Star Micronics lC-10 User Manual

LC-IO

COLOUR PRINTER

USERS MANUAL

NOT INTENDED FOR SALE

PN 8082025 I

Federal Communications Commission

Radio Frequency Interference Statement

This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and if not installed and used properly,
that is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, may cause interference. to radio
and television reception. It has been type tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class
B computing device in accordance with the specifications in Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC Rules,
which are designed to provide reasonable protection against such interference in a residential
installation. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular
installation. If this equipment does cause interference to radio or television reception, which
can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct
the interference by otle or more of the following measures:

l Reorient the receiving antenna
l Relocate the computer or printer with respect to the receiver
l Move the computer or printer away from the receiver
l Plug the computer or printer into a different outlet so that it and the receiver are on

different branch circuits.
If necessary, the user should consult the dealer or an experienced redio/television technician
for additional suggestions. The user may find the following booklet, prepared by the Federal
Communications-Commission helpful: “How to Identify and Resolve Radio-TV Interference
Problems.” This booklet is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington,
DC., 20402, Stock No. 004-000-00345-4.

For compliance with the Federal Noise Interference Standard, this equipment requires a shielded
cable.

The above statement applies only to printers marketed in the U.S.A.

Self Declaration

Radio interference regarding this equipment has been eliminated according to Vfg 1046/1984
announced by the DBP.
DBP has been informed of the introduction of this special equipment and has been granted the
right to examine the whole series.
It is the user’s responsibility to see that his own assembled system is in accordance with the
technical regulations under Vfg 1046/1984.
To conform to FTZ-regulations it is necessary to make all connections to the printer with shielded
cable.
The equipment may only be opened by qualified service representatives.

The above statement applies only to printers marketed in West Germany.

Trademark Acknowledgements

LC-10, NL.40, NP-10, NX-10/15, ND-lo/H, M-10/15: Star Micronics Co., Ltd.
IBM PC, IBM Proprinter II, PC-DOS: International Business Machines Corp.

Microsoft BASIC, MSDOS: Microsoft Corporation
LX-800, FX-%e, EX400, LX&l/W Seiko Epson Corp.

NOTICE

l All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this manual in any form whatsoever

without STAR’s express permission is forbidden.

l The contents of this manual are subject to change without notice.
l All efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the contents of this manual at the

time of press. However, should any errors be detected, STAR would greatly appreciate
being informed of them.

l The above notwithstanding, STAR can assume no responsibility for any errors in this

manual.

--

@Copyright 1987 Star Micronics Co., Ltd.

HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL

This manual is organized into five chapters and four appendixes. To
learn how to make the best use of your printer you are urged to read all
of chapters 1 through 5. The appendixes can be referred to as necessary.

Chapter 1 explains how to get the printer unpacked and set up. Read this
chapter before you do anything else.

Chapter 2 explains the control panel. After getting set up, read this chapter
and try out the procedures in it to find out how the printer works.

Chapter 3 gives tips on using word-processing programs and other com­mercial software with this printer. Read this chapter in conjunction with
your software manual.

Chapter 4 is addressed to do-it-yourself programmers. It shows simple
programming examples using DOS commands and BASIC.

Chapter 5 covers maintenance and troubleshooting. Look through this
chapter to see what it contains, then refer to it as necessary later.

Appendix A lists the printer’s technical specifications.
Appendix B details the functions of escape sequences and other printer

commands.
Appendix C presents a BASIC program you can use to define and download

new characters.

Appendix D presents tables of the printer’s character sets.

FEATURES OF THE PRINTER

This printer is a compact, colour, dot-matrix printer that supports the
IBM/Epson commands and character sets. An excellent partner for your
personal computer, it prints text and graphics in black-and-white or six bright
colours. A print sample generated by a BASIC program is included inside
the back cover. With more advanced software, you can produce even more
striking colour graphics. Besides colour printing, some of the features of
this printer are:

l Extensive software support

Since it is compatible with the Epson and IBM printers, it works with
any software that supports those printers. That includes most word-pro­cessing and graphics programs, spreadsheets, and integrated software
packages.

l Embeddable commands

Commands for NLQ type styles, colour printing, bold, italic, and ex­tra-large characters can be embedded in documents without the escape code,
so you can use these features easily even if your word-processing software
does not support them.

