On 12/21/24 07:53, Donald Whittemore via cctalk wrote:
Rod Bartlett wrote:
On Dec 20, 2024, at 10:39 PM, Paul Berger via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
The chain with box drawing characters mention in the original post where used to print
the ALD. The 1403 had logic that limited the number of hammers that could fire
at once,
there was a test routine that would repeatedly fire the maximum number of
hammers it was
called the "Chain Breaker Routine". The only drum printer I ever saw operating
I think it was a Honeywell printer and the person demoing it printed out some
pictures,
the printer could fire most if not all hammers at once which made quite a
racket.
Paul.
As a field engineer for Honeywell, I always dreaded the holidays because so
many people
would launch print jobs which used repeated overstrikes to create pictures.
Those jobs
sometimes fired the maximum number of hammers at a time to speed up the picture
creation
which would sometimes cause multiple hammer actuator fuses to blow. More than
once I had
to buy all the 2 amp fuses from multiple Radio Shacks to get the printer
operational
again. Those overstrikes also caused the paper to become more saturated with
ink which
resulted in more paper/ink residue getting deposited in the print chain, which
required
heavier than normal cleanings during the next preventative maintenance window.
Another thing which caused more work for field engineers around the holidays
were jobs
sent to the card punches to play Jingle Bells by punching fully laced cards in
time to the
music. It was entertaining unless they caused card jams too bad for the
operators to be
able to clear by themselves. Fully laced punch cards are too flexible to pass
through the
punch path cleanly.
- Rod
You mean like this?
https://www.ibmjunkman.com/cards/?Holder=6309&Img=1
I made these by hand on a 514AD duplicating card punch. I
would make cards on a regular keypunch with 4 rows of holes
(all the same character 80 times), such that when flipped
and run through the duplicator 3 times onto the same output
deck, it would punch all holes. Occasionally the 514 would
jam, but it was not that hard to open up and clean out.
Jon
