=C5ke Neehr wrote:
> Hello [OT]
>=20
>=20
> I=B4m want to learn me what I have to do so
> I can get a dotmatrix printer to work
> together with a PIC 16F870.
>=20
> All ideas and advices is welcome !

If you're talking about the usual sort of dot matrix printer that used=20
to be commonly attached to PCs, they use the standard Centronics printer =

port, named for the long-defunct company that invented the standard many =

years ago. The basic idea is that you send ASCII characters to the=20
printer, one byte at a time. You can also send control sequences=20
(special strings of characters that start with a control character) to=20
get the printer to do its fancier tricks; for information on those,=20
you'll need a manual for your specific printer model.

Conveniently, the logic levels on the Centronics interface are standard=20
TTL levels, and the current requirements are not too severe, so you can=20
probably drive your printer directly with the outputs of your PIC.=20
(Disclaimer: I haven't tried it.)

Here are some links with some basic information on how the parallel port =

works:

http://www.beyondlogic.org/spp/parallel.htm
http://www.piclist.com/techref/io/parallel/port.htm

Here's a link to some PIC code that talks to a parallel printer:

http://www.piclist.com/techref/microchip/Centronix.htm

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList
mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu