Krown Research Porta-Printer II, a portable TTY
Krown Porta Printer II – a teleprinter created for the deaf and hard of hearing, consists of a 40% keyboard with tactile Datanetics DC-50 switches, a miniature printer, and an acoustic coupler. Touted as the world’s first microprocessor-controlled TDD, the Porta Printer II unit is mounted inside a locking black case with handle and four feet on the bottom. Unit itself is a golden colour, has black rubber circles at top back for receiving telephone handset, adding machine paper roll toward the back centre for typing and receiving text and a standard QUERTY typewriter keyboard in the front.
A TTY is a special device that lets people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type messages back and forth to one another instead of talking and listening. A TTY is required at both ends of the conversation in order to communicate. In New Zealand, there were TTY Groups set up in the 1970s with the aim to fundraise and distribute TTY devices. The Year of the Disabled in 1981 also fundraised quite a lot of money with some of this going towards distributing teleprinters for the New Zealand Deaf population. A lot of Deaf Club members were involved in the Telethons or in committees during this year.
- Technology