[GreenKeys] How did you acquire your Teletypes?
John, W9DDD
w9ddd at tapr.org
Thu Aug 27 14:47:49 EDT 2020
My first fix was from Dr. John Schroeder, K9YXW. He took me along to
Chicago to pick up a 14 keyboard reperforator. Ray Morrison
(W9GRW?)convinced I needed a 15 RO he happened to have surplus. I'm not
sure if I also got the keyboard on that trip or a later one. Anyhow
after several hours of hack saw and nibbler work, I converted the RO
cover into a KSR cover. I think it was hard to tell it wasn't factory.
Worth all the calluses I got from working the nibbler. I won't go into
the details of the growth of the collection which go left in good hands
when I moved to Texas.
About two years ago I had a relapse and began looking for a "dealer". A
note on this list prompted a phone call from a local who had excess 28
gear. I'm trying to kick the habit, but the collection just keeps
growing. I hope to have at least one of the beasts completed to the
point I can share with others. If I can find a typing unit to complete
an RO, it would be in condition for someone to complete the restoration.
John, W9DDD
On 8/27/2020 11:35 AM, Gerry Block wrote:
> Ralph,
>
> I got a brand new model 28ASR from Michigan Bell through Doug Frede
> (who I think was a VP over there). This machine had a climbing head
> reader and an intermediate tape bin. He at the time was a friend of
> Keith Petersen one of the designers of the TTL/2 demodulator (vacuum
> tube version)
>
> Gerry
> AD6MC
>
> On Thursday, August 27, 2020, 09:18:56 AM PDT, Ralph Irish
> <w8roi at wowway.com> wrote:
>
>
> G/K
>
> I was fortunate in that several older hams in my area worked hard to
> convince the Michigan Bell
> Telephone people to stop 'crunching' old TELETYPEs and make them
> available to area hams.
> One of the big boosters of this was Ralph Leland, W8DLT (SK). He was a
> Michigan Bell retiree
> at that time.
>
> An organization was formed and named something like, The Michigan
> Teletype Society. They had
> someone with a little legal experience draft up a document that was
> called a "WAIVER", and when
> a ham got a TELETYPE he signed the Waiver. His signature indicated that
> he would not sell the
> item for more than he paid for it, short of genuine improvements and
> add-ons. He would not sell it
> to anyone not a ham operator and no one out of Michigan. AND he would
> not use it for any sort of
> commercial purpose. The printing of UPS and AP "Press" was considered
> a gray area back then, but
> there were no strict prohibitions cited. As long as the 'Press' stayed
> in one's shack, no one seemed to
> care.
>
> I don't know how much 'legal weight' this WAIVER carried, but the
> overall system worked quite
> well. When a ham sold a machine acquired in this manner, they were
> supposed to get a blank WAIVER
> and have the new owner sign it, etc. It was sent to some central
> location and kept on file, we were told.
>
> There was a 'price list' for various machines. I've long since lost any
> of that documentation, but there
> may be a few in SD Michigan who still have some of them. The only
> items available at that time were
> Model 19, Model 15, Model 14TD and Model 14REPERFs. Occasionally a
> three-headed TD would show
> up or a rare FRXD. Don't have a clue as to how they were priced. Until
> Irv Hoff got the California phone
> company to release a hundred Model 28 machines, owning one was an
> expensive proposition. They were
> scarce and often brought over $300 in the 'private market'. I never
> heard of any being distributed via the
> Michigan "WAIVER" system. Two of the "Mouse Machines" did make it to
> Michigan, and were sold to
> two hams who had worked hard in the hobby on behalf of other RTTY
> operators. (W8TMO and K8QLO,
> both long time Silent Keys.)
>
> - - - -
>
> My first acquisition was a Model 15RO, that I have seen described or
> 'nicknamed' a Mailbox Cabinet. The
> entire front of the cabinet was raised straight up, and it pivoted on a
> hinge in the back, and with brackets,
> springs and other hardware, was completely out of the way for
> adjustments, paper change,ribbon change,
> etc. There was an indicated place on the 'blind side' of the front
> cover that could be easily cut out to allow
> the installation of a keyboard. The cabinet front swung outward and
> then upward, so that the opening and
> closing would not be affected by the keyboard.
>
> I got a 'new old stock' Model 15 Keyboard from Ralph Leland at his home,
> for $5.00, no waiver required,
> and went to work to modify the cabinet front. Ralph's slightly
> oversized 2 car Garage had not been used
> for an automobile for several years after he got involved in
> distributing TTY gear. It took him about five
> minutes after he went in a side door to locate and retrieve that
> keyboard in its original box. I was not allowed
> inside the garage.
>
> I was assisted in getting this machine going by a 'one-armed, one-eyed'
> US Veteran, who lived just a few
> miles away. He lost part of his right arm and one eye as a fighter
> pilot in WW II. He was one great
> gentleman, is all I can say. My first trip to his QTH was a real
> eye-opener. He had built a bunch of HeathKit
> items for his shack. A complete transmitter, a compete receiver and an
> amplifier. I have forgotten the Heath
> names of the items. It was a most impressive shack, then more-so due to
> his physical losses. (Mohawk
> transmitter name comes to mind. A 19" wide by 10 3/4" high front panel.
> A very large cabinet behind this.)
> I think the Receiver was of similar size, and it and the companion
> amplifier all had some sort of 'American
> Indian' name.
>
> Ben Woodall was originally from Texas and held a W5 call prior to WW II.
> He settled in Michigan and worked
> for LTV in come engineering capacity. When that operation was moved to
> Texas, he went right along with it and
> was able to reclaim his W5 call from earlier years. I think that he
> lived to the age of around 78 before passing.
>
> - - - -
>
> Anyway, that is the long version of How I Got My First TELETYPE.
>
> Sorry if I got 'long winded'! Just had a lot of nice memories as I went
> along, one triggering another.
>
> 73,
>
> Ralph - W8ROI
>
>
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