[GreenKeys] GreenKeys Digest, Vol 83, Issue 5

[John Nagle]

On 12/4/2010 8:37 PM, greenkeys-request at mailman.qth.net wrote:
> Message: 11
> Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2010 22:37:34 -0600 (CST)
> From:kh-phillips at 9-5usa.org
> Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] a somber thought...
> To:greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
> Message-ID:<14306.67.142.130.24.1291523854.squirrel at 9-5usa.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
>
>> >  There's a LOT of history, hardware and paperwork
>> >  out there. What is going to happen to it when we're
>> >  gone?
>> >
>> >  Jeff-1.0
>> >  wa6fwi
> Very true, and definitely some sober ideas to think about.  I think I know
> how*my*  wife feels about all this "stuff" and what to do with it when I'm
> gone!;-)   However, since I am probably one of the youngest, if not*the*
> youngest person on the list (I am*always*  the "baby" in any group I
> belong to) I have to wonder if*anyone*  will care about saving much of
> this equipment and information in 25-30+ years.  The museums likely have
> as much as they want and/or can handle now.  An "oral history" project,
> though, might be a really good idea.   With budgets stretched ever
> thinner, and the museums and archives always on the low end of the totem
> pole, very few will have the wherewithal to care for much of the equipment
> or archive the documents.  The Teletypes/teleprinters will likely end up
> like steam locomotives today which are preserved, and operated, in a few
> locations by dedicated devotees.
>
> Kevin
> W5TTY (since 10/23/10; formerly KE5CQJ)

     It's hard.  I hope someone picked up that mint-condition
Model 15 in New York.

     In response to the above, I just made sure that backup
copies of the Bitsavers copy of the Teletype Model 15 manuals
were archived to Webcitation and properly cited in Wikipedia.
That will keep them around.

     Google has already found those documents and OCRd them.
Try this: search Google for "typebar carriage of the Model 15".
That's a line from an old Teletype manual, which someone once
scanned in.  Google can find it.

     Keeping the older hardware going is quite possible.
I'm not a ham, and I never worked on Teletypes until two years ago.
I haven't found a Model 15 very difficult to deal with.  It helps
that the manuals are still available.  The
pre-electronic machines are quite straightforward.  Reviving
old electronics is much tougher.  My guess is that Model 15
machines will be running long after the last Dataspeed 40 has
died.  I doubt that there's an Inktronic running anywhere.

     Teletypes are too big and heavy to be a valuable collectible.
Old stock tickers, the little glass dome machines Edison designed,
sell for around $20,000.  At the other extreme, it's really tough
to find a home for a Linotype, even if free. Teletypes are in the
middle, and at least have positive value.

				John Nagle