JULY 7 AUGUST ’85 $3.00

FOR THE T/S 2068 AND ALL OTHER VOL. 1 NO. 5 TIMEX AND SINCLAIR COMPUTERS US. FUNDS

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sTei ee DES FNS ie

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e SINCLAIR MICROS . SHIFT TO HIGH GEAR!

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~ | ye /) li 1) | a f Wily Mth vy | — fA we a a i 0 1 a= mr sat na ‘= vai Bix i iL el sai ul 3 ciate eae ts wil l sel if A i

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The Handicapper

se your 152068 to iaprove your performance at the track! These fine prograas for THOROUGHBREDS, HARNESS HORSES, and GREYHOUNDS combine the power of your 152068 computer with the savvy of a veteran handicapper. Spend a few ainutes entering data, and The Handicapper will rank the horses or dogs in each race. All the inforaation is readily available fro the Thoroughbred Racing fora, Harness, or Greyhound Track Program. We even provide a diagras showing you where to get the data you need!

Horse racing factors include speed, class, past perfor- mance, post position, stretch gain, beaten favorite, jockey or drivers record, weight (for thoroughbreds) and parked out signs (for trotters). Greyhound factors include speed, past performance, class, favorite box, kennel record, breaking tendencies, and beaten favorite. Complete instructions and wagering guide included. Here’s an action-packed arcade-style gase based on a Second World War scenario. You are the gunner THOROUGHBRED, HARNESS, OR GREYHOUND HANDICAPPED $24.95 EA

and boab aimer whose task is to defend your plane ANY TWO OF THE ABOVE = $39.95 ALL THREE FOR $59.95 against eneay attack and destroy the ground targets

in 30 different sissions. The rewards are high for LIP BASIC COMPILER eee the expert aarksaan, but beware, the going gets LIP is an aid for experienced BASIC programeers. It allows tougher on each new mission. One or two player gaae, one to write a prograa in BASIC, and then coapile that pro- with up to 4 levels of play. High speed graphics. gra@ into aachine code. A compiled BASIC program will run Another fine prograa fro Digital Integration - the typically about 100 tiaes faster than a coaplete BASIC folks that brought you FIGHTER PILOT. program. ZIP also checks your BASIC prograe for any BASIC : errors betore the start of the compilation. After ZIP has (JOYSTICK AND KEYBOARD CONTROL) $19.95 coapiled your prograa, it will give you the address where the sagsussscsssessssesszssscssssescecssssesezssssssszeee- | COde 15 located, and the nuaber of bytes used for your pro- gram. You'll then need only to write a short Basic Leader DEALER INQUIRES INVITED type prograa to load your code and call the routine. asecssraseegscssctssszcessascsssescazscsesasseszezzez: |LOMplete instructions and a great Deao Gase included.

$ 19.9% #¢e WRITE FOR OUR FREE CATALOG ##® MANY OTHER 1TS2068 ITEMS eve

Add $3.00 to total order for shipping and handling Use mailing address above

FOR THE T/S 2068 AND ALL OTHER TIMEX AWD SINCLAIR COMPUTERS

BRON); | REA R15 RN

ACR Gem a DeSACGH Me

BADEN (121011) RODAMDD 02500) RRMRMD i322 FRM

JULY/AUGUST ’85 VOL.1 NO. 5

TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE CO. 29722 Hult Rd. Colton, Oregon 97017 (503) 824-2658

Editor: Tim Woods Assistant Editor: Stephanie Woods Photography and Production: Tom Judd Consultant: M.J. Marsh Contributors in this issue:

Paul Bingham

Paul T. Erickson

Earl Dunnington

Dick Wagner

Dennis Jurries

Tim Woods

Tom Judd

Dennis Silvestri

Michael E. Carver

Printed by: Toad'L Litho Printing and Composition, Oregon City, OR

the Time Designs Magazine Company. Reproduction of this magazine In whole

or in part by any means without written permission is prohibited by law. Subscriptions: $15 for one year (six issues) in U.S. funds only. 3rd class bulk rate postage is paid for by T.D.M.C. permit no. 51, Colton, Oregon.

