Top 10k strings from Alchemist News - Issue 13 (1994)(Alchemist Research)[a].tap in <root> / bin / z80 / software / Sinclair Spectrum Collection TOSEC.exe / Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Magazines / Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Magazines - [TAP] (TOSEC-v2007-01-01) /
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4 DE=TRACK/SECTOR
3 John Elliot
3 IX=INFO BLOCK [SEE #33]
3 Andy Davis
2 Wolfgang & Monika Haller
2 Thomas Eberle
2 TXT Documentation.
2 TRADING POST
2 THORNTON CLEVELEYS
2 RET ;Return to basic
2 Paul Westlake
2 Miles Kinloch
2 Malcolm Gent
2 Machine code to set disc
2 MILTON KEYNES
2 MAIN CALL PAGDOS
2 Lloyd Garland
2 LD BC,#7FFD
2 LD A,(#5B5C)
2 LD (#5B5C),A
2 IX=ADDRESS
2 Ferry Groothedde
2 Christian Aymard
2 CALL PAGBAS
2 By Miles Kinloch
2 By Ben Douglas
2 Ben Douglas
2 BY THE DEMON HACKER.
2 BIN Main code.
2 ALCHEMIST PD
2 2=Format Disc
2 1=Select Disc Type
2 ,12345,32000
2 +3 BASIC loader.
2 *** SUPPORT ***
2 *** PURCHASING ***
2 *** DISKS ***
1 |~~__OOGGCCAA
1 {INFO BLOCK}
1 {9 BYTE HEADER - DEAD IMPORTANT!} 0F-Type [0=BAS, 1=NAR, 2=$AR, 3=ALL OTHER]10-LENGTHW
1 yourimagination and thats as many ideas I canthink of! If you have any better ideas,send them to me care of the usual AlchNewsaddress (I don't give my address out inpublic as I don't want to be swamped withcrank letters or be pestered from othersubstandard Spectrum groups begging for mysupport!).
1 you, information on hooking up an!
1 wrong address
1 writers, DX1 DOS problems, more!
1 withwordprocessors and need to convert filesfrom one format to another, you'll knowthat programs to convert them are usuallywritten in Basic and aren't usually thatfast.
1 with his inimitable style of wit!
1 with FORMAT.
1 was the 'luck'reciprient of junk mail - terrible junkmail at that! One of them was a specialdiscount on a package of 'wonderful PCsoftware', the other a once-in-a-lifetimeoffer for computer training. These peopleobviously didn't know that we don't use aPC and that as far as I, the Ed, isconcerned, several years in collegeattaining outstanding O-Level, A-Level,BTECs and degrees in computing and writingfar outranks a two-bit correspondence typecourse which learns you the proverbial"sweet F.A." which also applies to yourjob prospects after taking such courses.
1 usual address.
1 usual address
1 unscanable
1 undocumented +D commands.
1 to the second +3 utilities!
1 to a disk system but can't!
1 this issue he explains some!
1 theresistivity and the better the screening,but don't use the whole can if you want toscreen other pieces of hardware (thePSU?).
1 theirMastertronic titles, it was more interestinto my good work on the Spectrum.Q
1 the onlyunscanable part of the space station) butalso by pouring out every detail of everyPro-Earth plan to our hero, a man ourvillian has scarely known for 5 minutes!.Not suprisingly our villian is nicked bythe end of the episode!.
1 than beDISorganisations) should note that it isNOT PD, yes I said NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN.X
1 system. RELABEL
1 superior setups.
1 sufferedfinancial problems, now defunct.(
1 starting your own library.
1 starting up a library?
1 so-called'authorities' were WIDELY exaggerated (ie:total lies!). Since we saw TMF-1 they'vewritten two new great demos: "TrainSpottin '2" and "Yesterday's Dream - MegaMix.". Unfortunately, due to abuse oftheir programs from a source who shallremain nameless (Magnifying Glass PD?),their new programs shall NOT be PublicDomain. They are to be treated asnon Public Domain software and have a salefee of 1 pence! At present, the onlyplaces to get the new demos are fromAlchemist PD and Triad themsevles (whohave moved)!
1 should also be included
1 severalcapacitors and outpitted to an aerial. Thestandard one which comes with it is just asimple 1 foot telescopi aerial, like theones used on small radio sets, but thereis nothing to stop you connecting to ahigher mounted, larger aerial. But,connecting a bigger aerial won't mean itwill transmit further in one sense, but itwould in another. Lets take a standard CBradio as an example. It should transmitfour watts. Now, if the CB is positionedin a low valley, or has many obstructions(like large trees), then getting pastthese obstructions will 'shorten' thedistance the signal will travel. Now, hookup a large 20 ft aerial (GP-27), thesignal will travel much farther if it hasa higher position or clearer 'view', butthe power will still be only 4 watts. Thissubject could take up this and severalissues of AlchNews so I'll leave it forone of our radio ham readers to write apotted article on it!
1 services still operating on the!
1 send a SAE to
1 reviews some more fine +3!
1 readershipfigures and different tastes. OfferingSpectrum demos in an adventure magazinewouldn't go down too well, neither wouldSpectrum programs in a SAM or SAM biasedpublication do too well. Your best bet isto go with a company who is geared to andopenly supports PD. AlchNews would, byfar, be a strong leader, as would OUTLETand Spectrum UK.
1 rave column and call it the!
1 programs and tells of his holiday!
1 programmers.
1 printutilities, ZX printer simulators for IF1 /128 / +D (which makes a full size Epsoncompatable printer behave like a ZXprinter), Spectrum ROMs for the SAM, pluslots of well programmed games andutilities.
1 possiblepermutations of fonts, with NLQ, italicsand various sizes, plus all the colours!Z
1 pitfalls of operating the 'poor!
1 otherwiseSpectrum will go into 'perpetual reset',as it tries to call the code which is nolonger there!j
1 onlyreconnecting when everything had warmedup.1
1 on newproducts, you also get your details soldon to all and sundry.G
1 of a monitor port, battery backup!
1 of the meetingelectronically
1 of cataloguing it'sprograms and when read with CONVERT, doesnot recognise the format.Z
1 no ties orrespnsibilities to the Spectrum +3 andUnidos is perhaps more reliable, will thisapproach spoil the compatability thesemachines currently enjoy?
1 news,graphics, jokes, reviews etc."
1 more popular programs in APD.!
1 months with this fine machine.
1 modifications
1 matter is that while CPCs can't reallyhandle formats bigger than 192k withoutextra software, Spectrum +3s can. The onlything they can't do is format the discs.
1 manufactuer
1 mans MS-DOS'.
1 machine code.
1 look at a strange piece of!
1 last issues article on external!
1 large sized issue with
1 keypad device, circuit diagrams!
1 inormation) and you'reready to roll.(
1 hxIGDBDDB@B@=;8;68
1 hook codes.
1 hates, letters of praise from!
1 guides to some of the finer and!
1 granted Alchemist Researchpermission to release his back issues.However, David was not in contact withAlchemist Research before he made thedecision. If support is good, perhaps hecan be convinced to restart it!
1 gained permission toreproduce the weekly serialisation INPUT!A
1 fromAlchemist PD. He covers (and supplies)tape & +D disk and deals only with entirecollections. Along with Alchemist PD, thisis the only other known REPUTABLE libraryin the UK.
1 from this decidedly dodgy group.
1 from the EEC's biggest library,!
1 for the Spectrum +3
1 for a list of all the s/ware + other items(books,videos,programmable joystick inter-face,language translator etc) that I amselling, send a S.A.E to the address atthe end of this issues rantings, and nowthe rantings!.
1 for MULTI-purposeinterFACE. It's a piece of hardware, butthats as far as you can describe it. It'snot a disk interface since it controls nodisks. It's not a joystick port since itcontrols no joysticks. The closest itcould be named would be a 'hardwaretoolkit'.
1 filename could be used
1 file converter and using Fireview!
1 etc),BATTLESTATIONS (Op Wolf,Typhoon etc),MULTIMIX 3(Street Fighter,1943,Bionic Commando) +lots of sports progs eg Brian CloughsFootball Fortunes etc
1 drives for the +3, with some far!
1 drive timings for 3.5"
1 drive timings
1 disksautomatically both in +3DOS and CP/M.*
1 disk formatter which can format!
1 degree ofcompatability with the Amstrad PCW andother CP/M supporting machines.T
1 definedarrangements) which means it knows how farto line up a sheet of headed notepaper andwhat fonts to use according to yourspecifications.
1 countyconstabularies and New Scotland Yard. Inthe last year they have assisted in over adozen (Wow man! A whole dozen eh?)persecutions. Whoops, sorry should readPROSECUTIONS!
1 contributions
1 containing
1 comprehensive guide to the best!
1 column (see below).
1 collection, greatfully created!
1 closedowns.
1 classics.Extremely low prices, plus a fast andfriendly service!D
1 choose. This article may help!
1 by er.. Roy Benson, I think.
1 by GMortreuil.
1 both drives to a wide variety of!
1 begins the first in a series of!
1 before,comprehensive details on each and everyprogram, plus the new ordering details andinformation regarding NON-PD titles in thecatalogue.
1 b;4947464;4947464;4947464;4947464;0907060;0907060;2927262;2927262
1 at Alchemist Research.
1 assemblers,
1 articles on using +3 DOS from!
1 article on nickel screening the!
1 areprovided to INSTANTLY accept both types.You can also get a multi sheet feederwhich will automatically feed singlesheets of A4 paper.
1 anythingsecondhand, make sure it's in goodcondition and the drive hasn't been abused- check a game will load from disk. Youcould even use the built in test programto check it!
1 aninteresting item, PASSWORD.
1 anindependant local radio channel, the otherbeing Classic FM. Look at the problemsRichard Branson has dealt with attemptingto gain an FM frequency for his radiostation. As latest listener figures show,BBC radio is on the decline, whileindependant radio is on the up. Whetherthe Radio Licensing Authorities will takeheed of this and alter their somewhatbiased and follilised approach is anothermatter - perhaps they will react to whattheir listeners want and not be condemnedlike they are. So, if you're thinkingabout it - forget it - buy a CB radio andget a `15 licence, they're fun, active andNOT like CONVOY or any other truckerrelated film!
1 andcharacter sets, enabling it to printanything the Spectrum can generate, bothtext and graphics.i
1 and, mainland Europe...
1 and"archiving". I'm not too sure of thedifferences between them all (they're nodoubt all the same!), but I have masteredcrunching.
1 and wired to a 128k as:
1 and supplied by John Elliott.
1 and musings.
1 and a brief guide of how APD is!
1 and part one of Miktor's new!
1 and getup-to-the-minute information'
1 above, who are we to stop him?!
1 ZENOBI SOFTWARE
1 You'd obviously think that such a devicewould be costly, as well as bulky but,you'd be wrong!c
1 You will obviously want to test the fullbenefits of TOBOS for yourself. A simplebenchtest routine I used was thefollowing:
1 You will be asked which drive to use; thenwhether it should be "auto selecting" or"fixed format". The main reasons for usinga fixed format are: (i) To use a format(eg 792k format) which +3DOS can't readautomatically; (ii) To use a +3DOS sectoreditor (eg Disk Doctor) on a DOS disc;(iii) Option 3 (Save Boot Sector) needs touse a fixed format.
1 You will be asked which drive to use thenwhich format. If you choose a 40-trackformat, you may then be asked whether thedrive is Single or Double Track. If adrive can read 720k discs, it is DoubleTrack; otherwise it is Single Track.
1 You should turn the disc drive and the TVon before turning on the +3. Unfortunatelythis may make the disc drive rattle andemit peculiar noises; the solution Ireached was to disconnect the TV aeriallead before turning on and
1 You might want to avoid having the problemby masking the six mounting posts for thekeyboard & the two positions that the casescrews come through the lower half of thecase. However, if you take this course,the level of the screening will almostcertainly be less.
1 You may wonder what this has to do withprojects, since it is all software. Well,if any of you spend timev
1 You can now read or write to the file. Tosend data you can use RST #10 or CALL#15F2. To receive data from a file useCALL #15E6. When you've finished messingwith your file, close it so:
1 You can also dispense with some of theRAMdisk space, but you must leave it atleast 2K. This leaves you with a largeCache and on 40.5 seconds loading timewill save 3 seconds.That's a speedincrease of 7.5%! The routines you use forthis are called DOS get 1346 and DOS set1346- Hereby known as GET and SET. If youcall GET (page 237) It will tell you whichsectors are used by the Cache, and thosewhich are used by the RAMdisk. Oh, by theway, each sector is 512 bytes long and65535 divided by 512 is 128 so there are128 sector buffers available to you forRAMdisk and Cache. The areas must notoverlap otherwise your Cache or RAMdiskwill get corrupted.
1 You should have set the drive whosebootsector you want to save to the correctfixed format. The computer will read thebootsector and save it as a conventionalfile.
1 Yet another tricky subject. If you arerunning a service with very low income,you don't want to splash out on expensiveadvertisments When it comes out of yourown pocket. I've had personal experiencehere. Luckily, many other Spectrum 'zinesoffer advertising space at free of verylow cost (approx. `5 for a full A5 page).The only exception is FORMAT which has asomewhat higher rate. Quite how you decideto spend your money is upto you. Differentmagazines have different
1 Yes it's true loyal fans! I, The DemonHacker have infiltrated Alchemist Researchto bring you this article. We've all seenthe adverts about one hour service andthousands of titles in stock, but Ithought I'd go and see for myself just howthe UK's largest Spectrum PD library isrun.
1 Yep I think I got out of that one quitewell! One final comment on all his. If youare one of the lucky people who received acopy of said "PD Factsheet June 94" fromMartyn and own a +D, the bit on the bottomabout HD disks is wrong. You CAN use themin DD drives but SHOULD NEVER use them ina HD drive with the +D because nobody elsewill be able to read them. If you'rewondering where to get them then look inthe ads section as there should be one forLloyd Garland. To be fair to Martyn he didtell me that he was only talking about HISown drive BUT I found the article a bitambiguous hence this comment.
1 Writes any remaining bytes to disk andthen the directory entry.C
1 With it you get the power lead with builtin plug, single sheet paper guide, colourribbon cartridge, and a comprehensivemanual.
1 Wiring will differ depending on yourwiring to a original 128k / +2 or theblack +2a / +3 (which carry an audiosignal on a monitor socket pin).
1 Why did you do it?
1 Why is it that you can buy a radiocassette for about 5 quid and yet thebatteries to power it would set you backabout 16 quid! Is that bloody ridiculousor what? Now what the bloody hell is allthat about eh? 2 sets of decent batteriesand you ve just blown another radiocassette. Crazy. The answer? Buy Ni-Cads(or NiCd if you want to be a nerdy physicstype). A set will last you at least a yearand a half, based on a 500 rechargelife-span. If you're lucky and treat themproperly they should last more than 3years! Granted they need to be charged forabout 15 hours but that's fine by mebecause I can put them in when I go to bedand they're ready when I get up! One pointthough, they're bloody CRAP in CD players!Just not enough voltage for the tracking.Having said that, they DO work. Just don'tjog the bugger unless you want to sit insilence for 30 seconds until it can findwhere it was! Mine tends to just give up!Oh well at least I won't have to go downthe shops for
1 While your station is not on the air, youcould even provide "PIRATFAX", a teletextservice! This is where the Spectrum couldcome in use. Using a program to createteletext standard pictures <like FIREVIEW2Ed.>, you could set up the Spectrum todisplay them in sequence, like the earlymorning 4TEL carousel service does<MIKPRINT does this - Ed.>. You couldprovide
1 While scouring through the many volumes inmy possession, I came acrossN
1 When you execute a hook code and the carryflag [CF from now on] is set, the Aregister will hold one of the followingvalues. [Allegedly!].
1 When the button is pressed, the Multifaceaccesses the Spectrums interrupt systemand stops all life in the Spectrum. An 8kprogram is then paged over the SpectrumROM where all the utilities are held. Youare then presented with a small window ofoptions at the bottom of the screen.
1 When the main screen appears, there arefour options:7
1 When ordering, always state that you havea Spectrum +3, and send a photocopy ofpages 314-5 of the manual (describing thedisk socket). Spectrum +3 drives MUST havean additional power supply.
1 When loaded, you are greeted with a 1option menu, these are:A
1 When in EDIT mode, the cursors move youaround, any other key will print on thescreen.[
1 When did you start Womo?
1 When CP/M loads up, it looks for a programcalled "PROFILE.SUB". This file is nothingmore than a very simple ASCII text filewhich contains pre-defined commands forCP/M to activate. On your CP/M disk,you'll find this file and see that itloads up PIP and stores it and anotherfile into the C: drive.
1 When you have your program in memory,simply type RANDOMIZE USR 53100 to invokeTOBOS. Should TOBOS encounter a commandwhich isn't convertable, then it returnsto Basic with a NONSENSE IN BASIC andgives the erroneous line and statementnumber.
1 When the menu bar is over a Commandoption, shortcut keys are effective. Thesemake the bar jump to a particular option.For example, in the format selection menu,the shortcut keys are shown on theleft-hand side. Often the shortcut for anoption is its first letter.
1 Whatever you decide, you will need plugsand cable, all of which is available fromyour local MAPLIN shop.k
1 What would you say if AlchNews had managedto team up with one of the computerworld's biggest successes in the magazinestakes in the 80's?
1 What with now being an excellent time toinvest in one of these marvels, I thoughtit would be beneficial to show theadvantages of owning such a device andwhat it can do besides the obvious. Thisseries will cover the programs currentlyavailable and some pointers on using itfor your own needs.
1 What the program does, is to copy filesfrom a +D disk, onto a 3" disk. It doesn'tallow you to write program files to a +Ddisk, just copy them from a +D source diskto an Amstrad 3" one. Of course, once theprogram files are on the 3" disk, they canbe used as any other file, and loaded orcopied to a B: drive etc..
1 What really strikes me is the fact thatBrit-villians are always losing, mainlybecause they are thick!. In order to catchthe ring leaders of the Pro-Earth group,our hero, Jeffery Sinclair, decides topose as an alien hater. Just 1 snarl at analien, and our English villian decides totake our hero into his confidence andarrange a meeting so that our hero canjoin the Pro-earth movement. At themeeting our villian confirms that hereally is incredibly thick, by not onlymaking the
1 What formats did you cover then & now?&
1 What advice would you give to someone%
1 What a lot of weather we're having latelyeh? What the bloody hell am I on aboutnow. Don't know. All I can say is thatthis is being written in the middle ofJune so that I won't have to leave ituntil the last minute and rush around likea headless chicken. Also I have a fewother things planned for AN13 so I think Ihad better get on with this now.
1 What I'd like to explain more is a step,nay, a LEAP past radio - pirateTELEVISION!_
1 West Sussex
1 West Bridgford
1 Well, we've done just that! After monthsof negotiations, AlchNews and AlchemistResearch hasb
1 Well, thats all for now as I don't want toalienate my non-CP/M owning readers!N
1 Well, here we go again with another PDprogram review. Andy has sent me theST-RIPPER and the +D READER utility tolook at this time.
1 Well, Friday 1st July, 6:45 am saw mestood on platform 7 at Bristol TempleMeads. The journey was going to take aboutthree hours, but what the hell I thought,it's going to be a good laugh. I settledback in my chair, whacked on the personalstereo, and looked out of the window.
1 Well, to be honest, they never left!Reports of their apparent death andsupposed\
1 Well, don't just stand there - getworking! Contrary to lies spread bycertain childen, Alchemist Research's aimsis to expand the entire Spectrum scene,not compete and be best. I am more thanwilling to help establish a thirdAlchemist Research sponsored library inthe UK. Not only does this give thecustomer the choice and advice fromanother area, but also relieves AlchemistPD of some of it's customers, giving me alittle more time to improve AlchemistResearch even further!
1 Well time to go, but before I do, If youare interested in the list of software,hardware, videos, books etc, that I havefor sale, then send a SAE to me,
1 Well there you go. It's nice to know thatMartyn knows where to go if need be,preferably as far from me as possible!Only joking. The bottom line in all thisis that all you people should be sad oldmuppets but for Chris's sake DON'T besheep. Never believe anything you readunless you can back it up for yourself.With that in mind I would suggest that youorder some stuff from Prism PD. Oncebitten maybe but who can tell withoutgiving the other person the chance TO biteyou? Right. Seeing as I find this wholesituation completely sad and depressing IWON'T be doing anything else on it. If youget good, bad or indifferent service fromMartyn then feel free to tell Andy butleave me out of it! I just don't give adamn and Martyn can go to the devil if hewants to. Just think how easy it wouldhave been to stop all this.
1 Well that's it. Once more I ask you tokeep your nose out of things that do notconcern you - as I know where to go ifneed be. I can't make any use of the tunesyou sent as I don't run a PD/Sharewarelibrary for the PC. only provide a PD anda shareware Spectrum emulator. Thanks forthe offer though.
1 Well slap my face and call me a turtle ifthat doesn't make him look like a bit of aspiteful vindictive person of uncertainparentage!
