Internet Teletype

Teletype
over the
Internet

ITTY

Instructions on setting up Internet Teletype

ITTY Broadcast

ITTY stands for Internet Teletype. With today's streaming audio over the Internet, George, W7TTY has come up with a scheme that allows him to broadcast teletype news over the Internet 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

So what's different about ITTY? Well, for one thing, the user community is able to submit material to the transmit queue using simple E-Mail (SMTP protocol). News broadcasts are now possible from every point in the world.

National News

This teletype feed contains news feeds about the Military, Politics and National news. It was created to offload these topics from the ITTY news feed which is targeting the general public with a variety of different subject matters.

Folks that contribute to this feed and read the articles should be aware that the content may not always be politically correct or agreed to by all.

Give it a grain of salt and see if there is anything that interest you.

Autostart

ITTY AutoStart is another version of ITTY, but it targets those users that do not want the 24/7 broadcast feed and only want to read mail from other users, similar to your email you get today.

Most users have configured their mechanical teletype machines to power up when receiving a broadcast and the power down after the message is delivered. Teletype machines are mechanical devices and print directly to paper, so a large feed of continuous messages similar to ITTY would overwhelm them very quickly.

How do I receive the ITTY Broadcast and ITTY AutoStart mail from the Internet?

Receiving teletype data from the Internet does not require hard-to-get teletype equipment. The following paragraphs will provide you with enough information to download the required software to start copying ITTY on your home computer.

Copying teletype signals can be fun and enjoyable. Please join us in our experiment in ITTY broadcasts. The following instructions will help you get started.

Demonstration of ITTY being copied by a Model 28ASR

Step 1: Using WinAmp or RealPlayer to receive the TTY data stream.

Go to the following sites and download the free application.

Download WinAmp
Download Real Player

Step 2: Using MMTTY to display the news articles on your PC.

MMTTY is an application that decodes TTY data and displays the text on your computer using your sound card.

Go to the following site and download the MMTTY application. This application will allow you to receive and display the teletype data stream being received by WinAmp.

Download MMTTY

Step 3: Connect to ITTY

Start WinAmp. To connect to ITTY, bring up the WinAmp menu to connect to an URL.

ITTY:

http://209.180.212.65:8000/listen.pls

Use Port 593 in the RTTYMailer

Politics, Military and National News:

http://209.180.212.65:8040/listen.pls

Use Port 598 in the RTTYMailer

AutoStart:

http://209.180.212.65:8030/listen.pls

Use Port 594 in the RTTYMailer

Start up MMTTY, you may need to read the documentation to configure it to read the BAUDOT code. You may also to set the sound card for "Mixed" audio input/and ouput.

There are other software applications that are available, but have not been tested. Following list is not complete, but go to the links and you will see the other selections.

For the Windows PC:
TrueTTY HamComm HamScope MixW MultiPSK RadioRaft FTV Contact-Multi

For the Mac:
cocoaModem MultiMode

For Linux:
qMFSK Fidigi

For DOS:
Intercom

Pocket PC:
PocketDigi

How can I contribute to ITTY bulletin broadcasts?

The success of ITTY depends upon the submission of "quality" news articles submitted to the ITTY server. Topics should be of interest to the general public. So how does one contribute material to the server? Send E-mail to:

How can I contribute to Politics, Military & National News broadcasts?

How can I contribute to the Autostart Network broadcasts?

The Auto Start network operates very similar to the ITTY broadcasts, with the simple exception that users are requested to keep their messages short and oriented towards point-to-point topics, similar to what you find on most public mailing lists. Send you E-mail to:

itty@ittynews.k7tty.com

Use Port 593 in the RTTYMailer

national@ittynews.k7tty.com

Use Port 598 in the RTTYMailer

autostart@ittynews.k7tty.com

Use Port 594 in the RTTYMailer

ITTY has set up an E-Mail client that is capable of receiving news articles submitted by the general community. The preferred method of sending mail it to use the RTTYMailer application which can be downloaded at:

The RTTYMailer application allows you to specify the "FROM" and "TO" recipient for each message and provides formatting to ensure that you do not exceed the 68 characters per line limitation.

Step 1: Setting up RTTYMailer

The RTTYMailer software can be downloaded from:

Download RTTYMailer

You will need to unzip the file and place the executable somewhere on your computer where you can easily find it! There is only one file in the package.

Press the "Get Files" button and you are allowed to select one to many files for entering into the queue.

The file dialog allows you to select multiple files at the same time for faster loading of the transmit queue.

RTTYMailer allows you to upload bulletins to ITTY directly without having to use your email application.

Step 2: Other Considerations

There's no formal documentation, but here is the short cook instructions.

On the "SMTP Server" drop down menu, select 209.180.212.65 (George's IP). This is the only ITTY choice.
Standard ITTY uses either port 25 and port 593, both work. The recent discovery that e-mail port 25 is now pretty much being shutdown throughout the internet has caused a revision in how the SMTP e-mail handler in your computer must be set up. The recipient should be itty@209.180.212.65
National News uses either port 598 and port 599, both work. The recipient should be national@209.180.212.65
AUTOSTART uses either port 594 or port 595, doesn't matter which one you pick. The recipient should be autostart@209.180.212.65
On the "Mail From" put your personal info that will appear before every message. Get creative, as most of you are.
On the "Subject" put something about your location that appears before each message. Again, get creative.
"Get File" allows you to select text files from anywhere on your computer. You can select multiple files or a single file. Select multiple files by holding down the shift key (for contiguous files) or control key (for non-contiguous files).
If you double-click on the file, it comes up in notepad for editing. I suggest putting in an ARRL-type header in the file that describes the subject and date. Use your own judgment as to what you want the receiver to read.
Send the whole list of files (as listed). Hopefully you did your homework and trimmed the number of characters per line and checked for foul language.

Step 3: Using the RTTYMailer Editor

Along with RTTYMailer comes an editor that works with both the standard ITTY mode and the AutoStart mode. Press the "Editor" button and another window pops up.

If you click the window to the right, you can see the larger view.

General Rules and Considerations

ITTY implements the "Bad-Boy" carriage return at line 75 to keep from pounding a hole in the paper. This feature is not meant to replace the nominal max line at 72, but to rather protect against a really bad mistake by the sender. Please format your messages with carriage returns at no more than 70 characters per line.
RTTY.COM policy is to use 68 characters per line
Most ASCII characters are translated into the closest equivalent BAUDOT equivalent. But it's best to format the data input using the BAUDOT character set. Try avoiding characters that are not in the BAUDOT character set.

No attachments allowed. The translation of ASCII to BAUDOT will present a very unusable mess to the listeners.
Most common mistake is to send mail from your application using RichText or HTML. These messages are quietly accepted and placed in the junk mail folder. Use TEXT format only or better yet, use RTTYMailer.
Mail with naughty words are quietly accepted and placed in the junk mail folder.
Use common sense. The ITTY service is provided by the moderator (W7TTY) as a free service.

My father-in-law always asked:
"Are we having fun yet?"

At this point you should be receiving teletype (TTY) data on your computer. If you are not, please let us know if we can help you.

Questions concerning the ITTY service should be directed to W7TTY@centurylink.net .