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Nov - DEC
What's Inside
. -From the President
Ed Maybee
From the Editor £ Disk Drops
Greg Lloyd A few words from Bill Bill Lawson
‚ Bob”s Notebook
Bob Mitchell Digital Imaging II Eric Michaud
. 2068 Tape Tutorial
L.I.S.T. Reprint Larken DSK 400 Review George Chambers Timex Repairs
George Chambers
Small Computers
Ed Abisdris
Help Wanted
Doug Jeffrey
Larken & Hunter
Mel Richardson
Color Screen Dumps 2868 Jeff Taylor
ACTIVITY DIRECTOR: “évé «Sue At
LIAISON OFFICER (Out-of-town members):
wee gpd CMe Df Ss
TORONTO TIMEX - SINCLAIR USERS CLUB P. O. Box 7274 езе Toronto, Ont., MSW IX9 oda
SINC-LINK :
From the Editor
Welcome to Sinc Link from your new newsletter editor. I hope to keep you inforsed and entertained with facts and fiction fros Sinclair and now Cambridge computers. Since this is a Sinclair club we should follow our knight and the his computers wherever they come from. His latest, named the 788 what else, is a re-thunk of the Tandy model 188. It's sold in US by Sharp’s for $2979(us). I’m very teapted by everything I read about it to spring the Visa for one.
I need articles to print! Come on now everyone can send something that they want to share with the group. Anything - ransom notes for kidnapped Spectrums, uses for ZX98°s other than foot warmers, I know you use thes for something.
Disk Droppings _ by Greg Lloyd
In ay last coluan I went on at great length about ay new QL. Now [711 look at the Psion Stringy Floppy Quartet. Porcupine Quill, Abacurse, Sour cream and Archives) and Easel rider are the menbers of the quartet. To the un-QL’d among you these are the Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Database and Business Graphics progs that come bundled with the machine. I'll look at Quill as I have had the most indecent exposure to it.
Quill is as slow and steady as the rodent barb it is named after. For ay uses, it has all the features that a hone word worker needs to do the job. I have had созт experience with other WP programs and find that speed isn’t everything. Help an demand and friendly prompting for every command are the key points Quill has in it’s favour. I read the manual once and have found that the Help files are enough to guide se through any ness I get into. Although I don’t have it, a semory expansion board will allow the creation of really big (189 page or sore) docunents. The limit is storage mediua here obviously. A disk or sicrodrive scratchpad is used, the austerious def tap file, to shuttle words in and out of the ram used to hold your document. If your doc is bigger than your memory capacity that’s where the prog puts it temporarily till you save the file. In an ex- periment, I aade a document that was 42 pages (134112 bytes) long before ay system - 120K (L & Cumana interface with 2-368k discs - gave ве a not enough memory error. At this point, I was given a warning, which I ignored (hey, it’s a warning not a lockup!) and the program then prompted me to abandon Quill and face the wrath of Superbasic. I was dumped to Superbasic, a place I like ta avoid at all costs, no aore senus or help files. A check of wy disk showed a file def tap recently created and 135823 bytes long. Being a brave soul, I renased the file test_doc and restarted Quill. I then loaded test doc, alias def tap and got aost of ay 42 page document back. I saved it and now can testify that without extra mesory 42 pages is the place to stop. Brian Taylor a QL'er with disk and 648K said he stopped the fun at over 198 pages with no warnings in sight. Inciden- tally, I an using version 2.1 other versions say act differ- ently. A word of advice here save early and save often. There’s no substitute for backups.
l like the possibilities available with extra mesory. One of-
them is a Raa-disk. I recently got Qflash, a ran disk and toolkit utility on micro-drive cartridge ($ 26 US.) from Sharps. Great stuff! If you have this program and some extra mesory you can speed the QL to rival Sir Clive’s Black Turbo Porche 911 (that’s the one I paid for by buying a ZX-81). The ram-disk is a
partitioned area of menory, that to 1005 is a storage device, è you it’s fast loading and saving. It can allow you to load screen file from rant in 8.888 of a second (QfLash times). Tr that with a floppy or sicro-drive. It’s too bad Uncle Cliv never gave us the 512K wafer drive.
In actual use you would load your ram disk software on st. je Next you would copy the files you want into the ram disk. No fasten your seat belt and wait no longer for loading and saving When you are all done, you can SBACKUP (selective backup) al the files on the raa-disk that you have changed.
To use Quill with a ran-disk you run the CONFIG BAS program anc set your Help and Data files to RAMI. and change your Quill loat program.
Here’s a sample of my Quill loader:
1 CLS:INPUT "Date and Time (naddhham) ";z$ 2 IF z$="" THEN GOTO 4
3 SDATE 1987,z$(1 TO 2),2$(3 TO 4),2$(5 TO 6),2$(7 TO 8),8 4 PRINT DATES i
5 INPUT "ok ? (u/n)”3z2$: IF z$="n" THEN RUN 6 COPY FLP1_QLWP_HOB TO RAM1_OLWP_HOB
7 REMark put help on raa-disk
8 CLEAR `
9 CLOSE #1:CLOSE $2:WINDOW #0, 408,28, 35,215 18 EXEC_W FLPI OLUP
11 SBACKUP RAM1_ TO FLP2.
12 OPEN #1, SCR:OPEN #2,SCR
Lines 1 to 5 set the date on the QL.
Line 6 copies help to raal..
