There are 8 programs on this month’s cassette.
Each program is recorded only once on each side of the cassette. The first 4 programs that can be LOADed are 2K in size followed by 4 – 16K programs. The other side of the cassette is a duplicate of the first side.
The minimum configuration to load any of the programs is 2K of memory for the first 4 programs and the LOADER program. None of the programs will load into a 1K ZX-81.
Many of the 2K programs seem to work better with the 16K rampack removed from the TS/1000.
For you new subscribers who aren’t familiar with LOADing procedures for cassette programs, follow the following directions:
A – Make sure that the volume setting of the recorder is set at about 80 % maximum.
B – If you have a Bass and/or Treble control on the recorder, make sure the Treble is at maximum and the Bass is at minimum.
C – To LOAD the first program, type in LOAD “” and press the ENTER key on the computer. Then press the PLAY button of the recorder. The lead time on the DEC/82 cassette is 20 seconds until the first program begins.
The time needed to load the loader program is 29 seconds. When the program is loaded, the screen will first go blank and then a list of this month’s programs will appear. All programs on this month’s cassette are self-running.
Shut off the recorder when the loader program is loaded. Any of the listed programs can now be loaded into the computer by pressing the appropriate number on the keyboard and pressing the PLAY key on the recorder. The loader program loads the program by searching for the name of the program you want and ignoring any of the other programs it may encounter along the way.
If you want to go directly to a program without waiting, we suggest you first find the tape location of the beginning of each of the programs with your recorder counter. This can be done as you go through the programs the first time, noting the tape location on the counter as each one is being loaded.
If you don’t have a counter, approximate the tape position with the fast forward key just before where the program would start and then LOAD the program with the name of the program using the format LOAD “NAME OF PROGRAM”.
Some of our subscribers have told us that they could not get the programs to load by name but they would load with the double quotes. Others have told us that the loader program wouldn’t load certain programs. Most have told us that all the programs could be loaded either way. Every customer’s cassette is made from the same master tape so the programs on everyone’s cassettes are identical. We feel it is most probably a problem of volume adjustment.
PROGRAMS (all self running
program’s names have an inverse
last character /RT = run
time/LT = load time)
1 – “SEASONS GREETINGS” 2K/LT= :22
We hope this program isn’t dated by the time you get it.
2 – “MILEAGE” 2K/LT= :27
This program is designed to provide you with statistical information regarding the mileage of your vehicle. To get this information you need the following:
A – The odometer reading at the time of the fill-up previous to the last fill-up
B – The odometer reading at the time of the last fill-up
C – How many gallons the tank of the vehicle holds
D – How much did it cost for the last fill-up (item B)
E – What was the price per gallon
After this information is entered, the screen will display all of the pertinent data.
3 – “CHAINSAW” LT= :28
A portion of a moving chainsaw blade will be displayed. The numbers and letters on the teeth represent the hexidecimal numbers from 0 to 15. The graphic symbol will shoot a projectile at a 45 degree angle when the (Z) key is depressed. The player is allowed 10 shots.
After the first shot is made, the projectile will hit either 0 or 2 of the teeth. If 2 teeth are hit, the appropriate amount will be added to the score and the top set of teeth will move one tooth position to the left in relation to the bottom set of teeth.
This, of course, means that the next shot can only net one tooth. One of the top teeth must be hit in order to get the sets aligned again.
Try to hit all of the lettered teeth as this will net you the highest score.
4 – “FRENZY” LT= :31
This game does crazy things to your screen. The character and graphics generator of your computer will seem to have gone haywire about 2 thirds of the time as the screen quickly changes from one graphics mode to another.
When the screen clears to the point of being legible, you will notice a squot that moves in a box from right to left a random amount of spaces from its starting point on the left and then returns. You will also notice that the word (NOW) every now and then appears in the upper right hand corner of the box.
The squot can move as many as 10 positions from its starting point. If the word (NOW) appears and you press the (Z) key, your score will increase one point for as many positions the squot is to the right of its starting point.
