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Subject: Re: What hath God wrought? Author: Jim Scott [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 21:06:56 06/19/13 Wed In reply to: Wes 's message, "What hath God wrought?" on 14:15:11 06/19/13 Wed Before World War II small town radio stations did not have available or could not afford the Teletype wire news services. Instead they would hire a local ham radio operator to listen to shortwave radio broadcasts from the news services using Morse Code. Those broadcasts were at 100 words-per-minute, so it took an exceptional ham to copy code that fast while typing that fast on a manual typewriter. The ham operator would use long rolls of paper fed through a manual typewriter to print out the news. For breaking news someone would tear the just-typed sheet off the top of the typewriter and rush it into the on-air studio to read it, hence the origin of the phrase "rip and read". In 1966 I started working with one such ham operator by the name of Jack Hudson who once worked at a small South Carolina AM broadcast station doing the above news transcribing. On December 7, 1942 he was about to go off duty when news came across about Pearl Harbor. He didn't go home but stayed on duty for 8 more hours. Other staff in the station showed up to help by feeding him sandwiches and coffee. He would stop to drink the coffee and grab a bite and then go back to typing and catch up without missing a word. He could even take a quick trip to the rest room without missing a word. I doubt his performance was unique as most small AM stations across the country probably have a similar story in their history. Jim Scott >Another column picked up from the paper > >I happened to notice the other day that the world's >last telegraph system will be decommissioned in the >next few days. It's in India. > ......... [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> [> Subject: Re: What hath God wrought? Author: Skip [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 08:25:09 06/20/13 Thu >Before World War II small town radio stations did not >have available or could not afford the Teletype wire >news services. Instead they would hire a local ham >radio operator to listen to shortwave radio broadcasts >from the news services using Morse Code. Those >broadcasts were at 100 words-per-minute, so it took an >exceptional ham to copy code that fast while typing >that fast on a manual typewriter. The ham operator >would use long rolls of paper fed through a manual >typewriter to print out the news. For breaking news >someone would tear the just-typed sheet off the top of >the typewriter and rush it into the on-air studio to >read it, hence the origin of the phrase "rip and read". > >In 1966 I started working with one such ham operator >by the name of Jack Hudson who once worked at a small >South Carolina AM broadcast station doing the above >news transcribing. On December 7, 1942 he was about >to go off duty when news came across about Pearl >Harbor. He didn't go home but stayed on duty for 8 >more hours. Other staff in the station showed up to >help by feeding him sandwiches and coffee. He would >stop to drink the coffee and grab a bite and then go >back to typing and catch up without missing a word. >He could even take a quick trip to the rest room >without missing a word. I doubt his performance was >unique as most small AM stations across the country >probably have a similar story in their history. > >Jim Scott > > >>Another column picked up from the paper >> >>I happened to notice the other day that the world's >>last telegraph system will be decommissioned in the >>next few days. It's in India. >> ......... Did you mean Dec 7, 1941 mzybe??

[> [> [> Subject: Re: What hath God wrought? Author: Jim Scott [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 09:06:25 06/20/13 Thu No mzybe about it, yes that was not a typing error but a mental error. I get stuck on 1942 because that is my birth year. I was born almost 6 weeks after that date and I always told my Mom "Look what the war scared out of you." Jim > >Did you mean Dec 7, 1941 mzybe??

[> [> [> [> Subject: Re: What hath God wrought? Author: ralph058 [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 09:39:52 06/20/13 Thu Jim, You are two weeks older than me. >No mzybe about it, yes that was not a typing error but >a mental error. I get stuck on 1942 because that is >my birth year. I was born almost 6 weeks after that >date and I always told my Mom "Look what the war >scared out of you." > >Jim > >> >>Did you mean Dec 7, 1941 mzybe??

[> [> Subject: Re: What hath God wrought? Author: Brian Jones [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 09:16:24 06/26/13 Wed >Before World War II small town radio stations did not >have available or could not afford the Teletype wire >news services. Instead they would hire a local ham >radio operator to listen to shortwave radio broadcasts >from the news services using Morse Code. Those >broadcasts were at 100 words-per-minute, so it took an >exceptional ham to copy code that fast while typing >that fast on a manual typewriter. The ham operator >would use long rolls of paper fed through a manual >typewriter to print out the news. For breaking news >someone would tear the just-typed sheet off the top of >the typewriter and rush it into the on-air studio to >read it, hence the origin of the phrase "rip and read". > >In 1966 I started working with one such ham operator >by the name of Jack Hudson who once worked at a small >South Carolina AM broadcast station doing the above >news transcribing. On December 7, 1942 he was about >to go off duty when news came across about Pearl >Harbor. He didn't go home but stayed on duty for 8 >more hours. Other staff in the station showed up to >help by feeding him sandwiches and coffee. He would >stop to drink the coffee and grab a bite and then go >back to typing and catch up without missing a word. >He could even take a quick trip to the rest room >without missing a word. I doubt his performance was >unique as most small AM stations across the country >probably have a similar story in their history. > >Jim Scott > > >>Another column picked up from the paper >> >>I happened to notice the other day that the world's >>last telegraph system will be decommissioned in the >>next few days. It's in India. >> ......... I don't know about pre-WW2 news service using radio. However, I worked during the 1960s with a operator who worked here in England for a Trans-Atlantic cable news service. He told me that the text was transmitted using abbreviations and he had to type the full text out on a typewriter. Even during the 1960s some reporters typed out their story using similar abbreviatons, e.g. t = the, tt = that. After copy was edited, the abbreviations were still there, and the typesetter would fill the text out. The days of hot-metal type have almost vanished! Now everyone can create their own posters or letter head on the computer. Brian