Is an infrared printer still worth getting?

[Eddie W. Shore]

I am thinking of buying an infrared printer, specifically the HP 82240B. It would be for documentation purposes only because I would have type them again when I want to post programs and formulas online.

Bummer that the printer won't work with the HP Prime but I think it works with the Swiss Micros DM41X/DM42?

[toml_12953]

(10-02-2021 02:15 PM)Eddie W. Shore Wrote:  I am thinking of buying an infrared printer, specifically the HP 82240B. It would be for documentation purposes only because I would have type them again when I want to post programs and formulas online.

Bummer that the printer won't work with the HP Prime but I think it works with the Swiss Micros DM41X/DM42?

Yes, it works great with the SM calculators. I wouldn't be without mine. I use it mostly for hardcopy listings of programs and tracing execution. It helps me fix program bugs faster. The graphing capability is nice to have but I don't use it as often. FWIW, my advice to you is to get one!
BTW, you don't have to type in programs to post them online. Use the Connectivity Kit to list a program in a window, then copy and paste it online or into any text document. The CK also takes nice screenshots for putting into tutorials or manuals:

[Eddie W. Shore]

I agree, the Online emulator is a life/time saver. I use Free42 PC emulator for my DM42 programs.

Is $80 to $100 a good price? I am going to try to get on with an AC Adaptor.

[toml_12953]

(10-02-2021 03:51 PM)Eddie W. Shore Wrote:  I agree, the Online emulator is a life/time saver. I use Free42 PC emulator for my DM42 programs.

Is $80 to $100 a good price? I am going to try to get on with an AC Adaptor.

I usually pay about $150 so, yes, $80 - $100 is a great price! Make sure the AC adapter you get has plenty of power - at least 1A. I prefer to use a 2A supply. HP underestimated the power usage so even if you leave the printer plugged in to the adapter, the batteries are still used up when printing long listings. Also, you can either use the emulator or physical calculator to print listings. As for the DM42, you can use the USB disk facility to copy a program to a PC, then put that file through an online translator to convert it to text and copy and paste that. There's never a need to copy programs by hand. https://technical.swissmicros.com/decoders/dm42/

[MNH]

Although not an HP 82240B, do you think the Aibecy POS-5802DD Mini Portable Bluetooth USB Thermal Printer (compatible with Windows XP/7/8/10, Android, iOS) could work with any of the HP calculator emulators? Your post prompted me to investigate available modern thermal printers.

[ijabbott]

(10-02-2021 04:31 PM)toml_12953 Wrote:  

(10-02-2021 03:51 PM)Eddie W. Shore Wrote:  I agree, the Online emulator is a life/time saver. I use Free42 PC emulator for my DM42 programs.

Is $80 to $100 a good price? I am going to try to get on with an AC Adaptor.

I usually pay about $150 so, yes, $80 - $100 is a great price! Make sure the AC adapter you get has plenty of power - at least 1A. I prefer to use a 2A supply. HP underestimated the power usage so even if you leave the printer plugged in to the adapter, the batteries are still used up when printing long listings. Also, you can either use the emulator or physical calculator to print listings. As for the DM42, you can use the USB disk facility to copy a program to a PC, then put that file through an online translator to convert it to text and copy and paste that. There's never a need to copy programs by hand. https://technical.swissmicros.com/decoders/dm42/

I got a 12VDC 3A switch-mode PSU for mine, and it seems to print fine without batteries installed.

[toml_12953]

(10-03-2021 07:19 PM)ijabbott Wrote:  I got a 12VDC 3A switch-mode PSU for mine, and it seems to print fine without batteries installed.

Yes, my 2A supply does work as well. The 0.5A HP supply has a problem, though.

[Christoph Giesselink]

Minor hint to the power supply. I'm using a 12VAC 1.58A apdater over the years. So it must not be a DC apdater.

[ijabbott]

(10-03-2021 11:15 PM)Christoph Giesselink Wrote:  Minor hint to the power supply. I'm using a 12VAC 1.58A apdater over the years. So it must not be a DC apdater.

