New and Updated Articles

One of the souvenirs I brought back from the WINTERFEST was a copy of the CATS library of public domain programs. In case you don't know, CATS is the Capital area (Washington DC) users' group. The library now consists of 11 volumes, on 5 cassettes. The list is growing.

The purpose for writing this article is to show you how easily you can get beautiful math-art creations using a minimum of hardware. The program presented is for the ZX81/TS1000 or TS1500, but can readily be extended to virtually any computer ever built.

This program is designed as an aid in laying out a PC board for the Sinclair computers. The 2040 listing will give the correct 0.1" spacing for the edge connector.

Mr. Dunnington tells us that this quiz was taken from the Readers Digest for July 1988. In the form that he sent it, the questions and answers were quoted verbatim; with true editorial timidity, I changed the wording rather drastically, in order to minimize the danger of copyright violations. The principle remains intact.

Last issue, SyncWare News printed a simple flow chart generating program. Our Editor issued the following challenges to our readers: 1). Reduce the memory required by the example program to the barest minimum, 2). Create a machine code equivalent of the example program, and/or 3).

(Editor’s NOTE: This topic is especially pertinent in view of the plans of SNUG.) Software has always been a difficult commodity to market and distribute. Users want new software, they want support for their software purchases. What’s more, EVERY computer buff likes to build up a big library of programs.

Program to teach young children basic math. Draws a train engine as successive correct answers are provided.

One of our readers (whom I won’t identify) wrote to point out that I had omitted the letter “u” from “florescent” in one of our recent issues. Seemed to think that I might have left it out on purpose, to avoid running the risk of the common misspelling, “flourescent”.

Request to improve included subroutine ("flowchart"). The subroutine plots the program above it (prior to line 9901) as a flowchart.

This program embodies a very elegant graphics routine. The program offers you two categories of study: Countries/Islands or Continents/Oceans/Seas; whichever category is chosen, you have the option of Review/Identify. If you choose the Identify option, you are asked to give the names of various geographical entities within the category you chose.

A programmer I am not, but a knitter I am. One of the routines in knitting has been reduced to a minimum with the help of a knitting machine. Now what takes longer than the actual knitting of an article is figuring out the pattern and adjusting it to the specific measurements of the individual.

There was once a time when I had a small touch of envy when I read an ad for a plotter for some computer other than my Sinclairs. I was even able to use a plotter-printer with my old Commodore VIC-20.

This program is an interactive tutorial on random numbers, ways to generate and test them and on uses.

This program is designed to lead students, step by step, through the intricacies of multiplying multi-digit numbers. You are first asked to specify the range of multiplicand (to 999,999) and multiplier (to 999). Then the computer asks your name, and courteously addresses you by that name throughout the program.

This program simulates a blinker signaling device. Nowadays, when radio communicators are constantly trying to use ever-higher ultra frequencies, we tend to forget that blinkers have been using, for centuries, frequencies higher than any radio signal yet generated.

This is another program by the winner of the TS1000 section of our contest. Mr. Sweitzer tells us that his program has been "field tested" in his classroom. He also reports that he has one pupil who is turning into a real computer enthusiast as a result of his work with the good ol' ZX81. More power to you, Alex!

Special Supplement to the Jan.-Feb. ’88 issue of SyncWare News. PC-8300 Schematic courtesy of: SLOT ELECTRONICS MFG. 5920 Kartner Road Richmond, BC V6V 1R9 Canada PC 8300 PARTS LIST

My 2068 serves me as a useful tool to cope with the many demands of semi-retirement. I use it frequently to help me acquire new knowlege and skills, an activity that to me is a prime reason and delight of retirement.

The ZX81/TS1000 family has traditionally been relegated to the “backwaters” of various BBS’s and communications services. Not any more! We now have a sub-board solely devoted to ZX programs and other files. The SYSOP of the Nicolson Nightime Network has allowed me to set up the “ZX-TERM Exchange” within the framework of his BBS.

I just received my JLO SAFE Disk Basic V2.11 EPROM and it's GRR-REAT. Here's how I changed the BASIC in my A&J Microdrive version of Dohay/MSCRIPT to use it.

Most, if not all, of you should have heard about the famous Print Shop program for computers such as Apple and IBM. It is a graphics package which allows you to create cards, signs, and banners for various occasions. Well, how about our Timex Sinclair computers?

Even though the snow is coming down outside my window and the local fire department has strung Christmas lights across our downtown streets, I still can’t believe we’re into the Holiday Season already. I vividly remember just sitting down and writing the Holiday Greeting for issue 4:2.

Here is where we let the cat out of the bag. Load back the program you saved to tape last issue, and enter the following BASIC lines. You will end up with a completely self-documenting arcade-style game program. For those of you who figured out how the game works, congratulations!

A system which allows transfer of data between ZX/TS and ТS2068 computers and cassette tape operations in TS2068 format.

