Star Micronics LC-15 User Manual

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8082
0390

USERS MANU AL

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LC-15

USERS MANUAL

NOTINTENDEDFORSALE

Trademark Acknowledgements

LC-15, ND-10/15, NR-10/15: Star Micronics Co., Ltd.
IBM PC,PC-AT, PC-XT, Proprinter XL, Proprinter II, PC-DOS: International Business Machines
Corp.
Microsoft BASIC, MS-DOS: Microsoft Corporation

FX-1050, EX-1000, FX86e, FX286e: Seiko Epson Corp

NOTICE

● All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this manual in any form whatsoever without

STAR’s express permission is forbidden.

● The contents of this manual are subject to change without notice.

● 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.

● The above notwithstanding, STAR can assume no responsibility for any errors in this manual.

O Copyright1989StarMicronicsCo.,Ltd.

I

HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL

Thismanualis organizedintoninechapters.Tolearnhowtomake thebest
useof yourprinteryouareurgedto readthroughchapters1through3.The
remainingchaptersmay be treatedas a ~fenmce guidefor programming
operations,etc. It assumesa degreeof acknowledgeoff the operationof
computm (forinstance,itassumesyouknowabouthexadecimalnumbers).
Thechaptersareas follows:

Chapter 1— Settingup theprinter

Thischapterexplainshowtogetthe printerunpackedandsetup. Readthis

chapterbeforeyoudo anythingelse.

Chapter 2 — Controlpaneloperations
Therearea numberof controlsonthe frontpanelwhichperformvarious

functionsrelatedto paperhandling,printmodesand fontselection.
Aftergettingsetup,readthischapterandtryouttheproceduresinittofind

outhowtheprinterworks.

Chapter 3— DIP switchsettings
Thischapterexplainshowto settheDIPswitchesto makesystemsettings

on theprinter.

Chapter 4— Printercontrolcommands
Thischapterexplainsthedifferentemulationsprovidedbyyourprinter,and

the softwarecommandsusedto driveit. This sectionis of use if you are
writingor modifyingprogramstotake advantageof theprinter’sfeatures.

Chapter S— Downloadcharacters

Thischapterexplainstheproceduresto createyourown characters.

I

Chapter 6— MS-DOSandyourprinter
Sincethe PC or PC-AT family of computersrunningunder MS-DOSis

currentlythe mostpopularconflgmationof microcomputer,we have in­cludeda fewhintsandtipstohelpyouuseyourprinterwithsuchsystems.
Sincevirtuallyall PCsaresoldwithaMicrosoftBASICinterpreter,wehave
also included some hints, and a sample program in this language to

demonstratethecapabilitiesofthe printer.

Chapter 7 — Troubleshootingandmaintenance
Thissectiongivesachecklistofpointstocheckifyourprinterisnotworking

in the expectedway.It alsoincludesdetailsof someroutinemaintenance
operationsyou cancarryoutyourself.Itisnot,however,acompleteservice
manual.Callaqualifiedserviceengineerifyouareunsureofyourabilityto
carryout anymaintenanceor servicingoperations.

Chapter 8 — Specifications

Thissectiongivesthespecificationsof yourprinter.

Chapter 9 — Charactersets
Thesechartsgivethedifferentcharactersetsavailable,andthedifferences

betweennationalcharactersets (asset up withthe DIP switches).

FEATURES OF THE PRINTER

Thisprinterisaconvenient,monochromeprinterwithoutfrillsbutwithafull
complementof features, making it an excellentpartner for a personal
computer.It supportstheIBM/Epsonprintercommandsandcharactersets,
enablingittoprintjustaboutanythingyourcomputercangenerate,bothtext

andgraphics.Someof itsmainfeatwesarethe following:

● Extensivesoftwaresupport

Sinceitis compatiblewiththeEpsonand IBMprinters,it workswithany
softwarethatsupportsthoseprintem.Thatincludesmostword-processing
andgraphicsprograms, spread-sheets,andintegratedsoftwarepackages.

