Digital Equipment DECprinter I User manual

1st Edition, December 1975
2nd Printing (Rev), July 1976 (
3rd Printing
(R ev)' February 1977
Copyright © 1975, 1976 , 1977 by Digital Equipment Corporaton
The material in this manual is for informational
purposes and is subject to change without notice.
Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no respon-
sibility for any errors which may appear in this
manual.
Printed in U.S.A.
For additional copies of this document, order No. EK -LA 180-0P-003
The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment
Corporation, Maynard, Massachusetts:
DEC DECtape
PDP
DECCOMM DECUS RSTS
DECsystem-10
DIGITAL
TYPESET-8
DECSYSTEM- 20
MASSBUS TYPESET-11
UNIBUS
9/77- 14
/
(
(
(

LA180 DE(print~r II
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
SECTION 1 OPERATOR'S GUIDE·
LA180 ALARM SIGNALS ........................................... .
LA180 OPERATOR CONTROLS
....................................... .
SELF-TESTING THE LA180 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4
USING THE LA180 ............................................... 7
OPTIONS ..................................................... 8
SECTION 2 LOADING PAPER AND RIBBON CHANGING
LOADING
PAPER ................................................ 9
LOADING NEW FORMS .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9
RELOADING PAPER .............................................. 14
RIBBON INSTALLATION ............................................ 15
SECTION 3 INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION CHECKOUT GUIDE
GENERAL INSTALLATION INFORMATION ................................. 19
UNPACKING AND INSPECTION ........................................ 21
PACKING PROCEDURES ............................................ 22
CHECKOUT AND ACCEPTANCE PROCEDURES
............................... 22
50 Hz/60 Hz CONVERSION ........................................... 22
INTERFACE DESCRIPTIONS .......................................... 23
INTERFACE SPECIFICATIONS ......................................... 25
LA180 JUMPER SELECTIONS
......................................... 26
JUMPER FUNCTIONS
.............................................. 26
iii

TABLE Of CONTENTS (Continued)
Page
SECTION 4 PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE
RECEIVING CHARACTERS AND COMMANDS
................................ 29
SECTiON 5 TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE
SECTION 6 lA180 SPECIFICATIONS
SECTION 7
lAXX-NW, NX/LA180 BUffERED SERIAL INTERfACE
GENERAL INFORMATION ....... .
iNSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION
PARTS LIST
SECTION 8
lAXX-KJ COMPRESSED FONT OPTiON KIT
INTRODUCTION
INSTALLATION ....... .
TEST AFTER INSTALLATION
iv
... 39
.43
... 55
· 57
· 57
· 64

PREFACE
The LA 180 is a simple, dependable addition to your company's processing system. It was designed to maintain
optimum performance for many years while keeping maintenance at a minimum. Built-in safeguards, such as an
automatic protection system in the event of a head jam, protect the machine even when an operator is not present.
This user's manual
is a guide to the simple procedures required to operate your LA 180. However, to ensure crisp
copies and maximum
equipment life, the user must adhere to the following:
• Perform
the impression adjustment (when required) as described in this manual.
• Replace
the ribbon (when required) only with DIGITAL-recommended ribbons. Ribbons
must be made
of nylon fabric with nonabrasive inks. Carbon-based inks are extremely
abrasive and should not be used.

PAPER
ADVANCE
KNOB RIBBON SPOOLS
CARRIAGE
ADJUSTMENT
LEVER
OPERATOR CONTROLS
•
•
•
SELF TEST
SET
VFU
LENGTH OF FORM
OPERATOR CONTROLS
•
•
HEAD OF FORM
ON LINE/OFF LINE
• POWER
TRACTOR TRACTOR
ADJUST
KNOB
7595 -3

LA180 ALARM SIGNALS
SECTION 1
OPERATOR'S GUIDE
The LA 180 produces three different audible alarm signals. The operator should become familiar with these alarms in
order to determine the correct response.
• Continuous Tone -Indicates a carriage jam or failure. To turn the alarm off, set the POWER switch to
OFF. Turning the POWER switch OFF, then ON, resets the alarm.
• Repetitive Beeping -Indicates an out of paper condition or a series of bell codes. To turn the alarm off,
set the ON LINE/OFF LINE switch to OFF LINE.
• Single Beep -Indicates a bell code.
LA180 OPERATOR CONTROLS
HEAD OF FORM Pushbutton
The HEAD OF FORM pushbutton, when pressed, causes
the line printer paper to advance to the top of the form,
as determined by the SET VFU and LENGTH OF
FORM switches. The HEAD OF FORM pushbutton is
only active off-line.
7595-9
ON LINE/OFF LINE Switch
The ON LINE/OFF LINE switch enables the operator to
place the LA180 off-line or on-line with an operating
system. When off-line, the HEAD OF FORM switch is
activated.
POWER ON/OFF Switch
The POWER switch controls power application to the
LA180.

SELF TEST Switch
In the on-line mode, setting the SELF TEST switch to
ON causes the LA 180 to print out all the ASCII
characters.
NOTE
When performing a self-test, 14-7/S-inch (132-column)
paper
must be used.
SET VFU Pushbutton
The LENGTH OF FORM switch enables the LA180 to
determine the length of the forms; however, the LA 180
does not know where the form begins. Pressing SET
VFU establishes the starting point on the form.
2
7595-10
LENGTH OF FORM Switch
The LENGTH OF FORM switch is set to the number
corresponding to the form length in inches. To set the
form length to 11 inches, set the switch to 11 _(The new
switch setting
is delayed until one form passes through
the LA180 at the old switch setting. Pressing SET VFU
eliminates the l-form delay.)

Paper Advance Knob
The Paper Advance knob, when turned, advances the
paper one step at a time. Pressing in and turning the
Paper Advance knob enables the paper to be rolled
freely
in either direction, and allows preoise vertical
forms positioning.
Tractor Adjust Knobs
The Tractor Adjust
adjustment of forms. knobs allow fine horizontal
Carriage Adjustment Lever
The Carriage Adjustment lever controls the print head
gap for single
or multipart forms.
NOTE
Refer to the Impression Adjustment procedure in
Section 2 when setting the Carriage Adjustment lever.
3
PUSH IN HERE
AND TURN TO
ADJUST PAPER ---~ .
VERTICALLY
PAPER
ADVANCE
KNOB
7595-11
7595 ·4
TRACTOR
ADJUST
KNOB
7595-7
CARRIAGE
ADJUSTMENT
LEVER

SELF-TESTING THE LA180
The following self-test procedure provides a simple and accurate method of testing the LA 180.
1. Install 14-7/8-inch {132-columnl paper.
2.
Set the ON LINE/OFF LINE switch to OFF LINE.
3. Set the POWER switch
to ON.
4. Set the SELF TEST switch to ON.
5. Set the ON LINE/OFF LINE switch to ON LINE. A sample self-test printout is shown in Figure 1.
TERMINATING THE SELF-TEST PROCEDURE
NOTE
The following steps must be performed in the order indicated
or the LA180 may be inhibited from receiving data.
1. Set the
ON LINE/OFF LINE switch to OFF LINE.
2.
Set the SELF TEST switch to OFF.
3. Set the ON LINE/OFF LINE switch to ON LINE to resume normal operation.
4