HP 85 stuff

From: Joe <rigdonj_at_intellistar.net>
Date: Mon Jul 3 17:51:18 2000

At 07:10 PM 7/3/00 +0100, Tony wrote:
>> > 2) Any software about?
>>
>> Yes. lots but none is posted on the web that I know of. Beware that the
>> HP cassettes are very prone to broken belts and shedding their media so
>> original tapes may not be usable.
>>
>
>If the tape itself is good (not shedding oxide), then you can replace the
>belt with one from another cartridge. This will at least let you read the
>tape a few times.
>
>HP85s with an HPIB interface and a mass storage ROM (IIRC) can support
>floppy drives. If you have this sort of set-up, it's worth copying any
>tapes you find onto floppies.

    That's been one of my long term projects. Does anyone have a tapes that
I'll donate so that I can copy them?

>
>
>> >First HP I've been able to find, nice little machine....
>>
>> Yes, they are but they have two problems. The "rubber" feed wheel on
>> the tape drive turns to goo and the two belts that operate the printer wear
>> out. You can test the printer by pressing the "TEST" button. It should
>> display and print the full character set.
>
>I've only ever once had an electronic fault on one. This was a shorted
>capacitor on the PSU/printer driver board (the vertical one to the left
>of the printer assembly), and it caused at least one of the PSU outputs
>to be missing.

    Hmmm. interesting. I don't think I've ever seen an 85 with an
electrical fault. Except for the tape drives and printers they seem to run
forever .
>

    Joe
Received on Mon Jul 03 2000 - 17:51:18 BST