PROGRAMMERS' REFERENCE MANUAL

Index

Section 4

4.0 Contents
4.1 Peripheral Transfers
4.3 Paper Tape
4.4 Card Readers
4.5 Printers & Punches
4.7 Magnetic Tape
4.8 Orion 2/
1900 DDL

Section 4.5

Mechanical Printers and Card Punches

The following types of mechanical printer and card punch, all of which are controlled by the same type of control unit, are currently available for use in an Orion system.

ICT          665 Line Printer
582 Card Punch

ANELEX   Type 4-1000 Printer

4.5.1  Control Unit

When a transfer to a printer or punch has been initiated the appropriate core store area is weakly locked-out and computing resumed.  The transfer of data to the control unit and the completion of the required function proceeds autonomously.  On completion of the function an interrupt occurs.

Incidents which occur during the function will cause Monitor action to take place (see Section 5.5.3).  If the object program includes restart action it should be noted that parallel output devices seldom give the correct transfer addresses but will give the current addresses in the lock-out box of the parallel output control, which may be for a transfer connected with another object program using a different printer or punch.  It should also be noted that the only core store lock-out which occurs is during the transfer to the data or code buffer, and when this transfer has been completed the program is allowed to continue.  Any incidents which occur during the transfer of the information from the buffer to the printer or punch will not give as the link, the address of the transfer, but the address reached by the object program.

The control unit is capable of operating all of the peripherals attached to it currently.  There are two buffer stores in the control unit associated with each peripheral, termed the Data and Code Buffers.  Each of these stores consists of 6 nickel delay lines, which hold 128 6-bit characters in parallel.  The last characters are not usable by the programmer and the effective length of each buffer is therefore 120 characters.  The Data Buffer contains data to be output.  The Code Buffer contains information which dictates the code interpretation for the data in the corresponding Data Buffer.

4.5.2  Transfer of Data to Buffer Store

Transfers to the printers and punches are initiated in the normal way using a compound instruction, e.g.

140.21  0     *CP1    for Card Punch

142    OUT  10

 

140.21  0     *LP1    for Mechanical Printers

142    OUTP  15

When a transfer is initiated, the buffer is automatically cleared and then filled word by word from the core store.  The Y-address of the 142 order contains the number of words to be transferred.  For the printers the Y-address may not exceed 15 words, and for the card punch the maximum is 10 words for a coded interpretation, and 20 words for binary.  If these numbers are exceeded the buffer will overflow and cause monitor action to take place.  (See Section 5.5.3.)

The modes associated with card punches and printers are as follows:-

Card Punch     Mode 21     Fill the data buffer and punch a card in accordance with the contents of the code buffer.

                     Mode 22     Fill the data and code buffers and punch a card in binary.

                     Mode 26     Fill the code buffer.

 

Line Printer    Mode 21     Fill the data buffer and print a line in accordance with the contents of the code buffer.

                     Mode 22     Fill the data buffer and print a line in accordance with the contents of the code buffer, using a restricted set of printing characters. 

                     Mode 26     Fill the code buffer.

The total time for transferring a complete block of 15 words is of the order of 2 ms. but the central computer only loses 0.24 ms. of this time in hesitations.  The core store area concerned is locked out for this 2 ms. period, this lockout being lifted when the transfer is complete.  The printer or punch concerned is locked out when the operation commences and remains locked out until the operation has been completed.  The process of transfer is identical for both data and code buffers, but while the data buffer is refilled for every line or card, it is normally necessary to fill the code buffer only once per program.

4.5.3  Data Buffer

This buffer contains the data to be output in the particular code set by the program. For printing purposes the data buffer may also contain the control characters New Line, Paper Throw and Tabulate which have a fixed value 2, 3 and 4 respectively and may not be used as values in the code buffer, (they may be used for the card punch code values).  With each control character a further character is used to specify certain action as described below, both characters count towards the maximum of 120 characters for a transfer.  These values cause a similar interpretation on any of the printers, although the exact interpretation varies.

New Line NL (Value 2)

This character is followed by a character indicating the number of lines to be moved. These two characters terminate the transfer, no further characters being read into the buffer. The following conditions will result in no paper feed.

a) The second character is zero.

b) The last character of the transfer is NL.

c) The transfer does not contain the character NL.

