[GreenKeys] FTGH Mite keyboard

[Ralph Irish]

Duncan, et al 

MITE was one of several companies making 5-bit teleprinters for general use. 
EXTEL, was another. EXTEL was supposedly started by EX-TELephone 
company employees. I can't acknowledge this, but I suspect others on here could. 

- - - - 

When Hank, W6SKC made the first public demonstration of his revolutionary 
TU, under the DOVETRON name, he brought the TU and an EXTEL printer 
to Dayton along with a cassette recorder and tapes of 'questionable signals' that 
he recorded off the air, to demonstrate how the DOVETRON could easily copy 
from either MARK or SPACE signals only, with the simple flick of a switch. 
Several other TUs could do this but it usually required some fiddling with the 
receiver and/or adjustments to the TU to get a decent result. His "MARK ONLY" 
and "SPACE ONLY" positions on a rotary switch made the change in short order. 
Interference in the 'unused' channel had little impact on the 'working channel'. 

The hallway outside his room was crowded with dozens of people wanting to see 
this unit in operation. I was only able to get a quick glimpse of the setup by 
sanding on my toes for a few seconds. People were VERY interested in this new 
unit! 

At that time, not a lot of hams could plunk down $495 for a TU when there were so 
many others available for much less, but it was not long before the sales were good 
and Hank started offering more features making that price just a bit more reasonable. 

I got one of the 'returns' from him for about $300. It was returned by a commercial 
customer who wanted more features. He changed out all of the 741 Op Amps and ran 
it through the test bench as if it was a new unit before sending it to me. I still have it 
here and have copied ITTY on it several times. I sent it back to him at one point to have 
the LED Cross Display installed. That was a good investment since the 2AP1 CRTs 
were becoming harder to find. 

- - - - 

So, MITE was a competitor for a while. Not certain of when that group stopped trying 
to compete with TELETYPE in the marketplace. I guess their unit had a minimum of 
moving parts. If I owned one, that keyboard would be a good investment. I don't know 
where the actual 'encoding' took place. On that board or on another connected to that 
connector on the right rear of the photo. 

Good luck to whomever ends up with it. 

Ralph - W8ROI 

- - - - - - - - 

From: "Duncan Brown" <duncanancy at earthlink.net> 
To: greenkeys at mailman.qth.net 
Sent: Tuesday, November 3, 2020 9:23:02 AM 
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] FTGH Mite keyboard 

Back to this MITE keyboard - does anyone know where it was used? 

Whoever ended up with it, if y ou find any info about it, please let me 
know. 

Thanks, 

Duncan 
K2OEQ 
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