[GreenKeys] Teletype KSR28 Letters Key

[Chris Elmquist]

Is it possible the key was removed as part of the unit's "decommissing"
from some military service?   I've heard that rather than send the
machines to the crusher, they would remove some trivial component that
was "essential" to its proper functioning, thereby disabling it without
completely destroying it.  Later, after the unit was surplused, it was
easy for regular guys to put it back together.  I'm sure they did this
to outsmart the devious accountants.

My 28 Skintight was missing a key too except it was laying down inside
the unit--  just had to fish it out and plug it back in.  The key was
removed at the joint where the vertical bar meets the horizontal... so
if you looked through the hole, you'd just see that horizontal bar.
The key top had the vertical bar still attached and so I just had to
snap it back onto the hinge pin where it met the horizontal.

Chris N0JCF

On Monday (08/20/2012 at 12:10AM -0400), WA5CAB at cs.com wrote:
> Actually, some accountants are more devious than that.  I'd bet a beer 
> (local, not premium import) that if you get the machine working, it will unshift 
> on space.  I think I recall reading once that this (unshift on space, not 
> removing the Letters key) was a standard stunt box capability, originally for 
> use on very noisy HF tactical circuits.  But really, I can't seriously 
> imagine why anyone with more than room temperature IQ would remove the Letters 
> key.
> 
> In a message dated 08/19/2012 22:45:24 PM Central Daylight Time, 
> k1lky at earthlink.net writes: 
> > On Aug 19, 2012, at 7:03 PM, B M wrote:
> > 
> > >Did all KSR-28's have the 'Letters' key?  On a machine I recently  
> > >acquired, the key is not there. When I peer into the hole on the  
> > >keyboard, I just see straight to the bottom of the keyboard tray.   
> > >Could the key and actuator have both been removed, or not  
> > >installed?  The 'Figs' key is there.
> > 
> > Barry,
> > 
> > I think that was a specially modified machine meant for accountants.   
> > They love numbers and hate letters, especially if formed into words.   
> > So you hit the Figs key once and you can't get it back into letters  
> > mode.
> > 
> > That way, no one else can figure out what the accountant meant to  
> > say.  Normal for them.
> > 
> > Roy
> > 
> 
> Robert & Susan Downs - Houston
> wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
> MVPA 9480

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-- 
Chris Elmquist