Atari 822
| Atari 822 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Atari 822 thermal printer (photo: Schnurrikowski, CC BY-SA 4.0) | |
| Manufacturer | Trendcom, for Atari, Inc.[1] |
| Type | 40-column thermal printer |
| Release date | 1980[1] |
| Price | US$449.95 (announced June 1980)[1] |
| Interface | Atari SIO, two I/O connectors[2] |
| Compatible | Atari 400, Atari 800 and later Atari 8-bit computers[2][1] |
| Dimensions | 7 1/2 in wide, 9 1/2 in deep, 2 3/4 in high[2] |
| Weight | Under 6 lb[2] |
| Power | 9 V AC from an external Atari power adapter[3][1] |
The Atari 822 is a 40-column thermal printer for the Atari 400 and 800. It burns a 5 × 7 dot matrix into heat-sensitive paper at 10 characters per inch and about 37 characters per second, with bidirectional look-ahead printing: after a line printed left to right, it looks at the length of the next line and prints that one from right to left. It connects directly to the computer's serial I/O (SIO) bus.[2] The printer was built for Atari by Trendcom, and its print mechanism is the Trendcom 100.[1] Trendcom also sold its printers under its own name and under Apple's badge for the Apple II; the Apple Silentype is one of them.[4]
Atari introduced the 822 at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1980, at US$449.95, and the FAQ places first shipments, with a question mark, in the autumn of 1980.[1]
Specifications
[edit | edit source]| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Print method | Thermal, 5 × 7 dot matrix |
| Characters per line | 40, at 10 characters per inch |
| Character set | 96 upper and lower case ASCII characters |
| Speed | About 37 characters per second |
| Printing | Bidirectional, look-ahead, full line buffer |
| Paper | 4 7/16 in white thermal paper roll (Atari C016345, two 80 ft rolls) |
| Power | 9 V AC from the Atari power adapter |
Hardware
[edit | edit source]Atari's technical specification TS015897-01 describes the 822 board block by block. All the printer logic is in one chip, Z200 (Atari C015945), a single-chip microcomputer with 64 bytes of RAM, 2 KB of ROM and 32 I/O ports, clocked by a 4.00 MHz crystal (X200). Grounding pin 5 of Z200 through jumper J200 puts it into a self-test mode.[3]
The print head has seven heating elements in a vertical row. The head moves to the first dot column of a character and heats some or all of the elements, then steps one dot to the right and heats again, five times for each character. A four-phase stepper motor moves the carriage one dot position at a time, and a second four-phase stepper advances the paper one line at a time. A home switch on J201 tells Z200 when the head is at the far left.[3]
Z200 cannot drive the head or the motors directly. Two MC1413 Darlington arrays do it: Z201 drives the head through J204 (about 240 mA), and Z202 drives the carriage motor through J202 (about 370 mA) and three phases of the paper advance motor through J203 (about 400 mA). An MPSA13 transistor, Q201, drives the fourth phase of the paper motor.[3]
Power supply
[edit | edit source]The 822 has no mains supply of its own. It runs from 9 V AC supplied by an external Atari adapter into J205.[3] The FAQ names the adapter as Atari CA014748 (unit C014319, 9 V AC output), the one also shipped with the 400, 800, 810 and 850, or an equivalent such as the CA017964.[1] On the board, a bridge rectifier and the 78M05 regulator A202 make +5 V for the logic. A voltage doubler gives an unregulated +15 V for the paper advance motor, and the TIP122 transistor Q202, held by a 13 V zener, makes +12 V for the carriage motor and the print head.[3] Details and test limits are in the Atari 822 Troubleshooting guide, and the capacitors are listed in the Atari 822 Capacitor Replacement Guide.
Atari's manual says to plug the adapter into the printer before plugging it into the wall, to avoid damaging the printer electronics.[2]
Paper
[edit | edit source]The 822 needs heat-sensitive paper: 4 7/16 in white thermal paper, sold by Atari as C016345, with a pair of spring-loaded paper bearings, C016005, in the roll core.[2] Atari advises storing the paper in a cool, dry place.[2] Owners on AtariAge report that the printer works without the bearings, that roll thermal paper about 11.2 cm wide fits, and that the paper should be kept in a cool sealed box to stop it darkening.[5]
To load a roll, lift the rear cover, take the bearings out of the old core, cut off the first six inches of the new roll (they may carry adhesive), fold about half an inch of the end down, feed it under the roller while turning the paper knob clockwise until it reaches the top of the print head, and guide it between the clear tear strip and the metal platen. Fit the bearings with their square ends outwards and press the shaft ends into the deeper of the two slots on each side.[2]
Known faults
[edit | edit source]The faults owners describe on AtariAge are mechanical: a split plastic coupler between the paper advance motor and the paper roller, a perished or missing O-ring on the roller, peeling tape on the platen strip that wrinkles and jams the paper, and missing dots from a dirty print head.[6] The symptoms, the fixes and Atari's board test limits are in the Atari 822 Troubleshooting guide.
Documentation
[edit | edit source]- Atari 822 Documentation: the operator's manual and the technical specification, with contents and notes.
- 822 Thermal Printer Operator's Manual (C015954 Rev. 2, 1980)
- 822 Thermal Printer technical specification (TS015897-01 Rev. 1)
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Atari 822 Troubleshooting
- Atari 822 Capacitor Replacement Guide
- Atari 822 Documentation
- Atari 820
- Atari 825
- Apple Silentype
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Michael D. Current (ed.), Atari 8-Bit Computers: Frequently Asked Questions, comp.sys.atari.8bit FAQ, last modified 2 August 2026: section 4.1 (the Atari 820, 822 and 825 printers), the power supplies section (C014319/CA014748 adapter) and section 11.1 (history, 1980). mcurrent.name. Community reference.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Atari, Inc., 822 Thermal Printer Operator's Manual (C015954 Rev. 2, 1980): introduction p. 1, unpacking p. 1, setting up and caution p. 2, installing paper pp. 2-3, technical specifications pp. 3-4. Hosted here as File:Atari 822 Thermal Printer Operator's Manual C015954.pdf.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Atari, Inc., 822 Thermal Printer technical specification, TS015897-01 Rev. 1: block diagram p. 1; power supply p. 2; main logic p. 3; power-on reset p. 4; computer I/O pp. 5-6; motor buffers pp. 7-8; print head buffers and thermal print head p. 9; board test procedure pp. 10-14. Hosted here as File:Atari 822 Thermal Printer Technical Specifications TS015897-01.pdf.
- ↑ Atari Museum (Curt Vendel), "Atari 822 Printer", updated 23 April 2019.
- ↑ AtariAge forums, "Atari 822 parts/paper", posts by Fred_M and Curt Vendel, 16 and 17 February 2019. Community experience.
- ↑ AtariAge forums, "Trendcom 100 / Atari 822 Thermal Printer: troubleshooting help needed", posts by electronizer, _The Doctor__ and joeatari, February 2018 to September 2023. Community experience.