[GreenKeys] To keep...or not...

[Wa3frp]

Hi Danny, 

It is great to see that you want to get your Model 28ASR back in operating condition. 

I can tell and showfor one of my Model 28ASRs that sat in storage for 35 years and is now my primary operating machine on RTTY.

The best documentation that you can use as a source of information is the one that Don mentioned in his message to you.  This was my copy of the Western Union Field Technical Manual that Jim Haynes was kind enough to scan.  The is no need to buy this documentation as it is freely available on www.rtty.com   You can find the complete Western Union Field Technical Manual at 
http://www.rtty.com/development/literature/wubook/index.html   I worked with the folks who developed this manual and my Field Techs were the first to do field trials using this manual.  I can tell you that it may be best to simply work from the document on your computer rather than trying to print it out as any paper copy will probably get oil and grease on it during the maintenance exercise. 

I worked in the Western Union Field Service Division as a District Manager for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware in the late 1970s and early 1980s so I am very familiar with the Allentown Warehouse as I made many trips there for meetings. 

Checking on qrz.com I see that we are about 40 away from each other.   Why not take a look at the document (above) and maybe we could get together for a day or a part of a day to go over your Teletype. We need to get you up and operating and on the air! 

73 
Russ WA3FRP

On 20 Jul 2012, at 8:08 PM, W3ZF wrote:

Been a long time "lurker" on this group but practically never offer  
any comments (let alone, advice) because I am truly a lightweight at  
mechanical RTTY.

I live in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area of eastern PA and have  
had my 28ASR since the mid-80s. It came out of the Blue Cross offices  
where I worked when they abandon them when newer technology made  
interplan communications like this obsolete.

My 28 has sat idle (and covered) in my not-to-damp basement for the  
last 25 years - having worked fine when it fell into disuse.  I  
haven't oiled it or powered it up in all those years.

Reading the passion about running true RTTY makes me want to resurrect  
this thing and get it going again, but I truly lack confidence and  
feel incapable of knowing what the proper approach would be to prepare  
it for coming out of its long hibernation; and I don't want to screw  
anything up by starting it up in an "unprepared state".

I live by what USED TO BE the East Cost warehouse of Western Union  
right here in Allentown; hams around here used to backup their pickem- 
up-trucks right up to the loading docks where WU would nicely unload  
scrap (but probably working) units for practically nothing. Some local  
hams actually WORKED at WU and their knowledge and familiarity with  
these machine was a priceless local resource.  Those were the heady  
days of RTTY around here in the 80s.  I homemade my own TU from an  
article in QST and worked a few rolls of QSOs. IT was GREAT FUN even  
though running FULL DUTY CYCLE on my SB-102 made me very nervous! It  
was a memorable time in my amateur career.

Fast forward to 2012.

If I can't convince some kind & willing soul to spend some quality  
time with me to SHOW me what/where I need to oil, what kind of oil to  
use - and other matters of concern, then I should probably offer the  
machine to the nearest/highest bidder.  I still have a couple of boxes  
of paper and tape.  I always wanted my grandchildren to see this thing  
in operation.

So, is there anybody local to Allentown who would enjoy this  
assignment?  If not, who needs a 28ASR?

Oh, and I do run glass RTTY now and it's one of the ONLY things I do  
with my station anymore - which isn't often either.

Danny  W3ZF



Russ - WA3FRP
wa3frp at aol.com

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