CRAGIST User Group Articles

Holds about forty word-processor text files rather than programs. Donald S. Lambert of the CRAGIST user group (Cedar Rapids And Greater Iowa Sinclair Timex) recorded them on this cassette in February 1990 from his disks. Side A holds his cover letter, an article by Richard Matejovic on reading MSDOS text disks, Lambert’s cross-referenced index of articles in his files, and the text of CRAGIST newsletters #1 to #4 from 1989. The rest of side A and all of side B hold the pages of RMG Enterprises’ disk-based catalog and its monthly updates from 1989. The files are saved as TS2068 CODE blocks. The newsletter and index files load at address 46927, as MSCRIPT files, and the RMG pages load at 33280, as Tasword files.

The cassette carries a printed label reading “CRAGIST USER GROUP, C/O Donald S Lambert, 3310 Clover Drive S.W, Cedar Rapids, Ia 52404” and a handwritten “Start #1 tape”. The cover letter is addressed to Paul Holmgren, President of SNUG, and says the material would probably need more than one tape.

Files on the Tape

• 0214ho.Cl: cover letter from Donald S. Lambert to Paul Holmgren, President of SNUG, dated 02 14 1990. It explains that the material is being copied from disk to tape, mentions a Tasword file set up for an A&J printer interface, and covers cheap 43256 RAM chips and surplus EPROMs bought locally. It also promises a file at the end of the tape on running a Tandon 40-track drive with the ZX81 Larken controller, but that file is not on this tape.
• MSDOS.C1: “The Trials and Tribulations of Reading a MSDOS Text File Disk!” by Richard Matejovic. It describes getting an AERCO disk system on a TS1000 to read MSDOS-format text disks, building on a program by Mark Wahl of SINCLINK, with the debugged BASIC listing.
• indexa.Cc, indexd.Ci, indexj.Cl, indexm.Cn, indexo.Cp, indexq.Cz: Lambert’s Index of Hard Copy, a cross-referenced index by subject and author of Sinclair magazine articles, manuals and construction projects in his files. It covers SYNC, CTM (Computer Trader Magazine), Syntax Quarterly, Radio-Electronics, Popular Mechanics and others, in sections A–C, D–I, J–L, M–N, O–P and Q–Z.
• nwl#1p.C1 to nwl#1p.C5: CRAGIST Newsletter #1, January 8th, 1989. Meeting report, then Lambert’s battery backup power supply for the TS1000 using a gel-cell battery, steering diodes and two 7805 regulators, with current-draw figures, a battery run-time test logged on the TS2040 printer, and charging notes. A second, longer two-part version of the same newsletter (nwl#1p.C1, nwl#1p.C2) follows. The end of one part repeats some index entries.
• nwl#2p.C1, nwl#2p.C2: CRAGIST Newsletter, February 12, 1989. Meeting report (a TS2068 with Larken disk interface, 40- and 80-track drives and SnapShot NMI save), then a long article on taking cassettes apart and building a wooden jig to make single-program tapes.
• nwl#3p.C1, nwl#3p.C2: CRAGIST Newsletter March/April 1989 #3. Meeting report (a working ZX80 is shown), testing surplus disk drives, aligning drives and the Larken interface’s stepper trimmer, drive jumper settings, and a meter-based LOAD AID for cassette levels based on articles by Gary Hearn and Frank H. Bouldin in CTM.
• nwl#4p.C1, nwl#4p.C2: CRAGIST Newsletter May/June/July 1989 #4. Local classified ads, notes on disk drive servicing, fixing a faulty RAM board by adding decoupling capacitors, and setting RAMTOP for Larken AUTOBOOT programs.
• @rmg-1: the introduction to RMG Enterprises’ disk-based catalog, from Rod Gowen, explaining the section codes QL, TSH, TSS and GHW.
• @ql-1, @ql-2: RMG catalog pages for the Sinclair QL and QL software, with prices effective February 15, 1989.
• @tss-1 to @tss-5: RMG Timex/Sinclair software pages. They include Executive Workshop titles, the CLONE tape copier, books such as T/S Manuscript, Zerbo Software titles, and Larken disk utilities.
• @tsh-1: RMG Timex/Sinclair hardware, starting with complete Larken disk systems.
• @ghw-1, @ghw-2: RMG general hardware, including printer accessories, Mac-Inker and ribbons, and Vendex, Amstrad and Packard Bell PC systems.
• @cnsn01, @cnsgn0, @cnsgn3: RMG consignment lists of used Timex/Sinclair and QL items for sale.
• @nws1n2, @readm1: RMG Update News for October and the “Welcome” read-me for the October disk issue of RMG Catalog Updates. These carry news on Mountaineer Software, Zebra Systems and WMJ Data Systems, and instructions for reading the pages with Tasword.
• @uql/bk, @uhw010: RMG lists of used QL products and used hardware, including refurbished TS2068s, Memotech add-ons and Byte-Back modems.
• @oct89, @dec129: RMG’s October pre-holiday and December Christmas sale pages.
• @flash1: header only. The recording ends before the data block.