30 Nov
2007
30 Nov
'07
2:51 a.m.
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007, M H Stein wrote:
LOL!
There were several different models - see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IBM_products
They were used mainly for utility bills, etc. which were often printed on
punched cards to be returned with your payment for processing. We
didn't do that sort of work very often, and when the cards had to be easily
human-readable (such as your COBOL cards) they'd be punched on a
printing keypunch (026) in the first place.
Unfortunately, the card output punches of most of the computers, and the
stand-alone duplicator didn't print when it punched.
BTW we also had a somewhat rare 047, which was a
printing keypunch
that could also read (and convert) paper tape.
My favorite was a model 026 at GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) that was
cabled to a Gerber Data Digitizer. Think of a 3 foot square light table,
with a horizontal and vertical rule controlled by turn knobs
("Etch-a-sketch") and a foot pedal that would send a pair of 3 digit
numbers for X and Y coordinates to the punch.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com