[Discuss] Valuable antique - band printer

[richb at pioneer.ci.net (Rich Braun)]

Re - Electronics Recycling Event - Hudson, MA - April 20,21

This posting reminded me--I have to figure out what to do with an line printer
that's been holding the floor down in my house for the past two decades.  It's
made by NEC, model NEC TrimLiner L600.  In my laundry room, it's roughly the
size of the washing machine, and about as heavy ;-)

A quick Google reveals not much info to help you decide what you'd want to do
with it, but to my surprise the ink ribbons are still available (this device
is over 30 years old, qualifies for Massachusetts antique plates I think).

I acquired it from the Harvard Science Center when it was 10 years old, and
used it to print mailing labels for an activist group for a couple years.  You
connect to a computer with an ordinary RS232 port (it's set to 9600 bps), and
give it tractor-feed paper.  It's really cool watching the band zip around,
and the paper going through at 600 lines/min.  There were two types of bands
sold:  one all caps, the other with the full character set; this one has the
latter (a speed tradeoff).

As cool as it is, I think it's time to part with it.  Any suggestions on how
to find it a home, where it might actually get plugged in and seen by the next
generation of kids whose idea of computing devices doesn't generally include
contraptions like this?

-rich