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Depending on which model of Wizzard you own, there are at least two fonts inside your the engraver. To use additional fonts and logos, the Wizzard has two slots on the left side for inserting additional "external" cartridges.
The current Wizard XL allows for the use of six additional logos/fonts through these ports. Should you insert two standard cartridges with more than six fonts/ logos, only the first six will be read. Keep in mind that a logo set counts as one logo. The limitation is six different names, not necessarily six logos. And, this may even be different in different models.
Standard Network External Font Cartridge
The major differences between a standard Dahlgren font/logo cartridge is the absence of a top cover, and font and logo chips or EPROM's can be inserted into the easy opening and closing ZIF sockets.
The external font cartridge can be used next to a standard Dahlgren font/logo cartridge. Always make sure the EFC in the front slot when using a standard Dahlgren font/logo cartridge. Otherwise, the EFC may not be read. (Note: This varies from model to model - it will not harm your machine to try the front or the back)
CUSTOM LOGOS
The main use of the EFC for most Wizzard owners is for custom logos. The price for a custom Wizzard logo ranges from $35.00 to $95.00. The price depends on the complexity, of the artwork. See Sources for logo suppliers.
LOGO RESTRICTIONS
Depending on which external font cartridge you own, you have a limitation of two to four chips. Each Wizard chip holds approximately 8,000 bytes of information. Thus, the more complex the logos you have digitized, the higher the will be cost due to the extensive digitizing and cost of extra chips. The average cost for a blank Wizzard eprom is $5.00, while a diskette costs $.50 and can hold over a hundred logos.
STOCK LOGOS
While the custom logo has been the primary use of most Wizard owners, logo companies now provided literally thousands of stock logos available to the Wizard owner. Now, you can take your standard fonts and combine them with stock borders, corner sets, ornamentals, and fonts to provide a plaque that your customer will appreciate even more. And, the price of a stock logo is less than a custom font or logo.
PROPER USE OF THE EFC
With any piece of equipment, their are some common problems that can develop by failure to follow the correct procedures. The guidelines provided are usually applicable to most cartridges, however you should refer to your manufacturer’s specific instructions for your particular type of external font cartridge.
We do differ from what the book says - NEVER, NEVER insert or remove your EFC while your Wizzard is on. Yes, you may have done it for years and never had a problem. But we have repaired more than 100 Wizzard boards where the owners ‘wiggled’ the EFC when inserting or removing it, and shorted out the motherboard.
Inserting An EPROM Into The EFC
With your Wizzard turned off, remove the EFC from the Wizzard.
Make sure the legs on the EPROM (logo chips) are all straight. To open the sockets to accept chips, toggle the lever to the up, or loose position. Position the small notch on the chip facing upwards, or to the back of the Wizzard when the EFC is inserted (most chips have a colored dot at the top next to this notch to help you).
Gently place the font/logo chip in the first slot. The first slot is always the slot opposite from the card edge connector, or the end inserted into the Wizzard. Additional chips should be placed in the next available slot. There should never be an empty socket between chips.
Close the socket lever to the down or ‘locked’ position
External Font Cartridge with Eproms Inserted
With the Wizzard power turned off, insert the EFC into Slot #1, the one closest to the keyboard.
Turn on the Wizzard, and make sure it initializes and the layout screen appears.
IF YOUR WIZZARD DOES NOT INITIALIZE IN 20 SECONDS, TURN YOUR MACHINE OFF. Refer to the Common Problems below before restarting.
Once you are at the Job Layout screen, move the cursor to the font selection (usually Gothic). Press the SPACE BAR several times past the standard fonts, and the newly based font/logo name should appear. If the name doesn’t appear, or the name is garbled, refer to the Common Problems below.
COMMON PROBLEMS
The MOST COMMON and DEADLY problem is inserting chips in the external font cartridge UPSIDE DOWN. If the chip you are using does not have a colored dot, make sure that the small notch (only on one end of a chip) is pointed up, or towards the back of the engraver. Inserting a chip upside down will generally damage the chip beyond repair, and require the chip to be replaced. If you reinsert the ‘upside down’ chip correctly, the font/log name will not appear, or if it does, it is blank or in random characters.
Inserting chips in the cartridge in the wrong sequence, not starting with socket #1, or leaving blank spaces or sockets between chips. Usually this will not zap chips.
Some logos require more than one chip. The chips for the logo must be inserted in the cartridge in the proper sequence. If they are out of sequence, the Wizzard does not recognize the logo. Usually inserting the chips in the wrong sequence will not damage the logo or the Wizzard.
Inserting or removing the cartridge while the Wizzard is powered up. This is the #1 cause of major damage to your EFC and your Wizzard motherboard.
Name appears blank. Using a non-terminating logo (see below) in a Wizzard XL or XL Extra may prevent it from initializing. Placing a terminating logo as the last logo in a cartridge generally fixes this problem.
Leaving the computer on for more than 10-15 seconds after it fails to initialize. If you turn on your machine with a chip inserted upside down and go to answer the phone, there is a strong possibility of burning up your Wizzard motherboard.
The colored dots on the chips are primarily used to remind the engraver of the proper UPWARD position of the chips. In addition to the yellow chip for the top of the chip, Lamro also uses a blue dot on the chips that have a terminator. Logofax uses a series of color dots to remind you of the individual positions of logo or logo sets that contain more than one chip. With the exception of a blue Lamro dot, remember to keep the colored dots up; or towards the back of the machine.
NON-TERMINATING LOGOS
The standard Dahlgren Font/logo cartridge is programmed with a stop bit, or terminator that causes the Wizzard to stop searching for more fonts/logos on the current cartridge board.
Using a cartridge that does not have a terminating logo in it will generate FONTx ERRORs at the bottom of the Wizzard screen. These errors arise because the Wizzard expects other logos to follow the last non-terminating logo in a cartridge, and there are none. The ‘x’ in the error message is the position of a “missing” logo. These error messages can be ignored and the Wizzard will function properly.
The same error occurs with all makes of EFC’s.
However, there are a few (number or serial number sequence unknown) Wizzard XL’s and XL Extras that will not initialize without a stop bit, or terminator programmed in a chip. Usually the name will appear blank.
Terminating logos must be the last logo in a cartridge with no chips after it and no empty sockets before it. A terminating logo from Lamro can be recognized by a blue dot on the bottom of the chip, opposite the yellow dot at the top, or notch end. If the logo uses more than one chip, the last chip in the set will have the blue dot. A terminating logo does not allow logos placed after it to be accessed by the Wizzard.
The current chips produced by The Network usually do not have a stop bit unless requested. If you own an XL or Extra that will not initialize with the EFC, you can request terminating logos from most of the third party suppliers.
All chips could be imbedded with a stop bit, but this would defeat the purpose of the design of the external font cartridge. A terminator on each chip would stop you from using your choice of logos in any sequence needed on a special layout.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
While using my external font cartridge, I tried to use a logo. Instead of the file name appearing, I got several odd looking squares and characters. I had used the chip the day before, and I knew that I had not placed it in the cartridge up-side down. I removed the chip and cleaned the legs with a rubber eraser. I also made sure that all the legs were straight. After re-inserting into the external cartridge and trying again, the name came up.
Does your Wizzard lock up when your loading ‘Load Cart’. Instead of having to restart you machine and possibly loose a valuable layout, try pressing the HOME key.
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