FARGO electronic C16 - Manual (Page 23)

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Persona C16 Card Printer Service Manual (Rev. 5.0) 14
Printer Components: Centronics-Type Parallel Interface
The Card Printer is equipped with a standard 8-bit centronics-type parallel interface port. This
communication port is the means through which the Printer receives data from the computer.
This section describes the pin assignments and signal specifications for this port.
• Parallel Interface: The Centronics-type parallel interface is the most widely used Printer
interface due to its simplicity, speed and standardization throughout the PC industry.
• Parallel Interface Connector: The Printer's parallel interface connector is a standard
36-pin Amp type with two metal-wire retaining clips and is ECP (Extended Capabilities
Port) compatible. It mates with a standard, bi-directional PC to Printer parallel cable. To
ensure optimal communications, keep the interface cable to 6 feet in length or under.
Printer Components: Print Ribbons
The Card Printer utilizes both dye-sublimation and/or resin thermal transfer methods to print
images directly onto blank cards. Since the dye-sublimation and the resin thermal transfer
print methods each provide their own unique benefits, print ribbons are available in resin-
only, dye-sublimation-only and combination dye-sublimation/resin versions.
To make it easier to remember which print ribbons are which, a letter code has been
developed to indicate the type of ribbon panels found on each ribbon. This letter code is as
follows:
= Dye-Sublimation Yellow Panel
= Dye-Sublimation Magenta Panel
= Dye-Sublimation Cyan Panel
= Resin Black Panel
= Dye-Sublimation Black Panel
= Clear Protective Overlay Panel
(Note: Reference Technical Update No. 66 (dated 04/27/2003), there is a Firmware
improvement to the Persona C16 Card Printer. The ribbon-queuing improvement makes
the ribbon handling more robust to ensure the maximum number of prints from our color
ribbons.)