1 Well all this is just my own opinion so ifanybody disagrees with me TELL ME SO andi'll put your side across next time.x
1 We want to set up the parameters for thespace routine7
1 We want to drop back to basic and printthe result4
1 We want to call the Space routine!
1 We want to call the PAGDOS subroutine%
1 We want to call the PAGBAS subroutine%
1 We want to Set up the drive for access&
1 We want to Put the result somewhere#
1 Was Al, the barman (who you may recallappeared in the QL pilot), God? or did hework for God? it did'nt seem to be clear.Likewise does Sam control his owndestiny?, according to the barman, yes, ifso then why doesn't Sam return home?.Surely he doesn't want to continue on the'tougher' leaps mentioned?
1 WORDPROCESSING
1 WORDMASTER, and finds
1 WOMO: Run by Wolfgang and Monika Hallerwho run the Spectrum Profi club. Theyinform me that their service in the onlyone on the continent, so they have theentire market at their feet!
1 WOMO, with a special deal on!
1 WHY WON'T IT WORK?
1 WHAT IS IT?
1 WHAT DO I NEED?
1 WANT A PIECE OF THE ACTION?
1 Virgin Customer Services
1 Victoria Road
1 Usual Alchemist Research address.!
1 Unlike Mr Sherwood, I shan't be writing toeveryone I can think of to lose him evenmore support. He is fully aware of howconcerned we all are in the way Prism PDis humiliating itself. He has ignored thehand of friendship, which is stillextended. Should he continue to ignore itis his own perrogative, we certainly can'tforce him. Maybe when he can count hissupporters on one hand he will realisewhat mistakes he has made. He almost lostthe support of Sinclair Classic in July,but managed to sort it out by apologisingand accepting there was a problem, perhapshe will do this rare occurence again...
1 Unfortunately what has happened over thelast few months has completely ruined mostof what could have potentially beengained. The most serious of the thing thatare "just not done" were the contacting ofthe Police which resulted from Andycontacting Bradby Boys Club and thebringing in of the PSD by Martyn. Neitherof these things should ever have happened.
1 USING THE AMSTRAD CTM644 MONITOR
1 USEFUL DOS POKES
1 USCHI is another compiler in Alchemist PD,but hasn't been research or ordered asmuch as Tobos. Perhaps someone would liketo run a series of tests between the twoand report in next issue?
1 Type PRINT USR 34000 and the number ofK-Free on drive A: will be printed. (Andyou understand What went on!!!)s
1 Two colour LED: 60p
1 Turbo PDF never actually got off theground! The owner was offered a positionand was unable to establish a library.z
1 Trials and tribulations of running a$
1 Tobos is one of two new compilersintroduced to Alchemist PD in the newcatalogue and hails from Warsaw. Theprogram occupies the top section ofmemory, and allows about 16k for a Basicprogram, plus 13k space reserved for thecompiled program.
1 To use DU52P3, type the command:
1 To set up the drive for access there is aspecial routine called DOS Initialise. Ifyou call this no parameters are needed andit will return with the carry flag resetif there was a problem. If there was noproblem the the carry flag will beset.When the problem occurs, the routinegives you the error code in the Aregister. Based upon this, you could writea DOS error handler. (Don't bother writingyour own,I already wrote one, So send offand get it from Andy Sorry, Jacksoftformat only) To set up the parameters forthe space routine, you need to look it upin the manual, (rustle of pages) on page232, called DOS free space. The parametersare always Under the heading "EntryConditions". As you can see, There is onlyone, and that is the ASCII code for Thedrive you wish to use."A"=65 in our case.If all goes well, The carry flag will beset, and the amount of K-Free will be inthe register pair HL. So this routine willwork- (Bolt it on at MAIN)
1 To page out use: OUT (#E7),A
1 To my horror, a number of keys on the +2seemed to be inactive after reassembly.This turned out to be because the metalplate backing the keyboard used to befloating, whereas now it is earthed.Although I could find no short between anykeyboard line & tis plate, I concludedthat it must be a capacitive effect on afew of the lines printed on the keyboardsheet nearest the plate.
1 To cure the inoperative key problem thekeyboard must be opened. Remove it fromthe case as before, then remove the fourscrews that help clamp the ribbon cablestogether. Then, with the unit lying on thebench and the keys downwards, unclip themany plastic lugs which hold on the metalplate & lift it off. Now cut a piece ofstiff card to fit inside here to space theplate away from the lower layer of printedconnections. I used cornflake packet here!Make holes in the card to allow the twocentral lugs to pass through. Trim thecard to a flat, perfect fit then refit theplate and screws. Reassemble the unit asbefore.
1 To clarify, that statement means your OWNpersonal programs which YOU have written.So, if you wrote saying you wanted"Treasure Island Dizzy" converting to +D,then I couldn't oblige. BUT, if you wereone of the Oliver Twins or Richard Darlingof Codemasters and requested the same,then I COULD do the conversion for you!
1 To begin with, I would like to send mysincerest apologies to those who have beenpestered in this way. Just two of the manyare BG SERVICES and *SPELLUNKLER*, whohave traded well with Alchemist Researchfor many years. What concerns me most isthe fact that Prism PD has NO ASSOCIATIONwith these services in the first place,which leads me to believe that arumourmongering campaign is being waged.
1 To be honest, this article was originallyplanned as just an interview with Andyhimself, but when I mentioned the ideato him over the 'phone, he invited me tocome to Sheffield to see for myself how ARis run. Well, with an offer like that, howcould I refuse!
1 To add this to the software, all you needto do is add the appropriate OUT commandafter the converter subroutine and beforethe INPUT commands for the save filenameroutine.
1 To cater for our PCW owning friends,AlchNews will now be available on CP/M(PCW) format. Although the sound andgraphics won't be seen or heard, it stillgives them the chance to see what ishappening on the Spectrum and read one ofit's biggest magazines to date!
1 Time to go to the post office again, sooff we sped! After the post office, Andytook me to a small market in the townwhere they sell cheap Spectrum Software.For a tenner, I came away with four gameson tape, two of which I've been after forages, and two that I just liked the lookof. The original Tetris by Mirrorsoft andNemesis The Warlock by Martech both minefor 50p each! The rest of the cash wasspent on +3 3" disks! I got 30 of them, nokidding! Five were later to be found duffwhen I got home, but 25 3" disks for eightquid is VALUE!
1 Those of you who don't already have a copyof the Soundtracker utility and the STCompiler, order them NOW!m
1 This, as they say in all instructionbooks, is a direct reversal of thedisassembly. How hard you find it willdepend on how good your note taking was!Because of the extra thickness of coatingsome parts will be a tighter fit; simplyscrape the nickel where a looser kit isneeded.
1 This program will make any ".COM" filepassword protected, the program will NOTrun unless the right password is entered.}
1 This leaves you with a 62K RAMdisk. That'senough for this issue.@
1 This issue we feature two simple projectsto add onto the Spectrum. The first is abattery backup system. This circuit hasbeen designed for the ORIGINAL SpectrumPSU, it has not been tested on 128kmachines which take more power. The devicesupplies power to the Spectrum for alimited time in case of a power cut oraccidental plug removal! The use of aNi-Cad battery also allows the unit to bere-charged when the PSU is working andkeeps the battery in top condition.
1 This issue has been created differentlythat the past two. I have used Tasword 128on the grey +2 +D setup rather than the+3. I found that it was far easier to usethis system and convert the files toTasword 2 (with T3T2) than use Tasword +3and then have to add headers to the filesand then convert to Tasword 2 and end upwith cluttered disks of files. Thecompleted Tasword 2 files are placed on a+D disk and dumped onto the +3 using the+D reader program.
1 This issue looks at the TOBOS!
1 This is almost identical to the built-in("A:") drive. It will interchange disksquite freely, but you can still only get173k per side of a disk (192k with specialformat programs). It is quite rarenowadays, since 3" drives are obsolete. Itwill work happily with CP/M DISCKIT.
1 This is a rather powerful utility, sincethere is no known recovery from a lostpassword. As far as I know, the passwordis also well protected from prying eyesand disk sector editors, too!
1 This is a little device which plugs intothe back of the +3 and swaps the discdrives over (so that the built-in drivebecomes drive B: and the external drivebecomes drive A:). Again, it is designedfor CPCs, so please note the following:
1 This is a fairly new name to us. Severalof RSG's CP/M volumes were sent forinclusion to our CP/M catalogue. The diskscontained many varied and useful programs,utilities, games and business packages. Wehope to have more details by next issue.
1 This is NOT a job for the timid! Itrequires complete disassembly of thecomputer case and, as we shall see, normaloperation on completion is dependent onthe job being done correctly. I, andAlchemist Research, hold no responsibilityover damaged caused in any attempts atthis modification.
1 This has been, by far, the best year forAlchemist PD. Not only have virtually allformats been covered, thanks to a new +3with 3.5" drive, twin sized +D disks (VERYpopular!), and PCW CP/M format, but itcontinues thanks to the new arrival of aStar LC 100 printer and TWO Opus Discoverydisk systems, thanks to Albert Harper.This system will not be in full effect fora while due to cataloguing and convertingof disk system formats.
1 This feature can be particularly usefulfor screen-resident utilities. Once codehas been saved in this way, it is possibleto defeat the auto-run on subsequentloading by specifying a third addresswhich will effectively do nothing. A goodone to use or this purpose is 82, a ROMlocation
1 This does both of the above codes in orderand THEN moves the final 9 bytes of theinfo block to the start of the file AND tothe directory entry.
1 This device is simple to make, extremelycheap to manufacture and simple to run (nomachine code needed). A device could bemade and sold for a profit for `2, perhapsone of the readers would like to go intobusiness? I'd certainly buy a couple ifanyone's willing to make them! I lookforward to hearing your comments on thisidea.
1 This command can take 4 possible forms,although only 2 of them are mentioned inthe manual. The full set of permutationsare:-
1 This brings up other problems with regardto compatability on other systems,particularly the +3. "CONVERT" allows +Ddisks to be read in a +3 3.5" drive andconverts them onto a 3" disk, but has beenfound NOT to work with UniDOS formatteddisks. Lloyd Garland pointed out thisproblem and I had to copy all the filesonto a G+DOS formatted disk. Since bothDOSses use the same amount of disk space,I can only assume that UNIDOS uses adifferent way
1 This allows you to view the entire memoryof the Spectrum without the restriction ofan otherwise needed program. You can viewthe memory as hex, ASCII (text) or decimaland have the opportunity to alter anyaddress, rather like the POKE command. Themain use of this has been in placinginfinite lives in games and the like. Thisis useful for games with great protectionsystems where a POKE couldn't be insertedin the main loader.
1 This +3 disk formatter allows disks to beformatted with varying parameters andgives capacity up to a maximum of 209K.The BASIC program allows the number oftracks, sectors, directory entries andreserved tracks to be selected and themachine code then formats the disk withthe given parameters.
1 This will also be exterimented by theuser, depending on their individualprograms. The most obvious command whichwould not work are the LOAD / SAVEcommands. The BEEP command did work,however, already one advantage over thecommercial ZIP2.
1 This time its just to thank you, noproblems, the disc loaded perfectly intothe Speccy & I soaked up all the newswhich is so well presented <AlchNews>.
1 This should be typed in using theassembler, then saved. You can add themain bit at a later date and it savestyping all of this in each time.(Saveshours work!)
1 This rather difficult process makes aworthwhile improvement if you need tooperate the computer next to a radioreceiver or similar. Now the tolerableabount of hash that does get it is comingfrom the Interface-1, microdrives andvarious things hung onto the Spectrum,and their associated leads (if fitted).Although not, it seems, is the power lead.However, the Spectrum +3 PSU not onlycauses a great deal of radio RF, but TVtoo as most +3 owners using a TV willprobably acknowledge.
1 This one is a total bast to get going!Talk about complicated. What I want toknow is why there is only 1 code foropening AND closing. Bah humbug. Anyway,in an attempt to make it easy I will givea full routine.
1 This is not a complete tutorial toFireview 2, such an article would takeseveral issues of AlchNews just explainingthe Viewdata BBC graphics system! Thiswill be covered next time, but thisarticle is just intended to get you toview the information files in Alchemist PDon the 128k sound, tips etc.
1 This section of the aforementionedcatalogue is a wealth of information onall TV and radio masts throughout the UK,telling you the exact frequency of thesignal it carries, it's polarisation aswell as the transmitter's wattage. Some ofthis information is rather surprising asseveral transmitters have a power ratingof less than 3 watts. One, in Wales, is amere 3/4 of a watt - extremely small whenyou think that a standard CB radio isapprox 4 watts. (A modified one candeliver well over 14 watts without theneed for extra equipment).
1 Third: You have to know what programs youhave and what they are for. When someoneasks you: "do you have a utility formy XYZ printer, which can do screendumps",then you have to know if you have one ornot. This means, you have to take a goodlook at all your programs and maybe a verygood theme-sorted list.
1 These usually have the three letter suffixof ".LBR". You use the CP/M program"MAXISWEEP". This program is shareware anda suggested donation of `5 to the authoris a nice gesture. You then get a fullworking version of this program and don'tget the nasty "THIS IS UNREGISTERED" everytime you try to use it!
1 These two incidents are not only patheticand small minded, but very sad and MrSherwood and Prism PD must be in a verypoor state to resort to such low actions.
1 These programs were originally supplied ina .ZIP file, in "xzx" save-file format.They have been converted to +3DOS formatand repackaged in a self- unpacking .PMAfile by John Elliott.
1 These compilers are available from"
1 These actions only come around back toPrism PD and damage their reputation evenfurther. Just two examples are in the Junefactsheet. The claim "New twist to a onceprivate dispute". This dispute betweenPrism PD and Alchemist Research was onlymade public in a ridiculous memo in FISHmagazine. Second, a recent issue statedthat Prism would be adopting a 'silence'approach, simply ignoring the problem toend it, rather than ending it amicably.This idea was initiated by myself and sentto Mr Sherwood some time before it wasfeatured in the magazine. Like before,credit for MY idea was not mentioned.
1 These are notes on reducing the RFradiated by the Spectrum +2 by the use ofNickel screening spray. They are based onmy own successful attempt to reduceintereference on the 2m & 4m radio bandsbut the technique should be applicable toother computers in a similar housing.
1 There is this trend in Hollywood at themoment to cast Brits as villians (BrucePayne in PASSENGER 57,Ben Kingsley as theunlikely named Cosmo in SNEAKERS, and moststrangely John Lithgow plays his villianin CLIFF HANGER as a posh English man!,the latest Brit-villian appears in ROBOCOP3.) and it seems BABALON 5 is no exceptionIn one episode a doctor, played by DavidMcCallam, boards BABALON 5, and withinminutes is causing havoc!.
1 There is therefore on this disk a program:DU52. It comes in CP/M and +3DOS versions(DU52.COM and DU52P3.HED). It will formatdiscs up to 192k (3") or 784k (3
1 There have also been reputed cases of pay-per-view happening, with one dish ownerre-broadcasting first-run satellite moviesto his neighbours for a small fee!
1 There are two main options:
1 There are three main models:
1 There are also pitfalls to beware whenusing this facility. For example, it mustnever be used in subroutines, otherwisethe GOSUB stack will be corrupted onerror, causing a crash at the subsequentRETURN. Another problem can be thatsometimes, even after POKEing 23728 backto zero, it can still crash on the nexterror for no apparent reason. This is dueto a corrupted machine stack and can beavoided by including a RANDOMIZE USR 8command just before the POKE 23728,0.
1 There are 4 screws holding the keyboard in(the larger headed ones). The two cornersthat seem to have screws missing are where2 of the case screws go (the first onesyou removed, so note where the 4 you areremoving go before proceeding.
1 There are four search modes, saving toeither tape or +3 disk, and even a RAMpage display, allowing you to switch pagesand search the 128K memory. You can evenplay the song if one is found!
1 There now follows a short commer...Actually, I sent the text file of thiscolumn to Martyn to see if he had anycomments or if anything needed correct ng.I also asked him to write to Andy to callit all off now. Doesn't seem to haveworked! Anyway, I include his letter infull so you can make up your own minds onwhether i'm just an evil old scrote whoknows nothing. Probably am! Any sad oldmuppet (bracket) comments will be meanswering anything I CONSIDER to be a bitiffy or as a reply.
1 There is, however, a small hardwaremodification which can be carried out tocure the problem completely in allsituations. All that's needed are 8capacitors of about 200 pf rating, asoldering iron and a little experience ofelectronics. First, open the case of the+2, and locate diodes D28 to D35 (they arebeside the socket where the 8-track ribbonconnector for the keyboard plugs in). Justsolder the capacitors across (i.e. inparallel with) these diodes, and that'sall there is to it. The exact values ofthe capacitors, incidentaly, are not verycritical - anything between 100 pf and1000 pf should do. The ones I use myself,however, are 220pf, so that's perhaps whatI'd ideally recommened, as they've been inplace for over a year at the time ofwritinng, and have therefore stood thetest of time.
1 There are therefore two types of 173kdisc; those made in "Single Track" drives(the usual sort) and those made in "DoubleTrack" drives by this program or theoriginal DU49 (on which this program isbased). The two are not inter- changeable.The "Format Option" menu allows "DoubleTrack" drives to read both types of disc,but "Single Track" drives can only read"Single Track" discs.
1 There are five 'genuine' Multifacesaround. These are:<
1 Then, insert the disc and wait. After themain part of formatting is complete, youmay be asked whether the disc should beinitialised for date-stamping. Only CP/Mand +3DOS support date-stamped discs (and+3DOS doesn't actually set the date ortime). Note that if you select thisoption, you will still need to use theCP/M utility SET to turn on datestamping.
1 Then, in CP/M, simply load RPED and createa new file called "PROFILE.SUB" and enterthe following lines:h
1 Their have been many names connected withSpectrum PD, both past and present. Thiscovers the entire European community.y
1 The view & altering of registers option ishere again, but gives you the opportunityto see them in 16 bit format. Whereasbefore in the original toolkit, you wouldonly see an address as two 8 bit numbers(ie: P=120 C=32), this would be seen asPC=31264. This makes is much easier to seewhere a program is being loaded to, orcontents of other registers.
1 The two colour LED would be wired to bothinput lines. This gives the option ofhaving two colours. The usefulness of thiswould be to show errors etc. You couldmake the LED off when it's converting,green when it's finished and red for anerror (using an appropriate interruptdriven ON ERROR routine - many available).
1 The signals are inputted into the devicevia two standard PHONO sockets - one foraudio, the other video. These are thenorm, as used on most video / TV andradios. To transmit an audio signal, justconnect the AUDIO OUT or loudspeakersocket of your TV, video or radio to theAUDIO IN socket of the transmitter. Sameapplies for the VIDEO IN socket - you'djust send a signal from the VIDEO OUT ofyour video recorder or video camera.
1 The signal is then converted to a UHFradio wave in much the same way of aFM radio transmitterl
1 The selection of paper it can accept isalso varied. From single sheet paper, tocontinuous fanfold. Facillitiesw
1 The second diagram is of a composite videomonitor circuit. This is particularlyuseful for 48k Spectrums who may want touse a monitor or the VIDEO IN signal oftheir TV set to provide a superiorpicture.
1 The screen has three lines at the top inreverse video:8
1 The question of what PD I have is anenormous one! Just take a look at the newPD catalogue! I think you'll agree thatAlchemist PD is the largest Spectrum PDlibrary in the UK. I have mountains andmountains of disks full of software. I'vemanaged to catalogue much more incatalogue 7, but while the new list wasbeing compiled, I was swamped with no lessthan 420k of new programs and demos - howam I to keep up???
1 The program tells you where in memory thesong starts, where it ends, and it'll evenallow you to alter the filename of thesong for saving.
1 The program read all of Andy's disks, andnone from the other library. I found outwhy eventually too! As long as the disksare formatted with the GDOS operatingsystem, everything goes to plan. If youuse the Uni-DOS system though, the programsimply throws an error at you.
1 The program also allows the interleave andtrack skew factors to be changed. Theparameter "sector increment" gives theorder in which sectors are recorded byspecifying the difference between eachsector and the next. For example, with 10sectors on each track and an increment of3, the sectors will be numbered in theorder 1, 4, 7, 10, 3, 6, 9, 2, 5, 8 for aninterleave factor of 7. The program takescare to avoid repetitions, so for instancewith 9 sectors and an increment of -3, thesectors will be recorded in the order 1,7, 4, 2, 8, 5, 3, 9, 6 for an interleavefactor of about 3. The "track increment"gives the difference between the number ofthe first sector on one track and that onthe next track.
1 The problem is caused by a timing error,and is influenced by the internalcapacitance of the keyboard, which driftsas the machine warms up - hence thethermal nature of the phenomenon. Anotherfactor is the value in the 'I' (Interrupt)register, as with certain values, theproblem can be very persistent andsometimes affect other keys too. When the'I' register holds zero, however, as isthe case after you've pressed the resetbutton and are in 128 BASIC, this causesthe symptoms to disappear completely, sothat's why you never see the problem in128 BASIC, or in 48 BASIC after typingSPECTRUM. (The SPECTRUM command doesn'tchange the 'I' register, whereas theopening menu option, or a USR 0 reset,sets it to 63.)
1 The printer has a multitude of fonts,including Draft, Courier,G
1 The print option is here again and allowsyou to dump either machine code, ascii ornumerical data to your printer. Theinstallation program is used to determinewhether line feeds are to be sent.
