Cardco Printer Interfaces

Card-? +G

Dips:

Unless you've "modified" your Cardco interface, the dip switches are inside, accessed by unscrewing the plastic case.

Printer Selection:
1    2    3    5    6
on   off  on   on   off   Epson, etc.
on   on   off  off  on    Prowriter
off  off  on   on   on    Okidata
off  on   off  off  on    Siekosha
on   on   on   on   on    Other/Daisy Wheel

Epson, etc.: Epson, Star, Panasonic, and compatibles 
  Prowriter: Prowriter 8510, C-ITOH 8510, NEC 8023, Hot Dot.
    Okidata: Okidata non-Epson compatible.
   Siekosha: Siekosha GP-100, Axiom GX-100, Gorrilla Banana.
      Other: Printers without graphics capabilities.

Options:
4               Device Number: on=4, off=5
7               ASCII Translation: on=on, off=transparent
8               Line Feeds: on=SA selects, off=no LF

Secondary Addresses:

0 (None)      Uppercase/Graphics with LF*
1             Uppercase/Graphics without LF*
2             Reserved
3             Hexidecimal mode
4             Transparent with LF
5             Transparent without LF
6             Use internal ROM characters**
7             Upper/Lowercase with LF*
8             Upper/Lowercase without LF*
SA+20         Lock interface in a mode

* In these modes, Cursor Down--CHR$(17) will force Upper/Lowercase mode, Cursor Up--CHR$(145) will force Uppercase/Graphics, and CHR$(15) and CHR$(20) are swapped, along with the appropriate PETSCII to ASCII translation. This makes it act more like a 1525.

** This interface has the Commodore character set digitized inside, so you can print a program listing and have the letters look the same as the graphics characters. This can cause a problem on some printers, since the graphics wind up printing only 60 columns wide. Experiment.

Card-? A

The Card-? A apparently had a number of variations, based on which printer you have. The ROM inside the interface defaults to a generic/Epson set, but it may have been modified to work with other printers.

Dips:

None

Secondary Addresses:

0 (None)      Uppercase with LF*
1             Uppercase without LF*
2             Listing Mode Uppercase with LF**
3             Listing Mode Uppercase no LF**
4             Transparent with LF
5             Transparent without LF
6             Listing Mode Upper/Lower with LF**
7             Upper/Lowercase with LF*
8             Upper/Lowercase without LF*
SA+20         Lock interface in a mode

* In these modes, Cursor Down--CHR$(17) will force Upper/Lowercase mode, Cursor Up--CHR$(145) will force Uppercase/Graphics, and CHR$(15) and CHR$(20) are swapped, along with the appropriate PETSCII to ASCII translation. This makes it act more like a 1525. Note that this interface does not print the Commodore graphics characters as dot graphics, it just sends the byte.

** Listing Mode converts Commodore graphics characters to a two-letter code defining the character (CU=Cursor Up, for example).

Other Notes

10 OPEN 4,4:PRINT#4

When you send this command to the interface, it will not print anything. To do a blank line, do either
PRINT#4,CHR$(10); or PRINT#4," "
To change the interface device number (which defaults to 4), open the interface, and look for a small (|-|) pad near the CARDCO INC. labling. Cut the trace for device #5, solder it for #4.