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MAGAZINE

FOR ALL TIMEX AND SINCLAIR COMPUTERS

TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE CO. 29722 Hult Rd.e Colton, Oregon 97017

(503) 824-2658

Editor: Tim Woods Assistant Editor: Stephanie Woods Editorial Assistant/Production: D.L. Woods

Photography:

(unless otherwise noted): Thomas Judd Printing by; Toad’l Litho Printing and Comp., Oregon City, Oregon 97045

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $15 a year for six issues (US funds only). No extra charge to Canadian subscribers. All other countries please write for information on air mail rates.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: Customer satisfaction is our goal. For subscription service problems please write or call TIME DESIGNS.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Write or call to prevent delay of sevice,

Reproduction of this magazine in whole or in part by any means without written permission is prohibited by law |

“NOTICE: Contributors to TIME DESIGNS are independent of the TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE CO., and opinions ey- pressed in the contents of the magazine are not necessarily hose of the management or its advertisers. Time Designs Magazine Co. willnotbe held lable for any damage or conse- quences resulting from instructions, assertions of fact, review of products or companies provided in the magazine's content,”

COMMENTS by the editor

Welcome to the “Serious” Side

A recent comment by Amstrad director, Alan Sugar, sort of “ruffled my feathers" a bit...and I'd be curious to get your reaction as well. To paraphrase, he stated that Sinclair computers were very games orientated, and that his own Amstrad models were for more “serious” applications. If you've been a Sinclair "addict" for a few years, as I have been, you might not have swallowed that line,

Have you also heard what they have planned for this coming fall? Amstrad has designed a games cartridge player based on Spectrum 780 technology, but no keyboard or programming ability, and will be sold as a Sinclair product. I also understand that Activision (remember the cartridges for the Atari 2600, that ended up selling for $5 each in shopping malls?), will be jumping on the band wagon,

It s just sad to see our powerful little computers being panned as merely game playing devices, when there 1s $0 much more potential to be explored.

There does appear to be a striking difference be- tween computing interests here and abroad, Games do make up about 902 of software sales in Great Britain, and if you've glanced through the top selling U.K. Sinclair magazines, you would understand where Mr. Sugar is coming from, About every other page has a full color advertisement for some new "mega hit".

Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy computer games very much. I just slapped down $48 hard-earned dollars for some more Spectrum games. The animation and graphics on some of them are extremely brilliant and a real treat to watch. Time Designs accepts and will print game listings of all types,

Over the past few years, our community of Sinclair users have struggled along with very little “outside” support, We have banded together, and have figured out ways of doing things that no one would have imagined possible with such “low-end” microcomputers. We have Squeezed out every little bit of value that we could, There are now full-blown CP/M options available and with the appropriate interface, virtually any type of ex- ternal peripheral can be added. Most of us continue to learn as much as we can from the examples that our fellow computerists have to offer,

Mr. Sugar...welcome to the "serious" side,

“Tim Goods

‘he editor”

Renew Your Subscription Today!

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A word processor is to a computer user whal a typewriter is to a typist, except that the former has more advaniages than the latter. 2X-Text can operate in 16-64K RAM providing from 1300 to 6500 words per document. It features 6 ditferent options: write, read, adit, print, save and clear text. Text is written on a per-line basis with quick speed and with horizontal back-space and delete capabilities being available. You can also access the editor directly from write mode and vice-versa Text can be proof-read on a per-line basis allowing for anough time to determine if any editing is needed. The text editor allows a line of text to be deleted. inserted, replaced and listad for editing. You may also change a word Of expression within a line, slop or start text while it i8 scrolling up the screen, bagin reading text from the first line of the file, re- enter write mode from the editor, return to the main-menu of create a window so that you can read-adil two files simultaneously, The print option takes text displayed in 30-column format on the screen and outputs to either the £X%/TS printer. (With Memotech's Centronics Parallel interface 80-column and lower/ higher - case output is possible.) Filas may be saved on tape cassette with the use of one singlé command, or by (he same token they can be erased from memory / storage so thal the full capacity of the program can ba used for other purposes such as composing letters, reports, articlas, memos, standard forms, instructions, ads, graphs, telephone directory, lists of customers, members, friends...etc. Also copies of files are always less expensive and easier io run than using a photocopier. Other advantages are savings in time, paper, ink, correcting mistakes and adding afierthoughts more efficiently than doing them (through aither handwriting of using a typewriter.

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An electronic spreadsheet calculator is the fundamental basic tool for summarising, reporting and analyzing in matrix form any accounting, mathematical or scientific manipulation of num- bers. 2X-Calc operates in 32-644 RAM and affords a maximum of 3960 characters / spreadsheet. The entire matrix consists of 15 columns (letters A-O) and 30 rows (numbers 1-30) with 8 characters cell. Unlike other popular ESCs, 7-Cale uses in calculations and within cells all 14 mathfunctions on the 2X-81/TS1000. lt offers a unique “SUM function that totals one or more rows columns simultaneously. Parenthasis can be used within equations. There is no fixed limit on how many equations may be entered. Formulas may be stored in all 420 cells of the spreadsheal. The display affords 15 rows/colums. Loading of data into more than one cell can occur across/down one of more row/ column simultaneously, With vertical windowing you can arrange a set of col- UMINS inany order, or practice using fixed -variable- alignment display formats. The menu offers 6 options: enter / erase, move, calculate, print, save and clear the spreadsheet. Enter/erase allows the entering, deletion or data alignment within a cell through the use of a mobile cursor. With the move oplion you May move around the entire sreadsheet to access any row, column or call, The calculate option allows you to enter labels, values or formulas into a ceéll or write and enter equations that will act uponthe data already within the spreadsheet. You can also enter bar graphs into a callintts option. Absolute /relativereplica- tion, down / across a column/ row, is alsoallowed by this option. Also this option allows the auto- matic calculation of the entire spreadsheet with one singla command. Printallows youlo oulputto either the 2%//TS printer the entire spreadsheet by column-sets and row-pages through use of the COPY command. The entire spreadsheet may be Saved on cassette tape or you may clear alldata from it or erase the program from RAM antirely The most salient advantage provided by anESC over specifically vertical applications software is thal an ESC provides a reusable framework with which you can compose any specific financial model rather than just belimitedto only one stati- cally fixed format for storing, displaying and manipulating numerical data

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ZX-CALENDAR

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Time management ig an important aspect of any serious Business and personal agenda. Planning how to spend our time leaves us better prepared before and while we are spending it and we remain better organized alter we finish spending it. ZX-Calendar operates in 16-64K RAM affording 25 appointments in 16K, 100 in 32K of 180 in 48K and 64K. Each appointment record holds a maximum of 220 characters. The main menu includes enter, search/check/sor, change, save, clear and print any and all appointments made on a specific date or with any party. Output to either the ZX/TS printer is permissible. This program will permit you to ramember to do something or to be somewhere important by cataloging your answers to six questions thal you must account for in order not to waste time when it is scarce: when, with whom, al what time, for how long, where and what are you going to discuss and conclude when you get together with someone else? The program lets you permanently originate, record, classify, search, sort, Calculate, modify, summarize, Obtain a written report and store your answers to the preceding questions 50 that you will not forget what you decide to do with your lime, This program identifies your time according to when you are going to spend it and with whom you are going to share it. Through these forms of labeling appointments you are able to verify or modify how your ime is budgeted without wasting ink, paper or more time trying to remember what you said to yourself or what someone else said to you or where you placed certain written messages thal you now can't find. With this program you will know where you can find éxactly what you needto know about where you want to and have to be, or where you have been, belore you get and after you got there. Thus, ZX- Calendar will let you plan your time so thal you will never have to worry about what is ahead or what came betore, for you will always know, Dy using it, to never be caught astray by any time-trame.

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"I have started a Users Group in the Area. I am having trouble locating users. The name of our Group is: Harrisburg Area Timex Sinclair Users Group. H.A.T.S. meets on the third Wednesday each month. I started the group with a few names I received from Russell Electronics. I originally visited the users group in State College, Pennsylvania, but that is too far to drive."

Harrisburg

Sincerely, Harrisburg Area TS Users Group c/o Dave Bennett 329 Walton St. (Rear) Lemoyne, PA 17043

Editon: Hope that painting your addness here wilf baring in some mone members fon your group. I might add that we wilt print the address of any group that sends in the ingormation,

To the editor and the readers,

“I want to introduce myself to you, My name is Charles E. Goyette. I live in the province of Quebec (Canada) where French is the spoken language. That is the reason why my way to write is so strange; I am not used to English.

I liked Time Designs so much that I decided to give my programs to the readers. CAVERN, the program you have seen in the last edition (May/June '86), was not, 1 admit, an excellent program. I had a few "bugs" and it was slow too. But in the month of May, I programmed the game SKI, which is listed elsewhere in this magazine. It is, I think, a pleasant game which has speed, and fea- tures good improvements compared to CAVERN. I will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed programming it.

I must Say on the other hand, that we have lost one brilliant programmer for the Timex computers...John Coffey [Editor's note: he is programming for the Atari ST line of computers now]. I imagine that it took him over 300 hours of work to create DIAMOND MIKE II, a game that all of us should have bought...there is always someone "crying" because there is no software for the Timex computers...here is a guy who is just doing that: software! But John, I wish you good Tuck in all your enterprises. And to you the readers, it's not too late to buy DIAMOND MIKE II. But don't wait..."

Charles —&. Goyette Drummondville, Quebec Canada

Editon: Charles, I neaffy enjoyed playing SKI the other naght--<1t's addictive and really gave the «favor of down hill (A€pine) skiing (a favonite past-time during the winter months here in the moathwest). One of our readers nequested an expfanation on how to program the fitthe "spaceship" «igure in the CAVERN £iating [and probabfy the figures in SKI as well). Maybe you coud enlighten us with a programming tip fon the next isaue?

I had a chance to speak baiegfy with John Coffey at the T/S Computengest in Cincinnati. Afthough he praised the Atari ST's, he mentioned how easy it was to get good hedults faom hig Taimex/Simefadca. T have a “hunch” that we might be heaning from him again. Afso note that Diamond Make IT] <4 avaifabfe jnom IRC Software, WMI Data Systems, RMG Enteraparses, and other deafers ad welf,

hope you

inh TT I Eas

‘I read with some interest, in the March/April ‘86 issue of Time Designs, The problems James F. Brezina had with the fact that the function INT (SQ(675)) equaled 25. He felt there was something wrong with his 2068, and your reply stated that your 2068 did the same thing, and the “flaw was in the ROM. In actuality there is no flaw. All computers use some sort of "successive approx- imation” to evaluate functions such as the square root. It carries the approximation to the point that success- ive answers are, to the accuracy of the computer, equal. If you will ask the 2068 to PRINT 26-SQ(676), you will find the answer is something like 7.45E-9. Since the computer 1s accurate to 8 figures, this small residual is treated as zero. That is, it is treated as zero by the computer but not by the INT function which truncates to the next lower whole number.

This is not a problem unique to the 2068 I have worked on very large computers, and had essentially the same problem. The lesson to be learned is that branch points should be tested before running a program. There are a number of ways to circumvent the problem. Mr. Brezina used one in changing the store number to 687, A second is to add .5 to the number for which the integer value is desired. This assures the number is rounded, and not truncated. A third method is to provide a range for the branch value. For example, if the branch test is for some function to equal 0, then the instruction Should be for the absolute value of the function to be less than some small number such as .0001.

I hope this information will aid others who are writing programs to avoid a pitfall that took me over a week to discover the first time I ran across it. And re- assure 2068 users that Mr. Brerina’s problem does not indicate a flaw in their machine,

Very truly yours, Vance J. Carpenter Fairport, NY

Editon: Perhaps "sfaw" was a poor choice of words... thanks for setting the record straight, and sharing your tips on corhecting 2068 mathematical routines--a subject that 16 badegly discussed in the users manual.

“As an additional bit of trivia on Richard Hurd's keyboard article, try a coating of clear fingernail polish to the keys. This will stop the wear-out of the letters. I have tried several brands and have found that Max Factor #13 Clear is the best. It leaves a clear transparent coating. I have two 2068's...the first I wore the letters off the keys in nothing flat. The second one [ coated, and it is still going strong after a years hard use. E. Arthur Brown has key legends with sticky backing for $1.50 a set. I got one and they seem to be real nice."

P.S. Amen to Dunnington's "All Caps Please", I am an old duffer with trifocals.

Dudly S. Rea Priest River, Idaho

Editon: Mn, Rea aféo enclosed a cineudt diagram for adding automatic two-key entry from a one-key cfoaure, fo anawen a question pesed in Richard Hunrd's external keyboard artecfe (see the May/June issue). Ran out of 4pace, but we'fl print it in the next dasue,

Sinclair Micro Update

Sir Clive’s Spectrum 128 will now go the way the “rubber-keyed" Spectrum's went..."out the door" and priced to sell. The Spectrum 128 must make room for the new SPECTRUM PLUS TWO, which Amstrad has already put into production for the upcoming Christmas season. The new Spectrum will be a repackaged 128, with two genuine joystick ports and a cassette tape recorder built-in,

Industry watchers have commented on the treatment that Amstrad 715 giving the Sinclair line. One particular expert remarked, The Spectrum is a full fledged Amstrad now... It is true, that the similarities between the new Spectrum Plus Two and the Amstrad CPC 464 are re- markable,

WH Smith's and Dixons (large retail chains} have placed the Spectrum 128 on sale at around £139, and usually packaged with game software or an inexpensive dot matrix printer. The Spectrum Plus goes for about £109 with “extras”, and the British OL is priced at £200 and includes a printer.

In further developments, Sir Clive Sinclair will goa ahead and develop the long-awaited portable PANDORA on his own, with a yet un-named financer. Amstrad has ex- pressed no interest in the computer, as it would most likely compete with existing Amstrad models. The Pandora has been announced as using Flat Screen Television tech- nology, but Sir Clive has had a change of mind lately, and is looking at liquid-crystal monitors.

Just before the Sinclair "break-up", another com- puter had been on the drawing board, code-named LOKI, and nick-named the “Super Spectrum". It was rumored to

Meet the QL Clones

use custom display chips in order to function much like Commodore's expensive Amiga, and have 256K on board RAM, It is not known at this time, if Amstrad will use the Loki technology, of if Sir Clive will market it himself.

a a a, : og : ee a; =

Above: The Amstrad CPC 464, step father of the Spectrum Plus Two. Right: Sir Clive Sinclair--new micros In the works?

Support for QL Continues

The QL will continue on aS a professional small- systems computer, due to three possible "clone" units slated for production soon. The first to be announced is the CST (a disc manufacturer) and CEidersoft (software company, best known for “ICE") QL based machine calied “THOR”. It includestwo units. One housing the QbDdOS,

Efdersoft/CST'"s "THOR"

3.5 inch floppy drives, 640K RAM, all Input/Qutput ports and built-in ICE (of course), while the other unit will be a separate IBM-style keyboard attached to the main Thor unit via a telephone cable. Many options are to be planned such as a 68070 processor board, and a 70 mega byte hard disk. The basic model will start at around £550,

Another Ql-based microcomputer is being developed by OD0S author Tony Tebby, and called the "QLT". He wit) be developing and manufacturing the machine with another company, who will Rave @gual shares in the investment.

A third QL is rumored to be in the works by an wun-

hamed American company, who will have the computers manutactured by original QL factories, Thorn tn the U.K and Samsung in Talwan, The manufactuing rights were being negotiated between the American investors ani AMStrad aS we went to pres

in a eri t t of Q t hat

Super ZX81 Support from Scotland

ZX-81 and T/S1000 Users--even though Software Farm (the short-lived 2X software company and support group) of Great Britain has “bought the farm" (as a manner of speaking), there is an excellent source of information and support that you might not be aware of [and just when you thought that the computer world had ignored you for good),

Nick Godwin of Berwickshire, Scotland, has pro- grammed a very extensive “ZX81 EXTENDED BASIC", that is reported to rival the Spectrum. ZXEB is supplied on tape complete with a ten page users manual. The Extended Basic utility contains 44 additional instructions, in- cluding special graphics commands such as FLASH, and

machine code routines such as CALL, which permits any user-specified code routine to be called directly from Basic (whether in ROM or RAM). The price of 7XEB is £10.

Also available is an outstanding bi-monthly news- letter called "7X Broadsheet". It is simply packed with programs and programming tips. ZX Broadsheet has been around for about five years now, with the latest issue running ten pages. A sample issue is priced at £1.50,

When corresponding with Nick Godwin, be sure to include a S.A.S.E. (with the proper over-seas return postage). Send inquiries to: Nick Godwin, 4 Hurkur Crescent, Eyemouth, Berkwickshire, Scotland, TD14 Sap.

TIME DESIGNS Acquires SUM

Time Designs Magazine Company has acquired SUM Magazine of Gainesville, Florida. SUM (The Sinclair; Timex Users Magazine) has been published for two years, but was previously the newsletter of the T/S Users Group In Gainesville (founded in September 1982). The talents of Joe Williamson, the editor, and Richard Cravy, the publisher, produced a very attractive Sinclair magazine/ newsletter, that was mailed on pretty much a monthly basis, and for the most part, was published on time (an unusual occurance in our particular industry),

Time Designs has decided to absorb SUM into TOM, instead of publishing two separate magazines. As a result, Time Designs Magazine will be physically larger, and will have the largest circulation of any related magazine in the United States. All previous subscribers

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR OF SUM MAGAZINE

We at SUM Magazine would like to thank all] of you for the support you have shown over the past years. The activity in the Sinclair/Timex market seems to be ever growing, and it is exciting to see so many of you sticking with what many people con- sidered to be a "dead" computer. This tells you something about the "power" of our computers that others just don't see!

Richard and I have found that you can't take the work that goes into this magazine lightly. What used to be just a simple part-time job has grown into one that requires full time attention. In the meantime, both Richard and I have taken on more and more responsibility in our full-time jobs and are finding it more and more difficult to find the time it takes to bring you the quality magazine that you have come to expect.

With this in mind, we have worked out an agree- ment with Time Designs Magazine, where we will merge with them to bring you the largest and most compre- hensive magazine in the U.S. Sinclair/Timex market. We, along with the staff of TDM, will continue to bring you the quality reading you have come to expect. The July issue will be the last issue put out by SUM Magazine,

to SUM will receive Time Designs, to fulfill their present subscriptions. This will be conducted on a bi- monthly basis as opposed to the monthly format of SUM, All subscribers who received both Magazines will have their subscription to Time Designs extended accordingly. We welcome all SUM subscribers, and would like to mention that we are very committed to publishing a quality magazine for Sinclair enthusiasts. All comments, questions, or subscription service problems can be forwarded to us at--TDM, 29722 Hult Rd., Colton, OR 97017. We would also like to wish Joe Williamson and Richard Cravy the best of Juck! Although SUM readers can be assured that they have promised to contribute an article now and then. Be sure to read the following

Jetter from Joe. --Tim Woods

Time Designs Magazine will cover all subscrip- tions on through to their expiration date. Those who have a subscription to both SUM and TOM will have their subscription extended by the amount of time they have left with SUM. So you will continue to have uninterrupted service of the best resource for your computer around,

Time Designs Magazine is dedicated to the sinclair/Timex market with coverage on all Sinclair/ Timex computers and they are continually expanding. They have top notch writers like Wes Brzozowski, Bob

Orrfelt, and Michael Carver and publishing is their only business, Tim Woods, the editor, along with his wife,

stephanie, the assistant editor, are looking forward to bringing you the best in news, articles, programs and projects available,

Richard and I are sorry that we had to come to this decision, but we both feel that it is the best for everyone involved and we hope that you will understand and support our endeavor to serve you best.

Thank you, Joe Williamson Richard Cravy

P.5. Congratulations to Tim and Stephanie on the birth of their son, Timothy Dean Woods, born on June 10th at a healthy eight pounds!

Product/Dealer News

Gulf Micro Electronics, 1317 Stratford Ave., Panama City, FL 32404, has available a comprehensive software package on either cassette or special expanded version on disc for Aerco FD-68 users. Entitled SMART TEXT TS- 2068, the author, Bill Jones, refers to the package as “Administrative Software". There are four operating pro- grams, including a Data Base, a Word Processor, a Mail- ing List Manager, and a special Printer Patch program. Disc version comes with an automatic, self-adapting version of Printer Patch, and a Program Tutor file. Both versions come with full documentation. Price $34.00 ppd. When requesting information, ask about new versions for the Oliger Disk System and Zebra's 05-64 Cartridge.

Speaking of Aerco's popular disc system, there is a specialty user group catering to this system and a news- letter which is publsihed quarterly. Cost for a one year

subscription is $15. For information, write to: David Hill, 1159 S&S, Shore Dr. #12, Holland, MI 49423.

You might also consider subscribing to a cassette- based magazine for the T/S 2068 called BYTE POWER. Each

tape has programs ranging from Arcade games to Business programs. There are also reviews and programming tips. One tape (sample issue) is $5.50. Six issues, $29.99, and 12 issues for $49.99. Send check or money order to:

Byte Power, 1748 Meadowview Ave., Pickering, Ontario, Canada LIV 368. _ Sprite graphics, the key to successful game pro-

gramming 1s an area that hasn't been addressed too often for the 2068. Now two programmers (from separate states) have collaborated on a new software development package called SPRITES 2068. It contains several machine code utilities, demos, and a 34 page manual. Priced now at $19 ppd. Send check or money order and inquiries to either: Vern Tidwell, 1303 Whitehead St., Key West, FL 33040, or Ron Ruegag, 37529 Perkins Road, Prairieville, LA 7O769,

Beaver Computer Products, 999 Munroe Ave, Winnipea, Manitoba, Canada R2k 1J4, the company that features "extended video mode" software for the T/S 2068, has some new titles. "Beaver Writer" is touted as the first 80 column word processor for the 2068, and “Character Font Generator” lets you add character (pun intended) to

programs and text. Prices: Beaver Writer, $25 (U.5.), Character Font Generator, $15 (U.5.). A catalog which includes a demo tape is available for $1.50 (U.S.).

Some very exciting software has been developed by another Canadian company called Novelsoft (106 Seventh Street, Toronto, Ontario, Camada MBY 3B4). Some of you may be familiar with David C. Ridge, who has had his ARTWORX marketed in Great Britain for the Spectrum, and is currently the Senior Programmer for Novelsoft. Now there is an improved version of his popular graphics package for the T/S 2068 called ARTWORX version 1.1. It is priced at $19.95 (U.S.) + $3 postage. Another program being offered for the 2068, and should sell quite well here in the states, is a Basic Compiler called TIMACHINE and 15 reported to outperform any compiler on the market today for the Timex. Timachine will handle all Basic commands (except J/0), and will convert your program to fast machine code in seconds. The program is priced at $19.95 (U.S.) + $3 postage.

