| An Assortment of Sorts | When you must order and retrieve information, you can recall data in minimal time if the data has an orderly placement. In a program to store names and telephone numbers consider how you would locate someone if the data are in random order, e.g., Jones, Smith, Allen, Zimmerman, Travis. | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000, Downloadable, Type-in program |
| Crazybugs and Cyberzone | Crazybugs is a Pac-Man type game, but with enough differences to make to make another enjoyable game. You are in a subterranean maze and are being chased by beetles. As the beetles lay eggs, one at a time, you must go, fetch, and lock up the egg in a flashing box. | Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| Defining Characters | Among the extended capabilities of the TS2068 are its high resolution graphics and user defined graphics characters (UDG). Since the definition of each character requires 64 binary inputs, these entries can be made much more easily if we set up a little more elaborate input routine than the one given in the manual. | Timex/Sinclair 2068, Type-in program |
| Forth | Do any of the following software “dilemmas” seem familiar? Jerry wants to write games programs which perform faster than his Basic versions, but he cannot quite get the hang of calling and using extensive machine code subroutines. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Glitchoidz Report | Version I, Routine A, line 9: Replace inv. Y with quotation marks. Version II, Routine B, line 1: Change LD HL,16566 to LD HL,16564; replace inv. Q with inv. O (letter). Brick Busters (4:1) P. 4, col. 3. Make the following change in the list of numbers: 42,12,64,35,54,135,. . . Tax Shelter Time Bomb (4:1) | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000, Type-in program |
| Go-fer | Now that disk drives are available for the ZX/TS computers (see SYNC 3:6 for my review of the Aerco Disk System), software in disk format is sure to follow. Go-fer is the first we have seen. The tape version of Go-Fer can be directly transferred to disk. | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| In and Out of SYNC | What’s a Brand X doing in SYNC Magazine? With improving technology and intensifying competition in the small computer market, more and more computers are available at prices within a few steps of the Timex/Sinclair units. Our sister publication, Creative Computing, evaluates many of these systems. | Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| Just for Fun | “Just for Fun” shares short programs that illustrate a point, demonstrate a technique, or show something the author has found interesting. If you have some programs that you want to share, send them to: Just for Fun, SYNC, 39 E. Hanover Ave., Morris Plains, NJ 07950. | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000, Downloadable, Type-in program |
| Knight's Tour | The “Knight’s Tour” is a familiar chess puzzle. The object is to move a knight according to chess rules around the board in such a way that each square is visited only once. The puzzle may be solved by using a trial and error process that systematically explores all of the moves until a solution is found. | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000, Timex/Sinclair 2068, Type-in program |
| Letters | I enjoy reading your magazine because of its great insight into the needs of its readers. You do a great job of providing information on the many uses and expansion possibilities of the TS1000, and you have done a marvelous job of giving inspiring suggestions for getting the most out of our simple yet powerful 2K computers. | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| Meteors | You are piloting a spaceship when suddenly appears an onslaught of meteorites which must be avoided at any cost. Your warp system is malfunctioning and can be used, but its duration varies. The situation seems hopeless! Sound challenging? How would you like to try to save the ship on the unexpanded ZX81? | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000, Type-in program |
| Parcle | Machine language routine to clear just part of the screen. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Type-in program |
| Programming Boule | Donald D. Spencer concludes his Game Playing with Basic with a chapter of programming challenges. Among the old favorites he describes is Boule, the casino game popular in Europe and the Caribbean. This article is my response to his challenge. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Type-in program |
| Resources (Sync v4 n2) | Listing of new user groups, books and other resources. | |
| Sync Notes | Mark Fisher leads off our theme section “SYNC at the Keyboard” by revealing the hidden parts of the program line. Then Richard Tracy helps us sort things out, Sharon Aker sets up some arrays, and Edward Beeler shows how to get more into our RAM packs. | |
| The Anatomy of a Program Line | Program listings on the ZX/TS computers are available on command. With either LIST or LLIST, the program in the machine is displayed for you to study or change. But not everything in the program file is displayed! Three elements are censored from the Listings you see. But ignorance is bliss, you may say. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Timex/Sinclair 2068, Downloadable |
| The Array Advantage | An array is just another kind of variable, right? Well, yes and no: an array is another kind of variable, but it is not just another variable. There are arrays to store numbers, there are arrays to hold strings, and there are lots of things you can do with arrays that you cannot do with simple variables. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Type-in program |
| The Circle Game | Of all the problems with machine code programming, there is one that really stands out: it is too simple! Oh, sometimes it can be pretty hard to figure out how to make your program do what you want. But that is because the Z80 microprocessor—the “brain” inside your ZX/TS computer—is really rather simple-minded. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Type-in program |
| The Great RAM Rescue | A WORD OF CAUTION: Any hardware project for your computer must be approached with extreme caution. SYNC cannot be responsible for any problem that may arise from attempting hardware projects. Obviously, any damage to your computer can be costly in time and money. | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| The Intercontroller | The Intercontroller HV bus. $99.95. Intercomputer, Inc., PO Box 90, Prudential Center, Boston, MA 02199. In SYNC (3:4) I reviewed the Votem—a device which converts continuously changing voltages from sensing transducers, such as a temperature probe or photocell, into digital information which the computer can understand. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| The ROMPAK System | Rompak Cartridge System. Cartridge: $16.95 (kit: $11.95); EPROMs: from $9.95. Rompak Inc., Suite 100, 8206 Blackburn Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90048. The Rompak cartridge system is an excellent low cost accessory for any ZX/TS user. The cartridge is a plugin EPROM read board with an expansion port for your RAM pack or peripherals. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| The ZX Pro/File | In SYNC 3:1 James Cripps found Thomas B. Woods’ ZX Data Finder to be “the most economical program dedicated to the task of data handling” that he had seen. While ZX Data-Finder is admittedly an outstanding program, it is surpassed by the ZX Pro/File. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Try This | “Try This” features short programs to show off your computer, impress your family and friends, and tickle your imagination when SYNC arrives at your place. Send your contributions to: Try This, SYNC, 39 E. Hanover Ave., Morris Plains, NJ 07950. TS1000/ZX81 (1K RAM or more) Type in the following lines. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Timex/Sinclair 2068, Type-in program |
| TS2068 Programming Tips | Although the TS2068 users manual does an outstanding job in acquainting the user with the computer, obviously it cannot include everything. Articles in SYNC will help you increase your ability to use this new machine. Let’s begin by looking at a few tips and techniques to add to your repertoire. | Timex/Sinclair 2068, Type-in program |
| Using RAM Packs | Getting the TS1500 and the TS1016 RAM pack to work properly involves a little more than plugging everything together and turning the power on. The following steps are suggested: 1) Plug the RAM pack in, type in: These will clear everything (program lines and variables) out of the system and activate the additional 16K from addresses 32768 to 49151. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Timex/Sinclair 1500 |
| Whither Clive? | This is a somewhat roundabout story, but bear with us. Lotus, that outstanding manufacturer of winning race cars as well as the Lotus Elite and Elan, has been in serious financial difficulties lately. These troubles have been magnified by the death of Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus, and by the DeLorean affair. | |
| ZX/TS ROM and RAM Addressing | As a result of my article “Your Timex-Sinclair Can Become a Remote Terminal” (Sync 2:6) a number of readers raised questions concerning the peculiarities resulting from attempting to use memory-mapped I/O devices mapped to addresses not affected by the use of a RAM pack. | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
