AcarsPrint App for thermal printers

[asboyd]

Hi Kurt,
Not sure about auto connect. I only did this as a simple program.
I will have a look and see if there is an easy way to do it, although I made it so you could select your printer each time as it may not always be on the same USB port.

Cheers,

[macroflight]

What Kurt said - I just got an Epson TM20iii and this app worked flawlessly!

It was ten times more work to get Windows to actually talk to the printer in the first place.

Many thanks to Alex!

[asboyd]

No problems. I have been busy on other builds so have not had a chance to get to auto connect... It is still on my todo list...
There are some drivers for Windows 10 for some makes of printers. Some of them allow generic printers work.

I will try and put a link to the drivers I found on my dropbox soon.

Cheers,
AlexB

[asboyd]

Here is the dropbox link to the printer drivers that I found for thermal printers... It contains several drivers for different width printers.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/44ntxt7nkvq1g9t1fhk99/Thermal-Printer-Drivers.zip?rlkey=o0rmjki2ex7lwfu55fuvpv6h1&dl=0

Enjoy!

AlexB

[Kurt]

Hi Kurt,
Not sure about auto connect. I only did this as a simple program.
I will have a look and see if there is an easy way to do it, although I made it so you could select your printer each time as it may not always be on the same USB port.

Cheers,

Hey Alex - sorry to bother you again but a little - hopefully simple - request

I have build in the thermal printer below a replica printerpanel but that means there is approx 6 cm´s from top of printer to "exit" at the panel and unless I have a very looooong print it is ususally too short to reach

I have tried to see if there is a printer setting I can use to feed extra top and bottom margin but no luck so far :/

Would it by any chance be possible - as an option - to add x amounts of linefeeds before end of document/papercut?

Thanks

Kurt

[asboyd]

Hi Kurt,
I will have a look but the options for "ESC" print streams are limited...

Cheers,
AlexB

[voipmeister]

Hi Alex,

Time for me to chime in, I got myself an Epson TM-T88III and just installed AcarsPrint - working fine!

Thanks for creating this!

Cheers,

Seb

[asboyd]

I am looking in to a couple of modifications asked for. One is the auto connect feature, the other additional line feeds settings.
Will update you all when they are done and tested.

Thanks for your support and good tidings.

Cheers,
AlexB

[Kurt]

I am looking in to a couple of modifications asked for. One is the auto connect feature, the other additional line feeds settings.
Will update you all when they are done and tested.

Thanks for your support and good tidings.

Cheers,

Cheers.
AlexB

Thank you Alex - this would be highly appreciated - Acars print is a stable in my sim and it simply just works.

[SwissMark]

Dear Alex,

Can you please tell me, if I require WidePSX to install a printer to enable your application within and for PSX? I have MSFS2024 on my Windows 11 and my Epson thermal printer will finally arrive tomorrow ... appreciate your feedback.

Cheers

Mark

[macroflight]

Can you please tell me, if I require WidePSX to install a printer to enable your application within and for PSX? I have MSFS2024 on my Windows 11 and my Epson thermal printer will finally arrive tomorrow ... appreciate your feedback.

You don not need WidePSX to use the AcarsPrint App.

[SwissMark]

You don not need WidePSX to use the AcarsPrint App.

Cheers dear macroflight - much appreciated.

[asboyd]

The app is designed to run on the PC the printer is connected to. I figured it needed very few resources and can connect to PSX locally or on a remote PC, so it should not have a big impact on performance.

Cheers,
AlexB

[voipmeister]

The app also works fine when connected to Frankenrouter, which may be connected to the main PSX instance over the internet.

[SwissMark]

Thank you Gentlemen

[SwissMark]

Just a quick feedback: it works flawsless.

Got the Epson TM-T20iii and having the print outs added to my flight log book is a nice and neat feature.

[asboyd]

Glad you find it useful. It started as a project when i acquired an old POS printer with a box of barcode scanners and attachments I found in a second hand shop in Mogo, NSW (Australia)..

Cheers,
AlexB

[Kurt]

Hi Kurt,
I will have a look but the options for "ESC" print streams are limited...

Cheers,
AlexB

Hey Alex.

No need for this anymore - I just created an empty (white) logo of 400*400px and and uploaded that to the printer as default bottom logo for every print - problem solved

Auto connect to PSX would still be awesome as I have a keyboard and mouse free setup.

Cheers

[asboyd]

No problems Kurt.
I think the autoconnect may be easier than adding the extra "esc" type lines 

I am just not sure how to get the app to retry connection if lost.... Working on it though!

AlexB

[macroflight]

Another small request for the AcarsPrint App:

Could you please send "name=AcarsPrint:Asboyd Thermal Printer App" (or something similar) to the PSX network after connecting (and after each reconnection when you implement that)?

Many other addons already use the "name=" keyword to identity themselves to the network:

name=VPLG:vPilot Plugin
name=EFB1:PSX.NET EFB For Windows
name=BACARS:BA ACARS Simulation
name=ICING:FRANKEN.PY frankenfreeze MSFS to PSX ice sync
[...]

Why I want this: I could then identify the printer app connection and (in my PSX router) filter out certain traffic to it (like the extra printouts of the most recent message I get whenever some addon sends a "bang", e.g on situ save).