Parallel Printer Cable Splitter

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Sarah

I have a standard parallel port on the back of a computer. I want to send
this ports data to two printers simultaneously - is there some sort of y
cable splitter available that could accomplish this?
 
Sarah said:
I have a standard parallel port on the back of a computer. I want to send
this ports data to two printers simultaneously - is there some sort of y
cable splitter available that could accomplish this?
Click to expand...

I'm not aware that you can do this because a printer sends back signals to
the computer about its status on the bi-directional parallel lead so the
computer would probably get totally confused about what's going on and print
to neither of them! Also how would you choose both printers in whichever
application you are using?

If you do have more than one printer that you want to physically connect to
the parallel port you can connect them through a distribution box (data
transfer switch), that come in several types and are relatively cheap (about
£10). I have two boxes made by Manhattan (one 2-way and one 4-way) and just
turn the knob to connect whichever printer I want to use. You can also get
automatic electronic switches which do a similar thing though, once again,
as far as I know you can only print to one printer at a time and these
switches cost 4 or 5 times the amount as a mechanical switch!

With USB-connected printers each USB port has a separate identity so the
computer can print to as many printers as you have connected to the USB
network at the same time (I do this a lot myself) - you'd still have to tell
whatever application you are using to print a copy to each printer in any
case.

hope this helps?
 
I have a standard parallel port on the back of a computer. I want to
send this ports data to two printers simultaneously - is there some
sort of y cable splitter available that could accomplish this?
Click to expand...

Primax used to made similar splitters - you could choose which printer to
use with button or software, but NOT both at the same time. I don't think
it's possible due to return signals from printer to PC.
 
[This followup was posted to comp.periphs.printers and a copy was sent to
the cited author.]

I have a standard parallel port on the back of a computer. I want to send
this ports data to two printers simultaneously - is there some sort of y
cable splitter available that could accomplish this?
Click to expand...

Do you want to print the SAME thing to two identical printers? Or do you
just want to have two printers, but be able to use both at the same time.

Both situtation require two ports. You could either add a second
parallel port, or run one printer off of USB if possible (through a USB-
to-parallel adapter if needed.) Printers, even the most basic parallel
port, have handshaking lines that regulate how fast the data flows into
the printer.

I'm not certain if the first situtation is possible. It's possible some
software is out there that could make one virtual printer send data to two
real printers. There could also be some hardware that would do this,
although it would probably be expensive.

The second situation is taken care of by adding the second port. Windows
can print to as many printers simultaneously as you can add ports, as long
as you have enough memory and drive space for the spooler.
 
Do you want to print the SAME thing to two identical printers? Or do you
just want to have two printers, but be able to use both at the same time.
Click to expand...

I want to send identical data to two printers. The printers are dot-matrix
and thus have no issues with bi-drectional printing.
 
Sarah said:
I want to send identical data to two printers. The printers are dot-matrix
and thus have no issues with bi-drectional printing.
Click to expand...

Likely they would have issues with handshake signals on the parallel
port. This is probably easier to do in software--send the data out two
parallel ports to two separate printers.
 
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