If the number of new lines requested is greater than 5 on the 665 printer, or 3 on the Anelex, the paper movement will be terminated if a 'Top of Form' marker is encountered before the correct number of new lines have been completed.  It is recommended that the paper throw facility should be used whenever it is necessary to move to a specific position on another page, by paper throw to 'top of form', followed by a new line transfer to the required position.

Paper Throw PT (Value 3)

This causes the paper to be 'thrown' until a certain position has been reached and like NL terminates the transfer.  The next character indicates which of several possible throws are to be used on the Anelex Printer.  On the ICT Printer whatever value is set in the next character the throw will always be to the head of the form.

The paper throw channels 1 to 7 can each have as many holes punched in them as required.  Using standard stationery with 66 lines to a sheet, each channel can have up to the maximum of 66 holes.  A paper throw character followed by a channel number will cause a throw until the next hole in the channel is found, or to the 'Top of Form' if Channel 0 is detected first.  In this way one channel can be used to specify the format on a form, and each transfer can be followed by the same paper throw character, and one 8-channel loop could be used to specify 7 different formats using one channel each.  If PT is the last character of the transfer the paper throw is to 'top of form'.

Tabulate TB (Value 4)

This character, in association with the following character, provides a facility for skipping to a pair of print positions. For TB the 120 print positions numbered 0-119 from the left hand end of the printer, are taken as 60 pairs of positions numbered 0-59 and the print position where printing will take place is double the value of the character following TB, e.g.

to print A in position 100, transfer 4, 50, A

to print A in position 101, transfer 4, 50, 0, A

Tabulate positions do not have to be used in numeric order, e.g. a transfer 4,40,A,4,2,A is permissible and will result in A being printed in positions 4 and 80.

Information will be lost if characters 60,61,62,63 follow the tabulate character, and also if there are more characters sent after a TB than there are positions left on the printer, e.g. 4,50 followed by 25 characters will result in the last 5 characters being lost.

The tabulate facility could be misused to attempt to print two characters in one position, (e.g. 4,6,A,B,C,D,E,4,8,X,Y,Z). If this is done the results are somewhat unpredictable.  If it is required to overprint a character two lines must be printed without moving the paper.  For engineering reasons a gap of approx. ½ revolution of the barrel is necessary between consecutive firings of the same hammer, and so ideally the programmer must arrange a delay of at least 30 ms. between these lines, when using the 665 printer.

If the data contains a character which is not set in the code buffer a space will occur on the paper, or a blank column on a card.  Character 0 (zero) and 63 (erase) will always cause this to happen as these have a special significance in the code buffer.

4.5.4  Code Buffer

This buffer specifies which characters of the internal computer code correspond to each index point of the punch or printer. The index point is defined as each row on the card punch, or each position on the print wheel of the printer.  The internal representations of the characters to be output at each index point are placed in groups in the code buffer, the groups being separated by erase characters, value 63.  If an index point is not being set, binary zero, i.e. a space character should be used to separate two erase characters.  If erroneously two or more erase characters are set in consecutive positions they will only be counted as one, they do not cause an unset index point.

The principle can best be explained by an example.  The following table shows the code table necessary to interpret an internal code to the new Hollerith 4-zone code on a card punch, assuming the 10 row, the top row, of the card is punched first.  All characters which result in a hole in the 10 row are listed first, then all in the 11 row, etc.  Some characters are mentioned twice, e.g. 'A' which results in a hole in row 10 and row 1.

The code table is as follows:-

10ABCDEFGHI	Erase	10th row
11JKLMNOPQR	Erase	11th row
0&STUVWXYZ	Erase	0 row
1AJ&	Erase	1st row
2BKS	Erase	2nd row
3CLT	Erase	3rd row
4DMU	Erase	4th row
5ENV	Erase	5th row
6FOW	Erase	6th row
7GPX	Erase	7th row
8HQY	Erase	8th row
9IRZ	Erase	9th row

The appropriate group of characters is examined at each index point to test for equivalence with a character in the data buffer.  Wherever there is a coincidence a hole is punched or a character printed in the appropriate column or print position.