Line 9 and 18 setup and load Quill.
Line 11 copies the files created to flp2.
Line 12 leaves you in a normal state when you exit Quill tr Superbasic.
I must add here that I have ordered a ram expansion fron Matthew Zenkar of Rochester NY. He is producing the MISI2X expansion for the QL. It features no-wait state ram design andi full thru port for complete periferal compatibility. There is : low chip count and little power drain. In his words "I think ! have done what I set out to do with the MZS12K; that is, desigr the best available board with the best technology for the lowest retail price." Watch for a review here of the first pro- duction unit available. Matthew has sent a proto to (L World for a full review. To order see the Novesber Computer Shopper Sinclair (L classified adds or write to Matthew Zenkar at PÒ Box 12534 Rochester NY 14412-8534. бо ahead, make his day, expanc your sesory. 128287
SINC—-RITS &® THE at WAYFARER WILL RETUR
NEXT ISSUE :
` SINC-LINK
COPIED FROM "QUANTA” NEWSLETTER VOL 1,NOG. 5 P. 17/18. ARCHIVE FIND-SEARCH- SELECT
"FIND” WILL FIND ANY COMBINATION YOU TYPE IN, IRRESPECTIVE OF CASE, BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER TO "DISPLAY” IT ( LOOKING FOR AN OCCURRENCE OF "MARK” I FOUND ° DENMARK ” ). BUT IT HAS THEN ONLY FOUND ONE FILE. . THERE MAY BE MORE, SO INVITE IT TO ” CONTINUE’. ; l
"SEARCH” REQUIRES THE ENTRY TO BE IN EXACTLY THE SAME FORM AS IT IS IN THE FILE - AND AGAIN ONLY FINDS ONE RECORD, SO "CONTINUE" TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY MORE.
"SELECT” ALSO REQUIRES THE EXACT, CORRECT. ENTRY, BUT ITS ACTION IS TOTALLY DIFF ERENT, EFFECTIVELY IT "CULLS"” THE FILE SO THAT AFTER YOUR "SEARCH" THE FILE ONLY CONTAINS THOSE RECORDS WHICH SATISFIED. YOUR REQUIREMENTS. IF YOU MAKE A MISTAK E IN YOUR ENTRY ‘ARCHIVE’ WILL FIND NO CARD IN YOUR FILING CABINET THAT YOU WANT AND WILL THROW EVERY CARD OUT OF THE WINDOW, SO THAT YOU ARE LEFT WITH NOTHING.
FURTHER "FIND”, "SEARCH” OR "SELECT"” CAN FIND NOTHING. IF YOU BECOME AS CONFUS ED AS I DID, USE "PRINT COUNT() WHICH TELLS YOU THE NUMBER OF RECORDS STILL AVAI
LABLE TO YOU. IF THE ANSWER IS О, THEN YOU ARE LOOKING AT NOTHING; 'RESET” IS YOUR SAVIOUR.
"CONTINUE" IS NOT APPLICABLE AFTER 'SELECT” . YOUR REFINED FILE CONTAINS ALL TH E RECORDS YOU REQUIRE,SO GO THROUGH THEM IN TURN USING "NEXT. BACK OR "LAST?.
BUT I AM PROBABLY TEACHING GRANDMOTHERS ABOUT EGGS.
IX THE WRITER OF THIS ARTICLE DID NOT WANT HIS NAME PUBLISHED, AS HE IS A NEW С OMER TO COMPUTERS AND THOUGHT THE ARTICLE WOULD ‘ADVERTISE HIS FOOLISHNESS’, TO
QUOTE FROM HIS LETTER. I WISH MORE MEMBERS WOULD "ADVERTISE THEIR FOOLISHNESS’
IN THIS WAY AS ARTICLES LIKE THIS ARE WHAT NEWSLETTERS SUCH AS "QUANTA" ARE ALL
ABOUT, AND ARE PROBABLY OF MORE INTEREST AND ASSISTANCE TO THE MAJORITY OF MEM BERS THAN THE ESOTERIC STUFF THAT I AND SOME OF THE MORE EXPERIENCED MEMBERS TEN D TO WRITE.X/ |
THE ABOVE ARTICLE WAS TYPED INTO THE COMPUTER AS YOU WOULD ENTER A PROGRAM AND
THEN SENT TO THE PRINTER. `
IN ORDER TO DO THIS, IT IS NECESSARY TO 1) OPEN A CHANNEL TO THE PRINTER IE, ,ОР EN #3,SER1"AND PRESS ENTER (THE APOSTROPHES ARE TO INDICATE WHAT IS TO BE ENTERE D, THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED AS PART OF THE PROGRAM LINE ). THE COMMA(,) BETWEEN #3
AND SER1 IS IMPORTANT, AS IT SEPARATES THE TWO INSTRUCTIONS. I ENTERED THE LI NE DIRECTLY HOWEVER, I COULD HAVE GIVEN IT A LINE NUMBER AND KEPT IT IN THE PROG RAM. | : |
2) HAVING OPENED A CHANNEL TO THE PRINTER, WHICH IS, IN THIS INSTANCE, CONNECTED TO SERIAL PORT NUMBER ONE, EACH "PRINT” STATMENT MUST ASSO CONTAIN THE CHANNEL
NUMBER, IE"PRINT #3,” FOLLOWED BY YOUR STRING OR NUMERIC EXPRESSION.
