New Purchase

[MikeDHalliday]

So, I put a bid on a 9pin Oki Dot Matrix Printer on everyones favourite auction site. No one else bid and I won it. Can't believe I have just paid £5 + postage for a printer that I have not been near for 30 years + We had them at college in the early 90s

I already have a printer cable for Albert so should be able to test it with screen draw and tasword as soon as I receive it.

Re-living the clatter of a print head should be fun. May have to get the WD40 out to revive the printer ribbon.

It comes with a DLink ethernet to centronics print server too, but that might be asking too much of Windows 11?

If anyone is interested it is


Oki Microline 321 Elite 9 Pin Printer ith DLink print server and a spare ribbon.

Update on testing to follow.

This now brings my setup to almost the same as I had originally all those years ago. Just need the speculator and it will be complete.

[retrogamer]

Good buy, Mike.

Other available units seem to be priced upwards of £200

I see that ink ribbons are still available for this model

[MikeDHalliday]

Indeed. I took a punt thinking someone would out bid me. Serves me right really. Ha ha

[retrogamer]

I saw a working Speculator was sold for £750 in January 2017.

We might have a long wait ...

[gunrock]

Does someone not have one in this community? If they could open it and take hires photos, its most likely a single or 2 layer board, with few components?

Tony Brewer who made the Speculator for the Memotech MTX and later the Einstein, is a member over at http://memorum.mtxworld.dk/ and might be able to provide some details (he doesn't own one, I don't believe).

[MikeDHalliday]

I can find a low res picture of the top of the spectulator circuit board, but nothing else.

The Memotech version has 2 high res pictures available. Gutted.

[vanpeebles]

I've never seen one, just the white book about using them.

[MikeDHalliday]

I put a post on here tatung-einstein@groups.io and actually got a reply!

Someone intends to reverse engineer a speculator (When they have time) so we may yet get a re-newed speculator, hopefully for a reasonable price!!!

[Lardo Boffin]

Really irritatingly I missed out on a local pickup Tatung with Speculator (and a huge bunch of other stuff) a year or two back. It was up for well below market value as well.

[MikeDHalliday]

So ... the printer turned up and is everything It said it was in the listing.

Unfortunately, it has suffered the wrath of the delivery driver and the right hand side is all smashed where the very heavy parcel had been dropped over the garden fence.

I think it is fixable

Will keep you all posted