A.F.R. Software, 1605 Pennsylvania Ave. #204, Miami Beach, FL 33139, has three software programs for the T/S 1000/1500/7%81 (and versions for the 2068). ZX-TEXT is a word processor, ZX-CALC is professional spreadsheet program and accounting model package, and ZX-CALENDER 1s time-management program. All three titles are priced at $16.95 each + $3 postage. |

BF Kimbrough KEL "In-Memory Operating System Ver. 1.0" for the T/S 1000 and 7X81, is an interesting soft-

ware utility. It is written in relocatable machine code and operates in BASIC or user defined ating system also features ten

area. The user-definable

oper- function

keys. Price: $7.97. Send check or money order to: BF Kimbrough, 723 Roselle Ave. Fir 2, Akron, OH 44307,

COMLINK I is an RS=-232 serial communications inter- face for the T/S 1000 and 7X81. All software is in EPROM for instant loading, and COMLINK I can be used with any 300 baud modem. All operating power is derived from the Sinclair. The advanced software is menu-driven and has many features including user defined Macro keys, auto- repeat, expanded character set, and more. For further information and prices, write to: A. Eckhardt, 918 Anna Street, Boalsburg, PA 16827.

Curry Computer, PO Box 5607, Glendale, AZ 85312, has obtained the exclusive marketing rights to an out- Standing line of software developed in France. Pyramide Software for the QL, 1s popular in Europe, and has now come to America (thanks to Curry). WANDERER is a 3-D space arcade game that requires the user to wear the supplied red/blue glasses. VROOM is a racing simulation. The driver sits in a Grand Prix racer, and maneuvers around five different tracks. QL-PEINTRE is a graphic- design package that is very similar to MacDraw and Mac- Paint. OTHELLO is a 3-D (no glasses required with this one) version of the classic game. Write to Curry for a complete catalog with prices.

PCIMPORT is a program that permits your OL to down- load ASCII files from an IBM PC via direct link. This permits the transfer of documents, program source code or any other ASCII encoded file from the IBM PC to the QL. Also included is a conversion program that converts Micro Soft Basic to QL Super Basic. For a catalog of QL items and prices (including PCIMPORT), write to; MIN-NY Electronics Inc., 7332 Douglas Dr., No. Brooklyn Park, MN 55443,

A+ Computer Response of Keene, New Hampshire, has added five new American QL dealers to their list, making a total of 17. The new dealers are: Markel Enterprises, PQ Box 2392, Secaucus, NJ O7094: C.W. Associates, 419 N, Johnson St., Ada, OH 45810; Variety Sales, 325 W. Jersey St., Elizabeth, NJ 07202: Quantum Computing, & Gillen street, Mine Hill, NJ O7801; and Info-Mation, RR#1 Gox 260, California, MO 65018,

The Second Annual Mid-West Timex/Sinclair Computer- fest will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana on the first weekend of May 1987. The core of organizers for the Cincinnati show are currently slating plans for the 1987 “reunion of dealers, exhibitors, and Sinclair fans from the mid-west and virtually everywhere else. If you would like to obtain some preliminary information...write to: Frank Davis, 513 East Main St., Peru, IN 46970 (send a S.A.5,E.) Of call (evenings) 317-473-4885. There has been interest expressed in T/S Computerfests for the New York/New Jersey area, and for the west coast (possibly San Francisco?), but so far, nothing definite has been planned.

“Commrades...al] together now...enter the keyword [PRINT] and followed by CARL MARX in quotations." And its all for the good of the party! Whats going on here? The Polish government is about to receive 800,000 Timex 2068's and 200,000 FDOD-3000 Dual 3" Disk Drive Systems, to be used in public schools and institutions, The “iron curtain. deal was recently struck between the Timex Corporation and a Polish industrial firm (through a neutral distribution agency. O.K., now how many issues of TOM should be shipped?

The temporary shortage of three inch (Hitachi type) floppy disks 15 over...and supplys are very good. The following companies have the "special" disks in stock for immediate shipping: Zebra Systems Inc., (718) 296- 2385; Peripherals Direct, (312) 498-9244; Speedysoft (London, England) 001-789-8546; various other dealers around Great Britain. Resulting from a recent deal Struck between Amstrad International and Sears, various selected Sears outlets will carry the 3” disks.

Now at last...

The FootePrint Printer Interface

The FootePrint Printer Interface was originally described in the January-March 1985 issues of SUM Magazine. Now improved and professionally built, it is available direct from the designer! FootePrint plugs into the cartridge slot of the TS-2068 and works with both Tasman (B and C) and Aerco print driver software. Just

load the software and print. No POKES required. No modifications.

® for Centronics parallel printers

® works in both 2068 and Spectrum mode ® compatible with OS-64 & Spectrum emulators ® EPROM socket and on/off switch on board

* requires no modifications to computer

® plugs into cartridge dock—door completely

closes with cable running back under computer

® frees up rear edge connector allowing other

peripherals to be used; less chance of a crash

® print driver software for LPRINT, LLIST, and

COPY included for 2068 and Spectrum modes

FootePrint Interface w/software & cable ............ $45° postpaid

FootePrint with OS-64 option included ............. $65 postpaid Bare board & instructions only ........ i Sa $15°° postpaid Cable only for use with bare board ................., $15° postpaid

All prices are pre-paid and include shipping charges. Florida residents must add 5% state sales tax.

FOOTE

*%, SOFTWARE

P.O. Box 14655 — Gainesville, FL 32604

904/462-1086 (6 pm - 9 pm EDT)

ee ee

SHARP’S, INC. Rt. 10, Box 459 Mechanicsville, VA 23111 (804) 746-1664 or 730-9697

QL RGB Color Monitor......... $289.00 TOME a wa RS ORR RU cere $249.00 SIDR RAM veicedincdsscccasvveiaices $199.00 PORN ROAM 4 ievaks hed asthe $179.00 clo galt Fag bcc aye a ne age S 7:95

BOOKS .

Machine Code Programming The Working Sinclair Word Processing with the QL Database Management on the QL Advanced Programming on the QL T/S 2068 Software War in the East Ardennes Fall of the Third Reich Britain Invaded!

Ce NO oy Seer cacy nsldip Sepreses $24.95 OPE Si NLA. nan ctona'ens enya vidsave owetaceree Das eae van ease via etka enlavene $34.95 COL DIGUSE isos ss iinessa een $119.00 QL Service Manual................§ 25.00

(Block & Circuit Diagrams on QL)

.. & 9.95 each

Sinclair QL Adventures Sinclair QDOS Companion Introduction to Superbasic Making the Most of the QL Developing Applications on QL

$ 19.95 Each $ 34.90 Any 2 $ 49.85 any 3

VISA & MASTER CARD accepted with 3% surcharge. Free shipping. Most orders sent out in 48 hours. Write or call for catalog.

IN THE QL

Mark L. Fendrick is happy to announce that MARKEL ENTERPRISES is now an authorized QL dealer. To celebrate, TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE subscribers can take $25.00 off the purchase of a 128K GL computer. (These are true American models and carry the U.S. warranty.) All QL’s come with QL Quill (wordprocessor), QL Archive (database), QL Easel (Business Graphics), and QL Abacus (spreadsheet). The QL has two built in drives and can be used immediately after unpacking.

Ta get your discount send the coupon below with your subscription label

Gl 128K computer with software... .cccececrnecannaccnae ee eT ee eS eee ee QL RGB color monitor (cable included)...... eee ee ee ee ee ee ee QL printer (serial with Near Letter G“uality print)..sseeses conan ne Oe Fe FO

Combination I...Q@L w/either monitor or printer... .eeeeeeeeecee- $575.00 Combination I1I..Q@L w/printer AND monitor.....ceeennauncnanceunceeee 4795.00

SPECIAL DEALS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENTS. WRITE OR CALL FOR DETAILS. Add 34 for shipping and handling. Street address needed for shipping. NY and NJ residents add appropriate sales tax.

Sorry-——-no credit card orders--—-yet. More items available....write for catalogue.

or QL combo '

TR ema en enanac annem ———=——=MARKEL ENTERPRISES——-———-———-——-—-—-———-—~—~—~—_~~—~ ; $25.00 off $25.00 of F |} t With the purchase of any : QL

TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION LABEL REQUIRED

—- One coupon per customer — '

expires August 31, 1986 '

$25.00 of f $75.00 of Ff } TS me earn eneranenecacerecerm—e—=MARKEL ENTERPRISES-—-————— a Se Si enemas tne eerie :

MARKEL ENTERPRISES/P.O. Box 2392/Secaucus, NJ 07094-0992/ (7198) 627-1293

8

Games for the Sinclair QL:

Unlike previous Sinclair computers, the Sinclair QL was not--by design--optimized for computer games. The sound and graphics systems of the QL are adapted for professional and business use, partly in an attempt by Sinclair Research to live down a reputation as a pro- ducer of computers for children. But the innate flexi- bility of the QL's CPU, QDOS, and SuperBASIC permits certain types of computer games to be programmed which are second-to-none. Psion’s QOL-Chess, the world's micro- computer chess champion in 1 » 5, In every way-- playing strength, flexibility, appearance, and user- friendliness--absolutely superior and a very good buy. It can provide chess fans at any level, countless hours of delight, instruction, and analysis (of chess prob- lems, tournament games, ect.). Psion's Match Point jis another example of their formidable prowess in pro- gramming life-like computer simulations--in this case, tennis.

QL-Chess is a comprehensive, realistic

QL- simulation of the ancient game featuring 3-D pieces

and playing

board (no glasses required), 28 Jevels of play from novice to champion, chess clocks, too many analysis functions to describe in a short article, and numerous

playing options. Get it. You'll love it. One of the best computer programs of all time, a steal at $25. (At today's prices, the combination of the OL and QL-Chess alone--never mind the QL's other uses--make it an ex- ceedingly good buy; it is ironic, perhaps, to consider how well-received such a combination might be in a chess-playing nation such as Russia.)

If you use a QL with additional RAM and QL-Chess will not load correctly, try deleting lines 110 and 120 of the BOOT program on your backup copy of the program cartridge. This shouldn't work, but it does for me. Some programs don't work with a full 640K RAM on the QL, 50, if like me you hesitate to remove a difficult-to-install RAM card before loading a game, inquire of your dealer whether a given game will work with your OL set-up.

Psion's Match Point is a tennis simulation fea- turing extraordinary graphics (even the shadow of the ball on the playing surface 1s true-to-life, as are the ball boys and girls who retrieve net balls). A game for one or two players, Match Point provides the opportunity for both strategy and dexterity--you can decide whether to employ a baseline or net game on each service and, depending upon the movement of your player and the timing of his swing, impart various kinds of "stuff" to the ball.

As is the case with QL-Chess, the rules of the computer game are the same as those for the real game, and play is only slightly less difficult. Unless they are really virtuosi, small children may find con- Siderable difficulty in returning balls. A stick is a necessity--play with the cursor and SPACE keys is a near impossibility. (The Archer Deluxe Competition Joystick,

available from Radio Shack, 1s a good economical choice for this and other OL games.) Match Point is visually attractive and challenging

(demanding might be a better word) enough to hold an adult s interest over time. And, if you find that play-- even at the quarter finals level--is too tough for you, it is always a pleasure to watch the computer a computer demo game at the finals level. F After the Psion games, there is, with few excep- tions, a distinct drop-off and a wide variance in the quality of "lesser" games. In what follows, I will only

For the Sine baie CM

discuss the relatively few QL games that I've actually

tested, so, if 1 have left out your favorite game, for- give me and consider touting it yourself, in a letter to the editor.

War In The East by Mark Steuber of SHARP ‘s_ INC.,

in Virginia, is the first major American game for the OL and 18, in its way the equal of Psion’s games. A mili- tary strategy and tactics game Jike its Avalon Hill and Strategy and Tactics forebearers, but with all of the time-consuming and laborious tasks fully automated--you don't even need a pencil--War In The East is a simu- lation of the Russo-German conflict during World War Two. Three scenarios are available: Scenario I, “Barba- rossa 1941", dealing with the epic Nazi invasion and near conquest of Soviet Russia before and just after Pear] Harbor; Scenario II, "Stalingrad 1942", dealing with the second summer of the Nazi-Soviet conflict and the psychological turning point of World War Two; and Scenario III], “Destruction of Army Group Center 1944", dealing with the German Army's Gotterdammerung attempts to withstand overwhelming Soviet superiority at the end of the war. War In The East comes with Scenario I in- cluded; the other two scenarios are available for pur- chase separately.

Taking six or seven hours to play, may not be a game for everyone, but it extremely accurate representation of the paigns--so much so that it should be very useful in teaching mobile land tactics and strategy to military officers in staff colleges. I don't know of a comparable personal computer game in this regard. At move 14 when

War In The East represents an several cam-

screen display of Pstonts OL-CHESS

the rainy seasons begins, you can almost feel the tug on your boots as General Mud takes over, and at move 17 when the screen background turns white, you can almost feel the ground harden and the icy blasts as General Winter takes field. For a better appreciation of the game, I recommend that interested players take the time to review the historical record of the campaigns simu- lated in the various scenarios. There is only one problem--one which Mark Steuber should soon correct with a patch to the BOOT program: the game will not load on a QOL with a full 640K of RAM, Highly recommended.

WANDERER, by Pyramide of Paris, is a state-of-the- art, 3-D, Space adventure game--you actually wear a pair of cardboard spectacles with one red and one blue lens-- in which you maneuver your space craft, attempt to evade or destroy hostile spacecraft, test your wits in a poker like exercise, explore black holes, ect., all in a Supreme effort to rescue your neighbor's cat!

subtitled, “The Planets Play Poker", Wanderer jis unique in its 3-D liné graphics and is probably good enough to hold your interest, even without glasses. (If you wear glasses yourself--or even if you don't--con- sider using clear colored plastic, a product available at large stationers’ called Chart-Pak, or even the plastic in the cardboard specs that come with the game taped to your glasses frame. }

Wanderer's documentation is inadequate, so here are a few tips. You replace your spacecraft's fuel and win game points by zapping other space vehicles--friendly, neutral, or otherwise, I believe, but YOu can convert a

neutral to an enemy by firing at it. TIP: save your “cats” (the unit of currency), for extra or replacement

shields which protect your craft from destruction while they last; do not plan to spend your cats for “energy. There is no telling who your enemies are until they fire, but there is an alarm to warn if you're currently being shot at and missed. Your spacecraft is equipped with two side-by-side radar scopes: the left radar portrays left-right and up-down indications of other Spacecraft (your spacecraft is at the center of both scopes); the right radar depicts left-right and ahead- behind data. Final aiming is “from the hip". There is no gunsight for precision aiming.

How does Wanderer stack up? Graphics, spacé maneuvering and firing, good; documentation, not sO good--there is a language problem; game concept, Fair; prolonged ability to hold your interest, probably not great, but then Wanderer is not my kind of game.

Squadrons is my kind of game, a simulation of one day's air combat during the early phase of the Battle of Britain in 1940 by Peakcrown Ltd. In this simulation, you are at an RAF air defense control center with the responsibility to launch and vector fighters from six air fields against multiple German air raids launched across the British Channel and North Sea against Southeast and south Central England, including London. Some German raids are feints or deceptively routed in concert with other raids, some are designed to attrite “the few" RAF pilots, knock out British radars or airfields (which limits your ability to defend), still others to attack population and industrial centers. Your specific duties as RAF Group Air Controller are extensive: you must de- cide when to launch fighters, and how many to Jaunch: decide which German “raids" to attack; steer fighters in against these raids from the proper direction (up sun) and at the proper altitute (not too low or too high); break off attacks and recover fighters when necessary

impressive:

and in order to recover them safely before they run out of gas--no mean task during the "fog and friction" of combat (RAF fighter “combat” losses are a function of relative numbers of aircraft, height and directional factors, and ammunition expenditure): establish air patrols in case of radar outages: direct anti-aircraft units defending fighter airfields to "standby" and

“stand down"=--you can, if negligent, lose RAF fighters

10

to “friendly fire"; monitor airfield with such things as communications damage, and clearing the field for further operations; monitor a myriad of incoming messages and take the appropriate actions; and notify all cities in the area of air raid warnings and “all clear" signals--yes, you are graded in this latter respect by the number of civilian casualties incurred and factory production hours unnecessarily lost. And if all of this were not enough, something like spinning plates on television, time is compressed: 12 minutes equals one hour, squadrons offers five levels of play in a game lasting as long as three hours (a “pause” function is available for when the phone rings). Considerable lati- tude is offered in the way of tactics and strategy. should RAF fighters attack heavily defended formations? Should you, as Group Controller, make your first prior-

Status and deal outages, runway

ity the defense of your cities or the preservation of your defensive force? At what stage of their sortie should fighters be recovered to minimize losses due to

communications outages or running out of gas? Should air patrols be employed in certain key sectors, ect., ect.? Squadrons graphics are perfectly adequate but not spec- tacular. Highly recommended. Not for hypertensives,

QL myper drive. by David Woodward and The English software Company, is a one-player, 100% machine-code grand prix motor racing game. Its features include 2-D perspective graphics, five skill levels, music and sound

effects, and road hazards in the form of oi] slicks. To proceed to the next higher stage (skill level and road- Way), you must pass 20 cars within a short time limit. As a grand prix driver you may throttle, brake, and steer right or left.

In QL Hyperdrive's advanced stages, other cars

swerve toward you necessitating prompt evasive action. 1 recommend use of a joystick, but play is feasible and not too bad using the cursor keys. It takes some prac- tice and an average speed of about 90 to qualify in the first stage. As it is, smaller children may find jit difficult to qualify for higher Stages, but should still enjoy steering right or left and accelerating and break- ing as they weave between cars at slower speeds. QL Hyperdrive does not load on my 640K RAM QL, and, al- Aceh it should be a relatively simple matter to over- come this, I was not able to do so in the time avail- able. Recommended.

QL Bridge Player II 18 a one-player contract bridge Simulation by CP Software. It employs the somewhat quirky British ACOL bidding system which many American players may find annoying. Computer play is at times weak and inconsistent, and there is no analysis of bidding or play, that is, it does not explain reasons for a given bid or play. But all of these shortcomings are easily corrected. If our QL distributors squawk loudly enough, CP Software may replace QL Bridge Player- II] with the much improved Bridge Player III, now avail- able for the Spectrum. As 1t stands, OL Bridge Player-

il, though somewhat entertaining, is not recommended in its present form. 1986 Thomas B. Woods Award. In the March/April ‘86

issue of lime Designs, I offered a $10 cash award to the first reader to come up with a program for the QL com- parable to the following old Sinclair program and using ten or less program statements:

10 INPUT “Formula? "; n&

= =

20 PRINT n#;" "; VAL n&

~0 GO TO 10

Sinclair SuperBASIC does not include the VAL function,

There were no submissions, but, for those of you interested, I did figure out a QL procedure that would produce the result. Since it entails using a Microdrive, disk, or RAMdisk file and the input/output of infor- mation, it works best with RAMdisks. The following pro- gram listing uses a Microdrive. To use RAMdisk, change the indicated program lines to read as follows:

5 FORNat ram6 10: OPEN #3,serl S OPEN NEW #4,ram8 work lé@ NERGE ram work

13 DELETE ram@ work

Now Available! “THE BEST OF SUM”

One of the most popular features of SUM Maga- zine has been our stockpile of back issues. But our stockpile has been depleted. In its place we now have “The Best of SUM” — 112 pages of the arti- cles, reviews, program listings, and hardware pro- jects that have made SUM so popular — all taken from the first 3 years of our publication.

Some of the articles include: Building Your Own spectrum Emulator, Doing 1000 Repairs, Word Processors for the 2068, UDGs on the TS-1000, Extensive Review of the Zebra Disk System, Adding a Keyboard to the 2068, and Enhancing the A & J Microdrive.

$11.95 postpaid

WANDERER, SQUADRONS,

Figure il.

1 DEFine PROCedure VAL

« CLEAR: CLS

~ INFUT “Hard Copy? (Y/N): “sp

4 IF NOT p@e="y": GO TO &

~ OFEN #2, seri

& FRINT "Enter math expression or *2z’* to ei

& VAL"

? INFUT 4:

B IF ¢@22e"27": CLOSE #2: END DEFine

7 OPEN NEW #4, mdvw2_work

10 FRINT #4,"14 y = “3

11 CLOSE #4

12 MERGE mdv2_work

13 DELETE mdv2_work

14 REMar I:

iS PRINT “ «= “AY

1é IF pS=="y": PRINT #3. 76;" = “sy

li? bO0 TO F

16 END DEFine Include the procedure in your BOOT or other programs or In a collection of defined function and procedures. Call the procedure by keying and entering VAL, then follow

screen instructions, The VAL procedure will evaluate all Mathematical expressions possible using SuperBASIC, in- cluding those with root, power, and trig functions and those using multiple sets of brackets. The procedure gives you a printing calculator result on the screen or your printer. I think you will come to find it one of your most useful SuperBASIC procedures.

Next time: A surprise! 1 have requested the use of some hardware for the QL and will discuss whatever turns up of general interest.

and QL BRIDGE the were was

OL HYPERDRIVE,

PLAYER || were obtained from Curry Computer for QL GAMES article.

QL=-CHESS and MATCH POI|NT obtained from RMG Enterprises. WAR IN THE EAST obtalned from Sharp's, Inc.

Two Special Issues

SUM MAGAZINE

SUM Magazine has two Special Issues for sale which were devoted to special topics:

QL Special Issue — 28 pages devoted mostly to an indepth review of the QL hardware and an over- view of the software. Very popular with readers and of great interest to all thinking of purchasinga Sinclair QL. Price: $3.95.

TS-1000 Special Issue — 28 pages devoted to arti- cles, reviews and programs for the TS-1000 and #£X-81 computers. A lot of new products are dis- cussed and suppliers listed. Price: $3.95

Special Deal!! Get “The Best of SUM” and BOTH Special Issues for only

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>QL Computer-free ground shipping >WD Utility Prg. worth $16.95 >Subscription QL Report $15.00

>8 Free programs including:

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tam, J

While other computer companies talk about bringing the power of computing within reach of ordinary people someday soon, the Sinclair QL puts extraordinary power into their grasp, today. The power of the 32-bit architecture of the Motorola 68008 microprocessor Of 128K RAM, expandable to 640K. Of two built-in Sinclair Microdrives for mass storage. Of networking. Of

a full-size QWERTY keyboard

And of an operating system that accommodates windows and even multi-tasking.

control,

OFFICE: 2412 West Greenway e Suite B-10 e

12

“We know the QL ...

