The Telecom Digest for August 03, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 209 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
====== 28 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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===========================
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Date: Sun, 01 Aug 2010 09:03:19 -0700
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Hacker Spoofs Cell Phone Tower to Intercept Calls
Message-ID: <4C559AC7.6040709@thadlabs.com>
Whew! As demonstrated yesterday (31-July-2010) at the
DEFCON 2010 at the Riviera Casino in Las Vegas (Nevada):
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/intercepting-cell-phone-calls/
"
" A security researcher created a $1,500 cell phone base station
" kit (including a laptop and two RF antennas) that tricks cell
" phones into routing their outbound calls through his device,
" allowing someone to intercept even encrypted calls in the clear.
" Most of the price is for the laptop he used to operate the
" system. The device tricks the phones into disabling encryption
" and records call details and content before they are routed on
" their proper way through voice-over-IP. The low-cost, home-
" brewed device ... mimics more expensive devices already used
" by intelligence and law enforcement agencies - called IMSI
" catchers - that can capture phone ID data and content. The
" devices essentially spoof a legitimate GSM tower and entice
" cell phones to send them data by emitting a signal that's
" stronger than legitimate towers in the area. Encrypted calls
" are not protected from interception because the rogue tower
" can simply turn it off. Although the GSM specifications say
" that a phone should pop up a warning when it connects to a
" station that does not have encryption, SIM cards disable that
" setting so that alerts are not displayed. Even though the GSM
" spec requires it, this is a deliberate choice on the cell phone
" makers, Paget said.
{ article continues at the above URL }
Date: Sun, 01 Aug 2010 09:21:14 -0700
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Model 15 RO Teletype available (OT)
Message-ID: <4C559EFA.1010606@thadlabs.com>
On 7/31/2010 7:44 PM, Lisa or Jeff wrote:
> [...]
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
> [...]
> 4. There is, for example, no "@" (at sign) on the Teletype keyboard
> (although the symbol has been integrated in the International Morse
> Code), and no "\" (backslash).
Are you referring (above) to the Model 19?
My TTY ASR33 definitely had a "@" as shifted above the "P" as can be
seen in the following photo which is identical to the one I had at home
since I worked for Tymshare 1967-1972:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/ASR-33_2.jpg
The "@" was an important character since it was used in email addresses
such as these (for example): rms@mit-ai, thad@sri-kl, etc.
The 33 didn't have a "\" because there wasn't any real need for it
since Microsoft didn't exist back then. :-)
Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:04:11 -0500
From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi)
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Model 15 RO Teletype available (OT)
Message-ID: <H7CdnVkzfvsmucrRnZ2dnUVZ_gCdnZ2d@posted.nuvoxcommunications>
In article <4C559EFA.1010606@thadlabs.com>,
Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> wrote:
>On 7/31/2010 7:44 PM, Lisa or Jeff wrote:
>> [...]
>> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>> [...]
>> 4. There is, for example, no "@" (at sign) on the Teletype keyboard
>> (although the symbol has been integrated in the International Morse
>> Code), and no "\" (backslash).
>
>Are you referring (above) to the Model 19?
He's talking about any TTY that usedd '5-level" code, as distinct from
'8-level' (ASCII), like your model 33 used.
There were many more models, and numbers of units, made by Teletype Corp
over the years, that were 5-bit devices, than 8-bit ones.
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2010 12:47:01 -0400
From: "Regina R. Monaco, Ph.D." <rocket@earthlight.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Apple July 16 Press Conference video
Message-ID: <B62E7637-827D-4D2E-881C-0AC02BCCD6C4@earthlight.com>
I wrote the email below, and Bill asked me for the whole story behind
it, so here it is!
As an undergrad in Physics lab, I was doing some experiments with an
oscilloscope (actually, I was testing a capacitor that I had made
from a gum wrapper...) and the TA encouraged me to grab the test
input lead for the oscilloscope and wave my other arm around. The
oscilloscope trace reacted, and as a young student, I was fascinated
with this. The TA told me the human body can act as an antenna,
absorbing whatever ambient radio-frequency is available.
Many years later, I was purchasing a Honda and the car salesperson
could not find it in the lot, and his clicker was not communicating
with the car. He put the clicker to his chin, winked at me, and
clicked. The car responded. He laughed and said he didn't know why
that worked but it did. I might not have paid as much attention to
the incident if not for Physics lab...
