21 Apr
2004
21 Apr
'04
8:34 p.m.
So, I decided "what the hell" and got one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3810203578
The auction calls it a Selectric model 731, and it's got a 55 pin round
"Mil Spec"-style connector on it.
Does anyone know anything about these? The only reference I've found via
Google is to using this model of Selectric on a PDP-6.
Pat
--
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22 Apr
22 Apr
12:40 a.m.
IIRC the computer museum of the University Stuttgart (Germany) has
interfaced a similar machine (Autotypist 735) to a pdp8/L.
I finally got my MC72 MagCard Selectric to Berlin but still had no
time to play with it.
Patrick Finnegan schrieb:
So, I decided "what the hell" and got one of
these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3810203578
The auction calls it a Selectric model 731, and it's got a 55 pin round
"Mil Spec"-style connector on it.
At this connector all control and status lines (relay magnets and
contacts should be available). Older threads should have more
information about interfacing IBM selectrics to a micro (Byte Mag).
If you don't find them in the archives I can look them up.
Does anyone know anything about these? The only reference I've found via
Google is to using this model of Selectric on a PDP-6.
Pat
Hope this helps
Gerold
2:29 a.m.
Cira 1976 I developed a custom (wirewrap) interface between a Selectric 731
and the original TRS-80 model I.
Could only get 9.5 chars per sec out of it though....
Still have the board in my boxes of old sentimental stuff..
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
>> [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Gerold Pauler
>> Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 5:40 AM
>> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
>> Subject: Re: Selectric Terminal
>>
>> IIRC the computer museum of the University Stuttgart
>> (Germany) has interfaced a similar machine (Autotypist 735)
>> to a pdp8/L.
>>
>> I finally got my MC72 MagCard Selectric to Berlin but still
>> had no time to play with it.
>>
>> Patrick Finnegan schrieb:
>> > So, I decided "what the hell" and got one of these:
>> >
>> > http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3810203578
>> >
>> > The auction calls it a Selectric model 731, and it's got a 55 pin
>> > round "Mil Spec"-style connector on it.
>>
>> At this connector all control and status lines (relay
>> magnets and contacts should be available). Older threads
>> should have more information about interfacing IBM
>> selectrics to a micro (Byte Mag).
>> If you don't find them in the archives I can look them up.
>>
>> >
>> > Does anyone know anything about these? The only
>> reference I've found
>> > via Google is to using this model of Selectric on a PDP-6.
>> >
>> > Pat
>>
>> Hope this helps
>> Gerold
>>
8:41 a.m.
David V. Corbin wrote:
Cira 1976 I developed a custom (wirewrap) interface
between a Selectric 731
and the original TRS-80 model I.
Could only get 9.5 chars per sec out of it though....
Still have the board in my boxes of old sentimental stuff..
In the late 1980's I got a the selectric console typewriter off a
scrapped IBM-1130. In my attempts to get it to work with a Z80
single board computer I distroyed the machine by running it open
loop at about the same IO speed. To take my advice and run it
closed loop with carefull notice of all the timing involved.
While the I don't have the docs ( or any other stuff ) looking
for the console prints and schematics from the IBM-1130 may be
usefull in giving ideas on how to run the beast.
9:28 a.m.
On Thu, 22 Apr 2004, David V. Corbin wrote:
Cira 1976 I developed a custom (wirewrap) interface
between a Selectric 731
and the original TRS-80 model I.
Could only get 9.5 chars per sec out of it though....
That's not bad. The spec max'ed at 14.8, and the mechanisms didn't live
long if taken much past that.
Still have the board in my boxes of old sentimental
stuff..
a friend wrote a word processor mailmerge program with lots of extra
features that he called "FULL ST", to differentiate it from "MTST"
I always enjoyed the add-on actuators - a box full of solenoids that sat
on the keyboard pressing keys (Rochester Dynatyper and KGS-80)
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com
2:26 p.m.
I always enjoyed the add-on actuators - a box full of
solenoids that sat
on the keyboard pressing keys (Rochester Dynatyper and KGS-80)
A couple of related devices :
The well-known Friden Flexowriters have a device _under_ the keyboard
that has hooks that fir over pins on each key bar. The device decodes the
incoming character (fed in to 8 solenoids in the box) and pulls down the
appropriate key.
I beleive HP service centres has boxes of solenoids that fitted over the
keyboards of HP calculators. Some of the diagnostics would consist of
firing these solenoids in the right order and chrcking you got the right
display (thus checking both keyboard and logic of the calculator).
