£1000 IN PRIZES -2ND BIRTHDAY COMPETITION £1000 IN PRIZES -2ND BIRTHDAY COMPETITION £1000 IN PR
COMPLETE CONTROL
AT YOUR
FINGERTIPS....
B ritish made and fully guaranteed, the LVL twin joysticks are
professional units with which your aim should be nothing less than
total control.
They will operate any programmes that have a joystick option and are
written in a way that is compatible with ACORNSOFT.
• Nylon encased - Steel
shafted joysticks with ball
and socket joint
• Fast spring return to centre
• Graphite wiper linear
potentiometers
• 1 2 months guarantee
• Fully compatible with the
BBC model ‘B’ or ‘A’ fitted
with an A/D interface and
an analogue part.
Scientific House,
Bndge Street, Sandiacre
Nottingham. NC10 SBA
Telephone (0602) 394000
UP
r
&
n/.
€>
f*
r
-7
THREE NEW PROGRAMS FROM MICROTEST
SATAN'S CHALLENGE
DAIRYFILE FOR
DAIRY FARMERS
Keep on that economic line between over and
under feeding!
Save time recording milk yield and calculating
feed amounts!
Quickly decide feeding policy with the
‘Monthly Calving Group' Performance Graph!
Print out a recording sheet with cows in
numerical order. Print out graphs or tables of
individual cows or Monthly Groups showing
serving and pregnancy details, illness record.
Calving Index, weekly and running total
Margin over Concentrate. See at a glance cows
due for serving, pregnancy diagnosis and
drying off Keep track of weekly total feed cost
and milk sale price.
All this and more with DAIRYFILE.
Predict cow or Monthly Group total lactation
yield. Compare with Standard Lactation
Curves All old data preserved - compare
Monthly Groups over the years Which is the
most profitable month?
Find out with DAIRYFILE for up to 200 lac -
tating cows.
£69.00 inc. VAT (disc only).
2 x 40 Track Drives Required or 1 or more 80
Track Drives. Please state which when ordering.
or (Nevil Rides Out)
A Black Magic Adventure
Dare you take up the challenge laid down by the most
evil and sinister of all beings . the devil himself
If you do you will find yourself alone and at the mercy
of the twisted fancies and whims of a cold and calcu
lating mind.
Occult forces are threatening the lives of those near
and dear to you Their only salvation rests in your
hands but in accepting the challenge your own exist
ence is put in severe peril
In taking up the challenge you have to find The
TALISMAN and locate a pentagram which then has to
be prepared for the final rite In the meantime dark
forces will be opposing you making a difficult task
almost impossible
Do not allow yourself to be lulled into a sense of
security for it will be short lived
Many have gone before only to swell the ranks of the
damned
This is the latest adventure from the stables of Micro
test and has been written with the acclaimed features
of other adventures in mind eg save facility, quick re
sponse. simple but extensive commands, a mixture of
logical and friendish problems to solve.
Be warned this is an easy adventure to get into
but devilishly difficult to end.
"Destined to become a classic in as own right." CN
Cassette £7.95 inc. VAT Disc 9.45 inc. VAT
Disc 40 or 80 Track
MICROTEST FONT ROM.
This exciting new ROM from Microtest will
enable you to get all sorts of new characters
and fonts from your BBC Computer. Once you
have produced your masterpiece on the screen,
all you have to do is use the inbuilt screen
dump utility to produce a hard copy on to
paper.
Typing '*HELP FONTS’ gives a list of available
fonts and the blocks of characters which they
replace.
Available fonts are
♦Accents
♦Block
♦Data
♦Greek
♦Joined
♦Maths
Accents and miscellaneous.
Small capitals
Like the bottoms of
cheques.
It's all Greek to me too!
Standard capitals with
joined up lower case
A mix of until now unob-
tainable Mathematical sym-
bols
A few oddities which often
are very necessary.
Thick text (for MODEs
0&3) to enhance 80
column mode.
Thin text (for MODEs 2&5)
which makes modes 2 & 5
much more readable or per-
haps ’’READABLE'.
For labelling graphs.
♦Miscellaneous
♦Thick
♦Thin
♦Vertical
The ROM has a dump facility which will pro-
duce a screen dump of any MODE for 0 to 6
on an Epson, Star printer. CTI CP80or MT80.
The ROM uses absolutely NO user memory
and can be used with word processors etc. as
well as normal BASIC programs.
£17.50 inc. VAT
Microtest Starstick ROM & Joystick Package
Now available the Starstick ROM and Joystick. This comes in three forms:
(A) The Starstick ROM and Quickshot I Joystick
Price 17.95 + VAT = 19.84
(B) The Starstick ROM and Quickshot II Joystick
Price 19.25 + VAT = 22. 14
(C) The Starstick ROM and patch lead, choose
your own Spectrum/Atari style joystick
Price 15.25 + VAT = 17.54
Post and Packing £1 .00 inc. VAT per item
This enables you to plug the Rapid action self centring joysticks until now
only available for the Spectrum/Atari/CBM machines into the user port of
the BBC. Model A users please note NO ANALOGUE INTERFACE
REQUIRED
Disc Users Note pressing BREAK. SHIFT-BREAK or CONTROL BREAK
does not modify or destroy the STARSTICK software so Disc Users
please feel free to Boot 1
The software patch provided in the ROM is interrupt driven and adds the
following commands to your computer.
Enables you to use our
joysticks even on programs
that do not offer joystick
capability.
★ STICK turn on the STARSTICK ROM
★ NSTICK turn off the STARSTICK ROM
★ SETSTICK set up joystick to users spec
★ SAVE NAME 140 160 saves your user key protocols
★ ADVAL emulate standard analogue joysticks
★ PAUSE define key to Freeze game
★ NPAUSE turn off ability to freeze game
★ "NAME predefined key protocols set up for software
houses programs
★ HELP KEYS displays currently selected key protocols
★ REPEAT enables auto-repeat fire
★ NREPEAT disables auto-repeat fire
DEALER ENQUIRIES
and
EXPORT ORDERS
WELCOME
available from
MICROTEST LTD
18 Normandy Way, Bodmin, Cornwall PL31 1 EX
Telephone: 0208 3812
OR ANY GOOD DEALER
Large picture shows BBC Computer System and a Quickshot II Joystick. Small inset just a few of the
joysticks that will work with the patch lead. Screenshot by kind permission of SUPERIOR SOFTWARE
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
1
THE ONE AND ONLY BBC, ELECTRON AND ATOM MAGAZINE
Looking to
the Future
of Communications
July 1984 No 24
Cover photography by Monica Curtin; hat by Stephen Jones,
make-up by Jalle Bakke
Tony Quinn
Keith Parish
Editor
Production editor
Technical editors
Alex van Someren, Bruce Smith
Editorial assistant Kitty Milne
Art editor Nigel Wingrove
Art assistant Frances King
Publishing director Michael Potter
Editorial director
Christopher Ward
Editorial
Redwood Publishing,
68 Long Acre, London
WC2E 9JH. Tel: 01-836 2441
Advertising
Computer Marketplace Ltd, 20
Orange St, London WC2H 7ED.
Tel: 01-930 1612
Subscriptions
Jan Potter, Subscriptions manager.
Tel: Nutfield Ridge (073782) 2957.
Correspondence: Redwood Pub-
lishing, 68 Long Acre, London
WC2E 9JH.
Annual subscription rates:
UK £15
Europe £18
Middle East £20
The Americas and Africa £22
Rest of the World £24
Prices include p&p for 12 issues
Typeset and printed in Great Britain by Wat-
moughs Ltd, Bradford. Print production by
Aquarius Print and Design, London. Distri-
buted to the news trade by Comag, Tavistock
Rd. West Drayton. Middlesex UB7 7QE. Tel:
(0895) 44405.
© Redwood Publishing 1984
All rights reserved. No part of this publi-
cation may be reproduced without prior
written permission of the publisher. The
publisher cannot accept any responsi-
bility for claims or errors in articles, pro-
grams or advertisements published. The
opinions expressed on the pages of this
magazine are those of the authors and
do not necessarily represent those of the
publisher, Acorn Computers Ltd, or
Acomsoft Ltd. Acorn, Acornsoft, and the
Acorn symbol are the registered trade-
marks of Acorn Computers Ltd and
Acornsoft Ltd.
Beginners
51
Hints & Tips
Readers’ enquiries answered in detail.
Martin Phillips gets to grips with tape
loading, testing the keyboard, text
windows and machine code problems
First Byte 60
How to set about using your new
computer. Tessie Revivis goes beyond
the manual.
PLUS: Converting listings. Tessie
explains the differences between BBC
and Electron, and shows how to cope
with them
Letters
65
Your views, gripes and comments in
print on statistics, error codes and the
Data Protection Bill
Dear Kitty ... 69
The computer world's first true Agony
Auntie answers the sort of questions
which might seem simple to some, but
confuse many
Business
Z80 low-down 99
The software bundle that comes with
Acorn’s second processor promises
much. John Vaux finds out whether it
lives up to the hype
Database ROM 103
StarBase from GCC controls searching
and sorting of information held on disc.
Ian Rowlings reports
Education
Viewdata in action 108
Tecmedia’s Edfax sets up colour
viewdata pages. Geoff Nairn reports
on its use
Teaching facts 111
Several software projects are on the
way to help teach children about
information and how to use it. Jean
Beck presents a round-up
Atom
Converting Basics 121
Barry Pickles presents the concluding
part of his explanation of BBC and
Atom Basic and how to convert a
program from one to the other
Atom Forum
123
Barry Pickles presents a lively Atomic
mix
Reviews
Electron Plus-1 18
Acorn’s add-on box means printers
and joysticks can be connected, and
ROM cartridges used. Bruce Smith
tries it out
Solidisk 128k RAM
153
A memory board with the capabilities
of a disc drive. Malcolm Banthorpe
sets out its special capabilities
IEEE trio
155
Paul Beverley compares three
versions of the IEEE interface for the
BBC micro from Aries, Acorn and
CST-Procyon
Printers
161
George Hill on Canon’s colour ink-jet
printer, plus Barry Pickles on the
Brother EP44
Utilities
137
The ADE ROM gets a thorough going-
over by Vincent Fojut
Yellow listing pages
An extra 16 page section devoted
solely to the major listings in this issue
Program of the month i
Print your own function key strips
with Andrew Britton
Hints and Tips ii
Joe’s Jottings iii
Inspect utility vi
Martin Clayden helps you examine
a Basic program held on disc
Beeb Forum vii
How it works ix
IEEE interface programs xi
Utilities for printers xiii
Sound effects xvi
Five readers earn some cash for
their astounding noises
TOp °F THE Usr
ACORN USER JULY 1984
CONTENTS
NEXT MONTH. . .
Downloading the weather
Satellite pictures of Europe on a BBC
micro! Robin Mudge reports on how it’s
done
Keeping the kids busy
Joe Telford presents his ideas on
occupying the little ones during the
summer
Hints, tips and first bytes
Correcting listings, adding a second disc
drive, Wordwise aids, coloured listings,
using the keyboards ... all this and much
more
Slow your micro down to see exactly
how it works. Paul Beverley keeps the
machine so busy it can barely cope
Competition 94
Software worth Cl, 000 on offer this
month
Top 20 software 145
What’s up, down and around, plus Soft
Options, giving a round-up of the
program scene
Readers’ free ads
Edfax
108
Set up your own viewdata
system and generate
pictures to be saved on disc
with this utility from
Tecmedia. Geoff Nairn lets
you know what he thinks of it
Books 141
Five books opened up by Vincent
Fojut, Barry Pickles and Jeremy
Bennett
Joe’s Jottings 32
The nitty gritty of communications is
Joe Telford’s subject
Beeb Forum 75
Experts unite to bring you the best in
techniques and ideas for the Electron
and BBC. Bruce Smith is at the helm
this month on the subject of BBC Basic
How it works II 81
Second birthday
competition 94
Yes, Acorn User has been
going for two years! Simon
Dally presents an easier
than usual quiz with 100
games and sweatshirts as
prizes
IN THIS
Communications
I The future
ISSUE. . .
An overview of
developments and where
they could lead
II On the move 28
How the BBC uses portable
micros to send stories back
to HQ for wordprocessing
III The nitty gritty 32
Joe Telford's Jottings
explain the theory and
practice of modems and
electronic mail
Small ads
Acorn Abuser’s Diary
Last, but not least, the wicked,
sensational, and downright naughty
goings-on in the world
FRAYED FINGERS?
FRAYED TEMPER?
Save yourself the bother with
the Acorn User cassette of
all the listings in this issue!
See page 177 for order form.
183
184
Games & adventures 147
Alligata’s Bridge , Level 9’s Lords of
Time , Program Power’s Jet-Power
Jack , Daredevil Denis and Demolator
from Visions, and 3D Tanktrovn
Dynabyte
Regulars
The News 7
16032 developments, Torch progress,
BBC games for Electron,
Communications ’84, chip camera,
Acorn User Exhibition, educational
software and CP/M programs
ACORN USER JULY 1984
The Graduate*
The first IBM P*C*
compatible upgrade
for the BBC model B micro*
For an amazing mail order price of £599 (ex. VAT) the Graduate
will upgrade the BBC Model B to a powerful 16-bit business computer
Fully disk and hardware
compatible with the IBM P.C.,
the Graduate’s MS™-DOS
operating system allows
exploration of the massive range
of IBM compatible business
software, programming aids,
compilers and languages
universally available from all
major software houses.
With a simple command
stroke, the system can revert to
Acorn’s own operating system,
thereby allowing programmes in
BBC Basic to be stored on disk,
using the Graduate’s own disk
controller.
Introduction to
MS'-DOS
The Graduate offers two
levels of upgrade, the G400 and
the G800, both with 128K user
memory as standard. This can be
expanded up to 256K on board, or
to 1.2 Mbytes with an IBM
compatible expansion board. The
G400, which is available only
through mail order, contains a
single, double sided 400K BASF
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
• 8088 16-hit processor running at 5 Mhz
• 128K RAM (Expandable to 256K)
• MS™-DOS operating system
customised to IBM compatibility
• Model G400 - Single, double sided,
high density BASF disk drives (400K
unformatted)
• Model G800- Twin, double sided,
high density BASF disk drives (800K
unformatted)
• Integral stabilised power supply
• 2 IBM P.C. compatible hardware
expansion buses
• Colour Software provided (notG400)
Perfect 2 Writer/Speller (Word Processing)
Perfect 2 Calc (Spread -Sheet)
Perfect 2 Filer (Database)
• Disc interface is not required
Keyboard text and graphics supplied by
BBC Model B
disk drive and provides the perfect
introduction to MS™-DOS for
the user who wants real power
from his Model B.
Stron g combination of
Hardware and Software
A step up from the G400 is
the G800 which offers twin,
double sided 400K disk drives for
extra data storage, together with
the Perfect 2 Software suite
of business programmes (colour
version) comprising Word
Processing, Spread-Sheet and
Database. This strong
combination of hardware and
software upgrades your BBC
Model B to a versatile business
management aid, with the option
of even further upgrading for
networking, modems, etc., via
the IBM compatible hardware
slots provided by the Graduate
models. Both models come
complete with a well written
user/ technical manual,
connecting leads and a mail order
catalogue featuring ancilliaries
and peripherals.
lust plug it in
The compact and tidy
Graduate models simply plug in to
the lMgHz bus on the Model B.
Within minutes you can be up and
running with a fully IBM
compatible system that really
means business.
To be first with the Graduate,
or for further information
complete the coupon today.
Clp'The Graduate.
_ - fjJ In a class of its own
To: Data Technologies Ltd., Century House, Market Street,
Swavesey, Cambridge CB4 5QG. Tel: (0954) 30817
Order. Please send me
Qty-
-Graduate G400(s) @£688.85 (inc. VAT)
Total £
Qty-
_Graduate G800(s) @ £999.35 (inc. VAT)
Total £
Cheque enclosed to the value £_
Information. Please send me free colour literature, the name of
my nearest appointed dealer (G800 only) and order forms.
N ame
Address-
-Telephone-
Occupation.
Allow 28 days for despatch of goods. Full 1 4 day money back
guarantee. Full 12 month parts and labour warranty.
THIS IS
THE BIG OHE!
The 2nd
Official
Acorn User
Exhibition
OLYMPIA AUGUST 1984
Thursday 16th - 10am to 7pm
Friday 1 7th - 10am to 6pm
Saturday 1 8th - 1 0am to 6pm
Sunday 19th - 10am to 5pm
* Please note 10am to 2pm on Thursday 16th
is Trade Morning - By invitation only.
BIG VALUE
The success story of Acorn Computers, the BBC Micro and Electron is mirrored by suppliers who have produced
more and more hardware, software, supplies and services. And they'll all be at the exhibition - disk drives, plotters,
printers, monitors, joysticks, robots, books and magazines, all kinds of software - everything for the Acorn owner.
And of course Acorn will be there in force with all their latest developments and software.
There'll be special offers, competitions, advice centres and special events as well.
And all this for only £3.00 at the door, under sixteens £2.00. (Use the coupon to beat the queues and save £1 .00).
BIG VENUE
Olympia 2 is the brand new exhibition centre next to the old Olympia. It's got everything, wide gangways, lots of
space to sit down and rest, plenty of catering areas.
Getting there is easy too, its got its own tube station, bus routes 9, 27, 28, 33, 49, 73 and 91 go right pass the door,
and there's car parking too!
BIG SUPPORT
Remember this is the Official Acorn User Show, it's the most informative prestigious and influential user show in the
country. Whether you're a businessman, serious user or games enthusiast there's something for you.
For details of exhibition stands and advance ticket sales contact the organisers.
Computer Marketplace (Exhibitions) Ltd. A Rushworth Dales Group Company, 20 Orange Street, London.
WC2H7ED Tel: 01-9301612
BEAT THE QUEUES! SAVE MONEY! ORDER YOUR TICKET IN ADVANCE.
Buy your ticket now and save queing. There will be special entrances for advance ticket holders.
Please send me (qty) tickets at £2.00 and (qty) under sixteen tickets at £1.00. 1 enclose my cheque PO
to the value of £ or debit my Access card. No
NAME— SIGNED
ADDRESS
POSTCODE
GROUPS - Order 15 or more tickets and you qualify for a further 20% discount.
To: Computer Marketplace (Exhibitions) Ltd. A Rushworth Dales Company, 20 Orange Street, London WC2H 7ED.
6
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
Certain Advertising Ltd 01 -930 1 61 2
|MEl8c|MY
THE ITV computer series Me &
My Micro , which aims to teach
Basic programming on a
Sunday morning, has made
copies of the listings featured
in the series available to
viewers.
The programmes feature
the Electron, and so all the
software should run on the
BBC micro. Comments on the
routines are included, and
souped-up' versions of the
games.
To receive the support mat-
erial, send an sae to: Me & My
Micro, Admail 1, Leeds LS31YS.
Medical package
is fit for Beeb
A BBC micro-based system
has been developed for GPs
by Abies Infomatics.
The Abies package uses a
6809 second processor with
64k RAM to store patients'
records and is supplied com-
plete with software.
Abies software has been
available for mainframe com-
puters for several years, and
with the help of Cambridge
Microcomputer Systems
Abies has adapted the soft-
ware to run on the Beeb.
Further details: 01-994 6477.
BBCSoft
BBCSoft will produce Electron
versions of Its games starting
in the autumn - and make soft-
ware spin-offs from edu-
cational TV and radio pro-
grammes available to the
trade.
Software manager David
Atherton explained: ‘We are
going to do versions for the
Electron, starting with White
Knight 11 in the autumn.
‘From then on, everything
will go to the Electron, apart
from disc-only programs, or
those which just won’t run.
‘ Waves will be the first in a
series of 10 packages from
Science Topics , all going to
the trade.’
Four releases set for
September are: Gamescore ,
I NEWS
Acorn dispels
superchip doubt
THE 16032 second processor
from Acorn looks unlikely to
appear before the end of the
year, but the project is defi-
nitely going ahead.
Rumours in Cambridge
earlier this year suggested
that Acorn might drop the 32-
bit ‘superchip’ which is the
final part of the BBC system.
Speculation was enhanced
by stories in the computer
Press that National Semicon-
ductor, which makes the chips,
was having trouble getting
them to run at 10MHz, the
speed Acorn was reported to
want.
However, a high-ranking
source within Acorn has
denied the rumours and said:
‘We are definitely in a go state
on this product.' He would not
elaborate, or give any details
on the timing, price or specifi-
cation of the system.
Prototypes have been
housed in the standard second
processor box with |Mbyte of
memory provided by 64k
RAMs. This is the minimum
memory required to run the
operating system Unix (or
Xenix, as the micro version is
called), but the memory size
could be increased by using
TV fame for school winners
A SPECIAL one-hour micro
show will go out live from BBC
TV on Sunday June 24 to
announce the results of the
BBC’s schools competition -
and it will herald the start of a
new magazine programme.
The live show follows the
success of the first Micro Live
Special , which brought in an
audience of a million people
on a Sunday morning. All 15
regional winners of the com-
petition will be in the studio,
with the final results made in
the traditional 3,2,1 style.
The new magazine series
will be monthly and will start in
October. Some of it will be
recorded, and some will go out
live, depending on studio
demand.
s Electron push
Fred
Harris
on BBC
and ITV
which provides routines for
building your own strategy
board games; Drawstick , a
graphics painting program;
Wordmover , a simple text
editor aimed at education; and
Astronomy , a set of graphics
demonstrations on the moon,
eclipses and planetary motion,
and a moon lander-type game.
The fifth is Using Your Com-
puter- a spin-off from schools
radio broadcasting. It is aimed
to give children aged 8-11 an
introduction to micros. At
£29.95 it sounds expensive,
but includes a book, audio
tapes and 12 programs on
cassette. Fred Harris, cur-
rently fronting Yorkshire TV’s
Me and My Micro series, did
the voice recordings and put
the package together.
Nearer Christmas, the
packs from the Science Topics
TV series will appear. First will
be Waves , featuring physics
experiments based on ripple
tanks, followed by other soft-
ware, which will be available
only on disc.
the latest 256k memory chips.
A spokesman for National
said the 16032 chips were
available running at8MHz, but
that it would take time to get
them up to 10MHz. ‘We have
customers doing things with
8MHz chips. It depends what
Acorn wants to do.’
It has taken about five
months to increase the chip
speed from 6 to 8MHz, but the
company could not give a pre-
cise date for the 10MHz ver-
sion. ‘It could be two, three or
five months. It could be earlier,
it could be later.*
The 16032 actually consists
of five chips, two of which are
giving the problems.
Once Acorn has decided to
accept the chip set, Logica is
confident there will be no
delay in implementing Xenix.
• As this issue went to press it
was announced that the 16032
has been rechristened as the
32016 by National.
Meet authors
at the Acorn
User Show
ACORN USER authors will be
holding a special clinic to help
readers with their problems
at this year’s Acorn User Exhi-
bition in August.
Other special attractions
will be displays on education
and robotics, with the MEP
(Microelectronics Education
Programme) showing a
touch-screen add-on for the
BBC micro.
This year’s Exhibition will
be held in Olympia. It opens
with a trade-only day on
August 16, through till Sunday
August 19.
Several companies will be
exhibiting in what Tim Collins,
the organiser, has tentatively
named ‘Robot Road’, showing
what to interface to your
micro.
Information from Tim Col-
lins at Computer Market-
place, 20 Orange Street,
London WC2H 7ED.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
WALL’S ICE CREAM AND ACORN
COMPUTER INVITE SCHOOLS
TO DEVISE A COMPUTER GAME
Here’s a great chance to win one of entries per school but each entry must be
25 BBC Microcomputers (B) for your
school.
To celebrate the launch of the new
MegaBytes lolly. Wall’s and Acorn are
offering these superb micros free to
winners of this ‘Mega’ competition.
The competition is open to all UK
primary, secondary and special schools.
To enter, each school team must:
1. Devise a computer game program
which features ice lollies and;
2. List as many words as possible using
letters from the phrase: ‘Wall’s and
Acorn!
There is no limit to the number of
accompanied by fifteen MegaBytes lolly
wrappers and arrive by 28 July 1984
at MegaBytes, PO Box 4XZ,
LONDON W1A 4XZ.
Entries will be judged by a young
computer games author and a team of
professional programmers from
Acornsoft. Points will be awarded for
originality; quality of graphics; speed;
sound effects; playability and overall
presentation with attention to detail.
To win a computer, your school
entry must have a high scoring game
program and a sufficient number of
words.
A
^ICORN
COMPUTER
FULL RULES
1. Entries can be submitted on cassette or
disk and written in either BBC Basic or
machine code, each entry being signed by
the teacher of computer studies or head
teacher of the school. Entries should run on
a BBC Microcomputer Model B or Acorn
Electron.
2. All games must be clearly identified and
accompanied by a full printed listing as well
as a games catalogue style description of
the game (not more than 200 words).
The cassette/disk and listing should each
carry the entrants name and address.
3. Each school may only win one prize,
irrespective of the number of entnes of
games submitted. Entries will be acknowl
edged upon receipt but not returned.
Correspondence will be entered into at the
absolute discretion of the promoters.
4. The entry instructions constitute part of
the competition rules and are binding upon
entry.
5. Responsibility cannot be accepted for
entries lost, damaged or delayed in transit to
the competition address. Illegible or altered
entries will be disqualified, as will those not
conforming to the entry instructions.
6. Entnes will be judged by a panel of judges
which will contain at least one independent
member not connected with the promoter.
The decision of the judges will be final and
legally binding and in all respects of the
competition the decision of Birds Eye Wall's
Limited shall be final.
7. Copyright in all material entered rests in
Paragon Communications on behalf of Birds
Eye Wall's Ltd., and Acornsoft Ltd.
8. Winning schools will be notified as soon
as possible after the closing date. A list of
winners will be sent to anyone who encloses
a stamped addressed envelope with their
competition entry.
9. Entry is open to all qualifying UK residents
except for employees of Birds Eye Wall’s and
Acorn Computer, their advertising and pro-
motion agencies, or anyone directly connected
with the competition or their families.
8
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
I NEWS
Radio cell
option
for micros
TO KEEP abreast of
developments in the com-
munications world the
Editor and I made our way
to the National Exhibition
Centre in Birmingham
where the electronics
industry had gathered for
Communications ’84.
Several manufacturers
were previewing their
cellular radio systems
which allow telephone
subscribers to move
about the country and
have calls routed to them
automatically.
This is accomplished
Communications
m
by dividing the country
into a number of hexag-
onal cells, each of which
contains a radio trans-
mitter/receiver.
Racal, one of the
leaders in this area, was
also displaying the new
Epson PX8 portable com-
puter which brief interrog-
ation revealed as a state-
ment of their intention to
upgrade the cellular
system to allow computer
data transmission.
British Telecom had the
Healthnet terminal on
show. This is an Electron
with a custom-made
expansion box, and it is
intended for use where a
lot of form-filling is done
at many separate sites.
Very little technical infor-
mation was available
beyond what was in last
month’s Acorn User.
Thorn-EMI had a rather
flash little package con-
taining both a 1200/75
modem and terminal soft-
ware for the Beeb,
intended to sell for about
£140. Dealers are being
sought now.
The Epson PX8 portable
mentioned earlier has
some beautiful ergono-
mic touches such as fold-
out legs for tilting up the
back and a fold-up liquid
crystal display. It runs CPI
M from tape cassettes
with an optional 80k RAM-
disc which bolts neatly on
the bottom. Tandy watch
out! Alex van Some re n
Chip camera
for Beeb - a
'Snap'at£130
THE makers of the Beasty,
Commotion, are set to release
an add-on ‘eye’ for the Beeb.
The £130 EV1, also known as
Snap, is a chip-based video
camera which plugs into the
user port to produce a black
and white picture on a mode 4
screen.
The EV1, pictured above, is
about the size of a cassette
case and uses a standard lens
supplied with the miniature
Pentax 110 SLR camera. A 64k
light sensitive RAM chip acts
as the camera’s ‘film’, though
only 32k of this is actually used
to produce the picture.
The chip itself has had its
protective case sliced off so
that its silicon base is exposed
to light. The picture is con-
verted into a digital form and
fed into the Beeb’s user port.
The picture is formed on the
by Bruce Smith
lower half of the screen and
has a resolution of 128 pixels
vertically by 256 pixels hori-
zontally. Using suitable soft-
ware a panoramic full-screen
picture is possible.
The software to produce the
picture sits in 2k of memory
below Himem and is written in
machine code. Also supplied
with the EV1 is software to
evaluate shapes. The camera
produces an outline image of
any objects in its field of view
and then calculates their area,
parameter and centre of
gravity. Using this information
programs can be written to
enable the Beeb to recognise
certain objects by comparing
them with pre-programmed in-
formation.
Also available from Com-
motion is the Beasty Arm at
£32.95 (without servos). This
robot arm can be supplied as a
standard kit of parts or as a
pick-and-mix set of modular
parts. The arm consists of
lengths of square section alu-
minium which fit into plastic
housings. The Arm is inter-
faced to the user port via a
Beasty (see Paul Beverley's
review in May’s Acorn User).
Software supplied with the
arm allows the user to pro-
gram a sequence of move-
ments into the arm by editing
them, as in a wordprocessor,
into the main program. The
arm will be supplied in kit
form.
The EV1 and Beasty Arm
will be available in the
summer from Commotion at
241 Green St, Enfield, London
EN3 7SJ.
Coming soon: Z80
software in quantity
BUSINESS software for the
BBC micro Z80 second pro-
cessor is soon to be available
in quantity from major UK dis-
tributor Software Limited
Typical packages include
the well-known Wordstar
wordprocessor, dBase II data-
base manager, Supercalc and
nearly 300 others. Prices are
the same as for versions to run
on other machines, eg Word-
s/arfor£295, dBasell for £438.
Software Limited have done
all the necessary work, known
as configuration, to allow the
packages to be used as soon
as you receive them. This
involves providing the soft-
ware on correctly formatted
discs and alterations to allow
use of the function keys on the
BBC to replace the control-
code combinations found on
other micros.
Dealers will be provided
with software by 24-hour
Securicor delivery, and Soft-
ware Limited will be providing
them with a telephone techni-
cal enquiry service. Under a
contract with Software Lim-
ited, Acorn gave the company
early access to the Z80.
Software Limited’s market-
ing head Aidan Shackleton
said: We believe that this con-
tract with Acorn shows the way
for future software distribution
and co-operation between the
hardware and software sup-
plier.’
Shackleton also said prep-
arations were being made to
meet 'a huge demand’ from
users of CP/M on the BBC.
Dealers can contact Soft-
ware Limited on 01-833 2601 .
Service deal
set up by Acorn
KODE Services will provide
on-site maintenance of all
Acorn equipment within eight
working hours.
Kode is claimed to be one of
the country’s largest mainten-
ance contractors with
engineers at six sites in the
UK. Acorn’s Customer Service
Manager Mike Bicknell said:
‘It's time Acorn provided the
same servicing options to its
major customers as other large
computer manufacturers do’.
Kode contracts will not
affect the normal Acorn
guarantees. Non-dealer war-
ranty repairs will still be taken
care of by Retail Control
Systems, Feltham, Middlesex.
Further details from Kode
Services on (0249) 81377 1 .
GREMLINS HIT JUNE LISTING
THE GREMLINS have lost the end of a line of one of Paul
Beverley’s listings in last month’s issue (yellow page vii, list-
ing 2). Line 140 should read as printed below. Apologies to
readers.
140 IF (?M % AND T%) > 0 THEN VDU255 ELSE VDU32
ACORN USER JULY 1984
NEWS |
Torch carries on with
'conflicting' products
TORCH is pushing ahead with
its expansion plans despite
being bought up by Acorn last
month - and it looks set to con-
tinue giving its new parent a
run for its money.
Neither company has
announced any product cut-
backs, and both appear to be
carrying on as before. Vague
proposals have been made for
each to support the other’s
product ranges, but no definite
decisions have been taken.
Several areas are set for
conflict, however, the most im-
mediate being the Z80 second
processors. Torch had already
sold about 6000 of its Z80
disc packs before Acorn’s
Z80 second processor was
launched last month. Now it
has made the Z80 card avail-
able separately for £263,
which includes the Perfect
range of CP/M-compatible
software, undercutting the
£299 offering from Acorn.
Another area of conflict is
networking. Torch has Torch-
net, an expansion of Acorn’s
Econet, while the parent also
has involvement in two other
networks.
But the big crunch is likely to
come in the autumn with the
launch of Acorn’s business
machine -or, more probably,
machines. Both companies
will then be supporting main-
‘The two companies have
an exceptionally high
degree of compatibility in
products, in strategic
thinking and in
management style. We
believe this new grouping
will become a major British
entry into the world market
for communicating
business systems’ -
Bob Gilkes,
Torch chairman
stream business systems,
probably with similar specifi-
cations.
Torch already has its Win-
chester discs running (Acorn’s
are undergoing field trials),
and a 68000 second processor,
giving 32-bit processing
(Acorn’s equivalent to the
16032 is still not up to scratch).
The two companies have
'Torch’s established
position in business
systems is a natural outlet
for some of Acorn’s own
business systems
products, and a
rationalisation of the two
companies’ development
efforts will give a
substantial boost to both
Acorn’s and Torch’s market
prospects’ - Alex Reid,
Acorn director
long had close ties. At one
time they shared offices and
Torch was to be the business
arm of Acorn. The two dis-
agreed over policy and formal
links were severed about two
years ago - except one, that is:
Acorn was contracted to
supply Torch with BBC boards
for its own range of computer
products.
Summer class
for teachers
MUSE is to hold its annual
summer course on computers
in education at Nottingham
University in July (23-25).
Main speakers include John
Coll of the MEP and Dr Max
Bramer of the Open Univer-
sity.
There will be sessions on
structured programming, BBC
assembler, music, Logo,
networking the Beeb and eval-
uating software.
The residential cost for the
three days is £57.50, with a
supplement of £11.50 for non-
members. Details: MUSE, PO
Box 43, Hull HU1 2HD.
Beeb 'tT board
OCTOPUS is again running its
BBC-based computer courses
in the summer holidays. Each
is made up of five half-day
sessions, costing £40.25 or
£150 full-board.
Details from Octopus, St
Joseph’s Hall, Junction Rd,
Oxford OX4 2UJ.
Legal entry
FOLLOWING the threat of legal
action by Acornsoft over
Silversoft’s database, View-
base, Silversoft has renamed
its product Index.
Index, which costs £24.99,
now embodies an enhance-
ment which makes it possible
to create a file, enter data and
alter the file structure without
corrupting data.
Unicorn upgrades
TORCH has set out to tempt
BBC owners along the up-
grade path with a range of
products under the Unicorn’
banner -from a communi-
cations package to Winchester
discs.
Unicorn kicks off the range
at £185. It provides a BT-
approved modem (OEL’s Tele-
mod) and software to access
electronic mail and Prestel, as
well as a mainframe link.
Next comes the Z80 second
processor at £263, including
bundled software, and the twin
floppy disc pack combined
with the Z80 disc pack at £699.
Then come the two heavy-
weights.
First is the HDP240, a 20Mb
hard disc pack. This also
includes a 400k floppy disc
drive and can be connected
direct to a BBC or via a net-
work. A drive controller is in-
cluded in the price of £1995.
Finally, there’s the HDP68K,
a hard disc pack with 68000
and Z80 processors built in.
The 68000 chip handles 32-bit
processing internally, but
takes data in 16-bit chunks.
This is the same chip as used
in Sinclair’s QL. Included in
the box is a 400k floppy drive
and 256k RAM.
Torch has implemented the
Unix operating system on the
68000 and others are coming.
The 8088 chip, as used in the
IBM PC, is already available in
the Torch computer range, and
so this is a likely contender as
the next add-on processor for
the BBC.
LION’S SHARE -Lion Microcomputers is giving away £20,000
worth of computing prizes during an Acorn Week at its Totten-
ham Court Road microcomputer centre in London on July 9-15.
The event is being co-sponsored by Acorn and Mirrorsoft, the
Daily Mirror’s software division. Among the exhibitors will be
Software Ltd, demonstrating a range of CP/M software, Micro-
ware with new drives and Microvitec. Admission is by ticket.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
OUT NOW! 811 IDEAS
In the Inmac catalogue of ideas each with a 3-year replacement
for your computer check to see guarantee,
what is in the latest issue for you: New Ideas! Dozens of exciting
Cables, cables and more cables! new products — many never seen in
How to order custom-built cables. Europe before now — and lots of
When to use screened cables. How to helpful hints on getting more from
choose the right EIA RS-232 extension your computer department,
cables for your VDU’s and how to Service and Quality — a promise
connect your Apple, Commodore, or y OU can rely 0 n! We promise a next
other micros to Qume, Diablo, NEC Jay delivery service of our products, a
printers. Compatible cables for 30<iay risk-FREE trial, and a 12-month
connecting new peripherals to your trouble-free quality replacement
DEC, Data General, Hewlett Packard, guarantee.
IBM, Osborne and Tandy Send today for your FREE cata-
computers. . logue with no obligation to purchase
lifetime Floppies Read about Inmac — but be warned: you will want to
Plus — the floppy buy once you have
urifU ^ 1 1 f-i n 1.1 T
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
11
Tir PHNOM ATir BBC Computer & Econet Referral Centre
1 EtniXUlVim 1C 01-4521500 01-4509764 01-4506597 Telex 922800
PRINTERS
i We have a range of
] printers that will meet most
I requirements.
EPSON-the high quality
I dot-matrix printers that set
I the standard in the industry-
1 versatile printers that provide
l the optimum in performance
& reliability. The RX80/FT
J provides all standard printing
I & graphic functions, (single
sheets & perforated paper), with the de-luxe FX80
giving in addition proportional printing, italics,
programmable characters etc. The FX1 00 also
allows the use of 1 5” wide paper.
Epson DX1 00 - a new daisy wheel has the
hallmark of Epson’s quality performance and
reliability. The JUKI daisywheel provides a quality
normally found in printers costing far more.
Printer cables, interfaces, ribbons, paper etc. are
all normally available from stock.
TORCH Z80 DISC PACK
The proven upgrade for the BBC Micro. Comprising 2 x 400K disc
drive, Z80 processor with 64K of memory, and a CP/M compatible
operating system, it opens up the vast range of CP/M software,
including advanced languages, scientific and business applications.
The system is supplied complete with the PERFECT software range
including PERFECT WRITER, PERFECT SPELLER, PERFECT CALC,
and PERFECT FILE. Full TORCHNET software is also supplied
allowing sophisticated networking between other units. This will
allow access to information, and communication, between up to
254 suitably upgraded BBCs.
NEW TORCH Z80 PACK PRICE £699.