I bought the car (not because of the clicker), and one weekend,
brought it to a big parking lot, and walked away to test the range of
the clicker. When the clicker stopped signaling my car, I walked
further away and put it to my chin. Voila! It worked. I am an
antenna. I repeated this several times, finding my chin extended the
range of my clicker by about 50 feet.
Try it and you can be an antenna too.
--Regina
> If you place the remote key so it contacts your chin, your entire body
> acts as an antenna and enhances the signal strength of the remote
> device.
> You can test this - when your remote device is in contact with your
> chin,
> the car will respond when you are farther away. This is great for
> finding
> the car when lost, and conversation value.
>
> Regina
> KI6AIG
>
> It's an inherent trait of those who choose to become hams.
>
> When I'm in a parking lot walking toward my vehicle, I keep clicking
> the "open" button on my remote key, just to see how far away I can
> communicate with my vehicle. Normal people (i.e., non-hams) wait
> until they arrive at their vehicles.
>
> Actually, doing it my way has one advantage: When my vehicle receives
> my signal, it acknowledges by flashing its lights. That helps me to
> locate it in a mass of nearly identical-looking vehicles.
>
> Dick Grady, AC7EL
Date: Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:13:52 -0700
From: Steven <diespammers@killspammers.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Florida land-line phone utilities lost 1 million customers in 2009
Message-ID: <i34a0h$88c$1@news.eternal-september.org>
On 7/31/10 9:22 PM, John Mayson wrote:
> WEST PALM BEACH, Florida - The three largest landline telephone
> providers in Florida - Verizon, AT&T and CenturyLink - lost 1 million
> customers in 2009.
>
> More here:
> http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-landline-customers-florida-20100731,0,1547715.story
>
In my job as COEI Installer, I see this since most of my work is now
working on wireless switches. In the last 6 months I have done adds to 2
Wire line switches and 30 wireless switches. I have a feeling that my
job is finally going away. Good thing I still can work in the Noc end.
--
The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2010 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co.
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 07:07:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Penna targets teen sexting
Message-ID: <4828a24b-7120-4cdf-81bc-56b574d2d076@z34g2000pro.googlegroups.com>
>From the Philadelphia Inquirer today:
"Earlier this month, Pennsylvania joined 20 other states to consider
legislation prohibiting minors from sexting - electronically sending
sexually explicit photos or text.
The bill would impose a range of penalties, from a summary offense
much like a traffic ticket to felony charges.
The goal, said a legislator, is not to send children to juvenile jail
for petty pranks but to create a law to protect them from themselves -
and one another."
For full article (which contains a detailed history on this issue)
please see:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20100802_Pa__working_to_outlaw_teen__sexting_.html
Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:02:37 -0400
From: tlvp <tPlOvUpBErLeLsEs@hotmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Penna targets teen sexting
Message-ID: <op.vgtzinr1itl47o@acer250.gateway.2wire.net>
On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:07:26 -0400, Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
wrote:
>> From the Philadelphia Inquirer today:
>
> ...
> The goal, said a legislator, is not to send children to juvenile jail
> for petty pranks but to create a law to protect them from themselves -
> and one another."
> ...
In my view, we need more to be protected from those who would protect us from
ourselves :-) .
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP
***** Moderator's Note *****
Sex sells, and the kids know it: they've grown up with TV peddling
everything from cars to "sensitivity" creams by posing luscious women
and studly men in expensive settings. At an early age, they figure out
that bare midriffs and insouciant smiles aren't enough to get the
attention they crave, so they cross the line into pornography without
meaning to, without regard for consequences.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2010 11:10:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Model 15 RO Teletype available (OT)
Message-ID: <3464b567-567f-4d06-91cb-7fdcc66a77b0@a4g2000prm.googlegroups.com>
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
> I learned to type on a Model 19 Teletype connected to a Ham radio
> transmitter at the M.I.T. radio club, W1MX, in the Sixties[1]. The
> machine required both a sense of timing and strong fingers: the
> keyboard was locked during the time when the previous key-choice was
> read by the mechanism, so producing consistently high speeds meant
> synchronizing your typing speed with that of the machine, and it took
> more force to start a key in motion than it did to complete the
> trip: each green keycap had a spring under it to absorb the typist's
> force as the key bottomed out.
I believe that in the telegraph world almost all transmissions were
prepared ahead of time off-line by pre-punching a paper tape, then
transmitting the tape at full speed. This of course also allowed for
editing and correcting of typos. Every description of machine usage
refers to this practice.
When Teletypes began to be used as computer terminals to time sharing
systems, often times programs were pre-punched off line to save on
expensive connect time. But during debugging the users could work
'live'. Also, as rates went down it wasn't as critical to work off-
line.
