[Coco] [coco] Okidata ML 172 on my coco

[Ryan Pritchard]

Here is a direct link from the my.okidata.com website, to the on-line  
User's Manual.

http://my.okidata.com/man172.nsf/InsideUsersManual?OpenFrameSet

Also found in my search was the service manual for the 172 / 182.

http://www.eserviceinfo.com/download.php?fileid=12284

Both of the above sites were results on the first page of my Google  
search for 'oki ml172 manual' without the quotes.  Though the  
eserviceinfo.com one I clicked on the result and then copied the  
direct download link for pasting in this message.

Regards,

Ryan Pritchard
Fun Extends All Basic Life Expectancies



On 30-Aug-08, at 12:28 AM, George Ramsower wrote:

> I can't find the manual on this ML 172 printer.
>
> What I'm loking for is the info on all the setup stuff to do the  
> graphics, varous text fonts and sizes and all that stuff. Even  
> Okidata doesn't offer this support today.
> I'm surprised that a maintenance manual is available in numerous  
> places, most free. I have one now, but it's useless.
> (If it works, don't fix it!)
>
> Are there other Oki DMP printers that might perform with the same  
> instructions as this ML 172?
>
> Would anyone have a manual for something that is compatible?
>
> Oh! I want to make this thing work on my coco so much, I can taste  
> it. It's a sweet taste that brings back memories of lines, circles  
> and more.
>
> It was so much more fun than making a picture in Paint Shop Pro and  
> printing it to an ink jet printer.
>
> My first Ink Jet printer was an Olivetti Dry Ink Jet printer.
> I got that for my coco 2.
> It used a glass ampule that held a sort of powder that when a HIGH  
> voltage was applied to the back side, would cause a spark to occur  
> at the end closest to the paper. The platten was conductive and the  
> spark would carry s spot of the "Dry Ink" and snap it onto the paper.
> It made a tiny little spot and worked pretty darn good for doing  
> line drawings. There was no shading, or control of the darkness of  
> that spot. It took dithering as in normat DMP printing to do that.
>
> It was so quiet, if you had a TV going, you might not even hear it  
> printing.. The paper feed mechanism made more noise than the print  
> head, however the platten moved is so small increments that it too,  
> was almost silent.
>
> It was quite a light show to watch it print. The spark was visible  
> and always astonished me how fast it zipped across the platten. It  
> had to go fast because it had to make a LOT of those little spots  
> make a legible line of text. Hence, the slow platten movement.
> I still have a box of those Dry Ink Jet ampules. Wouldn't trade them  
> for the world. The printer is now parts... might be something from  
> it that is in one of my steam engines or maybe in something else.
> I think it was around 1985 when I bought it. This was when Olivetti  
> decided to quit consumer sales and go strictly directed to business  
> and it was a close-out item.
>
>
> Okay, OKAY!!!
>
> I'm rambling....
>
> I know..
>
> But it's for a COCO for cryin' out  loud!
>
> ==========
>
> Movin' on now to what I've learned using this printer....
>
>
> I've been printing data to the screen from my CNC stuff so I can see  
> where the mill is. I've learned that I can print this info to the  
> printer faster than I can print it to the screen.
> It seems it takes longer to print to the coco's screen than it does  
> to print to serial port at 9600 baud.
>
> This is a DOUBLE good thing...
>
> The reason I chose to use a printer is so I would have a hard copy  
> of the data. This way, I could look it over and decide what to do  
> next, without having to worry about losing the data printed to the  
> screen. Paper is cheap.
>
> Then, as I was converting my program to print to the printer instead  
> of the screen, I learned that the coco was actually working faster.
>
> I didn't expect that.
>
> I suppose I should try a real, timed experiment to see if this is  
> true. It could be just in my mind because the printer is printing  
> while the coco is working and I am not noticing the delays while the  
> coco is transferring data to the printer.
>
> But.... by golly, it does seem faster..
>
> George
>
>
>
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