Star Micronics LC24-15 User Manual

MULTI-FONT

LC24-15

USERS MANUAL

NOT INTENDED FOR SALE

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 ahm~ statement applies only to printers marketed in West Gemanp.

Self Declaration

Trademark Acknowlidgements

LC24-15, NB-15, NB24-15: Star Micronics Co., Ltd.
IBM PC, PC-AT, PC-XT. Proprinter XL24, Proprinter X24, Proprinter II, PC-DOS: InternatIonal

Business Machinks Corp. .

Microsoft BASIC, MS-DOS; Microsoft Corporation
LQ-1050, LQ-850, LQ-1000: 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.
9 The above notwithstanding, STAR can assume no responsibility for any errors in this manual.

0 Copyright 1989 Star Micronics Co., Ltd.

HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL

This manual is organized into nine chapters. To learn how to make the best
use of your printer you are urged to read through chapters 1 through 3. The
remaining chapters may be treated as a reference guide for programming
operations, etc. It assumes a degree of acknowledge off the operation of
computers (for instance, it assumes you know about hexadecimal numbers).
The chapters are as follows:

Chapter 1 - Setting up the printer

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

Chapter 2 - Control panel operations

There are a number of controls on the front panel which perform various
functions related to paper handling, print modes and font selection.

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

Chapter 3 - DIP switch settings

This chapter explains how to set the DIP switches to make system settings
on the ‘printer.

Chapter 4 - Printer control commands

This chapter explains the different emulations provided by your printer, and
the software commands used to drive it. This section is of use if you are
writing or modifying programs to take advantage of the printer’s features.

Chapter 5 - Download characters

This chapter explains the procedures to create your own characters.

Chapter 6 - MS-DOS and your printer
Since the PC or PC-AT family of computers running under MS-DOS is

currently the most popular configuration of microcomputer, we have in­cluded a few hints and tips to help you use your printer with such systems.
Since virtually all PCs are sold with a Microsoft BASIC interpreter, we have
also included some hints, and a sample program in this language to
demonstrate the capabilities of the printer.

Chapter 7 - Troubleshooting and maintenance

This section gives a checklist of points to check if your printer is not working
in the expected way. It also includes details of some routine maintenance
operations you can carry out yourself. It is not, however, a complete service
manual. Call a qualified service engineer if you are unsure of your ability to
carry out any maintenance or servicing operations.

Chapter 8 - Specifications
This section gives the specifications of your printer.

Chapter 9 - Character sets

These charts give the different character sets available, and the differences
between national character sets (as set up with the DIP switches).

FEATURES OF THE PRINTER

This printer is a convenient, monochrome printer without frills but with a full
complement of features, making it an excellent partner for a personal
computer. It supports the IBM/Epson printer commands and character sets,
enabling it to print just about anything your computer can generate, both text
and graphics. Some of its main features are the following:

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, spread-sheets, and integrated software packages.

l Easy operation

Clearly understandable indicator displays and beep tones provide immedi­ate feedback when you press the buttons on the control panel. The five

buttons can operate in combinations to perform a surprising variety of

functions, including micro-alignment.

l Easy care and maintenance

The 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 all
accepted, and you can use either tractor or friction feed. A special feature
enables you to keep fanfold forms parked in readiness while printing on
other paper.

l Large variety of font styles and sizes

The printer has one draft style and four LQ styles (Courier, Sanserif, Orator
and Script), plus italics for all styles, plus condensed print, bold print,

. double-sized print, quadruple-sized print.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 SETTING UP THE PRINTER

Locating the Printer
Unpacking and Inspection

Cheek the carton contents
Parts name of the printer

Setting Up

Loading Single Sheets

Loading and Parking Fanfold Forms

Adjusting the Printing

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

Mount the platen knob

Install the ribbon cartridge ......................................................

Install the optional IC card..
Connection

Automatic loading
Manual loading

Loading the fanfold
Loading the paper with pull
Paper parking

Paper unparking

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

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

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

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

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

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

...................................................................... 12

forms

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

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

Gap..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

tractor unit..

