[GreenKeys] How did you acquire your Teletypes?

Wed Aug 26 15:05:13 EDT 2020

EXCELLENT! I'm going to add that to my Teletype Exchange. The big cost is
probably shipping. It's great if someone can carry equipment on a road
trip they were going to do anyway. I picked up several pieces of equipment
at the Dayton Hamvention and dropped them off as I traveled from Dayton
back to Denver. Ideally we'll eventually be able to get together again for
Dayton and regional hamfests where equipment can be exchanged.

Harold

> I live in what I fondly call the Teletype Black Hole.
>
> The long and short of it is I leveraged patience and a myriad of tools to
> build up what I have today, and will continue doing so well into the
> future. Hopefully this comes of some use to others who have the same
> question.
>
> If your area is a black hole like mine, most likely you'll have to resort
> to shipping and/or road trips. It's just part of the game.
>
>  * *eBay Saved Search*
>    * I suspect you may already be leveraging this tool, but I created
> saved searches for all relevant terms like teletype, teleprinter,
> teletypewriter, rtty, radioteletype, ratt, and so on. I have gotten an
> AN/UGC-74B for more than I should have paid for (it's built to
> withstand a nuke, practically, so even our beloved shipping trinity of
> USPS/UPS/FedEx couldn't damage it), some Model 14 TDs and 14 typing
> reperforators, and a couple of line test units via this method. I've
> also gotten some interesting smaller items like tuning forks, motors,
> classic telephone-style switches, a great deal on a whole bunch of
> paper tape, metal ribbon spools (the NOS ribbons are usually but not
> always too dry for use-- sometimes I've had clearly ancient ribbons
> that were sealed really well that were still usable), and other parts.
> https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/search-tips/saved-searches?id=4051
>  * *National Craigslist Search*
>    * While I had set up searches for our local online classifieds (Utah
> tends to use KSL.com rather than Craigslist), I've yet to see anything
> come up locally except than some overpriced paper rolls once. There are
> various tools to search all Craigslist.
> https://duckduckgo.com/?q=craigslist+national+search&t=brave&ia=web I
> think Search Tempest and "All of Craigslist" are the ones I've
> personally used.
>  * *Facebook*
>    * I hate the Facebook. But their marketplace seems to be very active in
> most areas. I don't spend a lot of time browsing there since they don't
> offer automatic searches with notifications like eBay and the
> Utah-local KSL.com classifieds does since they want to keep you on the
> site all the time so they can track and sell your soul, but it's a
> resource a lot of people forget about.
>  * *The GKN - GreenKeys Network*
>    * From time to time folks will call out local machines they are aware
> of on the group or advertise machines they personally need to help find
> new homes. People have also sometimes had luck sending out a message
> asking if anyone is aware of available machines in particular areas.
>  * *Harold's List*
>    * Harold Hallikainen is kind enough to aggregate listings from
> GreenKeys and other sources in a list here-- it's good to revisit once
> in a while in case you're able to make it out to or arrange some other
> kind of shipping method from the updated locations:
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I6TgY5PEQ35c6IVqWWrV5lmEvdRVZxkj8FaYxUj87qM/edit
>  * *Thrift Stores, Yard Sales, Estate Sales*
>    * This may be obvious, but taking a quick 10 minutes to stroll through
> whatever thrift/consignment/antique store and yard sale and especially
> estate sale you may pass by on your regular travels will may just one
> day yield some results. I've yet to see anything outside of typewriters
> at my local stores and yard sales, but someone once described a Model
> 28 ASR to me they said they saw at a nearby thrift store just a few
> weeks prior. I kicked myself for not having gotten it.
>      * goodwill.org may be a resource you could use-- I've never found
> teletypes there myself, but I haven't used it much. Perhaps I should
> utilize it more. It's a great portal into auctions available from
> Goodwill stores around the country.
>  * *Shipping/hauling methods *- combine with any option above
>    * *Uship.com *- A handy site where you can choose a pre-advertised rate
> or put out a freight job for smaller freighters to bid on. I found a
> Model 19 with table/power supply and Model 15 in Madison, WI and found
> a small freighter on uship.com who bid a price within my range at the
> time. The seller was willing to put them on a pallet and ratchet them
> down and wrap them up. I posed the question in a local ham group, and
> someone worked for a logistics company that was willing to have my
> pallet delivered to their loading dock for free (having to pick up with
> a lift is typically $100 extra, as is having to drop off, so that saved
> me $100). With the $100 lift pickup fee and the shipping, it was still
> $400 for that pallet. That was about half of what the big freighters
> like UPS/FedEx wanted for the pallet. I probably could have shaved off
> a little more if we had accurate weight measurements, but we likely
> overestimated. This was in 2016.
>    * *Have truck, will travel* - if you have a trailer or a truck or
> anything that's not a Smart Car, probably, you probably have enough
> room to pick up even something as large as a 28-- I've heard stories of
> guys packing ASRs in the trunks of their Corollas or something like
> that, so where there's a will there's a way. Also, I suffer from Fear
> of Doing New Things-- I think most of us do even if we don't recognize
> it. Comfort zones and all that. Sometimes you just gotta take a couple
> days off work and drive 800 miles one way to do something you're really
> interested in. You probably won't regret making a big trip like that,
> but you probably will regret not doing it at least once. And this comes
> from someone who isn't able to take a whole ton of time off of work and
> only takes time off to be with his immediate family.
