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

Fri Jun 5 10:10:31 EDT 2009

"ST" came from Irv.  I think it stood for "Solid state Terminal".
The "DT-600" came from NAVY MARS - a special version of the ST-6 they made.

Bill Henry

At 07:42 PM 6/4/2009 -0700, Richard Schumann wrote:
>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
> >>
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