Some computer time shared systems used full duplex but there was a
slight delay in the echo-back of the character. It was disconcerting
to be typing and having the character print a moment after you typed
it.
Even the newer Teletype 33/35 keyboards were not easy to use. Some of
the numeric shift characters did not match standard typewriters and
the keyboard was 'heavy'.
Telegraph messages were extremely terse. The header record to a
message consisted of a few letters, each character a code representing
something. In the 1960s when telegraph systems (like Telex) were
first connected to computers to get information, the command langauge
was also extremely terse. Businesses and newspapers that were heavy
telegraph users made use of standard or company shorthand codes, for
example POTUS meant President of the United States. Overseas cables
were heavilly coded to save characters.
While today I like the user-firiendliness of modern Internet screens,
some websites are far overloaded with bloat, and even with fast
connections they take a long time to appear. For some reason the
websites of TV networks are especially loaded with bloat (eg extensive
"flash" and animated graphics) and are slow to use. If your PC's
software isn't up to date, stuff doesn't work correctly.
> I think the converters that Jeff speaks of were current-loop to RS-232
> devices, which only changed the "physical layer" signalling from that
> used by telegraph[2] lines to the bipolar interface specified by
> RS-232 for computers. Converting from the ASCII code most PC's use to
> the ITU2[3] or other codes used by Teletypes is almost always done in
> software, and it's a surprisingly complicated process: the Teletype
> can't print many of the characters available on computers[4], so the
> programmer must make choices about which ones to substitute. . . .
Yes, I was referring to RS-232 to current-loop conversion. (I
remember getting a notice in the phone bill some years ago announcing
they would not longer support local loops with current-loop service,
which meant any remaining old style Teletypes would have to go modem
or be cut off.)
Anyway, I believe a company called "Black Box" made interfaces. I
don't think a code conversion was necessary since the newer models
33/35 TTY used ASCII. But your program had to shoot data out slowly.
Looking at my surviving printouts from my TTY 33 days* I find that the
print quality wasn't so good even though it was an essentially an
electric typewriter. Many high speed computer printouts from other
than IBM 1403 printers also look poor with poor letter registration or
unevenness. IBM Selectric-style terminals had better quality.
> 2. Yes, that's right: telegraph. Teletype machines were invented to
> give Western Union and other telegraph companies a way to replace
> their high-priced telegraph operators with machines that any dolt
> could operate: being automated out of a job is, you see, nothing
> new. Since Teletype machines were used to replace telegraph
> operators, they use the same signalling methods that the telegraph
> used: "Mark" (key down) means current flowing, and "Space" (key up)
> means no current flowing. Ergo, the "current loop" signalling
> interface that is standard on all Teletype mahines.
Oslin's WU history implies that their network was wholly teleprinter
by 1950. However, other references, such as the WU employee
newsletter, suggests here and there Morse operators remained in
service on a few trunk lines until the early 1960s. I know WU wanted
to paint itself as a modern high-tech company so it wasn't gonna
mention it still used Morse operators.
> 3. According to Wikipedia, Baudot's code was never used by Teletype or
> similar machines that had a "typewriter" keyboard: a man named
> Murray adopted Baudot's code to decrease wear-and-tear on the tape
> punching mechanisms, by assigning the most often used characters to
> "mostly spacing" codes, since only "marks" were punched. . . .
The WU Tech Review**, on discussing ASCII, was concerned about the
excess mechanical wear the new code would cause on its machines (two
extra bits per characted). At that time (1963) WU was taking a
cautious look at ASCII and thinking it's Murray/Baudot would remain
the code of choice for a long time.
* I had a huge box of printouts of old BASIC programs but space
limitations (and the reality I'd never use them again) forced me to
trash it. I did retain the first program I ever wrote. (Ran clean on
the first shot, but it's been downhill from there.)
**Available on the archives of this newsgroup.
J.
Date: Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:10:00 -0500
From: Jim Haynes <jhaynes@cavern.uark.edu>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Model 15 RO Teletype available (OT)
Message-ID: <6ridnfdJjeI1f8jRnZ2dnUVZ_vSdnZ2d@earthlink.com>
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> 1. Although I sometimes wish that I had acquired skill on a Dvorak
> keyboard instead, they weren't generally available until well into
> the 1980's. C'est la vie.
I have a friend who is an absolute nut of a Dvorak promoter - he will bend
your ear for an hour if given the chance. Seems like I have read recently,
however, that the studies showing the superiority of Dvorak were flawed
and biased, so there may be no advantage at all.
