Anyone Have Documentation for a UPrint A64?

[DavidMil]

Not going to bore you with details, but I found this in the bottom of a box of Christmas ornaments. At first I didn't know why it was in there,

but then I found a ten foot long fan folded printer paper banner that had 6 inch tall various colored letters that said, 'Merry Christmas!'  So

somehow this got left in the box too.  It's a UPRINT model A64 stand alone parallel printer buffer with 64K.  Now this was a long time ago but

it seems like you could send it codes to allow certain prints to print correctly with out any printer drives.  Or I could be dreaming...

 Anyway here are a couple of pics.  Also, does anyone know anything about that big IC (SR0084 PBUFFER)?  And any documentation would

be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

DavidMil     

[TGB1718]

4 hours ago, DavidMil said:

it seems like you could send it codes to allow certain prints to print correctly with out any printer drives.  Or I could be dreaming...

No, your not dreaming, I have a similar device, there are DIP switches inside, normal selection is text printing, the other is RAW data

which allows printer codes through, so with the right printer/driver, graphics was possible.

 

Probably those switches on the side have similar functions on yours

[ClausB]

At work in the 80s we had a similar printer buffer for the PC's parallel port. It also had a large IC which was an Intel 8048, an early microcontroller. We reverse engineered it and extended it to 256K using the 8748 EPROM-based version of Intel's microcontroller.

 

In your photo the large IC has a Zilog logo, so it could be a Z8 microcontroller.

Edited September 7, 2021 by ClausB

[TGB1718]

26 minutes ago, ClausB said:

It also had a large IC which was an Intel 8048

I just opened mine up to see what chips are in it, looks like one SRAM but can't make out what type as the writing is obscured,

a 74ls373 and the main chip is an 8035HL, same family as the 8048

 

[+kheller2]

 

[ACML]

I now have two A64s.  Actually one labeled A64, the other is an A16 that has the other six sockets populated to make it an A64.  As far as function, its pretty much a basic printer interface.  The added features is the ability to set number of copies and a reset button.  No dip switches like the Xetec Graphics AT that allow ATASCII or LR on/off type options.  If I'm missing something, let me know.

 

[ClausB]

5 hours ago, ClausB said:

We reverse engineered it and extended it to 256K...

3 of us worked on the project. DT wrote the 8048 disassembler, LW did the hardware, I did the firmware. We called it the Circular Buffer for Lengthy Written Data Transfer.

[Knimrod]

5 hours ago, ClausB said:

3 of us worked on the project. DT wrote the 8048 disassembler, LW did the hardware, I did the firmware. We called it the Circular Buffer for Lengthy Written Data Transfer.

LOL..  I think I may still have the wire wrapped prototype around..  It's only been 35 years or so.

[DavidMil]

17 hours ago, kheller2 said:

 

This was perfect!  I'm going to see If I can scrap up any more info on that big chip!

Thank you all for your input! 

 

DavidMil