Teletype Model 19 Part 5: We make vintage baudot bits!

In this episode, we restore our Model 19 Teletype keyboard and tape punch, and generate our first 1930-vintage Baudot bits!

[@jaut-76]

I’m so glad I’ve found this series again after I got hold of a model 19 to hook up to my vintage 1950s equipment for fsk on 7mhz M7BLJ

[@CuriousMarc]

Let me know when you have it going, I want to do the same with mine!

[@jaut-76]

@@CuriousMarc I followed this series to get mine fixed since it wasn’t in too bad of condition mechanically the big task was collecting and electricity restoring the electronic encoders and decoders for rtty

[@imarocketman4125]

This brings back some memories. I use to operate that teletype in the Army back in the 80's. Yes, the Army was still using that in the 80's.

[@jockinafrock]

I was repairing them for the RAF in the '90s. Trend 601s, 615, and 800 PTAs. I did some training on Cossor T150's IIRC, and we had some old ones like this on ein display cases at my unit in Germany.

[@Captain_Char]

I guess the old saying, "if its not broke, don't fix it" runs in the military?

[@absurdengineering]

omegasignas On the other hand, you could make a very serviceable but modern unit that would weigh much, much less and thus take way less fuel to transport and operate. A simple and reliable microcontroller is all it’d take to run the show, and the printing probably could be done using simple optics and high power LEDs, derated a whole lot to make them last essentially forever. Basically like laser marking except without lasers. A 100W LED chip on a heat sink and two lenses per “dot” is all it takes. You can have nice output with 10-12 dots per column. It could also print but mapped graphics. On any paper, pretty much. Heck, if you really wanted to make it “bomb-proof”, the entire print circuit, including the font ROM, could be made out of discrete transistor and diode logic running at 12V. Easy to debug (a small lightbulb could be a “logic probe”), and with modern components there’d be very little component value drift over time. Modern metal foil resistors are marvels compared to old bulk (“composition”) resistors in terms of stability. If you don’t overload them, and if there is no contamination in the manufacturing process, they will last hundreds of years easy, and stay within 1% of their value. Same goes for ceramic capacitors and hermetic tantalum capacitors. Glass-sealed tantalums are marvelous devices. Expensive, but properly designed into the circuit they become a part you don’t need to think much about in service. They don’t fail. They also cost $15-$500 apiece, but you get all you pay for :)

[@albinklein7680]

I grew up in the seventies in Germany and my uncle worked for a business machine repair/maintenance outfit. I totally remember the smell of his workshop. Everytime I see your teletype I have that particular smell in my nose. They had three big "sinks" there; roughly the size of 55gal. drums; one full of paraffin/kerosene, one with trichloroethylene and one with "Nähmaschinenöl" (kind of gun lube). They just dunked dirty/frozen/stuck stuff in the appropriate drum for half an hour and then hosed the shit out of it with compressed air. Those were the days. I LOVED that smell...

[@bborkzilla]

I used to know a former Teletype technician. He used to regale me with stories of how they would dunk entire subassemblies into vats of kerosene to clean out all the gunk that would accumulate on the mechanical bits. Most times that and a careful application of compressed air was all they needed to get back into service.

[@navyspook79]

Marc you are bringing back up some bad memories. I am a retired Navy CT. It our initial school we had to learn how to read five baud type from memory. Couldn't do it now if my life depended on it. Navy was still using teletypes very similar to those in the mid 80s.

[@UrvonDiviner]

Now I finally know what a bit looks like. It’s round, has a pinkish hue, and is made of paper...

[@kbhasi]

@FartFaceSniffer Yeah, I think they're made of really long strips of pink paper tape compressed into the thickness of a dollar coin. LOL JK

[@davejacobsen3014]

In the sixties the teletype was a part of my electronics repair unit in the Marines. But military messages had a a very specific format, feed lines opening and ending. They were send by radio or land line and could use special secret codes. I didn’t work on them but guys went to school several months to fix them. They were a pain and being mechanical they failed often in Vietnam.

[@MarquisDeSang]

I wish this series would never end.

[@zh84]

It will, but I hope he will find something else interesting that we can watch him repairing afterwards.