l Easy operation

Clearly understandable lamp displays and beep tones provide immediate
feedback when you press the switches on the control panel. The four switches
can operate in combinations to perform a surprising variety of functions,
including margen setting and micro-alignment.

l Easy care and maintenance

The colour ribbon cartridge can be replaced in seconds; the print head
in a few minutes.

l Versatile paper handling

Single sheets, fanfold forms, and multi-copy forms (up to triple-ply)
are ail accepted, and you can use either tractor or friction feed. A speical
feature enables you to keep fanfold forms parked in readiness while printing
on other paper.

l Fast draht-quality printing

At 120 characters per second, the printer can print a page faster than
you can read it. Characters are naturally shaped, with true descenders.

l High-resolution near-letter-quality printing

When you select an NLQ type style, the printer slows down and employs

a dense matrix of up to 18 by 23 dots to print clear, well-formed characters.

l Large variety of type styles and sizes

The printer has one draht style and four NLQ styles (Courier, Sanserif,

and Orator with small capitals or lower case), plus italics for all styles, plus
condensed print, bold print, double-sized print, quadruple-sized print-see
the print sample inside the back cover.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

SETTING UP THE PRINTER

Locating the printer
Unpacking and inspection

Check the carton contents

Setting up

Mount the platen knob

Remove the top cover
Install the ribbon cartridge
Replace the top cover
Connect the printer to the computer
Connect the printer’s power cord

Loading single sheets

Mount the paper guide

Semiautomatic loading

Manual loading

Loading and parking fanfold forms

Paper parking
Paper unparking

Test printing

Short self test
Long selft test

Interface test
Adjusting the printing gap
DIP switch settings

CONTROL PANEL OPERATIONS

Switches and indicators

Power indicator
On Line switch
Paper Feed switch
Print Pitch switch
NLQ Type Style switch

Power-up functions

Short test pattern
Long test pattern
Stay in panel pitch
Stay in panel style
Hexadecimal dump

Switch combination functions

Paper parking
Page feed

1
1
1

3

6

9

12

14
14

19
19

23

26

Top of form
Forward micro-feed

Reverse micro-feed

Left margin

Right margin

Clearing the buffer

Chapter 3

USING THE PRINTER WITH
COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE

Installing your software

Printer menu
Printer command options
Type styles
Page width

Initialization sequence
Setting the DIP switches
Using your software

Page alignment

Type style and pitch selection

Embedding printer commands

Chapter 4

USING THE PRINTER
WITH DOS AND BASIC

Hard-copying the screen (MS DOS and PC-DOS)
Programming the printer with DOS commands
Programming the printer with BASIC

Chapter 5

MAINTENANCE AND TROUBLESHOOTING A7

Cleaning the printer
Replacing the ribbon
Replacing the print head
Troubleshooting

Appendix A TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Appendix B PRINTER CONTROL COMMANDS

Font control commands
Colour printing commands
Character set commands
Character size and pitch commands
Vertical position commands
Horizontal position commands
Graphics commands
Download character commands
Macro instruction commands
Other printer control commands

31
31

33
33

37
37

38
40

47
47
48

50
53 ­59

59
64
64
66
71
76
80
82
85
85

I

Appendix C DOWNLOAD CHARACTER GENERATOR 89

Draft character
NLQ character

Appendix D CHARACTER SETS

Standard character set
IBM character set #2
IBM character set #l
Additional character set
International character sets

INDEX
REFERENCE CARD

Inside the cover

97

98
100
102
103
104

105

SETTING UP THE PRINTER

E

Subjects covered in Chapter 1 include -

l Locating the printer
l Unpacking and inspection (names of parts)

0 Setting up

l Loading single sheets
l Loading and parking fanfold forms
l Test printing
l Adjusting the printing gap
l Setting the DIP switches

LOCATING THE PRINTER

Give some thought to the best place to put the printer. Both the printer
and computer should be used in a normal indoor environment. For best
performance, we recommend:

l Place the printer on a flat surface.
l Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from heat-producing appliances.
l Use it only in temperatures where you are comfortable.
l Avoid locations with dust, grease, or high humidity.
l Supply it “clean” electricity. Don’t connect it to the same circuit as a large,

noise-producing appliance such as a refrigerator.

l Make sure the line voltage is within 10% of the voltage specified on the

identification plate.

l If you will be using fanfold forms, place the printer where the forms can

feed up to it from below, with at least a full page hanging free.

