2–7
Chapter 2. Menu Operations
All E's This option prints lines composed of the uppercase letter E.
All #'s This option prints lines composed of the # symbol.
All +'s This option prints lines composed of the + sign.
Parens This option prints lines composed of the left paren followed by a vertical bar
followed by the right paren.
Rubout This option prints lines composed of the currently selected fill character.
Ribbon This option prints lines composed of rolling ASCII uppercase characters.
Plot
This parameter is available in Tech Access only and it contains selections of plot patterns used
to test such things as hammer ball alignment and dot placement. There are five selections for
this parameter.
Plot selections
After you have started one of the tests below, it will run continuously until you depress either
the ENTER Key or the CLEAR Key.
Grid This option prints a grid pattern that can be used to check hammer ball alignment.
Proper alignment of the hammer bank components is indicated by clean lines and
uniform patterns.
Cross This option prints a crosshatch pattern of diagonal lines that can be used to check
linearity of dot placement. Clean lines and uniform pattern are used to indicate
linear shuttle action.
Gray This option prints a grayscale pattern at 60 x 72 DPI. This test fires all hammers
(printing every other dot vertically and horizontally), which should lay down an
even gray tone across the page. Any change in the gray tone indicates a variation
in the gap between the hammer module and the platen, most commonly indicating
either a worn hammer module or a replacement module in need of alignment.
Black This option prints a solid black page at 60 x 72 DPI matrix. The Black Page Print
Mode is the most dense print test that can be run for verifying the proper operation
of the printer’s power supply. This test places the greatest electrical current load on
the power supply as well as increasing the thermal load on the electronics.
When performing this test, it is considered normal for the print rate to slow as the
current and thermal limits are reached. If the power supply shuts down, rather than
simply slowing down, the power supply may need replacement.
Block This option prints alternating bars at 60 x 72 DPI matrix. Each bar is offset from the
previous bar in order to check on dot placement. This pattern is used to test the
printer at its maximum sustainable graphics rate without exceeding the boundaries
of thermal change or electrical current overload. This test is useful in examining
the capabilities of the print mechanism, for checking proper hammer alignment/
spacing, and print quality. The output in the printed areas should have uniform
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