21 Dec
2024
21 Dec
'24
12:30 p.m.
On Dec 21, 2024, at 12:41 PM, CAREY SCHUG via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
my recollection from being a computer operator at the time was the the earlier 1403s did
NOT have an interchangeable chain.
Interesting. I was an occasional operator on a 360 model 44 in 1974, and it had an
interchangeable chain. That installation had several, including an upper/lower case one
(TN perhaps) which I used to print one of my college papers (formatted with RUNOFF on a
PDP-11 system, carried to the 360 on tape and printed there). The printer also had a film
ribbon, basically a 17 inch wide version of the ribbons used on Selectric typewriters for
quality work.
Also curious if any 1404 printers still exist. They
were wider and you could shift the print mechanism to the side where there was a
mechanisms to print on tabulating cards, one or two at a time.
Speaking of wider: I remember the curious line printers on the Electrologica computer at
TU Eindhoven, where I did my first programming. Those had 144 columns, though I think the
paper was the usual 17 inches wide. I don't have any of those printouts anymore,
unfortunately.
paul