UNPACKING AND INSPECTION
Check the carton contents

Open the carton and check each item in the box against Figure l-1 to

make sure that you have everything (there should be five items).

L

.

Figure 1-f. Check to make sure you have all five items: 1) Printer, 2) Paper guide, 3) Platen
knob, 4) Ribbon cartridge, and 5) User’s manual.

Make an external inspection of the printer. Note the locations of the

following parts:

Bail lever:

opens and closes the paper bail which holds the paper
against the platen.

2

Bail lever

Poa

Release lever: releases the platen. This lever must be down for

printing on single sheets, and up for fanfold forms.

Top cover:
Rear cover:

protects the print head and other parts.
protects the sprocket feed mechanism.

Entry slot: for inserting single sheets of paper.
Control panel: controls various printer functions.
Power switch: switches power on and off.
Connector:

for connecting the computer to the printer.

SETTING UP

Mount the platen knob

The platen knob is packed into a recess of the white foam packing
material which held your printer inside the packing box. Be careful to remove
the knob before disposing of the packing.

Mount the platen knob on its shaft on the right side of the printer. Turn
it until you can push it in all the way.

Power should always be off when you turn the platen knob. Turning
the platen by hand while power is on can damage the printer’s gears.

3

Remove the top cower

Lift the front edge of the printer’s clear plastic top cover. Then disengage

the tabs at the back of the cover and remove the cover completely.

-

-

igure 1-4. Removing the top cover

hstall the ribbon cartridge

The top side of the ribbon cartridge has a handle for turning the ribbon.

Turn this handle in the direction of the arrow to tighten the ribbon.

Next place the ribbon cartridge on the print head assembly, guiding the
ribbon between the print head and the metal platen guard. Press down lightly
on the cartridge until it locks into place.

Caution: Don’t touch the brass gear on the carriage.

I

Figure l-5. Installing the ribbon cartridge

Replace the top cover

Hold the cover upright and engage the tabs at the back. Then swing
the front edge down until the cover is closed.

Leave the cover closed during normal operation. It keeps out dust and
dirt and reduces the printer’s operating sounds. Open the cover only to
change the ribbon or make an adjustment.

Connect the printer to the computer

Connect the printer end of the interface cable to the connector socket
on the right side of the printer as shown in Figure 1-6.

Make sure the computer is turned OFF, then connect the other end
of the cable to your computer as described in the computer manual.

Figure l-6. r;onnectmg tne mtertace caue

Connect the printer’s power cord.

Check that the printer’s power switch (located at the left front) is OFF.

Then plug the printer’s power cord into an AC wall outlet.

Never plug or unplug the power cord while the printer is turned on.

LOADING SINGLE SHEETS

This section will take you through the procedures for loading single

sheets of paper.

If you are using the optional automatic sheet feeder (ASF), read the

ASF instruction booklet.

Mount the paper guide

The paper guide fits into the two holes on top of the rear cover. Mount

the guide and raise it to the upright position.

6

igure i-7. Mounting the paper guide for single sheets

Semiautomatic loading

Single sheets can be manually with off, or

matically with on. We start the way with
loading.

1. that the lever is and the lever back closed),

then power on. will hear short beep and the

indicator on control panel flash. These are the printer’s paper-out

signals.

Place a sheet on paper guide insert it into the

slot. You feel a resistance as paper engages paper

detector Work the past this and insert down

as as it go.

3. the bail forward. When bail opens, printer feeds
paper automatically.

Move the lever back. paper will slightly forward
ending in to print a top of about inch.

lever

Manual loading

It is also possible to load paper manually while the printer’s power is

off. The procedure is:

1. Check that printer power is off and the release lever at the back of the
printer is down.

2. Insert a single sheet of paper into the entry slot as far as it will go, the
same way as for semiautomatic loading.

3. Move the bail lever on top of the printer forward to open the paper
bail.

4. Turn the platen knob clockwise until the front edge of the paper comes
out from under the top cover.

5. If the paper is not straight, move the release lever to the up position,
straighten the paper by hand, then move the release lever back down.

