A while ago there were a number of interfaces
around for connecting your Atari computer to a non-Atari printer but
most of them seem to have disappeared or have become very hard to
locate. Atari's own 850 interface has an almost mystical quality of
suddenly disappearing from the face of the earth, returning in
'plenty' and just as mysteriously disappearing again. So what are we
left with?
One of the interfaces which has been around for
some time now comes from FCC Systems but one or two disparaging
comments seem to have been made about it, so we borrowed one from
Wootton Computers to test. Compared to the 850, it is almost
miniature, comprising of a standard cable with the interface built
into one end which plugs into the printer. This part measures just
60mm x 65mm x 20mm and is quite unobtrusive behind the printer. The
cable is a generous 4 feet 6 inches and should cause you no problems
with any of your peripherals. The only point to bear in mind is that
it must be the last in a 'chain' of peripherals as there is no
additional I/O outlet. This will only cause problems however for
those with the old style 410 cassette recorders. It works perfectly
well plugged into any of the I/O ports, even that on the 850
Interface!
The only way to see if an interface is suitable is
to print different characters through it. It had no problems in
handling all 256 ATASCII characters sent individually to the printer
and was able to successfully handle graphics in the form of the
listings used in the magazine as well as screen dumps from different
graphics modes. These were tried on an Epson RX80 as well as a
totally non-Epson compatible NEC 8023A. No problems at all with
either.
So what rumours there have been about the
unsuitability of this interface seem to have been dispelled. There
is no reason to suspect that you will have problems. There is no
additional software, just plug it in and forget it. That is exactly
how an interface should behave!
The FCC Interface costs £59.95 and is available
from Wootton Computers in Crewe, from your local dealer or direct
from FCC Systems.
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