[GreenKeys] Father "RTTY"

Tue Jun 23 00:19:12 EDT 2009

Jack, 

  I also got my first model 26 from Felix Esteban at his house.  He had so
many machines.  I thought they were stolen.

Keith W8SDZ lives in Florida now.  Keith was the original designer of the
TTL/2 along with Irv Hoff.

Doug Frede who was at AT&T was a friend of Keiths - and its through him that
I got most of the parts to that beautiful model 28 you remember.

Gerry
AD6MC

-----Original Message-----
From: greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jack
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 11:12 AM
To: 'John Beckman'; greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] Father "RTTY"

W2BFD succeeded in getting a lot of commercial TTY users (but not Ma
Bell) to
release Teletype gear through him for amateur radio use. The people
who 
obtained the TTY's had to sign a document that basically said they
were only using the machines for hobby use and would not resell them
to commercial users. The initial machines John got were Model 12's.
He eventually had some success with WU and Ma Bell. I believe the
Bell Model 26's that eventually got released were also a result of
John's
efforts. Lots of 26's were distributed in the NY area by Felix,
W2ZPX... I got my 26 from him. He had a basement full of TTY gear and
barrels full of parts in his Queens house.

Most of the initial RTTY work was done at 2 Meters because FSK was
not allowed on the low bands (called the "HF bands' these days). 
They could use make-and-break keying only...MARK was a carrier
and SPACE was no carrier. This pretty much placed the TTY keyboard
in place of the CW key. It was not an overly efficient method of
sending RTTY signals.

Wayne, John and others pressured the FCC for FSK privileges,
first getting the OK for 850 HZ shift only and then eventually
any shift up to 900 HZ.

Both W2BFD and W2NSD deserve a lot of credit for promoting RTTY
in the post-WW II days. Wayne covered RTTY heavily in CQ; the column
was
eventually taken over by Byron, W2JTP. When Byron's CQ RTTY column
faded
away, Gordon White (non-Ham) started the "Surplus Sidelights" column,
with a lot
of emphasis on TTY equipment. I drove Gordon crazy as a teenage
"penpal"
and obtained my first Model 28 stuff from him (literally junkers that
needed to be fixed/refurbished). Gordon had a lot of contacts in the
DC area and he came up with really neat TTY gear.

While Ham RTTY started on the East coast, the West coast soon caught
up
with Merrill, W6AEE, being one of the more famous RTTY'ers. He was the
father of the "RTTY Journal". Us old-timer RTTY types all remember
W2JAV,
W2PAT, K2AGI, W6FFC (Irv Hoff), WA6PIR, W8SDZ, W9TCJ, W1AFN, and many
others.

Jack K0TTY

-----Original Message-----
From: greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of John Beckman
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:28 PM
To: greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [GreenKeys] Father "RTTY"

Maybe I've missed it, or maybe it doesn't matter anymore - but some of

the newcomers to RTTY might be interested in the man commonly credited

with starting and encouraging  RTTY, the best of all modes. We've seen

references to Irv Hoff and Wayne Green, and certainly they made 
contributions and encouragement, but nothing has been mentioned (to my

knowledge) about  W2BFD, John Williams, "The old maestro of RTTY."

John started the first RTTY "net" in 1946 with 30 printers in the New 
York City area. John gave lectures and demonstrations at tons of ham 
club meetings during the following two years, including participation
in 
an ARRL Convention. Articles about this new mode began appearing in
ham 
magazines in 1948 (Wayne Green, W2NSD. then Editor of "CQ" magazine
was 
an avid  RTTY enthusiast and he continued that support as publisher of

"73" magazine.).

By 1949 RTTY stations were popping up from coast to coast, but had it 
not been for pioneers like John Williams, W2BFD, who knows how long it

might have been before someone else discovered this notable addition
to 
the enjoyment of our wonderful hobby.

Perhaps some of the "oldest" old-timers on this list may have known
John 
and can share some more insight into this remarkable ham.

John W4BTX

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