While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, Epson America, Inc. assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
Epson printers-and more too. LQ-1500 Features The LQ-1500 is designed to be used day in and day out in an office environment. Its size and rugged good looks proclaim this fact. Its Epson engineering guarantees it.
The LQ-1500 is a sophisticated machine. Although it is simple to operate, writing programs for it can be complicated. In many cases, the people who use the LQ-1500 are not the ones who do the program- ming. Therefore, Epson has provided two different manuals. This LQ-1500 User’s Manual contains all the information required to set up...
Finding a Suitable Location Before you actually set up your printer, you should give some thought to where you are going to put it. Of course, your printer must sit somewhere near your computer (the length of the printer cable is the limiting factor).
Fig-we 1-1. Unpacking the LQ-1500 during operation. Here are some additional suggestions to follow: Place the LQ-1500 on a flat, stable surface. The printer will make more noise if you place it on a table that moves or vibrates. 2. Connect the printer to a grounded electrical outlet (do not use an adapter plug).
5. Use the LQ-1500 in areas that are comfortable for you. If you find it too hot, too cold, or too humid, the environment is not right for the LQ-1500; it may not operate properly. Figure 1-2. Paper placement Getting to Know Your Printer Now you’ve got a small collection of odd-shaped pieces placed in a...
If you are using cover. Lift off the dust cover. It just sits in a recess on the top of the printer so removal is easy Set the dust cover aside if you will be needing it. Put it away in printer box if you plan to use unit.
Figure 1-5. Removing the front cover Discovering what’s inside Now that you can see the insides of the printer, take a few moments to find some of the parts that you need to know about. Study Figure until you can identify these parts: The print head is probably the easiest part to locate, so start with it.
Installing the Ribbon Cartridge The LQ-1500’s ribbon cartridge is easy to install, and it won’t get your hands dirty. Follow these steps for a quick installation. Close the paper bail so that it is against the platen.
Figure 1-7. Ribbon cartridge 4. Hold the ribbon cartridge in both hands to position it over the print head (the hole in the ribbon cartridge fits over the finned part of the print head). The short piece of exposed ribbon must go between the print head and the ribbon guide so that the ribbon does not rest directly against the platen (see Figure tridge and press the spot marked PUSH to seat the back of the...
Figure 1-8. Ribbon installation 1-9. Ribbon operation Figure To replace the front cover, simply reverse the steps you took to remove it. Fit right end into place first and then lower the left end until it is securely in place. Tilt the cover back into the closed position. It should fit snugly.
Installing the Sheet Guide The sheet guide serves a dual purpose on the LQ-1500. If you are using single sheets of paper, the guide ensures consistent margins and straight lines of print. If you are using pin-feed paper, the sheet guide is used as a paper separator to keep the incoming and outgoing paper from interfering with each other.
As shown in Figure 1-13, the legs fit into slots in the top case of the LQ-1500. (This step is not necessary if you will be using optional tractor unit.)
(Figure Locating the interface card Epson makes three types of interface cards for the LQ-1500: para1- lel, serial, and IEEE 488. With the use of easily interchangeable inter- face cards, this powerful printer can be driven by nearly any computer or word processor.
Now, lift up slightly on the card and secure it in place with the screws provided. If you use your LQ-1500 with different computers, you may have to remove and replace this card. Begin by removing the retaining screws. Then pull release levers same time.
Setting the DIP Switches This is the last step in installing your printer. Because each com- puter installation is slightly different, Epson has placed a series of DIP switches on the back of theprinter interface, which you can change to best suit your printing application.
DIP switches that are inside the printer. These settings have been determined by the manufac- turer to be correct for this LQ-1500 printer. Special knowledge is required to set these switches. You can use a ballpoint pen to reach into the interface slot and change switch settings.
ON position for these switches. However, it’s easier to remember switch settings according to whether the switch is pointing up (toward the top of the printer) or down (toward the bottom of the printer). Interface Switch 1 Figure 1-19.
Switch 2 Switch 2 determines which print characteristics will be in use when the LQ-1500 is turned on. Each of these functions can be changed at switch 1 Down Disable...
