Philips MSX VW 0030 User manual

PHILIPS
80 COLUMN LETTER QUALITY
MATRIX PRINTER
VW 0030/20
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Fee
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PHILIPS VWOO30
Letter-quality matrix printer
English 1
Deutsch 9
Francais 19
Nederlands 29
Italiano 39
Espanôl 49

CONTENTS
Control panel and switches
Installing and using your printer …
Installing and removing the ribbon cassette
Paper loading: Single sheets
Fan-fold paper
Adjusting the print head
Test functions:
Printer self-testing
Hexadecimal dump
Margin setting
Dip switch setting
Control codes, summary
Technical specifications zm: ea
Character category specifications
.
Character set tables
Parallel interface specification
Cautionsfor use
Troubleshooting
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
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LETTER-QUALITY MATRIX PRINTER
CONTROL PANEL AND SWITCHES ©
A. POWER ON INDICATOR
The green indicator lights up when the powerof the printer is switched on
B. PAPER OUT INDICATOR
The red indicator lights up and an audible signal sounds whentheprinter detects that no paper has
been inserted. The printer automatically enters the OFF-LINE state. To continue insert paper and press
the ON-LINE key.
C. ON-LINE KEY AND INDICATOR
eWhen the green indicator lights up the printer is in the ON-LINE state.
©Press the ON-LINE button and theprinter is in the OFF-LINE state.
©Press again to put printer in ON-LINE state again.
D. L.Q. KEY AND INDICATOR (Letter Quality)
(Can be activated only in the OFF-LINE state.)
e When the green indicator lights up the printer is in letter quality mode.
©Press the LQ-button for standard mode.
©Press again for letter quality mode.
E. RF KEY (Form Feed)
(Can be activated only in the OFF-LINE state.) When using single sheets, asheetis automatically moved
to the end of the page when you press the FF-button.
(The red PAPER OUT indicator will light up.)
FL.E KEY (Line Feed)
(Can be activated only in the OFF-LINE state.) Every time this key is pressed the paper is transported one
line. If you keep the L.F. key depressed the paper will continue to be transported until you release the key
again.
Note: These same keys are used for margin setting, as indicated on the control panel, immediately
underneath the keys. Forfurter details, see chapter ‘Margin Setting’ on page 4.
DIP SWITCHES
The dip switches are located at the back of the machine.
(See page 5for further details.)

INSTALLING AND USING YOUR PRINTER
Make sure that both your computer ©and printer ©are turned off before connecting the printer!
Use the special interface cable © ,provided with your printer, to connectit to the printer interface of your
computerand fasten the locking-clips.
Read theseinstructions carefully and follow them step by step when using your printer for the first time.
Subjects like paper loading and installation of the ribbon cassette are particularly important. The same
applies to the chapters on cautions for use and troubleshooting.
When writing your own programs in MSX-BASIC, including the use of aprinter, the following statements
apply:
PRINT To print or write data into afile.
LPRINT To print data on paper via the printer.
LLIST To print aprogram or part of aprogram on paper.
OPEN To open
a
file and allocate abuffer.
CLOSE To close
a
file and release the associated memory buffer.
SCREEN To declare a printer MSX or non-MSX.
LPOS Gives an indication of the print position in abuffer.
See your MSX-BASIC manuals for further details.
INSTALLING AND REMOVING THE RIBBON
CASSETTE ©
Note: You will find aribbon cassette packed with your printer. Additional cassettes are available through
your dealer. (Type number SBC 436.)
Installation
Make sure that your printer is turned off first.
Remove theprinter cover ©.
Move the print head © to the home position (to the extreme left).
Tum the ribbon feed knob
®
in the direction of the arrow to remove possible slack from the ribbon.
Insert the ribbon between the ribbon mask ©(1) and the print head ©(2) and position the cassette so
that the feed shaft ®is inserted into the hole under theribbon feed knob.
Press both ends of the cassette down firmly.
g. Tighten the ribbon by turning the ribbon feed knob in the direction of the arrow and make sure the ribbon
is still properly positioned in frontof the print head.
h. Close the printer cover again.
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Removal
Firmly hold the fin on top of the cassette ©and pullit straight up.
PAPER LOADING
Single sheets
a. Mount paper shelf ®by first placing it onto the special supports on the printerin upright position.
b. Tilt up the papershelf. Fold out the support @behind the paper shelf and placeits end into the notchin
the printer.
c. Setthe left paper guide ®@ into the proper position for your left margin:
eSlide the paper guide up (in the direction of the arrow) to release it.
©Put it in the proper position and slide it down again until it locks.

