Hi Brian , I actually share some of your concerns about my choice of a
(partially) metallic centronics ; but what made my decision is that the actual
original Tandy cable had a metallic centronics connector so I basically made
the same. The original was just grey but I went for rainbow because well it’s
way cooler this way :) There are however some custom made cables I saw with a
complete metallic plug ( and sometimes even metalllic case ) and this makes no
sense to me for the reasons you stated https://ibb.co/511YRxy This is my
cable(s) - and the centronics connector is the same that was in the original
Tandy . I have strain reliefs on both sides . Brian K. White
<b.kenyo...@gmail.com (mailto:b.kenyo...@gmail.com)> 30 avr. 2022, 20:57:37
wrote: > > Small note about the centronics connector: Metal centronics is not
necessarily better in this case. Since this is originally supposed to be a
portable computer, the accessories also ideally want to be portable, and there
are a few different features that make that a little more or less optimal. A
plastic connector is better for a laptop bag for two reasons. It weighs less,
and doesn't damage other objects it's banging around with. Plus, a final
detail, in particular there is the shape of the bail locks. There is a style of
plastic connector where the bail locks have a lower profile triangular shape vs
a larger more bowtie or butterfly wing shape that sticks out more and is a
little more annoying in a bag with other cables. No bail locks at all is even
better for bag-annoyance, but I think having the bail locks is worth more.
Ideally you want plastic, with that less-snaggy shape, and most importantly a
strain-relief clip on the crimp side. The futurlec one linked on tandy.wiki is
plastic and has strain relief and not the ideal wing shape, but the wings are
pretty stubby so it's not bad. There are others on digikey but they either lack
a strain relief or they cost a lot more for no reason. This is an example of
the ideal wing shape I mean (but don't use this connector, it's the wrong kind
of wire attachment, it's just to show the bail lock shape)
https://www.digikey.com/short/300fczp9 This one is at least usable, the cable
attaches by IDC crimp, but no strain relief, and a strain relief is more
important than any of these other considerations, also notice it's $16 whopping
instead of $2.50 https://www.digikey.com/short/57fnbdqw The ideal would be the
futurlec one with these bail locks, but the futurlec ones are stubby enough
that its good enough. It's a very minor difference at that point. The metal
ones are usually the real big and pointy ones. So, 90% ideal plus only $2.50 is
why that's the linked one. -- bkw On Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 10:42 AM Cedric Amand
<ced...@cedric.net> wrote: Thanks, It's indeed related to my DIP switch "SLCT
IN" Now I'm able to print, the carriage return is replaced by an uppercase
"angstrom" sign but it's a good start By the way, in case anyone is interested,
I was forced to order stuff "5 times" for my printer cables, so I'm gonna make
4 more DIP26 -> Centronics adapter cables and put them on ebay, I would gladly
sell some of them "at cost" to members of this mailing list first. (they would
be shipping from belgium so probably for fellow european geeks only) I used
fancy "apple rainbow" flat cable to make them extra cool and quailty centronics
(metal). Email me if interested. Le 2022-04-30 16:31, Joshua O'Keefe
<maj...@nachomountain.com> a écrit : On Apr 30, 2022, at 6:50 AM, Cedric Amand
<ced...@cedric.net> wrote: > > 1) A switch between what they call EPSON and IBM
mode (no idea what this does but looks interesting) > If anyone knows about
those two modes, please share :) Epson mode will likely set the printer to use
Esc-P control codes, and IBM mode will probably set it to use Esc-[ control
codes and possibly map the character set to match an IBM PC's. My suspicion is
that this switch, at least, won't affect your printer ready line issue.
