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Gemini Industries Printer User's Manual

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1. Note After removing the tractor unit you ll need to set the release lever when you are ready to print single sheets The release lever is located on the left side of the printer see Figure 2 2 This is somewhat like shifting an off road vehicle from two wheel to four wheel drive On the Gemini printers you need to shift the release lever forward so it aligns with the T for tractor when the tractor unit is in use But with the tractor unit removed you need to shift the release lever backward so it aligns with the F The F stands for Friction feed which is the drive setting for single sheet and roll fed paper Inserting Single Sheet Paper 1 Turn the power off 2 Make sure the release lever on the left side of the printer is set in the T position which is the open mode for inserting the paper you ll close it to the F mode in a moment 3 Lift up the paper press as shown in Figure 2 3 This step is the same as if you were inserting a sheet of paper into a typewriter 4 Insert the sheet of paper from the back side of the platen between the paper chute and the platen cover Push the paper through to the upper front side of the platen 5 Adjust the paper horizontally right and left so the sheet is where you want it Be sure the area you re going to print on the sheet is within the margins you re going to set for the printout 6 Make sure
2. Printing Capabilities F o ASCII code 160 161 162 and 163 provide the four segments of a two line circle LPRINT CHR 163 CHR 161 CHR 27 A CHR 6 LPRINT CHR 162 CHR 160 CHR 27 2 This little program will produce You can use two arcs from the circle to produce a different symbol LPRINT TAB 2 CHR 163 CHRS 27 A CHRS 6 LPRINT CHR 160 The result is a two line symbol that serves as the scientific notation for the integration operation P The four directional arrows 4 lt _ gt CHR 164 CHR 165 CHR 166 CHR 167 can be utilized to produce a cartographic map making symbol 103 F Gemini User s Manual LPRINT TAB 20 N CHRS 13 TAB 20 CHR 164 CHRS 13 TAB 16 W CHR 166 CHR 32 TAB 22 CHR 167 E CHR 13 TAB 20 CHR 165 CHRS 13 TAB 20 S The result is WwW a E Q a BLOCK GRAPHICS The block graphics ASCII codes 225 to 255 are a series of squares triangles and intersecting lines When they are put together they form simple graphic designs and decorative embellishments The 6 x 6 matrices are designed to print continuously meaning next to each other so Gemini does not add any extra spacing between these characters as it does for the alphanumerics The Gemini can now print in a bidirectional mode ESC U O which cancels unidirectional print
3. CHR 30 All of the commands you wish to group together in a macro replace the s You can use up to 16 characters to define your macro For an example we will define a macro to set our printer to emphasized and double width print modes First we look these commands up in Appendix M There we find that the codes to enable emphasized print are ESC E and to define double width ESC W 1 After we have defined the macro we only have to issue the select macro code to execute all the instructions in the macro This code is CHR 27 CHR 33 Downloadable and Custom Commands ft Now we ll try an example and then you re free to be creative on your own Pe ars pep a gn A ER Ne ek pret Ae rn Seer 19 OEM Defina secace character 20 ESES CHRS 27 70 SEM Define macro to be emphasizad and expanded text A LPRINT ESCH CHOS AZ ESCH E ESCE W CHRS 1 THRE 30 50 REM issue macro command and try orinting bO LERINT ESCesCHRE 3 7 LORINT Enohasized and Expanded by Macro Empnasizred and EH panded Figure 8 7 Program listing using macro instructions 121
4. ESC S 1 the following are Gemini s symbols for mathematical operations greater less plus or plus minus than than minus gt lt CHR 43 CHR 45 CHRS 62 CHR 60 CHRS 188 divided by equals times tilde I X P CHR 191 CHR 47 CHR 61 CHR 190 CHR 126 101 F Gemini User s Manual You can also combine characters using the backspace command LPRINT CHR 126 CHR 8 CHR Q5 produces the symbol for approximately equal to Printing Equations Gemini provides three different types of grouping symbols for use in mathematical expressions CHR 40 CHR 41 CHR 91 CHR 93 CHR 123 CHR 125 The character set of Greek symbols often used in scientific and mathematical equations include sigma pi omega E 6 T Q 0 CHR 184 CHR 185 CHR 187 CHR 182 CHR 183 phi theta mu beta B 8 j B CHR 178 CHR 179 CHR 197 CHR 217 Appendix H at the back of this manual lists all special characters If you take a moment and look over the character set ES you ll find the symbols for the parallel lines functions angstroms degrees in C and F and other characters that serve special _ purposes in scientific notation SPECIAL SYMBOLS FOR PLOTTING DATA For those of you who would like to use Gemini to plot data and graphs a nice set of plotting symbols are provided O av dAaO OD CHR 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 E 102
5. Ribbon guide NU Ink ribbon Print head Figure 2 16 You might want to use a ball point pen to lightly press the ribbon guide toward the platen while inserting the ribbon Hint 4 Then thread the ribbon taking care around the print head Figure 2 16 shows how to insert the ribbon in the slot between the print head and the ribbon guide Figure 2 17 shows you how to position the ribbon to avoid misprints or to prevent the ribbon coming off during printing 34 Paper and Ribbon ink ribbon Print head Ribbon guide 4 a OC O QO Incorrect Incorrect Correct Figure 2 17 Two wrongs don t make a right so try to be careful when setting the ribbon near the print head shown here Release lever Siit of the changeover lever Eyelet grommet Ribbon spool Figure 2 18 The eyelet grommet which signals Gemini to automatically reverse the ribbon direction is shown correctly placed on the ribbon spool side of the changeover lever 35 E Gemini User s Manual Hint 5 The eyelet grommet which signals Gemini to automatically reverse the ribbon direction should be placed on the ribbon spool side of the changeover lever Hint 6 Set the other ribbon spool on the opposite spool axle making sure the drive pins are engaged Hint 7 When the ribbon threading has been accomplished turn the ink ribbon spools by hand approximately four or five rotations of the spools Thi
6. The firing patterns for each character are pre programmed in Gemini and stored in firmware ROM s By sending the appropriate control codes to Gemini we manipulate both the number of pins fired and the order in which they are fired If you know which control code to send from your computer s keyboard through the computer to the printer you can even create new characters by controlling the firing pins THE PR NT MATRIX Let s turn to Appendix K and look briefly at the dot patterns of the various characters All these characters during the normal printing mode standard and italic are constructed within a 5 dot wide by 9 dot high matrix of boxes All the dots are positioned vertically within one of the boxes in each column in the matrix Horizontally the dots can be placed within any or all of the five boxes across the row or on the lines separating the boxes If you think of the five boxes in a row as the white keys on a piano and the lines between them as four black keys you can play a dot in any of the nine dot positions across a row Thus even 83 Figure 6 4 Using block graphics and a simple program written in BASIC Gemini User s Manual though there are only five boxes across you have 9x9 printing positions The uppercase letters are formed by the top seven pins Some of the lowercase letters g j p q and y extend down to th
7. Your Gemini User s Manual Not Intended for Sale Trademark Acknowledgement Gemini 10X Gemini 15X Star Mfg Co Ltd grafstar Universal Atari Parallel Interface Universal Commodore Parallel Interface Star Micronics Inc Apple Apple tl Apple il Apple Ile Apple Ili Applesoft Appie Computer inc Atari 400 Atari 800 Atari 850 Atari Inc a Warner Communications Company Commodore VIC 20 C 64 Commodore Business Machines Inc CP M Digital Research IBM Personal Computer IBM PC International Business Machines Corporation Microsoft BASIC Microsoft Corporation Osborne 1 Osborne Computer Corporation TRS 80 Radio Shack a division of Tandy Corporation 1984 Star Mfg Co Ltd Preface Congratulations on having purchased a serial impact dot matrix printer that offers you more quality greater flexibility and convenience and superior reliability than you could find in any other printer in the same price range As you already know or are about to learn the Gemini 10X and Gemini 15X let you print both regular and italicized alphabets as well as normal elite smaller condensed enlarged emphasized and double strike characters You can print on regular stationery multiple sheet forms fan fold computer paper or paper fed from a roll European style The graphics capability provided by the Gemini printers is limited only by your graphic talents and includes three bit image modes Low Resolu
8. standard characters and the 96 italic characters you re ready to hook your Gemini up to your computer and get started If you wonder what these characters would look like if viewed up close you might want to take a moment and turn to Appendix K 45 f INTERFACING GEMINI WITH YOUR COMPUTER Your Gemini printer is a remarkable example of modern engineering A few short years ago the information handling capability built into Gemini would qualify the printer to be considered a computer of sorts When Gemini is interfaced hooked up to your microcomputer the results can be dazzling The characters identified in Chapter 3 are imbedded in Gemini s read only memory ROM chips Your computer doesn t need to tell Gemini how to print the set of dots that represents a certain character your computer just needs to tell Gemini which ones and where When your computer identifies the characters selected for printing Gemini stores up to 816 bytes of data in its buffer at the same time that it s printing Gemini even knows when it runs out of paper stopping the printing process and if you wish signaling you of the problem Before we explore interfacing Gemini with your computer let s briefly consider how Gemini s control circuit is configured As graphically illustrated in Apendix L control circuit block diagram Gemini features a central processing unit CPU This CPU controls
9. 226 230 231 232 241 242 246 250 254 258 261 INTRODUCTION Allow us to introduce you to your Gemini printer Gemini this is SA your new user User this is the remarkable new Gemini a versatile and dependable printer that lets you do tricks with the dot matrix and bit image capabilities In this chapter we ll answer the question What are the parts of the printer and how do they work together We ll define the e operating environment for Gemini and we ll discuss its technical specifications If you are just now unpacking your newly acquired Gemini refer to Appendix G to learn how the pieces fit together then return to this chapter to discover how to put your printer to fo work for you A TOUR AROUND GEMINI Let s begin with a tour around the outside of the Gemini On the top right front part of your machine you ll see the control panel as shown in Figure 1 1 These three buttons and the four status lamps are your day to day operational controls These are fully explained later in this chapter but for now we ll move on because this is an express tour On the right side of your printer is a large knob and toward the back you ll find the on off power switch The knob is attached to the platen pronounced plat en which is the padded roller around which the paper is fed to the printing mechanism Hence the handle is called the platen knob and allows you to manually turn the
10. 67 68 Gemini User s Manual paper then skip down 16 lines from the top of the next page So where you might ask did the extra line come from BASIC inserts a carriage return CR and line feed LF at the end of every LPRINT statement unless the last character in LPRINT is a semicolon Line 90 starts the major loop of the program which causes the normal and italic tables to be printed If the variable I is equal to the number 1 then the message on line 100 is printed If I equals 2 the message on line 110 is printed Let s look at line 100 LPRINT WIDE GEMINI STANDARD TYPE STYLES CANWIDES LF You might ask What does WIDE cause to be printed The answer is not what but how WIDE is set on line 60 to CHR 14 the command for the double width printing mode Look at Figure 5 2 to verify that The CANWIDES string cancels the double width function also set on line 60 The semicolon between character strings causes the strings to be printed without any spaces between them The LF string causes a line feed the LPRINT statement produces another carriage return and a line feed because it does not end with a semicolon Line 110 causes a similar message to be printed but this time we did not invoke the italic print style by sending the ITALIC command string to Gemini at the beginning of LPRINT statement Line 120 looks interesting because it serves an interesting purpose Lin
11. rik xy x aoubre Strike ABCs ABC y ABCXxYy ABCX xYy ABCXxYy ABCXxYY emphasized GEMINI ITAL IC TYEE STYLES am m ee a a a m a a oe T a a a a a m Ta T Lacar 1S cnr ta cpi Bem cpi cpi 5 cpi nornal ARCs ARCI y ARC y ABCKxYy ABOXxXYy QBCXNYY doable strike ABCA y ARC ARCs ABCXxYy GBOXxY yy ABOKXxY vy eaphasized ABCs ORC y PABCKxYy ABCXxYy ARBOXXY yy ABOAxY y double strike AN3 ABC ABCXxYy ABCXxYy ABOXxYy ABOMxYy epphasized Figure 5 2 This sample run program shown here at two thirds actual size demonstrates standard and italic type styles in six sizes measured in characters per inch for normal double strike emphasized and double emphasized types each with superscripts and subscripts 64 Putting Gemini to Work There it is a reference sheet that summarizes the various type styles that Gemini can produce If your printout looks like Figure 5 2 great Turn your printer off advance the paper and tear off the tables We will now analyze the program and printout to learn how we managed to do what we did On the Other Hand If you made a typing error that caused the program to belly flop or if your printout looks strangely dissimilar to Figure 5 2 you should reset Gemini and try again The printer may have received an unwanted function code Or perhaps the communication became garbled between your computer and Gemini Whatever the problem reset initialize Gemini an
12. the Self Test is a demonstration of some of the characters Gemini has stored in its permanent memory On the following pages groups of characters from the Self Test are identified and discussed Where a character has multiple meanings or uses this manual provides the most common and generally used In discussing these characters we face the old problem of defining a word without using that word in the definition To make it easier to identify which character we re discussing we ve coded some of the characters to correspond with letters of the English alphabet If you look at Figure 3 3 you ll see that the fifth character shown in the sequence on the lower line is the percent sign For purposes of our discussion we ve coded it so it corresponds to the letter f above it In Chapter Five you ll learn about other codes that have been created to facilitate discussion about computer generated characters abcdefghijkIimnop q rstuvwx 1 HSAZR X 0123456789 5 57 Figure 3 3 The first part of the first Self Test lines shows the characters often associated with the top row of keys on a typewriter 42 3 Self Test a a In Figure 3 3 the letter a codes a character that s as hard to see as the wind That s because the first line begins with a blank space The blank character may not seem important but without it everythingwouldruntogetherlikethis The first chara
13. 1 c d t tz ts t ts te tr te to The c is the character we wish to redefine In the example we ll redefine the symbol CHR 64 When we activate downloadable characters and this character is sent to the printer the downloaded character will be printed The d is the descender data For now we ll just leave that as zero The t through t are the column totals across the bottom of the graph So the complete code sequence would be as follows CHR 27 CHR 42 CHR amp 1 CHRS 64 CHR 0 CHR 6 CHR 9 CHR 0 CHR 9 CHR 118 CHR 9 CHR 0 CHR 127 CHR 0 Downloadable and Custom Commands i After defining a download character we must activate the download characters in the printer The code to perform this trick is CHR 27 CHR 36 CHRS 1 Let s put all this together in an example and print out a few of our new paragraph symbols 10 CEM Define the Escace character 20 ESCseCHRe 27 7o REM Define paragrach synbol in olace of AC LERINT ESE CHES LAP EHRE T CHRE AAS CHRE COS CHRE Atr CURG TE Pune a THRS OI CUBS LIES CHES SO CUPS ION CHEE 127 CHES IC y EQ REM Select downloadable characters S LEGINT CSCS CHRS Thy CRG LT 7O REM Drine our new symbe a0 SPRINT agaaga co Figure 8 2 Program listing to print ASANT Not too bad for the first try Let s create another symbol to keep the editors happy and to demonstrate a few more things you ll need to know
14. a sheet of quad paper and mark off 12 squares by 9 squares then write the symbol for each character in the corresponding position Note that we can control the aspect ratio height to width of the block graphic characters in the same manner we control the standard characters 107 z Gemini User s Manual Upgrading Our Design Before our ship sails let s add some portholes Replace line 190 with 190 DATA 239 175 239 175 239 175 239 175 239 175 239 251 When you run the program again you ll produce the sailboats shown in Figure 7 3 The lesson learned is that you can mix the 6 x 6 graphics with standard 9 x 9 characters These special characters in the block graphics set can be very useful in creating bar graphs your organization s logo even detailed drawings You could spend months experimenting with the block graphics set and still not exhaust the possibilities But before you embark on such an adventure consider dot graphics which happens to be the next area of discussion GEMINI S DOT GRAPHICS 108 As we learned in Chapter 6 dot graphics commands allow you to control the firing of individual pins in the print head in short these commands give you total control over your printer That s the good news The rest of the news is that you have to tell Gemini where to place exactly every single dot And there can be a lot of dots in a dot graphics program That s like being given ocean f
