DEC LA-180 and PDP8e/LC8-E

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Mon Dec 6 19:54:21 1999

Bill writes about the LA180 and related models:
> I didn't think it did. There was -- I think an LS-180 or LS120 or 180 which
> was kind of a serial LA180.
>
> Kind of like the LA36 with the accelerator option some third parties
> used to keep the machine in high speed catchup mode.

The LA30 is the original DECwriter, and was available with serial or
parallel interfaces. I don't think there was a printer-only version.

The LA36 is the basic DECwriter II. Serial interface only, with
keyboard. The LA35 is the printer-only version. The LA37 is an LA36
with APL character support. Serial speed is selectable between 110,
150, and 300 bps, for 10, 15, and 30 cps. The print mechanism has a
faster "catchup" mode; I think it operates at 120 cps. This is used to
print the characters that were buffered while doing a lengthy operation
like a carriage return, line feed, tab, etc. Without a third-party
modification, there's no way to get sustained throughput greater than 30
cps. However, the LA36 mechanism is not designed for 120 cps sustained
operation, and is more prone to break down when used that way at a heavy
duty cycle.

The LA120 is the DECwriter III. Serial interface only, with keyboard.
Supports speeds up to 120 cps. I'm not sure how different the mechanism
is from the LA36, but it is designed for 120 cps duty.

The LA180 is a printer-only machine. AFAIK, the mechanism is the same
as the LA120. I've only seen serial-interface models, but apparently
based on the earlier comments in this thread, there was a parallel-interface
variant as well.
Received on Mon Dec 06 1999 - 19:54:21 GMT