. Easy operation

Clearlyunderstandableindicatordisplaysandbeeptonesprovideimmedi­ate feedbackwhen you press the buttonson the controlpanel.The five
buttonscan operate in combinationsto perform a surprisingvariety of
functions,includingmicro-alignment.

. Easycareandmaintenance

The ribboncartridgecan be replacedin secondsthe print head in a few
minutes.

. Versatilepaperhandling
Singlesheets,fanfoldforms,andmulti-copyforms(upto triple-ply)areall

accepted,andyou canuse eithertractoror frictionfeed.A specialfeature
enablesyou to keep fanfoldformsparkedin readinesswhile printingon
otherpaper.

● Largevarietyoftypestylesand sizes

Theprinterhas onedraftstyleandfourNLQstyles(Courier,Sansenf,and

Oratorwith small capitalsor lower case), plus italics for all styles,plus

condensedprint,boldprint,double-sizedprint,quadruple-sizedprint.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 SETTING UP THE PRINTER .......................... .....................1

Locatingtheprinter................... ............................... ........................1

UnpackingandInspection..... ................................... ...................... ..2

Checkthecartoncontents...... ............. ............ .........................2

Partsnameoftheprinter... ... .... ... ............. ...................... .... ......3

SettingUp..................... ... .... ............ .................................................4

Mounttheplatenknob.......... ............. ......................................4

Installtheribboncartridge.. ...................... ... ... .... .....................5

Connection............... ............. ...................... ...................... ... ....6

LoadingSingleSheets

Automaticloading............... ............ .........................................8

Manualloading........................... ... ............. ...................... .....10

LoadingandParkingFanfoldForms.. ... .... ... ...................... ............11

Loadingthepaperfromtherearoftheprinter................... ....11

Loadingthepaperfromthebottomoftheprinter..................13

Paperparking........................ ... ............. ...................... ... ........15

Paperunparking.......................... ... ... .... ...................... ...........15

AdjustingthePrintingGap.......................... ... .... ... .........................16

Chapter 2 CONTROL PANEL OPERATIONS ..................................17

ButtonsandIndicators.. ...................... ... ...................... ............. ......17

ONLINEbutton...... ............. ... ... ............. ............. ............. ....18

PAPERFEEDbutton............................. ................................19

SET/EJECTPARKbutton..... .... ..................... .... ............. ......19

PRINTPITCHbutton

NLQTYPESTYLEbutton.. ..................................................20

Power-UpFunctions

Shorttestmode
Longtestmode
Printareatestmode
Stayinpanelpitch

Stayinpanelstyle.... ... ............................... ... .... .....................23

Stayinpanelpitchandstyle................................. ... ............. .23

Hexadecimaldump. ............ .... ............................... ... .............23

SwitchCombinationFunctions................. ...................... ...............26

Formfeed........ .... ... ............ ....................................................26

Topofform

Forwardmicro-feed...............................................................27

Reversemicro-feed... ............. ...................... ..........................27

Clearingthebuffer

.. ............................... ... ...................... ... .........

.. ...................... ... ...................... ...........

...........................................#...........................21

......................................................................2l

.. ............................... ... ...................... ... ..........

.. ...................... ... ............................... ... ...

.................... .... ... ...................... ............ .....

.. .............................. .... ...................... ... ............. ..

.. ............................... ... ............. ............. ...

8

19

22
22
22

27

28

I

Chapter 3 DIP SWITCH SETTING ........... ........... ........... ......... ........29

LocationoftheDIPSwitches.. ............. ... ...................... .................29

FunctionsoftheDIPSwitches............ ... ... ............. ........................30

Chapter 4 PRINTER CONTROL COMMANDS

FontControlCommands

CharacterSetCommands..... ............................... ... ........................39

CharacterSizeandPitchCommands.............................................41

VerticalPositionCommands............. ............. ...................... ..........47

HorizontalPositionCommands

GraphicsCommands..................... ... .... ..................... .....................58

DownloadCharacterCommands
MacroInstructionCommands

OtherPrinterControlCommands............. ............. ...................... ..64

