[GreenKeys] Perf Tape Colors

Tue Jan 8 23:41:14 EST 2013

Starting a message with its security classification is standardized for all
services, and across NATO in the various ACPs.

For TTY related traffic look at ACP126 and ACP127. You can find PDFs of
them here: http://jcs.dtic.mil/j6/cceb/acps/

I'm not military, just a person with a general interest. There are others
with far better knowledge then I.

Cheers,
Christian

On Tuesday, 8 January 2013, Ralph Irish <w8roi at wowway.com> wrote:
> My Navy Communications service time was mid 1959 thru March 1961.  I used
all sorts of equipment
> involving perf tape.  We had a couple of Model 19s, a couple of 14
nontyping reperfs and at least
> one 14 Typing Reperf.  Later on we got a 28KTR geared for 100WPM   I
never saw a 28ASR or a 28TD
> on our ship.  We had a number of 28KSRs however.  I never knew that the
ASR existed until I saw
> a photo of one as a new ham operator probably around 1963.  If I had ever
been assigned to a
> shore Communications Station, I would have probably seen all sorts of
wonders!
> - - - -
> The only color differentiation I can remember was for the security
classification of printed
> messages to be distributed throughout the ship.
> Unclassified -  White
> Confidential - Pink
> Secret       - Yellow
> Top Secret   - Green
> Our perf tape was always yellow, and as one other GreenKeyer noted, the
last several feet were pink
> or purple to get the operator's attention and be ready to load a new reel
of tape.
> I had heard from older, more experienced Radiomen who had worked at Shore
stations that they sometimes
> had durable punched tapes for use as "RYRYRYRY" tapes during slack times,
and they often hung on a hook
> near the TD that sent out traffic.  Once the traffic was cleared, that
tape would be put into the TD
> and they could start it and go for a coffee or make a head call, etc.
> In my ham career, I have seen a number of different colors of perf tape
in different widths for various
> systems.  A friend had a Frieden typewriter that had a tape punch
associated with it and he used it for
> writing job applications and resumes.  He could put 95% of the data on
paper with the perf tape and do
> the rest by hand.  His tape supply was dark gray.  His tape was 7 level,
I think, and probably 7/8" wide.
> I later saw some blue, mylar tape that required a special punch device
for long term use.  It was 11/16"
> tape.
> I have seen just a few different colors of 1" tape.  SOmewhere around
here I might still have a copy of
> "Texas Tiny Basic" on 1" fanfold gray tape.  That goes back to my short
experiment with home built
> computers.  (IMSAI and SOL)
> The idea of different colors for different security classifications makes
sense, I guess, but it was not
> implemented in the Navy during my time as a Radioman.
> In the last year or so of my Navy career, we did see another 'security
standard' adopted to reduce security
> violations.
> One day we received an unclassified message, from some high up Navy
facility.  The first word of this
> message, after the "BT"  was (UNCLASS)  and the purpose of the message
was to direct all facilities to use
> the classification of  ALL  messages transmitted by Teletype as the first
word.  Secret messages showed
> (SECRET), confidential messages started with (CONFIDENTIAL) and although
I never saw any up close, I will
> presume that all Top Secret messages started with (TOP SECRET) or maybe
(T SECRET).
> The rumor that went through the fleet was that a classified message got
transmitted on an open channel
> (often referred to as the Fleet Broadcast) because of some carelessness
on someone's part.  The supposed
> solution was to have all classified tapes start with the appropriate word
to get someone's notice and then
> they would be responsible for its transmission on the appropriate
circuit(s).
> On the West Coast, our Fleet Broadcast was called Foxtrot Romeo, and each
message that went out over this
> network had an "FR" NR for identification.  The number was reset to zero
each month, as I recall.  (It has
> been over 50 years, guys, a lot gets lost!)
> This circuit could send classified traffic if it was encoded in some
manner.  Some of you will probably remember
> the messages consisting of five letter groups.  In our area, they always
started with a five digit number that
> had all odd digits, then a few phonetic words, and then five letter
groups:
> 57791 ALPHA DELTA ZEBRA ROMEO SORJR RUEYS XXCPQ JQPCX RVDEK
> GHIUP ERMZO  and five letter groups, 10 to a line,
>
> etc.  I think the five digits were repeated as the last group but not
certain.
> - - - -
> This probably dredges up some memories amongst some of the GreenKeys
group.
> 73,
> Ralph -W8ROI
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/attachments/20130108/54f311b7/attachment.html>