IT TOOK QUITE A WHILE TO FIND THIS METHOD OF TALKING DIRCTLY TO THE PRINTER AND I OFFER IT ,HOPING IT WILL SAVE SOME ONE ELSE THE SEARCH.
ON THE OTHER HAND I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS METHOD WHEN WRIITING AN ARTIICLE. AS CAN BE SEEN THE PRINTER DID NOT HANDLE THE LINE ENDINGS VERY WELL. OR SHOULD WE SAY THE INITIATOR DOESN’T KNOW HIS PRINTER VERY WELL. IN ANY CASE USING A W GRD PROCESSOR WOULD BE SIMPLER AND SAVE THE DIRECT APPROACH FOR TAKING NOTES, TH AT ARE TO BE USED LATER.
WK (BILL) LAWSON
a
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TIMEX REPAIRS Ge Chambers
With TIMEX no longer repairing the TS2068 and other Timex computers it is appropriate to look around to see who else might fill the gap. I wrote to Dan Elliott about this „having heard that he was offering a repair service for Timex computers.
In return I received a repair price list which 1s shown here, plus a short note which follows:
"Dear George,
Typical in-house turn-around times are 2-3 weeks,depending on parts availability and the nature of the problem. Currently, I do not have any spare SCLD chips or ROMs, however I have contacted Timex Portugal and am trying to arrange a purchase of parts for TS-2068 and TS-1500 on a continuing basis. I now have 3 computers set aside waiting for the SCLD chips to arrive. My experience with the TS-2068 so far ‚ Suggests that one out of five computers serviced will require the SCLO.
"I don't offer any warranties, expressed or implied, however should a customer feel that I didn't do a good job, I will try my best to make it right.
"As far as my credentials are concerned, 1 have more than 15 years experience trouble-shooting digital circuitry. I work full-time for a manufacturer of “mainframe types", doing anything from assembly, test/debug to troubleshooting P.C. beards returned from the field. "PROMISE LAND ELECTRONICS" is my sideline business that I run evenings and weekends.
Hope this helps, Dan."
The address is: DAN ELLIOTT Rt 1, Box 117 Cabool, MO 65689 U.S.A,
We have no information on how Dan's performance Stacks up. However it sounds promising, and we would welcome hearing from members who have tried this
repair service, so that we can report further. FEE че чу-е Эсет ЭР E ЧИЧКЕ
HELP WANTED
HELP WANTED
Do you have any POKES, hints, maps, or tips for hacking or playing SPECTRUM arcade games. I am trying to gather a file of all the information that has been found on getting into the games. I will take info on any game, old or new. If you have a game that you just can't get very far on, I may be able to help. “or example, I can get you to any room of MANIC MINER.
I would like to provide this as a service for the club, but I will need input from those who get magazines like CRASH and POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY.
1 also gather and distribute information on adventure games. )
If you can help me, or I can help you, please write.
Douglas Jeffery Larch Rd., RR. #1, TELKWA, B.C. VOJ 2X0
ON SMALL COMPUTERS
They are small, not very extravagant, but we still appreciate them.
When they were first introduced into the marketplace, the tiny 7X80 and 2x81 caused an uproar by proving that a computer could be sold at a price that was affordable even by the common-man, With it's chi ldesized keyboard and flickering screen , the ZX80 proved itself to be the ideal computer for people taking up the hobby of computing for the first time. It was non-intimidating in it's nature, simple to program, and even had the odd character trait of blinking each time an order was issued to it.
The ZX81 came after. It didn't blink as much but was Still almost as un-intimidating.
Owners of these little machines soon found that they were running longer and longer programs and even go?» to the heart of the operating system. Had they tr. that with a bigger machine, they might have been swept away.
But, as it was, they lived to type another day.
And type they did, sometimes late into the night. And when morning came they found that they had done it, they had perfected their program, and all within the allotted memory space. Р
And the program ran perfectly, flawlessly.
They had tamed their machine.
This is what computing is all about, demonstrating that learning can be fun. By giving the people the opportunity to experience victory (or at least the illusion of it) over their machines, small computers have contributed a great deal to the initiation of people of all ages to the hobby of micro-computing.
By: Edward Abisdris Toronto Chapter, T/S Users Club
LARKEN/TS2068 AUTOSTART MENU by G.F. Chambers The listing “DISK MENU",written by Bob Mitchell, will be found useful when used with the AUTOSTART feature of the LARKEN system. With minor modifications it can be used with either Spectrum or 152068 ‚ Program disks.
Lets look particularly at the make-up of LINE 3:
LINE 3 is used to SAVE the program to disk. The BORDER, PAPER, and INK controls are to provide for a darkened screen during the loading process. LINE 3 also clears RAMtop down to just above the program, to minimize the number of tracks used by the AUTOSTART feature. Although the listing shows a figure of 25500, _you should alter this to suit your particular application. For example, if your system (LKDOS) saves 1960 bytes per track a suitable number would be 26400 for a Spectrum menu, and 30000 for a TS2068 menu. The “autostart” program would then occupy 2 disk tracks if the menu was being used in the 152068 Spectrum mode and 4 tracks if used in the normal TS2068 mode.
For a system which saves 5120 bytes to a track (i.e. DSK400) figures of 27600 and 32000 might be appropriate (using 1 and 2 tracks respectively).
If your “autostart” program is too long for these RAMtop figures of course you can increase them.