Chapter 5 DOWNLOAD CHARACTERS ............................................69

DesigningYourOwnDraftCharacters..........................................69

Definingtheattributedata.....................................................7O

Assigningthecharacterdata.. ... ............................... ... ...........72

Sampleprogram... ............. ............ ...................... ...................72

DefiningYourOwnNLQCharacters.... ... ...................... .... ... ........74

Chapter 6 MS-DOS AND YOUR PRINTER ........................................77

InstallingApplicationSoftwarewithYourPrinter........................77

EmbeddingPrinterCommands............... ............ ............. ..............78

ProgrammingthePrinterwithDOSCommands

ProgrammingwithBASIC........ ............ ...................... ...................82

Howtheprogramworks

ModificationsforIBMmode................... ... ............. ..............88

.. ............................... ... ...................... ... ...34

. ............. ...................... .................

.. ............ ...................... ...............

.. ............................... ... ....................

.. ........................................ ... ............

.. ............. .................

.. ...................... ... .

33

53
60

64

80
86

Chapter 7 TROUBLESHOOTING AND MAINTENANCE ............89

Troubleshooting

Powersupply.................. ............. ...................... .....................

Ranting.................... .... ............ ...................... .........................90

Paperfeeding.........................................................................92

Maintenance... ............. ...................................................................95

ReplacingthePrintHead

. ............. ............................... ... ...................... ... ....

.. ............................... ... ...................... ... ...

89

90

95

Chapter 8 SPECIFICATIONS

.. .............................. .... ............ ............. .....

99

Chapter 9 CHARACTER SETS . ............. ... ...................... ... ...................103

StandardCharacterSet
IBMCharacterSet#2
IBMCharacterSet#1
IBMSpecialCharacterSet

.. ............ ............................... ... ............. ....

.. ............ ...................... ...................... ... ......

.................... ...................... ............. ... ... ......

.................... .... ... ............................... .

104
106
108
109

InternationalCharacterSets.. ... ...................... ............ ..................1lt)

INDEX

..... ............. ........... ....................................... ........... ......... ..........

COMMAND SUMMARY

111

.. ............ ............................... ... ...................... ..114

chapter 1

SETTING UP THE PRINTER

Subjects covered in Chapter 1 include —

● Locatingtheprinter

● Unpackingandinspection(namesof parts)

. Settingupandconnection

● Loadingsinglesheets

● Loading andparkingfanfoldforms

● Adjustingtheprintinggap

LOCATINGTHE PRINTER

Beforeyoustartunpackingandsettingup yourprinter,makesurethatyou
haveasuitableplaceonwhichtolocateit. By“a suitableplace”, we mean:

.

A firm,levelsurfacewhichis fairlyvibration-free

.

Awayfromexcessiveheat(suchas directsunlight,heaters,etc)

.

Awayfromexcessivehumidity

9

Awayfromexcessivedust

.

Supplyit“clean”electricity.Don’tconnectit tothesamecircuitasalarge,
noise-producingappliancesuchas a refrigerator.

●

Makesurethelinevoltageis within10%ofthevoltagespecifiedon the
identificationplate.

.

A locationwithsufficientspacetolocatetheprinterandanypaperto be
fedintoit, as wellasthe printedpapercomingout.

●

If youareusingaparallelconnectionto yourcomputer,makesurethat
iswithin2m(6ft)oftheprinter(anRS-232comectionusingtheoptional
RS-232interfacecanbe madeoverlongerdistances).

—

it

1

UNPACKINGAND INSPECTION

Checkthecartoncontents

Nowunpackthe contentsoftheprintershippingcarton,andcheckeachitem
in thebox againstFigure1-1to makesurethatyouhave everything(there
shouldbe five items).
If anyof theseitemsare missing,contactyoursupplier.

Figuru I-I. Check tomake sure you have all five items: 1) Printer, 2) Peperguide, 3) Platen knob, 4) Ribbon
cartridge, and 5) Uaer’s manual.

