[GreenKeys] Wheatstone Tape setup 1930

Tue Jul 13 13:20:56 EDT 2021

    FWIW, about what drove the pen recorders, the radio set up 
used a regenerator to produce a perfectly steady tone from the 
received code. Look at the handbook for the RCA DR-89 diversity 
receiver to see the regenerator and its circuit. I think Nick has 
this on his Navy web site. The DR-89 was composed of three 
modified RCA AR-88 receivers with a diversity combiner and a code 
regenerator along with monitoring. The output of the combiner 
drove the regenerator which produced the output of the unit. The 
DR-89 was  used on circuits with code speeds up to about 300 WPM.
    I believe the final result was an ink tape showing dots and 
dashes which was transcribed via a typewriter. Fast tapes could 
be cut apart allowing more than one operator to translate them. 
The usual requirement for a typist in business was 60WPM minimum. 
I don't know what the actual speeds achieved on short wave 
circuits was but these triple diversity circuits would have 
mostly been very solid and high speed. Somewhere McElroy was 
quoted as saying the long wave circuits RCA had were "solid as a 
wire".

On 7/12/2021 11:25 AM, Duncan Brown wrote:
> Richard,
>
> McElroy made a "Morse Package Unit, MP-1" that was a 
> perforator, receiver, keyer all in one one portable box. The 
> perforator was a two-finger operation, probably with electrical 
> assist.
>
> Here are a couple of pictures.  I've sent them & some more to 
> Nick to add to his Morse Perforator page.
>
> Have fun,
>
> Duncan
> K2OEQ
>
>
> On 12-Jul-21 14:09, Richard Knoppow wrote:
>> McElroy used to make these perforators. Do you know if they 
>> were worked with fingers directly or did they also need the 
>> mallets? I have seen only pictures of them in his advertising. 
>> I suspect they used some sort of electrical punch. BTW, it 
>> seems to me that hand punching must be very slow. Since tape 
>> transmitters could run at very high speeds the keyboard type 
>> punch seems to be much more practical for any but casual use.
>>
>> On 7/12/2021 8:33 AM, Duncan Brown wrote:
>>> The more generic term for these 2-hole tape perforators is 
>>> "Morse Perforator."
>>>
>>> Charles Wheatstone came up with the idea, in 1858, of 
>>> perforating tape for machine-sent Morse transmissions. But 
>>> Wheatstone's perforator only had three buttons: [dot], 
>>> [space], & [dash].
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> You held a mallet in each fist and pounded on the buttons to 
>>> perforate the tape. Later, there was a pneumatic-assisted 
>>> version that did not require as much force, but still a 
>>> 3-button keyboard.
>>>
>>> In 1905, Edward E. Kleinschmidt applied for a patent 
>>> (#0946372A, granted 1910) for a keyboard-operated Morse (or 
>>> any other code) perforator.  In 1912, he applied for an 
>>> improved version (#1085985A, granted 1914).  About the same 
>>> time, John Gell, of the New Zealand Telegraph Department, 
>>> came  up with a similar machine.
>>>
>>> The Kleinschmidt Electric Co. Keyboard Perforator ( 
>>> https://www.navy-radio.com/morse/Kleinschmidt-wheatstone.jpg 
>>> ) became the standard Morse perforator. After KEC merged with 
>>> Morkrum, they were continued to be sold under the Teletype 
>>> Corp. name through WWII. The wooden cased models with the 
>>> Teletype Corp. label were continued to be called "Kleins" by 
>>> the old Morse operators.
>>>
>>> Even calling them "Morse" perforators, is not quite accurate, 
>>> in that they could be programmed to perforate any code, such 
>>> as Continental or Cable codes. At the AWA Museum, we have a 
>>> wooden-cased, Teletype Corp. branded, perforator with a 
>>> Cyrillic keyboard.  I don't know what code it generates.
>>>
>>> have fun,
>>>
>>> Duncan
>>> K2OEQ
>>>
>>>
>>> On 11-Jul-21 17:19, Nick England wrote:
>>>> Besides teletypes I am fascinated by paper tape Morse code 
>>>> systems -
>>>> Here's a cool photo from 1930 showing the whole setup - Navy 
>>>> Radio Station at Los Banos, Philippines
>>>> https://www.navy-radio.com/morse/LosBanos-07-morse.jpg 
>>>> <https://www.navy-radio.com/morse/LosBanos-07-morse.jpg>
>>>> Note the "tape buffer" trash cans.
>>>>
>>>> Right-to-left in the photo
>>>> Transmitting - Tape is punched with a Wheatstone perforator 
>>>> and read with a keying head which keys the transmitter
>>>> https://www.navy-radio.com/morse/boehme-tm11-486-02.jpg 
>>>> <https://www.navy-radio.com/morse/boehme-tm11-486-02.jpg>
>>>> Receiving - tape is pulled through an ink recorder and then 
>>>> pulled past a radioman who reads the Morse "slip" and types 
>>>> on a typewriter.
>>>> https://www.navy-radio.com/morse/boehme-tm11-486-01.jpg 
>>>> <https://www.navy-radio.com/morse/boehme-tm11-486-01.jpg>
>>>>
>>>> FWIW more photos and videos of equipment and operation at
>>>> https://www.navy-radio.com/morse.htm 
>>>> <https://www.navy-radio.com/morse.htm>
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Nick England K4NYW
>>>> www.navy-radio.com <http://www.navy-radio.com>
>>>>
>>>
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-- 
Richard Knoppow
1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
WB6KBL