There are a few changes coming to SyncWare News that we want to tell you about. As most of you probably know, I have been publishing the “News” for quite some time–three years to be exact–and I am getting tired.

The SyncWare News 2nd (sort of) Annual Programmers' Competition winner. ANIMALSLLL by Larry Liedtke is our first place winner in the TS2068 category. The original submission contained 327 different animals with 15 questions being asked about each. This amounted over 11,000 possible answers.

A current ad for a book about dot-matrix printers states that 80% of the users only make use of about 20% of the features available to them. Whether this is an accurate estimate or not, it is likely that when we unpacked our new printer the most of us did not spend much time on…

MULTSTEPS is a multiplication tutor written for the TS1000/1500 by Alex Sweitzer of Fayette City, PA. The program epitomizes how computers can be used as teaching tools in the classroom or on the job.

Most of you are undoubtedly as thrilled as I am, about the WRX16 high resolution core routines published in SyncWare News #4:2. This software opens new vistas (quite literally) for our ZX81’s and TS1000/1500’s. In fact, several new programs are already available from Silicon Mountain, including an Extended BASIC, a dungeon game, and various utilities.

Yahtzee is a poker-style dice game where each player tries to roll combinations to match the categories on the scorecard, The program is set up for 4 players, There are 5 dice. All are automatically rolled on each first roll, Each player is allowed 3 rolls per category. There are 13 categories.

One day as I was drumming my fingers on the desktop while waiting for my Tasword tape to load, I began thinking how ridiculous it was to be loading the whole program just to print out one page of a form or letter.

Here is an answer to Robert Haley’s letter in FORUM, SWN 4/2. I suspect the chief problem is understanding the PR2300 User Guide. It seems to have been written in Italian and translated into UK English (rather than American English) by someone whose first tongue was NOT English.

Review of William Pedersen's printer driver for the Olivetti PR2300 inkjet.

After seeing some of the new software available for the ZX81/TS1000, specifically “Dungeon of Ymir” and “SRAM HI*RES Extended BASIC,” something has occurred to me about the TS1000 lacking color and sound. Color and sound is nice, and it can even be spectacular in a good game or whatever.

Why are you still wasting time with that toy? Why don't you get a Mac, an IBM, or one of the clones? We have all heard these questions many times. Don't you get tired of it? Of course you do, and so do I. Let me give you a few of the responses I give to people who down grade our TS computers.

From the Desk of Paul Holmgren, Executive Chairman The Second Annual Midwest Timex-Sinclair Computer Fest is a definite reality. We are committed to making it even more of a success than the show we put on last year in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Ramada Inn.

Structured BASIC is BASIC which is organized so that each module or section of a program has ONE entry point and ONE exit point. The opposite of this, so-called "spaghetti" BASIC, is programming that has multiple entry and/or exit points in its modules.

Although the circuit described can be built on an external card perfectly well, it is somewhat unique in that it can be installed inside your TS2068, without interfering with the normal operation in any way.

Advice on adding 64K RAM units to your 2068 system in a manner which would not require additions or modifications to the RAM pack.

With the wave of new micros touting their window abilities maybe other 2068 owners like myself have been keeping quiet. Well, if you have been feeling sorry for yourself because you have a computer that “won’t do windows” then cheer up! Those windows are painlessly easy on the mighty 2068!

The differences as to how the two machines handle relational operators turned out to be the key to making the WORDSEARCH program operate successfully on the TS1000. In the process of translating from ZX80 Basic to TS1000 Basic, a number of "tricks" were discovered that allow successful conversion of programs between the two computers.

Program to print return address labels or any other message on 15/16" labels.

Monochrome monitor compatibility; Pascal help wanted; 2068 Art revisited; 2068 business graphics wanted; keyboard troubles; ink jet woes; more on Mandelplot.

This battery backed-up RAM is a miniaturization and functional equivalent of the famous "Hunter" board. It was designed by Mr. Wilf Rigter of the Vancouver, BC T/S User Group. I owe many thanks to Mr. Rigter for inspiring me to write this article, and assisting with technical advise during the construction and refinement of this project.

Every 2068 user should know by now that they can define their own graphics characters, but did you know that you can also design your own type fonts? Well now you are no longer locked In by the standard 2068 block characters. The really amazing part Is that It Is quite easy to redesign them.

Screen interference with Zebra Disk System; 2040 paper feed problems; translating to other languages; balance of articles; UV lamp warning; Spectrum +2 announcement; TS1500s in music lab at community college; microdrive info wanted.

As can be expected with any major hardware upgrade, there are a few conflicts when the Oliger video system is used in conjunction with other equipment. Summarizes the fixes we and others have come up with to date.

The Timex/Sinclair 2068, with its built-in sound chip is capable of producing sound and music in three parts. The program included here will allow you to create, enter, and play music in three-part harmony.

