A good question. High voltage with a current limiting resistor is used to overcome the inductance of the selector magnets and make the selector armature move quickly enough. Inductors resist a rapid change of current and the time constant is proportional to L/R, so a larger R means quicker movement. 

There are transistorized selector magnet drivers using a lower magnet voltage, but 120vdc with 2000 ohms in series is the most common setup. 

On Thu, Jul 27, 2023 at 2:32 PM David V. Corbin <david.corbin@dynconcepts.com> wrote:
Just curious. Current loop
Is fixed current (or open) so the need for voltage is dependent on the loop resistance as per Ohms law… so given that most modern installs are “short loop” (ie often in the same room), why the need for something that can supply that much voltage?????

From: greenkeys-bounces@mailman.qth.net <greenkeys-bounces@mailman.qth.net> on behalf of William Wuttke <wcwuttke@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2023 2:29:26 PM
To: Windows XD <antech6586856@gmail.com>
Cc: greenkeys@mailman.qth.net <greenkeys@mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] Power supply recommendation
 
I would recommend picking up a TU. You will probably want to print ITTY at the very least. Most TU's have an internal 60 ma loop supply except for the HAL ST-8000 and 8000A. Keep checking eBay. Some can be had very reasonably.
73,
Bill
KE3BK

On Thu, Jul 27, 2023 at 11:17 AM Windows XD <antech6586856@gmail.com> wrote:
I’m very new to teletypes, and I want to get my model 19 running. I’ve done the hard part of cleaning, but now I need a 120VDC 60MA power supply. Is there any that you would recommend? ______________________________________________________________
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