............................... 15

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

Buttons and Indicators

ON LINE button
PAPER FEED button
SET/EJECT PARK button
PITCH button
STYLE button

Power-Up Functions

Short test mode
Long test mode
Print area test mode..

Stay in panel pitch
Stay in panel style
Stay in panel pitch and style

Hexadecimal dump ...............................................................

Switch Combination Functions

Form feed
Top of form

Forward micro-feed ..............................................................

Reverse micro-feed ...............................................................

Clearing the buffer

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.

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.13

.18

.19

.20

21

..

21

.2 1
.22
.23

.23

24

.24

.24

25
25

.25

28
.28
.29
.29
.29

1

1
2
2
3
4
4

.4
.7

8

10
10

13

17
17

19

30

Chapter 3 DIP SWITCH SETTINGS

Location of the DIP Switches
Functions of the DIP Switches

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter 6

*

Chapter 7

4 PRINTER CONTROL

Font Control

Character Set Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Character Size and Pitch Commands
Vertical Position
Horizontal Position Commands
Graphics Commands

Download Character Commands
Other Printer Control Commands

5 DOWNLOAD CHARACTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Defining Your Own Characters

Assigning
Assigning a value of character apace
Sample

MS-DOS

Installing Application Software with Your Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Embedding Printer Commands
Programming
Programming

How the
Modifications for IBM mode

TROUBLESHOOTING

Troubleshooting

Power

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Paper feeding . . . . I.................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Maintenance
Replacing the Ribbon
Replacing the Print Head
Replacing the Battery in

Commands

Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

the character

program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

AND

YOUR PRINTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

the Printer

with BASIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

program works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

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

COMMANDS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*.........

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

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

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

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

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

data

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

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

with DOS

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

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

the RAM Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

AND

MAINTENANCE

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

45

60

69
71

77

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

84

. . . . . . . . . . . . 97

100
103
103
104

Chapter

8 SPECIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Chapter

INDEX

9 CHARACTER

Standard Character Set

IBM Character Set #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

IBM Character Set #l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

IBM Special Character

International Character Sets ,...,.................................................... 118

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 --

COMMAND SUMMARY

SETS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

114
116
117

122

Chapter I

SETTING UP THE PRINTER

Subjects covered in Chapter 1 include -

l Locating the printer
l Unpacking and inspection (names of parts)
l Setting up and connection
l Loading single sheets
l Loading and parking fanfold forms
l Adjusting the printing gap

LOCATING THE PRINTER

Before you start unpacking and setting up your printer, make sure that you
have a suitable place on which to locate it. By “a suitable place”, we mean:

l A firm, level surface which is fairly vibration-free
l Away from excessive heat (such as direct sunlight, heaters, etc)
l Away from excessive humidity
l Away from excessive dust
l Supply it “clean” electricity. Don’t connect it to the same circuit as alarge,

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 A location with sufficient space to locate the printer and any paper to be

fed into it, as well as the printed paper coming out.

l If you are using a parallel connection to your computer, make sure that it

is within 2m (6ft) of the printer (an RS-232 connection using the optional
RS-232 interface can be made over longer distances).

1

UNPACKING AND INSPECTION

Check the carton contents

Now unpack the contents of the printer shipping carton, and check each item
in the box against Figure l-l to make sure that you have everything (there
should be five items).
If any of these items are missing, contact your supplier.

F/gum I-1. Check 10 make sure you have all five items: 1) Printer, 2) Paper guide, 3) Platen knob, 4) Ribbon
cartridge, and 5) User’s manual.

The optional accessories which you may have ordered with your printer are:

l Serial (RS-232) interface board
l Automatic sheet feeder
l Pull tractor unit
l Font card
l RAM card

Parts name of the printer

Make an external inspection of the printer. Note the locations of the follow­ing parts:

Entry slot

Release lever

Power

Figure 7-Z. The printer’s external parts

Bail lever: opens and closes the paper bail which holds the paper

against the platen.

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

printing on single sheets, and up for fanfold forms.

Top cover: protects the print head and other parts.
Rear cover: 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.
Card slot: for inserting optional Font card or RAM card.
Connector: for connecting the computer to the printer.

