[GreenKeys] Mainline TT/L Wanted

[Whitebear1122]

Greetings Greenkeys, a good friend of mine Tom W1CC and I are both Teletype and RTTY enthusiasts starting back in the 70's.   Tom was doing RTTY with his Model 15 in 1970 while I did my Teletype both as a Radioman in the Navy and later in College W9HHX where we paced 3rd in the World in the 1976 Volta RTTY Contest.  I still have my Model 15 Teletype although it's been in the garage for many years sort of 'on the way out'.  I tossed out my Model 28 KSR years ago.  Sigh..   We are planning a fun Teletype nostalgia event this Fall and Winter where we haul my model 15 back into the shack, with plastic covering the plush carpet of course because my wife would kill me if the 15 flung oil on it… hi hi  and work 20 meter Teletype. Not 20 meter RTTY, but 20 meter Teletype!   For all I know this may be the last Teletype adventure for the both of us.  

We are wondering if anyone has a tube Mainline TT/L tube terminal unit that we could buy for this experience.  Tom pointed out a beautiful Mainline TT/L terminal that sold on Ebay last month.  We would like to run tube Teletype if possible.  Tom built a Mainline TT/L back in 1970 and the nostalgia is strong.  If we can't find a Mainline TT/L to restore, I will use my wonderful HAL ST-6 that I bought new as a kit in 1982.  

Does anyone on here have a Mainline TT/L that they would sell us old nostalgia guys?

I was a Radioman in the Navy starting in 1971 and spent 3 years basically doing my RTTY hobby.  On my second ship, the USS Okinawa LPH-3, there were maybe 50 Model 28's in the radio room between Model 28 KSR's, 28 ASR's, and 28 RO's, and stacked banks of 4 28 typing units.  I used to work Fleet Teletype Broadcast for 12 hours at a time, 7 days a week, then eventually moved up to Ship Shore Teletype.  I did Teletype 12 hours a day.. scrubbed toilets, waxed floors, and chipped paint the rest of the time :)

 All along the way we were typing paper tape messages, often a few lines, often 28 pages, and then rolling them up on our hands in a figure 8 form.   When I was young (and good looking hi hi) I could read Baudot on the paper tape because we needed to be able to read it in order to edit the tapes, splice in new portions, or replace errors.  I no longer can read Baudot but consider myself lucky to have learned and practiced it at one time.   

I didn't use a particular "terminal unit" on the ships because they were all incorporated into the cryptology gear.   At the Naval Station Long Beach Ham station they had a Collins rig with a Navy URA-8A terminal unit.  I loved that RTTY station and I worked the world on RTTY.  Later in 1974 I was at W9HHX Milwaukee School of Engineering where they had a Drake 4B station with a Collins 30S-1, Hal ST-6, and a Hygain TH6DXX on the roof.  Oh my gosh, I was running nearly 1000 watts output (yes OUTPUT) with that station into the TH6DXX and worked the world.  If I called a station and they didn't answer, I knew they heard me….. hi hi

Thanks for letting me wax nostalgic.

Thanks.  73, Scott WA9WFA in Saint Paul MN