UPC codes & grocery scanning

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thatjpwing
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by thatjpwing »

BillyGr wrote: 07 Jul 2020 23:16
thatjpwing wrote: 07 Jul 2020 22:31 Aware/4680 (AW Computer Services like you mentioned) was also capable of running Datachecker terminals on IBM 4680 OS. Safeway did this for their Datachecker terminals from the early 1980s, and I'm pretty sure Price Chopper in New York State did the for their DTS 500 and DTS 2500 terminals. Aware/4680 upgraded the backend but kept the existing front end equipment as long as possible with this arrangement. If you think about it, AW Computer Services was pretty amazing in this regard, getting systems never designed to talk to one another to do just that. Breathing new life into legacy computer equipment is pretty cool.
Would those be the Price Chopper registers with the orange letters/numbers on the (single line) screen on the front (and the small screen on a pole).

I remember seeing those and that they tended to get a bit behind when in an area (at that time their MA/VT stores) that offered double coupons, since it would flash each line (the Manufacturer Coupon with value, then the double value), and a cashier could usually scan them quicker than that.
Yes, the Price Chopper registers with the 20-character alphanumeric display. Press the STL button and you'd see "HOW PAID" to prompt for amount and method of tender. I think the latest version of those registers had 32K of memory in them. The older registers were marked "Data Terminal Systems" but the newer ones, or the ones with replacement parts around the display were marked "National Semiconductor Datachecker/DTS". I don't know what Price Chopper originally used for host computers, the DTS 500s were marketed to work with Wang 2200 computers, but they could work with others as well, since the registers did a lot of the processing locally and then basically spit out a text file to the controller.
klkla
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by klkla »

thatjpwing wrote: 09 Jul 2020 19:07The older registers were marked "Data Terminal Systems" but the newer ones, or the ones with replacement parts around the display were marked "National Semiconductor Datachecker/DTS".
In High School I worked at Mayfair Markets in San Diego and they had just converted to electronic cash registers. I could never remember the brand name. All I remember is they were too cheap to add the optional scanners. But when you said DTS in your post it rang a bell and sure enough that is what it was. It looked exactly like the register in this photo:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/163325923974120010/
BillyGr
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by BillyGr »

klkla wrote: 10 Jul 2020 23:06
thatjpwing wrote: 09 Jul 2020 19:07The older registers were marked "Data Terminal Systems" but the newer ones, or the ones with replacement parts around the display were marked "National Semiconductor Datachecker/DTS".
In High School I worked at Mayfair Markets in San Diego and they had just converted to electronic cash registers. I could never remember the brand name. All I remember is they were too cheap to add the optional scanners. But when you said DTS in your post it rang a bell and sure enough that is what it was. It looked exactly like the register in this photo:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/163325923974120010/
That definitely looks similar to the ones mentioned at Price Chopper - I think the main difference was that the display was larger (as mentioned to have 20 character spaces), and possibly a few more keys on the left side where this has empty space but that I can't be sure.

Not sure what they would have used in the "background" originally, but it's possible that when they were first using them (even before scanners became common) there was nothing? I have seen at least a couple older receipts (early 80's) and think they just had a department/price info., so is it possible at that point there was just a second roll of paper that made a copy for the store to keep (or carbon that just rolled back into the register) and they didn't use any computer database type thing at all, just as some small stores still do?
TW-Upstate NY
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

I remember those DTS registers at Price Chopper as well but I recall the digital readout being on the side of the machine facing the customer as you stood in the checkout lane. I believe the readout was in orange. Don't ever remember that pole set-up you're speaking of. Maybe it was just the configuration in immediate Capital District stores but not in outlying areas.
BillyGr
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by BillyGr »

TW-Upstate NY wrote: 12 Jul 2020 11:21 I remember those DTS registers at Price Chopper as well but I recall the digital readout being on the side of the machine facing the customer as you stood in the checkout lane. I believe the readout was in orange. Don't ever remember that pole set-up you're speaking of. Maybe it was just the configuration in immediate Capital District stores but not in outlying areas.
Yes, in orange and I see what you mean about the side display (the one in the photo has it, just hard to see - when I first looked via search it pulled up a post with a bunch of different shots of the 300 & 400 models).

