[GreenKeys] a few pictures I've not seen before

[NNN7DXB at aol.com]

Pete:

The 6th photo down with the Army corporal pulling a tape off of a machine
dates from about 1952.

The photo is the Dept of the Army Tape Relay Station in the Pentagon.

The station was WAR at the time (before the use of Routing Indicators
to route traffic). The tape relay connected to other Army Field Commands
and they used Call Signs like WAR-1, WAR-2, WAR-3, etc. (Eventually,
the station's Call Sign was replaced and the relay became RUEP; HQ Dept
of the Army became RUEPDA and it kept the routing until 1968 after
which it became RUEADWD during the AUTODIN era.

The equipment is Teletype Corp AN/TGC-4s. The tape gear that the
operators tape came from was likely the venerable Model 14 reperf
which was the mainstay of most early Teletype Corp tape gear. The
Model 14 reperf was the unit installed inside the cabinet. In the 50s,
most of this equipment worked at 60 wpm.

The little white clip boards hanging on the front of each machine are
Traffic Logs. Upper Log (DA Form 11-118) was for SEND; Lower likely
for RECEIVE in most relays, although it might be reversed in this photo
because the TDs are in the lower position. Each tape sent and received
had to be "logged in" and messages were accountable by Channel Numbers
(i.e. the "ZCZCARA###, etc").

(For more on Channel Numbers visit our CommCenter sites at:

http://commcenter-8.net

http://commcenter-8.net/cc-7

(Need to have Java installed and enabled).

Note that I gave a short dissertation to the Greenkeys group about
a week or so ago on "tape relay" operations. This is a part of one
such tape relay. 

It is likely that this was a weekend or holiday photo. Most tape relays
would find operators knee deep in tape, as traffic was often prolific,
and not nearly as relaxed as the photo indicates. (This from 
experience...).
This would be especially true at a Major Relay Station, such as Dept of
the Army, Navy, etc.

Scroll down further to the line of streamlined printers all lined up.

Photos 7, 11 and 12 are all of the same facility. 

These are Model 15s in a streamlined cabinet which allowed them
to be lined up neatly for easy access. The photo is of a CAA (forerunner
of today's FAA) Weather Service Station at Washington National Airport.

The TDs were for sending (forwarding) Weather Traffic, as it might
have been received across the room (not visible in the photo) to other
stations. The TDs are basically Model 19 equipment in a different
cabinet arrangement.

All of these photos have been around for some time now, and are not new.

Regarding the Olivetti machines: widely used by the Italian military
post WW II, and noted to be very reliable machines. As with all things
European, Olivetti made a whole series of very modern teletypes that
lasted until the computers made them obsolete.

Hope this helps,

Dave
CommCenter Group