Dot matrix printers are cool again. The slow speed, the low resolution, that continuous tractor feed paper, and most importantly the sound. When a dot matrix printer starts printing it sounds like business. Something important is being archived in ink.

I’ve been looking for dot matrix printers for a while, bought an Okidata Microline 320 non-turbo, printed some test sheets and I was hooked. But once I dropped the friction feed and loaded up the tractor fed sheets, one line feed and the fuse blew. My working theory right now is the tractor belt disintegrated and overworked the motor. Thirty years parked under tension, then asked to flex for the first time since the nineties. I reproduced it by hand with the printer unplugged, and the belt came apart in my fingers. It’s still a working theory because I’m waiting on new belts to show up, and then I need to remember how it was put together, because the tractor belts are basically at the bottom of the printer and you’ve gotta take it fully apart. You can see that printer’s current state here.

I learned early that if you want to own a dot matrix printer, you’re going to need to learn how to service them. So while one waits for parts, eBay has delivered another Okidata Microline 320, this one a Turbo, and it’s currently in service.

Now, remember when I said dot matrix printers were cool again? Well, you need something to print, otherwise it’s just a hunk of yellowing plastic with some gears.

So I decided to build my own teletype style wire service. Not because I needed one. Because that sound came from somewhere, and it wasn’t invoices.

Basically it works like this…