NOTE: NEW MAILING ADDRESS
ALL MAIL FOR SINCUS/SINCUS NEWS TO GO TO:
PAUL HILL, SEC’TY SINCUS
1229 RHODES ROAD
JOHNSON CITY, NEW YORK 13790
ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS, RENEWALS, SWAPS, AND REQUESTS FOR DATA TO BE ADDRESSED ABOVE. OUR OLD ADDRESS TO BE IN EFFECT FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, BUT AS A COST CUTTING MEASURE THE PO BOX WILL NOT BE RENEWED.
AS THE COST OF PRODUCTION OF THE NEWSLETTER GOES UP, AND THE NUMBER OF SWAPS WITH OTHER USER GROUPS INCREASES, WE CONTINUE TO SEEK WAYS AND MEANS OF MAINTAINING OUR LOW SUBSCRIPTION RATE TO YOU. PHOTOCOPYING HAS BECOME TOO COSTLY, AND WE ARE RETURNING TO MEMOGRAPHICS. THE POST OFFICE IS NOW REQUIRING US TO PUT OVERSEAS AND CANADIAN MAIL IN ENVELOPES AND ADDING ON EXTRA POSTAGE. IN ORDER TO KEEP THE CANADIAN MAILINGS COST IN LINE, I WILL KEEP THE OVERSEAS NEWSLETTER TO 5 SHEETS, THE 6TH SHEET, TO BE THE LOCAL MEET NEWS AND OUTSIDE MAILER. WE HAVE NOT GONE “OFFICAL NON PROFIT”, AVOIDING A LOT OF PAPERWORK, AND PULLING OUR OWN WEIGHT AS FAR AS MAILING GOES. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE DOING TO KEEP OVERHEAD DOWN. WE WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR COOPERATION BY LETTING US KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE, OR BY WRITING AN ARTICLE, COMMENTS, OR SENDING IN A PROGRAM TO SHARE. AND BY PAYING DUES ON TIME.
A TAPE IS BEING PREPARED BY SEVERAL MEMBERS TO BE CIRCULATED THRU THE MEMBERSHIP, TO GET IN ON THIS, SEND A TAPE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOMEMADE OR COPIED FROM MODEM OR MAGAZINES TO SINCUS. INCLUDED THE NAME AND SOURCE OF PROGRAM IF NOT YOUR OWN IN REM STATEMENTS. IF YOUR OWN, BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS ON THE CASSETTE, AS AFTER ALL PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN COPIED, THE CLUB PROGRAM, AND YOURS WILL BE RETURNED. TIME OF RETURN AT PRESENT IS UNKNOWN, AND UNTIL A VOLUNTEER STEPS FORWARD…NO COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL PLEASE.
NEW from Novelsoft--Artworx version 1.1 features: *Pull down menus .magnify and reduce .several brushes .spray .auto fill .cut & paste windows .several fonts *fast arc/ellipse .rotate & mirror *zoom *undo *elastic shapes
*new this version for Spectrum and 2068 – $19.95(US) PLUS $3 S&H (PS send a US PO Money order its faster than check)
NEW from Novelsoft-TIMACHINE, a Basic to machine code complier. Written by Cameron Hayne, for the 2068 and Spectrum for $19.95 plus $3 S&H . I will review this program later in this issue, meanwhile get that money order in the mail tonight!
Novelsoft
106 Seventh Street
Toronto, Ontario Canada M8V 3B4
Tele:(416) 259-8682 Compuserv 70416, 1435
NEWS from A+ Computer Response, 69-B Island St. Keene, NH 03431, (603) 357-1800 Telex # 6502946407 Via MCI/WUI:
As of August 15, 1986 prices on QL computer per quantity order:
QTY Price
2-9 $209
10-19 189
20-29 169
30 and up 149 add 4% for using Visa or Mastercard.
NEW----------68000 QL Computer KIT!------------------NEW
Price--------$139.00-----write or call for quantity prices!
The Sinclair 68000 QL Kit includes:
Technical manual
OL Instruction manual
Monitor adapter cable
Serial cable
Complete Sinclair QL Kit–2 microdrives, case, motherboard and keyboard
Microdrive cartridges
Power supply
Here it is folks!! What you been waiting for, it is now cheaper than the ZX80 or ZX81 when they first came out, can you believe these prices? If only cars would get cheaper as they got better like SINCLAIR computers did and still do.
