Star Micronics NX-2410 User Manual

MULTI-FONT

USERS MANUAL

NOT INTENDED FOR SALE

Federal Communications Commission

Radio Frequency Interference Statement

‘his 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

is no guarantee that interfemnce wilJ not occur in a particular instaUation. 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

l Reorient the receiving antenna
l Relocate the computer or printer with respect to the mceiver
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 ate on different branch

circuits.
If necessary, the user should consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for
additional suggestions. ‘Ibe user may find the following
ticns caMlis
Wet is available from the U.S. Government printing office. Washington, D.C.. 20402, Stock No.

sion helpful: “How to Identity and Resolve Ra

correct the interference by one or more of the followmg measures:

004-oooxlo345-4.
For compliance with the Federal Noise Interference Standard, this equipment requires a shielded cable.

The above statement applies only to printers marketed in the USA.

The Canadian Department of Communications

Radio Interference Regulations

Ibis digital a aratus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus

setoutinthe%a
Lz pr&sent appareiI numCrique n’6met pas de bruits radioelecttiques d6passant les limites applicables aux
aIpate.ils numCri ues de la classe B prescrites dam le Reglement sur le brouillage radiotlectrique edict6
par le minisdm 1 es Communications du Canada.

dto Interference Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications.

Statement of

The above statement applies only to printers marketed in CaMda.

Trademark Acknowledgements

NX-2410, NB-15, NB24-10, XB24-15: Star Mictics Co., Ltd.

IBM PC, Proprinter X24, Proprinter II, PC-ES: International Business Machines Corp.

Microsoft BASIC, MS-DOS: Microsoft Co

LQ-800, LQ-1000, LQ-1500: S&o Epson rhm rp.

NOTICE

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

STAR’s express

l lltecontentsof
l Ail 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 ‘Ihe above notwithstanding, STAR can assume no responsibility for any errors in this manual.

gxmission is forbidden.

s manual are SubJect to change without notice.

0 Copyright 1989 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, convenient, monochrome printer 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, spreadsheets, and integrated
software packages.

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 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 High-resolution letter-quality printing

When you select an LQ type style, the printer slows down and employs
a dense matrix of up to 24 by 35 dots to print clear, well-formed characters.

l Large variety of type styles and sizes

The printer has one draft style and four LQ styles (Courier, Prestige,
Orator, and Script), plus italics for all styles, plus condensed print, bold
print, double-sized print, quadruple-sized print - see the samples on the
next page:

Type styles are:

Draft characters,

Prestige characters, ORATOR CHARACTERS,

Sdp~ w,

sfm' italics for ALL 4t.y&4.

Print pitches are:

Pica pitch (10 CPI),

Semi-condensed pitch (15 CPI),

Condensed elite pitch (10 CPI),

Normal proportional,

Courier characters,

Elite pitch (12 CPI),

Condensed pica pitch (17 CPI),

and condensed proportional.

Double-height,

Double

=rripILez=

Double-sized,

Width,

Wid-kkl,

Quad-sized.

Various line and character spacings:

Other features:

tlvm&%

Emphasized,

Underlininq, Overlinlng,

SUPERSCRIPT,

Download characters: f*ffftt8ttttttt

Dot graphics:

, altlADmIrn, o%p%gaxm wxm

Double-strike,

SUBSCRIPT,

..,.. ix::.. i:: ..::::.:...

,,i; i .-.::Y,;,i ,("'i"":i,i,,

.?: "/ :////: ;/j:/ ,. j/jjii, './(:

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,: .'..iiFkj yg ‘:;:;::i:..;,~ii' :/

L!..

B:' .:::/i/::::.'

y,;&$;;;: :liB; ',;i!i!i!'i!ill-,

.:;:+ 'iE!ii;,,

y;j+x, ;i:p vi,.

.::~ ,::::.::: ~.~ ::::,:::. ~ .ij:i:/::: .::: //::

,diil::::.:/::i;ii

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..:::::::

:.:~,

.,,.,..

.r*y,.,:

TABLEOFCONTENTS

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
Install the optional IC card
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 self test

Interface test

Adjusting the printing gap
DIP switch settings

CONTROL PANEL OPERATIONS

Switches and indicators

Power indicator

On Line switch

Paper Feed switch

Quiet Mode switch

Style/Pitch 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

1
1

3

6

9

12

14
14

19
19

22

25

Page feed
Top of form
Forward micro-feed

Reverse micro-feed
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
Other printer commands

Chapter 4

USING THE PRINTER
WITH DOS AND BASIC

Hard-copying the screen
Programming the printer with DOS commands
Programming the printer with BASIC

How the program works

Chapter 5

MAINTENANCE AND TROUBLESHOOTING 45

Cleaning the printer
Replacing the ribbon
Replacing the print head
Replacing the battery in the RAM card
Troubleshooting

Appendix A TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Appendix B PRINTER CONTROL COMMANDS

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

29
29

31
31

35
35
36
38

45

45
46
48
49

51
57

57
61
63
68
74
79
81
83

Appendix C DOWNLOAD CHARACTER GENERATOR

Draft character

LQ character

Appendix D CHARACTER SETS

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

INDEX
COMMAND SUMMARY

89

97

105
108

Chapter 7

SET7NVG UP THE PRINTER

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.

a , 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-l to
make sure that you have everything (there should be five items).

1

Figure 1-I. Check to make sure you have all five items: 1) Printer, 2) Paper guide, 3) Platen

knob, 4) Ribbon cartridge, and 5) User’s mantial.

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

Power

-

Entrv slot

Rear ‘Over \/ Bail lever

x\v,Release

Platen knob

1

Connector

Figure I-2. The printer’s external parts

Release lever:

Top cover:
Rear cover:
Entry slot:
Control panel:
Power switch:
Connector:

SETTING UP

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.

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.

releases the platen. This lever must be down for
printing on single sheets, and up for fanfold forms.
protects the print head and other parts.
protects the sprocket feed mechanism.
for inserting single sheets of paper.
controls various printer functions.
switches power on and off.
for connecting the computer to the printer.

1

3

trgure nemovmg me rop cgver

install 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.

&we T-4. Installing the ribbon cartridge

4

Next place the ribbon cartridge on the print head carriage, guiding the
ribbon between the print head and the platen. Press down firmly on the
cartridge until it snaps into place.

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.

lnsfall the optional IC card

This printer has five built-in character styles (fonts), and a 7 K-byte

data buffer.

You can add more fonts or expand the data buffer by installing optional

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.

I

figure 1-5. Slide the IC card into the front slot with the power switch off.

5

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.

terface

Figure I-6. Connecting the interface cable

cable

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 tits into the two holes on top of the rear cover. Mount

the guide and raise it to the upright position.

6

guide

I
Figure i-7. Mounting the paper guide for single sheets

Semiautomatic loading

Single sheets can be loaded manually with power off, or semiauto­matically with power on. We will start the easy way with semiautomatic
loading.

Check that the release lever is down and the bail lever back (bail closed),

then switch power on. You will hear a short beep tone and the Power

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

signals.

Place a single sheet on the paper guide and insert it down into the entry

slot as far as it will go.

Move the bail lever forward. When the bail opens, the printer feeds the

paper automatically.

Move the bail lever back. The paper will feed slightly forward again,

ending in position to print with a top margin of about one inch.

I

Figure l-8. Loading a single sheet

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.

MQve the bail lever on top of the printer forward to open the paper

3.
bail.

4.

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

If the paper is not straight, move the release lever to the up position,

5.
straighten the paper by hand, then move the release lever back down.

Move the bail lever back to close the paper bail.

6.

lever

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 1-9.

Figure 1-9. 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 and tuck it in under the platen.

, ,YYrF ,-,“. vv’c,,r,ry L,lr irv,vrnrc bu.Tra Iv rnrose tne sprocltet teetn

Clamp

lever

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.

10

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.

Figure l-72. 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 Quiet Mode switch on the control panel and hold it down.

5. Still holding the Quiet Mode 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.

Paper unparking

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

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 se/f test

This procedure prints a six-line “barber-pole” test pattern. 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

I
Figure l-73. Short test pattern

Long self 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.

This test repeats indefinitely in a long cycle. 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).

13

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, open
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.

I

Figure l-14. 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 eight switches named 2-l to 2-8.

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.

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

Settings

Figure l-15. DIP switches

Switch 1 Function

l-l

Page length
l-2 Auto CR
l-3 Bottom margin

1 1-4 1 Auto sheet feeder

l-5 Paper-out detector

Printer mode

l-6

Chamcter set (Std. Mode)

I ‘-’ I Character set (IBM Mode) I Set #2

Print style and pitch selection

1 ON 1 OFF 1

11 inches
Yes
None

1 Inactive 1 Active 1

Enabled
Standard IBM
Italics

12 inches

No

1 inch

Disabled

Graphics

I Set #l

I

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
printer functions to match your requirements. The following questions will
help you make the right settings.

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 l-2:

Do you want an automatic carriage return?

Normally you should 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. Set this switch to the OFF position only if you have a program that
needs to move the paper vertically without a carriage return, which is fairly
unusual.

Switch 1-3:

Do you want a bottom margin?

Leave this switch ON if you do not want to set the bottom margin. Move
it to the OFF position if you want to set the bottom margin to the l-inch.

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 l-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 e.dge.

Switch 1-6:

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

mode?

Select the mode compatible with your computer and software. In standard
mode the printer operates like the Epson LQ-800. In IBM mode it operates
like the’IBM Proprinter X24. The ON position selects standard mode. The

OFF position selects IBM mode.

Switch 1-7:

The action of this switch depends on the mode chosen with
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.

16

If selected mode, you IBM set or

ON character #2, is computers an interface

most kind). selects set for with

7-bit

Switch l-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 in Appendix D. With the DIP switches you can
select one of eight character sets as ‘follows:

* Denmark/Norway when IBM character set #2 is selected.

Switches 2-5 to 2-8:

What type style and print pitch do you want?

You can select the default type style and print pitch by setting these switches
as shown next.

Option *

Option *

* If there is no Font Card in the slot, Courier style is selected.

18

10 CPI OFF
12 CPI OFF

OFF OFF ON
OFF OFF OFF

Chapter 2

CONTROL PANEL OPERATIONS

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.

SWITCHES AND INDICATORS

The control panel has four switches marked:

0 On Line

l Paper Feed
l Quiet Mode
l Style/Pitch

The Quiet Mode, and Style/Pitch 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.

I

Figure 2-7. Control panel

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.

19

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.
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.

Quiet Mode switch

This switch operates off-line to select the printing mode. The printer

powers up in normal printing mode. To select the quiet mode, press the

On Line switch to go off-line, then press the Quiet Mode switch. The printer
will make two passes for each line, resulting in reduced sound (and slower
printing). To switch the quiet mode off, press this switch again. Each time
you press this switch, quiet mode toggles from on to off or from off to on.

Sty/e/Pitch switch

This switch selects the type style and the print pitch.

To change the type style, press the On Line switch to go off-line, then
press this switch once. You will hear two acknowledging beep tones. After
the beep tones, you can set the type style using the Quiet Mode switch or
the Paper Feed switch. While in this mode, these switchs works to select
the type style, instead of their normal functions.

The selections cycle in the following order when using the Quiet Mode

switch:

Draft
Courier
Courier italic
Prestige
Prestige italic
Orator
Orator italic
script

Script italic

Option

When using the Paper Feed switch, the selections cycle in the reverse

order.

To change the print pitch, press the On Line switch to go off-line, then
press this switch twice. You will hear three acknowledging beep tones. After
the beep tones, you can set the print pitch using the Quiet Mode switch or
the Paper Feed switch. While in this mode, these switchs works to select
the print pitch, instead of their’normal functions.

21

The selections cycle in the following order when using the Quiet Mode

switch:

Pica
Elite

Semi-condensed (15 characters per inch)
Condensed pica (17 characters per inch)
Condensed elite (20 characters per inch)
Proportional
Condensed proportional

When using the Paper Feed switch, the selections cycle in the reverse

order.

The type style and the print pitch can also be selected by printer com-

mands given in Appendix B.

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

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.

Stay in Panel style

and pitch

Figure 2-2. Power-up functions of control panel

pZ?SgS~T

Stay in Panel pitch

Long test

Short test pattern: On Line switch

If held down during power-up, this switch prints a short test pattern

(shown in Chapter 1).
Long test pattern: Paper Feed switch

If held down during power-up, this switch prints a long test pattern.
The test cycles endlessly. To stop the test you must switch power off.

22

Stay in pane/ pitch: Style/Pitch and Paper Feed switch

By holding these switches down during power-up, you can prevent
software interference with the print pitch selected from the control panel.
You will hear an acknowledging beep as power comes on. After the beep
tone, you can set the printer off-line, select a print pitch, then return to on-line
and start printing. The pitch you selected will not be reset or otherwise
changed by any commands your software may issue.

Stay in pane/ style: Style/Pitch and Quiet Mode switch

If held down during power-up, these switches prevent software inter­ference with the type style selected from the control panel. There will be
an acknowledging beep, after which you can set the printer off-line, select
a type style, then return to the on-line state and start printing. The selected
type style will not be changed by any commands sent by software.

If you want to protect both the Print Pitch and Type Style settings from
software changes, press only the Style/Pitch switch during power-up. There
will be two acknowledging beeps.

Pressing these switches during power-up does not prevent you from
making any number of changes later from the control panel.

Hexadecimal dump: Paper Feed and Quiet Mode switches

This feature is useful for programmers who are debugging printing
programs and want to see the actual codes the printer is receiving. (Some
computers change the codes the programmer intended.)

1. Holding both the Paper Feed and Quiet Mode switches down, turn power
ON. A beep tone will be heard.

2. Start printing. In place of the usual printout you will get a formatted
1 dump showing exactly what data the printer receives. Each line presents

sixteen characters, their hexadecimal codes to the left and printable
characters printed on the right.

3. At the end of the hexadecimal dump, set the printer off-line with the

On Line switch. This is necessary to print the last line.
The followipg BASIC program is a simple test you can run in hexade-

cimal mode:

10 FOR I=0 TO 255
20 LPRINT CHR$(I);
30 NEXT I
40 LPRINT
50 END

23

If your system passes the codes directly to the printer without changing

them, you will get a printout like Figure 2-3.

