Argox A-50 User manual

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1. Checking Your Box
Receiving the box of your printer, you are advised to
check first for the possible shipping damage. There are two ways
you can do it:
1. Inspect the outer appearances of both the box and the printer
for possible damage.
2. Raise the top cover of the printer to see if the media
compartments are in order.
If damages did occur, immediately file the claim to the shipping
company for settlement.
Having performed the primary inspections,next
step, please check whether you have received the following
accessories together with the printer. If there is any item missing,
contact your local dealer to get it.
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* Not available for A-50
Power Adapter
* Sample Media
* Ribbon
CD Rom Disk
User’s Manual
Printer

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2. Power Supply
WARNING:
NEVER OPERATE THE PRINTER AND POWER SUPPLY IN
AN AREA WHERE THEY CAN GET WET.
1. The Power Adapter has a barrel connector on one end that
must be inserted into the power jack on the back of the printer.
2. Plug the other end of the cord into an appropriate AC electrical
outlet.
3. When plugging the connector into power jack, please leave the
power switch at "O" position and don't touch the 36 pin parallel
connector.
Power Switch
Barrel Connector
Power Jack
Power Adapter
AC Electrical Outlet
36 Pin parallel connector
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3. Parts and Features
Top Cover
Power Switch
Power Indicator
Ready Indicator
Feed Button

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* Not available for A-50
* Ribbon Pick-up Holder
Release Levers
Media Hanger
* Ribbon Supply Holder
Thermal Printhead
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4. Loading the Ribbon
Note:
This section is not applicable to the direct thermal printing.
1. Lift the top cover to expose the media compartment.

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Ribbon Supply Holder
2. Unlatch the print head module by pushing the two white release
levers on the sides toward the rear.
3. Turn over the print head module to expose the ribbon supply
holder.
Media Compartment
Release Lever
Print Head Module
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4. Unwrap the ribbon roll pack and separate the ribbon roll and
the bare core.
5. Attach the edge of the ribbon on the bare core and wind it a
little bit onto the core.
6. Insert the ribbon roll into the supply holder. (First snap in the left
side and then the right side.)
Ribbon Roll
Bare Core

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7. Turn back the print head module and then insert the bare core
into the pick-up holder. (First snap in the left side, then the right
side.)
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8. Turn the wheel of the print head module to ensure the ribbon is
tightly wound.
9. Press down the print head module on both sides firmly till you
hear a snap.
Wheel
Print Head Module

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5. Loading the Media
A Series printers can be operated in three different options:
standard, peel-off, or with a cutter.
- Standard mode allows you to collect each label freely.
- In peel-off mode, the backing material is being peeled away from
the label as it is printed. After the former label is removed, the
next one will be printed.
- In cutter mode, the printer automatically cuts the label after it is
printed.
Standard Mode
1. Lift the top cover to expose the media compartment.
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2. Remove the media hanger.
3. Load the media roll onto the hanger.
4. Unlatch the print head module.
5. Left the peeler cover easy for label easy into the slot.
Media Compartment
Media Hanger
Ribbon Roll
(Not Available
for A-50)
Peeler Cover

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6. Lead the label through the media guides with the other hand.
The media guide can be adjusted centrality to well fit with
different label width.
Media Guides
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7. Press down the print head module firmly on both sides till you
hear a snap.
Print Head Module

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8. Close the top cover and turn on the printer or press the feed
button if the printer is already on.
Feed Button
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Peel Off Mode
1. Loose two attached screws on the back of peeler cover.
2. Remove the peeler cover.
Screw

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3. Plug in the dispenser connecter.
4. Mount the dispenser module.
Dispenser Connecter
Dispenser Module
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5. Secure two attached screws on the back of peeler cover.
6. Lead the label through the media guides and dispenser.
Media Guides
Dispenser
Screw

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7. Press down the print head module firmly till you hear a snap.
8. Close the top cover and turn on the printer or press the feed
button if the printer is already on.
Feed Button
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9. Press the feed button and the label backing paper will come out
from the slot under dispenser.
Note :
The feed button will not drive the printer to peel. The
peeling function can be executed only when the software
setting is ready.
Label
Backing Paper
Feed Button

