Hey, why don't one of you buy this and hack it into a keyboard for your C128?
(http://www.geocities.com/wbd641/BoCommodore.jpg)
[ebay]180235184416[/ebay]
I would do it, but I'm really more of an idea man. :)
Interesting idea... but I think you'd be short a few keys... ;)
-Andrew
That's what makes a hack challenging, Andrew. :)
Quote from: airship on April 25, 2008, 08:04 AM
That's what makes a hack challenging, Andrew. :)
I suppose you're right... But either way, it's way beyond my limited abilities. :)
-Andrew
If it was electric, specifically a current loop, you might be able to use it as a printer.
Quote from: Andrew Sutton on May 06, 2008, 11:42 AM
If it was electric, specifically a current loop, you might be able to use it as a printer.
Heh, I already have 3 daisywheel typewriter/computer printers -- a Royal and two Sears (a.k.a. Swintec).
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
CommVEx v4 website - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
That may be, Robert, but do you have a COMMODORE brand typewriter/daisy wheel printer? :)
Quote from: airship on May 07, 2008, 01:22 AM
...do you have a COMMODORE brand typewriter/daisy wheel printer? :)
Ooo, do you mean a CBM 8026 typewriter printer? That would be quite a find!
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
CommVEx v4 website - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
How about a Commodore DPS-1101 Daisy Wheel Printer I got one. heavy and noisy
Quote from: Hershey on May 12, 2008, 06:14 AM
How about a Commodore DPS-1101 Daisy Wheel Printer I got one. heavy and noisy
Heh, I have a Commodore PET 8300 daisywheel printer. Even heavier and noisier. :-)
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
CommVEx v4 website - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
Quote from: Hershey on May 12, 2008, 06:14 AM
How about a Commodore DPS-1101 Daisy Wheel Printer I got one. heavy and noisy
I have two of those... They're free to anyone who wants to come pick them up. :)
-Andrew
Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on May 13, 2008, 04:33 AMI have two of those...
In storage is a Smith-Corona TP-1 daisywheel printer, slow (for a daisywheel printer) and noisy.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
CommVEx v4 website - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
I was at Sears Auto on Sunday and was astounded to see that they're still using a dot-matrix printer to fill in pre-printed two-part forms. The only reason, as far as I can tell, is so that you can sign the repair contract and get a copy of your signature on the second page. Weird.
Quote from: airship on May 14, 2008, 01:31 AM
I was at Sears Auto on Sunday and was astounded to see that they're still using a dot-matrix printer to fill in pre-printed two-part forms. The only reason, as far as I can tell, is so that you can sign the repair contract and get a copy of your signature on the second page.
I go to several auto parts stores and repair shops, and they still use the dot-matrix printers.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
CommVEx v4 website - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
Quote from: airship on May 14, 2008, 01:31 AM
I was at Sears Auto on Sunday and was astounded to see that they're still using a dot-matrix printer to fill in pre-printed two-part forms. The only reason, as far as I can tell, is so that you can sign the repair contract and get a copy of your signature on the second page. Weird.
All of my clients use dot matrix printers for multi-part forms. One of them uses two high speed, line impact printers, one of which can crank out 1200 lines per minute on wide paper—that's an effective throughput of nearly 22 pages per minute. If a single page is to be printed, a line impact printer will have printed and ejected the page in about the amount of time required for a laser printer to warm up.
Of all the methods available to print forms, impact printers have the lowest cost per page in terms of printer life-expectancy and use of consumables. The cost per page when using a laser printer is nearly triple that of an impact printer and, of course, increases even more when multiple copies are required. For example, with a two part form, a laser printer has to do twice as much work, consuming twice as much toner and doubling the wear and tear on the mechanism. Adding to the cost: a toner cartridge of the type used in a commercial grade laser printer will cost at least 100 dollars (US), versus 30 to 50 dollars for a line impact ribbon cartridge.
Line impact printers are as fast or faster than most lasers and can run literally for years with minimal service. The type of dot matrix used by Sears Auto (most likely, an Okidata ML520 or ML590) isn't as fast as a line impact unit, but when you look at the amount of data that actually has to be printed on the form, you can see that the printer is more than fast enough for the application. The Oki units, in particular, are very economical to run and can last for upwards of 15 years with reasonable maintenance. Their ribbon cartridges cost about 12 bucks in wholesale and can be changed in about two minutes.
Even after the cost of the pre-printed forms is factored into the equation, impact printing on multi-part forms is still cheaper than using a page printer, and gets even more economical as the number of form parts increases.