2

The optionalaccessorieswhichyoumayhaveorderedwithyourprinter are:

● Serial(RS-232)interfaceboard

● Automaticsheetfeeder

● Pulltractorunit

Partsnameof theprinter

Makeanexternalinspectionoftheprinter.Notethelocationsofthefollow­ingparts:

1

Entry slot

!

Figure1-2 The printer’s external parts

Bail lever:

opensandclosesthepaperbailwhichholdsthepaper
againstthe platen.

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

printingon singlesheets,andup for fanfoldforms.
Top cover:
Rear cover:
Entry slot:

protectstheprintheadandotherparts.

protectsthe sprocketfeedmechanism.

for insertingsinglesheetsof paper.

Control panel: controlsvariousprinterfunctions.

Power switch: switchespoweron andoff.

Connector:

forconnectingthecomputerto the printer.

1

ase lever

J

SEITING UP

Placethepnnterin thepositionwhereitisgoingtobepermanentlysited,and

removeallpackingmaterialfrominsidethetopcover.Thispackingmaterial

isintendedtopreventdarnagetotheprinterintransit.Youmayliketokeep
this packingwiththe printercartonifyouintendtransportingtheprinterfor
use at a differentlocation.

Mounttheplatenknob

Theplatenknobis packedintoa recessofthewhitefoampackingmaterial

whichheldyourprinterinsidetheprintercarton.Becarefulto removethe
knobbeforedisposingofthe packing.

Mounttheplatenknobontheshaftontheright-handsideoftheprinter.Turn

theknobontheshaftbeforepushingtheknobfullyintoposition.

Figure 1-3.Mounting the platen knob

Installtheribboncartridge

Removethetop coverbyliftingthefront(usingthetwo gripsattheside),

andpullingtowardsyou.Nowinstalltheribbon.

4

I

F@IIU 1-4. Remoting the top cover

1. Usethetensioningknobontheribboncartridgeto tightenthe ribbon if
it is slack(turnclockwise).

2. Use the grips on the side of the ribbon cartridgeto help locate the
cartridge(squeezetheminwardsgently),andmakesurethatthespindles
on thecartridgeholderfit intothe socketson thecartridgeitself.

igura 7-5.Installing the ribbon cartridge

5

3. Theribbonshouldpassbetweenthe printheadandthe pnnthead shield
(seeFigure 1-6).

Ffgure 1-6. Pass the ribbon between the print head and print head shield

Now,holdthetopcoveruprightandengagethetabsattheback.Thenswing
thefrontedgedownuntilthe coverisclosed.

Leavethetopcoverclosedduringnormaloperation.Itkeepsoutdustanddirt
andreducestheprinter’soperatingsounds.Openthecoveronlytochange
theribbonor makean adjustment.

Connection

Connecttheprinter to yourcomputer,usinga standardparallel-typecable.
On aPCorPC/AT-typecomputer,thismeansthatyouusethe 25-wayD­type connector at the computer end, and the Amphenol-type36-way
connectoratthepnnterend.Thepinoutsoftheprinter’sconnectoraregiven
in Chapter8 if youneeda cableforconnectionto anothercomputer.

Plugthe printerintoa suitablemainsoutlet.However,DONOTturnonthe
powerswitchatthe frontoftheprinteryet.

6

Interface

Connector

Figut-o1-7.Connecting the interface cable

cable

Ifyouwanttousetheoptionalserialinterface,slideouttheparallelinterface
boardby grippingthe flips on both sides.Then insertthe optionalserial
interfaceboardalltheway,as showninFigure 1-8.

Figura 1-8. Replacing the interface board

LOADING SINGLE SHEETS

sectionwilltakeyouthroughtheproceduresfor loadingsinglesheets

This

of paper.
If youareusingthe optionalautomaticsheetfeeder(ASF),read the ASF

instructionbooklet.

Automaticloading

Singlesheetscanbeloadedmanuallywithpoweroff,orautomaticallywith
poweron. Wewillstarttheeasy waywithautomaticloading.

