DOWN MEMORY LANE : TELEPRINTER

Posted by : Hj Zulheimy Maamor

5 May 2023

What you're using in the photo is a Teleprinter / Teletypewriter (TTY).

It was the backbone of military and naval comms before computer and email:

What it does:

It's a typewriter + printer + radio. You type a message on the keyboard, it converts every letter into 5-bit Baudot code, sends it over radio wire or HF radio, and the machine on the other end automatically prints it out on paper roll. No internet needed.

Brief history:

• 1900s-1920s: Invented to send typed messages over telegraph lines.
• 1940s-1960s WW2 & Cold War: Every navy ship and shore base like KD Sri Rejang used it for orders, weather, and coded messages. The model in your photo looks like a Siemens / Creed or Telefunken T100-series - the standard RMN / TLDM teleprinter in the 70s-80s, with the brown metal casing and perforated tape reader on top.
• 1980s: In your era, this was the secure texting system. The operator in Semboyan would receive Fleet Broadcast from Lumut / Woodlands and print it. If the line was noisy, you'd get "RYRYRY" test tape.
• 1990s: Replaced by Computer + Radio Teletype (RTTY), then by computers, email, and the PDA - From Teleprinter → PDA → Smartphone.

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

7 Januari 2024 > 25 Jamadilakhir 1445H: 11.45 am