— A ek Se oo MO

The QL delivers up to 512 x 256- pixel full-color resolution or black- and-white display. It can be used with either a monitor or an ordinary TV. It has two RS-232C serial inter- faces and accepts joystick cursor

Included with the OL are four sophisticated, powerful and easy- to-use programs. A word processing program with the power and sim- plicity of dedicated word process- ing, that lets you print exactly what you see on the screen. A database management program with up to 256 data fields, in which you can

We've been appreciating it longer.”

QL Special #2 — $299.95

=> QL Computer > Free |.C.E, ROM | CON-based front end operating system for QL > $8.00 shipping Both packages include the 4 Psion programs. These same 4 prgs. are also avail. on the IBM and retail for $695.00.

— Take 20% off the following if ordered at the same time: ICE, QSpell and/or Centronics |/F

we ee ee Ee eM

define relationships, extract data and reorganize it, do statistical and accounting calculations, and more A spreadsheet program so simple to use you can do a complete what-if" calculation ina single keystroke. And a graphics program with 32-bit speed to create spectac- ular and immediate effects for home or business.

The price for all this power? That may be the OL's most powerful fea- ture of all,

P.O, Box 5607 @ Glendale, Arizona 85312-5607 e@ 1-602-978-2902 e Telex (via WUI): 6501267701

Phoenix, Arizona

It is my hope that 2068 owners will read this re- View as well as those with QLs. A review of ASTRONOMER for the 48K Spectrum appeared in the January/February 66 issue of TIME DESIGNS, and in it I extolled its virtues. 2068 owners will be pleased to hear that ASTRONOMER [1 7s out and includes many facilities not included in the original. I will necessarily be doing some comparisons between ASTRONOMER and COSMOS for the QL.

.

COSMOS QL Software Review by Paul Bingham

F a -

could be read back to a QL printer dump program, but the

scant documentation that comes with COSMOS gives no in- dication of how.

COSMOS is replete with security measures. The original must be present in drive 2 to Joad, and then

any attempt to break into the program (even accidental) locks the QL up. I have been able to break into COSMOS and get a listing either on my printer or the screen of

COSMOS is written by G.F. Cornwell for Talent Soft- most of the files by using the QL's COPY_N command. ware in Scotland. I must say that COSMOS takes longer COSMOS is almost entirely BASIC so alterations and than any other QL program I have to load. It clocks in additions may not be too tough. A printout capability at nearly three minutes during which time the QL drives would certainly be great! COSMOS is very fast once its spasmotically whir on and off, which at first, might loaded and contains much useful and interesting infor- make one think something 18 haywire in the QL. (ASTRON- mation. Using the QL's abilities, COSMOS does quick and OMER takes 4:40 to load from cassette.) A beutiful pic- accurate calculations. The ones I have checked are in ture of “Earth Rise” as seen by the Apollow astronauts good agreement with other sources. I would recommend

does come on after about 30 seconds. You will need a monitor for COSMOS, as it locks up in our TY mode with this picture on the screen. A black and white TY will work in monitor mode, but many are not adjustable enough to accomodate the entire COSMOS screen.

COSMOS is colorful, well Jaid out, and easy to read. It is user friendly with lots of superimposed menus and abilities to escape from most any option. A backup copy 15 required and takes 10 minutes or so. This can later be altered to include your Jatitude and longitude so it need not be keyed in each time, which ASTRONOMER does not allow. The select view option draws any of eight compass direction views, overhead, or a whole sky. This includes all the planets, 502 stars, moon, sun and periodically a fuzzy blob which turns out to be Halley's Comet. This takes 38 seconds--a Jittle longer for the whole sky. A cursor option will give you a quick screen full of info on whatever object you have encircled including lots of star data, Even a graphic depiction of the planets in their phases, the moons of Jupiter, and tilt of Saturn's rings are possible. All of this uses the QL's abilities which makes it almost immediate after each key press. No constellation tracing is provided for, though. A display of the inner and outer planet's orbits is available, but no animation is possible as in ASTRONOMER,

I was horrified to discover that no printout option is available! There is a screen dump option which allows a copy of the current screen to be put on cartridge for display at another time. I am assuming that such a file

COSMOS with the suggestion to write TALENT and see when COSMOS II will be coming out.

LLL LLL ELLE User Friendliness Documentation Flexibility Compatability Lives up to Claims Use of QL Abilities

[OAT | eee en

i I t i I t i t i I

_@. Blank Cartridges Required Blank Cartridges Included HO Runs on U.S. T.¥. mode

FINAL SCORE:

SOE RR SS ey LR GS SS SES Rk A Ra ER RP | |

TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE Subscribe Today!

Send Check or M/O To: TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE CO.

is i Z i a E if ONLY 29722 Hult Rd __ Colton, OR 97017 zi & $15 year Eg r SIX ISSUES $ B ‘check one) ee Name BiBRES PAINE Ei ; O NEW SUBSCRIBER i Address | Bi F s 4 RENEWAL : cy Expiration date can be found on shipping label. City a 5 Example: Jul/86 = July/August 1986--your last ig ra Issue. A reminder notice will also be sent. - s otate Zip '

a ct st] ek SS

NOW THE SINCLAIR QL HAS OUR FULL SUPPORT.

A*+Computer Response proudly announces their complete American support for the Sinclair QL and these fully authorized dealers:

* cee hy Electronics *« AMG Enterprises © TE. comenier Products * Sham's Inc.

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* Curry Com ier * acl Systems* Sunset Electronics * SCAD/iware 5344 Banff 7620 26 M d. 2254 Taraval St. Route 16, Box 37 Glendale, AZ 85306 Washington MI 45904 San Francisco, CA 94116 Church Creek MD 21622 602-978-2902 313-761-5800 415-665-8330 301-228-79

* ene Electronics * Harry S. Walters * Knighted Computers * Brice Road Pharmacy 2174 Gulf Gate Drive 101 Bassick Ad. 707 Highland St. 1653 Brice Road Sarasota, FL 33581 Trumbull, Ct. 06611 Fulton, N¥ 13069 Reynoldsburg, OH 43068 813-922-9574 315-593-8219 614-861-3600

* C.W. Associates * Info-Matlon * Variety Sales ° 419 N. Johnson St. RR#1 Box 260 425 W, loraay St. mallet elds Ada, OH 45810 California, MO 65016 —Ejizabeth, Nut o7202 Secaucus, NJ 07094 (419) 694-4878 (314) 796-4921 (201) 289-5699 (718) 627-0034

* Quantum Computing 8 Gillen Street Mine Hill, WJ O78O1

F Computer [Response

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69-B Island St.® Keene, N.H. 03431 ©(603) 357-1800

14

T/S 1000/ZX81 External Keyboard Buffer

by Tim Stoddard

If you're like me, you Jike to attach not only your memory pack, but also a modem, a printer, a joy-stick interface, an AC controller, and anything else that there 1s room for behind the computer. One of the big problems with this, especially if you have a matrix key- board like the TI 99/4a that Radio Shack sells, attached off the main circuit board, are those “unexplained” crashes (the ones where you didn't touch any peripherals on the back) or the external keyboard seems to "lock-up" on certain keys.

It's caused by the “antenna effect". The internal or external keyboard is directly connected to the CPU address bus through diodes, and acts like an antenna; picking up all kinds of noise such as that emitted from florescent lighting.

The diodes that are used to isolate the keyboard matrix from the address bus help, but just don't do the job, especially when you add that all-important external keyboard to make your entry world a little easier. What is needed is some sort of buffer to completely isolate the address bus and provide plenty of "drive" to that nice external keyboard.

A 74HCT245 buss driver to the rescue! This driver not only provides the needed drive and isolation, but it also almost solders right in! Note that you can also use the slightly more inexpensive 74L$245, but it will use more power and dissipate more heat inside your computer.

First open your computer by removing the five screws on the bottom. When you do this, OBSERVE PROPER STATIC PRECAUTIONS! Work on an anti-static mat or sheet of aluminum foil. Keep your body in contact with the mat/foil, while handling your computer and the 74HCT?45. Three of these screws are under the rubber feet. Take the back off and locate the two screws that hold the circuit board on to the top part of the case, Remove these two screws and CAREFULLY watch those two internal keyboard ribbon ribbon cables... and turn the Printed Circuit Board over.

Uiaisonpen EACH OF THE P gvopes HERE

KEY Boaep AIBADA) isa Peace 7

FIG i (ComPowaat Side)

UaiSorpan, THIS Lead oa.) ERCH Ope

Purl GACH Dede

De, THe cer

HE@E Ciege TO brede Bapy. THis OPE Away, Leave REMMAING LEAD Supe) TO

key Gomeb RIB! —y,

Orme 7 Cp aa

Dire Ss

ipa

! So.pee Feo FASE ps whebe Debts wape Ff +

SMITE

FIG 3

(Mou-comPoudar SIDE )

Using figure 1 locate the eight diodes just above the keyboard ribbon cables. Now using a pair of needle- nose pliers and a LOW WATTAGE (10 to 22 watts) soldering iron remove one side of each diode that is closest to the keyboard connector.

Using Figure 2, bend and then cut each of the eight diodes as shown.

Next turn the PCB back over and working very care- fully use a solder sucker or solder wick to remove the solder out of the pads closest to the keyboard connector and also from the pad just to the left of the left-mosi diode location. See figure 3.

Aeub THESE Leads pur Like ries pas Ge Tar Seal OAT Oe THE FAD ff Lorre

4 TO THF

Aler? Jo upet r WikeS Fly Suet, owe Buh Aw iy To Ae OF A 2” MICE oF

ehke To Aw 20

Soubet Pus 2-70 mete HOLES em! - GeAbp

. Pus W-F TO Soba Feat Moe poses Cot Be

Bee DM OMe serreen) oF 74ueT 245 TO Agove CT yy

Now view figure 4 and form the leads of the 74HCT- 245 as shown. Then add the three wires as shown in the same figure to the IC,

Now looking at the component side of the board, in- sert the IC so that pin 10 goes into the pad to the right and pins 2-9, go into the pads, where the diodes used to be. Check figure 5, Once you're sure the IC is positioned correctly, solder pins 2-10 to the PCB, then solder pins 11-18 to the wire leads from the diodes.

KBI : Lastly, using figure 6, solder the wire from pin 10 of the IC to the point shown in the same figure.

a Re-assemble your computer, power up and try the Fi& ¢ keyboard. If all is well, add all those peripherals and

| enjoy. If your keyboard only partially works, check

(COMPouawT SIBE) those internal ribbon cables and insure that they are

1000 — DIGITAL CLOCK

The following program was excerpted from the book: Ti ) HIGHFALUTIN' COMPUTIN"' by Bob Orrfelt. It Is re- Hk ho el printed here with permission from the author. Look

for more excerpts In upcontng Issues. You can obtaln aoe ree nek THR your own copy of this book from Sunset Electronics. eee ee 220 IF COO THEN GOSUB 2000

Program 4-3 (from Chapter IV, which is a study on the fundamentals of Basic programming), is a Digital Clock that produces large numerals five lines high.

Lines 100-130 define the four strings needed to

330 LET k= 240 GOSUE K+C+P 600 FOR T=U 70 5

410 LET xX=0 form parts of the numerals. Lg ] indicates a graphics *) GOSUR KeTe : - f mode Spates so fi 15 ees black squares. Five C$ 's each vie =i an HIGHFALUTIN printed just below the last one, form a 1, These are 1 =15 : used in the PRINT statements. i ais os COMPUTIN’ Lines 200-250 define constants needed to compact 700 FOR D=0 10 5 the program. Lines 2310-360 are used to set the starting 710 LET x=21 time. U is the starting ten minutes digit and B becomes 720 GOSUB KeDep the units minutes digit. Lines 400-430 insert two colons 730 FOR S=0 10 0 at the proper position. 740 LET X=25 Bob Orrfelt

Lines 500-990 are the timing loops for the clock.

siete : B00 FOR Z=1 10 The hours two digits are unique. Hours from 1 to 9 have :

10 W a blank for the first digit, and only a 1 is needed for rat el : the hours of 10 through 12. Line 520 tests for the 1. If 910 WEXT OD

C i8 greater than 9; the program GOSUBs to line 2000 and 970

inserts the 1, At 12:59:59 + one second line 970 resets 940 pee the hour to 1 and clears the screen. The clock then 940 NEXT T Starts off at 1:00:00. Lines 800-810 adjust the units 950 LET U=0 Timex Sinclair TO00~ Comouter seconds loop to one second. 940 NEXT H | = Lines 1000-1095 are the PRINT statements to form 970 LET ast the digits. THere are five ATs on each PRINT line. WN, O, 980 CLS

P, Q and R are the screen line locations. xX is the column position. A$, BY, Ch and DS are the black squares used to form the digits.

7970 GOTO 400 1000 PRINT AT N,XSA8,AT O,X;B9,AT P,XsBS,AT G,X;BS,AT R,KTAS 1005 RETURN

sees aces 1010 PRINT AT N,XSC8,AT O,XICS,AT P,XICS,AT O,X°C4$,AT R,XICS 10 : 20 REM (C)R.ORRFELT 1013 RETURN eh | 1020 PRINT AT N,X'AS,AT O,XiC$,AT P,XSAS,AT G,XDS,AT R,X3AS 30 REM AUG 1982 Lot ella 100 LET AB="ggg" Cg Eg Ig ] ‘ . : | * 993 1030 PRINT AT N,XtAS,AT O,X:04,AT P.XIAS,AT Q,XSC8,AT R,XIAS 110 LET B#="g g ig 1C lig 2 ae erie 120 LET C=" g" oC 2 Jfg 35 RE’ ; ase 1040 PRINT AT N,X;HS,AT O,X;BS,AT P,XjAS,AT O,X3C8,AT R,XSCS 130 LET BS=*g [gf 101 padi 200 LET N=8 104 , ie : 220 LET P=10 1093 RETURN | | aan Ves Gait 1060 PRINT AT N,XZAS,AT O,X;0S,AT P,X;AS,AT O,X;BS,AT R,XjAS 240 LET R=12 Lies Rees or | oe 250 LET K=1000 1070 PRINT AT M,XSA$,AT O,XIC$,AT P,XSC8,AT O,X5C8,AT R, ASCE a Su 1075 RETURN th Seb : SRPUT HR ORD ATR 1080 PRINT AT N,XtAS,AT O,X2B8,AT P,XIAS,AT O,X:B9,AT R,XTA8 32 1OBS RETURN : 330 INPUT B SR | ) | | 1090 PRINT AT N,XtA$,AT O,X2BS,AT P,XtA4,AT O,X:C$,AT Fy XtAS 349 CLS 1095 RETURN 350 LET U=INT (B/P) | | , 2000 LET C=C-P 340 LET B=B-P4U eas CEE 400 PLOT 16,28 2020 GOTO 1010 410 PLOT 18,20 |

The first part of this series of articles covered: the definitions of Linking and Chaining, how to make a program self running, making one program module load another, and the VARS method of passing data from one program module to another. By data, I mean text, com- puted variables, arrays or strings. The second part of the series will present the System Variables and the Safe Area methods of passing data.

A complete list of all of the System Variables, their names and addresses, the number of bytes, if they are saved with the program, and if they cannot be poked without crashing the system, is in the Appendix of the User Manual. The System Variables method of passing data from one program module to another is very limited. Only the two bytes of the System Variable RAMTOP can be used for this purpose, as all of the other System Variables that can be poked without crashing the system, are reset by loading the next module. For example--type the following lines into the computer:

10 SAVE "POKE" 20 LET A=255

30 FOR N=i6477 TO 14506 40 POKE NA

50 NEXT N

40 POKE 14388,4 YO POKE 14389,4 BO POKE 14393,4 FO PORE 145417,A 100 POKE 14430,4 110 POKE 146431,4 120 POKE 16434,4 130 POKE 14435,4 140 POKE 14438,A 150 POKE 146439,A 160 POKE 146507,A 170 POKE 14508,A 180 LOAD "PEEK"

Record the program on tape, using the command GOTO 10. When the diagonal load lines appear on the screen, after the program 15 saved, stop the tape and use the BREAK key to return to the programming mode. Do not rewind the tape. To clear the memory, turn off the computer. Do not use NEW as this would reset RAMTOP. Power up and type in the following lines of the second program module:

10 SAVE "PEEK"

20 Bill "STRLEN 14430: ";PEEK

1643035", 16431: "SPEEK 16431

30 PRINT "MEMBOT ";

40 FOR N=14477 TO 146504

30 PRINT Ng": "PEEK NE", "4

60 NEXT N

70 PRINT

BO PRINT "RAMTOP 14388: * PEEK

163687", 16389: "PEEK 14389

70 PRINT "VERSN 146393: "PEEK 16393

100 PRINT "NOT USED 16417: "PE EK 16417

110 Eeaen "SEED 16434: ";PEEK 1 64345", 16435: "{PEEK 14435

120 PRINT "COORDS 14438: "PEEK

164383", 16439: ";PEEK 144239

130 iiesele "NOT USED 14507: " FPE

EK 165073", 146509: ";PEEK 146506 1

TS 1000/1500 PROGRAM CHAINING Part Two by Earl V. Dunnington

iy, be nn Cee eB th Ve “foene

omne Su

1 1

Witnout rewinding the tape, record the module using the command GOTO 10.

To run the chained program, rewind the tape. ENTER either the command: LOAD "POKE" or LOAD "" (no space be- tween the quotes), and play the tape. AS you can see, only the 255 poked into the two bytes of the System Variable RAMTOP, were passed from one program module to the next. In using the System Variable RAMTOP for this purpose, you must remember that if the value in address 16388 plus 256 times the value in address 16389 is Jess than 19/712, a minimum Display File 75 set up. This may not be desirable with 16K or more RAM. If the combined value is 19712 or more, then an expanded Display File is set up, using additional memory, which may not be de- sirable with only 2K RAM, Also if NEW is entered, RAMTOP will be reset to the address of the combined value.

The System Variables, in which the poked value was not passed from one chained module to the next, may be poked and the value saved along with the program, like Variables and strings (see “Of Strings And Things” in the March/April ‘86 issue of TOM). To illustrate this procedure;

Turn off the computer to clear the memory. Power up and rewind the tape. Load the “POKE” module only (by pressing BREAK when the load lines appear before the second module loads). Stop the tape. Delete lines 140 to 180 by entering only the line number, Delete lines 10 to 130 by typing in the “PEEK” program. Rewind the tape and save the program using the command GOTO 10. Turn off the computer to clear the memory. Power up, rewind the tape, and Joad the new unchained “PEEK” program. As you can see, the value 255 poked into these System Variables was saved except those in RAMTOP and in addresses 16477 to 16501 of MEMBOT. There are certain conditions regarding the use of the System Variables for this purpose, They are:

second

program

NAME ADDRESS CONDITIONS

VERSN 16395 None

NONE 16417 None

STRLEN 16438 Value must be recovered

16431 before any LET or INPUT command in the program.

SEED 146434 Value must be recovered 146435 before any RAND or RAND command in the program. COORDS 14436 Value must be recovered 16439 before any PLOT or UNPLOT command in the program. MEMBOT 16507 Only these listed ad- to dresses can almost always 14506 be used. NONE 146507 None NONE 16508 Cannot be wsed when the

System Variable RAMTUP has been poked to less than 19712 without enter- ing NEW.

A method for determining the addresses of the Upper and Lower Limits of the Safe Area of a program was pre- sented in “Adventures In The RAM Jungle And Other

PROGRAM CHAINING (SAFE AREA METHOD)

PROGRAM SAFE

ARE A

a =

HE FESE SEH

RAMTOP STACK

STACK |

: SAFE |"

RAMTOP

formate STACK STACK SAFE | AREA

—_— = <> PROGRAM

ARE A

MOOULE

Nd.

SAFE

MOOULE AAEA |

NO. > Cc. 2

FIGURE WO. 1

Mysteries" (Sept/Oct '85 to Jan/Feb '86 issues of TDM), The Safe Area method is much more suitable for passing large amounts of data, in Chained programs, than either the VARS or the Systems Variables methods. Two dis- advantages are that the data can be wiped out by NEW and

by allowing the program to be listed when operating in Mode 2 or 3 (see “Adventures...", page 9, in Jan/Feb '86 issue of TDM). The amount of data that can be passed,

using the Safe Area method, is limited by the program module with the lowest Upper limit of the Safe Area and the module with the highest Lower Limit of the Safe Area (see Figure No.1). The number of modules is limited only by the length of the tape and number of tapes available, Thus, when large amounts of data are to be passed, each module should be as short as possible and accomplish only one task. Combined with "Top Down" programming in each module, this is a form of "Structured Programming”.

Using the 3afe Area method, 280 decimal code can be

poked by the program directly into the Safe Area add- resses. Lach address can accept only positive values from 0 to 255. Variables with negative values or over

255 can be converted to a string, as in the VARS method, and each character converted to its code before poking, For example--type the following lines into the computer:

SAVE "POKE"

LET Ao i2345678912445 LET A@=STRE A

LET B=i

FOR N=18000 TO 18013 POKE N, CODE AS(B)

LET B=B+]

NEXT WN

LOAD "PEEK"

Record the first module on tape using the 10. This time you can use NEW to clean the typing in the second module, as follows:

10 SAVE "PEEK"

20 DIM AS{14)

J0 LET B=!

40 FOR N=1B000 TO 18013

70 LET &#(B)=CHRt PEEK N 60 LET BeP+i

70 NEXT WN BO LET A=VAL AS 90 PRINT A

Record the second module on the tape with the command GOTO 10. Rewind the tape and load and run the chained program, using the command LOAD "PEEK" or LOAD "". The display should read: -1.2345679E+13.

command GOTO memory before

Part Three

E Beginning Z80 Machine Code

Before we get to our first MC take another Jook inside our CPU. registers that are called A,F,B,C,0,E,H,L,I,R,1X,1¥,S5P,

lets find

instructions, Inside we will

pc,A',F',B',C',D’,E',H' and L'. These are not the alpha- bet soup, that the CPU had for lunch. Registers are merely storage places within the CPU as opposed to ex-

ternal memory (ROM and RAM). Think of these registers as storage boxes with names instead of addresses...much the same as you would BASIC variables,

Some of the single registers can be married to form register pairs. You are hereby ordained, by the power invested in me by the Great God 780, as Justice of the CPU, to form these unions as required. The permissable combinations are AF,BC,DE,HL,AF',BC',BE' and HL' (and you thought I didn't know the alphabet! ),

by Syd Wyncoop

18

Single registers are similar to bytes, in that they

can contain any value 0-255. Register pairs can contain any value 0-65535, which makes them very valuable as address pointers. Refer to the discussion on addresses

in lesson one for more on this (contact TDM if you need back copies). We will use these similarities to pass parameters (information) to and from our MC routines.

