HP 82240 Thermal printer

The HP 82240 thermal printer series

Infrared transmitting was chosen as the best interface between the calculator and the printer. The cost of adding the infrared transmitting circuitry in the calculator is low. The receiver end of the link is substantially more expensive and area consuming. This resulted in a one way communication from the calculator towards the printer. Because no feedback can be given from the printer side towards the calculator, the software in the calculator has to prevent buffer overruns.

The HP 82240A (Redeye)

Introduced end 1986.

This thermal printer is controlled via an infrared link. and can be used in combination with calculators from the Champion, Charlemagne, Coconut series. Also some models from the Pioneer series have an Infra-red interface.
To control this printer by a HP-41 series model, an extra module is needed, the HP 82242A.

The HP 82240B (Visine)

Introduced in August 1989.

Looks identical to the HP 82240A but has an extra character set (ECMA94), and a LED which indicates when the printer is active. This model printer will switch to standby mode to extend battery life when not used for 10 minutes.

The Box

The manuals

To download the pdf version of these manuals, click on the picture of the manual.

For an internal view of these printer models and the schematics, see internal view HP82240A and internal view HP82240B.

Accessories

	HP 82045A. Blue print thermal paper. Test print of this printer on blue print thermal paper. This printout shown is the result of the self test of the HP82240A printer. The bottom line BAT: 4 shows the condition of the batteries. This battery status is rated between 0 to 5.

	HP 82175A. Black print thermal paper. Test print of this printer on blue print thermal paper. This print shows the result of the self test of the HP82440B printer. The bottom line BAT: 4 shows the condition of the batteries. This battery status is rated between 0 to 5.

	HP 82241A. Main adapter of the printer. Output: 9V AC, 13.5VA. This adapter contains a mains transformer only. See also my charger and adapter page.

	HP 92196G. Leader Pouch Nice leather pouch to carry this printer.
	HP 92169G HP 92169H HP 92169J	Black Brown Burgundy

An interesting articles about the development of the HP 82240A printer can be found in the HP Journal of October 1987.
These articles can be downloaded here:

HP 82240A and HP 82240B related links

Technical Interface Guide.pdf. Document explaining the infrared protocol
HP 82240B Printer codes by Jarno Peschier
HP 82240B Emulator by Jarno Peschier
Corded serial interface by Christian Vogel
Serial to HP 82240B "Redeye" IR printer adapter by wire2wire.org
National museum of American History: HP 82240A Redeye B Printer, Engineering Model