3 Jul
2000
3 Jul
'00
2:08 a.m.
At 08:03 PM 7/2/00 +0930, you wrote:
I am the proud owner of a HP85 after a friend persuaded
a country rubbish
dump operator that it really belonged in a museum or something similar.
Seems to work ok, found a listing for a fractal program on the web and it
worked after I corrected a typo in the listing. (And added a line to clear
the graphics screen at the start of each run.
I haven't been able to test the printer properly, but it appears ok, and I
can't test the tape drive because I don't have any media.
Anyone out there know 1) Where (if?) I can get tape media for it?
Yes, Any DC-100 tape will work in it, after you format it, including DEC
tapes.
2) Any software
about?
Yes. lots but none is posted on the web that I know of. Beware that the
HP cassettes are very prone to broken belts and shedding their media so
original tapes may not be usable.
3) Any expansion
modules.
Yes, There's lots of them still available. Check Eb-bay. I haven't
priced other modules but the HP-IB interfaces seem to be only bringing
about $15 right now.
Seems to be an original HP85 (85A?) S/N 2204B 38784
Yes, it's an 85A. It only has 16k of memory.
No idea where it came from originally. Possibly a
local govt office. Came
from a VERY small town in the hills.
HP must have sold a zillion of the HP-85s. They turn up all over the place.
First HP I've been able to find, nice little machine....
Yes, they are but they have two problems. The "rubber" feed wheel on
the tape drive turns to goo and the two belts that operate the printer wear
out. You can test the printer by pressing the "TEST" button. It should
display and print the full character set.
Joe
Cheers
Geoff Roberts
Computer Systems Manager
Saint Mark's College
Port Pirie,
South Australia
geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au