Outgoing messages were also recorded onto tape in the monitor cabinets which had multiple reperfs and tape winders. 

More on tape relay equipment here
https://www.navy-radio.com/tty-relay-equip.htm
And photos of a Navy torn tape relay here
https://www.navy-radio.com/tty-relay.htm

Nick England K4NYW
www.navy-radio.com


On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 10:52 AM Duncan Brown <duncanancy@earthlink.net> wrote:
Jeff,

We have a Waterfall at the AWA Museum.  My experience in the Army (mostly at the company level, not relay) was that messages came in, were printed directly, and then delivered. 

I couldn't understand why messages would come in, be printed, and then be directly archived after viewing (with the waterfalls).  Outgoing messages in the Army tape relays were archived on tape, which would take up less room than printed copies.

But printing out incoming messages that are going to be relayed on tape makes sense now.

Duncan
K2OEQ

On 19-Feb-24 10:40, Jeff G wrote:
The waterfalls have paper reels inside that collect the printed paper. I think they were basically considered monitoring/logging - you can read the print but once it scrolls past its basically "archived".

Jeff kC3GJX

On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 9:46 AM Duncan Brown <duncanancy@earthlink.net> wrote:
Nick,

Finally got a chance to read "Huh? Whadya Say?" - it seemed to be a good description of life in a torn-tape relay center in their heyday. I was never in one (I was in Army tactical TTY and then moved over into electronic communications repair), but am familiar with the equipment & jargon.

The story answered one question I have had: how was the "Waterfall" (3-4 M28 printers in a cabinet) used?  According to Guy, they were using the printers to monitor the incoming messages that would also be punched into tape for relaying.  If there was any garble on an incoming tape, it would normally not be noticed and just be relayed on to the next station. By having the message printed out, it could be quickly scanned for quality before the garbled taped message was relayed on. 

But as Guy tells, they were pretty busy pulling & pushing tape and I don't think they would have much time to look at print outs at the same time!

Thanks,

Duncan
K2OEQ


On 04-Feb-24 13:34, Nick England wrote:
   I unexpectedly came across "Huh? Whadya Say?: Inside a Torn Tape Relay Center" by Guy Thompson.
   I really enjoyed reading this short novel about life in a Torn Tape Relay (NAVCOMMSTA Philippines Vietnam era). It seems like a well-written authentic story portraying the constant workload in a major relay and fleet support center.
   It's a quick (71 pages) but very interesting read - $1 on Kindle or $5 for the paperback

No relation to author, etc.
Nick England K4NYW
www.navy-radio.com

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