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Cutter Mode
1. First plug cutter baby board in JP29 on the main board.
2. Loose two attached screws on the back of peeler cover.
3. Remove the peeler cover.
Peeler Cover
Screw
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4. Loose the screw on the printer module.
5. Remove the dispenser bar.
Screw
Dispenser Bar

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6. Plug in the cutter connecter.
7. Secure the screw of cutter module.
Cutter Connecter
Cutter Module
Screw
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Media Guides
8. Lead the label through the media guides and the slot of cutter.
9. Press down the print head module firmly on both sides till you
hear a snap.
Print Head Module

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10. Close the top cover and turn on the printer or press the feed
button if the printer is already on.
Note:
The feed button will not drive the printer to cut. The
cutting function can be executed only when the software
setting is ready.
Feed Button
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6. Operator Controls
Power Switch
Controls printer power
1. On : normal operation
2. Off : the power should be turned off before connect or
disconnect the communication cables and power cables
Feed Button
Advance the label media to first printing position
1. Press to advance a label
2. Press to take the printer out of a "pause" condition
3. Keep pressing while turning on the power to print out a
configuration profile
Ready Indicator
Show the printers status
1. Green : printer is ready to operate
2. Blinking : printer is paused
Power indicator
Shows the power and error status
1. Off : printer power off
2. Green : printer power on
3. Blinking : error occurs

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Top Cover
Power Indicator
Ready Indicator
Feed Button
Power Switch
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7. Performing Calibration
1. Keep pressing the feed button while turning on the power, until
the printing motor becomes activated.
2. The calibration has been performed while the printer
automatically feed label stock for certain length.
Note:
This step is very important and must always be carried
out whenever media is changed. Fail to do so
will result in miss-detection of the label sensor.

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8. Printing Configuration Report
1. Keep pressing the feed button while turning on the power, until
the printing motor has been activated.
2. After feeding 12-inch blank media, the printing motor will
suspend for one second, then it will print out the configuration
profile. This profile states the firmware version, ROM checksum,
RS232, thermal transfer/direct thermal settings, hardware
configuration and font types.
3. At PPLB emulation, the printer will enter character dump mode.
To exit from dump mode, just re-start the printer again.
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9. Returning to Factory Default Settings
1. Turn on the printer and wait for 5 or more seconds.
2. Press the feed button for about 10 seconds, then the ready
indicator and the power indicator will go off in order.
3. While two indicators become lit again, release the feed button.
4. At this moment, the printer will feed the label stock 12 inches in
length, and come back to the factory default settings.
Note :
All settings are stored in non-volatile E2PROM and
cannot be destroyed even turn off the printer.

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10. Hooking up the Printer and Computer
Note :
The power supply barrel connector must be inserted into the
power jack on the back of the printer before connecting the
communication cables.
This printer comes with both a nine-pin Electronics Industries
Association (EIA) RS-232 serial data interface, a standard
Centronics parallel interface and USB interface (except A-150). In
either case, you must supply the required interface cable for your
application.
Note :
This printer complies with FCC "Rules and Regulations" ,
Part 15, for Class A Equipment, using fully shielded six-foot
data cables. Use of longer cables or unshielded cables may
increase radiated emissions above the Class A limits.
Serial (RS-232) Interface Requirements
The required cable must have a nine-pin "D" type male connector
on one end, which is plugged into the mating serial port located
on the back of the printer. The other end of this signal interface
cable connects to a serial port at the host computer.
For technical and pin-out information, please refer to the
Reference Technical Information-Interface Specification on page
55 of this booklet.
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Power Jack
RS232 Serial Port
Parallel Port
USB port