SOFTWARE PACKAGE INCLUDES Z80 BASIC
Phone for details about the 20Mbyte Hard Disc Pack, and the
68000 Hard Disc Pack with UNIX Operating System.
NOW AVAILABLE - The TORCH Z80 SECOND PROCESSOR CARD
- for those who already have suitable disc drives. The card is
supplied with all the free perfect software and Z80 basic, as detailed
above, presenting a very attractive package £299.
Torch ZHD240 Mbyte Hard Disc + 400K Floppy. £1, 995(a).
RH LIGHTPEN
The Acorn-approved superior design, with a programmable
push-tip’ switch, status indicator LED and an interface box.
Supplied complete with manual, full software and basic demo
programs. £39(c). Demo program on disc £7(d). Colour graphics.
Cassette £8.65(d) Disc £10(d).
MICROTEXT
Developed by the National Physical Laboratory, is a program-ming
system designed to simplify the production of a wide range of
man-computer dialogues. Using MICROTEXT, an expert in any field
can construct their own complete courses of computer-based
instructional material. Applications include interviewing systems,
teaching packages, training courses and interactive demonstrations
and simulation. Cassette £43.35(c) Disc £52(c).
GRAFPAD
A low cost graphic-tablet offering the performance and durability
required for the business, industrial and educational user. It is small,
accurate & reliable. Working area: 240 x 192mm + Menu area. £125
plus CAD program. £125(b).
TELETEXT
Converts your BBC into a fully fledged Teletext Terminal. In addition
to normal reception of Teletext pages, it is able to ‘download’
software as well as saving standard pages on any of the four TV
channels. £196.
ACORN COMPUTER SYSTEMS
BBC Model B £348.00a
BBC Model B + Econet £389 00a
BBC Model B+DFS £429 00a
BBC Model B+DFS + Econet £470.00a
6502 2nd Processor £ 1 75b
Acorn Electron £169 00b
BBC Teletext Receiver £ 195 00a
BBC Dust Cover £4.00d
Pair of Joysticks £ 11.70c
Acorn Bit Stick £328b
TORCH Z80 SYSTEM
TORCH Z80 Disk Pack £699 00a
TORCH Z80 2nd Processor Card £299.00a
TORCH ZHD24020MH £ 1995a
UPGRADE KITS
A to B Upgrade Kit £60 OOd
DFS Kit £95 OOd Installation £1500
Econet Kit £55.00d Installation £25.00
Speech Kit £47 OOd Installation £10 00
ECONET ACCESSORIES
Printer Server Rom £4 1 00b
File Server Level 1 £86 00b
File Server Level 2 £2 16 00b
Clock + 2 Terminators £92.00b
Econet User Guide £10 OOd
BBC FIRMWARE
1.2 Operating System £7.50d
Basic II Rom £32 OOd
View Word Processor Rom £52 00c
WordwiseW/PRom £34.00c
BCPL ROM + Disc £87 00b
Disc Doctor Utility Rom £28 OOd
Termi Emulator Rom £28 OOd
ULTRACALC Rom (BBC Publications) £65 00c
Gremlin debug Rom £28.00d
Computer Concepts Graphics Rom £28.00d
EXM0N £20.00d
TOOLKIT £20.00d
PrintmasterRom(FX80) £28 OOd
Communicator Rom £59 00c
BBC ANCILLARY HARDWARE
EPROM Programmer £89 00b
Smartmouth Speech Synthesiser £37.00b
RH Light Pen £39.50b
Time- Warp" Real-Time
Clock/Calendar £29 001)
ACORN IEEE Interface ANK0I £282.00c
Buzzbox Modem £69 00b
PRINTERS & PLOTTERS
EPSON FX-80
EPSON RX-80 PI-
ERSON FX 100
EPSON DX 100
Printer Sharer + Cable Set
JUKI 6 100 Daisy wheel
MCP40Col. Printer/Plotter
Accessories
Parallel Printer Lead
Serial Printer Lead
Epson Serial Interlace 2K 8 148
Epson Serial Interface 8143
FX80 Dust Cover
Epson Paper Roll Holder
FX-80 Tractor Attachment
PAPER Fanfold 2000 sheets
Ribbon MX80/RX80/FX80
Gemini Delta 10
£325.00;
£250.00;
£480.00;
£375 00;
£88.00c
£350.00;
£110 00 ;
£10.00c
£8 00 (
£6000t
£50 OOt
£4.00(
£17.00t
£37.00i
£13.50t
£6.50<
£30000;
Grafpad Graphics Tablet
Graphics Plotter/Workstation
Basic Plotter
PSU12 £45.00 PSU24
Power Adaptor Cable
Software on disc
Driller/Rooter
Opto Sensor
£12500i
£490 00;
£27000;
£79 0(
£4.51
£3.5(
£79.0C
£72.0(
COLOUR/GREEN MONITORS (leads incld)
Micruvrtec 1431 14 RGBStd Res £179.00;
Microvitec 1431PS 14" RGB PAL + Sound . . £225.00;
Micrwitec 1451 14" RGB Med Res
Microvitec 1441 14 RGB Hi Res
Microvitec 203 1 20" RGB Std Res
KAGA Vision Ex 12" RGB
KAGA Vision II Hi Res
KAGA Vision III 12" RGB Super Hi Res
KAGA 12” Green Hi Res
SANYO DM8112CX 12" Green Hi Res
KAGA RGB Lead
BNC Green Screen Monitor Lead
£29500;
£420.00;
£287 00;
£195.00;
£260.00;
£35800,
£106.00;
£9900.
£6 501
£300
BBC COMPATIBLE 5.25" DISC DRIVES:
(All include cables, manual + format disc)
100K (40 Track) Teac
100K (40 Track) with psu Tec
200K (40/80 Track) Teac
200K (80 Track) with psu Tec
400K (80 Track DS) Mitsubushi
400K (80 TDS) with psu Mitsubushi
2x 100K (40 Track) with psu Teac
2x200K (40/80 Track) with psu Teac
2x400K (80 Track DS) with psu Mitsu
3” Hitachi 100K Drive
£135.00
£14500
£17500
£190 00
£190 00
£225.00
£30000
£400 00
£420 00.
£150.00i
ALL PRICES EXCLUDE VAT. Please add carriage
ACORNSOFT/M1RLE BUSINESS SOFTWARE
This long awaited range brings professional business software to the sma
business user at a budget price. Available on disc only, using genuine ‘randon
access’, each package can, if required, be linked together to provide a totall
integrated business system. Modules comprise Invoicing, Order Processing
Stock Control, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Purchasing, Mailing
System. Each package £22.65(d).
ors
MONITORS:
MiCROVITEC— a range of British Made DTI/ACORN
approved Std/Med/Hi-resolution RGB colour monitors
that have a consistent, reliable performance. Also available 'in RGB
FAL/SOUND versions. The KAGA range provides a similar performance in 12
screen format. Our Japanese manufactured Hi-Res green screen SANYO isar
ideal solution for high clarity 80 column text display. The KAGA green screen
with its ‘chemically etched’ anti-glare screen for the discerning user. A
monitors are supplied with suitable leads at no extra charge.
BUZZBOX
This is a full specification, direct connect modem, with both Originate & Answe
modes, allowing access to the many databases, bulletin boards, as well a
inter-computer communication. The modem conforms to the internationc
CCITT V21 300/300 Baud standard. (NOTE: Not suitable for PRESTEL). Havirn
full BT Approval, it connects directly to the telephone line, for optimur
performance. Being battery powered, it is totally portable (optional powe
supply available). £69. BBC Lead £3.50. External PSU £8.00
Technomatic
Our in depth stocks allow us to offer immediate deliveries on most items and our aim is to provide the
best available products at competitive prices. In addition to the items listed above we carry extensive
stocks of: connectors, connector assemblies, components including TTl^, CMOS, R AMs, EPROMs
and CPUs. Spares for the BBC computers are normally available From stock. Orders frorngovernment
departments, public bodies, hospitals, schools, college!
departments, public bodies, hospitals, schools, colleges, universities and recognised PLCs welcome.
VVe specialise in world wide exports. No VAT on exports. Our speciallv negotiated freight charges to
many countries ensure the customer considerable sav ings on charges.
12
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
Everything you need for your BBC Computer
Plus friendly service and professional advice
£16 00c
£22.00c
£26.00c
£30.00c
Each £4.50c
£14 50c
£1.90d
£8.00c
£ 15.00c
£27 00b
Accessories:
Single Disc Cable
Double Disc Cable
3M DISCS with Lifetime Warranty
40TSS/SD PktoflO
40TDS/DD PktoflO
80TSS/DD PktoflO
80TDS/DD PktoflO
3" Double Skied Disc
FL0PPICLENE Drive Head Cleaning Kit
Disc Library Case
Disc File Case 30/40
Disc Lockable Case 30/40
Disc Lockable Case 60/70
EPROMS:
Please phone lor availability
SOFTWARE:
ACORN/MERLE BUSINESS SOFTWARE
Invoicing, Stock Control, Accounts Payable,
Accounts Receivable. Order Processing,
Mailing System Each £22.65d
GEMINI Business - Full Range
ACORNSOFT - Full Range
ACORN LANGUAGES including BCPL, LISP
FORTH with Manuals
BBCSOFT - Full Range
PROGRAM POWER - Full Range
BEEBUGSOFT - Full Range
Wordwise Spellcheck Disc £ 16 50d
Design £16.50d
Superplot £16.50(1
Masterfile (Database) £1650d
Teletext Pack ( Mode 7 Graphics i £ 16 50d
CASSETTE RECORDERS:
SANYO DR101 Data Recorder £30.00b
Datex Slim Line £20 00c
BBC Tape Recorder £28 50b
Cassette Lead £3 OOd
Computer Grade C-12 cassette £0 45d
Computer Grade Cassette 10 off £4.00c
Phillips Mini-data cassette £3.00d
BOOKS (NO VAT) p&p £1 50/book
Let Your BBC Teach U To Prog £3.50
BBC Micro Revealed £3.00
100 Programs for the BBC £6.95
30 Hour Basic £5.95
35 Educational Progs £6.95
6502 Applications £9 75
6502 Assembly Lang Programming £12 95
6502 M/Code for Beginners £5.95
6809 Assembly Lang Programming £ 13.95
Advanced Prog Tech for BBC £7.95
Advanced 6502 £10.25
Advanced User Guide £1 2.50
Assembly Lang Pro on the BBC £7.95
Assembly Lang for the BBC £7.95
Assembly Lang Prog for Electron
Assembly Lang Programming
Basic Prog on the BBC
BBC Basic
BBC Basic for Beginners
BBC Micro for Beginners
BBC Micro Compendium
BBC Micro Disk Companion
BBC Micro Expert Guide
BBC Micro Graphics & Sound
BBC Micro in Education
BBC Micro Revealed
BCPL User Manual
Beyond Basic
Creating Adventure Progs
Creative Graphics
DIY Robotics & Sensors
Discovering BBC M/Code
Forth
Friendly Computer Book
Graphics on the BBC Micro
Graphs & Charts
Interfacing the 6502
Intro BBC Micro
LISP
Making Music on the BBC Computer
Micro Basic Sound Graphics
MOS Memory Data Book
Prog the BBC Micro
Programming the 6502
Programming the 6809
Programming the 8086/8088
Programming the BBC
Programming the Z80
Start Prog with Electron
Structured Programming
The Computer Book
The Electron Book
TORCH Z80 Disc Pack Guide
m Data Book Vol-1
TTL Data Book Vol-2
BBC User Guide
Using BBC Basic
Using Floppy Disks
Using the 6502 Assembly Lang
Z80 Applications Book
With advanced features, such as: ‘Handling of labels as well
as numbers, as values, allowing the search of a list by a
meaningful name, instead of just a number. ‘Efficient memory usage
allowing large spreadsheets to be constructed. ‘Variable width
columns. Facilities include SUM, Replicate & most mathematical
functions. It helps you to create and manipulate ‘Budgets ‘Cash-Flow
forecasts ‘Price Lists ‘Balance Sheets ‘Time Sheets ‘Order Entry
‘Small Databases ‘Scientific Calculations etc. £65.
DISC DRIVES:
A full range of disc drives fitted with quality Japanese slimline
mechanisms, (such as TEAC, MITSUBISHI etc.) are supplied ready
to connect to your BBC, and come complete with necessary cables,
formatting disc, manual etc. TEAC & Mi . ^<8ISHI mechanisms can
operate in single and double density modes. The switchable disc
drives give the user flexibility, by allowing access to both 40 & 80
Track discs. We have a full range of diskettes, variety of disc storage
cases, disc-drive cables. The Floppiclene head cleaning kit. is the
ideal way to ensure
optimum performance
of your drives. The use T "
of disposable cleaning
discs eliminate the risk
of recontamination and
abrasion, and ensure
continuous data capture '
and transmission.
KENDADMFS
A truly professional double density DMFS with several unique
features:- ‘requires no RAM i.e. PAGE=&EOO ‘uses standard CP/M
filenames & disc drive conventions ‘no limit to number of files
‘single/double density automatically selected ‘runs most ‘protected’
software ‘enables 80 Track drives to read 40 Track discs.
SCOTCH 3M FLOPPY DISCS
inless indicated as follows: (a) £8 (b)£2.50 (c)£1.50 (d) £1 .00
GRAPHICS PLOTTER/WORKSTATION
iqually at home in the artists studio, hobbyists workshop, science
Moratory, classroom, and production floor, this system has some-
hing to offer everyone. The 3-colour graphics plotter provides both
irecision and versatility. The carriage can be moved with an accuracy
>f 0.025 cm. over an A4 area - the plotter being able to accept paper
md far thicker materials at sizes of up to A3. The basic colour plotter
;arries three colour pens each of which is software selectable.
'arious add-ons greatly increase the versatility of the unit, while still
etaining the unit’s accuracy. The servo controlled drill/router, and a
criber enables drilling, cutting and scribing in various materials. A
inique Opto Sensor (using a Hewlett Packard Device) turns the plotter
"ito a high resolution scanning digitiser to read and store whole
liagrams, for example, for use in map work. This unique versatile
Vorkstation is supplied complete at £ 490 . Basic Plotter £ 270 .
to advanced production techniques, a higher standard has now
been reached, enabling Scotch to guarantee error free
performance for life.
3” HITACHI DISC DRIVES
The latest in minature data-storage technology. Totally hardware
& software compatable with 5V4 ” drives (can be used together!).
Supplied complete with format disc, manual, cables etc. £1 50(b)
ACORN IEEE INTERFACE
A full implementation of the IEEE-488 standard, providing computer
control of compatible scientific & technical equipment, at a lower
price than other systems. Typical applications are in experimental
work in academic and industrial laboratories. The interface can
support a network of up to 1 4 other compatible devices, and would
typically link several items of test equipment allowing them to run
with the optimum of efficiency. The IEEE Filing System ROM is
supplied £282.
Continued on page 14 ™ ^ 1
INSTITUTIONS & EDUCATIONAL
ESTABLISHMENTS
Our bulk purchasing power enables us to provide very competitive
quotations, as well as being able to supply in quantity, a very wide
range of equipment, accessories and spare parts from stock.
MAIL ORDERS TO: 17 Bumlev Road, Undon NW10 1ED
(Tel: 01-452 1500, 01-450*6597 Telex 922800)
SHOPS AT: NW London: 15 Burnley Road, London NW10 1ED
(Dollis Hill 0- 2 mins walk, ample car parking space)
West London: 305 Edgware Road, Ixmdon YV2. Tel: 01-723 0233
(Near Edgware Road O I
T ECHNOMATIC Ltd.
All prices exclude carriage & VAT. Please add carriage as indicated and
add 15% VAT to the total order value. R>r fast delivery telephone your
order quoting VISA or Access card or official order number.
(Minimum telephone order £5).
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
13
Technomatic
BBC Computer & Econet Referral Centre
01-4521500 01-4509764 01-4506597 Telex 922800
EPROM PROGRAMMER:
A fully self-contained
mains-powered eprom
programmer housed in
an attractive finished
case. It is able to program
2716, 2732/32A, 2764 &
27128’s in a single pass.
It is supplied with vastly
superior software when
compared to any currently
available similar pro-
grammer. In addition to
normal eprom pro-
gramming, you are now
able to load your favourite
basic programs onto
eprom.
The programmer comes complete with cables,
software & operating manual.
£89 + £2.50 carriage. Software on disc £2 extra.
Menu Driven Software provides user friendly
options for programming the eprom with:
a) Basic programs.
b) Ram resident programs.
c) Any other program.
Programmer can read, blank-check, program
& verify at any address/addresses on the
Eprom.
Personality selection is simplified by a single
rotary switch.
Programming voltage selector switch.
Full Editor with ASCII Disassembler, allowing
direct modification of memory data in HEX or
ASCII.
Continuous display of time left for completion
of programming.
Continuous display of current addresses as
they are being programmed.
EPROM ERASERS
SPECIAL
OFFER
EPSON FX 80
PRINTER
ONLY £32 5
including BBC printer lead
Twelve Months full warranty.
Offer valid while
stocks last.
UV1T Eraser with built-in timer
and mains indicator. Built-in safety
interlock to avoid accidental
exposure to the harmful UV rays.
It can handle up to 5 eproms at a time
with an average erasing time of about
20 mins. £59 + £2 p&p.
UV1 as above but without the timer.
£47 + £2 p&p.
SMARTMOUTH:
The original ‘infinite speech’.
Still the best.
A ready built totally self contained speech synthesiser
unit, attractively packaged with built-in speaker, AUX
output socket etc.— no installation problems!
It allows the creation of any English word,
with both ease and simplicity, while, at
the same time being very economical in
memory usage. You can easily add
speech to most existing programs. Due
to its remarkable infinite vocabulary, its
uses spread throughout the whole
spectrum of computer applications-
these include industrial, commercial,
educational, scientific, recreational etc.
No specialist installation— no need to
open your computer, simply plugs into
the user port— and due to the simple software, no ROMS are needed.
SMARTMOUTH is supplied with demo and development programs on
cassette, and full software instructions. £37+ £2.50 carriage.
‘TIME-WARP 1
REAbTlME-CLOCK/CALENDAR
A low cost unit that opens up the total range of Real-Time
applications. With its full battery backup, possibilities
include an Electronic Diary, continuous display of
‘on-screen’ time and date information automatic
document dating, precise timing & control in scientific
applications, recreational
jjse in games etc-its uses
are endless and are
^simply limited by one’s
imagination. Simply plugs
into the user port-no
specialist installation
required-No ROMS.
Supplied with extensive
applications software.
Please phone for details.
£29.00 + £2.50 carriage.
ELECTRON ADDONS
NOW IN STOCK
PRINT PORT
^Suitable for most centronics printers
*Supplied complete with lead
& programming.
£39 + £1.50 p&p
JOY PORT
*Controls over 80% of available
arcade games.
*Uses ATARI Style 9 pin joysticks
*Just plugs in-no soldering
*Does not overload Electron psu
£14.75 + £1.60 p&p
BEEBDGSOFT
A professional range of Firmware/
Software to suit both the advanced
programmer and the user. From the
well known ‘EXMON’ and TOOLKIT
to the WORDWISE SPELLCHECK.
MAILORDERS 1C): 17 Burnks Road. I ondon N\\ 10 II I)
(lei: 01-452 1500.01-4506597 lek\ 922KIIO)
SHOPS VI : MV London: 15 Burnles Road. London MV 10 II I)
(Hollis Hill O - mins walk, ample car parking space )
West I ondon: 305 I dgware Road. I ondon W 2. lei: 01-725 0255
(Near Idgware Road © l
T ECHNOMATIC LTD.
All prices exclude carriage & V AT. Please add carriage as indicated and
add 15°.. V AT to the total order value, hor fast deliver) tekphone vour
order quoting V IS A or Access card or official order number.
(Minimum telephone order £5).
14
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
NEWS
Vikings and maths
in learning games
A ‘MATHEMAGICAL’ adven-
ture called simply L is the
latest creation of the Associ-
ation of Teachers of Mathe-
matics.
L aims to provide the appeal
of a computer adventure
based on puzzles and ques-
tions, without resorting to
blood and slaughter.
L is aimed at school and
home. It is supplied on 40-track
disc for £10 by ATM, Kings
Chambers, Queen Street,
Derby DEI 3DA.
Dial Software has released
two educational items, Child's
Play Pack and Spellwell. The
former is aimed at young
children and contains four
programs combining colourful
graphics and speech on
machines that have a speech
synthesiser fitted. The latter is
a spelling drill for all age
groups, with five levels and a
dictionary that the teacher or
parent can modify as the
pupil’s vocabulary increases.
Happy Writing from Bourne
Educational runs on the BBC,
Electron and, interestingly, the
Amstrad CPC 464. It is
designed to help children
learn to write and combines
animation, colour graphics
and sound to keep the child’s
attention.
Fernleaf Software has a
September launch planned for
its Viking England package.
This comprises four inter-
linked programs to be used as
part of a larger history project
by children aged 9-13.
The children need to organ-
ise a raid, make a landing,
explore inland and eventually
settle down and try to develop
a prosperous culture in
Britain. Fernleaf Software is at
Fernleaf House, 31 Old Road
West, Gravesend, Kent DA11
01H.
Wordwise to run
on Aries board
WORDWISE, the wordproces-
sor on a chip from Computer
Concepts, has been updated to
make use of the Aries B20
RAM board.
This means Wordwise can
be used with an 80-column dis-
play without losing text space.
Computer Concepts will up-
grade a Wordwiseior £10.
Caretaker is Computer Con-
cepts’ Basic utility ROM. This
provides extra commands to
help de-bug and develop pro-
grams. It costs £33.35.
Chip helps ROMs
MANAGER is a chip from Wat-
ford Electronics for users of
sideways ROMs, and pro-
grammers who want to put
software into EPROM.
It supplies extra information
about some of the *FX com-
mands, and the ability to select
ROMs, so avoiding any clash
of commands.
The chip should be avail-
able now at an initial special
offer price of about £21 .
HARDWARE AND
SOFTWARE
tJTiero-flid
FOR THE
BBC MICRO
SOFTWARE - Programs that are guaranteed to runl Save hours of work and worry with these utilities, educational & business programs on cassette or
disc
102
CASHBOOK
Double entry 4 columns with accounts &
520
BANNER
Print giant text and graphics on paper for
analysis
£11 95
B
displays
£3 95
A/B
102d
CASHBOOK
Full disc version 1 200 items on 100k disc
£19 95
B
521
BIGLETR
Print as above on screen/paper with
103
LEDGER
Complements CASHBOOK with ageing &
screen dump
£5 95
A/B
analysis
£1 1 95
B
600
FORTH
'79 FORTH second language ROM
£34 74
B
105
MAILING
Holds 218 addresses Alpha & post code
601
LOGO FORTH
Advanced Turtle Graphics Language ROM
sorts, searches, any label format, delete.
with FORTH
£57 50
B
add and amend
£11 95
B
602
PASCAL T
Structured language ROM with compiler-
106
PAYROLL
In 2 parts to handle weekly or monthly (state
interpreter
£57 50
B
(W or M)
which) PAYE & Nl for 100 employees Fully
603
XCAL
Computer Assisted Learning ROM for
supported
£24 95
B
presentations
£6500
B
107
MEMO CALC
Database 'Calcsheet with up to 255
605
WORDWISE
Superb fast & easy to use wordprocessor
columns, string or numeric data, sorts.
m ROM
£33 95
B
searches, calculations
£12 95
B
606
CDUMP
Screen dump. 8 colours, suitable for
201
GAMES 1
5 Card. Minefield. Darts. Pontoon &
GP700A
£12 95
B
Mr Midon
£5 95
B/E
607
GDUMP
Screen dump ROM 8 shades. 8 sizes and
202
STOCKMARKET
Exciting world of Stocks and shares. 1 4
windows
£17 95
B
players
£5 95
B/E
608
DISKDOC
ROM for disk problems in format, search.
301
HANGMAN
Word game in English. French. German.
files etc
£27 50
B
Italian. Spanish
£7 95
B
608
GRAPHICS
NEW ROM for Sprites. LOGO, circles,
302
DISTANCES
Three graphic maps of U K . EUROPE & the
fill etc
£27 50
B
WORLD Calculate the distance between
700
BOOKS
Various titles for the BBC Micro from
£6 95
any 2 places
£4 95
B/E
801
CASSETTES
Cl 5 Computer quality tapes packed in 1 0's
f4 50
303
FLAGS
98 full colour flags of the world with
810
5 25*' DISCS
MEMOREX SS/SD40/80T
£19 95
questions
£4 95
B/E
SS/DD 40/80T
£2095
304
STATPACK
Statistics package giving over 30 results
£9 95
B
900
SEIKOSHA
GP700A 7 COLOUR 30 shade dot matrix
305
GRAPH
Produce varied graphs & charts of
printer 50cps
£369 00
functions
£7 95
B
901
EPSON RX-80 T/F
Superb lOOcps with Tractor & Friction
306
FRENCH
New audio visual computer way to learn a
feed
£275 00
language
£7 95
B
902
EPSON FX 80
Magmficient 1 60cps. 6 founts, graphics.
307
SPELL CHECK
Add to WORDWISE 1 5000 words in 1 2
F/T Roll
£365 00
dictionaries
£17 95
B
910
DISC DRIVES
Slimline 3 or 5y 4 " 100k 800k Japanese
504
PROCAID
includes SEARCHBAS to search a BASIC
Format disc, cable and excellent manual
program and alter it. PROCVAR to list
From
£189 00
variables m a BASIC program &
915
DISC UPGRADE
Double & Single Density available in one
PROCFLUSH to clear resident integers in
system
£77 50
RAM
£3 45
A/B
920
VDU STAND
Stainless Steel Support protects your micro£19 95
505
UTILITY A
Our best selling tape includes PROCAID.
930
GREEN VDU
1 2 Green Monitor, cream sloping front
DEFCHR to design & display graphic
case
£79 95
characters. SORTM/C a very fast machine
931
COLOUR VDU
JVC 14 Colour Monitor 370 x 470 pixels
£179 95
code numeric sort, SORTBAS the
950
SAT 16 MPU
16 bit 68000 68701 stand alone
undisputed fastest BASIC sort routine
£5 95
A/B
computer from
£570 00
BUDGET: £9.95 CRIB: £7.95 RANDOM ACCESS MAILING: £24.95.
ADD £1.75 FOR PROGRAMS ON 40 OR 80 TRACK DISC. NO POST CHARGE IN UK. MOST PROGRAMS AVAILABLE ON MICRONET 800.
NEW
SEIKOSHA
PRINTERS
ADD VATTO ALL PRICES EXCEPT BOOKS.
Micro-Aid (AU)
25 Fore Street, Praze, Camborne, Cornwall TR14 0JX
Tel: 0209-831274
Send for our free brochure for more information before parting with your money.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
CARETAKER is a BASIC utility
ROM which provides many new
invaluable commands to help the BASIC
programmer. Because CARETAKER is in
ROM, it uses no BASIC program space and
its commands are always instantly available.
Some of the CARETAKER commands are
detailed below:
* EXCHANGE provides a search and
replace facility, either global or selective.
‘Wildcard’ characters and BASIC keyword
tokens may be included.
♦ EXPAND Lists a program in an easy to
read form, also allowing ‘squashed’ programs
to be read.
♦INSERT Enables BASIC routines on disc
or tape to be inserted into or added to the
program in memory.
♦KEYLOAD and ♦KEYSAVE Load and
save the function key definitions.
♦ LVAR Lists the values of all or some of the
variables.
♦MERGE Will merge one or more BASIC
programs on file into the program in memory.
♦ MOVE Allows the current BASIC program
to be moved to a new page in memory.
♦ PARTSAVE Saves only a selected section
of a BASIC program (useful for later merging).
♦ RENUMBER Renumbers parts of BASIC
programs and moves the renumbered section
as necessary.
♦ RETRIEVE Restores a corrupted program
to a form in which it can be listed and edited.
♦ SINGLEKEY Enables BASIC keywords
to be entered quickly, as on the ELECTRON.
♦ SQUASH Reduces the size of a BASIC
program in order to save memory space. A
very efficient routine.
♦ STATUS Displays the values of PAGE,
H1MEM, program length, bytes free. etc.
♦ TABSTOPS Provides a tabulation facility.
Up to eight tapstops can be defined.
CARETAKER is supplied with a spiral bound
manual, special ‘single key entry’ stickers for
the key fronts, and easy-to-follow fitting
instructions. A full specification is available
upon request.
TW
for the BBC Micro
BASIC
Utility ROM
♦HELP CARETAKER
»
CARETAKER 1 . 00
CURSOR < ON-OFF >
EXCHANGE <old> <n*w> G'S «l*ngth>>
EXPANO <<start>> «#nd>>
INSERT <**p> << 1 in#no>>
KEYLOAO ( < f sp > >
KEYSAVE C<fsp>>
LVAR (FXIXSXAXP)
MOVE < Jddr*st >
MERGE <f*p> <<f*p>> . . .
NORMALKEY
NOTAB
PARTSAVE <f*p> <<*t*rt>> «*nd>>
RENUMBER C<l*t> <inc> <*tart> <*nd>>
RETRIEVE <<bgt#*>>
SINCLEKEY
SQUASH <S>CRXM>
STATUS
TABSTOPS << column* . . . >>
OS 1 20
>
NeW fedS c
Re
£33.35 inch
Wordwise
The Most Popular Word
Processing ROM
for the SBC
£46.00 inch MtCTO
WORDW1SE is ideal as an introduction to word
processing for the beginner, but is a powerful enough
tool to be used seriously by professional authors (at
least two of the most popular BBC Micro magazines
are prepared entirely with WORDWISE). Being
entirely ROM based it occupies none of the memory
which is used to store text. It will operate fully on
cassette, disc or ECONET (level II). It is not specific
to any particular printer, nor does it require a special
printer driver (an expensive extra on some word
processors). WORDWISE allows any codes to be
sent to any printer, at any point within the text, by
using a simple 'embedded command'.
For the beginner, text can be typed straight into
WORDWISE and saved, loaded, previewed or
printed immediately. Once experience is gained,
commands may be added to control the final layout
on paper. Some of the layout or ‘formatting’
commands are described later At any time whilst
the text is being entered or edited a word count is
displayed continuously on the top line Labelled
function keys provide the user with simple controls
to mark any section of text and then delete, move or
copy :t to any other position. Characters can be
quickly converted between upper and lower case;
changing case of entire paragraphs is equally simple
<C> Computer Concepts 1W
1>
>ov on tiro text
2>
Lbod now toxt
3>
Save worked toxt
4>
Load toxt to curoor
9>
Search and Replace
•>
Print toxt
?>
Preview toxt
•>
Spool toxt
CSC
Kdit Mode
Pi mi
■o enter choice.
Moving around the text is simple. Cursor keys alone
move one position in any direction; CTRL and
cursor keys together move in larger steps, a word
left right, a page up, down; SHIFT and cursor keys
move as far as possible to the right left of the line or
to the start end of the entire text These movements
are so easy to use that many other programs have
adopted exactly the same method
Formatting commands include the ability to split the
document into pages of any length, with or without
headings or footings Page numbers may be printed
automatically within the text, including within
headings and lootings Commands are provided to
set (at any point in the text) line length, left margin,
tabulation positions, line spacing etc Text can hi’
centred on a line, indents and temporary indents can
be set and cancelled Output can lie made to
automatically pause at the end of a page, e g for a
single sheet feed Right justification of text can be
turned on and off at any points in the text
User defined keys may hold any required string as
normal and used within WORDWISE. including the
codes required to induce key operations such as
cursor movement
ARIES compatible WORDWISE
A new version of WORDWISE is available upon
request at the standard price which is fully
compatible with the ARIES B20 RAM board When
fitted alongside the compatible WORDWISE. the
ARIES board allows text to be previewed in 80
columns even with the normal RAM full of text An
upgrade from the standard version of WORDWISE
is available Please ask for details
fZ^mputer
H-* .oncepts
16 Wayside, Chippertield, Hertfordshire. WD4 9JJ Telephone: Kings Langley (09277) 69727
MICROMAN
Computers
ACORN SPECIALIST COMPUTER CENTRE %\.i
ACORN BBC COM PI TERS:
Acorn Electron
199.00
BBC Model B
399.00
BBC Model B 4 DFS
469.00
Acorn Teletext Receiver
225. UU
Acorn 6502 2nd Processor
199.00
Acorn ZBU 2nd Processor
299.011
Ac orn IEEE Interface
325.00
Bitstick
375 (Ml
BBC UPGRADES:
A-B Upgrade (Fitted)
95.00
DFS interface (Fitted)
109.00
Speech Synthesizer (Fitted)
55 00
PRINTERS:
Epson RXflOFT
295,00
Epson FX100
574.95
Star Gemini 1UX
268 00
Star Delta 10
385.00
Cannon PW-1080A
330.00
Shimva CPflO
220.00
Sanple Daisywheel Printer
332.35
TORCH COMPUTERS:
7.80 Disc Pac k
799.00
7.81 1 2nd Proc essor Card
339.00
BBC FIRMWARE:
View ROM
59.80
Wordwise ROM
44 85
View-sheet ROM
59.80
B-Base Database Disc
25 00
Ultracalc Spreadsheet ROM
Computer Concepts ‘mm
POA
33.35
Toolstar ROM
34 00
Commstar F.PROM
34.00
BCPI.KOM
99.65
Sidewise ROM
44 70
Snlidisk 32K Sideways RAM
57.95
Solidisk 96K Extension
92.00
Snlidisk 128K Sideways RAM
149.95
MODEMS:
Grapevine Commstar Modem
136.85
MONITORS:
Decca ROB Standard
228.85
Microvitec Cub Standard
228.85
Zenith Green
109.25
Decca TV/Monitor
265.00
DISC DRIVES:
Fuil range available
POA
WE HAVE A RANGE OF BUSINESS & WORD
PROCESSING PACKAGES BASED AROUND THE BBC
& TORCH COMPUTERS
ACORN APPROVED SERVICE CENTRE
Our workshop offers a comprehensive service including
Repairs and Upgrades by our own engineers
EDUCA TIO NAL ENQUIRIES WEL COME
All prices include VAT. Post & Packing £9 (Large
items) LI (Small items ROM's etc)
RAIN FORD INDUSTRIAL ESTATE. MILL LANE,
RAINKORD. ST. HELENS, MERSEYSIDE
PHONE 074488 5242
32k BBC or Electron
Pilot written
ADVANCED
FLIGHT SIMULATOR
Comphrensive, well documented package.
This is undoubtedly the most advanced ,
realistic simulation for 32k BBC/Electron
superb graphics - full instrumentation,
3D landing sequence, autopilot, ILS, VOR
etc. Joystick option. When you have flown
767 the only nex^step is the real thing !
Mail order only
Guajanteed by
return
CKq.orPO
£875
FLIGHTDECK
SOFTWARE,
Dept. 767,
25 Halsey Road,
Kempston, Beds.MK42 8AP
INCREDIBLE ANIMATION BROUGHT TO YOUR BASIC PROGRAMS
SIMONSOFT SPRITES VERSION TWO
@ £1 2.95 for the BBC 32K and the Electron
£1 5.95 on 40 or 80 track disc
An 1 8 FOLD INCREASE IN SPEED (BBC) of your own character designs makes this the
FASTEST EVER screen movement seen in Basic programs. Amazing animation effects
are available at a command, yet no knowledge of machine code is required This
incredible extension to your machine's facilities is RAM based and your whole program
can be SAVED/LOADED at the same time as the control coding and sprite images (your
character designs) The designs and the control routine need take as little as &600
(1.5K) from the memory of your machine!
LOOK AT THESE FEATURES:
1 SPRITE GENERATOR PROGRAMS to create your own sprite designs. All 1 6 colours
may be used in each design, with characters as small as one pixel or as large as the
24 x 24 pixel SUPERSPRITE As you design the sprites they are automatically
stored in the machine code control routine so that you can delete the generator
program before writing your own Basic.
2. UPTO 48 SPRITES ON SCREEN with 12 separate sprite designs, each with 3
independently controlled clones.
3 INSTANT ANIMATION with two images in each sprite design. These are switched
automatically as the sprite crosses the screen, allowing effects such as hopping
frogs, running men. etc.
4. COLLISION DETECTOR with a hit flag that is set to the number of any
sprite overlapping with the sprite just moved. When the sprites move
apart, there is no disruption of the sprite character designs
5. ENLARGEMENT FACILITY of x2. x3. x4. x 5 magnification of the sprite
size! Let your invaders loom out of the screen in 3D effects - or use
enlarged sprites throughout your program!
6. FOUR PRESET FLIGHT PATHS designed from the generator programs.
Each path has 8 definable directions, with up to 255 steps allowed in
each direction. Once sprites have been allocated to a path, they will move
automatically as your program runs
7. Both EOR and TRANSFER plotting of sprites to the screen are available
8. A SPRITE LIBRARY has sprite designs ready for use in your programs with
books' such as GHOSTS' and MEN’.
9. SPRITE POSITION COORDINATE VARIABLES which are reset automatically by the
control coding if the sprite crosses a screen boundary. As you move your designs, the
old' images left behind are deleted automatically as well
This amazing package includes control routines containing different combinations of the
above features - choose the routine best suited to the program you want to write. A
comprehensive colour manual, an introduction program and two arcade style
demonstration games are also included in the package. Compatibility with all other BBC
make our animation routines ideal for serious programmers - and we won't claim
royalties on programs you market using sprites!
N 8 Oise version may be bought on cassette for transferral to disc
SUPERFRUIT @ £6.95 for the BBC 32K and the Electron
£8.95 on 40 or 80 track disc
Simply the best. Full colour high resolution
graphics. Spinning reels with bounce'.
Incredible gamble effects, hold, 3 types of
gamble, swap reels, two-way nudge, nudge
gambles, coin pile that shrinks/grows, great
sound effects. Separate instruction pro-
gram. This implementation is in a class of
its own.
"You would be fully justified in
claiming that it is better than the real
thing” M. Field. Oxford.
Screen photograph
CASTAWAY & £8 95 for the BBC 32K , £1 1 95 on disc
The Three Island Adventure
A beautifully designed adventure with a
wealth of puzzles of logic, imagination and
wit Tackle beanstalks, irate gardeners and
prigish chemistry teachers! Brilliant use
has been made of sound and Mode 7
graphics with full screen pictures. Set in
varied terrain, from sanddunes to
mansions, the adventure provides an
exciting range of locations through which
the castaway must pass in search of
priceless treasure and cryptic clues.
Screen photograph
To order send cheque/P.O. to:
SIMONSOFT, 25 TATHAM ROAD
ABINGDON, OXON 0X14 1QB
TEL: 0235 24140
PROGRAMMERS - WE PAY 30% ROYALTIES FOR
EXCELLENT PROGRAMS
ACORN USER JULY 1984
17
ELECTRON SPECIAL ■
EXPANSION FACTOR
What does the Plus-1 add to the Elk?