Yes, I think the original HP adapter was also AC. But DC works too through the FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER!! It is NOT a puny single-diode rectifier.

(So also, it doesn't care about any centre positive vs centre negative nonsense!)

Actually, come to think of it, I wonder what rating the bridge rectifier has, and could it be damaged by a beefy PSU when printing without batteries?

[Dave Britten]

I think it's definitely worth having a printer if you've got any of the supported models. It's especially handy with the 17BII or 19BII running in trace mode so you can have an audit trail of financial calculations, or print out the whole set of TVM variables, for example. It's great with the 42S since you can make use of the printer within programs. And of course it's useful for making hard copies of solver equations or programs (though you'll want to digitize them since thermal paper isn't exactly archival quality).

Personally, I feel like the wired printer for the HP 41 (82143A) is a bit nicer - and quieter - but the IR model gets the job done. It also runs on AA batteries, which are easier to deal with.

Off the top of my head, it works with these models, so if you've got a few of them, it's worth picking one up.

17B
17BII (don't know about the 17BII+)
18C
19B
19BII
27S
28C
28S
41C with the IR printer module (not cheap!)
42S
48S/SX/G/GX
DM41X
DM42

Not sure about the status of the 49G/50G family, but it might work with some of them.

I think it will also work with the 95LX and maybe 100LX/200LX if you install some kind of drivers to support it, but I've never experimented with this.

[toml_12953]

(10-04-2021 05:03 PM)ijabbott Wrote:  

(10-03-2021 11:15 PM)Christoph Giesselink Wrote:  Minor hint to the power supply. I'm using a 12VAC 1.58A apdater over the years. So it must not be a DC apdater.

Yes, I think the original HP adapter was also AC. But DC works too through the FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER!! It is NOT a puny single-diode rectifier.

(So also, it doesn't care about any centre positive vs centre negative nonsense!)

Actually, come to think of it, I wonder what rating the bridge rectifier has, and could it be damaged by a beefy PSU when printing without batteries?

I don't know the maximum but it works fine with no batteries and only my 2A supply for power. I've been running it that way for about seven years now.

[teenix]

(10-04-2021 05:03 PM)ijabbott Wrote:  Actually, come to think of it, I wonder what rating the bridge rectifier has, and could it be damaged by a beefy PSU when printing without batteries?

The bridge rectifier diodes are probably similar to IN400x series. Following them is a 7806 6V 1 amp regulator IC, so the print heads (on average because of PWM drivers) probably consume less than that. I believe the power adaptor is a 9V AC type and probably supplies an amp or so.

There is only one diode either in series with batteries, or three with external supply, which would suggest that the requirements for the external supply, assuming IN400x for all diodes operating around 1 amp, would be (3 x 1V) + 5V = 7-8VDC.

I don't expect there to be any current limiting on the print heads, so using a wall wart that supplies 9VDC at 1 amp (or above) might do premature damage to the heads. One of those 3-12V switchable types would probably do for a 7.5VDC output.

cheers

Tony

[Jlouis]

(10-05-2021 03:28 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  I think it's definitely worth having a printer if you've got any of the supported models. It's especially handy with the 17BII or 19BII running in trace mode so you can have an audit trail of financial calculations, or print out the whole set of TVM variables, for example. It's great with the 42S since you can make use of the printer within programs. And of course it's useful for making hard copies of solver equations or programs (though you'll want to digitize them since thermal paper isn't exactly archival quality).

Personally, I feel like the wired printer for the HP 41 (82143A) is a bit nicer - and quieter - but the IR model gets the job done. It also runs on AA batteries, which are easier to deal with.

Off the top of my head, it works with these models, so if you've got a few of them, it's worth picking one up.

17B
17BII (don't know about the 17BII+)
18C
19B
19BII
27S
28C
28S
41C with the IR printer module (not cheap!)
42S
48S/SX/G/GX
DM41X
DM42

Not sure about the status of the 49G/50G family, but it might work with some of them.

