HP 41/42 IR Printers

[CheshireChris]

I have the Swiss Micros HP-41X and HP-42S clones, both of which have an IR LED for printing to an HP thermal printer. A few questions:

1. Are there any modern printers that are compatible, or do I need a genuine HP printer?
2. If I need a genuine HP printer, which model number? I notice that there are two HP thermal printers, one ending in -A and the other -B. Is one the HP-IL and the other the IR printer?
3. Do the printers degrade with time like card readers do, or is an old printer likely to work?
4. Do they use a standard size thermal printer paper roll which is still available?

Thanks!

[rprosperi]

1. None known, though a company reportedly still sells a compatible model (same guts, new pkg) for some vertical application, but these are much more expensive than used HP ones, which work fine.

2. HP-82240A or -82240B. Both are fully compatible, IR-only and will work with all 3 SM top-tier models. The differences are minor; as you'd expect the B is newer and slightly preferred if and A and B cost the same, but both are fine.

3. These do not seem to have the same problems, I don't recall ever hearing of one failing like the 97 and other 41/71/75 printers do, but of course, that's only true so far. Used ones are extremely likely to work fine.

4. Yes, you can find standard paper for these at places like Staples, still being made for cash registers, etc.

[CheshireChris]

Thanks, Bob!

[toml_12953]

(09-04-2024 04:56 PM)CheshireChris Wrote:  I have the Swiss Micros HP-41X and HP-42S clones, both of which have an IR LED for printing to an HP thermal printer. A few questions:

1. Are there any modern printers that are compatible, or do I need a genuine HP printer?
2. If I need a genuine HP printer, which model number? I notice that there are two HP thermal printers, one ending in -A and the other -B. Is one the HP-IL and the other the IR printer?
3. Do the printers degrade with time like card readers do, or is an old printer likely to work?
4. Do they use a standard size thermal printer paper roll which is still available?

Thanks!

There's an ad in the SwissMicros forum that shows one but the company doesn't sell to individuals so you'd have to find a vendor.

https://www.gebe.net/index.php?pc=TDFlash437x

[ThomasF]

Hi,

Another option is to get or build a Red Eye receiver, e.g. this one:
https://www.mh-aerotools.de/hp/red-eye/

This allows the IR signal to be received by a PC, which can forward the data to e.g. a 82240 printer emulator.

Cheers,
Thomas

[BobVA]

Thanks to the information Thomas mentioned and follow-on work by Meindert it's pretty straight forward to build your own dedicated printer.

Here's an example I tinkered up. Modern thermal line printer modules are a huge improvement over the 82240 "RedEye" mechanism: cheap, mechanically simple, very fast and much quieter. They do need a relatively high current supply though, since they print an entire row of pixels at once. Mine is text only since I didn't have any need for graphics, but adding that is "just software" :-)

My experience with the RedEye mirrors the other posters. I've had three or four and they all worked. If you're checking out used ones ask the seller to print a self test if there's paper in it (hold down the feed button while turning it on). At at minimum you'd want to get a look at the battery compartment to make sure it wasn't the victim of a battery leak.