[GreenKeys] 5-level VS 8-level

[George B. Hutchison]

Goodness Gracious - - -

We are comparing A's to B's.

The A machines have led a life of about maybe forty years long, while the 
B's have been around over eighty.

The A's have come and gone, and the industry they have served has grown such 
that unless you are indeed an eccentric that has to have one with it's 
high-speed clatter running somewhere in your life, no longer has anyplace in 
that which I will call the "Internet Society".

The B's, having lived roughly twice the lifespan of the A's, have enjoyed a 
particularly interesting history and positions of reliability in the average 
person's life.

I have never heard a model 33 or 35 being used as the background sound for a 
radio newscast.

Internationally, The Brits, The Italians, Western Union, have all been 
guilty trying to make a better mousetrap than the other guy, and just the 
amazing displays of ingenuity when it comes to the variations make 
collecting 5-level machines far more interesting.

The Germans in the 1930's saw that gee - them old Kleinschmidt designs were 
really the cats meow, and  went so far as obtaining licensing to copy and 
improve on the Model 15. (Lorenz)

The mechanical systems were so reliable that even the German crypto machines 
had Teletype-style selectors in them.

I think it safe to say that E.E. Kleinschmidt had to scratch his head awhile 
to come up with mechanical contrivances that did a  job similar to his early 
masterpieces, when the Smith-Corona/Kleinschmidt stuff took over the 
military.

Mite was way out in left field with their monstrosities.

Teletype actually made a machine that was slated to complete with the Mite, 
known as a model 242. It was sort of an interesting design, similar to the 
model 32, but could not hold a candle to the Mite due to a rather 
sorry-assed gearing arrangement that assured the motor pinion, a tiny nylon 
gear, lost its teeth in short order due to the force needed to run the rest 
of the machine. I liken the gear to a mechanical fuse.  When the going got 
tough, the teeth started going. Don House had a couple of those babies in 
his pile of stuff.

In summary - it's 5-level machines for me. they're far more interesting!!

W7TTY