diff --git a/blog/2019-02-23-resurracting-an-hp-7440a-plotter.markdown b/blog/2019-02-23-resurracting-an-hp-7440a-plotter.markdown index 4cf3ffb..05575a0 100644 --- a/blog/2019-02-23-resurracting-an-hp-7440a-plotter.markdown +++ b/blog/2019-02-23-resurracting-an-hp-7440a-plotter.markdown @@ -8,19 +8,19 @@ tags: plotter, art, python, hardware, recurse I finally decided to give in to FOMO on [#plottertwitter](https://twitter.com/hashtag/plottertwitter?lang=en) and bought -an old plotter off ebay. Me being in batch at [Recurse -Center](https://recurse.com) helped a lot, from the decision to get one to -[nerdsnipe](https://xkcd.com/356/) [Alex](https://github.com/wildconceits) into -collaborating with me. All of the work below is done with him. +an old plotter off *ebay*. Being in batch at the [Recurse +Center](https://recurse.com) helped a lot: the old hardware laying around inspired the purchase, and a successful +[nerdsnipe](https://xkcd.com/356/) of [Alex](https://github.com/wildconceits) gave me a willing +collaborator. All of the work below was done with him. ## What is a plotter anyway? Plotters are graphics devices that can transfer vector images onto a physical medium. The core mechanism of a plotter is an arm that can move a pen in 2 -axes (w.r.t the medium) and ability to pick up or place down the pen to draw. +axes (w.r.t the medium) and the ability to pick up or place down the pen to draw. Versions of plotters exist where paper is replaced with other flat materials like vinyl or pen with a knife to make it a cutting plotter. -I like to think plotters as the naive solution to the problem that computers +I like to think of plotters as the naive solution to the problem that computers should be able to draw. Smaller, expensive memory chips (or [magnetic cores](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic-core_memory)) in earlier computers made working with raster images hard, and plotters didn't need much operating @@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ memory. ## HP7440A HP7440A _"ColorPro"_ was an affordable plotter manufactured by HP, it can hold -and switch between 8 pens simultaneously and draw on surfaces as large as A4. +and switch between 8 pens simultaneously, and draw on surfaces as large as A4. [HP Museum has a longer post about this plotter](http://hpmuseum.net/display_item.php?hw=80) @@ -40,33 +40,32 @@ easy it is to open, take that 2018 tech! ![7440A Top cover open](/images/7440a_open.jpg){ width=600px } -The internal mechanism is pretty simple, There are two servos. One for moving +The internal mechanism is pretty simple. There are two servos. One for moving the paper back and forward, and the other for moving the pen left and right. -There is also a solenoid based lever to switch pen down and up. +There is also a solenoid-based lever to move pens to and from the paper. ## Talk To Me ![7440A Interfaces](/images/7440a_interface.jpg){ width=600px } -However, our plotter didn't come with any cables to either power it or to send +Our plotter didn't come with any cables to either power it or to send it commands. -Power supply was the biggest mystery. After digging through the manuals, and the -[hand drawn schematics from HP -Museum](http://hpmuseum.net/exhibit.php?hwdoc=80), we managed to identify it to -be a `10-0-10` AC to AC. Luckily someone was selling one in ebay, but we could've -built one ourselves if not. +Puzzling out the power supply was the biggest mystery. After digging through the manuals and +[hand drawn schematics from the HP +Museum](http://hpmuseum.net/exhibit.php?hwdoc=80), we managed to identify it as +a `10-0-10` AC to AC. Luckily someone was selling one on *ebay*. -Communication turned out be just standard serial, however our plotter has a -`DB-22` adaptor, so we had to use a `DB-22` to `DB-9` adpator and then `DB-9` to -`usb` adaptor. +Communication turned out to be done using standard serial over a +`DB-22` adapter. We solved this by chaining a `DB-22` to `DB-9` adapter to a `DB-9` to +`usb` adapter. The final step was writing in the only language the plotter can understand, -[`HP-GL`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-GL) or `HP Graphics Langauge`. Lucky +[`HP-GL`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-GL) or `HP Graphics Language`. Lucky for us, HP was on top of the plotter game when plotters were popular, so `HP-GL` has become a de facto standard for talking to plotters. -.. and finally our plotter moves! +...and finally our plotter moves!