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 OA 08 OC OD OE OF

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 3A 38 3C 3D 3E 3F
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 4A 48 4C 40 4E 4F
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 5A 58 5C 5D 5E 5F
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 6A 66 6C 6D 6E 6F
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 7A 78 7C 7D 7E 7F
80 81

82 83 84 85 86 07 88 89 8A 88 8C 8D 8E 8F
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 9A 9B 9C 9D 9E 9F
A0 Al A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7
BO 81 B2 83 84 85 86 87 88 B9 BA BB BC BD BE BF
CO Cl C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7
DO Dl D2 D3 04 D5 06 07 08 D9 DA DB DC DD DE DF
EO El E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 EA EB EC ED EE EF
FO Fl F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 FA FB FC FD FE FF
OD OA

28 29 2A 25 2C 2D 2E 2F

A8 A9 AA AB AC AD AE AF

C8 C9 CA CB CC CD CE CF

‘;,;#i&&; ;j;;;;:;

01234567 89::<=>?
@ABCDEFG HIJKLMNO
PQRSTLJVW XYZ[\]--

‘abcdefg hijklmno
pqrstuvw xyz{;)-o

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

.

. . . . . . . .

. . .

Figure 2-3. Sample hexadecimal dump

Most BASICS, however, are not quite that straightforward. For example,

the IBM-PC prints the following.

00 01 02 03

OF 10 11 12
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 28 2C 2D 2E 2F !"#I$%&' ox+.-./
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 3A 38 3C 30 3E 3F 01234567 89::<=>?

40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 4A 48 4C 4D 4E 4F @ABCDEFG HIJKLMNO

50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 5A 58 5C SD 5E 5F PQRSTUVW XYZ[\I-­60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 6A 68 6C 6D 6E 6F ‘abcdefg hi jklmno
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 7A 78 7C 70 7E 7F pqrstuvw xyz{l)-o
80 81 82 83
90 91 92 93
A0 Al A2 A3
BO 81
CO Cl C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7
DO Dl D2 D3
EO El EZ E3

FO Fl F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 FA FB FC FD FE FF . . . . . . . . . . . . .

OD OA

04 05 06 07 08 09 OA

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

84 05 86 07 08 09 8A

94 95 96 97 96 99 9A

A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 AA

82 83 84 B5 86 87 88 B9 BA Ba BC BD BE BF

D4 D5 D6 D7 DE D9 DA
E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 EA

C8 C9 CA CB CC CD CE CF

08 OC 00 OA OE . . . . . . . . . . .

1B 1C 1D 1E 1F _....... .

88 8C 8D 8E 8F ___..... . . .

98 9C 9D 9E 9F . . . . .

AB AC AD AE AF I....... . . .

DB DC DD DE DF __...... . . .

EB EC ED EE EF _____... . .

:::::::I ::::::::

Figure 2-a. Sample hexadecimal dump with IBM-PC

When the IBM-PC BASIC interpreter sends hex code OD (carriage re­turn) it adds an extra hex OA (line feed). Hex code 1A (end-of-file) also gets ­special treatment: the interpreter does not send it at all. This can cause
problems in programs that generate graphics or download character data,
but there is a solution. Try changing line 20 in the preceding program and
adding the coding shown below.

Coding for IBM-PC with monochrome display:

20 GOSUB 100

100 O=INP(&H3BD)
110 OUT &H3BC,I :OUT &H3BE,5 :OUT &H3BE,4

120 RETURN

:IF 0<128 THEN 100

24

Coding for IBM-PC with color adaptor:

20 GOSUB 100
100 O=INP(&H379)

:IF 0<128 THEN 100
110 OUT &H378,1 :OUT &H37A,5 :OUT &H37A,4
120 RETURN

SWITCH COMBINATION FUNCTIONS

Several additional functions can be obtained by pressing the control

panel switches in combinations.

Reverse micro-feed

Clearing the buffer

Figure 2-5. Switch combination functions of control panel

Paper parking: Quiet Mode and Paper Feed switches

This procedure feeds the paper backward. It parks the fanfold form
at the back of the printer so that you can switch to single-sheet feeding (by
moving the release lever to the down position).

Before parking fanfold forms, tear off all but the last page, leaving less

(at least three inches less) than a full page showing above the top cover.

1. Press the On Line switch to set the printer off-line.

2. Press the Quiet Mode switch and hold it down.

3. Press the Paper Feed switch. The paper will be fed out backward.

25

Page feed: Paper Feed and On Line switches

If you are using single sheets, this operation ejects the current page. If

you are using fanfold forms, it feeds to the top of the next page.

1. Press the On Line switch to set the printer off-line.

2. Press the Paper Feed switch and hold it down. The printer will start
performing successive line feeds.

3. Still holding the Paper Feed switch down, press the On Line switch, then

release both switches. The printer will smoothly eject the current page.

Top of form: Style/Pitch and Paper Feed switches

When you turn on printer power, the top-of-form position is auto-

matically set to the current position. If this is not where you want the top
of the page to be, you can change the top-of-form position as follows.

1. Press the On Line switch to set the printer off-line.

7

L. Move the paper to the desired top-of-form position by pressing the Paper

Feed switch, or by performing a forward or reverse micro-feed.

3. Press the Style/Pitch switch and hold it down.

4. Press the Paper Feed switch. The printer will beep to indicate that the
top-of-form position has been set.

Forward micro-feed: On Line and Paper Feed switches

For line alignment, you can feed the paper forward in very small in-

crements as follows:

1. Press the On Line switch to set the printer off-line.

2. Press the On Line switch again and hold it down.

3. Press the Paper Feed switch. The paper will start advancing in a series
of small steps. When you want to stop, release both switches.

Reverse micro-feed: On Line and Quiet Mode switches

You can also feed the paper in small increments in reverse, to return

to a higher position on the same page.

Note: With fanfold forms, do not try to return to a previous page. The

perforation may catch inside the printer.

1. Press the On Line switch to set the printer off-line.

2. Press the On Line switch again and hold it down.

3. Press the Quiet Mode switch. The paper will start moving backwards

in a series of small steps. When you want to stop, release both switches.

26

C/earing the buffer: On Line and Style/Pitch switches

When DIP switch 2-l is ON, the printer stores received data in a large

memory buffer. This creates a problem when you want to abandon a printing

job and restart: the printer may be holding much more data in its buffer

than it has actually printed, and this unprinted data must be cleared out
before restarting. Turning power off is one way to clear the buffer, but there
is another way:

1.

Halt the printing program on the computer. If printing stops imme­diately, the buffer is clear and the rest of this procedure is unnecessary.
If printing does not stop, continue as follows:
Press the On Line switch to set the printer off-line. Printing will now

2.
stop, but there may be data remaining in the buffer.
Press the On line switch and hold it down.

3.

4.

Press the Style/Pitch switch and hold it down. You will hear a beep tone
signaling that the buffer has been cleared. If you hold down these
switches in about three seconds, you will hear three beep tones signaling
that the printer has been reinitialized.

Release these switches, make any necessary control panel settings, then

5.
set the printer back on-line.

It is essential to halt the printing program on the computer before you

go off-line. Otherwise, when you go back on-line the computer will start

sending data again and the printer will continue printing, with missing data

where the buffer was cleared.

27

MEMO

Chapter 3 USING THE PRINTER

WITH COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE

There is an abundance of commercial software available: spreadsheet
programs, word-processing programs, graphics programs, and more. This
printer will work with any program that supports a Star, Epson or IBM
dot-matrix printer. Before using the printer with commercial software,
however, there are two things you must do:

l Install the software so that it supports the printer
l Set the printer’s DIP switches to match the software

INSTALLING YOUR SOFTWARE

Most commercial software includes an installation program or routine

that you can run to customize the software to lit your hardware system.

Start by reading the explanation of the installation program in your software

manual.

Printer menu

The installation program usually offers a menu of printers from which

to choose. If you find this printer on the menu, select it.

If this printer is not listed, look for the Epson LQ-800 or IBM Proprinter

X24. If these are not listed, look for another Star, Epson or IBM printer.

A few of the choices you may see are given below in order of preference:
Star NB-15

NB24-10
NB24- 15

Some menus are less explicit about model names but offer general de­scriptions such as “Star printer”, “Epson printer”, “IBM dot-matrix printer”,
“dot-matrix ASCII printer”, “Centronics-type printer”, “Draft printer”,
or “Standard printer”. Any of these selections should work. If you are not
sure of the righ.t selection, it does not hurt to experiment. If you choose
wrong, you will get strange printing results, but don’t worry; just try a
different selection. Don’t pick any printer described as a daisywheel printer
or laser printer.

A few installation programs may ask you not to select a printer but to
describe what your printer can do. The answers to the most often asked
questions are: Yes, this printer can do a backspace; and Yes, it can do a
hardware form feed.

Epson LQ-800 IBM Proprinter X24

LQ- 1000 Proprinter II
LQ- 1500

Proprinter

29

Selecting (or describing) a printer is the main step in the installation
process and frequently the only step necessary. If you selected this printer
or any Star, Epson or IBM printer you should be able to use software
commands for all the standard printer functions, including bold or dou­ble-strike printing, underlining, subscripts, superscripts, margin control, line­spacing control, and graphics.

Printer command options

Besides the standard printer functions, however, your printer has some
capabilities your software may not be aware of, including double- and
quadruple-size printing and the printing of special characters assigned to
control codes. Some software enables you to define these capabilities as user
options in the installation process. Read your software manual to find out
whether you can do this and if so, how.

The most useful thing you can do is to define a way to enter the escape
code < ESC > , which is the control character with decimal character code
27 (hexadecimal 1 B). This code usually cannot be keyed in directly (pressing

the ESC key will not work). As an installation option, however, you may

be able to assign it to a function key or a special key combination. Doing

so will put the full power of the printer at your disposal.

Type styles

Some word-processing software has commands that enable you to
change type styles in the middle of a document without a printing pause.
To use these commands you must generally define the printer’s type styles

(fonts) during installation, by assigning them numbers for example. Read

your software manual for details, and refer to Appendix B for the relevant

printer commands.

Page width

Spreadsheet programs in particular may ask you to specify the printer’s
column width. The column width of this printer depends on the character
pitch used:

Pica

Elite
Semi-condensed
Condensed pica
Condensed elite

The character pitch can be selected from the control panel before you
start printing, or possibly by an initialization sequence as described next.

30

80 columns
96 columns

120 columns (Standard mode only)
137 columns
160 columns (Standard mode only)

-

Initialization sequence

One of the installation options may be to specify the commands your

software sends at the beginning of each printing job. These commands are

called the “initialization sequence” or “setup string.” If necessary, you can

use the initialization sequence to adjust the margins to your paper size or
select a particular type style or pitch. You can look up the commands you
want in Appendix B.

For example, if you selected 96-column width for a spreadsheet program,
it would be convenient to add an elite pitch command to the initialization
sequence. Appendix B indicates that this command consists of the two
characters:

< ESC > “M”

which have decimal character codes 27 and 77 (hexadecimal 1B and 4D).
Your software manual or an on-screen prompt will explain how to place
these codes in the initialization sequence.

SETTING THE DIP SWITCHES

After completing the installation of your software, check the setting
of the printer’s DIP switches, in particular DIP switch l- 6. If you selected
a Star or Epson printer on the installation menu, switch l-6 should be ON
(the factory setting). If you selected an IBM printer, switch l-6 should be
OFF.

DIP switches 1-2 (auto CR), l-7 (character set), l-8 (auto LF), and 2-l
(RAM usage) are also related to your software. Read what your software
manual has to say about carriage returns, line feeds, character sets, and
downloading characters, and refer to the explanation at the end of Chapter

1.

USING YOUR SOFTWARE

With the installation and DIP switch settings correctly completed, you
are ready to entrust most of the control of your printer to your software.
However, there will still be some things you have to do yourself.

Page alignment

If you are printing on fanfold forms, the first thing to do before you
start printing is to align the top of the forms so that printing will start at
the right position on the page, a short distance below the perforation. With
power off, you can align the forms by turning the platen knob. When power
is on, use the Paper Feed switch on the control panel.

31

Type style and pitch selection

If your software does not control the type style and pitch, you must
make these selections on the control panel. The default selections depend
on the settings of DIP switches 2-5 to 2-8. If you want a different style or
pitch, proceed as follows:

1. Hold the Style/Pitch and Quiet Mode switches down when you turn the
printer-s power on, if you intend to set the type style. Hold the Style/Pitch
and Paper Feed switches down if you intend to set the print pitch.
Hold only the Style/Pitch switch down if you intend to make both
settings. The printer will beep in acknowledgement as it powers up.

2. Press the On Line switch to set the printer off-line.

3. To select a type style, press the Style/Pitch switch once and press the
Quiet Mode or Paper Feed switch one or more times.

4. To select a print pitch, press the Style/Pitch switch again and press the
Quiet Mode or Paper Feed switch one or more times.

5. Press the On Line switch to set the printer back on-line.

Most programs begin each printing job by sending a command that
resets the printer. That is why you must press these switches as you power
up. If you do not press these switches during power-up, the reset command
will reset your panel selections to the settings of DIP switches.

If you want to change the type style or pitch in the middle of a printing

job, one way to do this is to insert a printing pause command in your file

at the point of the change. When the printer pauses, press the On Line switch
to go off-line. If the change occurs in the middle of a line, the printer will
print the first part of the line. Now make the change with the control panel
switches, set the printer back on-line, then command your software to resume
printing.

If you were able to define software commands for print pitch and type
style, changes like these can be inserted in your text file and made on the
fly without a printing pause.

Other printer commands

If your software enables you to place the escape code in your files, or
if you were able to define this as a user option during installation, you are
in a very powerful position: you can embed almost any printer command
in your files. The printer commands are explained in detail in Appendix
B.

32

Most printer commands consist of the escape code followed by one or

more letters or numbers. Some examples are:

<ESC>Wl

<ESC>WO

<ESC>4
<ESC>5

Two lines with these commands embedded are shown below, together

with the printed result.

File:

<ESC>WlPRINTER COMMANDS<ESC>WO

Double-width characters
Normal width
Italic
Upright

can help you to use <ESC>4italic<ESC>5 print.

Printout:

PRINTER COMMANDS

can help you to use italic print.

You will probably not see the symbol < ESC > on the screen, but a
different symbol such as * E or, A [ or perhaps no symbol at all. This depends
on your software.

After printing the first page of a long job, you may want to pause to
check that the printing is correctly formatted. Press the On Line switch,
setting the printer off-line.
printing, press the On Line switch again.

Printing will stop immediately. To resume

If you need to abandon a printing job before it is finished, your software
should provide a command for this purpose. Another simple expedient is
to switch the printer’s power off.

MEMO

hapter 4

C

USING THE PRINTER

WITH DOS AND BASIC

Although you will probably do most of your printing with the aid of
commercial software, at times you will want to employ direct commands
or programs of your own. This chapter will give you some ideas. Three
subjects are covered:

l Hard-copying the screen
l Programming the printer with DOS commands
l Programming the printer with BASIC

HARD-COPYING THE SCREEN (MS-DOS AND PC-DOS)

If your computer has a PRTSC (or PrtSc) key, there is an easy way to
get hard copy of the screen. Press the SHIFT and PRTSC keys. The printer
will print the current screen contents. The PRTSC key works both at the
system command level and while you are running application software.

