After long hoping to get one someday, this weekend I found an
Teletype ASR-33 in a dumpster at the UW-Madison surplus center.
It appears to be working in most respects. In local mode, I was able
to type characters although the ribbon was a bit dry. However, when
it reached the right margin, it would not "return". Line feed works.
The geared belt is tight, and pressing additional characters strains
it and sometimes makes it "chunk" as if it were trying to jump a tooth.
I tinkered with the L-shaped catch on the belt that appears to engage
a lever when the carriage reaches the right side. Right now, this
L-catch is to the left of the lever, which gives me the impression
that it didn't catch the way it was supposed to, and now the machine
is stuck in a position that I need to learn how to free. Any ideas?
The data cable has nine wires to an HP-labelled edge-card connector.
Is this 20 ma current loop? I thought that was just four wires.
How difficult is it to get a service manual for one of these?
Is there a date-code some where on it? Will it read a five-level
Baudot paper tape as well as seven-bit, assuming I can translate
Baudot to ASCII?
- John
Jefferson Computer Museum <
http://www.threedee.com/jcm>
Received on Sun Mar 15 1998 - 22:36:45 GMT