[RTTY] When did mechanical teleprinters become obsolete?

[Russmill47@aol.com]

Who says that mechanical teleprinters are obsolete? ;-)  I use my  Teletype 
Model 28 ASR on the air daily and in the contests.  There is a  small group of 
us die-hards who continue to use mechanical  teleprinters on the air.  And, 
it's easier to exchange picture tapes  using teleprinters. There is a Greenkeys 
list at _mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys_ 
(http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys)  for  those who would like to re-visit their youth 
or who are simply curious about  mechanical teleprinting.  There is something 
special about the sound of a  well maintained mechanical teleprinter running 
at 60 WPM.
 
I am sure that there are folks reading this, saying to  themselves:  Why on 
earth would you use old clunky Teletype machines  when we can emulate that in 
software?   I say, why on earth are you  using HF radio when you can use the 
Internet and get much more available and  reliable data transfers. It's the same 
kind of thing.  It's not what  you want to do, it's how it's done.  And, in 
my case, I find that there is  still magic left in RTTY when the TTY continues 
to represent Teletype.
 
73,
 
Russ
WA3FRP