Setthe right paper guide ®simply by sliding it to the left or the right, as required.
Put the power switch ©on. The green POWER ON indicatorwill light up.
Place asheet of paper on the papershelf, between the paper guides.
Pull the paper loading handle ® towards you and the paper will automatically be transported to the
properstarting position. (The printing will then start 1inch from the top of the sheet.)
Push the loading handle to the rear again and the paper bail ®will set.
Press the ON-LINE key and your printer is ready for action.
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Notes
1. Ifyou want to shift asheet of paper afterit has been loaded, you caneasily do so after completing the
loading process as described above, since the paper is only held loosely by the friction mechanism.
Make sure that the paper remains straightin the printer.
2. Ifthe left-hand paper guide has been set to its leftmost position, the left-hand margin of the printed
sheet will be approx. 1inch.
3. The two rollers of the paper bail should never be set to the outer edges of the paper but approx. one
third ofthe width from the edges ®.
Mounting the tractor unit © and inserting fan-fold paper.
a. See to it that the poweris tumed off.
b. Remove the printer cover and the paper shelf.
c. Pull the paper loading handle ®towards you.
Now you can install the paper feed tractor onto the platen:
d. Insert the hooks on either side of the tractor unit into the openings at the front, on either side of the
platen-unit ®.
Push the rearof the tractor unit down so the spring loaded hooks @click into position.
Open both tractor covers @.
Insert the paper into the printer loosely, as far as it will go ®.
Tum your printer on.
First push the paper loading handle to the rear, then pull it forward again and the paper will be
transported automatically until it appears above the print head.
j. Leave the paper loading handle in its front position! Tum the paper knob clockwise to transport the
paper another 10 cm (4 inches).
k. Then move the paper loading handle to its rear position.
|Adjust the tractors to correspond exactiy with the width of the paper you are using.
m. Carefully lay the paper overthe tractors so the pins engage into the sprockets of the paper ®. Then
close the tractor covers again.
n. Now mount the paper shelf again and putit in horizontal position @. (Fold the support flat against the
paper shelf.)
0. Put the printer cover back onto the printer.
p. Now transport the paper by turming the paper feed knob clockwise until the perforation of the second
sheet appears above the print head.
q. Finally press the ON-LINE key and yourprinteris ready for action.
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Note: Make sure that your printeris set to the proper paper length! (See DIP-switch setting, page 5.)
ADJUSTING THE PRINT HEAD ®
The print head can be adjusted with the print head adjustmentlever. You will find it inside the printer on the
right-hand side.
When shipped from the factory, the leveris set at to a position meant forstraight printing without copy.If you
want to print one or more copies, you can increase the force by moving the lever ® towards you.
Whenprinting single copies it is recommended to reset the leverto its original position to avoid unnecessary
wear and tear on your printer.

TEST FUNCTIONS
Printer self-testing
The printer self-testing facility offers you the opportunity to check the main functions of the printer. There are
two possibilities:
1. Testing Letter Quality printing
©First insert asheet of paper into the printer.
©Then tum the printer off.
eTum the printer on again while you press the L.Q.-key.
Keep the L.Q.-key depressed until the printerstarts its self-test in Letter Quality.
©You can stop the printing by switching the printer off again.
2. Testing Draft Quality printing.
Follow the same procedure as described above. The only difference being that you press the L.F-key
instead of the L.Q.-key.
Hexadecimal dump
The hexadecimal dump facility is meant only to trace possible errors in your MSX-BASIC programs by
providing ahexadecimal print-out of your work.
eFirst tum the printer off.
eTum it on again while keeping the FF-key depressed.
e Then use your MSX commands for aprint-out.
MARGIN SETTING ©
The printer offers the possibility to set both aleft-hand and right-hand margin.
You should not useit when working with aword processing program with margin setting included.
Setting the margins
The control panel of yourprinterindicates which keys to use to set the margins.
©The printer should be in the ON-LINE state first.
©Then press the MARGIN key (=ON-LINE key) and keep it depressed until the green indicator starts
blinking.
©Press the —key(=L.F-key) on the control panel to move the print head to the required position for the left
margin.
(You can use the <key (=FF-key) to move the print head to the left.)
©Then press the SET key .Q.-key) to set the margin.
©Next press the —key again to move the print head to the position where you want the right-hand margin.
eThen press the SET key (= L.Q.-key) again. Now both margins are set. Theprinter automatically returns
to the ON-LINE state (the indicator stops blinking) and the normal function of the keysis restored.
Note:
When you switch the printeroff, the margin setting is lost.