If the word (NOW) does not appear and you press the (Z) key, you will receive no points.
You are allowed 10 trys. The upper lefthand corner of the box will display after the first try, the letter (A) followed by a number. This number represents the amount of trys you have used.
The lower left corner displays the letter (C) followed by a number. This number represents the amount of spaces that the squot will travel to the right from the starting position on this cycle.
The lower right corner will display the letter (B) followed by a number which represents your current score.
If you press the break key while the screen is in a state of – FRENZY – , you may not be able to return with the CONT key. All attempts to LIST or RUN the program may prove unsuccessful as the screen is filled with trash. The only way to return the screen to normal will be by turning the computer off and then on again.
5 – “INVENTORY” LT= 2:46
The most asked for program by our subscribers. It took me about 20 hours to write this one and I hope you like it. The user is cautioned to not input numbers that exceed the limits of the program’s design:
ITEM - 8 Character max. PART # - 6 Character max. UNIT COST 999.99 max. ITEMS/UNIT 9999 max. UNITS IN STK 9999 max.
To start the program, go to prompt (1). The program will cycle, asking information about each inventory item. The first item is asked to be described by either name or description. Up to 100 inventory items can be entered. If more or less are needed, change the number 100 in line 10 to whatever amount you need within the computer’s memory capability. The higher the number, the slower the program will operate.
** If no information is typed in for the item, the program will return to the menu.
Then the part number can be inputted followed by the unit cost. If the unit is a package that includes more than one component, enter the cost for the whole package. It is important to add the trailing zeros, if the entry is less than 3 characters including the decimal point.
Prompt #2 from the main menu will be the one used the most. A secondary menu is diplayed where the user is given the choice of 4 prompts:
1 – SEE TOTAL INVENTORY
2 – CHANGE INVENTORY
3 – SEE ITEM DATA
4 – EDIT DATA
#1 displays all the inventory items by scrolling the data an item at a time. IT/UN stands for items per unit and IN/S stands for how many in stock.
#2 allows the user to add or subtract to any inventory item.
#3 displays the pertinent information of any item/unit.
#4 allows the user to edit any of the information of a stock unit except the inventory amount, such as the name, stock #, cost or items/unit.
The main menu prompt #3 allows the user to save the file on cassette. The FILE NAME that is asked for will be the name used when you want to retrieve the file at a later time.
The main menu prompt #4 allows the user to clear all the data from the program and start from scratch. A good time to do this would be if one file is complete and saved and another is to be created.
6 – “SPACE DOCKING” LT= 1:19/written by Ken Duda
You are in charge of Robot Ships that are too small to take on enough fuel to get away from the planet’s gravitational pull to make it to their destination.
As a result, they must take on added fuel from satellites launched from a main satellite station in orbit around the planet. You must guide them carefully. If you don’t dock directly under the satellite, your ship will not be able to complete the fueling operation and its orbit will decay and it will be pulled back to the planet and crash.
Each time you succeed in reaching the outermost part of the galaxy, the message (SAVED) will show at the top of the screen and points will be added to your score which is shown at the bottom left of the screen.
The game ends with the messages (SHIPS SAVED = ) and the total point score. 10 ships saved is about average and points are scored on a random basis.
7 – “QUOTE” LT= 1:40
Ever had to estimate how much it would cost to do some work for someone? Ever wonder how a company gives you a price to do work for you such as putting storm & screen windows on your home or work on your car?
The methods for achieving a price quote are similiar to the ones used in this program.
The program starts by prompting you for the JOB NAME. This can be the customer’s name (20 characters max.). Try the program with the sample entry JOHN DOE.
The prompt NUMBER OF INSTALLATIONS appears. Let us say in our example that JOHN DOE had 3 lawns he wanted landscaped that are in a townhouse complex that are all identical in size, so we would enter (3) here.
ARE MATERIAL COSTS TO BE ITEMIZED (Y/N)? In most quotes, the materials are itemized. However, if the same type of materials are used over and over again where only the labor is different, the materials need not be itemized and the answer to this prompt would be (N). For our example, we will answer (Y).