Problems with quality of 2068 display; TS1500 high res video; Aerco/Royal printer compatibility; curing interference on 2068 saves; more on spikes; print message notes; Canada customs.

This installment is going to show you how to assign values to a number of variables — or, as computer jargon has it, to load registers.

This listing is a great way to get a handle on how sorting routines actually sort. Since the program has been designed to be friendly, it guarantees that the code is difficult to follow.

One area which peaked my interest is the idea of adding more memory. I was excited about the idea of going beyond that 72K boundry. I was not quite ready to take a jump an add a full 64K, but a leap to 16K, maybe.

In SWN 2/4 and 2/5, I discussed the construction of an eprom programmer for the 2068 and 1000. Those of you with 2068’s should find interest in a way to utilize programs that are burned onto those eproms.

Software-only high resolution routines for the TS 1500.

Sinclair's new venture is high performance aircraft. Note the issue date.

Comparison between the two machine-language utility programs.

Instructions on how to alter a standard 16K RAM pack to work as 2 8K banks in the 8-16K region of the TS 1000.

Recaps utility routines described in prior articles and why machine code containing the values 118, 126 and 11 may be problematic.

Pix Fix is a program designed as an artists aid in creating computer art work. This program resembles MacDraw (for a lesser computer-ed.) to some degree. Pix Fix gives you the ability to zoom in on small sections of the screen and set or reset (Plot and Unplot) the individual bits in the screen display as you desire.

Use the TS 2068 to print mathematical curves, handwriting, doodles, etc.

Modify memory-mapped Byte-Back modules to work better with an expanded TS1000.

Machine language utility to create large characters on the screen.

This program will run in as little as 1K of RAM and will allow frequency measurements (to about 15 kHz.) using the ZX81, TS1000 or TS1500. Uses include tuning RTTY tone generators, electronic musical instruments, tone encoders, and for calibrating audio generators.

Many memory expansion boards have been offered for ZX81’s and TS1000’s. One of the first to break down through the $100.00 price barrier was the Gladstone 64K RAM pack. It gave you use of RAM memory from locations 8K through 64K.

Thanks to John Oliger's NOT M1 decoding circuit, many new and excellent pieces of software are coming into the market place that make use of machine language routines in the 32K-48K (8000-BFFF hex) region of memory. Some examples of these would include Hot Z-II by Ray Kingsley and Memotext in RAM, Version 3, modified and marketed by Fred Nachbaur.

This trick was originally published in Syntax Quarterly, Summer 1983. It will allow you to use the 32-48K RAM area for machine code, if you have the Memotech or JLO 64 K boards (and maybe some others, but not the Byte-Back UM).

In the last issue, I recommended removal of a couple capacitors in the SAVE circuitry of the TS2068. This provides a “brighter” save signal, which makes subsequent loading more reliable. This is all that is required to get many systems working “up to spec,” and makes the use of “fast-load” routines possible, even practical.

Sinclair Research has been promising the North American arrival of their new QL computer for so long, it's hard to remember just when the first mention of it was made. Were it not for the fact that this machine is being sold in the U.K., one might well wonder if it is just the figment of someone’s fertile imagination.

This program actually comes as an addendum and application to the LPRINT Hints given in Vol. 1.

Here is a project that will let you "burn" (program) EPROMS using your computer. It will handle either the 2764 type (8K bytes) or the 27128 (16K) EPROMs.

The purpose of this article is to present some alternatives to this command, and in this process maybe show some ways of handling your display file.

Plane Frame is a mechanical and structural engineering program.

I’m sure that you are all aware by now that it is possible to run most Spectrum programs on a 2068. Some will run without modification and some will not. As indicated in the last issue (Games review, SWN 2/3), if a program stops due to an illegal RAMTOP (too low), then changing the CLEAR…

The following circuit will allow you to use the memory area above the EXROM, which occupies the 0 to 8K chunk in that memory bank, as RAM. Cut the traces from pin 22 of the Exrom (mreq) and install the circuit in Figure 1.

In Volume 1, I ran a series on improving cassette reliability on the ZX81. Well, now that the TS2068 has arrived, that's all obsolete, right? Wrong! If anything, in my experience the 2068 needs even more "outside help" in getting reliable loads.

This second installment involves some explanation of the changes to the operating system and how they have been implemented. By actually placing the contents of the ROM on eprom, you can change any routine, implement extra commands outside of the 8K rom and have BASIC control of your new routines.

In any number of monitoring and/or control uses for your ZX/TS, you may find that using a TV set to check on your system is inconvenient or impractical. This would be so, for example, in outdoor or dirty environments or when you simply wish to check the status of one or two system parameters without the bother of hooking up a TV or monitor.

The TMS9918A video project consists of two pc boards, a small modification/addition to the main computer board, and a +5, +12, -5 VDC power supply (an expansion board of some type is necessary). Video board “A” contains the VDP chip, 16K video ram and one support chip for I/O interfacing.