RANDOMIZE USR 102 initiates the “autostart" SAVE. After entering GOTO 3 and hearing the melody sequence you press the "D" key to complete the SAVE sequence.
The balance of the program is pretty straight-forward and will provide a very attractive menu screen; one which you can easily customise to suit your program loading information. ei a an eee Ne 1 REM DISK MENU 2 GO TO 4 3 CLEAR 25500: BORDER 0O: PAPER О: INK O: CLS : RANDOMIZE USR 102 4 PRINT USR 100: OPEN #2, "da" 5 BORDER 1: INK 7: PAPER O: CLS 6 PRINT AT 1,2; PAPER YA eg LA ‘KEN DISK MENU ka 8 POKE 23658,8: LET x=8 9 RESTORE 100 10 FOR n=1 TO x 20 READ a$: PRINT " "; CHR$ (n+64 i" a "saj$ 25 PRINT 30 NEXT n 34 INK 4 35 PLOT INK 4;0,0: DRAW 255,0: DR W 0,175: DRAW „255,0: DRAW 0,175: PLOT 1,1: DRAW 253,0: DRAW 0,173: RAW =253,0: DRAW 0,5173: INK 7 38 PLOT 9,20: DRAW 237,0: DRAW 0,1 5: DRAW 237,0: DRAW 0,3135 50 PRINT AT 20,1; PAPER 2;" ; FLASH 1;"Press A to ";CHR$ (x+64 ;" only”; FLASH 0;" bj
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70 LET n$=INKEY$
80 IF n$g"A" OR n$3CHR$ (x+64) THE N GO TO 70
85 BORDER Оз PAPER О: INK 7: CLS
90 GO TO (CODE n$264)+200
100 DATA “Program Name " "Next prog
ram name ","and SO ON.... ",".", "160° GO TO 1 200 PRINT #4: LOAD "NMI=S1.CM.C1"CO DE
400 PRINT #4: LOAD "Progrm.B1"
600 PRINT AT 10,1;"Press any key to start”
610 PRINT #4: LOAD "Progrm.Bi"
800 PRINT AT 10,0;"Press any key to start”
810 PRINT #4: LOAD "Progrm.C1"CODE
1000 PRINT #4: LOAD "Progrm.C1"CODE
‚ 1010 RANDOMIZE USR 54016
1020 GO TO 1
1200 PRINT AT 10,0;"Press key A, B, C, or D to start"
1210 PRINT #4: LOAD "NMISS1.C1"CODE
1400 PRINT #4: LOAD ".C1"CODE
1600 PRINT AT 10,0; "Press ENTER key to start”
1610 PRINT #4: LOAD ".C1"CODE
CANADIAN SOFTWARE AT AMERICAN PRICES!
= MEDIA PRODUCTIONS, 726 WEST 17TH, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, VSZ 179 + META MEDIA PRODUCTIONS — Annouaces for the OL +
a à FACTA- Rathesatically based Graphics generator eodelled after Nandaizoos t # = Floating point k Fized point calculation. Fized point is 181 faster!! a + Three diffarant functions included: Nandelzooa, Pwanozonn & Circie*2 t + Optional screen cospression, Zooa, Recolour, Flip, Dusp graphics screens + + ROMON - Eproe based Monitor with saay features: User defined windows, 3 defaslt + + = screens. Disasseable to any channel. List all Functions & Procedures with + ' - addresses. Trace & Disassesble mode. List all channels open, with device + ' drivers. Coaplete Job Control. 4 Breakpoiats, 1 Sticky Breakpoint. t + - Features 24 prisary coasands. Supplied on an eproe card for the ROM port. + + O LINK- A complete teleconaunications package for the OL. Features leodes, ASCII + t = file transfer. Hayes, Avatez, coapatible. Integral editor for docuseat + + =- creation; allows you to edit the capture buffers sakes it easy ta upload + + = dowloaded info; siaply sark the block & save or ASCII transfer it.Signon + Li = sessages, AutoDial, Redial, Edit Phone List, signons, default devices. + + = 300,1250 baud operation. Comes with Unsqueeze, Delibrarying utilities. + : Botton lines: FRACTAL-Da adv or diskispecify tpi) for US$19.95 + $2.88 shipping +è ROMON -Supplied on a plug in RON card for USSS4.9S + $2.88 shipping +
` Q_LIMK -0a adv or disk(specify tpi) for US$19.95 + $2.88 shipping + #META MEDIA PRODUCTIONS, 726 WEST 17TH, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, VS? 179 a Н DIL AD LIFDRO LARI CER LESECE лы ы Алы
5
BOB’S NOTEBOOK
PEEKING AND POKING ABOUT
One of the fun things about using the 152069 is the ability to PEEK and POKE about in amongst the machine code and particularly when using the BASIC compiler "Timachine’.
Recently, I had compiled (for the nth tise) the Indexer program which I use to keep track of all the programs on ay disks. In the process I had decided to do all the input/output routines in a loader program rather than inside the code. This would increase the flexibility and usefulness of the program which is limited to 1000 records. Now it can be used ad infinitua no matter how many Programs I end up with simply by breaking the listings into smaller parts. So I ended up with a file of current records and another file of what I choose to call "archives". Then I wanted to keep a listing sorted by names and another by disk in each of the two parts. y
My SAVES then became:
indexn. CM (current by nase)
indexd. CM (current by disk)
indexr.CM (archives by name)
indexk. CM (archives by disk)
index0.CM (no data—ready for new file)
In ay i/o loader I found that I needed to know which file I had in situ at any times I needed a current status of file and sort type. Well I could have put that into the BASIC before I compiled it but being BASICally lazy, I chose to try to put the information in the loader and so avoid recompiling.
