Hjalfi changes the language on a Canon Typestar 210 thermal typewriter
Channel: Poking Technology
Date: 21/11/2020

In which yr hmbl svt plays with, takes the lid off, and reconfigures a 1991-era Canon Typestar 210 thermal typewriter.

This machine is a battery-powered typewriter which will print either onto thermal paper or using a carbon transfer ribbon (I have two). It produces rather good output in a choice of two extremely 1990s fonts. It uses a very nice Matsushita prong over membrane keyboard, which are smooth, light linear switches with a full-sized ISO layout --- although the keymap is bonkers. This is the German model, but the language is adjustable by changing the configuration straps on the motherboard (I demonstrate).

It's based around a Toshiba TLCS90 CPU with 8kB of RAM. This is a fascinating processor which I'd never heard of before which is a better Z80: Toshiba took the existing Z80 and added a tonne of addressing modes and instructions, making it elegantly orthogonal and, by initial looks, very nice to use. I've dumped the Typestar's ROM and written a disassembler for 
it, and I may be able to make this machine do something cool eventually.