15. about downloadable characters This time we will create the copyright symbol a smali c with a circle around it First we ll create the symbol on graph paper and total all the col umns as we did for the paragraph symbols 28 34 73 20 65 20 65 3428 Figure 8 3 Downloadable design for copyright symbol 117 Gemini User s Manual This time we will use the downloadable feature to replace the symbol with the copyright symbol 0 REM Define the Escace sharaczer 20 ESC CHR 27 70 9EM Define cooyright symbol in olace of 9 40 LORINT ESCHCHRS 42 CHR CHRS Ad CHRO 0 CHRO 28 CHR 34 CHRR CHR 20 CURS SE CHRS 20 CHAS 68 CHRS 34 CHRS 20 30 REM Select downloadable characters 50 LORINT SSCS CURSA CHES 1 70 REM Print our new svabdo 30 LPRINT Convright 1983 Figure 8 4 Program listing to print What happened All we got was the copyright symbol and nothing else This happened because none of the other characters in the download area RAM have been defined So you need one more command when you are only replacing a few characters at a time CHR 27 CHR 42 CHR 0 This code copies all of the normal characters into the downloadable area RAM of your printer Let s insert this into Ex ample 2 before we define our copyright symbol A PEM Decine the Escane character 6 SSCseCurg 27 4 SE conv characters to RAM IE LERINT ESCSSCHRS 42 CHRS 0 30 BEM Define copvrig
16. am fg a a es a ggg gg a aA 17 Soa T2 epi 19 cpi 8 cpi 6 cpi 5 cpi norsal ABC AEBCX y GEC YD ABC ABC ARC double strike ABCE y ABCX ABCX ABC ABC ABC eaphasized ABCs ABC ABC ABC ABC ABC double strike ABC y ABC lt ABC ABC ABC ABC eaphasized GEMINI ITALIC TYFE STYLES Ay eos bo CEI 10 cpi D G cpi cpi 5 cpi norm ABEN ARCX y ARCAN ABC QRC GELS doable strike ABE y ARO ABC ABC ABC QRC enphasized ABC y ORC y ABC ABC QRC QBBE double strike ABE ABCs ABC ABC ABC ABC epphasized Figure 5 3 The sample program s results amended to show the 88 viable options for type sizes and styles using Gemini 73 F Gemini User s Manual 1 12th of an inch difference between the beginning and end of the line By examining the lower table in Figure 5 3 you ll see that the same options and parameters apply to italic type as to standard type WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE Word processing is the family of programs that package text in forms understandable by your microcomputer its display monitor and various printers Popular word processing programs include Wordstar the Electric Pencil Easywriter Word Handler Perfect Writer etc Note Each of these programs is the copyrighted property and registered trademark of the companies that own them They are mentioned here only as examples of commercially available word processing programs Most of the pop
17. appendices to learn how to adapt this program to other computers 89 Gemini User s Manual INTRODUCTION TO DOT GRAPHICS When we enter into the bit graphics mode we have complete control over the firing of each individual pin in the print head The graphics mode opens up the full potential of the Gemini printer by allowing us to create any image we can imagine When printing dot graphics Gemini can produce an ultra high resolution image at 240 x 144 of over thirty thousand dots per square inch There are 80 characters for example in an 8 inch wide line of text set in 10 CPI For the same line width you can print 136 condensed width 17 CPI As a point of comparison you could fire up to 480 dots per line that s 60 dots per linear inch in the low resolution graphics mode In the ultra high resolution graphics mode you could print graphic images with a precision of 1920 dots per line four times the number of firings per line inch as in low resolution Dots a lot of dots Fortunately we don t have to fill all the columns on every line any more than a painter must apply all available paints to a single canvas After telling the printer to enter the graphics mode we then define how many columns of dots we want to print in a line We can send Gemini a string of instructions that tell which dots we want to fire in each column A line feed command can be used to conclude the graphics c
18. be a twisted pair ribbon type cable Appendices A through F provide information on acceptable q connecting cables including pin out charts in case you want to aig make your own connecting cable 53 3 Gemini User s Manual Interfacing Gemini with Your Computer Waming Power to your computer and printer must be off before attaching the interface cable The parallel interface connector on Gemini is a rounded trapezoid with the top edge longer than the lower edge The connecting plug must be complementary with the Gemini connector otherwise it won t fit at all Figure 4 8 shows the connection and the clamp pins for securing the union Connector for parallel interface ka Clamp pin Figure 4 8 Securely attach both the clamp pins to ensure a good electrical connection 54 Attach the other end of the connecting cable to your computer in accordance with the specifications for your microcomputer If you are uncertain of what the connector should look like consult your computer s user s manual Interfacing Gemini with Your Computer 4 SERIAL INTERFACE The serial interface requirements vary with the type of connector and type of device to which Gemini is interfaced The serial interface option can be purchased from your Gemini dealer and is accompanied by its own documentation INITIALIZATION In Chapter 5 you ll get a quick course in putting Gemini to work for you But the first s
19. in BASIC If you want to run this program the following paragraphs discuss the what s and why s A Sample Program that Demonstrates Vertical Spacing 86 The program presented in Figure 6 5b is short but takes awhile to print In the program the first line prints a heading a built in title for your graphics Line 20 starts a loop from 1 to 30 This loop controls the vertical spacing Line 30 may look strange but it reveals an important part of the limitations of BASIC Although the language is easy to use it has a few quirks In this case a CHR code is intercepted by BASIC and used as a BASIC control code that is then sent to the printer CHR 13 is a code for a carriage return Microsoft BASIC can t resist inserting a line feed CHR 10 behind every CHR 13 that it handles en route to the printer The computer language doesn t know that this particular CHR 10 is the final character in the ESC 3 n command that tells Gemini to change the leading line feed to 13 144ths inch There are ways to get around the problems using the POKE statement for example For this program we will bypass the problem and go to line 110 when the loop counter I equals 13 Fundamentals of Dot Matrix Printing i Line 40 reveals that the variable M is used to control the number of times line 90 is executed When is small M is large When is greater than 12 M is fixed to 2 Line 50 sets the vertical line spaci
20. 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 integrated circuits 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 Introduction T Cover Upper casing Piaten knob Connector for parallel interface Printer mechanism Controli board Optional serial interface punch out tab Power unit Lower casing Figure 1 5 The main components of the Gemini printer are the power unit the co
21. requires removal of the tractor unit Roll paper Paper guide Paper separator Release lever Roll paper holder Paper press a Figure 2 4 Both Gemini printers use similar paper guides and separators and identical roll paper assemblies a 18 Paper and Ribbon z Roll paper utilizes the metal racks which come as accessories with every Gemini printer As shown in Figure 2 4 these accessories include the paper guide paper separator te roll paper holder and holder shaft For information on how to attach these accessories please refer to Appendix G os The steps for inserting roll paper are fairly simple and straightforward 1 Turn the power off po 2 Remove the tractor unit if you haven t already done so 3 Following the procedures described in i Appendix G attach the paper separator guide and holder 4 Pull the release lever located on the left side of the top front part of the printer into the open position As with single sheet paper the open position is indicated by the letter T oa 5 Lift the paper press 6 Pull the paper separator upright as depicted in Figure 2 4 for the Gemini 10X The paper guide should remain horizontal i imes T Load the paper roll as shown in Figure O 2 4 so that when viewed from the i printer s right side the paper will unroll in a clockwise direction 8 As shown in Figure 2 5 for the Gemini 15X u
22. the electromechanical operations such as the print head carriage motor and paper feed motor This CPU utilizes the random access memory RAM it receives data serially or in parallel depending on which type of interface your system requires 47 4 Gemini User s Manual INTERFACE OPTIONS Gemini provides a parallel interface as standard Parallel interface is common to almost all popular microcomputers currently on the market But some computers use serial processing transmission and require serial interface capability As shown in Figure 4 1 Gemini is designed to accommodate either type of interface Control drive circuit Parallel interface standard CPU ROM RAM 0 Serlal interface optional Figure 4 1 The Gemini printers are provided with the parallel interface as standard equipment with a serial interface available as an option 48 The parallel interface is incorporated in the same printed circuit board PCB as the control circuit board The optional serial interface board is constructed to be attached directly to the PCB and to fully reside within the body of the printer If your system requires a serial interface contact your Gemini dealer for purchase of the Gemini SBI 4010X serial interface board In the following section we will discuss the parallel interface But first let s consider the DIP switches where are they what are they and what do they do So turn your
23. the paper is in straight 16 ERT RI Po TES ENT ROE a eB ee 63 Paper and Ribbon 7 Position the sheet of paper where you want the first line of text to start printing It may take you a little practice to get the placement consistently right but yov ll master it quickly 8 Push the release fever back to the closed position indicated by F 9 Return the paper press to the original position flush against the paper 10 Replace the cover and turn the power on Note Never touch the printing head during printing Aside from the mechanical injury threat associated with touching a fast moving device there is the danger of burning your fingers As the caution label on the print head states Caution Hot Surface Avoid Contact Single sheet paper Paper chute Turn power off Figure 2 3 Inserting a single sheet of paper into the Gemini 15X shown here and the Gemini 10X is just as easy as rolling a sheet of paper into a standard typewriter 17 E Gemini User s Manual LOADING ROLL PAPER The Gemini printers also allow you to print from rolls of paper The specifications are the same for both the Gemini 10X and z the Gemini 15X Roll paper width 8 5 inches Roll paper thickness 0 07 0 10 mm Diameter of roll 5inches maximum Roll paper like single sheets is fed into the printer by what is called friction feed Thus the use of roll paper
24. time It s like rolling a page through a typewriter advanc ing you to the next line If you hoid this button down you ll get con secutive line feeds one right after the other Figure 1 4 The control panel atop the right front of your printer tells you the status of your controls lets you switch between on line and local as well as feed more paper through your machine Take Gemini off line so the On line lamp goes off to operate the form feed and the line feed 5 F Gemini User s Manuail THE CONTROL PANEL Let s turn our attention to the buttons and status lamps on the 7 control panel Figure 1 4 shows what the buttons and lamps can do for you i 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 1 5 shows what is called an exploded view of Gemini 10X s
25. tion 60 by 72 dots per square inch High Resolution 120 by 144 and Ultra High Resolution 240 by 144 With all this printing power at your fingertips what are you waiting for Let s get started This User s Manual is organized to serve both the first time user and the sophisticated computer buff The first five chapters provide the basics you need for putting your printer to work in most home and office applications Chapters 6 through 10 deliver information for intermediate and advanced users Supported by technically rich appendices If you are a beginner you might want to look at Chapters 6 10 sometime in the future when your curiosity about how the printer does what it does has replaced your initial interest in what it can do Take a moment to examine the Table of Contents on the following page It shows you how this manual is organized to best serve your information needs You should note if you are just now unpacking your new printer from its shipment packaging that Appendix G shows you what you have and how it all fits together This manual s first several appendices are computer specific and help you connect your new Gemini with your computer At the back of this manual there is a glossary that gives simple definitions of com mon terms Following the glossary is an index to help you quickly find answers to your questions A Quick Reference Guide is printed on the inside folding flap of the back cover By reading this manua
26. we placed in positions half way between the normal big dot columns Why you might ask Ours is not to wonder why but to explain how A few minutes of reviewing Appendix K and some sketches on quad paper should convince you that studying Appendix K and making some preliminary sketches on graph paper are probably the best first steps you can take in designing your own block graphic projects This sample program demonstrates some of what block graphics can accomplish but why limit ourselves to the ASCII code numbers 224 to 239 In the next program we ll set sail for more challenging applications Creating Graphic Drawings 106 Figure 7 2 presents a sailboat drawn with 6 x 6 block graphics Also included in Figure 7 2 is the program listing If you want to take a few minutes to enter and run the program go ahead On the other hand you could learn some points about block graphics if you just read over the listing and follow the discussion As in the program in Figure 7 1 line 10 in this program sends a message to set the line feed at 6 72 inches Line 15 is used to set the printer to unidirectional print mode Line 20 is used to loop over the section of code that prints the sailboat Line 30 is used to control the font pitch the spacing between dots The first time K 1 so line 30 tells Gemini to set 10 CPI spacing The second time the boat is printed K 2 and line 30 tells the printer to use 12 CPI spacing Th
27. your computer s ASCII character codes with Gemini s Somewhere in the back of your computer manual you should find a table or chart of ASCII character codes Compare the chart with Appendix H at the back of this manual Mark the characters that are different for future reference Function Codes 58 Besides letters and numerals you can send special commands to functionally control printing operations These codes are identified variously as function control and command codes but they serve the same purpose In this manual we call them function codes and they are listed in Appendix M and in the Quick Reference chart on this manual s inside back cover Chapter 9 explains what these codes accomplish For now you need only note that some codes are repetitions of others Because not all computers can send all the ASCII codes Gemini accepts any of several function codes to cause the same effect Putting Gemini to Work i Transmitting the Codes The easiest way to transmit functional control codes is to build l them into the software program that sends the regular codes for p gt letters and numerals Sending the control codes to the printer by building them into the program allows you to change the printing instructions during the program This gives you total control to print what you want the way you want to print it You can also send control codes to the printer using the computer system s command leve
28. 00 LPRINT 2110 NEXT ROK 2120 LPRINT 2130 END 3000 REM DRAW A LINE FROM X1 Y1 TO X2 2 Figure 7 4a This BASIC program will allow you to create your own low and high resolution bit image graphics continued 111 F Gemini User s Manual 3010 XL X2 X1 YL Y2 Y 3020 NX ABS XLEXPAC NY ABS YLEYFAC 3030 IF NX lt NY THEN NY NY 3040 NSA INT NX 1 3050 DX XL NS DY YL NSY 7060 FOR I 1 TO NS 3070 XisX1 DX Yi Y14 DY 3080 GOSUB 4909 3090 NEXT 3100 RETURN 4000 REM PLOT A POINT AT X1 3 4010 XXSXLSXPAC YVSV RVPAC 4020 COLEINT XX 4039 ROWEINT YY 4 4040 XITRSINT YY BROW 4080 BITX COL ROW BITX COL ROW OR MASKASXITA 4060 RETURN Figure 7 4b This continuation of Figure 7 4a is the rest of one approach to using bit image graphics Figure 7 5 Using the BASIC program provided in Figure 7 4 you can obtain these results CONCLUSION The limits on Gemini s ability to produce readable text and graphic images are limited only by your imagination your computer system and your ability to properly use the functional command codes When it comes to imagination and a good computer system you stand on your own ground We can help you master the function codes as demonstrated in Chapter 9 112 Printing Capabilities Notes 113 DOWNLOADABLE CHARACTERS AND CUSTOM COMMANDS DOWNLOADABLE CHARACTERS AND CUSTOM COMMANDS Beyond all the capabilit
29. 12 you can turn the platen knob to adjust the roll paper vertically Note f you encounter any problem finding suitable roll paper supplies contact your Gemini dealer 21 z Gemini User s Manual LOADING SPROCKET FED PAPER Sprocket paper is also Known as computer paper fanfold paper and perf paper for perforated Even if you call it That funny looking paper with rows of holes on the sides your Gemini can still print on it Sprocket Paper Specifications Parameter Gemini 10X Gemini 15X Copy minimum 1 sheet 1 sheet maximum 3 part form 3 part form Paper width minimum 3 inches 5 inches maximum 10 inches 15 5 inches Paper thickness Single sheets minimum 0 07 mm 0 07 mm maximum 0 10 mm 0 10 mm 3 part forms 0 28 mm 0 28 mm Gemini can print 3 part carbonless forms which consist of one original sheet and two copies Mounting the Tractor Unit 22 Figures 2 1 and 2 2 showed you how to remove the tractor unit from your Gemini The tractor unit drives feeds the sprocket paper through the printer When you want to print onto this type of paper you must first attach the tractor unit Figure 2 7 shows you the correct alignment for gliding the unit into position and snapping it into place The tractor units for the Gemini 10X and Gemini 15X are quite similar but the paper loading procedures are markedly different So the following sections instruc
30. 20 CHRE 4S sCHRE S4 CHR 20 44 REM Define copyright symbol in olace of amp 43 LPRINT ESCS CHRS 42 sCHRS 1 sCHRS 38 sCHRS 1 sCHRO 28 sCHRS 34 i CHRE 77 CHRE 20 CHRE 65 CHRS 20 1 CHRE 143 CHRS 34 1 CHRS 20 SO REM Select downloadable characters b0 LPRINT ESCE CHRO 34 CHRO 1 70 REM Print our new symbols 80 LPRINT k R R LGRORORAL BR oy Foe GR on Bh on Bae Bh on Ben Bh om Figure 8 6 Program listing to print 2PSPRTaeke se gts One more instruction you ll need before we leave downloadable characters How to turn them off CHR 27 CHR 36 CHR 0 Turning downloadable characters on or off during a line will affect all characters on that line In other words if you turn on downloadable characters anywhere in a line all of the characters on that line will be treated as downloadable characters 119 Gemini User s Manual MACRO COMMANDS 120 Macro Instruction is the ability of a printer to accept a single control code to do the work of a multi command series of codes The Gemini s macro command capability allows you to group printer commands together and execute them with a single com mand Now this might not appear very useful at first glance but some of you just might be scheming on ways to tame a wayward spreadsheet program or to get some cooperation from an un cooperative word processor First we have to define the macro instruction CHR 27 CHR 43
