I think the figure is 80, not 70, for the usable data. (I won't get into the baud/bps argument). Ten whole characters. The ASR-33 doesn't do anything to the msb, except have an option to generate parity there in the _keyboard_. You can send ten 8-bit characters per second, 80 bits of data, to a TTY and all 80 bits will appear on the punch. You can read ten characters per second from the punch and all 80 bits will be sent down the line. It's only typing on the keyboard in which usefulness is restricted to 70 bits. Philip.