6. Move the bail lever back to close the paper bail.

8

LOADING AND PARKING FANFOLD FORMS

Fanfold forms have holes along the sides and perforations between the

sheets. They are also called sprocket forms, punched forms, or just plain

“computer paper”. This printer accepts forms up to 10” wide. Fanfold forms

are loaded, parked, and unparked as explained next.

1. Place a stack of fanfold paper behind and at least one page-length below
the printer.

2. Turn the printer’s power OFF.

3. Set the release lever to the up position. If there is paper in the printer,
remove it. (Since the platen is released, you can just pull the paper out.)

4. Move the bail lever forward to open the bail.

5. Remove the paper guide and put it aside for the moment.

6. Remove the rear cover. Grip it by its front edge and lift upwards and
backwards as in Figure l-9.

Figure 7-9. Opening the rear cover

7. Open the sprocket covers on the right and left sprocket units, as shown
in Figure l-10.

8. Flip the clamp levers down. This allows the two sprocket units to move
freely right and left so you can align them with the holes in the paper.

9. Insert the front edge of the paper over the paper detector lever and tuck
it in under the platen.

9

Figure l-10. Opening the sprocket covers to expose the sprocket teeth

lever

-

igure l-71. Closing the sprocket covers

10. Fit the holes in the paper over the sprocket pins. Check that the paper
is even.

11. Close the sprocket covers (Figure l-l 1).

12. Raise one of the clamp levers to lock one sprocket unit in place.

13. Turn the platen knob to feed the paper forward until it comes out from
under the top cover.

14. Move the bail lever back to close the bail.

15. Check that the paper is feeding in flat, then raise the other clamp lever
to lock the other sprocket unit.

16. Replace the rear cover. Hold it tilted upward and insert the two tabs
at the bottom into their slots. Then rotate the cover forward, pressing
down on the thumb pads on the left and right to snap it into place.

17. Mount the paper guide in the horizontal position shown in Figure 1-12,
so that it will separate the printed from the unprinted paper.

‘gure 1-12. Mounting the paper guide for fanfold forms

Now you are ready to switch power on and print.

Paper parking

After loading fanfold paper, you do not have to unload it when you

want to print on a single sheet. The printer will “park” it for you if you
follow the procedure below.

1. Paper parking starts with power ON, fanfold paper loaded in printing
position, the release lever up, and the bail lever back.

2. Press the On Line switch on the control panel to set the printer off-line
(On Line indicator off).

11

3. Tear off the printed form at the last perforation, leaving not more than
about half a page showing above the top cover. If necessary, press the
Paper Feed switch to feed paper forward until a perforation is located

just above the top cover, and tear there.

4. Press the Print Pitch switch on the control panel and hold it down.

5. Still holding the Print Pitch switch down, press the Paper Feed switch.

The printer will automatically feed the fanfold form backward until the
paper is completely free of the platen.

6. Move the release lever to the down position.

7. Mount the paper guide in the upright position.
Now you can load single sheets either semiautomatically or manually,

as explained previously. The fanfold paper remains parked at the back of
the printer.

When you want to resume using fanfold paper, the procedure is as

follows.

Paper unparking

1. Remove all single sheets from the printer and close the paper bail.

2. Mount the paper guide in the horizontal position.

3. Move the release lever to the up position.

4. With power ON, move the bail lever forward. The printer will auto-

matically feed the parked fanfold paper into position for printing.

5. Move the bail lever back to close the bail. Now you are ready to print.

TEST PRINTING

After loading paper, you can test the printer as described next.

Short self test

This procedure prints a seven-line “barber-pole” test pattern, each line
in a different colour. The lines are eight inches wide, so the paper should
be at least that wide.

1. Check that paper is in position for printing.

2. With power off, press the On Line switch on the control panel and hold

it down.

3. Still holding the On Line switch down, turn the printer’s power on.

The printer will automatically start printing its short test pattern. You
can release the On Line switch after printing starts. To remove the paper
at the end of the test, switch power OFF, then turn the platen knob. (Don’t
turn the platen knob while power is on.)