For simplicity, letters and symbols have been shown in the table above and in other tables in this section. These would have to be written as numbers for acceptance by symbolic input, the appropriate equivalent internal representation being substituted.  It is important to realise that the internal code is assigned arbitrarily by the programmer, but it is recommended that as far as possible the code used should be compatible with the standard code buffer used by the Monitor program.  (See Section 5.6.2 for the card punch and Section 5.6.3 for the printers).  In particular, it should be stated that to reserve a card reader a 'document card' is required in the standard code, and if a card punch is reserved with a 150/33 or 150/34 instruction, in the first instance the standard code will be set and a document name will be punched.  If the object program is using a different code, this must be set after the 'document card' has been output, and if a further document is required at a later point in the program, it should be noted that the 150/33 or 150/34 instruction does not reset the standard code if the punch has already been reserved for the program.  This could result in a 'document card' in a non-standard code which could not be used for reserving a card reader.  It is recommended that one of the following actions should be taken so that the correct 'document card' is output.

a)  The punch should be relinquished before the 150/33 or 150/34 instruction.

b)  The object program should set the standard code before the 150/33 or 150/34 instruction.

4.5.5  Buffer Store Cycle Time

The store cycle time of the complete buffer store depends on the number of peripheral devices connected to the control unit and the number of times each store is examined in a store cycle.  The buffers have a cycle of .512 ms.  The control unit interrogates each buffer in turn, the sequence of interrogation being determined by hardware built into the control unit.  Each buffer must be interrogated in the appropriate half of the cycle.  For example, the control unit could be arranged to interrogate buffers in sequence

  01  23  01  24

In this arrangement the store cycle time is 2.048 ms. (.512 x 4).  Buffers 0, 1 and 2 are examined every 1.024 ms. and buffers 3 and 4 every 2.048 ms.

For any given peripheral device the control unit requires to examine the associated buffer at each index point.  If each of several different characters involves a print or punch at that index point, this buffer must be examined the appropriate number of times (e.g. in the card code above, the buffer must be examined 10 times at the 0 row since each of the ten characters O&STUVWXYZ requires a hole to be punched in the 0 row.

These factors impose two limitations:

a)   the number of peripheral devices which can be served by one control unit is limited to 8.  For this purpose the ICT 665 hammer printer counts as two devices.

b)  the maximum number of characters which can be specified for punching or printing at any index points depends on the time available on that peripheral type of device and the number of peripheral devices attached to the control unit.

	No. of devices	4	8
	Cycle time of buffer store	1.024 ms	2.048 ms
Device Type	Time available at each index point in m.s.
ICT 665 Printer	1.3	1	1
ICT 582 Punch	38	36	18

The limitation of 18 will prove embarrassing only if it is required to punch either the new Bull or the full IBM Scientific codes.  If required, the punches may be treated in the same way as the ICT printer, i.e. as 2 machines, where the appropriate buffer is examined twice in a store cycle.  This allows any code to be punched but reduces the upper limit of the number of devices which can be connected to one control unit.

4.5.6  Punching of Binary Cards

Binary punching of cards differs considerably from the other modes in that there is no interpretation necessary and the complete card image held in the store is punched on the card.  Card Punch Mode 22 transfers up to 20 words to the control unit, which punches a binary card.  The first ten words are stored in the data buffer and subsequently punched in rows 10 - 3, the top half of the card.  The second ten words are stored in the code buffer and punched in rows 4 -9 of the card.

It is normal to transfer 20 words exactly.  If less than 20 are transferred, only part of the card is punched; e.g. a transfer of 15 words will result in punching of the top 6 rows in all columns and the bottom 6 rows in columns 1 to 40 only.  Position 0 of the first word corresponds to row 10 of card column 1, position 0 of the eleventh word corresponds to row 4 of card column 1 and position 47 of the 20th word to row 9 of card column 80 etc.  If normal alpha-numerical punching is to continue after punching a binary card, the code buffer must be refilled.