One thing I usually do when I compile a program is to make a copy of the runtiae and variable locations by using REM ! LIST. I had done this with "Index" and examining this and ay hardcopy of the BASIC program, I located the variable that held the sort type value, in this case 'D" for disk and "N" for name. The variable was V$ located at 49333 in the compiled code. Now the string length was shown as 2 but there were four bytes set aside, the first two to hold the string length. So the value I wanted was at 49325. I could, by PEEKING this address find which sort was in effect at SAVE time and, in fact, I could POKE in a different value if I wanted to. So all I had to do in the loader was tell it to print "name" if PEEK 49335 was 110 (code for "n") or "disk" if it was 100 (code for "d”). It will print "nil" if the value was 32 (code for a space). See line 6405 in the extract of my loader, below. Earlier in the program I had LET vi=PEEK 49335.
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|
But I wanted to show the program name on the loader menu and nowhere in the Indexer was the name already in storage. By a stroke of good luck land not good management) I had some spare space in y$ which should have been set to a length of 6 but which I had overlooked in the REN ' LEN $ line and which was now 255 bytes long (by default). Oh well! Dark clouds and silver linings and all that. Y$ started at 49371 so the first 8 bytes were used for its true function: two bytes for the string length and six for the date when the index file was SAVED. So, from 49380 on was free for me to use as I wished.
In the loader, I entered lines which prompted ae for a file name each time I used SAVE and LOAD. That name was POKED into the nine bytes starting at 49380. So now that program name was SAVED inside the compiled code and later could be LOADED and displayed in the loader program. See line 560 for the SAVE (encode) and line 580 for the LOAD (decode) sub-routines.
Here is a sample of what the loader menu looks like with some explanations at the right:
Index 1/0 Routines
1. save “enter the file name
2. initialize ‘to start a new file 3. load “enter the file name 4. stop “end a session
5. restart “return to file in situ
Current Status 3 indexn.CM Sorted by name
‘J=loaded + prog name ‘sort type
Here is a sample of the Status when SAVING:
l Current Status | 5 indexn. CN SAVE OPTION indexn. CM
?S=restart + prog name “enter prog name to SAVE "this prog being SAVED
This shows that you can SAVE a file under a new name if you choose, but lets you keep track of what you have LOADED so that you do not SAVE it under a wrong name accidentally,
S50>REM #tistatusta+ 360 FOR k=1 TO 9: POKE 49379+k, CODE 1$(k): NEXT k: RETU
AN Ete k=1 TO 9: LET 1$(k)=CHRS PEEK (49379+k): NEXT k
ins nt SUB 580 502 PRINT AT 10,0; INK 5$"Current Status*’ INVERSE 1;d$ $ INVERSE 05" "31$;TAB 30
605 PRINT AT 12,0; INK 6;"Sorted by ";
INVERSE 1;("name
* AND vizi10)+("disk" AND v1=100)+("nil " AND vi=32)3 I NVERSE OFTAB 30 6 610 RETURN
SINC=LINK ......”
DIGITAL EMAGIZING PART II by ERIC MICHAUD a
san
Before we get into Eric’s project, I want to say that „2, this DOES work! I built one and it works great! BUT! BEFORE! YOU BUILD THIS Of IF YOU ALREADY HAVE AND ARE HAVING CS TROUBLE, READ THIS FIRST!!! First, There was a discrepancy Yo in the schesatic so the one in the last RAMTOP was WRONG! The CORRECT one is in this issue! The parts in question are]: _ the 3 caps that are under lut. Also resove the resistor roe pin 8 (74574) to SV. The IK resistor between pins 13 & B of |- the 741574 should be changed to a 470 oha. I have also found ase that using 10 turn pots for the BRIGHT and SYNC are VERY
i2- -- jo
helpful! The sync adjust even with a 10 turn pot is’ less ma Ve i than 3/4 of a turn. Using a single turn, it’s VERY hard to -D2 | set the sync! Bright is not as bad but the 10 turn pot sakes. | dS | it MUCH easier to set the desired contrast and you will find | ~~~ > “ba i that you need to change this with alaost every new picture. i- DS I also found that shielding the analog section (LM-3lis and de
associated parts) will help a bit. Also note that the "Sync? | с +- т option in Eric’s software is only a guide and you sust adjust it while scanning a frame for best results. l found that the sync DOES change a bit froe a color picture to a Bull and troa one vidio source to another. ! built aine ona TEBRA PROTO BOARD. I will deso it at a later segting. All the screens were done with ay board and ay NEC DI-200QU VCR. The 21-2000 has a DIGITAL stop action which digitizes a frase froa the tape or a live broadcast. If you are in the sarket for a VCR you should consider one that has a digital still since it produces a coapletely jitter free still at “LI speeds. Nou, on to ERIC MICHAUD’S second article! ` . lease note that the original of th ra б article first appeared in SYNC LING K
vhish is the newsletter from thBRictT TORONTO T/S users group. eS
deen Sens ramo my oi E
Here is a DIGITIZED screen from a tape that TOBY RADLOFF gave me at the last meeting. The man on -he left is Cleveland's HAVEY PEKAR, The writer of the comic book: AMERICAN SPENDER.
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TS 2068 COMPUTER
TAPE RECORDS
Here is everything you ever wanted to know about saving to tape but didn't know where to ask. Except for minor differences, like speed, much of it applies to the microdrive and to some disk files.
One important function is not immediately evident; the ability to SAVE code from. one location to another. i
INPUT MONITORING
For all tape playback operations, a- message is displayed on the screen every time a leader is read. This happens during the gap between the leader and the record.
If the leader matches the data type and name specified, the record is read and acted upon. If not, the message remains and reading continues. Messages accumulate in a list until a match is found or no more data is left to read.
LOAD “bFWzVj" makes an index for a tape that has no program record named bFWzVj.
TAPE HEADER FORMATS
BYTES TYPE DESCRIPTION 1 A11 Header identifier (value = 0) 2 А11 Record type (value 0-3) 3-12 All Record name 13214 0 Length of program and variables
(E_LINE = PROG) 1,2 Length field from data structure 3 Specified length 0
15,16 Autostart line number, or 0080h (LSB/MSB) 1,2 Array 1.0. Code : 3 Specified address 17,18 O Length of program (VARS = PROG) 1-3 N/A (value = 0) 19 All Checksum (XOR bytes)
RECORD TYPES
Program and variables Numeric array
String array
Binary code
UNEO
TAPE FORMAT
Block — #1
The tape recording consists of two blocks of da' separated by a blank gap. (.835 sec.)
Each block begins with synchronizing cycle: These cycles are used by the 2068 to compensate f:
` variation in tape speed from one recorder to ancthe:
or due to other causes. |
Block #1 Block #2
JON a улей ==
Lo SY | SYNC | =
&
Gap, and optional audio.
Signal үзү ———
Block #1 Block #2
__ үк | SYNC -— A
4032 synchronizing cycles
Signal | | | | | | | | | | | i | |
E 1.24 msec.
(five seconds)
Frequency = 806.5 Hz
Block #1 Block #2
SYNC | SYNC | —
1612 synchronizing cyclés. (two seconds)
ше fo 1.24 msec |
Frequency = 806.5 Hz
Block #1 Block DA. сс] Syne | <->
Leader. (Tape label) 4
Signal fl] | | | |||! | [|] | = "01100101" | (example) | L 0.49 ес
| |e e
Frequency = 2040 Hz for a "0" 1020 Hz for a "1"
Block 41 Block #2 ee fi SYNC {| >» fj Record. The record identifi is a single cycle
at 2400 Hz. The rest of the signal is the same type as for the leader. The record ends with a checksum additional transition to assure a correct read -from tape. It takes about 5 seconds per K/byte of record.
SAVE INSTRUCTIONS
SAVE "fox" Saves program and variables. SAVE "fox" LINE auto As. above but starts running from program line “auto” when reloaded. (see leader format) SAVE "fox" DATA v () Saves numeric array v SAVE "fox" DATA $$ () Saves string array s$ SAVE "fox" CODE location, bytes. Saves bytes of binary data, location. SAVE "fox® STRINGS (equivalent to: SAVE "fox" CODE 16384,6912) Saves screen. (primary display file)
starting at
When SAVEing, the record name must be from 1 to 10 characters. It cannot be omitted.
For all other commands, only the first record having matching name and data type will be acted upon, with one exception.
If the record name is specified as the null string "", the first encountered record of matching data type, regardless of name, will be acted upon. This option will be assumed in subsequent examples, but not shown.
Note that the same record name can be reused once for each data type without interference. |
SINC-LINK #2
VERIFY INSTRUCTIONS
VERIFY “fox" Verifies program and variables. VERIFY "fox" DATA v () Veriftes numeric array v. VERIFY "fox" DATA $$ Verifies string array s$ VERIFY "fox" CODE location, data Verifies bytes of binary data, starting at location.
VERIFY "fox" CODE 16384,42288
Verifies as much of SCREENS as possible.
The computer alters the lower 2 lines for reports. Because of the way D FILE is organized, these bytes are intermixed with those for the bottom 8 lines. This is incomplete but quite effective.
LOAD INSTRUCTIONS
LOAD "fox" Loads new program and variables from tape, over any that were already present. LOAD "fox" DATA v () Loads numerte array v LOAD "fox" CODE location, bytes Loads bytes of binary data, starting at location LOAD "fox" CODE Loads back where it came from. LOAD "fox" SCREENS Loads from tape to screen, except for the bottom two lines.It is interesting to watch.
MERGE INSTRUCTIONS
MERGE "Тох" Keeps old program and variables, then loads new program and variables from tape. New program lines are inserted, or overwrite old program lines. New variables are added, or replace old variables having the same name
MERGE requires free memory to provide a workspace. There is also no prompt to tell you to stop the recorder, other than a change in border pattern. The same is true when LOADing large arrays.
Taken from the March 1986 issue of L.I.S.T.ing, the newsletter of the LONG ISLAND SINCLAIR TIMEX GROUP.
Retyped by G.F. Chambers
SINC-LINK
LARKEN DSK400 DISK OPERATING SYSTEM A review by GF. Chambers
Larry Kenny has come out with what in effect is his third generation disk interface system. Possibly one should say his 2nd generation, since it could be said that the first generation had two phases.