Bruce Smith makes the connection
P LUS-1, the long-awaited Acorn
interface for the Electron, has
arrived, and without any of the
delays that beset the computer industry
these days. It adds the following capa-
bilities to the Elk:
• Two cartridge slots for ROM-based
software.
• A parallel printer port.
• Four eight bit analogue-to-digital
input channels.
Aesthetically the interface is without
frills but it complements the Electron to
provide a neat and professional unit.
Connecting the Plus-1 to the Elk is ex-
tremely simple and no difficulty should
be encountered.
First, the plastic cover on the expan-
sion bus must be removed to expose
the edge connector. With both units
upside-down, the protruding front edge
of the interface is pushed over the
expansion bus and into the recess at
the rear underside of the computer.
Fixing the Plus-1 to the Elk is done
with the aid of a coin! Two large bolts
locate into the threaded holes in the
Elk’s case. The connection is firm and
only a slight flexing is possible, so no
problems with data corruption should
be encountered. Once in place, the
Plus-1 adds another 100 millimetres
(4in) to the depth of the computer.
Externally there are four ports, two
for the cartridge software and one each
for the printer and ADC connector.
Internally the main printed circuit
board is more spaciously laid out than
previous Acorn boards. Software for
the Centronics printer interface, the
ADC drivers and for downloading car-
tridge software were contained within
an EPROM version 1.00 on the review
.model. Apart from the ADC chip, an
ADC0844, and the OS EPROM, all
chips are soldered directly to the main
PCB.
The ROM cartridges can provide a
variety of applications, including
games, utilities and paged languages.
Supplied with the review model were
the six cartridges currently available:
Snapper, Hopper, Starship Command,
Tree of Knowledge, Countdown to
Doom and Lisp.
Two sprung flaps on the rear mark
the cartridge ports. A cartridge is in-
serted through a flap and into the
socket at the base. If two cartridges are
inserted the nearer of the two has the
higher priority and will be selected.
Once in position cartridge software
is Chained simply by pressing the
Break key, which boots the first file on
the cartridge. Language ROM car-
tridges - Lisp in the review bundle -
are switched in at &8000 and therefore
replace Basic, which can be reselected
by removing the language cartridge or
typing ‘BASIC.
The filing system used by the ROM
cartridge system is in fact the ‘ROM
filing system (RFS) as used on the
Beeb, making it a simple task for com-
mercial establishments to blow their
own cartridge ROMs. ‘CAT, LOAD and
CHAIN are all available with the RFS.
The ROM cartridges themselves are
neat, slightly smaller than a cassette
and the plug-in portion is a PCB edge
connector. An interesting aspect of
their design is that the silicon itself has
been bonded onto the main PCB and
coated with plastic to protect it, thereby
doing away with the more expensive
standard ROM packaging.
The printer port is a standard Cent-
ronics compatible parallel interface.
CTRL B (VDU2) and CTRL C (VDU3)
‘switch’ the printer on and off for print-
ing purposes, while VDU1 will send
control characters to the printer. I had
no problem using my Star Delta, and
my screen dumps performed correctly.
Several *FX commands are included
within the Plus-1 OS to help matters.
The most obvious use of the ana-
logue interface for the home user is for
connecting a joystick. Most of the
games ROM cartridges are joystick-
compatible and my Voltmace stick per-
formed as expected, and any joystick
with an impedance of at least 10 ohms
would be suitable.
The ADC channels can be read from
Basic using the ADVAL command,
while *FX16 allows channel selections
to be made. The analogue port also
allows various peripherals to be inter-
faced to the Electron, provided they are
electrically compatible.
Full details on using the ADC and
printer ports and on the cartridges are
provided in the Plus-1 User Guide. The
22-page spiral-bound volume also con-
tains lucid accounts of connecting the
Plus-1 to the Elk.
The price of the Plus-1 - £59- rep-
resents good value for a very useful
unit. Acorn has got its sums right with
the Plus-1, and it must be the first
serious buy for an Electron owner.
The Plus-1 ’s edge connector is simply pushed into the back of the Electron and bolted on
ACORN USER JULY 1984
Canon
lest Newcomer — CcVIlOH
PW1080A/1 156A Matrix Printers
variable for around £319* and £399*
★ 80 column - PW1080A
156 column — PW1 156 A
★ 160 CPS — Bi-Directional Logic
Seeking + 2k Buffer
★ Near letter quality (NLQ) printing
(23 x 18 dot matrix)
★ Friction and Tractor Feed
lest Producer — CcUIOtl
PJ1080A Colour Ink Jet Printer
variable for around £433*
★ Vivid seven colour plain paper or
transparency printing
★ 37 CPS - Quiet (50 db)
★ Hi- Res colour printing (640 dots)
111 now on general release — see them at
r our local dealer
Ex VAT
lest Distributor:-
micro Iu3
Peripheral/ ttd
19 The Street, Basing, Basingstoke, Hants. RG24 OBY
’EL: (0256) 3232 (17 lines) TELEX: 859669 MICROP G
FAX: (0256) 61570
NOMINATIONS
est Star - SHINWA
CTI CP80 Matrix Printer
r ariable for around £199*
80 CPS — Bi-Directional Logic
Seeking-80 Column
★ Friction and Adjustable Tractor
Feed
★ Hi-Res and Block Graphics
est Performer — bJUICI
JUKI 6100 Daisywheel
'ariable lor around £399*
★ 20 CPS - Bi-Directional Logic
Seeking + 2k Buffer
★ 10, 12, 15 CPI + Proportional
Spacing
★ "Drop in" Triumph Adler Daisywheel
+ IBM Ribbon
★ Supports all Wordstar features
+ Diablo 630 protocols
1984
SHINWA- ClTI
~‘'Oc
■JUKI
®M Canon
Call your local dealer NOW for full information on
Printers or clip this coupon and we'll send you brochures
and print samples.
Name Position
Company
Address
Tel No. ..
ONE YEAR GUARANTEE ONE YEAR GUARANTEE ONE YEAR GUARANTEE ONE YEAR GUARANTEE
Small business can now
stop going by the book.
tor under £1,000 a small business can now
equ ip itself with a BBC Microcomputers disc drive,
a word processor and printer.
(All tax deductible by the way.)
Once you’ve parted with that money, you’ll
find that business has never been brisker.
Because now, there’s a new series of floppy
disc software specially for the smaller business.
It has been developed by Acornsoft, the
software division of Acorn Computers who are
the manufacturers of the BBC Micro.
for only £24.95, each disc (“an store volumes
of vital bookwork which can be updated and
amended in a fraction of the conventional time.
And thereis a disc to cover most aspects of
paperwork ^^^^^^and book-keeping.
(J ^nyoiciny
• ' of ^
The Invoicing packa ge.
Phis program stores details of products, VA1
numbers and. of course, the names and addresse
of your customers. As orders
come in, you simply record
them. Then, when its time
to invoice, you just press a
few keys and each invoice
or credit note is printed
automatically in seconds.
J
Allow ing for variable terms of trading, the
system calculates and prints discounts. And it
should help to improve your cash flow dramatical!
The Order Processin g packa ge.
With this program,
you ean confirm your
customers' orders, prepare
and print despatch notes
and make fast analyses of
J
individual orders or
of all the orders
stored on disc.
The Accounts Rec eivable packa ge.
Now, it couldn't lx* easier to keej
your customer accounts under control.
In an instant, you can analyse
debtors, produce
xfCCO'^ ^
statements, keep
a check on any
credit limit and
calculate VAT out-
ut automatically,
sing this package
in conjunction with the invoicing package,
you ean also keep tabs on payments received
against payments outstanding.
The Accounts Payable
packa ge.
lis package will keep
/ou fully up-to-date
on how much you
owe and who to. In
addition, it calculates
iput VAT and, used with the Accounts Receivable
ackage, produces instant VAT returns.
It also highlights settlement discounts,
reduces remittance advices and provides an
nmediate analysis of all creditors.
Average value of the business they do with you, or
whether they are good or bad payers.
Then, when you are doing a mailing, you
simply choose the group or groups of customers
you want.
The Stock Control packa ge.
Touch a few keys and you have instant access
o stock status and auto-
natic analysis by quantity |
nd value.
Consequently, its easy i . .
or you to maintain correct -STOCK- *
tocking levels, having an C0I1TR0L
arly warning oi <>ut-ol-
J P ^ # ^
tock situations or the likelihood of over-stocking.
At £24.95 each , these packag es
could be priceless.
Each package comes with clear instructions
on how to get the program running so that you
can devote much more of your time to more
profitable activities.
I f you’re a credit card holder,you can order any
or all of the packages by ringing: 01-200 0200
anytime. Or 0933 79300 during office hours.
(By ringing the same number, you can get the
address of your nearest stockist, or full
details of the BBC Microcomputer
system if you don't already have one.)
Alternatively, you can order
the packages by sending the order
form below to: Acorn soft,
c/o Vector Marketing, Denington
Estate, Wellingborough, Northants
N1N8 2RI, Please allow 28 days
lor delivery.
Credit card holders,
phone 01-2000200, anytime.
Or 0933 79300, during office
hours.
The Purchasin g packa ge.
All your suppliers’ names and addresses go
into the disc. I hen they can be retrieved instantly
or preparing and printing
irders.
All order data can be
ecalled in seconds, allow -
ng you to check on orders,
ind suppliers’ invoices and
o record all deliveries.
To : Acornsoft, c/o Vector Marketing, Denington Estate,
Wellingborough, Northants NN8 2RL.
Please send me the following business software
packages at £24.95 each.
PROGRAM OUANTITY
Invoicing
(Code
Acornsoft
TOTAL use only.)
SNB 08
Order Processing
SNB 12
Accounts Receivable
SNB 10
Accounts Payable
SNB 13
Stock Control
SNB 1 1
Purchasing
SNB 14
Mailing
SNB 09
TOTAL
The Mailin g packa ge.
Instead of the shotgun method of sending
nailshots, this package enables you to refine each
nailing dow n to the customers who are most likely
C7 J
o respond.
It gives you a rapidly
iccessible mailing file of
reur customers, according
o any criterion you choose.
Mze of company, for inst-
mce, or type of business.
I enclose PO/cheque payable to Acornsoft Ltd. Or charge my
credit card.
Card Number.
Amex/Diners/ Visa/Access (Delete)
Please send me details of the BBC Microcomputer System □
Name
Address
Postcode
Signature
Registered No. 1524763 VAT No. 215 8123 85
>4C0RNSeFT
OUR B.B.C./ ELECTRON GAMES
Rj. ARE’NT JUST
■>k GOOD TO LOOK AT
' I; .
NIFTY LIFTY
BBC MODEL B - VB-09-32
ELECTRON - VE-04-32
PENGI
BBC A/B — 32K RAM OS1-2
VB-04-32
DARE DEVIL DENIS
BBC MODEL B-VB-03-
ELECTRON - VE-02-32
DEMOLATOR
BBC MODEL B. OS1-2
VB-10-32
SNOOKER
BBC MODEL B - VB-01-32
ELECTRON - VE-01-32
"AVAILABLE FROM ALL GOOD SOFTWARE STORES
VISIONS (SOFTWARE) FACTORY LIMITED 1 FELGATE MEWS STUDLAND STREET LONDON W6
22
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
LOW COST
WAVEFORM RECORDERS
HARDWARE
• Up to 1 Mhz sampling rate Timebase calibrated in 1 -2-5 sequence with
external timebase input facility
• Memory - 2K bytes non volatile
• Signal Input AC/DC coupled. Stepped attenuator from 5mV/Div to
5V/Div in a 1 -2-5 sequence.
• Signal Output - DC coupled to oscilloscope, or chart recorder.
• Interface - standard 8- bit parallel interface developed for BBC micro (can
be configured for use with other micros)
• Used independently of micro will convert any oscilloscope into a storage
oscilloscope
• Prices - from £31 0.00 plus VAT and carriage
SOFTWARE
SAP disc based program supplied with all BBC interfaced units features:
• Large, fast display of stored data on the monitor screen with appropriate
amplitude and timebase calibrations.
• Expansion facility of displayed data for detailed examination of sections
of the stored signal
• Measurement of displayed signal by keyboard controlled cursors.
• Storage of waveforms to floppy disc with fast random retrieval.
• Hard copy output to analogue, digital or dot matrix printer/plotter.
• Averaging routines of up to 32,000 sweeps providing improved signal/
noise ratio.
• Easy to use with detailed 22 page User Guide.
CONSOLES
As illustrated above, teak finish to house
and support complete system including
printer, portable.
26" x 1 8" x 5" approx.
MONITORS
Novex 1 2" Green Screen
Sanyo 14" Colour Monitor
Phillips 1 2" Green Screen
Fidelity 1 4" Colour Monitor/TV
PRINTERS
Epson RX80 F/T
Epson FX80
Epson FX80 Tractor Feed
Epson FX100
DISC DRIVES
CS1 00 Single with accessories
CS1 00E second unit for above
CS400 Single 400K unit
CD200 Dual unit 2 x 100K
Grafpad inc C.A.D. program
DFS Interface Kit
All prices exclusive of VAT
TO ORDER
Please complete coupon and send with remittance to
GRAFITEK ELECTRONICS LTD
FREEPOST BS 3861 , BRISTOL BS14 9BR
Tel 0272 838214 (no stamp needed)
Qty
Item
Price
Total
1 enclose my cheque/PO for £
Add
PP
VAT
Please send details of Waveform 1 1
Recorders
Total
(please tick)
Reg. Office:
10 Allanmead Road. Bristol BS149AS England.
£29.95
+
£4.50
PP
£99.00
+
£7.00
PP
£199.95
+
£7.00
PP
£85.00
+
£7.00
PP
£219.00
+
£7.00
PP
£285.00
+
£9.00
PP
£438.00
+
£9.00
PP
£32.00
+
£3.00
PP
£569.00
+
£9.00
PP
£149.00
+
£7.00
PP
£153.00
+
£7.00
PP
£215.00
+
£7.00
PP
£305.00
+
£8.00
PP
£125.00
+
£7.00
PP
£95.00
+
£2.00
PP
BBC 32k Electron
Imaginative educational programmes from
LEARN WELL
DISCOVERY
An educational game to develop language skills in context Discover the
concealed answer (up to 255 characters long) to a question by either buying
letters of the alphabet from your Jackpot or inserting words. Using the
question and answer format children and adults learn words and spellings in
context. This programme is flexible enough to cope with any language level
or to cover any topic area, and will be an invaluable aid either in the classroom
or at home. Already used in schools throughout the country
Ideal for group or individual use for anyone over the age of seven
Full instructions supplied Cassette price £9.50 inc.
SHAPE
Children distinguish between shapes and sizes as they create stunning full
colour designs or pictures directly through the keyboard Creations can be
constructed using circles, squares and triangles or from using three thick-
nesses of line Text also available You may save your masterpieces on tape
when you have finished. No expensive extras to buy
Full instructions supplied Cassette price £8.00 inc.
ZARGON
Defend the city against the Zargon attack
A letter recognition/keyboard trainer which gets faster as you get faster
9 levels of difficulty Superb graphics Cassette price £4.99 inc.
I-SPY
(A game for two players)
A combination of I -Spy and Snakes and Ladders, you take it in turn to guess
the word the computer is thinking of from the sound blend clues Get the
answer right and you move up the board. Land on a diamond and up you go
again If you get the answer wrong don't worry, you will be given more clues.
Contains 1 80 graded words Colour and soft-sounds
Value at only £4.99 inc.
CRUISER
A number equaliser that teaches the concept of addition and subtraction as
children play Add or subtract from a number to line up on a target
Nice graphics and sound 2 levels of difficulty Value at £4.99 inc.
SUM UP
1 0 level of integer arithmetic ( + , - , * , - ) laid out in conventional form
Realistic rewards. Cassette price £4.00 inc.
ALL PROGRAMMES DEVELOPED AND
TESTED IN CLASSROOMS
Available now from
LEARN WELL
152 Westmorland Road, Wyken, Coventry CV2 5BU
Please send details of your machine with cheques, P O s etc.
BBC 32k Electron
Authorised Dealer & Service Centre
IIM
ID -SUSSEX
^Bicorn
computer
BBC
, 4 k.
MICROCOMPUTER TORCH
range of unitors,
On site of educational!
• SOFT WffZVenftackages
Games/ Business
> COURSES B e ginners
tSSSUff^-
rSSZSSt*
PHONE
BURGESS HILL 1
( 04446 )
45636 ,
Visit our New Computer Store
michael
business Systems I M 1
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
23
Electronequip
(Authorised BBC Dealer, and service centre)
SOFTWARE
(A few examples from our range of 1 ,000 +
titles)
Ex VAT
Inc VAT
BCAFCHIC
A & F Software Chuckle Egg
687
7 90
BCAKMUNG
ASK Number Gulper f XRB1 3)
8 65
9 95
BCALBUGB
Alligata Software Bug Blaster
691
7 95
BCALLUNA
Alhgata Software Lunar Rescue (B007)
691
7 95
BCAMCALC
Ampalsoft Cheshire Cat Calculus 0 level
6 04
6 95
BCAS100P
Acornsott 100 Programs for BBC Micro
10 00
11 50
BCASAVIA
Acomsoft Aviator flight simulator SBG02
13 00
14 95
BCASJCBD
Acornsofl JCB Digger (SBG09I
8 65
9 95
BCBETIM1
BES Timeman One IXBE05I
7 80
8 97
BCBSWHIT
BBCsoft White Knight Mark Eleven (B)
10 00
1 1 50
BCFBSTF0
First Byte Star Force Lander
6 04
6 95
BCGACHEE
Garland Software Chemical Equatons
11 26
12 95
BCGEBEEB
Gemini Beebcalc (Spreadsheet!
17.35
19 95
BCGEBEEP
Gemini Beebplot (Graph Plot)
1735
19 95
BCGGNUMB
Griffin & George Numbertun
8 65
9 95
BCGHTALP
Good Houseke s Mr Ts Alphabet
1 1 26
12 95
BCGR0RBI
Graph Research Orbit 0
8 65
9 95
BCHIFIRE
Highlight Software Firefight
6 52
7 50
BCH0BEGA
Honeyfold Beginners Assembly Language
1424
1495
BCHSPENG
H Soft Penguin
7 75
8 91
BCIBDATI
Ivan Berg Dating Game (XBX08)
11 00
1265
BCIJATLA
IJK Atlantis tor BBC 11 4)
565
6 50
BCJ0YSTI
Joystick Utility program for BBC
5 95
6 84
BCKAGALA
Kansas Galactic Firebird
8 25
9 49
BCKAPINB
Kansas Pinball Arcade
8 25
9 49
BCKDPASS
Kay Dee Software Pass Go
8 50
9 78
BCK0FREB
Kosmos Software French Mistress B
8 65
9 95
BCK0GERA
Kosmos Software German Master A
8 65
9 95
BCL9SN0W
Level 9 Snowball (B)
861
9 90
BCMHH0BB
Melbourne House Hobbit
1300
14 95
BCMRGRST
Micrex Grafstik drawing package
691
7 95
BCMSFIRS
Mirrorsoft First Steps with the Mr Men
7 78
8 95
BCPPGH0U
Program Power Ghouls
691
7 95
BCPPINTE
Program Power Intergalactic Trader (Bl
7 78
8 95
BCPPMAZE
Program Power Maze Invaders (Bl
5 17
595
BCPPSPAC
Program Power Space Jailer IB)
6 04
6 95
BCPSVUCA
Psion VU Calc
13 00
14 95
BCQSBEEB
Quicksilva Beeb Art (B)
13 00
14 95
BCQSMUSI
Ouickshva Music Processor (B)
13 00
14 95
BCRHSKIS
RH Software Ski Slalom I RHS002C)
7 78
8 95
BCSHGBLT
Simon W Hessel GB Ltd
6 04
6*95
BCSIATTA
Software Invasion Attack on Alphacentun
691
7 95
BCSIEAGl
Software Invasion Eagles Wing IB)
691
7 95
BCSIGUNS
Software Invasion Gunsmoke
691
7 95
BCSMDIS
Simonsoft Disassembler
691
7 95
BCSSCENT
Superior Software Centipede
6 91
7 95
BCSSCRAZ
Superior Software Crazy Painter
691
7 95
BCSTDRAU
Stack Lightpen Software Draughts IB)
5 00
5.75
BCSUGRAS
Suits Software Grammar Tree Sentences
8 65
9 95
BCSUW0RD
Subs Software Wordpower
8 65
9 95
BCVMDELT
Voltmace Delta Driver Cassette
5 17
5 95
BDASACCP
Acornsoft Mirle Accounts Payable (SNB1 3)
21 70
24 95
BDBBMAST
Beebugsoft Masterhle I40T)
1650
18 98
BDBBVIEW
Beebugsoft View Spellcheck (40T)
16 50
18 98
BDCLKEY
Clares (The) Key (Format & Backup)
11 26
12 95
BDCLEEPL
Clares Replica (8/1 0 programs to 1 disc)
1043
11 99
BDCYFAYR
CYB Design Services Payroll
43 43
49 94
BDE0W0RD
Clwyd Technics Edward User (ROM + Disc)
51 95
59 74
BDELUT18
Electronequip BBC Utility 1 format (80T)
8 65
9 95
BDELVIF4
Electronequip VIEW Printer Drivers (40T)
12 00
1380
B0ELVIP8
Electronequip VIEW Printer Drivers (80T)
12 00
13 80
BOHSLETB
Highlight Software Leiterbugs
7 82
8 99
BDVMCEL8
Voltmace Delta Joystick Driver Disc 80T
7 79
8 95
PRINTERS
| Printer Interfaces
Ex VAT
Inc VAT
PIEPPB08
Epson Printer Bufler/Spooler 8K Parallel
75 00
86 25
PIEPPB16
Epson Printer Buffer/Spooler 16K Parallel
85 00
97 75
PIEPPB32
Epson Printer Buffer/Spooler 32K Parallel
105 00
120 75
PIEPPB64
Epson Printer Buffer/Spooler 64K Parallel
145 00
166 75
PTBHR15
Brother HR 1 5 1 3cps Daisy Wheel Printer
399 00
458 85
PTCP80
CP 80 80cps Printer (MX 80 type III!
199 00
228 85
PTDS2000
Daisy Step 2000 Daisy Wheel Printer 20cp
299 00
343 85
PTFX100
Epson FX 1 00 1 60cp$ ( 1 6" Dot matrix printer)
51500
592 25
PTFX80
Epson FX80 160cps Printer
399 00
458 85
PTINTEGE
Integrex Colour Jet Printer 37cp$
489 00
562 35
PTJ6100
Juki 6 1 00 Daisy Wheel Printer 1 8cps
390 00
448 50
PTJP101
BBC Spark-Jet Printer
299 00
343 85
PTKP810
Kaga.Taxan KP810 140cps (Letter Quality 1
299 00
343 85
PTKP910
Kaga, Texan KP9 1 0 1 40cps L0 Printer 1 7 "
399 00
458 85
PTMCP40
MCP 40 Printer/Plotter (4 Colours)
113 00
129 95
1 PTMX100
Epson MX 1 00 Type 3 Printer
445 00
511 75
PTMX80
Epson MX 80F/T 80cps Dot matrix printer
299 00
343 85
PTRX100
Epson RX 1 00F/7 Printer 1 0Ocps Frict/Tr
41000
471 50
PTRX80
Epson RX 80 Printer 1 OOcps
259 00
297 85
PTRX80FT
Epson RX 80F7 Printer 1 0Ocps 1 Frict/Tr)
27900
320 85
PTSDEL10
Star Delta 1 0 1 60cps Printer ( 8K buffer)
345 00
396 75
PTSDP510
Star DP5 1 0 1 0Ocps 2k Buffer Frict7racto
289 00
332 35
PTSDP515
Star 0P515 1 0Ocps 15" Printer (MX 1 00)
399 00
458 85
PTSGE10X
Star Gemini 1 0X 1 20cps Punter
21900
251 85
PT71040
TEC F 1 0 40 40cps Daisy Wheel Printer
128500
1477 75
PHI 055
TEC FI 0-55 55cps Daisy Wheel Printer
167500
1926 25
PTT15002
TEC 1 500 25 Daisy Wheel Printer 25cps
59900
688 85
PTTC01R
Torch Colour Printer
1550 00
1782 50
WORN
COMPUTER
k
rMJ-UU'UJ
1 4" TV/Monitor £21 3.00 + VAT
Monitors
Ex VAT
Inc f
MNB12E
BMC 1 2E Green Monitor 1 8MH/
99 00
113
MNCE370A
Cable CE 370A Colour RBG Monitor
169 00
194
MNK12A
Kaga, Taxan K 1 2A 1 2 " Orange Monitor
11300
129
MNK12G
Kaga Taxan K1 2G 12" Green Monitor
99 00
113
MNKVIS1
KagaTaxan Vision 1 RGB Mon ILow Res )
199 00
226
MNKVIS2
Kaga/Taxan Vision II RGB Mon (Medium)
285 00
327
MNKVIS3
Kaga.Taxan Vision III RGB Mon (Hi Res I
399 00
458
MNKX1201
Kaga. Taxan KX 1 20 1 G 1 2 " Green Monitor P3 1
99 00
113
MNKX1202
Kaga.Taxan KX1 202G 1 2" Green Monitor P39
11300
129
MNKX1203
Kaga, Taxan KX1 203A 1 2" Amber Monitor
11300
129
MNM1431
Microvitec 1 43 1 1 4" Colour Monitor IBBC)
199 00
226
MNM1431A
Microvitec 1431 14" PAL Audio Col Mon
225 00
258
MNM1431Z
Microvitec 1431 ,'MZ RBG Composite Monitor
225 00
258
MNM1441
Microvitec 1 44)' High Res 1 4" BBC Monitor
440 00
50fi
MNM1451
Microvitec 1451 Medium Res 14" BBC Monitor
299 00
343
MNN1534
Nordmende 14" TV Monitor
21300
244
MNN3534
Nordmende 14" TV Monitor with remote con
234 00
269
MNN3536
Nordmende 16" TV Monitor with remote con
31000
356
MNN4430
Nordmende 20" Prestige TV Monitor remote con
41700
479
MNN4432
Nordmende 22" Prestige TV Monitor remote con
Noidmeride 27 " Prestige TV Monitor remote con
458 00
526
MNN443 1
51200
588
MNSM12M
Sanyo SMI 2N Green Monitor 1 5MH;
79 00
90
CUMANA
Disc Drives
DDAND01
DDAND02
DDCASE
DDCD200
DDCD400
DDCD400S
DDCD800
DDCD800S
DDCDX200
DDCDX400
DDCDX800
DDCS100
DDCS200
DDCS400
DDCSX1 00
DDCSX200
DDCSX400
BBC 1 QOK Single Disc Drive (ANDO 1 1
BBC 800K Dual Disc Drive IAN002I
Disc Drive Case for 5 25" 1 2 height dr
Cumana 200K dual disc drive 40T
Cumana 400K dual disc drive 80T
Cumana 400K dual disc drive 40 80T
Cumana 800K dual disc drive 80T
Cumana 800K dual disc drive 40 80T
Cumana 200K dual disc drive 40T No PSU
Cumana 400K dual disc drive 80T No PSU
Cumana 800K dual disc duve 80T no PSU
Cumana 1 00K single disc drive 40T
Cumana 200K single disc drive 80T
Cumana 400K single disc drive 80T
Cumana 1 00K single disc drive 4QT No PSU
Cumana 200K single disc drive 80T No PSU
Cumana 400K single disc drive 80T No PSU
Ex VAT
21750
607 83
680
305 00
386 00
46900
431 00
499 00
29800
386 00
430 00
169.00
209 00
233 00
14900
193 00
21500
TORCH
COMPUTERS *-i «i-*
Perfectly Made in Britain
4
Torch Computers
TC301
TC303
TC350
TC353
TC68000
TC68020
TC725
TC725U
TCCNET
TCF500
TCFS500
TCH520
TCHDR68K
TCH0PZ80
TCHS520
ICMC240
TCUNICOR
TCZ80SP
TDZ80DP
Torch Work Station (No monitor! <301 1
Torch Work Station with T0SCA (No mon )
Torch Computer twin 400K (new stylet
Torch Computer twin 400K & T0SCA (grey!
Torch Computer Twin 400K Floppy * 68000
Torch Computer 20Mb Hard Disc . 68000
Torch Computer 20MB lwm400K • 68000
Torch Computer 20Mb 2x400K 68000 * Unn
Torch C NET Upgrade from CPN to MCP
Torch Computer twin floppies ICF500)
Torch Computer twin 400K & T0SCA CFS500
Torch Computet 20Mb Winchester CH520
Torch 20Mb. 400K Floppy Z80& 68000
Torch 20Mb Hard disc. 400K Floppy * Z80
Torch Computer 20Mb Hard Disc & TOSCA
Torch Colour Monitor MC240 for 301 & 303
Torch Unicorn 20Mb 400K Z80 68K • Unix
Torch Z80 Second Processor (ZEP100I
Torch Z80 Disc Pack I800K Dual - Z80>
Ex VAT
1244 00
1449 00
2250 00
2455 00
3550 00
5900 00
5650 00
6050 00
85 00
2950 00
3150 00
5650 00
2495 00
2295 00
5850 00
575 00
2895 00
375 00
695 00
Inc V
250
699
7
350
443
539
495
573
342
443
494
194
240
267
171
221
247
Inc VA
1430 6
1666 3
2587 5
2823 2
4082 5
6785 0
6497 5
6957 5
97 7
3392 5
3622 5
6497 5
2869 2
2639 2
6727 5
661 2
3329 2
431 2
7992
Electronequip
36-38 West Street, Fareham, Hants (0329) 230670
i Kings Lynn Branch
kTel: 0553 3782 ^
m bbc W
24
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
Electronequip
(Authorised BBC Dealer, and service centre)
NEW EXTENDED
TEL. ORDER SERVICE
6 sales lines manned to
10.00pm Monday to Friday
* SPECIAL OFFERS
Mail order only
EPSON
RX-80FT £245.52 + VAT
FX-80 £365.09 ^ VAT
Printer price includes cable for BBC and screen
dump rom is available for £7.50
VOLTMACE DELTA 14B
*10% off listed prices
SV0LT14 Voltmace Delta 14B Joysticks 13 00 14 95
SVOLTAD Voltmace 14B/1 Adaptor Box 12.91 1485
Prices subject to variation without prior notification
TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME
Access & Barclaycard Accepted
Large Stocks - 24 Hour Despatch
Carriage 50p
WACORU
COMPUTER
2 FREE ACORNSOFT
GAMES WITH EVERY
BBC SOLD *
W /
Electronequip is an authorised Acorn service centre
and has been an Acorn dealer since the introduction
of the Atom. Our demonstration facilities include 20
station Econet and Torchnet systems.
Ref.
BBC Micros
Ex VAT
Inc VAT
ANB01
BBC Model B Micro Computer
348.26
399 00
ANB02
BBC Model B with Econet Interface
389.14
446 00
ANB03
BBC Model B with Disc Interface
426.59
489 00
ANB04
BBC Model B with Disc & Econet Interface
467 45
536 00
3" Micro Disc £129.95
(inc. VAT)
Disc Interface &
Drive
£198.95 (inc. VAT)
Micro Disc Drive for the BBC Micro
The Micro disc drive offers a method of low cost quick access to
programs The drive is essentially a small version of a 5}" disc
drive and offers similar features to the larger drive.
The data is stored on a 3" disc, this is enclosed in a protective
hard plastic cassette which features a write protect switch.
The micro drive requires the standard Acorn disc interface, but a
new disc filing system rom Acorn DFS may be exchanged for the
micro DFS for £12.00. The new micro disc filing system can read
and write to Acorn DFS discs.
Thus if a 51 inch and a micro floppy were connected on the same
cable files could be transferred between them.
Capacity: 80 64 K bytes Transfer Rate: 125k bit/s.
BRANCHES
FAREHAM: 59 WEST STREET (0329) 230670
KINGS LYNN: 17 TENNYSON AVE. (0553) 3782
MAIL ORDER: 36-38 WEST STREET
FAREHAM, HANTS. (0329) 230670
o
Electronequip
36-38 West Street, Fareham, Hants (0329) 230670
Kings Lynn Branch
Tel: 0553 3782 ^
]%
w-
BBC
ACORN USER JULY 1984
25
6 little bit of magic
from
MERLIN COMPUTER PRODUCTS
AIM UNBEATABLE COMBINATION! A WORD PROCESSOR
AND DATABASE WHICH CAN BE INTEGRATED.
MERLIN SCRIBE
The first professiona
word /#
processor
for the
BBCdisc^^^^^
system
Among the many features available are:
• Create up to 255 pages in a single document.
• Screen user selectable 40 or 80 column with choice of
background and text colours.
• Insert text at any page on the document whether
currently in memory or not.
• Powerful editing commands:
Move, copy and delete with affected text displayed in
reverse video. Will move or copy within a page or to any
other page in the document.
• Word search and replace — item by item or globally
throughout the document.
• "Go to page" — next and previous using up and down
cursor keys or go directly to page numbers
• On screen underlining.
• Format line controls document width and allows setting
of right and left margins.
• Tabs set on format line as required.
• Automatic centre and decimal tab.
• Text reformatting.
• Split page and dynamic page break display.
• Word count and display of cursor position by column & line
number.
• Will use disc surfaces 0 to 3 as allowed by the BBC system.
• All disc filing operations menu driven, eg. re-name, copy,
delete document, compact and catalogue disc, etc. No
knowledge of the disc system required.
• Exec document — allows conversion of BASIC programs
for editing byword processor and then re-conversion back to
either text or program files.
• File merge — one or more documents or other text files
may be merged in sequence from any disc drive between 0
and 3.
• Automatic page numbering with page number insertion
at any point on the page.
• Headers and footers.
• Total facility print module including selection of serial or
parallel output, global printer control codes, page numbering
offset, print from page to page, repeat print, etc.
• Selection of up to nine user definable keys for insertion of
printer control codes into text, with up to five codes
allocated to each key.
• Control number of page display lines for scroll speed
increase.
The program comes attractively packaged in a simulated
leather grain wallet which contains the manual, disc, chip &
function key legend strip.
MERLIN DfiTRBfiSE
Merlin Database is a database system designed
exclusively for the BBC disc based computer. It provides
for the structural input of text and numerical data
which Is stored permanently as a record on the
computer. A group of records constitutes a
database. Any number of databases may be
^created using Merlin Database.
Once created there are sophisticated facilities
available for searching, selecting and drawing off
information from the database by means of defining
the search characteristics. This information can then
be formatted for producing printed reports, lists etc.
Performance
• Maximum records per database 4000 • Maximum
record size 1800 characters • Maximum no. of fields 32
• Maximum no. of characters for any single field 900
• Find any record in 2 seconds via key field access
• Search every character in a 1 00 kb database in 29 secs
Field Types
• Numeric — up to 9 digits • Date
• Sub fields for economic disc usage i.e. specify average
& maximum field size
Data Search
• Search results directory held with database on disc
• Data can be passed to mail merge and report writer
• 16 level conditional search
• Search conditions include not', >,<, = .
• Wildcard
• Database automatically sorted by key field
• Databasse can be set to re-sort to any alternative set of
key fields
Report Writing
• Database will integrate with Merlin Scribe word
processor
• Format printer output with simple forms editor
• High powered forms layout & editing using Scribe (alls. rt.
justify)
• Arithmetic calculations & accumulators
• Conditional report writing
• Semi programming facility for forms & report generation
Other Facilities
• Mail merge using Scribe • Conditional mail merge
• Automatic reformating of lines • Capable of conditional
transfer of information between databases.
Database comes in chip with manual, simple fitting
instructions & systems disc. Also planned Is the production of
Database integrated with the Merlin Scribe word processor in
a single chip although the database is designed to integrate
easily with Scribe in a separate chip.
MERLIN DATABASE €49.00
MERLIN SCRIBE £59.95
MERLIN SCRIBE/DATABASE €95.00
Prices include VAT. Price and specification subject to change
without prior notice.
Credit card orders accepted. Special discounts for
educational establishments and dealers.
MERLIN COMPUTER PRODUCTS (BUCON LTD)
35/36 SINGLETON STREET, SWANSEA SA1 3QN
Tel: (0792)467980 (3 lines)
26
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
C ommunications for home
computer users by satellite,
cable and cellular radio is not just
a distant possibility: it’s happening
now. On the following pages Joe Tel-
ford and Paul Curtis and Elliot Hessew
look at the finer details of connecyffl
personal computers to the
switched telephone network (Pjf
it is known). The best is ye
however, as faster, cheapej^^^^^^H
widely available
cation come on strearjj^^me marjj
facturers such as Torcn and Com n^H
dore have taken the initiative and
vided PSTN-based services for traH |
customers already. Torch’s Torch- jjm
allows users of its business-orie SS
computers to exchange messages
software automatically, even when t^B
machines are left unattended. TlB]
allows the computers to communica^H
when calls are cheap and with minimal
effect on other telephone users. B
One of the major new ideas in com-
puter communications is distributed
systems: the splitting of a large or com-
plex task among a number of com-
puters. This is logical for humans; only
a moment’s reflection brings examples
such as the typing pool to mind. How-
ever, in the past computers have
tended to be too expensive for all but
the richest users to be able to exploit
distributed computing. The advent of
the microprocessor has changed all
this.
Where a computer needs to ex-
change data with another distant com-
puter, the PSTN provides a simple
enough method. By merely adding a
modem to most computers it is possible
to send and receive data this way.
Systems such as Micronet and bulletin
boards are now very popular as a way
for micro users to swap programs,
hints and gossip. As the ways that we
connect computers together improve,
so we can expect to see more sophisti-
cated uses of computers. It would be I
nice if you could leave your computer a I
list of things you want to know when you I
go to bed, and wake up the following I
morning to find your questions I
answered. This is what the TorclJ
machines can do now.
A disadvantage of today ’ 0
computers is that if the centj^i
breaks down all users
come this problem
formation that wad
a number o
complic
not necessarily affect so many
Qsers. The second useful effect of dis-
tributed computing is the sharing of
expensive resources such as hard
discs or high-quality printers. Local
area networks such as Econet permit
(machine
&r. To over-
scan split the In-
Want to store among
|Bachines. This obviously
pPffcs retrieving the information,
me new ideas irycontact-by-compM
sharing of this
but obviou
country
Tnd on the small scale
we cannot wire the whole
Sto an Econet.
PSTN is an obvious medium to
Use when introducing a distributed
system. It is not really effective as a
medium for high-speed data though, so
further improvements are needed. Two
new developments seem likely to be of
help.
