CompuServe Kits, SCLD’s Highlight November Meeting

The November CATS meeting featured a large and talkative gathering of small computer (a.k.a. Sinclair) enthusiasts.

In the warm-up meeting beginning at noon, John Riley put on a comprehensive demonstration on how to take programs stored on tape cassettes and transfer them to a Sinclair-compatible floppy disk drive. For a working sample he used the CATS membership software developed by former CATS president Ned Beeler. John put it on a floppy disk using the Aerco interface and operating system language. Our treasurer, Ruth Fegley, will now be able to load and use the program with her own 2068 and Aerco disk drive when updating the membership data base.

Treasurer Ruth Fegley had arrived back from her sojourn to St. Croix in time to present a concise report on the group’s financial status. Her message: We are solvent now, but preservation of that status depends mainly on the volume of next January’s membership renewals.

CATS members Mike Warmick and Willie Usher were again present with their TV equipment, and proceeded to capture the whole proceedings in the VHS video format. Everyone in attendance got into the act during the individual introductions preceding the meeting.

A lengthy discussion was held on the impact of escalating printing costs on the newsletter and on the dues structure for 1987. Many options and alternatives were explored.

It was decided to have the executive committee meet in the interim and bring back proposals for adoption at the December meeting.

Tom Bent provided an introduction to using CompuServe with the Sinclair family of computers. He went step-by-step through the log-on process and described some of the goodies to be found once inside the CompuServe system.

Tom had 25 CompuServe introductory kits to distribute, courtesy of David M. Rothman, who is volunteer CompuServe administrator for the Sinclair special interest group. The kits are a form of enticement which demonstrate how easily CompuServe can be accessed and enjoyed.

The 25 kits went quickly, showing the interest of the attendees was active, not passive. Each kit came with about $15 worth of CompuServe browsing time tor approximately one hour). Tom said more kits can be obtained from David Rothman, if desired.

Mark Fisher then had the pleasure of displaying to the group the recently received cache of SCLD chips from far-away Portugal.

Not only did he show the little devils off, he also conducted a workshop on how to install one in a 2068!! He used the magic socket available from Bill Allen at Electronics Plus (North College Park). This is the “AMP” socket selling for $13.50 (not the “AUGATE” socket selling for $18–that’s the wrong one).

Mark carefully went through the sequence of steps involved. He even displayed a 2068 which has successfully undergone the SCLD implant–something which puts him one up on the rest of the world.

More such workshops are planned for the future. There are plans also for producing special video lessons on how to handle the tricky soldering required for this unique exercise.