[Coco] Re: Coco printer primer...

[Torsten Dittel]

> I have access to an Okidata 320T (OS compatible down to MS DOS, and emulates IBM ProPrinter III, Epson Fx-80, ANSI and Oki Microline) with a RS-232C serial adapter that works great. Would making a serial cable to work with the 'bit banger' port (do not have a RS-232c cart yet) be difficult? I know on a PC this wouldn't be a problem, but, using the four pins from the b/b port to a 25 pin sounds too easy of a solution...

Well, the signal levels of RS-232 (logical "one" is between -12V and
-3V, "zero" between +3V and +12V) are different from what's on the
bitbanger port (0V or 5V). Normally you'd need a small circuit with it's
own power supply which contains a MAX232 compatible IC which will adapt
the CoCo's levels to the standard. However, some printers might accept
the CoCo's signals and I'm sure there's a workaround without too much
hardware efforts. Another question is if you have real CTS/RTS hardware
handshake or XON/XOFF protocol software handshake.

Torsten