Lets review the background:
The first system was based on an EPROM DOS (which was bank-switched into the 63488 area of memory), plus several disk 00S's. The second phase of this first System provided a cartridge DOS which was banke Switched into the ROM area of the computer (when disk functions were required), and eliminated the need for the EPROM- and disk-based 00S's. The cartridge also provided several supplementary features not available on the intial system. This system was confined to the use of two 0500 drives, and formatted disks to a 160K capacity and maximum of 50 files.
seessssssesssseesses
The new system, the DSK400, subject of this review, consists of a cartridge board very similar to the original, plus a new interface board. The new intere face board measures about 6 inches by 2 faches, and mounts horizontally behind the computer. A ribbon cable for the drive plugs into at the right-hand end of the board, board are an NMI button connector. Possibly the unit
15 equipped with a gold-plated female connector with a tinned male throug › for adding other peripherals. Four of the nine chips on the interface poard are socketed, The quality of the board is very
gh. :
The system can handle a variety of drives, ир to a maximum of four. It is said to be capable of handling 3”, 34°, and 54" (not 8*)single or double sided drives in single», doubles, or quad density. tried it on a SA455-type 54" drive fm the OSDD mode. do fhis mode disks can be formatted to hold just over
The sytem uses all the familiar Sinclair commands, including CAT, o LOAD, SAVE, MERGE, OPEN #, CLOSE #, FORMAT „also GOTO and PRINT. Al] disk commands are prefaced with PRINT USR 100: or PRINT #4:
The system is compatible with the 2068 and the mode. A Spectrum EPROM can be mounted on the cartridge and switched in with a short BASIC command from the 2068 mode. It has an AUTOSTART mode, by which you can boot a program into memory by holding the ENTER key operated while powering up the computer. Only one program per disk can be handled this way. I usually make this a MENU program to select the program that I want from the disk. This AUTOSTART program can be used to automatically boot the Computer into the SPECTRUM mode from a cold start, and produce the menu. With an appropriate EPROM 00S the cartridge is also suitable for use with several other disk systems, such as the AERCO, RAMEX,. OLIGER; improving the performance of these sytens significantly. It can also be used with the 0S-64 and LROS cartridge chips, by mounting them on the cartridge board.
LI
A program to format disks 4s supplied on disk, along with a program to facilitate copying disks using two drives. The FORMAT will format disks as suer double or single sided, and to 40 or 80 track
Yo
Programs can be saved (and loaded) with all the command forms used with tape, as for examples: SAVE "program. 81", SAVE “progrm.81" LINE 100, SAVE "prog.C1" CODE start, 1 SAVE ““progrm,Cl” SCREENS, SAVE “progr.Al® DATA (), SAVE “progr.A$" DATA $().
Programs can be removed from the disk using the ERASE command. Tracks so erased become available for subsequently saved programs,
The NMI (snapshot) button means that you can capture to disk those unbreakeable programs on tape. Simply load your program, press the NMI button and the program will be transferred to disk. It captures the Complete memory from address 22490 upwards, and uses 9 tracks of a disk. Loading one of these programs from disk takes just under 7 seconds. A disk can hold 8 of these programs, and have 7 tracks spare for menu, etc.
Programs such as Tasword, Timachine, Pro/file, Mtermi! are readily modified to run on the System. Mscript with Jack Dohony’s mods can be similarly le
The joystick port accepts the Jepin connector standard on joysticks, and works with those programs which are provided with the Kempston joystick option.
The OUMP.81 and COPY2D.81 programs supplied on disk with the system use a modified disk DOS which can be used from BASIC programs to control the drive operation. This means that disk utilities can be written in BASIC to perform a variety of tasks, Similar to what has been done with the earlier LARKEN systems. Typical of this are three programs which 1 have modified for the 0SK400. They are a RENAME program ,which will rename programs on disk; DOCTOR with which one can inspect and repair errors on disk tracks; and INDEXER which maintains a file of programs on a disk collection.
The DSK400 includes a number of Extended Basic Commands. These permit the placement onscreen of up to three “windows” of any size, colour, and position; and writing to them in proportionally spaced characters. Also there is a set of 7 graphics patterns which can
` be called up as desired to fil! areas of screen. A
CIRCLE command will 7111 in selected areas of the screen with a selected pattern. INK and PAPER commands will instantly change paper/ink colours. POKE will poke numbers higher than 256 into two addresses automatically.
Conclustons:: A very easy-to-use Systen which will greatly enhance the use of the 152068. Highly
Available from: Larken Electronics, R.R.A1, Ontario, Canada Ké8 1H9 Price for interface board, cartridge board and drive connector cable: Can $145, (You will also need to purchase the disk drives and a power supply for them)
Navan,
LARKEN and the HUNTER
мет RIENarducn A The switch can be fixed to the board with superglue or use some The Hunter board normally i double sided foam tape to fasten configured for the 8-16 K region the switch temporarily. Next of memory is required for time I will show how the board ‚ SILICON MOUNTAINS’ WRX16 SRAM can be mounted in a readily HI-RES and is convenient to found case.