-tony
8:56 p.m.
On Thu, 22 Apr 2004, Fred Cisin wrote:
I always enjoyed the add-on actuators - a box full of
solenoids that sat
on the keyboard pressing keys (Rochester Dynatyper and KGS-80)
"Typing robots"! I've looked for one for years...
I have an early 1950's Victor electric (mechanical) calculator
with a typing robot attached, eg. 12 solenoids to push the keys
(100V about 200 mA!). It was built by the Los Alamos Scientific
Lab. I don't think it was used for calculating per se, but as
a data logger/printer.
It's now driven by a PIC, and part of my Story Teller system. Or
was, until the calculator Caught Fire. I'll find another
calculator...
23 Apr
23 Apr
10:10 a.m.
I have an early 1950's Victor electric (mechanical) calculator
with a typing robot attached, eg. 12 solenoids to push the keys
(100V about 200 mA!). It was built by the Los Alamos Scientific
Lab. I don't think it was used for calculating per se, but as
a data logger/printer.
I haev one of those. It came off a data logging system, I forget what the
system was used for, but it was some custom thing, either electron
microscope or crystallography related. I also got the paper tape punch
and reader (mechanically the same as the units from a Friden Flexowriter,
but mounted on rack panels and each has its own motor on the back), and
the control sequencer (all discrete transsitors, patchboard
'programmable', with DM160 indicator valves to show the current state).
I am pretty sure (based on the components used) that my units were
European in origin. Perhaps the printer was actually a standard unit.
It's a Victor Comptometer calculator with solenoids fitted over the keys
and a metal cover fitted over the solenoids -- there are no keys left for
the user to press. The solenoids are not user-removable, although the
whole assembly comes off fairly easily with a screwdriver.
Anyway, I thought it was quite an interesting find.
-tony
22 Apr
22 Apr
2:01 p.m.
Cira 1976 I developed a custom (wirewrap) interface between a Selectric 731
and the original TRS-80 model I.
Doesn't that pre-date the model 1 ? :-)
Could only get 9.5 chars per sec out of it though....
Yes, but it sure beat copying down listings by hand. My first printer was
the CGP115 -- one of those little 4-ballpoint-pen plotters using the Alps
mechanism (the one used in the CBM 1520, one of the Atari printers, etc).
It did 12 cps if you were lucky on 4" paper. But I could set it listing
out my BASIC or assembler programs and come back when it had finished. It
was a lot better than writing them down from the screen!
-tony
3:51 p.m.
It was right after the Model I came out, the expansion chassis (16K!) was
announced but not shipping. Audio cassette recording was the only storage.
My first "commercial" product was a universal tape duplicator [the only one
that could "make backups" of the popular Sargon Chess Game]! Of course it
contained code to prevent
It duplicating itself!!!!
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
>> [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Tony Duell
>> Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 7:02 PM
>> To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
>> Subject: Re: Selectric Terminal
>>
>> >
>> > Cira 1976 I developed a custom (wirewrap) interface between a
>> > Selectric 731 and the original TRS-80 model I.
>>
>> Doesn't that pre-date the model 1 ? :-)
>>
>> >
>> > Could only get 9.5 chars per sec out of it though....
>>
>> Yes, but it sure beat copying down listings by hand. My
>> first printer was the CGP115 -- one of those little
>> 4-ballpoint-pen plotters using the Alps mechanism (the one
>> used in the CBM 1520, one of the Atari printers, etc).
>> It did 12 cps if you were lucky on 4" paper. But I could
>> set it listing out my BASIC or assembler programs and come
>> back when it had finished. It was a lot better than writing
>> them down from the screen!
>>
>> -tony
4:57 p.m.
My first diskette of software for the IBM PC was a bootable diskette my father brought
home from work. He was an IBM employee for 27 years and bought one of the very first IBM
PCs on the employee purchase plan. It had a 'disk copy' program on it, 'IBM
Internal Use Only' that was known as a 'pizza copier' as the joke was that it
would 'copy any diskette perfectly, even if the diskette was a pizza. Obviously it
wasn't that powerful and I am sure most 'modern' copy protection schemes (i.e.
schemes from the PC-DOS 2.0 era or newer) would defeat it. I'm not sure it even
supported Double Sided Diskettes, it was that old.
He gave me his TRS-80 Model 1 when he got that PC.
On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 20:51:19 -0400
"David V. Corbin" <dvcorbin(a)optonline.net> wrote:
It was right after the Model I came out, the expansion
chassis (16K!) was
announced but not shipping. Audio cassette recording was the only storage.
