21 Mar
2006
21 Mar
'06
1:03 a.m.
I am looking to purchase some type of old printer/computer that will print like an old IBM
printer that was used in auto manufacturing plants in the 1960s.
The font is much larger than any typewriter I have seen, but even that would serve my
purpose if it were available.
Can you help me out or steer me in the right direction?
Thanks,
darryld1 at cox.net
21 Mar
21 Mar
5:27 a.m.
I find piles of Selectrics in the scrap/surplus places and I've been
looking through them hoping to find one with a computer interface but I
haven't seen one yet. I asked a friend of mine that REALLY into the
surplus about it and he says he hasn't seen one in YEARS. :-(
Joe
At 11:03 PM 3/20/06 -0700, you wrote:
I am looking to purchase some type of old
printer/computer that will print
like an old IBM printer that was used in auto
manufacturing plants in the
1960s.
The font is much larger than any typewriter I have
seen, but even that
would serve my purpose if it were available.
Can you help me out or steer me in the right
direction?
Thanks,
darryld1 at cox.net
11:51 a.m.
In article <3.0.6.16.20060321102700.18afb73c at pop-server.cfl.rr.com>,
"Joe R." <rigdonj at cfl.rr.com> writes:
I find piles of Selectrics in the scrap/surplus
places and I've been
looking through them hoping to find one with a computer interface but I
haven't seen one yet. I asked a friend of mine that REALLY into the
surplus about it and he says he hasn't seen one in YEARS. :-(
I think what you're after is the IBM 2741. It had a selectric type
typewriter element and keyboard, but had a modem/comm interface built
into the back. Because of this it was pretty deep, about 8-12 inches
deeper than a typewriter but still sat on top of a desk. The only
photo I've been able to find online shows another model I hadn't seen
where the typewriter is integrated *into* its own desk. The 2741 ran
at 134.5 baud and I used one in 1979/1980 to print out English papers
for high school via UDel's Project Delta. Ours was a lovely shade of
turquoise :-). I've had a standing ebay search for a while, but its
never turned up a hit.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
<http://pilgrimage.scene.org>
11:54 a.m.
In article <E1FLk5F-0005X0-00 at xmission.xmission.com>,
Richard <legalize at xmission.com> writes:
I think what you're after is the IBM 2741. It had
a selectric type
typewriter element and keyboard, but had a modem/comm interface built
into the back. [...]
Allow me to be more specific. It had an acoustic coupler built into
the back :-).
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
<http://pilgrimage.scene.org>
12:16 p.m.
Richard wrote:
In article <3.0.6.16.20060321102700.18afb73c at
pop-server.cfl.rr.com>,
"Joe R." <rigdonj at cfl.rr.com> writes:
The "built into a desk" model may have been Trendata's offering.
I have an IBM I/O in storage (along with service manual, spare parts,
etc.). <grin>
Allegedly, 134.5 baud was the maximum rate the *mechanism* could
run at (?)
EPSCO used to make an "Edityper" (a "word processor" built around
a modified selectric -- but it was the *smaller* selectric and
I don't think IBM did the modifications -- and a PPT for
"storage"). I had one until the typewriter service man
I brought it to for a tune up decided tht all that "extra stuff"
in there was getting in the way -- and he systematically removed
*all* of it!! <sob>
I find piles of Selectrics in the scrap/surplus
places and I've been
looking through them hoping to find one with a computer interface but I
haven't seen one yet. I asked a friend of mine that REALLY into the
surplus about it and he says he hasn't seen one in YEARS. :-(
I think what you're after is the IBM 2741. It had a selectric type
typewriter element and keyboard, but had a modem/comm interface built
into the back. Because of this it was pretty deep, about 8-12 inches
deeper than a typewriter but still sat on top of a desk. The only
photo I've been able to find online shows another model I hadn't seen
where the typewriter is integrated *into* its own desk. The 2741 ran
at 134.5 baud and I used one in 1979/1980 to print out English papers
for high school via UDel's Project Delta. Ours was a lovely shade of
turquoise :-). I've had a standing ebay search for a while, but its
never turned up a hit.
12:23 p.m.
In article <442034EB.8000400 at DakotaCom.Net>,
Don Y <dgy at dakotacom.net> writes:
I have an IBM I/O in storage (along with service
manual, spare parts,
etc.). <grin>
What's an "IBM I/O"?
Allegedly, 134.5 baud was the maximum rate the
*mechanism* could
run at (?)
Yes, this sounds right based on fuzzy memory. I do remember that when
it was printing full tilt it looked like it couldn't go any faster
:-).
