MPS 803

MPS 803
Type:	Dot-Matrix Printer
Producer:	Commodore based on the M-1009 by the company Brother
Price:	approx. 550 DM
Released:	1985
Discontinued:
Processor:	NEC µPD7811G
Memory:	4 KByte ROM: 27C32
OS:
Info:	Forerunner: MPS-801, MPS-802

The Commodore MPS 803 is a dot-matrix printer from Commodore for home computer with serial IEC interface. MPS stands for Matrix Printer S'erial, a designation from Commodore.

Description

The Commodore MPS 803 is a successor of the MPS-801. It was delivered by Commodore in two versions, one in typical brown and one for the 264 series in black.

In contrast to the MPS-801, the MPS-801 printer can use standard single sheets. With the tractor attachment TU-803 (Tractor Unit) it can also use continuous paper. The print resolution corresponds to a 6 × 7 matrix at 10 characters per inch, the printing speed is 60 characters per second. The MPS-803 could not produce dropped tails on characters, this was only made possible later by software tricks. The printer supports bidirectional printing. It was not developed and built by Commodore itself, but by Brother, who produced an almost identical Centronics printer, the M-1009. The MPS-803 has the serial IEC interface, which can be set to address 4 or 5. The printer is capable of graphics, so it can print graphics as well as text. In addition to the complete ASCII character set, it can also print all Commodore graphic characters; strike-out and negative printing is also possible.

For operation there is a mechanical hand-wheel on the left side of the printer for manual paper loading, a membrane switch for step-by-step automatic feed and a lever for paper tension.

Technical Details

• Printing method: Dot matrix (impact dot matrix)
• Character matrix: 6 × 7 dot matrix
• Character height: 2.4 mm
• Character width: 2.2 mm
• Line width: 80 columns max.
• Line spacing: 6 or 8 lines per inch, configurable via DIP switch (1 inch = 2.54 cm)
• Printing speed: 60 characters per second
• Printing method: Bidirectional print
• Paper transport: Single pages or optional tractor
• Ink-ribbon type: KMP ink-ribbon, black nylon
• Paper width: A4, Letter and optionally continuous paper, 4.0 to 10.0 inches
• Carbon copies: Original + 2 duplicates
• Graphic capabilities: Addressable per dot, 7 perpendicular dots per column
• Interfaces: 2× serial IEC interfaces
• Device Address: 4 or 5, configurable via DIP switch on the back
• Dimensions (h × w × d): 70 × 330 × 190 mm³
• Weight: Approx. 2.0 kg
• Power consumption: 30 W max.

See also

• MPS series

Links

• Pictures
• Users-Guide (PDF, ca. 6,4 MByte)

Videos

• Video at YouTube