1. Placethepaperguideinposition,locatingthelugs on thebottomofthe
assemblyintotheslotsonthe rearcoverofthe printer.

Figurs 1-9. Mounting the paper guide for single sheets

2. Makesurethatthereleaseleveris down.
If the fanfoldpaperis mountedon the printer,pressthe( “ERKCTj
buttonto parkthepaper,thenmovethereleaseleverdownwards.

8

Adjustthe paperguidestomatchthe sizeofpaperyouwillbeusing(re-

3.
memberingthatprintingwillstartsomedistancefromtheleft-handedge
ofthecarriage).

4.

Placea single sheetbetweenthe guides,placingthe sideon whichyou
wanttoprinttowardsthebackoftheprinter.Gentlypushthepaperdown
in theguidesuntilyoufeelit stop.

lever

Figure 1-10. Loading a single sheet

Turnonthepowerusingtheswitchatthefrontoftheprinter.Theprinter

5.
willbeep,indicatingthatnopaperisinpositionforprinting.Theorange

POWER indicatoralsoflashesto showthis.

Nowpressthe(

6,

SEHWCT )button. Thepaperbailwillmoveclearof

thepaper,andthepaperwillbefed andadjustedpasttheprintheadto a
positionready forprinting.Thepaperbailwillbemovedbacktogripthe
paperagainsttheplaten,andtheprintheadwillmovetothestartposition.

9

Manualloading

Itisalsopossibletoloadpapermanuallywhiletheprinter’spowerisoff.The
procedureis:

1.

Placethepaperguideinposition,locatingthelugson thebottomof the

assemblyintothe slotson therearcoverof theprinter.
Checkthatprinterpoweris off and thereleaselever at thebackof the

2,

printeris down.

Openthe topcover,thenmovethebailleverontopofthepnnterforward

3,

to openthe paperbail.
Adjustthepaperguidestomatchthesizeof paperyouwillbeusing(re-

4.
memberingthatprintingwillstartsomedistancefromtheleft-handedge
of the carriage).
Placea singlesheetbetweentheguides,placingthe sideon whichyou

5.
wanttoprinttowardsthebackoftheprinter.Gentlypushthepaperdown
in theguidesuntilyoufeel it stop.
Turn-theplatenknob clockwiseuntilthefrontedgeof thepapercomes

6.
outfromunderthetop cover.
If the paper is not straight,move the releaselever to the up position,

7.
straightenthepaperby hand,thenmovethereleaseleverbackdown.
Move the bailleverbackto closethepaper bail.

8.

10

LOADING AND PARKING FANFOLD FORMS

Fanfold forms have holes alongthe sides and perforationsbetween the
sheets.Theyare also calledsprocketforms,punchedforms,or just plain
“computerpaper”.Thisprinteracceptsformsupto 16”wide.Fanfoldforms
areloaded,parked,andunparkedasexplainednext.

Loadingthepaperfromtherear of theprinter

Youcanloadthefanfoldpapereitherfromtherearorfromthebottomofthe
printer.If you are goingto load the paper from the bottomread the next
section.

1. Place astackoffanfoldpaperbehindandatleastonepage-lengthbelow
theprinter.

2. Turn theprinter’spowerOFF.

3. Pmshthe releaselever to the upward position.This has the effect of
~leasingthe paperfromtheplatenroller,andengagingthetractorfeed.

4. Removethepaperguideandputit asideforthe moment.

5. Removethe~arcover. Gripitbyitsrearedge andliftupwardsandback­wardsas in Figure1-11.

Figure T-IT. Opening the rear cover

11

With the sprocketcoversopen,threadthe paper over the sprockets,

6.
aligningholeswiththepinson thesprockets.

Adjustthespacingofthesprocketsbyslidingthemalongthebar,using

7.

the clamplever at the back of each sprocketto release and lock the
sprocketinpositin(whentheleverisdown,thesprocketmaybemoved,
andwhenit isup,the sprocketis locked).

Smocket cover

F/gun?1-12. Thread the fenfold paper over the sprockets.

