Now for something completely different…I want to come up with a way to print Ignition alarms to a 50 year old Teletype model 33.
There is no reason or need to do so…I just think it would be neat! I first programmed a DEC PDP many years ago which controlled an automated warehouse using a TTY-33 and I finally found one to play with. This could be a fun play project getting a very modern Scada system working with a very old terminal printer.
Nutty, I know…but I’m gonna do it! I have built a current loop to RS-232 interface which works at the TTY’s blazing 110 baud. This works with an older windows machine on a real serial DB9.
So now the challenge is to get a Raspberry Pi or something which could sit on a Ethernet connection and send the serial data across to the TTY. I’m assuming some Python would allow me to print out alarm lines as they occur.
I could also use a cheap commercial Ethernet-serial converter but I’m not sure any would work at the low baud rate.
Anyhow, I’d welcome any suggestions or help. When I’m done I’ll post a video of the old teletype printing Ignition alarms for your viewing pleasure (-;.
Yes, it’s a silly project with no real payback…but sometimes that’s the case in my real job as well!
Let me know if anyone has thoughts or ideas.
Thanks,
John