4.5.7  I.C.T. 665 Hammer Printer

General Description

This device is a line at a time printer capable of a speed of up to 800 lines per minute.  There are 120 columns on the printer and a selection of 50 characters.  The print barrel, consisting of 120 type wheels, each of which has 50 characters around its circumference, revolves continuously in front of the paper.  120 corresponding print hammers located behind the paper are actuated individually to strike the paper against the associated print wheel when the appropriate printing character is passing the hammer.  The paper is stationary while a line of printing occurs, and is moved using sprocket holes between lines of print.  Format control is entirely by computer program.

Printing

The print barrel has 120 wheels, spaced 10 to the inch, each with 50 characters.  A character timing disc fitted to the end of the print barrel provides a signal to the control unit as each print row passes.  A counter reflecting the current barrel position is maintained in the control unit.  When printing, the control unit checks for equivalence between the character placed in the code buffer corresponding to this barrel position with the data in the information buffer and releases the appropriate hammer where equivalence occurs.

Paper Feed

Between lines of print the paper is moved by tractors.  On this printer, the number of lines required to move the paper from its current position is given by the character following a new line character.  (See Section 4.5.3)  Paper throw results in movement of the paper until a printed black 'Mark' on the side of the paper is detected by a photocell.  The paper movement is actually stopped 5 lines after the 'mark' is detected, and for this reason paper throw must not be called for distances of less than 6 lines from the bottom of the sheet, or the throw will be to the next but one sheet.  If more than 5 new lines are requested, a paper throw is called for 5 lines less than the number of new lines required.  If the black mark is detected during this throw, the paper movement will stop after a further 5 lines.  This may result in an incorrect number of new lines.

Timing of Operations

A printing cycle can be divided into 2 parts, printing and paper movement.  The print barrel revolves continuously at 800 r.p.m. ± 5 per cent (one revolution takes 75 ms.).  Printing time depends on the mode of printing.

Mode 21 prints an alpha-numeric line asynchronously.  Printing commences wherever the print barrel happens to be and continues for one revolution.  Printing therefore takes a fixed time of 75 ms.

Mode 22 prints a line containing the first 26 characters on the print wheel (i.e. all characters except C to Z using the Commercial Barrel), synchronously.  Printing commences at the first character and the time is therefore the access time to the first character + 39 ms.  Paper movement time is given by the formula 25 + 8(x - 1) ms. where x is the number of lines required.

Using Mode 21 the time for one line and one space is 100 ms. (600 lines/minute).  When using Mode 22, printing will be carried out at 800 lines/minutes if 2 or less spaces are required between lines.  However, if this number is exceeded, the rate will drop to 400 lines/minute.  In this case, or whenever the access time is greater than 39 ms., Mode 21 yields a higher printing rate than Mode 22.

In either mode, the lockout of the data buffer is not lifted until paper movement finishes.

Paper Details

The paper must be sprocket fed and interleaved.

The maximum overall width of stationery is 16 inches, the margins at this width being 2 inches on either side of the 12 inch printing area.  The minimum width is 6 inches overall.  The tractors are adjustable to any width between these extremes,

One original plus 3 copies are obtained with suitable stationery.

The original copy is obtained using a broad inked ribbon. This ribbon, running between two spools located above and below the print position, reverses automatically when it reaches either end.  The 3 copies are obtained using one-time carbon interleaved between the copies.  This carbon moves with the stationery.

Character set

There are three character sets at present available on the 665 printers.  These are as follows, in the order in which the characters are arranged in the print wheels.

1.  Commercial Barrel

0 ½ 1 - 2 + 3 . 4 , 5 £ 6 % 7 ( 8 ) 9 * 10 & 11 /
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

2.  Scientific Barrel

0 = 1 - 2 + 3 . 4 , 5 p 6 ' 7 ( 8 ) 9 * < ? > /
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

3.  Swedish Barrel (I.C.T. Gothenburg)

0 ¼ 1 ½ 2 ¾ 3 - 4 + 5 . 6 x 7 % 8 ^o/_oo 9 & / A B C D
E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Å Ä Ö

The code buffer is filled with the internal representation of these characters separated by erase characters
 (i.e. for the Commercial Barrel    0 Er ½ Er ........... Y Er Z Er).

The code buffer is filled as shown for both Modes 21 and 22.  As already stated, Mode 22 only prints the first 26 characters of the print wheel, and if characters in the last 24 are sent, a space will occur.  The whole code buffer need not be set for Mode 22.

