The labelmaker was used and didn't come with a manual or power supply but that wasn't a problem. Google quickly located a PDF manual to print out and I have plenty of power sources in the shack. The one thing I will have to watch is that although the DC input uses a standard barrel type connector the centre pin is negative which is the opposite of everything else that uses that type of connector. So I will have to remember to check the polarity before plugging it in.
The label tape that came with the machine produces black text on white. But you can buy cassettes of tape in different colours. This particular model accepts cassettes that include a choice of white on transparent, which will look better on painted front panels.
Black on transparent would look better on bare metal than these labels which I made for the front panel of my 10MHz rubidium frequency standard but they still look better than the old embossed Dymo labels we used to use in the 70s. (I also have none too fond memories of trying to label front panels using Letraset.) Life is much easier for those constructors who don't care what their projects look like but I always like to try to make them look professional even if the construction itself is definitely amateur!
Yes, the old embossed style of Dymo label pretty much announced "Homebrew Project"! The black on transparent will be an improvement.
ReplyDeleteI have one of the Brother P touch label machines and it's true it sure does come in handy around the radio room. One area it works well for me is labeling the coax ends at the PL-259 and other various cable ends. There have been many times when removing numerous cables and coax connectors then not being able to remember what goes where. Nothing like reconnecting the 20 meter dipole to the 40 meter dipole SO-239 on the antenna switch. The spend who know how much time wondering why the antenna does not work all a sudden.
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