31. 5 Raise the paper press 6 Lift up the paper separator 7 Raise the tractor covers on the sprocket me mechanisms as shown in Figure 2 12 8 Snap the clamp levers atop the sprocket mechanisms forward to the open position and move the sprocket mechanisms away from each other until there is enough room T between them to accommodate the paper 27 Gemini User s Manual Paper separator Release lever Figure 2 11 The first step is to prepare the Gemini 15X by putting the mechanical controls in the open position Steps 9 12 lead you down two separate paths Steps 9A through 12A are for loading sprocket paper from behind the printer steps 9B through 12B instruct you on loading paper from beneath the Gemini 15X 9A Place the stack of fanfolded computer paper behind the printer 10A Insert the sprocket paper from the back of the printer as shown in Figure 2 12 11A Feed the top sheet between the paper chute and the platen cover and around the platen to the front 12A Push the paper up past the paper press and return the paper separator to its horizontal position 28 Paper and Ribbon 9B 10B 11B 12B Paper separator i f i i i The other option is to Place the sprocket paper below the printer ideally on the second shelf of a special purpose printer table with the printer above it on a shelf with a built in slot Pic
32. 8 F Eo Putting Gemini to Work i i WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE if you want to get to work you may take your leave at this point You ve gotten a good idea of what Gemini is all about how the parts fit together how to add paper and ribbon the Self Test in terfacing with your computer and various printing capabilities That shouid be enough to get you started To paraphrase an old saying A journey of a thousand pages begins with a single character Bon Voyage aiia Oe a i aa ee ee ee es Ee Te a a a aa aa a a If you have the luxury of enough time to keep reading the next five chapters and accompanying appendices will provide you with the means to be able to travel first class If knowledge is power then you ll be a powerful Gemini user by the end of this manual 79 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF DOT MATRIX PRINTING Understanding dot matrix printing and Gemini s graphics begins with knowing some details about the print head and the software that controls it This chapter will provide you with those details The print head print matrix and vertical spacing are described in understandable terms The second half of this chapter will introduce you to dot graphics the control codes for firing the pins and a sample graphics program that will put a smile on your paper and perhaps on your face THE PRINT HEAD The print head contains nine thin wires or pins positioned one above the other
33. Figure 6 1 illustrates the print head from the paper s point of view looking straight on Each wire is connected to a solenoid gun an electromagnet that fires when told to do so by the computer inside Gemini Figure 6 2 presents a schematic of the print head mechanism profiling the solenoid spring and dot wire pin for one of the guns Needle of 7 bit interface print head 8 bit Interface Upper Lower Figure 6 1 The bit image column scan capability is the result of nine pins stacked in a column each fired independently in response to signals from the 7 bit or 8 bit interface from your computer 81 Gemini User s Manual Paper Needle pin Sub gulde Spring N Ribbon SS Pin guide Iron core Ribbon guide Platen Clapper guide Giane x Bobbin Printer solenoid Figure 6 2 This side view schematic of the print head mechanism shows how electrical signals to the solenoid cause the clapper to fire the needle like pin that impacts the ribbon paper platen After the solenoid releases the clapper a spring returns the pin to its original position Gemini s built in computer reads the ASCII code instructions sent by your computer and directs the print head to discharge the correct pins in the proper order The result of this hiring and firing is the printed characters produced by Gemini onto your paper Consider if you wi
34. Gemini runs out of paper 2 the effect of the CR codes on buffer full printing 3 7 bit or 8 bit interface and 4 automatic line feed Dip Switch When When Factory Pin No Function On Off Setting 1 1 Sr t ENRE ES eer eae A on 1 2 Print mode at Power On Normal Emphasized on 1 3 Set of Print Pitch 10 CPI 17 CPI on 14 Sal aradier Sat See Figure A0 on 1 5 Line Feed Value h inch 4 inch on 1 6 on 1 7 on 1 8 on Figure 4 4 The eight switch settings and functions for DIP switch 1 Note that switch 1 1 and 1 4 as well as 1 6 through 1 8 are explained in Figure 4 5 and 4 6 respectively 50 Interfacing Gemini with Your Computer 4 rain If DIP Switch 1 1 1 1 on on off off and 1 4 are set as follows 1 4 on off on off Then your Gemini will print the following character sets Standard ASCII Download Italic ASCII Italic ASCII Figure 4 5 The setting of DIP switches 1 1 and 1 4 control the character sets DIP Switch Settings Country Form Length 1 6 1 7 1 8 on on on U S A 11 inches off on on England 11 inches on off on Germany 12 inches off off on Denmark 12 inches on on off France 12 inches off on off Sweden 12 inches on off off italy 12 inches off off off Spain 12 inches Figure 4 6 By setting different combinations of DIP switches 1 6 1 7 and 1 8 you can select different international character sets and the form lengths that
35. IDES 280 IF K 6 THEN LPRINT PICAS WIDES 290 IF J 2 THEN LPRINT DBLS 200 IF J 3 THEN LPRINT EMPHS 310 IF J 4 THEN LPRINT DBLSS EMPHS 220 LPRINT NSG1 SUPERS MS628 CANES SUBS MEG38 CANSS COBLSS 330 IF K gt 3 THEN LPRINT CANWIDES 340 NEXT K 345 IF J22 THEN LPRINT LFS 350 IF J 4 THEN LPRINT ESC A CHRS 9 LFS COMPS CR enphasized 5 360 LPRINT PRSETS 370 NEXT J 380 LPRINT STRINGS S 10 390 NEXT f 400 LPRINT FFS WIDTH LPT1 80 END Figure 5 1 This sample program written in BASIC for the IBM PC but amendable to any personal computer is shown here in reduced or com pressed type and will produce the Printing Effects shown in Figure 5 2 63 a Gemini User s Manual Run the Reference Program Because we left the printer in the 17 CP mode at the end of the sample program listing we need to reset Gemini before running the program To reset initialize your printer turn the power off then back on Another way to initialize Gemini is via the software message LPRINT CHR 27 A moment ago we talked about plunging into this sample exercise The way to make that plunge is to enter RUN GEMINI STANDARD TYFE STYLES if gpr 12 cpl 10 cpi 8 5 cpi amp 2pd 5 cpi nor sal ABE AECX y ARCXY ABCXxYy ABCXxYy ABCXxYy double strike ABC ABC y ABCX ABCXxYy ABCXxYy ABCXxYy eaphasized ABM AECX ABCXxYy ABCXxYy ABCX xYy ABCXxYy
36. R THEN SOSUB 300 607T0 30 290 GOTO 250 200 CLS FOR Isf TO XsFOR Jat TO SO LOCATE I JiPRINT AS I J s NEXT JNEXT I RETURN 319 FOR Ts1 TO XsFOR J 1 TO BOsLPRINT ASUI J ssNEXT QiNEXT LE RETURN 320 LOCATE 23 2 PRINT STRINGS S0 22 330 LOCATE 25 2 PRINT STRINGS 50 22 340 LOCATE 28 2 COLOR 0 7 PRINT E Esc s LOCATE 25 11 350 PRINT C CHRS ssLOCATE 25 21 PRINT Q end command s COLOR 7 0 STS 340 GSSINKEY IF G THEN 360 370 IF G8 E THEN GOSUB 420 60T0 400 2B0 IF G C THEN GOSUB 5370 6070 400 390 TF 6 2 0 THEN GOTO 410 400 6070 360 410 RETURN 76 Putting Gemini to Work A 420 I 0 LOCATE 23 4 PRINT Esc s 430 BS INKEY IF 6 THEN 430 440 IF GS CHR 13 THEN 480 450 PRINT 6 460 PRINT 470 SO 1 mGGr 114126070 430 ABO IF 1 2 THEN FOR Jet TO LiDeeDO BS J NEXT JsST aCHRE 27 8810 SCHRO VAL D6 1090 490 IF 22 THEN STS CHR 27 48 0 CHRS VAL S 1 S00 IF Isi THEN ST CHRE 27 86 0 S10 LPRINT ST STSe sFOR Jet TO 1 S8 J 2 sNEXT Js lad 520 LOCATE 23 4 PRINT RETURN 530 LOCATE 23 2 PRINT CHRS y ST S40 GS INKEY IF 6 THEN 540 550 IF G CHRS 13 THEN 570 SLO PRINT G8 ST sST G 60T0 40 570 LOCATE 23 2 PRINT SLPRINT CHRS VAL STS s ST RETURN Figure 5 4 A simple program written in BASIC that serves as a rudimentary word processing program In Figure 5 4 a very simple word processing software pro gram is presented written in BASIC for
37. The question might arise Could we use sii the PRSET mode instead If we did it would be necessary to reset the italic mode before printing the table characters when 2 i When K 4 line 260 sends both the COMP and the WIDE commands causing the printer to shift into 8 5 CPI Lines 270 and 280 cause Gemini to print 6 CPI when K 5 and 5 CPI when K 6 Line 290 invokes the double strike mode when J 2 by sending the character string DBL to Gemini You may recall the DBL is equal to ESC G or equivalently CHR amp 27 CHR 71 es Line 300 sends the emphasized mode command to the printer 69 70 Gemini User s Manual by means of a character string EMPH When J 4 line 310 shifts Gemini into the double strike and emphasized mode by sending both the DBL and EMPH commands Line 320 is the heart of the program This line prints out the entire table The rest of the program prints the titles and headings or sets the print size and style In line 320 the character string MSG1 set to ABC by line 150 is printed in whatever mode the printer is in as a result of preceding the transmission of the SUPER command string remember line 40 and the character string MSG2 is printed The superscript mode is cancelled by sending the CANS string CHR 27 CHR 84 or by ESC T The subscript mode is invoked by sending the SUB command string The third character string in line 320 MSG3 whic
38. a simple character to test low resolution printing This program will show you one approach to creating graphic images In the next chapter we l consider more advanced techniques The first step in generating a sample program is to decide where to position the dots One way is to start with a pencil and a piece of paper especially paper with square grids printed on it We will imagine that one dot will cover one square Fundamentals of Dot Matrix Printing ai Next you should construct the character you wish to draw and label the rows and columns Figure 6 6 shows one such process using two lines of seven rows each ROUGH SKETCH oot S 123 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 414 12 13 14 128 1 000000 64 2 o 32 3 e e z 16 4 amp e 7 8 5 o 4 e 0 amp 2 7 0 128 1 E 64 2 0O 32 3 o o Tw a e0 oo e 8 5 4 6 2 7 e 0 0 00o Line 1 tiring code 14 16 34 64 140 140 128 128 140 140 64 34 16 14 Line 2 Figure 6 6 One approach to creating your own graphics is first to sketch the figure on graph paper then code the dots for programming 95 96 Gemin User s Manual In our example we want to start printing in dot column 100 and print to column 114 Therefore the total number of characters we will send for each of the two rows is 114 Using our handy table we know that n1 114 and n2 0 Therefore the control code we send to Gemini to put t
39. are subject to change without notice Printer Serial impact dot matrix Print head 9 wire user replaceable Print speed 120 CPS at 10 CPI bidirectional logic seeking Graphics mode unidirectional Print buffer 816 bytes expandable up to 4K or 8K Character matrix 9 x 9 standard with true descenders 18 x 9 emphasized 18 x 18 double strike 6 x 6 block graphics 60 x 72 low resolution bit image graphics 120 x 144 high resolution bit image graphics 240 x 144 ultra high resolution bit image graphics Character sets 96 standard ASCII characters 96 italic characters 64 special characters 32 biock graphic characters 96 Downloadable characters programmable 88 International characters selectable Character fonts Normal 10 CPI Elite 12 CPI Condensed 17 CPI Emphasized Double strike Enlarged 5 6 8 5 CPI Super subscripts Italic Special features Self Test Continuous underline Backspace Vertical horizontal programmable tabs Left and right margin set 7 or 8 bit selectable interface Bit image column scan Perforation skip Downloadable characters programmable Macro instruction 10 Introduction Mean curve between failure MCBF Print head MCBF Columns maximum Line spacing Paper slew Paper handling Interface I F protocol Ribbon Dimensions Weight Power 5 x 108 lines excluding print head 10 x 10 characters GEMINI 10X GEMINI 15X Normal 80 136 El
40. are standard in those countries 51 Gemini User s Manual Switch Function When on When off 2 1 No paper Gemini signals The out of paper detection when you are signalis not out of paper sent by Gemini enabling the printer to print with no paper Buffer full The CR code is Printing is ignored and one performed each line of print data time the CR code is stored until is input memory is full or the LF code is input Selection of 7 bit interface 8 bit interface the number of bits Automatic CR code No line feed is line feed automatically performed by performs line feed input of CR code Figure 4 7 DIP switch 2 is on off toggles for four important printer operations 52 The on position is when the toggle is flipped up the switch is turned off when the toggle is pointed down The switches are numbered on Gemini with the left most toggle identified as no 1 when viewed from the rear and above Setting the DIP switches involves using the point of a ball point pen or a similar tool that can serve as a small finger by gently flipping each switch either up or down Appendices A through F respond to the need for setting the DIP switches for six popular types of home computers Please refer to these appendices for information about the recommended settings for your computer If your computer is not listed in these appendices consult your computer s u
41. at s part of our map to either be a dot 1 or a blank space 0 Our picture will be 360 dots wide at 60 dots per linear inch and 270 dots in height We are going to hold 6 bits in each character to avoid prob lems that you might have with the carriage return command and to let people with either 7 bit and 8 bit computers participate without significant adaptation of our program This program like the previous ones is written for the IBM PC but the appendices at the back of this manual will tell you how to adapt this program to several other computers yy nanan ence mamen ea eaaa memes Figure 7 3 In this program standard characters the o s in port holes are mixed with 6 x 6 block graphics on the same line The Program The program listed in Figure 7 4 is made up of subroutines A sam ple output is provided Figure 7 5 to illustrate the program s capabilities So before exercising our brains with explanations let s type in the program as written and RUN it You may feel like it takes a long time to run the program The 109 F Gemini User s Manual extra wait is part of the price for BASIC s simplicity In addition detailed graphics like this involves massive data manipulation If for any reason you didn t get an output that looks like it was supposed to look compare with Figure 7 5 then turn Gemini off reset it by turning it back on enter LLIST and compare
42. ation The ASCII codes in Appendix H are decimal in that they are based on ten numbers 0 through 9 and hexadecimal based on 16 number mathematical system In our sample programs we ll use the ASCII decimal equivalents In BASIC the CHR function is used to convert the decimal ASCII code into your computer s binary code Thus 59 S Gemini User s Manual LPRINT A means the same as LPRINT CHR 65 The CHR function pronounced character string allows you to transmit special characters and ASCII control codes that are not directly available through your computer The Problem with BASIC The basic problem with BASIC is similar to the problem with the ASCII code While there are many program statements that are standard there is no standardization of the BASIC language The IBM PC TRS 80 Atari and many other computers as well as Microsoft BASIC for CP M use the statement PRINT to send information to the screen and the statement LPRINT to send information to the printer The Atari can also use a variation of the LPRINT statement requiring for example that a file number such as 1 be assigned to the printer Therefore PRINT 1 sends information to the printer and PRINT sends information to the screen Other BASIC versions such as Applesoft and CBASIC for CP M use PRINT to send information both to the screen and to the printer Using the PR 1 statement before PRINT sends information on
43. cond menu which will permit you to print your text or to the third menu where you may send Escape or control codes to the printer for special an characters or effects It is not necessary to type the entire ASCII codes Instead you have the option of selecting ESC or CHR For example if you wish to send CHR 27 W CHR 1 to the printer for printing of wide characters you simply need to seiect the ESC option and type W1 and then hit lt CR gt and the code will be sent to the printer After sending the codes you may gc back to the 2nd menu and print your text again c The following is a listing of the commands es CONTROL COMMANDS FOR THE DO IT YOURSELF WORD PROCESSING PROGRAM SHOWN IN FIGURE 5 4 ist MENU P gets you to the 2nd command level D deletes the character to the left of the cursor AR restart clears the screen and lets you type a new text E exits the program 2nd MENU P prints your text C gets you to the 3rd command level R returns you to the 1st print level z 3rd MENU E ESC lets you send ESC code with an abbreviated command C CHR lets you send a control code with an abbreviated command R returns you to the 2nd level These commands may vary if you are not using an IBM PC but the effects will be the same For further explanation of the program variations please refer to the computer specific appendices at the back of this manual Er 7
44. cter that appears in the lower line of Figure 3 3 is the exclamation point coded b This is also called the factorial sign in mathematical symbolism The next eight characters represented by c through j are respectively double quotation marks the number sign if it precedes a numeral as in 5 or a pound sign if it follows as in 5 the dollar sign the percent sign the ampersand also called the and sign the apostrophe which also serves as the final single quotation mark and the opening and closing parentheses The next six characters in Figure 3 3 represented by letters k through p respectively are the asterisk or star the plus sign a comma the minus sign which also serves as both the hyphen and the short dash a period and the slash mark The slash represented by letter p is also called the diagonalt slant solidus and virgule in the English money system it represents shillings Letter q in Figure 3 3 represents the 10 characters for the numerals zero through nine It might help to note the difference between a number and a numeral at this time A byte can represent a character such as the letter m or the numeral 5 or a whole number A number is a concept and a numeral is a character or group of characters that represent the concept In Figu
