Re: Printer cable length

[Hugh Hood <hughhood@earthlink.net>]

Robert,

It seems the conventional wisdom is that you should be good up to about 15
feet.

May I ask which Apple II interface card and printer you are using?

I ask because I have had issues before on two fronts:

(i) The interface (particularly under Apple DOS 3.3) may be passing all 8
bits to a modern printer that recognizes all 8 bits of data. Unfortunately,
high ascii characters (especially <return> and <LF>) just mess things up. To
get around this, I've built the parallel cable with the line for the high
bit grounded through a resister. I have heard of others just leaving this
line disconnected. I recall that the EPSON APL interface normally does NOT
pass the high bit, whereas the Apple Parallel Card does.

(ii) Some modern printers also support high-speed bidirectional parallel. I
know my HP LaserJets do. These printers' control panels allow disabling high
speed parallel. I found that I have to do this to communicate with them from
my Apple II's. If high speed parallel is enabled on the printers, I can't
talk to them.

I hope this helps.

Hugh Hood




in article boucher1-704C6C.16472316082009@news-wc.giganews.com, Robert
Boucher at boucher1@alumni.texas.net wrote on 8/16/09 4:47 PM:

> I have spent most of Sunday afternoon splicing and checking a longer (9
> feet) cable between my Apple IIe and a parallel printer. It is not
> working. Before I spend more time trouble shooting, is this too long a
> length to have this arrangement work successfully?




in article boucher1-704C6C.16472316082009@news-wc.giganews.com, Robert
Boucher at boucher1@alumni.texas.net wrote on 8/16/09 4:47 PM:

> I have spent most of Sunday afternoon splicing and checking a longer (9
> feet) cable between my Apple IIe and a parallel printer. It is not
> working. Before I spend more time trouble shooting, is this too long a
> length to have this arrangement work successfully?