On the subject of addresses and register pairs, you

need to remember which is high and low. In memory (ad- dresses), the first byte is low, however, with register pairs, the first register is high. This is easily re- membered by knowing that the HL register pair was named with this in mind. H means "high" and L means "low". An assembler will handle this for you, but we will have to watch 7t while we are hand assembling our code. Many

crashes will occur because you forgot [or confused) the

order of the high and low bytes or registers.

some of these registers have special names and/or jobs. Chart 2 lists some of these mames/ jobs. However, we will not discuss them further until we get to the in- structions using them,

left you with last lesson. Look at the comments and

' Girectly access memory addresses

Now for our first set of instructions (and you were 7 Accumulator pairpaniter the results of eight bit wondering If ! even knew any). Its LL rebel Lon ids ' directly access the contents of any which is short for Load. Ld has no relation to the Basic artebie rare LOAD command, Ld is an assignment instruction and acts F ' Flags ' holds various flags for CPU which very much like the Basic LET command. ' indicate the results of arithmetic

The proper “syntax” is: Ld A,15. Which is read as ! / and logical instructions “Load the A register with the value 15". Ld acts very = | | chee Gale ted rasta a much like the Basic LET x=15. ; DE | Destinstion! used tor block soves

Take another look at the sample disassembly that I HL ' High/Low ! sixteen bit arithmetic

see ! if you can follow what is happening. It is a program : ! that will return the sum of OAh and 10h to Basic with the command: PRINT USR address. For practice, you can

enter that program. Try poking the ?nd and 4th bytes with different values and run it again to see if you get the results you expect. If the sum is greater than 255, you will discover a bug I left (intentionally) for later correction,

Note that we loaded the result into the BC register pair before returning to Basic. This is due to the Basic Operating System's handling of the USR function. It will always return the value held in the BC register pair. The value returned will not be the result unless you properly load BC before returning.

Ld may not seem to be of much value. However, jin its many forms, Ld is the “most used" instruction. We can Ld most registers, register pairs or addresses with either a constant, the contents of another register (pair), or the contents of an address, Chart 3 details some of the many forms Ld can have as well] as the proper “syntax”,

You will notice some instructions have parenthesis. The Parenthesis signify “the contents of". For example: read the instruction Ld A,(4000h) as Load the A register with the contents of the address 4000h, The Basic commands PEEK and POKE can be compared to these instruc- tions. If the parenthesis appear on the left of the comma, you have a POKE operation, and if they appear on the right of the comma, you have a PEEK operation. The Basic equivalent of Ld A, (4000h) is LET x = PEEK 16384, (4000h=16384). Using this knowledge, the instruction Ld (4000h),A is equivalent to POKE 16384,x.

You will also notice a symmetry to the tions. You can Ld r, (HL) and you can Ld (HL), symmetry will prove to be very useful throughout most of the instruction set.

Note that some instructions seem to favor the register A or the register pair HL. This is due to their special functions (chart 2). There are simply some in- structions that can only be performed with A or HL, and no other register (pair). We will see that Ld is not the only instruction to exhibit this favoritism. This is not as restrictive as it first sounds, although you will occasion wish for an instruction that does

There is no need to detail the operation instruction as you should be able to determine mately what can be expected from them, if you charts 2 and 3 in conjunction with this lesson,

jnstruc- r. This and holds true

on not exist. of each appoxi- study We will

ov-only 6 up".

ALA A? | aE

september /October '86: TDM's ace programmer, Michael Carver, will entertain us with another | listing.s..«THE LIGHT SHOW. Tim Stoddard wil! show you how to Hpgradce your 731016 RAM Pack to use the newer

‘kK dynamic RAMs. A SInclair product "round- More from Wes Brzozowsk!, and

indirect address pointer

laret

|

| Register Ld rye ' Ld ere,nn Ld r,n ' Ld IX,an ' Ld I¥,nn Ld A, (pq) Ld (pq),4A ' Ld {tpq),Be ' Ld (pq)},DE Ld r, (HL) ' Ld (pq),HL Ld A, (BC) ' Ld tpq), Ix Ld A, (De) i Ld tpg), T¥ Ld (HL)ye i Ld {BC),A ' Ld BC, (pq) Ld (DE),& ' Ld DE, (pq) ' Ld HL, (pq) Ld rv, (Ik+d) ' Ld IX, (poh Ld re, (1¥*d) ' Ld IY, (pq) Ld ¢(ix+d) er ’ Ld (1¥+d),r i Ld ¢HL},n Lod ¢(Iik+d),in | Ld (I¥+d),n :

Where: fr @any single register

rr-any register pair

n =any numeric constant 0-255

nn=any numeric constant 0-45535

d =any displacement 0-255

Pq=any address 0-65535 discuss them further as we use them. It will be much easier for me to explain, and easier for you to under-

stand their operation.

I am not listing the hex codes for all the 780 in- structions that we will use, as this is not intended to be an exhaustive study, but is meant to give you a start. The first rung of the ladder. If you have not yet obtained a good book on the subject, you can find the codes in the appendix of your Sinclair manual.

I cannot hope to give you all you will need in an article such as this. I must advise you to get a good book as a study guide and to fill in where I leave off. Rather than suggest a book that you may not like as well as Ido, I would advise you to look at several. If possible, get several opinions...but get a book.

That's it for now, Next issue we will discover the math instructions. The special significance of A and HL will be very obvious after that.

full length

some surprises!

=i * iat ‘ he 15

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INTRODUCTION When Timex released its Technical Manual for the TS2068, we learned how to add memory to and switch be- tween its three internal memory banks. This was won-

derful stuff, and it's given us many excellent 152068 products long after the “profane world" thought that the Timex computer was dead, Still, if we think back, we may remember that Timex originally promised 256 banks. In addition to the Home, Dock, and EXROM banks {which we we'll call the “standard banks"), there would also have been the provision for special enhancements that we'll refer to as "expansion banks". In this series, we will look at how those extra banks would have worked. Because the subject is very complex, we can t take up too much Space with descriptions of the standard banks. That in- formation is available elsewhere, and even without in- cluding it here, I fear that the volume of our dis- cussions will try the patience of our dear editor. we hope you'1] understand our plight.

The TS2068 Technical Manual is one very good source of information on the standard banks, and it might be a good idea to browse what it has to say on the subject. Look at pages 37-39, and 115-120, in particular. [Note: Page numbers quoted in this article correspond to the original Technical Manual offered by Timex (blue cover). This same information can be found in the new second- edition manual published by Time Designs, only the in- formation is generally a few pages earlier than those quoted. ] Throughout the manual, it almost appears that the good folks at Timex tried to delete all references to the “lost 253" expansion banks. If so, they weren't entirely successful. Some pages containing copies of their internal documentation give us important clues. Both ROMS also contain code that was once intended to

control these banks. Dissecting them gives a fairly clear picture of the full bank switching.

With a little “digital detective” work, we'll see that the Timex engineers planned a LOT more for bank

switching than just extra memory. We'll] also be able to see some of the serious problems (and clever/bizzare

solutions) that graced their workbenches. Lastly, we'll see signs that they were forced to put the 752068 into production long before it was ready.

As a result of this, our TS2068 contain large

blocks of code that absolutely have not been debugged. This may wel] be the reason that its ROMs (and ONLY its ROMs) are socketed. Before the additional bank switching could really have worked as intended, those ROMs would have had to be replaced. This shouldn't be overly dis- couraging. On page 20 of the Technical Manual, we are presented with a “surgical procedure” that would allow us to replace the ROMs with EPROMs. It was quite con- Siderate of them to include this tidbit. Perhaps they thought someone would want to debug the dormant power lying inside,

In this series, we'll use flowcharts,

tables, and

21

Mystery of the Missing 253”

by Wes Brzozowski

descriptions, to “walk through" the extended bank- switching code. Once we stop trying to figure out what it does, and instead try to understand what it SHOULD

do, it's really not too hard to follow. From this, we'll also understand how the hardware of the expansion banks and Timex’s unreleased Bus Expansion Unit (BEU) would have worked.

Please understand that this 15 a report on my own study and analysis of the Timex ROM code, and forms a self-consistent explanation of how the bank switching hardware and that code would have worked together. It is NOT a construction project. Still, it should be possible to design an expansion bank system with the information we'll be studying here. If some enterprising readers wish to correct the ROM bugs and build the necessary circuitry, I'l] assist in any way I can. I give no Quarantee that I've found all the bugs, but by the end, you should also have a good enough understanding of the

subject to find further bugs on your own. All in all, this could be an interesting “team project”. GETTING STARTED As you may have guessed, it will be absolutely

essential that you have a TS2068 Technical Manual handy as we go through this series. Coincidentally, this very magazine can sell you a copy for just twenty-five bucks. If you've read this far, you're probably the type who'd find it useful anyway, so send ‘em the money. You won't just be helping them, you'll be helping yourself. [Editor's Note: Thanks for the great plug Wes...but please tel] the good folks that I didn t put you up to this! ]

You'1] also need some sort of disassembler. We just can't provide complete listings of the ROM code here, but we 1] give TONS of memory addresses, so you can look for yourself. Ray Kingsley's excellent HOT-Z-AROS will let you look directly into the EXROM memory, which would be helpful. But if you have another version of HOT-7, or another disassembler altogether, never fear. We need only copy the EXROM code onto a cassette, LOAD it back into some convenient RAM location, and then disassemble it. If we are clever about where we LOAD it, the differ- ence in memory addresses will be no problem at all.

Most schemes for putting the EXROM on cassette in- yvolve a lot of convoluted bank switching and code moving in machine code. But we're going to be a little lazy, and do it the easy way. Perhaps the best kept EXROM secret is that you can do the entire job in a single Jiné of BASIC! Just type:

SAVE “EXROMN" CODE 0,8192

and you've got it! There's nothing magical about this. It just turns out that the SAVE routine is in the EXROM, and so the EXROM is already switched in whenever SAVEing is in progress. As such any attempt to SAVE from tlo- cations 0 to 8191 absolutely has to SAVE the EXROM code,

To disassemble this, you'll want to LOAD jit back into RAM, If the memory addresses will be displayed in hexadecimal, then first CLEAR 32767 and then LOAD "EXROM” CODE 32768. This is location 8000 hex, so you need only subtract & from the most significant digit to get the true EXR0M address. If you plan to disassemble in decimal, then LOAD "EXROM" CODE 4000 and just drop the 4 from the most significant digit. Note (for this second case) that if your disassembler is located below location 48192 in memory, it will overlap the code. You may want to work out some similar tricks of your own ta please your particular software,

Flowchart #1 715 the top level intialization routine in the EXROM. This part of the intialization was to have done all the “set up work" to find, sort out, and in- itialize any extra banks (RAM or ROM) that may have been added. We'll be discussing this flowchart in detail next

time, but it's included here for three reasons. First, it will Jet the truly enthusiastic do a little extra work on their own. Second, it will help prevent later

installments from getting too bogged down in flowcharts. Third and most important, it will give everyone a bit of

time to practice on and get used to the notation we 1l be using. Note that each flowchart box contains the memory

address of the code it represents. But the very idea of bank switching means that more than one bank of memory will be sharing the same addresses, which just begs to cause confusion. In this series, all addresses will be given in hexadecimal, but EXROM addresses will be pro- ceeded by the letter X. As such, we can say that the NEW routine, which starts to intitialize the system vari- ables is located at ODID (or OD1D in the Home ROM) but that the routine that finishes intializing the system variables is at X096C (or 096C in the EXROM). This will

save a lot of verbage, and is handy, once you get used to 1¢, In addition to this memory address notation, we'll

also examine special shorthand ways to talk about things we'll] call Bank Switching Registers and SYSCON Table Entries (we'll get around to defining these eventually). These notations have been carefully selected so as to be completely un-ambiguous, but they may require some getting used to. Also, although some users have a strong dislike for hexadecimal numbers, we hope you'll under- stand that they're needed here. We use numbers in a computer both for quantities and to denote various binary bit patterns. Decimal is fine for showing a quantity. But it’s pretty darn hard, for example, to tell if bit 4 is set or reset in decimal 239. If we see it as hexadecimal EF, however, the experienced user can immediately see that bit 4 jis zero, Since the bank switching makes considerable use of bit patterns to contro] different hunks of hardware, hexadecimal is the only way to go.

A Bank Switching Summary

The 2-80 Microprocessor, around which our T52068s are based, can only address 65536 (Horrors! A DECIMAL number!) bytes of memory. This is fixed in its hardware, and it’s simply not negotiable. If we want it to control more memory than this, then some of the memory will have to share that “address space" in a game that's a bit like a telephone party line system. While the proposed #56 memory banks would theoretically allow control of some 16 MILLION bytes, only 65536 of them could ever be immediately available. The rest would be disconnected in

a way, and waiting patiently for the 7-80 to "call. them up’, switch them in, and talk to them, The 752068 memory is broken up into & "chunks" of

BK apiece. They are laid out as follows:

22

Address Chunk #

0000—1FFF o

2000-3FFF i

4000-SFFF 2

b000-7FFF 3

8000-9FFF 4

AOOO-BFFF 5

Cooo-DFFF &

E0OO-FFFF 7 _ These & chunks might be analogous to 8 “party line” inside the 2068, each with up to 256 subscribers. Any one of the banks (subscribers) could be using a particular line, but only 8 lines are available at a given time, Each memory bank has to have its own iden-

tifier (phone number) and it also has to have a way to know which, if any, of its chunks are presently able to

FLOWCHART 4: Teg Lewel Lertialieation Fou Bask Switching (ENTER )

PRET 1Set initial [ecation ef SYSCOMW table bo SEEA

¥OBED :CALL XOqF4 de build the SYSCOM table

AGSFO-KGOFT: Check SYSCON table for »

(Nhreg Fr i, 7s a LROS fresent tly

imal Saya fen, Veriab lex imidialia ation

KOW8-x@90E. Find the LROS stating addres and jump fo if mever

te eetues

Continue leside the Laos

ROOF -KOWUS Check STSCOW table for an BAOS MkOV6 2 Ts as AROS Prevent 7 [¥)

xed -Xo723:

Tsit2 Base Anos? ly)

R@GSc: CALL Kavec te do dhe Fina! ! ystems Variakles titi sliagtion NOISY = XOUWG? Set afles fosigaif, AROS, and Tue be TRC E eee band q. touli nee the AROS inidialiae tian ,

Coutimeat mw Howe Bank

+ | ieee meeage Siece =e etber Ty pes of AR at are Possible. The #bhesn | haya! ce , ee . ralaks to tle home band |

KOTEE-NOPIE: Get the mumbo of bytes tobe reseeved tee Adneline Cad re) ee tive! ap as abe HesceSahy SP ace Tolewiny the Systen, Yar ables Xorag : CALL ¥9973, to do Tina! aten Variable iwitio leant HOT DCW OPES. Check the SYSCOM Gable te zee oF dhe | AROS speches wm AUTOST4 AT

(y wr ns)

YOTIBAOISS: Do 2 JUMP tothe AROS slant Bdldiress, rabling the Specified Memory Chunks

VOUBSCALLYONC To do Fi

é: Ts ita, AUTOSTART ?

nal Systeu

Waxinbles Tretia liz atian

XOP-netaz: Zwitially we set the Ftacty, fomten ‘he location @EZF ethe warn Execution loop te the Heme Rat XPUB-KOUMT! Pont fo SYscow as fo Fist bank WIAA-KOvdE: = Garkage

D

FLOWCHART 1 (Cortimued)

KOVAC: YOIAE - Get ent Po fo. Present S¥scox |

block. Comparcit de eg ftrd- ut. table inp ae bie}

XPICA- ahaa Tain i salt Ji # get the ene oF Preity. if ¥ _ i i arity fe nd :

3 21 the bout uP Address, a mae Prieridsy & bank

fombers become the mew boot wp valwes The Qddeess of enters 10 becones the

boot yp addeers = OTE THAT THIS Is | A BUG! Contests of entey 14 should | be the boot ye address, The tipassios basks Gent bead “pe fropen ly hime ae oF ¢hes S

iy chunks QG2 57. Ths ss evekebh a bug: Laablite 2, 24, Pel { would be reer aad dae fee deck gay ft the ee

be addressed by the 7-80. This 15 done in what's called a Horizontal Select Register. This register contains 8 bits; one for each chunk in its memory bank. The con- tents of each bit tells wether its corresponding chunk is enabled (available to the 7-80). Bit O tells about chunk G, bit 1 about chunk 1, and so on. If you've made sense of this, you may wonder what would happen if two banks both have the same chunk enabled at the same time. The result would be conflict, and you'd have trouble. But if you go about it properiy, you can see to it that this never happens.

Now, in order to keep the TS2068's cost in line with its competition the Timex engineers put a lot of its circuitry insidé a semicustom integrated circuit called the SCLD. This is a "gate array" type circuit, distantly related to the programmable arrays available to home experimenters. This type of array 715 programmed at the factory, however, and tends to be far more versa- tile and contains far more gates than the kind we might be more familiar with. The gates may be used simply as gates, or arranged into randomly ordered flip flops, allowing reasonably sophisticated functions. <A dis- advantage is that there is still only a fixed number of gates and signal pins to work with, and the designers may have to make some weird compromises in order to get all the functions they want out of the chip.

This fact comes back again and again to haunt the bank switching scheme.

One such example may be found in the single Hori- zontal Select Register used to control the three stan- dard banks. This register 18 accessed through 1/0 port

Timex Research and Development Photo shows the never re- leased Bus Expansion Unit (BEU) "piggy-backed" just behind the T$2068. The TS52020 Tape Recorder, TS2050 Modem and the Sinclair Microdrives are sitting on top.

F4. Although it would have seemed more reasonable to give each standard bank its own register, as is done with the expansion banks, this would have eaten up too many gates. Thus, through a ‘wild and whacky wisp of whimsey', the Timex engineers found a way to make do with only one; 1t works like this.

If a particular bit of the register is zero, then the corresponding chunk of the Home ROM is enabled. If the bit contains a one, then the corresponding chunk of either the Dock or the EXROM bank is enabled. Which one it is depends on bit 7 of I/0 port FF, which, I suspect, just happened to be left over, with nothing important to do. If this bit contains a one, then it's the EXROM bank; otherwise the Dock bank applies. As we said, we can't really take too much space to discuss this. The capsule description given here is just included for com- pleteness. A more complete description for switching the three standard banks may be found in the TS2068 Tech Manual.

Leaving the “nuts and bolts" of the standard banks behind, we should still examine some of it's conse- quences. The one of most immediate importance is that this scheme prevents your having chunks from both the Dock and EXROM banks enabled at the same time, Ordin- arily, this wouldn't have been important. The EXROM bank was only intented to “catch the overflow’ of the code that couldn't have fit in the Home ROM. The Dock bank was intended only for cartridge based software. If any other banks were needed, well, there was space for #253 more, right? Unfortunately, those banks never became available, and ingenious TS2068 users have had. to use these three as best as possible.

But this minor perversion has its problems; it's important that you exercise care in trying to access the EXROM while running in the Dock bank. But there are even more subtle ways that this little foible can trip you up. In articles I've written on running RAM in the Dock bank, I've always cautioned the readers not to try to LOAD anything directly into the Dock bank. The proper procedure 15 to LOAD the code into the Home Bank and then transfer it yourself. I've always shyed away from explaining exactly why this is so, but having gone through this long explanation, it now can be told! The fact is, the LOAD routine is in the EXROM, and so while your're LOADing, none of the Dock chunks can be enabled. (Remember, you can't have EXROM and Dock chunks enabled at the same time.)

As such, any attempt to LOAD data into the Dock bank will instead cause the TS2068 to try to LOAD the data into the EXROM bank, where there's no RAM to be

23

Register Purpose Outputs: 40 Horizontal Select. Receives the horizontal select byte

BO

Ad

CoO

had. Furthermore, you can't put RAM into the EXROM bank without messing with your TS2068's innards. The 8K ROM in that bank is mapped into all 8 chunks of that bank, due to incomplete address decoding. You just can't win.

The odd use of one Horizontal Select Register to control three banks has another consequence. The Home bank always “assumes” it's enabled, unless told that the Dock or EXROM have a particular chunk. This ordinarily leaves no way for the other 253 banks to be enabled without conflicting with the Home Bank. This is dealt with in a "cheap and dirty" manner with a signal on the TS2068 rear connector, called BE. When this signal is low however, all internal memory is disabled, no matter what the Horizontal Select Register for the standard banks says. This would allow the additional expansion banks to “muscle their way in" when it's their turn to “talk”.

The 752068 appears designed to contain almost no circuitry that would support the expansion bank switch- ing. That would be contained almost entirely in the never-released (and possibly never built) BEU, and the expansion banks themselves. An early map of TS2068 I/0 port assignments shows ports FC and FD reserved for bank switching. For good reasons, to be discussed later, this is not the way it's turned out. These ports are never used in either ROMS, and communication with the bank switching circuitry is instead done through a memory mapped register scheme,

Four Bank Switching Registers are used. We will call them registers CO, AO, 80, and 40. These are the ways that the bank switching software refers to them, so it will make jt easier to follow. Also, it's useful to retain the second digit even though it's always zero. This will prevent registers AO and CO from being con- Tused with the A and C hardware registers inside the Z-80 itself. When we write a value to these registers, we are sending bank switching information to the (pre- sently non-existent) BEU and expansion banks. However, when we read the registers we get back different in- formation relating to the status of various banks. WE DO NOT GET BACK THE SAME INFORMATION WE SENT. Furthermore, although we send out 8-bit groups of information, we read back only 4-bit groups. That is, only the low nybble of the byte contains useful information. <A sum- mary of the Bank Switching Registers follows, and we'll explain them in detail next time:

(hi-active) for the “presently accessed bank"

Bank Number Access. Sets the “presently accessed bank"

In Setup Mode: Receives the assigned bank number for the Bank presently selected by the daisy chain In Normal Mode: Receives the universal deselect byte.