Controls and Indicators

The printer display carries the following controls and indicators.

ENGAGE	Push Button and Indicator
DISENGAGE	Push Button and Indicator
START LOCAL	Push Button	This is only operative when the printer is disengaged, and causes the motors to start.  The button stays depressed until either the Stop Local, Disengage or Engage buttons are pressed.
STOP LOCAL	Push Button	If the printer is disengaged and the motors running under the action of the Start Local button, this button immediately stops the motors and releases the Start Local button.  If the printer is engaged, this button causes the printer to be disengaged after 100 ms.
RUN OUT	Push Button	When pressed, the paper will run out until either the 'mark' is detected or the button released.  If the printer is engaged when the button is pressed, it will disengage before the paper moves.  If the paper is incorrectly loaded and a mark not detected, after a nominal 2 seconds of paper movement it will stop
POWER ON	Indicator	Shows green light if the power supplies are functioning normally.
PAPER LOW	Indicator	Indicates when the last sheet of paper has left the paper trolley. About 2 feet of paper is left, and can be used, but when this has been used the printer will automatically stop regardless of any signals from the computer. When the Paper Low lamp is lit, it is impossible to engage the Printer.
HAMMER FUSE	Indicator	Indicates that a fuse has blown or the printer is disabled
PAPER FEED BUSY	Indicator
BUSY	Indicator

 

In addition, there is an emergency stop button which should only be touched in an emergency, as some time will be needed to restart the printer.

Operating Procedure

The following conditions result in monitor action:

 Installation Details

 

4.5.8  I.C.T. 582 Card Punch

General Description

This machine punches 80-column cards with rectangular holes at the rate of 100 cards per minute.  The cards are fed broadside on, face down with the 10 edge leading, thus punching one row at a time.  The card track comprises card hopper, punching station, check reading station and stacker which are all one card cycle apart.  The card capacities of the hopper and stacker are approximately 700 and 800 cards respectively.

Punching

Punching is carried out by a single row of 80 punch knives which punch each of the 12 rows in turn.  There are no restrictions on the number of holes which may be punched in any one card.  To maintain a maximum punching speed of 100 cards per minute, each card punch transfer must be initiated within 40 ms, of completion of punching the previous card.  If the punch is allowed to stop between punch cycles it will take 66 ms. to restart.

The punch may be used off line as a gang punch.

Punch Checking

Checking is carried out by a single row of 80 check brushes which sense each row in turn.  The punching in each row of the card is treated as an 80-bit serial number.  These numbers are accumulated in a 128-bit adder loop as each of the 12 index points of the card passes.  On completion of the card passage the sum formed is compared with a similar sum of data sent to the punch station.  If there is a disagreement the card is offset in the stacker by about 3/8 inch, and the monitor program entered.  The check of the punching and the offsetting of the card is carried out by hardware.  There is no way of causing an offset card by program.

Code Interpretation

Any given code can be punched by filling the code buffer with the appropriate internal representation.  However, there is a limitation on the number of characters at one index point (see Section 4.5.5).

One character in the buffer is translated into a character in one column of the card.  Overpunching, split columns and undisciplined punching of any type designed to increase the capacity of a card by punching 2 unrelated figures in the same column will, therefore, require the conversion of the two figures to one character by program.

Controls and Lights

The display panel carries the following controls and indicators.
 

 

Operating Procedure

The following is a list of conditions which result in monitor action (see Section 5.5.3, page 1) and the restart action necessary to correct sequence of cards.

a) Cards low or operators requirements.

b) Disabled.

 

In the event of a) or b) the fail interrupt occurs when a new transfer is initiated.  To restart it is necessary to repeat this transfer.

c) Buffer Overflow.

d) Current Address Parity Pail.

 

These interrupts occur during transfer from the core store to the buffer, and to restart it is necessary to repeat the transfer.

e) Failure of Read Check.

 

This is a failure at the read station on the punch.  The card will be offset automatically, and to restart it will be necessary to output the failing card, and the following card (which was being punched at the time of the read check failure).  Both the offset card and the following card should be removed.

f) Checksum failure

This is a failure in the control unit.  i.e. in the buffer store.

