[GreenKeys] RTTY and ITTY: It took me a very long time, but I am enjoying it...

[Don Robert House]

On 22 Jun 2009, at 8:04 PM, Don Cunningham wrote:

Just one "tongue in cheek" correction, Don, in 1958, the Ocean Hopper  
kit was an Allied Electronics kit, Knight Kit.  Some years before the  
Radio Shack merger, hi.  I have a couple of Knight Kit Span Masters  
(my first shortwave receiver, but I failed to keep the "original").   
Boy, you bring back some memories.  I then saved my lawn mowing money  
and "upgraded" to a new, shiny Lafayette HE-10 (actually made by Trio,  
now Kenwood).  Didn't become a ham till after the Navy taught me the  
Morse code, hi.  Nice re-cap, Don!!!
73,
Don, WB5HAK

Yes Don,

I goofed on the Allied Radio calling it Radio Shack,  I guess my old  
brain is not running on all synapses.  I should have written KNIGHT  
KITS....
My first was the Ocean Hopper, then came the Space Spanner, then the  
Span Master, after those I built the slightly more sophisticated kits...
The Star Roamer, the R-55A, the R-100 and the R-100A.

In A school I opted for AT-S which was ASW and became AX.  Many who  
went into AT-N went to code school.  N was navigation and  
communications.
AT-R was RADAR.  The other choices were AT-W these techs were crews on  
the DEW line extension Barrier patrols.  They were being  
disestablished as AX was being established.  Lastly was TD Tradevman  
or Training Device Technician.  Most of these were WAVEs in my day.   
So I got my first choice  and wound up in the first AX class of ten  
technicians.  Our instructor made the final exam so difficult that all  
10 of us failed.  After sitting in the class room for over an hour  
while the administration decided what to do, our instructor came in  
and announced that we all passed and became designated strikers for AX3.

I remember the AT-N students talking about their code instructor.  He  
seemed something of an alien to me.  The man rewired a headset into  
two separate inputs.  He then had two radiomen send him CW. One in  
each ear.  He would write the two messages simultaneously on a  
chalkboard using both hands.

Must have been quite a stunt to see.

73
Don, K9TTY