Chunks are hi-active

Command Register. Four commands have been found: OO-Reset daisy chain & enter the setup mode 01-Step the daisy chain to the next bank O2-Reset the nybble steering logic

O4=-End the setup mode & enter the normal mode

24

-Note that no more than one bit is ever set simultaneously “The hardware of this “register” must be able to accept the 02 command, wether it’s sent as one or two nybbles, and it must be able to properly interperet the command, even

if the nybble synchronization is faulty.

Inputs:

40 Least significant nybble-Horizontal select for

“presently accessed bank"

BO Most significant nmybble —- for register 40

AG Least significant nybble-bank status for “presently

accessed bank"

co Most significant nybble -- for register AO

These Bank Switching Registers are intended to con- trol all banks EXCEPT the three “standard” banks. Each bank has a number to identify it. For the expansion banks, these are defined through the intialization soft- ware. If seven expansion banks wre present, for example, the banks would be numbered 01 through O07. Additional numbers are allocated as needed. The three standard banks, on the other hand, have fixed numbers:

Numbers For Standard Banks

FE —- EXROM Bank FF = Home Bank

00 —- Dock Bank

Now suppose we wanted to read from or write to one of the Bank Switching Registers. The software for it is already in place when you turn on your computer. Appen- dix A of the TS2068 Technical Manual has the assembly code |istings for the RAM resident code, which includes the routines WRITE BS REG (write to Bank Switching Register). After a short description, we'll Jook them over, and see how they work.

The WRITE BS REG routine at location 635C will write the value in the E register to the Bank Switching Register whose number is in the D register. To do this we first make a memory address out of the value of the Bank Switching Register. The register value becomes the two most significant hex digits, and the other two digits are zeros, For example, register AQ becomes memory address AOQOO.

Eventually, we'll be writing our data to this memory address, and the BEU or a bank will pick it up and put it in the proper register. But how will the bank "know that we're talking to it, and not just trying to use that memory location for some more mundane purpose? Another signal has to be sent out, to indicate wether the memory write operation is intended for memory or for the bank switching. This normally unused signal is on the rear connector, and 1s called IOAS. This signal comes from the sound chip, of all places, and is one bit of an 1/0 port it contains.

With IOAS low, the data written to certain ‘memory locations (A000, in this example) will also get written

to a bank switching register (the AO register, in this case). For reasons to be explained later, we only write four bits at a time. That is, only the four least significant bits are accepted by the register. The first memory-write sends the low nybble, and the second write sends the high nybble. Since it's possible for a alitch

to cause the hardware to "lose sync" and try to accept the high order nybble first, a "reset" to steer the nybbles properly must also be’ sent out. After this

occurs, the hardware is set to accept the low order nybble next,

some readers may be amazed that a mere 81 bytes can make such a complicated subroutine! This does sometimes happen when a function is divided partway between hard- ware and software, and here's a prime example. The fact that sanity was sacrificed for a low cost design doesn't help, either. For now, it would be helpful to review the section in the TS2068 Technical Manual on the registers in the sound chip (pages 21 and 22). Then we'll go on and look at the actual subroutine.

Ready? OK, here we go! Turn to Appendix A of the Tech Manual, and look at location 635C. Here's a blow- by-blow description of what's happening:

655C-655E - Saves the registers (so far so good).

6360-6367 - Saves the contents of the memory loca- Tions we're going to wipe out In a moment. Location COOO always takes a hit, Also wiped Is the memory location that corresponds to the regIiste we're going to wlte to. (For register AO, this Is location AOQOO.)

6368-6375 - Saves the contents of the sound chip registers we're about to wipe out.

6376-6570 - Sets the sound chip 1/0 port to OUTPUT mode.

637E-6384 - Sends 00 to the sound chip output port. This will clear IOA5, on the rear edge connector.

6585-6389 - Now that IOA5 Is low, thls causes the low nybble of O02 to be sent to Bank Switching Register CO. This resets the nybble steering logic, so that the next nybble written out will be accepted as the low order nybble. Note that the CO register is only recelving a single nmybble, [In this case.

638A-638B - Finally! We're sending the low order nybble to the Bank Switching Realster we want to talk to.

638C-6393 - Shifts the hIigh order nybble Into the four least significant bits, so It can be

sent out.

6394 - Sends out the second nybble.

6395-63A2 - Puts the sound chip registers back the way they were. As such, [I0A5 goes high

again. 65A5-65A8 - Restores the memory locations we over. Since IOA5 Is now high, this NOT write new values to the BEU. 63A9-65AB - Restore the registers we changed 63AC - eeeand RETurn to the CALLing routine with everything exactly as It was, except that a Bank Switching Register has changed!

wrote does

If you've gotten this far, congratulations. But you may want to get yourself a cup of tea, coffee, or what- ever more potent nerve settling beverage you'd like. We're about to do the same thing with the READ BS REG routine! —

While we write to the Bank Switching Registers one nybble at a time, there still 8 bits wide. When we read them, however, they're only four bits wide. (As we said before, we don't read back the same information we've written.) Because of this, we have to read two registers

29

to get enough information to fill a single byte.

The READ BS REG routine at location 63AD reads a nybble from the Bank Switching Register whose number is in D, and another from the register whose number jis in E. It then packs them both into the E register. Here's how:

65AD-635AF — Save registers.

63680-63562 - The programmer was probably copying code directly from the WRITE BS REG routine. This portion Is useless here,

6583-6386 - Save the contents of C000, before we use Them.

65687-6388 - More useless code.

6589-63C7 - Save contents of two sound chip registers about to be wiped.

63C8-63CF - Set sound chip I/0 port to OUTPUT mode.

6500-6506 - Send 00 to I/0 port so I0A5 goes low.

63D7-63DB - Reset nybble steering logic.

650C-63DF - Register (D) is read, and the useful f[n- formation trom It Is put Into the least Significant nybble of C.

65E0-65E9 - Register (E) is read, and the useful In- formation from it is put Into the most signiticant nybble of A.

65EA-65EB - Both nybbles are packed Into E.

65EC-635FA - Restore original sound chip registers. 6SFB-65FC - More useless code. 65FD-6400 - Replace the contents of location co0od.

6401-6403 - Replace registers. 6404 - RETurn (at lastit!).

Note that the code we refer to as "useless" is not at all benign. The three parts hold each other in check, counteracting each other, and making it appear that a1] three parts don't exist. But if we remove some but not all of them, the remaining part(s) will cause all sorts of mischief. S50 if you wish to modify this routine, be- ware!

These two routines form the lowest level interface between the rest of the bank switching software and the actual hardware. From here on, we'll just set the 7-80 registers up to read or write to a particular Bank switching Register, and CALL the appropriate routine. We needn't worry about how it's done. That is, unless it's desired to experiment with bank switching hardware; then the knowledge is absolutely fundamental.

some readers may look at these two incredibly con- voluted subroutines, look back at the earlier statement that the bank switching software isn't too hard to follow, and then wonder wether my brain hasn't dropped a bit or two, somewhere. Please be assured that the rest of the bank switching code is much more civilized, how- ever comical it may become. If you've come this far, I beg you to read on.

This discussion will generate a lot of questions. Probably the first and foremost arises from the very idea of reading and writing nybbles to memory mapped 1/0, and that question is simply, “Why?" Once again, the use of SCLD gate arrays for a cheap design comes in and messes up the bank switching scheme.

Our good friends at Timex could have made things much simpler for us. They could have used 1/0 ports FC and FD to control the Bank Switching Registers in a manner similar to the two-port scheme used on the sound chip. This would have reduced the two subroutines we've discussed to a few simple instructions, and we could have sent 8 bit information back and forth, as well. The circuitry would be simpler, and easier to follow. A11 we'd have to do was run a few more signals to it.

That last sentence is the killer that sends chills through the hearts of every chip designer. Though we rarely think of it, each chip has only a limited number

of pins. The more complex the chip is, the harder it is to get all the signals you need in and out of the pack- age!

Each expansion bank would likely have contained its

own SCLD, to hold the registers for that bank, and do its bank switching chores. It's limited pinout is the probable cause of the problem. By writing one nybble at a time, only four of the 8 Data lines (DO-D3) would have to be run into the chip. By using memory mapped 1/0, the signal TORQ would not be needed by the SCLD.

| We've already eliminated 5 pins, and that makes any chip designer smile. A possible 6th pin would also have been saved if the designers intended to make the mask- able interrupt (a subject we won't cover here) available for general use, In some cases, the MI line would then be needed to distinguish the difference between an interrupt service and a true 1/0 request.

Now, 5 or 6 pins is a lot, even if we've got 40 to work with. Actually, a preliminary circuit design sug- gests that a RAM bank SCLD would need only 28 pins, and a ROM bank only 20 pins. These are all standard pin groupings, and the lower the number you can get away with, the cheaper your design. And in the cutthroat atmosphere of the computer business, EVERY penny counts.

sadly, since we can't put lots of functions on a single chip, this offbeat switching scheme simply gets in our way. Note that the READ BS REG and WRITE BS REG routines do essentially all communication with the Bank switching Registers. (One renegade routine tries--and misse€s--Ccommunicating with the registers; this can be ignored.) As such, it might be worthwhile to consider rewriting those two routines to use 1/0 ports FC and FD, Instead. Perhaps we could write the register number to port FC, and read or write our data from port FD. This would do a lot to simplify the Bank Switching hardware.

should anyone want to experiment a bit with build- ing Bank Switching Registers as Timex envisioned them, note that only address lines Al3-Al5 need to be tested to see if a register is being accessed. This will simplify your circuitry. Note that only some of the Bank switching Registers are really true registers. Others will serve to reset only selected bits of a different register, and others switch hardware modes without being “stored’ in any register at all. (Register CO, bit 1 simply clocks a shift register, for example.) We'll explain it all mext time, but this is mentioned so that no one gets too serious about designing a bank switching system until we go over a few more things.

Unfortunately, this article's volume has already expanded beyond all] pretentions of sanity, and we have not even covered all of the basics yet. I must apologize for the somewhat sketchy treatment of some topics. I've been hounded for some 18 months to get this information into print, and I ve tried to include as much sheer in- formation as I could, to appease some of those who are

T/S MODEM-ing

As editor of the Portland Area Timex/Sinclair Users Group (P.A.T.S.) newsletter, I wanted to upload the newsletter to members who own a modem, MTERM II, and Tasword. (NOTE: Uploading means sending data from one computer to another. Downloading 18 receiving data from another computer.) But I did not want to man the phone lines, waiting for incoming calls. The solution? Modify MTERM II to accept a remote command, from the caller, to dump the newsletter (which is stored as a Tasword text- file in the buffer). But how? Overwrite portions of MTERM II] handling the remote Buffer, Start and Stop commands. (I intentionally overwrote the Buffer Open and Close routines, to avoid accidental corruption of the Buffer.) With the modifications installed, I was able to boot-up MTERM II, plug my modem into the phone line and

already familiar with the code in the EXROM.

For the rest of you, I'1] be filling in the blanks next time, particularly on the Bank Switching Registers. We'll also look at the RAM resident code, the SYSCON table, and the daisy-chaining of the expansion banks. Doing all this, we 11 finally start looking at how the 732068 handles it all with a guided tour of Flowchart 1, which is included here.

HOMEWORK

For those readers who don't want to wait two months to learn more, I’ve left lots for you to do on your own. Read the short explanation on the System Configuration (SYSCON) Table on page 81 of the Technical Manual. Put the EXROM on cassette, and compare the disassembly to Flowchart 1, Use this to begin your own annotated dis- assembly of the bank switching code. My SYSCON notation (to be explained next time) needs a quickie explanation to do this. The phrase “SYSCON 00" refers to the first entry of a 2d4-byte block associated with an EXPANSION bank. We'll pretty much ignore the AROS and LROS parts.

Try to wade through the listings of the RAM resident code in Appendix A of the Technical Manual. Read the comments, and try to understand what the various rou-

tines do. In short, there's plenty to keep you busy for two months.

I'd like this series to be an interactive one. If you're particularly interested in certain things, or need more detail, let me know. Future columns could very easily cover them. If you disagree with anything I've said, or think I've missed something important, PLEASE let me know. Also, feel free to write or call with questions. I'm Wes Brzozowski, 337 Janice St. Endicott, New York 13760. If you want a reply, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. If you're in a hurry, don't be afraid to call at (607) 785-7007. I'm very friendly, provided you don’t call collect and call BEFORE 9:30 PM, EASTERN time. Hope to hear from you!

Editor's note: Wes Brzozowski Is an electrical en by profession, and is employed at an Interna computer glant. Wes is a member of the SINCUS T/S Group in New York, and a regular columnist for the group's newsletter.

Embellishing MTERM II

by Michael E. Carver

Jet the computer do all the work. The following will allow one to post messages, letters, bulletins, ect. for remote downloading without the need for an operator being present.

Key in Listing 1, then load the MTERM II code, When MTERM has loaded, RUN the BASIC program. The new code will be installed in its proper location within MTERM II and you will receive prompts to SAVE this modified MTERM (Please note that this modified version will ignore any Buffer commands from the caller).

Now that the MTERM modifications are complete, we need to make a few changes in Tasword II]. These changes will embed special MTERM commands before and after the text, saving them to tape along with the text. To make downloading easy on the caller, I wanted my computer to send an Open Buffer command before transmitting the text and a Close Buffer command after complete transmission. Load Tasword II, go to the Menu to get into BASIC. Edit

26

Ineer lona|

lines 1030, 1040 and 1100 to match Listing 2. These changes will provide a Control R at the start of the MTERM Buffer, which will automatically open the caller's Buffer. These modifications will allow the use of Tas- word for typing and editing a message base for the MTERM Buffer. After you have edited Tasword with Listing #2, ENTER as a direct command [CLS GO TO 20]. This will bring you back to the menu. Make a copy of this new version by choosing option [T].

We are now ready to test out our new modifications. Prepare a test text using the modified Tasword. (Note: Texts which have been created in an unmodified Tasword can be loaded into the modified version. When the text 1s saved from the modified version, all changes will be made to affect remote downloading.) Save the text to tape, load MTERM II, then load your text file into the Buffer (I use Loader IV). I like to use the following parameters in MTERM to upload/download text files:

WORD = 6 STOP = 1 PARITY = None DUPLEX = Hal¢ CONVERSION = None

Have a friend call you with their MTERM Buffer empty and closed. Upon a connect, they should send a CTRL QO ((CAPS SHIFT/7] [Q]). This command will automatically trigger your computer to open the caller's Buffer and upload your text file. Sit back and watch the text fly by. After completion, the program will close the caller's Buffer. When the caller hangs-up, your computer auto- matically resets itself and waits for the next caller. All of this was done whithout your having to lift a finger or press a key.

TIP: I like to set up the macro-keys (starting with “O" and chaining them together) with an introductory message, telling the caller to send a Control Q to re- ceive the text. When the caller makes their connect, they simply send a Control E ([CAPS SHIFT/7] [E]) which automatically sends the macro-key “O° message and any others chained to it. A closing message can also be en-

Beaver Writer

first SO column word processor

for the T/S 2068 compatible with AERCO I/F and most EPSON compatible printers

Character Font Generator

design your own UDG or character sets comes with ASCII, Bold, Future, and Medieval fonts joystick required

tered while in MTERM. By opening your Buffer and re- turning to Terminal Mode, any message can be appended to the Buffer. (Note: Be sure to close Buffer before going on-line.) As this text will follow the embedded CTRL T, it will only be sent to the caller's screen and not their Buffer.

LISTING I

1000 FOR X#S34211 TO 342351: READ YT: PORE =*,T: NEXT X

1010 FOR X234232 TO 34242: POKE

“,O: NEXT xX

1020 PRINT "Saving MTERM Ila": & AVE "MTERM Ila"CODE 34014, ?7214: CLS : PRINT “Rewind Tape and Pla y to Verify": VERIFY "MTERM Ila" CODE 34014,972164

1030 DATA 32,231,23,0,241,203, 182 ,42, 83,72, 34, 232, 238, 34, 234,238

1040 DATA 42,75, 72,34, 234,238,235 4,17,40,5,33,0, 241,203, 244, 173

1050 DATA 201,254,19,32,17,24,21 7,173,201

LISTING 2

1030 LET IeVAL "12": GO SUB VAL "B00": POKE (b-VAL "117),VAL "18 "; POKE (b+a),VAL "20": SAVE asc ODE b-VAL "11i",a+VAL "12"; CLS

1040 PRINT AT VAL "@",VAL "O77" ext file “;am@j" saved: ",AT VAL "* 10° VAL "O"fartVAL "12";" Bytes," ,»S/PEEK VAL "42237"1" lines"

1100 CLS ; IFFY s®CODE b-VAL

GO SUB VAL "00": VER "Li", ,eatVAL "12"

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2]

Ultra-Easy Designer Graphics

by Paul Bingham

When I first ordered my 2068 back ain, well, what seems eons ago, one thing | looked forward to most was the machine's touted User Defined Graphics capabilities. What a boon to an old 2X81 programmer this would be! On the face of it, UDGs looked pretty exciting. No matter that there were only 21 of them, ruling out easy trial of new fonts and type faces--just having any would be great.

Oh, but the real rain on the parade came when I! read through the manual’s five page chapter on UDGs, It became apparent that with POKE USER "a" + whatever and countless BIN sequences needed to set up each and every savory UDG byte, these little jewels were going to be

bears to work with. Now aS 15 uSually the case, things were not as hopeless as they seemed after a JVittle in- vestigating. As it turned out, the UDG area is just a

section high in memory where there is room for ?1 seg- ments each eight bytes long. And to my surprise, I did

not find my ones and zeros I had POKEd, but rather decimal numbers between 0 and 255. Somewhere along the line, the 2068 was converting the barrage of zeros and ones to elegant code. If one could find a way to POKE the right codes in directly then the POKE USER BIN non- sense could be circumvented...

So for all who have wanted to exploit the use of 2068 UDGs easily, J] have written a colorful little 6K

utility which leaves you all the fun of designing and little of the drudgery. As can be seen in Figure A, it allows the user to design four UDG characters on screen at once and by the use of on-screen menus to alter, move or save them, All features aré accessed by the top row of keys and ENTER as shown in Figure B,

“A°6S366 i444 A ABCC AB *“B°6S376 i145 5 -4- D

BECO cb "C°65384 146

“D°65SaS2 147

Figure A

KEY DESCRIFTIONS Operation

acts like ENTER

for menu selection Menu curser down menu cursor up sketch cursar left sketch cursor up sketch cursor down sketch cursor right darkens pixel deletes nixel

a 4 a & Fi 5 o

= =

Figure B

28

4 ERASE z55 ; e =] = i 8 -2- =55 7 26 =3= a 42 =4-= 255 40 all ral 2s row 255 6 SUARTHR @ SAVE T | is2 CODES 166 S23 -ji- ao 42> =2- 16s 33 -3- gi 42 -4- 168 r= | all ae 42 STORE 1ig2 -l1- -p-

‘a°s5368 144

AB = = = = =t “B°65376 145 ¢ —4- =¢ WE ‘“C°6S264 146 # all =ta) ‘D’653¢62 i147 B&B PRINT

Figure C

Creating new symbols and characters 1s aS simple as

moving the cursor. Figure C shows a watch that is actu- ally two UDG characters side by side. This shows that one need not be bound by an “eight X eight" block, but

that multiple character designs are possible. In the 2068 manual the UDG characters are referred to as "a’, “b’, "c’, ect. to “u". We will also refer to

them as such in some parts of the program. In other places they are referred to by character codes. By telling our 2068 to PRINT CHR$ 144 it will print UDG

character "a" because that's its code! CHR$ 164 will get you UDG character “u", which is the last one. The pro- gram keeps you reminded of the current letter and code along with the memory location of each UDG at the bottom of the screen as can be seen in Figures A and C. You might read the manual's pages 197, 198, and 243 also.

Now about the listing. The program will serve you without lots of documental aids. S0 it will suffice to get you on your way with just a few tips:

In trouble by hitting the wrong key? Just hit break or 1f you are in an Input sequence, type in the command STOP. AS long as the designs you have been working on are in the UDG area, you can re-RUN without losing any of them. GOTO 100 works just the same and won't harm any variables.

Be sure to call for "CODES" on the menu for all the blocks you have designed on the screen BEFORE calling for "STORE" on the menu. Without the codes, the "STORE" feature will store blanks (zeros) in the UDG area. STORE sends the particular codes for the block (or all four blocks if you chose “all") to the letter destination you input. Inputting “a" puts it in the first position. But you can send them anywhere or even to multiple Joca- tions,

Now if you look at line 10 of the listing after GOSUB 9000 you will find a JVittle FOR/NEXT loop with READ and DATA. These little two lines sets up a UDG character which is a pointing finger cursor used in the program. By using such as a guideline, you can set up READ and DATA statements with the codes this program comes up with to do Jots of User Defined Graphics char- acters much more simply in your own programs. A word of caution: the cursor takes up position “u’ (or CHR$ 164), so don't try to overwrite it.

Good luck in your designing efforts. If you have any comments or improvements, feel free to send them to me. Also, if you are not up to the task of typing in a long listing, then a copy with refinements, bells and whistles is available on a new cassette tape for 45, Send to: Paul Bingham, P.0. Box 2034, Mesa, AZ 85204,

i REM

“ULTRA-EAS*Y DESIGNER GRAPHICS" Version 1.8 bY B&B. bingham

1@ GO SUB S@00@: FOR t=65523 To 65535 READ o: POKE t,o: NEXT 1 CATA @8,80,63,252. pS2.246, @.

