cctalk Digest, Vol 51, Issue 94

[M H Stein]

Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:19:15 -0800
From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com>
Subject: Re: IBM mechnical devices

On 30 Nov 2007 at 5:46, M H Stein wrote:

>> The keypunch equivalents could, but were much too slow for serious output 
>> operations. Not only were they slower to begin with, but they punched 80
>> columns lengthwise while pretty well all the electro-mechanical EAMs worked 
>> on the principle of a 12-phase synchronized cycle across the card, corresponding 
>> to the 12 zones of the cards.

>...and if you were one of the poor unfortunates to get saddled with 
>the 024 keypunch in a room of 026s, you needed the 557--the 024 
>didn't print on the card--you flew "blind" or you just read the punch 
>holes visually.

When they did it full-time, keypunchers and EAM operators got pretty 
good at sight-reading cards...

>Fortunately, there was a standard IBM card form that numbered the 
>interpreter print columns on the two top rows as 1-60 and 61-80, so 
>you could figure out what printed character corresponded to what 
>punched column.  Unless of course, some practical joker decided to 
>swap a couple of wires on the 557 plugboard...

Heh, heh... yes, there was lots of opportunity for practical jokes...

>Later, some keypunches could be used as light-duty card punches for 
>systems.  I recall a CDC 1700 mini being hooked to a Univac keypunch. 
>Tab offered a keypunch that had an RS-232C interface on it and 
>probably were not the only ones.  Both of those, IIRC, had "buffered" 
>keyboard interfaces--you typed in the card, then the punch punched 
>the whole thing.

So did the later "normal" keypunches from IBM et al.

>I preferred the 029 "press a key, get a kerchunk". 
>Later, I had the same issue with the daisywheel typewriters that 
>seemed to print asynchronously with one's typing.

Cheers,
Chuck

Yes, they definitely had audible and tactile feedback; in fact you could feel 
it in your feet ;-)

And then there were "light" keypunches. I've got one here by Wright that
works like the old Dymo label makers: you dial up your character, press
the punch bar and it moves to the next column (and prints BTW).

mike