1 The price for this superb magazine is only`1, or 80p & SAE.;
1 The present AlchNews staff and AlchemistResearch team wish to present a heartywelcome to our two new regulars, JUSTINTHORPE and DESMOND TYLER. Both have agreat deal of experience and views whichthey'd love to share with the world andwere most impressed with the sheer sizeand quality of AlchNews, literally beggedto join! So, we welcome them with openarms and wish them a successful future.
1 The premier compiler, HISOFT BASIC, cannothandle the following commands. Perhapsyou'd like to experiment whether TOBOScan:
1 The plug is numbered:
1 The only way you could do this legally isto direct all signals not into thetransmitter, but a video recorder. So,where transmitter is noted below, itshould be substituted with a VCR.
1 The only problems using this is that onloading up,you must run Jacksoft oncebefore using it as the variables need tobe initialised, and that you must type Xthen B when you finish and save your textfile. Files will be saved with the suffix.JKS. Right then, done that ? Good, thatmeans we can get onto some machine codebits.
1 The only other characteristic of the boxis the small sticker and through portallowing connection of other devices,although on the Multiface 3, this is anoption.
1 The only down side of the machine is theway it automatically handles the paper.With a standard A4 page, it's onlypossible to get about 64 lines per pagewithout sending extra codes to alter theline spacing. Nethertheless it stillleaves a gap of over an inch at the top ofthe bottom of the paper, but this could bemy fault. I've been used to operating anextremely limited printer for severalmonths and I've probably not read themanual fully. You can set up the printerso you can load and feed to your ownspecifications, and store them via theMACRO system but limits on my time preventlengthy experiments.
1 The official supplier of CP/M material toAlchemist PD. They can supply it on 3" or3.5" format and have thousands of programscatering for all tastes. Send a blank diskfor their introduction volume, featuringhelp file, order details, a complete listof their library, plus sample programs andutilities.
1 The oddest thing about it is that MrSherwood constantly claimed it was aprivate dispute, yet never ONCE addressedmy letters privately, but preferred to doso in his own, and other people'smagazines through ridiculous "memos" and"Open Letters".
1 The object of this service is to convertYOUR own written programs to any diskmedia. This would be done if you hadwritten a game and wanted to sell it onall types of media, but only had tape. BobDickson of RDS software is one example. heonly has tape, but requested I do the +Ddisk mastering for him.
1 The next options are more for programmersand MC users.7
1 The mono ribbons are used on a variety ofStar printers, these are:C
1 The menu system is designed to be familiarto those who have used the +3 menu system.A highlighted bar will appear over a listof options, and it can be moved with theup and down cursor keys. There are twooption types:
1 The manual is very simple to follow. Itcovers setting up of the printer, paperinstallation, comprehensive tutorials onthe control panel, plus details onadjusting the paper parking, line feeds,reverse line feeding and micro-line feed.There are several pages dedicated totroubleshooting of particilar problems anddetails the optional accessories extremelywell.
1 The main sale of the devices, hence theiradvertisement in satellite magazines, isto distribute satellite signals to otherparts of the home. This is when the kidsare settled down with a video and you wantto watch a sports channel!
1 The main reason I think was, that we havegot many friends with the same hobby, whatmakes the scene very familliar. And whenour predecessor would end the club, he wasin as member, we thought that would befun. So we wouldn't be isolated with theSpeccy (Germany is not England) and thatswhy we did it. Another point was (is) tobecome some good programs for nothing orin exchange, but always a new one.
1 The main concern is the DOS used - UNIDOS.Just how popular and reliable is this?Well, it's certainly well covered inFORMAT and is claimed to be efficient andbug free, but out of the many hundreds of+D users to Alchemist Research, only ONEuses it - Malcolm Gent of MGPD.
1 The main PCB mounts on six posts which arepart of the case: completely mask each fthese to prevent a risk of earthing anyparts of the board - are there anyprotusions which might touch the case whenreplaced? If so, mask with tape the areaunderneath them on the case. In mine, thepins of the RS232 & keypad sockets lookedtoo close for comfort so I masked the caseunderneath these. The lugs of the TVmodulator stick out, but these are earthedso don't worry about these.
1 The main reason of this memory is toinstall extra toolkit programs, which werenot fitted to the original Multiface.These programs, when installed, can beprogrammed to completely ignore theoriginal Multiface options and go directlyto the installed program.
1 The machine is well packaged in a largebox with it's own carring handles. Thefirst thing you notice is that thecarriage is rigid and not secured by anyclamps or packaging. The printer has afeature which locks it in the centre whenpower is off.
1 The list of software,videos etc has beenfaithfully reproduced on to A4 sizedpieces of quality white copier paper,which is finely folded with all theprecision of a criminal offender from Iraq
1 The life of a ribbon depends how much youprint. The Star at Alchemist Research mustdeal with over 40 A4 letters per day, plusthe work it deals with when doing ourSpectrum work and they last a few months.
1 The good points of the machine have to bethe number of facillities it has, far morethan the Spectrum will use or you'llremember! It's fast, quiet and extremelyefficient, a full colour A4 page will costless than 0.4 PENCE! It also has thefacillity to accept commands either fromsoftware or from the control panel, with'child-lock' type options to disable inputfrom either of the two.
1 The four buttons can double up as extrafunctions (See Spectrum 48k: Keyboard)which perform a wide selection offunctions, including the ability to storeMacros
1 The format editor is a CP/M program whichcan give DU52P3 new formats or add orreplace bootsectors. It is not providedwith DU52P3, but should be available aspart of the DU52 package from wherever youobtained this file.
1 The first would save a file 12345 byteslong, from address 3A
1 The first thing which encouraged me to buyit was the price. It has a recommendedretail price of `149 + VAT, which is theprice you'll see at most shops. But, ifyou're lucky enough enough to have abranch of OFFICE WORLD, one of the UK'spremier stationery chain stores, you'll besurprised to pick up the exact sameprinter at a little more than COST price:`109! Office World has branches inCheltenham, Chester, Coventry, Exeter,Gloucester, Leicester, London, MiltonKeynes, Nottingham, Northampton, Oxford,Reading, SHEFFIELD, Slogh, Swindon andYork. They also offer a FREE next daydelivery service if you don't have a localbranch. For more details contact theircustomer service department on 0345444700.
1 The first thing I attempted was a screendump. This is where your own personalexperiences will differ. The +D has twobuilt in dumping commands, both givegreyscale shaded dumps, one small, theother prints along the paper sideways,giving a full A4 picture. I certainlycan't grumble with this. For colour dumpsyou can buy the colour dumping softwarefrom Datel. I believe that articlescovering converting this for the +D havebeen covered in FORMAT.
1 The first task was setting up the DIPswitches. This was a little confusingsince it had none! All settings are heldin the printer's memory and had to beentered via the control panel, with onerow of lights indicating which set ofswitches I was altering (A,B,C or D), thesecond set indicating switch number 1-5and the third row indicating whether theswitch was ON or OFF. This may soundconfusing, but is extremely simple. Aftersetting, you just press two buttons tostore the settings and it then prints youa neat A4 chart of your currentdefinitions in ENGLISH, not just a row ofA1-ON etc. To help you further, theprinter has two test modes; a quick oneand a long diagnostic which gives said DIPswitch
1 The fact that these different options giveaccess to the machine where it would notnormally be possible, gives the user theadvantage. The main aspect of theMultiface is the TOOLKIT option.
1 The error here is probably my own for notstating it clearly. However, Virgin andall the other companies who got this flyermust have understood it. It's just oneperson who DOESN'T READ THINGS PROPERLY!!!
1 The difference here is the market. +D'susually go out directly into the Spectrummarket. +3 machines go out in local papersand everywhere. To many they are just anobsolete machine with no use. They areusually being sold in favour of a gamesCONsole.
1 The control panel has four buttons and tenindicators. The indicators display andbeep tones provide immediate, easy tounderstand feedback when you press thebuttons on the control panel, althoughwhen you are new to the machine and hear amultitude of beeps indicating an error,it's advisable to learn morse code!
1 The colour ribbons are rather expensive,some `9 each, but prices vary. I removedmine and replaced it with a mono ribbonwhich cost about `2. Many of the majorribbon re-inkers cater for the ribbonwhich means re-inking is an option.
1 The colour ribbon will last for approx 1million characters, as will a monochromeribbon. There is a long life versionavailable which will last about 2.5million characters. The print head has alife of approx 100 million characters,which should see you well into the nextcentury!
1 The choice is yours!
1 The buzzer can also sound an error, just asimple loop turning the buzzer on and offcan act as an error alarm.n
1 The answer is to use the KEYPAD port. Thissubject has been covered in past issues ofAlchNews as many readers will know (theseback issues are the most popular!). So,why not make it to your advantage?
1 The actual device costs less than `30 and,amazingly enough, is the same size as a +Dinterface, although a little LIGHTER!y
1 The actual colours for each mode is uptoyou. You may prefer green to show it isconverting and then flash red/green whenthere is an error.
1 The Tasword file converter
1 The Stark conspiracy will stop at nothingto achieve their ends, so be prepared forAboriginal bashing, a spot of espionage,violence, and cockroaches.
1 The Spectrum +3 comes supplied with onedisk drive, built-in. This file containsinformation and advice about fitting asecond ("B:") drive.
1 The STAR LC-100 Colour Printer
1 The RAM pages 1,3,4 and 6 are used as"Sector buffers" by the RAMdisk and a"Cache" by the Physical Drives. A cache isan area of fast memory used by disk drivesto unload information into quickly. Thelarger the cache, The faster the diskoperations will be. At startup, TheRAMdisk is 60K long (-2K directoryspace=58K), and the Cache is 4K long. Youcan dispense with the Cache altogether andhave a 62K RAMdisk, but Subsequent diskoperations will be slowed down.
1 The Pinboard drives have a "720k booting"option, allowing PCWs to boot from 720k3.5" disks. This software should NOT beused on the +3. Instead, you should useP3MAKE (in this archive) which writes +3boot sectors onto 720k discs.
1 The Multiface is nothing more than a smallblack box with a button on the top. Itmeasures approximately 117 * 70 * 25 mmand sits (albeit rather uncomfortably onAmstrad Spectrums) on the back of thecomputer, via the I/O port.
1 The Multiface also has a print option,allowing you to dump to a printer, be itEpson or the ZX variety. You can alsocustomise the dump for line feeds, shadedprintouts, left, right and top margins,line spacing and evn graphics modes. Thiscomes in useful for mapping a game or aquick dump of a screen of text where theprogram has no print option.
1 The LC-100 is a relatively new machine,introduced in March 1994. It features manyof the features it's predecessor, theLC-10, had plus many more.
1 The Easily understood +3DOS bit
1 The DU52P3 main screen will then appear.(
1 The CPC colour monitor is fairly easy toget hold of. If you're unlucky enough youmay even get a CPC computer latched intothe bargain, but these make excellent doorstops (better than SAMs!).
1 The Amstrad FD-1:
1 The ABBA Switch:
1 The 3-way plug connecting the regulatorchip to the main PCB can now be withdrawnand the heat sink assembly removed. Themain board is taken out by removing thesix screws. This leaves the lower half ofthe case empty. You might like to treatthis half first, before tackling the lowerhalf, but at this point we'll carry onwith the disassembly.
1 The +D interface is arguably the bestperipheral ever designed for the Spectrum,but one of the few criticisms which couldbe levelled at it is the sheer inadiquacyof its manual. Such a powerful piece ofhardware really deserves to have all itsmain features properly documented, so inthis article I'll attempt to explain someof the points which the manual eitheromits altogether, or merely glosses over.These apply regardless of whether G+DOS orBetados is in use.
1 The (mail-order) firm which supplies theseconnectors is:- R.S. Components, P.O. Box99, Corby, Northants NN17 9RS.r
1 The "illegal software" bit was cleared upin an instant. The mystery man had sent acopy of my Information Flyer andhighlighted a section from the HELPLINEsection:
1 The top line holds general informationabout the state of the drives. A "FixedFormat" drive can only recognise discs ofone format; an "Auto Select" drive canrecognise more than one type. If a drivename appears after the message "Using"then the disc shouldn't be taken out ofthe drive.
1 The supposed illegal part was thestatement "do +D conversions of yourpersonal or commercial programs, free ofcharge".
1 The ribbons used are quoted as thefollowing:4
1 The reason for this article is toapologise on BEHALF of Prism PD to manypeople Martyn Sherwood has apparently been'pestering' (there is not better word todescribe it.)
1 The range of CP/M software goes fromversion 1.1 to 3.0. It has beenestablished by Paul that 2.2 versionsoftware will work with the +3. I'm noexpert, so if unsure give Paul a ringfirst. As Paul is part of PCW PD, he cansupply a catalogue listing all the CP/M +MALLARD BASIC software that the libraryhas. For a catalogue, send a 3 or 3
1 The printer has a full compliment offeatures, making it an excellent companionfor the Spectrum. It supports the Epson /IBM printer command protocols
1 The other Romantic Robot program isLIFEGUARD. This is a semi-automaticprogram which is designed to search outinfinite lives and ammo. The success youhave with this program depends if you knowhow to use it and what registers the gamein question uses to store it's lives andso on. I cannot claim to have had greatsuccess with it at all, except with ELITE.
1 The most difficult part was actuallyconfiguring it to work with the +D. SinceI was not familliar with a colour dotmatrix printer before (I only had thedaisywheel with minimal features), I hadto struggle flicking through the manualsto get the right codes. As I was a memberof INDUG, I decided to get in touch withthem with regard to advice on setting upand colour dumps. Almost two months later,I am STILL waiting!
1 The lower two lines hold informationspecific to a particular activity. Thismight be a list of valid keypresses orinformation about what the computer isdoing.
1 The effect of this variation of thecommand is to display only those fileswhich match the specified string. This canbe especially useful sometimes withwildcards, for example, to show all fileswith a particular prefix or suffix:-
1 The PSD aims to cut out pornographicsoftware. It's members must displayclassification on adult software that isnot regarded as porn. The PSD works withthe Trading Standards and computerporn/crime
1 That's yer lot for now then, unless Andysends me more stuff to look at before thedeadline, so until then, personal greetingtime-
1 That's all folks DH.
1 That just about covers everything. Astated earlier, the program works perfectlconverting PCG to Tasword 2. One point tnote is to keep an eye on the variables athe bottom of the menu, this tells you thlength of the program in memory and homany bytes free you have.
1 Thanks to: Albert Harper
1 Thanks also for the great utilities whichyou kindly included - I'll be monthssorting them out!"f
1 Tel: 0952 462135
1 Tel: 081 397 0763
1 Tel: 0494 871319
1 Tel: 0181-200-8870
1 Tamlyn Tomita has gone, and is replaced bya 'Russian' with a American accent!, shetoo also appeared in an episode of QL. Theplots are a bit ancient, but what reallysurprises me is the villians of theprogram are so easy to spot, how?, wellthey always seem to have English accents!
1 TXT Brief introduction.
1 TURBO PDF: Outlined in Micro Computer Martsome time ago. This library never actuallygot started, the librarian was given theopportunity to work elsewhere making himunable to operate a library.
1 TRIAD ARE BACK !!!
1 THIS ISSUES DIAGRAMS
1 THEN GO TO 10
1 THECHAMPIONS
1 THE SAD OLD MUPPETS COLUMN
1 THE RATHER BORING +D COLUMN
1 THE ADVENTURE WORKSHOP
1 THANKS, SUCKER!
1 TEL. 0908 225791
1 TEL. 0753 866854
1 TASDFUE is a simple menu driven prograwhich seems to convert files from othewordprocessors (DFUEs?) to Tasword 2 formaand vice versa. All converting is automateand the program works perfectly welconverting PCG Wordmaster files to Taswor2.
1 TAPE / DISC MAGAZINES
1 T.A.W. supply adventure games for a widevariety of computers, including CP/M andthe Spectrum. Most software is writtenwith PAW, GAC or QUILL and can be suppliedon tape or disk. The 22 page A4Spectrum catalogue goes into great detailof all their available titles, giving awell written scenario, game type, partsand prices. This catalogue details seven128k adventures and over 64
1 Supplier of ZX Microdrives,!
1 Supplied formats are:
1 Subsequently, all discs formatted by thenew version of DU52P3 in the appropriateformat will be able to boot CP/M.u
1 Stark is a great book. It has been out forquite a while, at least long enough tohave a TV series based on it. If you sawthe TV series, don't be put off - the bookis a thousand times better. It's about aconspiracy involving the richest people inthe world and a bunch of hippies trying tofind out what they are doing. There'sWalter, who is a complete peace freak,Zimmerman, who had a nasty accident inVietnam, Rachel, who can't stand hippies,and CD who is the world's second saddestperson.
1 Stark and lists his top ten!
1 Star Micronics
1 Staff Writers:
1 Speed differences were close in thisexercise, but will vary according toprogram. One thing for certain is thatcompiled programs will ALWAYS be fasterthan Basic.
1 Spectrum to reduce interference!
1 South Wales
1 Some cardboard
1 So, you quess I threw it in the bin,right? Wrong! Since this information wasNOT requested, it is unwelcome. Althoughthere is nothing we can do to stem theflow of junk mail, you can make it asawkward as possible.
1 So, whats been happening here? Well, I wasgiven five new volumes a liitle while ago.These volumes featured several new diskutilities, loads of games, business andgeneral programs. One 'library' containednothing less than MICROSOFT BASIC!!!
1 So, thats the technology covered. But whatuse exactly ARE these beasts? Well, beforeI go on and explain THERORETICAL USES, Iwould like to point out that these devicesare illegal in the UK. Although they canbe freely sold, they must not be operated!To run a broadcasting franchise you mustbe licenced by the Department of Trade andIndustry. But, before you contact them,licence allocation is extremely strict.Look at radio for one example, this is whypirate stations are rife. You could alsobe forgiven for thinking there is bias inthis industry. Take my area alone, thereare no less than EIGHTEEN frequenciesallocated to BBC national radio and localradio and there are only TWO frequenciesfor commercial
1 So, thanks for reading, catch you all nexttime!/
1 So, on some of these disks are programswhich don't make it to the catalogue. Theyare not always rejected because of poorquality - far from it, but make it ontheir usefulness, similarity to otherprograms in the list etc.
1 So, no more sidelining. The transmitter isa very small device, powered by 12v from asmall transformer. Or, if you prefer, a 9vPP3 battery can be used for 'mobile'transmission.
1 So, if you are looking for a decent dotmatrix printer which works well on theSpectrum with no problems and greatfeatures, look no further than the LC-100!Although only a 9-pin, the quality is mostimpressive and there are plenty ofprograms in Alchemist PD to take advantageof multi-sized dumps, 18 pin emulation andcolour printing!
1 So, if any of you out there in Speccylandare looking for a place to visit, thenhave a think about Sheffield! Among theplaces of interest are Meadowhall, one ofthe largest covered shopping malls in theUK. It's HUGE! I thought the BristolGalleries was big, but Meadowhall makes itlook tiny.
1 So, how many programs are in Alchemist PD?*
1 So, from my last press release, I canstate that Alchemist PD releases approx2400 titles from an archive of over 4000!I used to work for British Steel at onetime, where filing is very stringent, soluckily I had good training for AlchemistPD!
1 So, I'd like to thank our anonymous friendfor giving me a couple of new readers -apparently some people at Virgin still ownSpectrums! Not only that, but I'd like tothank you for giving me an 'insidecontact', which may become very usefulconcerning the future copyright situationover the whole of Virgin MastertronicsSpectrum software!
1 So, just to clarify, these followingsuggestions are strictly in the realms offantasy and theory. They have not, norever will be, carried out and neithermyself, the editor or Alchemist Researchcondone or support any of this practice.
1 So, a new multi-page, double sided A4catalogue is now available. It containsmoreX
1 So there you have all the error codes. Notall of them are relevant when you areusing hook codes but i'm too lazy to workout which are which, also the list wouldlook a bit messy if I left some of themout. Now that i've also found the sourcetext for G+DOS I can attempt to work outwhat each code actually does! All codesare used in the following manner: RST #8,DB xx. In what is to follow I shall givethe code number followed by a description,followed by the entry conditions. It isbest to assume that all registers will becorrupted.
1 So the PSD, who are they, what are theirpowers and if they're so hard how come Ihaven't heard of them? What use, it couldbe argued and indeed asked is a watchdogif you are unaware of it? Bugger all ifyou ask me. I asked Martyn for more infoand he sent me the following:
1 Simply substitute the buzzer for an LED oreven:/
1 Simply delete line 1 (which contains theloader and6
1 Simply loading the main program willinstall TOBOS code into memory, no extracommands or key combinations are needed.|
1 Shropshire
1 Should you aquire one of these, then theplug is wired as so:>
1 Sheffield is the home of the Crucibletheatre too, well worth looking at if youlove the game of snooker.m
1 Sheepsoft PD
1 Sharp knife or scalpel
1 Setting it up was done in a moment, I justplugged in the centronics plug from the +Dand switched it on!g
1 Send an SAE for their comprehensive A5catalogue dealing with the Amiga, Amstrad,Atari, Commodore, PC and Spectrum. Lots ofSpectrum hardware and spares available atthe lowest prices. Theres even a specialoffer of +2a computer consoles (no PSU orleads etc) for only `10 + P&P which is abargain to say the least, if only used forspares! They also deal in the Newnespocket books for `9.99.