The following routine contains a trap to insure that you enter a number. This is useful in math drill programs, to prevent cheating by entering an expression. The BASIC interpreter will accept the question as the answer by evaluating the expression for you.

Onward to replacing our good old wall-plug power supply with something more substantial. You have several ways to go, and I’ll try to touch on some of them here. BE CAREFUL as in this project we’ll be dealing with “raw electricity.” Not to scare you off, but “follow the rules” about insulating connections, observing polarities, and just generally not being careless.

Explore the fascinating world of integration, as we delve into the legacy of Gauss and Newton, and the modern techniques that make number crunching a breeze. Stay tuned for a captivating journey into calculus.

Ok, Ok, I can hear it now; it’s just another simultaneous equation program. Anybody can write one or at least find one in a good computer math book (they seem to be proliferating these days), besides what good are they anyway?

Unlocking the complexities of electrical circuits, this analysis uses simultaneous equations to untangle the mysterious world of currents and resistances in a Wheatstone Bridge.

Unravel the mystery of Simultaneous Linear Equations, understand their practical applications, and see how these mathematical systems can unlock everyday puzzles.

Here is a program that demonstrates a simple yet effective way to get analog information (data) into your ZX81/TS1000/TS1500 computer, with a minimum of additional hardware. Also included are various plot and display routines so you can get visual and printed output of your acquired data.

Here’s a neat program that Bill has allowed us to print, hoping that some of you will avail yourselves of his other programs. Drop him a line at the above address for his current product list. This program, like all Soft-way programs, is tightly coded and numbered consecutively.

With this issue, we start a “mini-series” on improving cassette reliability. I’m sure you’ll agree that unreliable LOADs are perhaps one of the most frustrating aspects of personal computing. With a little knowledge about the SAVE/LOAD process, we can take steps to save ourselves a lot of grief.

In this series of articles, I’ll try to give you some information to help you use your printer system “to the max.” We’ll start with a discussion of the ASCII character set, and follow with some information about the Memotech Centronics Interface (CIF) which will demonstrate rudimentary methods of controlling the operation of your printer.

In this installment of CIDS, we will develop six essential routines. The only routine that is not a command is the error report routine. Also, as all programs are prone to revisions and extensions, the error routine may not reflect future versions, since the error routine takes memory that could be used for another command.

This classroom project teaches the students to tell time–assuming that there will still be a need for this archaic skill in the era of digital watches. The student is confronted with a series of clock faces, with the hands at randomly-selected positions.

Let me start out by saying what this program does NOT do. In spite of the title, it does not solve cryptograms, I enjoy working those little fellows far too much to surrender the fun to a computer. This program is designed, rather, to do the clerical jobs for me, while I save the creative work for myself.

Don't ask me how to pronounce that word. Don't ask what it means, either. If you know how my mind works, you won't have to ask. If you don't--well, you remember what Louie Armstrong said about jazz: "If you have to ask what it is, you wouldn't understand the answer,"

That's right--Basil's Compendium is going to add the TS2068 to its repertoire. But you ZX81/TS1000 enthusiasts need not lose heart. The two computers use the same microprocessor, the Z80, and are really not awfully different from each other. Sort of like brothers born a year or two apart.

Many TS-1000/ZX-81 users drive full size printers with the Memotech Centronics interface due to the wide availability and the ease of use with BASIC programming. However, machine code programs designed to operate the Timex printer have compatibility problems when producing screen copies that are longer or shorter than the standard 22 lines.

He asks that correspondence be sent either to him or to: Mary-Lynn Johnson Deltona, FL If anything in this release contradicts what we have already printed, this release, of course, takes precedence. If it duplicates something that we have alread published, please forgive us–it probably merits saying twice, anyway.

Have you ever had some tricky or complicated calculations to make, or found yourself over your head with mathematic routines? If you have then this book is for you.

Economists are always being quoted as saying that the best time to buy anything is last year. This year, they were wrong. The prices for QL’s, 2068’s, and a lot of peripherals, software, and literature were lower than I have ever seen them.

For some time, we have been considering the publication of an index to back copies of SyncWare News, as well as reprints of material we have published over the years. That is, IF there is enough demand to justify printing them.

NICHOLSON NIGHTTIME NETWORK is a free BBS with a Timex sort-of SIG operated by sort-of SYSOP Fred Nachbaur. (604) 354-4666 is the number to call to get access to the latest hi-res programs, files, etc. The BBS operates 1800-0900 PST every day and all day Sunday.

Time Designs Magazine, a TS-oriented periodical that would be a fine addition to your library (AFTER SyneWare News, of course), has also been getting comments that were provoked by our reference to PC's.

One of the more provocative ideas emerging during the WINTERFEST was that of a national Users' Group. The project is still flexible enough so that you can get your own ideas into the hopper.