Nowclosethe sprocketcovers,againmakingsurethatthepapersprocket

8.

Clamp lever

holesarealignedwiththepinsonthesprockets.Iftheyarenot aligned
properly,youwillhaveproblemswithpaperfeeding,possiblyresulting
in tearingandjammingof the paper.
Turnontheprinterusingtheswitchatthefrontoftheprinter.Theprinter

9.
willbeep(indicatingthatthepaperisnotyetfilly loaded).Thisis also
confirmedby theorange

10.Nowpressthe(

‘EER-ECT) button.Thepaperbailwillmoveclearof

POWER indicatorflashing.

thepaper,andthepaperwillbefedandadjustedpasttheprintheadto a
positionready forprinting.Thepaperbailwillbemovedbacktogripthe
paperagainsttheplaten,andtheprintheadwillmovetothestartposition.

11.Remounttherearcover.Holdittilted upwardandinsertthefourtabsat
the front into their slots.Then rotate the cover downwards,pressing
downonthethumbpadson theleft andrighttosnapit intoplace.

12

12.Mountthepaperguideinthehorizontalpositionshownin Figure1-13,
sothatit will separatetheprintedfromtheunprintedpaper.

Figurs 1-13. Mounting the paper guide for fanfold forms

Loadingthepaperfromthebottomof theprinter

Youcanloadthefanfoldpaperfromthebottomof theprinterby usingthe
optionalpulltractorunit.

1.

Removethe top cover,thenmovethe bail lever on top of the printer
forwardtoopenthepaperbail.
Mounttheoptionalpulltractorunitonto theprinter.Gripthe locklevers

2.
onbothsideandpushtheunitdownwardsontotheplatenrollershaftto
fitthetractorgrips,as shownin Figure 1-14.
Placea stackof fanfoldpaperbelowtheprinter.

3.
Withthesprocketcoversopen,threadthepaperoverthesprocketsfrom

4.
thebottomof theprinter,aligningholeswiththepinson thesprockets.
Adjustthespacingofthesprocketsbyslidingthemalongthebar,using

5.
the clamplever at the back of each sprocketto release and lock the
sprocketinpositin(whentheleverisup,thesprocketmaybemoved,and
whenit is down,thesprocketislocked).

13

Platen

~utw1-14.Mountingthe optionalpulltractor unit

it

cover
lever

Figure 7-15. Thread the fanfold paper over the sprockets from the bottom of tie printer.

6. Nowclosethesprocketcovers,againmakingsurethatthepapersprocket
holesarealignedwiththepinson thesprockets.If theyart-not~igned

properly,youwillhaveproblemswithpaperfeeding,possiblyresulting

in tearingandjammingof thepaper.

7. Mountthenewtopcover.

14

Paperparking

Afterloadingfanfoldpaperfromtherearof theprinter,youdonothaveto
unloadit whenyouwanttoprinton a singlesheet.Theprinterwill“park”
it for youif youfollowtheprocedurebelow.

1. Paperparkingstartswith powerON, fanfoldpaperloadedin printing
position,thereleaseleverup.

2. Pressthe(
line(ON

3. Tearofftheprintedformatthelastperforation,leavingnotmorethan

abouthalf a page showingabovethetop cover.If necessary,pressthe
(PAPERFEED)buttontofeedpaperfonvarduntilaperforationislocated
just abovethetop cover,andtearthere.

4. Pressthe( ‘W&4RcT)
Theprinterwillautomaticallyfeedthefanfoldformbackwarduntilthe
paperis completelyfree of theplaten.

5. “Movethe releaseleverto thedownposition.

6. Mountthepaperguidein theuprightposition.

Now you can load singlesheetseitherautomaticallyor manually,as ex-

plainedpreviously.The fanfoldpaperremainsparked at the back of the
printer.

ONLINE

LINE indicatorof~.

) buttononthecontrolpaneltosettheprinteroff-

buttonon the controlpanel.

Paperunparking

Whenyouwantto resumeusingfanfoldpaper,theprocedureisasfollows.

