[GreenKeys] Slightly OT: CW keyer for a transmitter?

[Richard Knoppow]

-----Original Message-----
>From: Roy Morgan <k1lky68 at gmail.com>
>Sent: Jan 3, 2014 11:45 AM
>To: Dave <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com>, greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
>Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] Slightly OT: CW keyer for a transmitter?
>
>
>On Jan 3, 2014, at 3:41 AM, Dave <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>> Definitely CW it looks like the bit we can see sends "ris" but it seems a very expensive way to send a short phrase in Morse.  
>
>As I understand it, such machines were used by the maritime service shore stations. They were called “the wheel”.   The thing would run for hours on end, for years, to send the call and short message on the shore station frequency so the marine at-sea operators could tune in the signal and know the station was ready for business.

     My message was sent before being completed.
     I am pretty sure the "wheel" at most U.S. coastal stations was a tape sender and not an actual wheel although such existed.  The message on the tape varied from time to time, probably depending on the taste of the operator or when the station was open for meteorological observations.  The usual message was as I indicated, often with CQ in place of the V's and occasionally with something more elaborate. The local RCA station KSE would sometimes send:  QRA RCA LOS ANGELES RADIO DE KSE KSE KSE  etc.  KTK in San Francisco would run a tape which said CQ CQ CQ DE KTK KTK KTK NOW ACCEPTING TFC ADDRESSED OBSERVER SAN FRANCISCO  etc, but the usual was simply OBS as in  CQ CQ CQ DE KFS KFS KFS OBS? TFC? ANS 6  8  12 MCS   
     The high power stations on each coast operated by RCA and MacKay sent press every day. About two hours of machine sent code.  I learned code from these stations and the "wheels" are very familiar although I have not heard one for many years.