[@rocketry100]

My first job as an apprentice with BT 1970 (Post Office as was then) was to dissemble a teleprinter like this (I think it was actually a creed model 7) down to every single nut/screw/piece - and when that was done re-assemble it and adjust back to full working order - took me 2 weeks.

[@CuriousMarc]

Creed model 7! That’s a very nice Teletype, that I am trying to add to my collection. Not found one so far.

[@toniturnwald9890]

You are genius. I really like to watch you films of repairing these machine. cheerio Toni

[@HeyBirt]

Oh no! The dangling chads have returned!

[@ronsherr1]

Marc, I absolutely love your channel and can’t wait for each new video. Please keep making this wonderful content! Thank you!

[@kjamison5951]

Please point out the “Any” key in the next video, Marc! Haha! You have such a great enthusiasm for computers, your voice tells us how passionate you are. Thank you for the video!

[@peter_c._kuehne]

Great to see you guys advancing with another fascinating project, your channel is a blast, thanks for everything and keep up your passionate efforts, I never miss an episode and already look forward to the next Teletype piece!

[@mspysu79]

Nice work getting the punch working, I like the alternate drive mechanism. That model 19 quite different form the ASR-33 that us vintage computer guys are all used to, but you can still see the family resemblance.

[@39Kohm]

I love the punched tape, I would love to get one running on my Z80 system

[@Ryges]

39K I fell the same. I have access to a RC2000, and been thinking about connecting it to my home brew.

[@comicsansgreenkirby]

I wanna plug it into a USB port on my PC :p

[@ClintDalrymple]

My mom used to have stories about how you knew when something went wrong at the navy computer center: groups of wives getting together to iron paper tape flat.

[@venopsis]

A perfect Sunday now with this new episode! Boulot incroyable Marc que vous faites avec tous les autres. J'aimerai tant pouvoir participer à ce genre d'activité et en apprendre plein sur les anciennes machines, etc.

[@yoerim360]

enjoyed your YT about the model 15 and 19. learned a lot of it too. so it seems i now have the model15 ( as i tought) in tg7 mil version. also have the td14 wich seems to be placed on the table with a model 19 what is under way ( as the model 19 seems to be a 15 with reperforator)

[@gryffuscze]

Bits everywhere! 🤣

[@lohphat]

May I also suggest that as you turn up the power incrementally that you take advantage of an IR thermal imaging camera to detect any hot-spots on wires or larger components so that you avoid damage to irreplaceable parts. Old cloth-wrapped wires are the most suspect as they don't age well -- you'll be able to see any unexpected warm spots in wires before the power gets too high.

[@Alexthelion2]

Gives a new meaning of stray bits

[@CyclingSteve]

It needs a vacuum cleaner attachment for picking up all those Baudot bits. But seriously, does this model have a way to contain the chads?

[@olik136]

contained by the room it stands in :)

[@MrRtkwe]

I'd wager the cover is responsible for that.

[@Wizardofgosz]

I was thinking the exact same thing. If not, add one!

[@CuriousMarc]

There is. It's a cover with a chute that we'll remount in the next episode. Should be much better, but some chads will still escape and end up everywhere.

[@tsclly2377]

The Republicans want them////

[@kbhasi]

6:26 Aww yeah, period music again, though I wondered why the previous video ended with one of the pieces of music included with iMovie.

[@Maxxarcade]

Do all the punched bits normally get funneled into a container? Seems like they would eventually jam up the machine. I'm looking forward to seeing this send and receive data again, especially if you can get it to talk with modern computers somehow.

[@zh84]

Marc answered this above. Yes, there is a chad-collection chute, but they dismounted it while they were mending the tape punch.

[@wrovina]

It's a good thing wearing safety glasses!! Just in case something flies off!!!!!

[@wacawschiller1369]

How does it advwnce the tape when you've just inserted a fresh one, so the movement holes are not there yet?

[@CuriousMarc]

By friction only, and not very well. You have to help it out by pulling on the tape while printing blanks (which only punches the small traction holes), until said traction holes reach the puller and it then grabs firmly.

[@wacawschiller1369]

Thanks for answer (and for great video as well, catching up with rest of them)

[@Kai-io6jn]

looks good

[@RobertSzasz]

Would a micro soda blaster work for cleaning some of these parts?

