Talk:Spark printing

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Dubious?- Casio FP-12 reference[edit]

The Casio FP-12 printer listed in the external references is clearly not a Spark_printer but a Thermal_printer. The paper it uses is white (not metalised) which turns black under influence of heat (for example when lightly touched with a soldering iron). An example of a Casio Spark_printer would be the FP-10.
--Piotr433 15:14, 30 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You are of course absolutely correct. I mistakenly thought all the Casio printers use the same technology and hence added the printer with the best references. :) Apparently, their first printer was the FP-10, which were later followed by the range of thermal printers, such as the FP-12. I have updated article. Sorry for the confusion. --Frodet 20:04, 30 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Astronaut's bog roll[edit]

It was known in the Spectrum community as the "astronaut's bog roll", due the silvery colour of the paper. 81.62.55.217 18:49, 14 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Comment moved from article[edit]

<blcokquote>I used to own one of these printers, as part of a TRS-80 color computer set I bought back in 2004. I think the printer was manufactured by Olivetti, but I can't remember, and I can't find any information on the internet. The manufacturer of the printer called it a "dry inkjet printer" but referred to the little glass rods as "toner rods." If you're a better searcher than I, please try to find it. If you have any questions, email me at tyson.brandes@gmail.com.

Shifted from a comment in the Casio section. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 11:06, 23 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Legal?[edit]

I wonder if these sorts of printers would be legal to operate nowadays (because of EMC considerations)? The ZX81 article hints that the ZX Printer had trouble in the US getting FCC approval. Richard W.M. Jones (talk) 15:58, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I doubt you could buy a spark printer these days if your life depended on it, unless you know exactly who to ask or are kissed by the gods of luck while surfing ebay. I'm sure buying and selling such a printer might be pushing the "grey area" of the law, but unless the FCC is sending a detection van to drive past your house while you're using one (assuming you can still find the necessary paper and don't mind the smell), I don't think you have anything to worry about. As for Sinclair printers, it was rather rare to find the ZX Printer in use in America. The Timex-Sinclair thermal printer was much more common, at least among the ZX-81/TS-1000 owners in America that I know. Also, at least in my own humble opinion, the print quality of the TS printer was vastly superior to the ZX Printer, and, as an added "bonus", the TS printer offered two different kinds of paper. Superficially, they were exactly the same, but one of them produced bluish/purplish output, and the other - black output. My father preferred buying the bluish paper, whereas I (very) vocally expressed my preference for the black. Then again, I was only five!! :) --Ericdn (talk) 06:36, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Another printer[edit]

There was a spark printer, offered for about one year, that was the first printer that could do three lines per second. I don't remember the name. It used a 7x9 font. It did put out some fumes and the aluminized surface was a bit strange and there remained a bit of a curl to the paper. But it did work - and like the jump from 300 to 1200 baud modems, the jump from 10 or 15 characters/sec to 180 characters/sec was thrilling. Skipper2 (talk) 16:08, 2 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]