First, the introduction of cable TV will
provide many homes with a very
efficient medium right into the front
nportant difference
between cable and ordinary broadcast
TV is that cable users can answer back.
Initially, cable companies will use this
facility to let viewers vote on programs
and answer quizzes from their arm-
chairs. It is also an almost perfect way
of sending computer data, and a fast
one at that.
The other important new service is
the introduction of cellular radio. This
technique lets telephone users move
around wherever they choose by using
a hand-held or car telephone. The
cellular radio control system will then
route calls to them automatically. To
begin with it will provide only a voice
service just like the PSTN, but the oper-
ating companies are looking hard at the
possibility of sending computer data
too. Connecting telephone and tele-
vision all around the world will link
every subscriber with common data
channels. The possibilities are mind-
boggling -it’s really just a question of
how many users are willing to exercise
their wallets.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
COMMUNICATIONS I
T HE TV production team working on
the BBC's Computer Literacy Pro-
ject has been using the telephone
system to send data backwards and for-
wards in their work for some time.
Robin Mudge, director of the recent
Computers in Control series, and Clive
Williamson, his assistant, are old
hands atelectronic mail and its uses.
For Robin, the worst part of being an
assistant producer used to be script
writing; not thinking of the ideas but the
act of setting pen to paper. Each pro-
gramme script has to be re-written
many times as ideas develop, a thought
he found depressing at best. However,
Robin soon discovered wordprocess-
ing through Wordwise and Wewonthe
BBC micro, and found them real life-
savers. He could really enjoy writing,
but quickly discovered limitations.
Time spent out of the office researching
stories meant no wordprocessor, as
the BBC micro is not exactly ideal for
carrying around. But the advent of port-
able micros, and British Telecom’s
electronic mail service called Gold,
meant he could write on location and
send the text back to base, where it
could be worked on by a BBC micro.
The first useful portable computer
was the Epson HX20. This was quickly
followed by the Tandy model 100 and
the NEC PC8201A and more recently
the Sharp PC5000. Both the Tandy and
NEC have large liquid crystal displays
showing 40 columns by eight lines and
come with limited wordprocessing and
communications software. The latter
enables the portable micro to commu-
nicate with another computer over the
phone lines via an acoustic coupler.
The coupler has two rubber cups that fit
tightly over the mouth- and earpieces of
an ordinary telephone handset, insulat-
ing it from sounds other than those
produced by a small loudspeaker
and microphone which transmit and
receive the audible tones used to carry
data. The Sharp PC5000 is one of the
latest portables and although heavier
than other lap computers, it has all the
facilities of a 16-bit desk-top machine
with an 80 column by eight line LCD dis-
play and runs application software
from magnetic bubble cartridges,
including a powerful wordprocessor
and the essential communications soft-
ware.
Robin prepares text on the portable
and sends it over the phone into BT’s
electronic mail system. This can be
done anywhere in the world as long as
a telephone is available. At any time
the BBC model B back at base can be
connected to the electronic mail
service and text loaded from it into a
View or Wordwise file. Of course the
system works in both directions, so
messages can be sent to anybody. All
REMOTE
Paul Curtis and Elliot Hessey monito
the members of the BBC’s Computer
Literacy team have an electronic mail-
box and so can communicate with each
other at any time.
Robin says the
transmits at about seven characters
per second. Communicator's para-
meters can be changed easily using a
function-key driven menu to alter
things like send and receive rates,
screen display and telecommuni-
cations protocols. Once it has been set
up, all the parameters can be saved as
a file on disc or tape, and loaded in
each time you switch on!’
The modem’s default
conditions are
system offers a great deal of flexibility.
’First, it gives users a great deal of free-
dom; you can move around with peace
of mind knowing you are in contact with
the office at all times. Second, it offers
enormous flexibility in the use of differ-
ent machines and software within the
same group. As long as the micros can
all talk to the electronic mail computer,
text from any number of different
machines and wordprocessing pack-
ages can be freely interchanged and
merged. Of course it does have its
drawbacks -you can’t hide away! Gold
can even tell the sender if you have
read your messages. Also, I like my
portable so much that it’s difficult to
stay in the office when the sun shines.’
In the comfort of his home in London,
Clive Williamson uses a BBC micro to
get at the information on Telecom Gold.
His model B is fitted with a Computer
Concepts Communicator ROM, and a
modem. Both Communicator and
modem can be set up to operate with a
range of baud rates, so the system can
work with either the 1200/75 or 300/300
standards available on Telecom Gold.
To keep phone bills down,' Clive
confides, ‘I use the 1200/75 baud rate
when I’m expecting to receive Robin’s
text, and 300/300 to send it back in its
augmented form. A long file would take
ages to send at 75 baud, which only
suitable for 1200/75
operation on Telecom Gold, so Clive
has to load in a file he has called ‘300/
300’ to work at the alternate rate. He
also has to change some settings on
the front of the modem to match the out-
put from the BBC micro’s RS423 serial
interface.
Having sorted out his equipment,
Clive dials the Telecom Gold computer,
and as soon as he hears the carrier
tone, switches the modem on line and
replaces the telephone handset. The
modem then maintains the connection,
and Clive can log on to the system
using his own account number and
password. The modem gives a very re-
liable link to the BT computer because
it makes a direct connection with the
telephone line, but for this reason it is
essential to obtain BT approval to use
it.
The text file from Telecom Gold is in
the form of a stream of ASCII charac-
ters and Communicator turns the BBC
micro into a ‘terminal’ to receive the
file, and display it on the screen. The
text can also be printed out, or
ACORN USER JULY 1984
COMMUNICATIONS
POSSIBILITIES
an application for electronic mail that involves strict deadlines
spooled’ to disc using the function
keys. Once Clive has stored the file on
disc, he can send notes to other users
on the system before signing off to
begin work on Robin’s text. A spooled
file can be read back into either Word-
wise or View. Clive uses Viewto make
his additions to the text, because of its
extra functions like search, change or
optional replace; and its 80 character
display. When the additions have been
made, he saves the work by opening a
new file with 'SPOOL, and then uses
View's screen command to save
another ASCII file on disc with a new
file-name.
‘The new file could then be sent
straight back to Robin on Telecom Gold
Epson HX20: a 16k, eight-bit portable with
built-in printer and microcassette recorder
running a communications software pack-
age from Transam in ROM. This package
enables the little printer to print 80 charac-
ter pages sideways! Optional extras include
floppy disc and TV display. Starting price
£480
Sendata 700B acoustic coupler. Supplied
with rechargeable nickel-cadmium batter-
ies and charger. Approx £250
Clive Williamson with his BBC model B and
modem running Computer Concepts’s Com-
municator ROM
Robin Mudge with his Sharp PC5000 port-
able computer on Bank Holiday location!
Using an acoustic coupler, the portable
micro can talk to the British Telecom elec-
tronic mail computer anywhere
for him to read and revise’, says Clive,
‘but I usually tidy it up first by running it
through Wordwise. That way I can
remove the unwanted carriage returns
and the View command page heading
that always creep into the file before
you can use 'SPOOL to close it. ’
It seems that Wordwise provides the
easiest medium for handling files from
Telecom Gold, because its menu has a
trouble-free option to read files in and
spool them out again without the intro-
duction of any extraneous characters.
‘Using both View and Wordwise is a
luxury,’ explains Clive, ‘and Wordwise
alone would be quite sufficient!’ With
the new file on disc, Clive re-dials the
Telecom Gold number (for the faster
300/300 rate this time) and logs on
again to send the revised work to
Robin’s account number using 'EXEC
through another of
Communicator's
options.
The receiving and sending pro-
cedure can be repeated as often as
necessary to finish the work, with Robin
picking up the text whenever he
happens to be near a phone. Once fina-
lised, the file can be printed out in the
office and used as required. Clive
recently wrote a piece for Acorn User ,
and was able to beat the post by send-
ing it to the Editor’s Telecom Gold
account number, where it could be
retrieved for immediate editing on a
wordprocessor.
This approach to using telecommuni-
cations may seem a little ambitious for
home users of the BBC micro, but it
parts, transmit-
ter and receiver, which are joined by a
flexible concertina-type section. This
enables the coupler to fit a wide range
of different handsets. It is clearly
marked to show which way the tele-
phone receiver should be fitted. The
snug-fitting rubber cups insulate the
has obvious implications for small-
business users, particularly those with
‘reps’ on the road. Reports and mess-
ages can easily be relayed over the
system, irrespective of time differ-
ences between countries or people not
being available at a particular time.
Each user simply logs on to see what
messages are waiting, and file a report
if required. The cost of joining Telecom
Gold is currently quite high (around
£100 for the first month), but once some
user groups have been set up (in the
same way that Micronet 800 is avail-
able for microcomputer owners on
Prestel) the price to the individual
could drop. Then we would see the
system in much wider use, and once
that happens, electronic mail will cer-
tainly be hereto stay.
SENDATA 700B ACOUSTIC COUPLER
THE Sendata 700B is a compact battery
operated acoustic coupler for use with
any computer having an RS232 inter-
face. It comes in one of two preset baud
rates, 300 send and 300 receive for
normal data transmission and 1200
send and 75 receive for use with Pres-
tel-type services. The body of the
coupler is made of two
ACORN USER JULY 1984
CHESHIRE CAT
EDUCATIONAL SERIES
from
AMPALSOFT
CHESHIRE CAT
The First name in Educational Software.
An exciting range of top quality programs
Available for BBC, Electron, Dragon 64, Dragon 32.
Available shortly for Commodore 64, Spectrum 48K.
RETAILER ENQUIRIES WELCOME
Ampal Computer Services Ltd.,
31 Woodbridge Road, Darby Green, Blackwater,
Camberley, Surrey.
Tel: (0252) 876677.
COMMUNICATIONS
phone from outside noises that could
interfere with data transmissions.
Rechargeable batteries are contained
within it and an external recharging
unit is supplied. There is a small switch
on the transmitter section that changes
the operating mode from originate to
answer. Using two of these couplers,
computers can communicate directly,
one originating data and the other
answering it. Cost about £250.
MINOR MIRACLES WS2000
THE Minor Miracles WS2000 is one rep-
resentative from the 'new wave’ of low-
cost modems currently appearing, and
offers more facilities than most. At the
moment, however it awaits British
Telecom approval.
COMMUNICATOR
Computer Concepts’ Communicator
program is supplied as a 16k plug-in
EPROM, and is ideal for use with
modems. In its basic configuration it
Sharp PC5000: this 128k, 16-bit machine has
an 80-character by eight-line display and
optional thermal printer running Super-
writer software under MS-DOS. Options
include 128k bubble memory packs, 64k
expansion RAM modules, floppy disc
drives, full range of MS-DOS software.
Starting price £11 95
can be used to communicate with Tele-
com Gold at the 1200/75 rate, but its
parameters may be changed to accom-
modate many other modes of opera-
tion. It is also designed to turn the BBC
micro into a mini or mainframe ter-
minal, and can pretend to be a DEC
VT100 or VT52 terminal. This well-
designed ROM generates a series of •
clear menus to help set up the para-
meters, and these can be saved as a
file and loaded in again to speed up
future use. It is also possible to edit the
Beeb’s user-definable function keys to
generate strings, such as ID codes for
logging onto particular computers.
Communicator works with the
second processor, but current versions
will not reset when the micro’s BREAK
key is pressed. It works perfectly with
an unexpanded BBC micro, however,
and normally gives a pleasant white-
on-blue 80 column display. Communi-
cator costs £69.
Computer Concepts also markets a
language ROM for the BBC micro
called Termi which costs considerably
less at £33 and offers many of the facili-
ties of Communicator but without the
frills. Termi is on an 8k EPROM and will
work with or without the second pro-
BUZZWORDS
Acoustic coupler Device for connecting a computer to the
phone lines viathe telephone handset.
Baud rate Serial transmission rate in bits per second.
BT British Telecom.
Carrier A high-pitched tone which ‘carries' the transmitted
signal.
Carrier detect An output line from the modem to the com-
puter which indicates a carrier is present.
Control register Information written to this register com-
mands the ACIA to perform certain tasks.
Dumb terminal A terminal which can only transmit and
receive. Information cannot be passed to and from printer
and discs.
Electronic mail Information sent between people using en-
tirely electronic means.
Even parity Where the total of bits set to the binary value 1
in a byte plusthe parity bit will be an even number.
Full duplex Mode of operation of a communications
system where the host computer re-transmits every
character it receives. This verifies the reception of the
characters.
Half duplex Mode of operation where the terminal prints
each character as it is sent. Half-duplex terminals on full-
duplex systems give ddoouubblleetteexxtt..
Hacker American term for hobbyist computer user
(recently associated with electronic communications in
the movie War Games)
Hardcopy Printout from a computer or generally print on
paper.
Host An answering (usually large) computer system which
you can use with aterminal.
Log off Leave a host system .
Log on Connect with a host system.
A glossary of terms used in
computerised communications
Mark Thetimeduring which a bitissetto 1.
Modem From the word modulator- demodulator. A device
which connects a computer directly to the phone lines.
Needs BT approval.
Odd parity Where the total of bits set to 1 in a byte of data
plus the parity bit will be an odd number.
Off-line When a printer or terminal is disconnected from a
host computer it is said to be 'off-line'.
On-line When a printer or terminal is connected to a host
computer it is said to be ‘on-line’.
Parity To check the integrity of data some systems include
an extra bit, called a parity bit in each word transmitted.
From this bit it is possible to tell whether the word has
been transmitted correctly.
Register (ACIA) An area of memory (1 byte) shared
between computer and ACIA.
Ring detect An output line from a modem to a computer
which indicates thatthe phone is ringing. (NB in most auto-
answer modems, the phone bell does not sound).
Smart terminal A terminal which can cope with accesses
to its own disc and printer. It can normally send and
receive wholefiles which can be stored or printed out.
Space The time during which a bit is setto 0.
Start bit The first bit transmitted serially. It indicates the
start of a word.
Status register Register in the ACIA which contains the
present state of the ACIA hardware.
Stop bit/s The last bit or two bits transmitted in the word.
Terminal A keyboard and screen or a BBC micro with
RS423 software capable of communicating with a (large/r)
computer.
Word Group of bits which make up the serial transmission
parameters for any character.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
JOE’S JOTTINGS ■
Joe Telford’s primer on turning
the Beeb into a terminal: how the
systems work, hardware, soft-
ware, and a comms simulator
LOGGING ON
O NCE upon a time when I wanted
to get text to our illustrious
Editor, I would call on the
services of a local pigeon expert and
dispatch a ‘jotting’, tied to the leg on
Acorn Fancier’s bird. However, times
have changed, and Kitty no longer
enjoys her trip to the top of Nelson’s
column to pick up the mail. Spurred on
by John Coil's article (October 82) I
have been looking at electronic mail
and information systems available to
the average Acorn user through tele-
phone links.
There are a number of services
available, including: commercial mail
order systems; bulletin boards; infor-
mation providers and electronic mail-
boxes. A system normally has one of
these as a main task, but often supports
additional features. For example,
British Telecom’s Prestel is an infor-
mation provider, but items and
services can be bought on Prestel, and
in addition mail can be sent and
received through its Microcomputing
section which has recently replaced
Micronet.
Commercial mail order
systems
An electronic mail order system allows
people to dial a distant computer which
contains a database of items, from
which to choose. Prices tend to be
always up-to-date, and customers can
be immediately informed of items out of
stock. Payment can be made by quoting
credit card numbers. Atypical example
is Distel, which contains a catalogue of
electronic components and infor-
mation. Such commercial databases
are expanding, so that in the future
many services will be available via
computer.
Bulletin boards
Many bulletin boards are run by ama-
teurs or user groups. On dialling a
bulletin board, facilities such as read-
ing messages; deleting your own
messages; writing messages and ex-
amining various activity notices are
often available. Bulletin boards seem
to be the computer user’s equivalent of
CB radio, although the American
disease of ‘handles’ is not widespread.
I don’t feel inclined to reply to The
Magnetic Surfer’ on line from Califor-
nia, but I mighttalkto ‘Ian Birnbaum' on
line from Hull. A typical board might be
Forum-80 which is based in Hull. Pres-
tel also includes closed user groups
like Micronet 800 and Viewfax. On join-
ing these, access is automatically
gained to Prestel, though not the other
way round.
Information providers
Prestel is fast being recognised as
chief among the information providers.
With appropriate software, it is poss-
ible to receive coloured teletext
screens from Prestel on a number of
topics. Prestel produces a directory of
information and news items, which is
delivered to members. One useful point
is that many companies joining Prestel
become information providers. One of
the latest is Kodak, which details its
current products as well as general
photographic hints and tips.
Electronic mailboxes
Electronic mailboxes provide a mess-
age service between subscribers
which works on the principal of sending
and receiving mail to private mail-
boxes. Such a system can contain con-
fidential information, and system oper-
ators must apply the highest standards
to achieve true data privacy. A typical
electronic mail system is British Tele-
com Gold (BTG). This allows mail to be
sent, received, deleted and carbon
copied between users. In addition, it
gives access to a noticeboard, diary
and conferencing system. BTG sub-
scribers are normally companies who
operate a user group within the system,
* j - Y >>
} far*
so one might find accounts for firms like
Acorn, BBC, MEP, Amstrad and others.
Equipment
Contacting any of the services detailed
above requires a certain amount of
equipment. The simplest needs are:
• BBC micro (model B) 4* monitor.
• Modem or acoustic coupler.
• Terminal software.
• Telephone.
The micro needs no further explana-
tion, and the telephone is an obvious
requirement.
Software must reflect your needs,
and although this article provides some
dumb terminal software, users might
find purpose-built ‘smart packages’ (eg
Termi or Communicator from Com-
puter Concepts) more useful. ‘Smart’
terminal software will allow the use of
discs and printers, enabling wordpro-
cessed files to be sent and received via
the phone lines.
The modem or acoustic coupler is
worth considering carefully. An acous-
tic coupler can be attached to a tele-
phone simply by pressing the tele-
phone handset into the coupler.
Beware, however, of the older couplers
and the newer slimline phones-they
just don’t fit together. An acoustic
coupler costs £50 upwards. The main
disadvantages is that the coupler is
often sensitive to vibration, line inter-
ference and external noise. (One cheap
coupler I used would function properly
only when laid on a sponge rubber pad.
and covered with towels! )
Modems are more reliable, but have
their own problems. First, they connect
directly to the phone line, and therefore
must be approved by BT. Second the
modem plugs into the new-style BT
wall sockets, and you may need to have
these fitted. Approved modems will
carry a sticker with a green circle and
the text: ‘Approved for use with teleco-
munication systems run by British
Telecommunications in accordance
with the conditions in the instructions
for use. BT Approval No ' BT
may well ask which modem you want to
use, and require you to quote the
approval number and the name of the
modem.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
I JOE’S JOTTINGS
Baud rates
When choosing a modem or coupler,
one important point to consider is the
‘baud rate’ which gives a measure of
how fast information is carried. There
are three common transmission rates:
Transmit Receive
300 baud 300 baud
75 baud 1200 baud
1200 baud 1200 baud
Most common is the 300/300 rate, but
this is quite slow and so the others are
becoming more used. Modems which
handle the higher rates are generally
more expensive, though the range
starts at about £70. Readers should
note also that Prestel particularly
requires the 75/1200 rate.
Costs
Unlike many applications of the BBC
computer, electronic communication
has a number of costs after the equip-
ment has been purchased, the most
obvious of which is paging for phone
calls. Readers should be aware that
few calls will be shorter than 10
minutes. Many readers will not be
within a local call of a computer
system, so a 10-minute, ‘b’ rate call (to
a system further than 35 miles) will cost
£2.50 at peak time, and £1.90 at stan-
dard time. Amateurs may find cheap
time best for their electronic communi-
cations.
Costs are at present:
Cheap time
distance
Local
Upto35miles
Over 35 miles
Time for 4. 4p
(direct dialling)
8 mins
144 sec
60 sec
Cheap time is 6pm to 8pm weekdays
and all day Saturday and Sunday. A
typical 10-minute phone call to Distel
will cost 44p. Distel and some of the
bulletin boards are cheap, or free to
access. Many of the larger ones like
Prestel and BTG have other charges.
Before joining any mailbox system,
users must ask certain questions, as in
table 1 . If you don’t ask these questions,
quite a surprise may arrive in a phone
bill or membership account. These
costs can be reduced greatly by
following the ‘golden’ rules, outlined in
table 2.
Connecting to a distant
computer
How you contact a distant computer
varies depending on your equipment
and on the system in question. A typical
sequence of events is as follows. First,
connect your modem or coupler to the
BBC micro and power up your own
system, then load and run the terminal
software. At this point many modems or
couplers confirm that they are transmit-
1. What is the cost of my phone
calls likely to be?
2. What is the membership fee?
3. How often must it be paid?
4. Is there a charge for ‘com-
puter time' on the system?
5. If so, what is that cost per
minute or per phone call?
6. Is there a charge for storing
information on this system?
7. If so, whaf is it in terms of cost
per month per k stored?
8. Is there a charge for retriev-
ing information stored by
others?
9. If so what is it likely to be?
Table 1 . Questions to ask about costs
1. Make each call purposeful, ie
know what you are doing. Do
it, then log off.
2. Always access the system
from as close as possible, eg
it is possible to enter BTG or
Prestel via 18 nodes around
the country. This saves phone
bills.
3. Never write long messages
via the phone lines. Buy
‘smart’ software and transmit
messages from disc.
4. Get a hard copy of your
favourite system’s ‘help’ files
and know how to use them
before going on-line.
5. Use as fast a transmit/receive
rate as possible.
6. At the end of your phone call
hang up immediately. You
may still be connected via BT.
Table 2. Golden rules for cutting costs
ting (for example, the Buzzbox modem
and the K&N acoustic coupler pulse a
‘DATA’ light with each keypress). Now
dial the number required on your
phone and wait to be connected. When
you hear a high pitched tone (from the
phone) push the handset into the
coupler. If you have a modem press the
‘data’ button. Some systems will im-
mediately produce text on screen, but
many need to hear your mark’ to say
you are there. Try pressing the return
key a few times and check for a re-
sponse. Once you have text on screen
you are into the system. Some com-
puters require a further stage called
‘logging on’. This will require you to
give some information such as name,
address, and/or a password. Failure to
comply often results in disconnection.
After using any system, always log
off with the correct command or menu
option, rather than simply hanging up,
otherwise you could be paying for
machine time you aren't using.
Transmitting from the Beeb
The RS423 port on the BBC micro
allows information to be sent not just to
other computers but also to printers,
and modems. It is therefore useful to
know what is happening inside the
computer whenever a signal is sent.
Figure 1 shows the internal organ-
isation of the BBC computer around the
RS423 system. A signal from a key on
the keyboard is processed and passed
to the ACIA chip located at a particular
set of memory addresses. From the
ACIA the signal travels to the serial
ULA from which it is sent to the RS423
output line.
If a modem is used, this signal is
further modified for transmission via
the phone lines.
In transmitting a byte on the RS423
system, the user provides a data byte
which will always, on the BBC micro,
be eight bits long. If we are transmitting
to another BBC micro then sending
eight bits is quite acceptable. However,
some telephone systems (eg BTG) only
use the least significant seven bits of a
byte, and so transmission - and par-
ticularly reception -should make use
of the seven-bit option in the ACIA con-
trol register. This is the complete ASCII
character set, so all text characters will
be transmitted.
To check on information we send an
extra bit of data which is set high or low
depending on the number of Is in the
byte we are transmitting called parity
checking’. In odd parity, the number of
Is including the parity bit will be odd,
while in even parity the number of Is
will be even. Considering the letter A in
odd parity we would send:
A = 1 for odd parity + 01000001 =
101000001
In even parity we would send:
A = 0 for even parity + 01000001 =
001000001
The actual transmission
Imagine we are transmitting the letter A
above with eight data bits, odd parity,
and one stop bit. The actual series of
pulses from the RS423 port might be:
0 10000010 1 0
Start bit lo data hi parity Stop bit
Transmission should be read left to
right.
Between BBC micros, the Is and 0s
would effectively be transitions
between voltage levels (figure 2). If a
modem or acoustic coupler is used, the
voltage levels would be converted to
high and low pitched sounds, so binary
0 might be represented by a tone of say
2400Hz (though the actual tone
depends on the type of modem) while
binary 1 could be represented by a
lower tone (figure 3).
ACORN USER JULY 1984
JOE’S JOTTINGS ■
Figure 1 . The BBC’s RS423 hardware
Simulating RS423
transmission
Program 1 (pages iii-iv) is an RS423
transmission simulator, which demon-
strates each step of the process in
sending a signal via the RS423 port.
Once it has been typed in and saved,
run it. You will be asked how many bits
(seven or eight) are used to transmit
data. Next the type of parity is entered,
and finally the number of stop bits. In
these three questions, the program will
not allow word formats which are not
available on the BBC micro. Errors are
flagged by a beep and an error mess-
age. The opportunity to re-enter data is
given at each point where an error
occurs, with the exception that where
only two choices occur, the computer
will select the correct choice to make
up the word format, after an incorrect
input.
Once the three questions have been
answered, the program displays the
transmission screen. Whenever a CTS
signal is available, shown by a light on
the display panel, characters may be
typed at the keyboard. Each character
is shown in the box marked ‘CHR’. If it is
a control character (less than 32 or
more than 126) then the symbol ‘CTL’
appears in its place.
The next stage in the decoding pro-
cess is to find the ASCII equivalent of
the number. This is placed in the box
marked ‘ASC’. On the other side of the
screen is a box marked BINARY’. Into
this is placed the binary equivalent of
the character, plus the extra bits
needed to make up a word for RS423
transmission. Reading from left to right
tt>ere will be a start bit (0); seven/eight
data bits (Is or Os); a parity bit if parity
is being checked; one or two stop bits
(is).
The final two boxes show first what
might be the output from the RS423 port
in terms of voltage levels, and second
what might be the output from a modem
in terms of changing frequencies. After
the boxes have been updated, each
binary digit is converted into a sound
and so the complete binary word is
heard as a sound something like the
transmission from an acoustic coupler.
(I decided against having a continual
carrier tone as a constant high pitched
sound can be annoying.)
Now let’s run through the program
structure and indicate the main pro-
cedures. PROCinit is the first pro-
cedure called. It sets up a number of
character definitions, dimensions a
numeric array and transfers the escape
function to the CTRL-@ key. The pro-
gram then enters its main loop. Exit
from this is only by break or CTRL-
@. The main repeat loop calls two
procedures directly (PROCmenu and
PROCsetscreen), then enters a further
Figure 2. RS423 port output (eight data bits,
no parity, one stop bit)
repeat loop, which handles the actual
simulation.
PROCmenu (from lines 250-450)
handles the word format of the data to
be transmitted. This is done by three
sections, where lines 270 to 290 handle
the input of data bits per word. Lines
300 to 380 handle the input of the type of
parity, and ensure it matches the ‘legal’
BBC requirements for the number of
data bits already entered. The use of
the INSTR function in line 330 allows
the parity input as a string to be con-
verted to a number. In line 380, this
number is further reduced to 0 (no
parity), 1 (odd parity) or 2 (even parity).
PROCsetscreen is called after
switching to screen mode 4 in line 70.
The aim of this is to set up the screen
display for the actual simulation, and in
so doing, it makes much use of
repeated calls to PROCrect. Once the
screen is set up PROCcrsr is called to
turn off the cursor.
PROCrect simply takes four para-
meters: bottom-left, x-coordinate of
rectangle; bottom-left, y-coordinate of
rectangle; length of rectangle; width of
rectangle; and draws the rectangle
specified.
The actual simulation for any set
word format is handled in lines 80 to
110. This repeat loop calls one function
and one procedure, until the escape
key (not CTRL-@) is pressed. When
escape is pressed, the execution of the
program returns to the external
REPEAT . . . UNTIL FALSE loop, where-
upon the word format is again
requested.
FNtype is a short function which calls
PROCcts to turn on the clear to send
light, then waits for any character to be
typed. To more fully simulate the
RS423 CTS line, the function flushes
any type ahead buffer which might
=r: iew™ j
0 ijolo'.olo'llolljl
High Low
pilch pilch !
Start bit V .. 'Slop bit
Figure 3. Output from modem (eight data
bits, no parity, one stop bit)
exist by issuing a *FX21,0at line 740.
PROCsend takes the input from
FNtype and encodes it to the specified
word format. To do this it relies on a
number of sub-procedures: PROCbin-
ary, PROCRS423, PROCMODEM,
PROCsound. Before calling any of
these, PROCcts is called again, this
time to turn the ‘light’ off. Correctly
speaking, the CTS line will not go low
until the receiving computer has taken
the outgoing data. The simulation
appears more realistic however, if we
alter the CTS indicator atthis point.
PROCbinary calculates the binary
word for transmission, and places it
into the array ‘binaryO’. It then calls
PROCprintbin which simply reprints
the information in the correct screen
box. PROCRS423 takes the information
in the array ‘binaryO’ and builds up a
voltage picture in the RS423 box on
screen. This is done in lines 1130 to
1150. PROCMODEM takes the infor-
mation in the array ‘binaryO’ and builds
up a frequency picture in the MODEM’
box on screen. This is done in lines
1190 to 1210. PROCsound takes the in-
formation in the array binaryO’ and
transmits it via the sound command, to
simulate an acoustic coupler. This is
done in lines 1230 to 1250.
Although the program will satisfy
many readers, it could be enhanced by
the addition of a facility to read and
translate random or preset data strings
(ie the Rx side of transmission). Many
of the necessary procedures will be the
same, and hence are already written,
simply calculating the binary infor-
mation then calling the last few pro-
cedures in reverse should produce a
useful addition. Of course an RTS func-
tion will need adding, much like
PROCcts. A final thought would be to try
to improve typing speed. page 38 +
ACORN USER JULY 1984
There’s much more to show.
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RIT AIN'S LEADING SOFTWARE HOUSE!
JOE’S JOTTINGS I
Comms software
Regular readers will remember how
back in June 1983 we demonstrated
how the BBC micro could be used to
produce a 50p network. The idea was
that one machine (usually with a DFS
interface) could supply Basic programs
to others with a simple connection and
a couple of commands. Figure 4 shows
the connections for a piece of five-core
cable. This simple set-up has now been
tried at distances over 20 metres in
schools, as an inter-classroom loading
system. In the home it’s an easy way of
stopping your children swiping your
disc drives. (Keeping one’s heirs out of
one’shaireh?-Ed.)
Although I used a rather lengthy
command line to RTX programs, much
practice on the part of my daughter has
reduced the sequence for transferring
programs from one machine to another
to that in table 3 (NB the comments in
brackets may not apply to all readers).
In this way, BBC computers will swop
lists without any problem at all. Points
to check if problems do exist are:
• Is the lead OK? Shortened pins are
common, as too are broken wires
inside the plastic sheaths. The solution
is a continuity tester or multimeter set
to measure resistance.
• Are you using screened cable?
Unscreened cable is more likely to pick
up noise.
• Is the distance over which you are
transmitting great? You may need pull-
up resistors fitting inside the BBC
micro (see User Guide). An alternative
here might be to reduce the baud rate.
• Have you made sure the Rx micro
has no program in memory? The RTX
system for transmitting Basic pro-
grams is similar to EXECing programs,
Txing into a ‘full’ micro can be quite
slow.
The BBC micro will of course allow us
to talk to other machines quite easily,
even if the hardware handshake lines,
CTS and RTS are not available. In this
case communications speed might
need to be reduced to 1200 baud or
less, to avoid losing characters. A typi-
cal communications program for BBC
to BBC might be as in program 2.
If the CTS and RTS lines are con-
nected, then this appears to work up to
19200 baud, though note that the *FX8,x
and *FX7,x lines have been omitted.
They will need to be included in most
applications. Remember, however, to
set the baud rates on each machine to
match. This type of terminal program is
called a ‘half’ duplex program,
because each half of the communica-
ting system prints its own characters
before transmitting them to the distant
station.
Many common systems have what is
called afull duplex terminal mode. This
is shown in program 3, where the dis-
tant terminal must be responsible for
returning the characters typed at the
keyboard. This program is set for
300baud comms by lines 5 and 6. The
main body is an infinite loop which
simply checks for a character entering
the serial port. If one exists, it is
printed. The keyboard buffer is then
checked for characters, at line 20 and
any character found is transmitted to
the distant computer. This will continue
until ESCAPE is pressed.
1. Connect lead to Rx micro.
2. Perform CTRL BREAK on Rx
micro.
3. Type *FX2,1 on Rx micro (Run
down stairs. Power-up Dad’s
system).
4. Connect lead to Tx micro.
5. Load program for Tx-ing.
6. Type *FX5,2 on Tx micro.
7. Type LIST(CTRL-B) on Tx
micro.
8. When the program has
listed, return the Tx micro to
its original state (because
Dad can't do adventures.
Run back upstairs).
9. Press BREAK on the Rx
machine.
10. Type OLD on the Rx
machine.
11. The program is ready to run.
Table 3. Transfer sequence from Beeb
to Beeb
When SHIFT-fO (shifted function key
0) is pressed, character 128 is gener-
ated, and when SHIFT-fl is pressed,
character 129 is generated. We can add
to our program so that whenever
SHIFT-fO is pressed, we enter mode 7,
and SHIFT-fl puts us into mode 3.
Alter line 20 to:
20 AS = INKEYS(O)
then add:
25 IF A$ = CHRS128THEN
MODE7:UNTIL 0
ELSE IF A$ = CHRS129 THEN
MODE3:
UNTIL 0
26 IFA$< > ""?&FE09 = ASCAS
Once equipped with a modem and ter-
minal software, the ‘Happy Hacker' can
look for a few ‘war games’ to start. Per-
haps the most useful commercial
services are:
Distel 01-697 1888 (London)
Homelink (0602) 419 393 (Nottingham)
(or via Prestel)
Cashtel (0702) 552941
Bulletin boards are springing up con-
tinually, for example Mailbox 80 on
(0384) 635336 or Forum 80, (0482)
859169.
Run your own
Ever thought of running your own mail-
box? This question was posed by
schools in Cleveland and an experi-
mental service is at present operating
for local schools. This service, called
CECCTEL, will eventually provide a
software titles list as well as a bulletin
service and set of mailboxes. These
are all at present in an embryonic state,
and experiments with downloading
usable software are being carried out.
Schools using the service are provided
with simple software to allow com-
munication and downloading, though
at present they must provide their own
couplers. The system runs at 300 baud
and is overseen by a trusty BBC micro.
Providing you have an auto answer
modem and a BBC micro it's not that
difficult to duplicate this sort of system.
I would however, encourage home-
users to develop a good deal of
patience because once you go on-line
as a bulletin board, you will be fair
game for 24-hour phone calls - and the
odd visit from BT. You will almost cer-
tainly need a second line, so that your
‘normal’ existence of talking to people
can continue, and it is imperative that
the two phone numbers are kept
separate.
The problem with auto-answer
modems is that they need extra con-
necting hardware to the BBC micro.
Where for example, is the ‘ring detect'
input to the BBC micro or the ‘carrier
detect’ input? How can the BBC micro
ACORN USER JULY 1984
I
JOE’S JOTTINGS
latch the modem to answer while the
carrier is present? These are the prob-
lem areas of most users. However, we
can configure the many interfaces of
the BBC micro to meet these chal-
lenges.
Latching the modem relay is quite
simple. All that is needed is a voltage to
be supplied to the appropriate pin on
the modem. (The actual connection and
voltage may vary between modems.)
One simple solution is shown in figure 5
where the modem supplies the switch-
ing voltage and the BBC micro
switches it via the cassette relay, given
a simple procedure like:
DEFPROCIatch(x)
IFx= 1 THEN ‘MOTOR 1
IFx = 0THEN ‘MOTOR 0
ENDPROC
On many modems the ring detect and
carrier detect signals are brought out to
a connector. Examining the voltages on
the corresponding pins shows a
change between — 6v and +6v when
ringing is detected or when a carrier
signal is present. This voltage can
drive a small relay, external to both the
BBC micro and the modem, which
simply shorts to ground one of the
Modem
1
1
Relay
BBC cassette
motor relay
| X !
i connection
i
Voltage
i
1
1 — -40 from
modem
Figure 5. Latching the relay in the modem for auto answer
Modem
Ring detect o-
Diode to prevent
permanent
switching (eg IN4001)
BBC
' analogue
port
-► 100
J
Any 6v relay
(low current)
Figure 6. Passing the ring detect to BBC micro (for carrier detect, signal would go to 101 on
the analogue port)
games buttons (figure 6). A simple ring
detect procedure might be:
DEF PROCringdetect
REPEAT UNTIL (ADVALO AND 3) = 1
PROCIatch(l)
ENDPROC
and a similar function for the carrier
signal (which must be checked regu-
larly) might be:
DEF FNcarrier
IF (ADVALO AND 3) = 2 THEN =1
ELSE =0
The circuitry for passing the carrier
detect is similar to that for the ring
detect. If you have any worries about
your competence to handle modem
circuitry, then it is best to leave well
alone. British Telecom do not approve
of DIY modems adding extraneous (and
possibly lethal) voltages to the phone
lines, so remember get a BT-approved
modem, or an acoustic coupler; keep
any modifications between the modem
and the computer; do not introduce
voltages or shorts to the phone lines.
micro
FAST - LATEST PRICE BREAKTHROUGH
Colour Monitors
Microvitec 1431 £197.00
Microvitec 1451 £297.00
Fidelity CM 14 £209.00
Monochrome Monitors
Sanyo DM21 12 £75.00
Sanyo DM81 12CX £99.00
TecoZcom £105.00
Combined TV/Monitors
ITT RL2301 £280.00
Acorn Products
BBC Model B £399.00
BBC Model B with fitted
disc interface £469.00
Electron £1 99.00
DFSKit £97.00
Data Recorder £32.00
Torch Products
ZEP100 £299.00
Z80DP2 £699.00
BBC Disk Interfaces
Kenda Mighty Oak £90.00
Kenda Professional
(Double Density) £130.00
ALL PRICES SHOWN
INCLUDE V.A.T.
These prices are for cash and carry sales
Dot Matrix Printers
Star Gemini 10X £224.00
Star Delta 10 £365.00
KDC FT- 5001 £234.00
Epson RX80 £219.00
Epson RX80F/T £249.00
Epson FX80 £379.00
Serial Interface
Conversions
8143- Epson £30.00
8148- Epson (2K buffer,
XON/XOFF protocol) £65.00
Juki £55.00
Daisywheel Printers
Juki 6100
£375.00
Silver Reed
£315.00
Daisy Step 2000
£289.00
Daisywheel add-ons
Juki Sheet feeder £239.00
Juki Tractor feed £109.00
Product range constantly expanding,
phone for latest details
Single Disc Drives
100K(200K) Single-Sided
40 Track £150.00
200K(400K) Double-Sided
40 Track 3-inch £190.00
400K(800K) Double-Sided
80 Track £219.00
80/40 Track £248.00
Double Disc Drives
400K(800K) Double-Sided
40 Track 3-inch £374.00
800K(1.6M) Double-Sided
80 Track £409.00
80/40 Track £489.00
Floppy Disks
S/SD/D40T £1.80
D/SD/D40T £2.10
D/SD/D80T £2.90
3" £4.50
Library Case £2.00
(free library case with every
lOdisks sold)
70 Disk Ca bine t £22.00
micro FAST
57 HOXTON SQUARE,
LONDON N1
OPEN FOR PERSONAL CALLERS
FROM MONDAY TO
SATURDAY,
9AM TO 6PM.
