An Open Letter To The Readers
Every once in a while, Tim Woods (our Editor and Friend) will stand on a soap box, and declare his loyalty to the Timex-Sinclair community of computers. And for the larger percentage, we are right behind him. These little Z80-based computers are great to work with, and to have fun with.
A good number of people, be they common users, on up to the Dealers and the ones who keep us healthy, have stood the ground for our orphan. We putter and tinker around with these black and silver machines, making it work a little harder and a little better.
We have even banded together in small groups, meeting month after month, year after year, just for the simple pleasure of talking to someone who has a common interest–the Sinclair computer.
But I have started to notice a trend. There is a departing mode going on. People are leaving our midst, to “upgrade” to the Big Blue Compatible, and with them goes the little tidbits of invaluable information, and experience. I wish them good fortune, for they have polished their computing “baby-teeth” on our beloved brand. But let’s hang onto their phone number or address…
For the negative trend is also appearing, there are groups out there that are struggling, suffering from low membership and purpose. Some of us are tucking in our tails, hiding our pride.
Let’s dust off that old ZX81, loan it to someone who doesn’t compute. If it’s been awhile since you ordered that one little piece of software, or bought a new Disk Drive, or a full size printer or monitor, scrape your pennies together and assault your dealers (they’ll love ya for it!). Bring a non-TS-user to your next group meet.
The time has come to start up a “National TSUG Organization”. To think of its potential is mind-boggling. A whole continent of ideas, help, and service. Working together for standardization, software and hardware implementation, and even a logo to show our unity.
Think about it, and then take action.
Ralph Hammer
Sec/Treas.
Timex-Sinclair Users Group
of Las Vegas, Nevada
Guest Editorial: The “Sleeper Has Awaken”
If you are a “DUNE” fan (as I am), you may have recognized that the title for this editorial was taken from that book (and movie)! But, that is exactly how I feel…now that I finally broke down and bought a Disk Drive System for my TS2068. That’s right, all the program development that I have been doing…Desktop Publisher and all, was 100% TAPE based! Thinking back, I shudder at the thought of all the wasted hours doing tape loads/saves and verifies. How did I even stand it?
Oh, I know you’ve heard all this before…I know, I was skeptical too! Why would anyone want to spend so much money on a “dead” computer…how much longer is that little grey box going to work anyway…why not spend the money and get a real computer…all very good questions!! All these (and more) I asked myself for the better part of 4 years now. I guess it took me that long to find the answer: BECAUSE I WANT TOO! That is what it all boiled down to. This little grey box is a REAL computer, not a toy! The simply fantastic programs available on it is proof enough for that. My little grey box has been going 20 to 30 hours per week, week after week, for 4 years…and when this one dies, I’ll dig out my spare, and when that one goes, I’ll have had time to get a second spare…all for a lot less money than one of their “real computers”. And how reliable is Big Blue (or a Clone) anyway?
But what really sold me was the new possibilities available with the disk system. The Aerco Disk Drive System has 64K of extra memory built into the interface, that is expandable. The Larken RAMdisk provides a second form of added capabilities, and can use the Aerco 64K as a RAMdisk without adding anything to the system. In each case, the MEMORY BARRIER is broken!
My new desktop program (Pixel Print Professional) uses the Aerco RAM to BANK-SWITCH a second Pixel Print column, allowing the user to load and switch between left and right columns in the Desktop Program. The “Print-a-Document” program (part of the same package) uses BANK-SWITCHING to hold and print both left and right columns simultaneously! This provides perfect column alignment in the twin (32 character) columns, and allows real 64 column Desktop Publishing when importing files from TASWORD or other word processors that create ASCII text files, in the single 64 column format. The LARKEN version will use the RAMdisk to hold file data and provide fast data transfer similar to the Aerco Bank-Switching. Volatile or non-volatile RAM cartridges can provide quick and easy add-on memory for tape and microdrive users too!
As the add-on memory systems become more popular, watch for more and more programs to be written to use these capabilities! Certainly the desktop programs are only one of many new applications that will take advantage of this new break-through!
So, wake up your computer and do what your inner self has been wanting to do for a long time now…send in that disk drive order, you won’t regret it!! (For your information, I have compiled a short list of LOAD times for a variety of programs I use regularly. These times are for comparison purposes only…like government MPG figures…but somwhat more accurate!)
