[rescue] Moth balls

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: John Francini <francini at mac.com>
>Date: 2008/06/13 Fri AM 08:50:37 EDT
>To: The Rescue List <rescue at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [rescue] Moth balls

>George,
>
>If it has a paper-tape reader and punch, it's an ASR-33.
>
>If it doesn't, it's a KSR-33.

Weren't there print-only versions? (Like you see in the movie newsrooms)

>The stuff on the right side just has to do with what variant of an  
>ASR-33 it might be.  There were several variants over its 20+ year  
>lifetime.
>
>Now if only I had either a computer with a current-loop interface or  
>an interface converter.  There's nothing like the sound, vision, and  
>smell of an ASR-33 to bring back memories of my first days of  
>computing...

I *think* the circuit to interface a 20 mA loop to a serial port is quite trivial, and is probably available out on the web[0].

A very nice interim step would be a dot matrix printer, say like an Epson MX-80, or one of those nice 24 pin Panasonic impact printers... Printer ribbons aren't too hard to find, and fan-fold paper is still in ready supply.

I keep thinking of putting a dot matrix printer on my SPARC server, to log login requests - just the occasional grrrrrrrind to remind me of where we came from...

Lionel

[0] http://www.blackbox.co.uk/technical/manuals/C/CL1090A%20Manual.pdf