[GreenKeys] The Last Active Morse Code Station in the US - KPH Radio Station - YouTube

[Duncan Brown]

RD,

Thanks for the clarifications!.  I knew if we talked about KPH enough, 
you would be in here with the details.


Richard Knoppow,

I think there were at least two types of tape applying tools.  I'm not 
sure of the nomenclature, either. To me, the "cutting thlmble" was a 
small tool that went over one finger and provided a sharp edge to tear 
the gummed tape, then you used a sponge to wet the tape.

The tool that RD mentioned is larger, is held in the hand and includes a 
water reservoir.  If you know what to look for, it is to the left of the 
2B in RD's KPH picture. I don't know what its official name is. I have 
enclosed a couple of pictures. Not very good, but will give you an idea. 
There is a metal carrier for the tape along the length of the reservoir.

Have fun,

Duncan
K2OEQ



On 03-May-20 17:11, Richard Dillman wrote:
>
>
> On Sun, May 3, 2020 at 1:42 PM Duncan Brown <duncanancy at earthlink.net 
> <mailto:duncanancy at earthlink.net>> wrote:
>
>     KPH would receive telegrams for ships from Western Union on the
>     Model 2B
>     (M14) and paste them up on message blanks, just like regular
>     telegrams.
>     But then the message would go to a Morse operator to forward the
>     message
>     to the specific ship. Messages from ships could be typed on the 2B
>     to be
>     sent to WU for delivery.
>
>     There were machines to do automatic Morse to 5-bit TTY conversion and
>     the reverse. They just got one at KPH a few years ago. Don't remember
>     which direction it went in, or whether they were ever used. The Navy
>     had similar machines.
>
>     Duncan
>     K2OEQ
>
>
> Thanks again Duncan.  The Model 2B can be seen in photos of the post 
> war KPH operating room when the station moved from the original 
> Marconi receive site in Marshall, CA to the current HF point to point 
> receive site at Point Reyes. The Western Union line if mentioned often 
> in station manager Frank Geisel's monthly reports from 1946 and 1947 
> because it was so often out of service.  With the help of several 
> folks, some of whom are members of this list, we were eventually able 
> to acquire and restore a Model 2B to operation.  It's on display in 
> the current KPH operating room along with a tape moistener and a 
> finger cutter (there's probably and official name for this device).  
> When I printed the first tapes with the 2B and glued them to a message 
> blank the I could see how well designed the system was - even though I 
> had never done it before the operation was intuitive.
>
> RD
>
> =========================
> Richard Dillman, Chief Operator
> Maritime Radio Historical Society
> =========================

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