TO THE MEMORY OF CARL TERRY
SINCUS lost a great supporter and we all lost a true friend in the passing, September 8, of Carl Terry. Carl was one of the first people I met in the summer of 1982 who had a Sinclair computer. As we both learned more about the computer together, we became fast friends. Carl was a charter member of SINCUS and attended most meetings even though they often conflicted with his beloved HAM Radio Club meetings. His contributions were always out of the spotlight. He aquired a wide range of software and hardware and fooled around with programming. He and I tied in getting the area’s first TS2068, but he won the tie breaker by buying a SECOND one when the price dropped to $99! Recently, working with Dave Schoenwetter, Carl had built Dave’s RS232 interface and had hooked up a disk drive that we all hoped could be demonstrated at the September meeting. His enthusiasm, support, and just plain intellectual curiosity will be sorely missed by me, and I am sure by many other SINCUS members. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family – many of us share their sorrow at Carl’s passing.
NEWSLETTER EDITOR NEEDS HELP
As my role as President of SINCUS begins to take shape, I am finding it more difficult to produce the SINCUS NEWS without some assistance in its final assembly. Specifically, I need the following two duties to be assumed in the very near future.
1) A typist to take articles and type them up on TASWORD TWO format so I can edit. The “draft” could be saved to tape and mailed to me.
2) Someone to “spruce up” the artwork-the covers, mast heads (like 2K EXPRESS) and etc. This would be a one time job and would be the basis of a format could easily be repeated, thus further reducing production time.
I want SINCUS NEWS to be a quality newsletter both in content and appearance. We have the authors and we have the printer/printing capabilities. Now I need someone to step in and take over some of the details so I can go out and recruit more authors and advertisers and hopefully expand the newsletter!! I’ll speak to this at the meetings.
ERRORS AND OMISSIONS
As SINCUS NEWS goes to press I note that we do not have a couple of member’s ads. Please give them to me again on an updated basis.
AUTHOR – AUTHOR – AUTHOR !
This newsletter, as has been our good fortune for the past several months, is jammed with good stuff. We can easily increase its size by reprinting articles found in the many other newsletters that arrive each month. And we should do that. The exchange of newsletter information is one of the real grass roots effects of a network of user groups – often it will be the best way information is passed on now that TIMEX is out of the game, as it were. It is my goal to expand the size of the newsletter with advertising support. The present size (six sheets) is all that will go for 20 cents (soon to be 22). So IF we add 1 page we will add 17 cents postage! The idea would be to add as many pages as will go for the 37 cent rate (I don’t know how many that is, but it is probably four more sheets -that is EIGHT more pages of reading. TWO PAGES of ads would support the expansion-leaving 6 pages of text or Paul’s cartoons! I will be pursuing ads and I would ask each of you to show your SINCUS NEWS to anyone who might be a prospect to advertise-$16 will buy them a full page – photo copy quality ad – delivered to over 70 intelligent, prosperous, active consumers!
COMPUTERIZED MEMBERSHIP LIST
One of my objectives is to get the computer club “computerized”! We are in the final stages of getting the membership information set up on VU-FILE. We now need someone to crack the print routine of VU-FILE so we can convert it to print the mailing labels out through a conventional printer. Otherwise we will have to write a membership list program and that just isn’t feasible right now! The next step is to get all of the past articles of the newsletter produced on TASWORD TWO. If you have some spare time in the next month, I have something for you to do! We want to have an extra large newsletter for the CHESS-O-RAMA so we thought we would fill it out with reprints of some of the better articles from past SINCUS NEWS. This would be done on TASWORD TWO, thus beginning the conversion process. The Charter is already “on tape” as it were and, thanks to Paul Hill’s ne[illegible] program, future membership changes an[illegible] financial transactions will be “computerized”
ERRORS AND OMISSIONS
The Editor has noticed several typographical errors in this issue-a product of rushing to meet a deadline, I apologize.
