I recently got my hands on a classic DEC LA-180 RO
(receive
only) printer. It's a free-standing beast, with its own pedastal
that the electronics are in.
[...]
I want to try to connect this up to my PDP8/e system
as print device. I have
an M8329 LC8-E Decwriter Control board for the PDP8/e. The PDP8/e/f/m
External Bus Options Maintenance Manual
says that the LC8-E module is intended to connect up a DEC LA-30
decwriter. The LA-30 seems to be a printing terminal, with
a keyboard and printer. The LA-180 I have is a print-only
device, with no keyboard.
You need a KL8-E or the like, not an LC8-E. The LC8-E is a parallel
interface, and the LA180 is a serial device.