Normally the PRTSC key prints only text data, but if your DOS system

includes a file named GRAPHICS.COM, you can hard-copy graphics dis-

plays by first typing the command:

A>GRAPHICS

You will find that graphics printing takes considerably more time than
text printing. See your DOS manual for further information on the
GRAPHICS command.

At the DOS command level, there is also a simple way to have the printer
print hard copy continuously, instead of one screen at a time. Press the CTRL
key, hold it down, then also press the PRTSC key. If your computer does
not have a PRTSC key, press the CTRL and P keys. Nothing visible will
happen, but you have just switched on the print-screen function. After this,
the printer will hard-copy all text displayed. For example, try typing the
directory command:

A>DIR

You will obtain a printed directory.

35

To switch printer output off, press CTRL-PRTSC or CTRL-P again.
Each time you press this key combination, hard copy toggles from on to
off or from off to on.

PROGRAMMING THE PRINTER WITH DOS COMMANDS

If your system includes the file PRINT.COM you can use the main
DOS printing command. Simply type the word PRINT followed by the name
of the file you want to print. To print a file named README.DOC, for

example, type:

A>PRINT README.DOC

The computer may respond with the following message, asking which

printer to use:

Name of list device [PRN]:

If your computer is connected to only one printer, press RETURN to
select the default choice (PRN). Printing will begin and the A> prompt
will reappear. You can execute other commands or programs while the file
is being printed.

A single PRINT command can print two or more files. List the tile names
consecutively on the same line, or use wild-card characters (* and ?). Each
file will be printed starting on a new page. The PRINT command also has

control options. For example, you can terminate a printing job in progress
with the /T option. (The printer may not stop printing immediately; it may
have considerable data stored ahead in its buffer.) For the /T optioqtype:

A>PRINT/T

See your DOS manual for further information about the PRINT
command. If your system does not include PRINT.COM, you can print files
by using the PRN device name in COPY or TYPE commands such as the
following:

A>COPY README.DOC PRN

A>TYPE README.DOC > PRN

COPY and TYPE do not permit you to execute other commands while
the file is printing.

36

-

If you want a particular type style or print pitch you can make these

settings from the control panel before you start printing. See Chapter 2.

If you print from the DOS command level very often, it will be ad­vantageous to create a printer setup file. Then instead of setting pitches etc.
manually each time, you can complete the setup with a single command from
your computer. For example, you can create a file containing printer
commands to set the right and left margins, select letter quality, and select
elite pitch. You can find the commands in Appendix B. We suggest the
following:

0 Letter quality

l Elite pitch
l Left and right margins

< ESC > “x”
< ESC > “!”
<ESC> “x” <12> <$Q>

“1”

Cl>

< ESC > “!” < 1 > is a powerful command that, in addition to selecting
elite pitch, cancels unwanted features such as underlining which might be
left from previous commands. The angle brackets around the < I > indicate
character code 1, which is a control code, not the printable digit “1”.

< ESC > “X” < 12 > < 92 > sets the left margin in column 12 and the
right margin in column 92. This will give a 6.7~inch, 80-column printed line
with a one-inch left margin. (Elite has 12 characters per inch). < 12 > is a
control code; < 92 > is the character “\“, as you can verify in Appendix
D.

You may want to place additional commands in this file, such as line
spacing and bottom margin commands. Or you may want to create a variety
of setup tiles with a different set of commands in each.

To avoid excess line feeds, you should place the commands on one line
in the setup tile. You may or may not be able to generate a setup tile with
word-processing software; it depends on whether your software lets you enter
control codes. If your system includes the file EDLIN.COM, however, you
can easily create a setup tile with the DOS line editor.

An appropriate name for this setup tile would be LQELITE.DAT. To
use the DOS line editor, type the command EDLIN LQELITE.DAT, then
type the underlined parts of the following display. Press RETURN at the
end of each line, Don’t type the, symbol ‘lh”. This symbol means to hold
the CTRL key down while pressing the next key: for example, “V means
to type CTRL-V. ^C means to type CTRL- C, which indicates the end of
the input.

A>EDLIN LQELITE.DAT

New file

*1

-

l:*-V[xl-V[!-VAV[XVLl

.

2-*-c!

-

*E

^V indicates that the following character is a control code. ^V[ enters

the < ESC > code. < ESC > has character code 27, and “r’ is the 27th
character in ASCII sequence from A. Similarly, ^VA enters the control code

< 1 > and “VL enters the control code < 12 > . See your DOS manual if

you need further information about EDLIN.

You can now set up the printer by sending it the file LQELITE.DAT.
To avoid unnecessary logging of commands, switch hard-copy output off
(by pressing CTRL-PRTSC if hard copy is on). To print the file

README.DOC in LQ elite type, give the following two commands:

A>COPY LQELITE.DAT PRN
A>PRINT README.DOC

For greater convenience you can make a batch file that will set up the
printer and print any specified file with a single command. To create such
a batch file with the name LQPRINT.BAT, type in the first four lines shown
next. “Z means to press the CTRL and Z keys simultaneously. To use this
file to print README.DOC, type the fifth line.

A>COPY CON LQPRINT.BAT

COPY LQELITE.DAT PRN

PRINT %l

^Z

A>LQPRINT README.DOC

The ‘first above line is a copy command from the CONsole screen to
a file named LQPRINT.BAT. The next two lines are the contents of this
file. The %l is a dummy parameter: whatever file name you type after
LQPRINT will be substituted for %l and printed.

PROGRAMMING THE PRINTER WITH BASIC

As an example of programming the printer in Microsoft BASIC, we
have listed the program for the IBM-PC that printed the sample of features
shown at the beginning of this manual. This program runs in the printer’s
Standard mode (DIP switch l-6 ON).

38

--

) Set control codes

1000
1010

E$=CHR$(27)
D$=E$+"xO"

1020

L$=E$+"xl"

1030

C.$=Ej+"kO"+L$

1040

P$=ES+"kZ"+LS

1050

Oi=E$+"k3"+L$

1060

S$=E$+"k4"+L$

1070
1080

H$=CHR$(O)

1090

PI$=E$+"P"

1100

' Start printing

1110

WIDTH "LPT1:",255

1120

LPRINT

1130

LPRINT

1140

LPRINT

1150

LPRINT

1160

LPRINT

1170

LPRINT

1180

LPRINT

1190

LPRINT

1200

LPRINT

1210

LPRINT

1220

LPRINT

1230

LPRINT

1240

LPRINT

1250

LPRINT

1260

LPRINT

1270

LPRINT

1280

LPRINT

1290

LPRINT

1300

LPRINT
LPRINT

1310
1320

LPRINT

1330

LPRINT

1340

LPRINT

1350

LPRINT

1360

LPRINT

1370

LPRINT
LPRINT

1380
1390

LPRINT

1400

LPRINT

1410

LPRINT

1420

LPRINT

1430

LPRINT

1440

LPRINT

1450

LPRINT

1460

LPRINT

1470

LPRINT

1480

LPRINT

FOR I=1 TO 7

1490
1500

LPRINT E$;"A";CHR$(I); 'Set line spacing

1510

LPRINT ES;" ";CHR$(I);

1520

LPRINT "THE SPACINGS ARE CHANGED"

1530

NEXT I

1540

FOR I=7 TO 1 STEP -1

LPRINT E$:~~A";CHR$(I); 'Set line spacing

1550

I;"D";CHR$(3);CHR$(24);CHR$(O);
I;"Type styles are:"
I;D$;"Draft characters,";
I;C$;"Courier characters,"
:;p$;"

Prestige characters,":
!;O$;"Orator characters,"
l;s$;'t

Script characters,"
I; "4" *

I;D$;:'and ";C$;"italics ";P$;"for ";
;;"a11 ";S$;"styles."

* " 5 "

I

1;"Print pitches are:"

H$;PI$;"Pica pitch (10 CPI),";
HS*ES*"M"'"Elite pitch (12 CPI),"

> I ,

H$iE$; Mg’ti I(

HS;PI$;
CHRS(15);

"Condensed pica pitch (17 CPI),"

HS*ES."M":"Condensed elite pitch (20 CPI),";

, ,

CHR$(i8)

H$;E$;"pl";

PI$;"Normal proportional, ";

H$;CHR$(15);"and condensed proportional.";

CHR$(18);

E$;"pO"

H$;E$;"wl

H$;E$;"Wl

H$;CHR$(28);"E";CHR$(2);"Triple width,";

CHR$(28);"E";CHR$(O)
H$;E$;*'h";CHR$(l);"Double-sized,"
H$:E$;t~h";CHR$(2);"Quad-sized.";
E$:"h";CHR$(O)

:LPRINT :LPRINT
E'S;"Q";CHR$(47')
C$:"Various line and character spacings:"
E$;"al"

'Escape code
'Draft quality
'Letter quality
'Courier characters
'Prestige characters
'Orator characters
'Script characters
'Horizontal tab
'Pica pitch

'Select italics

'Cancel italics

Semi-condensed pitch (15 CPI),";

'Select condensed print

'Cancel condensed print
'Select proportional spacing

'Cancel proportional epacing

";v'Double-height,";ES;"wO"
";"Double width,";E$;"WO"

'Set right margin

'Center text

'Increase character space

39

1560 LPRINT ES;" ";CHR$(I); 'Increase character space
1570 LPRINT "THE SPACINGS ARE CHANGED"
1580 NEXT I
1590 LPRINT E$;"aO"
1600 LPRINT E$;"3";CHR$(30); 'Set l/6" line spacing
1610 LPRINT EQ;" ";CHI$(O);
1620 LPRINT :LPRINT
1630 LPRINT C$;"Other features:"
1640 LPRINT H$;E$;"q";Cmt$(l);"OU~INED";", ";E$;"q";CBR$(O);
1650 LPRINT E$;"q";CHR$(2):'SHADOWED";", ";E$;"q";CHR$(~);
1660 LPRINT E$;"q";CHR$(3);"OUTLINED WITH SHADOWED":", ;
1670 LPRINT E$;"q";CHR$(O)
1680 LPRINT H$;E$;"E";"Emphasized";E$;"F";", I';
1690 LPRINT E$;"G
1700 LPRINT H$;E$;"-l";"Underlining";E$;"-O"~,", ";
1710 LPRINT ES;" l";"Overlining";E$;"_O";",
1720 LPRINT H$;E~;"SO";"SUPERSCRIPT";E$;"T";", ";
1730 LPRINT E$;"Sl";"SUBSCRIPT";E$;"T";", ((
1740 LPRINT H$;C$;"Download characters: ";
1750 GOSUB 2520
1760 LPRINT E$;"SO";
1770 LPRINT E$;"%l"; 'Select download character
1780 FOR I=1 TO 5
1790 LPRINT CHR$(BO);

1800 NEXT I
1810 LPRINT E$;"%O";
1820 LPRINT E$;"T";
1830 GOSUB 2650
1840 LPRINT E$;"%l";
1850 FOR I=1 TO 5
1860 LPRINT CHR$(60);
1870 NEXT I
1880 LPRINT E$;"%O";
1890 GOSUB 2520
1900 LPRINT E$;"Sl";
1910 LPRINT E$;"%l";
1920 FOR I=1 TO 5
1930 LPRINT CHR$(60);
1940 NEXT I
1950 LPRINT E$;"%O";
1960 LPRINT E$;"T" 'Cancel subscript

1970 LPRINT H$;C$;"Dot graphics:";CHR$(13);
1980 DIM LOGO$(4)

1990 RESTORE 3230
2000 FOR ROW=1 TO 4
2010 FOR COL=l TO.100

2020 READ GD

2030 LOGO$(ROW)=LOGO$(ROW)+CHRS(GD)

2040 NEXT COL

2050 NEXT ROW

2060 LPRINT E$;"A";CHR$(B);

2070 FOR ROW=1 TO 4

2080 LPRINT E$;"fO";CHR$(17);

2090 LPRINT E$;"*";CHR$(O);

2100 LPRINT CHR$(lOO);CHR$(O);

2110 LPRINT LOGO$(ROW)

";"Double-strike";E$;"H";", II

'Left justify

'Normal character space

'Select superscript

'Print download character

'Select normal character
'Cancel superscript

'Select download character

'Print download character

'Select normal character

'Select subscript
'Select download character

'Print download character

'Select normal character

'Set e/60" line spacing

'Select normal density

40

2120

NEXT ROW

2130

LPRINT ES;"@"

2140

END
2500
2510

' SUBROUTINES

2520

I Define super/subscript download character

2530

LPRINT E$;"Sl";E$;":" ;CHR$(O);CHR$(O);CHR$(Oj;
2540

LPRINT E$;"&";CHR$(O);CHR$(6O);CHR$(6O);
2550

RESTORE 3020
2560

READ LS :LPRINT CHR$(LS);
2570

READ CW :LPRINT CHR$(CW);
2580

READ RS :LPRINT CHR$(RS);
2590

FOR M=l TO CW*2
2600

READ MM
2610

LPRINT CHR$(MM);
2620

NEXT M
2630

RETURN
2640
2650

' Define LQ pica download character

2660

LPRINT C$;

2670

LPRINT E$;"&";CHR$(O);CHR$(6O);CHR$(60);

2680

RESTORE 3100

2690

READ LS :LPRINT CHR$(LS);

2700

READ CW :LPRINT CHR$(CW);
2710

READ RS :LPRINT CHR$(RS);

2720

FOR M=l TO CW*3

2730

READ MM

2740

LPRINT CHR$(MM);

2750

NEXT M

2760

RETURN
3000
3010

' DATA

3020

* Super/subscript download character data

3030

DATA 7, 23, 6
3040

DATA 12, 0, 16, 0,
3050

DATA 64,128, 33,120,
3060

DATA 33, 24, 66, 0,
3070

DATA 94,128, 33,120,
3080

DATA 44, 0, 16, 0,
3090
3100

' LQ pica download characer data

3110

DATA 4, 29, 3
3120

DATA 7, 0, 0,
3130

DATA 40, 0, 0,
3140

DATA 00, 47,192,
3150

DATA 47, 00, 0,
3160

DATA 80,163,192,
3170

DATA 33, 64, 0,
3180

DATA 80,175,192,
3190

DATA 32, 00, 0,
3200

DATA 19, 15,192,
3210

DATA 8, 0, 0,
3220
3230

' Dot graphics data

3240

DATA 0, 0, 0,
3250

DATA 14, 14, 14,

19, 15,192, 40, 16, 0
32, 80, 0, 80,175,192
80,175,192, 47, 60, 0
33; 64, 0, 80,163,192
80,163,192, 47, 80, 0
47, 80, 0, 80,175,192
80, 47,192, 40, 16, 0
40, 0, 0, 23, 0, 0