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Letter quality Draft Fixed International character set U.S.A. Down France Germany Down United Kingdom Denmark Down Sweden Italy Down Spain is used to tell the LQ-1500 the size of paper Down Factory Down 11 in. Down Down Enable Down Not fixed Up...
You can select either letter quality printing or draft printing. The LQ-1500 prints much faster in draft mode, but the quality isn’t as good. You can also change between draft and letter quality printing by using commands sent from your computer.
Now you’re ready to learn how to use the con- trols and indicators on the printer to operate it correctly. We’ll also give you some advice on how to maintain your LQ-1500 and keep it printing smoothly for a long time.
ON LINE light -- glows green when data reception is possible. ON LINE button -- allows you to switch from on-line to off-line status (this is a toggle). When the printer is on line, it is ready to accept data from the computer and the ON LINE light glows green.
Maintenance As with any mechanical device, the best maintenance of your LQ-1500 is preventive maintenance. You’ve already started by choos- ing a clean, dust-free location with a comfortable temperature range. Of course, you will change your ribbon cartridge whenever it loses quality through use.
Changing the ribbon cartridge and cleaning maintenance tasks that you should do. There are no user-serviceable parts inside the LQ-1500. Leave any other types of maintenance (fuses, print heads, etc.) for your Epson dealer or authorized service center. The LQ-1500’s print head is not user-replaceable because it...
LQ-1500 uses. Types of Paper and Paper Feeders You can use a great variety of paper types with the LQ-1500 which makes your printing both flexible and convenient. Paper thickness can range from 0.07 mm to 0.20 mm for both types of paper feeders.
More Printer Parts You also need to become familiar with two other important printer parts before you attempt to load any type of paper. Remove the dust cover and open the front cover to find and identify these parts: the platen release lever and the print head adjustment lever.
Loading Single-Sheet Paper Printing on single-sheet paper is fast and easy with the LQ-1500. The printer does most of the work and does it the same way every time. Your main responsibility is to set each sheet of paper in the sheet guide unit evenly and press the correct button.
If the printer is OFF, turn it ON. The PAPER OUT light should be off. If it is on, then the paper is not down in the printer far enough or it is not far enough to the left side of the platen.
WARNING: Do not move the paper backward through the printer because it may damage the paper-out detector. Return the printer to the on-line mode by pressing the ON LINE button. The ON LINE and READY lights should now be on.
Loading the LQ-1500 with pin-feed paper is not difficult, but it does require that you have the optional tractor unit purchased separately from your dealer. As with single-sheet feed, the printer does most of the work and virtually takes care of itself until the paper runs out.
Preparing the printer for pin-feed paper With the tractor unit now installed, you can prepare the printer to load the pin-feed paper. Follow the steps outlined below and refer to Figure 3-5.
5. Make sure the platen release lever is closed (back). Inserting pin-feed paper Now that you have prepared the printer, you can load the pin-feed paper by following these steps: 1. Make sure you have a clean top edge. Insert the pin-feed paper into the paper guide slit at the rear of the platen as shown in Figure 3-6.
Advance the paper by turning the paper feed knob clockwise. With the platen release lever closed, the paper should easily catch on the platen and be fed through. Figure 3-6. Paper inserted Note: If the paper is not feeding correctly (or easily), stop, turn the paper feed knob counterclockwise, and at the same time gently pull the paper back out.
Install tractor unit dust cover. Turn printer on. The ON LINE and READY lights should now be on. are not, open the pin- they paper, and close them again.
Figure 3-8. Pin-feeder covers Proper placement of pin-feed paper When using the LQ-1500 with pin-feed paper, we recommend that you arrange your stack of paper in one of two ways. First, if you use a stack of paper and printer, make sure that guide unit.
(tractor) dust cover. 2. Tear the paper at the perforation nearest the rear of the printer. 3. Set the printer in the off-line mode by pressing the ON LINE but- ton. The ON LINE and READY lights should now be off.
The LQ-1500 Self-Test Now that you are an expert on loading your LQ-1500, you’re ready to print. The LQ-1500 self-test is a built-in program which generates a complete printing of all standard characters. The self-test also pro- vides an opportunity to test the ribbon and paper installation without having to request a printout from your computer.
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Version 1.7 3. Turn the printer OFF to end the test. Otherwise, it will continue to print indefinitely. Now, it’s time to start learning to communicate with your LQ-1500. Chapter 4 shows you how to do this efficiently and effectively.
