Epson P-80 User Manual

EPSON®P-80 PORTABLE PRINTERUser's Manual

Chapter 1Setting Up Your P-80In this chapter, you’ll learn how to prepare your printer for opera-tion and how to connect it to your computer. But firs

Figure 1-1. Unpacking the P-80(Top view)Figure 1-2. Identifying the printer parts4

CoversThe front and back covers are designed to keep your P-80 free fromdust. It is a good idea to keep them closed when your printer is not inuse.The

Note: Before you continue, take a moment to look inside yourprinter. You will see a gray bar with a line and the word paper.Remove the thin transparen

Ribbon installationWhen you are using thermal paper, you do not have to install theribbon cassette. With any other type of paper, install the ribbon c

Figure 1-6. Installing the ribbon8

4. Hold the cassette so that the exposed ribbon is on the left side andthe closed ends of the ribbon holes are on top. Place the cassetteover the prin

Figure 1-8. DIP switchesNote: Make certain the printer is turned OFF when you change DIPswitch settings. The P-80 checks these settings only at power-

You can also access the International characters by using a controlcode. See Chapter 4 for an explanation of control codes and AppendixB for the appro

Table 1-3. Settings for Switch 2Switch No.Function OFF ONFactory setting SW-2-1 Data bit length 8 bits 7 bitsOFF2-2Party c

FCC COMPLIANCE STATEMENTFOR AMERICAN USERSThis equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and if not installed and usedproperly, that is, in

For many computers, you merely plug the printer cable into yourcomputer. However, some computers require a printer interface card,either mounted insid

Chapter 2Operation and MaintenanceYour P-80 is now connected to your computer and ready for opera-tion. In this chapter you’ll learn how to use the co

POWER switch — This switch activates the power when it is in theON position. Push this switch on and you will hear the print headprepare itself for pr

Figure 2-2. Paper control switchesPAPER SURFACE switch — This switch adjusts the print head speedto improve the print quality on standard paper. Push

The battery needs charging when the print becomes very slow andthe ON LINE light blinks. To charge the battery, first turn the powerOFF. Then plug the

Battery ReplacementYour P-80 uses a nickel cadmium battery. If the red light keeps flash-ing after the battery has been charged, the battery has come

Figure 2-5. Lifting the cover4. With the battery holder cover open, locate the battery connectornear the POWER switch. It is marked CN7. Unplug the ba

5. Place the new nickel cadmium battery into the battery holder withthe connector cable at the bottom. Insert the battery connector intothe slot marke

MaintenanceAs with any mechanical device, the best maintenace of your P-80 ispreventive maintenance. Here are some general guidelines to follow:1. Kee

Chapter 3Installing PaperBy this point, you’re probably anxious to start printing. In thischapter, you’ll learn the different types of paper your P-80

Contents12Introduction...1P-80 Features...1About This Manual...1

Remember to adjust the PAPER SURFACE switch for the type ofpaper you are using. For coarse paper, set the switch to RGH; forsmooth or thermal paper, s

Figure 3-1. Loading the paper4. Turn the manual-feed knob clockwise until the paper feeds throughto the front as shown in Figure 3-1.5. Put the power

Removing the paperWhen you are finished printing, remove the paper by using themanual-feed knob. If your paper is almost out of the printer, you canre

Chapter 4Control CodesThis chapter explains how a computer uses control codes to sendinstructions to your printer. Specifically, you’ll learn how the

alphanumeric characters and special symbols. For instance, 65 repre-sents the capital letter “A”, while 90 represents the capital letter “Z.”On the P-

following chart shows many different ways of referring to the code forthe carriage return function.Carriage returnIts common nameCRThe abbreviation of

You will have a better understanding of how the (ESC) codes workwhen you use them in your programming. Appendix A lists all theASCII codes and Appendi

Underline mode does not use the underline character which is prob-ably used in your word processing software. Since the underline char-acter is only f

Chapter 5Combining Print ModesOne of the most pleasing aspects of your P-80 printer is its variety ofprint modes that can be combined to make differen

Figure 5-1. Main columns and intermediate positionsAlthough each P-80 character is designed to be five or fewer col-umns wide, dots can also be placed

56ABCDCombining Print Modes...33Dot-Matrix Printing...33Print Pitches...3

just over 17 characters per inch. The smaller characters allow forspreadsheets, or other work that requires compact printing, to besqueezed on an 8½-i

Print Quality ModesThere are two modes that produce boldface (darker) characterswhich make your printout more distinctive. These modes are Double-Stri

together, the one with less priority is temporarily ignored. Only whenthe higher priority mode is turned off, will the lower priority modetake effect.

4. When two modes conflict, the one of lesser priority is masked (notcancelled). For example, Compressed and Emphasized cannot beprinted at the same t

Chapter 6GraphicsYour P-80 is capable of printing special graphics characters and dotgraphics, but you do need some programming knowledge to use these

80 FOR X=150 TO 15990 LPRINT CHR$(X)" ";100 NEXT X: LPRINT110 LPRINT CHR$(27)"@"Remember that you can print these characters in di

120130140DATA 134,-6,32,134,-6,149,134,-lDATA 134,152,32,152,32,152,32,134,-6,32,134,-1DATA 137,-6,133,129,-6,133,138,0Now that you have seen the prog

Each time the print head makes a horizontal pass, it prints a patternof dots. To print figures taller than 7 or 8 dots, the print head mustmake more t

you can use a 2 or 3 for n2.A 2 in the second slot means reserve 2groups of 256 dots (512) plus whatever is in the first slot and so on-upto 3 times 2

