Hey Jacob, 

That’s a really nice looking machine.  Looks like there may be a good chance it shares parts from the M15/M19.  But that’s totally a guess based on the keycaps and design language there haha. High chance its fine, the metal machines are tanks compared to the plastic ones.  Wait till you lift one!

If you are going to see in person, might ask if it would be ok to look inside, turn the motor by hand and hit a key while you turn it - watch it cycle through. Take a DMM and make sure the selector magnets aren’t fried (open or dead-short, there should be ohms). That should be a reasonable or super conservative test to know what you might be taking on.  But it could bring the price down if you know you have to find and replace magnets, etc…. 

Prepare to possibly see/smell a lot of grease that is now wax… That was the root of some of my problems but it cleans up…

If he offers to power it up - If the power supply is DC, separate, in that desk, or external (the motor could run on DC) that will be capacitor and possibly vacuum tube checking, which will need doing anyway, so I wouldn’t fire it up unless its been on recently - In that case. 

Otherwise, if it’s just an AC motor, as many are - let the guy do it for a minute! It will still need cleaning up and oil before i’d run it too long.

As for finding parts - I just restored a m15,  a M28 TD, and M28 Typing reperforator (can see on my QRZ, WB7PZZ) and only had a couple wish-list things I couldn’t get - but nothing mission critical.  eBay, green keys, and see below…

$400 for the machine and the desk is pretty good in my opinion, for those of us who don’t have generous RTTY Elmers nearby! Especially how clean that looks.  If it is as posted, clean and lubricate, check electrics, and be running with metal - worth it!

You have Paul Cembura, RTTY Electronics, in Northern Cali (El Sobrante, CA)… And he will ship parts so you don’t have to go unless you want to. He has machines too, come to think of it, just have to go get those and repair them yourself.

A quick email or chat might help make a decision if he has M26 parts you might potentially need.

RTTY Electronics 
(510) 243-6651
[email protected]


Anthony
WB7PZZ


On Apr 17, 2024, at 1:13 PM, Champ Champtastic <[email protected]> wrote:


Hello Bob,

Thank you for the reply. The seller is asking $400, which I thought was reasonable as a novice, however based on some replies I'm not as confident now. Teletype machines were largely phased out by the time I was born so this is all well outside my wheelhouse. My only experience with "vintage" RTTY equipment is the TS-930S I have paired with a Hal CWR-6850 Telereader. That should get a laugh.

In fact the only time I've actually touched a teletype machine was at the March Air Museum at March Air Force Base in Riverside, CA. They're a fascinating piece of technology that I would like to gain some experience with. I have a small collection of vintage radios and I would like to add a teletype machine to the group. Ideally I would like to pair it with my Harris URC-94 and a Dovetron or Hal (ST-6000....8000 etc) decoder. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here though.

Back to the Model 26. When I asked if the unit worked the reply I received was "I have no way of testing it but aside from many years of accumulated dust, I can't see any reason why it
wouldn't work." The deal includes the unit, the desk, a spare roll of paper and the Bell System BSP (Bell System practice manual)....which according to the seller is a
complete instruction, care and maintenance manual. The gentleman has a small personal museum that he is now liquidating and it is one of the items he is letting go.

Military and Teletype gear seem to be pretty hard to come by here in the Pacific Northwest (I had to do a 13 hour round trip to Sacramento just to get the Harris URC-94 in non-working condition). I've kept an eye out for about a year and this was the first unit I've seen pop up albeit I may not have been looking in the right spots it would seem. Here are the pictures I received from the seller. I would appreciate your thoughts. The lack of available parts as you mentioned could be a problem...as well as the lack of useful keys.

<-1164132458_1713372081296_1072416.jpeg>
 
<1138284707_1713372099081_1127788.jpeg>

<576127292_1713372122661_748964.jpeg>

<79489843_1713372135705_1299758.jpeg>

<-1935931975_1713372149768_618452.jpeg>

<1430604495_1713372163319_654427.jpeg>

<-150622890_1713372177205_956955.jpeg>

<1497789406_1713372229018_856297.jpeg>

<-1977628069_1713372189773_868867.jpeg>

<1410918943_1713372246551_1268582.jpeg>

<1139816259_1713372256260_1211364.jpeg>

<-1078732772_1713372269412_1160456.jpeg>


Thank you,

Jacob 
W3WDM 


Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone


-------- Original message --------
From: Nick England <[email protected]>
Date: 4/17/24 8:50 AM (GMT-08:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject: Fwd: [GreenKeys] Fwd: Teletypewriter with Harris


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Robert G Snyder <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, Apr 17, 2024 at 11:45 AM
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] Fwd: Teletypewriter with Harris
To: <champtastic13=[email protected]>, <[email protected]>


Hello Jacob,

Your message was forwarded to the Greenkeys group (see below) and I am replying there and to your email address (I hope).

I owned a Model 26 when I was a young ham in the mid to late '60s. It was my first Teletype machine. I don't know what kind of deal you can get on this machine, whether it works, or whether it is right for you, but I just had to comment. I don't know anything about your Harris radio but it looks like it could be fine for RTTY work.

First, thanks for the photos! What a gorgeous machine! They bring back many fond memories. I spent many hours using mine on the air and also fixing it when it broke. I learned a lot about it. I was lucky as I had a box full of spare parts for it.

The Model 26 was intended for lighter duty than the M15, M19, M14, etc. They weren't as successful as the more rugged models, so not very many of them are still around. It is unique in that it requires the wooden table that came with it for the shock mounts and the fact that the paper roll was located there. Your unit appears to be in amazing original condition. Also, based on the assortment of key caps, this machine probably has a non-typical type wheel - it probably has lots of fraction characters instead of the more useful ":", ";", "?", "," etc.

If you want to start a new adventure and you are good with mechanical stuff this might be a good fit, but beware that it will be hard to get parts and keep it running. Good luck! If you decide take a pass, please consider passing along info on how someone else (not me) might acquire this machine.

Bob W6CP

Photo of my Model 26 circa 1967:


<HamPhotos0019.png>





On 4/16/24 21:05, Nick England wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Jacob W3WDM via groups.io <champtastic13=[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 11:08 PM
Subject: [HarrisRadio] Teletypewriter with Harris
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>


I know many in the group run beautiful vintage RTTY stations with a teletypewriter. While I'll likely never be able to have anything as fancy or as sophisticated as most of you with the aforementioned setup I might be able to put together something more simplistic. Is it a reasonable pursuit to set up a station with a teletypewriter or am I barking up the wrong tree? Would it be difficult to interface with a decoder and transceiver (URC-94?)? I admittedly have zero experience with a teletypewriter.

The extent of my "vintage" RTTY experience is a Hal Telereader if that tells you anything. 

The reason for my question is I have an opportunity to purchase a Bell model 26 teletypewriter locally. Is this model even within this purview?

I appreciate any and all opinions. Thank you in advance.















Jacob 
W3WDM 

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone

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