2@ CIN g(Be): CIM utze): LET ec =r: LET at ¥: LET px2l: LET pya “Press ENTER to continu

Oo TO 165 LET y=S:- GO TO 400 LET yw=13: GO TO 4@ LET yw=5: GO TO 40e LET y=i3: GO To 42 25 F 2#1lTO 24: GO SUE @m: WN EXT m: RETURN 26 PAPER 7: LET &t=5S4+(84INT (pe #13}): FOR ReHek TO &£+7: PRINT AT PF4u.h; CHR 226: NEXT A: RETURN 27 PAPER @: LET teS+(8tInT ipz : FOR R=k TO k#?: PRINT AT PYyY.h; CHR 143: NEXT A: RETURN 26 Sn “LIiSBAVE UDGS 2) LOAD UDGE IF t=i THEN SAVE “UDG “CODE 6és6s. 189: RETURN 2S LOAD "UDG" CObE bS368,i15%5: G 0 SUB S@0@@- RETURH

bo i FY ch

te a x kK

a r a 4 3 xx i Wi ity ee ee

il a)

o@ LET sei: LET x=1: LET yaad: LET gq=1: GO TO 35

ot LET sO: LET x=1: LET yele: LET G=22: GO TO 35

oe LET swi7: LET x=9: LET yea: LET q=1: GO To 35

wo LET sS#25: LET x=8: LET yeie

LET gq=2e: GO TO 35

a4 FOR m=30 TO 33: GO SUB m: W iS m: RETURN

oo ge SUB GOS: RETURN

26 &=1: 60 TO 48

oF Cer e= 9: GU TO 4s

238 LET seiyY: 60 TSG 48

3S LET £225: GO To 4é

40 FOR m=36 TO 39: GO SUB m: L Er fel: NEXT m: RETURN

41 INPUT “1)1COPY 2IBISPLAY 7: IF teil THEN Corr : LPRINT LPRINT ;: LPRINT : RETURN

a3 DIM tat4): INPUT “Which in LeS47 (EX: SB bCt!:"; tg: FOR t=1 Teo 4: GO SUB S58: LET het I(CObE tat }) =9 7) #8465368: FOR meh TO Re7: LET Ssl=PEEK m

44 FOR 9=6 TO 1 STEP -1: LET a deaive: IF INT a@1¢ai1 THEN PAPER @: PRINT AT yi.xX1i+9;CHRS 143;: L ET aleINT ai: GO TO 46

45 PAPER 7: PRINT AT y1,x149;¢C

HRS 126: 46 NEXT g-: ere Ylseyi¢+i: NEXT m NHEXT t: RETUR 43 INPUT "ube. L@étter as Storag

e:",ws: IF CODE vg>65 AND CODE v §i1235 THEN GO TO 65 49 INPUT “Itlegal entry! continues ";¥8: GO TO 48 s@ LET q=1 So IF uvtqi<¢>@ THEN LET wevu(q): GO TO 480 ae IF 9=28 THEN LET w=1: GO TO

6O@ LET 9=9+1: GO TO 55

ENTER

(Display File 1). Reference Appendix and Memory of the 2068 User Manual.

You can LOAD SCREENS or other data picture interrupted with

POLY=SCROLL demonstrates a screen utIl|Ity for a Tf3 2068 Demo used at the T/S Computertest In

PS uses the alternate display file (Display File 2) to present pictures or data to the observer while it is preparing the next screen on the standard display file

Using the alternate display file instead of the standard display several advantages: the computer can be writing on the screen (DF-1) with the usual BASIC commands, Took at DF-¢. Your screen will not be affected by what is going on with DF-1 until you scroll the data to DF-2. and not have the BASIC LOADer

65 IF Ll? THEN 430

CODE vwssi96 AND CODE vii LET w=CODE vg-36: GO TO

70 IF VAL v$)@ AND VAL vese21 T HEN LET w=VAL vs: GO TO 48@e 75 GO To 4a 100 GO SUB saaa 1@5 PAPER 1: PRINT AT cs.26;" “ : PAPER 7: PRINT AT cs,26:CHRS 1 64. GO SUB 8000: FAPER 1: PRINT AT cs ,26; 11@ IF CODE INKEY$=51 THEN LET cS=Cs+i: GO TO ize 115 GO TO 140 125 IF ce=@ THEN LET cs=18

130 IF ce=#=iS THEN LET cs=16

135 IF cs;>21 THEN LET cs<2«i

aes PAPER 7: PRINT AT ct,26; CHR L | 4

140 IF CoOpE INKEYS=S2 THEW LET CS=cs-1: GO TO 166

isS@ GO To i908

165 IF ce=9 THEN LET czet2é

178 IF cs=15 THEN LET ce =i4d

i7S IF ce<i THEN LET chez1

ae PREFER Y: FRINT AT ¢ts,26; CHR $ 164

198 IF COCE INKEY$=4S THEN GO 3 UB cs4+2e

280028 GO Te 185

wee FOR H=x TO x4+7: GIM aig: L ET bei: LET ¢=6

JL@ FOR t=8 TO 2 STEP -1: LET a (tL) esINT ¢tATTR th,.y4tii) +8)

~2OW IF alt) ¢)>% THEN LET cect¢+b

230 LET b=b#te: NEXT t: LET dis) =C: LET s=541 _

342 PAPER Ss: BRIGHT 1: Set AT h.4 “: PRINT AT H,4;¢: NEXT h: BRIGHT @: RETURN

~o@ IF tesa THEN LET yie=l: eee

MI=s(INT (t#6/121) 4844: RETU

260 LET yi=8: LET xi=stINT TteSe 12)) 4844: RETURN

4@@ PAPER 7: R tsy TO y+4?:

FOR h=x TO x47: FO PRINT AT h,t:CHRs

1428: NEXT t: NEXT &: RETURN

46@ LET j2InT (2£76)}: LET 3 =6536 O+Sew: LET €=+143: PAPER F

496 FOR t=1 TO i¢+7: PORE t,d(ts) * LET s8=54+1: WET t

eve LET KRisci: LET fee: FOR H=18 +i TO 21: PRINT AT &,12:CHRs (Ff- 9) ;AT A,14: hij; AT A,.2G; F: AT hea ;CHRE F: LET #is=kie+@: LET farfei-

NEXT hh

Sl@ PRINT AT 18.34+3;CHRS (e-79) > FOR K=19 TO 21: PRINT AT h,Jj+i rCHRS e: ExT hh

SiS IF jie THEN PRINT AT i9,.j3+7

;CHRS @: RETURN

cane FRINT AT 280, 945; CHRS €: RET Bede GO SUB 6100

8@02 LET n=CODE INKEYS: IF n=523

THEN GO 5UB 6100: LET pee=px-i1

8005 IF px<S THEN LET px=20

6610 IF n=54 THEN GO SUB 82108: L

ET PYy=Ppy4i

6815 IF py>16 THEN LET py=i

Be ue LF Scie THEN GO SUB 831800: L PYSPYy-

6825 IF pyi1 THEN LET pu=16

8O30 IF n=56 THEN GO SUB 81800: L

ET Pxspx4+i1

POLY-SCROLL

by 3.D. Lemke

B@35 IF px>20 THEN LET px=5 6@40 IF n=48 THEN PAPER 7: PRINT AT py. Px; CHRS ize

6@de2 IF n=8? THEN PRPER @: PRINT AT pu,Px; CHRS 1423: PAPER F Bed5 car t=1@3 TO 185: PLOT igd, t: PLOT 184: NEXT t

e550 RETURN

i alas LET at=INT CfATTR tpy, Bx) 4 8105 IF at=7 THEN PRINT AT fY.PY »CHRS 134; PRINT AT BPY.Px; CHR 1

wr: PRINT AT PY. BPE: CARS 123

8118 IF 4t=@ THEN PAPER 7: PRINT AT PY.Px,CHRS 134: PRINT AT Py. Px | CHARS 137: PAPER @: PRINT AT pF

¥,PxX;CHRS i423: PAPER [7

S96@ RETURN

9@18 BORDER 1: BRIGHT 1

9015 PAPER 5S: BRIGHT 1: FOR t=0

TO 21: PRINT AT t,@;"

“>? MEXT t

9020 PAPER 1: BRIGHT @: FOR t=a

TO 21: PRINT AT t,26;" “: NEXT t

9032 PAPER S: BRIGHT 1

9050 PAPER 1: BRIGHT 1: FOR t=@

72 “ted PRINT AT t,27;" “AE

Se6a PAPER o: BRIGHT @: FOR tea

TO @2.: PRINT AT @,1;" “j;AT 17,1; _+ NEXT t

9070 FOR te=1 TO 16: PRINT AT t,4

"7 RT t.21; “ HEXT t g08e PRINT AT O14; 7" :AT O,21; °_

909@ FOR t=32 To 39: PLoT 39.1-

PLOT 103,t: PLOT 168,1: PLOT 39,

t4136: PLOT 183,t4+136: PLOT i168‘

t4136: NEXT t

9@92 PRINT AT 8,8; "-1-";AT 17,8; AT 27,25; "=4

‘a3<"ZAT 8,45; "-2-" 9093 PLOT 39,38: DRAU 8,129: CRA DRAW @,-125: PLOT 32,39

: BRAU 143,80

S695 PAPER 1: INK 7: PRINT AT @. ey; ERASE"; aT ¢, 27, “SUATH"; AT a, er,’ SAVE AT 9.27; "CODES"; AT is ,ef, STORE”; AT Pi, 27; “PRINT”

9100 BRIGHT 1: LET a=28: LET y2=l - GO SUB a500

S165 LET jy=l®: GO SUB osea0a

S1ii1@ LET j=16: GO SUB 95¢0

S126 PRINT AT 6,4: “row”

91308 BRIGHT @: PAPER 7: FOR tel TO 16: PRINT AT t,8;"

":. NEXT 2

S200 INK @: . acs S: BRIGHT 1 9215 PRINT AT 128, eee on

9220 PRINT AT 18, 13, °°A°" FAT 19, Sel eee 20,13; Mhgen. AT 21,11 9225 PAPER 7: BRIGHT @: PRINT AT io 25." ",AT 2@,1;" -AT 2 1,1;" “SAT 19,73" “7 AT 20,7; 925@ RETURN 2580 PRINT AT Jj,a;"-1i=-";AT j+i,a ,"<2-="AT J4+2,08;°-3-";AT j4+3,a; "

-";RAT J¢4,4; "all": RETURN

printed on DF-1. You are in direct control of what the

Ohio. listing). Display Modes file has there is an error, while you work very well.

your messages

29

observer can see (or not see), The program is mostly BASIC, code routines--Col,

with 3 short machine

Row, and Vid (as used in the program These routines are POKEd into memory locations starting from a user defined value, machine code is totally (lines 8000 to 8140). to validate the code as it js a warning will be given and the with the error will be identified. The present Demo uses a BASE value of 48500, type printer, the printer buffer location (23296)

BASE (line 60). The

relocatable using the LOADer The LOADer has a built in checker POKEd into memory. If

line

If you are not using the 2040

would

COL and ROW each transfer a column or row of pic- ture element data from display file 1 to display file 2.

Each is very fast. Each of these routines use locations used to do this is found in lines 9100 to 9210. A total

e2j?2? and 23728 to define the row tively, that 15 to be transferred. Rows are defined as 1 (bottom) to 24 (top), and columns are 2?

column respec- of twelve different scrolls are presented! VID is the machine code that prepares the TS 2068 (right) to 33 for the use of the alternate display file. This routine

(left). The top, left location is row 24, column 33° and relocates the Function Dispatcher and Machine Stack.

the bottom, right is row 1, column 2.

The reason for

After you type in the program, it will self-save by

this odd arrangement is that ROW and COL use a ROM call typing RUN 9999 [ENTER]. To run, just RUN [ENTER]. The based on this arrangement, By transferring rows and program will demonstrate all 12 screen scrolls and pause

columns from Display File 1 to Display File 2 in differ- ent orders, you can scroll data onto the screen from top to bottom, bottom to top, left to right, ect. The BASIC

1 REM SERRE RERR ERECT ETAT POLY =— 8 C & OLE by 5 D Lemke Lemke Software Development -144 White Oak Wichita, Ks. 67207

ESCA REARAE TCE T EELS

1? REM BASE = 48500

20 REM RAND 48525 -- Column 30 REM RRND 48552 -- Row

40 FEM FND 4628" -- vid mode

50 REM SERERERERE REECE ETE S

60 LET base#=48500: LET bl=INT {baserf2od): LET bB2=base-f2a4éabl: LET basel=baseti13: LET bteINT tb asez/23546): LET b4=basec-lca4abs

7O LET col =baset?S

680 LET row=basets>

70 LET wid=base+Hd?

100 REM S2aR RRR

200 GO SUB 8000: RANDOMIZE USR Wid: OUT 23535,0: CLS : GO SUB 910 Oo: OUT 255,1

210 PAPER 1: BORDER i: INE 9: C LS

220 PRINT “This program uses th ee alternate Display File to disp lay data or text. All the usual Basic print and draw commands ca mn be used.": GO SUB F100: PAUSE 300 310 PAPER 2: INK 9: CLS

320 PRINT °""***"Each time you ex ecute a ROW of Column Machine C ode routine, 1 Row -or Column is

copied from Display File 1 t o Display File 2": GO SUB 7110: PAUSE 300

410 PAPER 3: INK 9: CLS

420 PRINT AT 6,0;" While the r Bader i565 reading the present

screen, yOu can have the pr Ogram prepare the next screen

LL .

=210 PAPER 4: INK FY: CLS

520 FRINT AT 10,0 :" This provid es the programmer a powerful to ol for creating fast and eriting games and demos.": GO SUB F130: FAUSE 2300

610 PAFER S&S: Ink : CLS

620 PRINT AT 15,90;"This program will demonst:ate a total of 12 different ways that you can scol 1] a screen'"“: GO SUB 7140: FAUSE 200

710 PAPER &: INK F: CLS

720 PRINT AT 15,0:"I1 hope that yYOU enjoy using the FOLY-SCROLL acre@en utilits.": GO SUB 9150: F AUSE [40

810 FAPERF 7: INF 1: CLS

@20 CIRCLE 126,868,400: CIRCLE {2 8,668,412: FRINT AT 10,14;"1": CIF CLE 110,100,3: CIRCLE 144, 160,3: CIRCLE 112,99,1: CIRCLE 146,99, lt PLOT 110,70: DRAW 34,0,.5: 60 SUB 9140: FAUSE 200

910 PAPER O: INF 9: CLS

720 PRINT AT 1,03" One advantag @ of using DF=-2 to display data is that you can nowload in data,

pictures, etc. andnot have your

display affected by the LOAD t titles printed on DF-i": GO SUB

F170: FAUSE 700 1010 PAPER 1: INK @: CLS 1020 FRINT AT 5,0; "After the LOA D is complete you can scroll yo ur data/picture to BF=-2 for view ing'": GO SUB 7180: PAUSE 700 1110 FAFER 2: INK : CLS L120 PRINT AT 8,0;"When customiz ing this program for your o”n use, delete lines 210 thru 1320

of this demo.": GO SUB 7190: PA USE 240 1210 PAPER ZT: INK Ft CLS 1220 PRINT AT 11,0;"Set BASE suc h that it will not be over writ ten and destroyed by your prog ram. If you are not using the 20 49 printer, then theprinter buff er location (253276) is a good v 4lue for BASE": GO SUB 9200: PAU SE 330 i310 PAPER 4: INK 9: CLS 1320 PRINT AT 10,60; "FPrese ENTER to Start Demo over again, any oa ther key to STOP": GO SUB F210181 FAUSE O: LET i®=INKEYS: IF i8=CH RS i3 THEN 60 TO 210 7798 OUT 235,060: STOP 7779 REM POKE/LOAD Machine Code

BOOO PAPER i: INK FY: BORDER i: €C LS : PRINT TAB 113 FLASH 1; “WORK ING” 8100 LET sum=0O: RESTORE OOO: FO FR ievid TO vid+3a: READ a: FOKE i,a: LET sum=sum+a: NEXT i: IF 5s um. 6207 THEN LET 1=f000: GO TO Fa00 6110 LET sum=0: RESTORE 9010: FO F imbage TO base+24: READ a: FOK E i,a: LET sum=sumta: NEXT i: IF sum< >2767 THEN LET 17010: GO TO F8o0 68120 LET sum=0: RESTORE 7oO20: FO RF i=col TO col+24: READ a: FPOKE i,a:t LET sum=sumta: NEXT i: IF «6 ume >(2694+b14b2+b34+b4) THEN LET 1=7020: GO TO 7800 8130 LET sum=0: RESTORE F030: FO Foi=row TO row+34: READ az FORE i,a: LET sum=sum+a: NEXT i: IF 6 um > (33474+61+b2+b34+b4) THEN LET 1=9030: 60 TO F8oo 6i40 RETURN 7000 DATA 44,0,462,1,211,244,219, foo, 20S, c05,e211, 255,62,6, 245, 251 , 205, 142,14,0,2719, 255, 207,191.21 1,255, 175,211,244, 241,254,128, 32 »4,50,91,104,251, 201 7010 DATA 23, 174,972, 78,335,175, 72 , 70,120, 205, 41,9, 227,193, 201.124 ~15,15,15, 230,53, 246,68, 103,701 FO20 DATA 205,62,601,6, 192, 227,20 a, 04.63, 126,17,0, 32,25, 117,225, 1 26,25,119,17, 224,51, 237,82, 16, 22 a, 2Ol 70s0 DATA 205,b2,b1,46,6,197,4,32 poo? 207, 205,604,6053,126,17,0,32,2 5,119,225, 126,25, 119, 225, 25,14,2 af, 193,17, 224,0, 25,16, 227, 201

30

after the last. Press ENTER to start the demo again. Any other key will return you to the standard display file and the program will “STOP”.

S098 REM Scroll Subroutines

2099 REM Columns ==>> F100 PRINT AT 20,33 "Laft to Righ & —-- Wo. 1": FOR ¢€=33 TO 2 STEP

“1: POKE 23727,24: POKE 237268.c : RANDOMIZE USR col: NEXT c: RET UR $1097 REM Columns {<2 7110 PRINT AT 20,3; "Right to Left tf === No. 2S": FOR c=? TO S33: FOR E 23727,24: PORE 23728,c: RANDOM IZE USR col: NEXT c: RETURN

F117 REM Rows Upward 9120 PRINT AT 20,27; "Bottom to To p --- No. 3": FOR rei TO 24: FOK

E 23727,r: FPOKE 23728,32: RANDOM IZE USAR row: NEXT ri: RETURN #129 REM Rows Downward 9130 PRINT AT 20,2; "Top to Botto m—--- No. 4": FOR r=24 TO 1 STEF -1: FPOKE 23727.r: FPOKE 23728, 33 : RANDOMIZE USF row: NEXT r: RET LIF

9129 REM Diag L>R T>B #140 PRINT AT 20,0; "Diagonal: L> Ro and T?B === No. 5S": LET c=3i:

FOR r#24 TO 1 STEP =-1: POKE 2372

*,r: POKE 22726,23: RANDOMIZE US

FoF OW

9142 IF c>=2 THEN POKE 23727,24 : POKE 22728,c: RANDOMIZE USF co id: LET c=c-—i1

9144 IF c>=2 AND r>2=17 THEN FOK

E 23727,24: FPOKE 22726,c: RANDOM IZE USR col: LET c=c-1

9144 NEXT r: RETURN

7149 REM Diag R>L TSB

$150 PRINT AT 20,0;"Diagonal: R>

L and T?B --- No. 6": LET cm: F

OR r=24 TO 1 STEP -1: POKE 223727 sf: POKE 22726,253: RANDOMIZE USR row

9ilS2 IF ¢ct=35 THEN FOKE 23727,2 4: PORE 23726,c: RANDOMIZE USF c

Ol: LET c=c+i

7154 IF cts33 AND r>=17 THEN FO

KE 23727,24: POKE 227278,c: RANDO

MIZE USE col: LET cec+i

154 NEXT r: RETURN

9159 REM Diag Rel BST

#160 FRINT AT 20,0; "Diagonal: R>

L and BST - Mo. #": LET r=i1i F

OR c=2 TO 33: POKE 23727,24: FORK

E 22728,c: RANDOMIZE USR col

9142 IF r>=17 THEN POKE 23727,2 4; POKE 23728,c+1: RANDOMIZE USK colt LET c=ce+1

9144 IF rt=24 THEN FPOKE 23727,r : POKE 223728,33: RANDOMIZE USR r

ow: LET r=r+i

91446 NEXT ct RETURN

i149 REM Diag L>R B>T 9170 PRINT AT 20,0; "Diagonal: L> R and BST --- No. 8": LET rei: F OR c=23 TO 2 STEP -1i: POKE 23727 »24: POKE 23728,c: RANDOMIZE USR col

9172 IF r>=17 THEN POKE 23727,2 4: POKE 237268,c-1: RANDOMIZE USR colt LET ce-1

9174 IF rt=24 THEN POKE 23727 ,F : POKE 23728,33: RANDOMIZE USF r ow: LET r=r+i

9iv7é6& MEAT cz: RETURN

Listing continued next page...

9182 POKE 21727,t: POKE 237278,22 : RANDOMIZE USF row: 97184 POKE 22727,24:

9179 REM Aeetrid o ta ee 7200 PRINT AT 20,0;"Left and Rig

7180 PRINT AT 20,0:"Around: Out FiO PRINT AT 20,0: "Inside to Ou ht to Center === 11": FOR c=22 T

Side In -—- No. FP": LET r=?: LET tside --- No. 160": LET r=18: LET O 2 STEF -1: POKE 23727,24: POKE

led32 LET t=24:s LET bei: FOR x= ai7: LET t=17: LET b=8: FOR x= 2zo'2e,c: RANDOMIZE USR col: POK

1 TO 14: POKE 23727,24: POKE 237 1 TO 14: POKE 23727,24: POKE 237 E 23727,24: POKE 22728,2+73-c: F

26,1: RANDOMIZE USR col: LET 1=1 =6,1: RANDOMIZE USR col: LET 1=] ANDOMIZE USR col: NEXT cc: RETURN = 92097 REM Rows Up/Down

LET t=t-1 POKE 22728,r

: RANDOMIZE USR col: LET r=r+1 = RANDOMIZE USR col: LET r=r+1 : RANDOMIZE USR row: FOKE 22727,

7186 POKE 23727,6: POKE 2of28, 35 : LaF i ORE 23728,233: RANDOMIZE U

9188 NEXT x: RETURN Vi96 NEXT xs RETURN z 9800 CLS : PRINT “You have an er

F189 REM Around = Outward 19? REM Columns => {2 ror in line a | : BEEF i, i: STOF 9998 STOP

F1iS2 POKE 23727,t: FOKE aero, a : RANDOMIZE USR row: 7194 POKE 23727,24: POKE 237268,r

LET t=t-1 24: POKE 23727,r:

7999 SAVE "Poly=-Serol" LINE i

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31

TECHNICAL MANUAL

TIMEX SINCLAIR 2068

PERSONAL COLOR COMPUTER

Published by The Time Designs Magazine Co.

Official 2068 Tech Manual is back!

Now re-designed and better than before.

