Printek 8000 manual Printer Model Descriptions and Key Features, Selecting Emulations

Introduction

Printer Model Descriptions and Key Features

The Printek FormsMaster 8000 series printers are high speed, heavy duty serial dot matrix printers designed especially for printing upon hard to print forms. Such forms are often not printed adequately by other printers. The printer is also designed to be factory floor rugged while still quiet enough for the office. Both models provide straight paper paths for jam free paper motion and a zero waste tear bar for demand document applications.

The operator may permanently record up to ten complete sets of form parameters which may be later selected either at the printer's control panel or from the host computer. The FormsMaster 8003 provides three sets of tractors, any of which can be included in the form parameters for a particular form. This allows the printer to automatically unload one form and load another when selected, without requiring the operator to touch the paper. The FormsMaster 8003 is also able to use the same form or paper in multiple paths and automatically continue printing from a different path after one or two paths are out of paper. For more information, refer to the FormsMaster 8000 Series Operator’s Manual.

The printers come equipped with an industry standard parallel interface and an RS-232 serial interface. The printer will automatically accept data from either of these ports and even a third optional port after a 15 second delay. The optional ports which are available include Coax/Twinax, IPDS Coax, IPDS Twinax, or Ethernet 10BaseT. For more information refer to the chapter on “Port Switching – Programming Considerations”.

Standard bar coding capabilities include Code 39, Code 39 LOGMAR, 2-of-5, and Interleaved 2-of-5 bar codes, and OCR-A and OCR-B fonts. Bar code options include the Imager Graphics Co-Processor which expands the bar code capabilities beyond the standard Basic Bar Codes with QMS Code V v1 barcoding compatibility, and the ImagerPlus Graphics Co-Processor which adds bar code and graphic capabilities with QMS Code V v1 and v2 compatibility and Printronix IGP compatibility.

Other options include an internal FormsCutter which can be used to automatically cut off each form or to separate reports. A specially designed print stand which can handle three boxes of paper, and a Setup Module to make set up of multiple printers quick and easy are also available.

Selecting Emulations

The software interface of the printer varies, depending upon which emulation is selected.

The default emulation, selected at power up, is specified by the “Emulation” value in the interface setup menu for the interface being used. Frequently, the desired emulation is specified here, and never changed again. Note that the emulation may only be specified for the serial, parallel, and EtherLink ports. The Coax/Twinax, IPDS Coax, and IPDS Twinax ports automatically default to Printek emulation.

It is also possible to switch back and forth between various emulations in order to use the unique features of each. A different emulation may be selected via software with the ESC ESC n sequence.

Although switching emulations is essentially a seamless process, the fundamental differences between emulations may cause unanticipated results. For example, character size may vary, or tabs may work differently.

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