Whats the deal with antique stock tickers and why do we not seem them in our vintage conputer circles.

[cj7hawk]

What would be good is a project to make a punched tape reader/writer.

And another to cut punched tape.

 

[pbirkel@gmail.com]

What would be good is a project to make a punched tape reader/writer.

You mean a tape-driven printer? Or a device that punches and prints simultaneously on different media? Or something else?

"Cut punched tape" mean to punch a black tape, or cut an existing tape into segments, or something else?

 

[whartung]

Anyone know how the stock tickers worked back in the day? What the network was like?

 

[DougM]

No idea where you could get the paper tape though.

TIcker tape is available on Amazon. What's completely unavailable is yellow 1" paper tape. The only known stash is a few people here

 

[VERAULT]

Anyone know how the stock tickers worked back in the day? What the network was like?

I dont think there were any "networks" right after the Civil war. I'm sure it was point to point.

 

[whartung]

I dont think there were any "networks" right after the Civil war.

Weren't the telegraphs a shared network? I honestly have no idea. I figured that several stations on a line were all wired together, and a message sent to one, was sent to all, save that only the directed destination station actually wrote the message down.

 

[mR_Slug]

Wanted one of these for a while. Was going to hook it up, so it received text messages. The price put me off. Was looking for one that would fit on the mantelpiece. Last I saw like $20k, Any cheap ones out there?.

 

[cj7hawk]

You mean a tape-driven printer? Or a device that punches and prints simultaneously on different media? Or something else?

"Cut punched tape" mean to punch a black tape, or cut an existing tape into segments, or something else?

Like a paper tape data store...

 

[pbirkel@gmail.com]

Like a paper tape data store...

That's called a "Torn Tape Relay Center" :-}. Some examples: https://www.navy-radio.com/tty-relay.htm
There's even a special butterfly technique for quickly organizing a lengthy tape in a neat little bundle for later ease-of-use.

 

[cj7hawk]

That's called a "Torn Tape Relay Center" :-}. Some examples: https://www.navy-radio.com/tty-relay.htm
There's even a special butterfly technique for quickly organizing a lengthy tape in a neat little bundle for later ease-of-use.

I was thinking more with an 8 bit data interface, but that's pretty cool too, and I learned something new -

 

[deanimator]

Here, just $23k for a replica. Hurry up while the stocks last, kek.

Or you can stick a receipt printer into an acrylic box. But hey - it does print stock quotes. Costs $22,975 less, too, and as far as the date of manufacture goes, they're both of the same "vintage".
About that mahogany cabinet however...

 

[NeXT]

Or you can stick a receipt printer into an acrylic box

....This is brilliant! A quick search finds that China has flooded the market with small, networked thermal receipt printers which I'm sure if you stripped the plastics away you would get the similar vibe of a ticker.

 

[VERAULT]

I love serial receipt printers! I need to get more but they arent being thrown away in droves anymore.

 

[NeXT]

Not serial. Network.



They talk and act like the old serial printers but now you can send bits to them over a LAN which means you can put it almost anywhere distant from the host machine.

 

[deanimator]

Yes, even these can be obtained. The one inside that vanity brush holder was the cheapest I got from Aliexpress, but that talks via Bluetooth (BLE protocol).
Sold as a kid's toy with a very shady smartphone app required to work with it, but their protocol was reverse-engineered - they print out 384px monochrome PBM bitmap images.

 

[VERAULT]

Not serial. Network.

View attachment 1290299

They talk and act like the old serial printers but now you can send bits to them over a LAN which means you can put it almost anywhere distant from the host machine.

Isnt that cat 5 looking connector on the left serial? (I realize it also has ethernet).

 

[NeXT]

That's the cash drawer interface. It's basically a driver output for firing the drawer release solenoid, but you can also connect it to a bell.

*Ding*
Stocks are in.

 

[deanimator]

In addition to LAN and Bluetooth, they even sell a parallel port variant here.
As far as the sound is concerned, it's going to be a "brrrt" instead of a ticka-ticka, so perhaps not a stock "ticker" anymore. But hey, at least you don't have to keep inking the felt pad...

 

[atomant]

Just came across this. I built a couple of prototype vintage-style ticker tape machined that combines a working mechanical movement, market bell, printer with a digital display. Built to last and prints/displays live or custom data like stocks, crypto, indices, Forex, futures etf's, sports data etc.