NEWS, latest from Ian Robertson,-wanta CDC 5.25 full size 96 tpi, 80 track DSQD disk drive ? Get one for $39.95 or two for $70, plus 10% for shipping, from Sentral Sales Co., 314 N. Central Ave., Duluth MN 55807-worth it if your interface can handle quad drives(800K). NOTE: Tasword 2/3 Utility ” Qualitas”, sold by Seven Stars Pub( U.K.) only works with Epson RX80 and compatiables with quad-density graphics. Will not work with the humble MT-80s. For 2068 fans, “Foote Print Centronics Interface” from Foote Software, PO Box 14655, Gainsville, FL 32604-4655. Cost $45.00, cable and software inc (Zebra Zprint -80) This plugs into the cartridge port and has an EPROM socket on board. I use Doug Dewey’s “Spectrum Emulator” 16K EPR
NEW from Electret Scientific Company, PO BOX 4132, Star City, West Virginia 26505
-----MUSICIAN ROYAL-------- -1500 notes per composition -9 Octaves -notes values: from 5 tied whole notes to 1/128 -tempo: continous and practically unlimited -tempo changes per composition: 9 -key signatures: automatic from 7 flats to 7 sharps -EDIT modes for changes -SAVE options -Play mode options -duplication mode -"Music Box" program -"Music Album" program -"Demo Album" program Order Musician Royal from Electret Scientific at $20 postpaid.
Until 12/86 YOU CAN ORDER THE DEMO FOR $3, CREDIT TOWARDS FUTURE PURCHASE of Musician Royal.
NEWS from Sync Times, the newsletter of North East Flordia Users Group, 1707 King Street, Jacksonville, FL 32204 in the July 1986 issue mentioned that TIME DESIGNS magazine brought out SUM of Gainesville Florida. SUM was a very good buy for the buck. It was $12/year for 12 issues, and was becoming a very decent source of info for the TS user. TIME DESIGNS will take over the subscribers to SUM, and will hopefully become bigger and better. I mailed in my subscription this month, how about you too! TIME DESIGNS,29722 Hult Rd, Colton, OR 97017, only $15 a year. And the Sync Times has devoted much of its issue to the modem, and supporting programs for the modem and the printer.
NEWS from Timelinez, PO Box 1312, Pacifica CA 94044 has some data via the TAS BAM Users’ Group, PO Box 644, Safety Habor FL 33572- the people at TAS BAM have with Tom Wood’s blessing modified PRO- FILE to operate on the Rotronics Wafa Drive system. If interested send a request for data with a SASE.
NEWS from Atlanta TS Users Group, c/o Bret Lanius, 1049 N. Carter Rd., Decatur GA 30030 writes:
“Western Union has an on-line service that lets you send Telegrams, cablegrams, Telex, and electronic mail. If you order from England using cable or telex, you can send your credit card number. You can make arrangements with WU to wire money.
Costs $25/year, a mailgram costs $3, an electronic letter is .35, telegrams are .05 @ word and $2.75, call 1-800-527-5184
From the gotta have dept. T shirts and sweatshirts with user friendly and some, well…ya gotta see ’em. Write to:
Last Word, PO BOX 6221
Keene, NH 03431
$10 for T’s and $19 per sweatshirt, plus $1.50 S&H
The T/S Connection Service Department, Carver Technologies, Watterson Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45227 handles repairs on your TS equipment. $10-15 on the 81, 1000, 1500, 2040 and $35-40 on the TS2068. This is for OUT of warranty service! In warranty service send to TIMEX Product Service Center, Building 19, Adams Field, Little Rock, Ark. 72203. This info dated 6-10-86.
Other products:
Noteworthy: From Batter Boy Productions-the ultimate in music programs-$19.95 + 2.50 S&H
Loader V from Curt Kasby-addon to Mterm 2 up load from Tasword 2—$9.95 + 2.50 S&H lots more write for product list
NEW- C O L O S S U S – a low res graphics, scrolling banner program. By Stan Lemke, 2144 White Oak, Wichita, KS 67207. Send $19.95 ppd. Four fonts or design your own, use 2040 or 80 col printer. Write for data or order one today!
NEWS,NEW,VIEWS & REVIEWS From Ian Robertson’s SincBits column from the Toronto TS Users Group—-
“…the first AMSTRAD Spectrum, to be called the Spectrum Plus Two, scheduled for an autumn release. It will have a built in cassette recorder and possibly a proper keyboard.
…”M/Drive Doctor 3.0″, from Pipeq Systems, 151 Millbridge Rd., Dollos Valley Way, Barnet, Herts, UK. It has 13 commands which enhance your m/d computing pleasure. This is a 9.5 out of 10 product. Another such (highly rated) product is “Multi face 1”, from Romantic Robot, which not only saves “any” program at the push of a button, but also allows you to goto basic and add pokes, revise, etc. It does all as claimed and is compatiable with the BETA and Kempston DDI’s….TASPRO when merged with Tasword II it allows your 80 col. printer to print out text with identical spacing between words. From Seven Stars Publishing, 34 Squirrel Rise, Marlow, Bucks SL7 3PN UK, 8#, airmail inc.
…If you are thinking of a Kempston Joystick for your 2068, order one with a 46 pin connector NOT the 56 pin connector. Cheetah and Date both have both models for sale. If you end up with a 56 pin connector, order a Kempston Compatiable IF form John Oliger, Zebra Systems, or Russell Ekectronics.
…ZX81/TS1000 hard-software available from Fred Nachbar, Silicon Mountain Computers, C-12, Mtn. Stn. Group Box, Nelson BC V1L 5P1, Canada write for catalog, and include a large SASE.
