[GreenKeys] Stop bit
Jim Haynes
jhhaynes at earthlink.net
Mon Jan 3 18:42:28 EST 2022
Western Union had a little gadget called Open Line Stop that could be
added to the selector of a Teletype machine. What it did was to detect,
by contact closure, a spacing signal at a time when the stop pulse is
expected. And do it early enough so a relay could close the line and
prevent the machine running open. The application was in the Plan 21-A
switching system (see Western Union Technical Review) where timed break
signals were used to control the outstations. Open Line Stop on a
station operated full duplex allowed these break signals to be transmitted
in the middle of traffic. The printer would see the break signal as a
blank and would not print a garbage character in the middle of the
message being received.
---
"Ya can argue all ya wanna, but it's dif'rent than it was."
"No it ain't! No it ain't! But ya gotta know the territory."
Meredith Willson, The Music Man
More information about the GreenKeys
mailing list