[GreenKeys] Re: Just a few RTTY basic questions and a holiday thanks to all

[Wndrrt at cs.com]

Hi Dave,

I live in 29 Palms, California which is out in the open, way open, desert 
south east of Palm Springs.  

I just received my first TU yesterday, so I have been looking at the inputs 
and outputs.  I know where they go, but I am still a little nervous about the 
first time setup.  I hooked the audio input to the speaker outlets on my ham 
radio without the 600 ohm matching transformer for starters to see if the TU 
would register a signal.  Keep in mind I did not know what the small meter and 
lights on the front would do.  I tuned in what I thought was a RTTY signal.  The 
meter went up and the lights started flashing off and on in a balanced 
pattern.  I then, and this is the funny part, recorded the signal on a small tape 
recorder.  The 19 set is in another building for cleaning and oiling at this 
time.  OK, so then I took the recording and the TU to the 19 to see if the 
blinking would be transferred to the loop power supply on the st5-A and then to the 
loop on the 19.  The test before this was to use my loop supply alone and tap 
the alligator clip on the terminal to see if the keys would start moving, and 
they did!  So, now I hooked the loop supply of the st5-a to the 19 and the 
audio input to the tape recorder and set the whole thing in motion, with a new 
type writer ribbon.  It worked, but it only prints French!  What is up?  Just 
kidding. It printed gibberish, and that is what I was looking for at this point 
since who knows what I was tuned in to.  But each time I rewound the tape and 
started out again, it printed the same gibberish in the same order.  So, it 
seems to me if I can tune in a solid signal, there is a good chance that the 19 
will print English with a French accent!

Tune in the right signal.  It is pretty tuff to shoot a rabbit if you don't 
know what one looks like.  Last week I went on the Internet and looked up a 
site that had samples of all the sounds of digital communications.  This was a 
real ear opener.  Now I just need to hear more of the right sound.  Clatternet 
may provide the answer.  The weekly bulletin may also help.  I can see that a 
computer setup would help to zero in on a proper signal, or provide a test 
signal, but I have not gotten to that stage yet.  But I am having fun!

Thanks for the frequencies and the computer program lead, MMTTY.
73s
Jan Bogue KD6EMW