Tracy Johnson wrote:

>Are those [TTYs] the big heavy metal ones with a type 'box' or the chincy
>plastic ones that used a type 'drum'?
>
>The metal ones that used a type 'box' also used Baudot code and not ASCII.
>You may have a code translation problem because of that also.  From what I
>remember, the paper tape only had 5 holes which seems to imply 6 bits (the
>remaining bit would have been the stop bit.)
>
>The other kind of teletype with a type 'drum' used paper tape with 7 holes
>and sounds like the code would be standard ASCII.

The boxy ones are A/KSR27s and were only available for Baudot code. The
ones with the type drums, the A/KSR33s, were made in both ASCII and
Baudot versions. The Baudot versions were quite prized in amateur radio
circles, because the dear old FCC (Federal Communications Commission, for
readers unburdened by it) refused to allow the use of that newfangled
ASCII code until about 15 years ago.

-- Bruce

PS. To be fair, the rules have since been liberalized considerably -- you
can use any code you want, including compression, so long as you identify
in clear ASCII, Baudot or international Morse -- but it did take them a
while.

- B


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