>    * *Renting uHaul* - I mainly mean renting one of their small trailers.
> The flatbeds aren't very expensive. Even the covered trailers aren't
> that bad. They don't track miles, just a flat daily rate. Renting a
> truck is a lot more expensive since you have a daily rate plus 79 cents
> a mile, but once in a great while someone on GreenKeys will do this (or
> use their own truck/big trailer) and deliver a big haul of machines on
> their way around the country in exchange for gas money and some food,
> which makes the cost split between various people and thus more
> palatable. Penske in the instance of a really huge haul/truck and 1000+
> miles I think will usually be cheaper than uHaul.
>    * *FedEx/UPS pack n' ship* -- this is handy, but I wouldn't exactly
> recommend it. You can pay FedEx or UPS to pack and ship your machines
> if a far away seller is willing to drop them off but not willing to
> pack/ship. Only smaller machines will work this way-- FedEx told me the
> Model 14 typing reperfs I had them pack and ship were technically over
> the limit, but they ended up doing it anyway, so good on that local
> branch. Their shipping process ended up damaging one of the reperfs for
> me in transit, and it was like pulling teeth to get them to honor a
> claim, but they eventually did refund the cost of both the
> packing/shipping AND what I paid to the seller, so I ended up getting
> those machines for free. I'd recommend avoiding this option except in
> cases where the machine is totally enclosed: The 14 TDs are simpler
> machines, simpler shapes (no keys sticking out or odd protrusions), and
> pretty much fully enclosed and didn't experience any damage.
>    * *B**us Shipping* - I haven't used this method yet, but it looks
> promising and generally cheaper and safer than the trinity shippers.
> Packages have to be 100 pounds or less, but a Model 15 is a prime
> example of being able to easily split into its modules and ship in 2 -
> 3 packages.   https://www.busfreighter.com/ and
> http://www.shipgreyhound.com/
>    * *People with which you have connections*, even if the connections
> aren't personal. Don't underestimate this option. I was able to
> leverage the help of a work colleague who shares an affinity for old
> tech and who lived a few states away to help me get some machines near
> his location to me-- he picked them up and dropped them off at FedEx. I
> didn't even know the guy personally until that time-- I just put a
> general request out on the retrocomputing Slack channel I run at work.
> That local ham connection also helped me save a lot of money shipping
> by allowing my pallet to be delivered to his company's loading dock.
>      * Also, it doesn't hurt to put a message out to the GreenKeys group
> to see if there are any GreenKeyers in an area you're hoping to pick
> something up-- you never know when someone may be traveling your
> direction to visit family or willing to hold something for you until
> you're able to travel to their location, or even someone who's going
> halfway to your location combined with someone at the halfway point
> who's willing to hold for you. Maybe they just act as a middle man to
> get the machine from the seller to a shipper/freighter a few miles
> away. You'll be hard pressed to find a more helpful and willing
> group-- but it doesn't hurt to offer a giftcard or something to
> sweeten the deal!
>  * *Any local GreenKeyers? *
>    * I didn't think I had any brethren/sistren nearby when I first joined
> the list, but I eventually found out I am not alone when someone else
> on GK asked if there were any other Utahns on board. Turns out there
> are at least three of us. One of the guys has a warehouse downtown with
> a fair number of machines he's rescued over time, and two of us Utahn
> GKers plus a few other locals not on GK found ourselves the proud new
> owners of some great 28s, 3Xs, and even some Frieden Flexowriters (I'm
> a glutton for punishment). It might be worth asking on the list to see
> if you have some kindred spirits near your location. Even if you're
> never able to obtain any machines through these channels, it's great to
> meet up sometimes and just talk the trade, share tips, and enjoy each
> other's collections and accomplishments. Two of us in Utah have
> frequented some local shows, and it's always nice to say hello and see
> what the other is up to. After interacting with folks on GK for a
> while, you'll end up getting a general awareness of some people who
> live in nearby states that you can drop in and visit one day and who
> may be able to help be a halfway point for some future machine you
> rescue.
>
> I'm going to have to compile this and other suggestions people have at
> teletype.net. It's about time I update that site-- so much I want to do
> with it, so little time.
>
> -
> Jordan Spencer Cunningham
> teletype.net | GreenKeys Search Engine: teletype.net/gksearch
> SMS via teletype: 385-308-4898 | Email via teletype: tty at nerdology.org
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 26, 2020, at 9:08 AM, GodOfCows wrote:
>> (This is my first post to the email list)
>>
>> I just started getting into teletypes this year, mainly off my
>> fascination with early computing input/output. However, I'm struggling
>> in acquiring teletypes. So far Ebay has been my only source for both
>> material and teletypes themselves. It's been a crapshoot to say the
>> least. I've gotten a nice Model 32 Teletype that I've managed to repair,
>> but a Model 33 101c Teletype that I got came in the worst packing job I
>> have ever seen, it's repairable, but cosmetically it's beyond repair (I
>> spent about 4 hours glueing and melting plastic pieces back together).
>>
>> In the end I'd just like to know how you got your teletypes? Any tips
>> for a new guy?
>>
>> Many thanks.
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>>
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>>>> https://teletype.net/gksearch
>>>> 2002-to-present greenkeys archive:
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>>>> 1998-to-2001 greenkeys archive:
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>
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