14, 14, 7, 7, 3, 3, 15

'Initialize printer

44, 0, 80, 0, 44,120
94,128, 33,120, 94,128
33, 24, 94,128, 33,120
64,128, 44,120, 80, 0
12, 0

0, 0, 0, 23, 0, 0

7, 0, 0

0, 1, 3, 7, 7, 7, 15

41

3260 DATA
3270 DATA
3280 DATA
3290 DATA
3300 DATA
3310 DATA
3320 DATA
3330 DATA
3340 DATA 0, 0, 60,255,255,255,255,255,143, 15
3350 DATA 7, 7. 7. 7, 3, 3. 3,131,193,241
3360 DATA 240;240; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 1
3370 DATA 121,253,253,255,255,255,143, 7,
3380 DATA 31,253,252,248,248,240,192, 0, 7, 15
3390 DATA 31, 31, 15, 7, 3, 0, 0, 0,
3400 DATA 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 60,255
3410 DATA 255,255,255,255,143, 15, 7, 7,
3420 DATA 3, 3, 3,131,193,241,240,240, 0, 0
3430 DATA 0, 0,
3440 DATA 0, 31
3450 DATA 192,224
3460 DATA 255,127
3470 DATA 255,255
3400 DATA 252,255
3490 DATA 254,252
3500 DATA 7, 3
3510 DATA 129,128;192,192,192,192,192,224,224,224
3520 DATA 224,240,255,255,255,255,255,127, 0, 0
3530 DATA 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
3540 DATA 0,248,248,240,224,224,112,112, 56, 56

3550 DATA 56, 56, 56,120,120,240,240,224,224,192

3560 DATA 128, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,192,224,240.240
3570 DATA 240,248,248,248,120,120, 56, 56, 56, 56
3500 DATA 40,112,224,224,224,224,240,240,240,240

3590 DATA 120,12@, 56, 56, 56, 56,120,240,224,224
3600 DATA 193,128, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,240,240,240
3610 DATA 224,224,112,112, 56, 56, 56, 56, 56,120

3620 DATA 120,240,240,224,224,192,128, 0, 0, 0

3630 DATA 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

15, 15, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

0, 1, 3, 3, 7,

14, 15, 7, 7, 7, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0

0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

1, 3, 7, 7,

14, 7, 7, 3, 3, 15, 15, 15, 0, 0

0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

3,129,128,192,192,192,192

31,

224,224,224,240,255,255,255,255

0, 0‘ 0‘
193,128,128,128,128,192,224,240
255,255,127, 63, 31, 7, 7, 31
248,224,128, 0, 0, 3, 7, 7

0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 31, 31, 3

7, 15, 14, 14, 14

7, 15, 14, 14, 14, 14

7, 7

0, 0

7, 7

0, 63,127,255,255

How the program works

This program begins by assigning a number of printer commands to

BASIC string variables (lines 1000 to 1090). You can find most of these

commands near the beginning of Appendix B.

The WIDTH “LPTl:” 255 statement in line 1110 means infinite line
width. It prevents the IBM-PC from inserting unwanted carriage returns
and line feeds in graphics data.

42

Actual printing begins in line 1120. Using the preassigned commands,
the program prints samples of its different type styles, including a line
showing all styles in italics, followed by samples of the print pitches, then
some double and quadruple-sized printing.

Next comes the central attraction of the program: a line of text printed
fourteen times in expanding and contracting loops to give a barrel effect.
The work is done by four printer commands: a command setting the right
margin (line 1460); a centering command (line 1480); a command to vary
the line spacing (lines 1500 and 1550); and a command to micro-adjust the
space between characters (lines 1510 and 1560).

Next the program returns to normal spacing and gives a demonstration
of the printer’s word-processing abilities: outlined printing, bold printing,
underlining, subscripts, etc.

The row of telephone symbols in the next printed line is created by

downloading two new character patterns, which are printed in place of the

character “ < ” (character 60). Details can be found in Appendix C.

The final part of the program uses dot graphics to print an “S&S” logo.
The dot pattern of the logo was originally laid out on graph paper, then
converted to the data in lines 3240 to 3630 with the help of a calculator.
Each number represents eight vertical dots. (See “Graphics commands” in

Appendix B for details.)

The pattern is printed in four rows, each eight dots high and 100 dots
wide. Lines 1980 to 2050 read the dot data into a string array variable named
LOGO$. Line 2060 sets the line spacing to 8/60 inch so that the rows will
connect vertically. The loop in lines 2070 to 2120 does the printing in four
passes of the print head.

This program can also be run in IBM mode (DIP switch l-6 OFF) if
you change a few of the lines as shown below to allow for differences in
some of the commands. You will get a cylinder instead of a barrel effect,

becuase the IBM mode does not have any command to micro-adjust the

character spacing.

Modifications for IBM mode:

1090 PI$=CHR$(.18)
1190 LPRINT CHR$(28);"4"; 'Select italics
1220 LPRINT CHR$(28);"5"
1260 ' LPRINT H$;E$;"g";"
1300 '
1400 ' LPRINT H$;CHR$(26);'*E";CHR$(2);"Triple width,";
1460 LPRINT CHR$(28);"Q";CHR$(47) 'Set right margin
1500 LPRINT E$;"A";CHR$(I);E$;"Z": 'Set line spacing
1510 ' LPRINT ES;" ";CHR$(I);
1550 LPRINT E$;"A";CHR$(I);E$;"Z"; 'Set line spacing
1560 ' LPRINT ES;” ";CHR$(I);

LPRINT H$;E$;"M";'

'Pica pitch

'Cancel italics
Semi-condensed pitch (15 CPI),";
Condensed elite pitch (20 CPI),";

'Increase character space
'Increase character space

43

1600 LPRINT E$;"3";CHR$(36); 'Set l/6" line spacing
1610 ' LPRINT ES;" ";CHR$(O);

'Normal character space
1640 ' LPRINT H$;E$;"q";CHR$(l);'OUTLINED";", ";E$;"q";CHR$(O);
1650 ' LPRINT E$;"q";CHR$(2);'SHADOWED";", ";E$;"q";CHR$(O);
1660 ' LPRINT E$;"q";CHR$(3);'0UTLINED WITH SHADOWED";", ";
1670 ' LPRINT E$;"q";CHR$(O)
2060 LPRINT E$;"A";CHR$(e);E$;"2": ' Set e/72" line spacing
2530 LPRINT E$;"Sl";CHR$(28);':";CHR$(O);CHR$(O);CHR$(O);
2540 LPRINT ES;"=";

cHR$(o);cHR$(6o);cHR$(6o);

2670 LPRINT ES;"="; c~$(o);c~$(6o);c~$(6o);

Chapter 5

MAIAITEIVAIVCE

AND TROUBLESHOOTING

Dust and heat will make any mechanism wear more quickly. The best
maintenance is preventive, and the first step is correct location of the printer.
This is covered in greater detail in Chapter 1, but in general an environment
comfortable for humans is best for both the computer and the printer.

Subjects covered in this chapter are:

l Cleaning the printer
l Replacing the ribbon
l Replacing the print head
l Replacing the battery in the RAM card
l Troubleshooting

CLEANING THE PRINTER

Cleaning the printer regularly will prolong its service life. Use a damp
cloth on the exterior every week or so. For stubborn dirt, you may moisten

the cloth with alcohol or water containing a mild detergent, but be careful
not to spill any liquid into the interior of the printer.

Use a soft brush to remove paper dust and lint from the interior. A small

vacuum cleaner can also make this task easier, but be very careful not to
bend or injure any electronic parts or wiring. The printer contains delicate
electronic parts, so only clean those places where you have easy access.

RkPLACING THE RIBBON

The printer uses an endless-type ribbon cartridge in which the ribbon

is recycled automatically. When the print becomes faint, it is time to replace
the ribbon cartridge.

To remove.the old cartridge, take off the top cover, grasp the ribbon

cartridge by the two arms at the both sides and lift straight up. To fit the
new cartridge, guide the ribbon between the print head and platen, then
press down until the cartridge snaps into place. See Figure 5-l.

45

Figure 5-1. Replacing the ribbon cartridge

REPLACING THE PRINT HEAD

The dot matrix print head has a life of about 200 million dots, or years
of normal use. When printing is too light even after replacing the ribbon,
you’ll know that the print head has reached the end of its service life. To
replace the print head, follow the procedure below.

As you remove the old print head, note carefully how the cable is
threaded, so that you can thread the new cable in the same way.

Warning: The print head becomes hot during operation. If you have been

using the printer, wait awhile so that the print head can cool
off.

1. Turn power OFF and unplug the power cord.

2. Remove the top cover and ribbon cartridge.

3. Move the print head carriage toward the right until you can see the

connector cover. Remove the connector cover and pull the cable free
from the connector.

4. Unscrew the two screws that hold the print head in place and set them

aside.

5. Disengage the cable from the tabs holding it down, then remove the
print head.

6. For easy installation of the new print head, move the carriage toward
the left end of the rail.

46

7. Place the new print head on its support, seating it on the two pins.

8. Thread the new cable the same way as the old, securing it under the
tabs on the print head carriage.

9. Plug the cable into the connector, inserting it as far as it will go,

screws

Prmt head

Connector

-

Figure 5-2. Replacing the print head

10. Fasten the print head down with the two screws.

11. Move the carriage back toward the right and replace the connector cover.
Slide the connector cover to the left until it locks into place.

12. Replace the ribbon cartridge and top cover, and plug the power cord

back in.

47

REPLACING THE BATTERY IN THE RAM CARD

The optional RAM card has an internal battery that backs up the stored
data even when the card is removed from the printer. This battery can be
used for more than four years. To avoid losing data from the RAM card,
you should replace the battery before the end of its service life. Follow the
procedure below.

1. Insert the RAM card in the printer as described in Chapter 1.

2. Turn the power switch on to supply power to the RAM card.

3. Unscrew the screw that holds the battery in place and set it aside.

4. Remove the old battery, and install the new battery the same way as

the old.

5. Fasten the battery holder plate with the screw.

6. Turn off the power switch and remove the RAM card.

Holder

Figure 5-3. Replacing the battery

TROUBLESHOOTING

n If the printer doesn’t print:

l Check the Power and On Line indicators. Both must be on.
l Check that the interface cable is securely plugged in at the computer and

printer ends.

l Make a test print. (Turn power OFF, hold the On Line or Paper Feed

switch down, then turn power ON.) If the test print succeeds, the problem
is not with the printer; try a different printing command, or try using a
different cable. If the test print fails, have the printer checked by a qualified

serviceman.

n If fanfold paper becomes stuck:

l Turn power off, take off the rear cover, remove the paper, and reload

the paper as described in Chapter 1.

l Make sure the paper is placed so that it feeds into the printer straight.

n If label paper becomes stuck:

l Have a qualified serviceman remove any label paper that adheres inside

the printer. Do not attempt to remove it yourself.

l Avoid using label paper with any exposed adhesive areas.

w If printing is faint, incomplete, or unclear:

l Check that the ribbon cartridge is installed correctly. If the ribbon car-

tridge is old, replace it.

l Adjust the printing gap. See Chapter 1.

l If ribbon replacement or gap adjustment does not solve the problem,

replace the print head.

n If a// text is printed on the same line:

l Set DIP switch l-8 to the OFF (front) position.

q If line spacing is twice as wide as expected:

l Set DIP switoh l-8 to the ON (back) position.

n If you can’t print to the end of the page:

l This is normal. The printer’s paper-out detector detects the end of the

paper and stops printing about an inch above the end.

l You can make the printer ignore the paper-out detector by setting DIP

switch l-5 to the OFF (front) position, or by using the < ESC > “8” printer
command.

49

n If the printed characters don’t match the characters on the

screen:

l Check DIP switches 2-2 to 2-4. When these switches are not all ON (back),

an international character set is selected and some ASCII symbols are
changed to other characters. See Appendix D.

l Some software is not able to display international characters on the screen.

If you use an international character set you may want to paste labels
on the keyboard.

l If you are using the IBM mode, check DIP switch l-7. Some international

characters and symbols do not print when this switch is OFF (front).

n If some printer commands are ignored or executed incor-

rectly:

l Check that the setting of DIP switch l-6 matches the type of printer your

software supports: ON (back) for Star or Epson; OFF (front) for IBM.

l A few commands are mutually exclusive. For example, you cannot get

emphasized condensed printing.

H If you have problems with horizontal tabulation:

l Don’t change the margins after setting tabs.
l Don’t change the print pitch after setting tabs. The physical positions

of the tab stops do not adjust to the new print pitch.

H If you have problems with graphics:

l If you are using commercial software, check that it supports this printer,

or a Star, Epson or IBM printer, and that DIP switch l-6 is set correctly:
ON (back) for Star or Epson; OFF (front) for IBM.

l Use a,hex dump to verify the codes the printer is receiving. See the graphics

command descriptions in Appendix B. Some computers insert unwanted
commands (such as carriage returns and line feeds) in graphics data, or
change the values of certain codes.

l BASIC programs may require a WIDTH statement. Check your BASIC

manual.