1. Removeall singlesheets fromthe printer.

2. Mountthe paperguideinthehorizontalposition.

3. Movethe releaselevertotheup position.

4. Pressthe ( ‘EFEAECT) button.Theprinterwillautomaticallyfeedthe
parkedfanfoldpaperintopositionforprinting.

15

ADJUSTING THE PRINTING GAP

The distancebetweenthe print head and the platen can be adjusted to

accommodatedifferentpaperthicknesses.Tomakethisadjustment,remove
thetopcover.Theadjustmentleverislocatedneartherightendofthepaper

bail. Pulling the adjustmentlever upwards narrows the gap; pushing it

downwardswidensthegap.

Therearefivepositions;youcan feeltheleverclickingintoeachposition.
Thesecondpositionfromthetopistheonemostcommonlyusedfor single

sheetsofpaper.Trydifferentpositionsuntilyougetthebestprintingresults.

I

Flgura 1-16. Adjusting for different thicknesses of paper

16

chapter2

CONTROL PANEL OPERATIONS

Thecontrolpanelbuttonscanbepressedsinglyto performtheoperations
indicatedbytheirnames. Otherfunctionscanbeobtainedby holdingthese
buttonsdownwhenyouturntheprinter’spoweron.Stillfurtherfunctions
canbeexecutedbypressingthe controlpanelbuttonsin combination.

Thischapterexplainsallthebuttonandindicatorfunctions.

●

Pauseprinting

●

Feedpaper(fast andslow,forwardandreverse)

✎

Park fanfoldforms

●

Setthe top-of-formposition

✎

Selectthe printpitch

●

Selectafontstyle

✎

Printtestpatterns

●

Preventsoftwarefromchangingthepanelpitchandfontselections

●

Printa hexadecimaldump

✎

Cleartheprinter’sbuffer

BUTTONS AND INDICATORS

printerisequippedwithfivebuttonsonthecontrolpanel:fromrightto

The

lefttheyare,( ONLINEl(PAPERFEED]and(s’TFd~cT>(largerbuttons),

~d (“) and (=E) (smallerbuttons).

The followingis a briefguideto the buttonsandindicatorsonthe control
panel.

Figure 2-1. Control panel

17

ONLINE button

(

ON LINE

buttonsets the printeron-lineand off-line.The state

)

The
changeseachtimeyoupressthebutton.

Intheon-linestatetheprinterreceivesdatafromthecomputerandprintsthe
data.Intheoff-linestatetheprinterstopsprintingand sendsthecomputer
a signal indicatingthatit cannotacceptdata.

Theprinterpowersup in theon-linestateifpaperis present.If paperisnot
present,theprinterpowersup off-linewiththe

Whenyouloadpaperthe

POWER indicatorstopsflashing,but the printer

remainsoff-line.To startprintingyoumustpressthe(

POWER indicatorflashing.

ON LINE

)

button

goon-line.
Thethreemaintimeswhenyouwillwanttopressthe(

ON LINE

)button

are:

● Beforeand afteranyotherpaneloperation

Theotherpanelbuttonsoperateonlyin theoff-linestate.Firstpressthe

ON LINE ) buttonto go off-line,thenperformthe paneloperation,then

(

pressthe (

● Topauseduring printing

Ifyoupressthe

ON LINE ) buttonagaintogo backon-line.

LINE

ON

(

buttonduringprinting,theprinterstops

)

printingand goesoff-line,allowingyouto checkthe printoutor changea

LINE

control panel setting.Printingresumeswhenyoupress theC

ON

buttonagainto go backon-line.

)

● Tocutfanfoldformsat theendof printing

LINE )button downfor

Whenusingfanfoldforms,ifyouholdtheC

ON
onesecond,in additiontogooff-linetheprinterfeedsthepaperabouttwo
inchesforward,allowingyouto cutitoffjust belowthelastlineprinted.
Whenyoupressthe(

LINE )button againtogobackon-line,thepaper

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

PAPERFEEDbutton

If youpressthisbuttoninoff-line,thepaperfeedsforward.If youholdthis
buttondown,the printerperformsconsecutiveline feeds.

