[GreenKeys] Model 40, Anyone?

[David I. Emery]

On Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 01:07:10PM -0400, Peter Gottlieb wrote: 

> I had seen quite a few in police departments around that time. I
> played with a bunch there (I was more a radio guy but they knew I liked
> the ttys as a hobby) and they seemed nice at the time. 

	I acquired two 40 printers from surplus dealers in the Boston area
around 1978/1979 and a last one in 1981.

	I used one of those - a wide carriage 132 column model 40 - as a
printer for assembly language listings on an Intel blue cube ICE/
development system for a while in the 80s, and the other two 80 column
ones for dumping data streams...

	Interface was RS-232 (but a bit funky) with either hardware or
SW pacing possible... and I had the upper lower case chains so I could
do normal (for that early era) upper lower case mono spaced typewriter
style ASCII text on them.

	At one time I had the service documents and schematics for the
printers and remember that I kind of needed them as there were several
somewhat obscure internal DIP switches for options and interface
configuration that had to be set just right for them to work with the
computers I had driving them - plus various other configuration and
adjustment info.

	After a time - in the mid 80s - I kind of put them aside and
didn't use them much... and by the mid 90s I had them stored in the hot
attic of my barn (the way out junque box).   Some time about 10 to 15
years ago  someone saw a comment I posted on a mailing list about them
and asked if I would sell one or more and I said yes... and eventually
he showed up to collect them and we dug them out of the attic only to
discover all the print chains had completely deteriorated and largely
dissolved to goo... with most of the type pallets loose and scattered
about inside the cases.  Definitely not even close to working.

	IIRC my contact took one of the printers (more or less for free)
and I kept the rest but after discovering that there was no hope
whatsoever for new print chains I eventually threw them out a couple of
years later.

	I never had a 40 CRT terminal, though I think the source of the
40 printers did have some at the time I bought the printers.

	I was told a story by a different contact that certain local
spooks in my area used a whole room full of them to print captured
message traffic at an intercept facility in my general area in the mid
to late 70s... but obviously I have no direct personal knowledge of
this.   They were widely used in the US Navy at one time.

	I also believe some of them were used for a while by the wire
services to print news from their high speed ASCII circuits, though most
of the usage of those fast 1200 baud streams was as input to computer
based news editing and composition systems rather than as traditional
yellow paper printed news stories from a Teletype or Extel printer.

	I have seen the 40 CRT terminals in various random places in the
years since... but not many 40 printers.   Many more 43 dot matrix
printers seemed to have continued in service than those.

	I will say that the 40 printers  were VERY loud and rather
annoying when printing... other fast drum type printers I used in that
era were actually significantly quieter and much less harsh sounding
when printing.
	
-- 
  Dave Emery N1PRE/AE, die at dieconsulting.com  DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass 02493
"An empty zombie mind with a forlorn barely readable weatherbeaten
'For Rent' sign still vainly flapping outside on the weed encrusted pole - in 
celebration of what could have been, but wasn't and is not to be now either."