Contributors to Time Designs Magazine are :

independent of the Time Designs Magazine

Company, and opions expressed in the con- tents of the magazine are not necessarily those of the management.

INSIDE ABE RBI Be

Editor's Corner.

Bits And Pieces

More Or Less....

2068 Tic Tac Toe..

Alphabetizer Se eee

RAMTOP. SP Pere sree SS

New Products for the T/S 1000.

Aero =F D=G6 iia. «Sis « V8

Ordering Problems..

Repatr Datasccoues.

Zebra-Talker

Night Gunner.

T/S 2068 Gradebook....

Spectrum Software.......

T/S 2068/Spectrum-wares.. eo eee es The - Shopping -Narts2c. sin $e ee epeeiet

Imagine a world without

stands between the whale and the harpooner’s cannon. Entire whale species are threatened with extinction, but we can save them.

Send your contribution to:

: Greenpeace Foundation Imagine a world without 240 Fort Mason

GREENP. EACE San Francieee CA stem 7

Cditore Cornea

Summer is the time for activities that seem to take presidence over per- sonal computing. The house that badly needs paint, an unruly lawn, and that week-long vacation you promised the kids. Does this sound familiar?

The weather has taken a complete turn-around from what it was a few months ago. It can get quite hot out there. This could pose a peculiar problem for your Timex/Sinclair, that you might not have thought about. System crash...due to over heating. When the room temperature hits 90°F, it might be time to turn up the old air conditioner.

Just in case the lure of summer has overcome you, we have put together an issue that might peek your interests in that lonely computer once again. First up is a report on the new Aerco FD-68 Floppy Disc Interface for the T/S 2068. It has been long awaited, and appears to be a class piece of hardware. There is also other bits of information on disc drive Systems in general. As the cover of this issue proclaims: "Sinclair Micros Shift To High Gear!" Let's face it, you just can't beat the flexibility and speed of a floppy. Most computer purists (other brands) haven't considered our "lowly" Timex and Sinclairs too seriously for the fact of poor drive support. Now we'll show them! Our beloved 2068 has finally grown up. Note: Aerco also has a disc drive interface available for the T/S 1000/ZXx81.

The 8K ROM Upgrade by Tom Bent, is an easily installed device that many T/S 1000/ZX81 owners will be interested in. It really gets things working faster for you. See the complete report inside. What else is offered? Nice graphics for the 2068, an article on “setting RAMTOP with- out destroying the program" for the 1000, lots of software reviewed, and all of our

regulars including the popular "Shopping Mart". Now what are you going to do...don that bathing suit and head for the pool, or kick back and get down to some serious hacking???

Our humble little office here at TIME DESIGNS has recently under gone some change. It is now three times larger than before, with room to grow. Our address is still the same, and so is. our telephone number. It is possible that your copy of the magazine has a little sheet rock dust on it or specks of paint. I doubt +t, put if you do, I hope you'll understand.

Hey, did you know that TIME

DESIGNS is your magazine? Feel free to drop us a note anytime, if you have some- thing on your mind. A question, comment, or some routine you would like to share with others? You've come to the right place. We like correspondence of all kinds. Heck, you might even see your name in print sometime. We may not have all the answers, but we know users that do.

Your a great bunch of people! Keep up the good work.

Tim Woods Editor

_ ee

A LITTLE HUMOR

CO-OPERATION

ME 3223 AND PLACES MMMM

SINCLAIR NEWS

Sinclair Research Ltd. suffering from severe cash-flow problems has been bailed out by Robert Maxwell, owner of the Daily Mirror Newspaper in London. Mr. Maxwell will input about $15 million into Sinclair in return for about 75% of the company. Sir Clive will step down as chairman, and Maxwell will take his place. Sir Clive will only be a research consultant to the company, which he founded. His holding in- terests will drop from 85% to only 15%. This story was reported in the New York Uncle Clive steps down. Times and The Wall Street Journal on Tues. June 18. It was also confirmed by a _ rep- resentative at Sinclair Research U.S. Div. The general consensus is that business

g-will continue as usual at least for the :ime present.

