[GreenKeys] model 14 and 2B questions

[Richard Dillman]

ok Dick educate me  so I can fit some of this together... were they 
receiving RCA message  stuff  from the ships and mailing the telegram 
out to peoples homes and businesses perhaps?

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Now this is getting interesting.  I'll start with what I know, then go to what I guess.

All radiograms to and from ships were transmitted by Morse code.

Messages from ship to shore could be delivered in several ways.  They could be sent by TTY to the Central Radio Office in San Francisco where they were delivered by bicycle messenger (as late as 1962) or TTY to the recipient.  Less expensive were Night Letters.  They were typed with a mill at the receive site, then mailed to the recipient.  I know this because I have a Night Letter and its envelope postmarked Inverness (the closest post office to the receive site).

Messages to the ship arrived at the receive site by TTY from the Central Radio Office in San Francisco.  The call signs of the ships were placed in the traffic list, transmitted every two hours.

Now on to what I guess.

Radiograms to ships could also be filed with Western Union to be sent "Via RCA" or any of the other coast station companies.  There was a Western Union line at the receive site in the era the photo was taken (1946-1947).  We know this because then station manager Frank Geisel complained in his station reports that the line was often not operating.  We have these reports and have published them in our Newsletter.

My guess is that the 2B was on the Western Union line and that it printed radiograms for ships filed through Western Union.  I suspect the ops at the receive site pasted the gummed strips produced by the 2B to radiogram blanks and placed them with the other radiograms in the traffic list for transmission to the ship.

Best,

RD

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Richard Dillman
Maritime Radio Historical Society
http://www.radiomarine.org
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