26 Feb
2008
26 Feb
'08
6:41 p.m.
A quick question--can you hook a Friden Flexowriter to a modern
computer? I'm not afraid to put together some sort of
interface/converter, but I haven't really found any information about
that kind of thing... if anyone here has experience with one of these,
your input would be greatly appreciated.
John
--
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
26 Feb
26 Feb
6:55 p.m.
John Floren wrote:
A quick question--can you hook a Friden Flexowriter to
a modern
computer? I'm not afraid to put together some sort of
interface/converter, but I haven't really found any information about
that kind of thing... if anyone here has experience with one of these,
your input would be greatly appreciated.
You could I guess, but I suspect more people are looking
for such machines as they wish to have spares if they wish to
restore classic machines.If have one to spare, a better use
may be to hook it up to orginal equipment.
John
7:06 p.m.
On 2/26/08, woodelf <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:
John Floren wrote:
This is potentially for the office. We don't have any vintage
equipment, but we'd like to get a typewriter/teletype style terminal
to show off to visitors. There are several people there who have
worked on computers for a loooong time and have a healthy respect for
old equipment, so I think it would be kept in good working condition
and out of the dump.
John
--
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
A quick question--can you hook a Friden
Flexowriter to a modern
computer? I'm not afraid to put together some sort of
interface/converter, but I haven't really found any information about
that kind of thing... if anyone here has experience with one of these,
your input would be greatly appreciated.
You could I guess, but I suspect more people are looking
for such machines as they wish to have spares if they wish to
restore classic machines.If have one to spare, a better use
may be to hook it up to orginal equipment.
7:17 p.m.
In article <7d3530220802261841n8228c36o2b48a9708cf0889d at mail.gmail.com>,
"John Floren" <slawmaster at gmail.com> writes:
A quick question--can you hook a Friden Flexowriter to
a modern
computer? I'm not afraid to put together some sort of
interface/converter, but I haven't really found any information about
that kind of thing... if anyone here has experience with one of these,
your input would be greatly appreciated.
Have you consulted
<http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/frieden/flexowriter/Patent_2700446_Jan55.pdf>
which goes into detail about the mechanism and circuitry?
I'm not sure what the electronic interface looks like, but there is
some circuit diagrams in that PDF. Have you googled around?
Wikipedia has an entry for the flexowriter with what looks like some
links to more detailed information.
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8:03 p.m.
Richard wrote:
In article
<7d3530220802261841n8228c36o2b48a9708cf0889d at mail.gmail.com>,
"John Floren" <slawmaster at gmail.com> writes:
Billy Pettit looked at a Justowriter a friend had, which is a variant
of the Flexowriter, and for the specimen we had him look at, he noted
that there are quite a number of belts to go bad, and in the case of the
one that he looked at, most of the belts were bad.
Even if your unit is working, I suspect it might not take much demoing,
since that is what you want to put it to.
I'd certainly display the unit, but if you want to hook something
working up, I'd suggest an ASR33. The spares are more plentiful, and
there is less to wear out on one that is in good condition.
Also the I/O aspect of your Flexowriter makes it more useful to people
who need them for original equipment as well. I don't know if the I/O
interface is documented, or if you propose to just automate one which is
not already automated, but if you do have one with an interface, the
heritage and particulars, and if you would be so kind, documentation on
the interfaces would be good to have in circulation.
Jim
10:16 p.m.
There seem to be more decwriters around and they can often be had for
cheaper. No paper tape punch/reader there though.
On another topic, I have a "Motorized Tape Punch - Model 2" made by
"Commercial Controls Corporation - Rochester 2, New York" which I
believe became Friden. I have no docs on it whatsoever. The real thing I
need to know is how to interface to it. It seems to be in adequate
physical shape, except for the chad tube. It was made of plastic and has
long since been broken off.
http://rikers.org/gallery/hardware-tapepunch
I'm very interested to hear of any known documentation for this beast.
There's a picture there with the case off, perhaps the Flexowriter punch
is similar inside?
--
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Embedded Linux Technologist - http://eLinux.org/
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27 Feb
27 Feb
2:15 a.m.
On Tue, 26 Feb 2008, jim s wrote:
Billy Pettit looked at a Justowriter a friend had,
which is a variant of the
Flexowriter, and for the specimen we had him look at, he noted that there are
quite a number of belts to go bad, and in the case of the one that he looked
at, most of the belts were bad.
Then it's not like a Flexowriter at all because a Flexowriter has only one
V shaped belt which, in contrast to the belt in the separate Friden high
speed punch, seems to last forever. I think we have 6 Flexowriters (three
for the LGP-30) and the belts are all good.
Also the I/O aspect of your Flexowriter makes it more
useful to people who
need them for original equipment as well. I don't know if the I/O interface
is documented, or if you propose to just automate one which is not already
automated, but if you do have one with an interface, the heritage and
particulars, and if you would be so kind, documentation on the interfaces
would be good to have in circulation.
You could have a look at the schematics/maintenance manual for the LGP-30
which uses a Flexowriter as console typewriter. The relais are driven by
thyratrons, the signal levels are about 150 volts.
Christian
10:36 a.m.
On Tue, 26 Feb 2008, John Floren wrote:
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:41:51 -0500
From: John Floren <slawmaster at gmail.com>
Reply-To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at
classiccmp.org>
Subject: Friden Flexowriter
A quick question--can you hook a Friden Flexowriter to a modern
computer? I'm not afraid to put together some sort of
interface/converter, but I haven't really found any information about
that kind of thing... if anyone here has experience with one of these,
your input would be greatly appreciated.
John
--
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
Difficulty depends on the Flexowriter. Common flexowriters use non isolated
rectified line voltage for the relays and solenoids, so beware. There is a
serial RS-232 ASCII 110 baud Flexowriter (Model 7102) but these are rare.
The bustle on these has no relays but a set of logic cards with 60's vintage
ICs implementing the UARTs and control logic.
Peter Wallace
6094
days inactive
6094
days old
7 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
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bfranchuk＠jetnet.ab.ca -
cc＠informatik.uni-stuttgart.de -
jwstephens＠msm.umr.edu -
legalize＠xmission.com -
pcw＠mesanet.com -
slawmaster＠gmail.com -
Tim＠Rikers.org