Happy hunting!

In a dot-matrix printer model that I used the print head always remained on the line and instead of jumping up to print it would jump to the right to clear. It would move just enough to clear the last character printed so that you could see it. Again, if there was a continuous flow of characters it would print continuously left to right without jogging the head out of the way. I forget the exact model now.

But when using this latter model and typing in characters if you typed slowly it would move the dot-matrix print head left, print, right to clear, left print, right to clear, in a most annoying way. This left-right back and forth motion would shake the entire table, especially if it had shaky wooden legs. These later models were smaller and simply sat on any table surface. The left-right motion would work the wooden tables used at my university loose over time and make them very shaky. And it was very annoying. I learned that I must type in the next character very quickly, before the head moved to the right to clear the last character, to avoid that back and forth table shaking motion. But any mistakes were permanently marked on the paper. This taught me to type fast and furious but at the same time very carefully. Such a lesson about life from a dot-matrix paper printing terminal.

I’ve also seen wierd TI thermal printers where the print head moved to the (left? right? margin when not typing),

Fun trick with ASR-33 – when the carriage returns it flies to the left at high speed, a sort of piston enters a cylinder with a small hole in it to bring the carriage to a smooth halt. By moving a flap you configure how hard the carriage stops – leave the hole too open then it goes CRASH! and the machine might break. Close the hole completely and the carriage bounces back out to the right and back again a few times, Oh what a laugh we used to have.

I cannot believe that it should be hard to get a real teletype. I saw one in an electronics surpulus store as recently as five years ago.

I think your best bet is to ask Radio Amateurs. In Ham Radio there are various uses for teletypes, and people tend to lovingly conserve this stuff. Maybe if you get in contact with a RTTY (Radio Teleletype) group or association, they can help you get a unused one. Estate sales of old HAM radio equipment (of “silent keys”) are relatively common.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akvSE5Z474c[/url]

Also, there is currently a decwriter for sale on eBay, but you have to be able to pick it up in person.

[url]http://cgi.ebay.com/Decwriter-III-LA120-printing-terminal_W0QQitemZ370019604975QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116[/url]

Bejamin, thanks for that suggestion too. I poked around on eBay, but it seems that most of those used a 2.25″ wide thermal tape. Won’t cut it for 80-column adventure sessions, unfortunately.