Figure 6-1. Labelling elementsDecimal sumof the desiredpin patternFigure 6-2. Element combinations44

ESpecifications of the P-80...E-1Printing...E-1Paper...E-2

The place values in a binary number are powers of two. Figure 6-2shows how you use a decimal sum—74—to fire a particular pattern. Ifyou try adding sev

The width of one space invader in this program is 12-dot positions(plus one blank space). This means that 13-dot positions are enoughdata to describe

Note: If you don’t understand how the numbers were determined,refer to Figures 6-1 and 6-2.It takes a while for your system to compute the data so be

WIDTH statementsMany computer systems automatically insert a carriage return anda line feed after every 80 characters. This insertion usually causes n

Figure 6-4. Result of incorrect programOnce the graphics mode is in effect, every number sent to theprinter is interpreted as a dot pattern and printe

l Do not put any other commands between the graphics commandand its data.We hope this example helps you identify errors if one of your ownprograms giv

Appendix AASCII Codes and Character SetsThis appendix provides information about the ASCII codes used onthe P-80 printer. The first section shows the

Decimal Hexadecimal2014271B3220Decimal333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556575859606162636465666768697071Hexadecimal Character2122232425262

Decimal Hexadecimal1116F1127011371114721157311674117751187611977CharacteropqrstuVWInternational CharactersDecimal Hexadecimal Character12078 x12179y12

Special CharactersA-4

List of Figures1-1Unpacking the P-80...41-2Identifying the printer parts...41-3Locking lever...

Appendix BControl Code SummaryThis appendix gives a brief summary of the P-80 control codes. Youcause a control code to be sent to an output device by

ESC Dec Hex Symbol Function-10 0A LF-12 0C FF-13 0D CR-14 0E SO-15 0F SI-18 12 DC2- 20 14 DC4- 27 1B ESCESC 45 2D -ESC48 300ESC50322ESC51333Line feed.

ESC Dec Hex Symbol FunctionESC 52 34 4Turns Italic mode ON.ESC 53 35 5Turns Italic mode OFFESC 64 40 @Reset Code, which resets the printer to itspower

ESC Dec Hex Symbol FunctionESC 76 4C LTurns Double-Density Graphics mode ON.Prints 960 dots per 8-inch line. Format:CHR$(27)”L”CHR$(n1)CHR$(n2)followe

Appendix CControl Codes by FunctionThis appendix shows the same control codes as Appendix B; theyare arranged by categories and by ASCII order within

Mode and Character-Set SelectionCHR$(27)“4”Turns Italic Mode ON.CHR$(27)“5”Turns Italic Mode OFF.CHR$(27)"@”Reset Code.CHR$(27)“R” CHR$(n)Selects

Appendix DUsing Your P-80with the Geneva™ PX-8™Since your P-80 is a portable printer, it is a suitable companion forany portable computer. With the P-

Note: If you do not use a dot command, or omit page numbers, asdescribed above, the P-80 stops printing near the bottom of thepage. Although printing

Figure D-l. Connecting the Geneva to the P-80Be sure you have properly connected your printer and it is ON andon-line before you begin to print. If th

Appendix ESpecificationsof the P-80PrintingPrinting MethodPrinting DirectionPaper feed speedCharacter SetsThermal transferUnidirectional (left to righ

1-1Settings for switch 1...101-2International character switch settings...111-3Settings for switch 2...

Table E-1 CharactersCharacterPicaPicaPicaPicaPicaPicaItalicItalicItalicItalicitalicItalicCPL=ExpandedEmphasizedEmphasizedCondensedCondensedExpandedExp

Printing capability with fully charged batter-ies: 60,000 characters (approximately 30pages on 8½ by 11 paper with 2,000 charac-ters per page)Environm

Interface SignalsE-4

IndexAA4•Legal6AC adapter 17-18Arrows 6ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) 27-30,A-lcodes and graphics 39, A-3codes and interna

DDensity. See Graphics modeDimensions, of printer E-2DIP switches 9-12switch 1 10switch 2 11DENSITY switch 16Dotin dot graphics 39, 41, 45matrix 33pos

width of 48See also Graphics modeGraphics mode 42, 47-48Single-Density 42-43, 45, B-3, C-2Double-Density 42-43, 47, B-4, C-2HHinges 7Holders. See Pape

MMaintenance 22Manual-feed knob 9, 25-26Metal paper stand 6Modes,combining 33, 35-38priorities 36summary, table of 37See also specific modes by name0O

Portable Scheduler D-lPortable WordStar 33, 37-38, D-l-D-2POWER switch 16PRINT command 30, B-lPrint head 9and dot graphics, 41-43life of E-3Print mode

TTechnical specifications E-l-E-4characters E-2interface E-2-E-4paper E-2printer E-2-E-3printing E-ITemperature, of printer 22, E-3Test. See Self-test

IntroductionThe Epson P-80 is a portable, battery-operated printer that enablesyou to print anywhere you go. It adds state-of-the-art thermal transfer

ASCII Code SummaryDec01234567891011121314151617l819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849505152Hex CHR00none01none02none03none04

Character Width (Pitch)CHR$(15)Turns Compressed Mode ON.CHR$(18)Turns Compressed Mode OFF.CHR$(14)Turns One-Line Expanded Mode ON.CHR$(20)Turns One-Li

EPSON AMERICA, INC.LIMITED WARRANTYEpson America, Inc. hereby warrants that it will repair or replace, at its option, anypart of the Epson product wit

The first three chapters of this manual help you set up, operate, andmaintain your printer. Chapter 4 contains information on how to usecontrol codes