S. D. Lemke
Lemke Software Development
Wichita, Kansas
Typical AERCO DISK vs. CASSETTE load times ( time in seconds ) Program AERCO CASSETTE Pixel Print v3.2 8.17 93.76 TASWORD II 7.85 116.78 Vu-File 14.33 200.70 (with printer driver and typical data file) TIMACHINE 26.99 156.92 Pixel Print Data 4.88 111.96
Newer Sinclair User
I was very pleased to recieve the JAN/FEB issue of TDM magazine and see your questionaire on what track you should be taking. For myself, I am interested only in articles concerning T/S equipment from TDM; that is, if I wanted articles about IBM, I would seek out national publications or their user groups which are quite strong as we all know.
As to why I am interested in T/S, I suckered in on the PC8300 (a TS1000 clone), and through the Dallas Timex User Group, changed very quickly to a model TS2068. I am a working engineer (1950 vintage) where in my job I have access to and use daily, a nation wide IBM network system operating five 3090 machines with operating systems of M204, VMCMS, and TSO; these are networked via a high capacity data transfer system to our scientific computer center where we use VAX, CDC, and CRAY mainframes. The present CRAY XMP14 is being replaced in March with an XMP28. These machines will compile a 10,000 line Fortran program in about 1 second. My department software is being moved to the CRAY, and we will use a VAX 8800 as the front end of this system. So for many years I did not want any kind of PC in my home, but after buying a Radio Shack TRS-80 Pocket Computer at a camera fair, and being exposed to BASIC on it…then along came the PC8300. The T/S User Group recommended the TS2068, and when a T/S user went to Atari, I wound up with a TS2068, TS2040 printer, quite a bit of software; and since then I have added two disk drives with the LARKEN operating system, John McMichael‘s Commodore plotter, and lots of software from the SINCUS News Exchange Program.
Tim, we all wish you well in the magazine, and realize that the orphan will never be a roaring success, but the only reason I subscribe to TDM is the fact that it is a good source of T/S information and I do not have to sift through many unrelated articles. I actually would prefer a magazine devoted to only the TS2068, but know this is not practical (and many of the earlier programs for the TS1000/TS1500/ZX81 can be utilized fairly readily if you have an interest.
John D. Austin
McKinney, Texas
Puzzle Of The Month Fan
If King Xerxes of the JAN/FEB “Puzzle of the Month” could afford to have over 40 wives, he obviously could afford a computer. (Probably a Zorba.) We have to ask why he needed the last hint to determine the number of animals brought to him.
From Cedric Bastiaans‘ program, we know there are two possible solutions, one with 46 wives and one with 52 wives. Let’s assume the king had 46 wives. I’m sure an old hacker like Xerxes wrote a program similar to Cedric’s. There would be one difference. Before he received the last hint, he wouldn’t yet know the number of oxen was less than half the total (this was the final hint), but he would know that the total of all the animals was equal to 46. To see what the king’s earlier programs must have looked like, change one line in Cedric’s program. Instead of the AND O (W/2) in line 65, use AND W=46. The rest of the program can stay unchanged. Run the program. You’ll get exactly one answer. If Xerxes had 46 wives, he would have had the answer without asking for the final clue. So we can assume he didn’t have 46 wives, and the solution totalling up to 52 is the only correct one. I hope that Xerxes wasn’t a complete computer nerd who spent all his time on his machine. Can you imagine 52 computer widows?
This is a great puzzle because it requires both computer and human analysis. I came across this puzzle at the perfect time…reading TDM on the way to work! That day, my boss didn’t come in, so I had all day to work on it. Since I’m not sure if my boss or anyone in his family reads this magazine, I’d better sign off as…
Name Withheld
Upon Request
Last Of The Simple Computer?
I have to believe that I am not alone in my resistance to upgrading to a new computer every two years. It is not the cost–I have plenty invested in my ZX81 systems. I just feel that I could spend the next decade or so exploring all the possibilities of the ZX81 with various hardware and software improvements available.
