[GreenKeys] Teletype M12 KSR

Thu Jan 22 23:17:22 EST 2015

All,

New York Telephone used Model 15's, and 14 TD's and reperfs into the
mid-1970's.

My first few years in the TTY gang were spent trying to keep the 15's
running.

As a "special project", I replaced some of the "Model 19" tables with Model
28ASR's

that had come in as disconnects. The "Model 19's" were a 15 KSR on a wood
table with

a TD and reperf. There were none of the mechanical keyboard punches. By the
mid-1970's things

were changing very fast and we were replacing the Model 15's with the
Teletype

"Comdat" video terminal that was as big as a Model 19 table. It was an

engineering nuightmare. It was used to prepare service orders and then send

the orders to a Model 35 reperf. The reperf had a 8-to5 lervel converter in

the base that also sent the orders to 5 level machines. In some offices, the
15's and 28's

were replaced with 35 KSR's. There was an odd mix of 35 and 75 WPM 28's

in use into the late 70's. DX readers (another nightmare) were used to read

Model 14 tapes into the Comdat. I left the TTY gang in the late 70's and
joined AT&T's

cellular engineering group. But, as far as I know, the Model 40's (4540) had
already

taken over as in-house machines. There had to be tons of 15's, 14's and 28's

scrapped during the late 1970's. Western electric was gathering them all

up at the main warehouses and sending them off to be junked. 

Interestingly, the Model 37 came and went almost overnight as far

as it being used internally at Ma Bell.

Jack K0TTY

NNNN

From: GreenKeys [mailto:greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Don
Robert House K9TTY
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2015 9:49 PM
To: Duncan Brown
Cc: Greenkeys
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] Teletype M12 KSR

Duncan,

There are some wrinkles in production  and supply caused by customer demand.
Teletype discontinues a product and after a couple of customers scream they
temporarily support the product. usually with parts in stock. At Illinois
Bell we had a few model 15s and 19s in service as late as 1968. I replaced a
19 at Ball Brothers Glass Company with a 33ASR and the operator quit. We had
a M15 at the American Wilbert Vault Company with a tabulator that could be
set by the operator.  They had been a customer so long that when we replaced
it with a 28KSR our company did not raise the monthly charges. we replaced
it after running out of parts.

The dates I have for the Model 12 start is 1923. the first customer was the
Chicago and Alton Railroad, however the first commercially successful M12
deployment was the Associated Press.

In 1932 the Model 14 strip printer started taking many orders for manual TWX
and in 1935 the Model 15 started up replacing the Model 12, however support
for the M12 was kept on until 1937.

Because of WWII most Teletype machines demand was the US military forces and
so the civilians that had not had their M12s replaced had to make do with
the M12 until Teletype could make enough Model 15s to satisfy demand.  The
first machines used by amateurs were the M12 followed by the Model 26.  The
12 is a primitive machine and most hams junked them when they could get a
replacement.  

This is how I understand the time line.  My fathers ship took an M15 aboard
in 1943 for their radio room just before the ship was commissioned. 

I picked up the M12KSR I had from a 96 year old ham in Standard, CA.  He had
a quonset hut filled with radio and RTTY equipment left over from supporting
the March Air Force base after a plane crashed into the base radio
communications facility.  First I found the typing unit, then the keyboard.
We could not find the base and legs.  After returning to SoCal I got an
email from the elderly ham that said he found the table for the machine
under a wood pile next to his mobile home. Al Tipsword deliver the table to
me the next weekend when we met in Fresno. I was thrilled at the time.  The
machine now is at Steve Ripper's home in Michigan minus the cover which was
never located.  Both the M12 that Doug and Jerry have have covers.

Best,

Don

K9TTY

here are a couple photos from Fresno and of the M12 Electrical Service Unit.

On 22 Jan 2015, at 7:27 PM, Duncan Brown wrote:

Don,

Thanks for the inventory!  I was just telling the AWA Museum Curator (as he
helped me carry the M12 into the Museum) that there were probably no more
than a half dozen M12s in existence.

What were the manufacturing dates of the M12?

Duncan

On 22-Jan-15 13:37, Don Robert House K9TTY wrote:

The four known owners of Model 12 KSR machines are:

AWA Museum (Duncan Brown)

Doug Alderdice (East Coast)

Steve Ripper (Midwest)

Jerry Block (West Coast)

Don

K9TTY

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