EPSCO used to make an "Edityper" (a
"word processor" built around
a modified selectric -- but it was the *smaller* selectric and
I don't think IBM did the modifications -- and a PPT for
"storage"). I had one until the typewriter service man
I brought it to for a tune up decided tht all that "extra stuff"
in there was getting in the way -- and he systematically removed
*all* of it!! <sob>
Err.. that's not a repair/tune up -- that's a mangling. I hope you
forced him to put it all back the way it was when you brought it in?
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
<http://pilgrimage.scene.org>
5:04 p.m.
Richard wrote:
I forget the actual number of moving parts in a selectric but
the number is impressive for such a small device that was
routinely beaten on by secretaries, etc. Apparently they all
came out of a single plant (in KY?)
He was a friend of the family -- quite pleased with himself
for all the "free labor" he had given me. :-( Kinda hard
to flame when the guy thinks he did you a favor (and you
had't explicitly told him NOT to tinker with that stuff)
Live and learn...
In article <442034EB.8000400 at DakotaCom.Net>,
Don Y <dgy at dakotacom.net> writes:
Sorry: "IBM Selectric I/O"
IIRC, the documentation refered to them as "MT/ST I/O"
I have an IBM I/O in storage (along with service
manual, spare parts,
etc.). <grin>
What's an "IBM I/O"? Allegedly,
134.5 baud was the maximum rate the *mechanism* could
run at (?)
Yes, this sounds right based on fuzzy memory. I do remember that when
it was printing full tilt it looked like it couldn't go any faster
:-). EPSCO used to
make an "Edityper" (a "word processor" built around
a modified selectric -- but it was the *smaller* selectric and
I don't think IBM did the modifications -- and a PPT for
"storage"). I had one until the typewriter service man
I brought it to for a tune up decided tht all that "extra stuff"
in there was getting in the way -- and he systematically removed
*all* of it!! <sob>
Err.. that's not a repair/tune up -- that's a mangling. I hope you
forced him to put it all back the way it was when you brought it in? 
12:48 p.m.
On 3/21/2006 at 10:27 AM Joe R. wrote:
I find piles of Selectrics in the scrap/surplus places
and I've been
looking through them hoping to find one with a computer interface but I
haven't seen one yet. I asked a friend of mine that REALLY into the
surplus about it and he says he hasn't seen one in YEARS. :-(
That's true--even back in the 70's when the only real alternative for a
printer for your IMSAI or Altair was an ASR-33, the Selectric I/O writers
while not common, but could be found on the surplus market occasionally. I
think the source was early airline reservation systems that used them to
print on (tractor feed) ticket stock. IIRC, most of them had been run
nearly to death and required substantial refurbing.
They didn't use ASCII, but rather a "tilt and shift" code. There were a
couple of articles in some of the early computing mags about interfacing
them.
1:02 p.m.
Not long ago, wasn't one of our posters offering a Selectric mag card unit
pretty much free for the hauling? So the mechanism is still around, though
you may have to locate something like the mag card or MTST office machine
to get one.
Cheers,
Chuck
2:08 p.m.
In article <200603210948150860.2E82142A at 10.0.0.252>,
"Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> writes:
They didn't use ASCII, but rather a "tilt and
shift" code. There were a
couple of articles in some of the early computing mags about interfacing
them.
We must be talking about something other than the 2741 then, as it
used ASCII.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ:
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/>
Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty
<http://pilgrimage.scene.org>
3:43 p.m.
On 3/21/2006 at 12:08 PM Richard wrote:
We must be talking about something other than the 2741
then, as it
used ASCII.
Probably. Here's 8080 code for a driver that does the conversion:
http://www.thebattles.net/sol20/ptsrc/proteus-h3/S154C%23S
The setup was popular enough that TI and National sold pre-programmed ROMs
to do the table lookup. The TMS2602JC converted ASCII to Selectric; the
MM5230FEJ did EBCDIC-to-Selectric. There were other similar parts.
Cheers,
Chuck
4:16 p.m.
Chuck Guzis wrote:
On 3/21/2006 at 12:08 PM Richard wrote:
BTW, that code came off a Helios formatted disk, recovered using a
catweasel (MK3). At the time I was recovering the source, I figured
there was a 1% chance anyone would ever care about any of it. The
scribe who made the rosetta stone probably feels the same way. :-)
We must be talking about something other than the
2741 then, as it
used ASCII.
Probably. Here's 8080 code for a driver that does the conversion:
http://www.thebattles.net/sol20/ptsrc/proteus-h3/S154C%23S
The setup was popular enough that TI and National sold pre-programmed ROMs
to do the table lookup. The TMS2602JC converted ASCII to Selectric; the
MM5230FEJ did EBCDIC-to-Selectric. There were other similar parts.
Cheers,
Chuck
6680
days inactive
6680
days old
11 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
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cclist＠sydex.com -
darryld1＠cox.net -
dgy＠DakotaCom.Net -
frustum＠pacbell.net -
legalize＠xmission.com -
rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com