HP 7475A Plotter Interface
In the early 80s I always wanted to get a plotter. But they were far too expensive. So the only option was to build one myself with fischertechnik . The results were not nearly as good as a professional plotter. Now 30 Years later I suddenly remembered that I always wanted to get a high quality plotter. And so I bought a Hewlett-Packard 7475A on a known auction platform. It works, draws highly precise images (the spec says 0.025 mm accuracy) and even today you get pens for it.
USB to RS-232 Adapter
The HP 7475A is available with to interface types HP-IB (IEEE 488) and RS-232. Mine has a RS-232 (D-Sub DB25 female), so I needed a USB to serial converter cable. If you’re a fan of soldering very small SMD parts (the FTDI232 chip is not the easiest one to work with), you can use this Eagle files to produce your own connector cable.