[GreenKeys] Fred Sonnenrein, founder and developer of i-Telex, has passed away

[Paul Heller]

A number of greenkeyers use i-Telex. The teletype model 32 was designed for telex. If you have a model 32, you can completely experience what it was like to use the telex network back in the day by usining i-Telex. And if you don’t have a model 32, it is still possible to use it. It is a fun network, completely replicating the original telex signaling, where you call people up and have nice slow conversations.

I am sad to report that Fred Sonnenrein passed away on June 5, 2024 after suffering with an illness for many months. Fred had an amazing technical talent and was a very kind individual who never judged a person and always offered help where he could.  He was a great help to me in getting my i-Telex system working and I recently enjoyed a telex chat with him late last year.

The i-Telex community will sorely miss him. Here is the message posted on the telexforum (translated from German) about his legacy:

…. it should be noted the importance of Fred in the development of i-Telex: From 2001 to 2007, the Telexphone system existed with a modem for communication with each other. The number of participants remained for years with a tranquility of approx. 20 members.
At the beginning of July 2007, Henning's first, all-important encounter with Fred took place in the Railway Museum in Braunschweig. Fred, Dipl. Ing. for electrical engineering with a specialization in railway signal technology, presents in a historic railway wagon his self-built
TW-39 switching system with connected teleprinters. Even then, the system consisted of a stack of boards, still without 19-inch technology, but equipped with connectors. A modem or an Ethernet connection was also missing because Fred's stylish switching system was purely geared towards the local operation of teleprinters. 

Fred designed the modem card for the new system called "Telexphone2" as early as 2008. After intensive planning together with Henning, Fred completed the development of an Ethernet card at the end of 2011; at the beginning of 2012, Henning assembles the first complete systems and invents the name "i-Telex". The system became self-runner and today Fred's thoughts live on in a few hundred i-Telex systems.

The i-Telex network is now larger than many country networks were in earlier times. In retrospect, Henning reports on his collaboration with Fred: "All ideas were implemented promptly and purposefully by Fred. Fred merged into i-Telex - for him it was a huge hobby project always with the premise that TW39 and ED1000 are realized as authentically as possible with the i-Telex system. Fred has changed all our lives (...of members) with his newly created system."

Fred - Thank you for your help and for spending time with you.

rest in peace

Your friends from the i-Telex community.






Here is a picture I personally took some years ago:




Thank you, Fred.

Paul
W2TTY
i-Telex: 80003 or 468466



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