45. ction Zz onto the paper with the dots arranged according to preset matrix patterns imaginary grids Because the characters are printed in a series one after the other Gemini is called a serial impact dot matrix printer Above and behind the platen is a device for bearing and propelling fanfold computer paper The tractor unit is used with computer paper having perforated and punched paper guides on the sides The power lamp glows green when the power is on CO POWER The ready lamp gives you the green light for go when the printer is ready to accept data During transmission the lamp CJI READY flickers CIJON LINE The on line lamp is green and glows when data transmission is possible BS PAPER The red tamp of paper out means just that your printer is out OUT of paper and has stopped printing The On Line button lets you alter the printer status between be ing local which means independent and on its own and being on line which means able to receive data transmitted from a computer When you turn the printers power on you re automatically on line F F stands for Form Feed When you re in the local mode you can tap this button and advance the paper that is being fed in to the printer to the first line of the next page or to the start of the next form L F means Line Feed and allows you to advance the paper one line at a
46. d try again ANALYZING THE PROGRAM In this section we ll analyze the program you entered using Figure 5 1 as your reference Before we start you might want to SAVE the program on disk or tape to avoid having to retype it if you ever want to use it again Let s begin by considering line 10 shown in Figure 5 1 This line tells the BASIC interpreter that the printer will accept 132 characters per line This prevents BASIC from tossing in extra carriage returns and line feeds where we don t want them Lines 20 through 70 are used to set some printer controls to more easily remembered codes The escape code which is ASCII decimal code 27 is set to ESC The command that tells the printer to advance one line ASCII code 10 is set to LF The variable FF is set to ASCII code 12 a command to Gemini that the printer should advance to the top of the next page The default value set by power on or receipt of the software reset is 66 lines per page Line 30 sets the printer command to change type size The format of this command is ESC B n where n can be 1 2 or 3 If n is 1 the type size is 10 characters per inch CPI This is the type size of a standard typewriter s print called pica Pica is the type size you select when Gemini is initialized until and unless you ask for different type size If n is 2 the type size is 12 CPI the same size as elite typewriter print If n is 3 the type size is 17 CPI t
47. e 120 is a loop from 1 to 40 that sends two characters to Gemini for each cycle of the loop What you might ask are the two characters CHR 231 and CHR 232 To find out turn to Appendices or H ASCII code numbers 231 and 232 appear to be what in a gymnast s parlance might be called uneven parallel bars Number 231 is the upper bar and number 232 is the lower bar These two characters are part of Gemini s 6 x 6 graphics set as explained further in Chapter 7 The two LPRINT statements at the end of line 120 cause two line feeds after the loop is completed Did you notice the semicolon at the LPRINT inside the loop Without that a carriage return would be generated after each printing of these two characters With the semicolon we get the alternating row of short bars that serve as decoration beneath the table titles in Figure 5 2 Line 130 is straightforward it prints the column headings for the table Because the printer has been set to produce these headings in 1 andin 2 the headings appear in normal and Putting Gemini to Work a italic type respectively in Figure 5 2 You might note that the decorative graphic characters are unaffected by the italic control and the italic mode is resumed after 6 x 6 characters are printed Line 140 is similar to line 120 and serves as one way of drawing a line across a page Line 150 sets three character strings in preparation for the printing that follows T
48. e eighth and ninth pins This style of character generation called true descenders makes these letters much more readable The underlining character ASCII code 95 is created by firing only the ninth pin The ESC CHR 48 control code can also be used for underlining The block graphics characters ASCII code numbers 224 through 255 are configured on a 6 x 6 matrix We ll discuss these characters a little later A simple example of block graphics is shown in Figure 6 4 W y for the Cowboy state The BASIC program for producing Figure 6 4 is presented and discussed in Chapter 7 my t you can create very large type as shown here 84 Although the matrices are the same width the dot configurations of the different characters in the alphanumeric and special symbol sets are different in their widths The narrowest letter is the lowercase i ASCII code 105 the smallest character is the four dot period ASCII code 46 The widest characters in the alphanumeric set are the uppercase letters such as M ASCII code 77 When Gemini prints these characters for example during the first lines of the Self Test an extra blank column a sixth column is added to each character to provide spacing between them When you shift into the elite 12 CPI or compressed mode 17 CPI the characters are the same height as in the normal mode but vary in width With elite and compressed print
49. e line spacing etc In Chapter 3 we discussed the Self Test and used a letter code corresponding to the individual printed characters That simple type of coding may have worked there but another more sophisticated coding is required for your computer to efficiently communicate with your Gemini 57 Gemini User s Manual The ASCII Code Every letter numeral and other character that is sent from the computer to Gemini is transmitted in the form of a number code A standard code was agreed upon to allow greater compatibility among the hundreds of different types of computers and peripherals This industry wide uniform code is called the American Standard Code for Information Interchange or ASCII pronounced ask key Please turn to Appendix K and you will see each character printed by Gemini and a corresponding ASCII code The decimal number 65 is the code representing the uppercase letter A The lowercase a is represented by 97 For every character there is a corresponding code number The ASCII code numbers for the uppercase letters numerals and punctuation marks are fairly well standardized Thus most computers share the same ASCII codes between 32 and 127 Unfortunately the rest of the codes 128 through 255 are nowhere near standardization in all computer systems Note This is a timely opportunity for you to review the manual that accompanied your computer and to compare
50. e third time K 3 and line 30 calls for 17 CPI Printing Capabilities F 10 LFRINT CHR 27 CHRS 65 CHR 6 CHRS 15 13 LPRINT CHR 27 sCHRE 85 CHRS 1 g 20 FORK 1 103 lt O LPRINT CHR 27 sCHRS 66 CHRS K A 40 RESTORE _ 50 FOR J 1 60 FOR I 7 READ A BO LPRINT CHRS A 90 NEXT I 100 LPRINT 110 NEXT J A 120 DATA 224 224 224 224 224 224 224 224 224 245 224 224 130 DATA 224 224 224 224 224 224 224 224 252 245 224 224 140 DATA 224 224 224 245 224 224 224 252 229 245 224 224 150 DATA 224 224 252 245 224 224 252 239 239 245 224 224 160 DATA 224 252 239 245 224 252 239 239 239 245 224 224 170 DATA 252 239 239 245 252 239 239 239 239 245 224 224 180 DATA 241 241 241 249 241 241 241 241 241 249 224 224 190 DATA 239 239 239 289 239 239 239 239 239 239 239 25 A 200 DATA 253 239 239 239 239 239 239 239 239 239 251 224 210 LPRINT NEXT E 220 LPRINT CHRS 27 sCHR 64 END 10 9 T0 1 1 Figure 7 2 Block graphics created this fleet of sailboats using the simple program shown Line 40 is a BASIC command that tellis the next READ statement to start reading at the beginning of the data The data statements have been changed in Figure 7 2 from what they were in Figure 7 1 or else we would have produced another Wy instead of the sailboat You can examine the data to see what characters are used and with what results You might want to take
51. eady figured out that the high order bit of the character controls the top pin the next bit controls the number two pin etc Okay now that you know how to fire the pins what code do you think will fire pins no 5 6 and 8 with an 8 bit interface per the above chart How about CHR 8 4 1 or CHR 13 That may seem like a good answer but in the words of Hamlet ay there s the rub CHR 13 causes BASIC to automatically insert a line feed CHR 10 behind it These BASIC programs were written several years ago before Gemini came along Gemini is smart enough to use CHR 13 for a purpose other than initiating a carriage return if only BASIC were as smart One solution to the above problem is to design your graphics programs so that they only use pins numbers 1 through 7 for 8 bit computers and numbers 1 through 6 for 7 bit Because the bottom most pin that normally can be used is fired by CHR 1 all commands for the other usable pins will be even numbered whatever their combination of numbers to fire whatever combination of pins With all the codes even numbered there s no need to concern ourselves about unlucky old CHR 13 You might want to think about it for a while There are other ways around the problem but the even number approach works even if there seems to be something odd about it Example Graphics Program 94 Now that we ve learned how to send the graphics controls to Gemini let s construct
52. erface a type of interfacing that is accomplished by having the printer parallel wired like a string of double wired Christmas lights where each lightbulb burns independently Data from your computer is sent down the cable wires to your Gemini side by side or parallel Between the parallel interface and the power cord is the port hole a punch out plastic tab for the serial interface This optional interface allows you to connect Gemini with a computer requiring seria communications Power switch Platen knob Printer cover Control panel Figure 1 1 The operational controls are on the right side of the Gemini printers 2 Introduction F DIP switches Connector for parallel interface Port hole for serial Interface optional Power cord terminal Figure 1 2 The connectors and DIP switches are located on the back of the Gemini printers A SNEAK PREVIEW INSIDE GEMINI By referring to Figure 1 3 we can examine more closely the parts that make your Gemini printer work If you are just getting started you should refer to Appendix G for instructions on unpacking and assembly then to Chapter 2 for information on loading the ribbon and setting the print head s gap After you ve cleared those hurdles which you ll do soon enough this is what your printer will look like Inside the front of the machine are two ribbon spools Gemini uses standard typewriter ribbons savin
53. esetting the line printer to an 80 character width With that line 400 ends the program Now that we have considered the causes let s look at the effects In the following section we ll interpret Figure 5 2 amended to show the 88 type styles and sizes that Gemini can provide for practical applications WHAT WE VE LEARNED GEMINI CAN DO So far in this chapter we ve learned that Gemini can do more than the most popular word processing software can handle To enjoy the full range of type styles and sizes you need to create computer programs in BASIC or other computer languages to send functional commands to Gemini Or as described in the following section you can patch your word processing software so it s smart enought to manage Gemini properly Figure 5 3 is an amended version of Figure 5 2 that shows the 88 variations of type sizes and styles for the alphanumeric 71 72 Gemini User s Manual characters Alphanumeric means all the characters that are the letters in the alphabet and numerical symbols for numbers The difference between Figures 5 2 and 5 3 is that the latter has had some of the superscripts and subscripts eliminated The supers and subs are designed for normal and double strike type in 10 12 and 17 CPI Superscripts and subscripts were not intended for use in the emphasized mode When you double the width of the characters 5 6 and 8 5 CPI the scri
54. et the data and send it to your Gemini printer The routine star ting at line 2020 through 2110 uses a loop to go through the data It will print 12 lines and each line contains 375 dots Data will be sent to the printer one line at a time The shape we plot will il lustrate our ability to plot mathematical curves Since we need to generate high quantities of data through our equations please note that it will take a few minutes to use this program 110 Printing Capabilities F 10 CLSsPRINT PRINT PRINT PRINT 20 PRINT THIS PROGRAM TAKES ABOUT 2 MINUTES TO RUN 30 PRINT PLEASE TURN ON YOUR PRINTER AND STAND BY 100 DIM BITR 76 12 110 MASKZ 1 128 MASKE 4 216 120 MASKZ 2 264 MASKX 5 8 130 MASK2 3 32 sMASKZ 6 4 140 LX 20 LY 20 150 XFAC 72 LX YFAC 75 LY 1000 REM PLOT CURVE 1010 RAD 9 1020 X1 19 Y 210 1030 FOR ANG 0 70 360 STEP 19 1040 RIZANGES 29 340 1050 X2 RADSCOS R1 10 Y2 RADSSIN RL 10 1980 SCSUB 3000 1070 NEXT ANG 1080 FOR ANG 0 TO 360 STEP 15 1090 RIsANGES 28 340 1100 825 ANG 150 4 28 260 1110 XPBRADRCOS RL 10 VL RADESIN R1 10 1120 X2 RADICOS R2 10 Y2 RADESIN R2 10 1130 GOSUB 3000 1140 NEXT ANG 2000 WIDTH LPT 253 2010 LPRINT CHRS 27 A CHRS 4 2020 FOR ROW 9 TO 11 SATA Aba 2049 LPRINT CHRS 27 K sCHRS 119 sCHRS 1 2050 FOR COLei TO 72 2060 FOR LL t 70 2070 LPRINT CHRS BITE COL ROW 2080 NEXT LL 2090 NEXT COL 21
55. f each chapter in this manual A reduced version of that chapter identifier appears at the top of this page You can see that the matrix or grid is nine rows high and five rows wide with some dots on the lines between columns The compressed and double width modes print the same character matrix but with the width of the horizontal columns shortened or expanded respectively lf you are observant you might notice that the ABC s across each row in Figure 5 3 appear to slope slightly downward from left to right In your everyday printing you won t get this effect your lines of text will be perfectly straight The reason for Putting Gemini to Work the sloping in this sample program is the frequent use of superscripts and subscripts When you print supers and subs Gemini executes the scripts in the double strike mode Double striking involves printing the characters once then reprinting them 1 144th inch lower One one hundred and forty fourth of an inch isn t even detectable unless you have the eyes of a hawk In most printing situations you won t use superscripts and subscripts more than once or twice a line if at all Thus printing the remainder of a line 1 144th or 2 144th of an inch lower would not be noticeable In our sample program Figure 5 2 there were 12 supers and subs per line giving a total of 12 144ths or GEMINI STANDARD TYFE STYLES moam maaa m m m ce m m
56. f program listings computer memory dumps and program outputs text and graphics Gemini s standard features include variable pitch characters that is different sizes adjustable line spacing left and right margin control settable tabs italic type and special character symbols High resolution graphics can be created using the bit image column scan mode In this chapter you will get an accelerated course in how to produce most of Gemini s special effects If you stop reading this manual at the end of this chapter you should know enough to be able to dazzle your friends with your command of the Gemini So let s get started TALKING TO YOUR PRINTER When you type on a conventional typewriter your fingers tell the machine which characters to print by striking different keys You can control the margins tabs and spacing of the lines by setting various mechanical controls If there are removabie type elements on your electric typewriter you can change the type style to italic or special symbols such as math or Greek Aside from the DIP switches and control panel buttons atop Gemini there are no controls to set on your printer to produce various printing effects Everything is controlled from your computer by means of electrical signals carried via the connector cable In addition to telling the printer which characters you want to print we send Gemini coded messages that change the type size and style set tabs vary th
57. ftware Program Patching is the term used to describe making changes in an existing word processing program so that it can make fuller use of Gemini s capabilities To accomplish patching refer to your word processing software user s manual The manual should have a listing that demonstrates user patchable changes you can make in the program A word of waming You need to be computer wise to successfully patch an existing word processing program Before you Start it s probably a good idea to make a copy of your word processing program and attempt patching the copy That way if you make an error you re only out the time you invested and haven t hurt the original Software Patching Services Another solution to the problem of software printer incompatibility is to turn to one of the software recycling services that advertise in hobbyist computing publications For a modest sum they will recycle your software by performing the patching operation for you Many of these services invite you to mail them your word processing software and of course a check and they ll send you back a tailored to fit program on your same diskette s The Creative Solution If you made it through the program listed in Figure 5 1 you should be able to create a simple program that serves as Your Own Word Processing Software System The title s a bit long you can always word process it to somethin
58. g _ For block graphics each of which is up to six dots tall 7 different spacing is required or else your graphic blocks won t Pou fit together tightly Anticipating that you would want to be able to adjust the vertical spacing Gemini provides you with the following five ways to make adjustments Software Height Vertical f Code Inches Dots e ESC 2 1 6 12 ESC 0 1 8 9 ESC 1 7172 7 E ESC A n niT2 n l w ESC 3 n nl144 ni2 85 Gemini User s Manual As if that weren t enough there s ESC J n which does the same work as ESC 3 n but doesn t change the value for successive line feeds Because each dot is 1 72 inch in diameter you have vertical spacing control as miniscule as half the thickness of a dot Another way of expressing the same idea is that Gemini provides a high resolution graphics pattern of 144 dots per vertical inch With Gemini s ultra high horizontal resolution capability of 240 dots per inch that makes for a powerful graphics tool no matter how you look at it In Figure 6 5 you ll see 1 144th inch resolution as well as the appearance of other leadings pronounced leddings Leading or line spacing is the amount of space set between lines of type Figure 6 5 presents sample leadings of 1 144th inch to approximately 1 5th inch If you want to run the sample program that produces Figure 6 5 it is presented