1 Selanswei 25
1 See SPECTRUM PROFI CLUB, previous page&
1 Second, George Imrie. One of many newfriends made from my letter in PCW+magazine. He went to the trouble ofcreating his own CP/M manual for me! Forhis troubles, he was presented with fivefull volumes of mixed PD to sort forme (heh heh!).
1 Second hand PCW's sell for about `150 andfeature computer, monitor, printer and agreat deal of software. A 3.5" and harddisk option is easily available and a 286upgrade can even be bought!
1 Searches disk for the named file.!
1 Save this, and then go to Mallard Basic.Write the following program:F
1 Save this as "CLS" and then you have aself running version of Basic, completewith a self-loading 'master' programshell, saving you having to enter theappropriate commands for CLS. You couldalso add to this file and place your owncommands to suit.
1 Saturday morning, after just four hourssleep, Andy woke me up and said "Youwanted to see what I do?" So, with blearyeyes, I sat in the armchair and watchedAndy open all the mail, one at a time. Assoon as one package was opened, the +2sprang into life, the +D system whirredaway as Andy started his morning's work.Just over two hours later, Andy's OUT traywas full of some forty disks and tapes."No Microdrive stuff today" remarked Andyas he carefully sellotaped up the last ofthe orders and put it into a carrier bag.I'd just seen forty disks worth ofsoftware copied, sealed up and ready fordespatch. I still don't know how he didit, but he DID!
1 Sanserif,Orator with small capital letters (as usedby Death in the Terry Pratchett DISCWORLDNOVELS), plus Orator with lower case.Couple this with the fact the printer canprint in 10 and 12 CPI, with proportionaland condensed modes gives you a wholevariety of options.
1 Sadly, three more Spectrum supporters havedecided to call it a day. These are:N
1 Sadly, on these monitors there is noBRIGHT command, so it may be worth thatextra searching for the CM14 which willaccept it (plus the STEREO sound!!!). Itis believed TRADING POST have some new and2nd hand ones in stock.
1 SUTTON IN ASHFIELD
1 SUPER PLANNER, TRANSFORM HISTOGRAM, MICROLSPREADSHEET,6
1 SUMMING UP
1 SUBMIT.COM
1 SUBLIMINAL EXTACY
1 STUDIO CORNER
1 STOP PRESS!
1 STARK by Ben Elton
1 SPEEDUP sets both disc drives to use 3.5"timings. This means that any 3" drives onthe system CANNOT be used (you riskdamaging them if you try).
1 SPEEDUP and SLOWDOWN v1.00
1 SPEEDUP MC
1 SPEEDUP DOC
1 SPEEDUP and SLOWDOWN alter disc drivetimings under +3DOS. The files SPEEDUP.MCand SLOWDOWN.MC are used by theseprograms.
1 SPECTRUM USERCLUB
1 SPECTRUM UK: They made investigations intoproviding a PD service as well as theirfantastic magazine. But, after seeing thecomplexities of the market and the alreadyfull coverage by Alchemist PD, decided toconcentrate on the magazine and giveAlchemist PD their sole support! AlchemistResearch has recognised this generous actand offically recommends it as the ONLYpaper magazine to be with! We have alsoreassured them that
1 SPECTRUM UK
1 SPECTRUM PROJECTS
1 SPECTRUM PROFI CLUB
1 SPECTRUM HARDWARE TIPS
1 SONG BY ST COMPILE
1 SOFT-TOUCH (oo-er!) - 081 248 5642"
1 SO, WHAT DOES IT DO?
1 SLOWDOWN restores the 3" timings.!
1 SLOWDOWN MC
1 SLOWDOWN & SPEEDUP optimise timings for3.5" disc drives.;
1 SINCLAIR COMPUTERCLUB BENELUX
1 SINCLAIR CLASSIC
1 SHEEPSOFT deal in a great many CPC titles,as well as supplying CP/M material forversions 2.2 and +. Prices are extremelycheap.
1 SHEEPSOFT PD
1 SAVE dn"filename" CODE 3
1 S10CPM3.EMS
1 S.C. sells a wide range of Spectrum andSAm software, including an excellentwordprocessor,b
1 S-UG has been plagued with problems eversince their relaunch and have notpublished any more magazines.q
1 Roy Benson
1 Roy & Julie Templeton, S-UK
1 Roy & Julie Templeton
1 Route De Bel Air
1 Ron Gunner
1 Romantic Robot can be found at:
1 Right. First problem. I 'did' have a listof the codes but I seem to have 'mislaid'it. Second problem, i've also mislaid mydos source text. Planning eh? Good job Idecided to do this now! Hmmm. Ok, i'vemanaged to find my list of error codes soi'll start with those.
1 Right, the +D READER program then. Atfirst, I couldn't really see me using thisone a great deal, but then I ordered a fewof Andy's +D compilation disks to test itwith, and (dare I say it) a few othersfrom a different PD library.
1 Right then, First of all you will need toadapt your Jacksoft BASIC.D
1 Right before I start, a balant plug. I'vedecided to list some of the speccysoftware that I am selling - it REALLYmust go, here is a sample of the bargainsyou can pick up :-
1 Reviewed by Ben Douglas
1 Rest of program
1 Renames discs using 48KDB
1 Remove the six screws on the unerside ofthe computer. The two halves will thenlife apart, the PCB on the cassette deckis held a little under the main regulatorheat sink, so some maneuvering isnecessary. To seperate the two halvesunplug the 5-way connector joining thecassette deck to the main board & gentlyremove the two keyboard ribbon cables fromtheir sockets.
1 Remove the cassette deck assembly in it'sseveral parts: 1 small screw on the PCB, 5screws on the drive unit itself and 1holding in the LED board. Note how thecassette cover spring is fitted, thenremove it with it's retaining screw. Makesure you note which screw belongs where!Gently unclip the hinges of the cassettecover & remove it.
1 Recent Pinboard drives also come with'FIB' files which allow PCWs to use the3.5" drives at higher efficiency. Theseshould not be used with the +3.
1 Rating 10/10
1 Rasputin PD: Run by Ian Mortlock. Cameunder pressure due to supplying poorquality audio tapes and non-PD games fromcovertapes. Improved the service when herenamed it RAVE PD. Closed down Spectrumside over a year ago, now concentrates onRave music.
1 ROYS RANTINGS
1 ROY BENSON still has a few items for salefrom his mega-clear out. For more details,send him an SAE to:g
1 ROY BENSON
1 RF SCREENING FOR THE SPECTRUM +2
1 RETinstruction. For example, the followingwould prevent auto- execution of ascreen-resident program:-p
1 REG shows the current contents of all theregisters. You can also have the option ofchanging them. This is useful for checkingwhere a loading program is going to, sincethe start address of the code is held inregisters IX and the code length is in DE.PC is thr Program Counter and gives theaddress of the current area in memorywhich is being executed. More details canbe found in any Spectrum machine codebook.
1 REASSEMBLY
1 RAS PD: Operated by Garry Rowland, authorof the fantastic PFN and MUSIC WRITERprograms. Garry is busy with otherprojects but has donated his titles to allPD libraries and is still active!
1 RAMDISC.FID
1 QL's,Spectrums, cartridges, keyboard membranes,disk drives & monitors. Flyers usually goout with all letters to AlchemistResearch, but send an SAE to the aboveaddress for the latest catalogue & deals.
1 Published by Sphere books
1 Printing the result is easy because if youuse PRINT USR whatever the number in BC isprinted upon return to basic. Or you coulduse LET a=USR whatever and a is given BCvalue on return to basic.
1 Prices - Too be honest, the prices for theabove software do tend to vary, so I wouldsuggest that you buy both PCW magazinesand see for your self. However thecheapest is `10, and the worst (for theHard of spending) is about `50!. Of coursethe difference in price is due to theversion being sold, some are the 'older'versions 1966,74,77 etc, and some are moreup tp date 1985 etc.
1 Prices & availability
1 Price `3.50 (Paperback)
1 Plus, the Rainbow series of printers.OFFICE WORLD stocks the genuine ribbons,plus the Pelikan compatable brand, whichI have found to do the job just as well.The Pelikan code number is Z274 (2861MX)
1 Plug : 60p
1 Phil Glaves
1 Personally I think that that would be asad thing to happen because it would breakup what is already becoming a small baseof spectrum user groups even further and,contrary to what would have happened a fewyears ago, the customers just won't go offin search of new groups to support or getinfo from. As I mentioned above, it's downto reader "Apathy and Bashfulness".
1 Personally I can't believe that ANYBODYwould ever come up with so stupid a rulingas that. What of British copyright Law?Fair enough, Chris has said that his stuffcan be distributed at no cost to thereceiver but does that actually mean thathe should lose all rights to his hardwork? I think not and if that were indeedthe case them I would be totally disgustedat the whole bloody thing.
1 Payment is fair in one sense - it puts atheoretical limit on customers purchases.If all PD was free, you'd get every singleperson ordering every title, even if theydidn't want it - just something to stockup their collection. Such acts would meanit would take infinitely longer to dealwith orders and people would miss out orhave to suffer long delays. I think thatAlchemist PD has taken pricing to thelimit. Six free titles per month to all isvery fair, and I shall continue to expandthis offer as long as Spectrum PD is stillpopular!
1 Paul Newman
1 Paul Fairman
1 Part of Sinclair Computerclub Benelux%
1 PUSH HL ;Save the result
1 PSU and care for your drive.
1 PROGRAM: Tobos-FP
1 PROGRAM: Tas<>dfue
1 PROBLEMS continued...
1 PRISM PD - AN APOLOGY
1 POP BC ;Get Saved HL in BC
1 POKE @7652,68 : Re-enables the DOS.#
1 POKE @7652,0 : Resets the +D RAM.!
1 POKE @3780,n : Attribute byte for CLS #.(
1 POKE @16,n : Interrupt facility.
1 PETER TURNER, Bexhill On Sea
1 PD PROGRAM REVIEW
1 PD LIBRARIES - HOW DO WE DO IT?
1 PD LIBRARIES
1 PCW+ Magazine
1 PASSWORD PROTECTION
1 PAPER MAGAZINES
1 PALETTE.COM
1 PAGBAS DI
1 P.M. Reynolds
1 Overall, the Multiface is a wonderfultool, and has to be the most useful pieceof hardware available for the Spectrum.Even if you don't go in for hacking andmaking 'security backups', there is nodoubt that this device will be of useeventually and could even add some valueto your system.
1 Original Programming: Dominic Morris$
1 Only a couple of weeks ago, I received thefollowing letter from Thomas Eberle of thenew user group "SUC".i
1 One interesting note. Although it is bestto give files their correct file type,they will STILL load no matter what,providing you have set the info in the 9byte header correctly. The only realexception to this is trying to loadCode/Basic files with their opposite filetype.
1 One episode I did'nt forget to record, wasthe last episode of QUANTUM LEAP, and tobe frankly honest I was a bit dissapointedthat it ended in such a 'Twin Peaks' way.
1 One customer asked just how Alchemist PDand Alchemist Research operates, so comingup are two articles on how things run.z
1 One of the more noticable changes inAlchNews in recent months has been the newprint system. Now, thanks to great supportfrom our friends in the PCW world (wherethere is NO backstabbing or elitism -others take note!!!), we can now produceAlchNews not just for the Spectrum, butmany new machines too, thanks to the hostof CP/M.
1 Once you are absolutely satisfied thatthe spray cannot get anywhere you don'twant it, follow the directions on thespray can to coat the inside surfaces ofthe case. As with most spray paintingoperations, light coats with a short pausebetween each is the better technique. Thethicker the coat, the lower
1 Once again, very disappointing to hear ofthis, but you can rely on continuedsupport from Alchemist Research and ourfriends in the Spectrum world. AlchemistResearch is willing to support any newgroups, magazines and the like.
1 On the way back to AR, Andy stopped at apost office, opened the boot of the carand took out a few carrier bags full ofmail. I later found out that this was thereturned orders that had arrived thatmorning, and Andy explained later that hetook twenty minutes to get to the stationto collect me because he had to finish offan order that took three +D disks.
1 On arrival at Sheffield railway station, Idecided to give Andy a quick ring. Well,how was he to know that I was in Sheffieldyet! Well, ring him I did, and some twentyminutes later, Andy drove up in his littlered Metro. The first thing he did when hespotted me, was to stick his hand out, andsay "heloo"! Until now, the fact that I'dtravelled almost halfway across the UKjust to see this bloke, hadn't fully hithome. It did now though, all these peoplesounded so strange! Still, I supposethat's what you get for being a Wurzel!
1 On a final note, you will find that 3 inchdisk drive cleaners can be bought throughthe pages of PCW USER/PCW PLUS for `2.95and several other items like CP/M booksand 3 inch disk labels/see-thru plasticcases are also available.
1 On a final note, lets hope the REN andSTIMPY SHOW returns soon, JOY, HAPPY, JOY!T
1 On a brighter side, the coverage of Sci-Fion tv has really picked up the last fewmonths, with STAR TREK:TNG returning toBBC 2, still at the lousy 6pm Wednesdayslot <and promptly removed again! Ed.> ,and ITV not only showing big movies likeTOTAL RECALL relatively uncut, but alsoBLADERUNNER:The Directors Cut - what not abatantly commercial, batantly cut 'DietCoke Premiere'?, my, things must belooking up!. <Film buffs should invest insatellite TV, no editing, new films, noadverts etc. Ed>
1 On CP/M and any other disk related system,like PC's and Amigas, it's customary togather all associated files to one programin one big file, called a "library". Thisalso compresses the files, saving lots ofdisk space and more room in the directoryof your disk for other libraries ofsoftware. Then, when presented with thedisk, you can then choose which libraryyou want to open and then expand it'scontents onto another disk.
1 On exit the A register will contain thenext byte from the file. Either that oryou will be in basic with an EOF error!Thankfully there is no real reason forusing this code OR code #36.
1 Ok. To start us off, this time I wouldlike to examine a rather serious situationthat you should all be aware of. The Andyvs Martyn feud, for feud is indeed what ithas turned out to be. In the beginning Iwas quite enjoying it all. Nothing likereading a few insults aimed at somebodyelse for a change! Also it was goodinsofar as the rivalry should make BOTHorganisations stronger.
1 Ok, so you've taken that first step withyour +3, got a decent assembler, (Irecommend either HiSoft GENS or Jacksoft),and had a read through the DOS routines onpages 208-257 of the user manual. Have younot done either of those, do them now.(You probably won't be able to get a copyof GENS these days, but Andy will send youa copy of Jacksoft.)
1 Ok, so it may be a bit strong, but Iguarantee it works! To make sure you donot get such junk in the future, do thefollowing:
1 Ok so i'm making a bit of a joke out ofall this but it is actually a good idea.Just not on the spectrum that is all! Whenwas the last time YOU saw any dodgysoftware on the spec? Fair enough you seea few four letter words in demos but sowhat. If you don't like it then don't buyit, or rather don't pay the copyingcharges :-).
1 Oh yes. Obviously I'm having a laugh andthat's what the Sad Old Muppets are allabout. What sort of Muppet are you? Whatdo you do? Apart from me sing about withboring old computers :-) What observationson life have you got to share with therest of us? It doesn't matter what youhave to say, as long as it gets said.Serious, funny or just plain daft itdoesn't matter SO GET WRITING. Oh yeah,when I suggested this column to Andy hegave the impression that it would be a bitof a flop, due to reader "Apathy andBashfulness". Lazy sad old muppet syndromeI call it. Just think, if only a few ofyou wrote in with an idea, no matter howsmall, AN wou d GROW AND GROO
1 Oh by the way, be careful not to read pastthe end of the file otherwise it's yetanother unceremonious drop into basic.What of crash prevention? It occurs to meat this point that it would have been agood idea if G+DOS had a code to tell youthe length of files. Mind you MS-DOS isjust as bad! ;-)
1 Of course all of this is designed so thatthere can be a follow up series or maybe amovie in the future. If there is, make itquick, as im dying to know what happensnext!
1 Of course, the program allows you tochange the source filename, very handywhen you consider the differences betweenthe two formats. +3 DOS allows filenamesup to eight characters in length (+ athree character extension), whereas the +Dallows up to ten characters. Although theability to change the filename doesn't atfirst appear to be at all useful, +D filescan contain characters that are illegal in+3 DOS, so this function is essential!
1 OUTLET: Long running programs magazine.Some of the accompanied programs featuredhave been available from PD libraries forsome time and cost is rather high for it'svalue. Nethertheless, still an interestingread.
1 OUT 227,0 : Spin drive motor.
1 OTHER SERVICES
1 ORG 34000 ;Assemble to 34000
1 OPTICAL DISPLAY
1 OPENING THE BOX
1 OK ,do you understand that? Probably notbut that doesn't matter as long as youhave these two routines written for you-|
1 Now that you can page the ROMs etc. in andout you can get into more detail with theactual DOS Routines. (Pages 223-257) Theroutines that I give you to do certainthings should be bolted on at the labelMAIN
1 Now onto the codes
1 Now if everything has gone ok [CF=0], BIT7,A will tell you if the file is read orwrite. If it's set then it's a write file,otherwise it's a read only file. It'simportant to check if you don't want to bedropped into basic!
1 Now for something completely different. AsI said above, you can write on anysubject. What I want to know is how tobuild an ant farm! I asked a friend but heonly had info about a garden based one.What I want to do is put the buggers inbottles or something and breed a race ofsuper ants! What do they eat? I wasreading that each successive generation isstronger than the last because they getmore food, what would happen if the secondgeneration (the firs lives off the Queenapparently) were to find a few pounds ofsugar on their doorstep? Interestingpossibilities no?
1 Now I move onto the dispute between ChrisTaylor of "Triad Developments" and Martyn.This time I have to attack Martyn on thisissue.
1 Now whether these compilers are fullycompatible with speccy CP/M remains to beseen, however, PROSPERO SOFTWARE (0817418531) sell PRO (or PROSPERO) PASCAL,which like Hi-SOFTs PASCAL 80 (not the +3specfic PASCAL +3), is fully compatiblewith Speccy CP/M. How do I know?, wellSimon N Goodwin reviewed all 3 in CRASHNO.54 (July 1988)!, and surely he knowswhat he's talking about! (yes he does, anddon't call me Shirley).
1 Notes on 784k drive A:
1 Note: if you need to write +D disks andyou don't have a +D drive, Andy has aprogram that does it! TRANS 1.2 it'scalled. It won't format a disk for you,but it will write files from a 3" sourcedisk onto a pre-initialised +D disk.
1 Note: This software is only suitable forversion 4.0 machines. The version numberis contained in the system test message,which may be obtained by going to the TVtest screen (hold the break key and pressreset) and then pressing together the keysQ, A, Z, P, L and M.
1 Note. First set the info block [Using RST#8 DB #33] so that byte 00 is set to thecorrect drive, byte 02 to the channelnumber [Normally 2 or 3], and byte 0Fcontains 1 of the following values.
1 Note, you may need to end lines with CR/LFcharacters. Otherwise you may keep over-printing on the same line. Depends on howthe printer in question is set up.
1 Note, incidentally, that +SYS and AUTOLOADfiles must never be hidden, or they won'tboot.Y
1 Note that you need to use code #3B first. *
1 Note that you need to do code #35 first! *
1 Not so much, about 200. Our predecessorwas a lazy dog and did the most on Atari,also the mag (unbelievable - the Speccycan do it also and in some paarts morebetter!).
1 Not only this, but every Multiface 128 orMultiprint ordered comes with a FREE copyof Genie of Lifeguard, the Multiface 3comes with a free copy of Lifeguard.
1 Not only is this detrimental to the PDscene and supportive to the programmer towrite more, it is ILLEGAL to leave off anyfiles which are part of the program - bethem helpfiles, adverts or anything. Suchrash statements can damage the scene andthe reputation of the library who supportsthem!
1 Not all info will be needed at all times.For instance, the last 9 bytes are onlyreally needed for SAVING files. At it'ssimplest, all you need to load a file isto set byte 01 to the program number, byte00 to the drive number and byte 04 to "P".This is of course useless if you latermove files around! Byte 5 is used by theCAT command so get it right! It cancontain any of the following:
1 No doubt many of you will want to know howthe screens are created. If you aressSymbol shift and E when viewing, you willbe in EDIT mode. To get out of this, pressSym Shift and A (STOP) which returns youto the menu.
1 Nickel Spray (Maplin cat : P692, DM10L) (Price in cat to Aug 1994: `17.95)L
1 Next: Don't think you can make money withthis. It's an illusion. We give the PDmostly for the cost for sending and a bitfor doing it.
1 Next, John Elliot. He has done nothing butprovide some new excellent +3 software,including some +3 only CP/M programs, likeMSDOS reader, DU52 - a fantastic multiplesize formatter, plus font editors, digitalclocks, screen copiers and so much more.
