We hard a card reader on our Series II.  That picker had a rubberized
surface, didn't it?  The cards we used were source documents, part of a
multipart set with two or three pieces of paper and two cards.  There
was always residue on the cards from the carbon paper, and it built up
on the picker, which we had to clean frequently.  It also built up on
the rubber rollers of the IBM sorter, but that's a story for another
time.

I am thinking HP also sold a reader-punch for the 3000.  Made by
Decision Data, I think.  Looked to be a modified keypunch machine.
Maybe someone can verify that.

Walter

-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Bob J.
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 7:36 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] Tape to Punched Cards


HP reluctantly supported a card reader through Series 70. I believe it
was a version of the 2893A. It was definitely available with HP-IB
interface and required a dedicated GIC and an auto tap switcher for
power. I remember working on these a few times and one of my current
customers still has 
theirs
in the computer room. (Hi Charlie B) One of the wearing parts was called
a "picker sector". Try saying that 10 times fast.  The HP 7260A was the
optical mark reader you mentioned. I remember it being a serial device
used through MPE-V and being picky about what it would read.  Wasted
brain cells storing this data for sure.

Bob J. -- Ideal Computer Services
www.icsgroup.net



Jeff Kell wrote:

>HP definitely had a card reader... both a traditional one, and some 
>years later, and "optical mark-sense" reader that could read a card 
>with the "holes" marked by ink rather than physically punched.
>
>When I started at UTC (decades ago)... computer classes had to punch 
>their programs on IBM keypunch machines.  Our IBM was too small/slow, 
>so we would periodically reboot into our "communications mode" which 
>hooked up our IBM card reader, punch, and printer with a larger IBM at 
>Knoxville.  We collected the student card decks, submitted them to UTK,

>and waited on the printouts to return.  Then we booted back into local 
>production.  This happened a few times a day (turnaround was pretty 
>miserable).
>
>We got an HP2000/Access system in Fall 1975.  It not only supported 
>card reader and printer, but also supported the remote job entry 
>communications with the IBM at UTK.  So we had a card reader upstairs 
>in the student keypunch lab, as well as a printer, and there was no 
>more waiting for submission.  They could just feed their jobs directly 
>to the reader, their printouts came back to the printer, and it was 
>available constantly.  Big step forward.
>
>Later we got an HP3000, and had a copy of MRJE/3000.  Now students 
>could enter their programs online via Editor/QEdit/Quad/whatever they 
>prefer, submit their jobs via MRJE, and view their output in SPOOK 
>before actually printing it out.  Even better still.
>
>As for the "mark-sense" reader... we had this grand plan to do grades 
>on "mark-sense" cards.  The idea was to "print" class cards (one card 
>per student, sorted by instructor by class), and let them pencil-in 
>mark the corresponding grade for the student.  It was great in theory, 
>but the "mark-sense" reader had much less than stellar performance and 
>reliability (it sucked!), and having the "printed" cards burst on their

>perforations to yield the "card" left some rough edges which the reader

>really, really hated.  And it was slow as Christmas.  Heck, it was 
>slower than Leap Year.  That lasted one semester, I think, and we went 
>to OpScan forms instead (much better).  Much of this was a holdover 
>from our old IBM grade processing days (which was on punched grade 
>cards that were also fed to a unit-record device that read the marked 
>grade and "punched" the result onto the card).  Some habits are hard to

>break :)
>
>The same card reader we had on the HP2000/Access also worked on the 
>HP3000/Series II... we kept it for legacy purposes even after going to 
>"online" entry of the "card decks".  I do not recall the readers being 
>supported beyond the Series II / Series III however, and I don't recall

>the I/O interface either (other than it pre-dated HP-IB).
>
>Jeff
>
>On 5/21/2014 2:00 PM, Simpkins, Terry wrote:
>  
>
>>If I recall correctly, when I was with HP's Disc Memory Division (DMD)

>>in Boise back in the early '80s, we actually had a card reader
connected to one of our 3Ks. I brought several boxes of cards with me
from grad school, and we read them into EBCDIC files.
>>Don't ask why I was carrying boxes of punch cards around the country.
>>
>>Terry W. Simpkins
>>office: +1 757-766-4278
>>[log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On 
>>Behalf Of Gilles Schipper
>>Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 12:54 PM
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] Tape to Punched Cards
>>
>>Gilles Schipper
>>Sent via mobile
>>416-702-7900
>>
>>    
>>
>>>On May 21, 2014, at 12:44 PM, "Johnson, Tracy" 
>>><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>>This looks like something Wirt would have used
>>>
>>>
>>>ASCII to EBCDIC anyone?
>>>
>>>
>>>http://www.osti.gov/scitech/servlets/purl/4500931
>>>
>>>
>>>Was there a CSL for that?
>>>      
>>>
>>No need.
>>
>>FCOPY has always had that capability.
>>    
>>
>>>Tracy Johnson
>>>Business Analyst
>>>Measurement Specialties, Inc.
>>>Office (757) 766-4318
>>>Cell (757) 755-6470
>>>[log in to unmask]
>>>      
>>>
>
>* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
>* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
>
>
>
>  
>


* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *