General Advice about Computer Ports: Serial. Parallel. USB. and Network
Braillo 200 and 400 models are essentially identical except that the 400 prints twice as fast as the 200. Both models are distributed worldwide with different internal chips for their various destinations. In writing these instructions. we are assuming that your Braillo 200/400 was factory installed with a chip for North American ASCII braille code. as is the normal case for units sold through the U.S. distributor.
The Braillo 200 does not have any DIP switches. All parameters are controlled through the operating panel; specifically. the I/O and Layout buttons. Most of the factory default settings are okay. with the possible exception of paper size. The factory default of twelve inches is one inch too big for most customers in the U.S. To view the current settings. press the button containing those settings. To change settings. use the corresponding panel button along with the Scroll button. The correct settings for each button are as follows:
Be sure to scan the output once in a while as the printer is running. As with any brailler working at this speed. errors will be amplified. You should also be careful to follow the Braillo manual's guidelines for operating environment. including electricity. humidity and temperature concerns.
Set the unit for 11 inch pages. "alpha numeric mode." 6 dots. 5mm. 22 holes/page. "S max-2." and 40 char/line. Also set for 1 stop bit. 8 data bits. no parity. and 9600 baud. When you purchase your Braillo. a cable is included at no charge. Be sure to specify to the vendor that you are using a PC serial port. Use a straight through male-to-female cable with a null modem adapter.
Varying the carriage width is tricky on an interpoint unit. Since the hardware needs to produce both sides at once. you need to give commands to the embosser to leave equal left and right margins. Do not set the left or right margin with this software. Just tell this software the number of real braille characters you want per line. For technical support for the Braillo. contact American Thermoform at 213-723-9021.