The Timex Corporation had 4,000 of these 2068 Technical Manuals TS dlege up, but quickly sold out of them. When Timex decided not to print any more of them, we bought the exclusive North

Amer ican She peo rights to the Tech Manual. We've improved on The old product, by fixing up some errors, numbered the pages, deslqned a great looking color cover, and spIral bound the whole thing. The 2068 Technical Manual Is for any T/S 2068 owner who Is Interested [In advanced pro- Brim and hardware applications. A wealth of ntormation, diagrams, charts, and a clearly reproduced schematic diagram of the PC board (bound right In the manual). Over 300 pages In all! We have hundreds of these In stock now, for Immediate shipment. PRICE: $25.00 ppd. (same price That Timex sold them for).

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Send Check or M/O To: TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE CO. 29722 Hult Rd _ Colton, OR 97017 Telephone: (503) 824-2658

7210 PRINT AT 20,0: "Top and Bott om to Center -—-——- 12": FOR r=1 To PORE 22/7268, 3.5

a Ve.

by Bill Ferrebee

Timex/Sinclair Video Identification Program

10 INK O: CLS ¢: INPUT “Inventory #: "3; at iz IF LEN at?>32 THEN GO TO 10 14 PRINT TAB 16-C(LEN at/2); at A few issues ago (VYol.2 No.1), I presented “LABEL 20 INPUT "Title: ";b® MAKER’, @ program to print cassette labels for your 22 IF LEN bS>32 THEN GO TO 20 program collection. The response | received showed me 24 PRINT TAB 16-(LEN b#/2);5% that many of you found this program a useful one. 30 INPUT “Rating: ";c% I now present for your approval: T/S V.1.P. (Timex/ we LF LEN €¢3732 THEN GO TO SO Sinclair Video Identification Program). 34 PRINT TAB 16-(LEN c8/2);c% T/S V.ILP. allows you to use standard 3 1/2" Xx 40 INPUT "Length Cex. 1:23)9:":d 15/16° tractor-feed jabels with your full size printer 42> IF LEN d#>S2 THEN GO TO 40 to organize your video collection. 44 FRINT TAB 16-(LEN d#/2);d$ The labels are printed in the format as shown in 50 INPUT "Format: "; 6% the example provided. sz IF LEN ef#*°15 THEN GO TO 50 As with “Label Maker", this program is designed to 54 PRINT e$; work with the print driver software provided with your 60 INPUT "Speed: "s f% particular printer interface. The procedure is simple: 62 IF LEN f#715 THEN GO TO 60 1. Load your driver software, and save it to a &4 FRINT TAB S2-LEN f%; f% blank tape. DO NOT REWIND THE TAPE! 7O PRINT AT 21,8: FLASH 13" Correct? (y/nd "™ 2. Enter the program listing. Save this on the 72 IF INKEY$="" THEN GO TO 72 blank tape immediately following the driver. Use the 74 IF INKEY$="n" THEN GO TO 10 command: SAVE “wip” LINE 1 BO PRINT AT 21,8;" : That's it! You should be able to find tractor-feed 30 INPUT “Number of copies: ";x labels wherever you buy computer paper. Good luck, and loo FOR i=l TO x let me know of any enchancements! 110 LPRINT TAB 16-(LEN at/2);a% 120 LPFINT TAB 16-CLEN bé/2):b% ; 130 LPEINT TAB 16-CLEN ¢8/2)j5c% Inventory # 140 LPRINT TAB 16-C(LEN d#/2);d% Title 150 LPRINT ¢%; TAB S2-LEN f%; fT? 160 LPRINT : NEAT i Rar Te 170 INFUT "More? Cy/ndi"; xd Length 172 IF x#="y" THEN GO TO 90 Format 180 INPUT "Another title? Cy/nde"sx# 182 IF x#="y" THEN GO TO 10 i940 CLS : FRINT AT 10,8: "CWork Completel": STOP

eae Mee setuid let ee = oer i

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32

CATALOG

DATAGEN

by Kenneth Fracchia

Have you ever typed a long list of Information Into an array, and then attempted to RUN your pro- gram, only to find out that the RUN command wiped out the entire array? The first thing you say to yourself (after cursing at the computer) [Ts "why didn't | put the data in a Data Statement?"

DATA Statements have some other arrays. When storing strings, all the array must be as long as the longest strings are followed by spaces), Therefore, if you're trying to conserve bytes, a data statement may be the answer. You can also save RAM bytes by storing numbers as Strings, and then using the VAL function when you need the numbers for mathematical calculations.

Now, why don’t we use DATA Statements more often?

over in an

advatages strings string (shorter

The answer is simple: it takes forever to type in all those quotation marks, commas, and line numbers, To eliminate this problem, I wrote a program that allows

you to type in your data, depressing only the ENTER key between each item in your Jist. To use this program, we must first reserve room in RAM for the DATA Statement. To do this, first MERGE any other program which has more bytes of BASIC than your longest DATA Statement will have. If you do not have a program which is long enough,

you can MERGE several programs. Do not be concerned that the MERGEG programs do not make Sense. They are only used to occupy space in RAM. It's better to MERGE a pro- gram(s) that 1s much longer than necessary, otherwise, a long DATA Statement might overflow the reserved bytes of RAM. 20,000 bytes is probably sufficient for your long- est DATA Statement, and does not take too long to MERGE.

Now, MERGE "DATAGEN", and then enter the following command: GOTO 9999, This will SAVE all the merged pro- grams, including "DATAGEN". Now, you can either LOAD “DATAGEN”, or RUN 9976, The following should be printed before the program listing. CAUTION: RUNing this program will delete some (or all) of the program, so SAVE it immediately after typing it into your computer. The command GOTO 9999 will save it.

MORE PROGRAM NOTES: Be aware that 1f you input a high number (say 20000) as the desired DATA Statement length, then if you do not enter 20000 bytes of data, there wil] be a delay as the program pokes in spaces from the last entered piece of data to the end of the line. Example: You ask for 20000 bytes in the DATA Statement, and only enter 1000 bytes...then it may take about 10 minutes to POKE 19000 spaces into the data line. This problem will not occur in normal use of the program.

e972 REM MERGE & pProgramis) ESO#PEER tadfss) wares sai TO LE ae tee With more bytes of BASIC thar SG62 IF progshaniadr THEN Ley oad ieeest on oes een ee et aoe your Longest DATA STATEMENT . cs chen yaee : , ks “e 9073 REM MERGE “DATAGEN" oe = | Pee . Pakeoser oe S974 REM GOTO 9899 to S@uE 9985 POKE progs.2. POKE prog+i,i 3922 ce Seeees tae PUKE adr ,o4 the above merged programs, QOG4 LET bytes=ad-prog-3: POKE p LET acrsadt si. sdr,44 oo75 REHM How You Cam €ither rog43,INT tputes -256) PORE prog aoe Beat ar Sa 10: “PLE@S= TT LOAD “DATAGEN" or RUN 9976 42 bytes -256+INT (bytes /256) S. BOR sebdrei TO pact. apKe s gs76 CLS POKE 23561,200@: PoRKE a +4 .226 ah a | ae: Ee es 23609,10@: INPUT “How many butes 9986 CLS : PRINT “Enter data. 0D ae NEXT at ie Uowant in he DATA siate epress the ENTER key after each S895 BEEP 1,5: BEFP 1,-5, Beer 2 sofcllee Vda ebachare me ware stare entry." "Enter the word ""end" +9: BEEP 1,-§: PRINT AT 15,0; "De ment? “jn ne Mier | ic 9977 INPUT “What will be .-< tan to €nd the tist"’ “Number of b Press letter D to DELETE this pr € number of the DATA statemen wtes in" "DATA list; bytes-3) | SE Lad Se VATA LIST will notbe tt" “ithe Line number must be te “this includes Quotes, Commas," eg ee ee s§ than 9997)", 1: IF NOT (1<8S (cand the word ©" DATA’) .” aee sub oo Te oes eee O7: THEN GO To o977 Soe? LET adr=prog+4 9976 PRINT INVERSE 1;AT_10,10;" 9965 LET adrsadr+i: POKE aar ,34 9997 DELETE 2,9996. POKE prog. In LEASE WAITE”: LET prog=PEER 2363 9959 BEEP .@2,1: BEEP .@2.1- INP T (ts2561: POKE prog¢1, (-256%INT S465 | TF dge"eng" oF = oe (L/a256): CLS ao7o “LET adr=prog-1 ww = bu TU Shar Arse ee 9980 LET adreadrd+44PEEX (ade43i+ 9990 IF adr +LEN d§+4.ad THEN CLS 9999 SAVE "“DATAGEN” LINE 9976 - PRINT AT S,8;""""s 48; ona oes mot fit an thas “dOte List, Start angther’' "data Listi.': & Oo To geo4 SS eS 22049401 6:56 THE Ishi DL We o 52 PRINT AT 18,4; As b 78 PRINT AT 24,2 Dy 2. PRINT TAS IPEEK (7i}; INK 4 Charles E. Goyette 7? IF PEEK iZ}>S@ THEN PRINT «& Tee 2: PRINT TAB (PEER iZ)}-5@; o crise He 6 a, = CLS To TF i = _ F i r= a, Py as ie il r= LER, {2} a i6e # RE PRINT tT? Ler Gee Ler Becerie AT 22.0: PRINT TAB (PEEK (Z)}-4e 12 POKE 234023: PRINT OT 13.9 - INK thar hike. & PRINT TAB iPEE 4HBRESS ON KEYS 5S OF & To Srepr. ™ jeri = ! ! tas oe, aN " 6@ LET 7=7+i cdi ot Set Saya ao NEO gk ae ogee ra 0 IF 7>S@8218 THEN T F=7+50: 1 LET Tr=mg1: PORE 22656,68: 6oR SEDotEE + 21,é SET RES eo To aaa at 3 LE he +322 - La = = = tt le = i ey a a = CER S: SOUND $,31;7,83-24,9,15;9 14 BEFP .@7,.10: PAUSE @ i@@ GO TO 45 10;12,14: LET HIs@: CLS . SRINT fe ce ee See 118 LET 7=7-Seaae FLASH 1;AT 18,9; "STOP THE TAPE” 17 LET TRE=o ce LEY 2s2+5L PAUSE 190: CLS - INPUT “oO vou =r r SL =o ie3 ths WANT TO SAVE ?iyY-=Ni":As: IF Res = gos ee 125 IF TRE=@ THEN LET Z=2+5¢@: P 'Y' THEN SQVUE "SKI" LINE 1 SQ PRINT aT 8.6:T FNEREY RINT AT 1,8; INK 2; "YOU HAVE HIT e 60 SUB FOES: PALISE 248 CLS 20 SOUND 8,24: 7,63+24:;8.16,0,4 Fee Genaecegee Sere GO SUB Lage RE op” RR es Aaa it Sada ISS PAUSE a2 “3 LET H=a ” 45 BROKE 23602, 255 i857? PRINT AT 3,2 4 IF IN=i THEN GO SUB 4200 So TE G=A@ THEN LET @=34 12 PRINT Ys (ROLE) YO Hee S LET ROLE=1: INPUT “HOW MANY Sa IF §=s1 THEN LET A= (oi st ye PLAYERS 2 LTOT: eo SUB 500 ei FINKE e="S" THEN LET He-2. ooo 7 B_THER INT S$: HA 6 PRI At 1,0; FLAS SOUND 23,4:42,48-: LET Agety’’ 165 IF 7-3 4 PER | 38; "° fF wo austeges® SECONES Si IF INKEYéc’s" THEN LET Hel & THE BEST SCORE: "; SUB GO SUB 9962 : SOUND 23,4;4,10: LET Ag] \" 174 PRINT sig: FP LET SuUea=O;, LET S3= 5 SS LET A=A+A . Ifa IF Z>=SUB THEN IF TOT31 THE _, = FEM CORRE SPONDANLE ASA S4 IF PEEK (2284848): 556 THE: NM LET SUB=Z: LET S@=¥S(ROLE!. PR Seas ae = =e all == GO To sea INT 5%; HAS THE BEST SCORE Su Ss} , H= T= “474 PRINT

{oe TE FiahT Et = =7: LET SOE FOR Fei TO TOT if7o® CRSGW @,-188@: DRAW 4,47: DRA aL ve ioe; LEY See en a 849 PRINT AT 21,2; "NAME OF PLAY UU 35,-47: DRAW -35,52: DRAW 35,4 176 PRINT Hes HAS THE RECORD FeoueF INPUT Us 7: DRAW -35,-5e: DRAW -4,47

HT $22 LET Us=Us+' igae Pause 140,

477 PRUSE Se Cie LET Yat) ssi. To 4102 PRINT AT 1,5; "42"; AT a

14@ LET ROLE=ROLE+1 Pew HEAT OF 42°87 20,37; "AMAT 8,27; " Aa” A 485 IF ROLE: TOT THEN Go TO 5Sa2 ee) eee eee fis ac T 4,25; "s"5 AT 17,823" 12, 245 £0 TO 1e@ Se IF TOT=l AND 2£2°2152 THEN ¢t ae teFi ate th tates iB 28s

3am IF FX (2283484) =6a THEN | a | S228 FOR » BE ee ara EEE TRESTRE+1, SOUND & BSi IF TOTrsi THEN 80 ° : NEST F: PRINT AT 168,433" a

(41;3757;)8,16:9,16;180,16; 12,38; 45 Bee Let is="sii) G-CHARLES ERIC GOYETTE”

2: FOR G=1 TO 7@: NEXT @: SOUND BSS FOR Fai 70 TOT-1 ie®@S PAUSE is 6,31; 7,63-24;6,16;5,10; 42,14 Soe LET YS} =ysiF4+d) tei® FOR Fei TO 48: BEEP 65 210 TF PEEK (228454) =61 THEN 5 Goo NEAT FT ; NEXT F: FRUSE Ge: BEEP OUND 7,56;8,15;9,.15;18,15;11,8;1 S7e LET ysitorisis —_ BE&r .Be,18: BEEP .O5,5 2,8: FOR G=i TO 250 STEP 2a: Sou Gro oF Shs aoe THEN ei ro 8 i230 PAUSE 42 NO 2,6;2,250-0,4,0: NEXT @: LET Boe Go re 7 2088 RETURN SL=SL4+5: LET LeINT (RND#es)i-4: LE r@e FOR Fee TO 4200 LET IN=<IN¢1: CLS T AsA+L: SOUND 6,31;7,83-24;8,16 (OS READ AY ites 4010 PRINT : PRINT ‘“s54454242443 ;9,130;12,14,13,9;518,16 pie FORE USR WA +E» RULES 35444455452544"

245 IF PEEK (2284840! =-58 AND Sc fo FURE Sr “s'+ 4820 PRINT - PRINT "YOU START TH REEN# (10,6)=<"_" THEN FOR Fei To Eel a SE E SANE ITH & UNITS OF ENERGY .

5S: BEEP .985,1@: NEXT F: LET T= fo0 FOR Fee To WHEN YOU HIT A TREE Tae fee RED ALN.O 4030 PRINT “YOU LOSE 4 UMITS . 4

217 PRINT AT 3,A;T PSS PORE USR “eC+F HEM YOU SKI BETWEEN Tuo FLAS o S18 IF Ts=@ THEN GO To aac fae PORE SR Ub'+E U GET 5 UNITS OF ENERGY |!

329 GO TO 52 242 PORE USR "EC+F,0 4040 PRINT "WHEN YOU STEP a S25 IF PEEK (2284948) =60 THEN L vai NEAT OF Z —,. , YOU GETS BONUS POINTS . DES ET T=T-4: LET TRE=TRE+1: SOUND 6 FSo FOR Fee TO ? CENDING ALL THE SLOPE GIVES sa 6 ,31;7,738,16;9,16;18,16; 12,30;13 foe READ MNO PS ONUS POINTS,"

3: FOR @=1 TO 78: NEXT @: SOUND Teo FORE USR TR's: PORE USR 4045 PRINT "IF YOU HIT NO TREE 6,21; 7,683-24;8,16;9,10; 412,414 aa es a Sie ae Ou GET 5@ BONUS POINTS,"

S32 IF PEER (22649401 -681 THEN & Poy? PORE OR “R'+F,0: PORE USR 4047 PRINT “WHEN ONE OF ay OUND 6,8; 7,56;8,415;9,15;18,15;11 "T'sF ERS GETS HORE THON is TS 0,412,080: FOR O=@ TO 258 STEP Be: 77@ NEXT F A NEW SLOPEIS CREATED,

SOUND @,0;2,250-0;4,0: NEXT oO. S@2 RETURN 405@ PRINT © PRINT °“s24453%%42246 LET SL <3L4+5: LET LeINT (ANDsee!-4 1298@ PLOT 95,15@¢ COD LUCK! 42224242425"

LET A=A4L: SOUND 6,31;7,63-24; i940 PRAL -S2,+-48: DRAW Sa,-2e: 4060 RETURN #,16;9,18;12,14;13,8;10,16 DRAW =-Se@,-42 o90@ DATA @,128,1,122,7 4

S32 IF PEEK (2234940) =S8 AND sc 1920 DRAW 55,4@- ORAL 2,28: OR 52,33,132,15,208,49,148 REENS (18@,8)="_" THEN FOR Fei TO AW 45,40 S910 SATA 2,6,9,8,0.8,6, 3,

5S: BEEP .336,18: NEXT fF: LET Ts 1932 PLOT 140,158 429,192 ,412,8,48,48,0,6,i a T4+5 1940 DRAW 4,-18@;: DRAW 4,180 = ,@,2

334 PRINT AT 3,A;T AW -4,-7: DRAW -4,7 Of20 DATA 48,32,128,1,56 a

325 IF Tis THEN GO To 400 1as@ CIRCLE 194,157,7 .62,32,32,4,63,82,16,38,6 a S36 RETURN 1960 PLOT i28,4158 6,56,32,4,32 ,48,32,2,64 : 488 FOR F=8 TO 21: PRINT AT F,2 128 -40 8 NEXT OF 0080 FOR F=1 To 200 STEP 421 FOR Fei TO 21 STEP 2 G500 LET L=RND215

403 FOR Geil To 8: NEXT & 99901 PCKE S@@a@OsF, (ANDs2514 404 PRINT AT 21,98; INK 4;"4: A 90G2 POKE S@@G414F, (hubsets) + Ie fo] ce f= ry Fr © Fo ae S904 IF L:8 THEN FPOKE Seaee in

a a Ok NDaodi 454

4096 NE¥T F 9005 IF 1:13.85 THEN POKE Aas

448 60 To i110 , (RNDs26) +101

S20 PAUSE 188: IF TOT>1 THEN PR 5096 NEXT F THT AT 4180,8;HS;" HAS WON"; AT 11, Soe? RETURN

ae; WITH "SUB; POINTS. eerie ae Wa ear

FI roo Ed 4 = i Fd F

“OS FOR U=1 Ta &

Sig BEEP 2-05,8; BEEP .83,3: BEE - 03,7: BEEP .83,1: BEEP 82,4: SEEY 83,8: BEEP 1,15

5Si5 HWEXT tw

SiY LET ROLE#l

S22 FOR FHi TOG S@: NEXT F

Se5 INPUT “to you PLey ANOTHER SAME Piy-Ni' 33 IF S8-25:"N" THEN GO TO 65a

Som RESTORE :. €0 TO 2

S20 DIN YS iToT ,i

TASWORD Word Count Utility Modification by duncan Teague

A word count utility is a feature I've wanted to reduces the maximum length of add to my copy of Tasword Two for nearly a year. The bytes. The former alteration allows the word count to routine published in the February/March 1986 issue of proceed through only 19200 + 256 bytes of text file

7X COMPUTING [a British magazine], is wonderful! Thanks Stead of 20480 + 256 bytes.

to John Wall's article, my already excellent version of

Here's the complete routine as

Tasword has been made even more useful. Timex/Sinclair 2068:

I want to share with you a smal] modification that is mecessary to allow this Spectrum utility to work correctly with the U.S. version of Tasword Two.

The values in the data statement will mot work on the Timex/Sinclair 2068 version of fTasword because of the different starting address of the text file code and the maximum length of the text file. In the U.S. version of Tasword, the text file begins at address 33280 in- stead of 32000. The maximum length of the text file is only 19200 bytes instead of 20480 - 300 lines instead of 320.

I have underlined the two critical Because of these differences, two values must be decimal numbers to be sliced from this string. The use altered in the data statement in line 9810. The sixth still must modify the program's menu to add a PRINT USR set of three digits must be changed from "081" to "O76". VAL "52610" at some appropriate point The ninth set of three digits must be changed from "124" "Save Tasword"

7800 RESTORE : READ at: FOR n=S2 6168 TO 3265/7: LET a=VAL ati TO s 2: POKE n,a: LET aS=a$¢4 TO 3: N ExT A

9S10 DATA "86108000001 70008746035 2201 297803562780626060018462601 2625463 264625566 363562780420001847080426 63146525950 8803266 70351 24254037043 6322351 262540328 32231029217"

to “129". at 52610 for a length of 12925 bytes.

The latter alteration raises the starting address

34

For reference to this converted Spectrum program, of the word count from 31999 to 33279. This effectively take a look at the original article in ZX COMPUTING.

the text file by 1280

modified for the

three-character

and modify routine to start saving the Tasword code

MaclIntosh-type Menu for the 2068

by Dennis Jurries

Several months ago, I wrote a weld design program that used two special menus from which a person could select the number of the weld picture that would be most applicable. Figure number one is 4 print-out of one of these menus (the actual screen display is much more im- pressionable),

For this project, I also developed special graph paper for high-resolution drawings, on my Radio Shack Plotter. With this graph paper, and the step by step approach in this article, you can make your very own “MacInclair" menus. (NOTE: TIME DESIGNS will mail a copy of this graph paper, suitable for photo-copying, to any reader who sends a legal-size S.A.5.E£., to: Time Designs Magazine, Graph Paper Offer, 29722 Hult Rd., Colton, OR

97017. The graph paper is free. One copy per customer please, ] : First draw a border “grid” (see example) on the

graph paper to enable you to keep your pictures in your menu separate from each other. Draw or photo-copy your pictures, and glue them onto the separate grid areas, Write a subroutine such as the one I used (see below) in my weld program to set up the grid on the screen.

3@88 REM Grid Pattern

S818 DRAW 255,83: DRAW @,152 : DRAW -255,8 : DRAW @,-152 1 PLOT 1,1 1: DRAW 253,8 : DRAW B,158 : DRAW -253,8 : DRAW @,-158 =: PLOT 2, 115 : DRAW 251,08 : DRAW @,1 : DRAW -251,8 : PLOT 2,75 : DRAW 251,808 : DRAW @,1 : DRAW -25 1,8 : PLOT 2,35 : DRAW 251,01: DRAW @,1 : DR AW -251,8 : PLOT 63,2 : DRAW 8,148 : DRAW 1, @ : DRAW @,-148 : PLOT 127,2 : DRAW @,148 : DRAW 1,8 : DRAW 8,-148 : PLOT 191,2 : DRAW @ ,148 : DRAW 1,8 : DRAW @,-148

2828 RETURN

Next we will write a subroutine that will enable us to draw the picture from data that we put- into a data Statement.