1 Next issue: AlchNews 14, Xmas Special%
1 Neon Grafix PD: Run by Darren Randle. WhenRasputin PD changed to Rave PD, Darrentook over the old name. A little bit oftrouble causing a a certain individualalmost broke the friendship with AlchemistPD, but didn't! Darren sold Rasputin PD /Neon Grafix PD lock stock and barrel toAlchemist PD last year, along with therights to his magazine "SINCLAIR NEWS".
1 Neill Taylor
1 Neil Thompson
1 Needs file to be open first with code #35.*
1 Naughtiness rating: Rather Naughty"
1 NX-1000 ii
1 NOTTINGHAM
1 NONE but needs file open first [#3B]$
1 NEW WRITERS
1 NEW MULTIFACE DEALS
1 NETHERLANDS
1 My thoughts and comments of two!
1 My only suggestion for Martyn is to checkout what's available on the PC, then MAYBEhe'll realise just how big a fool he'smaking of himself over this whole PSDbusiness. Not that I would know what'savailable on the PC you understand. I er,like, um sort of... Well Roger Cook saysthere's some dodgy stuff about so theremust be.
1 Multifaces are VERY hard to come by secondhand, and thanks to this generous offerfrom Romantic Robot, would certainly beworth investing in one before stocks runout!
1 Multiface.
1 Mr Sherwood has also been pestering mycontributors, literally BEGGING for theirsoftware which has been exclusivelywritten for Alchemist PD, or fordistribution by Alchemist Research as anon-PD program.
1 Most programs should be able to recognisedrive B:. An exception is Multiface 3,which always uses drive A:. Even if youcopy M3 saved programs onto B:, theprogram (eg "GAME") will always try toload its code (eg "GAMEC") from A:. Someprograms (eg PAW) should be set to use B:as a data drive (with PAW this is donewith the Y menu). Others should just haveB: put in front of the filename.
1 More details of the Multiface can be foundin our new section, MULTIFACE MAGIC.S
1 Mono (long life): LC9W
1 Monika & Wolfgang Haller
1 Miktor, thanks for the letter, and may thefleas of a thousand camels never infestyour armpits!a
1 Miktor wanted to do a rant and!
1 Miktor takes a look at the +D's!
1 Maybe you should know, that we do not worktogether with Prism PD. Martyn sends ussome "Fact Sheets" and other material andit seems that he wants us for a waragainst Alchnews. So as we do not want tobe on side side against another, wedecided to work together with otherPD-libaries, e.g. Chic Computer Club (I'ma member for a long time)."
1 Maybe British villians should go on a E.T.training scheme before enbarking on acareer in crime, they might have a bitmore luck!.
1 Maximum storage capacity of 2 drive setup)
1 Matt Beal, Fish
1 Masking tape
1 Mark Harris
1 Many of you may be gasping at the abovestatement and asking why I feel I need tomake an apology. Well, to reassure you, Idon't. This is not an apology fromAlchemist Research to Prism PD. Allinformation made public by AlchemistResearch concerning Prism PD is entirelyjustified, complete with written andsigned proof. Just why Mr Sherwood needsto ignore them is beyond all reasoning.
1 Many of these were previously unaccessabledue to their been 'libraried'.H
1 MULTIPRINT
1 MULTIFACE MAGIC
1 MULTIFACE 3: For the Spectrum +3 and +2a(black cased machines)@
1 MULTIFACE 3 (thru port): Has an expansionport on the back for other devices.M
1 MULTIFACE 3 : `34.95 " " " ""
1 MULTIFACE 128: For 128k / 48k Spectrums.Has the ability to cater for the extramemory.[
1 MULTIFACE 128+D: As above, but can dealwith the +D and Disciple rather than theBeta disk interface.h
1 MULTIFACE 128 : `24.95 " " " ""
1 MULTIFACE 1: For Spectrum 48k, 128k(although will only operate in 48k mode)R
1 MT The Sad Old Muppet King aka the **kingMuppet.1
1 MOVE COMMAND
1 MORE CLOSEDOWNS
1 MONITOR PIN
1 MISCELLANEOUS
1 MINI CRUNCH
1 MICRONET - SPECTACULAR: The Spectrumsection of Micronet had a wealth ofprograms, instantly available to downloadvia the phone to your tape or disk.
1 MGPD: Established last year by AlchemistResearch supporter Malcolm Gent. Malcolmspecialises in some fantastic OUTLETprograms,
1 MGPD has blossomed well since theirestablishment, so could more! So, if you'dlike to start a franchise with freesupport and as many programs as you canhandle, get in touch! Just write, withyour relevant details and tell us justwhat kind of library you'd like to open -MGPD established itself as a compilationslibrary - perhaps you'd like to supportthe +3, +D, Opus disk systems or just dealwith demos or fonts, we'd be glad to help!
1 MELTON MOWBRAY
1 MAXISWEEP is a great, menu driven utilitywhich can also squeeze and unsqueezeindividual files to save a little space.It's available in many of the AlchemistCP/M volumes, but the latest version canbe obtained free on request.
1 MARTYN'S REPLY:
1 Lets hope that if they do do a series/movie that it is set, in part, in 1999. Asit would make a nice change to see thefuture a bit more often, rather than thepast, which we've had for the last 4years!
1 Let it be! It is something for enthusiastsand needs a lot of your free time. But -when someone did it, then youneed a disksystem and a very good disk to tapecopier! We have one, who loads from Plus ,deletes the Plus D loading syntax tonormal Load and saves then to tape. thislittle things are more important. best isto copy from disk to disk. But noteverybody has one.
1 Leicestershire
1 Legal disclaimer: THIS ARTICLE AND ALLCOMMENTS ARE ONLY PERSONAL OPINIONS /OBSERVATIONS OF THE AUTHOR AND IF ANYBODYHAS TAKEN OFFENCE, TOO BAD! (#2785)
1 Later Programming:
1 Last, but not least, John Hudson. Besidesrunning his own consulting business, hetook time out to offer a great deal ofadvice on using PIP a little more!
1 LOCOMOTIVE SOFTWARE still have small qtysof the CP/M manual available, just in caseyou've lost yours, for more details writeto :-
1 LOCOMOTIVE SOFTWARE products Ltd
1 LOAD dn"filename" CODE 3
1 LOAD dn"filename" CODE 16384,6912,82$
1 LOAD "DU52P3"
1 LIBRARIES - WHAT THE?
1 LEMMINGS,ROBOCOP,ROBOCOP 2,TEENAGE NINJATURDS er sorry TURTLES,WRESTLEMANIA (WWF),MYTH,TUSKER,THE FLINTSTONES,DRAGON NINJA,CABAL,TURRICAN,MARIO BROS (who needs aNINTENDO anyway!),SLIGHTLY MAGIC, andplenty of compilations like KONAMI COIN-OPHITS,BEST OF ELITE VOL 1 & 2,SCREEN HEROES(Highlander,Rambo
1 LEARN BY TRIAL AND ERROR
1 LD L,128 ;128 X 512 =65536
1 LD H,0 ;64K for M:
1 LD D,0 ;No cache
1 LD A,CHANNEL ; FROM INFO BYTE 2
1 LD A,CHANNEL
1 LD A,65 ;"A" ASCII
1 LA LETTRE DU SPECTRUMANIC (French)"
1 Justin Thorpe
1 Just as BABALON 5 has started, PLANET OFTHE APES has finished, did anyone recordthe last episode?, as I missed it. Ifanyone has it on tape could they send itto me, for me to copy?, I would be verygrateful and would pay all the postage.
1 John Wilson
1 John Bradford, of 1982, was ratherdisappointed with his readership figuresso has\
1 James Waddington of *SPELL*
1 JUMP is extremely useful. The Multifaceholds 8k of RAM, something like a crudeRAMdisk but with no basic command access.The advantage is that it's protected in areset, unlike the true Ramdisk. The onlydisadvantage is that if the Multifacebutton is pressed, part of the code iscorrupted. The use of this is totallydependant of the user. I personally haveexperimented with it and stored the oddutility and code in there which saved meconstantly re-loading. I've even storedHARRIER ATTACK in there, for no reasonwhatsoever!
1 JIM LEESON, Leeds
1 JIM LEESON, a new reader to AlchNews,makes and sells printer cables for the +2a/ +3 to any Centronics printer for `10including P&P.
1 J. Elliott, October 1993.
1 J. Elliott, 8 July 1994.
1 It's been a busy time for mail, too, butnot in the positive sense. In mid-July,Alchemist Researchh
1 It's surprisingly easy to make an FMtransmitter. In fact, any local 'discount'store which sells cheap goods and, inparticular, toys, you may be able to pickup a 'radio mike'. The one I have seen isapprox 40cm long and is shaped like amicrophone, furnished in red plastic witha black wind reducer on the top. Theactual circuit board would fit in a smallmatchbox, the rest of the unit houses thetwo 1.5v AA batteries.
1 It's been a busy quarter at AlchemistResearch, and a very hot one - hasn'tsummer been good? We had a few heavythunderstorms 'oop North', restricting theuse of the computer equipment, but thingsare cooling a little now.
1 It was strictly tape only for about a yearuntil +D and Microdrive systems werecatered for. However, catalogues werestill a problem. A paper solution wouldn'tbe in operation for another six months, soa special Tasword 2 file was used alongwith a 64 column text viewer.
1 It varies. Some days can be simple, somecan be sheer murder. There are some timeswhen someone can order ALL the trcickiestprograms in the library! You first need tohave an extremely efficient filing systemand archive your programs (and backups) inplaces where they can be accessedinstantly for fast transfer.
1 It started in mid-1992 following strongpressure from the AlchNews readership tostart an organised way of distributingit's growing number of public domainsoftware.
1 It is not possible to supply a version ofDU52P3 that makes auto-booting discs, duethe fact that different computers use thesame format but different boot sectors.However, if you have CP/M, you can use theCP/M programs DU52 and DU52CON to copy theboot sectors from your start-of-day discinto the program DU52P3, so that DU52P3will make auto-booting discs.
1 It is highely unlikely many of you wouldnot have noticed the new Alchemist PDcatalougue. It wasn't A5 like planned, butthe introduction of a new printer (Star LC-100 COLOUR) changed some operations atAlchemist Research.
1 It has been brought to my attention thathe has been writing to as many peopleconnected with the Spectrum as possible,claiming that he has been unfairlywronged, how everyone is out to get himand that how he has offered a truce whichI am supposed to have ignored. Also, acopy of the extremely biased andinaccurate "PD FACTSHEET JUNE 1994" hasbeen included with this.
1 It contains reviews, tutorials, news andlots of features and has some of the bestAmstrad writers on their team.r
1 Is that clear enough for you? (COPYRIGHT:The law that says WHO can copy something<That's for our eastern brothers andsisters> Martyn DID YOU not read what Isaid? If ANYBODY can copy something thenthe author has NO RIGHTS AT ALL, not eventhe right to WITHDRAW something they havecreated, as you are in the act of proving!This PSD stuff is b**locks in any caseaccording to Chris <Not a direct quote butthe sentiments there!>)
1 Interview with Wolfgang & Monika Haller'
1 Interactive Entertainment!
1 Instructions.
1 Input options - recognisable by theflashing cursor which appears in the menubar. Type the input and press ENTERafterwards. To abandon the input, move thebar off the option using the cursor keys.
1 Included in the PMA file is a text filegiving full details of the featuresoffered by 48KDB. Also included are theboot program and machine code and a diskrelabelling program for the extendedcatalogue.
1 In the summer, the new FORMAT DX 1 diskinterface was launched. Although at thesame price of the +D, `59.95 andcompatability with existing +D andDisciple disks and systems, littleinformation was presented with the articlein FORMAT or passed onto AlchemistResearch for review.
1 In the series, all the uniforms are blackand look as if they have just been pulledout of the tumble dryer, the actor whoplays Sinclair has had his hair tintedgreyish, and worse, now sports spiked hairlike an overgrown crew cut!. He lookspositively menopausal!.
1 In the case of *Spellunkler*, the editor,James Waddington, has been a closepersonal friend of myself for some yearsand was not impressed with this matter, ashe went on to express in his editorial ofissue 7 of the magazine. He makes it clearthat Mr Sherwood has been questioing themorals of myself, one of *Spell's*associates.
1 In the beginning we only had cassettes.Mid 1990 we buyed an Opus Discovery and wecovered programs per cassette or Opus DiskFormat 180K and / or 720K. After severeldamages with the Opus Moni gaves me a PlusD at christmas 1992. Then followed a hardtime of bringing the programs from Opus toPlus D, until our friend Grimm has donethe Opusload (extra for us and about thisreason was Opusload created!). This hasmade life much easier. Today we only sendour PD on cassette or Plus D Format (Wethink Plus D is the most used disksystemworldwide).
1 In short, YES it does, and very good atit's job it is too! Domonic Morris hascome up with yet another useful piece ofsoftware here, full credit to the man!
1 In each case, the first file or stream isread, byte by byte, and written to thesecond file or stream. With types 2 and 4,a CLOSE #* command is needed afterwards tocomplete the process. It is also importantto realise that MOVE is only intended forcopying OPENTYPE files and SAVE...TO mustbe used for any other filetypes. This isdue to the structure of +D files.
1 In conclusion, then, this can be a handyfeature, but needs to be used with care.It is important never to forget to POKE23728 back to zero afterwards, otherwisethere will be no escape from the program,except by pressing reset, so be warned!
1 In another episode a Klu Klux Klan type ofgroup - The Pro-Earth movement - secretlyboards BABALON 5, you soon spot the leaderof this group as he's, yes thats right!,English!.
1 In actual fact it isn't like that at all.I asked Chris if he wanted to comment andhe told me hat he had received a note tothe effect that his demo "TMF" have beenpassed onto the authorities for them tohave a look. Quite a different story eh?The most interesting comment in all thishas been from Martyn. He told me that hedoesn't WANT to distrributee Chris' stuffin any case.
1 In October 1989, when we was only membersof the SPC, the clubleader this timedecided to finish his doing. He would letthis club die! So we have planned toovertake the SPC, and from January 1990 onwe do it with a mag which becomes more andmore individual look and an increasing PDsection.
1 In early August, I received a ratherdistressing telephone call. It was fromDarren Wall, of Virgin InteractiveCustomer Support. They had received ananonymous letter stating that I wasbreaking the law with Spectrum software.
1 If, from this menu, you choose a 40- trackformat, you may then be asked about a"format option". This will be "Singletrack" 99% of the time; "Double track" hasbeen included mainly for historicalreasons - see "Double Track Discs" later.
1 If your masking was not perfect <tough-you shouldn't have cut corners. Ed>, theappearance of your machine will not be toobadly marred because it is a dark grey notvery different from that on the +2 itself<if you have an art deco customised whitecase - hard luck! Ed>. Ensure the coatingis TOTALLY dry before reassembly. Trim anyragged edges with the sharp knife.
1 If you're using this while Jacksoft isloaded, Then the stack is below 49120 andthe routine will run. However if you areusing the code while the stack is notbelow 49120 it will crash. If you are notsure, CLEAR 49100 Should not hurt (unlessyou have code there already) Using +3DOSdoes not just cover using the Physicaldisk drive(s)- You can also use theRAMdisk (Drive M:)
1 If you pres EDIT and then 0 (zero), youwill automatically see the screen changefrom a mass of colour to black and whitewith all odd characters. This is theCONTROL CHARACTERS mode, as opposed to theDISPLAY MODE you just saw. You will seehow inverted characters do different jobs,like text colour, graphics colour andinversed text etc. If you want to knowwhat each character does, press EDIT andthen wait - a small menu will appear,telling you what key does what. EDIT isyour CONTROL key, so pressing EDIT then Bis the equivalent of ESCAPE-B, but thisdoes not refer to the escape codes ofprinters!
1 If you like things like old houses, youcould always have a nose at Bishop's Housetoo. Andy tells me it's haunted, but Idon't believe in such things. Still, it'sa fine old timber framed house dating backto the 15th century.
1 If you find you are using Mallard Basic agreat deal and find it tedious to loadCP/M and then Mallard Basic and then a'master' basic file which contains CLScommands (since M-Basic hasn't one!). Allyou need to do is to copy the relevantfiles to a blank disk:
1 If you contact Mr Catley, ring first as hehas not responded to a letter I have sentto him.[
1 If you chose "fixed format" you will thenbe shown a menu of all possible formats.If you choose a DOS format, you willactually be given a fixed +3DOS formatwhich is close enough to the DOS format toallow the use of sector editors etc.
1 If you call SET you must make sure yourparameters are correct or you will lockthe computer up!. The golden rule toRemember is : DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE 4SECTOR BUFFERS FOR THE RAMDISK (AT LEAST)
1 If you are lucky enough to have twin 3.5"drives, or if you are confident that youwill not need to use the 3" drive untilyou next reset the computer, then you canrun the program SPEEDUP on this disc. Itsets both drives to the timing parametersfor 3.5" drives, so you must not use the3" drive after running SPEEDUP, until youreset the computer or run SLOWDOWN (theopposite program). The CP/M equivalentsSPEEDUP.COM and SLOWDOWN.COM are alsosupplied.
1 If you are a +D or Disciple owner, haveyou ever been plagued with frequent'sector errors', corrupted disks orinexplicable crashes, particularly in thefirst few minutes after switching on? Ifmy experience is anything to go by, thecause is very likely to be a dirty edgeconnector. Cleaning it helps for a time,but the problem always comes backeventually.
1 If there's anybody who doesn't know thestory, basically Chris has told Martynthat he can no longer distribute ANYTHINGhe (Chris) has ever written. This, as faras I can tell, is a big part of why thePSD were brought in. According to what Iread in Martyn's "PD Factsheet", which waswhat prompted me to write THIS, the PSDhave said that Chris has ABSOLUTELY norights to anything he has ever written andreleased!
1 If the computer is converting a 15k file,it could take 20 minutes. Since you don'tactually see anything on screen, it's dafthaving the Tv or monitor on.
1 If none of this CENSORSHIP worries youthen let me just tell you what sort ofthing Martyn considers a bit dodgy. Right,has anybody heard of the GIRLS demo?Basically it's a pretty naff slide-show inthe page 3 stylee. Completely sad butthere you go. Personally I would ratherread the Sport, so would most under 16's,probably! Then there's the Pet Shop Boysdemo. Again this is dodgy because it's gotsome rather crude pictures of sexual actsand the "Bird" (One finger salute)
1 If anyone would like to see a particulartopic covered or could offer some of theINPUT programs ready-typed, we will rewardmost handsomely!
1 If a disk is formatted with one or morereserved tracks, then the program asks fora disk label. This text will be recordedat the start of the last reserved sector,where it can be read by the 48KDB "CAT *"command. If the disk should have no name,or you do not have 48KDB, just pressenter. A disk may be relabelled with the"relabel" program. This code should beloaded in at 32000 and called. It will askfor a name and then record it on the disk.
1 If you want the convenience of filecrunching to save a little space, butdon't fancy messing around with the likesof MAXISWEEP, then theres a seperateutility to do this. The program is verysmall and just requests the filename andwhether you want it crunching oruncrunching. It also goes to the troubleof telling you the compression rate.
1 If you own a grey-cased Spectrum +2,you'll no doubt have come across thesymptom of certain keys not responding insome programs, such as Tasword 2 and PCG'sDTP Pack. The effect tends to be worstwhen the machine is cold, and the keysusually affected are Caps Shifted M and N,Symbol Shifted A, and sometimes the rightand up arrow keys.
1 If you get a CPC6128 B: drive, thedocumentation will tell you that specialsoftware is needed to use the drive with784k disks. This is not true for the +3which
1 If all goes well, then you will bepresented with the address of the compiledcode, plus the start and length addresses,should you wish to save the code. You arethen returned to Basic.
1 Ian Collier's FORMAT - Disc formatter for+3 and +2a. Formats up to 209k:I
1 Ian Collier's 48k Disc Basic (for Spectrum+3 and +2a):6
1 Ian Collier's BIAS - BASIC InteractiveAssembler System (for all Spectrums):O
1 IX=INFO BLOCK [SEE #33/#34]
1 IX=INFO BLOCK
1 IX=#3AC3 [OR DO RST#8, DB #33 FIRST]$
1 ISBN 0-7474-0390-2
1 INSTALLATION
1 INSTALLABLE PROGRAMS AVAILABLE
1 II,STATISTICS II, PROJECTOR 1 and SPECFILE+.,
1 I've had some good and bad experienceshere, but the only reason some were badwere due to my lack of knowledge of thePCG Wordmaster package. I plumped for myfavourite, Tasword 128! It was no botherat all setting up the control codes toprint in the different styles, plus colourtext where I wanted it! It was alsoextremely simple to access the othercharacter sets of the printer, so ` signs,# signs and all the other popularcharacters were not causing problems.There is nothing so unprofessional as apiece of text which gives # for poundsigns and ` in hexadecimal listings!
1 I've found this to be very useful, so I'vecreated a little "essential utilitiesdisk" containing this, PASSWORD, MAXISWEEPand it's predecessor, NEWSWEEP. If you'dlike any or all of these, just send a diskand SAE.
