HP 7580B, 7585B, and 7586B Plotters - Front Panel Controls and Indicators

This document discusses the front panel controls (buttons) and indicators on the HP 7580B, 7585B, and 7586B Drafting plotters.

The ~LINE switch, located to the left on the front base of the plotter, turns the plotter on when set to 1, off when set to 0.

The LINE indicator lamp is on whenever the plotter is receiving electric power.

The DSR indicator lamp is on steady when the Data Set OUT OF LIMIT-- The OUT OF LIMIT indicator lamp turns on when the plotter has been instructed to plot outside the window area or beyond the hard-clip limits.

The ERROR indicator lamp turns on when the plotter detects an error.

Pressing CHART HOLD while the pinch wheels are up turns on the indicator lamp and lowers the pinch wheels; the plotter is still in the Not-Ready operating state. The lamp remains on and pinch wheels remain down only if a plotting medium is loaded in the plotter.

RESET is invoked by pressing ENTER and then CHART HOLD. RESET clears the buffer, cancels any pending plotter output, and establishes certain default conditions. The position of the pinch wheels (up or down) does not change.

Pressing CHART UNLOAD turns on the indicator lamp and places the plotter in the Not-Ready operating state with the pinch wheels up so that the plotting medium can be unloaded. This is also the power-up condition. CHART UNLOAD can only be invoked when the plotter is in the Not-Ready operating state with the pinch wheels down, or when the plotter is in the View operating state. Refer to Operating States.

CLEAR is invoked by pressing ENTER and then CHART UNLOAD. CLEAR clears the buffer and cancels any pending output from the plotter. The position of the pinch wheels (up or down) does not change.

Pressing VIEW turns on the indicator lamp and puts the plotter in the View operating state, which fully extends the paper to permit viewing the entire plotting area. When the plotter is idle, the view function is performed immediately. When the plotter is plotting, the view function is not performed until the plotter completes the current vector. If the plotter is executing an area fill instruction when the VIEW button is pressed, the entire area fill is completed before the paper is extended to the view position.

Pressing REMOTE turns on the indicator lamp and puts the plotter in the Remote operating state, which causes the plotter to begin processing computer input.

Pressing P1 or P2 raises the pen and moves it to the corresponding physical point on the paper. Pressing ENTER before pressing P1 or P2 defines the current pen position as the new P1 or P2 position.

Pressing AXIS ALIGN raises the pen and moves it to the defined axis align point on the paper. AXIS ALIGN is used with P1 and ENTER to align preprinted grids on the plotting medium with the physical axis of the plotter.

Pressing ENTER causes the indicator lamp to blink; pressing it again will turn it off. ENTER is used in a two-button sequence, such as ENTER RESET, ENTER CLEAR, etc. The ENTER lamp will blink and turn off after the second button in the sequence is pushed.

When the ENTER lamp is on steady, the plotter is in digitizing mode; pressing ENTER stores the current pen coordinates and the pen status. The digitizing mode is invoked through program control, rather than through the front-panel controls.

Repeatedly pressing BYPASS toggles the plotter between programmed-on (indicator lamp off) and programmed-off (indicator lamp on). BYPASS is functional only when the plotter is in the RS-232-C Interface Mode.

Pressing ROTATE turns on the indicator lamp and rotates the plotter coordinate system 90 degrees. Pressing it again turns the lamp off and cancels the 90-degree rotation. Pressing ENTER before pressing ROTATE causes the axis align, P1, and P2 positions to be adjusted to the rotated plotting area.

Pressing NEXT PAGE with the plotter in the View state or the Remote state advances roll media to the next physical page. The physical page length can be 17, 36, or 48 inches depending on the width of the paper loaded.

Pressing ENTER and then NEXT PAGE advances the media half the physical page length.

Pressing NEXT PAGE when the CHART HOLD or CHART UNLOAD indicator lamp is on will turn on the take-up motor for as long as the button is held down. Do this to wind any slack onto the take-up spool.

note:

The plotter will not execute a page advance if sheet media is loaded.

The PEN display indicates which pen is in the pen holder, and the speed and force settings for that pen. The display is used when setting pen speed or pen force from the front panel.

The PEN display also shows any self-test errors that are detected. Refer to Appendix A for descriptions of the self-test errors.

The PEN SELECT buttons have multiple functions. If used alone, pressing one of the buttons causes the plotter to store its current pen (if it has one) and to select the pen number whose button was pressed. If there is a pen in the pen holder, but there are no empty positions in the carousel for storing the pen, the pen select request is ignored.

Pressing ENTER before pressing a PEN SELECT button causes the plotter to store its current pen in the selected pen position in the carousel. If that position is not empty, the pen is stored in the first empty position. If no positions are empty, the pen store request is ignored.

The PEN SELECT buttons are also used for setting pen force and pen speed values.

Pressing ALL PENS after PEN SPEED or PEN FORCE causes the speed or force setting function to apply to all pens in the carousel. The speed or force is then established by pressing the PEN SELECT number that corresponds to the desired value.

Pressing PEN SPEED turns on the indicator lamp and makes it possible to set pen speed using ALL PENS and/or any of the PEN SELECT buttons. Pressing PEN SPEED again turns off the lamp and the speed setting function.

Pressing PEN FORCE turns on the indicator lamp and makes it possible to set pen force using ALL PENS and/or any of the PEN SELECT buttons. Pressing PEN FORCE again turns off the lamp and the force setting function.

Pressing PEN UP or PEN DOWN raises or lowers the pen holder. PEN DOWN can be used with the joystick to draw lines manually.

Pushing the joystick in any direction moves the pen in that direction. In general, the pen speed increases as more pressure is exerted on the joystick.