59. g short and snappy Even if you didn t successfully execute the sample program don t be afraid of trying this task Remember You may never know if you can do something unless you try 75 a Gemini User s Manual 10 CLOKEY OFFSDIM A 24 80 20 CLSsXets 1 30 GOSUB 1SO LOCATE X YsPRINT 4Q BS INKEYS IF BSe THEN 40 SO IF B aCHR S THEN CLS END b0 IF BS CHRS 18 THEN CLS 60SUB 200 60T0 20 70 TF BS CHRS 6 THEN GOTO 220 80 IF BS CHR 3 THEN AS X Y BS LOCATE X YsPRINT sX X 1 YelsLOCATE X Y PRINT a 6070 40 90 IF BS CHR 4 THEN GOSUS 30 G0T0 40 100 LOCATE X Y PRINT BS sA X Y sBS Ye 110 IF YeBO THEN AS X Y 2CHRS 13 BEEPsX2X i Yal G0T0 40 120 LOCATE X Y PRINT s G0TO 40 130 LOCATE X YsPRINT p Y Y 1 IF Y 0 THEN Y 1 BEEP 135 A X Y 140 LOCATE X Y PRINT A RETURN 150 LOCATE 25 2 COLOR 0 7 PRINT P printer n 160 LOCATE 23 17 COLOR 0 7 PRINT D delete COLOR 7 0 170 LOCATE 23 34 COLOR O 7 PRINT R restart s COLOR 7 0 180 LOCATE 28 S1 COLOR O 7 PRINT E exit COLOR 7 0 190 RETURN 200 LOCATE 10 30 PRINT olease stand by s FOR T TO X FOR J 1 TO SO AS 1 J 2 NEXT NEXT RETURN 220 LPRINT CHR 27 8 230 CLE LOCATE 25 2 COLOR O 7 PRINT Chommand s LOCATE 25 14 240 PRINT Porint ssLOCATE 25 27 PRINT Roeturn COLOR 7 0 250 GS INKEYS IF G THEN 250 260 IF G P THEN GOSUB 310 270 IF G C THEN GOSUB 320 G0TO 230 280 IF 6
60. g you money you might have had to spend for special purpose ribbon cartridges When the ribbon has run completely from one spool onto the other the Gemini automatically reverses the ribbon direction When the ribbon starts wearing and the print copy lightens simply take the ribbon off turn it upside down and print on the other edge The cylindrical print head observable behind and above the ribbon spools is the ingenious device that can print 120 characters per second CPS onto a variety of papers What s more the print head is engineered to work consistently for an average of 100 million characters without fail expressed as 10 x 10 Mean 3 T Gemini User s Manual Covet Paper SN mA shaft Roli _ Paper holder Figure 1 3 For more information about how the paper guide separator and holder should be attached to the printer please refer to Appendix G at the back of this manual Curve Between Failures If you ever need to replace the print head you can detach it yourself for replacement The Gemini prints by means of pins that are thrust from the working side of the print head These pins impact against the paper which is backed by the platen As already mentioned the platen is like the roller on a typewriter The individual characters letters numerals and symbols that are printed result from the action of the dot producing pins These wiry little pins fire dots introdu
61. h is Yy is then printed only to be cancelled by the CAN command again Finally the double strike print mode is cancelled Why did we have to cancel the double strike mode Where did we invoke it In order to make the ha f height superscript and subscript characters more legible they are automatically printed using the double strike print mode Cancelling the superscript or subscript does not automatically cancel the double strike mode You might notice that line 320 is used six times to print one line Line 330 is used to cancel the double width command when K is greater than 3 This is done because the double width command is sent when K is equal to 4 5 or 6 by lines 260 270 and 280 Line 340 is the bottom of the inner K loop Line 350 is responsibie for printing the words emphasized after the last line of each table You might want to direct your attention to Chapter 9 or to Appendix M to learn the purpose of the ESC A n functional control code We used this control code to reset the spacing between lines When Gemini is initialized the spacing is set to one sixth of an inch when DIP switch 1 5 is on This is the standard single space of a conventional pica typewriter With Gemini this inch spacing allows a half character of spacing between lines of text The ESC A n function code allows us to vary the spacing between lines When the spacing control codes are sent to the pr
62. he first string ABC is printed in normal script The next string Xx is printed in superscript The third string Yy is printed in subscript If you prefer other characters for example your name to be printed in another version of Figure 5 2 change these strings and rerun the program Line 160 starts the loop over printing modes Line 170 puts the printer into italic type when 2 This is required because we will use the printer reset to clear the print modes at the end of this loop The printer reset causes Gemini to go back to its initial power on state Lines 180 through 210 print row headings for the tables on the left side of the lines illustrating the print modes in Figure 5 2 For J 1 the print mode is normal J 2 produces the double strike effect The print is emphasized as a result of J 3 With J 4 Gemini produces a combination of double strike plus emphasized type You might also note that we set the row headings in compressed type to conserve space so that the tables would fit on 10 inch wide paper Line 220 starts the inner loop which prints each line of the table Lines 230 through 280 set the six different print sizes If K 1 line 230 sends the COMP command to Gemini which causes a shift into the compressed print mode If K 2 then line 240 sends the ELITE command to the printer If K 3 line 250 sends the PICA command thus directing Gemini to print in normal 10 CPI type size
63. he printer in the low resolution mode ready to print our 14 columns is as follows LPRINT CHR 27 K CHR 114 CHR 0 Before you start firing the pins be sure that the top of the second row of dots is one dot s space below the bottom of the first row It s like having one picture in two frames and wanting the frames lined up close together You are using seven printing dots and each dot is 1 72 of an inch below the one above it Perhaps this illustration will make it clearer oO oO First line 7 7 dot space for line height Secondline Our line feed spacing should be 7 72 inch We have a special line feed command for precisely that spacing ESC 1 or CHR 27 CHR 49 Now it s just a matter of entering the program Fundamentals of Dot Matrix Printing ha 10 RESTORE 15 WIDTH LPTI 259 20 LPRINT CHR 27 8 CHR 27 1 30 FOR L 1 702 40 LPRINT CHRS 27 K sCHRS 114 CHRS 0 SO FOR SPACE 1 TO 100 LPRINT CHRSI0 NEXT SPACE 60 FOR COLM 1 TO 4 READ C LPRINT CHRS C NEXT COLM 70 LPRINT NEXT L g0 DATA 16 16 34 68 140 140 128 128 140 140 646 74 16 14 90 DATA 224 16 232 68 54 18 18 18 18 34 68 232 16 224 300 LPRINT CHRS 27 s sLPRINTSLPRINTSLPRINT Let s run the program and see if we can get a smile both on the paper and on the face of the Gemini operator who s creating dot matrix graphics Now if you want to try a little somet
64. he set up requirements if any such as the selection of the printer interface mode Load BASIC and turn on your Gemini The Power Ready and Online lamps should be lit on Gemini s control panel Type in the reference program listing Figure 5 1 making the modifications outlined in the appendices for your computer system Note You should proofread each line you type in before entering it If you want your program to look like Figure 5 2 your program ay listing must look exactly like the one shown in Figure 5 1 subject of course to minor changes for computers other than the IBM PC Before You Run the Sample Program The program you just typed in was a long one but it illustrates about one half of the features available on Gemini Before we run the program let s utilize Gemini as a line printer Create a program listing by typing LLIST You can use this listing to double check that you have correctly entered the reference program Figure 5 1 If you discover any errors correct them Then create another listing by entering WIDTH LPT1 255 LPRINT CHR 15 and then 2 LLIST TEADS DES TE EA ATEN SENATA A TEE ATAA AEA E A A E EAE T NE The WIDTH command told the BASIC program that your printer could print as many characters as it wants per line The CHR 15 was sent to tell Gemini to print in reduced type of 17 characters per inch CPI By using the reduced type full 136 charac
65. he size of the compressed type we used for the listing in Figure 5 1 65 66 Gemini User s Manual Wait a minute Didn t we use the command code CHR 15 to shift into compressed type That s right there are two ways of shifting into compressed type the single character command CHR amp 15 and the three character command ESC B 3 Actually that s CHR 27 CHR 66 and CHR 3 if you check the ASCII code table in Appendix The command CHR 18 can be used to shift the printer from compressed mode back to normal pica size print Line 40 sets some variables that allow shifting into and out of the superscript and subscript mode Superscripts are characters that are printed above the regular line of type such as the 2 in E MC2 Subscripts are below the line such as the 2 in H O On some printers the supers and subs are produced by rolling the paper up and down a half line printing the superscript or subscript then rolling the paper back to its original position Gemini prints supers and subs using special characters that are small enough to convey the scripting in the space normally utilized by the ascenders such as the top of a t and descenders the lower part of the letter g The scripting characters are printed high or low on the line to produce a professional looking scripting effect without having to roll the paper u
66. hing different change line 40 to 40 LPRINT CHR 27 L CHR 114 CHR 0 and run the program again High resolution packs the dots twice as close together horizontally For the same size drawing you would need twice as many dots Therefore you d have to send twice as many print head control characters to Gemini By this time you probably have a good idea of how Gemini works and how to make use of its extensive features You might want to take some time now and explore your own ideas based on the information presented thus far In the next chapter we ll consider the use of special symbol characters block graphics and some advanced graphic techniques 97 GEMINI S FULL RANGE OF PRINTING CAPABILITIES This chapter builds on the foundation of Chapters 5 and 6 and demonstrates how you can put Gemini to work for you As with the other chapters this one presents programs written in Microsoft BASIC for the IBM PC If you have an Apple Atari Commodore Osborne or TRS 80 you should consult the Appendices for those computers at the back of this manual If you have a computer other than one of those just mentioned look in the appendix of the computer most like the one you have To learn more about running programs in BASIC consult the user s manual for your computer This chapter begins with a discussion of using Gemini s expanded character set The middle of this chapter considers low resolution gra
67. ht svmbol in slace of amp 40 LERIN ESCHCHRE G2 sCHOG 1 CHRS 54 CHAS CO CHARS 28 CHES 74 CHAS 72 PHRS 20 CHRS 48 CHRE 20 SCHRS SS CHASTA CURE COO SO REM Select downisadable characters 50 LOBINT ESOS CHES 34 CURSI C REM Seiat gur sew svanol 90 LORINT Conveight 1987 Figure 8 5 Program listing to print Somer ugh O Le Now things look a little more shipshape for the editors 118 Downloadable and Custom Commands Descenders Earlier in this chapter we mentioned the descender informa tion When we left it as a zero you probably thought this was easy Well it is We only have two choices for descender data it s either a zero or a one When it s a zero nothing happens When it is a one all the dots that make up our character are shifted down two rows Why do we want to perform this magic If you look at the lowercase g in magic you can see that the tail of the g drops down below the bottom of other characters This is a descender Let s take our copyright symbol example and define the symbol as we did before and make the amp symbol our copyright symbol with a descender shifted down two rows 10 SEM Define the Escape character 20 ESCS CHRS 27 24 REM copy characters to RAM 25 LPRINT ESC8 CHRE 42 CHRO O 20 REM Define copyright symbol in olace of amp 40 LPRINT ESCSeCHRS 42 sCHRG 1 sCHRS 4 CHAS 0 CHARS 28 CHRE 34 1CHRO 73 CHRE 20 1 CHRO GS s CHRE
68. iece of blank paper or graph paper and mark off a block of 7 squares high by 9 squares wide like we ve done in Figure 8 1 Along the left hand side write the numbers 1 2 4 8 16 32 and 64 vertically Place a dot in each square that you want a dot to appear in the character One rule before you Start placing dots across any horizontal row there must be a space between each dot This isn t as bad as it seems because the actual character will be printed narrower than the graph paper shows j i 115 Gemini User s Manual Figure 8 1 Downloadable design for paragraph symbols with each dot given a numerical value 116 After we ve placed all of the dots for our character we need to turn them into numbers that the printer can understand To do this go down each column and add up the value of each dot The numbers placed on the left hand side are the value for each dot Let s take column one as an example The first dot is in row two Row two has a value of 2 on the left hand side The next dot is in row three and it has a value of 4 These are the only dots in this column so the total value for this column is 6 2 4 6 Write this number at the bottom of the column After adding up the values for each column you will have nine numbers to send to the printer For the first example the numbers are 6 9 0 9 118 9 0 127 0 The code to define a downloadable character to the printer is CHR 27 CHR 42 CHRS
69. ies discussed so far in this manual Gemini offers two more extremely flexible functions If the Gemini doesn t have the characters you need already built in you can custom design your own In computer jargon this is called downloadable characters Up to 96 downloadable characters can be memorized by the RAM of the printer You can also use the Gemini s ability to group commands together into a single com mand to simplify your programming macro command more jargon This chapter explains the use of these options and gives you some practical examples from which to build As we learned in Chapter 3 some professions make use of special characters For example there are special symbols that are used by chemists pharmacists architects electrical engineers linguists astronomers medical researchers and so on Let s start our downloadable character education by choos ing anew character to create Because the editors will be the first people to look at this text we ll choose one that they ll feel com fortable with the paragraph symbol 1 This little backward P is used in both manuscript editing and in word processing Unfor tunately it s not one of the standard characters on most printers Appendix K lists all of the standard characters on your printer To design a new character we have to lay out which dots within a character cell character position should be printed The easiest way to lay this out is to take a p
70. imensions width 1 2 inch 13 mm a length 11 5 yards 10 5 m Spool Standard Underwood s plastic type 13 x 50 mm diameter its Recommended Product Type SF 02B made by Fuji Kagakushi Kogyo Near each end of the ribbon there is a metal or plastic eyelet that signals Gemini to reverse the ribbon direction It will do this automatically When loading the ribbon you should be careful to place the eyelet properly in the ribbon s threading configuration me gt NOAS agaa AA TA e e e Paper and Ribbon F How to Set the Ribbon Telling you how to set the ribbon is like writing a narrative describing how to tie your shoelaces Figure 2 14 and 2 15 show you the way to thread the ribbon on the Gemini 10X and Gemini 15X respectively But before you try it you would do well to review the hints provided here Hint 1 Turn the power off Hint 2 Slide the print head gently with your fingers to the approximate center of its pathway Figures 2 14 and 2 15 Ribbon guide a Ribbon spool Figure 2 14 The ink ribbon pass for the Gemini 10X Pa Ribbon guide Ribbon spool Figure 2 15 The ink ribbon pass for the Gemini 15X 33 2 Gemini User s Manual Hint 3 Begin by setting either ribbon spool securely on aribbon spool axle Make sure you have the spool positioned so it will wind unwind as shown in the figures Place the spool securely on the axle so that the drive pins engage the spool
71. ing the columns of the matrix become narrower Fundamentals of Dot Matrix Printing fi With emphasized type the matrix is 18 by 9 because each column is fired twice horizontally offset by one half dot on the second firing Double strike printing is accomplished by an 18 by 18 matrix with the second printing vertically and horizontally offset by one half dot Emphasized plus double strike is a 36 by 27 matrix with the additional printings offset both horizontally and vertically p in the double width expanded mode a column is printed j the print head moves over and repeats the same column E configuration then the print head moves over to twice print the i next column Superscripts and subscripts follow the same matrix pattern as the standard characters but the print size of the matrix is one half as high ya VERTICAL SPACING w On most conventional typewriters you have a choice of single space and a half or double spacing Your Gemini can print lines i i that are set to one sixth inch or one eighth or whatever spacing you want in increments as small as 1 144th of an inch When you initialize your printer Gemini is automatically set to a vertical spacing of one sixth inch if DIP Switch 1 5 is on or one eighth inch if DIP Switch 1 5 is off One sixth inch spacing a which delivers six lines per inch is the same as a standard pica typewriter and is fine for text printin
72. ing and returns to the faster standard bidirectional printing mode or it can print in unidirectional mode ESC U 1 In this mode all subsequent lines are printed in unidirectional mode This mode is invoked by the super subscript mode and by the graphic mode The Building Blocks In the last chapter we used block graphics to create oversized E letters in Figure 6 4 Let s consider that example again this time with discussion of the program listing ie 104 Printing Capabilities F 10 LPRINT CHRS 27 CHRS 45 CHRS 6 15 LPRINT CHR 27 sCHRS BS sCHRS 1 2 20 RESTORE ul 30 FOR J 1709 we 40 FOR I 2 1 70 12 ul 50 READ A b0 LPRINT CHRS A 70 NEXT I 80 LPRINT 90 NEXT J 100 DATA 239 224 224 224 239 224 224 224 224 224 224 224 110 DATA 239 224 224 224 239 224 224 224 224 226 224 224 120 DATA 239 224 224 224 239 224 239 224 226 224 239 224 130 DATA 239 224 239 224 229 224 234 233 224 234 233 224 140 DATA 239 234 239 233 239 224 224 239 224 239 224 224 150 DATA 239 239 224 239 239 224 224 234 239 233 224 224 160 DATA 234 233 224 234 233 224 224 224 239 224 224 224 170 DATA 224 224 224 224 224 224 224 234 233 224 224 224 180 DATA 224 224 224 224 224 224 224 239 224 224 224 224 190 LPRINT CHR 27 CHRS 64 END Figure 7 1 Block graphics can produce simple output like this and can draw pictures as well Line 10 of the sample program in Figure 7 1