When this occurs and the transfer abandoned, the card passing under the read check station will probably fail and be offset.  It is necessary to re-punch the failing card and the previous card.  The monitor program will reset the standard code.

A plugboard is provided on this machine.  This provides the normal facilities of a gang punch, when the machine is run detached from the computer.  There are four groups of 980 positions on the board:-

Computer Outlet     Punch Magnets
Computer Input       Brushes

The Computer Outlet and Input positions provide a link with the punch control.  The Punch Magnet and Brush positions provide a link with the punching and checking stations of the punch.  The 80 individual computer outlets are normally plugged to the corresponding punch magnets and the computer inputs to the brushes.  The facilities of the plugboard can, however, be used to provide format control or to ignore columns, etc.

Installation Details

Approximate plan dimensions	4'0" front x 2'0" side
Weight	504 lbs.
Approx. dimensions of Electronics Cabinet	1'6" front - 2'0" side, spaced 6" from side of 582.
Weight of Cabinet	150 lbs.
Power Supply	230 V.A.C. Single phase
Total Heat Dissipation	1 Kw.

 

4.5.9  Anelex Type 4-1000 Printer

General Description

This machine is a line at a time printer capable of a speed of up to 1000 lines per minute.  In front of the paper is a continuously rotating print barrel, which carries a complete character set for every print position along the line, behind the paper is a row of hammers, one for every print position, which are actuated individually to strike the paper against the associated print wheel when the appropriate character is passing the hammer.  The paper is stationary while printing occurs and is moved by tractors between lines of print.  Format control is entirely by computer program.

Printing

The print barrel has 120 print positions, spaced 10 to the inch, each with 60 characters.  The 60 characters are distri­buted round the print barrel on a 64-character pitch.

Paper Feed

Between lines of print the paper is moved by tractors.  One set of tractors is positioned before the print station, and one set after the print station.  There are two ways of initiating paper movement, Newline and Paper Throw, both of which move the paper at the same speed.  The newline character causes the paper to move the number of lines specified by the character following the newline character.  In the case of Paper Throw the stationery is moved to a pre-set position on a form.  The machine is equipped with a vertical format tape reader.  This reads a paper loop, cut to the same number of characters as the number of lines on the form being printed, and the loop moves in synchronism with the stationery.  The loop has 8 channels numbered 0-7 along which hole's are punched as required.  The effect of Paper Throw is to move the paper until the next hole is detected in the channel whose address is indicated by the three least significant bits of the character following the Paper Throw character.  By convention, Channel 0 is reserved for indicating 'Top of the Form', but there is no restriction on the use of channels (for further details see section 4.5.3).  It is recommended that only channel 0 should be used and this should be 'Top of Form'; positions on the form then being so many lines from 'Top of Form'.

A printing cycle can be divided into two parts, printing and paper movement. The printing barrel revolves continuously at 1000 r.p.m. (one revolution takes 60 ms. on high or 90 ms on low).  Printing time depends on the mode of printing.

Mode 21 prints an alpha-numeric line asynchronously.  Printing commences wherever the print barrel happens to be and the barrel rotates nearly one and a quarter times during a single cycle and line feed.  The single spaced printing speed is 800 lines per minute.

 

Mode 22 prints a line synchronously, the character set being limited to the first 48 characters on the print wheel.  The barrel rotates exactly once per single print cycle and single line feed, the latter occurring while the 16 unused character positions are passing the hammers.  A cycle may only start at the beginning of the character set, and there may be up to 59 ms, waiting time after a throw.  The single-spaced printing speed is 1000 lines per minute.

 

The paper movement times are given by the following formula:

15 + (n-1) 6.67 m.secs. where n is the number of lines

i.e.  1 line - 15 ms.  2 lines - 23 ms.  3 lines - 28 ms.

In either mode, the lockout of the data buffer is lifted and an interrupt occurs as the paper movement starts.  This allows at least 15 ms. for the data buffer to be refilled while paper movement takes place.  If the data is proffered to the buffer at intervals of less than approximately 35 ms. printing will occur at maximum speed.  Printing speed can be reduced by a manual switch to 2/3 normal speed when extra good quality printing is required.

