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- Path: sparky!uunet!caen!mtu.edu!mtus5!jjmcwill
- Organization: Computing Technology Services, Michigan Technological Univ.
- Date: Tuesday, 10 Nov 1992 17:29:10 EST
- From: Jeff McWilliams <JJMCWILL@MTUS5.BITNET>
- Message-ID: <92315.172910JJMCWILL@MTUS5.BITNET>
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
- Subject: Homewriter-10 Printer
- Lines: 68
-
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- Subject: Pls fwd to csa8? Subject: HomeWriter-10 Printer
-
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- Date: Mon, 9 Nov 92 18:29:14 -0500
- From: phvax::poehland
- To: INET::"comp-sys-atari-8bit@ucbvax.berkeley.edu"
- Subject: HomeWriter-10 Printer
-
- Trying to answer this question takes me back a few years, I hope the cobwebs
- don't get in the way. The HomeWriter-10 printer was made by Epson & was- I
- THOUGHT- a custom-modified version of the LX-80 but with a built-in interface
- for certain computers. My impression was that the HW-10 was the one with an
- built-in interface for the C-64, but I can't swear to that. A great deal of
- confusion is possible here because Epson marketed this printer in 1984-1986 in
- a wide variety of configurations & manufacturing changes with at least 4 dif-
- ferent model names for basically the same printer. And just to make matters
- more muddy, Epson also marketed a line of interfaces for various 8bit home
- computers, including the Atari 8bits. These interfaces were known as PICs
- (Printer Interface Cartridge). I never saw a review of the Epson PIC for
- the Atari 8bits.
-
- The LX-80/HomeWriter-10 was the first Epson 9-pin to have NLQ output. And yes,
- it is also graphics-capable. If the printer chokes on graphics, either a DIP
- switch may need to be turned on inside the printer to put it in graphics mode,
- or else the problem is in the interface. There was at least one third-party
- interface (Ape-face???) that had the same problem.
-
- If you are using one of the Epson interfaces (either a PIC or a built-in
- interface), I'd bet even money the graphics problems will go away with an 850
- or a P:R:Connection. Hrrumph, even the parallel port on the XEP-80 won't do
- or a P:R:Connection.
- or a P:R:Connection.
-
- Whoops, got a little technical problem here....
-
- It may well be the Epson interface was a text interface only. Many of the
- early interfaces were like that, especially since the earlier models of Epson
- printers were mostly text printers which required a Graftrax upgrade to do
- graphics. Some interfaces couldn't recognize Graftrax. With the LX-80/
- HomeWriter-10, Graftrax was built-in (another of the advanced features of that
- printer for its day).
-
- Just my $.02.
-
- - BEN POEHLAND
- The 8-Bit Alchemist
-
- *******************************************************************************
-