MAIL ORDER OR OTHER ENQUIRIES
01-7291778
SAE for comprehensive Price List
Computer Concepts
ROMs
Disc Doctor
£32.00
Termi
£32.00
Graphics Rom
£32.00
Print Master
£32.00
Wordwise
£42.00
Acorn Roms
View
£52.00
BBC Roms
Ultracalc
£65.00
Full range of Software from
A&F, Program Power,
Computer Concepts, Level
9, Acornsoft always
available at discount prices
Supplies etc
Printer Cables
£12.00
- Extra quality
£15.00
Monitor Cables
£5.00
-CM14
£8.00
Ribbons
- Epson
£4.50
-KDC 2-shot
£7.00
- Daisystep
£4.00
-Juki
£2.00
Paper - 2000 sheets £1 2.00
Mail Order
Software/Firmware
FREE
Hardware
£10.00
ACORN USER JULY 1984
Serious Software from Beebugsoft
SPELLCHECK
DICTIONARY DRIVE O
FOR
WORD WISE
DISC
£ 19.00
^-Spelling check
B=Dlct lonary utilitie
C*Con t * nu* check
Deselect Drive
E*Er»d. Program
L ""Load Text
< 5 * Save Text
W -Wordwi s«
SPELLCHECK is menu driven, and is the
ideal companion for WORDWISE or VIEW It
provides an automatic spelling check for
letters or documents.
masterfu-e
MASTERFILE is a general purpose data base,
written especially for the BBC Micro. It is extremely
useful, allowing vast amounts of information to be
quickly stored.
Once set up, the information may be retrieved or
sorted at any time, in a number of different ways,
using any of the fields as keys.
Records may be instantly displayed or printed,
using any printer suitable for the BBC Micro, also a
label printing facility is included.
Separate versions of the program are available for
cassette and disc based systems. The disc version
uses random access files to maximise record storage.
One extra feature of the disc version is that it
provides limited spreadsheet facilities.
It is supplied with a dictionary disc already
containing 5000 words, which may be in-
creased to a maximum of about 17,000
words on a 100k disc.
Random access files ensure very fast word
retrieval from the dictionary disc.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
The cassette version will allow up to 10 fields to be
specified per record. Any number of files may be set
up, and each file may hold about 110 records (based
on a typical 5 field record).
The disc version allows up to 17 fields per record,
and the only limitation as to the number of records,
is the capacity of the disc. Typically, using 5 fields,
about 2000 records may be stored on a 100k disc.
SPELLCHECK is menu driven, and is very
simple to use, allowing unknown words to be
added to the dictionary, ignored or re-spelt.
Incorrectly spelt words may be instantly
respelt and a correct version of the document
filed away, ready for printing or later use.
Dictionaiy discs for foreign languages may
easily be created to help check letters sent
abroad.
DISC
£ 19.00
CASSETTE
£ 10.00
-1929 BOOUC -TiASTEwr ILK
A Set up HI* nmm m
B. Enter record deecription
C Look at , or alter a record
D Printer line length
E Open data file
F Initialise'Clear file
C Enter search data
H Print <and/or search) file
I . Sort
J. Trans far/ append Hles(tape/difc)
K. Coop act the file
L Global field calculation
n Stop the prograe
BEEBUGSOFT, PO BOX 109, HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKS. HP10 8HQ
Please send me Spellchecks at £19.00 each.
Masterfile disc(s) at £19.00 Masterfile cassette(s) at £10.00
Name
Address
Send Cheque/Postal Orders to: BEEBUGSOFT, DEPT 13. PO BOX 109, HIGH WYCOMBE. BUCKS. HP10 8HQ
(Distribution agents forBEEBUG Publications Ltd)
40
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
TOOLKIT ROM
BASIC Programmer's Aid for the
BBC Micro from BEEBUGSOFT
It is possible to program in BASIC without
TOOLKIT but its not very smart
"TOOLKIT is an essential utility for all Basic
programmers using the BBC Micro ... The
range is enormous ... An indispensable aid
packed full of powerful utilities
EDUCATIONAL COMPUTING MARCH 1984
. . Should speed up the process of
programming considerably . . . TOOLKIT is
highly recommended ".
PCN MARCH 17 1984
TOOLKIT is an indispensable aid to Basic programming on the BBC Micro. It gives instant access to a set of
powerful utilities held in ROM.
These will get you out of trouble like the *RECOVER, or just make life much easier, like automatic listing of error
lines, search and replace, list variables, procedures . . . etc.
TOOLKIT features an extremely powerful editor, allowing the use of cursor keys to list a program line-by-line in
either direction and move to any part of a program to overtype or insert new code and corrections.
TOOLKIT also contains a powerful facility to trap an error in a Basic program as it runs. It will then automatically
enter the Screen Editor, display the line in error and position the cursor at the statement at fault.
COMMANDS
♦CHECK
Verify a program or data in memory
♦CLEAR
with disc/cassette.
Clear all variables including
♦EDIT
integers.
Enter full screen editor.
♦FREE
Display free memory and
♦HELP INFO
pseudo variables
Displays various useful system
♦MEMORY
information.
Display memory contents.
♦MERGE
Merge two programs.
♦MOVE
Move program to run at specified
♦NEW
address.
As New, but can be issued from
♦OFF
within a program.
Cancel enhanced error handling.
♦OLD
As Old, but can be issued from
♦ON
within a program.
Auto error handling - enters editor
♦PACK
at line in error.
Efficient program compactor.
♦RECOVER
Intelligently recover bad programs.
♦RENUMBER
Allow partial renumbering.
♦REPORT
Extended error reporting facility.
♦SCREEN
Screen dump to cassette or disc.
♦UTIL 1
String Search.
♦UTIL 2
String Search and Replace.
♦UTIL 3
Move Basic program lines.
♦UTIL 4
List Procedures and Functions.
♦UTIL 5
List values of A% to Z%.
♦UTIL 6
List Numeric Variables.
♦UTIL 7
List String Variables.
♦UTIL 8
List Names of Arrays.
♦UTIL 9
Set up range for Utilities 1 and 2.
Just plug it in, no loading necessary
27 new commands to make life easier
Saves hours in program development
and debugging
Supports both cassette and disc
systems
No command name conflict with other
Roms
Ideal for expert and novice alike
Fitting instructions and a 32 page
manual supplied
You'll wonder how you ever managed
without it
Available from your dealer
and selected branches of
W.H . Smiths
Including
VAT & P&P
-O
/
, 0 .
BEEBUGSOFT is the
Software house of BEEBUG
Publications Ltd.
* ✓
,«r
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
41
It’s here-the long awaited new Arcade game from Kansas
Maniac
Mower
As can be expected from Kansas, who last gave you the acclaimed Pinball
Arcade, Maniac Mower is totally different from anything on the market today.
Being out of work, you jumped at the job of Park Grass Cutter. Easy money/
you thought. You thought wrong, for there is a maniac mower on the loose, hell
bent on your total destruction.
With a mind of its own, it will chase you around the park as you attempt to
mow to earn your wages, trying either to ram you or making you career into
the mown grass— which you can't!
It's not just a matter of avoiding the Maniac though, but also making sure
you don't get snarled up in the fireworks, wire, cricket balls and other debris
which appears from nowherel
To make you wish you had never taken the job on, there's a karate expert
bounding around the park, only too delighted to give you a well aimed
mawashi-geri.
The skill is not so much in dodging all the hazards and the Maniac Mower,
but in luring it into a trap by your mowing pattern and so destroying it. Not
too difficult on the early levels, but virtually impossible on the higher ones.
Nine levels of difficuly make this all-action arcade game suitable for all.
Sound of course, with a musical introduction and a top score table.
This is going to be another Kansas winner...
New low price £8.50. Vat and post paid
estabii shed
"» ••'Vic. „ ,„ e '2 «"» W,2i, 27 va.'s
, w
mail.
ALSO AVAIABLE:
Pinball Arcade
Build your own Pinball machines and save to tape.
Now five 5 star reviews including the highly respected
Beebug user magazine. £ 10.35
Galactic Firebird
Just about the most active Arcade game available,
with the every circling swooping Firebirds. Meqon Bombs
and Astro Blasters. No other company has been able
to do anything near. £9.50
Arcade Scramble
The well known Arcade game, but with two types of
attacking fighters, ack-ack, blimbs and rockets.
Another extremely active one. £9.50
Cosmic Fighter
Four pages of attackers together with a mother ship
make another fast action game. £9.50
vear S...yes, , t . s
and If
ar e on
cassette ,
Vou want ~ and f ° r 8BC m odel a
Usi "9 an Acct ' Very f O"x>rrow
s B arclay card ' mpl y r 'ng before 4 pm
F for Freddie
The hardest game you will ever play, using a
staggering 36 control keys to prepare, take-off,
fly and land a tri-star jet £9.50
Fighter Pilot
Fly your fighter with the jostick and blast the enemy
planes out of the sky. Land, re-fuel and take-off
again. Actually see the runway, enemy, etc. Most
realistic. Needs analogue joystick. £8.50
,or ,h M W
PINBALL ARCADE now avails, __
running at its correct speed/ £1
DRACULA ISLAND and RING OF TIME two very
popul® r logical Adventures also available for
the Electron at £8.50 each.
Kansas
^ Unit 1 button
Recognised Brand Leader in microcomputer software
Unit 3. Sutton Springs Wood, Chesterfield, S44 5XF. Tel. 0246 850357
42
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
Ol«*f pel
C
TOP QUALITY SOFTUJnRC
FOR THC ACORN CKCTRON
ACOAN
CIXCTAON
I8®i
mt r:
P<ACVP<N<HIIN £7.9$
The best version ovoiloble for the Electron
micro. Percy is trapped in on ice maze ujhich is
populated by the deadly Snobees. His only
hope of survival is to squash them by hurling
ice cubes at them. Unfortunately, whenever it
seems that he has won, a deadlier breed
appears. Hi-score, rankings, excellent
graphics and sound
N€UJR€L€RS€
MA.UfIZ £7.9$
From the author of Percy Penguin, Mr. UJiz is a
fast-action multi-scene game. Guide Mr. UJiz
around the garden to eat the cherries whilst
avoiding the evil gremlins. The gremlins can
be killed by dropping apples on them or by
throwing the crystal ball €xtra points can be
gained by eating the magic mushroom, but
beware , this is (he home of the gremlins and
mokes them permanently furious! Sound
effects and tunes, hi-score, rankings. Superb
arcade-style action.
N€UU R6LCRSC
CCNT1 RUG £7.9$
The centibug descends from the top of the
screen weaving intimidatingly between the
mushrooms. Voor objective is to shoot oil the
segments of the centibug before it reoches
the bottom of the screen.
Features indude spiders, snails, flies, 6 skill
levels, hi-score, rankings, and increasing
difficulty.
AIM* DROPOUT £7.9$
R novel and unusual program. Rrcade-oction
with this exciting multi-stage shooting game.
The objective of the gome is to shoot the
aliens out of their "boxes” before the ’ boxes”
fill up. Once full, the aliens fly down
relentlessly, exploding as they hit the ground.
The game features include. 6 skill levels,
rankings, hi-score, increasing difficulty.
£7.9$
fln adventure gome using hi-resolution full-
colour graphics. Vou ore stranded on a strange
planet, and your mission is to return to
civilisation ond home. Many of the locations
are shown graphically, induding the
spaceship, the cliffs, the mountains, and (if
you succeed) your home Vou must carefully
explore gour environment searching for
hidden clues to help you in your quest.
N€UU R€L€RS€
CM CSS £7.9$
B highly versatile implementation of Chess.
Play black or white against the computer or a
human opponent, The skill level of the
computer s play can be varied widely, and
moves are entered either by co-ordinates,
cursor control, or joystick control. Moves con be
taken back if an error has been made, and the
board can be modified at any time. Games
can be "saved” or "loaded”, and the lost game
can be replayed. The computer will, if
requested, suggest your moves
NCLU R€L€RS€
£7.9$
This program covers 1 66 countries which are
divided into 8 categories of difficulty. €ach
country is pinpointed on an accurate hi-
resolution screen map of the world, ond the
user is asked the capital and or population. Rt
the end of the test, the percentage of correct
answers is given, so that the student can
monitor his geographical knowledge.
AISO AVAIIASIC:
INVRIXRS £7.95
FRUIT MRCHIN6 £7.95
CONST6LLRTION £7.95
DISRSS€M8L€R £7.95
DRAUGHTS £6.95
R6V6RSI £6.95
D€Hl€ftS - Our software is now available at all good dealers induding:
selected branches of UJ. H. Smith and Boots, all major computer dealers
-Microstyle, Clectronequip. 3D Computers, Computerama, GTM
Computers, etc.,- and our software is also available through all the major
distributors, and directly from us.
Ul€ PAY UPTO 20% ROVALIICS FOR HIGH QUALITY AAC MICRO AND CICCTRON PROGRAMS.
SUPCRIOR SOFTUIRRC LTD.
Dept. RU8, Regent House,
Skinner Lane, Leeds 7
Tel: 0532 459453
OUR GUARANTY
(1 ) Rll our software is available before we advertise.
(2) fill our software is despatched within 48 hours by first-class post.
(3) In the unlikely event that any of our software fails to load, return your
cassette to us and we will immediately send a replacement.
mmm
Watford Electronics
Dept. BBC, CARDIFF ROAD, WATFORD, HERTS. ENGLAND.
Tel: Watford (0923) 40588/37774 Telex: 8956095 WAELEC
ACCESS ORDERS Tel: (0923) 50234
BBC MICROCOMPUTER
Model A — £260; Model B-£346
SPECIAL OFFER
For every purchase of BBC Micro
during June/July, we will supply a Data
Recorder worth £24 absolutely FREE.
(At Watford you get a great deal for
your money.)
Upgrade your Model A with our
Upgrade Kits and save yourself £ s s s
• BBC1 16K Memory
(8 x 48 1 6AP-3 lOOnS)
• BBC2 Printer User I/O Port
• BBC3 Disc Interface Kit
• BBC4 Analogue I/O Kit
• BBC6 Expansion Bus Kit
• Complete Mod. A to B Upgrade Kit
£24.00
£8.10
£99.00
£8.25
£7.75
ELECTRON MICRO
£199
Dust Cover for BBC Micro
Protects your expensive Micro from foreign
bodies
£3.50
SEIKOSHA GP100A
PRINTER
10" Tractor Feed, 80 columns. 50CPS.
Normal & Double width Char, Dot res
graphics. Parallel Interface standard.
SPECIAL OFFER Only: £144 £7 carr.)
FRICTION FEED
Attachment for GP100A or 250X Printers
£28
G P-700 Colour Printer Screen-dump routine
1 00 CPS, 9x9 matrix, dot addressable
graphics, condensed and double width printing.
Normal, Italic and Elite Graphics. Tractor feed,
10" max width, bi-directional, logic seeking.
Centronics Interface standard.
ONLY £235 (£7 carr.)
EPSON RX80 F/T PRINTER
As above but has both Friction and Tractor
^ eec *- £259 {£7 carr. Securicor)
PRINTER INTERFACE BUFFER
Neatly packaged self contained box,
- ^ d n leads,
power supply.
hcpii/ cu sen L,uiild
supplied complete with all leads,
manual and detachable pov
Price: 1 6K Unit
Price: 48K Unit
£99
£135
Epson FX80 Printer
160 CPS. 11x9 matrix, proportional spacing,
superscripts, subscripts, dot addressable graphics
Normal, Italic and Elite characters. Up to 256
user definable characters. Down loadable
character set Condensed and double width
printing. Full proportional spacing. Four user
defined margin positions. Tractor and Friction
feed. 10'' maximum width Bi-directional, logic
seeking Centronics interface standard
ONLY £324 (£7 carr.)
Epson FX100 Printer
Same as FX80 but has a 1 5" wide Carriage
£495
Type
Ribbons
Dust Covers
MX80FT
£4.75
£4.50
MX100/FX1 00
£10.00
£5.25
FX80
£4.75
£4.95
RX80
£4.75
£4 50
GP80
£4.50
—
GP100
£4.95
£3.95
GP250
£5.95
£3.95
GP700
£18.50
—
KAGA KP810
£5.95
—
RX & FX PRINTER INTERFACES
RS232
IEEE 488
£35
£65
RS232 + 2K Buffer
2K Parallel
£59
£58
BROTHER HR-15
DAISY-WHEEL PRINTER
An exceptionally high quality daisy wheel printer
at the price of a dot matrix printer. 18CPS;
bi-directional, 3K of buffer; has clear buffer
facility, carriage skip movement, proportional
spacing; underlining; bold print and shadow print.
Prints in two colours; super and subscript facility.
Impact control facility to vary pressure on paper
for making carbon copies. Has Centronics parallel
or RS-232 interface. Connects directly to BBC
Micro. A ribbon cassette plus a separate red
ribbon. Optional extras: single sheet feeder takes
up to 1 50 A4 sheets; a keyboard that transforms
HR 15 into a sophisticated electronics typewriter.
Attractively finished in beige.
LISTING PAPER (Plain)
1 ,000 Sheets 9V' Fanfold Paper
> 1 5" r
1 ,000 Sheets 1 5" Fanfold Paper
Teleprinter Roll (Econo paper)
£7
£9
£4
PRINTER LABELS
(continuous stationery)
1,000 90 x 36mm
1,000 90 x 49mm
1,000 102 x36mm
£5.50
£7.75
£6.25
Carriage on Printer Paper or Labels £1.50
ONLY £349
Single Sheet Feeder £199
Keyboard £150
RIBBONS: Carbon £3; Fabric £3,
Multistrike £6
BBC Micro
WORD-PROCESSING
PACKAGE
A complete word processing package consisting
of: BBC Model B. Zenith 12" Green or Amber
Monitor. Twin 200K highly reliable (1 year
warranty) Teac Disc Drives in matching beige
colour, the popular WORDWISE word processo
Watford's own highly sophisticated 62 File DFS
interface fitted, the world renowned Brother
HR 15 Daisy Wheel Printer. Gemini's Beebplot J
Beebcalc Spreadsheet Analysis Software discs
10 blank diskettes. 500 sheets of fan-fold pape
Manuals and all the leads To enable you to car
your Micro around, we shall pack it in our
Antique Brown leatherette Attache carrying cas
ONLY £1,249 (carr. £1E
(P.S. We will alter the package to suit your
requirement. Call in for a demonstration)
KAGA KP810
This new JAPANESE printer has EPSON FX/RX
compatible commands 140 CPS Dot matrix
Printer offers NEAR LETTER QUALITY print
in a 23 x 18 dot matrix in addition to the
standard Epson style type-faces on the 11x9
matrix. Friction feed Adjustable tractor feed
Single sheet feed and built-in Paper Roll Holdei
Normal Italic, Enlarged, Condensed. Super and
Subscript. Dot addressable graphics (8 9 and 1
pm modes). Proportional spacing (Optional exir
Down loadable character set in 8K ROM or
RAM) NEAR LETTER QUALITY print selectable
at switch on. 10" maximum width, bi-directiona
logic seeking. 3K Buffer Half speed quiet mode
Convenient Paper-out sensor switch Centronics
Interface standard. All this plus our no quibble
12 months warranty.
Special Introductory Offer: ONLY £26
RS232 Interface + 2K Buffer
KAGA KP910 PRINTER
Similar features as the above KP8 1 0 printer but
has extra wide carriage Will accept upto 17"
maximum width paper 1 56 column normal and
265 column condensed
ONLY: £34
PRINTER LEAD 36"
Ready made printer lead to interface BBC Micro
to EPSON, SEIKOSHA. NEC. STAR JUKI
BROTHER, SHINWA, etc., Printers
Special Extra long 5 feet Cable
ONLY £
£1
44
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
)ISC DRIVES CASED WITH
CABLES (less PSU)
(All Drives are NEW SLIM LINE Type)
NEW LOW PRICES
> CLS 100 Single. TEC Single sided 40 track
1 0OK. 5^" Disc Drive £119
> CLS400 Single, Mitsubishi Double sided 80
track 400K. 5*" Disc Drive £179
i CLS400S Single Mitsubishi Double sided
40/80 track Switchable. 400K. 5j" Disc Drive
£215
I CLD200 TEC Single sided 40 track 200K.
twin 5y" Drives £245
> CLD800 Mitsubishi Double sided 80 track
800K, 5}" TWIN Drives £359
I CLD800S Mitsubishi Double sided 40/80
track switchable. 800K, Drives £399
(CUMANA) DRIVES CASED
WITH PSU & CABLES
5£" DISKETTES
(Lifetime warranty)
Why settle for less. Buy the best.
• 1 0 Verbatim or 3M Diskettes S/S D/D £17
• 10 Verbatim or 3M Diskettes D/S D/D £28
DISCALBUMS
Attractively finished in beige
leatherlook vinyl. Stores, protects and
displays 20 discs in double-sided
clear view pockets. ONLY £ 4.95
PLASTIC LIBRARY CASES
for Disc Storage 5{* (holds 1 0) £2
LOCKABLE STORAGE UNITS
Attractively finished, strong beige plastic base
fitted with dividers. Smoke acrylic top Supplied
with adhesive title strips for ease of filing.
• M-35 Holds upton 35 mini discs £14
• M-85 Holds upto 85 mini discs £18
EPROM PROGRAMMER
At last 1 - the EPROM Programmer for BBC
Micro Computer from WATFORD ELECTRONICS
that will suit both your pocket and all your
requirements Programs all popular types of
EPROMS from 2K bytes up to 16K bytes -
2716 — 2516 — 2532 — 2564 — 2764 —
27128. Our Programmer has been designed to
make sure the EPROMs are neither programmed
too fast nor too slow: just at the right speed as
recommended by the manufacturers of the
EPROMs (any deviation in timings can burn their
brains out).
This extremely powerful system is designed for
your needs of TODAY 8. TOMORROW! - BBC
Basic programs can be copied into EPROM and
subsequently re loaded faster than from a disc!
Suitable for both hobbyist and professional
users!
Just took at these features:
• COMPLETELY SELF CONTAINED -
Housed in its own sturdy case - Uses its own
power supply connects directly to the 1MHz
Bus - Simple and Safe 1
• FULL SOFTWARE SUPPORT - Comes
complete with simple to use fully machine
code ROM based software and easy to
understand manual. Facilities include
Varification, Reading, Virgin Testing. Writing,
Editing, Saving, Loading and more* NOTE!! -
This software does not simply comprise hastily
prepared routines to get you going, but is a
professional, purpose designed applications
package
• ACORN BUS COMPATIBLE - Use of the
1MHz connection complies with all Acorn
addressing recommendations - That means you
can still add-on such things as the TELETEXT,
IEEE 488 TUBE and PRESTEL
• Allows more than one program to reside in
an EPROM using the ROM Filing System
ONLY £89 incl. Manual (£3 carr.)
> CS100 TEC Single sided 40 track 100K 5£"
Single Disc Drive £143
> CS200 TEC Single sided 80 track 200K 5J"
Single Disc Drive £205
) CS400 Mitsubishi Double sided 80 track
400K 5 Single Drive £225
) CS400S Mitsubishi Double sided 40/80 track
400K 5^" Single Drive £340
> CD200 TEC Single sided 40 track 200K 5j"
TWIN Disc Drives £269
> CD400 TEC Single sided 40 track 200K Sf
TWIN Disc Drives £365
> CD800 Mitsubishi Double sided 80 track
800K 5j" TWIN Drives £425
I CD800S Mitsubishi Double sided 40/80 track
Switchable 800K TWIN Drives £465
> SPARE DRIVE CABLES. SINGLE £ 6 ; DUAL £8
> DFS Manual (comprehensive) £7.50 (No VAT)
VS.
You do not require Formatting Discs when
ising our DFS as the formatting program is in
he ROM. nor do you require expensive 40/80
rack switchable drives as with our DFS you can
ead and write 40 and 80 track discs in an 80
rack drive (software switchable)
MITSUBISHI SLIMLINE DISC DRIVES that
ve supply are Double Sided. Double Density
\y. 1 Megabyte. (With BBC Micro 400K after
Drmatting.) When used in conjunction with
>ouble Density board one obtains 800K (approx)
her formatting. Track density 96 TPI. track to
rack access time 3mSec. These drives are very
ast quiet and efficient. We strongly recommend
heir use.
FLOPPY HEAD CLEANER
KIT
TEX EPROM ERASERS
Unless your office/home is dust free, you should
clean heads at least once a week to avoid the
risk of cross contamination.
Simply apply the cleaner to one of the specially
formulated cleaning discs, insert into the drive
and initialise If your system has no initialisation
program then insert the disc and open and close
the door 5 times.
£16.00
MONITORS
MICROVITEC 1431
14" Colour Monitor RGB
Input (as used in BBC
programmes) FREE Interface
Lead Special Offer £1 74
• MICROVITEC 1451 Hi res
14" Monitor incl. lead £295
• NEW MICROVITEC 14" Colour
Monitor/Composite Video £249
• KAGA RGB 12" Medium
Resolution Colour £195
• KAGA RGB 12" High Resolution Colour £259
• KAGA 12" Standard resolution colour
MONITOR/COMPOSITE VIDEO ONLY £195
• BNC Connecting Lead £3
• RGB Connecting Lead £5
• ZENITH 12" High resolution, jitter free
picture, Amber or Green £75
Carriage on Monitors £7 (Securicor)
EPROMs need careful treatment to survive their
expected lifetime Rushing it could burn their
brains out. So cop-out of this helter-skelter
world; take it easy the TEX way and give your
chips a well earned break. Cool, gentle and
affordable. EPROMPT does it properly
Two versions available:
• EPROMPT EB - The standard version
Erases up to 16 chips £30.00
• EPROMPT GT - Erases up to 28 chips. Has
an incorporated safety switch which
automatically switches off the UV lamp when the
Eraser is opened £33.00
Spare UV' Lamp bulbs. £9
SWIVEL MONITOR BASE
Attractively finished in beige, our swivel base
allows you to tilt/swivel your Monitor to any
required angle for comfortable viewing.
ONLY £18
Continued
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
45
WONDERFUL
WATFORD
TWO DATABASE SOFTWARE
for BBC MICRO
ii i. i; i
DISCDATA
BUFFER & BACKUP ROM
A very versatile firmware. An ideal ROM for
engineers, programmers, teachers, students, etc.
★ Converts your Sideways RAM to a 4K or 16K
BUFFER for a parallel printer. (Uses * FX5,3).
(You no longer require to purchase expensive
(£100 + ) Printer Buffers.)
★ Dumps selection of Disc files to Tape.
★ Makes backup copies of tapes onto Tape,
Disc and Hobbit.
★ Displays contents of a chosen paged ROM on
screen.
★ Menu display on shift-break' using ROM
Filing System.
★ Comprehensive Manual
Simply a give away at £18
In keeping with our tradition of bringing you the
best in BBC Micro at prices you cannot refuse,
we are launching yet another of our ROM based
software.
GEMINI'S BUSINESS SOFTWAR
Cashbook Accounts £52
Final Accounts £52
Invoices & Statements £17.25
Commercial Accounts £17.25
Mailing List £17 25
Database £17.25
Stock Control £17.25
Home Accounts £17.25
Beebcalc Spreadsheet Analysis £17 25
Beebplot £17 25
Payroll £39
N B All the above Gemini software is on tape
For Disc Based (40/80 track) please add £3
VERSATILE LIGHT PEIM
SOFTWARE
• Enjoy. Explore. Educate 1
• Pixil. Line. Character Definition
• Free hand drawing
• All Colours - MANY Special Effects
• Fill. Refill and Stripes
• User defined Brushed Strokes plus
Character definer
• Grid. Scale Perspective aids
• 2 TO 200 Points palletable in one Design
with Circles and RUBBER BANDING
• Move design/character to any screen positior
• Save and Load screens. User defined Graphii
and line drawings for video titles. Own
programmes, etc
• Many Educational uses
• Instruction booklet included
• Full software support for "CUSTOM USE
• Works with Watford. RH. Acorn User. DIY
and many other LIGHT PENS
• Available on DISC or TAPE
Price: Tape £10; Disc £11
At last for BBC Micro Disc users, Watford
Electronics have produced DISCDATA which
must be the most versatile general database at
the price on the market. The length of your files
is restricted only by the space on your disc. You
can have upto 20 fields with page' length
records of upto 254 characters. The program is
completely menu driven obviating reference to a
manual although written guidance is given with
the program Add and delete records, amend
title, field names and records, sort on any field
and search for any record or group of records in
any field. You do not need to abandon or rewrite
your files if you wish to add additional fields or
extend the length of any field, the program will
rewrite the files for you. Your files can be in any
drive Output can be in 40. 80 or 132 character
width with Printer routines. Two forms of output
are provided for horizontal for label type output
and a tabulated output with title and headings
What is more, the selected fields can be placed
in any order on the screen. In the horizontal
mode you can scan backwards or forwards with
wrap around effect. Output can be started or
stopped anywhere in the file. There is automatic
totalling on decimal fields and an automatic
count of the number of records output
Now with extra 3 features: Allows string search.
Calculations can be done on numeric fields;
Create Sub-Files from the main File.
On disc at Only £15
It has to be the best value.
FILE-PLUS
Now even more powerful with the added facility
of a SHELL SORT on any field. This must make
DATA-PLUS the most powerful and versatile
Database to be found on BBC Micro.
A 1 6K ROM containing the most flexible and
easy to use disk based Database system on the
market. A database may occupy your total
on-line storage capacity. You may design any
number of data entry forms using a paint'' on
screen technique. Forms may be upto 3 screens
in size. A form may be used to Add.i
Delete. Update. Print and Spool records from
your Database. Quick search facility on any text
field. A query language provides full maths
support (-. +, /. * +-9999999999.9999) and
compare facilities (=, >, <>, <=, >=, &. I) when
used with the keywords - Assign. Compare,
Display, End, Goto, Iff, Ift. Print, Read, Search.
Spool and Update. Full printed output control via
embeded commands. Supplied with 70 page
manual and fitting instructions.
Only £43
ROM MANAGER
This unique piece of firmware has been designed
to allow the USER to access the BBC Micro's
Sideways Rom Paging facility to the full The 18
Commands our ROM MANAGER adds to your
computer are concerned with 3 aspects of ROM
use:
1 ROM CONTROL - Ability to activate at
random any of the ROMs present in the Micro
2. BBC MICRO s STATUS e.g. Checksum on
any ROM. and the Filing system currently active.
3 ROM DEVELOPMENT Allows main memory
to be used like Sideways RAM
The Commands available are:
•CHECKSUM - generates a CRC for the
specified ROM
•DIRECT - allows you to pass a particular
command to the specified ROM.
•EXAMINE allows examination of the named
ROM
•EXPLAIN - gives detailed description of the first
22 FX codes.
•FILE passes the command directly to the
currently selected filing system.
•FUNCTION - displays the string currently
programmed onto the function keys.
•INCLUDE allows the main memory to be used
for developing ROM software without need to
purchase expensive sideways RAM
•MODIFY any location in memory is displayed
and can be modified with this command
•NAMES - displays the names of any resident
ROMs
•RAM - allows the command to be passed
directly to the RAM based ROM
•REMOVE - turns off the RAM based ROM
option.
•SPECIFY and ‘DEFAULT - specifies the default
ROM and passes the named command to the
default ROM specified.
•STOP and ‘START - allows the named ROM to
be disabled or enabled, preventing clashes
between ROMs
•STATUS - provides information about the
ROMs inside the BBC micro, including the socket
number, the name of the ROM its length,
whether or not it is enabled and supports
language or service entry points.
•VALUES outputs information concerning the
status of ROM MANAGER e g the socket
number it occupies, the number of active ROMs
with a higher priority than itself, the current filing
system.
•VECTOR - the same function as ‘DIRECT but
provided in case ‘DIRECT clashes with other
ROMs.
In our opinion this ROM is one of the most
useful utility ROMs available on the market, and
is a must for anyone using ROM based software.
Introductory Price: Only £1 9
DISC EXECUTOR
Disc Executor is a highly sophisticated disc utility
which allows you to transfer all tape based
software that we know of onto disc. You no
longer have to throw away any of your cassette
based software on acquiring a disc drive. It
handles locked’ programs and allows you to loa
full length adventure type programs (i e. up to &
6E blocks) and programs that load below &E00
It is very simple to operate (full instructions
supplied). It saves you your valuable time and
money too. Our Disc executor is not a Replica
its the Real Thing
Available in both 40 and 80 track discs. Please
specify when ordering
Price: £10
ADE
The complete program development package on
16K ROM. A must for all the Assembly
Language Programmers.
Introductory price: Only : £52
GAMES SOFTWARE
CHESS
£ 6.95
CROACKER
£ 6.95
Escape from MOONBASE ALPHA
£ 6.95
CHUCKIE EGG
£ 7.90
FELIX in the FACTORY
£ 6.95
GALACTIC COMMANDER
£ 6.95
KILLER GORILLA
£ 6.95
MUNCHYMAN
£ 5.95
MOONRAIDER
£ 6.95
MUSIC SYNTHESISER
£8 25
PENGO (Watford)
£ 7.75
SWOOP
£6 95
Twin Kinqdom Valley
£ 8.25
747 FLIGHTSIMULATOR
£ 7.75
LEVEL 9 ADVENTURE GAMES
COLOSSAL ADVENTURE. The classical
mainframe game Adventure with all the
original puzzles plus 70 extra rooms.
£ 8.65
ADVENTURE QUEST Through forest,
mountains, desert, caves, water, fire, moorland
and swamp on an epic quest vs tyranny
£ 8.50
DUNGEON ADVENTURE. Over 100 puzzles in
the Demon Lord's dungeons.
£ 8.50
SNOWBALL. Save a 7000 location colony
starship in 2302 AD
£ 8.50
46
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
Watford s own Machine code Monitor ROM
ritten by Andrew Bray (Cambridge), co-author
of the BBC Micro Advance User Guide.
ie most powerful and versatile machine code
omtor ROM yet written for BBC Micro. It has
I the normal memory editing, moving and
locating facilities, plus all editing is with a full
:reen editor allowing scrolling up and down
emory. entering in Hex, ASCII or standard
ssembler mnemonics.
use as a debugging tool, you run code under
total emulation system. Everfelt a desperate
ge to set a break point in ROM? No problem
you can even have breakpoint on reading or
riting locations in memory and on register
)ntents. The system fully supports debugging
1 sideways ROMs e.g BASIC can fully and
isily be run from within Beebmon and from
iere DFS and other sideways ROMs can be
»ed in total emulation mode,
eebmon can even run itself. In so doing you
in nest Beebmon up to a level limited only by
ie memory size. Beebmon uses 256 bytes of
orkspace, located anywhere in memory, even
i the 1MHz Bus. Beebmon effectively uses no
fro page workspace, so your program (e.g.
ASIC) can use any or all of the base page,
ow does it achieve this? By providing a 6502
terpreter all programs running under it exist
a vertual BBC, so special memory locations
ce the ROM latch are not actually accessed
/ your programs, instead they alter a location
Beebmon s workspace. Emulation also
lows immediate return to Beebmon command
vel by ctrl-escape no matter what code is
sing excuted at the time. All this exceptional
Dwer and flexibility is complemented by a
ear and detailed manual included in a value
ir money price of:
£22
Disassembler Rom
icover the hidden secrets of BASIC and the
'ERATING SYSTEM with this easy to use
jgrammers tool.
ROM based machine code Disassembler for
; BBC micro. It enables machine code
igrams to be listed in BASIC/DUMP format
d thus is the perfect complement to the built
assembler. It allows Sideways ROMs, files on
>k or tape to be listed, and also has a
mprehensive editor, allowing mnemonics to be
ered directly as well as HEX, DECIMAL. ASCII
d BINARY memory editing. There is also a full
: o* labelling facilities available (up to 3,200
»els). with the major locations and routines
eady labelled.
us DIS-ASM enables any monitor program.
:h as BEEBMON to be used to much greater
ect as it is not necessary to disassemble
»mory each time the display is altered
ONLY £16
ice includes a comprehensive manual and
ing instructions.)
DISC DOCTOR £26
A sophisticated Disc Utility ROM with many useful
commands. (For detail description please refer to
Computer Concept's advert in this magazine.)
CARETAKER
The New Basic Utility ROM
from Computer Concept £28
Computer Concept's
Graphics ROM £27
GRAPH PAD
Wordwise
Without doubt a very sophisticated piece of
software for the BBC Micro. It has all the
features of a professional word processor yet is
easy to use
SPECIAL OFFER THIS MONTH: £32
With this popular British Micro's Graph-pad, you
can add new dimension to your computer
enjoyment. It helps you to create your own
application programs by the simple use of the
Graphpad. Ideal for Educational use. Supplied
complete with Cables. Manual and a two
program cassette.
Price: £125
BEEBPLOTTER
INVESTIGATOR
Now you can make up back-up copies of all your
Discs Put the precious originals away in the safe
and use your duplicates.
See what your 8271 can do 1 With Watford's
Investigator you can find out about track
formatting, sector length, etc. Investigate your
disc and then make up your back-up copy.
Format your discs to your own individual
specification I Find deleted Data 1 Spot
unformatted tracks'
Disc based software includes a comprehensive
manual
Price: £15
(Please specify 40 or 80 track when ordering)
PENGO
The popular 1 00% machine code arcade game
now at a special offer price of
Only £6.95
CRAWLER
The Unique Graphic Tablet
Watford Electronics BEEBPLOTTER will work
with 32K BBC Micro Connects to Analogue
port The unique design makes it accurate
and simple to use Attractively finished The
comprehensive booklet supplied describes its
use in detail and shows some of the possible
applications
The special features include
• Works in all graphics mode and any colour
selectable
• Commands printed on Tablet and
On-screen instructions
• Special routines enable pictures to be
quickly loaded from tape
• Works with all operating systems and
ECONET Tape and Disc versions available
• Large drawing area (32cms x 23cms)
• Maps. Pictures and Diagrams produced
quickly and easily
• Transparent tablet enables maps and
diagrams to be copied directly from books
• Commands include line, circles and
rectangle drawings, infilling, full editing and
an easy to use copy and move feature.