…It appears that FIREBIRD will NOT be using Lenslok again, after the poor reception it received when used with their program “ELITE”. Several comments concerning difficulty of use are appearing in many UK mags.
…Thanks Ian. Sorry to hear you damaged your Spectrum +, zapped your JLO video upgrade with static electricity. Apparently Timex, Little Rock works only on IN warranty units, see TS Connections, Cincinnati Oh. Note to readers-about 99% of Ian’s reviews are on his purchases, so he is telling not only of the product performance, but also of service by the seller, and the best way to put two items together.
REVIEWS: T I M A C H I N E——–by Cameron Hayne.
This is a preliminary review, as I have had about six hours of introduction to this program. It compiles basic programming into machine code. The tape comes with a 52 page manual. The tape is two sided, one for the TS2068 and the other for the Spectrum. Reading thru the manual for the first time, little made much sense to me. I program fast and dirty in basic, and machine code is still an engima to me. At first the REAL an INT and POSINT started to turn me off. But what the hay, I spent the first 20 minutes, trying to load the Spectrum side
News, New, Views, and Reviews Con’t________________________
into my 2068. Not succeeding, I tried the other side. It loaded, and right off, it asks,” Wanta copy??” Take my advise sir, make the copy, and now. I waited. I shouldnt ta. The second session with Timachine and the blinken thing wont load, until the forth try, THEN I make the backups. So far the backups work fine thank you, I make at least 2, and use them both, saving the orginial. The tutorial with the six examples on the cassette help with the mechanics of getting the compiler to work. And I had a basic program, on Fractorals I copied outa the Cincinnati TSUG newsletter, it loaded, made a single change to the program, and saved it. I loaded the new mc program and VOILA-fast, less time to LOAD, and FAST. The BASIC version drew a 3 dimensional landscape in the highest resolution in about 1/2 hour, about 4 minutes with the compiled version.
The manual is well written, covers about one main topic per page, well layed out and logical. The more you know about mc the better off you are using this, a straight game player may be lost, more so than one with a little programming background.
It will take me some time to get the hang of it, the compiler, while fast, has to work around a lot of basic programming that I have spent time learning. Using logic in GOTO’s like, this:
10 GOTO (200 AND a$="2")+(300 AND a$="3")This has to be change to:
10 IF a$="2" THEN GOTO 200
15 IF a$="3" THEN GOTO 300The manual tells you how to avoid the problems, but doesnt quite paint a complete picture. The author probably knows this, but a twit like me gotta learn the hard way. Little things like a mc program needs a basic loader program, and one to run the mc, these can be one program. Also if you save the loader with a LINE 1, it will auto run and then LOAD the mc and RUN it or whatever you want.
Some basic commands are not in the compilers bag like LOAD and SAVE and a few others, so the BASIC is used, and the finished program hops back and forth from mc to basic. The numbers, REAL and INT and POSINT are so far not a problem, but until I figure out the meaning of all this, I will probably avoid using numbers-ha.
This is a difficult program to rate-no competition to compare to, that I own. The manual contains few errors, goes to length on several points which clear up many functions, but just short on some like I already mentioned on the LOADER. With use the manual becomes better, or maybe I read it better. I do see much editting of BASIC programs BEFORE putting it to the compiler. I crammed a 22K program in, and it crunched it thru pass one, then erase the basic and then find GOTOs with no line number matching. The compiler makes two passes, quite fast, puts addresses on the screen, and if it runs into problems, tells you what the problem and what line. But in the case of a big basic program, it will need to erase the BASIC after the first pass to make room. Hence most if not all problems should be editted out prior to the compiling session.
After about six hours I feel satisfied I got what I paid for- $19.95 (US) plus $3 S&H. I mailed a Postal Money order on the advise of Ian Robertson,(it clears faster than a personel check) and got the cassette in less than 10 days. I ordered from NovelSoft, 106 Seventh St. Toronto, Ont, Canada M8V 3B4. After a few weeks I’ll write a final assessment of TIMACHINE. I recommend it already, but depending on your computer smarts, it will take an investment of time to learn how to use this to its best advantage.
by Paul Hill, SINCUS——————-
Thanks to the following for their help and contributions on this newsletter edition; Clyde Tackley, Wes Brzozowski, Scott Eddy, John Colonna, Dave Schoenwetter, Pheonix Pete, Bill Pierson, and Ian Robertson.—Paul Hill, Editor, SINCUS NEWS
Renewals:Thanks to George Penney, Gary Ennis, Owego, NY; Edward Tribe, Deposit, NY; Charles Koeth, Endwell, NY; Scott Eddy, Endicott, NY; Stanley Livingston, Johnson City, NY; Carl Morris, Kirkwood, NY; William Tilley, Hal Sohn, Vestal, NY; Don Lamen, Windsor, NY; Hubert Kessel, John Colonna, Binghamton, NY; Bill Pierson, Germany;John Livingston, Port Washington, NY; Ian Robertson, Islington, Ontario;
Hello and welcome to Richard Hurd, Warrenton OR, and Stan Hooper, Bell CA.