Does this cable exist

[Richard]

Addendum, though there is a port marked ‘printer’, there is still a small chance that the could have been some special form of serial printer, so a manual is really a key need to confirm the exact requirements.

[Mark Turner]

Hi Guys

Thanks again for all your input. I think from your comments it would be easier to tell him he is flogging a dead horse. I can guarantee he will not have a manual for the thing other than the plugs on the back with labels there was no device name or model id on the thing. Using adapters etc is probably going to cause more problems like Richard said output gibberish and that’s if he’s lucky. He has already bought a new printer so I don’t think he is going to want to track down and spend money on a printer supporting LPT centronics connections But I will tell him that’s his only 1/2 hope.

Again thank you for your input.

Cheers

Mark

[Bob Williams]

Best part of your last is this Mark: –

” He has already bought a new printer… ”  – bet you’re relieved!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Ed P]

When I first started using my PC for SOHO type applications, I used a Daisy Wheel printer, and a box full of different fonts. It produced beautiful printed output. By the mid nineties its Centronics interface was starting to cause compatibility problems and I had to switch to ink-jet. For many years I used to bemoan the loss of the old printer, but I’d have to say from the mid noughties home laser printers could out-perform the Daisy Wheel in everything (except embossing the paper a bit, and making a huge clatter ). The loss of the old Centronics is not now even felt.

Your friend made the correct choice, except I bet he bought something cheap and nasty.

[Dave Rice]

44 dot matrix parallel printers at Printerland starting at £170. Brings back memories of working in Management Accounts. In the reports week we’d have 4 going full tilt all day all week with triple copy paper. Even in hush hoods they were noisy and the PCs couldn’t be used for anything else. This was DOS 3.3 days.

Make sure the papers folding properly before you walk away. Spend days separating the copies and putting them in hanging folders or sorting into piles to go to relevant managers.

[Bob Williams]

I have been very pleased with the new printer I bought, the Canon TS6150:

http://tinyurl.com/y3bduk4x

I had to give my old HP Photosmart C5380 away: had it on sale in several places for months, no takers and it was gradually giving up in a couple of areas. (I showed faults in the ads) Eventually Freecycle saw it go locally, I told the bloke about the problems but I don’t think he was listening. 2 days after he took it, an email – “Why did you want to get rid of this, it’s fantastic!” 3 weeks later he was complaining about it in another email: “What can I do?” I reminded him that it was free and recommended Freecycle. He has not been back…

The Canon is exactly what I wanted to replace the HP, who do not produce anything half as good, or even half as good as the old C5380 would have been, had they upgraded it with some of the Canon’s spec’s and removed old carp such as DVD label printing. Photos are just as good or better than the 5380, which printed brilliant photos, many still showing perfect colours without fading today, after 8 or 9 years.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

That is a very odd thingamajig indeed !

There is an input for attatching a GPS receiver and also 2 for Universal Time in and out. That printer port is an output for attaching a centronics printer. There are also RS232 and USB ports for attatching to a PC.

Can’t think what it can be. May be worth powering it up via that 12V input and connecting it to a PC with a standard USB printer lead. We if Windows knows what it is ?

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

I ment see if windows knows what it is. If as I suspect Windows hasn’t a clue it should still register a  unique USB device number that you can look up online.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

Could it be a base station for an early GPS receiver ?

[Mark Turner]

Hi WOF

I will have to get him to bring it back to me and plug it in to my pc to see if I can get a hardware id He mentioned something to do with birds when he first brought it. I can only think racing pigeons of which he doesn’t have any or any other birds for that matter he’s a sort of woodwork mate he crawls out of it when he needs something or I will get my mate Mark to sort it for you if you get me. Racing pigeons are the only bird related I need to know where it has been or is and when that springs to mind. I dare say that what ever it is doesn’t have support beyond XP or Vista if it is lucky

Cheers

Mark

[Bob Williams]

In 1995 when I was registered disabled and ended my work as a workshop foreman, I attended a Disability College for a 13 month NVQ course in Business Admin/Accounting. I also attended a local technical college at weekends for NVQ in IT. I very soon was doing more IT within the BusAd course and found it more interesting, but the Accounting came in useful later*. I was a computing virgin before I went to these colleges, had never used one.

I passed NVQ Level 3 in the BusAd course within 11 of the 13 months and the tutor typed out the results from my course work and final exam, showed me how to use the printer to print it all out. It was a long list! I realise now that was all done on a dot matrix printer, one continuous banner roll of paper. This was backed up by certificates, which I still have somewhere. Everything in this world of computers was completely new to me, but I learned quickly and realised that I was seeing the future that had begun to roll without my participation until this late stage. Less said about the County Council job I eventually found, the better, but they gave me a payout after ill health caused them to retire me and I used it to start a printing business from home: when the kids left, I had two bedrooms to work with! My first printer was a Canon, can’t recall which model but  a cheap inkjet. Then an HP Deskjet 890C;     http://tinyurl.com/y57raern

*I managed my own accounts and tax when I ran the printing business, so successfully that I actually paid very little tax after the wrinkles taught me by my old tutor. (“Learn what is illegal, pass on most of what is immoral, but remember that profit is not a dirty word”) RIP David Gratton.

This printer was fine until the business began to gradually take off and I saw an opening for supplying entertainers, businesses and independent schools with brochures, leaflets, books, and posters. I needed an A3 wide carriage and I bought the HP CP 1700:    http://tinyurl.com/ybzcnm5c    This gave me great service, but was expensive to run: 4 big printheads and separate ink tanks. It was so big, it came in its own crate, which I kept in the loft and used to transport it when I finally retired and sold it to a mate. That old 1700 earned me a good few retirement vouchers, it just kept going as I threw loads of different work at it for over 7 years. It was still going in 2008, last time I saw this particular mate before he vacated his perch. It earned its keep with me and I still got about 50% of the original price when it went.

I loved HP printers which is why I bought the Photosmart C5380, but HP did not have anything similar to replace it, which is why I now own a Canon TS 6150.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

https://www.synology.com/en-uk/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/Compatibility_Peripherals/How_do_I_check_the_PID_VID_of_my_USB_device

The above link is a guide to finding a USB device id should you decide to do it ?

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

https://topigeon.co.uk/

I think you are right about the pigeons. Have a look above ?

[Author]

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