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Gem/d User's Manual
TME CONTROL
PANEL
Let's turn our attention to the buttons and status lamps on the
.
control panel. Figure l-4 shows what the buttons and lamps can
do for you.
The two buttons in front are used to advance paper through
the printer, to the next line on which you want to print. L-F-
advances the paper one line at a time, and
F.F.
moves the entire
form (or page) forward.
The
Online
button allows you to switch between being
"online" (meaning hooked-up and in a data transfer mode) with
your computer, and being "local:' Local means that the printer is
incommunicado
-
not in a communicating
mode with your
computer.
A PRIMER OF YOUR PRINTER'S BASIC COMPONENTS
This section is provided for those of you who are new to computer
printer technology, and for now only want to know the most basic
information about how the Gemini works.
Figure l-5 shows what is called an "exploded"
view of
Gemini-lox's
major components, and Figure 1-6 is an elementary
logic block diagram for both models. But, because the Gemini
printers are so well designed, it isn't necessary to know detailed
information about how it works - just that it does.
Expressed simply, when you turn the power switch "on:' the
-.
alternating current is converted into direct current for the
power
unit.
The direct current powers the motors and the print head, as
well as providing power to the control
board.
The control board
does just that: controls
the printer by means of a maze of
transistors, resistors, diodes, capacitors, and
integratedcircuits
(IC,
for short).
-
-
The control
board contains
the ROMs and RAMS, as
explained in the Glossary at the back of this manual. For now, it
is enough to know that the control board is the "brains"
of the
machine. In fact, your new printer is smart enough to realize when
it has finished printing a short line, and instead of the print head
making an unnecessary trip along the rest of the blank line, Gemini
moves the paper up automatically, so no time is wasted before the
next characters are printed. This is why Gemini is said to be logic-
seeking.
-
-
6
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