Wanted: Paper tape reader

[SPotter]

Preferably an Elliott / GEC model

Doesn't have to be working.

Photo shows an Elliott tape reader just to right of opened punch

Any paper tape reader might suffice, though I don't want a huge CNC machine attached to it.

Just a 'desktop' model, or a reader mounted on a rack plate will do.

 

[MikeS]

Well, I've got a few, but they wouldn't be cheap; $75-100, depending on make & condition.
Not Elliot or GEC though; SMC & BBM IIRC.

m

 

[SPotter]

I'm at least curious, now.

Toronto isn't far from Montreal.

What have you got that might open my wallet?

I'd prefer desktop, rather than panel.

I'd prefer optical rather than contact.

I don't suppose you know where I can get a hand (operated) punch?

Steve

 

[MikeS]

They're all desktop units and are all optical except (I think) for one of the BBM MTR units. Interfaces are non-standard but low-voltage and easy to convert to parallel ASCII. Only one (see L2000 pic attached; PPT/EPC reader on left, perf on right) has supply & take-up reels, the rest are hand-fed (although all are motor-driven).

I have a manual 80-column card punch, but all the PPT perfs are electro-mechanical. I do have some parts from units I've scrapped, including the punch blocks and dies, so you might be able to build something yourself.

Some poor pictures attached.

mike

 

[SPotter]

Of those four, the PPTreader.INT looks like a possible candidate.
Looks like it might have been desktop OR panel-mounted.
Any more info on that one?

For the punch, I meant for for hand-editing of paper tape.
When I worked with paper tape, we used to leave space, on the tape, between lines of code, so 'quick' edits could be made, by hand.
Those 'hand-held' punches were a bit like a casette tape splicer (but corrrespondingly larger, of course).
They had a few sprocket pins to position and hold the tape, then a hinged flap with guide holes for a 'pencil'/'wand' type hand punch to poke through guide holes to make the perforations.

 

[MikeS]

That's the SCM unit with the cover removed; no, strictly a desktop version.

A basic reader: Light bulb, filter & mirror, sensor array and PCB with a set of OC (OE?) transistors, 110V motor and a few microswitches.

I'll have to look for a complete one; there are two somewhere but IIRC I took them apart (the mirror had become detached on one) and I think I misplaced the mirror and some small parts, and have been waiting to find them while looking for something else ;-)

Ah yes, I remember those "splicers" now; the ones I remember were just a little 'ruler' with pins to locate the tape and holes. I still have a small package of the splices somewhere (little sections of self-adhesive tape full of DELs, i.e. all positions punched, for folks reading this that weren't raised on paper tape).

It may be a while before I get to it, although you've reawakened my interest in PPT; thanks a lot! Just what I need, another distraction ;-)

m

 

[SPotter]

I just remembered that I have a small box with a couple of tapes in it,
from about 1973 !!!

I found it.

Three tapes:-

1) Not labelled - Don't know what it is. Maybe an Algol source file.

2) "Os & X's" - probably in BASIC.

3) "SPNB3" - If memory serves: Probably a picture of a young lady: If you run it through a teletype, with CR (overprint) capability, made in ASCII.

Let me know if you find a 'complete' SCM reader or an editor/hand-punch or both.

Steve

 

[MikeS]

I have to ask:

Why do you want/need the hand punch? Surely you're not going to punch a *serious* tape that way?

m

 

[SPotter]

Well, (probably more info than you want, follows),

This started because, where I am currently working, I have an office (with real gyproc and plaster walls!!) all to myself, not another cubicle!!!
(First time I have my own office, at work, in 30 odd years!)

I eventually overcame my modesty and put framed copies of my diplomas and professional credentials up on the wall;
Then I dumped the uninspiring 'inspirational image' that the previous occupant had left on the wall, and replaced it with a favourite Salvador Dali print.
Then I brought in a few 'antique' pieces of equipment, from my own history, to place on top of the mahogany bureau:-
An old Eico magic-eye resistance-capacitance bridge, an old Wavetek signal generator, an old Heathkit RF generator.
Then I thought, gee it would be nice to have a desk-top tape reader (preferably an Elliott/GEC) with those items. After all, I was academically educated in electronics and communications, but most of my career has been in software, and I started with paper tape.
Then my memory got disturbed and I thought about the hand-punch, and that box of tapes.
(Might be fun to transfer them to disk - just for the fun of seeing them run through a working tape reader and the contents appearing on the screen).

Anyway, that's the picture.

To answer your question: The hand-punch would be cleaned and mounted for display.
The 'pencil'/'wand' punch was attached to the base with a chain - a bit like the way a pen is attached at the cashier station at a bank.

 

[SPotter]

Where did you go?

 

[MikeS]

Still here ;-)

Sorry, busy with more pressing stuff; will let you know as soon as I find a complete unit.

m

 

[SPotter]

Any movement: I didn't find one, yet

Any movement: I didn't find one, yet

Any movement: I didn't find one, yet