[GreenKeys] Fwd: Re: What brought you here?

Tue Apr 7 16:23:48 EDT 2020

I'd be really curious to see the CP/M stuff...I have an IMSAI 8080...in
pieces...and hoping that maybe over the next few days I'll get it on the
variac to reform tha caps, and see what happens. Whatever worked for your
model 15 should work for my 32 as well!

Jeff

On Tue, Apr 7, 2020 at 3:54 PM Paul Wills (CKT&T) <
pdwills at cedarknolltelephone.com> wrote:

> My introduction was a bit indirect.
>
> Out of college, in 1977, I started working for the Amtrak Communications
> and Signal department in Philadelphia.  This was just after Amtrak took
> over the Northeast Corridor.  The communications facilities between
> Washington to Boston and Philadelphia to Harrisburg were basically what
> the Pennsylvania Railroad built in the 1930s concurrent with the
> electrification of the railroad.  With a few modern additions (such as
> N1 Carrier) the system was a snapshot of what long distance telephony
> was in the 1930's.  I consider myself very fortunate to have seen it in
> action.
>
> The PRR had a pretty extensive Teletype plant but, by the time I got
> there, there was only one major circuit between Washington and New York
> used to carry train consists between those cities as well as some
> printers at the intermediate points.
>
> I experienced a bit of "sensory overload" the first time I went into the
> Wire Chief's office in Philadelphia.  In addition to the telephone
> equipment, there were racks of 40AC1 tone carriers, one model 19 for the
> wire chief, and an incredible "home built" unit that decoded message
> headers via a stunt box to route them to specific printers.  It was an
> incredible place.  The sequential selector unit (as they called it), by
> the way, can be seen here: http://www.cedarknolltelephone.com/prr/po5.jpg
>
> At the same time, I had assembled an IMSAI 8080 so I could keep my hands
> on a computer after entering the "time warp" I found at Amtrak.  One day
> my boss asked me if I has a printer to go with it.  Of course, in 1977,
> printers were not something the average out-of-college student could
> afford so he suggested that I grab one of the many retired model 15s
> that were in storage.
>
> Out of ignorance, I thought this was a pretty good idea.  It was only
> after I got it home that I discovered Baudot code and had to design the
> serial interface as well as the 8080 assembler program to send and
> receive it.  It was quite an educational experience. I have to say I had
> as much fun cleaning up the printer as I did using the computer.  I was
> hooked. I eventually wrote a CP/M IO driver that allowed treated the
> Teletype just like another IO device.
>
> I started making plans to replace the stunt box with an 8080 based
> decoder but it was not to be.  Within the year, the train consist
> information was moved to Amtrak's reservations system and the Teletype
> network was retired.
>
> I made contact with some organizations for the hearing impaired in New
> York and Philadelphia to spin off the surplus equipment but managed to
> snag a couple extra printers and the wire chief's model 19 which still
> sits near the test board (which I also acquired when the railroad plant
> was upgraded to a fiber optic based system).  I also ended up with some
> very nice test equipment. Regretfully, I did not get any 40AC1 equipment
> or the Sequential Selector.
>
> I'm not sure when I discovered Greenkeys.  I'm sure it was while I was
> looking for anything I could find about Teletype.  I believe it was
> there that I discovered Heavy Metal* which allowed me to move the
> Teletype into the Windows world (but never completely out of the CP/M
> world.)
>
> It's inspiring to read about so many people working to keep this stuff
> alive.  Hopefully, we can hook a new generation when it's time to pass
> it on.
>
> I ended up building a 3 way interface box that allows me to use the
> IMSAI, Windows machine, and a TU to receive ITY.  The loop from there to
> the telegraph position of the #5 testboard where it's distributed to two
> printers now (The 19 in the equipment room and 15 in the study.)  I have
> a 15 pin feed and a 28 which I would also hook up but there's no more
> room to put it.
>
> Every so often, I like to start it up to just listen.  Even the sound of
> the selector magnet operating with the motor stopped brings back
> memories.  Did anyone ever hear the sound of 30-40 215 relays all
> chattering in unison?
>
> That's about it.  I could write about the telephone equipment but that's
> OT.
>
> PDW
>
> *I still don't know how I did it but using Javier Albinarrate's user
> interface as an example, I was able to update Bill Buzbee's Heavy Metal
> program to work with the more updated Perl environment.  I am certainly
> indebted to both gentlemen for their work.
>
> On 4/7/2020 1:44 PM, Jeff G wrote:
> > I'm sure this has been done in the past, but figured I'd ask as I'm a
> > bit of a newb here and it would give me something to read. What got
> > you into Teletypes, and ultimately to Greenkeys? Can be a simple
> > answer or a short story!
> >
> >
>
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