Sir Clive has been faced with a bad market situation that parallels tthe U.S. computer market back in 1984. Several U.K. computer firms have gone out of business. The Sinclair Spectrum + has been’ slashed in price now for a couple of months, to compete with the Commodore C64 and Atari. Along with personal computers, Sinclair also markets a portable Flat-Screen TV (that is smaller than a paperback book), digital wristwatch with a built in FM radio, and a small electric vehicle.

The QL finally became available to : . U.S. customers in May, nearly one year The QL is really for sale here in the U.S.

later than it's original expected release No kidding...and nearly one year late! date. It is being sold by mail order from Sinclair's branch office/shipping center at One Sinclair Plaza, Nashua, NH 03061 for $499.00 plus $12.00 s & h. American Express Corp. was involved in a market 7 survey with Sinclair, and sold QLs_ to Com alo | me their customers for a short time. The QL, : a 32-bit 128k small business computer, complete with twin microdrives and four {Software packages, will be the topic of The Digital FM Watch is here too. ‘uch discussion in the months to come. Did Dick Tracy like tea and crumpets?

=. eens eee ace ae

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

A new TIMEX NETWORK is available, thanks to the groudwork layed down by Ed Grey of Inglewood, CA (who is also SYSOP of the TIME |X| CHANGE), and also Dave Clifford (of Z-LINK fame) from Gardena, CA. The TIMEX NETWORK uses the nationwide and international FIDO-NET. The cost is very low...25 cents per message sent to most nodes in the U.S. and Canada. England and other foreign countries cost more. Messages are exchanged between nodes’ each late night, therefore a message could be sent and an answer received back (from across the country or across an ocean), in a little over 24 hours. Fido-Net is a group of independently owned and operated computers, running Fido software (MS-DOS),

which is designed to handle (BBS) and transmit (network) messages. The system will work with any computer/modem combin-

ation, including T/S 1000/1500 and the T/S 2068. The Fido network is now 268 nodes strong (each individual computer in the network is called a node) and growing at a rate of 15 per week. If you are interested in joining the Timex Network, you must lo- cate and contact (by modem) a Fido node in your local area and log-on. If you cannot find a Fido-Net BBS, then send a_ S.A.S.E. to: PO Box 2186, Inglewood, CA 90305, and Ed will send you a current list of inter- national Fido phone numbers. You_ should find the information needed to send mail on your local Fido. Any suggestions or questions, ect. can be sent to-

Name: Ed Grey

Node Name: Switch Pak #1, Hawthorne, CA

Node Number: 411 in Net #1

Bill Ferrebee of T-S Horizons con- tacted us and reported that the T/S SIG on the River Cities BBS is no longer in oper- ation, but that a new Timex BBS is in the works. It will feature a sytem using the T/S 2068 and some special software that is presently being programmed for it. For further information, contact Bill at: 115 N 7th Ave, Paden City, WV 26159.

