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  • Spectrum Centronics interface

    From Lee Osborne@21:1/5 to All on Fri Aug 23 03:09:33 2019
    I'm just about to acquire an ancient dot matrix printer, and I'd like to connect it up to my Speccy +2 (grey case). Does anyone out there have a Centronics printer interface they'd be happy to part with? Ideally I'm after one that can be configured to
    work with Tasword.

    Please let me know, eBay doesn't seem to have any.

    Lee

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  • From Bruno Florindo@21:1/5 to Lee Osborne on Wed Sep 4 05:06:36 2019
    On Friday, August 23, 2019 at 3:09:34 AM UTC-7, Lee Osborne wrote:
    I'm just about to acquire an ancient dot matrix printer, and I'd like to connect it up to my Speccy +2 (grey case). Does anyone out there have a Centronics printer interface they'd be happy to part with? Ideally I'm after one that can be configured to
    work with Tasword.

    Please let me know, eBay doesn't seem to have any.

    Lee

    I don't have one (anymore), but this is the one I used to use with my Speccy +2 (grey case) back in the day:

    https://www.rewindgames.com/zx-lprint-iii-interface-used-loose

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  • From Lee Osborne@21:1/5 to All on Sat Oct 5 16:35:54 2019
    I've just got hold of a Kempston Interface S, and found the software for it online. I've successfully got LPRINT and LLIST working in 48K mode (the software crashes the machine in 128K mode).

    I tried following instructions to configure Tasword Two to work with it, but no luck so far.

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  • From Duncan Snowden@21:1/5 to Lee Osborne on Mon Oct 7 14:09:11 2019
    On Sat, 5 Oct 2019 16:35:54 -0700 (PDT)
    Lee Osborne <[email protected]> wrote:

    I've just got hold of a Kempston Interface S, and found the software
    for it online. I've successfully got LPRINT and LLIST working in 48K
    mode (the software crashes the machine in 128K mode).

    Ah, now that rings a bell. I don't think it was the Interface S I had,
    but it was a Kempston, and the incompatibility with 128K mode probably
    explains why I connected my printer to the RS232 port even though I'd
    already shelled out for a parallel interface. In recent years, I've
    often wondered what the hell I was thinking, but that'll be it.

    --
    Duncan Snowden.

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  • From Lee Osborne@21:1/5 to All on Fri Oct 25 03:01:12 2019
    I gave up on trying to get Tasword 2 to work with the interface, and adopted a better solution. I got hold of Tasword Plus Two, complete with instructions, and a QL serial-to-Centronics lead. Turns out the QL serial ports are wired exactly the same as
    the 128K Speccy RS232 ports, and it works like a charm. COPY works and everything!

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  • From Lee Osborne@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jan 16 03:52:08 2020
    Sadly my Kempston printer interface has died, just after I managed to configure Tasprint to work with it! That handwriting style font is a charmer!

    So...I'm after another Speccy Centronics interface, if anyone has one. They seem rarer than hen's teeth these days, probably because about 99.9% of Spectrum owners only played games on them, and I suspect very few were sold in the first place.

    Please help me!

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