HP82143 Thermal Printer half linestep mod

[Hiwi]

Hi,
i recently bought a HP82143 thermal printer for parts only on ebay. The seller mentioned a little switch on the front but reported an unknown function. The paper advance and battery had to be replaced. He said it is working with minor help, but someone has tried to repair it very unprofessional. (flex cable sharp bent from cabinet, roller damaged with sharp or unsuitable tools ...)

However, I remembered a modification from 1981/82 discussed in the CCD ComputerClub and found the article in "Best of Prisma" issued 1986. The so called half linestep modification.

The meaning of the switch: G=Graphics, N=Normal.

The preowner added not two microswitches, he made two wire contacts on a little breadboard board.

But it is not working anymore. So i replaced it with two standard microswitches. I had to try a lot to get it working, but now it works perfect.

The printer can now print graphics, do landscape printing and print barcodes.

This little Snoopy graphic was from the author Winfried Maschke:
(some pixels are still wrong, because i have only a poor scan and can't recognize all text bytes correctly)

   

Ralf

[Karl-Ludwig Butte]

Hello Ralf,

congratulations to successfully repairing this especially modified printer. I saw that offer for this printer, too, and wondered what that switch might be good for.

Is the article from "Best of Prisma" available anywhere on the Internet? If so it would be great if you could post the link.

Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards
Karl

[Hiwi]

Hi Karl,

the original article from Wilfried Kötz / Winfried Maschke was published around 1981, these PRISMA issues are not available in the internet. (never found them) But there was a summary of the best articles from 1981-1982 called "Best of Prisma" issued 1986. Google it, there is an online version and a pdf to download from the famous hp literature site, I think, it is not allowed to post the link here.
But it is German only.

Pages 17ff

Ralf

[Karl-Ludwig Butte]

Hi Ralf,

thanks a lot for your reply. It's no problem that the article is in German 'cause I'm from Germany.

Maybe we'll meet at 25./26. Oct. at the Stuttgart Meeting?

Best regards
Karl

[Thomas Klemm]

(09-20-2024 01:08 PM)Hiwi Wrote:  Google it, there is an online version and a pdf to download from the famous hp literature site, I think, it is not allowed to post the link here.

Here is the collection of the PRISMA Zeitschriften 1982 – 1992.

[Hiwi]

Thomas,
awesome thank you.
Ralf.

[Thomas Klemm]

You have to thank Jürgen Keller and Martin Hepperle.

[Karl-Ludwig Butte]

Thanks a lot to all of you. Preserving the knowledge is so important in my opinion.

Best regards

Karl