There is a

cassette featuring ten top hit game

tape available

programs from England, for the Spectrum computer. All proceeds from the sale of the software go to the BAND-AID TRUST FUND to aid starving Ethiopians. The Band-Aid project was first implemented when British Pop Music Stars recorded and donated a Christmas song for the effort. The "greatest hits" tape is called SOFTAID, and contains the following games: Spellbound (Beyond), Starbike (The Edge), Kokotoni Wilf (Elite), The Pyramid (Fantasy), Horace Goes Ski-ing (Melbourne House/Psion), Gilligan's Gold (Ocean), Ant Attack (Quicksilva), 3D Tank Duel (Real- Time), Sorcery (Virgin), and Jack and the Beanstalk (Thor). On the "flip" side of the tape is the recorded version of the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Rod Cousens of Quicksilva organised the software relief project, and _ hopes that it will raise some £200,000 for the Ethiopians. Here in the U.S. the SOFTAID Spectrum tape is available from Susan Ziegler, Software Services, 14307 BenBrush San Antonio, TX 78248, for a mere $6.25 plus $2.00 for first class p & h. Bob Dyl of the English Micro Connection, 15 kil- burn Ct., Newport, RI 02840 will also have substantial supplies of SOFTAID shortly. The British software producers have been very generous in their efforts. The is very reasonably priced, and everyone should obtain their own copy...pirated versions won't help dying people one bit. Note: There is also a version for the Com- modore 64,

tape |

ae “.

. §£ con RA AAAA

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TIMEX PORTUGAL

Several lucky T/S users in the U.S. have acquired imported models of the Timex Disk Drive Sytem for the Timex 2068, from Portugal. This 3" Hitachi floppy sytem, is smartly styled in a silver case to match the 2068 perfectly. The drives are not presently available here in the U.S. Very favorable reviews have appeared in the British magazine SINCLAIR USER (April 85), in the May/June newsletter of the L.I.S.T. Group from New York, and in the very nice May 85 issue of SUM from Gainesville, FL (complete with very detailed photos).

Future availability here for 2068 owners, was still under negotiation as_ we went to press (and the concerned parties requested that we hold the information until something substantial materialized). It appears that when supplys of this great system are made available, it will be “wait in line time". Look for more details in the next issue.

MISC.

The MSCRIPT Word Processor for the 2068 is available for only $24.95 from Zebra Systems, Inc. 78-06 Jamaica Ave., Woodhaven, NY 11421. Include $3.00 for total order postage and handling. Also, request their free catalog.

RMG Enterprises, 1419 1/2 7th St., Oregon City, OR 97045 has picked up the CRICKET HOUSE line of products for the T/S 1000/ZX81. There is a complete keyboard kit (T/I type) with shifted function keys diode pak, stick-on keytops, and detailed instructions, for $24.95 plus $2.00 for postage and handling. A T/S word processor is also offered for $9.95 (+ $.50 p & h). Send S.A.S.E. for further details.

Interested in a RS-232 port for your T/S 1000/ZX81? Edward Loxterkamp, 249 West Dayton-Yellow Springs Rd. #248, Fairborn, OH 45324 is willing to answer questions, give details or more information regarding his article that was published in Spring "85 issue of HANDS-ON ELECTRONICS.

Software for T/S Computers, including digitized speech synthesizer program ($16.95 for 2068 version), are available from Tad Painter, Box 1666055, Irving, TX 75016. Send S.A.S.E. for more information.

Frank Lockhart, PO Box 4095, Ormond Beach, FL 32075-4095 is an engineer and computer programmer, who offers a compre-

hensive list of software for all T/S Com- puters, that he has written. Everything from games and utilities to mathmatical and engineering programs. Send S.A.S.E. for descriptions and price list.’

Jim Clatfelter, who sells his own software programs for the 2068, has a new address: 3361 Sand Ridge Rd., Placerville, CA 95667.

The new version of the classic 2ZX8l

word processor called WORD SINC II.5, is now available from Peter McMullin, 2340 Queen St. E, Toronto, Ont., Canada M4E

1G9. Peter re-wrote this version in co- operation with Powell Hargrave the author of the original. It is "ready to load and start printing" with any Epson code com- patible printer. It is however, extremely versatile and can be modified easily to accomodate any commonly used printer. Send $30.00 (Canadian) + $1.00 p & h. A compre- hensive manual is planned and will be made available soon. Other related software is also available. Write for details.

Contrary to popular belief, the reée- pair and service center at Timex Corp., Little Rock, Arkansas, is still very much in business for your computer problems. They will continue to repair 2068, 1000, and 1500s for a nominal fee. Of course, if your computer is still under warranty, the fee will be waivered.

