[cctalk] Re: Is there a more modern replacement for paper tape punch/reader

IIRC the tape drives on the Colecovision ADAM were way over-spec'ed for that machine and thus quite high-speed. $200 working on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/177209174952 -- Anders Nelson www.andersknelson.com On Sat, Jun 21, 2025 at 10:24 AM Sid Jones via cctalk < cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: > FYI: I'm restoring an intellec 4 mod 40 from 1974. > > As I don't have a TTY or a high speed paper tape reader, I've made a 110 > baud to serial TTL UART USB interface with handshake, and a very simple > high > speed paper tape reader simulator with an Arduino board. > > The 110/20 ma current loop interface needed some opto-isolators and a > Atmel > processor to do a 110 <-> 300 baud shift in both directions. (USB plug in > serial ports don't appear to support 110 baud...) > > RealTerm then can be used as a TeleType(R) lookey-likey... Does need a > bit > of a front-end to respond to the 'tape advance' relay clicks... > > The paper tape reader currently loads a 'compiled in' HEX file, but will > get > expanded for a display and user interface to select 'paper tape' files > from > a SD card. > > This info can be shared... > > As a usable means of extracting info from paper tape the 'e-basteln' > widget > is quite handy... > > https://www.e-basteln.de/computing/papertape/ > > A useful source of paper tape punching is to find a big iron enthusiast > with > a set of 1960's kit. I've got a UK contact who's keeping an Elliott 903 > going and he's made some 1" tapes from PC files. > > His box of tricks talks to a PC via the parallel port and a stack of TTL > to > 9 volt level shifters. > > Regards > > Sid > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Gavin Scott via cctalk > Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2025 2:47 PM > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Cc: Gavin Scott > Subject: [cctalk] Re: Is there a more modern replacement for paper tape > punch/reader > > A paper-tape reader is easy enough, just something where you manually > pull the tape past an optical reader etc. > > I have a ~cheap diode laser cutter and on my someday get around to it > list is to write a paper tape "punch" program that will cut a one foot > strip of punched paper tape out of a larger piece of paper, with the > possibility of using a roll of paper and manually advance it a foot at > a time using the sprocket holes and some pins for alignment. > > On Sat, Jun 21, 2025 at 12:04 AM ben via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; > wrote: > > > > Now that I have my 18 bit retro computer working, I am thinking of > > adding classic IO, like paper tape. Sadly I am a few decades too late. > > Is there anything out there to replace a punch/reader used as 70's i/o? > > Any good mag tape (cassete tape) replacements? I would love a tiny 9 > > track mag tape toy sized if they made one, like the wall hanging PDP8's. > > On wish list, a flex writer or TTY video display replacement, ie > > overstrike and underline in 2/3 size VT100 case. > > Ben. > > https://www.instructables.com/23-Scale-VT100-Terminal-Reproduction/ > >