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Parallel Interface Requirements
The required cable (IEEE 1284-compliant is recommended) must
have a standard 36-pin parallel connector on one end, which is
plugged into the parallel port located on the back of the printer.
The other end of the parallel interface cable connects to the
printer connector at the host computer. For pin-out information,
refer to the Reference Technical Information- Interface
Specification. Serial and Parallel Cabling Requirements.
Data cables must be of fully shielded construction and fitted with
metal or metalized connector shells. Shielded cables and
connectors are required to prevent radiation and reception of
electrical noise.
To minimize electrical noise pickup in the cable:
■Keep data cables as short as possible (6ft. [1.83m]
recommended).
■Do not tightly bundle the data cables with power cords.
■Do not tie the data cables to power wire conduits.
Notes :
1. Using Centronics allows for a much higher speed
communication than the use of a serial.
2. It is not necessary to set the switch or send any command
to select the parallel or serial port . The printer can
automatically detect it.
3. The default settings can be read from the configuration
report.
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11. Communicating with the Printer
The bundled printer driver can be applied to all the applications
under Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, and Windows NT. Through this
driver you may run any popular software applications e.g.
MS-Word and print out the contents by this label printer as long as
they are for Windows.
Before installation
1. Check the contents of the driver to ensure it is complete.
2. Make a backup copy of this driver.
3. Read the READ.TXT file for installation guide and change
notices.

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Installing USB Driver (Windows 98 only)
❑ Install USB driver
Properties menu
→Right click to get
pop-up menu.
Notes: Uninstall printer driver before installing USB driver.
→Select "Driver".
→Click “Update Driver”.
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→Click “Next “.
→Select "Specify
a location".
→Click “Next “.

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Installing Printer Driver
1. Click the "Start" button.
2. Select "Settings", then select "Printers" and double click the
"Add Printer" icon. Click "Next".
3. Click the "Network" or "Local" button and click the "Next"
button.
4. Click "Have Disk", click the pull-down menu to select CD ROM
driver path.
5. Click "Browse" button.
6. Select the proper directory for installation:
-WIN98
-WIN ME
-WIN2000
-NT4.0 (No support USB)
- WIN XP
7. The driver name "Label Dr. 200" (or Label Dr.300) will appear
in the "List of Printers", click "Next".
8. Select the communication port for the label printer. For parallel
port, select "LPT1 :", "LPT2 :" or "LPT3 :" , for serial port, select
"COM1 :" or "COM2 :", for USB port, select “USB001”,
“USB002” .
9. After the related files have been copied to your system, the
installation is complete.
10. If you need to print from the label printer, set "Label Dr. 200" (or
Label Dr.300) as the Default Printer.
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Notes :
1. If you are just updating your driver, make sure to delete
the previous version first.
2. Uninstall printer driver before installing USB driver.
3. If you install a new bar code application software like
ArgoBar, LabelView or CodeSoft, the Label Dr. 200 (or
Label Dr. 300) driver should be activated and set as the
current printer driver:
ArgoBar
File →New →Select Printer →Label Dr. on LPT1: →OK
LabelView
File →Select Printer →Label Dr. on LPT1: →OK
CodeSoft
File →Printer →Windows →Label Dr. on LPT1: →OK
LabelMatrix
File →Printer Setup →Label Dr. on LPT1: →OK

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Set the Parameters
After installing the driver, you can follow the path below to set
parameters:
Start →Settings →Printers →Label Dr. →Properties
The parameters include:
Ports Select the IO port to link with the printer. The port may be one of
parallel (LPT), serial (COM), network port or file.
Paper size Select the proper size on the menu. If there is no desired
size, select "Custom" to define the paper size.
Orientation Set portrait or landscape according to the print direction.
Paper source (Media type) T/T stands for thermal transfer (ribbon)
mode and D/T for direct thermal mode (without ribbon).
Media choice (Darkness) Set the heat value or darkness from this
field. The darkness value ranges from 0 to 15.
Copies This function designates the number of printed copies of each
page.
More option (Accessory setting) To use the cutter and peeler
function you still need to enter More Options and select one of the items.
Device options (Speed) Set the print speed. For the A-200, the
speed ranges from 1 to 4 IPS, for the A-150 ranges from 1 to 3 IPS.
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For Win 98 / ME
❑Ports
Properties menu
→Click "Details".
→Select the IO port.
→Click "OK".
❑Paper size
❑Orientation
❑Paper source
(Media type)
❑Media choice
(Darkness)
❑Copies
Properties menu
→Click "Paper".
→Click each item to select
desired parameter.
→Click "OK".