LQ-1500’s functions. Because of these standard codes, you can use your LQ-1500 printer with virtually any kind of com- puter without having to worry about their ability to talk to each other. Your LQ-1500 printer can communicate with any computer that uses ASCII.
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This code is called Escape, and in this manual it is abbreviated as <ESC> . You will use this code often with the LQ-1500 because it allows you to use the many features of the printer.
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Line Feed Form Feed Carriage Return You now have the basics about codes. This knowledge should help you understand and use the information contained in your software documentation to take advantage of the LQ-1500's many features. Abbreviation ASCII code (decimal) <ESC>...
Spacing Commands, Horizontal Spacing Commands, Character Set Commands, Graphics Set Commands, and Miscellaneous Com- mands. The function is what the printer will do when given the proper command. The format is the correct syntax for the ASCII code that the printer undertands. This code may expressed as a symbol, a deci- mal value, or a hexadecimal value depending on the program you are using.
Vertical Spacing Commands Function: Line feed Format: Symbol <LF> Decimal Hexadecimal 0A Remarks : Returns the print head to the left margin and advances the paper one line. Function: One-time n/180-inch line feed Format: Symbol <ESC> “J” n Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: Advances the paper n/180 inches.
Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: Sets the line spacing for subsequent line feed commands to n/180 inch. 1/180 inch is the vertical distance between dots on the LQ-1500 (n can range from 0 to 255). Function: Set n/60-inch line spacing. Format: Symbol <ESC>...
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Vertical Spacing Commands (continued) Function: Set page length by inches Format: Symbol <ESC> “C” Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: Sets the page length to n inches (n can range from 1 to 22). Function: Set bottom margin Format: <ESC> “N” n ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks:...
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Vertical Spacing Commands (continued) Function: Set vertical tabs Format: <ESC> ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal 1B Remarks: Sets vertical tabs on lines n1, n2, n3, etc. You can set up to 16 verti- cal tab positions. The values of n1, n2, n3, etc. can range from 1 to 254 and must be entered in ascending order.
Horizontal Spacing Commands Function: Carriage return Format: ASCII (CR) Decimal Hexadecimal OD Remarks: Returns the print head to the left margin. If auto-line feed is on, paper is also advanced one line. Function: Set right margin Format: <ESC> “Q” n ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal...
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Horizontal Spacing Commands (continued) Function: Horizontal tab Format: ASCII <HT> Decimal Hexadecimal 09 Remarks: This code advances the print head to the next horizontal tab posi- tion. The default tab settings are every eight characters. Function: Set horizontal tabs Format: (ESC) ASCII Decimal...
Horizontal Spacing Commands (continued) Function: Move print head Format: (ESC) ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: Moves the print head a specified distance from the last character printed. It can move the print head either left or right. The distance, in inches, is determined by the following formulas: Draft: (n1 + n2 x 256) / 120 Letter Quality: (n1 + n2 x 256) / 180 Proportional: (nl + n2 x 256) / 360...
Selects elite width (12 characters per inch) print. Function: Cancel elite width print Format: ASCII <ESC> “I’” Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: Cancels elite width print and returns the LQ-1500 to pica width print. Function: Proportional print on/off Format: ASCII <ESC> “p’ n Decimal Hexadecimal...
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Print Style Commands (continued) Function: One-line expanded width print Format: ASCII <ESC> <SO> Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks : This command selects expanded width print for the remainder of the current line (unless explicitly canceled sooner). This command is the same as (SO). Function: Cancel one-line expanded width print Format:...
Print Style Commands (continued) Function: Cancel superscripts and subscripts Format: <ESC> “T” ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal Character Set Commands Function: Userdefined character set on/off Format: ASCII (ESC) “%” n Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: This command either selects the user-defined character set (n = 1) or cancels the user-defined character set Function: Define userdefined characters...
Character Set Commands (continued) Function: Select international character set Format: (ESC) “R” n ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: Selects one of the 11 international character sets. The following table shows the valid values of n and the character sets selected for each.
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Graphics Commands (continued) Function: Double-density dot graphics Format: (ESC) ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: Prints double-density dot graphics at 120 dots per inch. The values of nl and n2 define the number of bytes of data according to the formula n1 + n2 x 256. Each byte of data controls the print head pins in one vertical row of dots.
