3/ Using The Printer Controller - Radio Shack TRS-80 Operation Manual

3/
Using
the
PTC-64
The
specific steps for
executing
any
printing operation
will
vary according
to the
computer system and program you
are using.
However,
the general
steps for using the
Printer Controller
are:
1
Press
the
CLEAR
Key
to
mark
the
beginning of
memory
for printing later
(if
you plan
to print
more
than
one
copy).
2.
If
you do
not
wish
to
begin
printing
immediately,
press the
PAUSE
key. Otherwise,
skip
this step. (If
the
text
is
larger than buffer
size, the
PTC-64
will
have
to start
printing before
all
of
the data
can be accepted and you
regain control of the
computer.)
3.
Run
the
program
or send
the
text
from your computer
to the printer
in
the usual
way.
That
is,
do
the printing operation
just as
if
the
PCT-64 was
not
even connected
to
your
system.
4. If
you
pressed
the
PAUSE
Key
(step
2),
press the
PAUSE
key
again
to
begin
printing
when
you
are
ready. Otherwise,
skip
this step.
5.
Press the
COPY
key
for additional copies of
the
information
in the buffer.
Hints
and
Tips...
• The
Printer Controller can only hold
62K
bytes
in
storage.
If the text to
be
printed
exceeds
this
space, you must
initiate
printing immediately. That
is,
you must
skip step
2 (above)
all
together.
Otherwise,
this
may
send
a printer fault to the
computer,
causing
it
to
abort the
listing.
• You may
print as
many
duplicates of the data
in the Printer Controller as
you wish.
Just
remember
that
when
the
power
is
disconnected,
the
information
in the buffer
memory
will
be
lost.
Also,
if
you've
pressed
COPY
several times before any
printing
(to
get consecutive
copies)
and
then press
CLEAR,
printing will stop
entirely.
To
re-start printing,
you must
press
COPY
again
the desired
number
of times.
Once
the information has been
received
by
the Printer Controller,
you
may
start
using
all
the functions of your computer.
For example,
if
you
are
using a
word
processing package,
you
may
edit or create a
new
document,
or,
if
programming, you may
load, create, or
run another program while
the
buffer
is
being
printed.