store many other utilities. The Larken EPROM is mapped at 12-16
K, creating a problem. How to HUNTER
use these devices together and ] +5 V
most importantly, put ZX-TERM+80 REMOVE
on disk? TUmMPAR Ji 4-7 -10K An arrangement to alternately | m è
disable the controller and NVM J DISABLE
is one answer and is easily done. The principle is to switch off the Hunter board ENABLE
while reading from or writing to : disk, then switching off the SPOT controller when disk operations are complete. Appropriate prompts and pauses are added to autorun programs to allow the switching. For instance:
sodo
Ne ve
1000 PRINT "REMOVE DISK...SWITCH FOR SRAM”
1010 PAUSE 4E4
1020 RUN
The Hunter board documentation shows how to install a disable switch. See figs. 1 t 2. The little switch can be superglued a to the foil side of the board f, : near the top. оол | ne [Г eae ГТ Л ГҮГЕЛ
The method used to isolate the sv AV SLOT pv # AB А! A2 AJ AIS AIGAIS AIZ AIT AIS AG AB А? AB AS At йс LARKEN board is similar. The kai MRE@ line is cut and bridged with a switch. '
Follow the trace from the edge connector, cut it ata
convenient place and bridge the £! G 3 gap with a switch. Although cur mene Luse MREQ is on the top (component) LAR KEN THE FEED THROUG.MS
side of the edge connector, it POR. THE SWITE LEAD.
is traced through and under the = board. there are a number of a unused traces and feed throughs :
ere and I found it easiest to Š
SPDT
make the cut on the foil side
and use the feedthroughs to the REA top to solder the switch leads.
It is recommended that a pull-up
resistor be used on the board
side of the cut. There is a
nice fat trace, Vcc to pin i4 of Con GMENT SIDE Fore SIDE the HCTO4 chip nearby providing
sy for a pull-up(4.7 to 10K). PE FJa 4
See figs. 3 & 4.
Coloured Screen$ Dumps for the TS2068 by Jeff Taylor
Last issue I wrote of a new interface which would mate a TS2068 to a Commodore VIC-1528 colour printer/plotter and of the software that allowed you to draw on the tv screen and then plot your artwork in colour. There are three new software packages which I will be reviewing tn this and future Issues.
John McMichael ' s latest offering is called “PIC-PLOT" and it enables you to produce one or two-coloured plots of any screen$ you have stored on tape.
PIC-PLOT allows the user to choose between a single colour (black, blue, green or red) ix size screen$ dump of a 22 row x 32 column screen with a plotted size of 2" x 1 3/8" or a 1 or 2 colour 2x size dump of a 22 row x 32 column screen with a plotted size of 3 344" x 2 374". A coloured (your choice), self-centring, multilined title or caption can be printed below the screen dump.
Essentially, what happens ts this: After you have been prompted to load a screen$ and your picture ts on the screen, you are asked to select either a 1 colour ix size plot (where each “turned on” screen pixel is represented by a single horizontal movement of the plotter pen) or a 1 or 2 colour 2x size plot Cwhere each isolated “оп” pixel or group of “on” pixels are bordered by both vertical and horizontal pen plot Lines). Next you are asked to choose your cotour(s) and immediately after entering your decision(s) the plotter proceeds to reproduce the screen. Once plotting is complete, you are offered the option of adding a title or caption (48 characters max., multiple Lines) beneath the picture.
PIC-PLOT costs $8.95US and is a “must have" utility for any user of the | intertacezplotter combination. The ease and friendliness of the software guarantees that you'll be creating lots of interesting, multt-coloured screens dumps.
For more information contact:
Mr. John McMichael,
1718 Palmer Drive,
Laramie, Wyoming, USA, 82872 Send a SAE and a MO for postage.
These screen$ dumps were all produced py a TS2868 with a McMichael interface on a VIC-IS28 with PIC-PLOT utility.
13
TE2BBLANIC-1528 Giat Piet
[ГЕШ ЖЕЕП Т
SINC-LINK
Hoil.l.C.h.h.iod К F-
SINC-LINK
A Few Words from the President...
When George sent out that letter about closing the club down I came out to the meeting with the idea that I did not want the club to clase, and I was willing to do some LITTLE thing to keep it going, if necessary. So I opened my big mouth, and next thing I knew, George was saying "I don’t want to be`'up here, I want to be down there!"”. After that I found ayself behind the teacher’s desk looking down | at all the rest of you and George sitting down with you folks. I don’t know how I got up there; Did ay feet carry me or did two of you big guys come and drag me up to the teacher’s desk? At this point, I would like to apologize to George for saying that he bam—booselled me into being president. I am sorry for accusing you of bam-booselling, railroading is a better tern. Of course, all you guys did lend your able assistance, too. |
Now, as to my qualifications for this highest of all offices;I have never been president, past or vice, secretary, or commitee member of anything before, and those who recommended me for such positions were generally laughed to scorn and drumaed out of their organizations. So you See, you guys are pretty desparate.
A friend of mine bought a ZX81 and was unable to get to first base with.either the computer or the instruction book (this turned hin off computers so completely that even to this day he will have nothing to do with them,) so he gave me his ZX81. I had almost as much trouble with it too. Then I joined the club, and because I did my computer meets almost all my needs and serves me well. I think I have gotten almost everything I need from the club now, I could be selfish and say to heck with the club and go on my way, but I appreciate what the club has done for me and I am glad to return some of this aid back to the club. If other members would take the same attitude, perhaps we would never need to worry about the club folding again. So come on guys, lets make this club a going concern.
Your New President - S. Eddie Maybee
Postmaster, if Undelivered Return to :
Toronto Timex - Sinciaie Users Club P. О. Box 7274 Sin. A
Toronto, Ont., MSW IX
Canede