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Resurrect Your Old Code With a DIY Punch Card Reader

Posted by timothy on from the convert-your-existing-recipe-cards dept.

First time accepted submitter mchnz writes "Need to read in some old punch cards? Have a hankering to return to yesteryear? I've combined an Arduino, the CHDK enhanced firmware for Canon cameras, and the Python Image Library to build a reader for standard IBM 80 column punch cards. You can see it in action in "Punch Card Reader — The Movie" or read more about it." This is an inspiring, intimidating project.

5 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. That's cheating! by gallondr00nk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was expecting something that mimicked the original way these cards were read. Anyone can take a photo of a punchcard :)

    1. Re:That's cheating! by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Digital electronic overtook mechanical decades ago--that's why punch cards aren't used any more in the first place. It therefore follows the smartest way to deal with any problem of this sort is to get it converted to electronic ones and zeros as quickly and simply as possible, no matter how dirty, and then process the digital data to get what you need. In this case, that's getting a digital photo of the punchcard, and then doing your work on that.

      Anyone can take a photo of a punchcard

      Indeed they can (don't forget to use your wooden table!). Then doing OCR on that photo to extract the data the punch card contained is a little more involved, however.

  2. Re:OK, show of hands ... by rasper99 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have punch cards on my desk at work so I can remember back to a time when computers and software worked reliably. Why read the holes if the keypunch machine printed the characters above the columns?

    I also have the heads and voice coil from a 185MB CDC removable disk drive (approx 15" long) in case I have to smack some young whippersnapper upside the head!

  3. Re:Horribly inefficient by Antipater · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm confused.

    Why would you want to use fewer legos?

    --
    Everything is better with chainsaws.
  4. My favorite part about this video. by Guano_Jim · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When I hit that video the first time, the first couple of comments on that video aren't "cool!" "nice job!" or anything resembling constructive criticism. It's all "this is the wrong tech for the job" "seems like a hell of a lot of effort just to read what's already on the top of the card," etc.

    Haters gonna hate, I guess. But what ever happened to just enjoying a hack for a hack's sake?

    I think it's clever. Who cares how much time the guy spent, what technology he chose, as long as he enjoyed doing it.

    --
    3D Printing Tips and Tricks at Zheng3.com