USERS GROUP UPDATE

If your group hasn't been listed in TIME DESIGNS before, such as the directory in issue #3, or another issue's update... please send us the information so that we can mention you. Here are some new ones to add to your list:

Atlanta Timex Users Group 8286 Canyon Forge Dr. Riverdale, GA 30274 Contact: David Butkovich

Southern VA Timex Users Network (STUN)

Rt. 1 Box 21

Glade Hill, VA 24092

Contact: Gary S. Preston II (Several publications including ours, have been inadvertently calling the STUN group SLUG! ?!)

PT 5 TEM

ANOTHER LOOK AT 2068 GRAPHICS Tt iii y

Hs §~WIORK OR LESS a eer

Listings #1 and #2 are shown to il- length is of no use to the computer, lustrate but one point. Both are’ graphic- Simply more code it must wade through. ally interesting, though this was not my Listing #2B is a version with nearly every full intention by including them. Slow calculation trimmed down.

Often what is most important when one does mathematically generated graphics is SPEED. Many take the 2068 the better part of an hour to produce...a long time _ to wait if one is testing and debugging for- - : mulas. One common trick is to change STEP : A

#1A

values in FOR/NEXT loops to larger num-

bers. This lets a programmer "skip the : detail" and more quickly get an idea of [a5 = * the general outcome. For the final version ee es such values can be altered back so as_ to ae ee ae show the detail again. -

I have found, however, that we tend *, to overwork our computers when generating ts : graphic displays. The T/S 2068 knows no = = Fe fatigue. It will calculate cos .4 five thousand times during a graphic without a i REM complaint. But couldn't the value of cos -4 (.92106099) just as easily have been plugged in and thus saved some TIME plot- ting the graphic?

The more calculations the 2068 is forced to do each go, the slower and less appealing our graphic is to.watch. Listing #1A produces a “bouncing ball". Listing #1B does exactly the same thing only less Work. Note the math in lines 180 and _ 190 of listing #1A have been reduced to line 20 of listing #1B. All the variable calc- ulations in lines 10, 20, and 30 of #1A were also eliminated. These should both be run and compared for speed. Listing #1B will go even faster if line 30 is changed to read simply: PLOT x,y.

Listings #2A and #2B are mathematic- ally much more complex. Again both produce the same sort of graphic. Listing #2A

abounds in variables set and is replete Listing #2B is a fun one for experi- with other formula "fat". Most certainly mentation. The slightest variation will the formulas in this listing should be cause differing outcomes. The beauty and worked through and understood by the _ the excitement can only be achieved through programmer. In the final version such experimenting, but some examples include:

Deed TU en

m tr

ak 6

pete COT

Cod PU pete. Oy vt

fats fot ft

01 a!

so Oa eS

fy tS

fe ty 4. o

TAD PND bet oe:

Changing the value multiplied by z in line 120 adjusts the height of the topography--.3 is flatter, .8 is steeper, 2.0 is pretty strange. The value 600 shown in lines 100 and 120 can be increased for larger scale, decreased for smaller.

The value for b in line 90 is negative. The more negative it becomes the more exaggerated the right portion of the display be- comes.

As discussed earlier, a smaller STEP value in line 60, the closer and more detailed the plotting becomes (and slower, too).

#2A

eS ee So Sa Ss coe eS So 1- Bee © 2 Bee | FOR a=19 TO -44 STEP -1i

FOR b=-35 To is

LET z=COS (.864 W=-Se5IN 1+bsC005

t4005 jJ-b#SIN t

LET h=88-445IN SIN t-z#5IN j

LET x=124-€4twerh)