1 I've been some some reaearch into the PDscene recently, looking at exactly WHY itworks and why the Spectrum scene isnothing like any of the other markets -meaning a whole new set of rules andmaking some so-called "expert" opinionpointless. I was hoping to end thisarticle with a comprehensive guide to thegreatest Spectrum libraries in Europe, butthey could actually be written on the backof a stamp. I've recruited the help fromthe EEC's biggest Spectrum library - WOMOin writing this article. You'll find theircomments a little later after APD's headgives his wisdom on the subject! This filehas been sent to a certain other PDlibrary with our compliments in the hopeit may improve their service!
1 I've adapted my CP/M "PROFILE.SUB" file todo a little work for me. After copyingthese files onto the CP/M master disk:z
1 I've recently been posed with thefollowing question from tape based owners:T
1 I've come across many methods ofcompressing files into libraries. Thesemethods are known asn
1 I would recommend this book to anyone whois not easily offended.A
1 I would not normally condemn the Spectrum,but for anyone wishing to considerupgrading, perhaps not as far as a PC, Iwould strongly suggest a PCW as themachine to get. The computer is very likea Spectrum +3 and still continues to getsupport, both though magazines an byhardware & software manufacturers. Notonly this, but the entire scene is verymature with no backstabbing or jealousy orshoddy services as we have seen on theSpectrum in recent months.
1 I personally would suggest an Amstrad CM14colour stereo monitor, but believe theseare difficult to obtain.l
1 I feel this statement speaks for itself.Thomas has also been a good friend ofAlchemist Research and when he informed usthat he was starting up a Spectrum Club,with software support from Prism PD, wedidn't ignore him or write hate mail ofhim. We wished him well and offered asmuch support as we could give (articles,PD programs and the like).
1 I don't usually feature a letters page,since as I answer ALL letters personally,theres no need for public opinion on them.~
1 I don't know what you mean by saying thatwe are being used by other people. Is thatAndy's idea? (No.) Sounds like he'sfishing for the first available cop out.Anyway , I've told him in the past what Iexpect from him and to use your phrase"the final decision is completely his!".I'll list the points to show what you'vegot wrong. (Actually I said, and I quote:"Oh well, as I say, the final decision iscompletely yours. In respect of callingthe whole thing to an end")
1 I can't claim to be a TV engineer, but thetheory of TV transmission is similar toradio. The same FM freqency is used, buton a far higher scale - UHF. A typical TVsignal is broadcast at about 679.25MHz forthe visual, 685.25MHz for the audio and685.802MHz for the NICAM signal. Theactual range for TV pictures is 21 to 68,which is 471 to 853 MHz. If you have amodern Tv set with digital tuning, you maybe able to press a button to tell you theactual number. You could then check thisagainst the chart of TV / Radiofrequencies in the MAPLIN Catalogue to getthe exact frequency.
1 I also have a Spectrum + 2 (grey) withjoystick and games, in excellent conditionas new,boxed (original boxes) - `30w
1 I also have a Spectrum +3, just thecomputer, no leads/power pack etc, justthe computer. It would make an idealupgrade for +2A owners (just unplug the +2A and replace with +3 (both use the samepower pack)), alternatively use for spareparts - `10 (same price as TRADING POSTS+2As !)
1 However, you may be surprised to hear thatthe software is `20! Luckily, I havefriends in high places and, thanks to thekind generosity of Miles Kinloch and theSpectrum Profi Club, I had some wonderfulPUBLIC DOMAIN colour dumping software andprograms - who said it shouldn't beencouraged??!!
1 However, out of the many compliments I'vereceived in the last quarter these twostood out from the rest, which I'd like toshare with you all:
1 However, it's certainly no yes / no answeras there are various options to consider.I use both systems and find them equallyinvaluable. It would have been easy to puta points basis on each option, but it'supto the user to consider and decide forthemselves.
1 However, a little perseverence and I hadsorted it out.8
1 However, these saved programs need theMultiface to be present to reload them,since part of the loader accesses memoryin the Multiface (more on this later). The+3 version will not proceed past theinitial loader unless the Multiface ispresent.
1 How many programs did you start with?%
1 How is this figure attained? Well, thereare 1000 standard seperate titles, andthen the new collections of Spectrum andCP/M titles. Not only this but there areSTILL a great deal more disks ofuncatalogued programs, plus the newcontributions since July!
1 How about a routine to increase the sizeof the RAMdisk to 62K? Sounds impossible,but not from machine code! There areroutines for this purpose, but first Iwill explain about the RAMdisk and theCache for the physical disk drives.
1 Hi-SOFT (who also do +3 specfic compilers)*
1 Hi, I'm Desmond Tyler. I was ratherpleased when Andy agreed to let me have acolumn in AlchNews. I'm not much of aprogammer, nor am I outstanding in anypart of the Spectrum field and I'mbeginning to wonder what I'm doing here<so am I - Ed.>, but would like to sharemy experiences & ideas with you.
1 Here is a worked example of changing abootsector for +3 CP/M:A
1 Hello, good evening and velcome to mycastle HA HA HA HA H>
1 He'd also like any screens of MarilynMonroe for one of his readers if anyonecan oblige. His address can be found inthe first page of the ads section.
1 Happy hacking, DH.
1 Happy constructing!
1 HOW WE GO ABOUT THINGS HERE
1 HOW HARD IS IT?
1 HOW AND WHY DID IT START?
1 HOOK64.COM
1 HONOURABLE MENTIONS
1 HIDDEN SECRETS OF THE PLUS D
1 HIDDEN FILES
1 Grey +2 'sticking keys' problem
1 Greatful appreciation must go out to allwho helped in the production of this finepublication. Notable thanks must go to:{
1 Gold-plated edge-connector
1 George Imrie
1 Gastaeckerstrasse 23
1 GREATFUL CUSTOMERS
1 GH! It's driving me to tears! Tryingto use an operating system without amanual is horrible! My only guide was anAmerican (spit) CP/M self-teach guide. Ofcourse, this was written in the late 70'sfor some obscure computer the size of asmall cottage in the Hebrides, but it'sall I've got...
1 GENIE Disassembler : `7.95 & P&P of `1 LIFEGUARD Lifefinder: `5.00 " " " "P
1 GAME OVER 1 & 2,MIDNIGHT RESISTANCE,COINOP CONNEXION (Crystal Castles etc),ACTIONPACK (Top Gun,Jack the nipper etc),TAITOSCOIN OP HITS (Renegade,Rastan saga etc),THE SEGA COLLECTION (Spy Hunter,Tapper etc, who needs a SEGA anyway!),DOUBLE DRAGON,THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS,RAINBOW ISLANDS,THENEW ZEALAND STORY,DURELL GAMES (saboteuretc) and many many more
1 Fourth: You need connections. We have it abit easier, because we are a club of about150 members. When there is a problem weask person xy for help and most we getthem. And if anybody has a program of whathe finds helpful for all, he sends us.With no connections it is hard to get agood and relative complete PD section. Theconnections we find are the best on the PD(see WoMo and Alchemist).
1 Format Editor DU52CON.COM:
1 For those new to the computer world thisdecade, INPUT was a 52 part, weeklymagazine which covered the Spectrum,Commodore 64, Vic 20, BBC, Acorn, Dragon &Tandy machines. The magazine served as aninroduction to computing, programming anddealt with machine code, languages, comms,hardware - virtually everything!
1 For technical reasons it is as well tospend time over getting this right. Usemasking tape (or PVC insulating tape) toblock off the OUTSIDE of every hole in thecase. Use newspaper with the tape to maskoff the keyboard hole. Mask all round therim of each half of the case, as far in asthe lip, so that when sprayer &reassembled there will be electricalcontact between the two halves all aroundthe edge. When finished masking, it shouldbe impossible to get the spray onto anyexternal surface of the case.
1 For all I know, some or indeed ALL of theabove may just be a sick part of myimagination playing tricks. So what, asI've already said-Hook codes are crap, sowhy use them? Right it's just turned 12amso I think i'll bugger off now and getsomething to drink and indeed I may evengo to sleep! Stranger things HAVE beenknown to happen. I doubt it though.
1 For CP/M PD software, contact PaulWestlake at,6
1 Following the success and kind comments onthe SPECWORD tutorial guide last issue, itwill now be a regular column. This monthwe take a look at a PD Basic compiler, insome cases BETTER than some of the non-PDones available (or not, as the case maybe), plus a very versatile Tasword fileconverter.
1 Following a large number of enquiriessince I aquired this device, I've decidedto give it a review and let you decide foryourselves whether it's worth investing.
1 Florin Russen, MicroCRIFS
1 First though, how to go about unlockingthe wonders of a library file:H
1 First of all, turn to page 200 in the +3manual. The diagram on the left shows whatROM/RAM pages you have and in which slotsthey are just after you issue the commandRANDOMIZE USR whatever. However, to usethe +3DOS routines, you must change thememory map to the diagram on the right,the important points being that RAM page 7must be in the slot 49152 -65535, The DOSROM (2) must be at 0-16384, and the stackmust be below 49120. The stack bit iseasy, as you can do this from BASIC, usinga CLEAR command, but the rest must be donefrom machine code.
1 First of all, I think we'll have the spaceon drive A:5
1 First then, I'll tell you about theST-RIPPER utility program. This is one ofthe very few programs that I've found thatwill actually work with a Multiface 3,although Andy assures me that it will workwith the MF1 and MF128 too. The questionis though, does it work?
1 Finally, you will be asked whether thedisc should have a label. Labels are usedin LocoScript, and appear in DOS directorylistings. They are also used by some PDdisc cataloguing programs.
1 Finally, receiving. No extra equipment isrequired. The transmitted signal is atchannel U31 which is 551.25MHz for videoand 557.25MHz for the audio signal. You'llfind this signal just a little lower thanthe frequencies used for the Spectrum,satellite receivers, videos and consolesetc.
1 Files on this disc are for five separatepackages, all but one of which are for theSpectrum +3.q
1 Feel you're upto the challange of runninga successful library? Have the time,contacts, equipment and knowledge to doso?
1 Fear not, however, for help is at hand.What you need is a gold- platededge-connector plug, and although ratherpricey (around ` 9 each), the results arereally excellent, and in my opinion, wellworth the cost. The connector is very easyto fit - it just solders on to theexisting one, though you'll first need tocut off the excess length with a hacksaw,as it has more contacts than on theSpectrum connector.
1 Fair enough, you can contact the TradingStandards or the Post Office because thatis a natural step to take BUT when youstart bringing in the big guns it allescalates and you lose control over whatSHOULD be just a bit of FUN for all ininvolved. Maybe you don't see it that waybut I personally spend most of my daystrading insults with people I know, andoccasionally getting a bit of a playfulkicking into the bargain! And so thebottom line. It HAS to STOP NOW. If itcontinues for much longer then all I cansee happening is that both AlchemistResearch and Prism PD will be closed down,if not by the authorities then by peoplerefusing to have anything to do witheither.
1 FREEPOST (yes FREEPOST!)
1 FORMAT TXT Documentation.
1 FORMAT PRG BASIC part.
1 FORMAT BIN Machine-code part.!
1 FIREVIEW 2
1 F. DOS Oddball. The program MSODBALL.COMcan convert this DOS format to and fromformat 9, preserving all files. The bootsector supplied is the non booting"msodball" sector by G Mortreuil.
1 Everything! To run a successful library,you need to be able to cater foreverybodys tastes. If a user is using 3"disk, they may be doing so because theyhave difficulty with tape. The mostpopular formats are tape, +D disk, Opusdisk, Microdrive and +3 disk. Swift disks,clive drives, Triton QD drives andwafadrives are very rare. You don't haveto cater for them all but, if you can, itguarantees you get their custom thananother library with the same programs butcan't supply on that format.
1 Ernastrasse 33
1 Either way those who do purchase any ofthe above software, please get in touchwith ALCHEMIST RESEARCH, as we all want toknow what happens!.
1 Each control code is expertly documented,giving you the escape code, along with thedecimal codes which are invaluable forentering them into programs such asTasword. It even explains how to createyour own characters - thats right, it hasa UDG editor built in! There are alsosample programs and pictures to show howto get good results even from Basic.Following that are complete charts of allthe character sets and their ASCII codes.That is finished off with a comprehensiveindex plus a quick reference guide to allthe control codes.
1 ERROR TRAPPING
1 E. DOS standard. Usable under MSDOS,PCDOS, DRDOS and Novell DOS. 713k perdisc, and 128 entries in the rootdirectory. The boot sector supplied is thenon-booting "msdisc"
1 Double Track Discs
1 Don't mask any mounting posts in the upperpart of the case: you will be relying onthese as earth connections to the cassetteunit & keyboard backplane (unless you arefrightened off by the proble. I shallshortly relate!).
1 Don't worry if the DOS routines lookincomprehensible at first, they really areeasy to understand once you have thepaging out of the way (Honest!).
1 Don't forget to mention you are anALCHNEWS reader to claim your discount!Q
1 Does small screen dump on EPSON compatprinters.3
1 Disks made by the +3DOS "FORMAT" commandhave 173k per side. 3.5" disks cannot beturned over but 2x192k drives have anextra switch to tell the drive which sideof the disk to use.
1 Discs made in 3.5" drives, the B: drive ofa PCW 8512, either drive of a PCW 9512 oran external 720k disc drive are referredto as "Double Track". These discs cannotbe read in "Single Track" drives, such asthe A: drive of a PCW 8256, a CPC 6128 ora Spectrum +3.
1 Discs formatted by DU52P3 cannot be usedto boot CP/M or DOS.>
1 Disc names can be specified (not used by+3DOS, only by CP/M)>
1 Disc drives can be set to accept fixedformats - for example, formats which +3DOSdoes not automatically recognise.u
1 Disc boot sectors can be saved as files.(
1 Desmond Tyler
1 Depending on size used:
1 December 1994.
1 Dear Miktor I am sorry to inform you butyou have got your facts completely wrong.First of all I don't know why you persistin getting yourself involved in a disputewhich quite honestly, is none of yourbusines - is it?
1 David Crookes
1 Dave Fountain
1 DU52P3.BIN
1 DU52P3 Menu driven formatter Formats discsup to 192k (3"), 784k (3.5")F
1 DU formatter v5.02 for +3DOS
1 DTPfacillities have improved here, we willnot move AlchNews to a paper format!Q
1 DR WHIPLASH,
1 DISMANTLING
1 DE=ADDRESS TO SAVE FROM
1 DE=ADDRESS TO LOAD TO
1 DB #46 ; OPEN FILE
1 DB #33 ; MOVE FILE INFO
1 DAVE WOOD has some spare PC equipment tosell. It includes an SX386 motherboardwith AMI bios, 6 ISA slots and space forSIMM RAM to 16Mb. It also features aTRIDENT VGA board 512k with IDE I/O boardwith printer port / joystick etc.
1 D. XCF2DD with no system track and a smalldirectory. You get 796k per disc, but itwon't auto-detect and there are only 128directory entries.
1 D) HD disks in DD drives. Not again! Howmany more times do I have to tell you -the last time, that's whatp
1 Cross head screwdriver (Small)
1 Compiler, an excellent Tasword!
1 Compiled version: 7.5 seconds
1 Compilation was almost instantaneous. Theoriginal program was 56 bytes in basic,103 bytes in code.f
1 Command options. Move the bar over theoption and press ENTER to execute.L
1 Chris Norfolk
1 Chic Computer Club
1 Checks to see if the named file alreadyexists, if so then an error code is given[#20 for some reason, check the list!]. ~
1 Checks if the drive is on and reports ifthe write protect is on [BIT 6,A if CF=0].If CF=1 then the drive is off or morelikely EMPTY.
1 Cable : 38p
1 CRACK CITY
1 CPC Undercover magazine
1 CPC Undercover is a new magazine dedicatedto the Amstrad CPC machines. It providesas much information as it possibly can intwenty A5 pages.
1 CPC UNDERCOVER
1 CPC / PCW support
1 CP/M was originally invented in the early1970s, its purpose was to make all theincompatible microcomputers, compatible!.It did this to a certain extent, but asalways CP/M did differ slightly frommachine to machine. By enlarge though, itwas a success on the 8080, and itssuccessor, Z80 based microcomputers. Thelatest version was CP/M 86, so calledbecause it was released in 1986!. Thisversion was not a success though, asMS-DOS took over, and did the job a lotmore successfully. However, in 1988,LOCOMOTIVE SOFTWARE released CP/M + forthe Spectrum +3. According to HowardFisher, Commercial Director at LOCOMOTIVESOFTWARE, although CP/M+ was not acommercial success (about 500 units weresold), it did win the "8-bit utility -Software Product of the Year" award.
1 CP/M environment at Alchemist Research&
1 CP/M and DOS discs can be formatted discscan be initialised for timestamping (notused by +3DOS, only by CP/M)s
1 CP/M considers these .SUB files moreimportant that .COM ones, so finds andexecutes these first. These files areparticularly useful to do some repetitivetasks for you.
1 CORRUPTER OF MO...oh er sorry
1 COPYRIGHTED - NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN!
1 COPY"DU52P3.BIN" TO SPECTRUM FORMAT#
1 CONSUMABLES
1 CONCLUSIONS
1 COMPOSITE SYNC
1 COMPATABILIY
1 CODE 53100,12268
1 CODE 31504,(t-31503): STOP
1 CODE 29000,388
1 CLS (if you have a Basic program to do*
1 CLEAR, CONTINUE, ERASE, FORMAT, LIST,LLIST, LOAD, MERGE, MOVE, NEW, RUN, SAVE,VERIFY, 3D arrays, expressions in DIM orDATA, GOTO, GOSUB & RESTORE statements,and some cases of VAL <string$> andchannels other than K,S & P.
1 CLEAR clears the contents of the RAMdiskmemory pages, although it will not erasefilenames of programs stored in RAMdisk.|
1 CHRISTIAN AYMARD is on the lookout for thefollowing programs:=
1 CHICHESTER
1 CHESSINGTON
1 CHALFONT ST PETER
1 CATALOGUE A GREAT LANDMARK
1 CAT n"filename"
1 CAT COMMAND
1 CAT "filename"!
1 CALL PAGDOS ;Get DOS ROM
1 CALL PAGBAS ;Get BASIC ROM
1 CALL #1601 ; SELECT CHANNEL
1 CALL #13F ;GO SUB SET
1 CALL #121 ;DOS free space
1 CALL #100 ;DOS initialise
1 C. XCF2DD with no system track You get792k per disc, but it won't auto-detect.R
1 C-7F;WHAT?.
1 C) Because Mr Taylor thought he knew itall and threatened to go to a solicitor, Iam not interested in receiving new PDfiles from him. What is already in mycatalogue will stay there. I'm even usingone of the files on my cover tape! MrTaylor spoilt the business relationship bynot following guidelines that othercustomers have to follow. I am followingthe same principle that Bob Brenchley ofFormat follows: "what goes for one goesfor all." (No comment!)
1 Byte 05 would normally contain #2A [*] butany-
1 By far the best program to install isGENIE by Romantic Robot. When installed,you get similar options to the originaltoolkit, minus the save option. What youalso get is a full disassembler, farsuperior to many others on the market.This disassembler is extremely usefulsince you don't need to load it in or finda free area to load it to. So, todisassemble a machine code loader simplyload the program, press the button andthen D to disassemble.
1 By adding 128 to the file type byte, i.e.the first byte in the file's directoryentry, it is possible to prevent the fileshowing when a CAT is done, although itcan still be loaded as normal. This can beuseful, for instance, with multi-partprograms, hiding all but the actualloaders themselves, thus making for a muchclearer, uncluttered catalogue. The maindisadvantage, of course, is if you come tocopy them, and can't see all the files...
1 By Paul Newman & Andy Davis
1 By Neill Taylor
1 By Mark Harris
1 By J. Elliott
1 By Desmond Tyler
1 By specifying a third parameter whenloading or saving CODE, it is possible tomake it execute automatically. Forexample:-
1 Buzzer: 68p
1 But, you need it on so you can see whenthe file is converted and is ready tosave. It's easy to put a BEEP tone intothe program when the conversion is done,but what if you don't have a 48k machine,since there is no sound output directlyfrom 128k machines?
1 But, the source of my personal junk mailremains a mystery. Both instances wereaddressed to Alchemist Research. SinceAlchemist Research is linked to theSpectrum world in many areas, it could beimpossible to determine where it wasobtained. However, Alchemist Researchcustomers can rest assured that theirdetails will remain PRIVATE and not besold onto market research organisations. Itrust our other fellow large-scaleSpectrum supporters would do the same. Ifyou are unsure, please contact them.
1 But, perhaps you'd like to run your ownlocal news and information service.M
1 But, despite this device being a marvel oftechnology, it's limitsE
1 Brian Gaff, BG Services
1 Brian Gaff
1 Brandlesholme
1 Book review
1 Birch Vale
1 Bill Richardson
1 Big supplier of Spectrum adventuresoftware, including?
1 Besides some wonderful letters from +3CP/M and PCW readers we have had beeninundated with free software, advice andhelp from the other, more established CP/Mgroups in the UK.
1 Ben Elton has really impressed me withthis book, but his comedy is usually veryfunny anyway. After all, he did write TheYoung Ones, Blackadder and also starringin The Man From Auntie.