Paper Details

The paper must be sprocket fed and interleaved.  The maximum overall width of stationery is 19 inches, the margins at this width being 3½ inches on either side of the 12 inch printing area.  The minimum width is 4 inches overall.  The tractors are adjustable to any width between these extremes.

One original plus 5 copies are obtainable with suitable stationery.

The original copy is obtained using a broad inked ribbon, which moves between two mandrels located above and below the printing position.  The 5 copies are obtained using high speed carbon between the copies, the carbon moves with the stationery.

Character Set

There is one character set available on the Anelex (Standard). This is as follows, in the sequence in which the characters are arranged on the print wheel.

0 ½ 1 - 2 + 3 . 4 £ 5 & 6 ( 7 ) 8 * 9 / 10 11 A B C D E F G H

I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z : ' [ ] < > = _ | ? , %

The code buffer is filled with the internal representation of these characters separated by erase characters, (i.e. 0 Er ½ Er 1 Er .... , Er % Er).  It should be carefully noted that it is only possible to use 59 characters of the 60 mentioned at any time, and that this is a limitation enforced by 5 characters of 64 character values available having special interpretation, i.e. 0,2,3,4,63.  As an example, if the character "½" was not required the first word of the code table would read 16.63.0.63.17.63.30.63 where 16, 17 and 30 are the standard internal values for 0,1 and - respectively.  Binary zero, i.e. Space, set in the character "½" index point will cause no printing of this character (for further explanation see Section 4.5.4).

The standard code table set by the Monitor program does not use the character underline, and if this character is required by the object program, the code will have to be set by the object program and reset when restart action is required as the Monitor program has reset the standard code (e.g. in the event of a checksum failure, see Section 5.5.3, page l).

When using Mode 22, the restricted character set starts at 0 (zero) and ends at Z.

Controls and Indicators

The printer display carries the following controls and indicators:

In addition there is an emergency stop button, which should only be used in an emergency.

A program using pre-printed stationery should include a chapter which prints lines for helping the operator to align the paper.

In addition to the control panel there are some switches and controls which are mainly for use by engineers, but some reference should be made.  These are as follows:

HIGH/LOW MOTOR SPEED	This is a switch on one side of the Anelex, and controls the barrel speed, and consequently the printing speed.  In the high position maximum speeds are obtained.  This is mainly for use when several copies are required.  When the motor speed is changed, re-phasing is necessary.
PHASING	This controls the timing of the trigger to the hammer devices relative to the instantaneous barrel position to allow for different thicknesses of paper, or multiple copies, and the two barrel speeds.
PAPER TENSION	This is a knob which increases or decreases the lateral tensioning of the paper (increase by a clockwise turn).
PENETRATION	This controls the depth of print to allow for the thickness of paper and the number of copies being printed.  It consists of an indicator and a handle.  If this is incorrectly set, printing can take place, but no printing will actually occur.
FORM POSITIONING	This is used to position the top of form while printing is taking place.  The position can be lined up or down by a maximum of 2½ lines

 

Operating Procedure

The following condition results in monitor action:

LOW PAPER

This condition occurs when the weight of paper reaches a minimum, or the paper has torn, or is incorrectly loaded.  (See Section 5.5.3 for other conditions).

Installation Details

The approximate dimensions of the control pedestal and printer unit are

Width	58 inches
Depth	30.5 inches
Height	55.25 inches
Approx. weight	1100 lbs.

The two power supplies are single phase A.C. at 50 c.p.s, and 240 volts ± 15 per cent, one is raw and the other filtered.  The total power consumption of the printer pedestal is 2 KVA approximately.
 

4.5.10  Anelex Series 5 Description.

This gives some of the differences between it and the Anelex 4 (see 4.5.9)

1.  Printing Speed      1000 lines per minute full character set
                                1250   "      "       "     part       "        "

2.  Manual Controls

                        Panel at Front - Top Left             Panel at Rear - Top Right

ENGAGE		DISENGAGED
TEST PRINT		*		ENGAGE
RUN OUT		TRACTOR INDEX		DISENGAGE
*		*		RUN-OUT
*		*
NO PAPER		PAPER WARNING
YOKE OPEN		ALARM STATUS

* Shows the button is not used

                                         