LET y=064e4idsh}

IF y3176 OR uc@ oR 255 oR THEN GO TO 28¢

PLOT *,4

NEXT 6

NEXT 2

os - = ' 4 oP so ie = H H E =a ts bee 8 ce 5 a ae —* : ? 203 eT a Te et a roeoe * Te: = 2 Eee ate? shia: H _ —— H rs si 5 Se = SS oe BY og See oe mn wet = age Lr F = : — -_ . =2: = 2@ LET q=-4: cLs = ot = --: rs a= ee a _ Be a = + =—.% H -te =i = —_ t = wit Pr Lr a2 -= a _~— et dee 9 se 4 rc —— = TR al 1 =~ —_ P, = Fa is H a: = oad 3 Ee 1 = ~_ Ps = a a sf § 3k. Bi a H = a 4: af = a td =~ Free. =~ - 2 ins 8 = << S ii Fi a = i. * we Lf qiw Liaste Lt a eo -= ee . = — ar jr = PS z : -5 ? fe ¢ =" 2 ae : ~~ . = —_ er a4 oft YT ASre } ee : i i ce Sg 2: = 2 ET - = = c SE an foe wm 2h wi * 78 : : + a nes = aot —_ & —— a . ae 23 —_— 3 — =i —_ {.2o+ te tat est ms ios 2 = = = Fy -_ Ser Lri mei-st,v¥-nr-=z a i = eT = 2 = -_ - - _~ = z — 2 gesiee 3 H 3 Hh — Privsics & a < =e ae ie _ H = § +-5 = £4 Ses eta z= -t * “Ty i aa. oa ad Ct we > SB ise: Fach aa z 2 “Ss Se : Hee ba vt z H fF. fi _ 2 ae oh ES a Si F Fr ee 2 bs ee “Ei Ft i* 4.423 = = . + ie = 3 2 mint , i SmmMmaf ies ‘ — <= 3 i20° PL a +086 (-a4.5-b4.1+ -— = - <4 = oa - . ae af FTE 2S steer a z i : : ~~ ioe Mil Fi a Pa » se 6079 - 2 aa mn 7 ida _ NSA c= |

One might now take a look back through some old terribly slow graphic programs laying around. One will be amazed at _ the excess work we have been forcing out of our 2068s. Next time we will look into some even more interesting graphic ideas.

2068 TIC TAC TOE

by Paul T. Erickson

To play TIC TAC TOE:

Enter the number of the square when you see the cursor at the bottom. Each square has a number from 1 to 9. The first row is numbered 1, 2 and 3. The second row is numbered 4, 5 and 6. The last row is numbered 7, 8 and 9.

T/S 1000/2068 ALPHABETIZER

ton

ing

by Earl Dunn

i+ In-

ALPHABETIZER" routine W

This

work with all Timex computers.

formation on converting

for the 2068

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CW PAID ALI Soe fees fees 2 fee EE PE rae Wd Me eg i [Mon OL ae

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T/S 100071500

AUTOMATICALLY SET RAMTOP

WITHOUT DESTROYING THE PROGRAM

by Earl Dunnington

How would you like to be able to set RAMTOP within your program? I was using a program “HEXEDIT" published by a former popular T/S magazine, when the program and the computer locked up. The author er- roneously thought that merely poking the system variable "“RAMTOP", in his program, would reset RAMTOP to a new location. This led to my research to find a method for setting RAMTOP within a T/S 1000 or 1500 program. The results of my research are presented in this article.

To see what happened with Doctor Hex- edit's program, type the listing of figure No. 1 into your computer. Run the program.

we~ Wait about 30 seconds and watch the “in- verse ? monster" eat up the program. You will have to pull the plug to unlock the computer. A modification of lines 50 to 80 MEST are used in figure No. 3 as a test to see wee tert