1 Ben Douglas is a relatively new face toAlchemist Research. Since he got hisexternal drive for the +3, theres been nostopping him! He's written some great newprogams,
1 Being a Bristolian, and seeing just abouteverything made of steel marked "Made inSheffield", I had expected Sheffield to bea noisy industrial town, but it isn't.Sheffield is actually a huge place, fullof grass and trees. Seriously, there aretrees everywhere in Sheffield, even in themiddle of some of the roads!
1 Because of CP/Ms long history there is alarge array of CP/M software available,and the majority of this software willwork with the +3 running CP/M. The AMSTRADPCW machines are based on the CP/M system,so for more information read PCW magazineslike PCW USER or like my colleage, BenDouglas, PCW PLUS. It is from the pages ofPCW PLUS that the following informationcomes.
1 Basically, what happens is this: A newprogram comes into APD. I transfer thefile to a 'holding disk' until it can bethoroughly checked and tested. The sendergets my gratitude, plus credit andreturned postage. In the case of an entiredisk of contributions, a brand new brandeddisk is returned full of software they maynot have. These disks then get checkedwhen I have a quiet evening, or on Sundayswhen all the weekends letters have beendealt with. The disks get catalogued anddetailed information is given on eachprogram (like in the PD catalogue). Whenit comes the time to update the PDcatalogue, these printed catalogues areagain checked and some files may getrejected, the accepted programs areinstalled into the list and onto my masterbook which gives the same details, plusthe disk location number where the programis stored.
1 Basic version : 9 seconds
1 BYTES : tobos
1 BYTES : tasdfue
1 BREAK=Exit.
1 BG SERVICES
1 BENCHTESTS
1 BC=NUMBER OF BYTES TO SAVE
1 BC=NUMBER OF BYTES TO LOAD
1 BAD DOS FOR DX1?
1 B:EXECUTE.
1 B. XCF2DD You get 784k per disc, in blocksof 4k.0
1 B) The PSD was brought in on anotherSEPARATE issue - Mr Taylor. And while weare on the PSD issue, lets put you righthere as well.The PSD ONLY, I repeat, ONLYsaid he lost DISTRIBUTION rights. Do youonly read what you want to read? Mr Taylorstill keeps COPYRIGHT (so no one can alterit & pretend its theirs), but CANNOT saywho can or cannot distribute is PDprograms.
1 Aworkbench style +3 utility; "POKEDIR": agreat Multiface poke directory; "TOOLKIT":a utility to make copying between +3drives far easier and "UT73-SPECROM": Theoriginal custom rom program from AlchemistPD, but souped up and improved tenfold!
1 Assemble this, save the text and drop backto basic.3
1 As the toy suggests, this is kid's stuff!There are many ideas which could evolvefrom this toy, from simple pagers andlocal comms devices right to buggingtools!
1 Armed with a VCR and camcorder you couldproduce some fairly good footage of localnews, sports and current affairs. Youcould even power the transmitter from acar cigarette lighter socket or PP3battery and provide on-the-move coveragefrom a car!
1 Anyway, there are two ways to make theadaption of this monitor to fit aSpectrum, either by adding a 'patch lead'between the computer and monitor plug, orby removing the original monitor plugitself - I would suggest the former. As athird alternative, you could even go intothe monitor and remove or re-wire thewiring directly from the PCB.
1 Anyway, once I understood the limitationsof the program, I started to test it forthis review. I now have a lot of programson my external B: drive disks that wereoriginally on +D disks, so as far as I cantell, the program works, and works verywell! Another very well programmed utilityfrom (you've guessed it), Domonic Morris!
1 Anyway, for those of you out there who arestill confused, the program rips songscreated with the excellent SoundTrackerutility from demos and various otherprograms, and saves them to either your +3disk drive, or your tape recorder. Itested my copy of ST-Ripper on AlchNews 12(thanks Andy!), and without any fuss andbother, the soundtrack was on my disk in afew moments.
1 Anyway - Here's the program (Bolt on atMAIN)/
1 Any of you which live in a major city,especially a multi-cultural one, and liketo listen to radio will no doubt hear'pirate radio' stations in blank areas ofthe FM scale. These have taken off in thepast several years to cater for thegrowing taste and popularity in culturalmusic, such as Rave, Techno, House, Dance,and Reggae.
1 Another extremely useful option of theMultiface is EXIT. This option, althoughnot on the MF3, allows you to escape frommany crashes or protected programs intoBASIC. So, if you have just called amachine code program which has 'locked',or would like to escape from a game, justpress the button and then "E". On someoccasions, there may be no space availablefor BASIC to exit to, so you may notsucceeed, but there is a similar optionavailable to all. (See later)
1 Another big advantage of this program (on128k machines) is to disassemble the 128kROM. However, this is still a dauntingtask and I wish all the luck to anyonewishing to attempt this!
1 Another benefit of the device is the SAVEoption. This saves the entire contents ofthe Spectrum's memory can be saved to avariety of media (although greatlyrestricted on the +3). The program issaved from the point that the button waspressed, it does not make an exact copy ofa game complete with loading screens andso on. Also, if you are in 128k mode, itwould also save programs which could bestored in the RAMdisk.
1 Another AlchNews reader is on the lookoutfor the game KOMPLEX by Legend. It comesin a black box with 8 hexagrams on thefront. He's also after any old Ultimategames, CRASH issues 1,7,16 & 21 plus anyold Interface 2 ROM cartridges. If you canoblige, please write to us.
1 Another feature not mentioned in themanual is the ability to make the +Dignore BASIC errors, by POKEing 23728 withany non- zero value. This facility issomewhat more limited than a true 'onerror go to', since it simply executes thenext statement, rather than jumping to apre-determined line of BASIC set up tohandle errors. In certain circumstances,however, this is can be adequate. Onepossible way to overcome this is to PEEKthe error number from 23610,takingappropriate action with a GO TO, thoughthis would not be effective with DOSerrors,which always leave 23610 holding255.
1 Andy, thanks for the PD and the space inAlchNews.3
1 Andy Davis Bsc
1 Andy Davis (who?)
1 Andy likes Sundays, no post you see!Still, that doesn't mean that Andy takesthe day off, because Sundays are when Andylooks through all the PD he's been sentthroughout the week, updates the PD listand writes all the letters he didn't havetime to during the rest of the week. So,Sunday morning saw loads more work done.Well, lunchtime came around once more, andit was time for me to leave Sheffield andhead for the South. After a quick nose atthe Crucible theatre where they hold thesnooker tournament, Andy took me to thestation, and made me promise to phone assoon as I got home. I did so some fourhours later, and you've guessed it, he wasstill busy!
1 And now I think its time for some properrants!. I can't believe its not butter..erno sorry, I can't believe that ourcolleage The Demon Hacker actually WATCHEDthe Eurovision song contest!, I mean imall for European Unity, but this isridiculous!, I think all our Euro-neighbours have got it in for us, as theIrish always win!. Admittedly this yearsEuro entry was better than last years -Sonia, but I still reckon that FrancisTruffle or what ever her name is, soundedlike a cat being strangled. I bet Britainsentry next time will be Dani Minogue,she's not British, but she is talentless.Just the ticket!.
1 And indeed they are with the start ofBABALON 5 the new Sci-Fi show on C4. Itsearly days yet, but it looks good, specialeffects especially. Personally, I preferedthe pilot (which is available on video) asthe Commander 'Jeffery Sinclair' wore ared uniform (similar to the ones in 'V')had a short,back and sides hairstyle andwas brown haired. The pilot also featuredTamlyn Tomita (who also appeared in anepisode of QUANTUM LEAP) as Sinclairs2nd-in-command.
1 And finally
1 An address has been found of a non-profitmaking organisation which will replace theactual colour ribbon of the LC-100 foronly `3.50! More details can be found fromthe usual A.R. address.
1 Amstrad CM-14 or CTM-644 to the!
1 Although what exactly we are to do withsuch a wealth of information is notclarified, we hope to run some of thewonderful articles in AlchNews and createtape & disk collections of some of theuseful utilities and applications. Certainorganisations (or
1 Although the letter was anonymous, it wasfairly obvious where it came from. ThePost Office's franking machine told us thesource! It seems that this person, whoshall remain nameless but many of us know,has tried this sort of thing before withthe other ex-Spectrum software houses.But, it failed for the simple matter thatthey don't care what happens to theirSpectrum software, otherwise they wouldhave been in touch. This doesn't mean thatVirgin were concerned about
1 Although FORMAT have
1 Allie- Thanks for the Jethro Tull!"
1 All you need to do is connect the buzzerto one of the input lines of the port. Thebuzzer is turned on with a simple OUTcommand, and turned off by the samecommand, but with a different value.
1 All you need is a metre of 6 way IDCcable, a 6 way IDC plug and a 12v buzzer.The cost from Maplin Electronics is:x
1 All quite funny if you ask me but thenagain i'm not some sad old git who hangsabout in a dirty raincoat. Not that i'msuggesting Martyn does... Oh sod it! Igive up.
1 All in all then, a very well thought outprogram, and well worth a look if you havean external 3.5" disk drive attached toyour +3. If you have such a drive, getthis program, you'll be surprised at justhow useful it really can be. I've noticedthat buying PD on a +D disk is thecheapest way of doing it- even Andy's!(sorry Andy).
1 All 3.5" disks can hold up to 784k (thisuses both sides of the disk at once), and+3DOS can use these formats. The problemis that it can't make them. Disk drivestend to come with utility disks allowingyou to format disks to 720k or more, butthese formatters will be for PCWs or CPCs.Unless you own a PCW or a CPC, theformatters will be useless. If you boughta CPC accessory, you will be confrontedwith a lot of text about "RamDos, RomDos,MS800" etc. IGNORE IT The fact of the
1 All commands are straightforward, sompoints of some options to note are:M
1 All Multifaces have been designed andmanufactured in the same box. The facewhich joins with the Spectrum has a smallridge, suitable for sitting over and onthe top of the Spectrum + or Spectrum 128.This is understandable when using aMultiface on a +2, but quite why the samedesign was used on the Multiface 3 for the+3 and +2a is strange, since the higherdepth of these machines forces theMultiface away from the Spectrum. I havefound that small blobs of Blu-Tak keep itsecure.
1 Alexa Weston
1 Alchemist Software has a growing number ofNON PUBLIC DOMAIN titles, all for theprice of media and postage. We have thechilling 128k adventure DOOMSDAY, manyutilities from the 007 series, plus titlesfrom BRADWAY SOFTWARE and our newexclusive in-house
1 Alchemist Research was lucky enough to geta letter featured in the August edition ofPCW PLUS magazine and has received evenmore support as a result.
1 Alchemist Research has negotiated the bestdeal on Romantic Robot products, who cannow offer the following:l
1 Alchemist Research gets dozens of theseletters every day, it's certainly nice tobe appreciated!c
1 AlchNews contains a wealth of information,not just for the Spectrum. Althoughgraphics and 128k sound will never be seenand heard, the text will be visible, inall it's glory. At time of writing, I canonly confidently supply it on PCWcompatable format, but using a specialCP/M program which formats 3" and 3.5"disks to a variety of formats, othermachines should be able to access themeasily.
1 After this demonstration, Andy got up andwent over to a large steel filing cabinetand got out a huge red ring binder. In it,I found that Andy has at least one sheetof paper for every disk, tape andmicrodrive cart in the library, coveringevery file to be found on the disk, tapeor cart, including file length, loadaddress and a listing of any basic loaderprogram. There were at least six of thesering binders, and looking through one tookme the best part of two whole hours! Afterlunch, the phone rang. Somebody asking "doyou have a program that does this orthat". Andy instantly answered thequestion, and mentioned the name of aprogram that he had to do the very thingthe person wanted. Not only does Andy knowwhere all the programs are to be found, heknows what they all do too! Well, Andy andI sat up most of the night talking aboutall things Spectrum. am saw us bothfalling asleep though, so we decided tocall it a night.
1 After issue 7 of PD POWER goes out thisweek, I will not be taking any notice ofMr Davis, and as far as I'm concerned, hecan go his way and I'll go my way. I'm notwriting to him as it is a waste of time.How would you like someone twisting yourwords. I certainly don't call his publicaccusations fun, especially when it getsto the level of having my private lifeinterfered with (Fair comment). Andy has areputation to uphold? That's a laugh -with the things he's done he obviouslydoeesn't care about it. According to thefeedback I've receieved from variousoutlets, (which ones? Theres no proof ofthis) he's gone past the point of noreturn (Clarification? Andy has only donewhat Martyn did to Garner designs manymoons ago.)
1 After finishing the last column I realisedthat I was sort of losing it and so forthis time i've decided to to a mammothexplanation of the +D hook codes.Personally I wouldn't use the bloodythings BUT that's because most of the codeI have to write is based around tapeversions, therefore I have to be carefulwith what I do use. To my mind, hook codesare more trouble than they're worth, butyou may find a use for them as they AREeasier to understand than some of my ownroutines! Oh yeah, did I mention that theyalso work with all the speed and grace ofa dead snail set in concrete? Hook codes,not my routines. Although I will admitthat it's sometimes debatable!
1 After driving around Sheffield for awhile, we stopped off for some fish andchips. Andy knows a particularly goodchippy (as we call chip shops in Bristol),and so we went there. After, we got a fewbeers (well, I bought some cider, whatelse d'ya expect from a Bristolian!), andwent back to Andy's to drink it. Morechatter about all things Spectrum and thensome very welcome sleep.
1 Advice on additional disk drives
1 Addresses for all offices of StarMicronics are listed at the end which willanswer any queries or problems you mayhave at a speed which could rivalAlchemist Research!
1 Address on page 1
1 Address 'n' will be called 50 times asecond if interrupts are enabled. NOTE:POKE @16,8335 afterwards,q
1 AUTO-RUNNING CODE FILES
1 AUDIABLE WARNING
1 AN13.C W
1 AN13.9: ROYS RANTINGS: Roy Benson is back*
1 AN13.9 ;-
1 AN13.8: THE RATHER BORING +D COLUMN:*
1 AN13.8
1 AN13.7: PD WORLD 2. Interview and advice*
1 AN13.7 L
1 AN13.6: PD WORLD. Latest News from APD*
1 AN13.6 ^%
1 AN13.5: MILES 'BUGBUSTER' KINLOCH. In*
1 AN13.5 9
1 AN13.4: PRISM APOLOGY. More happenings*
1 AN13.4 @
1 AN13.3: +D Vs +3. Considering upgrading*
1 AN13.3
1 AN13.2: MULTIFACE MAGIC. Start of a new e*
1 AN13.23: TRADING POST. We end this new*
1 AN13.23
1 AN13.22: REVIEW - THE STAR LC 100 PRINTER.*
1 AN13.22
1 AN13.21: THE SAD OLD MUPPETS COLUMN.*
1 AN13.21
1 AN13.20: THE SILVER SCREEN. Neill Taylor's*
1 AN13.20 `&
1 AN13.2
1 AN13.1: News from Alchemist Research, new*
1 AN13.19: DU52. Explaination of the new +3*
1 AN13.19 |
1 AN13.18: +3 PLETHORA. Comprehensive guide*
1 AN13.18
1 AN13.17: MIXED BAG. Ben Douglas reviews*
1 AN13.17
1 AN13.16: CP/M LOG. The pleasures and*
1 AN13.16
1 AN13.15: APD TUTORIALS. More comprehensive*
1 AN13.15
1 AN13.14: DEMONS DOMAIN. The Demon Hacker*
1 AN13.14
1 AN13.13: CRACK CITY. Desmond Tyler takes a*
1 AN13.13 ]!
1 AN13.12: +3 DOS MASTERCLASS: Ben Douglas*
1 AN13.12
1 AN13.11: ESCAPE TO EXTERNALS: Follow up to*
1 AN13.11 N
1 AN13.10: SPECTRUM PROJECTS: New 128k*
1 AN13.10
1 AN13.1
1 AN13.0: This file
1 AN13.0
1 ALCHNEWS13
1 ALCHNEWS RAKES THEM IN(put)
1 ALCHNEWS 13 September 1994
1 ALCHEMIST SOFTWARE
1 ALCHEMIST RESEARCH GETS INVADED!
1 ALCHEMIST PD: Already detailed.
1 ALCHEMIST PD TUTORIALS
1 ALCHEMIST PD EXPANDS EVEN MORE
1 ALCHEMIST CP/M CONTINUES TO GROW
1 ALBANY COMPUTERS - 0242 237247
1 ADVERTISING
1 A=CHARACTER TO BE PRINTED
1 A=BYTE TO WRITE
1 A:OPENTYPE.
1 A4catalogue of these wares availableshortly.4
1 A4 dump on EPSON compat printer.
1 A. QUAD with no system track and a smalldirectory. Very similar to CF2DD, butthere is 716k per disc, not 706k, and only128 directory entries. The disc will notauto-detect.
1 A) It is NOT a feud. Andy started it, hecontinued it publicly, leaving me todefend myself. That is NOT a feud - it isa one sided attack. Mr Davis knows what todo - a full apology to me and in hispublications, for all his false statements- and giving out my address. After that wedon't mention ach other at all. (??? FEUD:dispute between 2 parties See firstparagraph!)
1 A very good question. I am a Sinclair fanfrom the first time (ZX81 was my first). Iwas always impressed, what this "cheap"computer could do. Moni has leanedprogramming in Basic from me and was alsoimpressed about this little machine.
1 A very difficult subject. I personallyfeel that money should not be made by'selling' a program which wasn't writtenby the librarian. Of course, programsaren't actually sold, a 'copying fee' ischarged, but thats essentially what it is.Some programmers are exteremely concernedabout this, which is why Dominic Morrisstates that only a 5p 'copying fee' shouldbe made for his programs. His quality PDand shareware programs ask for acontribution which is entirely justified.But, in a recent issue of FISH magazine, a'contributor' for the Pr*sm PD page statedthe following:
1 A third-party drive:
1 A selective form is possible (a stream mayalso be included if desired):-H
1 A quick guided tour of some of the localsights later, a sign post pointed the wayto Woodhouse. "Alchsville" Said Andy,"They spelt it wrong!" Anyway, I then gotto see Alchemist Research in all it'sglory, and what glory! Andy knows theprecise location of every single PDprogram in his library, thanks to theefficient organisation. "Go on" he said,"pick a program, any one you want." Aftera bit of thought, I mentioned a fewprograms I'd seen in the PD list, andwithin 30 seconds, Andy had the firstprogram I mentioned up and running on his+2. More than that, he also had the secondand third program up and running within 30seconds of each other too! There must havebeen over four hundred disks in Andy'slibrary, some six hundred tapes, and atleast sixty microdrive carts. "surely youdon't have that much software" I said tohim. Andy went on to explain that he needsto keep as many backups of his PD as hecan afford to, and he has at least sixcopies of eve
1 A number of high level languages that runon CP/M are:- C, COBOL, FORTRAN, PASCALMODULA 2, and many many more.q
1 A long established company in the Spectrumfield, also catering for the SAM. Lots ofuseful bits are available for theSpectrum, including leads and hardware. BGServices is also the official distributorof the Z80 Spectrum emulator for the PC.
1 A little uniformity this issue. I havecategorised each section. This list is acomprehensive guide to Alchemist ResearchOfficial recommended services. If it ain'tlisted, it ain't worth dealing with!
1 A little bit about CP/M this time aroundyou will have noticed from last issue asudden upsurge of CP/M, DO NOT WORRY! THISIS A TECHNICAL JARGON FREE ZONE! I justthought I would share some informationabout CP/M with you.
1 A disk specifier will be recorded in thefirst 16 bytes of the disk, which allowsthe +3 to auto-detect the disk type. Ifthe disk is formatted without any reservedtracks, then the disk specifier will berecorded in the first directory entry. Ifyou type "CAT EXP", this will appear as anunprintable file name (which is in generalharmless).
1 @7652,88 : Locks out the DOS
1 ?hr3334466
1 <Top 10 Things which Irritate me>!
1 ;page in DOS ROm
1 ;So you will see it
1 ;Skip paging routines PAGDOS DI
1 ;Page in BASIC ROM
1 ;Back to BASIC
1 ;4947464;4947464;4947464;4947464;0907060;0907060;2927262;2927262
1 ;& RAM page 7
1 ;& RAM page 0
1 ;"Next, Prev, Index or Choose:":
1 ;"LOADING PART ";CNT
1 : `24.95 & P&P of `2
1 9:128K SNAP [See 5!].
1 9012CM RAERD
1 9. Reset the computer, insert the discwith.
1 9. Print text
1 9. PCW 9000 CF2DD Standard 706k disc. Canbe copied by DISCKIT, f2=Disc etc. If youuse DU52CON, you will be able to boot fromthese discs.
1 9. This option just goes to a promptelling you to alter line 2175 to suit youprinter setup.b
1 8:SPECIAL.
1 81-FF:As 1-7F but hidden in CAT.
1 8. XCF2 with no system track You get 198kper disc, but the disc will notauto-detect, so you have to use "fixedformat".
1 8. Save DU52P3 as DU52P3.BIN.
1 8. Convert DFUE to Tasword
1 7:SCREEN$.
1 7: RIGHT AUDIO
1 70794 FILDERSTADT
1 7. To view, press option "3" from the sameSTORAGE menu. Pressing the keys A-? willdisplay each page, depending on how manyframes are in memory.
