+Home     Museum     Advertising     Wanted     Articles     EMail  

Old Calculator Web Museum Advertising and Documentation Archive

Wang 711 I/O Writer Data Sheet





Your Browser Does Not Support Embedded PDF, Please See Download Link Below

Reference Data Sheet for the Wang 711 I/O Writer
December, 1971

The 711 I/O Writer peripheral for the Wang 700-Series advanced electronic calculators is a modified IBM Selectric II typewriter that provides both output from the calculator on the printing part of the typewriter and input to the calculator from the keyboard of the typewriter.

The IBM Selectric II typewriter is modified by Wang Laboratories to allow keys pressed on the typewriter keyboard to be encoded and sent to the calculator in response to instructions in a program stored in the calculator.

The typewriter is also modified similar to the Wang 701 Output Writer, with a series of solenoids and linkages mounted underneath the typewriter that allow activation of the rotate and tilt mechanism of the Selectric II's printer type ball to print characters, the mechanism to trigger a print operation. Along with the basic printing operations, there are solenoids and linkages to perform carriage operations such as Carriage Return, Index (linefeed), Backspace, and Tab.` Provisions were also made to set and clear tab stops, all under program control. Lastly, there is a modification to the typewriter that allows the calculator to turn the power to the typewriter on and off under program control. This mechanism physically operates the power switch.

The various electromechanical modifications require additional space beneath the typewriter, which is visible as a black spacer beneath the typewriter. The circuitry that interfaces the Selectric to the calculator is contained on a circuit board utilizing small and medium-scale TTL ICs and various power transistors to drive the solenoids that operate the typewriter, as well as conditioning and timing the signals from the typewriter keyboard. This circuit board is located in the spine of the work table that the typewriter sits on. Two cables from the 711 connect to the calculator through the I/O and TYPEWRITER ports on the back panel of the calculator.

Another modification is a cutout in the upper cabinet of the typewriter to the right of the keyboard that provides control functions and status indications for the 711, such as the "I/O / LOCAL" switch that, in the LOCAL position allows the Selectric II typewriter to be operated as a typewriter, disconnecting it from the calculator, and in the I/O position, connects the typewriter to the calculator for complete operation by the calculator.

The typewriter is affixed to the work surface of the table, but can be tipped up from the front on hinges at the back of the typewriter chassis to allow adjustment and servicing of both the Wang-added mechanisms, as well as the Selectric mechanism. table.

This document is presented as an embedded PDF. You may need to click above this text, or refresh the page for image to show, depending on your browser.
If the document, or a button/link to open it does not appear above, you may click HERE to download and view it on your PDF viewer program

If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader or some other form of PDF viewing program or plugin for your browser,, you may not be able to view this document.