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Main use of large format dot matrix printers.

flynth

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Nov 20, 2022
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I recently came across a pretty cheap classic Epson fx-1050 printer that I decided to get. It works fine, and is only in need of some cleaning. It is a dot matrix impact printer, but at the same time it is very wide. So wide one could probably feed a3 paper in landscape format.

Every time I saw a dot matrix printer being used it was to print invoices/warehouse orders etc. on tractor fed triplicate copy paper. I often saw wide printers like my Epson fx-1050, but they were always set to take in standard tractor fed paper (here in EU this is slightly wider than A4).

This made me think, was the extra width just a gimmick manufacturer implemented to justify higher cost and no one ever used it? Or is there a genuine use for 65cm wide dot matrix impact printers? If so, what was that use?
 
Anything that needs long lines of text like source code or system reports. You can fit 132 columns at 10 CPI on 14 7/8" wide tractor paper, vs 80 columns on standard paper.

The source of the actual dimensions goes way back.
 
Our local airport use miles iof it every year as a hard copy for passenger/flight info.
Are they using the wide paper (14in 7/8ths wide)?
Anything that needs long lines of text like source code or system reports. You can fit 132 columns at 10 CPI on 14 7/8" wide tractor paper, vs 80 columns on standard paper.

The source of the actual dimensions goes way back.
This was a very interesting read. Thanks.
Also the pictures showing that "green bar" 14 7/8in paper were interesting. I never saw tractor paper so wide.
 
Yes, this is the difference between standard 80 col (based on 10cpi) or 132 col paper.

Long ago, I used to look after a payroll system. A number of the regular reports (weekly, monthly, year-to-date) needed to print a number of columns of legally mandated data. You needed the 132 columns. It was possible to use an 80 col printer, but the print size had to be condensed and this was more difficult to read. If you could use the wider printer, it was much more readable.

Program listings were always better on 132 col print. I still have a number of old listings on such paper. I've even got at least one folder/wallet that was made in the larger size to take 132 col printer paper. I've also got a ruler 43cm or so long with the various scales for 10, 12, 17 cpi for use with 132 col printouts.

Geoff
 
Funny, all we ever used pretty much was 132 wide paper. Good 'ol "green bar".

Only if we were doing word processing would we dig out the 80 col white stuff.

Mind, during college, I used to flip the greenbar over, print on the white side, then use the guillotine cutters in the library to make them 8 1/2 x 11. I'd print out my Freshman Comp papers on that stuff.
 
Well line printers as used on many mainframe and mini computers were always 120 or 132 columns wide. You wrote your programs on 80 column cards and the listings were wider with the extra room used for sequence numbers, cross reference etc. Trouble is getting paper like that isn't easy...
 
The last I checked, 14" tractor-feed forms were still available from several office-supply places.

Anyone remember the ultra-wide daisywheel printers used by banks, with several print heads? There, the carriage width is measured in feet.
 
Well this was informative and interesting. This year I picked up a random box of tractor feed paper from a private seller to test a printer and was surprised that it wasn't any DIN/ISO format but rather this 14-7/8 paper with green bars on it.

Good to know the history behind it!
 
I've still got my Phillips branded C. Itoh 1550 that takes the wide tractor feed paper and plan to put it back to use soon. It has both a RS-232 serial and a Centronic parallel ports. The last tractor paper I purchased was white. I'll need to look for the green bar stuff.
 
My Durango F-85s are convertible between tractor-feed and friction-feed stock--just flip a couple of levers and Bob's your uncle. Takes the wide 14" tractor-feed stock as well as smaller forms. Mutli-pass NLQ printer with downloadable fonts.
 
The last I checked, 14" tractor-feed forms were still available from several office-supply places.

Anyone remember the ultra-wide daisywheel printers used by banks, with several print heads? There, the carriage width is measured in feet.
I just checked the big names, about $100/box so it looks like its available but at a price. Amazon does have some at $80. I can't find any UK suppliers.....
... if any one in the UK needs a box i might be able to help....
 
Well, the greenbar stuff was always virgin stuff (no recycled fiber), so even back when, a box wasn't cheap. For, what, 3000 sheets? That's 6 reams of large-format paper, so about $16/ream.
When I was part of a recycling crew at CDC SVLOPS back in the 1970s, we collected several tons of the stuff including punched cards every week. Even then, it was valuable, being clean virgin stock.
 
Well, the greenbar stuff was always virgin stuff (no recycled fiber), so even back when, a box wasn't cheap. For, what, 3000 sheets? That's 6 reams of large-format paper, so about $16/ream.
When I was part of a recycling crew at CDC SVLOPS back in the 1970s, we collected several tons of the stuff including punched cards every week. Even then, it was valuable, being clean virgin stock.
I think I have 6 boxes, and I paid about $30/box....
 
I just bought a box of copy paper and got a shock at the current prices. I was told that there's a nation wide shortage of recycled paper. Could be or it is more likely the cost of transporting heavy stuff these days. Shipping packages without a corporate rate plan has me rethinking what's worth putting up for sale out of my old inventory of computer parts. Ten dollars to ship a couple of ounce package with a $5 part doesn't seem cost effective. I'd hate to have to ship something with the same weight of a box of paper like a S-100 mainframe. I realize businesses ship via freight, but still.....
 
Not at my college. It was slightly better than newspaper quality at least for the students.
Okay, this was at a computer systems manufacturer. They're usually a little more careful with what they feed their printers; nice brilliant white bluebar 20 lb. stock. I recall that back in the day UARCO was a big supplier of that stuff.
 
I just bought a box of copy paper and got a shock at the current prices. I was told that there's a nation wide shortage of recycled paper. Could be or it is more likely the cost of transporting heavy stuff these days. Shipping packages without a corporate rate plan has me rethinking what's worth putting up for sale out of my old inventory of computer parts. Ten dollars to ship a couple of ounce package with a $5 part doesn't seem cost effective. I'd hate to have to ship something with the same weight of a box of paper like a S-100 mainframe. I realize businesses ship via freight, but still.....
Diesel is still $5.70/gallon or so here even after gasoline fell under $3. Since everything is shipped by truck to stores, shipping costs have made everything more expensive.

People have a total price in mind for stuff so if shipping goes up the part cost has to come down or it won't sell. Same with houses, when interest rates go up the value of the house goes down so the payments are the same.
 
At one time HM Revenue and Customs came out with a range of preprinted P45 forms (used when an employee leaves). The form comes in four parts (one for HMRC, one for the old employer, one for the new employer, and one for the employee). Two of the forms were reasonably standard: tractor-fed A4 and single-sheet A4, both of which had four pages one after the other. The third was also tractor-fed A4, but for a 160-column printer, so the first two parts went through side by side rather than one after the other. Apparently at the time there was only one manufacturer in the UK who made printers that wide. I don't think that version of the form enjoyed wide circulation.

(The form still exists, but the part for HMRC is now done electronically, and the other three are often output as PDF or printed onto blank paper rather than using preprinted stationery).
 
Ah, multipart forms--what we called "NCR paper"

Well, be thankful that you're not looking for electrostatic paper for that old Versatec printer. It appears that China still makes the stuff--or claims to.
 
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