I got no bites the first time, so I'm trying again.
Does anyone know of any good classic HP forums,
sites, or parts sources?
I need to construct an interface cable for my
recently acquired HP7202A flatbed pen plotter.
This plotter was manufactured around 1971 and
could be interfaced using one of three styles of
interface cables (it appears that they all plugged
into the same male adapter port on the back of
the unit, but must have used different pins). I
plan to use the 20mA style of hookup, which I
assume will use four of the pins. I just need
to determine which of the pins are used for the
20mA send and receive. Other options were for
an EIA (RS232) connection, and a third type of
connection. The plotter is controlled using
ASCII commands to plot points or lines.
I am looking for someone who may have had some
experience with these plotters in the past. Even
better (although not likely) would be that someone
would have an interface cable. These are HP part
numbers 17251A, 17252A, and 17253A.
Last night I repaired the fuse housing, cleaned
out the dust, and powered on the plotter. It
worked fine in standalone mode. The electrostatic
"chart hold" feature held a piece of paper in
place on the bed, and the lower left and upper
right "pen set" functions worked, as did the
"pen up / pen down" button and the controls to
move the pen.
The plan is to hook this ancient device up to
my 11/40 as part of my classic computer center.
Ashley Carder
http://www.woffordwitch.com