[rescue] Line Printers; was: Re: [geeks] SGI Irix 5.3?

BSD Bob the old greybeard BSD freak rescue at sunhelp.org
Tue Nov 13 12:09:49 CST 2001


> Or seen the resulting pile-up when a stuck paper-booger clogs the 
> printer, which proceeds to shred the rest of a full box of green-bar.

In the old days, my TTY Model 40 chain printers had a habit of eating
about 50 pages if something slipped.  It would put paper bits in
places you never thought paper could get into.  Several hours later
with tweezers, knives, slivers of thin metal, etc., you might get
things back together.  Those were fine line printers, back when,
at several hundred lines per minute, although I can't offhand
remember the exact rate... something like 5 or 10 lines of chain
hammers all firing per second.  Loudest printer I have ever heard.

Brrrrraaappppp!
Brrrrraaappppp!
Brrrrraaappppp!
Brrrrraaappppp!
Brrrrraaappppp!
Brrrrraaappppp!
Brrrrraaappppp!

It would drive you out of the room, if the covers were open.

I had one at home in a 4 foot high sound cabinet, where everything
was enclosed, including the paper, and you could still hear it
outside.  The ones in the office would drive the secretaries nuts,
down the hall, when dumping long source listings or data output files.

Nowadays, printers are sooooooo quiet......(:+}}...

Anyone got a spare Model 40 chain printer in the central NC region?
Nah, the wife would clobbers me noggin if I broughts one home... (:+{{...

> On Monday, November 12, 2001, at 11:06 PM, Bill Bradford wrote:
> 
> > On Mon, Nov 12, 2001 at 08:27:26PM -0800, Peter L. Wargo wrote:
> >> -Pete (Gee, kids today have no idea what a line printer is...)
> >
> > No, kids today have no idea how to break a line printer with the right
> > sequence of printed characters.  *BOOM*.

Which printer/what sequences?   (:+}}...  Do you need JCL or punch cards?
TTY 40's were pretty rugged printers.  I had one eat some type pallets
one time, when the chain got loose, but other than that, they just ran
and ran and ran.... as long as you kept feeding them boxes of paper and
boxes of ribbons.

Bob




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