1. What do the terms Variable Resolution and HP-GL Modes mean?
   
2. Will the MicroPrint or MicroPlot 50 work with my HP 3000 Minicomputer?
   
3. Can I use the converter to connect my PC parallel printer port to an HP-IB printer or plotter?
   
4. My test equipment supports only plotting (i.e., there is no print function). What kind of printer should I use?
   
5. Nothing is printed when I connect the converter between my controller and HP printer.
   
6. Strange characters are printed when I send graphics data to the converter from my HP controller.
   
7. I am able to print graphics data, but the graph over-runs the edge of the paper or the plot is extremely small.
   
8. I set the Variable Resolution switches to two different resolutions but I still get the same size graph.
   
9. How can I put multiple graphs on a single page?
   
10. I wish to print color graphics. Which converter do I need?
    
11. When I send a graph to the printer, about half of the graph is printed and then the printer stops.
    
12. Can the MicroPrint and MicroPlot be used with HP and third party PC HP-IB (IEEE-488) cards or older HP workstations?
    
13. I cannot get my DeskJet to print in landscape mode using the converter.
    
14. I get the same size graph regardless of the Variable Resolution settings I select.
    
15. Can I hook multiple controllers to the converter input to share a printer among the controllers?
    
16. When I send graphics data to my color DeskJet printer I get a black-background plot.

HP-GL mode refers to the ability of the converter to send a command string to a HP PCL5 printer to program it to accept HP-GL commands; i.e. the printer becomes a plotter.

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2. Will the MicroPrint or MicroPlot 50 work with my HP 3000 Minicomputer?
No, the HP3000 communicates with HP-IB printers using CIPER bi-directional protocol; the converters are not compatible with this protocol.

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3. Can I use the converter to connect my PC parallel printer port to an HP-IB printer or plotter?
No, the MicroPrint and MicroPlot are one-way converters - from HP-IB (IEEE-488) to parallel. Reversing the unit can damage the converter. For this application, select the MicroPrint 45H parallel to HP-IB converter.

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4. My test equipment supports only plotting (i.e., there is no print function). What kind of printer should I use?
For color plotting, use a HP DeskJet model 1200C,1600C, 2500C+, 2250, 2280, or 2600. These, to date, are the only HP color DeskJets that support HP-GL. The 2280 & 2600 are currently in production. For black and white plotting, most LaserJets that implement PCL5 will work. PCL5 LaserJets include LaserJet series III and above. See Section 6 below to determine if a MicroPrint 45C or MicroPlot 50 is required.

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5. Nothing is printed when I connect the converter between my controller and HP printer.
Check that your converter address Manuals match the address that the test instrument or computer expects. If the converter is the only HP-IB device connected to the bus, use the "Listen Always" address switch setting.

Ensure that the HP-IB and parallel cables are firmly attached to the controller and printer connectors, and the converter power indicator is on. It is recommended that you connect and disconnect the HP-IB cable connections at both ends 2 or 3 times to "wipe" the contacts before tightening the jack screws.

If the printer "Ready" light blinks, but nothing is printed when you send data to the printer, press the page eject button on the printer, examine the printout, and see section 6 below to diagnose the problem.

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6. Strange characters are printed when I send graphics data to the converter from my HP controller.
HP test equipment and computers send data to printers in PCL format. Non-HP printers such as Epson, Okidata, etc. do not understand this format in graphics mode (text-only data should work OK). Unless your controller has a menu listing non-HP printer drivers, you must use an HP-compatible printer.

If the printed characters include many lines of characters such as PA, SPO, PU, or other similar strings along with numeric data, you are trying to send an HP-GL plot to a printer that does not implement PCL5. If the controller has both "Print" and "Plot" capabilities, select "Print," set the converter switches to any print mode, and try again. If you are trying to use a PCL5 printer such as the DeskJet 1200 or 1600 or LaserJet III or above (IV, V, etc.) as a plotter, the switches on the converter have not been set to program the printer to accept HP-GL data. Select HP-GL portrait or landscape mode on the converter, RESET it, and try again.

If only a few character strings such as OP, OI, SP0, etc. plus numeric data are printed when the converter is in the printer (non HP-GL) mode, and then the controller "hangs" and will not send additional data, the controller is expecting a response to one or more plotter queries. In this case, no MicroPrint model will work. You must use a plotter emulator such as the MicroPlot 50 that is capable of sending back "fake" responses in response to plotter queries. This operation, incidentally, is the recommended procedure for determining if a MicroPrint will allow you to "plot" on a PCL5 printer; or if a MicroPlot 50 is required instead.