NEW MEETING FEATURE
It would appear that while we enjoy our computers as hobbyists, we may not be USING them all that much in our daily lives. Over the next nine months I will be presenting a series of the most useful software available for both the ZX-81/TS1000 and the TS2068. We will start this month by going over VU-FILE. Future programs will cover word processors, money management stuff, VU-CALC, educational programs, and Flight Simulator! By spring we may have even solved Smuggler’s Cove! I welcome your requests for items that you would like to see demonstrated in this segment of our meetings.
CHESS-O-RAMA
As you should know, CHESS-O-RAMA will be held on Sunday, October 14, 2 PM, Vestal Public Library. The object is to bring to the public’s attention the fact that user groups do exist! The feature will be computer vs. computer playing chess. We would like to see each of you there. Your help in setting up and or monitoring the event is also needed. In short -SAVE OCTOBER 14 on your calendar!! SINCUS will be setting up a display of the history of the Sinclair computer. If anyone can loan us any “artifacts” for the day – it would be dutifully protected and appreciated. Is there a ZX-80 in the house?? We will also need a couple more ZX-81/TS1000 computers and at least one more TS 2068. We could use a couple 2040 printers too. TVs – preferably a couple color sets – would be impressive too! If you can contribute, please do – especially your time. I know THAT is most precious, but it is also the thing we really will need the most. This is a bit of a historical step in a valley that is “connected” to hi-tech. If this succeeds, who knows what greater events can follow. Lack of participation by club members can doom the project. We must be prepared to meet the public. Our presence at this event will do much to strengthen our very existence! I hope you will come out on October 14 – come see the CHESS-O-RAMA!
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SUBGROUP
If you do not yet have a modem, seriously do consider getting one. We have an offer from Knighted Computers that will save you considerable bucks – if 12 are purchased the savings will be over 20%!!! The investment is about $100. As you will note from page 2 we can access four local bulletin boards. This can be much fun as you leave messages for other folks at your leisure! Of course, there are the services like COMPUSERVE too.
HARDWARE SUBGROUP
The key people of this group have been having to go to work at their “real” job lately, so progress has been slow in developing a real project. A “possibility” may exist in the “Schoenwetter” printer interface. Gary Cole managed to get me through the first steps of soldering, and we will hopefully complete the project so it may be demonstrated at the CHESS-O-RAMA. Has anyone got any requests for something to build? Your participation is invited in guiding the route this takes.
SOFTWARE SUBGROUP
This group is conducting class sessions at our “educational meetings” that fall either the night before or the night after the monthly meeting. John Sims will be teaching how to use machine code. I will contributing some thoughts/challenges in the principles of programming. If you would like to learn how to write your own programs OR at least know what to do to modify programs to suit your needs better, then come on out! I think you will find it fascinating and very useful.
SINCUS NEWS TYPE STYLES
This newsletter represents the three main typestyles available on the Gemini 10X printer- that is normal, elite, condensed. I will be passing around a sample at the September meeting that will allow you to vote on each style as to its acceptability. I know you will want to help us resolve this problem
SCROLL OF THE SCREEN TO:
JOHN COLONNA- for his continuing contributions to SINCUS NEWS, one of these days John will have a 16K program!
PAUL HILL-for his continuing contributions to SINCUS NEWS, this month he added a software review to his credits (after last month’s cartoons-believe it, the cartoons will be rerun!).
TED KORANYE-for his work on CHESS-O-RAMA – everytime I type that it starts out She….
TONY CEKOLIN (from Mobile, Ala.)-for his contribution to SINCUS NEWS that will be in the NEXT issue! Thanks Tony!
WES BRZOZOWSKI-who is writing what is perhaps the most productive column in TIMEX-Sinclair publications. “Where Do We Go From Here?” used to be a question that bothered me, now it leaves me with a sense of positive anticipation – WE are going forward!
ALL THE REST OF THE SINCUS MEMBERSHIP-that is attending the meetings and continues to ask the questions, haul in the stuff to demo, and supports the whole idea of Sinclair Computer Users Society!