[GreenKeys] history

[David I. Emery]

On Tue, Dec 12, 2006 at 08:45:31PM -0500, charles hunter wrote:
> 
> Does anyone on list remember a teletype supplier called "Alltronics Howard" 
> or something similar to that which used to supply teletypes from the Boston 
> Area? 

	Sure do.   Bought my first TTY machine from him in 1963/4.   Was
a rich old (must have been in his sixties at least in 1964) blue blooded
WASP ham who owned a red brick townhouse on Beacon Hill in Boston (one
of the tonier neighborhoods of Boston in that era where lots of folks
with old money lived in elegantly restored historic in town 
townhouses).

	In the basement (former servants quarters) of his townhouse he
ran a little surplus operation selling TTY machines (mostly model 28
stuff by the early 60s), restored  R-390As (yes back in 1964 for about
what a decent car cost back then), and other really neat high tech
military surplus comms exotica, mostly for lots and lots of bucks. I
believe  most of his customers were well heeled engineer/entrepreneur
hams from the high tech industry around Mass route 128 (the Silicon
Valley of the 50s and 60s) who could afford to pay really high prices
for top condition up to date gear, the sort of folks who drive Porches
these days...

	He also had an engineer friend of his design a RTTY demodulator
(TU) which he had manufactured and sold - I remember it had a little
scope tube on it for the classic cross display and think I remember that
at least later versions were otherwise all solid state, though not IC
era.
	
	He had a couple of guys working for him in his basement
repairing and reconditioning the TTY gear - if I remember right one or
both of them were moonlighting techs from the local Western Union or
AT&T teletype repair centers.    And he had another tech putting
together, testing, and shipping the TUs.

	It was all very impressive for a high school kid who could look
at and play with but not afford all that neat stuff - but interestingly
my first boss at my first summer job in the electronics industry was a
good friend of Ron Howard's who had helped him on the TU design and who
owned a couple of R-390As that came from Ron's stock along with a 28 or
two.  And the company we worked for (Codex) had a bunch of 28's that
Alltronics Howard supplied us with that we used for testing error
correcting comms gear.

	I vaguely remember that I heard that Ron Howard had some kind of
medical crisis in the late 60s and gave up the business - but I am not
sure of the timing.   I don't think he was around much into the 70s
if at all.


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-- 
   Dave Emery N1PRE,  die at dieconsulting.com  DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass 02493
"An empty zombie mind with a forlorn barely readable weatherbeaten
'For Rent' sign still vainly flapping outside on the weed encrusted pole - in 
celebration of what could have been, but wasn't and is not to be now either."