In this present time of home computers no one computer seems to satisfy all the needs of many home computer users. A survey of the CATUG club members has shown that all have at lease two different computer platforms set up at their homes. This article is not about “Sinclair, the one and only computer you will ever need”. Instead, it is about how to keep your Sinclair out of the closet by becoming a Sinclair Power User.
Our newest CATUG members have given us a clue to why some Sinclair computers serve their users well and others don’t. One member has nearly all the hardware pieces, most of the essential software, and a neat setup. Another newer member has not yet gotten it all together. The answer lies in how complete those Sinclair computer setups are and how those setups are organized. In order for our Sinclair computers to serve us well the setup must be fast, complete in both hardware and software, and ready to go at all times!
Occasionally, I get to show my Sinclair set-up to visitors who use other computer platforms. Because their systems are classified as MAIN STREAM systems by todays current sales forces, they ask why my personal system continues to be the Sinclair. Only after they see my system in operation do they realize why I favor it above their particular platform. I have my Sinclair set up on a desk with a hutch. The hutch contains over sixty disk library cases each containing ten 5.25″ disks.
The setup has all the essentials. Plugged into the Dock port of the TS2068 is the LarKen DOS cartridge with a LarKen Spectrum V2 EPROM. This EPROM gives me a perfectly functioning DELete key and on board RENUMBER utility for writing programs. Plugged into the back of the TS2068 is a LarKen 256K RAM DISK. In back of that is a LarKen DISK INTERFACE. Plugged into the interface are four 5.25″ TEAC disk drives inside two housings which contain power supplies. Plugged into the Kemstone Joystick Interface is a Commodore 1351 compatible mouse. Behind the LarKen DISK INTERFACE is the TS2050 Anchor Modem. In back of the modem interface is an AERCO printer interface plugged into a 1 megabyte Printer Buffer. The Printer Buffer drives an NLQ Epson compatible graphics printer.
The Printer Buffer allows the computer to accept commands again two seconds after a print command! This means there is no waiting for the printer to print its many pages to continue using the computer again. Other computer platforms use software printer spoolers which slow those systems down or the users have to wait for a print job to end before they can use the computer again.
Of course, the key to speed for the TS2068 equipped with a LarKen disk interface is the LogiCall operating system. No more do I have to type RAND USR 100: GOTO 3 to point the system to disk drive 3 or RAND USR 100: CAT ” “, to see the disk directory and RAND USR 100: LOAD “filenm.ex” to run a program. A simple ‘3’ now points the system to disk drive 3, the CATalog comes up automatically, and the arrow keys highlight the program I want to enter. All the DOS keywords now work without the use of ‘*’ or “/”. [QL has an equivalent operating system from Platypus software called QLamber]
To contrast the difference between my Sinclair platform and what has been called a main stream platform, please picture what I have to go through it every morning at work:
Sit down in front of a Macintosh or IBM compatible system. Turn on the power. After about ten seconds, the screen lights up. The operating system is now loaded from a disk into RAM while you continue to wait. Messages and icons start appearing on the screen as the system initializes. A virus checking program automatically begins to run because the disk based operating system is vulnerable to being destroyed by viruses unlike our ROM based machines. Finally, a graphical interface begins to run and you finally see a blinking arrow beckoning you to click on some icon apparently designed for the functionally illiterate. Before the blinking cursor appears, you have enough time to go to the kitchen, pour a cup of coffee, and return to the computer! You now have to click on a few more icons and wait some more time to get the application on the screen.
I actually did all the following for the last Windows Possessed Turkey that suggested I “move up to a main stream system!” I took him to my Sinclair setup and powered up the system. When the screen became visible, a list of programs was already on the screen! [And, by the way, no fool has yet written a virus to wipe out your Sinclair’s system ROM!]
I pressed W <ENTER> and the word processor menu was on the screen in seconds. L <ENTER> and a list of files to load was displayed. A few more quick keystrokes and the document was loaded and printing. When the document started printing I exited the word processor, entered the spread sheet and loaded in my tax records. I then sent that document to the printer while the printer was still printing out the word processor document. While waiting for the printer to get through, I showed him how we Sinclair people stay in touch by logging into the club BBS. The YOUNG man was blown away by the speed of it all.
There are certainly some things I can’t do as well as the so called “main stream machines” do them. I can’t play music from a CDROM and sound blaster while word processing like my daughter does. But my stereo sounds a whole heck of a lot better. I can’t show scenery pictures on the screen either but I have a VCR that does that job. I can’t do desk top publishing as fast as a main stream machine but my writings can be uploaded to those machines for further processing as this one was. I don’t have a Hard Drive to store hundreds of programs but if you make one of your drives a QUAD DENSITY double sided 80 track drive and your machine is an 8 bit rather than a 16 or 32 bit machine, you will find that holding 100 programs on a single disk gives the feel of having a hard drive. The cost of conversion can be as low as $5.00.
You do not have to be sucked into a high priced “Main Stream” platform by the promise of greater speed. For the things I do with my system, word processing, spread sheets, data management, the claim of speed using so called “main stream computers” escapes me.
I HAVE ALL THE NEEDED PIECES! Unfortunately, other members in my club are finding it increasingly harder to find all the hardware pieces they need to come up to the performance of my setup.
And now my message. To get the most out of your Sinclair system, you do have to have all the hardware pieces and all the necessary software! Read again the list in the third paragraph and try to obtain them all if you haven’t already done so. After the magazines and newsletters are gone, you will need a modem to stay up with the latest Sinclair community events. Please get the missing items soon and enjoy the speed!
Many Sinclair related items including modems are still available from both FWD Computing and RMG Enterprises. Please call them real soon.