It may not have been all the registers that had the "extra" display - perhaps just a set up where the other one wouldn't be visible (something like at the service counter would come to mind, since the customer would be facing the "back" of the register, and thus not be able to see either the one on the front or the side, particularly when the counter itself was higher, or even sometimes the smaller stores had an express lane attached to the desk where the side screen would face into the service desk and away from the customer, you were on the "right" side of it rather than the left "correct" side).
TW-Upstate NY
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

Side view of the DTS 400
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Super S
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by Super S »

I don't think all of those DTS registers had the side/back displays. I remember seeing them with a solid black plastic insert where a display would be. While the PayLess Drug store closest to my house in Boise had the side displays, I do remember at least one small grocery store that had the same registers with the black plastic inserts. These were all non-scanning versions. The "pole" displays I only recall being used in stores that used scanning versions.

What I remember is that non-scanning versions used seven segment numeric-only displays, while scanning versions had sixteen segment displays due to the need to spell out words on scanning versions.
thatjpwing
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by thatjpwing »

I don't remember the DTS 500/2500 registers having a customer display integrated into the cash register housing, generally they had a single-line, 20 character display on a pole mounted near the cash register. The Models 300 and 400 usually had a customer display that could be mounted either on the back or the left side of the cash register (facing the checkout lane). Those displays were 7 characters wide. The customer display did not show operator input, only registered numbers. So, if a customer bought 2 can of beans at 3 for 99, they'd only see .66 on the display, whereas the cashier would see three different entries, "2A" "3F" "99" as they hit 2 [@/ STL] 3 [@/ STL] 99 [GROCERY]. I'm pretty sure the pole display on the DTS 500 showed registered input as well, not entered input.
explorersea
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by explorersea »

Safeway had a lot of the DTS model 300/400, the only store that I saw a model 500 was in Butte Montana, we were getting ready to convert the store to IBM 4680 and I can remember the store manager slamming the cover of a 500 and swearing. I was told at the time that the 500 had the capability to be configured with a scanner for POS scanning, but I don't know if this was true. I don't remember a pole display with the DTS 500.
BillyGr
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by BillyGr »

explorersea wrote: 14 Feb 2021 19:07 Safeway had a lot of the DTS model 300/400, the only store that I saw a model 500 was in Butte Montana, we were getting ready to convert the store to IBM 4680 and I can remember the store manager slamming the cover of a 500 and swearing. I was told at the time that the 500 had the capability to be configured with a scanner for POS scanning, but I don't know if this was true. I don't remember a pole display with the DTS 500.
Not being sure which exact model they were using at the time, but when Price Chopper was still using them they did have scanning capacity, though it was a slower interaction. You noticed that particularly in the stores in the Berkshires of MA/Bennington VT where they were doing double coupons at the time, since each scan resulted in processing two lines (the face value, then the double which could be the same or less, so it had to compute that - for instance a $0.75 coupon on an item that cost $1.29 would ring $0.75 then $0.54 to make it no cost, but not give back money), cashiers often would get ahead of the register and have to wait for it to catch up.
thatjpwing
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Re: UPC codes & grocery scanning

Post by thatjpwing »

jzfla01 wrote: 14 Aug 2014 13:55 Does anybody remember what the guidance lights on the NCR 255 for the cashier were? I can see them in a few pictures but can't make out the words.

Also, would anyone know where to get a copy of the operator manual for the NCR 255? I used to have a copy many years ago, but can't find it. NCR says they don't have it anymore. I would love to review it in a PDF form.

If you have any suggestions on where to find the manual, it would be great.

Thanks.

I know I’m responding to an ancient post, but I saw a great photo of an NCR 255 recently and oddly I remembered this post asking about the guidance panel. This is the supermarket version. The () represents the light diode. First batch is column one, second batch is column two.

() READY
ACTION CODE () MERCHANDISE
() REFUND/COUPON
JOURNAL LOW () RETURN
CLOSE DRAWER () CREDIT
ACCOUNT NO () CODED NO
OPERATOR NO () CHANGE
REFER JOURNAL () TOTAL/BAL DUE


() ERROR
FOOD STAMP () NO SALE
TRADING STAMP () ENTER
TAXABLE () DUPLICATE
VOID-CORR () NOT IN TABLE
SLIP () TABLE FULL
TENDER () ADD TO FILE
TRAINING () BUSY

I’m not certain about “CODED NO”, it’s hard to make out on the photo.
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