.-

H If you have problems with download characters:

l Check that DIP switch 2-1 is OFF (front).
l Make the same checks as for graphics problems.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

n Printing Mechanism

Printing method

Printing speed

Printing direction

Text:

Dot graphics:

Print head

Serial impact dot matrix

150 characters per second (draft pica)

50 characters per second (LQ pica)

Bidirectional or unidirectional (select­able), logic seeking
Unidirectional, logic seeking

24 Pins
Life: 200 million dots

Ribbon

Paper feed

Paper feed speed

n Interface and Emu/a tion

Interface

Data buffer

Emulation modes

n Switches and indicators

Power switch

Control panel

DIP switches

Black fabric ribbon cartridge
Life: 2 million draft characters

Friction and push-tractor feed
Semiautomatic sheet loading

3.4 inches/second (during page feed)

Centronics-compatible, 7 or 8 bit,

TTL-level

7K bytes when not used for download
characters
l-Line buffer when using download

Epson LQ-800 and IBM Proprinter X24

Rocker switch
4 Membrane switches, 10 LED indicators
16 pins

Special features

4 Dot Matrix Size

Draft character:

Panel pitch/style lock-in
Forward and reverse micro-feed
Paper parking
Hexadecimal dump

24 x 9 dots (Pica)
24 x 9 dots (Elite)

16 x 7 dots (Semi-condensed)
24 x 9 dots (Condensed pica)
24 x 9 dots (Condensed elite)

16 x 7 dots (Super/Subscript)

LQ characters:

Dot graphics:

n Character Sets

Standard character set
IBM character set

Download characters

24 x 35 dots (Pica)
24 x 29 dots (Elite)
16 x 23 dots (Semi-condensed)
24 x 18 dots (Condensed pica)
24 x 15 dots (Condensed elite)

16 x 23 dots (Super/Subscript)
8 x 480 dots at 60 dpi (Single density)

8 x 640 dots at 80 dpi (CRT I)
8 x 720 dots at 90 dpi (CRT II)
8 x 960 dots at 120 dpi (Double density)
8 x 960 dots at 120 dpi (High speed)
8 x 1920 dots at 240 dpi (Quadruple den­sity)

24 x 480 dots at 60 dpi (Single density)
24 x 720 dots at 90 dpi (CRT II)
24 x 960 dots at 120 dpi (Double density)
24 x 1440 dots at 180 dpi (Triple density)
24 x 2880 dots at 360 dpi (Hex density)

96 ASCII characters
244 characters (ASCII, international

characters, symbols, block graphics)
Max. 50 (Expandable to 221 with optional

RAM card)

International character sets

52

14 sets (USA, France, Germany, England,

Denmark I, Denmark II, Sweden, Italy,
Spain I, Spain II, Japan, Norway, Latin
America, Denmark/Norway)

n Type Sty/es and Pitches

Type styles

Extra-large characters

Print pitches

Line spacing

Column width

Pica:
Elite:
Semi-condensed:
Condensed pica:
Condensed elite:

Draft 12, Draft 15, Courier 10, Courier

12, Courier 15, Courier proportional,
Prestige 10, Prestige 12, Prestige 15 Pres­tige proportional, Orator 12, Orator 15,
script 10, script 12, script 15

Double width, triple width, double height,
double width and height, quadruple width
and height

Pica (10 cpi)
Elite (12 cpi)

Semi-condensed (15 cpi) [Standard mode

only1

Condensed pica (17 cpi)

Condensed elite (20 cpi) [Standard mode

only1

Proportional spacing [Courier and Prestige

characters only]

l/6 inch (standard)

l/8, n/60, n/72, n/180, n/216, or n/360 inch

(programmable)

8 inches

80 characters
96 characters

120 characters
137 characters
160 characters

w Paper Specifications

’ Single sheets

Fanfold paper

Number of copies

n Dimensions and Weight

Dimensions

Weight

140 to 216 mm (5.5 to 8.5 inches) wide,

0.07 to 0.10 mm thick

102 to 254 mm (4 to 10 inches) wide

0.07 to 0.10 mm thick (single-ply)
Max. 0.28 mm thick (3-ply)

Max. 3 (original + 2 copies)

Width 410 mm (16.1 inches)
Depth 328 mm (12.9 inches)
Height 120 mm ( 4.7 inches)

6.4 kg (14.1 pounds)

53

1 Electrical Specifications

Line voltage

120 VAC + 10%
220 VAC f 10%
240 VAC + 10%
(varies according to the country of pur­chase)

Line frequency
Power consumption
Insulation resistance

50 or 60 Hz
Typ. 39W, Max. 135W

10 megohms between AC power line and

chassis

Dielectric strength

Withstands 1 kVAC rms at 50 or 60 Hz
between AC power line and chassis for
at least 1 minute

n Environmental Requirements

Operating temperature
Operating humidity
Storage temperature
Storage humidity

n Option

5 to 40°C (41 to 104°F)
10% to 80% (no condensation)

- 30 to 65°C (- 22 to 149°F)

10% to 95% (at 40°C) (no condensation)

Automatic sheet feeder

R fnterface Signals

Eight-bit character data. DATA8 is the
most significant bit. DATA1 is the least
significant bit. High is logic 1 and Low is

Pin No.

10 KCK

11

12

Signal

Name

BUSY

PAPER

Direction Function

OUT

OUT

OUT

OUT

13 SELECTED OUT
14-15 N/C
16 SIGNAL

GND

17

CHASSIS
GND

18

+ SVDC

OUT

19-30 GND

31 m IN

32 -

OUT

33 EXT GND
34, 35 N/C

36 SELECT IN IN

5-Microsecond
Low pulse acknowledees receipt of data.

Low when the printer is ready to accept
data.

Goes High if the printer runs out of paper.
Can be held Low permanently by turning

DIP switch l-5 off.
High when the printer is on-line.
Unused
Signal ground.

Printer’s chassis ground, isolated from
signal ground.

External SUDD~Y of + SVDC.
Twisted pair return signal ground level.
Low input resets the printer to its power-up

condition.
Goes Low to signal that the printer cannot

mint due to an error condition.
External ground.
Unused.
Always High.

MEMO

56

PRINTER CONTROL COMMANDS

This appendix describes the printer’s control commands. The commands are
arranged by function. The name of each command is followed by a table like the
one below:

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC>

<ESC>

Mode:

ASCII:

Decimal

3” c‘ ” 1

“X” <I>

27 120 49
27 120 1

Indicates the mode in which the command is recognized.
Std.
IBM
Both

Standard mode (DIP switch l-6 on)
IBM mode (DIP switch l-6 off)
Both Standard and IBM modes

Indicates the ASCII coding of the command. Control

Hexadecimal

1B 78 31
IB 78 01

characters are enclosed in pointed brackets: For example.

< 1 > means character code 1.

Decimal:

Gives the command in decimal character codes.

Hexadecimal: Gives the command in hexadecimal character codes.

Parameters for which values must be supplied are indicated by italic letters

such as n.

Many commands have alternative forms. Some commands use < ESC >
(character code 27) in Standard mode and < FS > (character code 28) in IBM
mode. Other commands have parameters that can be specified as either character
codes or digit characters, like the parameter 1 in the sample command above.

FdNT CONTROL COMMANDS

Select draft quality characters

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC> “XI’ “0” 27 120 48 1B 78 30
<ESC> ?” co> 27 120 0 1B 78 00

Changes from letter quality to draft quality. Ignored if the printer was
set to stay in panel style at power-on.

Decimal

Hexadecimal

Select LQ characters

1 Mode 1 ASCII 1 Decimal 1 Hexadecimal

Both

<ESC> “x” “ 1 ” 27 120 49 IB 78 31
iESC> “X” <I> 27 120 1 IB 78 01

Changes from draft quality to letter quality. Ignored if the printer was
set to stay in panel style at power-on.

Select LQ type style

Mode
Both

Std. <FS>

ASCII

<ESC>

Selects an LQ type style according to the value of n. In draft mode, this
command remains dormant and takes effect later when LQ is selected
by <ESC> “x” 1. Ignored if the printer was set to stay in panel style
at power-on.

“k” n 27 107 n
“C” n

n Type style
0 Courier

I Optional font
2 Prestige
3 Orator
4 Script

Decimal

28 67 n

Hexadecimal

1B 6B n

1c 43 n

Select ornament character

Mode ASCII Decimal

Std. 1 <ESC>

n 127113 n

“a ”

Selects an ornament character according to the value of n.

n Character
0 Normal

1 Outlined
2 Shadow
3 Outlined with shadow

Hexadecimal

IIB 71 n

I

Select italic characters

Mode

Std. <ESC> “4” 27 52 1B 34
IBM <FS> “4” 28 52 1c 34

ASCII

Causes subsequent characters to be printed in italics. Ignored if the printer

was set to stay in panel style at power-on.

58

Decimal Hexadecimal

Select upright characters

Mode

Std.
IBM

ASCII

<ESC> “ ”

< FS > “ ”

5
5

Stops italic printing and causes subsequent characters to be printed up­right. Ignored if the printer was set to stay in panel style at power-on.

Emphasized printing

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC> “E”

Causes subsequent characters to be emphasized by adding extra thickness
to vertical strokes.

Cancel emphasized printing

Mode ASCII

Both <ESC>

“F”

Cancels emphasized printing.

Double-strike printing

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC> “Cl”

Causes subsequent characters to be printed in double-strike mode with
a slight vertical paper motion in between, causing a thickening of hori­zontal strokes. For bold print, use of double-strike is recommended in

LQ mode, and combined use of emphasized and double-strike is recom­mended in draft mode. Double-strike cannot be used with superscripts
or subscripts.

Decimal

27 53 1B 35
28 53

Decimal

27 69

Decimal

27 70 1B 46

Decimal

27 71

Hexadecimal

1c 35

Hexadecimal

1B 45

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

IB 47

Cancel double-strike printing

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC>

“H ”

Cancels double-strike printing.

Start underlining

Mode ASCII

Both

< ESC > “-” “ 1” 27

< ESC > “-” <I> 27

Causes subsequent characters to be underlined. IBM block graphics

characters and spaces skipped by horizontal tabulation are not underlined.

Decimal

27 72 1B 48

Decimal

45 49 1B 2D 31
45 1 1B 2D 01

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

Stop underlining

1 Mode 1 ASCII

Both

< ESC > “-” "0" 27 45 48 1B 2D 30

< ESC > “-” co> 27 45 0 IB 2D 00

1 Decimal

Hexadecimal I

I

Stops underlining.

Start overlining

Mode ASCII

Both

< ESC > “ 11 L‘, 31 27 95 49 IB 5F 31
< ESC > “_” <I> 27 95 1 IB 5F 01

Causes subsequent characters to be overlined. Spaces skipped by hori-

zontal tabulation are not overlined.

Decimal Hexadecimal

Stop overlining

IModel ASCII I Decimal I Hexadecimal I

Both

< ESC > “-39 “OX 21 95 48 1B 5F 30

<ESC> “-” <O> 27 95 0 1B 5F 00

Stops overlining.

Superscript

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC> “S” “0” 27 83 48 IB 53 30
<ESC> “S” co> 27 83 0 IB 53 00

Causes subsequent characters to be printed as superscripts. Does not
change the character pitch.

Decimal Hexadecimal

Subscript

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC> “S” “1”
<ESC> “S”

<I> 27 83 1 1B 53 01

Causes subsequent characters to be printed as subscripts. Does not change
the character pitch.

Cancel superscript or subscript

IModel ASCII I

/Both I <ESC>

Stops printing superscripts or subscripts and returns to normal printing.

60

“T” 1 21 84 i1B 54

Decimal Hexadecimal

21 83 49 IB 53 31

Decimal

Hexadecimal I

I

I

CHARACTER SET COMMANDS
Select standard character set

pi

Selects the standard character set. This is the power-up default in Standard

mode if DIP switch l-7 is ON.

Select IBM character set

~~

Selects an IBM character set. This is the power-up default in IBM mode
if DIP switch 1-7 is OFF.

Select character set ##7

Mode

Both <ESC>

ASCII

“7”

Selects character set #l.

Select character set #2

Mode ASCII

Both <ESC>

“6”

Selects character set #2.

Select international character set

Mode ASCli

Std. <ESC>
IBM

<FS>

Selects an international character set according to the value of n as shown
next.

“R” n
“R” n

Decimal Hexadecimal

27 55 IB 37

Decimal

27 54

Decimal Hexadecimal

27 82 n 1B 52 n
28 82 n IC 52 n

Hexadecimal

1B 36

61

n Character set
0 U.S.A

1 France

2 Germany

n Character set
7 Spain I

8 Japan

9 Norway
3 England
4 Denmark

I

5 Sweden

6 Italy

The first eight of these character sets (from U.S.A. to Spain I) can be
selected as power-up defaults by DIP switches 2-2 to 2-4.

Enable printing of all character codes

10 Denmark II
11 Spain II
12 Latin America
13 Denmark/Norway

~ Mode 1

IBM 1

ASCII

< ESC > “\” nl n2

1 Decimal

21 92 nl n2

1 Hexadecimal 1

1B SC nl n2

Enables printing of all characters in the IBM character set, including those
assigned to character codes which are normally considered control codes.
This command remains in effect for the next nl + nZ x 256 characters,
where nl and n,? are numbers between 0 and 255. During this interval

no control functions are executed. If a code with no assigned character

is received, the printer prints a space.

Enable printing of a// character codes on next character

Mode ASCII

IIBM 1

<ESC> “A~’

This command operates like < ESC > “\” except that it remains in effect
for only one character.

Decimal

27 94

Hexadecimal

IlB SE

Select slash zero

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC> “ 1, _ “ 1”

<ESC> &‘ 3, N <I>

Causes subsequent zero characters to be overprinted with a slash.

Decimal

27 126 49 IB
27 126 1 IB

Hexadecimal

7E 31
7E 01

Select normal zero

IModel ASCII

Both

<ESC> “ >. u “0”
<ESC> “ >. _ co>

Causes subsequent zero characters to be printed normally (0), without
a slash.

I Decimal

27 126 48 1B
27 126 0 1B

I Hexadecimal

7E 3b
7E 00

I

CHARACTER SIZE AND PITCH COMMANDS

Pica pitch

Mode ASCII

Std. <ESC>
IBM

<DC2> 18

“P” 27 80 IB 50

Decimal Hexadecimal

12

In Standard mode, changes from either elite or semi-condensed to pica
pitch (10 cpi) or from condensed elite to condensed pica (17 cpi). In IBM
mode, changes from either elite or condensed to pica (IO cpi). Ignored
if the printer was set to stay in panel pitch at power-up.

Elite pitch

IModel ASCII 1 Decimal 1 Hexadecimal 1

IBoth I <ESC> “M” 1 27 17 IlB 4D

IBM 1

< ESC > “:”

27 58

IIB 3A

In Standard mode, changes from either pica or semi-condensed to elite
pitch (12 cpi) or from condensed pica to condensed elite (20 cpi). In IBM

mode, changes from either pica or condensed to elite (12 cpi). Ignored

if the printer was set to stay in panel pitch at power-up.

High-speed elite pitch

Mode

Std. -

ASCII

<FS> 3”
<FS> “S”

“ 1”

Cl>

Selects high-speed draft quality with elite pitch. This command becomes

effective only after the draft quality and elite pitch have been selected.

Decimal Hexadecimal

28 83 49 IC 53 31
28 83 1 1c 53 01

High-density elite pitch

I

Mode ASCII

Std. -

IFS>
<FS> “S” co> 28 83 0 1c 53 00

“S”

“0”

Decimal Hexadecimal

28 83 48 IC 53 30

Selects high-density draft quality with elite pitch. This command becomes
effective only after the draft quality and elite pitch have been selected.

Semi-condensed pitch

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal
Std. 1 <ESC> “d’ I.27 103 IIS 67

Changes from either pica or elite to semi-condensed pitch (15 cpi). Ignored
if the printer was set to stay in panel pitch at power-up.

63

Condensed printing

Mode

Both

ASCII Decimal

<Sl>

<ESC>

< SI >

15

27 15

Hexadecimal

OF

IB OF

In Standard mode, changes from pica to condensed pica (17 cpi) or from
elite to condensed elite (20 cpi). In IBM mode, changes from pica to
condensed (17 cpi). Ignored if the printer was set to stay in panel pitch
at power-up.

