19 May
2008
19 May
'08
9:05 p.m.
In article <m1JyBZI-000IxyC at p850ug1>,
ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) writes:
Presumably it does something clever with the write gun in order to scan
it. Write at a marginal voltage and monitor current?
I can't remember (and I really don't feel like looking anything up at the
momnet :-(), but I thoguht it only interfaces to the flood guns. I seem
to rememebr the interface board in oen of the terminals (presumably the
-1 option that others have mentioend connected between the flood gun pins
on the CRT and the normal connector for said pins.
The connections are spelled out in the service manual. IIRC, most of
the additional circuitry is an amplifier that amplifies the sensed
signal from the tube back to the printer.
I have a Tek
4052, which I believe has a compatible printer port. (I
can't remember whether the 4006 also does.) My printer (4631? 4641?
I think they both do. From what I remember, the printer port interfaces
to the CRT flood guns, and essentially reads out the storage target of
said CRT. Almost all old Tekky storage terminals, etc have the port IIRC, the paper is thermally developed, so
'smelling hot' might well be
normal.
I used one in 1979-1980 time frame and I recall there being an odor to
the normal print process. I don't know if its what you would call
"smelling hot", though.
But IIRC the paper has a very limited shelf life, and
it's likely that
yours is way past that now. Even if everything else works you might have
problems...
Bob Rosenbloom stated that he got a print out of his with 20+ year old
paper, with a lower contrast than normal. So I suppose like most
perishable supplies it depends on how it was stored. Stored 20 years
in a climate controlled environment and it still might have some life
in it yet, although suboptimal contrast would be expected.
I have one with some paper in it, but I haven't tried to print with
it.
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