Wanted Panasonic RP-K100 RS232 interface

[Jonas-fr]

There was lot of small 4-color plotters in the 80's which used small pens like the Atari 1020 or the Panasonic line of plotters (RK-P200C, RK-P440C and RK-P400C). For all intent and purposes they were a fun, colorful albeit slow alternative to the matrix and daisy wheel printers of the era.

The Panasonic ones needed a special adapter to be controlled by a computer through serial (or parallel) interface except for the RK-P400C which has its own adapter embedded in itself.

There were two adapters models: the Panasonic RP-K100 and the RP-K105. If I'm not mistaken the first one has both a serial and a parallel inputs (DB-25 and centronics) and the last one only has a parallel input (centronics). This interface converts the inputs signals into proprietary signals that the RK-P200C and RK-P440C understands, while also providing some buffer memory.

Here are some pics of these interfaces I've found on the web :



I'd like to reverse-engineer these interfaces to provide a DIY solution to hook these plotters to modern machines. So I'm looking to lend one of these for few weeks/months or buy it for a fair price (there's one on ebay for an indecent price right now and it doesn't sell of course). Alternatively if you own one of these and don't want to sell or lend I'll be looking for the operating manuals of these units or even better their service manuals if they exists. I'm also looking for hi-res pictures of the insides of these units (to be able to trace the schematic if possible) and a dump of their EPROM (it's socketed so no desoldering needed!).

Well if you have one of these units (especially the RP-K100) and want to help the #PenPlotter community please contact me !

 

[Deleted member 33188]

Jonas,
I have the Panasonic rp-k105 that I use for the Panasonic Kx-W60TH and the Panasonic Kx-W50TH. I can provide manuals and images.
Here is one of the typewriters: https://greyscale.zone/solar-powered-thermal-typewriter.html
If you use the contact Information section, I can email you more details.

 

[Deleted member 33188]

Here is the photo of one of them connected to my thermal typewriter. In the back, I use a Startech network printer interface, so a Linux version of Word Perfect can print to it. To the right is thermal imaging paper (105 mm wide) used for the typewriter.

 

[Jonas-fr]

Hi! Thanks for your post and you awesome blog! I didn't know about the Kx-W60TH and Kx-W50TH printers theses look damn nice, which one do you prefer?
regarding the RP-K105 I'm looking for hi-res scans (or pics if that's easier) of both side of the PCB inside the adapter (to identify the IC used and ease the way to make a schematic of it), and also an EEPROM dump.

 

[Deleted member 33188]

Thank you. I prefer the KX-W60TH as it has an internal memory, larger display, and a count down of the remaining characters.

Here is a video of the two typewriters, and the adapter that is mentioned in this post.

 

[tdeck]

Hey folks, I have a printer that uses the same interface (the Panasonic RK-H500) and I've been trying to reverse engineer it. I made some decent progress by finding a service manual for a related typewriter, although unfortunately it's still not working as I expect. Here's a writeup of my notes so far:

GitHub - tdeck/thermalwriter-interface: Reverse-engineering the serial interface for a Panasonic typewriter

Reverse-engineering the serial interface for a Panasonic typewriter - tdeck/thermalwriter-interface

github.com

Maybe one of you will be able to see the missing piece of the puzzle!