As a teenager in the mid-1980s, Carl Miles worked for Art Colgate, who intended to the TS2068 as the control computer for a 3-axis milling machine. Art also employed Ray Kingsley. Ray wrote the software and may have helped with interfacing the TS2068 to operate this 3-axis milling machine.
Carl was hired to write a diagnostics program, that would run on cartridge, to test the TS2068 computers Art had picked up from Timex Computer Corp. Carl recalled that Art had several pallets full of TS2068 machines, perhaps several hundred.
Carl first met Ray Kingsley through Art, and they used Ray’s Hot-Z Z80 Assembler/Disassembler software to create the TS2068 diagnostics cartridge. Hot-Z came out first for the ZX81/TS1000, and then later for the TS2068.
Carl saved his work to an A&J MicroDrive for the TS2068, provided by Art. Ray burned the EPROMs for the cartridges. This is why Carl doesn’t have the program backed, just printouts. Carl’s still looking for an actual EPROM with the diagnostics software on it.
During this process, Carl came to really enjoy using Hot-Z for assembly and machine code work. He recommendeds it, especially for a beginner in machine code on the TS2068.
Learn more about Sinware, Ray Kingsley’s company
