Radio Teletype or RTTY in ham parlance (RATT in the military) was a primary means of communication throughout the 1950s and 1960s, primarily using mechanical teleprinters that put ink on paper. Only after microcomputers made new technology possible were the model 15, 19, 28, 32 Baudot machines replaced with ASCII-talking printing and display terminals. Wide-shift gave way to narrow, and ultimately to higher speed digital encoding methods, and encryption. But for hams, 850 Hz Baudot radio teletype reigned supreme and still draws afficinados for casual operation as well as the annual RTTY contests. Many stations use modern computers and soundcard interfaces but some prefer the smell and sound of mechanical teletype machines, including military radio enthusiast Ray Fantini KA3EKH who posted this video showing the recent appearance of the Battleship New Jersey radio operators on the Saturday morning MMRCG RTTY net. Ray explains:
Well done, Ray! The Midwest Military Radio Collectors Group is open to anyone who appreciates military radio equipment and participation in the RTTY and other nets is encouraged. See www.mmrcg.org for more information
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- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)
Posted: 08/226/2024
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Anyone who caught one of the Emergency Action Notifications (EAN) transmitted by the US Air Force on the HF bands remembers this phrase.But not many know how the EAN is actually used by our military. This re-creation of a Minuteman III Launch Control Facilitliy (LCF) in Utah provides a realistic view of what happens when an EAN is received by a missile control crew, 60 feet under... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)
Posted: 04/93/2024
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If you're a long-time ham you might know what the smeary figure-8 pattern is....Back in the Novice era, many used crystals purchased from suppliers like JAN Crystals who purchased large quantities of military surplus crystals and reground them for the ham bands. That's why they were cheap, but also why you couldn't get a specific frequency as they'd grind by a formula and is long... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)
Posted: 01/22/2024
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Ron K5HZ has been building equipment since he first got his ham license in the early 60s, and while he has other transmitters, all it took to build a new one was finding a "free to good home" power transformer at a hamfest. It also gave him a chance to try using a couple of Compactron tubes that had caught his eye - the 6T10 dual pentode and the 6GE5 beam power pentode that was d... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)
Posted: 12/364/2023
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If you build almost anything electronic, chances are good you've purchased parts from DigiKey Electronics. But did you know that DigiKey - now one of the world's largest electronics distributors - started out as a ham radio company?"More than 50 years ago, a digital electronic device designed to generate uniform Morse characters and spaces was made available for sale by amateur radio enthusi... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)
Posted: 12/341/2023
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