1 7. Large Directory XCF2 You get 189k perdisc, and 192 directory entries.J
1 7. Enter the filename C:BOOTCPM.BIN#
1 7. Blank Graphics
1 6: LEFT AUDIO
1 65 St Thomas' Square
1 64 Roebuck Road
1 6. Standard XCF2 You get 192k per discinstead of 173k, and 96 directory entries.T
1 6. Select option B. Choose "PCW 8256 CF2".*
1 6. Save using SAVE "filename" LINE 80%
1 6. Incompatibility
1 6. Enter drive number. 0=tape, 1/2 for +Ddrive. +3 users should also enter 0 to usethe default drive.f
1 6. Convert Tasword file to DFUE
1 6. Assemblers
1 6 Ravensmead
1 5:48K SNAP [Avoid for obvious reasons!]. 6:MICRODRIVE TYPE FILE.A
1 54 Deanscroft Avenue
1 52 West Street
1 51069 KOLN
1 5.25": Still available and still verycheap. Box of 10 branded HD disks costsaround `3 and are as just as fast as 3.5".Recommended as a second drive forarchiving etc.
1 5. Top tens
1 5. The start frame is requested. This iswhere you would like the frames to go inthe memory. 'Frames' A-P are free forfilling. Since the frame store is empty atstartup, "A" should be entered. Thisrequest is only used when work is beingdone in FV2 and several frames may beoccupied.
1 5. Renumber the program again
1 5. Load a copy of DU52P3.HED
1 5. Erase graphics (Tasword)
1 5. / 7. Unknown. These options are used tremove printer control codes from thprograms. Any indented commands in PCfiles are converted to normal ASCII.
1 5. Large directory CF2 You get 192directory entries instead of 64, in caseyou want to store a lot of 1k files.x
1 48kadventures, plus many compilations. Printand presentation quality of this companyis outstanding, which reflects the highstandard it's software is. The CP/Mcatalogue is just as impressive, goinginto greater detail of each adventure!
1 48K Disk Basic is a system for Sinclair +3machines which gives compatibility with48K programs (such as BIAS) together witha flexible disk interface which includesan extended CAT command and a COPY commandwhich can copy disk files to and fromtape.
1 4. Save file
1 4. Phoning people
1 4. MOVE #a TO #b
1 4. Leave DU52, and run DU52CON.
1 4. IBM Format 8 sectors per track insteadof 9. If you format a 5
1 4. Enter your filename. If you are usingtape, remember the difference in lower andupper case text. Users of Disk systems,like the +D and +3, which do notdistinguish upper and lower case need notbother.
1 4. Add these lines-
1 4) Package all the material in theenvelope and return. Since they have paidfor the envelope to be posted, you may aswell use it! If it is not stamped, thenthey will have to pay the postage, plus asurcharge.
1 3=Save Boot Sector to File
1 3=Save Boot Sector
1 3:STRING ARRAY [$AR].
1 37 Trimingham Drive
1 36 Grasmere Road
1 34680 ST GEORGES
1 34 North Drive
1 34 NORTH DRIVE
1 3.5": Most popular disk size. Quality andreliability depends on brand used.L
1 3. Select option 3. Insert your CP/M Startof Day disc, and follow the instructions,saving the bootsector as C:BOOTCPM.BINz
1 3. Remove the STOP from line 10
1 3. MOVE #a TO dn filename"
1 3. From STORAGE menu, choose option 6 toload frames from STORE (off line storage -tape / disk) to RAM (internal memory - NOTthe Ramdisk).
1 3. CPC Data You get 178k per side ratherthan 173k, with no catches, but you can'tboot from them under any circumstances.{
1 3) Write a short and to-the-point letteraddressed to who was in charge of sendingsuch pulp and state that you want to knowwhere they got your name from, you are notinterested in their products and you wishyour name to be removed from their mailinglist IMMEDIATELY.
1 3) When you buy a new electrical product,do NOT return the questionnaire. Althoughit may state you can win back the purchaseprice
1 3) DATATWIN-8 by Pinboard. The top-of therange model, it has two drives. One is areplacement A: drive and the other is a B:drive. Switches on the rear allow you tochoose between the drive in the +3 or thedrives in the DATATWIN. The top drive canbe a 2x192k A: drive or a 784k A: drive.The bottom drive is a 784k B: drive. See"Notes on 784k A: drives" below.
1 3": Exteremely expensive. Increasingdifficult to get hold of, although rigidcasing makes them rather stronger.v
1 3 Station Road
1 3 LOAD a$+".JKS" CODE
1 2:NUMBER ARRAY [NAR].
1 298 Holton Road
1 28 Rockingham Drive
1 26 Spotland Tops
1 25p (no instr/case)
1 23 Cleveland
1 23 CLEVELAND
1 20 PRINT AT 0,0; x
1 2. When you are using the 3.5" drive asdrive A:, the built-in disc drive willhave its light permanently on. This isnothing to worry about.
1 2. When main menu appears, choose option 5*
1 2. Select option 1. Choose "Fixed Format","PCW 8256 CF2", "Single Track"H
1 2. Select drive (0=tape or 1-8 for +D/MD) 3. Load file6
1 2. People standing around in supermarkets 3. Faulty hardware<
1 2. MOVE dn"filename" TO #a
1 2. Enter 0 for tape, or 1 / 2 for +D driveDrive commands are microdrive and wilaccept any drive upto 8.l
1 2. CPC System Only really of use for aCPC..
1 2. Add these lines-
1 2) Rip all the documentation in half sothat it cannot be re-used. Also, it wouldbe a good idea to make it clear this wasnot wanted by writing "NOT WANTED" overit.
1 2) If you send off for anything by post orjoin a club, check to see if it has a boxwhich restricts their use of selling youraddress in a mailing list. If it has, makesure you tick it. If not, make sure yourequest that they do not pass on youraddress to other companies. One good wayto attract their attention is to write itin the "FOR OFFICE USE ONLY" section!
1 2) DATADUAL-8 by Pinboard Computers. Thishas a switch on the front which changes itbetween a 784k B: drive, a 2x192k A: driveand a 784k A: drive. It can be used toreplace a failed A: drive. Note that itcannot be used as a 2x192k B: drive. See"Notes on 784k A: drives" below.
1 2) A third party 3.5" drive.
1 2 IF a$="" THEN GO TO 10
1 2 Belvoir Road
1 1F-CHANNEL USED
1 1E-STREAM USED
1 1D-NO G+DOS LOADED
1 1C-FILENAME USED
1 1B-END OF FILE [LAST 2 BYTES OF LASTSECTOR READ=00-00]<
1 1A-FILE NOT FOUND
1 1:BASIC PROGRAM.
1 1994 A.Davis & Alch. Research
1 1982, Turbo PDF and S-UG.
1 19-DIRECTORY FULL
1 18-NOT ENOUGH SPACE ON DISK
1 18 Clyde Grange
1 17-DISK WRITE PROTECTED
1 17 Le Mas Blanc
1 16-WRONG DRIVE
1 16-EXECUTE ADDRESS/START LINE. FOR SAFETY 17-ALWAYS SET IT TO #?
1 15-NETWORK OFF [See 01]
1 15 different formats;
1 14=" " " " " " " " "+FULL CAT(
1 14-O.K. G+DOS
1 14-LEN-VARS [BAS], #
1 14 POKE t+1,255: SAVE b$+".JKS"
1 14 De Verose Court
1 13-WRITING A READ FILE
1 13 INPUT "Text end ? ";t : IF t=0!
1 12=" " " " " " " " "+CAT!$
1 128's and a letter from Virgin!
1 12-START ADDRESS
1 12-READING A WRITE FILE
1 12 IF B$="" THEN STOP
1 11-INVALID CODE
1 11 INPUT "Filename for saving ?
1 11 HAZELMERE ROAD
1 10=USE FILENAME INFO FOR SEARCH
1 10. The Royal Mail
1 10-PUPIL SET [See 01]
1 10 FOR x=1 TO 500
1 1. View Text in memory
1 1. The second paragraph of the fittinginstructions needs to be modified, sincethe +3 has a red lamp on top. Open thecomputer a little and you will see twowires running between top and bottom. Atthe bottom end they are connected to thecircuit board by a small plug which shouldbe disconnected. Remember to reconnect itwhen you reassemble.
1 1. Renumber the program
1 1. MOVE dn"filename" TO dn"filename"$
1 1. Load program
1 1. In CP/M, run DU52.COM.
1 1. If no file is in memory when this optiois selected, it will ask you to presENTER.Z
1 1. Amiga owners
1 1. PCW 8256 CF2 As made by DISCKIT,f2=Disc, +3DOS FORMAT etc. You can't bootfrom them (but see DU52CON below).v
1 1) When you get the mail, you should get areply envelope. It may not be stamped, butno matter.^
1 1) Turn down ALL door to door salesmen ortraders. Once they know your name, theyhave you, since they know your address!{
1 1) CPC type external B:. An example is theGVL external CPC6128 B: drive. Thisparticular drive can be used as a 2x192kdrive, like the FD-1, or as a 784kdouble-density drive. The changeover ismade by moving a switch on the back.
1 1) The Amstrad recommended 3" drive,referred to in chapter 10 of the manual.T
1 1 Pelham Street
1 1 CAT "*.JKS": INPUT "File to load ?$
1 0v DC EARTH
1 0F-CODE ERROR
1 0E-MERGE ERROR
1 0D-WRONG FILE TYPE
1 0C-VERIFY FAILED
1 0B-VARIABLE NOT FOUND [
1 0A-INVALID DEVICE
1 09-INVALID STATION [See 01]
1 08-INVALID FILENAME
1 07-NO "+SYS" FILE
1 06-CHECK DISK IN DRIVE
1 0525 718181
1 05-FORMAT DATA LOST [Unformatted disk orunable to read T/S 0/1]A
1 04=FULL CAT
1 04-File type code [See below]
1 04-,SECTOR ERROR
1 03-D or P [As in LOAD Dx or LOAD Pn]$
1 03-BREAK REQUESTED
1 02-STATEMENT END ERROR
1 02-Channel number
1 01-NONSENSE IN GNOS [Not applicable to +D,network error!]9
1 01-#FF or Program number
1 00-NONSENSE IN G+DOS
1 00-Drive number [1/2]
1 0. Erase text
1 0+($0+($0+($0+($2-*&2-*&2-*&2-*&0+($0+($0+($0+($/*'#/*'#/*'#/*'#
1 0 OK 0:1 Ben Douglas
1 .T" or "ASM*" etc.
1 ...or so I thought. Thank God for PCWsupport! My first "saviour" has to be PaulWestlake of PCW PD for advice above andbeyond the call of duty - happilysupplying volumes of material and reams ofhandwritten help and advice.
1 ... I get it to execute them for me,giving 64 column text and a clear screen.Since CLS.COM only takes up a small amountof memory, it's very easy to remove thecommand to copy "SET24X80" to the C: driveand substitute it for "CLS.COM" - thisthen gives you the ability to clear thescreen at any time.
1 . Seewhat I mean about the mushrooms? No netherdo I so join the club.F
1 , so that onloading it would execute from address32000. The second would load a file toauto- execute in a similar way.
1 +D: Very rare - forget it!
1 +D: Very basic. A new manual could easilybe rewritten and cover subjects many PDprogrammers have implemented, such as PCdisk reading, DOS bugs and so on. Manycommands haven't even been mentioned!Although some have been documented inFORMAT, it's not easy to get hold of themin one easy booklet.
1 +D: Programs are available to copy andread PC disks. This option also works withPCW format disks and any other type whichuses the 9 sector per track format method.
1 +D: Not very many reported failures. Thereare still a few mail order repair shopswho will undertake the job for under `20.}
1 +D: Needs to be pre-loaded. Quite a goodfiling system, using LOAD D1"filename".DFS gives each saved file a number so LOADP1 would load the first program on disk.It can also handle microdrive syntax andis extremely compatable with many programsusing this system. There are manydifferent versions available, althoughwere unbelievably bug ridden until MILESKINLOCH came along!
1 +D: Maximum of two drives. Connector is asingle Shugart (BBC) type. Twin driveswould need to be wired into a single cableor with a home made drive splitter. Anycombinations of drives can be used varyingto suit the taste and pocket of the user.
1 +D: Exteremely fast. Possibly the fastestdisk storage around.>
1 +D: Exact figures unknown. A great manydisk users of Alchemist Research are +D,on 3.5" disk.a
1 +D: Being an I/O connection, care must betaken when even moving the computer. Otherhardware will need to be connected by aport splitter first.
1 +D: Relatively easy to get hold offrom Datel electronics. The price of`59.95 has remained unchanged and shouldbe seriously reviewed. However, the newFORMAT DX1 disk interface has now beenlaunched for the same price. Whether thiswill take off is another matter.
1 +D: Not a great deal. One or two +Dutilities taking advantage of the disk forfiling has been undertaken. Large amountof Public Domain software making betteruse of the system available.
1 +D: INDUG is the popular user group,although support has waned in favour ofSAM. Several +D queries sent have not beenanswered even though member of group.Alchemist Research dedicates a great dealof support to +D, as does the SpectrumProfi Club in Germany.
1 +D: Excellent printer port, althoughsometimes limited in it's use.H
1 +D: Crashes Can happen occasionally,especially if system is knocked -reminiscent of the ZX81 rampack wobble!{
1 +D Support:
1 +3DOS will work perfectly whether Drive A:is 784k or 192k. However, format programs(including the FORMAT command) finddifficulty in re-formatting 3.5" discsfrom 784k to 173k. This will probably onlyapply for ABBA switch users. The program Iuse to perform this is Supersoft's "DiscDoctor", which has one very useful optionto format 173k discs quickly withouttrying to read from the disc (which iswhat causes the problems).
1 +3: Worst problem is the fact the drivecannot be used in 48k mode. However, thereis a ne program around "DISKBASIC" whichallows drive to be fully used in a custom48k Basic. The +3 also has a different I/Oport, making older Spectrum hardwareunusable without a converter in place.Tape loading is notoriously poor.
1 +3: Wonderful! Not only can it read ANDwrite +D disks, it can also easily readand write PCW, PC, Amiga disks.s
1 +3: Very good, although a little slowerthan the +D.6
1 +3: The +3 manual contains comprehensiveinformation on all aspects of the DOS andeven features machine code listings ofcataloguing from code. Gives great detailof each DOS routine in ROM. Is let down alittle with it's coverage of errormessages, saying a CRC error would berarely seen, although it isn't!
1 +3: Recent +3 magazine "1982" folded, butavailable from Alchemist Research who haveinvested a great deal in this machine.CP/M support is still extremely largeworldwide.
1 +3: One internal 3" drive, which can besubstituted for another if necessary.Offical Amstrad external 3" drive isavailable but best option is to add a 3.5"drive. No external hardware is necessary,just a simple lead connecting from driveto +3 disk B port.
1 +3: No longer supported by Amstrad.#
1 +3: Many thousands sold by Amstrad. Anextremely popular computer with a greatmany users still using 3" drives. Many arenow taking advantage of the support andavailability of an external drive.
1 +3: Initially a large number of +3 gamesavailable. Many excellent +3 disk andfiling utilities available. Lots of PublicDomain software to take advantage ofdrives and memory. CP/M means hundreds ofthousands of programs available.
1 +3: External drive connection is just by asimple cable. I/O port is left free andmovement is much less restricted.u
1 +3: Dead easy. Check out you local FREEADSpaper or similar classified newspapersections. A decent +3 still in it'soriginal box complete with manuals leadsand software can be obtained for about`30-`50.
1 +3: Complex. The PSU is notoriously badlymade. A faulty PSU could also damage thedrive and computer when it goes. The 3"drive is also fairly expensive to repairwhen compared with 3.5" ones. However, thecheap cost of +3's means another +3 couldperhaps be purchased just as easily. PSU'ssell for about a fiver from radio rallies,drives cost about `55 exchange from manydealers in the PCW magazines.
1 +3: As +D and other Spectrums. The +3 islucky enough to be able to support CP/M.Coupled with the 3.5" drive this makes anincredibly powerful system with worldwidesupport and
1 +3: No longer available from stores.Warehouses and stores like TRADING POST dohave stocks of these machines, at muchcheaper prices.
1 +3: Inbuilt. This DOS is extremelypowerful, far exceeeds what +3 Basicallows with it. Can handle files of upto 4MEGABYTES with no problems. DOS coversfour drives: A (internal), B (external),M (ramdisk) and T (tape). Default driveused is easily set with LOAD "drive:".Subsequent commands do not need to be toldwhich drive to use.
1 +3 CP/M will normally only boot from a173k disc formatted with DISCKIT. The bestway to do this is to format a new disc inthe 3.5" A: drive under +3DOS and then usethe command COPY "B:" TO "A:" with theCP/M master disc in the 3" drive and thenew disc in the 3.5" drive. Once you haveused a 720k or 784k disc in the 3.5"drive, you can't use any 192k or 173kdiscs in it until you reset the computer.It is possible to have +3 CP/M boot from a720k disc - see P3MAKE.DOC.
1 +3 BUG BUSTER BEN
1 +3 BASIC loader program. DU52P3 HED Main machine-code program DU52P3 DOC Instructions.a
1 +3 & CP/M Support:
1 *** USERS ***
1 *** SPEED ***
1 *** SPARES & REPAIRS ***
1 *** SOFTWARE ***
1 *** PROBLEMS ***
1 *** MANUALS ***
1 *** INTERFACING ***
1 *** EXPANSION ***
1 *** DRIVES ***
1 *** DOS ***
1 *** COMPATABILITY ***
1 * PD WORLD *
1 * LOAD INDEX *
1 (without resetting it).
1 (specially
1 (instantlyattracting attention
1 (enter to finish) ";b$
1 (Unofficial)
1 (Second Hand)
1 (Official)
1 (Ik+,Renegade
1 (Enter for none) ";a$
1 &$07&$07&$07&$07%&29%&29%&29%&29i4
1 & Other computers
1 #47 PAGE IN +D
1 #46 OPENTYPE - {LET THE FUN COMMENCE!}&
1 #43 CATALOGUE
1 #42 SCREEN DUMP 2
1 #41 ERASE FILE
1 #40 CHECK/RESET DRIVE
1 #3F LOAD SECTOR TO #3BD6
1 #3E SAVE SECTOR AT #3BD6
1 #3D LOAD BYTES [LOAD...]
1 #3C READ SINGLE BYTE
1 #3B OPEN FILE [LOAD]
1 #3A SCREEN DUMP 1 [PRINTER]
1 #39 PRINT_CHAR_IN_A [PRINTER]
1 #38 CLOSE FILE [SAVE]
1 #37 SAVE BYTES [SAVE(!?)]
1 #36 WRITE SINGLE BYTE
1 #35 PREPARE HEADER [SAVE]
1 #34 SEARCH FOR FILE [SAVE]
1 #33 SET FILENAME/DRIVE
1 "squeezing","crunching",
1 "compressing"
1 "We have also done one or two projects totake advantage of the 128k keypad port anddo +D conversions of your personal orcommercial programs, free of charge. Wecan also aid in tracking down elusiepieces of hardware and software and have arecord of customers with large collectionsof Spectrum equipment for sale. We also doa tape to disk transfer service for othercompanies for just the cost of postage andmedia."
1 "Shall I get a +D or a +3 computer?"$
1 "SPECBENCH":
1 "Many thanks for the disc & letter,Glad to hear that you like letters 'cosheres another one!f
1 "If a PD file is sent to you, wichcontains a readme file requesting paymentto the author - ignore it!"o
1 "I was surprised to read that you intendto give PD for free, obviously you lovethe Spectrum and enjoy running the PDclub. It's nice to see people doing thingsforthe love of it and not the money."
1 "Enter Part:";cnt:
1 "), andDOS discs as well. Formats can be editedusing the program DU52CON.COM.
1 " disc in thisformat, you may be able to read it on a PCrunning DOS Plus.
1 ! Oh well, perhapsnot. This is a new column that I hope willsoon become a giant mushroom, sorrysection of AlchNews. Be fair, it IS easyto confuse a section with a mushroom.
1 inchdisk + `2 to the above address.
1 The DU52P3 formatter is a menu-driven discformatter for and Spectrum +3 computers.Features of DU52P3 are:l
1 SETUP PARAMS
1 PRINT CHR$(27)+"E"+CHR$(27)+"H":!
1 LOAD PART
1 CHOOSE PART
1 Mr Brenchley,however, accepted what I told him. Perhapsyou should do as well. I will be askingthe company who sold me my prototypedrive, to give me a message on theirheaded note paper, that this drve onlyhandles DD disks. (Ok so your drive isCRAP, it's not my fault! If you need tocover the extra hole then it would appearto be a HD drive.)
1 MY diskdrive WILL NOT, NEVER HAS, NEVER WILLaccept HD disks. OK, so my disk drive isan oddball - I accept that. Have you notconsidered the possibility that otherpeople might be in the same situation?Obviously not (Yes actually.). I amgetting really PIG-SICK of so calledexperts who think they know it all. When Itold Bob Brenchley about my disk drive hewas quite surprised by it. In theorycovering the extra hole on HD disks shouldallow them to be formatted to DD - notwith MY disk drive
1 ISSUE 13.