Cancel condensed printing

IModel ASCII

&hi <DC2>

In Standard mode, changes from condensed pica to normal pica or from

condensed elite to normal elite. In IBM mode, always changes to normal
pica. Ignored if the printer was set to stay in panel pitch at power-up.

I Decimal I Hexadecimal I

18 12

Expanded printing

IMode I ASCII I Decimal

Both -

<ESC> “W” “I” 27 87 49 1B 57 31
<ESC> “W” Cl> 27 87 1 1B 57 01

Causes subsequent characters to be expanded to double width.

Hexadecimal

I

Cancel expanded printing

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

Both .

<ESC> “W” “0” 27 87 48 1B 57 30

*ESC> “W” co> 27 87 0 IB 57 00

Stops expanded printing and returns to normal width.

I

I

I

Expanded printing for one line

1 Mode I ASCII

Both

64

<so> 14

<ESC> <so>

Causes subsequent characters in the current line to be expanded to double
width. Characters return to normal width after the next line feed (< LF > ).
The <DC4>, <VT>,
cancel expanded printing.

< FF > , and < ESC > “W” 0 commands also

I Decimal I Hexadecimal

OE

27 14 IB OE

I

Caocel one-line expanded printing

Mode

Both 1

ASCII Decimal

<DC4> I 20 I 14

Stops one-line expanded printing set with < SO > or < ESC >
Does not cancel < ESC > “W” 1.

Select proportional spacing

IModel ASCII I

’ <ESC> “ 33

Both

IBM <ESC> “P” <I> 27

<ESC> “ ”

P “1” 27

P <I> 27

Causes subsequent Courier or Prestige characters to be proportionally
spaced. Ignored if the printer was set to stay in panel pitch at power-up.

Select fixed spacing

Mode ASCII

<ESC> "D"

D”L‘l 1 <ESC > “p” <O>

I

IBM 1 <ESC>

“0” 127112 48 IlB 70 30

“P” co> 1 27 80 0 1 1B 50 00

Causes subsequent characters to be printed with fixed character spacing.
Ignored if the printer was set to stay in panel pitch at power-up.

Select master print mode

Mode ASCII

Both

.

<ESC’

Selects a combined print mode according to the value of n. The value
of n is the sum of the values given below for the desired characteristics.
Examples: n = 1 gives elite; n = 9 (1 + 8) gives emphasized elite; n

= 137 (1 + 8 + 128) gives underlined emphasized elite.

[*l] Ignored if the printer was set to stay in panel style at power:up.

[*2] Ignored if the printer was set to stay in panel pitch at power-up.

“,W

n 27 33 n 1B 21 n

Function n value
Underline 128

Italic [*I]
Expanded 32
Double strike
Emphasized 8
Condensed [*2] 4
Proportional [*2] 2
Elite [*2] 1

Hexadecimal

Decimal

112 49 1B 70 31
112 1 IB 70 01

80 1 1B 50 01

Decimal Hexadecimal

I27 112 0 IIB 70 00

Decimal Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal I

I

64

16

< SO > .

1

65

increase character spacing

IModel ASCII

Std. 1

<ESC> “” n

Increases the space between characters by n dots, where n is a number
from 0 to 127. Used in microjustification.

Select double or quadruple size

Mode ASCII

Both <ESC> “h” n

Selects the size of subsequent characters as shown below. Extra-high
characters align along the cap-line of normal characters, with the base
line temporarily moving down. Line spacing is temporarily doubled when
n = 1 and quadrupled when n = 2.

n Effect

0 Normal size

1 Double-high, double-wide

2 Quadruple-high, quadruple-wide

Print double-height characters

IModel ASCII

Both

Std.

<ESC> “W” “ 1” 27 119 49 1B 77 31
<ESC> (‘W)’ <I> 27 119 1 1B 77 01

<FS> “V” “ 1” 28 86 49 1C 56 31
<FS> “V” Cl> 28 86 1 1C 56 01

Prints subsequent characters at double height without moving the base
line, and without changing the line spacing.

Decimal

I

21 32 n

Decimal Hexadecimal

27 104 n

Decimal

I

Hexadecimal I

I

IB 20 n

1B 68 n

Hexadecimal I

I

Return to normal height

IModel ASCII I Decimal I Hexadecimal I

119 48 1B 77 30 Both I27 1

I

66

<ESC>
<ESC> “W” co> I27 119 0 1 1B 77 00

<FS> “V” “0” 28 86 48 Std. IlC 56 30
<FS> “V” co> 28 86 0 1C 56 00

Terminates double-height printing and prints subsequent characters at
normal height.

“WI’ “0”

Select character width

Mode ASCII

Std. I <FS>

Selects a character width according to the value of n as shown below.

Select character height, width, and line spacing

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

<ESC> “[”

Both

Selects a combination of character height, width, and line spacing ac-

cording to the value of n and m, as below. Does not move the base line.

n

0

1

2
16
li
18

32
33
34

m

1

2

I

Double-height printing temporarily cancels the super/subscript and

condensed printing modes, but these modes resume when the printer

returns to normal height.

“E” n 1 28 69 n

n Character width
0 Normal-wide

1 Double-wide
2 Triple-wide

“@”

<o> -co> <o> n

m m

Line spacing
Unchanged

Unchanged Single height
Unchanged Double height
Single
Single Single height
Single
Double Unchanged
Double
Double Double height

Single width (same as < ESC > “W” 0)
Double width (same as < ESC > “W” 1)

<4>

Character width

Decimal

27 91 64 4 iB 5B 40 04

0 0 0 n 00 00 00 n

Character height
Unchanged

Unchanged

Double height

Single height

Hexadecimal

IIC 45 n

m

Select character type and print pitch

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

IBM < ESC > “I” n 27 73 n 1B 49 n

Selects a combination of character type and print pitch according to the
value of n as shown below.

n Character type
0 Resident Draft

8 Resident Draft

16 Resident Draft

2 Resident LQ

10 Resident LQ

Print pitch
Pica

Elite
Condensed
Pica
Elite

18 Resident LQ Condensed

3 Resident LQ

4 Download Draft

12 Download Draft

20 Download Draft

6 Download LQ

14 Download LQ

Proportional
Pica
Elite
Condensed
Pica
Elite

22 Download LQ Condensed

7 Download LQ

Proportional

Ignored if the printer was set to stay in panel pitch and/or panel style
at power-up.

VERTICAL POSITION COMMANDS

Set line spacing to 718 inch

Mode

Both

ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

tESC>

“0”

27 48 IB 30

Sets the distance the paper advances or reverses in subsequent line feeds

to l/8 inch.

Set line spacing to 7160 or 7172 inch

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal
Both

< ESC > “1”

27 49 1B 31

Sets the distance the paper advances or reverses in subsequent line feeds
to 7/60 inch (Standard mode) or 7/72 inch (IBM mode).

Set line spacing to 116 inch

Mode ASCII
Std. 1

IBM <FS> “2” 28 50 IC 32

< ESC > “2”

Decimal

27 50 IB 32

Hexadecimal

Sets the distance the paper advances or reverses in subsequent line feeds
to l/6 inch.

Set base unit for line spacing

Mode ASCII

< ESC > “1.. “\‘1

IBM

Sets the base unit for the line spacing commands, < ESC > “3” and

< ESC > “J”. lf the value of n is 180. the base unit is set to l/180”. If
the value of n is 216, the base unit is set to l/216”. If otherwise specified,
this command is ignored. This command becomes effective only after

< ESC > “3” or < ESC > “J” is received. The default base unit is set to

li216”.

<o> <o> <o> <o>

<4>

n

Decimal

27 91 92 4

0 0 0 0

n

Hexadecimal

1B 5B 5C 04

00 00 00 00

Set line spacing to n/180 or n/276 inch

Mode ASCII
Both I

-cESC> “ ” 3 n

Sets the distance the paper advances or reverses in subsequent line feeds
to n/180 inch (Standard mode) or n/216 inch (IBM mode), where n is
between 0 and 255. If n = 0, in Standard mode the line-feed distance is
set to 0. but in IBM mode this command is ignored.

Decimal

127 51 n IIB 33 n

Hexadecimal

Set line spacing to n/360 inch

n

I

Mode ASCII

Bbth

<ESC>

IFS> ‘* ” 3 n

.‘ + .’ ,I

Decimal Hexadecimal

27 43 n 18 2B n
28 51 n

Sets the distance the paper advances or reverses in subsequent line feeds
to n/360 inch, where n is between 0 and 255. Ifn = 0, the line-feed distance
is set to 0.

Set line spacing to n/60 oy n/72 inch

Mode ASCII

Std. <ESC> “A” n

IBM <FS> “A” n

Sets the distance the paper advances or reverses in subsequent line feeds

to n/60 inch (Standard mode) or n/72 inch (IBM mode), where n is between
0 and 255. If n = 0, the line spacing is set to 0.

Decimal

27 65 n 1B 41 n
28 65 n 1C 41 n

1C 33 n

Hexadecimal

69

Define line spacing to n/72 inch

Mode

IBM

ASCII

<ESC> “A” n 27 65 n 1B 41 n

Decimal

Defines the distance the paper advances or reverses in subsequent lines
feeds to n/72 inch, where n is between 1 and 85. If n = 0, this command
is ignored. The new line spacing does not take effect until the next < ESC >
“2” command.

Execute < ESC > “A”

Mode ASCII Decimal

IBM ‘ESC> “2” 27 50

Sets the line spacing to the value defined by the last preceding < ESC >
“A” command. Sets the line spacing to l/6 inch if there is no preceding

< ESC > “A” command.

Line feed

Mode

ASCII

Both 1 <LF>

Prints the current line and feeds the paper to the next line. If DIP switch

l-2 is ON, also moves the next print position to the left margin. See the

preceding commands for the line spacing.

Decimal

1 10 IOA

Reverse line feed

Mode

1 ASCII

Both 1 <ESC> <LF> 27 10

Prints the current line and feeds the paper in the reverse direction to the
preceding line. If DIP switch l-2 is ON, also moves the next print position
to the left margin. See the preceding commands for the line spacing.
Ignored when friction feed is used.

Decimal

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

1B 32

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

IlB OA

I

I

I

Select forward feed mode

Mode
Std. 1

ASCII Decimal

<FS> “F” 1 28 70

Cancels the reverse feed mode and selects forward feed mode. This is the
default setting at power-up.

Select reverse feed mode

I Mode I ASCII

Std.

<FS> “R” 28 82

Selects reverse feed mode. Reverses the direction of all vertical move-

ments. Ignored when friction feed is used.

I

Decimal

Hexadecimal

IlC 46

I Hexadecimal I

i

1C 52

I

Perform one n/780-inch or n/276-inch line feed

Mode ASCII

Both <ESC>

“J” n

Decimal

27 74 n 1B4A n

Feeds the paper once by n/180 inches (Standard mode) or n/216 inches
(IBM mode), where n is between 0 and 255. Does not move the print
position right or left when DIP switch 1-2 is OFF; returns the carriage
to the left margin if DIP switch 1-2 is ON. Does not change the
line-spacing setting.

Perform one n/180-inch reverse line feed

Mode ASCII

Std.

< ESC > “j” n

Feeds the paper once by n/180 inches in the reverse direction, where n
is between 0 and 255. Does not move the print position right or left when
DIP switch 1-2 is OFF; returns the carriage to the left margin if DIP switch

1-2 is ON. Does not change the line-spacing setting. Ignored when friction

feed is used.

Decimal

21 106 n IlB 6A n

Feed paper n lines

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC> “f’ “I” n 27

<ESC> “f <I> n 27

Feeds the paper n lines from the current line, where n is between 0 and

iii.

Decimal

102 49 n IB 66 31 n
102 1 n 1B 66 01 n

Set top of page at current position

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

I

I

1 Mode 1 ASCII I

I

IBM <ESC>

“4”

Sets the current position as the top-of-page position. Note that this can
also be done from the control panel.

Set page length to n lines

Mode ASCII

Both <ESC>

Sets the page length ton lines in the current line spacing, where n is between

1 and 127 in Standard mode or between 1 and 255 in IBM mode. Changing
the line spacing later does not alter the physical page length. The current
line becomes the top of the page.

“C” n

Decimal

27 52 1B 34

Decimal

21 67 n IB 43 n

1 Hexadecimal 1

Hexadecimal

I

Set page Iength to n inches

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC>

“C” co> n 27 67 0 n 1B 43 00 n

Sets the page length to n inches, where n is between 1 and 22 in Standard
mode or between 1 and 127 in IBM mode. The current line becomes the
top of the page.

Set fop margin

Mode ASCII

Both <ESC> “C"

Sets the top margin to n lines, where n is between 1 and 255. Printing

n 21 99 n IB 63 n

begins on the (n + 1)th line on the page.

Set bottom margin

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC>

“N” n 27 78 n lB4E n

Sets the bottom margin to n lines, where n is between 1 and 127 in Standard
mode or between 1 and 255 in IBM mode. The bottom margin is reset
when you change the page length.

Cancel top and bottom margins

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC> “0”

Cancels both the top margin and the bottom margin.

Decimal

Decimal Hexadecimal

Decimal Hexadecimal

Decimal Hexadecimal

21 79 1B 4F

Hexadecimal

Form feed

Mode
Both t <FF> I 12 lot I

ASCII

Decimal

Feeds the paper to the top of the next page according to the current page

length, and moves the print position to the left margin. When the auto­matic sheet feeder (ASF) is selected (DIP switch 1-4 is OFF), this com­mand ejects the current page.

Hexadecimal

Return to top of current page

Mode ASCII

Both <ESC>

Feeds the paper backward to the top of the current page. Ignored when

friction feed is used.

72

<FF> (27 12 (1B OC

Decimal Hexadecimal

I

Disable paper-out detector

Mode

Both 1 <ESC> “8” 1 21 56 IIB 38

ASCII

Decimal Hexadecimal

Causes the printer to disregard the signal sent by the paper-out detector.
enabling printing to the bottom of the paper. Overrides the setting of
DIP switch 1-5.

Enable paper-out detector

Mode ASCII

Both I <ESC> “9”

Causes the printer to stop printing about an inch before the end of the
paper. Overrides the setting of DIP switch 1-5.

Decimal

127 57

Hexadecimal

1 IB 39

Set vertical tab stops

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

Both I <ESC> “B” nl

n2 . ..<o

4 27 66 nl n-7 . ..O 1 IB 42 nl a?...00

Cancels all current vertical tab stops and sets new vertical tab stops at
lines FII, n2, etc., where nl, n2, etc. are numbers between I and 255. A

maximum of 16 vertical tab stops can be set. The tab stops must be

specified in ascending order; any violation of ascending order terminates

the tab stop list. Standard termination is by the < 0 > control code. The
vertical tab stops are set in terms of the current line spacing and do not
move if the line spacing is changed later.

