Mini Thermal Pronter ideal for ACARS - Info

[jfuenmayor]

Hi Guys

Looking for an alternative to some expensive ACARS thermal micro printers ( one out there is over US$300,00 ) I came across this very interesting printer
that needs a 5-9 V regulated DC power and a microcontroller ( Arduino is recommended ). It can be easily mounted in the pedestal.

Link
https://learn.adafruit.com/mini-thermal-receipt-printer

Cheers.

[jfuenmayor]

My apologies for the type error, I meant PRINTER of course

[jackpilot]

Thanks for the tip..nice unit.

[jackpilot]

Just saw that one today:
[ebay]111397652644[/ebay]

[jfuenmayor]

That one in E-bay is quite inexpensive, though nice looking. Would it actually work?.  Nothing is said.

The next question would be how to make it work with a PC. Writing device drivers from scratch anyone? Without the specs, one would have to reverse engineer the hardware. Daunting task for us but humble "hobbysts" .

Joaquin

[andthiel]

Joaquin,

I had a small 57mm thermal printer before. Problem is that for ACARS printouts the number of characters to be printed in one line should match with the characters shown on the CDU.

On a small printer you need to choose a very small font - and a magnifier (if you can read it anyway...).

Just my 2 cents.


Cheers,

Andreas

[jfuenmayor]

Try it with ProsimUtils  v1.5 if you use Prosim. It prints as it should now.
Make sure that you have appropriate amperage for the 12v power supply, at least 4.5A.
You can find one for $US 9,95 on Amazon.
ProsimUtils works with Topcat, PFPX , Hoppie, Vatsim and ICAO. Great little piece of software. It gives you weather for several stations, Loadsheet, FPL, takeoff and landing calculations and a few other perks, plus the nice ding dong with ACARS  messages.

JF

[737man]

I cannot get mine to print??  I have prosim utl working but not print from cdu.  I have never seen a print promt??

[wpslider]

I cannot get mine to print??  I have prosim utl working but not print from cdu.  I have never seen a print promt??

Hello,

Make sure you have PSU 1.5 or later and enable the printer in the config.

[Aerosim Solutions]

My product - http://www.aerosimsolutions.com.au/products/acars-printers/

AUD$240 = approx US$175

Cheers Gwyn