On 2024-12-21 09:49, Rod Bartlett via cctalk wrote:
On Dec 21, 2024, at 8:53 AM, Donald Whittemore via
cctalk<cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
Rod Bartlett wrote:
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
That's it. As far as I know, fully laced cards were only useful for producing
a deep percussive sound while punching the card. Trying to push cards rendered
flexible by so many holes at 300 cards per minute caused some spectacular card
jams which occasionally required partial disassembly to fully clear.
You're lucky, Rod. When I was a trainee FE at a Univac site, we had a
smart instructor that accidentally managed to block the reset signal of
the hammers on a 1004 drum printer. All 132 columns struck the drum,
gouged the surface, and blew hundreds of power transistors! Univac had
to fly parts (and an FE) from all around the world to get us going.
The sad part is that the 1004 was used for billing blue chip companies
that used our store-and-forward message switcher (using teletype
machines)! After that episode, they bought another 1004 for the backup
system!
Oh! The memories!
cheers,
Nigel
--
Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU
Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept!
Skype: TILBURY2591