Set vertical tab stops every n lines

IModel ASCII

Both

<ESC> “e” “ ” 1 n
<ESC>

Cancels all current vertical tab stops and sets new tab stops every n lines,
where n is between 1 and 127.

“e”

cl> n

Decimal

I

27 101 49 n

27 101 1 n

I Hexadecimal

lB6531 n I
1B 65 01 n

-I

I

Set vertical tab stops in channel

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC> “b” n0 nl

n2 . ..<O>

Cancels all current vertical tab stops in channel no, (where no is between
0 and 7) and sets new vertical tab stops in this channel. (A channel is a
set of vertical tab stops selected by the < ESC > “/” command.) See

< ESC > “B” for parameters nI, n2, . . . < 0 >

Decimal

21 98 n0 nl

n2 0

Hexadecimal

1B 62 n0 nl

n2 00

I

73

Select vertical tab channel

Mode

Both 1

1 ASCII

< ESC > “i” no

Decimal

I 27 47 n0

IlB 2F n0

Selects a set of vertical tab stops designated by a channel number (no)
from 0 to 7. The tab stops in each channel are set by < ESC > “b”.

Vertical tab

Mode

Both 1 <VT> I 11 1 OB

ASCII

Feeds the paper to the next vertical tab stop and moves the print position
to the left margin. Performs a line feed if no vertical tabs are set, as at
power-up. Feeds to the top of the next page if vertical tabs are set but
the current line is at or below the last vertical tab stop.

Decimal Hexadecimal

HORIZONTAL POSITION COMMANDS

Set left margin

IModel ASCII

IBoth 1

< ESC > “1” n 127108 n

Sets the left margin at column n (where n is between 0 and 255) in the
current character pitch (pica pitch if proportional spacing is selected).
The left margin does not move if the character pitch is changed later.
The left margin must be at least two columns to the left of the right margin
and within the limits below:

I

Decimal

I

11~ 6C n

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal 1

I

Pica

Elite
Semi-condensed
Condensed pica
Condensed elite
Expanded pica

Expanded elite
Expanded semi-condensed
Expanded condensed pica
Expanded condensed elite

Set right margin

Mode ASCII
Std. <ESC> “Q” n

IBM <FS> “Q” n

Osns76
07n791

0 <n 2 114
0 7n 7 130

0 zn < 152
O<nT38
osnT45
OZnl57
Olnl64
O&z276

Decimal

27 81 n 1B 51 n
28 81 n 1C 51 n

Hexadecimal

Sets the right margin at column n in the current character pitch (pica
pitch if proportional spacing is currently selected). Column n becomes
the last character position in the line. The right margin does not move
if the character pitch is changed later. The right margin must be within
the limits below:

Pica 4snn80
Elite 5sns96
Semi-condensed 6 sn 5 120
Condensed pica 7 5 n 5 137
Condensed elite 8 5 n 6 160
Expanded pica 2snj40
Expanded elite 3snn448
Expanded semi-condensed
Expanded condensed pica 4sns68
Expanded condensed elite 4jnj80

Set left and right margins

3sns60

Mode ASCII

Both I <ESC>

“X” nl n2

Sets the left margin at column nl and the right margin at column n2.
See the preceding commands for margin restrictions and other notes.

Carriage return

Mode ASCII

Both I

<CR>

Prints the current line and returns the next print position to the left margin.

If DIP switch l-8 is ON, also performs a line feed.

Set automatic line feed

Mdde ASCII

IBM

<ESC> ” ”

<I>

5

Causes the printer to perform both a carriage return and line feed each
time it receives a < CR > code. This command takes priority over DIP
switch 1-8.

Cancel autoniatic line feed

Mode

IBM I <ESC> “ 5 ” co> 127

ASCII

Causes the printer to perform only a carriage return when it receives a

< CR > code. This command takes priority over DIP switch l-8.

Decimal

I27 88 nl n2 IlB 58 nl n2

Decimal

I 13

Decimal

21 53 1 1B 35 01

Decimal

53 0 1 IB 35 00

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

1 OD

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

Backspace

Mode

Both CBS>

ASCII

Moves the print position one column to the left. Ignored if the print

position is at the left margin. This command can be used to overstrike
or combine characters.

Left justify

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC> “a” “0”
<ESC> “a” co>

Aligns subsequent text with the left margin, leaving the right margin
ragged.

Center text

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC> “a” I‘ 1”

<ESC> “a” Cl>

Centers subsequent text between the left and right margins.

Right justify

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC> “a” “2”
<ESC> “a” c2>

Aligns subsequent text with the right margin, leaving the left margin
tagged.

Decimal Hexadecimal

8 08

Decimal

27 91 48 1B 61 30
27 97 0 1B 61 00

Decimal Hexadecimal

21 97 49 1B 61 31
27 97 1 1B 61 01

Decimal

27 97 50 1B 61 32
27 97 2 1B 61 02

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

Full justify

Mode ASCII

Both

76

cESC>

<ESC> “a” <3>

Aligns subsequent text between the left and right margins.

“a” “3”

. . .

Decimal Hexadecimal

27 97 51 1B 61 33

27 97 3 1B 61 03

Set horizontal tab stops

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

Both I <ESC>

“D” nl

n2 . ..<O> 27 68 nl n2... 0 IB 44 nl n2...00

Cancels all current horizontal tab stops and sets new tab stops at columns
nl, a?, etc. in the current character pitch (pica pitch if proportional spacing
is currently selected), where nl, ~2, etc. are numbers between 1 and 255.
The maximum number of horizontal tab stops allowed is 32 in Standard

mode and 28 in IBM mode. The tab stops must be specified in ascending

order; any violation of ascending order terminates the tab stop list.
Standard termination is by the < 0 > control code. To clear all tab stops,
specify < ESC > “D” < 0 >

Set horizontal tab stop every n columns

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

Both

<ESC> “e” “0” n 27 101 48 n 1B 65 30 n

<ESC> “e” CO> n 27 101 0 n IB 65 00 n

Cancels all current horizontal tab stops and sets new tab stops every tz
columns, where n is between 1 and 127.

Reset a// tab stops

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

IBM

<ESC>

Resets the horizontal tab stops to their power-up values in which a tab
stop is set every 8 columns starting at column 9. Also clears all vertical
tab stops.

“R” 2-l 82 1B 52

Horizontal tab

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

Both <HT> 9 09

Moves the print position to the next horizontal tab stop. Ignored if there

is no next horizontal tab stop in the current line. Note that when un­derlining,is selected, spaces skipped by horizontal tabulation are not
underlined.

77

Relative horizontal tab

Mode ASCII

Std. <ESC> I“’ nl n?

IBM

< FS > “\” nl n2

\

Moves the print position right or left a specified distance (maximum 6
inches). Ignored if the resulting position is beyond the right or left margin.
The formulas for the distance and direction are as follows:

If n2 is between 0 and 63, the print head moves right by (nl + n2 x 256)
dots
If n2 is between 64 and 127, the print head moves left by (nl + [n2 -
641 x 256) dots

Relative horizontal tab in inches

IModel ASCII

IIBM I

<ESC> “d” nl n2

127 lEpnl n2 11~ 64 nl n,? I

Sets the next print position to (nr + n2 x 256)/120 inches from the current
position. Ignored if this position is beyond the right margin. The maximum

position is 8 inches.

Absolute horizontal tab in inches

Mode ASCII

Both I <ESC>

Sets the next print position to (nl + n2 x 256)/60 inches from the left

margin on the current line. Ignored if this position is beyond the right
margin. The maximum position is 8 inches.

“S” nl n2 I21 36 nl n2 IlB 24 nl n2

Decimal

21 92 nl n2
28 92 nl n2 1C 5C nl n2

I Decimal

Decimal Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

1B 5C nl n2

Hexadecimal

I

Absolute horizontal tab in co/umns

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC>

<ESC>

“f’ “0” n

“f CO> n

Moves the next print position to column n from the left margin, where
n is between 0 and 127.

27 102 48
27 102 0

Decimal Hexadecimal

n 1B 66 30 n
n 1B 66 00 n

GRAPHICS COMMANDS

Print 8-bit sing/e-density graphics

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC>

“K” nl n2

ml m2 ___

Decimal

27 15 nl n2

ml m2

1B 4B nl n?

ml m?

Prints 8-bit dot graphics at 60 dots per inch horizontally. The graphic
image is 8 dots high and nl + n2 x 256 dots wide. Maximum width is

8 inches (480 dots). ml, m2, . . . are the dot data, each a l-byte value from
0 to 255 representing 8 vertical dots, with the most significant bit at the
top and the least significant bit at the bottom. The number of data bytes
must be nl + n2 x 256. Dots beyond the right margin are ignored. At

the end of dot graphics printing the printer returns automatically to
character mode.

Print 8-bit double-density graphics

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC>

“L” nl n2

ml m2

Prints 8-bit dot graphics at 120 dots per inch horizontally (maximum 960

dots wide). See < ESC > “K” for other information.

Decimal

27 76 nl n2

ml m2

1B 4C nl n2

ml m2

Print 8-bit double-density, double-speed graphics

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC>

“Y” nl n2

ml m2

Prints 8-bit dot graphics at 120 dots per inch horizontally (maximum 960

dots wide), skipping every second dot in the horizontal direction. See

< ESC > “K” for other information.

Decimal Hexadecimal

21 89 nl n2

1B 59 nl n2

ml m2

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

ml m2

Print I-bit quadruple-density graphics

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC>

Prints 8-bit dot graphics at 240 dots per inch horizontally (maximum 1920
dots wide), skipping every second dot in the horizontal direction. See

< ESC > “K” for other information.

“Z” nl n2

ml m2 ___ ml m2

Decimal

21 90 nl n2

Hexadecimal

1B 5A nl n2

ml m2

Print 24bit hex-density graphics

Mode ASCII

Both

< FS >

“2” nl n2 28 90 nl ni’ 1C 5A nl n2

ml m2 m3 ___ ml m2 m3 ml m2 m3 ___

Prints 24-bit dot graphics at 360 dots per inch horizontally. The graphic
image is 24 dots high and nl + nZ x 256 dots wide. Maximum width is
8 inches (2880 dots). In the data ml, m2, m3 . . . each three bytes represent
24 vertical dots. In the leftmost position, the most significant bit of ml

is the top dot; the least significant bit of ml is the eighth dot from the

top: the most significant bit of m2 is the ninth dot; the least significant
bit of m2 is the sixteenth dot from the top; the most significant bit of
m3 is the seventeenth dot from the top; the least significant bit of m3 is
the bottom dot. The rest of the data is similar. The number of data bytes

must be 3 x (n/ + n2 x 256). Dots beyond the right margin are ignored.

At the end of dot graphics printing the printer returns automatically to
character mode.

Select graphics mode

Mode ASCII

Both

< ESC > “*”

ti2 ml m2 _._ n2 ml m? n2 ml m2 _._

Selects one of eleven graphics modes depending on the value of n0 and

prints dot graphics in this mode. See < ESC > “K” (for 8-bit graphics)
or < FS > “2” (for 24-bit graphics) for information on nl, n2, ml, m2,

.

n0

0

1
2
3
4
6

32
33
38
39
40

n0 nl 27 42 n0 nl 1B 2A n0 nI

Graphics mode
8-bit Single-density ( 60 dots per inch)

b-bit Double-density
8-bit Double-density, double-speed
8-bit Quadruple-density
8-bit CRT graphics, mode I ( 80 dots per inch)
8-bit CRT graphics, mode II ( 90 dots per inch) I
24-bit Single-density ( 60 dots per inch)
24-bit Double-density (120 dots per inch)
24-bit CRT graphics. ( 90 dots per inch)
24-bit Tripple-density
24-bit Hex-density (360 dots per inch)

Decimal Hexadecimal

Decimal Hexadecimal

(120 dots per inch)

(240 dots per inch)

(180 dots per inch)

80

Select graphics mode

Mode ASCII

IBM

<ESC> “[”

n2 m0 ml

“ ” nl

g

Selects one of eight graphics modes depending on the value of m(J and
prints dot graphics in this mode. The graphic image is (nl + nZ x 256)

- 1 dots wide. See <ESC> “K” (for &bit graphics) or < FS> “Z”

(for 24-bit graphics) for information on ml, m2, . .

m0

Graphics mode

0 8-bit Single-density

1

8-bit Double-density

2

&bit Double-density, double-speed

3

8-bit Quadruple-density
8 24-bit Single-density
9 24-bit Double-density

11

24-bit Triple-density (180 dots per inch)

12

24-bit Hex-density

Convert graphics density

Mode

Both

ASCII

< ESC > “?” n

Converts graphics defined by subsequent < ESC > “K”. < ESC > “L”.

< ESC > “Y” or < ESC > “Z” commands to a density mode defined

by < ESC > “*“. N is “K”. “L”; “Y” or “Z”. indicating the mode to be
converted. m is a code from < 0 > to < 4 > or < 6 > indicating one of
the modes of < ESC > “*“.

m

m2

Decimal

27 91 103 nl

Hexadecimal

1B SB 67 nl

n2 m0 ml m2... n2 m0 ml m2 .,.

( 60 dots per inch)
(120 dots per inch)

(240 dots per inch)
( 60 dots per inch)
(120 dots per inch)

(360 dots per inch)

Decimal

27 63 n m

Hexadecimal

1B 3F n m

DOWNLOAD CHARACTER COMMANDS
Copy character set from ROM into RAM card

Mode

Std.
IBM

ASCII

< ESC >

< FS >

-:”

CO> n

-:”

CO> n <O> 28 58 0 II OIC3A 00 /ZOO

<O> 27 58 0 n 0 1B 3A 00 I? 00

Copies the selected character set with n, as shown below, to the corre­sponding download character RAM card. overwriting any download data
already present. Ignored when DIP switch 2-l is ON.

n

Character set

0

Courier

2

Prestige

3

Orator

4

Script

Decimal

Hexadecimal

81

Define download characters

Mode ASCII

Std. n2 m0 ml m2 n2 m0 ml m2 n2 m0 ml m2

IBM

<ESC> “I%” co> nl 27 38 0 nl 1B 26 00 nl

dl d2 dx dr dz dx dr d.? dx

<ESC>

“=” -co> nl

n2 m0 ml m2

dl d2 . dx dl d.2 dx dl dz? . . . dx

Decimal

21 61 0 nl

Hexadecimal

1B 3D 00 nl

n2 m0 ml m2 n2 m0 ml m2

Defines one or more new characters and stores them in RAM for later
use. DIP switch 2-1 must be OFF; otherwise RAM is used as an input
buffer, not for downloading characters, and this command is ignored.

nl is the character code of the first character defined and n2 is the character

code of the last character defined. no and n2 must both be between 33
and 254. nl must be equal to or less than n2. Use of character codes 32

(space) and 127 (delete code) should be avoided if possible. The data for
each character start with three bytes specifying proportional spacing at-

tributes: the first byte, mO, specifies the left of the character; the second
byte, ml, specifies the character width; the third byte, m2, specifies the
right of the character. These values must not exceed the following max­imum limits:

Character mode ml m0 + ml -I m2
Draft characters 9 12

LQ pica characters 29 36
LQ elite characters 23

30
LQ semi-condensed 15 24
LQ proportional 37 42
Draft super/subscripts 7 12
LQ super/subscripts 23 36
LQ prop. super/subscripts 23 42

lrJext comes the dot data. Normal character height is 24 dots, so there
must be 3 x ml bytes of dot data. If the printer is in super/subscript mode,
however, the character height is 16 dots, so there must be 2 x ml bytes
of dot data.

