Talk of the MX-80 has reminded me of a couple of more obscure models... The first is the TX80. This, I think is a little older. The mechanism is strange, it has one DC motor (and no steppers). The motor drives a dual-pitch scroll thing (sort of a coarse leadscrew) that as it turns in one direction moves the printhead left to right and then returns it more rapidly. On the return journey it (mechanically) causes a linefeed. I have never seen a complete TX80, but the mechanism turned up in an early Commodore printer (2023 or some such) and I think I have a logic board from the Epson one somewhere.
The other is a bit later. The HI-80. This is a 4 (ballpoint) pen plotter. No, not the well-known Alps mechanism. This has the 4 pens on a sliding mechanism on the carriage. It is moved by running the carriage into the end stops (!). There are the obvious 2 stepper motors (one for carriage movement, one to move the paper) and a solenoid to lower the pen. The HI-80 certainly has the connector for optional interface boards. I think the TX80 does as well. Incidentally I am looking for any manuals for the HI-80. Documentation on the TX80 would be interesting too. -tony