73. inter the spacing for the line feed is set to n 72 inch Thus if n is set to be 12 the spacing in 12 72 which is of an inch If nis less than 12 the spacing between lines will be less than the normal Putting Gemini to Work a Het default spacing If n is greater than 12 the spacing will be larger than normal In line 350 we set n to equal 9 with the result that the line spacing is changed to 9 72 or inch A line feed is set to move down or to be more correct advance the paper 14 inch then return the print head to the first print column it s home position The printer is shifted into the compressed mode because of COMPS the is printed followed by another carriage return and line feed The word emphasized is then printed and line 350 has done its job Line 360 clears all the previous print function codes and restores Gemini to its initialized values Line 370 is the bottom of the J loop l Line 380 is one way of advancing the paper by multiple line feeds The STRING 5 10 function is used to return a string of length n whose characters all have the ASCII code of the first character in A Because the line feed command is a single character this function allows us to skip multiple lines Vertical tabs and other line spacing controls are discussed further in Chapter 9 Line 390 is the bottom of the outer loop Line 400 finishes up the program by sending a form feed command to Gemini r
74. ite 96 163 Condensed 136 233 Enlarged 40 48 68 68 82 116 1 6 1 8 7 72 plus programmable by n 72 or n 144 inches 10 lines second at 1 6 inch spacing GEMINI 10X GEMINI 15X Fanfolded width 3 10 inches width 5 15 5 inches copies 3 sheets copies 3 sheets thickness thickness 0 07 0 1 mm 1 part 0 07 0 1 mm 1 part 0 28 3 parts 0 28 3 parts Roll paper width 8 5 inches width 8 5 inches thick 0 07 0 1 mm thick 0 07 0 1 mm diameter of roll diameter of roll 5 inches maximum 5 inches maximum Single width 8 10 inches width 8 15 inches thick 0 07 0 1 mm thick 0 07 0 1 mm Note fanfold 1 original amp 2 carbonless copies Standard parallel Centronics compatible Serial RS 232C optional Parallel by BUSY ACK Serial by BUSY XON XOFF ACK When used in conjunction with the STAR Gemini 10X 15X buffered interface Standard Underwood spool type 13 x 50 mm GEMINI 10X GEMINI 15X Width 15 2 inches 21 3 inches 392 mm 542 mm Depth 12 4 inches 12 4 inches 315 mm 315 mm Height 5 8 inches 5 8 inches 148 mm 148 mm GEMINI 10X GEMINI 15X pounds 15 4 22 kilograms 7 10 120 VAC 10 60 Hz approx 1A 220 VAG 10 50 60 Hz approx 100W 240 VAC 10 50 60 Hx approx 100W 11 PAPER AND RIBBON With Chapter 1 now imprinted in your memory you re almost ready to apply all these new discoveries about the Gemini printer In this chapter we ll learn how to l
75. ition marked T 5 Lift up the paper press 6 Pull the paper separator upright as shown in Figure 2 8 7 Place the stack of fanfolded computer paper behind the printer 8 Pick up the top sheet of paper and feed it between the paper chute and the platen cover from the back side of the platen 9 Push the paper down and forward so it wraps around the platen 10 Return the paper separator to its original position 11 Open the tractor covers atop the right and left sprocket mechanisms as shown in Figure 2 9 12 Pull the paper up past the sprocket mechanisms 24 Paper and Ribbon E Paper separator Sprocket paper Figure 2 8 Feed the paper around the platen roller of the Gemini 10X then push the paper separator downright That s the opposite of upright not to be confused with downwrong 13 Flip the clamp levers forward on the sprocket mechanisms adjust each mechanism right and left so that the sprockets the nubby little teeth protruding from the sprocket wheel align with the holes on the paper 14 Adjust the sprockets so they are lined up with the sprocket holes 15 Close the tractor covers and snap the clamp levers back into the locked position See Figure 2 10 f f 16 Rotate the platen knob and roll the paper up or down until the correct print start position is obtained oper ne REN ENE ET 17 When
76. k up the first sheet of the perforated stack of fanfolded pages and lift it up and through the slot in the undercarriage of the Gemini 15X Push the paper up toward the front of the platen Feed the top sheet inside the paper press and past the platen far enough up so you can grip the paper from above the printer Figure 2 12 The Gemini 15X can be loaded with sprocket paper from the back as shown here or from a stack of paper beneath the printer depicted in Figure 2 13 29 Geinini User s Manual Back Pass pE loading Bottom Pass loading ee0eoe eenseeeesee Figure 2 13 Whether you use the bottom pass shown here or the back pass option also shown you start and end with the same steps 13 Adjust the paper so that it will feed through straight and push the paper press back to its operational position 14 Horizontally adjust the sprocket mechanisms right or left so they align with the sprocket holes on the paper 15 Vertically turn the sprocket teeth the little nubs on the sprocket wheels so they line up with the holes on the paper 16 Snap the clamp levers back into the closed position 30 Paper and Ribbon 17 Close the tractor covers 18 Rotate the platen knob and set the print start position of the paper 19 Turn the power on and put your Gemini to work for you Note The best start position s
77. ke the plunge with the more advanced sample programs that follow If I can do this I can do anything If for some reason Gemini didn t get the message and respond with action you might do well to turn your computer off and just read over the remainder of this chapter A wealth of information about printer capabilities is presented even if you don t qualify as a programmer If this simple test worked out well for you and your computer system get ready because in the next example you ll dive off the championship board and try a double back flip into the deep end Getting Ready to Dive In Check the position of the printer DIP switches before proceeding with the next example For the IBM PC DIP switch number 2 1 on your Gemini should be on and the other three should be off Note Check with Appendices A F for information about setting the DIP switches for various computer systems as well as for modifications that may be required in order to run the following program If you are using sprocket fed fan fold paper roll the paper up until the perforation is even with the ribbon guide Note Because the paper drive is engaged when the power is on you should only adjust the paper position when Gemini s power is off Moving the platen by turning the platen knob when the power is on may damage the paper advance mechanism 61 a Gemini User s Manual Turn your computer on Follow t
78. l functions before running a program All of this discussion about sending codes for special printing effects should not be confused with the printing codes and commands that are a part of commercially available word processing software programs Word processing programs have built in codes for some but not all special effects such as bold type or underscoring But Gemini can do more tricks than the word processing programs know to request Recycling that is fixing word processing programs so they are fully compatible with Gemini s capabilities requires patching the programs All this is discussed in the section entitled Word Processing Software toward the end of this chapter Because of its simplicity availability and popularity we will use BASIC a computer language to demonstrate and learn about the Gemini printer Other languages such as PASCAL COBOL FORTRAN etc could also be used but to keep this training exercise short and simple we ll stick to BASICs If you are unfamiliar with BASIC you might start by turning to the user s manual that came with your computer There s almost certainly a chapter or two about BASIC You might turn your attention for a few minutes to reading in your computer s manual about how to set your computer up for running a program in BASIC Internally your computer uses a binary code sometimes expressed as zeros and ones to convey inform
79. l carefully and practicing with your Gemini you should soon be able to achieve full printer performance just by referring to this Quick Reference Guide Congratulations on your purchase of a Gemini May it work for you long and well iii This User s Manual serves the operators of the Gemini 10X and Gemini 15xX printers The Gemini 15X can handle paper up to 15 5 inches wide and can print more characters per line iv Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Appendix F Appendix G Appendix H Appendix I Appendix J Appendix K Appendix L Appendix M Appendix N Appendix O Glossary Index Table of Contents Introduction Paper and Ribbon The Gemini Self Test Interfacing Gemini with Your Computer Putting Gemini to Work for You The Fundamentals of Dot Matrix Printing The Full Range of Printing Capabilities Downloadable Characters The Function Codes Maintenance Apple II Plus Atari 800 400 Commodore VIC 20 C 64 IBM Personal Computer Osborne TRS 80 When You First Get Your Gemini ASCII Code Charts ASCII Code Tables International Character Sets Character Style Tables Control Circuit Block Diagram Function Code Summary Gemini s Parallel Interface Code Chart Consumer Response Reference Guide 151 165 179 192 194 206 217
80. l your Gemini printer you should use common sense and good judgment about where you place it The following are worthy of consideration in evaluating a potential operating environment Position Gemini horizontally on a level surface Pick a place that does not have extremes in temperature very hot or very cold strong vibrations dusty atmosphere oil present metal particles nearby Avoid placing Gemini where it will be exposed to direct sunlight or close to a heater or heat generating applicances Provide a separate power supply away from noise generating motors The power supply must not be more than 10 more or less than 120 voits A C 220 volts A C or 240 volts A C as specified on the product identification plate Note Extremely high or low voltage will cause printer printer problems The Gemini printers are valuable information handling tools These tips will help you pick a good setting for the Gemini Chapter 10 provides maintenance suggestions for keeping your printer in good working order T Gemini User s Manual TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS The following table provides a summary of the technical specs for the Gemini 10X and the Gemini 15X If you understand all of it great If you don t that s okay too Either way by the time you finish reading this manual you should know more than enough to use your printer to its full potential Note The technical specifications of the Gemini printers
81. line on the Gemini 10X and 3264 dots in one line on the Gemini 15X See the ex planation of n1 and n2 for ESC K to define how many columns of dots you want to print in a line Firing the Pins 92 There are nine pins in the Gemini print head In the graphics mode you can control the upper eight For those of you with computers that can only send seven bits Apple Il and some others you control the top seven pins Let s look at the print head again and label the pins as follows Fundamentals of Dot Matrix Printing fi Print Head Print Head 8 Bit 7 Bit Pin Number top Interface Interface 1 128 nei used 2 64 64 3 32 32 4 16 16 5 8 8 6 4 4 7 2 2 8 1 1 9 not used not used Based on the chart presented above if you had a 7 bit computer and wanted to fire pins number 1 and 4 simultaneously you would send CHR 64 8 In other words you d send CHR 72 Therein is the pattern Thus if you wanted to fire all the pins using an 8 bit computer you d send CHRS 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 CHR 255 Control Binary Pin Code Representation Fired CHR 128 10000000 1 CHR 64 0100000 0 2 CHR 32 0010000 0 3 CHR 16 00010000 4 CHR 8 0000100 0 5 CHR amp 4 0000010 0 6 CHR 2 0000001 0 7 CHRS 1 0000000 1 8 CHR 0 0000000 0 none CHR 255 1 44 47 4 7 41 all 8 CHR amp X 72 01001000 2 amp 5 93 Gemini User s Manual You computer aficionados may have alr
82. ll the process of printing an uppercase letter H see Figure 6 3 Because the print head is bidirectional can print right to left and left to right Gemini can start the H from either side In this example the top seven pins fire simultaneously to print one side of the letter Then the print head moves across the paper and pin number four fires three times to create the horizontal line Finally the top seven pins fire simultaneously again to complete the other vertical line Aside from the amazing fact that the entire printing operation just described can take place in approximately one hundred and twentyth of a second all this activity is caused by a single ASCII code signal 82 ee ae ee Oe Te RP ag ig ee en ee ee es Se ee we BE Tm Nee UM aA Re ee Ne Ree ee ees eee ig aa ge ee ee eee eee ee Te ee ee F ee ee ee eee eT l f J Fundamentals of Dot Matrix Printing Figure 6 3 The nine rows of the matrix correspond to the nine pins on the print head For this uppercase letter only the top seven pins fire all at once for each vertical line in this letter and a single pin firing repeatedly as the print head moves sideways for the horizontal line This printing technology is called impact dot matrix printing Dots are printed according to a predesigned matrix or grid system Each letter numeral punctuation mark and other special character is formed by the arrangement of 4 to 36 dots
83. ly to the printer and using PR 0 sends information only to the screen Confused The example programs in this manual will use IBM PC Microsoft BASIC For those of you with other computers we have included appendices at the back of this manual for the Apple II Pius Atari TRS 80 Commodore VIC 20 and C 64 and Osborne computers These appendices discuss the modifications necessary to run the example programs If your computer is not included in the appendices look at the appendix for the system that seems most similar to your own and look at the section in your computer s instruction manual pertaining to printers GETTING ONLINE You can t learn to swim in an armchair The only way to use BASIC is to try it So after you ve reviewed the chapter on BASIC in your 60 Putting Gemini to Work al computer manual try this exercise to test the water Enter this simple program LPRINT CHR 14 BASIC then hit the return sometimes called the enter key That one line program establishes communication between your computer and Gemini Now enter this line of text LPRINT CHR 27 If can do this i can do anything After entering this line when you hit the return key the enter key on some systems you ll be sending function codes and text to your printer Hit the return and see what happens If your Gemini prints out your simple program you know that you re ready to ta
84. n a hurry to hook up your Gemini to your computer and start printing out data that you generated On the other hand if you want to take a few minutes to finish this chapter you ll learn what these characters represent and how to use them 39 a Gemini User s Manual WHAT THE SELF TEST LOOKS LIKE TVHEAL OC K ma 701234567891 1 gt FP GABCDEF paorstuvwsyve ti LUBEZ AR I m SOLES ISET EGE s SSOP AORBCDEF Pparstuvwwyzt yY en a a a m e Figure 3 1a The left side of the Gemini 10X Self Test printout shown actual size S p t in co T wN 2 oO I as me l gt RBABCDEF SUERTE CDH LH OLI JGET EOS 2 C OP OGBODEF r Figure 3 2a The left side of the Gemini 15X Self Test printout shown actual size 40 Self Test a GHIJKLMNOFQRSTUVWXYZO 1 abedefghi jklmno O GHITKLMNOPQRSTUUNNYZEN TS abcdefahi jkil eno O O Figure 3 1b The right side of the Gemini 10X Self Test which is a continuation of this two part figure GHIJELMNOFORSTUVWXYZO I _tabcdefghi jklmno GHITKEMNGOPRRETUGMXY EEN TS _ akbkedefgb skimnoa Figure 3 2b The right side of the Gemini 15X Self Test which is a continuation of this two part figure 41 n T ma 3 d l a Gemini User s Manual WHAT THE SELF TEST MEANS The Gemini Self Test allows you to test the printer s performance before putting it to work Beyond that
85. n r meee ee eenen eee E E easton eee nernerremenmenness teeowereratarse nestnas nie rammerne meeneem ate eer menea e aaa aeee eea aa aaen enes ats Hoe m eaaet meamea eee me eese ear eae aaeeea ae er eae rm meere eree aee mamma meaane mea ane erea eere tam aae OR REARS ea Satare m a aae e RES GEES Sr a EERE Od oaa et eae AGC aam ma enaere m Raana cht aa 271144 AEA te m aan ts renin mr aaam me A Dee a a Mt A A aa ae m aean E aaant Peta a R em m E MEAE trad jets EAER Ea Ace AEE E aa e me aeia SATO m 28 144 meee emma seeen ete mae aean neat meee et meea maena te REE OO maene a ee SA ee ee m m e e e e me e ee eee aman ee eee meee men eea a aan a a e e dream aeee e men eea e a e eanne aara ests tks benie ats aeta m man 10 LPRINT TAB 30 High Resolution Vertical Spacing 15 LPRINT TAB 30 Using the ESC 3 n Control Code 20 FOR I 10 30 30 IF J 13 THEN GOTO 110 4OMe2 NT 144 681 3 4 TEMS 2 THEN MM 2 50 LPRINT CHRE 27 CHRE S1 CHRS T 40 FOR J 0 70M 70 IF J M THEN LPRINT I 144 INCH SPACING 80 LPRINT TAB 30 90 FOR N a 1 TO 40 LPRINT CHRS 241 5 NEXT Ns LPRINT 100 NEXT J 110 NEXT I 120 LPRINT CHRS 27 END Figure 6 5b This continuation of Figure 6 5a depicts a more open spacing that you might use for printing drafts of documents that need room for letting the reviewer manually insert changes This printout was produced by the BASIC program listed above written for the IBM PC Consult the
86. n text when set in modern type requires only the umlauted 7 vowels For example to print f r den eigen en Bedarf for personal consumption You would enter LPRINT f CHR 216 r den eigen en Bedarf Foreign Language Characters Summary 100 Gemini now provides you with even more non English special characters to allow you to communicate in most European languages There are 2 ways in which to access this International character set 1 By using the ESC 7n code where USA n 0 England n 1 Germany n 2 Denmark n 3 France 4 Sweden n 5 Italy 6 Spain n 7 ERE sa F p t l Printing Capabilities F 2 By using DIP switch 1 refer to Figure 4 6 DIP Switch Pin Country 1 6 1 7 1 8 on on on USA off on on England on off on Germany off off on Denmark on on off France off on off Sweden on off off Italy off off off Spain MONETARY COMMUNICATION You ve probably heard the expression Money talks Your Gemini can speak the language of business as well Dollars Cents Pounds Francs Yen J CHR 36 CHR 212 CHR 195 CHR 223 CHR 208 SCIENTIFIC AND MATHEMATIC NOTATION Science engineering and mathematics have their own languages to communicate technical ideas The versatile Gemini can meet the chalienge of modern science by printing special characters as required Mathematica Operations Beyond superscripting initiated by ESC S 0 and subscripting
87. n your keyboard It carr also be used for a circumflex or exponentiation Completing this set of characters the character coded e is the underlining for a single character and f represents the opening single quotation mark In Figure 3 5 the lowercase equivalents of the uppercase letters in Figure 3 4 are presented These letters are also 10 characters per inch CPI in the Self Test Following the lowercase letters in this figure are four characters coded a through d The first and third are braces which provide an alternative to parentheses and brackets especially in grouping mathematical terms The symbol coded b is a special scientific symbol to which you may assign meaning according to its use Finally the character marked d is the tilde sign or diacritical mark 44 Self Test a Figure 3 5 This segment of the Gemini Self Test shows you what the lowercase letters look like unless you command the printer to use another type style or a different size LOHED CBA a OLII EGE a D GQABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPORSTUUYNAYZEN J abcdef ghi gkimnoparstuyuwxyzt 3 Figure 3 6 The 96 italic characters form the third line of the Gemini 15X Self Test the third and fourth lines with the Gemini 10X These characters are the italic version of the characters individually identified in Figures 3 3 3 4 and 3 5 TAKE A CLOSER LOOK Now that you ve considered the 96