In any event, it's always been my feeling that with few exceptions the
amount of time anyone spends actually pounding keys is insignificant
compared with all the other things a person does, so an increase in
typing speed doesn't translate into increased productivity.
>
> 2. Yes, that's right: telegraph. Teletype machines were invented to
> give Western Union and other telegraph companies a way to replace
> their high-priced telegraph operators with machines that any dolt
> could operate: being automated out of a job is, you see, nothing
> new. Since Teletype machines were used to replace telegraph
> operators, they use the same signalling methods that the telegraph
> used: "Mark" (key down) means current flowing, and "Space" (key up)
> means no current flowing. Ergo, the "current loop" signalling
> interface that is standard on all Teletype mahines.
>
Whether the Morse code telegraph operators were high-priced is open to
question. Certainly they would be today, but back then...The book by
Edwin Gabler, "The American telegrapher : a social history 1860-1900"
states there was always an oversupply of Morse telegraphers, tending
to drive down wages. It was denounced as unethical for a telegrapher
to teach telegraphy to anyone but an immediate family member; yet
many telegraphers did it as a way to boost their income and acquire a
helper cheap. Some of the operators were a lot better than average
and did command higher pay in consequence.
> 3. According to Wikipedia, Baudot's code was never used by Teletype or
> similar machines that had a "typewriter" keyboard: a man named
> Murray adopted Baudot's code to decrease wear-and-tear on the tape
Yep, ITA #2 is Murray's code, not Baudot's. However Baudot certainly
deserves a lot of honor as the inventor of the basic idea of a fixed-
length binary code for telegraphy. In efficiency it was a step backward
from Morse code; but in making an efficient machine printer possible
it was a great leap forward.
While we're at it, Morse code is actually Vail's code; and a lot of
people think Vail was robbed of the credit he deserves. However I
think we have to cut Morse some slack. Morse did realize that
electromagnetism could be the basis of a practical long-distance
single-wire telegraph. He did realize there was a market for the
service. And the modern concepts we have of technology-driven
corporations having a stable of engineers and patent assignment
contracts were unknown in Morse's day.
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2010 21:06:55 +0000 (UTC)
From: David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Do rate centers cross state lines?
Message-ID: <i34nlf$a0t$1@reader1.panix.com>
sfdavidkaye2@yahoo.com (David Kaye) writes:
>There is an assumption among some people that counties are some special
>miracle land. While in California it's true that cities don't span counties,
>in Oregon they do. Portland, for instance, is in parts of 3 counties.
Laurel MD is split between 3 counties, 2 or 3 cable co's and two
NPA/LATA's.
There are multiple cases of small border communities served by
the adjacent state. Some of these are being undone because of
Verizontal's fire sale to Frontier. [But it's LOTS easier to put
in a tiny CO than it was in step era.] Others will remain. (Is
South Bags CO still served from their northern neighbor's CO?)
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:32:37 +1000
From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Florida land-line phone utilities lost 1 million customers in 2009
Message-ID: <pan.2010.08.01.22.32.35.227745@myrealbox.com>
On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:22:55 +0800, John Mayson wrote:
> WEST PALM BEACH, Florida - The three largest landline telephone providers
> in Florida - Verizon, AT&T and CenturyLink - lost 1 million customers in
> 2009.
..........
Just on the general issue, are people going to VoIP or just living with
mobiles?
--
Regards, David.
David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 00:54:03 +0000 (UTC)
From: David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: WPA2 vulnerability found
Message-ID: <i354va$d4n$1@reader1.panix.com>
>***** Moderator's Note *****
>One of the Soviet's greatest intelligence triumphs during the cold war
>was their placement of a listening device in the American Ambassador's
>office in the American embassy at Moscow.
>It was a passive device, not requiring any power: they constructed a
.....
One correction: it was in the Residence, Spaso House, not his
office at the Embassy. Look for "Little Gem"...
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2010 20:36:01 EDT
From: Wesrock@aol.com
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Do rate centers cross state lines?
Message-ID: <69310.17b8a4d7.39876cf1@aol.com>
In a message dated 8/1/2010 9:49:19 AM Central Daylight Time,
sfdavidkaye2@yahoo.com writes:
> There is an assumption among some people that counties are some
> special miracle land. While in California it's true that cities don't
> span counties, in Oregon they do. Portland, for instance, is in parts
> of 3 counties.