60889 REA Draw Subroutine

6081 LET z=8: LET i=i@: LET j=133

6805 READ a: IF a=VAL "3800" THEN GO TO VAL "6009"

6084 [F a=VAL "1888" THEN READ a: AD c: DRAW a,b,c: GO TO VAL “4@@5* 6BO? [F a=VAL “2888" THEN READ a: OT a,b: GO TO VAL "4085"

6008 READ b: DRAW a,b: GO TO VAL "6885"

6809 LET zezti: IF z=l OR z#2 THEN 6&0 TO VAL

READ bs: RE

READ b: PL

"6085"

6818 STOP

6858 CLS

Cut and paste the flat plates that are butt welded together onto the graph paper so that the lower tleft corner of the picture is at 18 horizontal from left to

right and 133 from the bottom (refer to the coordinates given on the graph paper). write a statement similar to the grid pattern statement that describes only the picture (not the arrows, as in my pictures). Do not use plot statements, but redraw over lines to make a "con- tinuous picture. The graph paper helps to determine the Jength and direction of the draw statements. Now convert your statement to a DATA statement similar to line 8010 in the subroutine below. Now do the same for the arrows and any portion of the weld that may be required, and compare with line 8000 below, Next we will write a sub- routine to blow the picture up inte a larger size, to check for any errors. Note that “i" and "j" are the original picture plot points, and the numbers are the added locations for the start of the arrows and welds in line 8000.

WELO SELECTION TABLE i

Figure 2

TOGO REM Expanded Draw Sub.

TOROS LET tele LET i850: LET j=18@: PLOT i,j FO1G RESTORE BaOG+teld

fa28 READ a : IF a=300@ THEN GOTO 7858 7O38 [F a=l1008 THEN READ a : READ b : : DRAW a,b,c +: GOTO 728

7O35 IF a=200@ THEN READ a : READ b : GOTO 7 028

7R40 READ b : DRAW 3#a,3#b : GOTO 7020

7O5@ LET t=t+i: IF t#2 THEN G0 TO 4885

7068 STOP

BOO8 DATA 2000,i+1,)+46,-18,8,2,2,8,-5,-2,2,2 O80 ,14+23,5+5,14,80,-2,2,8,-5,2,2, 20808 ,14+7,),2 poet ey tay eye eee, i, i, tee

BOLG DATA 19,8,8,5,8,5,-7,8,-8,-3,9,5,1008,- 4,0, 35#P1,-6,-5,6,5,-8,8,78,°5,8,7-5,17,8,8,5 77, 8,1880,-4,8,.50P1,-8,8,8,8,10800,4,8,-.5# Pl,7,@,8,9,78,-5,8,-5, 358808

READ c

By pressing CONTINUE after the first RUN, and the addition of another DATA statement such as line 8020, the arrows and the weld portion that was left out can be added to a picture that is three times the original size,

8O28 DATA 2008,54,118,-25,08,8,4,-8,-4,8,-4,8 74, 28080,122,1 L8,38,8,8,4,8,-4,-8,-4,8,4,2888 BO, 100,6,15,-4,-15,-4,15,3808

The original grid pattern may also be run the subroutine at line 6000.

Using this information as a background, you can now make “MacInclair"-type menus for your programs and drawings. Just add numbers to each grid, and a statement at the bottom of the screen to prompt the user to select a number. No fancy Koala tablet, no Mouse, and no joy- stick necessary.

through

Ce

DK’ Cronics Sound Synthesizer Reviewed by Duncan Teague

DK'Tronics Sound Synthesizer Damco Enterprises

67 Bradley Court

Fall River, MA O2720

Tel. (617) 678-2110

For Spectrum or 2068 (with Rainbow Plus Interface) Price: $39.95

The DK'Tronics Sound Synthesizer is a toy, a tool, and a terrific add-on to your Spectrum or T/S 2068. As a toy it lets you enjoy the three cannel sound your com- puter 15 capable of generating, and enjoy it at more impressive levels. As a tool it helps programmers and/or musicians compose music and develop sound effects for program enhancement or pure enjoyment. The Synthesizer plugs directly into the back of your Spectrum computer or can be used with T/S 2068 computers equipped with the Rainbow Plus Spectrum Emulator/Interface. With the Sound synthesizer comes a four-inch speaker and one meter of cable for connecting the two. The volume level of the speaker can be controlled by a knob on the interface, or from within the software which accompanies it,

The plug at the end of the speaker cable is an ordinary 1/8-inch (miniature) audio connector. With an appropriate adapter cable you could, I suppose, connect the Systhesizer to the input of your stereo amplifier. Then you could play your computer sound through your hi- fi system.

With the Sound Synthesizer in place, spectrum soft- ware will play its music and sound effects through the speaker. The beeps from your keyboard will be amplified as well. The volume is controlled by the knob on the synthesizer. (You should hear my Spectrum “Pinball” game.) The peripheral does not operate with a 2068 jin its "home" mode...only in Spectrum mode.

The software which accompanies the DK'Tronics Sound synthesizer is even more impressive than the hardware. "Sound Designer" is capable of generating, storing, and playing back “tones" in three part harmony, It can also

SOFTWARE IN REVIEW Saboteur!

RATING: * * * *

A recent trend in Spectrum programs action and realism of the Martial Arts to the monitor screen, such programs as ‘The Way of the Exploding Fists’, ‘Yie Ar Kung Fu", the popular new “Way of the Tiger’, and "“Saboteur!", There are some folks that just don't appreciate this sort of thing. (Could it possibly be the violent kicks, punches, use of weapons, and re- sulting in the complete annihilation of your opponent?) Well, perhaps the taste for this has to be acquired like a fine wine. And I'l] be the first to admit that I can't pass up a good Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris movie on the telly. It's make believe and al] just good fun,

My personal favorite is SABOTEUR! from Durell Soft- ware. Although the program is for the Spectrum, it is my understanding that Knighted Computers here in the States has converted this program for the T/S 2068, and uses the joystick port. If you have the Spectrum version, you can still load it in the 2068 using a Spectrum Emulator or Romswitch.,

Why SABOTEUR! works so well, is it's state-of-the- art graphics, and that the principal character in this game/simulation is a "Ninja". Yes, perhaps the most ruthless and mystical "style" of the Martial Arts. And this Ninja is no exception...he has all the tricks of the trade including access to shirkens, swords, several explosives, and of course a kicking/punch combination.

brings the

produce “white noise" sound effects by modifying the characteristics of the sound produced. The three tone and noise “voices” can be turned on and off, and their volumes can be controlled from within the program,

For keyboard-synthesizer buffs, the Sound Designer software gives you an envelope generator Capable of pro- ducing square, triangle, and sawtooth wave shapes. You can also control the attack and decay times. There is no

provision for controlling the sustain and release. For music buffs, there is a provision to "play" a five octave music keyboard at the bottom of the screen.

Either computer keyboard controls or a joystick can be

used to move an indicator to different notes and store them as one of the three "tunes" jn memory. Up to 256 notes can be "recorded" per voice and 768 notes per

tune. Playback “tempo” is also controllable.

Tune number one has already been stored on the tape. It's a familiar English melody recorded by Simon and Garfunkel in their rendition of "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme". Be sure to remove your socks before playing this tune! If you don't, the Sound Synthesizer will Surely knock them off. It's simply beautiful,

I played a couple of instruments as a youth, so I'm sufficiently familiar with music to record some simple tunes. In about half an hour (I'm not a keyboard player) I recorded tune number two, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", in three part harmony. An eighth grade fellow T/5 enthusiast across the street from me recorded tune number three, Beethhoven's "Fur Elise", in about ten minutes. (Show-off!)

The instuction booklet that comes with the package is slim but informative. It contains some “OUTput" routines for producing music and sound from BASIC. The booklet also covers coarse/fine tuning for notes of the scale, ranges of values for envelope shapes and periods, and instructions for “Sound Designer",

The DK Tronics Sound Synthesizer is a sound (pun intended) value. The hardware works well in concert with the software and with other programs. This combination

will render speechless the Commodore users who brag about the music their computers will produce. You'll also be the envy of your next users group meeting. TIME DESIGNS SOFTWARE RATING SYSTEM

Buy at your own risk.

Mediocre,

A diamond in the rough.

Try it, you'll like it.

Receives “Hall of Fame" status.

As a Ninja and special government agent, your

mission is to approach a huge warehouse by sea, search the building for a special computer disk, and escape

with it via a helecopter that is parked on the roof. In the meantime, you must thwart off armed guards (who also are trained in the “arts"), guard dogs and automatic laser weapons that track you by video camera, Its a very difficult mission indeed. Fortunately, there a nine skill levels to choose from. Level one will allow you to practice what you need to know for other more difficult levels.

The Ninja is controlled with five keys on the key- board, or by one of the popular British joystick in- terfaces for this Spectrum version. Your Ninja can climb up ladders, jump, kick up and out, climb down or crouch (to avoid being kicked and punched), move right or left, take objects, and throw or use these objects.

The animation in SABOTEUR! is just suberb. It must be seen to be appreciated. Along with a complex series of rooms, ladders, and platforms, it all adds up to be a truly enjoyable and addictive game (a bit frustrating at first). Probably not everyones “cup of tea".

SABOTEUR! is available from several British soft- ware houses for £8.95. Contact Knighted Computers in the U.S. for the special T/S 2068 version.

--0. Hutchinson

Colonize The Universe

RATING: As Commander of your interplanetary spacecraft, there are certain risks and weighted decisions upon

your shoulders. Should you send the probecraft into the ominous Black Hole, only to return without the precious fuel and having spent 10 gallons itself? Or should you go on,..hoping to reach your own planet Armedia, which you successfully colonized just last week? Your Science Officer predicts a meteor storm is moving into the area.

Taking your second option, you reach the sub-tropic outpost in space by morning. And just in time, as both fuel and food supplies have dangerously diminished. Here on Armedia, you will restock the ship, as this is 4a prosperous community. You are approached by the Mayor.

"Greetings Master! Welcome Home. How may we serve you?" inquires your humble subject, the Mayor of this colony.

All in a days work, you are heading out once again

into the voids of space to search out new planets, where precious fuel factories and food harvesting operations may be installed. Along the way, it is certain that "deals" will be made, Time Warps will be encoutered, and Super Novas could blow your sleek spacecraft into tiny fragments at any time. Which planet will you land on tomorrow...Cyg X-1A, Delcior, or maybe Triffid?

Welcome to the game, COLONIZE THE UNIVERSE, and the delightful imagination of Timothy Kessler, the author of this new program for the Timex/Sinclair 2068. COLONIZE THE UNIVERSE 1s part text adventure game, part Monopoly- type game, and greatly reminiscent of a boxed board-type

* & e F

least 2 players, but will accomodate up to four players.

The graphics portion of COLONIZE THE UNIVERSE is a single screen, the game board itself, which is unique in design. It is shaped somewhat like an upside-down “U". Game players are represented by arrows that flicker when “ready', and circle the parameter of the board depending

upon the roll of the dice, The “dice” are two little icons just below the playing area. Text 1s also con- tinuously displayed below the game board, along with

prompts,

The object of the game is “survival of the fittest” with the last player still moving about the game board, taking the title of "winner", Please note, that a single game lasts for hours...so be prepared to spend some time at it.

COLONIZE THE UNIVERSE is a good conceptual game, and I strongly recommend it to afficiando's of this game type. There is no “alien-shooting’ here, only strateay

and chance, It was refreshing to play a quiet (no sound effects in this one) but challenging round with my com- puter friends, Mr. Kessler s occaisonal dash of humor, greatly enhanced the flavor of this space saga.

While traveling through space, taking the part of universal real-estate agent, be sure to watch your vitals: fuel, food and currency (gold). And also

those “sexy fem-aliens” may rob you blind.

COLONIZE THE UNIVERSE is exclusively distributed by WM) Data Systems, 4 Butterfly Drive, Hauppauge, New York 11788. Price: $16.95 (+ $3 total order S&H).

game (popular in college circles). The game requires at aafi-deehinsos

Micr-A-Soft’'s

Design Board |!

2D & 3D C.A.D. Package for the QL Computer

SPRITES 2068 FANTASTIC NEW PROGRAM! Exciting & Educational You've heard of SPRITES. Explore the subject.

Create Moving Displays and Games. Buy a copy for your TS-2068, they belong together.

FEATURES:

- SPRITE SERVICE UTILITY (2520 Bytes IMPROVED professionally written machine code) |

- SPRITEDRAW Program (Great NEW program makes drawing a SPRITE both fun and easy)

- Operate from BASIC (Utilizes a Machine Code Interface, Twelve SPRITE Commands)

- Operate from Machine Language (VERY QUICK Screen Action! Bonus MCSPRITES program)

- Cassette Tape (Includes demonstrations and instructions. Menu driven. Fun to watch)

- Manual (34 pages written in "user friendly” style for all programmers)

30 CAO AUTOORAVEN INTERACTIVE GRAPHICS WITH DESIGN BOARD Il

3D CAD GAAPHICS ON THE GL with DESIGN BOARD Il Suitable | applications: Architectural, Technical-Drawing. Maps. Science. Circuit-Design. Students. D.I.¥.-Enthusiasts. Includes * 0.4.0. auto- draw of 2-0 & 3-D graphics + mirroring N.S.E.W. ® Line-banding * On screen X.Y co-ords with optional linking grids * 4 texts mixable with graphic * 3 brush paintbox * Extra to C.A.D. & GL graphics, 2D & 3D BOxX-OCTAGON TRIANGLE HEXAGON-PENTAGON rotatable 360° * Spiro- graphics * Graphics angle indicator * Advanced screendump{EPSON cmp! With 3D & C.A.D0. graphics + it's many features “Design Board ii"has | to be considered as the TOP GL design packaga.

only $49.95

Authors INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL Includes Fostage To ORDER: Send Check or Money Order $19.00 To VERN TIDWELL OR RON RUEGG

1303 Whitehead St. 37529 Perkins Road Key West, FL 33040 Prairieville, LA 70769

"TT heave geen SPRITES 2068, I Have read it and 1 Aevwe teated tJ and | cannot say enough good about it If I hed te sum it abl up, I'd gay thet if you HAVE =o TS-2068,., you NEED SPRITES 2066 .*°

U.S. DISTRIBUTER:

ENGLISH MICRO CONNECTION 15 Kilburn Ct. Newport, Al 02840

3 7 401-849-3805

DIAMOND MIKE II NEW MACHINE CODE Al ees HIT!

JRC SOFTWARE proudly announces a breakthrough in 2068/Spectrum compatible games called DIAMOND MIKE ll. It is a true arcade quality game with brilliant graphics, color and sound. The object is to collect enough diamonds before time runs out, while avoiding falling rocks, ferocious amebas and killer butterflles. There are 22 different screens and 6 levels! DIAMOND MIKE II is sale priced at $17.95! Ten day money-back guarantee! Just $2.00 extra for C.0.D. Or mail check or money order to:

JAC SOFTWARE P.O. Box 448 scottsburg, IN 47170 Phone (812) 752-5106 or 752-6071 Diamond Mike II is 100% 16K Machine Code,

Free "Electronic Catalog" with your order!

C. W. Associates 419 N. Johnson Street Ada, Ohio 45810

= “i ae SS Sess

*** AUTHORIZED QOL DEALER ***

For information and prices: send legal-size SASE OF call (419) 634-4874 (6:00pm-9:00pm)

F

LAAKEN

DISK DRIVE peg 7 Controller Boards for LOBES

LDOS on Eprom supports Basic Programs, Code blocks and Arrays Commands are-DIRECTORY,LOAD,SAVE,FORMAT, DELETE and EXIT Up to 52 files per disk - Directory is DOS maintained Can be modified to work on either computer (eprom and cable req) The most Powerful DOS for the ZX-81 : Very User Friendly 2066 version is Spectrum Emulator Compatible: Extra commands Requires double sided 5.25" drive 60 day money back guarantee Prices: $95.00 (US) for single drive . $99.00 for | or? drives $4.00 for drive cable (all other cables included) include $5.00 shipping : Send certified cheque or MO. To - LARKEN ELECTRONICS (specify ZX-81 or 2068) RR#2 NAVAN ONTARIO CANADA K4B-1H9

$5$S$5555545555556455455555354 TRE IS ° (HERE! !

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eer eee eee HHH HEHEHE EHR REE HH RHE HH H ween eee eH HEHEHE HEHE EHE EEE HEHEHE HY

Great New Graphics

fe ee PS =}

for the 2066 i “pt by Lemke Software Development

Pixel Sketch ond Graphics Editor 2068 version 2.0 is an update of the original PSGE 268 with the same powerful graphic editor capabilities: WINDOW COPY, ERASE, ROTATE, 200M, WIDE VIEW, PAINT SHADE/FILL, MIRROR IMAGE, IN- VERT, and DIGITIZE. MERGE parts of two screens into one screen. Full use of all TS 2068 attributes,

Pirel Sketch and Graphics Enitor 2068 uses the ADVANCED VIDEO MODES for EXTENDED COLOR and HI RESOLUTION ($12 x 176) GRAPHICS. PS/GE 2068 version 2.05 JOYSTICK controlled, MENU driven, EASY to use, and FUN. FREE- HAND draw and erase are 2 times faster now. ‘““OOPS!" function helps un-do errors. Compete 20" page user guide. NEW FUNCTIONS: CONNECT will connect designated points together. CHANGE FONT activates STANDARD, BOLD, MODERN, and ITALICS set modifiers. Any character set can be modifiedio get BOLD, MODERN or ITALICS versions of that character set. LOAD FONT allows the user to LOAD their own favorie FONT, A saniple font - CHANCER F¥ - is provided with the program. With CHANGE FONT you get BOLD CHANCERY, Pixel Sketch and Graphics Editor 2068 version 2.0 is Tasman, Aerco, and A&J Mikrodrive CPI compatible in al of the 2068 video modes (Standard, Extended Color, and Hi Resolution). Compatible with most dot marx printers. Can access variable dot density functions of STAR and EPSON type printers to control page size and location! Also 2040 type printer compatible, Get YOUR copy of: Pinel Sterch ond Graphics Editor 2068 version 2.0 from LEMKE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT today! Only $19.95 ppd. (owners of the original PS/GE can send original tape (proof-of-purchase) and pay only $10.95). Send legal sire SASE for infor- mation and a complete catatlog of top quality programs. EXTRA: Now with your order you get PREE a 32 columnscreen to 64 column(hi resolution) screen conversion utility program. Can even combine 2 standard screens to make | hi resolution screent!!

' I

S D Lemke Lemke Software Development 2144 White Oak

Wichita, KS 67207

To. ay LoOpmen tq]

“xx SMART TEXT TS-2068 «x Administrative Software

Data Base - Word Precessing Mailing List —- Repeat Printing Form Letters - Auto Letter Head Auto Sign Off- Labels/Ernvelopes All integrated functions. Versioms For:

AERCO DISK - OLIGER DISK

CASSETTE — ZEBRA OS-64 Cart Each Package imcludes four programs. The Cassette and Oliger Disk versions includes one for the OS-64 Cart.

The most comprehensive software for the TS-2068.

$34.08 post paid- Check or MO Bill Jones, Gulf Micro 1317 Stratford Ave, Panama City, FL 32404 Inquiries welcome

Deep in the land of the Hidden Kingdoms, guarded by a vicious and evil dragon, can be cselat the Elixir of Life...

oe err SELENE PIC,

DRAGONHOLD is ry arimcted paphie adventure game for the aie) air re And just L@GK at fans features -

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you like!

Available on ha iar deg qartrid e for $29.95 including p. & p. Send cheque or P.O. to

English Micro Connection 15 Kilburn Court — Newport, RI! 02840 401/849-3805

PRICE BREAKTHROUGH!

Thanks toa MAJOR cost reduction, we can now offer the Rotronics WAFADRIVE (Less Rainbow Interface) for ONLY $99.95! The WAFADRIVE offerse TWO 128K high speed drives operating at almost 2K per second @ An RS232 (serial) and a Centronics (parallel) port that allow WAFADRIVE to run almost any full size printer@ Extended Basic operating system@A blank wafer@and the Spectral Writer word processor program.

The WAFADRIVE is a Spectrum compatible device, and when used with the Rainbow Plus interface, your Timex 2068 will run thousands of Spectrum programs.

The Rainbow Plus Spectrum interface is both a spectrum emulator AND a spectrum hardware adaptor all in one compact case. For only $49.95 we will even throw in free Spectrum software to get you started!

TO ORDER: | DAMCO ENTERPRISES send Check, Money Order 67 Bradley Ct. VISA or MASTERCARD to: Fall River, MA 02720

or call (617) 678-2110

LASSIE

FREE ADS FOR SUBSCRIBERS

FOR T/S 2068: 3-Reel 9-Way Win Giant Slot Machine on cassette.

All in BASIC & listable, about

32K with Stick/Inkeys provision. Send $6.00 to D. JEWETT, 63 Charro Dr., Santa Rosa, CA 95401. Includes eee

FOR SALE: I have an extra copy

of MTerm II for TS-2068, Brand new, never used. List for $29.95, Will sell for $25.00 ppd. Chia- Chi Chao, 73 Sullivan Dr., Moraga, CA 94556,

FOR SALE: T/S 2068; AERCO FD-68; 2-DS/DD 5% Drives; Drive Case & Power Supply; Aerco & Tasman CPI; A&J Micro Drive; All Cables, manuals & S/W. Also CP/M Disc; War In The East; PRO/FILE; Taswide; Tasword; Tech Draw Jr.; MSCRIPT; Fish Locator & others. Most on Disc & Tape. ---EVERYTHING FOR §500---

N. G. Robins, Rt. 3 Box 744, Hayes, VA 23072.

MONEY MACHINE. er new word game for the T/S 2068. May be habit forming. From ABBA Soft. Tape $10; Llist $3, ppd. Herb Bowers, 2588 Woodshire Circle, Chesapeake, VA 23323.

ee ee: ee ee ee ee es ee: er ee ee ee ee ee SS SS ee ee ee ee ee Se ee: ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee eee ee ee ee ee es Se ee ee ee

WANTED: A&J Micro Drive, Disk Drive