88. nd roughly 1 3 4 inches 127 72nds for ESC A n In the sample program we stopped at 30 so the printout would fit on a standard 66 line sheet of sprocket fed paper If you wish to you can replace the loop limit on line 20 with 127 and run the program again You might also try replacing the CHR amp 51 with CHR 65 on line 50 and run the program using the n 72 inch vertical line spacing mode 87 Gemini User s Manual High Resolution Vertical Spacing Using the ESC 3 n Control Code 1 144 2 144 3 144 4 144 5 144 6 144 7 144 8 144 9 144 10 144 11 144 12 144 14 144 15144 iBA dA a en ee E eee eee a a a LSS ea EE IS r 1 Mtoe ESS dec eC Ti TL an NI Re NEI ITTY AGUIAR 0 ee eae eae ea er ae en ee er ae DA Soe ne ee ak Oe es ete ah oth OU Ade lt a T E OOM nse tah tas ec one ON ee a a Figure 6 5a This printout actual size shows the vertical spacing that you can control using the ESC 3 n code This printout was created using the BASIC program shown at the bottom of Figure 6 5b a continuation of this figure 88 ERI PO i f t f if F i Fundamentals of Dot Matrix Printing Inch Spacing a a e a ae a e DFAA eae ene Re EN ra R 24 144 a A I a a Sa Ea a ns Caen eet ooo 2 6 I 1 4 4 seveerer merae maree meata mermamen enaa mes Sherman e snes unas patton diremes o enan aree ara tant Set meree See aat mmea aa teen aawe ae amt nani aves maae tan memmen meee
89. ng you may recall that ESC CHR 27 3 CHR amp 51 So in this program line 50 sets the vertical spacing to 1 144 inches Line 60 starts a loop that uses the value of M to count 25 times when equals 1 and counts 3 times when is greater than 12 Line 70 prints a message telling us the value of the line spacing on the next to last line of the M loop Line 80 spaces over the printing done by line 90 to column 30 by using the BASIC TAB statement Line 90 is where the action is This line is similar to line 140 in the first reference program and prints 40 characters its ASCII code is 241 This character is a six dot straight line that is part of the block graphics set Line 100 and 110 end the J loops and line 120 resets the printer and ends the program Discussion of the Vertical Spacing Program Let s start by looking at how close the dots are vertically in Figure 6 5 Remember that the normal characters are seven dots high which is 14 144ths 7 72nds of an inch Therefore if you wanted to print text say in all uppercase letters with each line resting atop the next you d set the vertical spacing at 14 144th of an inch When we use block graphics where each block is 6 dot 7 spaced high we set the vertical spacing to 6 72 or 12 144 inches The maximum value of n allowed for the vertical spacing control code is 127 The result is that almost one inch 127 144ths for the ESC 3 n code a
90. nroll some paper and pass it above the paper guide and underneath the up ended paper f e separator 19 Gemini User s Manual paper separator paper chute Figure 2 5 Inserting roll paper in the Gemini printer is similar to inserting single sheets with accessories to accommodate the fact that the single sheet in this case is quite long 9 insert the roll paper into the paper chute then push the paper through so it goes around the platen 10 When the paper has been pushed through so it s above the paper press push the press back so it s in its operational position that is flush against the paper 11 Adjust the paper if necessary so it will feed through straight then push the release lever back to the locked or closed position marked with the letter F 12 Lower the paper separator as shown in Figure 2 6 20 Paper and Ribbon E 13 Rotate the platen knob and check to see if the roll paper is feeding smoothly If some adjustment is needed pull the release lever forward to the open mode again and adjust the placement of the paper before closing the release lever 14 Set the print start position to where you want to begin printing on the roll 15 Turn the power switch to the on position Release lever Figure 2 6 After the roll paper has been inserted and the various mechanisms set in their proper places steps 10
91. ntrol board unit and the printer mechanism which features a detachable tractor The control board also contains the buffer that allows your computer to send a batch of information to be printed which Gemini then stores until it can get to it Although Gemini is a fast 7 Figure 1 6 Gemini User s Manual printer computers communicate data even faster The buffer can accommodate 816 characters of memory with an optional buffer that can be expanded to 4K or 8K Qu est ce que K Computer memory is measured in terms of K meaning kilobytes A kilobyte is 1 024 bytes and a byte equais one letter of the alphabet or a symbol or a number The print out is accomplished by the printer mechanism also shown in Figure 1 5 and represented in Figure 1 6 The printer mechanism can produce a variety of typographical styles and sizes including SUPerscripts and subscripts Variable line spacing adjustable tabs and block graphics Plus the Gemini is outstanding for the full range of papers upon which it can print CONTROL LOGIC BOARD UNIT Control amp Drive Circuit Block Serial Interface Block optional This block diagram presents in simple terms the relationship among the transformer power supply printer mechanism and circuit control For more information on the control circuit please refer to Appendix L 8 introduction F GEMINI S OPERATING ENVIRONMENT When you instal
92. o 1535 x 1280 5 1536 to 1791 x 1536 6 1792 to 1920 x 1792 7 Remember Gemini 10X can only print up to 480 columns in low resolution mode 960 columns in high resolution mode and 1920 columns in ultra high resolution mode The Gemini 15X can print 816 columns in low resolution 1632 in high resolution and 3264 in ultra high resolution 91 Gemini User s Manual Gemini requires that precisely the correct number of characters you specify with n1 and n2 will follow immediately after the n2 control code If there are too many or too few characters unexpected and crazy things will happen The high resolution graphics mode is entered by sending Gemini the control code ESC L n1n2 which selects the 120 dots per inch column scan bit image graphics mode But Gemini s graphics capabilities don t stop there The Gemini 10X 15X with control codes ESC y n1n2 and ESC z n1n2 will take you two steps beyond high resolution graphics and allow you to print faster and with even greater density ESC y nin2 commands the printer to print dual density graphics with double speed In other words your result will be high resolution graphics as if you had used ESC L but they will be printed twice as fast ESC z n1n2 puts Gemini in the quadruple density graphics mode even more dots per inch The result of this ultra high resolution mode is the capacity to print 1 920 dots in one
93. oad paper into the printer install the ribbon and set the print head gap Chapter 3 will give you a chance to print something to see the results of what you ve learned so far But first let s explore the options for loading different types of paper If you ve borrowed a Gemini printer until getting your own you should refer to Appendix G to learn how to attach the various paper feed accessories Appendix G tells you what the new owner gets when first opening the box and how all the pieces fit together This chapter assumes you know how the pieces fit together and you only need to learn why LOADING THE PAPER INDIVIDUAL SHEETS The Gemini printers are designed to accommodate individual sheets whether it s standard size stationery an off size memorandum multilayer carbonless business forms an envelope or almost any other single sheet The Gemini printers can handle individual sheets of paper according to the following parameters Single Sheet Size Specifications Paper Width Paper Thickness Printer Minimum Maximum Mimimum Maximum Gemini 10X 8inches 10inches 0 07 mm 0 10 mm Gemini 15X 8inches 15inches 0 07 mm 0 10 mm 13 R Gemini User s Manual Removing the Tractor Unit The tractor unit is only used with fanfolded computer paper That s the paper that comes in perforated sheets folded into stacks with rows of holes along the right and left edges To print onto single shee
94. of a page you ll be ready to check your work as Chapter 3 introduces you to Gemini s Self Test 37 GEMINI SELF TEST Self Test is the name of the built in program that prints out ES several sample lines of letters numbers and other characters to show you that everything is in good working order You can print the Self Test without hooking up your Gemini to a computer The Gemini Self Test is a special feature that allows you to check your installation of the paper and ribbon and the adjustment of the print head gap At the same time the printout provides a preview of what s to come all the standard characters in both normal and italic type styles HOW TO INITIATE THE SELF TEST The Gemini Self Test is as easy as one two three 1 Plug the printer s electrical plug into an electrical outlet 2 Insert a sheet of paper 3 While holding down the LF button on the control panel turn the power switch on The Self Test shown on the following two pages will print out automatically If you hold down the LF button the Self Test will continue printing out The Gemini 10X Self Test Figure 3 1 a amp b consists of four lines that show the standard character set that your printer can produce The Gemini 15X Self Test Figure 3 2 a amp b uses the same characters and is also displayed on four lines After you run the Self Test on your printer you can skip to Chapter 4 if you are i
95. ommand sequence We can repeat the graphic mode commands if that s the goal to repeat the graphic mode commands over and over or to fill an entire page with dot image graphics Graphic Control Codes 90 The low resolution graphics mode is entered by sending Gemini a four character control code ESC K nin2 where ESC is the character represented by ASCII code CHR 27 K is the character for ASCII code CHR 75 which signals Gemini to put low resolution into effect Fundamentals of Dot Matrix Printing a Note If we used L or CHR 76 instead of K we would be asking Gemini for high resolution graphics If we used y or CHR 121 we would be asking for high resolution graphics with double speed and if we used z or CHR 122 we would be asking for ultra high resolution graphics at normal speed ni and n2 represent the set of ASCII codes that define how many columns of graphics to print on a line If you want to print x number of columns of graphics on a line then n1 is the remainder of x 256 and n2 is the quotient of x 256 Note For those of you who are computer wise and curious ni x MODULO 256 and n2 INTEGER of x 256 What does all this mean to the rest of us The following table might help If the number of columns x then then ranges from ni is n2 is 1to 255 xX 0 256 to 511 x 256 1 512 to 767 x 512 2 768 to 1023 x 768 3 1024 to 1279 x 1024 4 1280 t
96. p and down by hand ESC S CHR 0 causes the printer to operate in its superscript mode and ESC S CHR 1 initiates the subscript Either mode is cancelled by ESC T command actually CHR 27 CHR 84 Line 50 sets the command to produce italic type CHR 27 CHR 52 causes Gemini to print in full italic all text received subsequent to the command until the ESC CHR 53 command or printer reset CHR 27 is received Line 60 sets the command to double the width of the characters that are being printed CHR 14 sets the double width print mode and CHR 20 cancels the double width mode ESC W 1 which is the equivalent of CHR 27 CHR 87 CHR 1 command also sets the double width mode in this case ESC W Ocancels the double width mode You might note that with the three type sizes plus the double width mode we have six different character sizes from which to select On the end of line 60 is the printer reset command we call PRSET in this program Putting Gemini to Work H Compressed Elite Pica normal i Double width Compressed Double width Elite Double width Pica Line 70 the last line of our definitions contains functional commands to control the way the type is printed In emphasized printing Gemini prints the characters once then goes back and reprints them with the dots offset by one half dot This is explained in
97. phics with sample programs Chapter 7 concludes with some tips on producing high resolution graphics FOREIGN LANGUAGE CHARACTERS Gemini can converse in the English language as well as in most of the Romantic languages French Spanish Italian German etc By the way the Romantic languages are so named because of the Latin influence of the Romans not because vacationing Americans find the European locals amorously irresistable Swedish and Danish are also available Some Characters for French Consider the following characters and their ASCII code equivalents a G CHR 193 CHR 219 CHR 221 CHR 220 CHR 194 To incorporate these characters you can follow the same patterns you ve already learned for using BASIC 99 Spanish German Gemini User s Manual For example LPRINT Plus CHR 194 a change plus c est la me LPRINT CHR amp 8 CHR 94 me chose will print Plus ca change plus c est la m me chose The more things change the more they remain the same We used the CHR 194 character to print the cedilla For the type the letter e and then backspace CH R amp 8 followed by CHR 94 for the circumflex C est tres facile n est ce pas If you wanted to print Se habla espanol Spanish spoken you could input the following controls LPRINT Se habla espan CHR 8 CHR 126 ol Germa
98. platen with the power off just like on a typewriter 3 The power switch located on the lower right side is the E on off switch that controls the flow of electricity to your machine The Gemini printers use A C power source found in wall outlets of homes and offices As a safety precaution you should make sure that your printer is turned off before plugging the three pronged safety plug into the electrical outlet Turning the corner and examining the back of your machine as shown in Figure 1 2 you ll see the power cord grounding connector interface ports and DIP switches The DIP switches a popular acronym for the electronic term dual in line package control important printer functions Some companies call these microswitches because their engineers made them so small you almost need a microscope to find and 1 7 Gemini User s Manual set them Other products call them internal switches because you must take their printers apart to get to them The Gemini DIP switches are easy to set which is explained in Chapter 4 a Next to the DIP switches is the connector for the parallel interface This is where you connect your Gemini to your personal computer so they are interfacing and able to communicate with each other Appendices A through F provide information on hooking up your Gemini with six widely used types of microcomputers This connector is for a parallel int
99. printer around and let s look at the back Interfacing Gemini with Your Computer 4 The DIP Switches The dual in line package DIP switch is a device that controls the printer s patterns of thought Several functions can be selected by appropriately setting the two DIP switches located on the control logic board Figure 4 2 DIP switch 2 can be set at the rear of the printer as shown in Figure 4 3 It is necessary to remove the upper casing to set DIP switch 1 Please refer to Chapter 10 for instructions to remove the upper case A status chart has been provided on the back panel of this manual to assist you in remembering the setting of each DIP switch in your printer Figure 4 2 DIP switches on control logic board Note Always set the DIP switches with the printer s power turned off Each pin in the DIP switch serves a distinct and separate control function The functions of DIP switch 1 are defined in Figure 4 4 Figure 4 5 illustrates DIP switch settings for selection of the various character sets Figure 4 6 illustrates the settings of DIP switch 1 6 1 7 and 1 8 to choose international character sets Figure 4 7 contains the DIP switch 2 functions 49 Gemini User s Manual SHURE ee oo Ground Terminal DIP Switch 2 Connector for Parallel Interface Port Hole for Serial Interface optional Power Cord Figure 4 3 DIP switch 2 controls 1 detection of when your
100. pts are distorted to the point that they are garbled They weren t designed for double width printing and aren t needed By examining Figure 5 3 you can see at a glance that Gemini can print in six type sizes between 5 and 17 characters per inch Gemini prints in roman type the upper table and italic type the lower table In addition Gemini produces quality superscripting in 20 modes as well as quality subscripting in an equal number If you add up all these typeface options you ll count as many Gemini text options as there are keys on a piano Figure 5 3 also demonstrates a hint of Gemini s 6 x 6 graphics capability If you look in Appendix K at ASCII code numbers 224 through 255 you ll see an enlargement of the full set of 6 x 6 graphics The straight line that separates the CPI column headings from the body of the tables in Figure 5 3 was produced by repeating ASCII code number 241 across the page The alternating sequence of ASCII code numbers 231 and 232 produced the graphic embellishment that appears under the standard and italic table titles In Chapter 7 you ll learn more about what you can do with the 6 x 6 graphic character set Although the ABC s in Figure 5 3 vary in intensity slant and width they are all the same height That s because all Gemini s alphanumeric characters are printed using a fixed height matrix The matrix is represented by the numerals that appear on the first page o
101. re 3 3 the letters r and s stand for the colon and semicolon characters The next three symbols are mathematical signs that show the relationships of values lt means is less than such as 3 lt 4 is the equals sign and the double ee bond sign in chemistry and gt means is greater than such as 6 gt 4 Next comes the question mark and finally the at sign In everyday usage may be used like this 4 diskettes 5 20 In some software packages such as Visicalc the at sign is part of a powerful command sequence Figure 3 4 presents the second part of the first line in the Gemini Self Test The first 26 characters are the English alphabet s capital letters These are also called the upper case letters 43 a Gemini User s Manual abcdef ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOFORSTUVWXYZE I _ Figure 3 4 The Self Test prints the uppercase alphabet in the first line 10 characters per inch in Chapter 5 you ll learn how to print larger and smaller letters from 5 to 17 characters per inch In Figure 3 4 the characters coded a and c are brackets These are sometimes used in the same manner as parentheses The character coded b is a reverse slash the mirror image of the slash in Figure 3 3 The next character is a compute symbol for depressing the control key o