DIP SWITCH SETTING
The following functions can be selected by using the dip switches, located at the backof the printer @. The
dip switches are read after an initialisation process. This is done either by putting the power switch on or by
an ESC,@ command.
Page setting
SWITCH NO. FUNCTION
12
OFF OFF Page lengthis set to 12 inches.
OFF ON Page lengthis set to 8 inches.
ON OFF Page length is set to 11 inches.
ON ON Page length is set to 14 inches.
Italic character setting
Switch 3ON Italic characters.
Switch 3 OFF Standard characters.
Character mode setting
SWITCH NO. FUNCTION
45
OFF OFF Pica mode (10 cpi)
OFF ON Elite mode (12 cpi)
ON OFF Condensed mode (17 cpi)
ON ON Proportional mode
<30>H code selection
Switch 6 ON "0
Switch 6 OFF "0"
1inch perforation skip
Switch 8ON Designated.
Switch 8OFF Not designated.
Note:
Switch 7has no function.
CONTROL CODES
Summary
Notes: Some ofthe functions have priority over others, which means thatthere are limitatons to the
combinations that can be made. When afunction, overriding another function, is cancelled the remaining
function becomes valid again. No error warnings are given.
Print mode priorities are:
eSuper/Subscript >Letter Quality >Double strike.
eCondensed >Letter Quality.
#Condensed >Bold print.
When the Super/Subscript and theitalic functions are continuously designated, the latter input function is
given priority. When one function is terminated the other becomes valid.
For examples see Appendix A.

SYMBOL CODE IN BASIC FUNCTION
1CR CHRS$(13) Carriage return after printing.
2LF CHRS(10) Carriage return and line feed
after printing.
3VT CHRS(11) Same as LF.
4FF CHRS(12) Form feed after printing.
Thefour commands above are print commands
5 ESC‚N CHR$(27);N" 10 opi (pica) printing on.
6ESCE CHR$(27);"E" 12 cpi (elite) printing on.
7ESCQ CHRS{(27);"Q" 17 cpi (condensed)printing on.
8ESCP CHR$(27);"P" Proportional printing on.
9SO CHRS$(14) Double width mode on.
10 Sl CHRS$(15) Double width mode off.
11 ESC! CHRS(27);"!" Letter Quality printing on.
12 ESC” CHRS$(27);CHR$(34) Letter Quality printing off.
13 ESC,C,S CHR8(27);"CS" Superscript printing on.
14 ESC,C,s CHR8(27);"Cs" Superscript printing off.
15 ESCCU CHR$(27);"CU" Subscript printing on.
18 ESC,Cu CHR$(27);"Cu" Subscript printing off.
177 ESC,C,! CHR$(27);"CI" Italic printing on.
18 ESCCi CHRS(27);"Ci" Italic printing off.
19 ESC,C.B CHRS(27);"CB" Bold printing on.
20 ESC,C‚b CHR8(27);"Cb" Bold printing off.
21 ESC,C,D CHR$(27);"CD" Double strike printing on.
22 ESC,C,d CHR$(27);"Cd" Double strike printing off.
23 HT CHR$(9) Move to next horizontal
tab position.
24 ESC CHR$(27);"(" Horizontal tab position setting.
25 ESC) CHR$(27);")" Clears part of horizontal tabs.
26 ESC,2 CHR$(27);"2" Clears all horizontal tabs.
27 ESC,0,"nnn” CHR$(27);"Onnn" Page length setting in line units.
28 ESC,0,,"nn" CHR8(27);"Olnn" Page length setting in inches.
29 ESC,0,8,’nn" CHR$(27);"OSnn" Perforation skip line setting.
30 ESC,0,S,00 CHRS$(27);"O0S00" Perforation skip off.
31 ESC,/,"nnn" CHR$(27);"/nnn" Right margin setting.
32 ESC,L/’nnn” CHR$(27);"Lnnn" Left margin setting.
33 ESCA CHR$(27);"A" Selects 1/6’ line feed.
34 ESCB CHR$(27);"B” Selects 1/8’ line feed.
35 ESC,T’nn” CHR$(27);"Tnn" Selects "nn”/144" ine feed.
36 ESC,Z;'nn'" CHR$(27);"Znn" Selects "nn”/216" line feed.
37 ESC[ CHR$(27);"[" Selects uni-directional printing.
38 ESC] CHR$(27);"]" Selects bi-directional printing.
39 ESC‚p CHRS$(27);"p" Paper-out detection on.
40 ESC, CHR$(27);"a" Paper-out detection off.
aESC‚,CR CHRS(27);CHR (13) Moves print head to home position.
42 ESC,@ CHR$(27);"@" Resets printer.
43 BEL CHR$(7) Sounds buzzer (0.3 sec).
44 CAN CHR$(24) Clears buffer.
45 ESC,G,"nnn" CHR$(27);"Gnnn" nnn” dots/inch graphic printing
density.
46 ESC,S CHR$(27);"S" Graphics printing dots/inch
depending on print mode.
47 SOH CHRS(1) Code to precede special symbol
code (See Appendix C).
48 ESC,xX CHR$(27);"X" Underline printing on.
49 ESC,Y CHR$(27);Y" Underline printing off.
50 BS CHR$(8) Back space(1 character).
Note:
”n” in the above symbols and BASIC codes corresponds with the numbers 0-9 in the ASCII code table.