Hats off to the T/S User Groups of Florida, for their great job in staging the Orlando show. The production was a joint effort by four users' groups, under the spectacularly able management of Mary Lynn Johnson, with Mel Nathanson as co-pilot. (More detailed comment on succeeding pages.)

When you don’t know any better, anything might be possible. Operating on that theory I said, “Why not?”. I loaded version 5 of Jack Doheny’s Mscript and then stuck a tape in my recorder that contained a file saved by the cartridge version of Tom Wood’s PRO/FILE.

If you're using tape for mass storage, you may be neglecting a very valuable resource. It's awfully easy to forget that the tape was designed for audio signals.

Speed: adjustable over the range of 2-15 words per minute. Display: optional. You can display each character at the time that it is “transmitted”, or you can wait and display the entire text after the exercise is finished. Operating modes: 1. Letter-by-letter.

The next time you have a program that takes a long time to run (or to SAVE/LOAD), save your patience by inserting a BEEP message to catch your attention when the job is finished. You can program the BEEP for a single note, a TA-DA!, or even for Beethoven’s Fifth.

You might at some time have read a story written in round-robin technique. A story that is started by one author, and finished by another, with perhaps one or more other authors contributing “middle” sections. And all working independently.

Here are a few tips for any of you who ever wanted to get your name (and your thoughts) before the public.

We also talked abut the term COMPUTERFEST. Gary Ganger pointed out that the term is owned by the Dayton Microcomputer Association, Inc. Owned and protected by copyright. Gary went on to announce that the Association would let other groups use the term occasionally.

This is a drum that we are going to beat loud and long. We want to help UGs to survive and prosper. Anyone who has suggestions as to how we can do this, please let us know. We've made a couple of offers already. Here are a couple more, that grew out of the Columbus meeting.

Several valuable suggestions for UGs came out of the Columbus meeting. Which proves the value of UGs in general and, even more so, the value of inter-group meetings.

FRANK LOCKHART, P.O. Box 1131, Shelby, NC 28150, (704)484-8539 offers programs in Engineering and Mathematics, as well as games and utilities for QL, TS1000, and TS2068 computers. Prices are $17.95 for QL (microdrive), $12.95 for 2068, and $8.95 for 1000 (cassette). Program list free for SASE.

Lawrence (Larry) Chavarie of Ottawa sends us his masterly translation of an article from the French publication “Science et Vie” (Science and Life). The review describes the Z88 as embodying technical features that stun (“etonne”), being loaded with gadgets (“l’ensemble est truffe d’astuces”), and incorporating “une memoire d’elephant”.

Letters from readers.

Here is a REM generator USR routine that I would like to share with other avid TS2068 fans.

This is the first issue for which Basil wears the mantle, Not, fortunately, the mantel, as issue V:1 reported. (Jocelyn remarked that cleaning and pressing a mantel sounds like something out of the gymnasium.)

MScript/Oliger Printer Port Compatibility.

Given the paucity of new software for the ZX81/TS1000, it is indeed heartening to discover that there are still at least a few programmers who, like me, still consider this venerable machine worthy of support. One such programmer is a Mr. S. McDonald, in Scotland.

Among the many outstanding things that software writers and hardware developers have provided for T/S users, some have gone unnoticed by potential purchasers who did not happen to subscribe to the newsletters or magazines in which they were reviewed or advertised.

Writing as Chairman of British MENSA, Sir Clive Sinclair published a very provocative article about Artificial Intelligence. He predicts an assembly of ten-to-the-fourteenth components, each in the order of a tenth of a micron in diameter, yielding an artificial brain with a capacity comparable to that of its human counterpart, in a 10-centimeter cube.

In reply to the request from Mr. George Cary in the May/June SyncWare News for a big printer driver for the Spectrum mode 2068, the accompanying machine-code program is submitted.

If you have ever tried converting programs written for other computers to run on the TS 1000 then you are probably aware that the DATA, READ, and RESTORE statements are frequently used commands which are not available in SINCLAIR 8K BASIC. The machine code programs presented in this article can be used to replace these basic statements.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The program tape-to-disk conversions shown in this article are for use with the Aerco FD-68 Disk Interface. The procedures are presented “cookbook style”, so they should be easy to follow and to modify for other disk interfaces. Just substitute your interface’s commands at the appropriate spots.

We leave the wonderful world of true hi-res for a moment, to show you just one of any number of fascinating possibilities that can result from experimenting with the ZX81’s interrupt-driven display routines. Those of you who have played with Wilf Rigter’s “Nova” package already know of some of the neat things you can do…

The management of SYNCWARE NEWS has asked me to take on the post of editor, as of the first issue of 1988. I am both honored and delighted at the prospect. This preliminary announcement is intended to let you know what I am thinking at the moment, and to ask your help in charting the course for the magazine.

