And what about the Termiprinters-none of them left now either I guess- think
I saw a couple of the answerback pcb's out in the garage recently-the ones
with a strappable diode matrix assy to program up the answerback code. Had
20 or so of the basic 300 baud variants pass thru my hands about 15 years
back but no idea where any of them are now. There was even a 'fast' version
(badged HP) that could print about twice as fast as the standard ones. Might
be some documentation still around here but may take some finding.
Any of them still out there 'in service'?
Dave Brown
Christchurch, NZ
----- Original Message -----
From: "J Forbes" <jforbes2_at_mindspring.com>
To: "Cassic Computing" <cctech_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2003 1:33 PM
Subject: Re: Where have all the Selectrics gone?
> > From: "Mike Ross" <mross666_at_hotmail.com>
>
> > IBM made a bunch of printer terminals based around the Selectric
typewriter
> > - 1052, 2740, 2970 etc. Look in any old copy of BYTE, and you'll also
find
> > several vendors were selling 3rd party terminals based around IBM
> > Selectrics, often converted for ASCII/RS-232c operation, as teletype
> > alternatives.
> >
> > Where have they all gone? (I appreciate, from what I've heard, that many
> > folks who used them in anger would reply 'I don't know, I don't care,
good
> > riddance!') Early DECwriters are not uncommon. Teletypes are (almost)
ten a
> > penny, ASR33s show up frequently enough on ebay, I have several.
> >
> > But the only Selectric based unit I've *seen* in over ten years of
> > collecting is a 2970 Reservation Termainal (see
> > http://www.corestore.org/2970-1.jpg ) which I was offered a year or so
ago.
> > It needs a fair bit of TLC, and it's a print-only device; it can receive
> > data from a host and print it, but not send anything back from the
keyboard.
> >
> > I'd love to get a bidirectional equivalent to use as an 'authentic'
terminal
> > for a 360 emulator I work with... any clues? Can anyone recommend a
> > Selectric repair shop? No way I want to try to fettle something THIS
> > mechanically-intimidating myself!
>
> Look at my sig...you'll see where they've all gone :) I have a
> dozen or so Selectric, Selectric II, and Selectric III typewriters,
> mostly in various states of sticky disrepair.
>
> Actually, I don't have any Selectric terminals, although I do have a
> Selectric Memory Typewriter. My brother worked at a Byte Shop in the
> late 70s, and recalls having either converted a Selectric or making a
> conversion work.
>
> I do have a manual from 1962 titled "IBM Customer Engineering Manual of
> Instruction, I/O Printer, (Modified IBM Selectric), which shows the
> glorious workings of this fascinating machine...the manual has lots of
> text and diagrams explaining the Selectric mechanism, but not much in
> the way of photos showing the solenoid mechanisms.
>
> We were thinking a few years ago of trying to rig up a homebrew
> conversion of one of my typewriters, but never got round to it. But I
> did (in 1999?) see a conversion kit sell on ebay...and I was foolish
> enough to not buy it.
> --
> Jim
>
> Visit the Selectric Typewriter Museum!
> http://www.mindspring.com/~jforbes2
Received on Sun May 25 2003 - 00:41:01 BST
