how to connect a DECprinter I (LA180) ?

The LA180 cable (at least for use with an LPV11) is a
BC11S-25.

That is a round cable with a 40-pin BERG on each end.

I couldn't tell you if all the pins are used or not,
or if the connections are pin-for-pin.

The LA180 engineering print set is available at?? http://vt100.net/manx
although it is in two parts, in multi-page TIFF format,
takes up 20 MB,
and takes FOREVER to load in Windows.?? Would be nice if
someone
converted it to PDF format.?? 




Tim
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> To: cctalkclassiccmp.org> Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2007
00:54:03 -0500> From: tiggerlasvaim.com> Subject: how to
connect a DECprinter I (LA180) ?> > > The LA180
cable (at least for use with an LPV11) is a BC11S-25.>
> That is a round cable with a 40-pin BERG on each
end.> > I couldn't tell you if all the pins are used
or not,> or if the connections are pin-for-pin.> >
The LA180 engineering print set is available at?? http://vt100.net/manx> although it is in two parts, in multi-page TIFF format,
takes up 20 MB,> and takes FOREVER to load in Windows.??
Would be nice if someone> converted it to PDF format.??
>
> Tim
Another attempt to see if my replies to the list come over a
bit better.
I have set and checked all suggestions, and change the font
type to
Courier New after typing the message. If this message gets
to the list,
I will see how it's presented. If it is still bad, I better
stop using
webmail, and switch to Outlook Express (and keep fingers
crossed) ...
 
The LA180 cable indeed is the BC11S-xx where xx stands for
the length in
feet (25, 50 or 100).
I checked visually, not all 40 pins are used. At both sides
19 pins are
wired, first 2 pins, then one open and then 17 pins. The
print set will
show which pins actually carry signals. Ethan already
mentioned that he
used a straight 1:1 flatcable.
 
  I
scanned the 2 parts multi-page TIFF back in the days when
the Océ
3165 scanner and image processing only output was TIFF. It
still is, but
nowadays you can select "pdf". It is still TIFF,
but with a "pdf jacket"
to present the data easier (acrobat reader). I don't work
for Océ anymore
but I still think the 3165 (or successors) is a very nice
copier/printer
and scanner (600 dpi, 8 bit, 256 grey scale).
Windows 98 has a very good TIFF viewer (in "accessories
-> imager") from
Kodak, IIRC.
 
thanks,
Henk.
 

On Sat, Dec 29, 2007 at 12:08:15PM +0100, Henk Gooijen
wrote:
> > To: cctalkclassiccmp.org> Date:...
> Another attempt to see if my replies to the list come
over a bit better.

This message looks like the first ones - your text was all
formatted
well, but the lines you were quoting were all mashed
together into
one line.

> The LA180 cable indeed is the BC11S-xx where xx stands
for the length in
> feet (25, 50 or 100).

Make sense.

> I checked visually, not all 40 pins are used. At both
sides 19 pins are
> wired, first 2 pins, then one open and then 17 pins.
The print set will
> show which pins actually carry signals. Ethan already
mentioned that he
> used a straight 1:1 flatcable.

It may have had the standard DEC "flipped
connector" on one end, but I
think that's just a mechanical convenience to fit easily
into each
end, not an electrical difference.

As for someone on the list (don't have the posting in front
of me)
mentioning serial versions of the LA-180, with an additional
board
inside, yes, I do remember they existed, but 20 years ago, I
don't
recall them being common - we always had lots of ports on
our DEC
machines, either DZ-11s or Emulex CS-21s or DEC DMF32s - at
least
8 ports per machine, unless it was for development,
engineering, or
office work - then it was 24-32 ports per machine (so that
folks
could have more than one port going to their desk - we never
went
the route of terminal servers for a variety of reasons).  It
would
have been very handy to have a medium-speed wide-carriage
printer
on more than one machine at a time - something we _did_ do
with LA100s,
albeit at a slower speed.

Parallel printing interfaces are nice when the printer
doesn't
migrate much, but when you have a serial infrastructure over
a
5000 sq ft building, serial printers are much quicker to
migrate (you don't have to move a card to move the
printer).

-ethan

P.S. - here's a thumbnail of the overstrike cat picture I
was referring
to - htt
p://www.threedee.com/jcm/aaa/images/catbig.jpg  I must
have been
dimly recalling John Foust's "Ancient Alphabetic
Art" web page - 
http://www
.threedee.com/jcm/aaa/index.html

-- 
Ethan Dicks, A-333-S     Current South Pole Weather at
29-Dec-2007 at 13:20 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400       Temp  -18.8 F (-28.2 C)   Windchill  
-37.0 F (-38.4 C)
APO AP 96598          Wind    7.0 kts Grid 74   Barometer
686.2 mb (10395 ft)

Ethan.Dicksusap.gov            http://
penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html