Whileyouarefeedinglines,ifyoualsopressthe (

ON

>

button,the

LINE

paperwillfeed to thetop of thenextpage.This is explainedlater.

SET/EJECTPARKbutton

Pressingthisbuttoncausestheprintertoexecutepaperloadingifthepaper
hasnot loadedwhileinthe off-linestate.

If the paper has been loaded, this button causes the printer in different
functionsdependingon thereleaseleverposition.

If the releaseleveris setto theupwardpositionfor thefanfoldforms,this

buttonoperatestoparkthe fanfoldformsto thebackwardposition.
If the releaselever is set to the downwardpositionfor the singlesheets,

pressingthisbuttonejectsthe paper.
Thisbuttonhasno effectif the optionalpulltractorunitis mounted.

PRINTPITCHbutton

Thisbuttonselectstheprintpitchthatwillbe printed.Rememberthatthe
printermustbeoff-lineforyoutodothis.Successivepressesofthisbutton

willilluminate(andselect)the followingoptionsin thisorder:

Pitch

Pica

Elite

Condensedpica
Condensedelite
Picaproportional
Eliteproportional

Indicator(s)

PICA
ELITE
PICA, COND
ELITE, COND
PICA, PROP
ELITE, PROP

Holdingdownthisbuttonwillcyclecontinuouslybetweenthese options.

19

NLQ TYPESTYLEbutton

Thisbuttonselectsthefontstyletobeprinted.Draftstyleisalwaysselected

at power-up.TochangetooneoftheNLQ(nearletterquality)styles,setthe

printeroff-line,thenpressthe(SfF7E)buttonrepeatedlyuntiltheindicators
besidethe desiredselectionilluminate.Theselectionscycleinthefollow-

ingorder:

Fontstyle

Draft
Courier
Courieritatic

Indicator(s)

(allindicatorsoff)

COURIER
COURIER, ITALIC

Sanserif SANSERIF
Sanserifitalic
Orator
Oratoritalic

SANSERIF, ITALIC
ORATOR
ORATOR, ITALIC

Holdingdownthisbuttonwillcyclecontinuouslybetweentheseoptions.
TheOratorstyleis uniquein twoways.First,it is a lotlarger(higher)than

the other styles. This makes it a good choice for labels and other text
requiringhigh visibility.A little extraline spacinghelps when Oratoris
used.Second,therearetwoversionsoftheOratorfontstyle:oneprintssmall
capitalsinplaceoflower-caseletters;theotherprintslower-caseletters,but
withoutdescenders.The other font styles do not have a small-capitals

option.Lowercasealwaysprintsas lowercase.
Yougetthe smallcapitalswhenyou selectOratorfmm the controlpanel.
ThefontstylecanalsobeselectedbyprintercommandsgiveninChapter4.

Printercommandsenableyouto selectboth Oratorstyles,and also draft
italic,whichcannotbe selectedfromthecontrolpanel.

20

POWER-UP FUNCTIONS

,hlte,

In additionto their normalfunctions,all the controlpanel buttonshave
specialfunctionsthatoperateifyouholdthemdownwhileswitchingpower
on.

MICROFEED

-

A &

‘,byinJu[p?+f,

Printarea test

Stay in P&l pitch

rgure2-2. Power-up functions of control panel

OPOwER

— FF —A

Shorttestmode

ON

If theprinteris turnedonwhilethe
printerwillentertheshortself-testmode.The printerwillstartprintingas

LINE

soonas the
numberof the printer’sROM,followedby sixlinesofthecharacterset.

Eachline willbe offsetby onecharacterfromtheonebeforeit. The final
resultwillbe somethinglikethefollowing.

ON

(

button is released,and willprintthe version

)

LINE

(

button is pressed,the

)

Figure 2-3. Short self-test

Sincethetestprintoccupiesthe wholewidthof the carriage,it is recom­mended that the printer is loaded with continuousstationeryto avoid
possibledamageto theprinthead and/orplaten.

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