The ZX81 is, I feel, the perfect “base” from which to explore the world of the computer and the Z80 microprocessor. In a recent letter from Fred Nachbaur (Silicon Mountain Computers), Fred sums it up much better than I ever could. Allow me to quote:
“I can’t help but wonder, though, if one day the simple computer won’t reappear. It seems that the whole computer industry is shooting itself in the foot by coming out with fancier computers at lower and lower prices. Already it’s at a point where the best you can hope for with some of the new machines is to become a capable user. Forget about trying to understand it. At least with the ZX81 one stands a chance of learning what makes it go.”
Van S. Vangor
Bethlehem Tool
Island Falls, Maine
Timex/Sinclair–“The Real Thing”
I called a man up just the other day,
“I’d like a power supply,” I had to say.
“For a disk drive on my 2068.”
He replied, “forty dollars.”
I said, “Hey, that’s GREAT!”
But then he went on to ask, “What could it do?”
I sat back and smiled and said, “How about you?”
“Oh, I started with others,”
He said with dismay,
“But look around now, where are they today?”
Too small and too slow and not much real use there.
So they sit in my closet, under the stair.”
“For just a few bucks you clone an XT!”
(Having used them before) I stated, “Oh, gee.”
“Move up to a machine you can DO SOMETHING with,
And you can SAVE all kinds of bucks: IF
You build it yourself, it’ll be QUITE a machine.
With CP/M and MS-DOS, you can have a custom dream!”
“Why thank you,” I said, “I’ll keep it in mind,
And give ya’ a call if I can find the time.”
But Laughing quite loudly as I hung up the phone,
I thought, “I’ve got the REAL THING, who NEEDS a CLONE!”
Clint Cook
Santee, California
ZEUS UTILITY Revisited
In the MAY/JUNE ’87 issue of TDM, we published a short TS2068 utility by Richard Hurd, that converts ZEUS source code files into an ASCII file for either MSCRIPT and TASWORD Two. Evidently, there were some problems with the original listing. Here is the corrected version, including step-by-step instructions.
1) LOAD ZEUS (assembler) CODE
2) Enter this little BASIC listing
5 REM HERE TO ENTER CODES
10 LET T=0
20 FOR F=61431 TO 61624
30 IF T=0 THEN PRINT F;:LET T=6
40 INPUT N
50 POKE F,N:PRINT TAB T;N;
60 LET T=T+4:IF T>=29 THEN PRINT:LET T=0
70 NEXT F
80 STOP
100 REM HERE TO READ CODES
110 LET T=0
120 FOR F=61431 TO 61624
130 IF T=0 THEN PRINT F;:LET T=T+6
140 PRINT TAB T;PEEK F;
150 LET T=T+4:IF T>=29 THEN PRINT:LET T=0
160 NEXT F3) Now enter the list of 194 bytes of code I’ve included. SAVE this along with the names list from ZEUS (415 bytes) as “Z_2_M/T” CODE 61015,610
4) Just add this code to the BASIC listing from the TDM article and you have it.
Z2M/T 61431 33 0 128 17 79 183 61437 35 35 126 254 10 40 61443 41 254 128 48 47 254 61449 0 40 4 18 19 24 61455 238 62 13 18 35 19 61461 126 254 255 32 7 35 61467 126 254 255 40 70 43 61473 62 237 186 32 215 62 61479 255 187 48 59 24 208 61485 35 70 62 32 18 19 61491 16 252 24 199 203 191 61497 14 0 229 33 87 238 61503 185 40 18 245 35 126 61509 254 8 40 6 254 10 61515 40 2 24 244 241 12 61521 35 24 235 126 18 35 61527 126 19 254 8 40 6 61533 254 10 40 2 24 241 61539 225 24 152 235 17 79 61545 183 167 237 82 229 193 61551 201 176 185 112 126 42 61557 114 240 6 64 62 32 61563 119 35 16 252 42 112 61569 240 1 0 0 126 254 61575 13 40 8 254 255 40 61581 31 12 35 24 243 35 61587 229 237 91 114 240 42 61593 112 240 237 176 42 114 61599 240 1 64 0 9 34 61605 114 240 225 34 112 240 61611 24 199 42 114 240 1 61617 48 117 183 237 66 229 61623 193 201
Note: Type-in program listings on this website use ZMAKEBAS notation for graphics characters.