12

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-

I

Figure 7-13. Short test pattern

Long se/f test

To see the printer’s variety of type styles, you can run the long version

of the printer’s self test.

1. Check that paper is in position for printing.

2. With power off, press the Paper Feed switch on the control panel and
hold it down.

3. Still holding the Paper Feed switch down, turn the printer’s power ON.
The printer will automatically start printing a test pattern of its full

character set in various type styles. Watch the lights on the control panel;
they indicate which type style is printing. The test pattern varies depending
on the setting of DIP switch l-6 (ON - Standard mode, OFF - IBM mode),
but more about that later.

This test repeats indefinitely in a cycle of 30 or 70 lines. To stop the

test, switch power off.

interface test

After confirming that the printer works by itself, it is time to test the
interface with the computer. The simplest way to do this is with a direct
command. Power up both the printer and computer, load paper, then try
a command like one of the following:

MS-DOS or PC-DOS command:

A>ECHO THE INTERFACE WORKS >PRN

Microsoft BASIC command:

LPRINT “THE INTERFACE WORKS“

Or you can try any other command understood by your computer to
print a line of text. Consult your computer manual if you need help. If you

repeat the command a few times, the printout will come into view.

Next you may want to try a test printout with word-processing software,

but for this to succeed you will have to set the printer’s DIP switches (see
the end of this chapter) and install your software to support the printer
correctly (see Chapter 3).

ADJUSTING THE PRINTING GAP

The distance between the print head and the platen can be adjusted to
accommodate different paper thicknesses. To make this adjustment, remove
the top cover. The adjustment lever is located near the left end of the paper
bail. Pulling the adjustment lever towards you widens the gap; pushing it
away from you narrows the gap.

There are four positions; you can feel the lever clicking into each position.

The first position (narrowest gap) is the one most commonly used for single

sheets of paper. Try different positions until you get the best printing results.

Adjustment lever

Figure 7-74. Adjusting for different thicknesses of paper

DIP SWITCH SETTINGS

When you remove the printer’s cover and look inside, you will see on
the green board at the bottom of the printer two groups of small switches
marked DSWl and DSW2. These are the printer’s DIP (Dual In-line
Package) switches. DSWl has eight switches, named l-l to 1-8 from left

to right. DSW2 has four switches named 2-l to 2-4.

For all switches, the ON position is towards the back of the printer and

the OFF position is towards the front. To set a DIP switch, use a ballpoint

pen or other small implement to move the switch to the ON or OFF position.

The printer’s power should be off when you set the DIP switches. Settings
made while power is on do not take effect until power is switched off, then

on again, because the printer reads the DIP switches only at power-up.

14

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I

I

Figure l-15. DIP switches

L

2-3

International character set (See below)

L

L

The printer is delivered with all DIP switch set to the ON position. These

are the standard settings. By changing the settings, you can alter various

2-4

printer functions to match your requirements. The following questions will

i..

6
i

I

L

t

help you make the right settings.

I5

Switch l-l: Is the page length of your paper 11 inches or 12 inches?
Leave this switch ON if you will be using 11-inch forms. Move it to the

OFF position if you will be using 12-inch forms.

Switch 1-2:

Leave this switch ON. The printer will automatically perform a carriage
return by moving to the left margin at each line feed. Even if your software
sends a separate carriage-return code, an extra carriage return does no harm
because two consecutive carriage returns are the same as one. Very few
programs require this switch to be OFF.

Switch 1-3: When you select the Orator type style on the control panel,

Take your pick from the samples below. Note that lower-case Orator does
not have descenders for the letters g, j, p, q. and y.

ORATOR PRINTS THIS WAY WITH SWITCH l-3 ON.

Do you want an automatic carriage return?

do you want lower-case letters to print as lower case (OFF)
or as small capitals (ON)?

Orator Prints this way with switch t-3 OFF.

Switch 1-4: Are you going to use the automatic sheet feeder (ASF)?
To use the automatic sheet feeder, move this switch to the OFF position.

Otherwise leave it ON.

Switch 1-5: Do you want the printer to stop printing about an inch from

the end of the paper, or to keep printing to the bottom?

Leave this switch ON except when you need to print very close to the end
of the paper. When this switch is OFF the printer ignores the paper-out

detector and prints down to (and beyond) the bottom edge.