SYNCWARE NEWS welcomes correspondence from its readers. Some editing of letters may be necessary for brevity or to enhance clarity. Computerfest Update The proposed San Francisco T/S Computer Fest has apparently been postponed indefinitely… Plans for a one-day, Mid-West User Group get together are in the formative stage.

This may sound like just another dry ROM article to some 2068 owners, But I promise you it is not. Now to prove this to you, type in and run the short program called "Fun Report Codes" (Listing 1). Instead of the old "0 , OK", you will see a smiley face in front of the line and statement number! How did we do that?

SHAWN STAMP, 3405 Mark Lane, Norton, OH 44203, (216)825-8957, challenges you to see just what your TS2068 is capable of doing! CHOPPER COMMAND is billed as a fast-paced action game that takes over where Rambo left off. As a chopper pilot in the Air Force, you rescue POW’s from the jungles of Vietnam.

I recently discovered a latent catastrophe in my OS64 cartridge version 1.72. The cart. sets RAMTOP at 65255. This is ABOVE the machine stack and RAM-resident code. If a long program overwrites the machine stack, it’s BYE-BYE! The normal place for RAMTOP in double display file modes is 63255, the first byte below UDG.

So far, the Z80 chip must impress you as being a singularly inflexible device. It will do what you ask it to, and do that very well–so long as you ask it to tell you the value of B+256*C.

If you have a slight amout of hardware expertise, here is a simple, no-extra-parts-required, modification for the JLO parallel port which provides support for the Centronics port PAPER EMPTY status bit. This also eliminates the diode-ORed pull-down, which is, theoretically, a marginal technique (although it’s cheap and seems to work fine!).

First, it is important to tell you what we mean by the term “PC”. IBM started 5 years ago with their first model, the IBM PC, which meant “Personal Computer”. There was an early rush by about a dozen companies to make “PC Compatible” computers. That is, computers which were functionally the same.

Tom Woods, the venerable publisher of SyncWare News, will be stepping down from that post in the near future. An open letter to our readers from Tom appears in this issue’s Forum column (see Changing of the Guard).

TS-2068 SAFE DISK UPDATE, 1317 Stratford Ave., Panama City, FL 32404, (904) 871-4513, ia s quarterly newsletter devoted to the support of users who have upgraded to disk drive systems. A section features the Oliger Safe Disk Operating System (SDOS). The annual subscription is $12.

The September 1987 issue of Great Britain's prestigious Personal Computer World magazine contains a very favorable review of the Cambridge Computer Z88 Laptop Computer.

Believe it or not, here we are about to embark on our fifth year of publishing SYNCWARE NEWS. We are committed to the continued technical, hardware, and software support of Timex TS1000/ZX81, TS1500, and TS2068 computers.

These two are superb with each other. The speed of the DOS makes a TS2068 file management program practical. They don't get any better than these two.

After you have been using your modem for awhile, you notice one thing most, it can be an enjoyable use of your computer. Sending and receiving electronic mail, uploading and downloading programs, and all of the different SIGS (special interest groups) that allow one to share common interests and hobbies with others are just a few of the opportunities available.

This chapter will treat the machine code equivalent of the FOR…NEXT loop, and introduce the four "packaged loops" whose mnemonics end іп "R".

You may have seen ads, or heard about a “Timex 1000 clone” called the PC8300, available from a company in New Jersey doing business as “American Design Components.” The price is certainly attractive ($29.95), as are the claims that are made for this device.

Do you have any of the following problems with your ZX81 or TS1000? 1: “Built-in NVM” of SWN 4:1 does not properly run WRX16 hi-res. 2: Certain keyboard lines go dead after installing a large keyboard, joystick plug, etc. 3: Erratic operation when adding certain peripherals, even though you KNOW you have an adequate power supply.

OK, already I can hear you ask, “Why are you writing about the IBM PC in a Timex publication?” The short answer is that we are trying a little experiment to see what your reaction will be.

Paul Holmgren got the idea for this program from one that appeared in “Sync” Vol. 3 No. 1 by Ronald Duguid. The program was originally written for the TS1000, which was the machine Paul first owned. After obtaining a TS2068, Paul used UPLOAD 2000 to move it to that machine.

Letters from G. W. Goegelein, Robert Hartung, Frances Jackson.

After much deliberation, the winners of The SyncWare News 2nd (sort of) Annual Programmers’ Competition have been decided. The winning programs are presented in this issue for your use and amusement. First place in the TS1000/1500 category goes to Alex R. Sweitzer for his program “Multsteps” which teaches students to multiply a 3 digit X 2 digit number.

SHAWN STAMP, 3405 Mark Lane, Norton, OH 44203, (216)825-8957, challenges you to see just what your TS2068 is capable of doing! CHOPPER COMMAND is billed as a fast-paced action game that takes over where Rambo left off. As a chopper pilot in the Air Force, you rescue POW’s from the jungles of Vietnam.