[@Pistoletjes]

@4:26 a littlebit of percussive maintenance -- AvE style!

[@dbingamon]

I used to do RTTY in Ham radio and I well remember the RYRYRYRY

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

How did you find replacements for the broken-off key caps?

[@HeyBirt]

I finally understand the lyrics to the Pink Panther theme, "Baudot...baudot...baudot baudot baudot baudot baaauuudouut" (OK, I'm done with silly comments for today :) )

[@Madness832]

Save all the bits punched, for the rest of the year & you'll have plenty of confetti for your New Years party! And BTW, did you punch in swear words, off-camera? :D

[@yanwo2359]

Amazing! I can even smell this thing. A mixture of stale cigarette smoke, rancid oil, too warm components, and ozone. Right? :)

[@CuriousMarc]

Not anymore. Mine is so clean it smells like a petunia.

[@yanwo2359]

@@CuriousMarc Excellent! ... I think. I'm not sure I know the scent of a petunia, but it has to be better than what I described above!

[@zachz96]

I though you couldn't use a drill with a tap in it. Wouldn't that break the tap?

[@phonotical]

Rube Goldberg? You mean Heath Robinson 😂

[@matthewkriebel7342]

Even if it's less than authentic, maybe shim the top die plate so it won't clamp the tape. And Loc-tite the screws.

[@Captain_Char]

This makes me think this was a precursor to a card punching machine

[@alexandermirdzveli3200]

I'm always very curious about all the CuriousMarc projects.

[@FesixGermany]

Well I already subscribed to your channel...

[@scowell]

Pressure-wash with naptha.

[@bryanb3352]

I never knew how confetti was made. Seems overly complicated.

[@DandyDon1]

There's no "Who Is" key on this model?

[@carlclaunch793]

The 'Here Is' or answerback function didn't appear until later models of the teletype. Those who are familiar with the 8 bit model 33 ASR (or ASR 33 depending on your preference for naming) remember that key. A machine has a drum inside with a programmed series of characters to send. When the 'Here is' key is pressed, or a request is received from a remote system, the drum rotates around sending the programming string back. We know of a third party modification for the model 15 that adds an answerback drum on the keyboard, but it was not a factory feature.

[@DandyDon1]

When I wrote "Who Is" I thought it didn't seem correct. Thanks

[@ZerodJailbreak]

Vous comptez redresser la façade du compteur de ligne?

[@the_real_foamidable]

You need a bit bucket.

[@garyb8486]

So the Model 19 punched chadded tape. Model 28 was chadless and much cleaner.

[@ralphmadera4366]

It is amazing what humanity accomplished in hundred years, machines, great buildings in short periods of time, nowadays every thing takes forever due to the red tape of the bureaucrats sitting in government offices calculating and looking into law loopholes to implement new controls and tax regulations which in term makes everything more complex if not impossible to accomplish.

[@krnlg]

Not in terms of technology. This are really snowballing now when it comes to computational tech. Smart phones, AI. In fact you could say it is "advancing" too fast without proper regulation or thought to consequences; lack of privacy, automation of jobs, election "hacking".

[@BillKnu]

I worked for CNT for 19 years. I started on Teletype Model 15 and 19. Not to mention 28, 32, 33 and 35. All of these did not care about line voltage - we ran line current of 60 mA or 120 mA at voltages from 60 V to 260 VDC. Better find some real experts.

[@rivards1]

It bugs me that you oil things without first flushing out the gunked-up old grease with some kind of solvent.

[@PaulHuininken]

MindCandy

[@lohphat]

"Iron" is one of those English words which does not follow standard pronunciation. Instead of "eye-ron", it's pronounced "eye-yern". As a French language student I would consider this payback for "Bouygues". ;-)

[@njzhangyifei]

I thought you were to type Hello World on it

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

This would normally be done via a RS232 communications interface chip.

[@carlclaunch793]

Set to 5 bit, no parity and 1.5 stop bits at 45.45 baud thus very few modern interface chips are designed to operate this slowly

[@beefchicken]

Carl Claunch 1.42 stop bits!