Royal Alpha 2015 Printer Typewriter

[Switch1995]

Hello 99ers,

 

I picked up a Royal Alpha 2015 that I’m going to try and get setup as a printer.  Looking at the manual, it appears every period computer needed a specific cable   (RS232 to Centronics).  Does anybody know if there is anything available “off the shelf” that would have the pin outs of Royal P/N PCUA 013156.  I’m assuming I’ll have to make a cable, but doesn’t hurt to check.  Thanks!

[+Ksarul]

I don't think there was anything out there specific to Royal. Smith-Corona and Okidata both required cables specific to them, and one or two other vendors actually used their in-house designed interfaces to plug into the console (the Alphacom81 interface comes to mind here, but I think there were one or two others as well). Almost every printer out there will work with the standard TI Centronics cable, the Smith-Corona cable, or the Okidata cable though, as between the three of them, they covered just about every available Centronics variant, signal-wise.

 

IEC still makes all three cables commercially too (just go a bit over halfway down the linked page to find them). None of them cost over $20, and IEC has been a strong supporter of the TI since the 1980s. They're actually the only company left that has provided hardware support for the TI that long.

[Switch1995]

Thanks, Ksarul.  I ordered one of each and will report back on this thread after testing in case anybody else is interested in the Royal Alpha 2015.

[WhataKowinkydink]

6 hours ago, Ksarul said:

IEC still makes all three cables commercially too (just go a bit over halfway down the linked page to find them). None of them cost over $20, and IEC has been a strong supporter of the TI since the 1980s. They're actually the only company left that has provided hardware support for the TI that long.

That's pretty cool - thanks!

[+TheBF]

"Looking at the manual, it appears every period computer needed a specific cable   (RS232 to Centronics)."

 

I am a bit confused.  Does @Switch1995 need an RS232 to Centronics (Royal Alpha) parallel cable or TI-99 PIO to Centronics cable? 

[Switch1995]

The three cables from IEC all have the right connections.  Now it is just a matter of testing to see if one has the right pinouts 

[+TheBF]

40 minutes ago, Switch1995 said:

The three cables from IEC all have the right connections.  Now it is just a matter of testing to see if one has the right pinouts 

Sounds like a good plan.

For reference those cables are TI99 PIO (parallel In/Out) to Centronics. 

The RS232 part of the card is on the DB25 connector.

That was why I was confused.  

 

 

Sometimes I am confused but other times I'm not sure...

[Switch1995]

It is very confusing (for me)!  The manual indicated that you could use the DB25 serial connection too, but needed a interface box that Royal sold.  Not sure if any of those survived.

[+TheBF]

5 hours ago, Switch1995 said:

It is very confusing (for me)!  The manual indicated that you could use the DB25 serial connection too, but needed a interface box that Royal sold.  Not sure if any of those survived.

That is correct. To convert RS232 (serial data) ,  to parallel , (8 separate bit wires + control signal wires) takes some hardware so an interface box would be needed. 

Probably not the best solution since TI-99 has the PIO port sitting there for driving old style printers. 

As I recall 40 years ago I wired up my own using my epson printer manual and the TI-99 PIO documentation.  

Edited September 2, 2022 by TheBF
typo

[Switch1995]

Just to close the loop on this thread in case it is ever searched down the road:   The three TI PIO to Centronics cables received from IEC were of very high quality.  They make them to order and ship.   The Royal Alpha 2015, however, is currently in a landfill.   After about 5 power-on cycles it began to smoke.  At that point, the juice wasn't worth the squeeze (for me).   This was more a little hobby side-bar than a need for a printer.