Who remembers the BRPE paper tape punch?

[Mechanic]

Who remembers the BRPE paper tape punch?
The BRPE paper tape punch used to punch out justified stock market results to run on automated line casting machines was a common sight in composing rooms in the days of hot metal. Newspapers could have their own column width and typeface and the lines would still be justified correctly. The way it worked the newspaper would purchase a font of matrices designed to have a number of units assigned to each character in the font. for example an a in a condensed font would have the same number of units as an a in an expanded font. So regardless of the column width they would all have the same number of units. The BRPE punch continued to be used to punch justified tape generated by computer for news and advertising.

[Keri Szafir]

Interesting; when was it introduced for Linotype/Intertype, and how was it coupled with the machine? Could it run in a fully automatic mode (e.g. did it need any operator action to start casting a line after it was set)? Monotype had it from the very beginning, together with the unit system. They used 31-channel ribbon though, but made computer-to-Monotype ribbon converters in 1960/70s.

[Dave Hughes]

Yes, I remember them well. The Yorkshire Evening Press used one to set feature material on their bank of mainly Intertype Monarchs.

They were very noisy, the waste paper from punching the holes collected in the clear plastic box you can see in the picture. This waste was sometimes used in banging out ceremonies!

[Mechanic]

Christophe, They punched 6 level teletype setter codes (TTS) onto paper tape. the tape was loaded onto an operating unit attached to the Linotype or Intertype keyboard.

[Dave Hughes]

Robin Kenworthy has been in touch, and added the following:

While on service in the 1950's I had been running multi channel VF telegraph equipment over land lines to radio transmitters. The signal originated on paper tape in Murray code, there was an offset sprocket continuous punch line with two holes below and three above so it could only be run in the correct manner.

This was created on a keyboard only machine then run a 66 baudes the receiving machine converted the signal to be printed on a Creed teleprinter.

On return to UK in the mid 1950's Linotype were advertising for "teleprinter mechanics" with experience of this type of work. I turned the job down for better paid GPO work. In 1960 GPO opened Fleet Building Farringdon St, this replaced the old Central Telegraph Office where telegrams were sent all over London by pneumatic tube.

UK and world wide by wire or radio with teleprinters and provided a "dial up teleprinter service" (putting it in its simplest form of words. (this building has in turn met its demise and a new office block nears completion. This new building also includes the former site of the London Evening Standard.

In the 1980's I had chance to buy one of these TTS Linotypes when a school of print closed, (my 1908 model 4 had finally run out of spares) but a 48 came on the market so was better for my purpose with the higher number of channels.

Robin also included this link which features tele-typesetting.

1967 - Changes in Paris

[Mechanic]

Robin Kenworthy, mentioned that they were using the Murray code. Murray was a New Zealander who was working at the Sydney Morning Herald in the 1890's when he came with idea of using coded paper tape to store typed information. If you are interested you can read about him and the origins of TTS on this site by clicking on the URL below.


http://www.metaltype.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,661.msg1491.html#msg1491