[GreenKeys] Bell on space

[Jim Haynes]

On Sat, 18 Jan 2025, Tom Hunter wrote:

> My Associated Press model 15 RO rings a bell on Blank. I find it a nuisance.

This probably relates to some ancient history.  You'll note that on 
standard code cards bell is FIGS S but on some other machines bell
is FIGS J (Western Union and European)

The press wants to alert news watchers is an urgent message is coming,
so they use the bell signal, and there are reports of five bells  or
some other number depending on the importance of the message.

Then some of the papers wanted two bell signals, one on the machine
and the other to ring a remote bell in the editor's office for something
really hot.  So FIGS J and FIGS S were chosen.  I don't remember which
one was on the printer and which one was equipped with a switch contact
for the remote bell.  If they needed a third bell signal I guess blank
would be a good choice since there was no other use for it.

But then bell on blank would ring continuously if the signal line went
open for some reason, so maybe that's what it was used for.