Friends,
I’m typing this on a 40-year old Brother EP-22 electronic typewriter. It has some neat party tricks, like running from a power adapter (6vdc *negative tip*, like a weirdo), or heavy D-cell batteries. It also can print with carbon transfer film ribbons or without a ribbon at all on thermal paper. I typed this using D-size battery spacers with rechargeable AA cells and I’m pretty pleased with how they’re working at the moment. The real test though, will be how they hold up when typing an entire page. Notably, how long will they last, and can they keep up with actual D-cell batteries. There are two big benefits here that I’m excited about. The first is the weight which is less than half of the D-cells. That’s a big deal when you’re lugging around four of them. The other is that they’re rechargeable. If I can keep batteries out of a landfill, especially those big monsters, I’m happy. (There’s a side benefit to that as well. Handing a heavy box of e-waste to the guy at the transfer station garners at least a dubious glare, if not outright refusal. Lighter boxes seem to be less of a concern.）
I wonder how often this machine was used by the prior owner. It’s in wonderful shape and works perfectly. I may have destroyed the power input for the 6vdc adapter (Did I mention that negative center is a bastard, BTW) but I’m currently running this on batteries. It’s cheating, but the spacer gambit should provide enough power to get this thing running just fine. Right? Everybody’s cool with that. right?
Oh shoot! I’m missing some type at the top of the previous paragraph and I’m a little worried that there’s on electrical issue. I’m typing on thermal paper though, so it may be a platen pressure/scuffing/heat issue with the paper itself. It hasn’t been repeated. so maybe it’s just o one-off. Hard to know.
“I wonder how often this machine was used by the prior owner.” Capturing the missing top line before I forget. It’s still weird. but I think it might be missing due to my picking to the paper roll to remove the tape holding it together. The next bit is to throw this into a scanner on the way to the blog. Will it work? Will the curl of the paper foul the scanner? (it didn’t, but ocr was kind of a mess. -ed) Will the scanner struggle with the dots? (yes, absolutely. ask me about vowels. -ed) Tune in tomorrow when the next installment of “will this thing work?”
I tried to connect a 2000 G3 Powerbook to this thing’s serial port and as expected, it didn’t work as a printer. The “new” EP-22 that I won in a Goodwill auction (which doesn’t work at all) came with three print ribbons, all of the documentation that this machine should have had, a power adapter, and a nicer cover. Was it a win? Absolutely, especially with the fresh cartridges. NOS cartridges, if you find them, are going for $50 a piece. I won that auction with a bid of $17.20. I’ll take that!
Of course, the fancy fix would be to find carbon transfer film cassettes thot are the right height and respooling old cartridges. I’m not above respooling the old cartridges and maybe somebody might be interested in something like that. Now that I’m without full time employment… wait. you haven’t heard about that? It’s a fun story of a small business finding themselves in way over their head and trying to figure out a competitive landscape that is rushing towards a technological future where they’re no longer needed.
What’s your plan?
“We’ll fire everybody.”
And after that?
“Dunno. We’ll just wing it, I guess.”
Sure. Solid plan.
*sigh*
Your pal,
– bob