Since I wrote the last column I was asked about articles on the subject of STREAMS & CHANNELS so I started to go through my newsletters and suddenly realized that there is a wealth information there. I later learned that the person allegedly wanting the information actually didn’t. So I don’t know how that request got started. However, it was a good thing to be asked the question since I have gotten onto a long term project. The project is getting onto disk the wonderful articles of bygone days. I call the articles “TUTORIALS”. I have the newsletters in a file cabinet with the newsletters in alphabetical order and of course each group’s newsletter is in chronological order. I started with the As and am now working on THE PLOTTER (early 1988). Since I do not use the QL I am not typing in the QL articles unless (I haven’t found any yet) the article is more general than QL specific. I type them into MSCRIPT on my Oliger system. It is easy to get the MSCRIPT files into LarKen LKDOS with my dual disk drive interface.
Since MSCRIPT has a provision of (G)IVEing the file name before SAVEing I developed the habit of coming up with a file name for the tutorial before actually typing in any of the text and using that name to LOAD. If there is no prior use of that file name then I get the:- S File not found, 215:2 comment, I hit RUN and get back into MSCRIPT. I use that name in the GIVE option on MSCRIPT. Otherwise I have to scan the CAT, it is easy to miss an entry.
I heard from both Bob Swoger and Frank Davis about Paul Holmgren loss. According to what I heard Paul and his wife were at work and their two sons were outside playing when the furnace blew up. Apparently the explosion sent flames out the air ducts and the entire house was an fire at the same time. All that was saved was part of the garage. The sad part is that Paul and his wife had Just about finished a complete redo of the house and had new furniture in the house ready to be put into plate. Of course Paul lost his working computers, QL with the QUANTA PD software – BUT the majority of his extra computer stuff was in storage elsewhere to get it out of the way while they remodeled. There were no personal injuries, Paul and family are living in a rented house about 2 miles from his house. The original contractor is rebuilding the completely destroyed (except for part of the garage) house. The house was a two story with no basement but had a crawl space under it.
In January I turned 70, I realized that I had worked for one company for half of my lifetime. I also have to start taking out what little I have in my IRA this year. (I already did that) I don’t feel 70 nor do I feel that I am really getting old. I do notice that some days when I try to type on the TS-2068 that my fingers and hands are stiff though. In other respects I am still doing things but not as fast as I was before I retired in 1987.
I have a big bundle of stuff that I am mailing with this submission for Abed to sort out to put into ZXir QLive Alive! What with that and with the TUTORIALs that I am typing up there will be material far into the future for ZQA. Now I pose a question for you readers! What is it that you need answers to help you progress further with the TS computers. For instance there are commands on the TS-2068 keyboard that are not explained in the manual. Look on page 214 of the manual. They were designed for peripherals that Timex never got on the market, FORMAT, OPEN, CLOSE, MOVE, CAT, ERASE, and RESET are examples. The TUTORIALs touch upon these subjects to some extent. There are ways to do things using commands that are used by other BASICs, but not by using the non-Sinclair commands but by working around the bush to get the computer to do the previously unworkable task. But some of the information comes by way of the SPECTRUM. The TS-2068 is a clone of the SPECTRUM and almost completely uses the same BASIC BUT there are differences. I am not a programmer so I cannot speak of my experience but go by the actions and words of those that are.
How many TUTORIALs do I have? I have almost filled a 420K disk with them. Of course some are short and are only about 2K in length but then there are those that take up 3 tracks of the disk. Before I finalize the material I will have to proof read and correct any errors in my typing. There are some errors that I will not be able to detect. Some printers do not differentiate (trouble with using big words is I have to look up the spelling) between some commonly used symbols or letters. For example, < and ( and > and ) and l and 1 on some printers are alike. Also, in MSCRIPTand my printer the arrow on the H key for raising to a power is printed like this ^. Some newsletters did have a poor reproduction to have things fade out. Ah! but what is readable is really worth the effort to type in.
A project to work on: In my talk with Frank Davis on the topic of a 120 volt source of power for the Z88, he mentioned that I should get a Radio Shack multiple output power supply as the cheapest way to go, leads me to think. Hey! the TS-1000 power supply is 750 to 1000 MA and is listed at 9 V DC but often is higher. Now if that is fed into a 7806 voltage regulator or a 7805 with a resistor on the negative leg to increase the output to 6+ VDC then it would put to use the many TS-1000 power supplies I have laying around. Has anybody out there done this or is this a feasible project? I do hate to buy something to do something when I already have something that might work.
Abed Kahale’s move put ZQA behind a little in publication date. Since RMG sends out his monthly flyers and it arrives just after I mail the material to Abed, I decided to wait a few days and get the latest into ZQA. I also was thus able to work a few more days on the TUTORIALs that way before taking a break to get the material ready to mail to Abed. I think that I am less than a third the way thru the newsletters and then there are the magazines.
I just thought of something! I have the Pro/file Updates which is “The Newsletter For ZX Profile Users”. This information is only usable for owners of Pro/file for the ZX81. The articles tell how to improve or change the ZX81 program with POKEs and changes to do that. There are suggestions of what to use Pro/file for but of limited use to non ZX81 users. I was originally thinking that the ZX81 was quite similar to the TS-2068 version but they are much different in use or so reading the articles led me to believe. The TS-2068 version of Pro/file can LOAD files into MSCRIPT. At least there is an article in THE PLOTTER on that subject. 0/0