My first "commercial" product was a universal tape duplicator [the only one
that could "make backups" of the popular Sargon Chess Game]! Of course it
contained code to prevent
It duplicating itself!!!!
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
>> [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Tony Duell
>> Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 7:02 PM
>> To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
>> Subject: Re: Selectric Terminal
>>
>> >
>> > Cira 1976 I developed a custom (wirewrap) interface between a
>> > Selectric 731 and the original TRS-80 model I.
>>
>> Doesn't that pre-date the model 1 ? :-)
>>
>> >
>> > Could only get 9.5 chars per sec out of it though....
>>
>> Yes, but it sure beat copying down listings by hand. My
>> first printer was the CGP115 -- one of those little
>> 4-ballpoint-pen plotters using the Alps mechanism (the one
>> used in the CBM 1520, one of the Atari printers, etc).
>> It did 12 cps if you were lucky on 4" paper. But I could
>> set it listing out my BASIC or assembler programs and come
>> back when it had finished. It was a lot better than writing
>> them down from the screen!
>>
>> -tony
4:54 a.m.
IIRC the computer museum of the University Stuttgart
(Germany) has interfaced a similar machine (Autotypist
735) to a pdp8/L.
I took apart an Autotypist (someone had already chucked the
Typewriter that bayonets on top) back in 1980.
The damn thing was a pneumatic player-piano mechanism,
punched hole piano rolls and all.
About equal in geek factor to an analog computer.
John A.
5:25 a.m.
>>>> "Patrick" == Patrick
Finnegan <pat(a)computer-refuge.org> writes:
Patrick> So, I decided "what the hell" and got one of these:
Patrick> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3810203578
Patrick> The auction calls it a Selectric model 731, and it's got a
Patrick> 55 pin round "Mil Spec"-style connector on it.
Patrick> Does anyone know anything about these? The only reference
Patrick> I've found via Google is to using this model of Selectric on
Patrick> a PDP-6.
The link to "additional photos" is unfortunately broken. And I can't
see the keyboard well enough to decipher the keycaps. That might
provide a clue.
http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/ioSelectric/CE_instructionManual.pdf
describes several Selectric models, including the 731. There are
several other manuals in that directory (one has over 300 pages...)
that might be helpful. I didn't see anything that describes the
connector, though.
paul
5:38 a.m.
I remember seeing a device that turned a selectric II into a printer... you
glued these little hooks on the top, and then attatched a doo-hickey with
about 92 little plungers, that basically typed the output. Wholey Kludgy
device, batman!
"I guess that every form of refuge has its price." --The Eagles
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Koning" <pkoning(a)equallogic.com>
To: <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 3:25 PM
Subject: Re: Selectric Terminal
>>>> "Patrick" == Patrick Finnegan <pat(a)computer-refuge.org>
writes:
Patrick> So, I decided "what the hell" and got one of these:
Patrick> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3810203578
Patrick> The auction calls it a Selectric model 731, and it's got a
Patrick> 55 pin round "Mil Spec"-style connector on it.
Patrick> Does anyone know anything about these? The only reference
Patrick> I've found via Google is to using this model of Selectric on
Patrick> a PDP-6.
The link to "additional photos" is unfortunately broken. And I can't
see the keyboard well enough to decipher the keycaps. That might
provide a clue.
http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/ioSelectric/CE_instructionManual.pdf
describes several Selectric models, including the 731. There are
several other manuals in that directory (one has over 300 pages...)
that might be helpful. I didn't see anything that describes the
connector, though.
paul
4:37 p.m.
On Thu, Apr 22, 2004 at 03:38:53PM +0100, Mark Firestone wrote:
I remember seeing a device that turned a selectric II
into a printer... you
glued these little hooks on the top, and then attatched a doo-hickey with
about 92 little plungers, that basically typed the output. Wholey Kludgy
device, batman!
I wanted one of those back in 1979... my mother was a professional typist
(court transcripts, largely, at the time), so we had several Selectric IIs
before we bought a computer (A 32K Commodore PET 2001-32N). I was just in
Jr. High and couldn't afford it myself, and could not persuade my mother
to spring for it.
I ended up getting my first printer, like my first floppy drive, three years
later, through my first employer - Bruce and James Publishing, the creators
of "WordVision" (distributed by Simon and Schuster). I had to return the
printer when the company folded, but I got to keep the floppy drive (and
the C-64 it attached to!)
-ethan
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