Each data byte indicates eight vertical dots, with the MSB being the top
dot and the LSB the bottom dot.

For further details, please refer to the Appendix C.

Select download character set

Mode

Both

82

ASCII

“o,o”

“yo”

‘( 1”

Cl>

<ESC>

<ESC>

Selects the download character set. Ignored when DIP switch 2-1 is ON.

Decimal Hexadecimal

27 37 49 IB 25 31
27 37 1 1B 25 01

Select ROM character set

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC> “O,o”
<ESC> ‘C% 93

“0” 21

<o> 27

Decimal Hexadecimal

37 48 IB
37 0 1B

Stops using the download character set and returns to the built-in ROM

character set. Ignored when DIP switch 2-l is ON.

OTHER PRINTER CONTROL COMMANDS

Set MS6 to 7

Mode

Both <ESC>

ASCII

Sets the most significant bit of each subsequent byte received to 1, allowing
users with a 7-bit interface to access characters with ASCII codes greater
than 127.

“ > 33

Decimal Hexadecimal

27 62 1B 3E

Set MS8 to 0

Mode

Std.
IBM

ASCII

<ESC> “=”

<ps> “T”

Sets the most significant bit of each subsequent byte received to 0.

Decimal Hexadecimal

27

61 1B

28

61 IC

Accept MSB as is

25 30
25 00

3D
3D

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC> “#”

Cancels the preceding commands and accepts the most significant bit as
it is sent to the printer.

Delete last character sent

Mode

Std. <DEL>

ASCII

Deletes the last character received. Ignored if the last character received
has already been printed, or if the last character received was all or part
of a command.

Decimal Hexadecimal

21 35

Decimal Hexadecimal

127 IF

IB 23

Cancel last line

Mode ASCII

Both <CAN>

Decimal Hexadecimal

24 18

Deletes the last line currently present in the print buffer.

Repeat data

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

<ESC> “v” n dl 27 86 n dl 1B 56 n dl

Both dz dx

< ESC > “V”

co>

dz __.... dx dz . . . . . . dx

27 86 0

1B 56 00

Repeats data, defined by dr, d.?, . . . dx, for n times.

Quiet print

Mode ASCII

Both 1

< ESC > “s” “ 1”

cESC> ‘5” Cl>

Selects the quiet print mode, in which the printer prints each line in two
passes to reduce the sound of printing. You can also set the quiet mode
with the control panel switch.

Decimal Hexadecimal

27 115 49 1B 73 31
27 115 1 1B 73 01

Cancel quiet print

IModel ASCII

Both

< ESC > “s” “0”

< ESC > “s” co>

Cancels the quiet print mode, and resumes normal printing.
You can also cancel the quiet mode with the control panel switch.

Decimal

I

27 115 48 1B 73 30
27 115 0 1B 73 00

Hexadecimal 1

I

immediate print

Mode ASCII

Both

84

<ESC> “i” “1”

< ESC > “i” Cl>

Selects the immediate print mode, in which the printer prints each

character as soon as received. At every pause in the incoming data stream

the printer scrolls the paper up about -

can be seen. When the next character is received the paper is scrolled

back down and printing continues. This command is ignored when friction
feed is used.

Decimal Hexadecimal

27 105 49 1B 69 31
27 105 1 1B 69 01

+J inches so that the current line

Cancel immediate print

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

Both

c ESC > “i”

c ESC > “i”

“0”

co> 27 105 0

27 105 48 1B 69 30

1B 69 00

Cancels the immediate print mode. The printer waits for each line to be
completed before printing it, and does not scroll the paper up and down.
This command is ignored when friction feed is used.

Set printer off-line

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

Std. <DC3> 19 13

IBM <ESC>

“0” ‘3”

27 81 36 1B 51 24

Sets the printer off-line. The printer disregards all subsequent characters
and commands except < DC1 >, which returns it to the on-line state.
The printer’s On Line indicator does not go off.

Set printer on-he

Mode 1 ASCII Decimal

Both 1 <DCl> I 17

Hexadecimal

I 11

Returns the printer to the on-line state, allowing it to receive and process

all subsequent characters and commands. This command is ignored if the
printer was set off-line by pressing the On Line switch on the control
panel.

Stop printing

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

IBM

< ESC > “j”

27 106 1B 6A

Prints the entire contents of the input buffer, then sets the printer off-line.
The printer’s On Line indicator goes off.

Bell

Mode 1 ASCII

Both 1 <BEL>

Sounds a brief beep tone from the printer’s beeper.

I 7

Decimal

Hexadecimal

I 07

85

Bidirectional printing

Mode ASCII Decimal

Both

<ESC> “U”
<ESC> “II”

“0”

co>

27 85
27 85

Causes subsequent printing to be done in the normal bidirectional mode,
which is faster than unidirectional printing.

Unidirectional printing

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC> “U”
<ESC> “U”

“ 1”

Cl>

Decimal

27 85
27 85

Causes subsequent printing to be done unidirectionally, ensuring maxi­mum vertical alignment precision.

One-line unidirectional printing

Mode 1 ASCII

Both

<ESC>

Immediately returns the print head to the left margin, then prints the
remainder of the line from left to right. Normal bidirectional printing
resumes on the next line.

(‘ < ”

Decimal

27 60 1B 3C

Manual feed

Mode ASCII Decimal

Both

<ESC> <EM> CO>

“ ( n “ ( ,. ‘y)”

“)”

Selects manual sheet feeding even when the optional automatic sheet
feeder is mounted. Ignored if DIP switch l-4 is ON (ASF inactive).

27 25

“)” 40 40 48

48 1B

0 1B

49 1B

1 1B

0 1B

41 41 28

Hexadecimal

55 30
55 00

Hexadecimal

55 31
55 01

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal

19

00

28 30 29 29

Auto feed

Mode ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal

Both

86

<ESC> <EM> <4> 1

‘1 ( 97 “(”

“4” “ ) 1,

1‘ 11 ,. 40 40 52

27 25

4 1B

41 41 28

Selects the automatic sheet feeder. Ignored if DIP switch l-4 is ON (ASF

inactive).

19 04

28 34 29 29

Eject paper from ASF

Mode

Both

ASCII

<ESC> <EM > “R” 21 25 82 1B 19 52

s.(,, ccr “R” “)” “)” 40 40 82 41 41 28 28 52 29 29

Decimal Hexadecimal

Ejects the current page. Ignored if DIP switch l-4 is ON (ASF inactive).

Set print start position on ASF

Mode ASCII

Both

<ESC> <EM> “T” n 21 25 84 n 1B 19 54 n

‘6 ( >, << ( 1, “T” “)” “)” n 40 40 84 41 41 n 28 28 54 29 29 n

Skips n/6 inches at the top of the page, where n is equal to or greater than

1. Ignored if DIP switch 1-4 is ON (ASF inactive).

Decimal Hexadecimal

Reset printer

Mode ASCII

Both <ESC> “@I” 21 64 1B 40
Std. <FS> “63” 28 64 1c 40

Decimal

Reinitializes the printer. Clears the print buffer and returns settings to
their power-up values. Does not clear the input buffer or change ASF
selections.

Hexadecimal

MEMO

Appendix c

DOWNLOAD

CHARACTER GENERATOR

With this printer you can create new characters and symbols, download
their dot data, and have them printed in place of selected characters in the
regular character set. Characters that can be generated in this way range
from simple but useful symbols like the check mark through complex Chinese
or Japanese characters.

The process of designing new characters with paper and pencil is time
consuming. The program listed in this appendix enables you to do everything
on the computer screen. It also enables you to maintain disk files of character
data for downloading when required.

The creation of a telephone symbol as a normal character ( S ) and
super/subscript character ( t ) is explained below.

Normal character

? 4 5 6 7 X

I 2

ASCII Code: 60

Left space: 4
Character width: 29
Right space: 3

figure C-7. Telephone symbol, Normal LO pica

The normal character height is 24 cells, and the width is varied by the

character mode as shown below.

Character mode
Draft characters

Character width

9
LQ pica characters 29
LQ elite characters

23
LQ semi-condensed
LQ proportional

::

Figure C-l shows the matrix with the telephone symbol filled in. Note
ihat there are no pairs of horizontally adjacent dots. The pins in the print
head cannot fire fast enough to print adjacent dots in the horizontal direction.

To the printer, a normal character is represented three bytes for each

column. If you are working by hand, you can calculate the data as shown
in Figure C-l and enter them via the < ESC > “8~” < 0 > printer command.
If you use the program in this appendix, proceed as follows.

The program starts by asking whether you want to read characters from
an existing file. If you are going to add the telephone symbol to a file of
download characters you have already generated, answer yes; if you are

going to create a new file, answer no. The arrow on the screen toggles between
Yes and No when any key except Return is pressed. The Return key enters
your choice.

In the same way the program asks you to select Standard or IBM mode;

normal or super/subscript, and character mode, then to confirm whether
to continue or start over. Continuing, on the next screen the program asks
what character you want to redefine, offering the exclamation mark(!) as
a suggestion. If you want to print the telephone symbol in place of the ex­clamation mark, press Return. If you want to assign the telephone symbol
to another character, press the key of that character.

Next you must choose the spaces between characters. After you have
defined the character width and left space, the cursor enters the character
box. You can move the cursor with the numeric keypad. For example,
pressing the “6” key moves to the right; pressing the “3” key moves diagonally

down to the right. The function keys control the setting and clearing of dots.
After Fl is pressed the cursor clears the dot in each position it is moved
to. F3 causes the cursor to set dots. F2 allows the cursor to pass over dots
without either setting or clearing them.

Each dot is represented by two adjacent solid blocks, occupying its own

position and the position to the right. This reflects the fact that the printer
cannot print horizontally adjacent dots. The program automatically censors
adjacent dots.

By moving the cursor and pressing the Fl, F2, and F3 keys you can
quickly build up the dot pattern. If necessary you can clear all dots by pressing
F4 and start over. When the character is complete, press Return to store
the dot data in the computer’s memory. The program will clear the character
box and ask you to select the next character to design.

When you have finished designing characters, press the F6 key. The
program will ask you whether you want to save, download, and print the
characters you have designed. If you answer Yes to all three questions, your
characters will be saved on a disk file and downloaded to the printer, and
the entire character set from character 33 (!) to character 126( -) will be
printed out.

At any point while you are selecting or designing characters you can
press F5 to skip the current character and proceed to the next character.

The program does not allow you to redefine the space character, or to
define any other character as an all-blank character. Nor can you assign

character codes less than 33 or greater than 126 to the characters you define.

Super/subscript character

I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9111!!12/314/51617181920212223

126

64

16

6
4
2
1

ASCII Code: 60
Left space: 7
Character width:
Right space: 6

23

If you select super/subscript, the character box now has 16 (high) x 7

(wide) dot positions for draft characters, or 16 x 23 dot positions for LQ
characters. Each dot is represented by two adjacent solid blocks, occupying
its own position and the position to the right. This reflects the fact that the

printer still cannot print horizontally adjacent dots, but that even skipping
every other dot. the dots appear joined when printed.

The file created by this program contains the following printer com-

mands:

1. <ESC> “:” -co> <O>
< 0 > (IBM mode) to copy the printer’s regular characters into

< 0 >

< 0 > (standard mode) or < FS > “:‘* < 0 >

download memory. If you leave a download character undefined, the
regular character will be printed.

2. < ESC > “x” < 0 > or < ESC > “x” < 1 > to select draft or letter quality.

3. One <ESC> “8~” <O> <cc> <cc> <mO> <ml> <m2> cdl>
command for each character defined. <cc > is the character code,

. . .

< m0 > is the left hand space byte, <ml > is the character width byte,
and cm2 > is the right hand space byte. cdl > . . . are the <ml > x
3 bytes of dot data.

4. < ESC > “% i” to enable the printer to print the downloaded characters.
This program is coded in Microsoft BASIC for the IBM-PC.
The WIDTH 255 command in line 1050 means infinite line width and

prevents the computer from inserting unwanted line feeds in the character
data. Some versions of BASIC do not need the WIDTH command.

Check your BASIC manual and make any changes necessary.

1000 1”“~****.***““**“~****.****..**~*~**”***,***~”.*.***“~*~.*”,**”*.

1010 '
1020 '
1030 '

1040 I"*""".*.*""."*"**..*.~"""~"*.*~"*"**"*~*""*""*~****.~*""""*..*""
1050 WIDTH "LPT1:",255 :XEY OFF :CLS

1060 DIR A(126). A$(126), P$(126), DT(24.42) :E$=CHR$(27) :F$=CHRQ(28)

1070 SCQ(O)-"---------+---------+---------+---------+--,,

1080 SC$(l)-".-.......+.........+.........+.........+..~

1090 XEY l,CHR$(7) :XEY 2,CHR$(B) :XEY 3,CHR.$(9)
1100 XEY 4,CHR$(lO) :XEY 5,CHR$(ll) :XEY 6,CHR$(12)
1110 FOR I=33 TO 126 :A(I)=-1 :NEXT I
1120 I------ PRINT HWDING
1130 LOCATE 1,l :PRINT STRING$(25,62);
1140 PRINT " DOWNLOAD CHARACTER GENERATOR ":STRINGQ(25,60)

1150 I----------------------------------------------------------------

1160 LOCATE 3,l :PRINT "READ CHARACTRRS FROM EXISTING FILE?"
1170 SO$="Yes" :sl$="No"
llS0 I------ Open existing file
1190 LOCATE 3,l :PRINT STRINGS(40.32) :LGCATE 3.1
1200 INPUT "File name";FI$
1210 OPEN FIQ FOR INPUT AS #l

1220 1------

1230 I$=INPUTQ(3,#1)
124D IF RIGHT$(I$,l)-"0" THEN QUA=1 :GOTO 1260

DOWNLOAD CHARACTW GENERATOR FOR 24-WIRE PRINTER

---------__--------------------------------

:S=-1 :PX-4 :PY-1 :GOSUB 2620 :IF S THEN 1470

Read ini,--al conunands------------------------------------

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92