Quote from: RobertB on May 14, 2008, 02:06 AMI go to several auto parts stores and repair shops, and they still use the dot-matrix printers.
The Firestone shop that I normally go to for car repairs uses a dot matrix printer, too. :)
-Andrew
The shop I work at used Okidata ML320 printers for some time before they "upgraded" to an HP laser jet. Those Oki's are very reliable, except for one of our printers chewed up a gear and the shop owner had to replace it. I took it and used a soldering iron to fix the gear. Works great with my Commodore computers! We still have an Okidata ML 80/180 (something like that!) that is hooked up to our Hunter D111 alignment system, it's over 20 years old and still works!
I've got two Oki printers here: an ML590 I used for testing forms generation software and an ML395, which is a wide, heavy duty unit with an integrated pull tractor. It's fed with wide (14 inch) greenbar paper and really rocks 'n rolls when it gets going.
And you all called me mad!!! >:)
http://www.multipledigression.com/type/
(http://blog.makezine.com/type13.jpg)
No "1" key, huh? I guess they just used the lowercase "L" as the letter as well as the number "1", huh?
QuoteNo "1" key, huh? I guess they just used the lowercase "L" as the letter as well as the number "1", huh?
Correcto! When I learned how to type it was on an old Royal manual, which did not have a "
1" key. When I started using an IBM Selectric, I had to learn to use a "1" as a one and not the lower case "
l".
Despite the limitations of not having a "1" key, "Escape" key, nor "Backspace" key, I still think it's a very cool hack! Definately a conversation piece for any group of vintage computing nerds. ;)
Yeah, and it won't turn yellow, crack or get blown away by a stiff breeze.
My dad worked for the railroad, and they never replaced anything until it was totally worn out and unrepairable. So I learned to type on an old railroad Underwood typewriter like this one:
(http://www.repeater-builder.com/mitrek/pix/underwood-typewriter.jpg)
It took about 12 stone of pressure to press a key, and ten times that to use the shift. (The shift actually elevated the entire carriage!)
What I'm saying is, back in those days when you learned to type you also improved your upper body strength. :)
P.S. When the C64 came along, I convinced mom and dad to get one, too. My dad kept breaking keyboards. I wonder why?
Quote from: airship on October 12, 2008, 12:08 AM(The shift actually elevated the entire carriage!)
This is another example of a word whose meaning has been mostly lost to time. This is the whole reason why "shift" is called "shift", because it would shift the carriage upward. The act of "dialing" a phone number is another example. Or hearing a phone "ring" is another. :)
QuoteThis is another example of a word whose meaning has been mostly lost to time. This is the whole reason why "shift" is called "shift", because it would shift the carriage upward. The act of "dialing" a phone number is another example. Or hearing a phone "ring" is another. :)
And
Return is called that because on manual typewriters the "return" lever returned the carriage to the right hand side, placing the typehead at the left margin.
I should have you know that I have a genuine Stromberg-Carlson 500D dial phone that still works and actually rings like a real telephone. No cricket chirping comes out of that phone.
At one time, I had an ancient Western Electric dial phone c. 1950 that not only rang but was suitable for testing the structural integrity of furniture due to its weight. The handset alone must've weighed at least ten pounds and could have been used as a weapon. Ah, the good old days!
In this photo, you can see the phone that really rings whenever someone calls Borderline BBS:
(http://cottonwood.servebbs.com/cottonwoodbbs4.jpg)
:)
Man, you need a new computer. Haven't you heard that the Commodore 64 has been replaced by one called the 'Commodore 128'? :)
Quote from: airship on October 12, 2008, 09:57 AM
Man, you need a new computer. Haven't you heard that the Commodore 64 has been replaced by one called the 'Commodore 128'? :)
Since Borderline BBS runs on Color 64 software, it only needs a C64. ;)
Cottonwood BBS, however, runs All American 128 software on a C128. Both BBS's use a 1750 REU. :)
Dave Mohr (aka Lord Ronin) keeps saying he's going to bring his dial-up BBS back online... He runs Centipede software on a C128. So if he ever does get it back up and running, I won't be able to say that Borderline BBS is the only commodore-run dial-up BBS. But I
will be able to say it's the only dial-up BBS running on a Commodore 64! ;)
If you look closely on that photo, you'll see the Hayes Smartmodem 2400 between the drives and the wall. A real modem. Most people these days just think a modem is some mystical device that resides inside their computers somewhere (and quite often, never gets used).
Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on October 12, 2008, 10:02 AMMost people these days just think a modem is some mystical device that resides inside their computers somewhere (and quite often, never gets used).
-------------------------------
THE HISTORY OF COMPUTERS
(c) 1990 by Mark R. Brown
--------------------------------
The following is the first installment in a series of five short essays illuminating the origins and history of common computer terms, techniques, and processes. Installments two and three appeared in the .info WrapUp, a two-page supplement to .info magazine which was sent only to subscribers. The first installment has circulated some on the networks, as have two and three. All five have all appeared in JumpDisk.
MODEM
The origin of the term "modem" becomes clear when you break it into its constituent parts. "Mode `M'" is the twelfth in a series of electronic communications hardware/software standards developed by the United States Army Signal Corps for efficient and effective military communication.
"Mode `A'", the first such standard, is still in use; it is more commonly known as "Morse Code". (It acquired its "Mode" designation several years after its adoption by the Signal Corps, when it became obvious that a plethora of such standards would be necessary as technology advanced.) Successive standards have been called by all letters of the alphabet in between, with the exclusion of "Mode `L'", which was skipped because it spelled a common word, which might have been confusing.
Only eight of the fifteen publicly accessible communications standards have actually met with much public use and acceptance. The other seven - which include, for example, the semaphore shutter light (Mode `B') - are relatively obscure or completely unused. (Among the unused standards, perhaps the most interesting is "Mode `G'", which was developed for use in a high-voltage "ground wave" communications system that was postulated by Nikola Tesla, but never developed in demonstrable form.) Besides Mode `A' (which included the hardware specification for the early telegraph as well as the "software" spec for Morse Code), the telephone (Mode `C'), AM broadcast radio (Mode `F', referred to as "Fixed band" by the military), FM radio (Mode `H', "Highband"), and broadcast television (Mode `I', the origin of the CBS "eye" emblem) all owe their standardization to Signal Corps specs. Modes `N' and `O', the FAX standards, and Mode `P', the satellite / microwave communications spec, are the latest to reach the public.
Mode `M', unique in that it has retained its original military code name into the public domain, was de-classified for civilian use in 1955. Like the TV spec, which expanded to include color, stereo sound, and closed captioning, the modem spec has embraced a number of additions since its public release. Most notable are transfer rates beyond 300 baud, various file compression techniques (ZOO, ARC, etc.), and the variety of file transfer protocols developed to surpass the performance of the original unimpressive "B Transfer" protocol (now called, ironically, "CompuServe B").
Though the military doesn't talk about its proprietary communications systems before they are de-classified, those who watch the military report that the Joint Chiefs of Staff communicate today using a "Mode `X'" protocol.
As a side observation, it's interesting to note that the original Mode `A' specification, written in 1874, ran a mere four handwritten pages, including wiring diagrams. Mode `M' is defined in a 352-page report produced near the end of WWII. Rumor is that the Mode `Z' specs now being developed for next-generation nuclear-blast-proof "Star Wars" defense satellite communications will require the equivalent of over 700 full-size office filing cabinets to store, making optical disc the only reasonable means of storing the full specification.
To Read More About It, order the 256-page paperback book "Electronic Communications Modes: A History of Army Signal Corps Communications Specifications" from the Superintendent of Documents in Washington, DC. Despite its dry title, it is a lively history of the standards now in the public domain, with many behind-the-scenes insights into the personalities and conflicts of personalities involved. It also includes many never-before- seen Signal Corps photos of early communications pioneers like Samuel FB Morse (the book answers the burning question, "What did the `FB' stand for?"), Alexander Graham Bell (who also invented the "Graham Cracker"), and Nikola Tesla (whose unfinished plans wasted more government money than any government project to that date: over $220 million, or twice the cost of the Spanish-American War!)
Very interesting, Airship! I had always heard that "modem" stood for "modulator-demodulator".
Also, according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_cracker), the graham cracker was developed in 1822 in Bound Brook, New Jersey, by Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham.
Quote from: BigDumbDinosaur on October 12, 2008, 09:48 AMAt one time, I had an ancient Western Electric dial phone c. 1950 that not only rang but was suitable for testing the structural integrity of furniture due to its weight.
I still have my Western Electric dial phone (circa 1973) from my college days. And of course, I have the Canadian Commodore dial phone, autographed by William Shatner!
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Ummmm... is modem from modulator/demodulator ?
Quote from: airship on October 13, 2008, 02:20 AMOops! Sorry.
Forgot to end that post with:
/humor
:)
Hehehe... You had me going there! ;)