Switch 1-6:

Select the mode compatible with your computer and software. In standard

mode the printer operates like the Epson LX-800. In IBM mode it operates

like the IBM Proprinter II. The ON position selects standard mode. The
OFF position selects IBM mode.

Switch l-7: The action of this switch depends on the mode chosen with

Do you want to use the printer in standard mode or IBM
mode?

switch l-6.

.-

-

-.

If you selected standard mode, do you want italics or graphic charactes?

Leave this switch ON to print italics in the standard character set. If you
set this switch to the OFF position, in place of italics you will get the graphic

characters, international characters, and mathematical symbols of IBM

character set #2. See Appendix D, character codes 128 to 254.

If you selected IBM mode, do you want IBM character set #l or #2?

16

ON selects character set #2, which is for computers with an g-bit interface
(the most common kind). OFF selects character set #l, for computers with
a 7-bit interface.

Switch 1-8:

Do you want an automatic line feed?

If you leave this switch at the ON position, a separate line-feed code is re­quired to obtain a line feed.
If you move this switch to the OFF position, the printer performs both a
carriage return and line feed each time it receives a carriage-return code.

Most computer systems send a line feed code, or both a carriage return and
line feed, at the end of each line, so this switch should be left ON.

If you get double line spacing when you expect single spacing, or if lines
overprint each other, try changing the setting of this switch.

Switch 2-1: Does your software download new characters to the printer?
To download characters this switch must be OFF. The printer then uses

its RAM memory for storing character patterns and provides only a one-line
print buffer. If you leave this switch ON the printer uses its RAM memory
as an input buffer, allowing the computer to send data faster than the printer
prints.

Switches 2-2 to 2-4:

Do you want an international character set?

International character sets differ in their assignment of 14 character codes.
See the character tables at the back of this manual. With the DIP switches
you can select one of eight character sets as follows:

* Denmark/Norway when switch 1-6 is OFF and switch l-7 is ON.

MEMO

Chapter 2

CONTROL PANEL OPERAT/O/VS

This chapter explains how to use the control panel to:

0 Pause printing

l Feed paper (fast and slow, forward and reverse)

l Select the print pitch

0 Select a type style
0 Print test patterns

l Prevent software from changing the panel pitch and style selections
l Print a hexadecimal dump
l Park fanfold forms
l Set the top-of-form position
l Set the left and right margins
l Clear the printer’s buffer

SWITCHES AND INDICATORS

The control panel has four switches marked:

0 On Line

l Paper Feed
l Print Pitch
l NLQ Type Style

The On Line, Print Pitch, and NLQ Type Style switches respond with

a beep tone when pressed, and indicators beside them indicate their current

status. There is also a Power indicator that lights when power is on.

.

c

Figure 2-f. Control panel

q -POWER

ON LINE

The control panel switches can be pressed singly to perform the oper­ations indicated by their names. Other functions can be obtained by holding
these switches down when you turn the printer’s power on. Still further
functions can be executed by pressing the control panel switches in com­bination. This chapter explains all the switch and indicator functions.

Power indicator

The power indicator lights (yellow) when power is on.
When paper is not present, the power indicator flashes. A beep tone

also alerts you to the need to load paper.

On Line switch

The On Line switch sets the printer on-line and off-line. The state changes

each time you press the switch.

In the on-line state the printer receives data from the computer and
prints the data. In the off-line state the printer stops printing and sends the
computer a signal indicating that it cannot accept data.

The printer powers up in the on-line state if paper is present. If paper
is not present, the printer powers up off-line with the Power indicator
flashing. When you load paper the Power indicator stops flashing, but the
printer remains off-line. To start printing you must press the On Line switch
go on-line.

The three main times when you will want to press the On Line switch
are:

l Before and after any other panel operation

The other panel switches operate only in the off-line state. First press
the On Line switch to go off-line, then perform the panel operation, then
press the On Line switch again to go back on-line.

l To pause during printing

If you press the On Line switch during printing, the printer stops printing
and goes off-line, allowing you to check the printout or change a control
panel setting. Printing resumes when you press the On Line switch again
to go back on-line.

l To cut fanfold forms at the end of printing

When using fanfold forms, if you hold the On Line switch down for 2
seconds, in addition to going off-line the printer feeds the paper about two
inches forward, allowing you to cut it off just below the last line printed.

