In article , "JAMES HAMPTON"
writes:

"Len Over 21" wrote in message
...
In article , "JAMES HAMPTON"
writes:

Heck, anyone who has used one of those old green machines knows how they
were. Folks should be very grateful for the modern pc. The electronics
are
far more rugged than the old teletypes. I've often stared at the 100
word
per minute mechanical beasties clanking away and wondered how they could
do
that without flying apart. Of course, they did break down now and then
...


"Green?" All the ones I've ever worked with were black (old Model
15 to 19) or different shades of Teletype Corporation gray (Model
28 or 33)... :-)

Teletype Corporation ought to get a standing ovation for some
excellent mechanical design in those old teleprinters. They were
robust performers that went on for days at a time needing only to
be fed paper and (once in a while) a new ribbon.

The old 60 WPM units were tried out at 75 WPM on a few Army
circuits in 1955. MTBF went to hell at that speed and those circuits
had very high maintenance turn-over. Restored to 60 WPM speeds,
they continued on as if nothing had happened. Used the old type
cage structure of the manual/electric typewriters.

The "stunt box" (literally a box of type) used on the newer 100
WPM models did awesome things, true, fun to watch while
waiting for a program's answer back. Never had one "lock up" in
some strange mode, though, that including the old all-caps 60
WPM machines with Caps/Figs keys.

By 1980 the matrix printer was IN for anyone needing text
throughput, honking out 300 WPM with just a polite buzz instead
of the clatter-bang of the mechanical teleprinters. My little Epson
MX-80 (purchased in 1980) is still operational but it can't be given
away in this age of inkjet printers that tosses out an entire page
of text in 5 seconds (draft mode, black and white). The only sound
from the "old" HP 722 inkjet printer is the paper-advance stepping
motor; inkjets themselves being inaudible.

But, the Archaic Radiotelegraphy Society (ARS) isn't really
interested in communications per se, is it? ARS is all about
HOW the communications is done, not the comms' content. :-)

Most Best Holiday Greetings,



Hello, Len

To some amateurs the how *is* important. Witness PSK, moonbounce, and other
stuff. Anyone can grab a microphone and talk.

:-) Right..."anyone can grab a microphone and talk..." but so many
forget to listen to what they are saying after they remember to push
the PTT button. :-)

The first recorded and witnessed moonbounce was done by the U.S.
Army in the 1940s. The first witnessed and recorded phase shift
keying was done a long time ago, has been done so much that it
needs deep research to find out who did it first, academia, business,
or military. Frequency shift keying is even older.

Somehow, a lot of folks get
caught up in the code vs no-code argument that is getting *really* old.

Agreed. :-) But Test Element 1 is still in the U.S. amateur regs
and many longe-tyme hamateurs are furious that anyone has the
temerity to remove that beloved code test.

Seems there used to be an am vs ssb argument back in the 60s as well.

Why? "Anyone can grab a microphone and talk..." :-)

However, that *how* it is done is important if we wish to further ourselves.

Yes, it's terribly important for all hamateurs to be the very best
kind of morseman they can be. Tradition, the glory, the honor,
being able to communicate all over the world with the same
"language" and demonstrate the "unique good will of amateurs"
to bring about world peace and stuff like that through simple
short transient "contacts" on CW.

Have a merry Christmas, Len, and try to come up with a new argument next
year, hear?

You too, Jim...all around. :-)

Right...just as soon as I go down to the technical seminar down at
the Legion Hall to get all the details on building that simple CW rig
made from recycled 1990s telebision sets that poor impovrished
third-world countries can use for communications to end their
starvation problems.

I don't think a "Tuna Tin Two" is a solution, even with the best
2N2222 transistors. Starving folks want the tuna, not the tin.

No doubt everything will be solved worldwide by using Morse Runner
to practice "radiosport" radiotelegraphy. I will stay tuned. :-)

Happy holidays,