• Screen dump routines included for Seikosha
and EPSON printers
• Routines are included to allow user to
incorporate pictures in their own programs
• Designed by a professional teacher with
educational uses in mind
At a knockdown price of:
ONLY £59 (£3 carr.)
A new challenge for your reflexes, exercise for
your fingers. Crawler is the best yet BBC version
of the popular arcade game CENTIPEDE Blast
the voracious caterpillar before it eats you Avoid
the wandering spiders Shoot the scorpions
before they poison the mushrooms Kill the
descending fleas as they cause massive
mushroom growth This game is a delight to
play The controls are responsive and fast yet
precise
Only £5.95
LIGHT PEN
Light Pen for BBC Micro including Software
cassette and operating instructions
Only: £16
VVATFORD — Always
a step ahead
SURGE PROTECTOR Plug
Safely eliminates dangerous voltage surges.
During a thunderstorm, a nearby lightning
strike can induce high voltage spikes in the
voltage supply or fluctuating loads can also
result in transient overvoltages which if
unchecked, lead to expensive data
corruption/loss. Our surge protection plug will
provide the necessary surge protection. Simply
replace your standard 13Amp mains plug with
the surge protection plug (which is almost the
same size). Ideal for computers, Hi-Fi systems,
precision instruments, fridge freezers, etc. Max.
surge current 2KAmp; Max. Voltage 250 Volts.
A must for all serious computer users.
Price: £8.95
WATFORD
ELECTRONICS
Continued
ACORN USER JULY 1984
47
MK 2 13 ROM SOCKET
EXPANSION BOARD
Now all lines fully buffered — On board
battery back-up facility — will now accept
EPROMS 2716, 2732, 2764 & 27128 and
ROMs 6116 & 6264.
Simply plugs into one of the four ROM sockets
currently available in BBC Micro. There are only
5 solder connections to be made. Full
instructions are supplied. This board has been
ergonomically designed to enable the user, easy
further expansion inside the Micro, e.g. Double
Density Board, Torch Board, etc. (At Watford, we
think ahead.)
Our Mk2 13 ROM Socket Board enables the
User to increase the sideways ROM capacity
from the basic 4 sockets upto full 16 capable of
being supported by current operating systems In
addition the board is designed with the facility to
hold upto 16K RAM, which when switched into
operation is automatically selected by any WRITE
signal to the Sideways ROM area This gives the
User the ability to write a utility or language and
upon pressing break have the utility or language
up and running (new ROM software can be
developed and tested in situ.)
The Board gives the User plenty of freedom to
explore the possibilities of the new paged ROMs
due in the coming months and offers them the
chance to develop their own
All lines are fully buffered and the Board meets
or exceeds all timings for operation in the BBC
Microcomputer. When fully populated, the ROM
Board consumes less than half the recommended
maximum current limit.
Supplied ready built and tested complete with
fitting instructions.
ONLY £32.50 (carr. £ 1 )
EPROMs & CMOS RAMs
2764 250nS (8K ROM) £5.95
271 28-2 50nS ( 1 6K ROM) £24.00
61 16-150nS(2K RAM) £6.50
6264 150nS(8K RAM) £36 00
BEEB SPEECH
SYNTHESISER
Versatile Speech Synthesiser
Unit for the BBC Micro
SIMPLY the best 1 An unlimited speech
synthesis system. Complete with
easy-to-follow manual. Controlling software
is in ROM so no Cassette Loading
problems!
PHONEMES for word synthesis - That means
unlimited vocabulary! No extra speech
dictionary chips to buy!
BUILT-in Library of approximately 500 words to
get you started.
ENGLISH accent Utilises inflexion techniques
to produce highly comprehensible speech
EASY to use system - Just plug the software
ROM into a socket, the Speech unit into
the User Port, and away you go! No
specialised dealer upgrade' required'
COMPACT unit - The whole system is built into
a small case - easily tucked behind the
computer. Auxiliary output socket provided
for direct connection to an external
amplifier.
HOURS of fun! - Suitable for any application -
Games, Educational Programs, Specialised
Packages.
We know this all seems to good to be true but
DON'T BE LEFT SPEECHLESS! Order your
Versatile Speech Unit now!
Only £44
THE ULTIMATE DFS
FOR BBC MICRO
by
Watford Electronics
Highly acclaimed at The ACORN and BBC
MICRO USER Shows. What do the independent
press say?
Good value for money Beebug Aug. 83
A very worthwhile package - The Micro User
You’ll be buying a very powerful package -
Persona I Computer News
Superior DFS: Excellent disc sector editor
Computer Answers
Without a doubt, the most sophisticated DFS
Software yet written for BBC Micro Computer
This powerful new DFS is fully compatible with
ACORN DFS yet has much increased power due
to additions, carefully designed to make life
easier in normal use It consists of over 14K of
efficiently written machine code. It is entirely self
contained and so does not require a utilities disc
to function.
• The system can either use the ACORN
standard 31 files per disc side or DOUBLE THE
CAPACITY to 62 files. The size is selected at
formatting time. Copying between discs with
different catalogue sizes works perfectly
normally.
• A FORMATTING PROGRAM is built in
permitting formatting to 35 40. 80 track formats
with either 31 or 62 files. Since the formatter is
built in to the DFS it can be used without
affecting whatever program you are using.
• A DISC VERIFIER is also built in. This checks
the internal checksums on each sector to identify
any corrupted data This is extremely useful
when saving valuable data as it shows faulty
discs quickly and easily Again it does not affect
the program you are using.
• A built in DISC SECTOR EDITOR gives a
screen window onto the disc enabling detailed
editing of any byte on the disc. This is very
useful for recovering accidently deleted files and
can save weeks of work
• A double step mode allows the User of 80
TRACK DRIVES TO READ & WRITE BOTH 40
and 80 TRACK DISCS This mode is software
selected for each drive individually, thus enabling
a 40 track disc to be copied on to an 80 track
very easily. THIS ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR
EXPENSIVE 40/80 TRACK SWITCHABLE
DRIVES
BEEBFONT ROM
BEEBFONT is a remarkable new concept in BBC
software, exclusively available from Watford
Once fitted, the 16K ROM will enable you to
produce attractive text displays in following
different styles:
ABCDEFGH I JKLMNOI
abcdefghijklmr. Oj
ABCDEFGH I JKLMNO
ABCDEFGH I JKLMNOI
abcdefghi J k 1 mtbo l
rAHJ
kISMFMI 8 JEW
KLHNO
★ It works in modes 0, 1,2, 4, using full
colour.
★ Simply use Ctrl-V to select the font and all
further screen output will be in a new style
★ Even the ordinary Beeb character set can bi
enhanced by doubling height or width and
emphasising to give bold print.
★ A comprehensive editor is included which
enables the user to design his own characters.
★ A spooling program is provided, which
enables pre-formatted text files to be displayed
on an EPSON FX, RX, and NEC Printers using
the full range of character styles. (Please specr
printer type when ordering). Can be used with
WORDWISE
★ This really must be one of the most origina
and exciting products of the year
★ A twenty page manual is provided and the
demo/editor software comes on disc or cassett
(please specify when ordering). q ^ £ y £3
DFS continued:
• 2K of RAM can be reclaimed from the DFS
by setting PAGE to & 1100
Now with extra features:
• A WORKFILE function sets the name to be
used when the null filename is issued This
allows a program to be edited and repeatedly
saved having only typed its name once
• When using LOAD. CHAIN etc, it is possible
to specify an ambiguous filename. This will result
in the first file whose name matches the
specification being used This saves typing the
end of a filename that you know is uniquely
identified by its first few characters.
• Two commands exist to simplify the transfer
of programs from TAPE TO DISC These load the
file to & 1 100, switch off the disc system and
then move the file to its correct load address
thus saving a lot of complicated programming
This command can be used to load files up to
27K75 long.
• An advanced COPY command is included
which will prompt the user, requesting whether
to copy each file
• RENAME has been extended to allow the use
of ambiguous filenames. This allows you to
change BERT1 BERT2 BERT3 to FRED1
FRED2. FRED3 with only one command.
• OPENOUT has been improved to give you
fewer annoying Can t extend' errors as it
automatically picks the biggest space on the disc
in which to put a file. A SPACE command lets
you know how much space # COMPACT could
.create before you waste time doing it.
Continued.
• The powerful library system has been
extended so that libraries now work on all
accesses not only *RUN. This allows you to ha
a utility directory with all your commonly used
programs without muddling in your current
workfiles. Very useful for BCPL User
• Programs can now reside lower in memory
reclaiming some of the DFS workspaces mdet
PAGE can be taken as low as f 1 100 under mi
circumstances.
• To make DFS easy to use, wild cards ( *
have been made vastly powerful, e g *INF0 V
gives information on all files in the current
directory which have an A anywhere at all in
their filename
• Comprehensive and clearly written Manua
(available separately) gives the user a complete
package deal
• Fully compatible with BBC TELETEX and
TORCH Systems.
DFS ROM ONLY £2
Complete Disc Interface Kit including DFS
ROM and fitting instructions. ££
Comprehensive and clearly written DFS Manua!
£7.50 INoVA
P S We will exchange your existing ACORN Df
or PACE (AMCOM) DFS for the highly
sophisticated Watford s DFS ROM for
ONLY £:
Watford s DFS is exclusively available from
Watford Electronics We DO NOT retail through
any Dealers
48
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
WATFORD'S
BEEB PRINTER ROM
» you fed up with not being able to unravel your
nter manual and use all those features you paid
? Need sensible paging for use in the creation of
oklets? Then you certainly need our Beeb Printer
>M.
machine code printer utility in ROM
Sinqle' key operations replace control code
quences for underline, font and size selection,
per movement, etc. Up to 30 come pre defined,
thout effecting normal fn key usage.
This rom allows easy control of your
inter from 'Within' WORDWISE text,
stead of long escape sequences, you just
C’ a single number to Select, Underline,
int Styles, etc.
Automatic fanfold page margins. Puts gaps in
tings. PRINTed text etc to skip the folds. The gap
e alternates to minimise paper wastage when
ing binders.
Form feed and related commands, made
ailable on ALL printers Can also provide a left
3rgin.
User defined characters embedded within text
> printed as on VDU.
★ Commands select option for GP100. STAR
EC MX/FX, LP VI I/D M P 1 00. DMP200.
perates with Parallel and Serial Printers.
Fully functional with the popular WORDWISE
lordprocessor.
applied complete with a comprehensive 50 page
lanual.
Price: £24
(When ordering, please specify printer type)
NEW LAUNCH
DUMPOUT 3
highly sophisticated machine code ROM
jviding screen to printer dumps in any mode,
is window setting utilities and two new
iWORD calls that allow you to use the Beeb
jphic coordinate system for plotting or testing
)de 7 pixels
IMAGE Ultra sophisticated dump of any
jphic screen using up to 8 tones,
indies FULL MODE 7 text, graphics
uble-height and colour and mode 8 14
tional parameters, using prefixing so that you
ly need specify the ones that you want. The
rameters include:
V- scale. H- scale > These are both 2 byte
mbers giving you very fine control over the
mp size from minute to enormous. Unlike
ner dump Roms scale does not vary with
reen mode
R 0 3,- Dump rotation 0 90 180 270
grees.
l indent Set gap from left edge of paper
X min > < max V ''min • < max >. The area
the screen dumped is that in the graphics
ndow alternatively these parameters may be
WATFORD JOINS THE
COMMUNICATION REVOLUTION
MODEM 84
[or use
systems
lunications
conditions j
is tor use
With the launch of Watford's MODEM 84
you can now hook into PRESTEL
MICRONET. HOMELINK, TELECOM GOLD,
etc., for about the cost of a good tape
recorder. Prestel gives you access to an
incomparable database covering almost
every subject under the Sun. There is
Micronet with lots of free programs that
you can download and run Details of Clubs
and User groups, a diary of meetings and
exhibitions news and reviews, technical
information, etc. There is Homelink with
On-line banking. And there is armchair
shopping, travel information Entertainment,
World News, Sports News. Business News.
Weather information. Electronic mail and
lots more. The basic Prestel subscription is
only €5 per quarter for domestic user and
at off-peak times there is no charge for
access time Can you afford not to be part
of this revolution?
Now using the latest techniques and the
new generation of Modem chips, Watford
have developed a Modem that is newer,
better and yet cheaper than any on the
market.
Compare the Specifications:
MODEM
• Direct-connect Modem using BT approved
isolation components
• Full Duplex V23 operation for Prestel and
TELECOM GOLD operation (1200/75 Baud)
• User to-User half duplex 1200/1200 Baud
operation with AUTOMATIC SEND/RECEIVE
switch (BEWARE - most MODEMS switch
manually between send and receive, which
precludes the use of intelligent user to-user
software).
• Simple single button operation and
comprehensive LED status display.
• Attractively finished Sized to sit on the Disc
drive
NEW SUPER PRESTEL
INTERFACE ROM
Fully compatible with Watford's MODEM 84 as
well as with PRISM and most other Modems.
• Supports full Prestel Colour Alpha and
Graphic Characters including Double Height,
Flashing, Conceal/Reveal
• Called by simple # PRESTEL command. Disc
and Tape configurations fully supported.
• Telesoftware downloader included.
• Comprehensive MAILBOX facilities including
offline editor.
• Auto Logon sequence, can be burnt into ROM
if desired
• Unique TAG facility allows tagging and
recall of interesting pages avoids the common
and annoying NOW WHERE WAS THAT PAGE
problem.
• Page load and save to tape or disc. Pages are
automatically saved under Page Number
reference in a FRAME directory.
• Print page options are ASCII only (i.e. with
supression of Graphics) - fast and works with
any printer - as well as a full graphics dump for
the popular Epson printer
• USER function call built into interface with
specialist add-on routines (your own as well as
ours).
• All the above facilities available from Function
Keys. An overlay is provided giving simple yet
comprehensive guidance to the key functions.
• Comprehensive instruction manual supplied.
PRICES
SOFTWARE ROM incl. Comprehensive
Manual ONLY: £20
MODE M 84 (without software) £62
MODEM 84, SOFTWARE ROM and
Operating Manual £75(C2carr.)
(Please allow upto 28 days for delivery)
Coming soon:
BEEB User to User ROM For automatic User to
User communication including file/program
transfer
Please write to Watford Electronics for full
details. Order and Application Forms.
Physical colour values used for dumping
erwise use a negative scale i.e white prints
est.)
Two tone dumps for higher resolution.
1 mask 8 bits controlling colour masking
Contrast expansion Makes mode 7 text
acters and separated graphics stand out
e clearly from the background
All mode 7 graphics printed as reduced size
ps
GWIND0W Draws graphic window on
en its size and position can then be altered
g the cursor keys.
TIMAGE ' indent ■ Does a fast text only
ip of the text window in any mode
TWINDOW As GWIND0W but for text.
TIP OUT 3 gives you ALL of the GIMAGE
ities listed above and GWINDOW in mode 7
veil not just hi res modes
ii for CP80 GP80 DPI 00 GP250 STAR
5ATAXAN NEC SHINWA. CP80. GEMINI
ON MX RX FX LPVII
PI 00 120 200/400 Printers p Q
prehensive Manual included Unly L iy
FX80 PRINTER
DRIVER for VIEW
TINY PASCALfor BBC Micro £59
Do you want to use Italics or Enlarged
Characters with View? French or German
Characters? These and other FONTS from FX80
character sets can be accessed using our Printer
Driver with VIEW. The disc contains an example
as well shows how to use. Available on 40 or 80
track Disc. ONLY: £7.50
EPSON DUMP ROM
A specially designed Dump ROM for EPSON RX
FX and the new Kaga KP810 Printers Will
accurately DUMP all Screen modes including
TELETEXT GRAPHICS and DOUBLE HEIGHT.
MULTITONE DUMPS are also supported. Simple
single command (*SCDUMP) operation
Only : £1 6
VIEW
Acorn soft s Wordprocessor ROM
£52
FORTH ROM for BBC
This superb (FIG FORTH) compiling language
now available in ROM Simply plugs into one
of the ROM Sockets Manual included. £33
WATFORD
ELECTRONICS
Continued — -
\
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
49
BOOKS (No VAT on Books)
30 Programs- BBC Micro £3 25
30 Hour BASIC (BBC Micro) £6.95
35 Education Programs for BBC £6.95
36 Challenging Games for BBC £5.95
40 Educational Programs for BBC £5.95
100 Programs for BBC Micro £6.95
Cassette version of above £ 1 0.00
6502 Application Book £11.95
6502 Assembly Language Program .. £ 1 3.95
6502 Assembly Language
Subroutines £14.25
6502 Machine Code for Beginners £5.95
6502 Software Design £10.50
A young persons guide to BBC Basic ... £4.50
Advanced Machine Code Technique
for BBC £7.95
Advanced User Guide for
BBC Micro £12.50
Advanced 6502 Interfacing £10.95
Advanced 6502 Programming £12.45
Assembly Language Programming on
BBC Micro £7.95
Advanced Programming Techniques
for the BBC Micro £7.95
BBC Basic £7.95
Assembly Lang. Prog, on BBC £7 40
BBC BASIC £5.95
BBC Basic for Beginners £6.95
BBC Forth £7.50
BBC Lisp £7.50
BBC Micro An Expert Guide £6.95
BBC Micro Book BASIC Sound &
Graphics £7.95
BBC Micro Graphics and Sound £6.95
BBC Micro Programs in Basic £5 95
BBC Micro ROM PAGING System
Explained £2.95
BBC Micro Revealed £6.95
BBC Micro Assembly Lang. Prog £7.95
BBC Micro Disc Companion £7.95
BBC Micro in Education £6.50
Basic Programming on BBC Micro £5.95
Creating Adventure Programs on
BBC Micros £6.95
Creative Graphics Cassette (Acornsoft).
Has 36 graphics programs £8.95
Creative graphics on BBC Micro £7.50
Complete Programmer for BBC .... £5 95
DISC FILING SYSTEM (DFS)
Operating Manual for BBC £7.50
Discover BBC Machine Code £6.95
Discover FORTH £13.95
DIY Robotics & Sensors with BBC £6.95
Further Prog, for BBC Micro £5.95
FORTH Programming £14.40
Functional Forth for the BBC Micro £5.95
Games on your BBC Micro £2.95
Games BBC Computer Can Play £6.95
Graphs & Charts on BBC Micro £7.50
Graphic Art for BBC Computer £5.95
Graphs and Charts (Cassette) £7.50
Graphicson BBC Micro £6.95
Hobbit (Book and Cassette) £14.95
Introducing the BBC Micro £5.95
Introduction to FORTH £9.30
Intro to Micro Beginners Book
(3 Ed.) £9.90
Let your BBC teach u to program £6.45
LISP £9.25
Logo Programming £8.95
Mastering VISICALC £12.45
Mastering CP/M £13.65
Micros in the Classroom £4.90
Programming the 6502 £11*95
Programming & Interfacing 6502 .... £16.00
Programming the BBC Micro £6.95
PASCAL £9.25
Programming for Education on BBC ... £5.95
Structured Prog, with BBC BASIC £6.50
The Complete FORTH £6.95
The BBC Micro Book. BASIC. SOUND
& GRAPHICS £7.40
Using Floppy Discs with BBC Micro .... £5.95
Using BBC Basic £6.95
STOP PRESS
DOUBLE DENSITY BOARD
FOR BBC
We are proud to announce the launch of our
Double Density Board for the BBC Micro. The
DDFS software that we supply is a version of
our highly acclaimed standard 16K DFS for the
BBC Micro It will automatically tell whether a
single or double density disc is being accessed,
as well as allowing the option of reading 40
track disc on an 80 track drive. Now on your 80
track Double Sided Drive you will have 720K
storage instead of the usual 400K and with
higher speed than ever before (of course this is a
BONUS at NO EXTRA COST).
Complete Double Density Upgrade Unit will cost
same as single density Kit.
DATA RECORDER &
ACCESSORIES
Top quality Slimline, portable Data Recorder for
computer use. Mains/Battery, operated with
counter £24 00
DATA RECORDER CABLE
For our Data Recorder to BBC Micro £2.50
DATA CASSETTES Top grade C12 Data
Cassettes in library cases. 36p
ATTACHE CARRYING
CASE for BBC Micro
These Attache Carrying cases are attractively
finished in mottled antique brown leatherette An
ideal and very safe way to carry your BBC
Microcomputer. Price: £1 2 (£2 carr.)
ADVANCE USER GUIDE
for BBC MICRO
Only: £12.50 (no VAT)
VOLTMACE'S DELTA 14
Hand-set
Price: Delta 14 Hand set
ADAPTOR MODULE
TRANSFER PROGRAM
£12.50
£12 55
Tape £5.10
Disc £7.95
JOYSTICKS for BEEB
Two versions available:
SINGLE: Player type
TWO Players type
£7.00 each
£12.00 per pair
PLINTH FOR BBC MICRO
Protect your micro from the weight of the heavy
TV/Monitor. This sturdy plinth is attractively
finished in BBC colour. Air vent slots have been
provided to allow maximum air circulation. It can
be used to support a monitor or a printer The
micro slides underneath comfortably. A must for
every BBC Micro owner, specially for those who
have to move/open their computer frequently
Single Decker £1 1 (carr. £ 1 .50)
Double Decker £20 (carr. £2.00)
PLINTH FOR PRINTERS
Keeps your desk tidy. Place the printer on the
plinth and the paper underneath Finished in
BBC colour
CIO (carr £1 50)
4WAY MAINS
DISTRIBUTION SOCKET
A highly versatile space saving solution when
multi-power outlets are required. Can be wall or
floor mounted. Ideal for Micro Computer and
peripherals application. Prevents you getting a
dangerous tangle of plugs and adapters.
Only: £9.50
READY-MADE LEADS
CASSETTE LEADS 7 pin DIN Plug
to 5 pm DIN Plug ♦ 1 Jack Plug
to 3 pin DIN Plug 1 Jack Plug
to 7 pin DIN Plug
to 3 Jack Plugs
6 pin DIN to 6 pin DIN Plug (RGB)
Monitor Lead BNC to PHONO
Disc Drive to BBC Micro Power Lead
Single £3.00 Dual £3.75
MISCELLANEOUS
CONNECTORS
RGB (6 PIN DIN)
RS423 (5 pin Domino)
Cassette (7 pin DIN)
ECONET (5 pin DIN)
Paddles ) 1 5 pin D )
BBC Power Plug 6 way
Disc Drive Plug 4 way
£2.00
£2.00
£2 50
£2.00
£2 50
£3.00
Plugs
Sockets
30p
45p
40p
50p
25p
65p
20p
30p
110p
21 5p
75p
—
70p
-
H
Prices subject to change without notice.
MAIL ORDER AND RETAIL SHOP TRADE AND EXPORT INQUIRIES WELCOME
GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS OFFICIAL ORDERS ACCEPTED
CARRIAGE: Unless stated otherwise, please add 75p to all cash orders.
VAT: UK customers please add 15% VAT to the total cost incl. Carnege
SHOP HOURS: 9.00am to 6.00pm. Monday to Saturday. (Ample Free Car Parking Spaces)
ACCESS M £RDERS_Simply_phoneMAfatford(Q923) 50234 (24 Hours)
Watford Electronics
Dept. BBC, Cardiff Road, Watford, Herts, England.
Telephone: 0923 40588/37774. Telex: 8956095
50
A CORN USER JUL Y 1984
■ HINTS &TIPS
Testing
the keyboard
HERE is a question that is straightfor-
ward enough but the answer leads on
to an exploration of some features of
BBC Basic that I know confuse many.
David Cameron of Bradford under-
stands what INKEY does followed by a
positive number in the brackets, but
asks for help with the negative INKEY
statement. The subject is something
the handbook does not explain fully. It
is actually quite easy when you know
how, but, as is usual with the BBC (and
of course the Electron), there’s usually
a great deal more hidden round the
corner!
INKEY (X) where X is a negative
number enables you to see whether a
particular key is pressed at that instant.
This is most useful as it is possible not
only to test those keys that have an
ASCII number associated with them,
such as the numbers or the letters of
the alphabet, but it also allows the pro-
grammer to test for keys such as the
copy key or the shift key which have no
ASCII code.
As always, the best way to see how it
works is to try a few examples. Listing 1
(see page ii) uses a REPEAT . . . UNTIL
loop to keep testing the keyboard and
ends when the space bar is pressed;
- 99 is the number for the space bar. A
full list is given in both the Electron and
BBC user guides. What the user guides
do not mention is that if the appropriate
key is detected, a value of - 1 will be
stored in A, and a value of 0 if the key is
not detected. Those who intend writing
programs on their BBC for the Electron
beware! Some of the negative INKEYs
do not exist on the Electron. The Elec-
tron has no TAB key, no SHIFT LOCK,
and negative INKEY cannot be used to
detect the Electron’s function keys..
Neither can the following be detected in
this way on the Electron:
When listing 1 is run, if several keys
are pressed before the space bar is
pressed the string of characters will be
printed when the program ends. To
avoid this, include I i ne 80:
Martin Phillips dispels negative
INKEY confusi on, presents a
vertical printing method, and
nurses his Beeb back to health
80 *FX15, 0
This will clear the keyboard buffer,
where key presses are stored tempor-
arily before being processed by the
computer. Listing 2 is a rearranged ver-
sion of listing 1. This saves having to
use a variable (A) and saves a line of
typing, and hence some memory
space.
Listing 3 shows how INKEY works
with a positive number in the brackets.
The positive number represents the
number of centiseconds (hundredths of
seconds) the statement will wait for a
keyboard response. In the case of list-
ing 3 it will wait three seconds. If no re-
sponse is made in the time allowed, a
value of — 1 is returned in the variable
A. If a key is pressed, then the ASCII
number of that character is returned.
There is a list of ASCII numbers in both
user guides. These are not the same
values as the negative INKEY numbers
(couldn’t be that easy). The ASCII
number for the space is 32. Using
INKEY in this way is a useful way of
creating a pause in a program.
Listing 4 shows another variation on
the ‘testing the keyboard for the space
bar’ theme. This program uses the GET
statement, which will halt the program
until a key is pressed. Listing 5 is very
similar, except that GETS is used. GET
returns an ASCII number correspond-
ing to the key that was pressed, GETS
returns the ASCII character itself.
Finally, listings 6 and 7 are pro-
cedures to print a message at the
bottom of the screen in reverse text and
wait until the space bar is pressed. Two
versions are needed, one for modes 1
and 4 and the other for modes 2 and 5.
A third version would also be needed
for mode 0, but has not been included
here. The reason for the different ver-
sions is the differing size of print
between the modes. The long strings of
VDU codes in listing 6 have the follow-
ing meaning:
VDU 24, 175; 10; 1100:60; Define a
graphics window at the bottom of the
screen.
VDU 5 Join the text and graphics cur-
sors.
VDU 18,0,131 Define graphics colour
(GCOLO,131). In this case the back-
ground colour. White in modes 1, 4 and
5, yellow in mode 2.
VDU 12 Clear the graphics window to
the colour just defined.
VDU 18,0,0, Define black as the text
colour.
VDU 18,0,128 Set background colour
back to black.
VDU 1 8,0,3 Sei text colour to be white in
modes 1 , 4 and 5, and yellow in mode 2.
VDU 16 Clear graphics area.
VDU 4 Separate text and graphics cur-
sors.
l^DL/^Restore default windows.
Lines 10030 and 10040 need not be two
separate lines. They were split to make
the procedure more readable.
To rewind or
not to rewind
BOB BARRETT of Belfast says he was
horrified to read my advice about not
rewinding cassette tapes after use
(Acorn User, February). This, he says,
could lead to cassette tapes becoming
slack and then when re-used winding
themselves round the cassette mech-
anism and being destroyed.
I stand by my advice. The problem of
tape winding itself around the spindle
of the cassette recorder is much
reduced with the use of short-length
computer tapes. In fact I can't remem-
ber it happening, although it often
happens with the long C90 audio tapes.
My main reasons for suggesting that
the tape is not rewound is that I have
IF YOU have a technical hitch or a programming problem let Martin Phillips give his
diagnosis. We’ll pay £5 if you raise a really interesting point. Please give full details
of the system you’re using and include a listing where appropriate, making your ques-
tion as specific as possible. WRITE TO: Hints & Tips, Acorn User, Redwood Publishing,
68 Long Acre. London WC2E 9JH.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
PRESTEL, MICRONET, BBC to BBC file transfer. Terminal Emulation.
Commstar is unique and complete, a total solution
Imagine a single Eprom-based package of sophisticated communscaiions software that caters
for all your requirements
Imagine Commstar
l ake for example British Telecom s Prestel service offering access to a multitude ot up to the
minute information pages world news or weather and much more Instant access to Micronet
800 with many tree programs that can be downloaded in seconds, free advice and news F xpand
vour horizons and find out just how versatile our computer can really be'
How many times have you wanted to get a copy of a program to a Inerid or a business colleague
quickly 9 With Commstar you can transfer a file of ANY type, between two BBC s (which may be
thousands ot miles apart) m the space ot a phone call
It really is that simple'
Commstar is intelligent It otters many advanced features to ensure simple and effective
communication with the remote system
Consider the following features
Prestel Mode
Prestel mode features full colour Prestel graphics including double height and flashing characters
F ull T elesottware capability is offered allowing the many free programs offered by Micronet 800
to be downloaded into your computer Pages of particular interest may be marked tor later
retrieval and display Page images may be copied and saved to a lile on the current filing system
Terminal Mode
In terminal mode all input may be copied into a buffer in memory or spoofed directly on to disc Full
control over buttered data is provided allowing it to be listed to screen or printer sent to the
RS423 saved to or loaded from the current filing system (including TAPE)
Commstar allows full configuration and easy control over the protocols used Send and receive
baud rates word length parity and number of stop bits are selected from a simple table of
options
When in chat mode (80 or 40 column) . characters transmitted by the host will be displayed on the
BBC screen and characters typed on the BBC will be sent to the host
Commstar allows ANY type ot file (not just ASCII) to be transterred safely using XMODEM
protocols In fact four individual methods of transmission are provided tor within Commstar
giving great flexibility
Using a disk based emulation file Commstar can be configured to emulate virtually any terminal
typo including VT 1 00 within the capabilities ot the BBC
In addition to the above most MOS commands can be executed from within Commstar errors
are trapped by Commstar s own error handling routines and an optional elapsed time clock may
be displayed Data filter localEcho Auto-lme-feed printer on off and XON XOFF protocols may
be toggled in or out by a single key press extensive use being made of the function keys
Finally Commslar may be fitted into any of the sideways ROM sockets and is provided with a
comprehensive manual
£34 inc. VAT & Carriage.
A revolutionary new approach to program development aids.
Toolstar is a powerful new utility Rom that will open up a whole new world for BBC micro users
Toolstar adopts a revolutionary new approach to program development aids It has been
designed specilically to assist both Basic and Machine code programmers by providing an
integrated set of powerful building blocks which rapidly become an indispensable complement to
the built m facilities ol your BBC micro
This package contains the Toolstar firmware in Eprom arid a very comprehensive manual (over
1 50 pages), containing many examples and illustrations to help you make the best use o'
Toolstar s excilmg capabilities
Toolstar sheds new light on your BBC micro
Toolstar being Eprom-based will be permanently resident in your computer allowing alt of its
commands to be immediately available It is transparent to both the user and the operatmq
system, once a command has been executed, control is returned to Basic or whichever ROM
had control prior to the command
Full error handling has been incorporated and for new users there are full help menus describing
each command and its syntax
Powerful building blocks for Basic programmers?
Wrthin Toolstar there aie 22 commands 8 ol which operate between PAGE and TOP ie on the
current Basic program or Basic programming environment These commands obey standard
Basic command syntax rules
Reveal the deepest secrets of your discs
Toolstar allows the operations of Formatting Verifying reading or writing a disc sector to be
earned out very simply Irom Basic i e all the necessary building blocks required to develop a
comprehensive set of disc utilities simply and eflectively
Lost your memory? - No more amnesia with Toolstar!
In addition to the commands described above there are 9 commands which operate on the whole
ottheBBC smemory and are designed to complement the BBC s built in assembler These
include a lull feature disassembler and memory dump each with forward and reverse scrolling
If this is not enough Toolstar can be Extended!
There are three help menus on 7 oolstar which may be obtained by typing HELP TOOL S 'HELP
MCQDE or ’HELP E XTEND The third option menu will intially display the lollowinq
■HEIPEXTEND
EXTEND RAM adds
i e typing 'EXTEND address will allow the user to extend the facilities ot Toolstar with
routines which are supplied by himselt The manual describes fully how this operation is earned
out and illustrates it with several examples
in the future such utilities will be made available on disc and cassette from Pace thus allowing a
comprehensive library of utility programs to be built up
£34.00 Inc. VAT & Carriage.
Access and Barclaycard
Dealer Enquiries welcome
Send for more information to:
92, New Cross Street,
Bradford BD5 8BS.
Telephone: 0274 729306
Telex: 51 564
J HINTS &TIPS
frequently seen inexperienced users
rewinding the tape by pulling out the
connecting lead to make the cassette
motor work. This quickly destroys the
cassette lead and/or cassette socket. In
any case with many programs it is not
easy to stop the program, use the
•MOTOR command and rewind the
cassette. Not rewinding cassettes has
caused no problems for me, but I
always use C12 or C15 tapes. Also, if a
backup copy is made of tapes, it is
cheaper to risk the occasional loss of a
cassette than to keep replacing
cassette leads.
Mr Barrett also bemoans the fact that
there was no *FX command to alter the
inter-block gap on cassette files. Acorn
in fact allows this to be changed, not
using a *FX command but the *OPT3
command. The inter-block gap can be
altered from 0.1 to 12.7 seconds on
loading. The default value (the value
normally set by the computer) is 2.5
seconds. It is not possible to change the
inter-block gap using a *OPT or *FX call
when saving data files. The *OPT com-
mand is mentioned on page 398 of the
user guide.
Tape loading
problems
Mr PROVAN of Glasgow has been
writing programs on his computer,
saving them on tape and then trying to
load them on another computer without
success. Even using the same cassette
player he gets block and data errors.
The only way he can transfer programs
at 1200 baud is to make a tape copy
using a twin tape copier and use that.
The fact that a program loads after it
has been copied on a stereo copier
suggests that the fault lies in the differ-
ent record or playback levels expected
by each computer. Several circuit
changes were made to the cassette
interface on early and not-so-early
BBCs.
This is a problem for the dealer to
sort out. It might be necessary to take
both computers in to find which (or
both) is incorrect. The dealer should be
aware of the changes made on the
earlier computers and should be able
to modify yours and bring it up to the
latest standard.
A window on
printing
J SUMMERS asks for a way of printing
text vertically on the screen. There are
several methods, most relying on
taking each letter in turn (this can be
done using the MID$ statement) and
printing it vertically using the TAB
statement, or by using VDU5 to join the
text and graphics cursors and then
using the MOVE statement to position
each letter. There is another, not very
obvious, way that is much easier. You
define a text window one character
wide and print the word inside the
window. Each letter will appear under
the previous one. The text window can
be cancelled using VDU26.
Listing 8 draws two axes and labels
each one to show the technique. It will
work on both the Electron and the BBC.
Line 100 has been inserted to move the
prompt and the cursor out of the way
when the program ends. The left-hand
edge and the right-hand edge of the
window have the same value.
On the subject of text windows, I have
had several comments from readers
unable to define text windows in mode
7 on the BBC. The problem, I suspect, is
that the window has been defined too
large, so that the window simply
defaults to the whole screen. Mode 7
has only 25 lines in common with
modes 3 and 6, as opposed to 32 with
the other modes. Remember too that it
starts at line 0 and ends at line 24, and
the first character is positioned at
column 0 and the last character at
column 39. This has caught me out
several times!
A text window one or two characters
wide can be defined to have some of
the mode 7 control codes embedded.
Then if a window is defined as the size
of the rest of the screen, the screen can
be cleared or scrolled without affecting
the control codes.
For some useful effects, try listings 9
to 14. Reference will need to be made to
the section on mode 7 control codes in
the user guide.
10 REM Listing 8
20 MODE 1
30 MOVE 100,1000
40 DRAW 100,100
50 DRAW 1200,100
60 VDU28 , 0 , 10,0, 1
70 PRINT" Vert i cal "
80 VDU26
90 PRINTTAB (28,31)
"Horizontal " ;
100 PRINTTAB (0,30)
Listing 8. Demonstrates technique of print-
ing a character within a text window
Listing 9 shows how a title can be
placed at the top of the screen and
remain there while the rest of the
screen scrolls. This effect will work in
other modes too, although the double-
height facility cannot be used.
My computer
loses its spark
FOR the past two months, writing this
feature has been very difficult, and my
faith in the Beeb has been shaken. My
trusty computer has started letting me
down. The troubles started shortly after
I fitted a couple of new ROMs onto my
sideways ROM board. By now it is
beginning to get rather full. When I was
using Wordwise the computer sud-
denly developed a creative spirit of its
own and started adding words, phrases
and characters here and there.
I found a cure by taking the top cover
off the computer. Ah, overheating! I
hear wise readers thinking -but no,
Listings 9-14 (see also overleaf). Useful
effects with text windows in mode 7
10 REM listing 9
20 MODE 7
30 FOR N=0 TO 24
40 PR I NTT AB < 0 , N ) CHRT 1 “
50 NEXT N
60 VDU28, 1 ,24,39,0
70 FOR N= 1 TO 10
80 PR I NT " HELLO "
90 NEXT N
i;
10 REM listing 11
20 MODE 7
30 FOR N=0 TO 24
40 PR I NTT AB < 0 , N ) CHRT < 1 29+N MOD 7)
50 NEXT N
60 VDU2B, 1 ,24,39/0
70 FOR N= 1 TO 10
80 PR I NT "HELLO”
90 NEXT N
10 REM listing 10
20 MODE 7
30 FOR N=0 TO 24
40 PRINTTAB (0 , N) CHR* ( 1 30+N MOD 2);
50 NEXT N
60 VDU28, 1,24,39,0
70 FOR N=1 TO 10
80 PR I NT "HELLO"
90 NEXT N
ACORN USER JULY 1984
HINTS &TIPS
10 REM listing 12
20 MODE 7
30 FOR N=0 TO 24
40 PRINTTAB(0,N)CHR*134CHR$141;
50 NEXT N
60 VDU28 , 2 , 24 , 39 , 0
70 FOR N=1 TO 10
80 PR I NT “HELLO"
90 NEXT N
10 REM listing 13
20 MODE 7
30 FOR N=0 TO 24
40 PRINTTAB (0,N) CHR*129 CHR$157 CHR*132;
50 NEXT N
60 VDU28 , 3 , 24 , 39 , 0
70 FOR N= 1 TO 10
80 PRINT“HELLO“
90 NEXT N
this fault was there when the computer
was first switched on. I thought the
trouble was a broken track on the key-
board circuit board because it hap-
pened only when I touched certain
keys. After much eyestrain I gave up
that avenue of thought and concen-
trated on the sideways ROM board. I
wondered if it was, as Joe Telford had
found, that the board was not suffi-
ciently buffered and that adding the
extra couple of ROMs had caused the
fault. I removed these ROMs and a
couple more for good measure but the
fault was still there, although not so
bad. Back to the drawing board.