102. ront property if you put every grain of sand one by one on the beach But wait there s more good news The computer you have interfaced with Gemini is a powerful tool when it comes to moving large amounts of data All you need to do is tell your computer where you want dots placed and it will do most of the rest It s like getting the offer on the beach house and having access to a dumptruck to help install the mountains of sand In the conclusion to Chapter 7 we ll develop a program that will allow you to draw on an 8 1 2 by 11 inch sheet of paper With the program if you specify where you want a line to begin and end the computer will fill in the dots in between It s not altogether that simple but it s not really that hard either One word of warning Memory Bit image graphics con structing images from individual dots or bits requires generous memory capacities In our example we ll need at least 16K of memory But there s even good news in that you can cut down on the image area as we ll explain later aor Printing Capabilities F The Concept We are going to construct a bit image map of the sheet of paper in the computer s memory Then we re going to print that image on paper by selectively firing the dot producing pins on the print head As you know the memory in your computer functions in terms of bits which are represented as being either 0 or 1 We ll use each bit th
103. s verifies that everything was done properly and that the ribbon is smoothly fed Hint 8 As shown in Figure 2 19 you can turn the ribbon over and use the other side when it starts wearing out Used up Figure 2 19 Turning the ribbon over gives you the same effect as having a new ribbon but at no extra cost 36 Paper and Ribbon ADJUSTING THE GAP BETWEEN THE PRINT HEAD AND PLATEN Gemini printers can accommodate papers of varying thicknesses by allowing you to change the print head gap This gap is the distance between the print head and the platen Gap adjustment is done by moving the adjust lever which is immediately in front of the release lever see Figure 2 18 Pulling the adjust lever forward will widen the gap and pushing it backward will make the print head gap narrower There are five positions that can be attained by moving the lever to different adjustments These five positions can be changed by the control arm rest in different notches as shown in Figure 2 20 The second position is most commonly used for single sheets of paper Figure 2 20 The different positions of the print head gap adjustment lever allow you to print on paper ranging from 0 07 mm that s thin to 0 28 mm for three layer carbonless forms If you are unsure of which is exactly the right print head gap adjustment to make experiment In time you ll get the best results With the turn
104. ser manual or your Gemini dealer Interfacing Gemini with Your Computer 4 Depending on the type of system you have DIP switch number 2 3 is an important DIP switch that affects computer performance For example Apple operates on a 7 bit interface and the IBM PC requires an 8 bit interface CONNECTING THE PARALLEL INTERFACE Hake This section discusses hooking up your computer to Gemini via the parallel interface e A Look at the Parallel Interface Connector When viewing your Gemini as shown in Figure 4 3 the parallel interface connector is just to the left of DIP switch 2 Take a moment to look closely at the connection You will see that the i connector is a metal band encasing a plastic spacer with the center taking the form of a hollow rectangle This rectangular opening is bordered both on the top and bottom with rows of 18 metal strips called pins that are set in the blue plastic spacer z For more information about the pins in Gemini s parallel interface turn to Appendix N at the back of this manual Each of these 36 pins supports an important function in your computer printer interface so the connecting plug must be compatible with the Gemini pin configuration The Connecting Plug and Cable i Note The cable length should be as short as is workable to minimize signal loss Star Mfg Co Ltd recommends a connecting plug by AMPHENOL product no 57 30360 The connecting cable should
105. sets consecutive line feeds to 6 72 1 12 inch This ensures that the 6 x 6 block graphic characters will stack on top of each other without unwanted vertical space between them Line 15 sets your printer to unidirectional print mode as in Figure 7 1 ensuring vertical alignment Line 30 is a loop over In this example the W and y are nine lines high Line 40 is loop over for spaces Each character is six spaces blocks wide For our example we ve created oversized letters that have the same height to width proportions as the standard character set Because there are two letter characters being printed they represent 12 spaces total width with an extra column inserted as a spacer between them for legibility Thus you can see that in creating this big Wy we ve followed the same configuration as standard matrix characters but each small dot on the 9 x 9 has been replaced with a solid block of 6 x 6 s 105 Gemini User s Manual Line 50 reads the ASCII character codes stored in the data statement Line 60 prints the data Line 80 inserts a line feed after each line The data statements on lines 100 to 180 are arranged so that the ASCII code for each 6 x 6 symbol used to create Wy are in the correct location CHR 239 is a solid block of 6 x 6 graphics CHR 224 is a blank CHR 234 and CHR 233 are 3 by 6 characters which are used to represent big dots that
106. t you on loading sprocket fed paper into each type of printer But first let s look at the tractor unit and its main parts Paper and Ribbon Snap lever Figure 2 7 Mounting the tractor unit is a glide and snap Glide the unit down until the A s align then snap the unit down so the B s lock into place Facing your Gemini as depicted in Figure 2 7 you see the tractor s driving gear wheel that is on the right protected by a fender complete with a fender skirt To the left of this part is the right sprocket On the other side of the spacer s is the left sprocket unit These mechanisms drive the paper through the printer Each has a hood secured with a spring Try lifting the hood if you want Toward the back of the top of each sprocket mechanism is a clamp lever If you snap the lever forward you can freely move the sprocket mechanisms back and forth to handle different widths of paper When you have the mechanisms where you want them snap the clamp lever backward and it acts like a parking brake 23 Gemini User s Manual Gemini 10X Loading Sprocket Paper The Gemini 10X should be loaded with sprocket fed paper according to the following steps 1 Turn the power switch off 2 Install the tractor unit 3 Install the paper separator and paper guide as described in Appendix G 4 Pull the release lever located on the left side of the printer toward the open pos
107. tep 18 will vary according to the paper on which you are printing and the number of blank lines in your document If you are a novice with dot matrix printers you might try to position your paper just above the in place paper press for your first attempts With practice you ll be able to place the paper right where you want to start printing Another note f you use multipart paper Such as a three sheet carbonless form with your Gemini 15X you ll need to adjust the print gap as discussed later in this chapter Congratulations You ve learned how to load the paper Next we ll discuss the ribbon and print gap then you ll be on your way to less reading and more printing 37 2 Gemini User s Manual LOADING THE RIBBON 32 You already know that your Gemini printer is one of the best buys available today in terms of what you get for your initial investment What s more Gemini s sensible ribbon requirements are even more economical as time passes That s because Gemini uses ordinary typewriter ribbons on spools When the ribbon has gone from one spool to the other Gemini automatically reverses the ribbon direction After the ribbon starts wearing out when your printed material starts getting too light you can invert the ribbon and start over Replacing the ribbon which you ll have to do eventually is easy and inexpensive ink Ribbon Specifications Ribbon Color black Material nylon 40 D
108. tep is initializing the printer for operation This can be accomplished in three ways The easiest method is to turn the power switch off then turn it back on again Another way is to apply the INPUT PRIME signal parallel pin no 31 to the interface connector see Appendix N The third method is by transmitting the ESC code to Gemini as discussed in Chapter 5 and 9 Initializing Gemini is somewhat like cleaning off the blackboard to get ready for the next printing assignment All special settings are cleared away and the standard character size line height and number of lines per page are restored Altogether six operations are accomplished when Gemini is initialized 1 The print head goes to its home position except in the case of ESC 2 The buffer contents are cleared 3 The characters in download character RAM are cleared except in the case of ESC 4 Character pitch is set to 10 CPI or 17 CPI according to DIP switch 1 3 5 Line pitch is set to 1 6 inch or 1 8 inch a according to the DIP switch 1 5 6 International characters and form length are set according to the DIP switches 1 6 1 7 and 1 8 55 PUTTING GEMINI TO WORK FOR YOU Your Gemini printer is an extraordinary machine You can use it oe as a super typewriter a graphics terminal and as a regular computer line printer Using standard routines on your computer you can produce hard copy o
109. ter output Figure 5 1 can be printed on the Gemini 10X and 233 characters on the Gemini 15X _ i 62 Putting Gemini to Work a 10 WIDTH LPT 132 20 ESCS CHRS 27 LFS CHRE 10 FFS CHRS 12 CRSE CHRS 13 30 PICAS ESC B CHRS 1 ELITES ESC B CHR 2 COMPS ESC B CHRS 2 40 SUPERS ESC S CHRS 0 SUBSeESCS S CHRS CANSS ESCS T 30 ITALICSSESCS CHRS 52 STANDS ESCS CHRS 53 60 WIDES CHRS 14 CANWIDES CHR 20 PRSETS ESC 70 EMPHS ESC E CEMPHS ESC F DBLSS ESC G CDBLS ESC R 80 LPRINT PRSETS ESC R CHRS 15 FFS 90 FOR I 1 702 00 IF I 1 THEN LPRINT WIDES GEMINI STANDARD TYPE STYLES CANWIDES LFS 110 IF I 2 THEN LPRINT ITALICSS WIDES GEMINI ITALIC TYPE STYLES CANWIDES LFS 120 FOR N 1 TO 40 LPRINT CHRS 231 CHRS 222 NEXT N LPRINT LPRINT 130 LPRINT 17 epi 12 cpi 10 coi 8 5 cpi amp cpi 5 epi 140 FOR N 1 T0 80 LPRINT CHR 241 3 NEXT N LPRINT 150 MS61 ABC MS628 Xx MS63 Yy 160 FOR J 1 TO 4 170 IF I 2 THEN LPRINT ITALICS 180 IF J THEN LPRINT COMPS normal s 190 IF J 2 THEN LPRINT COMPS double strike 200 IF J 3 THEN LPRINT COMPS emphasized i 210 IF J 4 THEN LPRINT COMP double strike 220 FORK 1704 230 IF K 1 THEN LPRINT COMPS 240 IF K 2 THEN LPRINT ELITES 250 IF K 3 THEN LPRINT PICAS 260 IF K 4 THEN LPRINT COMPS WIDES 270 IF K 3 THEN LPRINT ELITES W
110. the IBM PC This program leaves some room for improvement but after all it s free You might apply it to writing short letters or other simple documents The display on your CRT monitor may not be anything to write home about but at least it gives you the capability of writing home You may also find the use of the control codes is somewhat awkward but this program has its own menus which will make it easier for you to remember the commands The program provides three different menus which display your options and prompt you to select specific commands to guide you in your word process ing After you have typed in the program and entered RUN follow ed by a carriage return the first menu will appear at the bottom of the screen and the cursor should be at the top left corner Now you can type in your text and correct any errors you may make Because of the simplicity of this program it does have some limitations which will vary for the different computers If your com puter is an IBM PC you can type in 23 lines at up to 80 characters per line Some other computers may not have the capacity to ac cept this many characters limiting the amount of text you can type This program is also restricted in that errors can only be cor rected on the present line Once you have hit lt return gt you can not go back to the previous line to revise it 77 F Gemini User s Manual Hiti After typing your text you may go either to the se
111. the next chapter but for now just remember that both emphasized and double strike involves printing each character twice In tine 70 ESC E puts the printer in the emphasized mode and ESC F cancels the emphasized printing ESC QG puts the printer in double strike mode and ESC H cancels that mode Both emphasized and double strike can be invoked at the same time to produce maximum density printing Some restrictions apply to the use of emphasized printing and some of the other print commands We ll go over these restrictions when we examine in detail the tables printed by this program Line 80 is the first line of the program that sends text data to the printer What information are we sending Gemini First we send the character string PRSET telling Gemini to reset according to the command CHR 27 Even though we didn t need to reset Gemini after printing the listing in compressed type it s a good programming practice to make sure your printer is in its initialized state at the beginning of your program The ESC R CHR 15 sequence in line 80 tells Gemini to advance the paper 15 lines after the form feed command is received The default for the beginning line or header is the first line on the page The FF variable sends a form feed command to Gemini This line is used to cause Gemini to skip one page of paper that s 66 lines with conventional fanfold sprocket fed
112. the paper installation is completed replace the printer cover and turn the power on 25 Gemini User s Manual teeth of the sprockets and align the If the sprocket paper you just loaded in your Gemini 10X is multilayer non carbon forms then refer to the end of this chapter to learn Expose the how to adjust the print gap Clamp lever q R Ww mechanisms so the paper feeds through them Figure 2 10 Tractor cover Figure 2 9 26 Paper and Ribbon Ei Gemini 15X Loading Sprocket Paper The Gemini 15X can be loaded with sprocket paper exactly the a same as can the Gemini 10X but with one important difference The Gemini 15X is designed to accept paper either from the back of the printer or paper fed from beneath the printer That s right there s a slot in the undercarriage that lets you position the Gemini 15X above your stack of fanfold computer paper this paper is fed up through the printer and out the back Following are the steps for loading sprocket paper to and i through the Gemini 15X Figure 2 11 illustrates steps 1 through 6 1 Turn the power off 2 Install the tractor unit as illustrated in Figure 2 7 on page 23 3 Attach the paper separator and paper guide they are the two metal racks that are described in Appendix G 4 Pull the release lever located on the left side of the printer toward the open position marked T
113. the resul tant printout to see where you went wrong After you fix the problem RUN the program Analyzing the Program This program will take about 3 minutes to run It generates 900 bytes of data that will be printed using the ESC K function The first part of the program will initialize several constants as well as an array to store our data The array MASK contains the values for each dot Notice that we are using only six dots in this program This is to make sure that this program will work with all computers even those with 7 bit interfaces LX and LY provide a scale for our image and XFAC and YFAC relate the scale to the overall size of the image RAD is the radius of the shape X1 and Y1 are the starting points for the curve The subroutine that starts at line 1000 will plot the points around the curve and will call the subroutine starting at line 3000 to actually plot the line from X Y to X Y This subroutine will call yet another routine starting at line 4000 this routine actually turns on the dots It stores the element in BIT and then uses the values in MASK to turn on the proper dots by use of an OR function Note Some of the computers used in this book do not have an OR function therefore some of the programs use a machine language subroutine that will simulate our OR function This routine is created by POKE ing data into memory The last subroutine starts at line 2000 This subroutine will g
114. ts you need to remove the tractor unit To remove the tractor unit follow these simple steps 1 Turn off the printer This isn t really a requirement but is a good safety precaution at least until you become more experienced with your Gemini 2 Identify the two snap levers by comparing your printer with the Gemini 10X shown in Figure 2 1 3 Pull both snap levers forward one on the right and one on the left of the tractor unit and at the same time 4 Rock the tractor unit up and back about a half inch The tractor unit rests on two stoppers just above the right and left ends of the platen This step in removing the tractor is done by simply rocking the unit backward after you ve released the snap levers that hold it in place 5 Now lift the tractor unit toward you up and forward from the printer Superman may be able to stop a speeding locomotive but you just lifted a tractor With the tractor removed your Gemini should look like the printer shown in Figure 2 2 Of course if you have a Gemini 15X your printer will be wider but you still get the idea 14 Paper and Ribbon Snap lever Figure 2 1 The Gemini tractor unit is easy to remove for using single sheets or roll paper Figure 2 2 Tractor frames support the unit on the left and the right Be sure to adjust the release lever when removing or mounting the tractor unit 15 B Gemini User s Manual
115. ular word processing programs were written a few years ago when printers were simpler devices capable of performing far fewer options than are available with Gemini For example most current word processing programs can send function codes for printing bold type double striking To accomplish this the word processing software sends multiple instructions initiated by keyboard commands such as control B or control E When older printers receive these instructions they print a word then get the signal for their printing mechanism to back up then respond to another signal that tells the dumb printer to print the word again With Gemini the function code ESC E tells the smart printer to automatically double strike using the LPRINT command conveyed in BASIC Don t be discouraged if you bought a word processing package and it seems inadequate to utilize Gemini s full capabilities Gemini can do just about anything your word processing software can tell it to do and then some There are four solutions to the problem The BASIC Solution One solution to the limitations of word processing software is not to use it when you want to make full use of Gemini s potential performance You can learn BASIC and put it to work 74 Putting Gemini to Work al Even without mastering BASIC you ll be able to work wonders with Gemini as you ve already learned in this chapter User Patching Your So

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