Epson FX-80 User Manual page 305

The designs are limited to the standard character matrix of 9 by 11
dots. Characters can only be 8 dots tall, but they can be printed with
either the top or the bottom 8 pins of the print head. The width of each
character consists of 6 regular dot positions plus 5 intermediate posi-
tions (for a total of 11).
To allow space between the characters, each character design
should leave the last two columns blank.
User-defined characters can be joined together with no gaps be-
tween them if they are printed in Proportional Mode.
All of the ASCII codes (0 - 255) can be redefined, but the control
codes (0 - 31 and 128 -159) require special commands to be printed as
normal characters.
Defining your own characters is covered in Chapter 17.
Vertical Tabs
You can set up to 16 vertical tab stops on the FX-80. In addition, up
to 8 sets (or channels) of vertical tabs can be stored in memory at one
time. The active channel can be selected by number with a single com-
mand.
Hex Dump
The FX-80 has a fantastic program debugging tool known as the hex
dump mode. Simply hold down the FF button and tum the printer on.
The printer is now in hex dump mode. In this mode, all codes sent to
the printer are echoed onto the paper in their hexadecimal format
(e.g., 5B, 2F, AA, AF). This lets you see exactly what the printer is
receiving from the computer. Tum the printer off to return to normal
printing.
Immediate Printing
The FX-80 can be used as a typewriter with real-time printing, char-
acter by character.
New Dot Graphics Modes
The FX-80 has more graphics densities than the MX:
72 dots per inch
274
80dpi
90 dpi
120 dpi at high speed
240 dpi