Jump to content
IGNORED

822 Thermal Printer


gilsaluki

Recommended Posts

  • 1 year later...

I can't believe how much these things are selling for. I remember Derek Fern (Micro Discount) had a load of them out of the Atari UK warehouse he'd cleared out in about 1990 time. They were all returns, but most did actually work. I think he sold me a few of these things for about £10 each. Sold them all though not long after. Should have kept them! Getting the paper was the problem, but if you knew somebody with an industrial saw you could get a roll of thermal fax paper and cut it to the correct width.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never saw one in the wild here in Austria but always thought it would be a neat, compact period device to have. At current prices, I'll pass. I suppose that thing is heavier than it looks, though, with an all-metal case.

 

(And I shouldn't have given away my EPSON FX-80.....)

Edited by slx
Link to comment
Share on other sites

irony here is that both of these mechanisms came from the industrial printing world originally for things like cash registers or monitoring stations, the 822 is a re-badged Trendcom with the centronics circuitry removed, and the 820 is a re-badged Eaton 7000+ printer, again with serial interfacing removed.

 

The only full carriage printer that Atari sold out of the lot was the 825, which was a straight re-badge of the Centronics 737 (Centronics refused to sell Atari a bare mech, so this was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the 850)

 

-Thom

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 822 was my first printer!

 

I bought it out of a bargain bin in the toy section of JC Penny, in the early 1980s. At that time, it was several hundred dollars for something like an Atari 825 or Epson MX-80, plus the expense of an Atari 850 Interface (remember how expensive those were). It was the only way I could print anything out of my Atari for a while.

 

I remember other Atari BBS SYSOPS used the 820 on their BBS, and used to tell me about hearing the noisy 820 from bed across the house, as people would leave a "Message To SYSOP" at some ungodly hour. I missed out on the 820. I tried for a while to look for 'em, but they're just too rare, expensive, and not so usable to me now. I stocked up on Epson FX-80s (well, 2 is a stock now) so I can do a vintage Print Shop printout, now and then. That's about all they are good for.

 

About a year ago, I heard an old-school dot matrix impact printer going at the Bone and Joint clinic. I hadn't heard one in years. I was waiting for it to print across the perforation and make that really loud sound, and it did! I couldn't believe it. Isn't it cheaper to have a laser printer print two pages than tear apart those archaic tractor feed multi-part forms?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Actually there were two for sale ($60 buy it nows). No, I didn't buy them.

 

:_( :_( :_( :_( Might have been tempted to get both to save on shipping, thus probably increasing the European count by 25% ;)

Really regret I missed these.

Edited by slx
Link to comment
Share on other sites

a4p1 & a8p1 are the adadapters

macrotronics made them I think.. but you can look up macrotronics trendcom printer adapter

you might find the pinout for the adapter boards or cords that connect to the 20 pin connector

I know analog did a mod for the 822 to connect up to the 850 for those that are interested.

check old ham/radio/computer magazines, they constantly spliced disparate system together..

 

it might be at below... just look at the ic that connect to the 20 pin and we can be sure... tell us the numbers, should be easy to pair up and trace out

1 strobe
2 data 0
3 data 1
4 data 2
5 data 3
6 data 4
7 data 5
8 data 6
9 data 7
10 ack
11 busy
12 paper
13 select
14 autofeed
15 error
16 init
17 select in
18-20 ground

Edited by _The Doctor__
Link to comment
Share on other sites

a4p1 & a8p1 are the adadapters

macrotronics made them I think.. but you can look up macrotronics trendcom printer adapter

you might find the pinout for the adapter boards or cords that connect to the 20 pin connector

I know analog did a mod for the 822 to connect up to the 850 for those that are interested.

check old ham/radio/computer magazines, they constantly spliced disparate system together..

 

it might be at below... just look at the ic that connect to the 20 pin and we can be sure... tell us the numbers, should be easy to pair up and trace out

1 strobe

2 data 0

3 data 1

4 data 2

5 data 3

6 data 4

7 data 5

8 data 6

9 data 7

10 ack

11 busy

12 paper

13 select

14 autofeed

15 error

16 init

17 select in

18-20 ground

Here is a picture of where the connector attaches:

 

post-43315-0-06550300-1517505371_thumb.jpeg

 

Pin 1 is in the lower left corner and pin 20 is in the upper right corner (connector is at the left edge of the picture). I wonder if I can just make a straight connection to the 850 printer port with IDC connectors and ribbon cable?

 

Chips are 74LS373N, ULN2805A and 74LS175N.

Edited by electronizer
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is a picture of where the connector attaches:

 

attachicon.gifB61F44DB-4D15-4FC6-B563-665540C02FF6.jpeg

 

Pin 1 is in the lower left corner and pin 20 is in the upper right corner (connector is at the left edge of the picture). I wonder if I can just make a straight connection to the 850 printer port with IDC connectors and ribbon cable?

 

Chips are 74LS373N, ULN2805A and 74LS175N.

Very much doubt that a straight thru ribbon cable would work, the 850 printer port is only 15 pins and AFAIK the pinout is unique. The only other devices I know of that use the same pinout are the ICD MIO and P:R:Connection, and this was for compatibility with 850 cables.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 years later...
16 minutes ago, Dopeyman06 said:

Sorry.... Bringing up and old thready...

 

What's the going rate for an 822 now-a-days?

 

Only one recent sold listing on EBay shows 180€, so north of 200$. 
 

I think I remember some going for a bit less a couple of months ago, somewhere 150-ish, but they don’t come up very often, so it’s hard to establish consistent prices.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...