Got some Teletype parts in the mail from RTTY Electronics in California. These are some of the pieces I missed the last time I ordered parts. Mostly small items that I didn't quite see on the parts list or realize I was missing.
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Sixty four years ago at 19:28:34 UTC, the space age began with the launch of Sputnik. In 1957, this is how news outlets throughout the world were first alerted to the launch of Sputnik.
Finally solved my issues with my Model 15 Teletype. I still have to do some tweaking as it occasionally translates the characters from the keyboard incorrectly. The issues all turned out to be caused by gummed up grease/oil that was preventing the mechanism from working correctly. There was a second issue with erroneous characters as well. Turned out to be an issue with the keyboard. Had to add some shims under the locking lever shaft bracket and the keyboard casting. The only errors here are due to human error. Made up a 60 mA, 120VDC power supply to test out my Model 15 Teletype. Looks like I have some tweeking to do on the teletype.
I spent two days oiling all the different parts of the teletype. That was a lot of oil points. It is now almost ready for a test run.
This is the teletype table. It had this supposed felt pad to keep vibrations under control (see center picture). What ever this material was, it pretty much crumbled to bits. Interestingly enough, it has "June 22, 1960" stamped on it. So the teletype was likely made then.
Model 15 Restoration: keyboard painted, put back together and lubricated. This part is ready to go.
It's a very clever device. There are 5 levers that extend below the top which get set by each key press. It's all done with notches in bars. These levers represent the Bardot code for each character (similar to ASCII binary codes used in your computer). Then the little rotating shaft sends these out serially by moving the hook like pieces one at a time. Elegant. Model 15 Teletype Restoration: These cleaned up really well with some Spray Nine degreaser and water. I'm impressed. They were originally filled with hardened grease, old oil and gunk.
Today I decided to start the restoration of my Model 15 Teletype. This is a neat machine that was in production from 1930 to 1962 or so. It is entirely electro-mechanical. First step is to take it all apart and clean all the gunk off of it. Then oil and re-assemble the mechanical parts. I also may paint some sections as appropriate.
I picked this teletype up at a garage sale back in July 2019. In October of that year I was thinking of getting this thing working, but I just did not get around to it. Now two years later it is time to give this baby a try. Fortunately there is a lot of documentation on the internet, and Curious Marc did a similar restoration on a Model 19 which is essentially the same machine. |
AuthorCharles Baetsen holds a Bachelor and a Master's degree in Engineering Physics from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. Archives
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