[GreenKeys] ASR on Ebay

[George B. Hutchison]

GreenKeyers - - -

The Model 28ASR which is up for grabs on eBay is from an old U.S. 
Government Network Monikered "AUTODIN"

Which I believe was AUTOmatic DIgital Network.

Those machines were all over the US in government and military 
applications.

They speed thet were geared for is 100 WPM. There were only two sets 
of gears that could be used in those machines. One was 100 WPM, the 
other was 67 WPM. 60 wpm gears for that scheme were never produced.

The gearing is somewhat different from then standard stuff due to 
the power transmission arrangement between the Jackshaft and the 
TDs. The  shafts in the TDs themselves turned the standaard 
direction, but because in the front of the TD casting the shaft from 
the TD reduction gear turned in the opposite direction compared to a 
standard model 28. Put 60 wpm gears in that rascal, and say goodbye 
to some clutches, etc.

The TDs were not identical.

The inboard one was an LXD and the outboard was an LX3, which was a 
parallel reading five-level unit, but which had a notch-detector at 
the outboard side of the feeler-pin string that detected a notch on 
the very edge of the tape.

Stock they came with a pair of rather large Jones-type of connectors 
which were plugged into a cryptographic unit  that was NOT given out 
with the machine.

The punch on the keyboard was strictly a typing perforator, not a 
reperf.

Also, the photographer did not show the top of the keyboard but 
there is an answerback mechanism on the keyboard, the good ones that 
use the replacable blades wheron you break the tines out to get the 
character you want.

The Underdome reperf was not a serial perforator, it was a parallel 
multimagnet reperforator known as an LARP.  The LARP had an 
additional pinch pin that cut a notch in the edge of the tape.

If you note the shape of the relays on the LESU in the basement, 
they conform to a style that was commonly used by Western Union.

Indeed, it was Western Union that had the national service contract 
for those machines.

Not long after I got out of the Navy I happened to be in the Western 
Union maintenance facility in San Francisco, where they had seven of 
those machines sitting in a corner.

I asked about them and was told they were untouchable because they 
belonged to the government. Western Union wanted them badly so they 
could cannibalize them for parts.

I left my name and number and lo and behold, I got a call from W.U. 
about a month later that told me I was to pick them up post haste 
because they needed the rooom in their shop. Took me three trips in 
the family wagon.

I never did learn of the office or agency who benefactored the ham 
community by letting the go to the hams, but they were released on 
some manner of a federal order that stated they were to go to hams.

I shipped about five of those machines to "lucky" hams around the 
country when the great Model 28 MOUSE MACHINE caper happened back in 
'68 or '69. They went out on the same moving vans that hauled all of 
the mouse 28s all over the US.

That was an interesting day. I was hauling truckloads of 28s to my 
garage, and hauled those WU machines over to Fremont to place them 
on the vans.

Imagine a room about 200 feet by 300 feet, 50 high, with nothing but 
racks that had pallets of four 28 KSRs each.

It took three trips to bring home the MOUSE  28 KSRs that went to 
hams in the SF Bay area. At the end of that day there were 55 of 'em 
in my garage. Never see anything like that again!!

I certainly don't think that 28 ASR on eBay is worth 600 bucks.

But, that idiot near me in Port Angeles who is trying to peddle that 
19 for 500 clams is also smoking his shoes.

Incidentally, a Kleinschmidt TT-76 was delivered for me to Glenn's 
in Tacoma. It is in very good condition, and I know the fellow who 
delivered it.

I will be heading for Tacoma early this week to ship some compact 
28s to Nick England. Anyone interested in the TT-76 please contact 
me off list.

I still have a pair of 28RTs, one of which is salvageable, and one 
of which is parts, as well as two disheveled 32 ASRs and the 
Washington State Patrol 33, photos of which are still on the Junque 
Boutique, which I am about to take down.

There is a scrufty 28 floor cabinet, intermediate age, in that it 
has the shelf in the bottom, but the C strip is 2 20 term Jones 
strips as opposed to the 3 shorter term strips found in early 
production 28s.

I also have a very good condition table top cabinet that is taking 
up space.

If I hear nothing soon they will be going to the recycler.

There's a couple of 14 reperfs that will probably go to John Nagle 
so he can scarf the type-bar sets outa them so his steampunk 
specials will print right.

Take care all,

W7TTY