Our favorite computers are getting harder and harder to find. TS1000’s are no longer being offered except from an occasional surplus dealer. The 2068’s can still be found, but not without some difficulty. My trusty 2068 gave up the ghost during the assembly of this issue.

Novel Soft, 35 Candle Liteway, Willowdale, Ontario, M2R 3J5, Canada, (416)665-0290, has announced that their long time associate, David Ridge, will no longer be with the company. Unfortunately for us TS Users, Mr. Ridge has been made a better offer that he feels he can ill afford to pass up.

“How about a ‘Mystery Program’ for SWN? This would be something really bizarre, yet interesting to a lot of readers. We would supply nothing but a listing; no documentation, no explanation. Let ’em figure it out themselves!” -tbw “Sounds great. I know just the program. Greg Harder wrote this nifty ______ program, called “______”.

(This is not Timex/Sinclair related so isn’t in the ‘For Your Support Column’.-ed.) PRO/FILE, the popular data base program for ZX/TS computers has been refitted for use on PC compatible machines, says Tom Woods, PRO/FILE’s creator.

But annoying none-the-less. Our printer got the listings for "ABC/123" nice and dark, but pushed the inverse graphics into the mud. Since some of these are crucial to proper program operation, here are these lines in a different format. Significant spaces are indicated with a crosshatch "#", and inverse video is underlined.

This column announces any software, hardware, and related modifications that are new or otherwise untested by us. If you have something of interest, we will announce it here. Send us a description of your product (PLEASE keep it short).

Dear Editor, As a newcomer to your magazine, having seen only two issues thus far, may I make the following suggestion? When you have the space, could you publish the index of your back issues? This would enable newcomers like myself to purchase back issues with articles of interest.

Mix 500 plus people who share a like interest with 52 vendors and displays, a superior hotel, service, and banquet, add over 116 door prizes and gifts, sprinkle in some terrific software and hardware bargains (Spectrum titles as low as 2 for $5.00, new QL’s with Psion software-$99.00), plus some excellent speakers, and what do you get?

Explore the fascinating world of integration, as we delve into the legacy of Gauss and Newton, and the modern techniques that make number crunching a breeze. Stay tuned for a captivating journey into calculus.

The Second Sort-of-Annual Programmer's Contest officially closed April 15th. Soon judging of the entries will be complete, the winners announced, and the prizes awarded. Be watching the July/August issue for the winning programs to be published!

By the time you’re reading this, Cambridge Computer Ltd., Sir Clive Sinclair’s new company, is expecting to be making deliveries of the Z88 Computer, according to Personal Computer World, Great Britian’s prestigious microcomputer magazine.

Unleash the power of grey graphics characters for data plotting, with the same vertical resolution as PLOT commands. Discover how to plot in two shades, creating striking visual effects on a dark background.

Here is a short listing you might find useful. I developed it after trying to find the mistakes, and there were several, in a 12K long program that I hand-loaded from a magazine listing.

You may have wanted to change RAMTOP without wiping out what you have in memory. It is not enough to simply POKE 16388 and 16389 with the desired RAMTOP, since the machine-code stack stays in the same place until you relocate them using NEW.

This subroutine draws an unbroken line segment between pixel (X1,Y1) and (X2,Y2). It is based on the equation for a straight line: where M is the slope and B is the Y-intercept. First the slope is evaluated in line 1020, after making sure that (X2-X1) is non-zero (division by zero is a no-no).

This program converts between polar notation (magnitude and angle) and rectangular (or “Cartesian”) notation (“X” and “Y” values) of vector quantities and complex numbers. Many scientific calculators have this function, which often proves useful if you deal with vectors or phasors.

So, now that we can do screen dumps and engage the various printer control functions, how about a word processor? Sorry folks, but this is where your BASIC fails you utterly. It is just too slow for most people, especially if there is any input checking.

An important consideration in programming personal computers is memory economy. Unlike the big main-frames that offer virtually unlimited storage, you have only a limited RAM space at your ready disposal. Anyone who’s tackled a large project knows just how small 16K can seem.

Perhaps you didn’t know that you can exhaust the memory of your TS 2068 in a surprisingly short time, if you repeatedly use a GOSUB without a corresponding RETURN. Try the following: and RUN the program. You’ll get an OUT OF MEMORY report when N=78.

(Editor’s NOTE: This article would be worthwhile reading if it didn’t contain anything but the material on programming above line 9999.) My version of the BASIC program uses 1004 bytes after deleting all lines less than 9000 and ENTERing CLEAR in accordance with the CHALLENGE instructions.

As we all have discovered, to our sorrow, those printouts produced by the TS2040 printer are pretty fragile stuff. No paper has an unlimited life, of course, as witness the incredible lengths to which libraries go to try to protect their most valuable books.

Radio Shack's Thermal paper for their TP-10 (#26-1332) at $5.95 here (Canada) fits the Timex 2040 fine with a bit of squashed corrugated paper at each end, CAI's paper for their 40 char, printer is the right size. Both are considerably cheaper than the Timex paper, and easier to obtain.

