Spectrum Next Wi-Fi printing with The Artist II with LPRINT 3, RetroPrinter+ ZX Pico MD in 48K mode.

Описание: The setup I am running the "The Artist II" in is a ZX Spectrum Next KS1 in Spectrum 48k personality with Kempston Mouse and Multiface 1 options available. Plugged into the Next's expansion port is an LPRINT III Centronics interface (actually a modern clone because my old original one broke), which in turn has a RetroPrinter centronics convertor connected to it. An Interface 1 and a ZX Pico MD are attached too to provide the equivalent of microdrive storage using .mdr images with also the ability to load .z80 snapshots (and TAPs) all from on an SD card. A digital voice recorder provides the equivalent of tape LOAD and tape SAVE functionality.

The LPRINT III interface adds a Centronics output to the Next. This is connected via a standard centronics printer cable to the RetroPrinter. The RetroPrinter converts the printing commands from Spectrum applications intended for a 1980s Epson FX 80 Dot matrix printer and sends them via Wi-Fi to my (fairly) modern HP Envy 5546 printer, with the printout looking as it would have on an 1980s Epson FX dot matrix printer. Importantly, for Wordprocessors, the RetorPrinter conversion includes retaining all the originally intended print styles, e.g., bold, underline, italic, superscript, subscript, and proportional. Alternative font options are also available. I will show these working in a subsequent video using the "The Writer" WP program for the Spectrum with this same setup. In the case of the "The Artist II" shown here, the Retro Printer is simply converting the COPY command.

The Spectrum Next 48k personality is required to run the LPRINT III interface. Interface 1 and the ZX Pico MD together. The latter provides a replacement for the Next SD card and uses the
Artist II's functionality to save to microdrives

After booting up in 48k personality, you need to run the BASIC OUT commands below to avoid clashes with incompatible onboard Next hardware to enable the expansion bus edge connector. (There may be more targeted alternative OUTs. Mine are largely the result of trial and error rather than expert knowledge )

5 REM DISABLE DAC
10 OUT 9275,136: OUT 9531,219
20 REM ENABLE MULTIFACE 1
30 OUT 9275,135: OUT 9531,2
35 REM DISABLE SD CARD
40 OUT 9275,135: OUT 9531,246
50 REM ENABLE NEXT BUS
60 OUT 9275,128: OUT 9531,8
70 REM SOFT RESET
80 OUT 9275,2: OUT 9531,1

As there are only a few lines, running the OUTS is very quick. I LOAD mine from a digital voice recorder in a.wav audio format rather than use a cassette recorder or type them in manually. (The Microdrive / ZX Pico MD is not, of course, available until the OUTS are run.)

Summary of the functionality in this configuration :

1) Spectrum 48K, but using much improved Spectrum Next keyboard
2) Kempston mouse (via Spectrum Next PS2 port
3) Multiface 1 (via Spectrum Next using ROM image)
4) Centronics printing via LPRINT III interface.
5) "Out of the box" compatibility with all Spectrum 48K applications that support printing with the LPRINT III interface
6) Printing full Epson Dot Matrix printer output to modern Wi-Fi printer