By then the fault was getting worse.
Listings would not print out, odd error
messages appeared, programs cor-
rupted for no reason, and even the disc
drive refused to work at times. I got my
multimeter out and started measuring
voltages here and there. I was sur-
prised to find that the output from the
power supply was low, 4.80v when it
should have been 5v. I checked the
power supply connectors on the circuit
board. Lo and behold, several of the
spade connectors had dry joints where
they were soldered to the board. I
resoldered them, the voltage increased
to 4.86v and the fault was cured - for a
week.
Stronger measures were called for. I
committed the sacrilege of soldering
the power supply leads directly to the
board. The voltage on the board rose to
4.91v, and again the fault disappeared,
this time for a couple of hours, but when
the computer warmed up the fault reap-
peared. In went the multimeter probes
again, recording voltage on the side-
ways ROM down to 4.75v. This needed
a drastic remedy. I cut off the two pins
that carry the power supply from ROM
socket to sideways ROM board, wired
the power supply direct to the ROM
board and added a small electrolytic
capacitor. Voltage 4.9v. This cure
seems to have worked and my confi-
dence in my trusty Beeb is returning.
If this was the real fault, then it is
probably not just buffering problems on
the sideways boards but also low
supply voltage caused by drawing too
much current down tracks never
designed to carry such current. This
will affect most boards similarly as they
become more populated, or as the
ROM socket into which they plug works
loose. Also it appears that the fast-on
power lead connectors will cause
trouble as the computer ages, and sol-
dering might be a cure. However, this is
not a tip for the beginner or the new-
comer to soldering. It could cause a lot
of expensive damage. If in doubt take it
to a dealer.
Loading
machine code
R P LANE of Chippenham was trying to
copy a machine code program onto his
BBC micro in the way shown in April’s
Hints & Tips. All went well until near the
end of the program, when the screen
started filling up with odd signs and
characters.
What happened was that the free
memory space in the computer was full
and the program continued loading,
overwriting the screen area of
memory. Assuming the program will
load and run on a BBC, I would guess
that Mr Lane has got a computer with
disc interface or Econet interface.
When either or both of these are fitted
they reserve some memory for their
own use, leaving less for the user. If Mr
Lane tried to load a long program in
there would not be enough room.
All is not lost. If you are not using disc
or Econet the memory space reserved
for either of these filing systems can be
recovered and used for other pur-
poses. To do this type PAGE = &E00
and press RETURN. This restores the
memory as though you had a tape-
based computer. Many programs on
cassette check to see if PAGE is differ-
ent, and change it back again so that
when running the program it will load
and run without problem.
Some cassette programs that do not
check the value of PAGE will not load
on machines with disc or Econet fitted
and again will work only if PAGE is
altered as above. PAGE is the position
in memory where a program is to start
loading. By altering PAGE it is possible
to load two or more programs into the
computer (provided they are reason-
ably short) and quickly switch from one
to the other. For example, type PAGE =
&E00 and enter a short program and
check that it runs (one or two lines is
sufficient to play with). Now type
PAGE = &3000 and type in another
short program and run that. Return to
the original PAGE by typing PAGE =
&E00 and you should be able to run the
original program. On returning to
PAGE = &3000 you will still find your
second program in residence and this
can also be run again.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
ACORN AND
MIRRORSOFT WEEK
AT LION HOUSE
£20,000 worth of prizes!
Lion Microcomputers announce the opening of the Largest Acorn centre in Europe.
To celebrate the occasion, a week long promotion from July 9th-1 5th inclusive will
be held at Lion House. A total of £20,000 worth of prizes and special discounts will
be given away (prize draws will be daily throughout the week). Lion House will be
open every day, including Sunday 1 5th, until 8.30pm. Admittance after 6pm and on
Sunday 1 5th will be by ticket only. Users of our special £10 discount coupon will
receive, by return, two admittance tickets and two raffle tickets which will be entered
in each days prize draw. Schools and education authorities on application, will be
allocated tickets and times of attendance.
ACORN
Acorn are moving their
Olympia exhibit to Lion
House for the week. It
will be fully staffed by
Acorn and Lion House
support, sales and
servicing. On view
will be Acorn’s _
Formula 3 racing car .,r. [
together with 1st driver
David Hunt who will make
the draw for prizes,
together with other
celebrities.
SYSTEMS'**"
MIRRORSOFT
Mirrorsoft will give the first
public demonstration of
their revolutionary
astronomy programs:
Starseeker and Solar
Systems, published
in association with
The London
Planetarium.
'• \ *r
. jak a
£ 20,000
worth of prizes!
including:
★ 7 BBC Micros
★ 7 Electrons
★ Home, Educational and
Business Software
★ Monitors
★ Printers
★ Peripherals
— and much more.
THE WINDOW FOR THE
COMPUTER INDUSTRY
'FREE! An Acorn
^Data Recorder and
five assorted Acorn
soft cassettes with
every BBC B'
purchase
Lion Micro Computers Limited is one of
the oldest established retail and
business outlets for micros in the U.K.
We have built up an unrivalled
reputation, for service and support.
We are not a chemist shop.
We are not a newsagent
We do no# just sell boxes
We do provide a complete
service for our customers.
JUST ARRIVED!
ACORN Z80
SECOND
PROCESSOR
Turns the BBC Computer into a
business system. The Z80 will
run CP/M, which has become the
standard operating system for
running business programs.
Z80 2nd Processor comes
complete with free software
programs:
Word processing, filing, financial
modelling and three
programming languages: BBC,
Mallard Basic, CIS Cobol.
Complete Package:
£ 299.00
+ £ 3.50 p.p.
£10 voucher
This voucher is worth CIO when used as part payment for any purchase of Cl 00 or
more. Only one voucher may be redeemed per Cl OO of goods purchased.
■ ■ ■ Lion House, 227 Tottenham Court Road
Lion Micro OOmpilt©rS London W1P0HX.01 .580 7383.
ROM BASED SOFTWARE
SOFTWARE AT LION HOUSE
CARETAKER - BASIC UTILITY ROM
£33.35
T00LSTAR - PROGRAMME DEBUGGING ROM
COMMUNICATOR - COMMUNICATIONS ROM
£34.00
£69.00
TERMI - TERMINAL/MODEM UTILITY ROM
COMMSTAR- COMMUNICATIONS ROM
£34.00
£33.35
DISK DOCTOR - DISK UTILITIES ROM
£33.05
VIEW - ACORN WORD PROCESSING PACKAGE
GRAPHICS ROM -UTILITY ROM
£33.35
£59.80
(OVER 28 GRAPHIC COMMANDS)
VIEWSHEET - ACORN SPREADSHEET PACKAGE
GREMLIN - MACHINE LANGUAGE MONITOR
£59.80
ROM
£33.35
WORDWISE - WORD PROCESSING PACKAGE
PRINTMASTER- EPSON PRINTER 1
UTILITIES
£46.00
ROM
£33.35
ULTRACALL -SPREADSHEET PACKAGE £65.00
ACORN BUSINESS SOFTWARE
INVOICING
£24.95
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
£24.95
ORDER PROCESSING
£24.95
STOCK CONTROL
£24.95
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
£24.95
PURCHASING
£24.95
MAILING
£24.95
WE ALSO STOCK A FULL RANGE OF OTHER BUSINESS AND GAMES PACKAGES.
ACORN MICROS AT LION HOUSE
BBC
COMPATIBLE PRINTERS
AT LION HOUSE
EPSON
RX80 DOT MATRIX
£286.35 (a)
RX80FT DOT MATRIX
£327.75 (a)
FX80FT DOT MATRIX
£444.66 (a)
SERIAL BOARD
£39.95 (c)
FX80 TRACTOR UNIT
£42.1 7(c)
OTHERS
SANPLE DAISY STEP 2000 £343.95 (a)
SHINWA CP-80 £248.50(a)
BBC CENTRONICS PRINTER CABLE £1 6.95 (d)
BBC SERIAL PRINTER CABLE £1 2.95 (d)
BROTHER
EP44 DOT MATRIX
£246.43 (a)
HR1 DAISYWHEEL
£688.85 (a)
HR5 DOT MATRIX
£182.85 (a)
HR1 5 DAISYWHEEL
£458.46 (a)
HR25 DAISYWHEEL
£858.66 (a)
HR15 TRACTOR UNIT
£109.25 (a)
HR15 SHEET FEEDER
£253.00 (b)
HR1 5 KEYBOARD
£1 72.50(b)
JUKI
JUKI 6100 DAISYWHEEL
JUKI TRACTOR UNIT
JUKI SERIAL INTERFACE
£429.00 (a)
£11 7.00(b)
£71.00 (b)
MICROS
BBC MODEL A - 16K RAM
£299.00 (a)
BBC MODEL B-32K RAM
£399.00 (a)
BBC MODEL BD-32K RAM,
ACORN DISK INTERFACE
£469.00 (a)
ACORN ELECTRON
£199.00 (a)
ADD-ONS
A-B UPGRADE KIT
£92.00
SINGLE 100K DRIVE
£265.00 (a)
DOUBLE 800K DRIVE
£803.85 (a)
TELETEXT RECEIVER
£225.00 (b)
CASSETTE RECORDER
£29.50 (b)
ECONET INTERFACE
£70.00 (c)
DFS DISK INTERFACE
£97.00
SPEECH INTERFACE
£55.00 (c)
GAMES PADDLES
£13.00
6502 2ND PROCESSOR
£195.00 (b)
Z80 2ND PROCESSOR
£295.00 (b)
BIT STICK
£375.00 (b)
IEEE INTERFACE
£325.00 (b)
|An Mirrn PAmnilloi*C Lion House, 227 Tottenham Court Road
LIUII IVIILTU computers London W1P0HX. 01.580 7383
BBC COMPATIBLE MONITORS
AT LION HOUSE
MONITORS
HANTEREX 9" GREEN/AMBER £1 1 0.00 (a)
HANTEREX 1 2" GREEN/AMBER £1 1 7.00 (a)
HANTEREX 14" RGB COLOUR MONITOR
£199.50 (a)
(SPECIAL LIMITED OFFER)
KAGA-TAXAN 1 2" GREEN £1 25.00 (a)
KAGA-TAXAN I EX 12" RGB COLOUR (MED RES)
£247.00 (a)
KAGA VISION I1 1 2" RGB COLOUR (HIGH RES)
£322.00 (a)
KAGA VISION III 12" RGB COLOUR (SUPER HIGH
RES) £458.85 (a)
MICROVITEC 1431 14" RGB (MED RES)
£228.85 (a)
MICROVITEC 1451 14" RGB (HIGH RES)
£343.85 (a)
nlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllk
DISKS AT
LION
HOUSE
BBC COMPATIBLE 54" DISK
SCOTCH/
CONTROL DATA/
DENNISON
(BOX OF 1 0)
DRIVES AT LION HOUSE
SS DD 40T
DS DD 40T
SS DD 80T
DS DD 80T
£24.95 (d)
£34.50 (d)
£34.50 (d)
£41.86 (d)
DATALIFE
MD525 SS DD 40T
£23.00 (d)
MD550 DS DD 40T
£33.54 (d)
MD577 SS DD 80T
£27.10 (d)
MD557 DS DD 80T
£36.31 (d)
(TWIN PACK)
MD525
£ 4.98
MD550
£ 6.94
CLEANING KIT
£ 6.03
10 CLEANING DISKS
£11.54
MICROWARE
ZL241 BH 40T DS SINGLE 200K
£241.50 (a)
ZL242BH 40T DS DUAL 400K
£438.64 (a)
ZL281BH 80T DS SINGLE 400K
£279.29 (a)
ZL282BH 80T DS DUAL 800K
£517.50 (a)
ZL281BHX 40/80T SINGLE 400K
£299.00 (a)
ZL282BHX 40/80T DUAL 800K
£537.00 (a)
ZL282BHXX 40/80T EACH DRIVE DUAL 800K
£556.93 (a)
PACE
PSD1 SS 40T SINGLE 100K
£174.15 (a)
PSD2 DS 40T SINGLE 200K
£428.07 (a)
PSD3 DS 40/80T SINGLE 200/400K
£289.15 (a)
PSD4 DS 80T SINGLE 400K
£257.93 (a)
PDD1 SS 40 DUAL 200K
£345.00 (a)
PDD2 DS 40 DUAL 400K
£483.00 (a)
PDD3 DS 40/80T DUAL 400K
£573.36 (a)
PDD4 DS 80 DUAL 800K
£479.71 (a)
PDD5 SS 40/80T DUAL 200/400K
£501.07(a)
CUMANA
CS100 SS 40T SINGLE POWER SUPPLY 100K
£194.35 (a)
TORCH
TORCH Z80A DISK PACK
TORCH Z80A CELL PROCESSOR
£835.00 (a)
£431.50 (b)
ACCESSORIES AT LION HOUSE
BBC ACCESSORIES
PRISM MODEM 1000
£ 69.95(b)
PRISM COMMUNICATION ROM
£ 19.95
PRISM COMMUNICATION TAPE
£ 14.95
GRAFPAD
£1 43.75(b)
RH LIGHTPEN
£ 45.95
VIDEO DIGITISER
£250.00 (b)
DUST COVER
£ 4.50
BBC MONITOR/PRINTER STAND
£ 16.95(c)
BBC TORCH/MONITOR STAND
£ 24.95(c)
BANDRIDGE BBC JOYSTICK INTERFACE
£ 11.95
LEADS
BBC CASSETTE BACLE
£ 3.95
PARALLEL PRINTER CABLE
£16.95 (d)
RS432 - RS232 SERIAL CABLE
£12.95 (d)
VIDE0/M0NIT0R CABLES
£ 5.95
7-PIN 7-PIN DIN
£ 3.95
SPEECH UNITS
M35 LOCKABLE 40 DISC STORAGE £1 7.25 (d)
M85 LOCKABLE 90 DISC STORAGE £24.95 (d)
ACCO LOCKABLE 50 DISC STORAGE £24.75 (d)
FLIP N’ FILE 1 5 DISC STORAGE £ 8.25(d)
CLEANING AIDS
AF 5.25 CLEANING KIT
£14.95 (d)
AM KEYBOARD CLEANING KIT
£ 4.31 (d)
AM CASSETTE CLEANING KIT
£ 4.31 (d)
AM SCREEN CLEANING KIT
£ 5.85(d)
PRINTER PAPER
9Jx 11 1000 SHEETS
£ 9.00(c)
9i x 11 2000 SHEETS
£15.00 (c)
14Jx 11 2000 SHEETS
£19.80 (c)
ACORN SPEECH SYNTHESISER
CHEETAH SPEECH BOX
£55.00 (C)
£24.95 (c)
I . ■ ■■ /■* Lion House. 227 Tottenham Court Road,
inn l\/l I r* K O l .filYlilllTPl S unrtnnwipnwy m wnsi
BOOKS AT LION HOUSE
1 ADVANCED GRAPHICS FOR BBC £9 95 (a)
2 ADVANCED PROG TECHNIQUES BBC £8 95 (a)
3 ADVANCED USER GUIDE BBC £12 95 (a)
4 ALP FOR THE BBC MICRO (MACMILLAN) £8 95 (a)
5 ALP FOR THE BBC MICRO (ADDISON WESLEY)
£7 95(a)
6 BASIC PROG BBC MICRO £6-95 (a)
7 BBC BASIC £5 95 (a)
8 BBC BASIC (FOR BEGINNERS) £6 95 (a)
9 BBC DISK COMPANION £7 95 (a)
10 BBC GRAPHICS AND SOUND £6 95 (a)
11 BBC IN EDUCATION £6 50 (a)
12 BBC MICROS EXPERT GUIDE £6 95 (a)
13 BBC MICRO ASSEMBLY LANG £7 95 (a)
14 BBC MICRO BOOK SOUND/GRAPHICS £7-95 (a)
15 BBC MICRO FOR BEGINNERS £6-95 (a)
16 BBC REVEALED £7 95 (a)
17 BEST OF PCW SOFTWARE BBC £5 95 (a)
18 BRAIN TEASERS FOR THE BBC/ELECT £5 95 (a)
19 CREATING ADVENTURE PROGS/BBC £6 95 (a)
20 D l.Y ROBOTICS AND SENSORS £6 95 (a)
21 DISCOVERING BBC MACHINE CODE £6 95 (a)
22 DISK SYSTEMS FOR THE BBC £6 95 (a)
23 EASY PROGRAMMING FOR YOUR BBC £5 95 (a)
24 FUNCTIONAL FORTH BBC £5-95 (a)
25 FURTHER PROGRAMMING FOR THE BBC £5-95 (a)
26 GAMES BBC COMPUTERS PLAY £6 95 (a)
27 GAMES FOR YOUR BBC £2 95 (a)
28 GRAPHIC ART FOR BBC £5 95 (a)
29 GRAPHICS ON THE BBC MICRO £6 95 (a)
30 HOBBIT (BOOK AND CASSETTE) £14 95 (a)
31 INTRO THE BBC MICRO £5-95 (a)
32 LET YOUR BBC MICRO TEACH YOU PROG £6 45 (a)
33 MAKING MUSIC ON THE BBC £5-95 (a)
34 PRAC. PROGS FOR BBC/ACORN ATOM £5 95 (a)
35 PROGS. FOR EDUCATION ON BBC £5 95 (a)
36 PROGRAMMING THE BBC MICRO £6 95 (a)
37 PUTTING YOUR BBC TO WORK £4 95 (a)
38 STRUCTURED PROG WITH BBC £6 50 (a)
39 USING BBC BASIC £6 95 (a)
40 USING FLOPPY DISCS WITH BBC £9 95 (a)
41 21 GAMES FOR THE BBC £5 95 (a)
42 30 HOUR BASIC FOR BBC £6 95 (a)
43 30 PROGS FOR THE BBC MICRO £3 25 (a)
44 35 EDUCATIONAL PROGS FOR BBC £6 95 (a)
45 36 CHALLENGING GAMES BBC MICRO £5 95 (a)
46 40 EDUCATIONAL PROGS BBC £5 95 (a)
47 100 PROGS FOR THE BBC £6 95 (a)
48 A L.P ON THE BBC MICRO £7 95 (a)
49 A L P PROG ON THE ELECTRON £7-95 (a)
50 PROCEDURES & FUNCTIONS IN BBC BASIC t b a
51 CREATING A MICROWORLD ON THE BBC MICRO
£10-95 (a)
52 ELECTRON BOOK SOUND/GRAPHICS £7 95 (a)
53 ADV PROG TECHNIQUES ON ELECTRON £8 95 (a)
54 ART OF MICROCOMPUTER GRAPHICS £12 95 (a)
55 PROGRAMMING TIPS FOR BBC MICRO C6 95 (a)
56 INTERFACING PROJECTS FOR BBC £6 95 (a)
57 START PROG WITH ELECTRON £6 95 (a)
58 SOFTWARE FOR THE BBC £5 95 (a)
59 COMPUTING FOR ALL THE FAMILY (BBC) £6 45 (a)
60 BBC MICRO PROGS IN BASIC £5-95 (a)
61 (REP) PROG FOR EDUCATION (BBC) £5 95 (a)
62 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE £6 95 la)
63 PRACTICAL PROGS FOR THE BBC £6 95 (a)
64 BASIC PROGRAMMING FOR THE BBC £6 95 (a)
65 21 GAMES FOR THE ELECTRON £6 95 (a)
66 40 EDUCATIONAL GAMES FOR THE ELECTRON
£5 95 (a)
67 THE ELECTRON PROGRAMMER £5 95 (a)
68 ADV M/CODE TECHNIQUES (ELECTRON) £6 95 (a)
69 TAKE OFF BBC & ELECTRON £5 95 (a)
70 MATHS ON BBC/ELECTRON £5 95 (a)
71 GRAPHIC ART FOR THE ELECTRON £5 95 (at
72 100 PROGS FOR THE ELECTRON £6 95 (a)
73 BASIC PROGRAMMING FOR THE ELECTRON £6 95 (a)
74 ELECTRON M/CODE FOR BEGINNERS £6 95 (a)
75 PROGRAMMING FOR EDUCATION (ELECTRON)
£5 95 (a)
76 GRAPHS AND CHARTS £7 50 (a)
77 CREATIVE GRAPHICS £7 50 (a)
78 CREATIVE ASSEMBLER £7 50 (a)
79 LISP (MANUAL) £7 50 (a)
80 FORTH (MANUAL) £7 50 (a)
81 BCPL (MANUAL) £15 00 (a)
82 S- PASCAL (MANUAL) NY A
83 INTO VIEW £2 50 (a)
84 VIEW GUIDE £2 50 (a)
85 BEYOND BASIC £7.25 (a)
86 FRIENDLY COMPUTER BOOK £6 95 (a)
87 STRUCTURED PROGRAMMING £6 50 (a)
88 THE COMPUTER BOOK £5.95 (a)
89 BBC USER GUIDE £10 00 (a)
BBC BUSINESS II |||||||| II ||| | Mil
To: Lion House Retail Limited, Lion House, 227 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0HX.
Please rush me the following:
PRODUCT UNIT PRICE QUALITY TOTAL PRICE
Postage and Packing Rates: TOTAL
Please add carriage of £1.00 except for items indicated as follows: o
A) £8.00 B) £8.00 C) 2.50 D) £1 50 P0ST & PACK,NG
I enclose my cheque for £
made payable to Lion House Retail Limited or debit my Access/Visa/Amex/Diners
Card no
Name
Signature
Address
Postcode
58
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
The.
Alpha Disc Ltd.,
as a company special-
ising only in the
sale and service of
sub-systems, can
rightfully claim to produce
the definative in quality
disc drive sub-systems
floppy disc drives and for your microcomputer.
excellence
OUR MODEL 221 DISC DRIVE ILLUSTRATED HERE, FEATURES:
© A dual unit only 3 inches in height (i.e. the height ofyour BBC Micro). ©Each disc drive is double-sided 40/80 track switching
with a formatted capacity of 400K on the BBC Micro. ©The 221 has a single dual-colour LED on the front panel displaying greer
40 track and red for 80 track selection. This we enhance with a two-stage LED illumination to show "nower-on" and "drive
selected" status. ©As an option, each sub-system is fitted with an on-board switch mode power supply. The efficiency of this un
is such that heat generation is minimal, thus we can construct a secure and safe cabinet ideal for home and educational use.
Service and Support:
All our disc drive sub-systems are sold complete with power/data
cables, utilities and documentation.
Units are covered by a full one year warranty on parts and labour, with
service provided direct by Alpha Disc Ltd.
A measure of our support is that we will, for a modest charge, service
most floppy disc drives supplied by our competitors! ! !
, “i
I Name |
; Address '
-Telephone _
Area of interest :
^078 1 1 Education | 1 Trade 1 I Home ^
For further details on our wide range of quality disc drives an
sub-systems send the coupon below, or contact us today at:
Unit 2, Crabtree Road, Thorpe Industrial Estate, Egham, Surrey
TW20 8RN. (Tel: 0784 35357/8/9)
Attractive discounts are available to trade customers and educational
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Alpha Disc disc drive sub-systems are also distributed by:
Chase Data Ltd., P.O. Box 6, Woking, Surrey C.U21 4PB
RCS Computer Services Ltd., Enterprise House, Central Way, North
Feltham Trading Estate, Feltnam, Middx. TW140RX.
FIRST BYTE ■
EIECTRON _
EARNER
Tessie Revivis starts off our new
regular ‘welcome pack’ section
S O YOU’VE just opened your Elec-
tron box. Great -but what next?
Yes, you've taken delivery of the
lovely micro you’ve heard so much
about. And there’s a funny-looking
plug, a black lead of sorts, an introduc-
tory cassette and a big book. A quick
flick through this User Guide looks a bit
daunting, with all those diagrams, and
you see lots of numbers - and you’re no
good at maths!
Here’s some sound advice from the
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: don’t
panic! The User Guide may look daunt-
ing at first sight, but it really is easy to
understand, and you don’t even need to
know the answer to 2 + 2 to read it or
program your Electron.
Before getting started, make a bit of
room for yourself, preferably on a table
with a couple of mains sockets within a
few feet of you. You'll also need to com-
mandeer the television set. A spare
portable set is preferable, otherwise
you’ll have to use thefamily telly, but be
diplomatic and let the rest of the family
finish watching Dynasty first. You’ll
need to be polite about it because you’ll
want to use it again in the future. It
doesn’t matter whether the set is black
and white or colour. Colour is nicer to
view but black and white performs just
as well.
Take your Elk (that’s its nickname by
the way) from its polystyrene casing.
It’s light but pretty robust (try not to
drop it, though). Place it on the table
with the keyboard facing you. This
looks very much like a typewriter key-
board, but it has a few extra keys, some
of which have odd-looking symbols on
them, but we don’t need to worry about
these yet.
Lay your hands on the keyboard and
try pressing a few keys at random.
You'll find that you don’t have to apply
much pressure to depress them. The
great thing about programming a com-
puter like the Elk, though, is that you
don’t have to be a typist.
Look either side of the casing. On the
left you'll see four largish round
sockets and on the other side of the
case a single small socket. On the
underside of the case, directly beneath
the set of four sockets you’ll see the
words ’UHF TV’, ’VIDEO’, RGB’ and
‘CASSETTE’. These each relate to the
function of the socket above. Note the
position of the one marked UHF TV-
we’ll need to connect the TV to this one.
Place the computer in front of the TV
set, which should be switched off. To
connect the TV to the Elk you’ll need the
thick black lead supplied. Remove the
aerial connection from the TV and plug
one end of the black lead into the empty
aerial socket. Which end? Well, only
one end will fit. The free end can now
be plugged into the UHF TV socket that
we identified earlier.
Next, we need to connect the Elk to
the mains through that odd-looking
plug called a power supply. The small
round plug at the end of the wire fits into
the small single socket on the right-
hand side of the Elk. Push the plug end
of the power supply into the mains
socket and switch on. You should hear
a small bleep from the Elk and a small
light should be visible on the left-hand
side of the keyboard just below the key
marked ESCAPE.
Plug the TV in to the mains and
switch it on. You'll probably see a poor
quality picture of the channel it is
presently tuned to. The volume control
of the TV can be turned right down, as
we don’t need sound. To see the picture
produced by the Elk the TV must be
tuned into the computer’s channel. If
you have a dial-type channel selector
rotate this to about the 35 point; adjust it
carefully about this point and you
should find the Elk’s picture. If your set
has a push-button or infra-red channel
control you’ll need to program one of
the buttons. Refer to your TV manual to
do this. Again, the channel needs to be
set to 35 or 36 and fine-tuned.
Now you’re ready to start program-
ming! No, sitting in close proximity to
the TV can’t give you radiation poison-
ing, as several old wives’ tales sug-
gest. I’ve been sitting in front of mine
for the last year and I’ve still got three
arms! It’s a good idea, though, to take a
break every half-hour or so to give your
eyes a rest.
Try typing a handful of letters on the
keyboard. As you press a key it will be
displayed on the TV screen. Now press
the key marked RETURN, located on
the right-hand side of the keyboard.
This acts like the typist’s carriage
return bar, but it also informs the com-
puter that you’ve finished entering the
line and you want it to have a look at
what you’ve typed in. You’ll probably
Above -Power supply lead and Electron-to-television lead. Below - Electron keyboard
with 'micro on’ indicator light below the ESCAPE key
ACORN USER JULY 1984
I FIRST BYTE
Sideways views of the Electron showing (left) sockets for TV, video monitor, RGB monitor and cassette, and (right) power supply
see the word ‘Mistake’ displayed. The
Elk printed this on the screen because
it could not act on what you typed in - it
was not a valid command.
To get rid of what you typed, push the
key marked BREAK at the top right-
hand side of the keyboard. Don’t be
afraid to hit this if you need to wipe the
screen clear, you’ll do no harm. Try it
again and press BREAK a few times.
Type the following in:
VDU7
pressing the keys V,D,U and 7 in that
sequence. Now press the RETURN key
to enter’ the letters into the Elk. Did you
hear a bleep? If so, you have just
entered your first command into the
Electron using BBC Basic. This com-
mand simply told the Elk to play a short
note on its own speaker.
Let’s now enter our first program.
Type the following in exactly as it
appears:
10 MODE 5
20 MOVE 1000,0
30 PLOT 85,1000,500
40 VDU 7
Remember to press the RETURN key at
the end of each line to enter it into the
computer. Don’t worry about making a
mistake -you can’t hurt the computer.
If you make a mistake simply press the
RETURN key and retype the line.
Notice that each line of the program
begins with a number. These line-
numbers serve the important function
of telling the computer the order in
which to enter the program into its
memory system. Low line numbers
come before high line numbers.
Interspersed between the line
numbers and each command, and in
the middle of some of the commands,
are spaces, entered by pressing the
space bar on the keyboard, the long key
at the bottom. The reason for entering
these spaces is to make the program
neat and readable. You could leave
them out altogether or insert two, or
three or more spaces instead of one.
To see the effect of this program we
need to tell the Elk to execute each
instruction. This is called running the
program. Type in the word RUN and
press the RETURN key. Voiia! You
should now see a large white triangle
drawn on the lower half of the screen -
and did you hear the beep?
To clear the screen press the BREAK
key, as before. To get our short pro-
gram back we must enter two com-
mands. To remind the computer it has a
program in its memory (it does forget
sometimes) type OLD and then press
the RETURN key. The Elk now recalls
the program you entered and will print
it on the screen if you type LIST
(remember to press the RETURN key).
You can now run the program again if
you wish.
You might want to re-type it without
the spaces to see if they do have any
effect on the way the programs oper-
ate.
Now you might feel more ready to
tackle the User Guide and work through
the many examples it contains. Start at
the beginning and don’t skip sections
that look a bit overpowering. Program-
ming isn’t particularly hard if you try
each item out. Try experimenting by
changing each program slightly. You
won’t harm the computer and you can
always stop things by pressing the
BREAK key.
CONVERTING BEEB PROGR AMS
TO RUN ON THE ELECTRON ■
W HY aren’t there more programs
for the Electron in Acorn Usert
It's nearly all for the BBC. The
Atom gets good coverage. So why not
the Electron? This is one of the ques-
tions that readers constantly ask Acorn
User. The fact is that in an average
issue perhaps about 75 per cent of the
so-called Beeb material will also run
on the Electron with little or no conver-
sion. So let’s see how all you Elkies can
go about the B to E conversion where it
needs to be done.
First, it’s worth making a list of the
main differences between the two
machines so that problem areas can be
established. They are:
# No Mode 7 and teletext graphics on
Electron.
# No 6845 cathode ray tube controller
chip on Electron.
# Only one SOUND channel on Elec-
tron.
# Operating system calls.
# No hardware for ‘direct’ interfacing
on Electron.
In most instances the first item on our
list will be the only real reason for pro-
gram surgery.
Look at the program you want to con-
vert. Does it include the command
MODE 7? Remember this is the default
mode for the Beeb so that even if no
mode is specified an initial CLS will
have the same effect. Unless the pro-
gram is specifically about teletext (and
is therefore unconvertible), this mode
is probably being used to take advan-
tage of double-height and flashing
characters for titling purposes. Trans-
ferring these into mode 6 should be
straightforward. Colour can be
achieved effectively using the COLOUR
command. page 63*
ACORN USER JULY 1984
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I FIRST BYTE
If the program uses mode 7 it will
almost certainly include teletext con-
trol codes, which will normally be in the
guise of CHR$ commands. For
example, the lines:
150 PRINT CHRS (141): CHR$ (129):
"Acorn User"
160 PRINT CHRS (141): CHRS (129):
"Acorn User"
would print Acorn User in red double-
height characters on the Beeb’s
screen. The double-height facility is not
directly available on the Elk but could
be implemented using the user defined
characters. Printing in red is readily
performed using COLOUR 1. Figure 1
lists all the teletext control codes that
you are likely to encounter.
The fact that we are using the Elec-
tron’s mode 6 has another side-effect. It
uses 6k of memory, as opposed to the
Ik required by the Beeb’s mode 7. If the
program is purely textual, say an
adventure game, we have to squeeze it
into a smaller memory. For converting
programs from Acorn User this prob-
lem should not arise as listings this
long are not normally published in the
magazine. However, inefficient pro-
gramming can drastically increase the
amount of workspace below HIMEM
required by the program. Consider the
Basic lines:
10 REPEAT
20 x$ = x$ + "£’’
30 y$ = y$ + " + "
40 UNTIL LEN x$ = 255
The program occupies about 50 bytes
but, believe it or not, when run it will
require more than 7700 bytes of
memory to operate! If running a pro-
gram ever results in a ‘No room’ error
have a good look through it for this sort
of inefficiency.
The Beeb’s graphics are handled in a
different way from the Elk’s. On the
Beeb they are controlled by a specialist
chip, the 6845 CRTC (cathode ray tube
controller), plus a video ULA to provide
the colour palette. The 6845 is a
memory-mapped device and it is poss-
ible to program its registers to achieve
rather stunning effects, such as instan-
taneous screen scrolling, left, right, up
or down! The 6845 is not incorporated
into the Elk. Instead a ULA chip
designed specifically for the Electron
combines the BBC’s two chips, but it
lacks programmability. In other words
sideways scrolling is not instantly
available.
There is no reason why you should
not write your own procedures to per-
form these functions, but they really
need to be in machine code, and even
then they would not have the instan-
taneous effect of the ‘hardware’ scroll-
ing. For details on the 6845 see the April
issue, page 26. To aid your conversion,
figure 2 helps you identify the com-
mands the Beeb uses to access the
6845.
SOUND and ENVELOPE are both
scaled down on the Elk. Four sound
channels are incorporated but the
micro can drive only one channel at a
time. This means you can’t synchronise
notes on the Elk using the prefix, eg,
SOUND &201,- 15,20,20.
The Envelope command considers
only the first eight parameters; the
remaining six are ignored. In general
there’s no reason to make changes to
these commands when converting a
program, but don’t expect a concerto
written for the Beeb to adapt readily.
Most of the operating system com-
mands specific to the Beeb’s 1.2 MOS
have been implemented in the Elec-
tron’s MOS. However, there are differ-
ences between them, although so far
Acorn has not released a comprehen-
sive list. Obviously OS calls that refer to
items such as analogue to digital con-
verters or the RS423 serial interface
are less likely to have been imple-
mented than others. In most instances
OS commands will be directly transfer-
able.
Hardware-specific programs will
not, of course, run on a bare Electron,
but most of the hardware specific com-
mands are implemented in the Elec-
tron’s Basic- ADVAL, for example.
Because of the Electron’s popularity
an increasing number of peripherals
are becoming available. Sir Computers
has been offering a printer and joystick
interface for several months and
Acorn’s own Plus 1 (see the news sec-
tion in this issue) will be available
within a month or two (fingers
crossed!). Decide on your printer by
reading the reviews by George Hill that
have appeared in Acorn User over the
last year, then take advantage of all of
the utilities he has provided.
So, as you can see, it should in many
instances be a painless task to do the B
to E conversion. A look into the May
issue, for example, reveals that the fol-
lowing three programs will run directly
on the Electron with no conversion:
Doodle Bug, page 83; The Fantastic
Four, page 96; and Circles, Diamonds
and Squares, page viii.
Heaven's Date (page iii will run,
though you would probably want to
convert lines 30 to 100 to look tidy on a
mode 6 screen. Similarly, Joe Telford’s
Sober Statistician can be converted to
run on a tape-based system as he sug-
gests, and with mode 7 to mode 6 con-
version itshould perform admirably.
CHRS (129)
CHRS (130)
CHRS (131)
CHRS (132)
CHRS (133)
CHRS (134)
CHRS (135)
CHRS (136)
CHRS (137)
CHRS (140)
CHRS (141)
CHRS (145)
CHRS (146)
CHRS (147)
CHRS (148)
CHRS (149)
CHRS (150)
CHRS (151)
CHRS (152)
CHRS (153)
CHRS (154)
CHRS (156)
CHRS (157)
CHRS (158)
CHRS (159)
Alphanumeric red
Alphanumeric green
Alphanumeric yellow
Alphanumeric blue
Alphanumeric magenta
Alphanumeric cyan
Alphanumeric white
Flashing text
Steady (non-flashing)
characters
Normal-height
characters
Double-height
characters
Red teletext graphics
Green teletext graphics
Yellow teletext graphics
Blue teletext graphics
Magenta teletext
graphics
Cyan teletext graphics
White teletext graphics
Conceal display
Contiguous graphics
Separated graphics
Black background
New background
Hold graphics
Release graphics
Figure 1 . Teletext control codes
VDU 23,0, R,X, 0,0, 0,0, 0,0
where R = Register
and X = Value to be written to 6845
&FE00 = Address register
&FE01 = Register file
*FX 1 51 ,0,Y = Write Y to address register
*FX 1 51 ,1 ,Y = Write Y to register file
Figure 2. 6845 CRTC programming com-
mands
ACORN USER JULY 1984
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64
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
How Joe
missed the point
Sir, The idea of a statistics
package, as started by Joe Tel-
ford in your May 1984 issue, is
welcome.
Joe wants to see whether
data confirm Bill's hypothesis
that in darts games men were
scoring less on each throw
when playing a lady op-
ponent’. He finds the correla-
tion coefficient, r, showing a
moderately high correlation of
+ 0.829, apparently proving
Bill's theory’. Unfortunately
Joe used an inappropriate
technique. The correlation
doesn’t reflect differences
between the two measure-
ments in a pair, but only
whether they tend to go up or
down together in a particular
way. Joe shows that for the fol-
lowing four pairs of numbers,
r=1, the biggest it can possi-
bly be:
X Y
item a 1 4
item b 2 5
itemc 3 6
item d 4 7
If the four items were four men
dart players, and X and Y their
average scores against lady
and men players respectively,
it does indeed look as if Bill’s
hypothesis is supported. But
the correlation coefficient
would also be 1 with the follow-
ing results:
X Y
item a 1 1
item b 2 2
item c 3 3
item d 4 4
which certainly don’t lend cre-
dence to Bill’s idea.
Commonsensically, we
should look at the differences,
average score vs men -aver-
age score vs ladies, for each
player. Out of eight players,
seven scored more against
men, which is already evi-
dence favouring Bill. The
mean excess of score vs men
over score vs ladies is 8.6, with
standard error 1.8; this is very
strong evidence that Bill is
correct.
