Update 07/04-2026: Reprinted in new filament, panchroma muted blue (previously polyterra army blue)

Designed for standard 1030 extrusions, feel free to remix if you want a different mounting solution or use a different printer. The fusion 360 file is availible!

The panel size is to real life.

Introduction

As I take another step in my home cockpit build I have now made an ACARS printer. I used a cheap receipt printer from aliexpress which works natively in msfs (fenix a320). This is quite a simple and maybe a bit overcomplicated build even since I wanted to be able to open and change the paper like in real life and press the feed button. But it works great so far.

There only two small problems:

This was the smallest availible printer I could find for a resonable price that met all my needs. But it was one mm to wide compared to the real plane. Since it's just 1mm I just bent the arms on the printer holder when mounting it to my pedestal.

The other problem, or rather inconvinience, is that I made the holder a bit to tall. So when printing shorter stuff like ATIS you have to press the feed button to reach the actual message.

Bill of materials:

Receipt printer: XP-T80Q 80mm thermal receipt printer

4x M4*12mm Slotted Screws: ALIEXPRESS

8x M4*24mm Philips Screws: ALIXPRESS

12x 4x2mm round magnets: ALIEXPRESS

1x M3*9mm screw for the knob.

1x M3 nut

6x M3*4mm heat insert, preferably 3mm tall, but thoose aren't treally good or availible.

4x M3*6 screws for mounting accesories to panel.

2x M3*12 screws for mounting the handle.

1x M3*at least 5mm for fastening the feed button.

I also used a smal self adhesive rubber antislip pad on the feed button.

Printer

I used this XP-T80Q printer from aliexpress and bought some BPA-free 80mm receipt paper from amazon which I higly recommend. It also requires a driver, I found the right one on their chinese website which felt pretty sketchy, download at your own will. ;)

Printing

I higly recommend using the 3mf file since a lot of the parts have special settings and are oriented in a special way. But here's most of the settings anyways:

printer panel top panel - 0.15 layer height, ironing from side to side for a much smoother and better look and feel.

two types of handles- one in three parts you can screw together using inserts or print at a 45* angle with a large brim (preferred option)

Screw knob - you need to pause just before closing the hole and insert an M3 nut.

There are also two different feed buttons, I used the alternative with an extra "nudge".

the feed funnel is printed in place with supports on buildplate and the lower part inserts into a small nook in the printer just after the cutter and printer part.

Assembly

Firstly, start by gluing the magnets on the top and middle panel, this will make them snap together more comfortably, altough you might not need them all. Then insert the heat inserts in their respective holes, but be careful! Since the panels are all 3mm thick but most inserts are 4mm I had to insert them from the top into the bottom panel only. That way they stick out 1mm on the bottom and I'm able to screw the panels together flushly.

There are three inserts in the bottom panel, one for the knob and two in the button harness.Screw the button harness in the bottom panel and tighten the knob screw (I used a bit of loctite to prevent it from lossening by itself). Insert your feed button in the harness and secure it by screwing in a smaller screw loosely (just to prevent it from sliding out).

Screw the handle to the top panel.

The feed paper funnel is mounted directly to the top panel and I used two drops of super glue since it was starting to come loose and I couldn't use heat inserts.

I also had to put a transparent rubbery grippy pad on the printers feed button to increase grip and make the button presses more consistent.

the four M4 screws are for each corner to mount to a pedestal or similar.

The printer simply sits in its holder and everything gets mounted from underneath in standard 1030 EU extrusions.