[GreenKeys] Re: Teleprinter demo project

[Ken Schwieker]

It seems like there may be demand for demo units out there seeing as 
some industrious individuals have already come up with one on their 
own. I envy those that can design and program computers as these 
individuals have. Possibility there is already a design out there 
that fits the criteria that could be easily and economically copied.

To clarify my first post the demo unit would need to be different 
from what many of us have set up at home.

This device needs to be somewhat transparent as far as the museum 
staff is concerned.  No extra external wires run.  No connection to 
other computers. No extra visible equipment on the machine if 
possible. Low power consumption when not printing. Must become fully 
operational by it'self after a power interruption. I am guessing that 
they won't want it running for an extended amount of time and neither 
do I as I will be furnishing the paper. The staff personnel are non 
technical people but if something became annoying I am confident that 
they would know how to shut it off :)  In this museum most if not all 
interest is on vintage rather than current events and items. The 
messages I believe should be time correct for AP model 15 operation. 
I envisioned a box mounted somewhere on the machine cabinet out of 
view with a separate PB switch and light on a bracket somewhere on 
the front with a plaque saying something like press for a demo and a 
small poster with a description of what the machine is, on or next to it.

In my opinion it would be a plus to have a number of messages 
available and each time the button is pressed the next message in 
memory would be printed. After viewing the Parallax Stamp site it 
looks like one of their units might be a possibility. Flexible, small 
and reasonable cost. Are any greenkeyers familiar with programming 
one of these? Also how much memory would an average message 
require?  Which of the Parallax modules (or other brand 
microcontrollers) are suitable for this project?

I am thinking that if construction information and a program was 
readily available then maybe others would take on constructing a demo 
unit themselves.

http://www.parallax.com/ProductInfo/tabid/110/Default.aspx