20

When you press the On Line switch again to go back on-line, the paper feeds

backward about one inch, stopping in the right place to resume printing.

Paper Feed switch

This switch operates only when the printer is off-line. If you press it
once the paper feeds forward by one line. If you hold this switch down, the
printer performs consecutive line feeds.

While you are feeding lines, if you also press the On Line switch, the

paper will feed to the top of the next page. This is explained later.

When power is on, always use the Paper Feed switch instead of the platen

knob to feed paper. Turn the platen knob only when power is off.

Print Pitch switch

This switch operates off-line to select the print pitch: the spacing between

characters. The indicators to the left light (green) to indicate the selected

pitch.

The printer powers up in pica pitch. To change to another pitch, press
the On Line switch to go off-line, then press the Print Pitch switch repeatedly
until the indicators show the pitch you want.

In Standard mode (when DIP switch l-6 is ON), the pitch selections

cycle as follows:

Pica
Elite
Condensed pica (17 characters per inch)
Condensed elite (20 characters per inch)
Proportional pica
Proportional elite

(10 characters per inch)
(12 characters per inch)

This is pica (10 characters per inch).

This is elite (12 characters per inch).
This is condensed pica (17 characters per inch).
T?k is condensed elite (20 characters per inch).
This is proportional pica.
This is proportional elite.

@We Z-2. Prlflt pitches SeleCtStHe trom the COW01 panel

1

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Samples of these pitches are shown in Figure 2-2. Note that with
proportional pitch different letters occupy different widths. (For example,
“i” and “1” are narrower than other letters.) Proportional pitch is attractive
and space-efficient, though not always convenient when column alignment
is required.

Note that you cannot select condensed proportional pitch on the control
panel. You can make this selection by the printer commands < SI >

< ESC >

“p” 1 - see Appendix B.

In IBM mode (when DIP switch l-6 is OFF), the pitch selections cycle
as follows:

Pica (10 characters per inch)

Elite (12 characters per inch)
Condensed pica

(17 characters per inch)
Proportional pica
Proportional elite

There is no condensed elite pitch in the IBM mode.

NLQ Type Style switch

This switch selects the type style. Draft style is always selected at

power-up. To change to one of the NLQ (near letter quality) styles, set the
printer off-line, then press the NLQ Type Style switch repeatedly until the
indicators beside the desired selection light. The selections cycle in the fol­lowing order:

Draft (all indicators off)
Courier (NLQ)
Courier italic (NLQ)
Sanserif (NLQ)
Sanserif italic (NLQ)
Orator (NLQ)
Orator italic (NLQ)

Samples are shown in Figure 2-3.

The Orator style is unique in two ways. First, it is a dot larger (higher)
than the other styles. This makes it a good choice for labels and other text
requiring high visibility. A little extra line spacing helps when Orator is used.

Second, there are two versions of the Orator type style: one prints small
capitals in place of lower-case letters; the other prints lower-case letters,
but without descenders. The version you get when you select Orator from
the control panel depends on the DIP switches. If DIP switch 1-3 is OFF,
lower-case Orator will print as lower case. Otherwise it will print as small
capitals.

.;

-/- l”i _i_ .y ::)

j..

<,j /_. 2, .+: +

i::i t.l t:\ 1. :i, t \ ’

“’ I

I 8,

This is near-letter-quality Courier.

This is Courier italic.

This is Sanserif.

This is Sanserif italic.

TtiIs IS ORATOR WITH SMALL CAPITALS.

THIS IS ORATOR ITALIC WITH SMALL CAPITALS.

This is Orator with lower case.

This is Orator italic with lower case.

Figure 2-3. Type styles selectable from the control panel

The other type styles do not have a small-capitals option. Lower case

always prints as lower case.

The type style can also be selected by printer commands given in Ap­pendix B. Printer commands enable you to select both Orator styles, and
also draft italic, which cannot be selected from the control panel.

POWER-UP FUNCTIONS

In addition to their normal functions, all the control panel switches have
special functions that operate if you hold them down while switching power
on.

r

L

Prgure z-4. rower-up functions or control

Hexadecimal dump

panel

23