY Journal & May + June 1969 QST, Keith Peterson, W8SDZ,
> and Irv Hoff, K8DKC - TT/L-2 FSK Demodulator.
>
> Sept, 1968 RTTY Journal & April, 1970 QST, Irv Hoff, W6FFC -
> "Mainline ST-3 Solid State FSK Demodulator".
>         It was about this time that Irv and HAL started
> communicating.  We discussed offering the ST-3 but Irv wanted to wait
> until he finished the ST-6.
>
> May, 1970 RTTY Journal & Sept, 1970 Ham Radio, Irv Hoff, W6FFC - ST-5
> RTTY Demodulator
>
> Sept, Oct, Dec, 1970 RTTY Journal & Jan. 1971 Ham Radio, Irv Hoff,
> W6FFC - ST-6 RTTY Demodulator.
>         HAL started supplying circuit boards for the ST-6 in
> September, 1970 and complete wired units by April, 1971.
>
> Sept, 1972, HAL ST-6000 RTTY Demodulator.
>         The ST-6000 started out to be an ST-6 that didn't need
> toroids but grew into something that was quite different.
>
> Sept, 1973 (?), Hank Scharfe, W6SKC - Dovetron MPC-1000.  I believe
> he first showed it at the 1974 Dayton Hamvention.
>
> April, 1977, HAL ST-5000, a lower-cost and reduced feature version of
> the ST-6000.
>
> April, 1984, ST-8000 HF Modem.
>         This included all the bells and whistles I always wanted an
> a modem - and used some 1500 components (aka "labor intensive").
>
> Sept, 1990, HAL bid the ST-8000A in response to a USAF supply
> contract.  The specifications were based on the Frederick 1280A/M
> Militarized Modem.
>         In all, we shipped about 700 to the USAF by 1993.  It now
> appears that many remained in their depot packing at McClellan AFB
>         until it was closed.  I've been told that some were then
> warehoused at Tinker AFB.
>
> After that, HAL switched to DSP technology - PCI-4000, DSP-4100/2K,
> P-38, DXP-38, etc.  These modems use about 1/10 the parts of the ST
> series but are very software intensive.  We traded manufacturing
> labor costs for software development costs - more expensive people
> and - as we all know - "software is never done".
>
> It would be interesting if one of the contributors could add-in
> models and dates for Frederick modems.  Many predated HAL by quite a few 
> years.
>
> Bill Henry
>
> PS:   The TT/L-2 was a great demodulator.  Some of the parts were
> very hard to find but once found and built, the demod had a VERY deep
> dynamic range.  The filters in the later ST-series were generally
> better but we gained a lot of satisfaction seeing all those "valves"
> light up (also heat for the shack).
>
>
> At 06:46 PM 6/3/2009 -0500, Don Cunningham wrote:
>>One word to the wise, replacing ST-6000's with the ST-8000A.  Listen to 
>>what
>>Bill Henry and others are saying.  This TU was designed to fullfill a
>>government contract, required to be "like" another brand of TU.  The
>>ST-6000A is a FINE RTTY TU, designed for 60 and 100 wpm RTTY, with built 
>>in
>>loop supply and tuning scope.  I have most of Hal's units by now, but
>>consider the ST-6000 to be probably the "pinnacle" of their design for
>>amateur RTTY (maybe if my ST-8000 (non A model) wasn't such a basket case, 
>>I
>>would think it was better, hi)!!  Just MHO, but I bought a new ST-6000 for
>>myself upon retirement, that was a special commercial low tone unit, and 
>>it
>>far outdistances ANY other TU I own.  I have the ST-8000, ST-8000A (NIB 
>>one,
>>so I paid a LOT more for it, hi), several ST-6000's and ST-6's.  All do 
>>what
>>they were designed to do, just don't expect the last to be the best for
>>amateur use.  If I'm wrong, some of you straighten me out, but in my 
>>shack,
>>I'll never get rid of my ST-6000.  Off the soapbox, hi.
>>73,
>>Don, WB5HAK
>>
>>______________________________________________________________
>>GreenKeys mailing list
>>Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
>>Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>>Post: mailto:GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net
>>
>>This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>>Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> ______________________________________________________________
> GreenKeys mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html 