SETTING UP

Place the printer in the position where it is going to be permanently sited, and
remove all packing material from inside the top cover. This packing material
is intended to prevent damage to the printer in transit. You may like to keep
this packing with the printer carton if you intend transporting the printer for
use at a different location.

Mount the platen knob

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

Mount the platen knob on the shaft on the right-hand side of the printer. Turn
the knob on me shaft before pushing the knob fully into position.

knob

Figure 1-3. Mounting the platen knob

Install the ribbon cartridge

Remove the top cover by lifting the front (using the two grips at the side),
and pulling towards you. Now install the ribbon.

4

Figure T-4. Removing the top cover

1. Use the tensioning knob on the ribbon cartridge to tighten the ribbon if
it is slack (turn clockwise).

2. Use the grips on the side of the ribbon cartridge to help locate the
cartridge (squeeze them inwards gently), and make sure that the spindles
on the cartridge holder fit into the sockets on the cartridge itself.

Figure 1-5. Installing the ribbon cartrldge

3. The ribbon should pass between the print head and the print head shield
(see Figure l-6).

Figum i-6. Pass the ribbon between the print head and print head shield

Now, hold the top cover upright and engage the tabs at the back. Then swing
the front edge down until the cover is closed.

Leave the top 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.

6

Install the optional IC card

This printer has five built-in character styles (fonts), and an1 1 K-byte data
buffer.

You can add more fonts or expand the data buffer by installing oprional IC
cards (Font card or RAM card).

To install or change an IC card, first turn off the power switch. Then, insert
the IC card into the slot at the bottom right front of the printer and slide it all
the way in.

Figure 1-7. Slide the IC card into the front slot with the power switch off.

7

Connection

Connect the printer to your computer, using a standard parallel-type cable.
On a PC or PC/AT-type computer, this means that you use the 25way D­type connector at the computer end, and the Amphenol-type 36-way
connector at the printer end. The pinouts of the printer’s connector are given
in Chapter 8 if you need a cable for connection to another computer.

Plug the printer into a suitable mains outlet. However, DO NOT turn on the
power switch at the front of the printer yet.

r

\

cable

Figutv 1-8. Connecting the interface cable

If you want to use the optional serial interface, slide out the parallel interface

board by gripping the flips on both sides. Then insert the optional serial

interface board all the way, as shown in Figure l-9.

8

Figure 1-9. Replacing the interface board

9

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.

Automatic loading

Single sheets can be loaded manually with power off, or automatically with

power on. We will start the easy way with automatic loading.

1. Place the paper guide in position, locating the lugs on the bottom of the
assembly into the slots on the rear cover of the printer.

Figure 7-70. Mounting the paper guide for single sheeis

2. Make sure that the release lever is down.
If the fanfold paper is mounted on the printer, press the ( SE&!!RT 1
button to park the paper, then move the release lever downwards.

10

3. Adjust the paper guides to match the size of paper you will be using (re­membering that printing will start some distance from the left-hand edge
of the carriage).

4. Place a single sheet between the guides, placing the side on which you
want to print towards the back of the printer. Gently push the paper down
in the guides until you feel it stop.

Adjustable paper guides

lever

I

Figure 1-77. Loading a single sheet

5. Turn on the power using the switch at the front of the printer. The printer
will beep, indicating that no paper is in position for printing. The orange

f OWER indicator also flashes to show this.

6. Now press the ( sEEWT

> button. The paper bail will move clear of
the paper, and the paper will be fed and adjusted past the print head to a
position ready for printing. The paper bail will be moved back to grip the
paper against the platen, and the print head will move to the start position.

11

Manual loading

It is also possible to load paper manually while the printer’s power is off. The
procedure is:

1. Place the paper guide in position, locating the lugs on the bottom of the
assembly into the slots on the rear cover of the printer.

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

3. Open the top cover, then move the bail lever on top of the printer forward
to open the paper bail.

4. Adjust the paper guides to match the size of paper you will be using (re­membering that printing will start some distance from the left-hand edge
of the carriage).

5. Place a single sheet between the guides, placing the side on which you
want to print towards the back of the printer. Gently push the paper down
in the guides until you feel it stop.

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

7. 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.

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

12

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 16” wide. Fanfold forms
are loaded, parked, and unparked as explained next.

Loading the fanfold forms

You can load the fanfold paper from the rear of the printer.

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. Push the release lever to the upward position. This has the effect of
releasing the paper from the platen roller, and engaging the tractor feed.

4.

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

5.

Remove the rear cover. Grip it by its rear edge and lift upwards and back-

wards as in Figure 1-12.

,

Figure l-12. Opening the rear cover

6. With the sprocket covers open, thread the paper over the sprockets,
aligning holes with the pins on the sprockets.

7. Adjust the spacing of the sprockets by sliding them along the bar, using

the clamp lever at the back of each sprocket to release and lock the
sprocket in positin (when the lever is down, the sprocket may be moved,
and when it is up, the sprocket is locked).

Flgurs I-13. Thread the fanfold paper over the sprockets

8. Now close the sprocket covers, again making sure that the paper sprocket
holes are aligned with the pins on the sprockets. If they are not aligned
properly, you will have problems with paper feeding, possibly resulting
in tearing and jamming of the paper.

9. Turn on the printer using the switch at the front of the printer. The printer
will beep (indicating that the paper is not yet fully loaded). This is also
confirmed by the orange POWER indicator flashing.

10. Now press the (

*Ep&p

1 button. The paper bail will move clear of
the paper, and the paper will be fed and adjusted past the print head to a
position ready for printing. The paper bail will be moved back to grip the
paper against the platen, and the print head will move to the start position.

11. Remount the rear cover. Hold it tilted upward and insert the four tabs at
the front into their slots. Then rotate the cover downwards, pressing
down on the thumb pads on the left and right to snap it into place.

14

12. Mount the paper guide in the horizontal position shown in Figure 1-14,
so that it will separate the printed from the unprinted paper.

Figure I-14. Mounting the paper guide for fanfold forms

Loading the paper with pull tractor unit

You can load the fanfold paper by using the optional pull tractor unit.

1. <Remove the top cover, then move the bail lever on top of the printer
forward to open the paper bail.

2. Set the DIP switch l-4 to the OFF position. (See Chapter 3 for details.)

3. Mount the optional pull tractor unit onto the printer. Grip the lock levers
on both side and push the unit downwards onto the platen roller shaft to
fit the tractor grips, as shown in Figure l-15.

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

5. With the sprocket covers open, thread the paper over the sprockets from

the entry slot of the printer, aligning holes with the pins on the sprockets.

6. Adjust the spacing of the sprockets by sliding them along the bar, using

the clamp lever at the back of each sprocket to release and lock the
sprocket in positin (when the lever is up, the sprocket may be moved, and
when it is down, the sprocket is locked).

15

Platen

igure l-15. Mounting the optional pull tractor unit

unit

pure 7-76. Thread the fanfold paper over the sprockets from the entry slot of the printer.

7.

Now close the sprocket covers, again making sure that the paper sprocket
holes are aligned with the pins on the sprockets. If they are not aligned
properly, you will have problems with paper feeding, possibly resulting

in tearing and jamming of the paper.

8. Mount the new top cover.
16

-

Paper parking

After loading fanfold paper with the internal tractor unit, 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.

Paper parking starts with power ON, fanfold paper loaded in printing

1.
position, the release lever up.
Press the ( ON LINE ) button on the control panel to set the printer off-

2.

line (ON LINE indicator off).
Tear off the printed form at the last perforation, leaving not more than

3.

about half a page showing above the top cover. If necessary, press the

(PAPER FEED) button to feed paper forward until a perforation is located

just above the top cover, and tear there.

Press the ( s%&cT ) button on the control panel.

4.

The printer will automatically feed the fanfold form backward until the

paper is completely free of the platen.
Move the release lever to the down position.

5.

Mount the paper guide in the upright position.

6.

Now you can load single sheets either automatically or manually, as ex­plained previously. The fanfold paper remains parked at the back of the
printer.

Paper unparking

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

1. , Remove all single sheets from the printer.

2. Mount the paper guide in the horizontal position.

3. Move the release lever to the up position.

4. Press the ( sE~‘~~CT ) button. The printer will automatically feed the
parked fanfold paper into position for printing.