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7. I am able to print graphics data, but the graph over-runs the edge of the paper or the plot is extremely small.
Use the converter Variable Resolution switches to adjust the size of the graph. Raising the resolution shrinks the graph; lowering the resolution expands the graph. Don't forget to RESET the converter after the switches are set; the converter reads the Manuals only after a RESET or when power is applied to the unit.

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8. I set the Variable Resolution switches to two different resolutions but I still get the same size graph.
Most LaserJets and DeskJets do not implement all of the resolutions available in the converter. For example, most newer DeskJets implement 75, 150, 300, and 600 dpi (dots/inch). If you set the Variable Resolution of the converter to 100 dpi, the printer will default to the next highest valid setting; in this case 150 dpi. Therefore the 100 and 150 dpi graphs will be the same size. Also, see section 14 below.

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9. How can I put multiple graphs on a single page?
Select the converter Variable Resolution to the size graph desired. Send the first graph to the printer, but do not press the converter RESET switch or printer page eject button. Send the second, third, etc. graphs in the same manner. When all desired graphs have been sent, press the RESET switch or printer page eject button.

The above method will work only if the controller does not send an Interface Clear (IFC) or page eject command to the printer. If it does send one of these commands while the converter is in the Variable Resolution mode, then the page will be ejected each time a graph is sent. In this case, set the converter to default (Variable Resolution OFF) and send the first graph again. If the page is not ejected, send the second graph etc. Note that you will not be able to adjust the size of the graph in this case.

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10. I wish to print color graphics. Which converter do I need?
If your controller has a "print" mode, use the MicroPrint 45CI. This converter is capable of intercepting most HP PaintJet color commands and substituting commands that will allow color DeskJets to be used. If your controller has only a "plot" mode, or sends PaintJet commands in a sequence not recognized by DeskJets (the only way to determine this is to try a 45CI first), select the MicroPlot 50.

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11. When I send a graph to the printer, about half of the graph is printed and then the printer stops.
This usually occurs when the instrument's printer driver was written for a ThinkJet or PaintJet printer and you are using a DeskJet 600 series printer. Since the ThinkJet and PaintJet printers process data very slowly, the instrument's printer driver sends a small block of data to the printer and waits for the printer to request more data a short time later. Since the DeskJet can accept more data at a faster rate, the instrument sends a lot of data in short bursts, the DeskJet stores this data in its buffer until it has accumulated enough to begin printing, stops accepting data, and begins formatting the stored data for printing. The latter operation in DeskJet 600 printers takes more time than the instrument has been programmed to expect, so it "times out" and aborts printing.

The MicroPrint 45CI and MicroPlot 50 have been designed to eliminate this problem. The MicroPrint 45CI has a "speed" mode that slows down the data transfer to approximate the speed of a PaintJet and give the DeskJet time to process the data. The MicroPlot 50, because of its built-in data buffer, also eliminates this problem.

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12. Can the MicroPrint and MicroPlot be used with HP and third party PC HP-IB (IEEE-488) cards or older HP workstations?
Yes, the converters are fully addressable HP-IB devices, and can be used for unidirectional transfer of data from the card or HP-IB computer to a parallel printer or plotter. Note that if the controller expects a response, the MicroPlot must be used.

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13. I cannot get my DeskJet to print in landscape mode using the converter.
With the exception of DeskJet models 1200 and 1600, DeskJets are line printers, not page printers. In the latter, the whole image is accepted and stored before printing begins, whereas the DeskJet only stores a partial image before beginning to print. Since the converters rely on the ability to rotate the whole graph in the printer memory to implement landscape printing, this mode is valid only for PCL5 printers; i.e., LaserJets and the DeskJet 1200/1600.

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14. I get the same size graph regardless of the Variable Resolution settings I select.
This occurs when the controller sends a resolution command to the printer each time it sends data. Since the converter sends a Variable Resolution command only after the unit has been powered on or RESET, the command from the controller is over-riding the converter command.

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15. Can I hook multiple controllers to the converter input to share a printer among the controllers?
Only one controller at a time can be connected to the bus. To share the converter, you can install an HP-IB switch between the controllers and converter; or, alternately, you can connect a converter to each controller and run the converter outputs into a manual or automatic Centronics parallel switch.

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16. When I send graphics data to my color DeskJet printer I get a black-background plot.
This happens when the controller driver was written for the PaintJet printer which uses a different color palette than the DeskJet. If you are using a MicroPrint 45CI or MicroPlot 50, select the "reverse" function on the color mode switch. This reverses the printer color palette, changing black to white, etc.

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