Anyone got an HP Thinkjet or Quietjet lurking gathering dust that they'd like to convert to beer tokens? I want to print from an old piece of lab equipment (HP1651A logic analyser) and those are the only printers it seems to be able to cope with in graphics mode via its RS232 port.
TIA AWEM
Do you know what language it speaks? If it's something like HPGL then some laserjets used to understand this. Otherwise, hook it to a PC using something like Hyperterminal, capture the output and see what it looks like. I'll bet you can find some web app. which will import and understand it.
Drop me an e-mail to paul_d_smith hotmail com with a file it you like. Many years ago (20+!) I used to do this sort of thing all the time because I had access to laser printers but no plotters.
Paul DS.
on 11/09/2012, Andrew Mawson supposed :
They often come up on the local freegle /freecycle recycling systems.
There is a program out there[1] that does exactly that... captures and renders HPGL on a PC and then lets you do what you like with it.
However, I have used a thinkjet in the past on a HP OS 10 workstation (on GPIB rather than RS232), and it was more your traditional inkjet line printer (IIRC it needed specially absorbant printer paper which was great for blotting spilt coffee etc!). Hence its quite possible that thinkjets used either a proprietary language interface, or an early version of PCL. If the latter, there should be plenty of things about that will print it.
[1]
Thanks for that John, but they are asking £300 !!!!
AWEM
..snip...
How about this - a filter which will accept HPGL and render it in Word documents? You'll still need to capture them first, but that should be relatively simple.
Paul DS.
Or maybe this, but I don't see if/how you can then print.
Sorry had not spotted that. However there are also free equivalents about - I was really just using it to illustrate the concept. (This might of course all be irrelevant if it does not speak HPGL). I certainly had some software in the past that converted HPGL to Postscript.
Googling seems to imply it speaks in "PCL1" or "PCL1+" - file capture under Hyperterm isn't goinmg too well as Hyperterm expects the other end to use XModem , YModem, Kermit etc which of course isn't the case - grabbibg it as a text file produces garbage.
Regards, Andrew
...snip...
You only use XModem, YModem, Kermit etc to exchange files with another endpoint which supports them. In ye older days, one cnnected to the far end, enabled the (say) XModem server program and then started the XModem client at your end.
However two terminals can just exchange "typed" characters to their heart's content - and Hyperterminal has a "and capture as typed to a file" feature, which is what I was intending the OP to use.
I have to admit to never having tried this using binary format files (is PCL binary or text?) but fundamentally it should work.
Paul DS
Another option, but $97.00
PCL is binary. I don't know how well this will work, but you can also try from a DOS prompt:
Copy COM1: somefile.pcl
Maybe set up the port in Hyperterminal first to get the baud rate right. Do you know what the serial settings are (7/8 bits, parity, etc)? It might be something peculiar.
Theo
If you're going to use 'DOS' to capture the stream, might was well use it to configure the port too ...
MODE COM1: baud=19200 parity=n data=8
use mode /? for full details.
The Thinkjet doesn't use PCL as such, PCL was a development of the Thinkjet's control language.
Lovely printers and we did end up using the high quality, thick, absorbent paper in India after we ran out of bog paper :-)
The Deskjet (no numbers, just Deskjet) was the official start of PCL IIRC.
Mark Rand RTFM
Yep - been talking to them today! Wanted assurance I could run it on several pcs with one one licence (which I can if only one used at a time!)
Still would prefer a stand alone printer
AWEM
Yes parameters easily set within the instrument - (defaults xon/xoff 8 bit no parity 1 stop 9600 baud)
AWEM
The Thinkjet _is_ dot matrix, it's just also the world's first thermal inkjet printer as well. The HP impact printers prior to that, had substantially different command languages. I was writing in-house data logging software on our, new, HP 9800 series computers at the time and ended up closer to the hardware than the kids of today seem to get. Life was fun in those days...
Mark Rand RTFM
Andrew,
Have a stack of thinkjets, but not sure of the state, as well as other hp graphics capable thermal printers, also with hpib interface. Not sure if the
1651A has an hpib interface, but can check the catalog. Most of them did. I use a ancient 9876A thermal, fanfold paper model with my HP16500B via it's hpib port, but it does have a serial port as well, which can talk to a laserjet.Can pick up the thinkjets next time i'm at the store, probably early next week, if that's any help. Do have one ink cartridge, but not sure of state either...
Regards,
Chris
When you say garbage, are you sure that is not just because that is what a binary file looks like when rendered as text?
It would suggest pretty much any laser printer would understand the output as well then (since most will do at least PCL5 which I am assuming is a superset).
Hyperterm is probably not the best tool for capturing binary though.
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