Teletype AN/PGC-1

[maxim]

I was given a Teletype AN/PGC-1 TT-4A/TG with the storage box. I understand somewhat how they work but would like to at times, display it with other military material. I have an M-37 but no shelter. Was this unit used in the field in conjunction with phone and radio comunications. Also what years this unit was produced and how recently would it have been used. Korea? Viet Nam? Cold War era?

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

That particular one comes with a set of legs etc., correct? I think I have one somewhere. That's would be set up in a CP or out in the field either strung into the wired communication system (i.e. field wire) or maybe used as a remote from a RATT/CRTTZ radio-teletype shelter. So as part of a CP type display you'd be good.

Teletype was in the system at least until the late 80s and even later in some cases (countries like Canada had them in reserve units right up through the mid-late 1990s) at least as used in AN/GRC-122 and AN/GRC-142 shelters in combination with AN/GRC-106 radios. I remember seeing a bunch of still-kitted AN/GRC-142 shelters up for disposal at Malmstrom AFB in the late 1990s, so someone obviously still had them in inventory.

Military radio teletype went through a few different iterations, all of which you can readily look up online if you like - with the earlier shelters being the AN/GRC-26 or AN/GRC-19 type, and the later ones being the AN/GRC-122 and AN/GRC-142 types which started life off with the old-school Kleinschmidt-type TT-76 and TT-98 teletypes, and finished up with the fairly modern AN/UGC-74 types in, I think, the "D" and later versions. The shelters had a provision to remote a teletype using WD-1/TT field wire via the front electrical panel and an interface so you could monitor the machine some distance away from the pod either for comfort's sake (say...in a tent with a Yukon stove vs. a cramped shelter), or because you were afraid of getting RDF'd and blown up by arty.

The manual was usually included in the lid of the box that TT-4 came in (pouch? behind a door? been awhile), but if not I'm pretty sure you can find it on the web. It was funny seeing that stuff in use in the late 80s and 90s because it just *looked* so...antique...even if it was still very functional...pretty much how I feel about my own M37

 

[ONTOS66]

Although we had a RATT Rig with the Bn TOC (when the were able to establish a net and the equipment was working) mounted in an M577 Command Post Carrier, I have never worked with the gear. I had "specialists" that sat in that box with the "classified" equipment and sweated. While I worked in the adjacent M577 as the Operations Sergeant Major (and sweated) with my RTOs, BN staff, etc.

Ran across a couple of references that might be of interest:

New Military List Database Search Results

Also a couple of extracts from the 50s on that equipment and its use:

Directory of Communications-Electronic Equipment

Lots of material out there - GOOGLE, GOOGLE, GOOGLE

 

[cranetruck]

I'm starting another album...
Steel Soldiers :: Military Vehicles Supersite

 

[cranetruck]

Noticed some traffic and added a few more articles.
The PS notes may not be as detailed as the TMs, but sometimes the little things are interesting, like this shelter "air conditioning"...

 

[nf6x]

My AN/GRC-122B shelter came with that family of mechanical TTY gear, and I was surprised to find paperwork inside that suggested that it had been mounted on a HMMWV. So, it appears that the old mechanical Kleinschmidt teletypes were still in use beyond 1986.

I swapped out my main page printer (a minor variation of yours) with a newer AN/UGC-74B because the old mechanical TTY just looked anachronistic on the back of my HMMWV, but I may go back to the original configuration sometime.

 

[Lifer]

That particular model was introduced in the waning years of WWII and was commonly used by all branches of the armed forces during the Korean war. I was an Air Force TTY operator for nearly 30 years and we had completely phased those out by the end of the Viet Nam war in favor of the more logistically supportable Kleinschmidt model 25 and 28 in either KSR or ASR configurations. My favorite was the model 28 but, by the time I retired in 1989, it was also becoming a logistical nightmare.

 

[Boatcarpenter]

NB,
I know where there are two free Kleinschmidts. They are in Myrtle Beach, SC. Very narrow window to pickup.
PM for details if interested.
BC
There is also a commo shelter for $200. Same small window to pickup.

 

[saddamsnightmare]

March 14th, 2010.


Maxim:
"Remember,Airman, the Army wants the last say on anything you read" Cool, makes me think of "Good Morning, Vietnam!" That is one cool piece of equipment!


Cheers,
Kyle F. McGrogan

NB: I remember the sound of similar units when I worked briefly in radio work in the Ohio Valley during the late 1970's.... you NEVER forget the clacking of those machines any more then an IBM Selectric typewriter....!

 

[KI0DN]

I worked on these as late as 1979 or so. I was a TTY/Crypto Tech in the Marines. We didn't have them in radio/teletype shelters like the Army, ours were standalone units. They came with a table and four legs which I have heard from TTY collectors have become rare. Many have their date of manufacture stamped on the underside of the chassis.

Unless you know something about their operation and repair do not try to adjust anything. So many adjustments are interrelated that a maladjustment may "correct" a symptom but cause damage to the real culprit.

Properly adjusted these workhorses would chug along at 60 words per minute forever.

Jim

 

[mm58]

Just curious, but could this teletype machine be utilitez with a modern HF ham radio?
Thinking it would be cool to be able to send/receive text over teletype using HF

 

[KI0DN]

Yes. There is a group called Greenkeys that do that.

Here's how to get on their email list.

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
greenkeys-request@mailman.qth.net

You can reach the person managing the list at
greenkeys-owner@mailman.qth.net

Jim

 

[nf6x]

Yes, it can be used as part of a ham RTTY setup. The TT-4 has a current loop interface, and you would need arrange for that to connect to a suitable RTTY modem. The modem could either be an AFSK modem driving an SSB transceiver, or a true FSK converter driving one of the radios it was made for. One approach might consist of:

• TT-4 teletype
• Home-made current loop power supply
• Home-made current loop to TTL converter
• Dovetron RTTY modem (via eBay)
• Modern HF SSB transceiver

If this stuff interests you, then you might like Clatternet, the weekly military RTTY net that I'm involved with:

http://www.mrcgwest.org/mrcg-radio-nets/

 

[mm58]

Mark, thanks for the reply. Good info!