[GreenKeys] FW: Computer Memory Lane

[NNN7DXB at aol.com]

Tom and Group:

Tidbits:

FWIW, "computers" these days are a steal pricewise, compared to the
"new" cost of a 1966 production model Kleinschmidt ASR teletype
built for the US Army. The ASR was the AN/FGC-25 or 25X and its
DoD list price (1966 dollars) was $3600.00, new, complete, crated.

Note that the 25s were 1955 designs but were still in full production
due to the Vietnam War build-up requirements.

Compare this to prices of a few years earlier:

a 1960 Chevrolet Nomad stationwagon (new) retailed for $3600.00. (That
is the price my father paid for his in 1960, new)

a 1962 Comet or Ford Falcon could be had for around $2000.00 (+ or -
a few dollars).

In 1963, my folks purchased a house in Miami, FL for $36000.00. (Sold it
in 2007 for over $240,000.00).

Point is, teletype machines were EXPENSIVE even then, which is probably
why so few new ones ended up in ham and hobby shacks (this in addition
to the fact that the mfrs didn't sell to those groups anyway; teletypes
were considered commercial or industrial grade machines, and their sales
and distribution were often highly restricted).

I have no idea was an eqivalent Model 28 ASR sold for during that time.
The Army model for the Model 28 would have been the AN/FGC-58 and
I suspect it was closer to around $4000.00.

The price for the 25X was the list price quoted on our Signal Units
inventory list in 1966 when we received about 30 of them as brand new
units, with all of the organic components and running spares. The KLI
machines replaced an equivalent number of German-built Siemens T-100s
that we were using in Frankfurt, Germany at the time.

Dave