Columbia University Computing History   

The DEC LA36 DECwriter II Terminal

LA36 DECwriter II Date: 1974. "The LA36 provides true 30-character per second printing for full utilization of a 300-baud communications line without the use of fill characters. Printable characters are stored in a buffer during the carriage return operation; and while more than one character is in the buffer, the printer operates at an effective speed of 60 characters per second." Adjustable pin-feed tractors take up to 6-part forms, with or without carbons, from 3" to 14 7/8" wide. Optional ROMs were available for APL as well as Katakana and other character sets. The later LA120 model looked the same but printed 120 cps. Later still was the desktop LA34, which could print not only characters but also Sixel graphics.

Printing:          Dot matrix, 30 cps
Columns:           132
Spacing:           10 characters/inch horizontal, 6 vertical
Character matrix:  7×7
Character set:     Complete US ASCII (128 codes)
Main keypad:       63 keys in ANSI X4.14-1971 typewriter layout
Auxilliary keypad: 19 keys (digits, arrows, F-keys)
Interfaces:        RS-232/V.24, 20mA

Columbia University Computing History Frank da Cruz / fdc@columbia.edu This page created: January 2001 Last update: 27 March 2021