I think it will also work with the 95LX and maybe 100LX/200LX if you install some kind of drivers to support it, but I've never experimented with this.

Yes, it works on the 49G and 50G.

Cheers

[Eric Rechlin]

(10-06-2021 06:13 PM)Jlouis Wrote:  

(10-05-2021 03:28 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  I think it's definitely worth having a printer if you've got any of the supported models. It's especially handy with the 17BII or 19BII running in trace mode so you can have an audit trail of financial calculations, or print out the whole set of TVM variables, for example. It's great with the 42S since you can make use of the printer within programs. And of course it's useful for making hard copies of solver equations or programs (though you'll want to digitize them since thermal paper isn't exactly archival quality).

Personally, I feel like the wired printer for the HP 41 (82143A) is a bit nicer - and quieter - but the IR model gets the job done. It also runs on AA batteries, which are easier to deal with.

Off the top of my head, it works with these models, so if you've got a few of them, it's worth picking one up.

17B
17BII (don't know about the 17BII+)
18C
19B
19BII
27S
28C
28S
41C with the IR printer module (not cheap!)
42S
48S/SX/G/GX
DM41X
DM42

Not sure about the status of the 49G/50G family, but it might work with some of them.

I think it will also work with the 95LX and maybe 100LX/200LX if you install some kind of drivers to support it, but I've never experimented with this.

Yes, it works on the 49G and 50G.

Cheers

The 49G doesn't have infrared so that is impossible, but the 49g+ might be able to do it. I've tested only with the 50g, and it's flaky. Range is very poor (compared to the 48) and printing is unreliable, though.

[Kiwi]

Just for completeness, you can also add the HP38G and HP48G+ to the list.

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(10-06-2021 07:35 PM)Kiwi Wrote:  Just for completeness, you can also add the HP38G and HP48G+ to the list.

And 39g/g+/gs

[toml_12953]

(10-03-2021 11:15 PM)Christoph Giesselink Wrote:  Minor hint to the power supply. I'm using a 12VAC 1.58A apdater over the years. So it must not be a DC apdater.

The specs of the original HP printer are 9VAC, 13.5VA

The manual says: 9 - 12V AC or DC 500 - 1500 mA

[Jlouis]

(10-06-2021 06:56 PM)Eric Rechlin Wrote:  

(10-06-2021 06:13 PM)Jlouis Wrote:  Yes, it works on the 49G and 50G.

Cheers

The 49G doesn't have infrared so that is impossible, but the 49g+ might be able to do it. I've tested only with the 50g, and it's flaky. Range is very poor (compared to the 48) and printing is unreliable, though.

Oops, my bad, thanks Eric, memory is not the same in recent years...

But the 50G it works, I remember using it, but if it isn't, I have Alzeihmer disease, and need to go to see a doctor...

Cheers

[Martin Hepperle]

Dear All,

you can find a list of calculators compatible with the RedEye protocol in my PDF document at
https://www.mh-aerotools.de/hp/red-eye/index.htm.
Note also that the 50g and similar calculators have a relatively weak IR signal, compared to the 48G, thus a low range of one or two inches only.

Martin

[rprosperi]

(10-07-2021 07:44 AM)Martin Hepperle Wrote:  Dear All,

you can find a list of calculators compatible with the RedEye protocol in my PDF document at
https://www.mh-aerotools.de/hp/red-eye/index.htm.
Note also that the 50g and similar calculators have a relatively weak IR signal, compared to the 48G, thus a low range of one or two inches only.

Martin

The IR signal on the 48gII, 49g+ and 50g were supposedly deliberately lowered by HP to "prevent" cheating by students that could otherwise beam answers from seat to seat. It seems they actually were lowered a lot, as I've never seen consumer IR with such limited range, but that story seems a bit too cute; I wonder if it was done for power saving reasons, or somehow easier to implement on the new ARM h/w?