re ae mam

poy PTL Re FTL

that RAMTOP has actually been moved. In ees meets Se order to understand why the program was destroyed, you must know the structure of Since RAMTOP had not really been lowered, the memory map of the RAM in more detail when a large amout of data was_ entered, than the diagram in your users manual. The the HEXEDIT program over-ran the four T/S 1500 manual diagram shows USR routine bytes instead of giving an out of memory space above RAMTOP. This is not the case code 4 error report. unless the additional 16k Timex Rampack is Peek into the system variable ‘“ERR-- attached or you have lowered RAMTOP. SP". You will find the address of the Turn on your computer. Using im- fourth byte below RAMTOP. The machine mediate commands only PEEK into the system Stack Pointer, also known as SP, is a_ two variable RAMTOP to determine its address. byte internal set of registers that cannot Then PEEK into each of the four Bytes be peeked into from BASIC. If we could under RAMTOP. Reading from the highest then you would also find stored there the address down, you should find the decimal address of fourth byte below RAMTOP.

values: 62, 0, 6, and 118. The 62 is a flag to tell the computer "This Is The Top Z Of The GOSUB Stack". The zero and the six LSe7Es are flags to tell the computer to generate a code seven error. The 118 is the code _~ for ENTER (N/L). When we poked 24 into each of these four bytes with the crash demonstration program, the computer went crazy trying to figure out what to do.

yo tote UCU

The OP codes of the USR subroutine that is poked into the line 1 REM statement by the listing in Figure No. 2 are as follows:

16514 CD230F CALL 3875 :SET FAST MODE 16517 CD9A14 CALL 26f2 :CLEAR SCREEN 16520 21BA77 LD HL, 49152 :LET HL=DESIRED RAMTOP 16523 229440 LD (16388),HL :SET SYSTEM VARIABLE RAMTOP TO 49152

16526 2B DEC HL :LET HL=HL-1 OR 49151 16527 3663 LD (HL), 62 :POKE THE ADDRESS IN HL WITH 62 16529 2B DEC HL :LET HL=HL-1 OR 4915@ 16530 3600 LD (HL), @@ :POKE THE ADDRESS IN HL WITH @ 16532 2B DEC HL :LET HL=HL-1 OR 49149 16533 3606 LD (HL), @6 :POKE THE ADDRESS IN HL WITH 6 16535 2B DEC HL :LET HL=HL-1 OR 49148 16536 3676 LD (HL), 118 :POKE THE ADDRESS IN HL WITH 118 16538 220240 LD (16386),HL :SET ERR--SP TO 49148

16541 FS LD SP,HL :SET STACK POINTER TO 49148 16542 C9 RET :RETURN TO BASIC PROGRAM

ie tee

i= 5 — —_* tf 2

i i wf:

til

Referring to Figure No. 3:

wine 1 is the REM line of figure No. 2 f

after the OP codes have been poked into it. Line 5 can be any RETURN in your program

Lines 10 to 50 place the flashing STOP THE TAPE prompt on the screen.

Lines 60 and 70 store a variable and a string before the change in RAMTOP.

Line 80 calls the M/L subroutine to set up everything for the change in RAMTOP.

Line 90 in conjunction with line acti- vate the change of RAMTOP.

Line 100 prints the value of the new RAM- TOP and the other remarks.

Lines 110 to 150 make the test to see that RAMTOP was moved.

Line 9900 keeps the program into an endless SAVE loop.

from going

Line 9910 makes the program if the program is SAVED 9910,

Line 9920 tells the computer where to start running the program.

self running using GOTO

The change in RAMTOP must not be activated in a subroutine or in a FOR/NEXT loop. You can only set RAMTOP as high as the first nonexistant byte above your particular RAM. You must change RAMTOP by a minimum of four bytes.

The formula for the high byte is: HB=INT(n/256)

The formula for the low byte is: LB=n-256*HB

NEW PRODUCTS FOR THE T7S 1000

reviewed by Dick Wagner

8k ROM UPGRADE

A recently released ROM upgrade in the form of an EPROM and special adapter, pro- vides needed improvements in manufacturers original equipment.

Major changes include: normal FAST mode, 6 character shape improvement, change British Pound symbol to apostrophy, LPRINT of decimal numbers with leading zeros, fast SCROLL, proper application of divide of numbers in repetitive math, proper CLS action, fixed display file, the ability to DIMension large single string arrays (with 64k), and the ability to invoke LPRINT com- mands by using RAND.

