[GreenKeys] Seeking information, history, ideas - GPE "Iron-Horse" Perforator and NCR cash register adding machine

[David March]

Don,

The National Museum of Computing is a great place to visit - you can get 
a virtual tour from their web-sitewww.tnmoc.org
The emphasis is on getting old stuff working again, mainly by volunteers 
may of whom worked in the same equipment during their working lives. The 
museum is in the grounds of Bletchley Park which is a separate museum 
focusing on the WWII code breaking 
activities.http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/ 
<http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/>  The Colossus rebuild is a joint 
project of both museums with the biggest 5-hole paper handler I've ever 
seen!

If you or anyone else is coming to the UK, I'd be happy to facilitate a 
visit to these museums.

In addition to the German Lorenz (GPE "Iron-Horse" Perforator look 
alike), I am also hoping to tackle a seized up NCR  adding machine. See 
attached picture.

I have not been able to identify exactly what model it is, possible a 
Class 11 from the 1960-70s. The keyboard indicates pre-decimalisation 
(D-day was 15 February 1971). Any information even as basic as the 
direction of rotation of the motor would be very helpful.

Best regards
David


On 09/07/2012 23:19, DR HOUSE wrote:
> Yes,
>
> I would like to see the museum.  I assisted Craig Sawyers by providing 
> the skinny paper tape for one of the machines.  Please let me know of 
> your progress.
>
> All my best wishes and hopes,
>
> Don
>
>
> On 9 Jul 2012, at 3:15 PM, David March wrote:
>
> Don,
>
> Thanks for the link to the GPE documentation. I've already picked off 
> the Parts Manual which has helped with the strip down.
>
> I have put together a DC power supply and got the solenoid clicking 
> nicely today. The keyboard/translator linkages are still disassembled 
> for cleaning, but I tested out each of the  punch pins onto a paper 
> tape. Great feeling of satisfaction!
>
> The National Museum of Computing is housed in some of the original 
> WWII buildings at Bletchley Park (where the UK WWII code breaking took 
> place). In asking around, I was told that the Lorenz has been around 
> at Bletchley Park since the Museum came into being some six years ago. 
> There seems at least the possibility that it was used by the code 
> breakers in the 1940s which if it could be confirmed would make it a 
> really historic find. Watch this space!
>
> Regards
> David
>
>
> On 08/07/2012 01:18, DR HOUSE wrote:
>> Good luck with your research.  You can download all of the GPE 
>> documentation from Nick England's website.
>>
>> <http://www.navy-radio.com/manuals-ttycorp.htm>
>>
>> Best,
>> Don K9TTY
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 7 Jul 2012, at 3:31 AM, David March wrote:
>>
>> Don,
>>
>> Thanks for your thoughts.
>>
>> The keyboard is arranged in four banks with a row of numerals at the 
>> top. There are some punctuation characters available as 
>> shifted-letters. This would imply the COMMUNICATIONS character set. 
>> Whether this was an international convention or was 
>> country-dependent, I don't know.
>>
>> I am in the process of comparing the actual 5-hole code generated as 
>> this may be another clue. I will try to narrow down a manufacturing 
>> date, but C Lorenz AG was subsumed into various other companies over 
>> the years so there may no longer be any company archives in existence.
>>
>> Thanks again for your help.
>>
>> David March
>>
>> On 07/07/2012 00:10, DR HOUSE wrote:
>>>
>>> On 6 Jul 2012, at 11:17 AM, David March wrote:
>>>
>>> I am in the process of refurbishing a Lorenz HL36 Tape Perforator 
>>> for the National Museum of Computing ( www.tnmoc.org) in the UK. 
>>> This is a "functional equivalent" to the GPE.
>>>
>>> I would like to find out what these were used for, which branch of 
>>> business (or military) and when they were in use. The Lorenz logo 
>>> changed over the years and the logo on this model suggests 1930-1950s.
>>>
>>> One peculiarity of the HL36 I am working on is that although it has 
>>> a standard German keyboard layout (i.e. QWERTY with the Z and Y 
>>> interchanged), the CR and LF keys have been mechanically locked out. 
>>> Does this give anyone any ideas?
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance
>>>
>>> David March
>>>
>>> David,
>>>
>>> Carriage Return and Line Feed are only used if the receiving 
>>> printers are page printers.  In the 1930s the majority of the news 
>>> came on strip printers such as the Model 14 and the Western Union 
>>> 2B.  The Iron Horse was used for punching tape for many different 
>>> applications.  The three character sets in use were WEATHER, 
>>> FRACTIONS, and COMMUNICATIONS.  The difference of course was the 
>>> upper case, or FIGS characters. Of course a few of the parts would 
>>> be different as the 5 unit codes for Z and Y would be the same as 
>>> elsewhere, just located in different spots on the keyboard.
>>>
>>> I hope this is of some use to you.
>>>
>>> Don K9TTY
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>


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