[GreenKeys] Hello and Where to find PC to RTTY Interface?

[Randy and Sherry Guttery]

On 2/1/2011 7:57 PM, Don Robert House wrote:
> You are gonna get all the newbies upset and confused.
> Like sending a new sailor for a hundred yards of shoreline.
>
OK - I promise - last one...   (and this one was a tried and 
true "gotcha" - worked very nearly 100%)...

On my last ship - I worked in the Navigation Repair Shop. 
One of the more unusual pieces of equipment we worked on was 
the Type 11 astro-tracking periscope.  To align the scope to 
"sufficient" accuracy - optical "shots" of several miles 
were required - sighting "targets" located about the harbor 
(and them shooting reciprocal shots back to the scope as 
well).  To facilitate these alignment operations -  we had 
phones installed at the "target shacks", and of course to 
coordinate everything - we had a shore line phone installed 
in our shop aboard ship.  Back in the day (1970s)  there 
were only a few "outside line" phones on the ship - as 
"shore lines" were a scarce resource - and it was only 
because of that "operational need" that we had one.  The 
Proteus was a fairly large ship - 19,000 tons - so one 
didn't really notice movement unless we hit some pretty 
rough seas. The ship was totally independent - power, it's 
own internal phone system, etc. - so being "at sea" wasn't a 
lot different then Med-Moored at the pier...  Well - save 
for one or two details...

So here's how the "gotcha" worked:  After we'd been to sea 
for a while - just long enough for things to settle back 
into "usual routine" - We'd look around and see who was 
working busily on paperwork or some piece of equipment or 
such- and oblivious to his surroundings.   We'd ring the  
phone - and someone would walk over and "answer" the 
shoreline phone...  " Hey Chief Jones - it's your wife" and 
lay the receiver on the desk... at which point Chief Jones 
would walk over pick up the receiver and "Hello?"...    
Didn't take too long for the "victim" to get a funny look on 
his face as he realized the "shore line" didn't work too 
well several miles out to sea...

And yes - I've been a "victim" of this one myself!

best regards!

-- 
randy guttery

A Tender Tale - a page dedicated to those Ships and Crews
so vital to the United States Silent Service:
http://tendertale.com