[GreenKeys] Your mileage may vary- i-Telex vs actual Telex prepared model 32 or 33

[Kevin H. Phillips]

Mark,

I am on the i-Telex network with a Western Union Model 32 Teletype/Telex 
machine.  I found the machine through a surplus outlet about 100 miles 
from me.  It used to belong to a bank.  I have other machines that I 
obtained locally from a friend or through the Internet.  The system is 
working very well now after some initial problems with boards which 
needed to be replaced.


Russ' instructions are good.  It requires replacing some resistors in 
the call unit to allow for the different loop current of the i-Telex 
system.  If you are used to doing your own soldering work on project 
boards and things this is not difficult but it *is* delicate because the 
traces on the old boards can lift up.  This isn't the end of the world, 
though, if you can make solder bridges or other work-arounds.  I had to 
do that once on my boards.  Getting the boards out of the call unit 
takes a little time but if you go slowly and pay careful attention to 
what you are doing it isn't hard.


I have had good luck with the system since the problems with the boards 
were resolved.  Occasionally it seems to need to be powered down and 
powered up again.  This may be due to issues with my Internet 
connection.  I simply unplug the wall wart power supplies, leave them 
off for a few minutes, the plug them back in again and things work 
fine.  It is like re-booting a computer.


There is also a third-party software program out there that can be 
used.  It has a GUI which mimics some of the Telex machine functions.  A 
local friend of mine, Herb, K5HG, uses it because he did not have room 
for an actual Telex machine.  It is definitely fun to hear my machine 
start up and start printing.  Henning, et al., have set it up so that 
there are some Twitter feeds you can subscribe to which will print out 
Tweets on the Telex.  If you are using a real machine which uses paper 
then this can definitely eat up paper!  I subscribe to the NASA and BBC 
Breaking News feeds. This BBC feed is not very active so it does not use 
much paper. The NASA feed is sporadic.  Leading up to and during the 
recent Space-X launch it was *very* busy and used a lot of paper.  I am 
lucky to have plenty of paper on hand.  I also have begun re-rolling the 
paper to use the flip-side.


The bottom line:  it can be a lot of fun with a real machine.


73

Kevin

W5TTY



On 6/5/2020 9:21 PM, Mark Hall wrote:
> For those gallant folk in Greenkeys who participate in i-Telex,
> whether with the i-Telex device or an actual Telex machine, I ask
> this-
>
> #1- How difficult is it to locate a Telex prepared Teletype machine?
> #2- How much preparation is there to make it work for i-Telex?
> #3 For those using the i-Telex device- how well does it do its job?
> #4 For those lucky enough to have access to both? How do they compare?
>
> Thank you in advance for your insights. The Greenkeys Community is one
> I owe much to, and thank you for sharing this fellowship with me over the
> years I have been here. Thought I'd better say that while I'm still 
> warm, vertical
> and breathing lol...
>
> Very 73,
>
> Mark
>
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