Oklahoma City is in parts of five counties. Tulsa, I believe, is in
three. There is a small town in south central Oklahoma that sits astride a
county line. The newspaper is in one county, the post office a block away in
the other county. It required legislative action to decide which county the
newspaper was the legal newspaper for.
Many exchanges in Kansas extend into Oklahoma because of the way the state
was settled--by runs. So there are many towns that extended to near the
Oklahoma border before the state was opened to nom-Indian settlement and
they naturally extended into Oklahoma when the state was settled. They have
to have different NPA~NNXs to identify calls as interstate or intrastate.
LATAs can cross state lines. But that doesn't move the state
boundary--just the LATA boundary.
The Oklahoma Panhandle is in the Amarillo LATA. A town which crosses the
state line has the elementary school in one state, the high school in the
other. That took an act of the legislatures in both states.
The Fort Smith LATA extends into several suburbs on Oklahoma. But
exchanges (and rate centers) have the NPA-NNX corresponding to the state they're
in. There is EAS between them, across the state line.
As to NPA/NXX spanning, there are rural areas where it's easier to
service one state from another. I seem to remember a small area of
northern California serviced from Oregon. I'm trying to find the
actual communities but can't at the moment. I believe this is also
true between California and Nevada.
Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 13:52:42 -0500 (CDT)
From: jsw <jsw@ivgate.omahug.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Do rate centers cross state lines?
Message-ID: <201008021852.o72IqghG046634@ivgate.omahug.org>
>They have to have different NPA~NNXs to identify calls
>as interstate or intrastate.
Prior to the Great ESS Invasion <g> there were several cases
of towns on the Nebraska/South Dakota border which shared not
only a physical CO but a set of XXXX numbers as well, with
separate but totally interchangeable NPA-NXXs.
The towns would be something like Dorking, NE and North Dorking,
SD and between the two they would typically have only a couple
hundred subscriber lines, if that. You would see listed numbers
such as 402-569 for Dorking, NE and 605-436 for North Dorking,
SD. The two would share (part of) a thousands level, with some
of them aliased to the 9000 level as well to serve the 1-2 pay
phones in the area.
These would typically be AE step offices.
Phone 'enthusiasts' often picked up the fact that the two
NPA-NXXs were aliased to each other, and that a subscriber
served by the office, on either side of the fence, could be
dialed equally well using either NPA-NXX. A subscriber listed
in Dorking, NE at 402-569-7635, for example, could also be
dialed using 605-436-7635.
I'm quite sure that numerous folks figured out that there was
a possibility of some game-playing to get around those extortive
intrastate rates which prevailed during the Step Days. I'm also
sure that the PTB at TPC and the PSCs knew it as well, but saw
the revenue loss as minimal.
Of course, dialing quirks such as this disappeared as those
offices 'went ESS' one by one.
I'm sure there were countless examples of similar schemes in
other areas as well.
>LATAs can cross state lines. But that doesn't move the state
>boundary--just the LATA boundary.
The Omaha LATA, 644, extends westward from west central Iowa
all the way to Valentine, NE, in the northwest part of the
state. IIRC there are a couple 'fingers' of 644 which extend
into South Dakota as well.
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2010 20:46:30 EDT
From: Wesrock@aol.com
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Model 15 RO Teletype available (OT)
Message-ID: <69a1b.7a8340a9.39876f66@aol.com>
In a message dated 8/1/2010 10:35:01 AM Central Daylight Time,
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
> 1. Although I sometimes wish that I had acquired skill on a Dvorak
> keyboard instead, they weren't generally available until well into
> the 1980's. C'est la vie.
>
> 2. Yes, that's right: telegraph. Teletype machines were invented to
> give Western Union and other telegraph companies a way to replace
> their high-priced telegraph operators with machines that any dolt
> could operate: being automated out of a job is, you see, nothing
> new. Since Teletype machines were used to replace telegraph
> operators, they use the same signalling methods that the telegraph
> used: "Mark" (key down) means current flowing, and "Space" (key up)
> means no current flowing. Ergo, the "current loop" signalling
> interface that is standard on all Teletype mahines.
Most high traffic machines were ASR, where the keyboard punched a tape
that was fed through a distributor. They did not require the ham-handed
attack on each key that manual keyboards did. The touch was much like that of
computer keyboards. It also provided a steady and uniform transmission that
could not be achieved by manual typing, perhaps making the real output
almost double what you could achieve on a manual keyboard.
The teletypewriter required an operator only at the sending end. Morse
operators were required at the receiving end, too. There were many more
people with typing skills than ability to use code.
Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com
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