1 Feb
2010
1 Feb
'10
7:53 p.m.
I thought the fading issue was quite commonly
realised, esp. if you're the type
that hangs on to receipts.
It's certainly well-known among the users of old HP calculators which
have thermal printers. But few opther people seem to realise it.
On the other hand, I have dozens of printouts from
high school in 1976, from
the printer for a HP9830 computer/calculator, taped to sheets and bound in a
I assume this was the HP9866 thermal prionter. THe one that stacks on top
of the 9830 and looks like part of the main machine. I mention that
becuase while the 9830 has a built-in interface for that 9866 printer,
you could link all sorts of other printers to it (there was certainly a
daisywheel, the HP9871). The built-in interface was similar in concept to
a Cnetronics port (7 parallel data lines, strobe, acknowledge IIRC), and
could fairly easily be hacked to something else.
folder, all of which are completely legible, very
slight fading, except for
some corners under 3M tape which have faded completely.
Assuming it was the 9866 thermal printer, I guess whether the printout
fades or not depends more on the peper than the printer itself. YOu can
uuse normal thermal fax paper in this printer (I assume you can still buy
that), but I guess you were using the genuine HP stuff.
-tony