On 07/06/2017 03:57 PM, Rob Jarratt via cctalk wrote: 11/730. > > I long to hear again the sound of the line printer that was attached > to the DECSYSTEM-20 I used to use. I think it was a drum printer but > I don't know the model (I may have some materials around that mention > the model, not sure where they are now though). I could never house > one of these though, if any still exist.
What, no 1403s, or CDC 512s? In the mid 80's, we had a couple of CDC/MPI line printers connected to our VAX 11/750. They were the typical large black soundproof enclosures, and were very quiet, probably not more than 1000 LPM. Definitely not the screaming banshee the 512 was, nor the rattling machine gun that the 501 was. I think the interface was Dataproducts, not Centronics, but I'm not sure about that. My favorite printer of about that time was the Teletype Dataspeed 40 band printer. You could put it on a tabletop. Speed was perhaps 150 lpm. So just right for a small shop. I think I've still got the schematics for that one. --Chuck
