[GreenKeys] Hello from a new member

[Mike Dodd]

Thanks for letting me joining your email list. My interest in 
teleprinters goes back over five decades, so let me introduce myself.

** In 1965 the Nave sent me to school to learn to maintain and repair 
the MITE teleprinter ( the "Mighty Mite"). I'm mechanically inclined, 
and graduated the class as the first-ever student the instructors 
couldn't stump after putting a "trouble" on a machine that we were 
supposed to identify and diagnose. Every part had a specific name, and 
we had to identify precisely which part had the problem ("the 
number-three code pulser cam follower-arm spring").

*** After MITE school I served two years in Radio Central aboard the USS 
Sellers DDG-11, and never once had to fix the two MITEs onboard, because 
all the traffic was received and sent on Teletype Model 28s. :-) The 
MITEs were almost never turned on. I was not impressed with the MITE's 
design or operation.

*** In 1969, at college, two other hams and I bought used Western Union 
teleprinters, and connected them through a 60mA loop wired across a dorm 
roof to three rooms. Unfortunately, the loop acted like a broadcast 
antenna, and caused interference in other students' AM radios. So that 
setup didn't last long.

*** In 1971, I took my WU machine home to Virginia and installed it in 
my ham shack.

*** Shortly after, I stumbled upon a surplus MITE teleprinter without a 
keyboard, so I replaced the WU machine with that. I build an electronic 
keyboard that used shirt buttons with decals as keytops. :-) Photos of 
the WU machine and the MITE are here: 
<http://n4cf.mdodd.com/photo4.html> There's also a paper tape reader for 
which I homebrewed a power supply and interface, but I don't remember 
how I punched the tapes. I still had the MITE in a new shack in 1975, 
but I don't think I was on RTTY by then.

*** Around 1976 I became involved with microprocessors at work, where 
they bought an Intel Intellec 8/80 and an ASR28 for input/output. I 
thought this was super-cool, so I squeezed my bank account really hard 
and bought an Intellec for myself. Instead of an ASR28, I used what I 
think is a model 28RO, barely seen in this photo: 
<http://n4cf.mdodd.com/photo6.html> Does that look like a 28RO to the 
experts here? I'm sure it had a type box, not individual 
typewriter-style keys.

*** I also homebrewed electronics for a bare keyboard, and connected it 
and the 28RO to the Intellec (which had a current-loop output, 20mA I 
recall).

I also had an awesome tape punch and a REALLY-awesome tape reader. The 
keyboard, punch, and reader were 8-bit ASCII; I don't remember if the 
Model 28 was ASCII or Baudot. If Baudot, I must have made an 
ASCII-to-Baudot converter circuit for it.

The punch and reader are described on 
<http://n4cf.mdodd.com/photo6.html>, so I'll summarize here.

The Soroban punch ran at 65 characters per second, had an oil sump, and 
got hot when it punched.

I don't remember who made the tape reader, but it read at _600_ 
characters per second, and could stop on a character! It needed Mylar, 
not paper, tape to withstand the feed mechanism. It definitely was 
awesome to watch. Does anyone recognize it?

Nowadays I use a computer and AFSK to get on ham RTTY, so my green-key 
days are past. However, I'm still interested in the old-school machines 
and technology.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

-- 
73, Mike N4CF
Louisa County, VA USA
Elecraft K3s / P3 / KPA500 / KAT500
Carolina Windom up 45'
http://n4cf.mdodd.com