17

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 right end of the paper

bail. Pulling the adjustment lever upwards narrows the gap; pushing it

downwards widens the gap.

There are five positions; you can feel the lever clicking into each position.
The second position from the top is the one most commonly used for single

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

Figure 7-16. Adjusting for different thicknesses of paper

18

chapter 2

CONTROL PANEL OPERATIONS

The control panel buttons can be pressed singly to perform the operations

indicated by their names. Other functions can be obtained by holding these
buttons down when you turn the printer’s power on. Still further functions
can be executed by pressing the control panel buttons in combination.

This chapter explains all the button and indicator functions.

l Pause printing
l Feed paper (fast and slow, forward and reverse)
l Park fanfold forms
l Set the top-of-form position

. Select the print pitch

l Select a font style
l Print test patterns
l Prevent software from changing the panel pitch and font selections

l Print a hexadecimal dump
l Clear the printer’s buffer

BUTTONS AND INDICATORS

The printer is equipped with five buttons on the control panel: from right to
lefttheyare,( ON LINE X( PAPER FEED> and( sE&‘~~CT )(largerbuttons),

and (PITCH) and (STYLE) (smaller buttons).

The following is a brief guide to the buttons and indicators on the control
panel.

Figure 2-T. Control panel

19

ON LINE button

The ( ON LINE ) button sets the printer on-line and off-line. The state
changes each time you press the button.

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
go on-line.

) button

The three main times when you will want to press the<

ON LINE

)button

are:

l Before and after any other panel operation

The other panel buttons operate only in the off-line state. First press the

( ON LINE

press the (

l To pause during printing

If you press the ( ON LINE

)button to go off-line, then perform the panel operation, then

ON LINE

> button again to go back on-line.

) button 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 )
button 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 )button down for
one second, in addition to go off-line the printer feeds the paper about two
inches forward, allowing you to cut it off just below the last line printed.
When you press the C

‘ON LINE )button again to go back on-line, the paper

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

20

PAPER FEED button

If you press this button in off-line, the paper feeds forward. If you hold this
button down, the printer performs consecutive line feeds.

While you are feeding lines, if you also press the ( ON LINE > button, the
paper will feed to the top of the next page. This is explained later.

If you press this button in on-line, this will alternately illuminate and
extinguish the QUIET indicator. When in Quiet mode with the QUIET
indicator illuminating, the printer will print slightly slower, but at a reduced

noise level.

SET/EJECT PARK button

Pressing this button causes the printer to execute paper loading if the paper
has not loaded while in the off-line state.

If the paper has been loaded, this button causes the printer in different
functions depending on the release lever position.

If the release lever is set to the upward position for the fanfold forms, this
button operates to park the fanfold forms to the backward position.

If the release lever is set to the downward position for the single sheets,
pressing this button ejects the paper.

This button has no effect if the optional pull tractor unit is mounted.

PITCH button

This button selects the print pitch that will be printed. Remember that the
printer must be off-line for you to do this. Successive presses of this button
will illuminate (and select) the following options in this order:

Pitch

Pica
Elite
Semi-condensed
Condensed pica
Condensed elite
Proportional
Condensed proportional

Holding down this button will cycle continuously between these options.

1 Indicator(s)

10 CPI

10 CPI, 15 CPI
15 CPI
10 CPI, COND

10 CPI, 15 CPI, COND

PROP
COND, PROP

21

STYLE button

This button selects the font style to be printed. Courier style is always
selected at power-up. To change to one of the other styles, set the printer off­line, then press the (~3) button repeatedly until the indicators beside the
desired selection illuminate. The selections cycle in the following order:

Font style

Courier
Courier italic
Prestige
Prestige italic
Orator
Orator italic
script
Script italic
Option
Option italic

Draft
Draft italic

Holding down this button will cycle continuously between these options.

The font style can also be selected by printer commands given in Chapter 4.

Indicator(s)

COURIER
COURIER, ITALIC

COURIER, ORATOR
COURIER, ORATOR, ITALIC
ORATOR
ORATOR, ITALIC
ORATOR, OPTION
ORATOR, OPTION, ITALIC
OPTION
OPTION, ITALIC

(all indicators off)
ITALIC