We are shown the prompt ITEM? ENTER the first material item which we shall call SOD.
The prompt COST appears. ENTER 245. You will notice that each item entered is displayed on the screen but numeric amounts will not have the trailing (0)s.
The prompt (QUANTITY) asks you how many sets or packages of SOD are needed. The price of 245.00 represents the cost of SOD for each lawn so the number (1) would be entered.
The following format is displayed:
ITEM COST QUANT EXTEND SOD 245 1 245
The next ITEM to be entered is FERT for fertilizer (8 char. max) which costs 1.98 per bag. The QUANTITY is 27 bags for each lawn. Now the displayed format shows:
ITEM COST QUANT EXTEND FERT 1.98 27 53.46
You will notice that the EXTEND column shows the extended amount for that material item which multiplies the COST times the QUANTITY.
We have no more materials to enter at this point so for the ITEM prompt we just press ENTER.
The total material cost is now displayed. We now will move on and start entering the labor costs. Press ENTER.
Before we continue, it would be a good idea to explain that the labor is divided into two areas, SHOP LABOR and OUTSIDE LABOR. I purposely used and example where we could see both. If one or the other is not used, do not itemize that area and ENTER (0) for the total labor amount in that area when asked.
ENTER (Y) for this prompt.
The prompt ITEM in this mode can be the employee’s name or employee number. ENTER (S. JONES). Let us say that Sam Jones makes 5.00 per hour. ENTER (5) for the COST prompt. Let us say that it takes Sam 7 hours and 15 minutes to cut and prepare the SOD from your sodfarm. This figure must be converted to its decimal equivalent. The QUANTITY prompt is asking for how many hours Sam will work. ENTER (7.25).
Again, the format is displayed. Notice that the (5) in the COST column immediately follows the name (S. JONES). Iw would be a good idea to shorten the ITEM name to a maximum of 7 characters. In this example, the period could have been eliminated.
George Peters is going to load the sod and fertilizer on the trucks. He gets paid 4.50 an hour and it will take him 2 hours and 20 minutes to do it. ENTER the appropriate data for George.
George is the last employee to perform shop labor so for the next item prompt, just press ENTER.
The totals for SHOP LABOR are now displayed.
ON SITE LABOR TO BE ITEMIZED?
ENTER (Y). Sam Smith, an employee of ours, has a specialty of laying the SOD. ENTER his name for the ITEM prompt. He gets 5.00 per hour and it will take him 5 1/2 hours to do the job.
Tom Thumb, another employee of ours, is an expert at fertilizing the lawns and we pay him a wage of 4.25 an hour for his services and it will take him about 2 hours an 15 minutes to complete his work. ENTER the appropriate data.
Since there are no more employees in this area, press ENTER for the ITEM prompt and the totaled data will be displayed. Press ENTER again to move to the next part of the program.
OVERHEAD – (% OF DIR LABOR)
This prompt asks you how much more, percentagewise you want to charge your customer for labor. In other words, do you want to mark your labor up 50%, 100%, 200% or what?
ENTER (50). Now the prompt PROFIT (% OF JOB COST) appears. This prompt asks you – of the total costs incurred so far including the mark-up for labor costs, what would be the percentage you want added to that sub-total for your profit margin?
ENTER (40) and then press (ENTER) to see the job quote.
Analyze the data displayed on the screen. The COST items can be totalled by hand (or you could write a routine – we don’t want to make it too easy for you) and subtracted from the the JOB QUOTE estimate to show your total profit.
8 – “BULLETIN” LT= 2:15 RUN TIME = 10:13
Our Bulletin Board program for this month has an interesting feature which is the capability to stop the message scroll by pressing any key but BREAK while the message is scrolling. The message will stop for about 2 seconds. If the key is kept depressed, the message will scroll 1 character at a time every 2 seconds.
P.S. The 16K rampacks from MEDIA are 46.00 not 44.00.