This chapter will give you a look into “real life”, and will show you how to make a “rough draft” of your programs in BASIC. I always find it easier to debug my programs in BASIC before actually translating them into machine code, as the results of an error are much less drastic in BASIC.

In Part 1 (SWN Vol. 5 No. 5) of this intro to Beta Basic (BB) we looked at some of the editing and data-manipulation features which may be used on programs entered in T/S mode as well as those written in BB.

ZEBRA SYSTEMS, INC., 78-06 Jamaica Ave., Woodhaven, NY 11421, (718) 296-2385 is currently offering Graphics Collection tapes for use with their TS2068 Graphics Designer Series programs: The Banner Designer, The Greeting Card Designer, and the Sign Designer. Each tape includes 30 graphics. Collection subjects include holidays, office, sports, and religion to name but a few.

Probably most of you have received notice of the bankruptcy of QUANTUM COMPUTING. Apparently, the notices were sent to everyone on the company’s customer list. I doubt that there is much hope of collecting anything from the company, as the notice listed unsecured debts as over $60,000, with total assets of $0.01 (that’s one cent).

Our sincere apologies for the extreme delay in getting this issue (and the previous one) to you. We didn’t intend it this way, but the delay was a prelude to even sadder news. This is the last issue of SyncWare News that will be issued under that name. With this issue, we complete 5 years.

Often while folks gather and talk about their computers I hear something like this, “Why don’t you try this” and the almost standard reply is “I didn’t know you could do it that way, thanks” This article is the result of my being in that same boat and finding an answer by myself.

Review of the book published by Personal Computer World. Includes machine language routines for the Z80 CPU.

MSCRIPT is a very useful program. This article is for improving MSCRIPT, although it does not change any of the coding. What we are going to do is make it load faster by transferring it to an EPROM. The following for putting MSCRIPT on an EPROM is only for the original tape version.

Chapter discusses conditional instructions and behavior of various flags.

Review of a program that displays color by flashing at different rates.

Definitions of common terms used to describe video signals.

Type-in program to let you play the TS 2068 like a piano, using BEEP.

Finishes the "ABC/123" program for the TS 1000 introduced in prior issue.

TIMACHINE: A floating-point BASIC compiler for the TS-2068 and Sinclair Spectrum. (C)1986 Written by: Cameron Hayne From its animated title screen to its ability to locate compiled code anywhere in memory, TIMACHINE is just what every BASIC programmer who lacks extensive assembly language fluency has been dreaming of.

Paul Holmgren, 5231 Wilton Wood Ct., Indianapolis, IN 46254, asks you to try it before you buy! Where else can you get this kind of deal? I.S.T.U.G. is selling copies of their BBS program. You get the program plus full directions to set up your own BBS on your TS2068.

Author introduces the concept of breaking programs into smaller segments and loading the segments from disk as needed.

Describes how to use ROM calls and machine language to print built-in error messages.

SWN editors join Compuserve.

Details about the 1987 T/S Computerfest, held in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Second Annual Programmer's Contest deadline is rapidly approaching. As of January 31, on a single entry has been submitted. Deadline extended to April 15, 1987.

Program to analyze, diagnose and recommend solutions for engine problems.

Add printer output routine to Mterm that supports the Gemini 10X and 80 column printing.

Patching Mterm to allow it to remember buffers and macros.

And now, here are a few more words about the last contest. First, we would like to thank all of the contributors who donated prizes for this contest. A&J Micro Drive, 1050 E. Duane Ave., Suite I Sunnyvale, CA 94086, (408) 732 9292, graciously donated one complete Micro Drive system, our 2068 first prize, which has been awarded to John Nguyen.

Suggested solutions to power regulation problems in the ZX81/TS1000 and QL: add capacitors.

Variation of Tower of Hanoi for the TS 2068.

Short recap of ways to add RAM to the TS 2068 and switch it in/out.

It isn’t considered normal when a magazine like SyncWare gives you a program that’s riddled with bugs. But then, we never promised you a normal magazine. Since this is our special April Fool’s issue, we thought we’d introduce you to SyncWare’s in house bug.

Dear Editor, I have a TS1500, 2040 printer and an Aerco disc interface and drives. I have been trying to boot the Chess game onto the disc, but every time I try, the game crashes. Tom Saine, Wellesley Hills, MA 02181 Try the following listing. Although I haven’t proofed it, it should work.

Demonstration program from Greg Harder how the TS1500 is improved over the 1000, allowing for software-only high-resolution graphics.

Timex announces their return with a 68020 computer, running Timex Unix (TUNIX) and other operating systems. Note the issue date.

This column announces any software, hardware and related modifications that are new or otherwise untested by us. If you have something of interest, we will announce it here. Send us a description of your product (keep it short).