Switches

ENGAGE	Button which is green when pressed and engages the printer so that printing may commence.
TEST PRINT	Button which is yellow when pressed and produces a continuous printout of a selectable test character in all print positions.
RUN OUT	Button which is white when pressed and causes a paper throw until a hole is detected in channel 0 of the format loop.
DISENGAGED	Button which flashes red when pressed and disengages the printer so no further printing can occur.  It remains unlit after being pressed.
TRACTOR-INDEX	Button which is white when pressed and causes the line feed operation to feed 1 line every time the button is pressed.
POWER ON	Button which is green when the power is switched on by pressing this button
POWER OFF	Button which is red when the power is switched off by pressing it.

Indicators

NO PAPER	Amber light lit by the action of two photo-electric sensing devices which detect loss of paper tension at the paper tractors i.e. paper breakage or tearing
YOKE OPEN	Red light which lights when the print hammer mechanism is removed from its normal position in order to load paper or maintain the printer.
PAPER WARNING	Amber light which lights when the last sheet of paper is drawn clear of the paper dispenser.
ALARM STATUS	Red light which when lit indicates a printers fault.

Paper Installation and Adjustment Controls

These controls are only accessible when the front cover of the printer is lifted to load paper or to make any adjustments to the mechanism.

PENETRATION	These controls are located at either end of the printer yoke mechanism.  They allow fine adjustment of the print density over the full width of the barrel.  The knobs are independent of each other.  Clockwise rotation of either increases the hammer pressure, and anti clockwise rotation decreases the pressure.
CLOSE-OPEN	These are two spring loaded switches on either side of the printer yoke mechanism.  They are both spring loaded to return to a central position.
	When both are pressed down the printer yoke mechanism is automatically wound away from the paper.  When both are pressed up the printer yoke mechanism is automatically wound back to its normal position.  If only one is pressed then no movement of the yoke will occur.  Similarly movement of the yoke will cease if both are being pressed and pressure is then taken off either one.  The YOKE OPEN indicator lights when both are pressed and goes out automatically when the yoke is wound back to its normal printing position.
FORM-TENSION	This adjusts the tension of the paper.  Clockwise rotation increases the tension, anti-clockwise rotation decreases the tension.
FORM-POSITION	This knob permits fine vertical adjustments to be made to the alignment of the paper.  Anti clockwise rotation raises the form position, clockwise rotation lowers the form position.

3.  Physical Details

Height    52 - 57 inches

Length    40 inches

Width     30¼ inches

Weight    1000 lbs.

Power Input  250 volts, 50 cycle, single phase.

4.  Vertical format loop

The vertical format feeding is effected by means of a loop of paper read by means of a photo electric reader.  The loop is made from a strip provided by Anelex.  It is punched by users according to their needs.

The loop has 12 channels numbered 1 - 12, only 1-8 are used on ORION and these correspond to paper throw channels 0-7 respectively.

 

4.5.11  Orion 2 Differences

The information in this section refers in general to both Orion 1 and Orion 2.  Described here are the differences to be noted when reading the subsections for Orion 2.  These differences arise in some cases because the transfers are extracoded (see 4.1)

Section 4.5.

The printers available on Orion 2 are the unbuffered Anelex Series 4, the buffered Anelex Series 4, and the buffered Anelex Series 5.

Section 4.5.1  Because of the extracode, the code buffer for card punch can be filled even if the peripheral is busy or disengaged. Mode 22 for the punch does in fact leave the code buffer untouched.

Unbuffered Anelex is as for Orion 1.

Section 4.5.3. Newline NL facility.

For all types of Anelex printers whenever "Top of Form" position is reached, paper movement will stop; (i.e. the sentence, on 4.5 page 3 "If the number......... completed" will have substituted "greater than 1")

For buffered Anelexes, no more than 55 lines should be fed. (NL 56 º PT 0,  NL 63 º PT 7)

Section 4.5.3. Paper Throw (PT)  For buffered Anelex. This as described in the section, i.e. PT 0 causes throw to "Top of Form".  8 positions PT 0 to PT 7 are available.

Section 4.5.5.  This is not applicable to Orion 2.

Section 4.5.6.  Punching a card in binary does not cause the code buffer to be touched, and so it need not be refilled