Epson MX-70 User manual

User’s Manual

for

MX-70 Printer

David A. Lien

COMPUSOFT® PUBLISHING

A Division of CompuSoft, Inc.

P.O. Box 19669

San Diego, California 92119 U.S.A.

This Book was prepared especially for Epson America, Inc. by CompuSoft® Publish-

ing. All rights, domestic and international are reserved by CompuSoft®, Inc. Requests

for permission to reproduce or distribute this User’s Manual should be addressed to:

CompuSoft®, Inc.

P.O. Box 19669

San Diego, CA 92119

A Division of CompuSoft®, Inc.

San Diego, CA 92119

transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or

otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. No patent liability is assumed

with respect to the use of the information contained herein. While every precaution has been

taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or

omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information

contained herein.

CompuSoft® is a registered trademark of CompuSoft®, Inc.

International Standard Book Number: o-932760-06-6

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: M-70726

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America

FCC Compliance Statement

This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy. If not installed and

used properly, that is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions,

it may cause interference to radio and television reception. It has been type

tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B computing device in

accordance with the specifications in Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC Rules, which

are designed to provide reasonable protection against such interference in a

residential installation. However, there is no guarantee that interference will

not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference

to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equip-

ment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one

or more of the following measures:

- Reorient the receiving antenna

- Relocate the computer with respect to the receiver

- Move the computer into a different outlet so that computer and re-

ceiver are on different branch circuits.

If necessary, the user should consult the dealer or an experienced radio/

television technician for additional suggestions. The user may find the following

booklet prepared by the Federal Communications Commission helpful:

“How to Identify and Resolve Radio-TV Interference Problems.”

This booklet is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washing-

ton, DC 20402, Stock No. 004-000-00345-4.

iii

Trademark Acknowledgements

TRS-80 is a Trade Mark of Radio Shack. Centronics is a Trade Mark of

Centronics, Inc. Apple is a Trade Mark of Apple Computers, Inc. Microsoft is a

Trade Mark of Microsoft, Inc.

A Personal Note From the Author

Congratulations on your decision to buy an Epson MX-70 printer! In my

opinion, it’s the best dollar value in a low cost printer on the market today. Like

its big brothers the MX-80 and MX-100, its mechanical features are unsur-

passed for the cost. Its electronics features are ideal for the user looking for top

value in a printer for general utility use, and high resolution graphics.

“WHO NEEDS A LEARNERS MANUAL FOR A PRINTER?” The answer -

ALMOST EVERYONE EXCEPT A COMPUTER PROFESSIONAL.

Today’s printers are very sophisticated compared to those of even a year ago.

Most are not fully utilized because the instructions are too vague and confus-

ing. We’re doing our best to eliminate that problem with the Epson MX-series.

Z encourage you to learn all about your new MX-70. You paid for it. Put it

to work.

Dr. David A. Lien

San Diego - 1981

MX-70 Table of Contents

FCC Compliance Notice ............................................

Trademark Credits ................................................

Personal Note from the Author .....................................

Introduction ......................................................

Chapter 1: The Starting Line .......................................

Chapter2:SenditaMessage .......................................

Chapter 3: More Print Control Commands ...........................

Chapter 4: An Introduction to Dot Matrix Printing ....................

Chapter 5: Graphtrax II ............................................

Chapter 6: Advanced Graphics .....................................

Chapter 7: The Final Push ..........................................

Chapter 8: Using the HIRES Screen Dump Program ...................

Appendix A: ASCII Charts for MX-70 ................................

Appendix B: Control Codes .........................................

Appendix C: Character Set .........................................

Appendix D: TRS-80 Differences ....................................

Appendix E: Use with Atari ........................................

Appendix F: Use with Apple ........................................

Appendix G: Special Notes on Other Computers, Languages/Interfaces ...

Appendix H: Technical Specifications ................................

Appendix I: Control Circuit Board and Initialization ...................

Appendix J: Pinout Chart ..........................................

Appendix K: Parallel Interface Timing ...............................

Appendix L: Printer Maintenance ...................................

Appendix M: Schematic Diagram ...................................

Index ............................................................

Notice ...........................................................

iii

101

103

105

107

109

111

vii

USER’S SERVICE

MANUAL

WARNING

High voltage exists inside this unit and

the case should be opened only by a qual-

ified person!

viii

USER’S SERVICE

MANUAL

WARNING

High voltage exists inside this unit and

the case should be opened only by a qual-

ified person!

viii

Introduction

“But do I REALLY have to take a course on ‘How to operate a printer’ to use

this one?” No - not if you only want to use it for mundane printing. It prints

“mundanes” very nicely.

If you want to use the exotic features it offers, approach your new printer in the

same way as your first computer - with a healthy curiosity and an open mind.

They probably far exceed what you expected from a printer inexpensive enough

to call your own.

The MX-70 printer works with virtually any computer properly interfaced to it.

This “Learner’s Manual” uses the popular Apple II Plus as its “driver” since

the Apple’s high resolution graphics features so closely parallel the printers.

What’s taught here applies to all computers, though not all are powerful enough

to utilize every MX-70 feature. More on that in good time.

Impatient readers should head for the appendices and usual reference materials

at the back. The rest of us will believe that this is no ordinary printer and take

the time to learn to use it right - the first time.

A good working knowledge of the BASIC* language is all that’s required as we

begin, with Chapter 1.

“Users who feel their BASIC skills are a little rusty are referred to the following

books by the same author:

The BASIC Handbook (2nd Edition), Encyclopedia of the BASIC Lan-

guage. 480 Pages. Available through CompuSoft Publishing, Box

19669, San Diego, CA 92119.

Learning TRS-80 BASIC. Available through CompuSoft Publishing, Box

19669, San Diego, CA 92119.

Table of contents

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