[GreenKeys] Kleinschmidt TT-4C update #2

[Greg Arnoldussen]

Hello all.  It has been a while since my last update, I'm afraid the Olympics have taken my attention away for the time being but I have periodically been sitting down for the odd clean & tinker.

As mentioned in the first update TTY#1 is up and running, and I have just managed tonight to get #2 to fire up. I had trouble getting this one to type (motor runs fine) but it turned out to be just a loose shorting bar where the loop current goes in, fortunately one of those occasions where the problem happened to be simple, but not immediately obvious.  I have oiled the felts on #2 but need to get stuck into cleaning the old grease off and re-grease, so I have only used it sparingly.  Nonetheless as I have stated before, they appear to be in working order and it probably doesn't hurt to get things whirring a bit just for a few minutes.  Initially I got a bit of a fright with #2 as after a couple minutes first go I got a bit of whiff of something burning but either it was a bit of fluff in the motor or the capacitor in the rectifying circuit (which is definitely giving off some sort of smell), I'm keeping a close eye on that as it is a big high
 voltage one (400V) and should easily be able to cope.  All the proper fuses are in the machine.

I have the paper now, but will need ribbons.  I believe they are fairly standard typewriter ribbons?  I have noticed some printing quality issues so a new ribbon will help.  The platen on #1 was adjusted as the LHS was fainter than the RHS and I have managed to even the score a bit more, though not completely.  The letter "S" is quite faint all along.  Steve Garrison has been generous in providing me with advice on this and other issues, thanks Steve.

Apart from the cleaning and lubrication duties I now have two things on the agenda.  First is to connect the two so as to get communications going, and second is to source a demod board to handle an ITTY feed.  Again, Steve has got me off to a start with a simple ITTY program which I have downloaded.  However, I am seeking one of Eric Volpe's demod boards to handle the conversion.  I have been given the circuit and PCB mounting diagram but I have never etched a board before and to be quite honest I think I might have to swallow my pride and say I might be biting off more than I can chew, however as far as soldering components go that is not a problem.  So, if someone is willing to provide me with a spare circuit I would of course be happy to pay for it (including postage).  If and when I manage to get a ITTY feed going I would like to put a video up on Youtube.  Failing that my engineering buddy thinks he could make one for me, and you never know,
 I might just have a go at this etching business myself!

Cheers,

Greg in Wangaratta.
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