Directions for installation leave several important warnings. The IC lation must be the same direction

iginal. This is determined by «ound notch on top of the IC. This is to- ward the back of the circuit board. Check your computer manual for proper location of the ROM IC. However, on my computer’ the

out instal- as the a half-

board is different and the ROM is to the right of the CPU. My ROM was marked MK368 O9N. Instructions are given should the ROM be soldered in.

The new ROM has more pins, so it contact all the pin sockets. When ing the keyboard ribbon cable, be very careful not to buckle or crack the’ ribbon. In my situation the IC is against the case when the board is in place. Also, the ribbon cable is deflected sideways slightly by the IC. These points need watching if your ROM is located behind the keyboard cable sockets.

The new ROM manual includes the MC changes made, plus a_ description these changed routines do. Two grams are included to show the in some of the changes. One part of the major program includes filling the screen with "X" 10 times and scrolling and print- ing a column of "Y" each time. In SLOW mode

must install-

of of what short pro- improvement

the original ROM processed this in 72 sec- onds on my 1000, while the new ROM required 45 seconds.

A peculiarity noted was that 7 seconds was required to display a 25 line program (in manual) following loading from tape, and ENTER. This seemed to be long by any standard. The program has a line to change from the now "standard" FAST, to SLOW. De- leting this line, saving and loading again, on ENTER the display was there in a flash. Further study has not been made on this.

Readers can order this improved ROM from Thomas J. Bent, 9016 Flicker Place, Columbia, MD 21045, or from Thomas B. Woods PO Box 64, Jefferson, NH 03583, and _ the price is $20. Documentation is included.

BANK SWITCHING AND OPERATING SYSTEM~-BSOS

Paul Hunter has assembled many memory- use solutions in BSOS. Bank switching has

been developed into a system much in _ the sense of DOS. So, what is Bank Switching? Reference to my computer encyclopedia in-

dicates it is a method of memory in computers. While each bank of memory responds to the same address, _ the system is arranged to have only one active bank at any instant. A bank is a block of memory, like 64k. I suspect Paul has coined BSOS.

Our ZX8ls and T/S 1000s were not de- signed to handle over 16k of memory. Stret- ching to greater limits has required clever concepts by designers...and BSOS has_ in- corporated additional RAM-like action, and the program to use the additional memory. As very long programs can strain 16k mem- ories, likewise, large chunks of data can be a problem.

extending RAM

A program tape and sufficient docu- mentation to get the user started, is available from Paul Hunter, 1630 Forest Hills Dr., Okemos, MI 48864. The taped pro- gram is to be used with a minimum of 64k of memory, and memory may be assembled from a series of 16k Timex modules, it may be pur- chased units such as Memotech 64; Byte-back 64, or it may be in the form .of boards having both volitile and non-volitile mem- ory. The T-S HORIZONS series includes’ the methods to assemble packs, make expansion boards and to combine various memory types to suit the users needs. Experiments in testing and programming are carried thru the series.

Some of the system concept available to the user (either entering a great deal of machine code or purchasing the tape) in- cludes a real directory of up to 15 entries

or instructions to SAVE, LOAD, PURGE, RE- CLAIM, PACK, BANK, ROOM and QUIT. Great flexibility is provided for almost any number of bank blocks. Use is made of the 8-10k block of RAM for operations.

Virtual memory is included in BSOS.

This means that memory space (address) that

the processor is using can be greater’ than/ actual memory. BSOS will give the user up to 80k bytes in length if there is a full complement of 4 banks. Even many of the concepts are useable with only 64k. It appears that considerable planning is nec- essary to properly segment programs and _ to use variables wisely. A point...while we normally can use 9999 line numbers, this

program permits duplicate line numbers with proper segmenting. This is possible because program segments are moved into addressable

Space when required and then moved _ back when their need is ended. Data