The last weekend of August on the 28th and the 29th, many Sinclair users will once again be making the trek from their respective homes to Dayton, Ohio, and will be meeting at Hara Arena. This is one, if not the largest computer show put on by a large user group, The Dayton Microcomputer Association. Last year it had a reported attendance of 27,500. Not too shabby for several SIGS banded together to explore the use of home computers! The Timex-Sinclair Sig there, headed up by Gary Ganger, has always played an active part in getting this show on the road and managing the DMA booth. This will be the 4th year that I have been present at this show. The first years was as a customer, and the last two years has been as a vendor. I will have my booths there for UPDATE MAGAZINE, MECHANICAL AFFINITY, and AMIGA UPDATE (a shareware, demo and public domain company for Amiga computers. Carol, Paul, myself, and possibly Eliad will all be there ready to wheel and deal to keep you supplied with ALL OF THE LATEST WE CAN FIND FOR THE Z88 AND THE QL. Paul will probably have his new version of the Z88 to show off (it has the version 4 operating system and came with 128K inside). For the TS2068, we will have some new stuff, the full collection of ISSUE DISKS from UPDATE, and lots of old favorites and used items. We will also have several stuffed boxes of TS1000 and TS1500 items for your use. At this point, I am not sure as to just who will be there. At the recent ISTUG (my user group) annual picnic, Don Lambert said that he and the CATUG, Chicagos user group would be sharing a booth, and I know that the Dayton Sinclair group will be there. In the past we have had the CATS group from the Washington, DC area there as well as the SMUG group from Wisconsin and many private individuals setting up booths.
Just what can you expect to find at this show? For starters let us look at the non-Sinclair specific items. In the way of monitors there will be just about any kind that is on the market (composite, CGA, RGB, VGA, SVGA, Multi-synch) and priced for both new and used from retail to 10% of new price. Many, but not all, dealers are willing to dicker on generic hardware. There will be all kinds of printers, including thermal, dot-matrix, bubble-jet, inkjet, lasers, plotters. This will be a great place to find ribbons of all sorts at fantastic prices. Disk drives and other assorted hardware can be had for less than half the regular retail or mail order prices. Much of this stuff will be used as well as a good assortment of new. On the used drives it is always best to ask for a warranty, and get an address and a phone number. If they are not willing to give you that…then pass that bargain up and go to the next table. If it is an item that you have a question on, head to the Sinclair table area and ask someone for advice. Always try not to be rushed by someone. I know what it is like to want someone to buy, (that is one of the two main reasons us dealers go to these shows) but we need to keep honesty as a primary goal. Few of the dealers at these types of show are dishonest, but caution is still a good idea. There will also be many other electronic items at this show, such as video equipment, sometimes robots, the best buys on pens and paper, and seemingly not enough hours in just two days to see all of this. There will be food available in the building for those who do not want to step outside and go looking for the nearest restaurants.
Carol and Frank (me) Davis, will once again be staying at the RED ROOF INN at I-75 at Little York Road, exit 60. The local phone number there to make a reservation is 513-898-1054. You may also make reservations at their toll free number by calling 1-800-843-7663. With this large of a crowd in town I would suggest making reservations and doing it as soon as you know you are going. We will be arriving there in the afternoon on the Friday before the show, and any who care can come by and visit with us and perhaps go out for supper together. We will be staying on till Monday morning, so we should have plenty of time to visit. The last couple of years so many of us stayed at, or near the same motel that we had computers set up and running so many could visit and try out their latest purchase. Other nearby motels are as follows; Days Inn North, right next door to the Red Roof Inn, and it has a swimming pool. The phone number there is 513-898-4946, and it is located on Miller Lane. Also on Miller Lane is the Motel 6, same exit, and within walking distance of the other two motels. The phone number there is 513-898-3606. It also has a pool. Last, but not least at I-75, exit 60, you will find the Knights Inn at Little York Road. The phone number is 513-898-1212. These motels are about 15 to 20 minutes from the Hara Arena. For those not into afterhours comraderie, there are motels closer to the show, and you can find them through directory information or calling the DMA number. There is an ample supply of restaurants nearby. One evening last year about 60 of us had supper together at a nearby steak house. This has proven in the last three years to be the best place for a large group of Sinclair and Cambridge users to get together, relax, swap tips, and help each other to solve any hardware or software problems that they may have. It is also a great place to meet dealers and check out an item before mail ordering it. When you can see the quality of a piece of hardware, or check out a manual before buying an item…you should not pass up the chance.
I have long been known to many of you Timex-Sinclair and Sinclair users as someone who tries to promote such activities, and I shall continue to be as long as I see a need for it. From the first Midwest Timex-Sinclair Computerfest in 1986 to the Miracle in Newport, I have always loved these get togethers. Those silly enough to think that computers introvert people have never seen just how social a bunch of computer enthusiasts can be! Other information about this show can be found elsewhere in this issue of UPDATE MAGAZINE! On page 20 is a Dayton Area Map to help you to get around in the area. On page 28 is the Computerfest ad with more information and it tells you how to get advance tickets. The parking lot is large, so come early to get close to the doors.
I hope to be able to see as many of our UPDATE readers there as can possibly make it. We will be offering the QL Survivors Source Book, Back issues of UPDATE, Issue Disks and copies of our new book on the Z88 (compiled and edited by Tim Swenson, with accompanying disk).
I honestly feel that we offer a quality product list to our customers and that makes me happy to be a part of these activities. See you at the show.