[GreenKeys] oddity on the bay

[Richard Knoppow]

    Instructographs were offered for sale or lease. Wind up used 
phonograph motors which had an adjustment on the regulator for 
speed. There was also an electric motor version and one with a 
built in oscillator (very crude). They are not rare but tapes for 
American Morse are extremely difficult to find. Continental tapes 
are fairly common. Earlier ones had wooden spools but at some 
point they began to use Bakelite. I have two of these guys. They 
work fine with a code practice oscillator or with a sounder. 
There were three or four other machines advertised throughout the 
1930s to 1950s. There are instruction books on BAMA. I think I 
found the patent, it seems to me the number is in the instruction 
book.
     All the early wind up phono motors were adjustable speed, 
for one thing they were not accurately regulated, for another not 
all records were cut at the same speed. While 78.26 RPM was a 
standard Edison used 80RPM as did some others. Also, having 
variable speed is useful for dancing or for playing along with 
some instrument that can't be adjusted in pitch, like a piano.

On 4/17/2020 10:06 AM, Robert Nickels wrote:
> On 4/17/2020 11:00 AM, Jim Haynes wrote:
>> That's most likely a code practice machine
>
> The famed (or infamous?) Instructograph!   Look in the back of 
> any old QST from the 50s or 60s and you'll likely find a little 
> ad for one, for sale or rent.   In the summer of '65 my dad 
> proposed that if I did certain chores during the summer of my 
> 14th year, he'd rent an Instructograph for me as preparation 
> for taking my General class exam when the FCC came to Omaha in 
> late summer. Which I did, and which greatly supplemented my 
> on-air Novice contacts where I'd loaf along at a comfortable 10 
> wpm or so speed.   (It was common for many of us to have to 
> overcome a "hump" between that and the 13 wpm required, and 
> this was in the days when the FCC required 65 perfect 
> characters in a row out of 5 minutes of Morse, no "multiple 
> choice" content questions!)
>
> The unit shown is motorized, I've got an earlier one around 
> here that had a wind-up motor like old phonographs.   There was 
> a little knob that allowed you to adjust the speed - down to 
> where it was easy copy and where you could memorize the tape, 
> for example.   But even my young self realized this was 
> defeating the purpose and disciplined myself to do my daily 
> practice at 15 wpm or better, and despite having the jitters 
> from being in front of "THE FCC", I passed the test and got my 
> General before my one-year Novice ticket expired.   I will say 
> I was happy to pack the Instructograph and and send it on it's 
> way to the next victim!
>
> 73, Bob W9RAN
>
> PS:  The Instructograph used a spring-loaded mechanical contact 
> to sense actual holes in the paper, the more sophisticated 
> military TG-34-A used a gas-filled type 923 phototube to detect 
> black marks on the paper tapes and trigger the oscillator. 
> They're very cool but don't seem to attract much interest, 
> which is why I have one and a wooden case full of tapes around 
> here too!
>
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-- 
Richard Knoppow
1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
WB6KBL