(ESC) ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: Prints dot graphics in a selected density, and with either 8 pins or 24 pins. The functions of this command are covered in the LQ-1500 Programmer’s Manual. Function: Change dot graphics density Format: (ESC) ASCII...
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Function: Deselect printer Format: ASCII <DC3> Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks : Places the LQ-1500 in an off-line state. It will ignore all codes until it receives a select printer code. Function: Select printer Format: ASCII <DCU> Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: Returns the LQ-1500 to an on-line state.
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Miscellaneous Commands (continued) Function: Set specified data to repeat printing Format: <ESC> “V” n ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: This command sequence will repeat data n times. This sequence can be nested up to five times, and the data string can contain up to 2K characters.
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Remarks: Moves the print head one character to the left. This allows you to overstrike characters. (Note: the print head doesn’t actually move to the left, the LQ-1500 combines the two characters and prints them as one.) Function: Initialize printer Format: <ESC>...
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Enable paper-out detector Format: (ESC) “9” ASCII Decimal Hexadecimal Remarks: Turns the paper detector on so that it will report when the printer runs out of paper. Function: Return print head to home position (one-line unidirectional print- ing) Format: <ESC> “<”...
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LPRINT CHR$(27) "!" CHR$( On the following four pages are charts showing each of the printing styles that the LQ-1500 can produce. Following each example is the ASCII code (decimal) The first of four charts These styles are available in both the Letter Quality and Draft sets.
The Select Print Quality command will select either the Letter Qual- ity or the Draft set. The Select Print Quality command looks like this: “x” To select the Draft set <ESC> "x" To select the Letter Quality set <ESC> In BASIC this command would look like this: LPRINT CHR$(27) "x"...
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International Characters Draft Letter quality ProDortional...
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Proportional Characters This table lists the widths of the LQ-1500’s proportional characters. The values given are in 360ths of an inch (for example: a value of 36 is 36/360 inch). You may need to enter these widths into a special table for your word processing program so that it can calculate the number of proportional characters that will fit on each line.
Total width Right-space Body Left-space Figure D-1. A character and its widths LQ Proportional (normal) Character ASCII Left- Right- Total code space space width...
ASCII Code Conversion Chart This chart can be used to convert between the different names for ASCII codes. The codes from 0 to ma1 numbers, abbreviations, and the control keys used to type them. The codes above have the character that prints instead of the abbre- viation .
Epson LQ-1500 Printing Printing Method Printing Speed Character sets Character matrix Column width Line spacing Appendix F Specifications Impact dot matrix, with 24-pin print head Draft 200 characters per second Letter Quality 67 characters per second 96 regular, 96 italic, 32 international char- acters in each of;...
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Paper types Printer Dimensions Weight Power required Environment Ribbon Printer MTBF Print head life Single-sheet, friction feed, 7.2 to 14.3 inches wide. Pin-feed, with optional tractor unit, 4 to 16 inches wide. Original and up to three no-carbon copies Single sheet thickness: 0.06mm - O.1mm Total of all sheets 0.2mm maximum...
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62 horizontal spacing 54 miscellaneous 64 vertical spacing 50 Communications, computer-to-printer 45 Compressed print 58 Computer, connecting printer to 15, 18 Continuous forms 29 Control codes 45, 46 Control key (CTRL) 46 Control panel 25 Controls 25 CTRL 46...
This warranty does not apply if the Epson label or logo, or the rating label or serial number, has been removed from your Epson product, or if, in the sole opinion of Epson, your Epson product has...
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In the CHR!$(n) function the value n is the number of the code that you want to send to the printer. For example, to set a right margin at column 60, the LQ-1500 command is: <ESC>...
Prints selected-density dot graphics. Assigns graphics densities. Cancels the current line. Deletes the preceding character. Turns printer to off-line state. Turns printer to on-line state. Repeats data, n times (1 Sets the eighth data bit to 1. Sets the eighth data bit to 0.
Each print style is assigned a value to be used with the Master Select com- mand. The Master Select command consists of <ESC> "!" followed by a sin- gle ASCII code. To create a master select code, add the values of the print styles that you want to combine.
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