But of course, as Joe says:
‘ . . . A more important ques-
tion is how valid was the actual
data.’ For a start, the fact that
the two types of opponents are
referred to as ‘men’ and
ladies’, the one not being the
natural opposite of the other,
leads the reader to suspect
that something more than skill
at darts is being compared! I
hope Joe enjoyed collecting
the data. Wendy Fox
London
Horrors of
statistics
Sir, In your May issue Joe Tel-
ford constructed a statistical
package for testing the hypoth-
esis that male dart players
score less when playing a lady
than they do against a male
opponent. Now, Joe is a
talented chap; his program-
ming skills will already be
well-known to your readers
but here we find he is also a
meticulous field worker in this
important area of social re-
search. Unfortunately, all
expertise has limits. His
breezy adage ’Get the data
right and the rest is easy’ sug-
gests a serious underestima-
tion of the horrors of statistics.
Accordingly, the data were
analysed in quite the wrong
way for testing his hypothesis.
Each dartsman furnished a
pair of scores: a score against
lady opponents and a score
against other men. With eight
players, we had two sets of
eight figures to compare. Joe
performed a correlation on
these data, claiming that the
closer the resulting correla-
tion coefficient is to +1 the
closer he would be to proving
the chauvinistic hypothesis.
Perhaps the easiest way to
see that this won’t do is to
imagine an outcome in which
each player happened to
score exactly the same in his
two games - doing just as well
(or badly) against ladies as he
did against men. Obviously,
the original hypothesis must
be wrong here, but it is in just
this case that the correlation is
perfect at r = + 1 . Corre-
lations consider relations
between pairs of scores but
not the particular relation Joe
is after. Scores are ‘corre-
lated’ across conditions (ie,
different opponents) when
individuals maintain their rela-
tive standing within the whole
group. So the high positive
correlation for these data
means only that the high
scorers against men were also
the high scorers against
ladies. This is useful infor-
mation about the consistency
of players when judged
against each other -it says
nothing about the effect of dif-
ferent game conditions on the
absolute level of scoring.
Nevertheless, I am pleased to
say that application of the
appropriate test, Students ‘t\
reveals support for the hypoth-
esis.
The rest is still not ‘easy’,
even when we have got the
data right and got the analysis
right. We must still interpret
our findings. I have discussed
these results with some of my
colleagues and have aroused
considerable interest. As Joe
is based just down the road
from us, perhaps he would be
interested in some collabora-
tive research combining
expertise. There is a large
group of people here un-
usually anxious to go out and
collect more data. I can’t
understand it.
Dr Charles Crook
Psychology Department
University of Durham
We’ve passed your letter on to
Mr Jottings, who will, we’re
sure, do a statistical analysis
on it down at the P&G.
Deep joy
Sir, I recently bought the new
Acornsoft Aviator program
and must say that it is one of
the most impressive simu-
lations around, providing
hours of enjoyment.
The program is best
appreciated by using a joy-
stick. To my home-brewed joy-
stick I’ve added a further touch
of realism by extending the
stick with a two-foot length of
plastic pipe half an inch wide
and on the end I’ve mounted a
plastic grip like one from a bi-
cycle handle. On the top of this
is a small push button wired to
the push button on the joystick
handset.
When mounted on the floor
between your feet the whole
thing is a unique experience.
Chocks away!
Looking good
Sir, I patiently awaited my May
copy of Acorn User , which I
have only just been able to
obtain because it appears to
have been published much
later than usual. May I say that
the new-look magazine is a
vast improvement. I am also
very glad that we shall be able
to obtain tapes of the pro-
grams published. I hope that
you will be able to topple the
other monthly magazine
Micro User’ from its ABC ped-
estal!
J G Manley
Rochester, Kent
‘Acorn User’ should be avail-
able in your newsagent on the
third Thursday of the month
preceding the cover date. For
example, this issue came out
on the third Thursday of June,
ie June 21.
At last, a new
wave of games
Sir, A few weeks ago I was
seriously considering writing
a letter to your magazine in
which I was going to complain
about the amount and quality
of software for the BBC micro.
We constantly read articles
about ‘the fantastic BBC com-
puter’ and its excellent sound
and graphics facilities’, and
when the BBC was first
released Acornsoft provided
ten to 20 high-quality pro-
grams, most of which were
pure arcade copies. But then
they sat back and left it at that,
and other software houses
seemed to follow their lead
and not produce any better-
than-average programs for six
to 12 months. What I want to
ask the software houses is,
Where are the Manic Miners
and the A tic A tacs of the BBC?
The letter I intended to send
was all written out when I
received April’s issue of Acorn
User. Upon opening it I found
that Acornsoft had released a
flight simulator, Aviator , Pro-
gram Power had just released
Ghouls and Jet Power Jack
and Superior Software had
A Katz
Edgware,
Middlesex
ASK a silly question, pass a fair comment, stage an angry
protest- we don’t mind what you write to us about (or about
us!). Keep ’em short, keep ’em sweet, but keep ’em coming!
The address is: Letters, Acorn User, Redwood Publishing,
68 Long Acre, London WC2E 9JH.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
ROM SOFTWARE
INC VAT
Wordwise
39 95
View
5900
Printmaster
32 95
Caretaker
32 95
Disc Doctor
32 95
Termi (terminal emulator)
32 95
Graphics Extension
32 95
Acorn Speech System Upgrade 55 00
HCCS Forth
3995
HCCS Logo Forth
67 85
HCCS Pascal
57.00
HCCS Excal
74 75
ROM Expansion Board (ATPL)
The Best 1
43 70
BOOKS
NO VAT
BBC Micro Disc Companion
7 95
Creative Graphics
7 50
Graphs ft Charts
7 50
Lisp Manual
7 50
Forth Manual
7 50
BCPL Manual
15.00
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Machine Code
695
BBC Micro Disk Manual
1 95
Disk Systems For
The BBC Micro
6.95
PROGRAM POWER
INC VAT
Killer Gonlla
7.95
Cybertron Mission
7.95
Cosmic Combat
7.95
Chess B
795
Danger UXB
7 95
Escape Moonbase Alpha
7.95
Felix in Factory
Felix & Fruit Monsters
7.95
7.95
Nemesis
7 95
Bumble Bee
7.95
Wizards Challenge
7.95
Jet Power Jack
7.95
Positron
7.95
Demon Decorator
685
Alien Swirl
7 95
Alien Destroyers
795
Space Jailer
Ghouls
7 95
7 95
Moon Raider
7.95
The Mine
7.95
Hell Driver
7.95
Labyrinths of LaCoshe
7.95
Zarm
7.95
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SOFTWARE
INC VAT
Road Runner
7 95
Hunchback
7.95
Overdrive
7.95
Battletank
7.95
Cosmic Kidnap
7.95
Star Battle
7.95
Moon Mission
7.95
Percy Penguin
7.95
Boris In The Underworld
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795
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7 95
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7 95
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9 95
Business Games
9 95
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9 95
Creative Graphics
9 95
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9.95
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16.85
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995
Hopper
995
Lisp
BCPL (Rom + Disc)
16.85
99.95
Missiie Base
9.95
Meteors
9.95
Kingdom Of Hamil
995
Monsters
9 95
Planetoid
9.95
Rocket Raid
9.95
Snooker
9.95
Sphinx Adventure
9.95
Starship Command
Tree of Knowledge
9.95
9.95
Snapper
995
Shirley Conran s Magic Garden
995
Personal Money Management
9.95
Draughts and Reversi
9.95
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SOFTWARE NOW AVAILABLE
White Knight II
11.50
Vutype
Tax Calc
16 10
17.25
Beyond Basic
11.50
Toolbox
21 00
Canyon
10.00
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15.00
Doctor Who
ACORNSOFT MIRLE NOW
10.00
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7.95
795
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7.95
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7 95
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7.95
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7.95
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7.95
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7.95
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6 95
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14.95
VuFile
14 95
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14.95
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7.95
DR SOFT
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747 Flight Simulator
8 95
Gorph
7 95
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Graph Disc
The Key (Disc Only)
Shadow/Inspector
State 40/80T for Discs
AMCOM
Fortress (C/D)
Space Highway
GEMINI GAMES
Missile Control
Caterpillar
GEMINI
Business Combination Packs
1. 2. 3. 4
Data Base
SOFTWARE FOR ALL
Stock Control (C/D)
Invoicing/Statements
Sales/ Purchases (C/D)
ADVENTURE
INTERNATIONAL
Adventureland
Voodoo Castle
Secret Mission
Pirate Adventure
SOFTSPOT
Transistors Revenge
Heist
H. SOFT(WATFORD)
Penguin
ALLIGATA
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Blagger
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9.95 .
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9.95
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795/9.95
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INC
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Q-Man
5 70
Q-Man s Brother
5.70
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5 70
Guy In The Hat
5 70
3D Munchy
5 70
Castle Assault
5 70
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PROJECTS
INC
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695
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INC
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Waxworks
990
Circus
990
Time Machine
9 90
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995
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6 90
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Microbe
7.95 1
A CORN USER JUL Y 1984
I
brought out Battletank and
Overdrive , so it seems that
somebody else had noticed
the lack of good, new software
for the Beeb and had pressed
the software houses to get
underway again. I wait pen-
sively for the reviews of these
new additions.
The letter from ‘A Pirate’
forced me to comment that
software houses are cutting
their own throats by charging
high prices for their software.
If the prices were lower when
the software was first
released, people would not
have the same incentive to
copy software, but if prices are
dropped now, the pirates will
merely take advantage of
making even cheaper copies
of programs.
I read with great interest the
article on the 6502 second pro-
cessor, and would like to know
when the other second pro-
cessors are to be released.
Also, do you know of any plans
to release a 32-bit second pro-
cessor?
David Edmondson
Whitworth, Lancs
No doubt by now you’ve read
all about the Z80 in the June
issue (page 26). This is, in
theory, already available,
although your dealer may not
stock it until Acorn has cleared
its order list. A 32-bit second
processor is being planned but
no release date has been fixed
yet.
Steadier for
the Star
Sir, With reference to George
Hill’s ingenious mode 7 screen
dump program (Acorn User ,
March), owners of Star
printers have undoubtedly
found the hard copy produced
by this program to be distinctly
wobbly’. I discovered that the
simple and effective remedy is
to insert the control code 'ESC
85,1' (in the form VDU1, 27, 1,
85, 1, 1) at line 195. This turns
off the Star’s bi-directional
printing and so results in a
much neater and more regular
printout (two examples en-
closed).
It’s a good idea to re-enable
the bi-directional printing just
before the end of the program,
with a ‘VDU 1,27, 1,85, 1,0’ at
line 335.
Keep the great magazine
going! David C Sheasby
W Midlands
Getting the error
codes right
Sir, In the May edition of Acorn
User you published a letter
from Mr P Hinchliffe at the end
of which he made a call for a
complete list of error codes
and messages. Having looked
into this recently I submit the
following information that may
be of use to him.
To quote the Advanced User
Guide : The BRK instruction
forces an interrupt which is
interpreted by the operating
system as an error. As part of
the error handling in Basic the
programmer can incorporate
an error number and an error
message into his code to
identify the error. The byte in
memory following the BRK
instruction should contain the
error number. The error mess-
age string should follow the
error number and must be ter-
minated by a zero byte’ .
As the error number is a
single byte it is true that there
are 256 possible errors and
messages. However, Basic
uses only 44 and these are
listed in the User Guide on
page 482. ‘At line xyz’ is not an
error, merely additional infor-
mation that is appended to the
error message using the vari-
able ERL to indicate the line in
which the error occurred.
Furthermore, error number 60
does not exist.
The operating system uses
15 error codes, but not all of
these are listed in the User
Guide. The following nine are
not included and in addition I
can find no trace of error
numbers 217 (header?) and
220 (syntax).
Error number Message
213 Locked
214 Filenotfound
215 Bad ROM
247 OS 1.20
249 Language?
250 Key in use
251 Bad key
252 Bad address
253 Bad string
254 Bad command
There are three errors with
code 0, though I am not sure
whether they are valid errors.
Their messages are:
Silly
Remember space
Line space
As indicated by code 247, the
OS error numbers and mess-
ages refer to OS 1.20.
David Abbot
Horsham, Sussex
Seriously . . .
Sir, I would like to criticise
your magazine for not review-
ing utility programs and
ROMs. Your magazine is full of
charts and reviews of the most
useless games, but this is not
useful to serious program-
mers.
I have a copy of MASS by
DDT Software and have been
using it for two months. For
anybody writing serious
machine code it is one of the
most useful utility ROMs avail-
able. It is a powerful and flex-
ible assembler which brings a
quantum leap to machine code
programming on the BBC
micro.
I hope other readers get the
opportunity to judge for them-
selves by way of a review,
soon. Roddy Maddocks
Brighton
We like nothing more than to
please, so we hope the ADE
ROM review on page 137 is up
your street.
Confessions of a
tape copier
Sir, For the last few months I
have been reading the letters
concerning software piracy
with a great deal of interest.
One thing I have noticed is
that some people think that
every pirate copy of a program
means £9.95 less for the soft-
ware company. This is not a
true conception.
I have certain pirate pro-
grams in my collection that
have been lent to me by other
people (and 99 per cent of soft-
ware users have copies in
their collection, as well they
know it). I borrow a tape, copy
it and return the original but
that does not in any way mean
that I have conned the soft-
ware house out of any money.
Indeed, of the programs I have
copied I would not have pur-
chased at least 95 per cent.
The fact is that too much
software of poor quality is
being produced with too much
clever advertising. Ten
pounds for one game is far too
much and so many games turn
out to be dead boring anyway.
In fact, there are programs
of a fair quality around, but it is
virtually impossible to tell
which is good and which is
run-of-the-mill rubbish.
While we are on the subject,
your magazine doesn’t help
the matter by publishing a
classified free ad page. For a
start, every ad that says ‘swap’
means, I imagine, swapping
copied software.
No, I am not a hardened
pirate yet, and I have as many
original programs as pirate
copies. One third of the pro-
grams I have paid for I don’t
like at all, one third I put up
with and the rest I like -the
same applies forcopies.
It is time software com-
panies made their prices
realistic (Acornsoft especi-
ally), provided software on
disc and not just on tape,
stopped lying about their
games -and magazines stop-
ped publishing ads from
pirates who use the cover of
swappers.
By the way, I think your
magazine is the only BBC
magazine to provide any true
professional journalism, and
the new layout and format is
much better (my old Acorn
User magazines always fell
apart). B McBain
Wisborough Green, W Sussex
‘Proper’
management
Sir, With reference to your
article ‘Database Menu
Grows’ (page 10, Acorn User,
May) please be advised that
my proper database manage-
CEEFAX 153 Wed 11 Apr 13:04/01
Forecast tor
24 hours from
noon :
Weather EyE
Scotland. N Ireland,
N Wales and N England
will have showers and
sunnv periods.
The rest of England and
Wales will have a little
rain at first, becoming
brighter and mainlv dry
with clear periods
overnight.
Temperatures: Normal in
south, cold in north.
A neater print-out on Star, by David Sheasby
ACORN USER JULY 1984
StarBASE...
a new database
StarBASE...
for theBBC
StarBASE meets and even exceeds professional standards found on large
installations It is unique in speed, flexibility and ease of use
Price? Only £69.00 inc VAT (plus £1.50 p & p).
Z 80 second
processor for
BBC
Microcomputer with
SAGE
integrated accounts
program
+ VAT
STOCK SUBJECT TO PRIOR SALE
Local authority enquiries welcome
Prices correct at time of going to press
GCC (Cambridge) Limited
66 High Street Sawston, Cambridge CB2 4BG
Telephone: Cambridge (0223) 835330/834641
Telex: 8 1594 SAWCOM
BARCLAVCAftO
® diamond/oft
A better way of computing
Integrated
Accounting
Business Software for the BBC microcomputer
The complete disc based package:
• Sales/ Purchase/ Nominal Ledgers
• Cashbook • VAT Accounting
• Full double entry system
• Trial Balance • Age Analyses
Requires 40 track disc drive(s)
and Pinter.
Please add VAT and send remittance
(or send for more details) to:
Diamondsoft Ltd., FREEPOST,
Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, SK8 5YB Tel: 061-485 8705
® diomond/oft
A better way of computing
THE DATABASE SOFTWARE FOR THE BBC
THAT GROWS WITH YOUR NEEDS
Beebase II
;n inccuo
• Operates on any format DISC or CASSETTE
• Unique TURBOFILE and MAXIFILE options
• HIGH CAPACITY files (up to a full disc with the
MAXIFILE option)
• Files created to USER DEFINED format
- up to 20 items per record
- each record up to 255 characters
• VIEW file by easy use of cursor keys
• PRINT files (optional report layouts)
• Print LABELS
• Powerful SEARCH features
• SELECT records to view, print, count, total, change
or write a file
• SORT file on any item
• Convert TURBOFILE to MAXIFILE (on disc)
Requires BBC 32K (OS 1 .0 or later). Optional disc/
printer. Supplied on cassette - loads to any format
disc.
Can be supplied on 40 track disc (please add £3)
Overseas orders please add £2.50 to cover postage.
Cheques or P.O. to Diamondsoft Ltd., FREEPOST,
Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire SK8 5YB. Tel: 061-485 8705 (24 hrs).
68
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
I
ment system has been on the
market since before January.
I say proper because it
enables the user to create a
whole scheme involving up to
20 or 30 files, which are inter-
related. Each file can contain
approximately 1800 records
and each record 20 fields in up
to 512 bytes.
The software (which in-
cludes a lot more than the
above) is supplied on 80 track
disc, with a full manual for £60.
PS Horner
Simon Computer Services
York
Legal lists
Sir, I would like to correct a
comment in the article about
the Data Protection Bill (May
edition, page 16).
The writer states that there
is no clause excluding home
computers. This is not entirely
correct as section 33(1) makes
specific mention of domestic
and other limited use but goes
on to qualify the section with
sub-sections a,b and sections
33(2-6).
Home computers are used
for many purposes, member-
ship/mailing lists for local
clubs among them. But if sec-
tions 33(2,3) of the Bill become
law, it appears to make hold-
ing such a list illegal unless
the members of the club have
been asked individually if they
do not object to the information
being kept in this way.
In addition, the definition
of 'data' as given in section
1(2) could be made, with a
stretch of the imagination, to
fit Addressograph-type cards
which can be put through
an automatic label-printing
machine, as nowhere in the
Bill is the word ‘electronic’
mentioned!
Cobbled together’ certainly
seems to sum up the Bill and if
home computer users are not
to be caught up in this
bureaucracy then some rep-
resentation should be made to
the Home Office to strengthen
the existing clause on ex-
clusion of home computer
users. Alternatively, leave
section 33(1) as it is, alter sec-
tion 33(2) by deleting the first
line, and delete sections 33(33-
6 ).
So, home computer users,
get hold of a copy of the Bill
(Bill 159, ISBN 0 10 315984 3),
digest it and write to your
Member of Parliament.
D S Buckley
Harrow,
Middlesex
Need help to find
your way round
the computer scene?
Kitty advises you
1 1 am writing to you for
unbiased advice as a
total computer novice,
land also for assess-
ment of educational software.
Living overseas, I have no
access to a helpful club or
organisation, and I am uncertain
as to whom I should address my
queries; I don’t know of any
general or educational com-
puter advisory services in the
UK but I am sure they must exist.
We bought, some time ago,
a BBC model B computer and
it remains virtually unused.
We only have the User Guide
and some magazines to guide
us, and we really do not under-
stand it at all.
Please could you recom-
mend a good beginner's guide
to computing? I have absol-
utely no prior knowledge of the
subject; I want my computer to
be a useful, approachable
tool -I will never become a
computer fanatic. I want it to
enable me to quickly make a
start in simple programming
and to learn by correcting and
expanding them as I go on. It
will need to be clearly
explained, in detail.
I have seen cassettes for
sale which claim to debug pro-
grams. Do they work? What, if
any, software would you
recommend me to buy, to use
over the year ahead?
My most urgent requirement
is for a large file storage
system. Which of all the data
storage programs are, firstly,
absolutely without errors, and
secondly, give me the greatest
storage space? Unless, of
course, you can recommend
me such a simple book that I
can write my own program!
In addition to my own needs,
my four-year-old son would
love to learn to use the com-
puter, and I am unable to guide
him. Can you suggest material
to teach such a young child
about computing? I will be buy-
ing material to last a full year.
As a primary teacher, I want
to encourage him to learn
about computers and also to
help his academic progress.
Can you recommend any qual-
ity, published material, prefer-
ably written by educationalists
experienced in teaching this
age group, relevant to the
needs of early primary
children. I am not interested in
computerised toy ‘sums’ and
’spelling’ games that have
been on the market for several
years.
In detail, I am looking for
material which covers some of
the following concepts, or any-
thing else which is suitable:
Early recognition of numer-
als and understanding of
numbers (ie, 9 = 9) and that a
given number, re-ordered, still
totals the given number, obvi-
ously leading to addition, but I
do not want ‘sums’ as such.
Matching, one-to-one (ie, one
cup to one saucer). Anything
that encourages logical
thought applicable to a 4/5
year old.
Pre-reading material. Left to
right orientation (games that
make the eye or finger follow
across the screen from L to R,
and subsequently to form a
second line directly under the
first). Also hand control/letter
formation. Any material avail-
able which gives a child pat-
terns or letter shapes to trace
over on the screen, giving a
reward for accuracy.
Early reading. I really want
him to be just learning letter
sounds, not names, in the
lower, not upper case form.
I apologise for asking you so
many questions, and I hope
you will be able to answer at
least some of them. I feel very
out of touch with the computer
world and what is going on in
the UK.
Jennifer Booth
Abu Dhabi
Where to start? First,
clubs and advisory
services. Try writing to
some of the BBC user
groups listed in previous
issues; some of them will be
happy to answer queries by
post (they may have a joining
fee, however). Groups that are
specifically educational are
MUSE, Freepost, Bromsgrove,
Worcs B62 7BR; and the MEP,
Cheviot House, Coach Lane
Campus, Newcastle-upon-
Tyne NE77XA.
There are several sound
books that will introduce you to
your BBC and to Basic. I
recommend BBC Basic for
Beginners by David Smith,
published by Melbourne
House, Melbourne House
Castle, Yora House, Castle
Yard, Richmond, Surrey TW10
6TS; Easy Programming for
the BBC Micro by Eric Deeson,
published by Shiva, 64 Welsh
Row, Nantwich, Cheshire; and
Step-by-Step Programming for
the BBC Micro (books 1 and 2)
by Ian Graham, published by
Dorling & Kindersley, 1-2 Hen-
rietta Street, London WC2.
However, the only way to learn
how to write programs is by
typing in examples, boring
though this is.
Debugging cassettes work
only if you understand how to
debug anyway- 1 don’t think
any of these products would be
worth your while, at present.
Now on to databases. You
ask about a large’ storage
system. Unless you have disc
drives, no storage system can
be large; using a database on
a cassette system is also ex-
tremely time-consuming. You
don't say what use you will be
putting the database to, but
I’ve found the following to be
reliable: Factfile , published by
Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge; and Masterfile, by
Beebugsoft, PO Box 50, St
Albans, Herts. Why not write to
these companies and ask what
literature they have available?
As for educational software,
there are two companies you
could write to for their soft-
ware lists. The first is Bourne
Educational Software (BES),
Bourne House, The Hundred,
Romsey, Hampshire S05 8BY;
the second is ASK, whose
products are distributed by
Acornsoft, Betjeman House,
104 Hills Road, Cambridge
CB2 1 LQ. I do feel, though, that
learning by computer is no
substitute for learning from a
person. Also, the best way for
a child to learn about com-
puters and computing is just
by using a micro.
If you are interested in a
fairly simple word processor
for your own use, I would
recommend Wordwise by
Computer Concepts — it is
very user-friendly and if you
get on with it you can then
graduate to more complicated
WP software. Computer Con-
cepts’ address is 16 Wayside,
Chipperfield, Herts WD4 9JJ.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
INTELLIGENT
INTERFACES
The UK Distributor of Olympia
ESW Daisywheel Printers and
manufacturer of the Acorn
IEEE Interface
ESW COMPACT 2
The Ideal Daisywheel Printer/Typewriter
For your BBC Microcomputer for £468 + VAT
ALSO FROM INTELLIGENT INTERFACES:-
OFFERING BI-DIRECTIONAL PRINTING, 4K BUFFERS, 17" CARRIAGE
PROPORTIONAL SPACING AND A LOT MORE. THE REST OFTHE ESW RANGE:-
ESW 3000 RO (50 CPS) £1 1 36.00 (1 5" PRINTING LINE)
ESW 1 03 KSR (17-24 CPS) £ 998.00 (KEYBOARD)
ESW 1 02 RO (17-24 CPS) £ 798.00
OPTIONS. TRACTORFEED £ 1 50.00. SHEETFEED £398! SINGLE DUAL BIN £598!!
ALL COMPATIBLE WITH THE BBC MICROCOMPUTER
INTELLIGENT: 43B Wood Street, Warks. Tel: 0789 296879— Head Office
INTERFACES: Stratford on Avon CV37 6JQ. Tel: 01 -31 1 -7981 — London area
DAISYWHEEL
PRINT SPEED
FORM WIDTH
PRINT LINE
PITCH
OFF-LINE
PRINTER DRIVER FOR ACORN
SOFT VIEW AVAILABLE
100 char, wheel.
14 CPS
14-3"
11-5"
10, 12, 15, CPI
FULL CORRECTABLE
ELECTRONIC TYPEWRITER GENUINE KEYBOARD PRINTER
INTERFACES - CENTRONICS, RS232 NOT AN INTERFACED TYPEWRITER
ON-SITE FIELD MAINTENANCE
BY OLYMPIA ENGINEERS IN MOST
PARTS OF THE UK
70
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
From Intelligent Interfaces Ltd.
DESIGNERS & MANUFACTURERS OF THE ACORN IEEE488 INTERFACE
THE SYSCON 6
LINKING THE BBC MICROCOMPUTER TO COMMODORE DISK UNITS & PRINTERS
Enables Commodore Dual Floppy Disk
Units & Printers to be used with the
BBC Microcomputer.
Supplied with specially written D.F.S. &
Printer Driver routines which make the
operation of Commodore Peripherals
transparent to the user of the BBC Micro.
Offers commands equivalent to all
Acorn Disk Filing System commands
Plus additional utilities in ROM e.g.
BLOCK which displays contents of
specified disk sector on screen and
FORMAT etc.
Designed for the 2040, 3040, 4040, 8050
Disk Units & 2022, 2023, 3022, 3023, 4022
& certain other printers
HARDWARE & Software design of the Syscon 6
makes maximum use of the on board
intelligence of Commodore Peripherals
Disk filing system
and Printer Driver
Routines supplied
in a 16K by 8
EPROM fitted in
one of the
BBC computers
sideways ROM
sockets.
Fully supports
sequential &
random access
filing from
BBC basic
' Interface Hardware
housed in small
plastic enclosure
connected to BBC
Microcomputer
IMH, bus &
auxiliary power
connector.
NB
Standard BBC
computer Disk
upgrade NOT
required.
FURTHER ADVANTAGES
MORE FILES PER DISK
LARGER FILES
INCREASED FLEXIBILITY
GREATER DATA SECURITY
—FROM 151 WITH 2040 TO 224 WITH 8050
—FROM 164 KBYTE (4040) TO 256 KBYTE (8050)
—FILES MAY BE EXTENDED AT ANYTIME
—BAD BLOCKS IDENTIFIED & EXCLUDED
THE SYSCON 6 IS OF IMMENSE VALUE TO ANYONE WHO USED COMMODORE
COMPUTERS IN THE PAST AND NOW USES A BBC MICROCOMPUTER BUT STILL
HAS THE COMMODORE PERIPHERALS AVAILABLE.
TO:
INTELLIGENT INTERFACES
43 B WOOD STREET.
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON,
WARKSCV37 6JQ.
* ADDITIONAL USER GUIDES AVAILABLE AT
£9.50 REFUNDABLE ON PURCHASE OF A
SYSCON 6
PLEASE SEND ME SYSCON 6
INTERFACES AT £1 79.40 each INCL. VAT.
I ENCLOSE CHEQUE MADE PAYABLE TO:
INTELLIGENT INTERFACES.
NAME:
ADDRESS:
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
71
I I I I I
I I I I I I
I I I I I
THE PRINTED WORD
LOW PRICES
^emini iOX
L_
TOP SERVICE ,
1-
JUKI 6100
One Year Warranty
20 CPS : BiDirectional & Logic Seeking
10, 12, 1 5 & Proportional Spacing
Wordstar Compatible
2K Buffer : 1 3 Inch Platen
Underline : Backspace + Lots more
Centronics Interface Standard
RS 232 Interface £54.00 + VAT Extra
Tractor Feed £99.00 + VAT Extra
Single Sheet Feeder £238.00 + VAT Extra
JUKI 6100 £365.22 4- VAT £420.00
BBC/ORIC or DRAGON Package
JUKI 61 00 - CJE PRINTER PACKAGE
£440.00 Inc. VAT
CANON PW-1080A
Near letter Quality Printer
NLQ Mode 23 x 1 8 Matrix 27 cps
Draft Mode 11x9 Matrix 160 cps
Full range of Epson Print codes
Friction & Tractor Feed
Centronics Interface Standard
CANON PW-1 1 56A (Accepts 1 5” Paper) Available
CANON PW-1080A £317.39 + VAT £365.00
CANON PW-1 156A £391.30 + VAT £450.00
PACKAGE PRICE for BBC MICRO/DRAGON/ORIC
CANON PW-1 080 A C.J.E. PRINTER PACKAGE £385.00 Inc.
CANON PW-1 1 56A C.J.E. PRINTER PACKAGE £470.00 Inc.
VAT
VAT
Special RS 232 Printer Bargain
STAR DP8480 (8" Printing) £197.00 Inc VAT
Ideal for BBC/Newbrain/HX20 & Spectrum Int 1
Phone for full specification
C.J.E. Micro’s BBC Printer Packs
For Star. Canon & Juki Printers include
1 The Printer
2. Delivery by Securicor
3 Cable to the BBC 1 3 Metres
4 Screen Dump Progam (M/C Source)
5 Text Dump Program
6 Function Key set up Program For use with WORDWISE
7 Function Key Label Printing Program For use with above
8. VIEW Printer Driver
9. 100 Sheets of Paper
1 0 Mams Plug with 3 Amp Fuse
1 1 Booklet giving details of using the printer with a BBC
C.J.E Printer Packs for other micro's include:-
Prmter, Cable, Paper, Mains Plug & Delivery
si
STAR GEMINI 10X
One Year Warranty
True Descenders 9x9 Matrix
1 20 CPS Bidirectional & Logic Seeking
40. 48.68.80.96. 136cpl
Italics, Emphasized, Double strike.
Super & Sub Scripts
Downloadable Character Set
Hi-Resolution & Block Graphics
Friction or Tractor Feed
10” x 10” Carriage, 15”x 15 Carriage
Centronics Interface Standard
RS232 Int. £52.00 + VAT Extra
Gemini 10X
£235.00 Inc. VAT
Package for BBC/DRAGON/ORIC
GEMINI 10X + CJE Printer Pack
£255 Inc VAT
Star Gemini 1 5X £390 Inc. VAT
STAR DELTA 10
1 60 CPS CENTRONICS AND
RS232 INT. STD 8K BUFFER
£320 + VAT
BBC MICRO MODEL B £399.00
Electron £199.00
BBC Micro Model B with Disc Int
Large Range of Accessories including Disc
Drives. Printers. Monitors always in stock
Printer Cables
BBC to 36 Way Centronics Type Connector
Dragon to 36 Way Centronics Type Connector
Oric to 36 Way Centronics Type Connector
Torch to 36 Way Centronics Type Connector
Serial Printer Cables
BBC to 25 way D type
EPSON HX20 to 25 way D type
NEWBRAIN to 25 Way D Type
25 way D type to 25 way D type
£469 00
£15.00
£15 00
£15.00
£ 20.00
£9.50
£9.50
£12.00
£15.00
Blank Cl 5/C30 Cassettes Ten for £4.50 ANY MIX
Send SAE for Full Price List
VAT INCLUDED WHERE APPLICABLE
PHONE/CREDIT CARD ORDERS WELCOME
Postage 50p per order or as stated
24 Hr Securicor Delivery
for Printers/Disk Drives £8.00
(SHOP/WORKSHOP CLOSED MONDAYS)
C.J.E. Microcomputers
Dept 78 Brighton Road. Worthing
W.Sussex BN1 1 2EN (0903) 213900 -
EXPORT ORDERS WELCOME
RING FOR SAMPLE PRINTOUT, FULL SPECIFICATIONS & LATEST PRICES
BEST PRICES & BACKUP ON THE STAR JUKI & CANON PRINTERS
□GOOD
Showroom MICRO POWER LTD..
Northwood House. North Street.
Leeds LS7 2 A A. Tel: (0532) 458800
Mail Order MICRO POWER LTD .
Sheepscar House. 15. Sheepscar Street South,
Leeds LS7 1 AD; Tel: (0532) 436300
' c ofe
Send an SAE for our complete listing
of hardware, software and books.
CARRIAGE FREE
for ALL hardware
Books and software only 55p per order
Q0QGG
Micro Power are an official service and information centre, and we are major suppliers to
Government and educational establishments. We stock the complete range of Acornsoft and
Micro Power software as well as a wide range of B.B.C. Micro and general computing books.
Our expert staff are always on hand to provide advice and assistance in the relaxed atmosphere
of our showroom.
COMPUTERS
B B C. Model A 325.00
B B C. Model B 399.00
B B C. Model B + DFS 469.00
B B C. Model B + Econet 446.00
B.B.C. Model B + DFS and Econet 516.00
Acom Electron (+ 2 free Micro Power tapes 199.00
PRINTERS
Epson FX80 425.95
Epson RX80 F/T 293.95
Brother HR15 Daisywheel 436.70
Smith Corona TP- 1 daisywheel 270.20
MCP 40 4- colour printer/plotter 129.95
FOUR me MICRO ROWCR
CASsenes with emy morn a
MONITORS
Kaga 12" Green Screen 123.05
Ferguson TX Monitor/TV 335.95
Sanyo DM2112 12" Green Screen 74.95
Microvitec 14" RGB/ PAL and audio output .... 258.75
Microvitec monitor (plastic) 286.85
Microvitec monitor (metal) 228.85
Plinth for above 5.75
DISK DRIVES
Pace 40 track 100K 171.35
Pace 40 track double sided 200K 243.80
Pace 40/80 track double sided 200/400 K . . . 282.90
Pace 40 track double drive 200K 388.10
Pace 40 track double sided double drive 400K
483.00
Mitsubishi 40/80 track double sided double drive
400/800 K 567.85
Torch Z80 Disk Pack 80 track double sided
double drive (including Perfect software . . . 839.50
AMS HFD 3055 3" 100K 199.00
ALL PRICES INCLUSIVE OF V.A.T.
We provide free fitting for all firmware.
ACCESSORIES
Elftone Digicorder (including leads) 25.95
Acorn BBC cassette recorders (inc. leads) .... 35.00
Scotch D/S D/D Disks (Box of 10) 32.50
Disk storage cases 19.95
Vinyl dust covers for computers, disk drives,
monitors and printers 4.50
Sureshot self centering arcade joystick .... 18.22
Sureshot self centering double joysticks . . . 34.44
Acorn joysticks 19.00
System Sac 19.95
Printer cables (parallel or serial) 15.50
Stack light pen 28.75
Speech synthesiser plus cartridge socket
(Free 1.2 if required) 55.00
Acorn Disk interface ( Free 1 .2 ROM if req.) .... 97.00
Pace disk interface kit 95.00
1.2 ROM upgrade 11.50
Econet (Free 1.2 ROM if req.) 70.00
Teletext adaptor (Free 1.2 ROM if req.) . . . 225.00
Wordwise wordprocessor 45.42
Auto Prommers Eprom Programmer 138.00
Tutor Mate shelves 10.50
3M unlabelled Disks (Ten) 15.00
Maxell 3" disk 4.95
First Byte Electron joystick interface
(inc. cassette) 24.95
Micro Power potentiometer joystick 12.95
Micro Power double joysticks 18.95
ALL ROADS LEAD TO
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time of going to press
®(o)Q0E)GG®CD©®©
□OO0O@®@E®OO(D0O©®©®®OOO0O©®©®®
B-BASE: £25.00
,0-BASE is a very powerful and very flexible database program. Because
0-BASE is designed specifically for disks there are none of the limitations
found in most database programs, which are usually upgraded cassette
programs. 0-BASE is not limited by memory and even the disk limit can be
overcome easily to provide an unlimited file size. Take a look at the features
listed below and compare it with so called professional programs at up to
£400, we think that you will be amazed. Why limit yourself to a 1 6K eprom
- B-base contains approx. 30K of tightly compacted code.
Maximum File Size (40 track) - 99k & (80 track) - 199k.
Maximum Record Size - 2k: Maximum Number of Fields - 200:
Maximum Field Length - 254 chrs.
Options Include:
1) WRITE - for adding records.
2) WORK - for displaying records, editing and deleting.
3) CALC - allows you to cope easily with fluctuating prices and VAT rates,
(works with whole file or search lists). Uses EVAL function allowing
complex calculations to be performed, and the results to be displayed on
screen or placed in a nominated field.
4) SEARCH - multiple function search on up to 5 fields.
5) OPTIONS: a) sort records found in search on 3 fields in
ascending/descending order
(max records sorted is 500).
b) work search list, with edit and delete.
c) save records found in search to disc.
d) load previously saved search list.
e) make a search list.
6) PRINTER - copes with parallel and serial printers and allows you to set
up the printout + all printer codes allowed + allows you to join fields
together and allows you to set them into columns etc. A label print
routine allows single or double labels to be printed
7) REDEFINE - allows you to transfer all records from old file to new file
plus add or amend field or record size. No more re-entering all your data
if you wish to add a field.
8) TRANSFER - allows you to transfer selected records between files.
9) NEW - allows you to define new file.
+ real time clock + many more features.
If you want a professional database for the BBC micro the 0 BASE is your
only option.
Now compatible with the latest Amcom DFS
REPLICA II: £12.00
This is the one that everybody has been waiting for. The original REPLICA
set a very high standard and many said that it could not be improved. The
specification that we set our chief programmer included some supposedly
impossible features. In fact ACORN state that some of the things that we
have done are impossible, it just took us a little longer that s all. REPLICA II
will transfer most of your cassette based programs to disk, even more than
REPLICA did. Now when you buy disk drives you do not have to throw
away your expensive cassette based programs. REPLICA II will transfer
LOCKED programs, programs loading as files, programs that load below
&E00, those with up to 6 sections and those up to &6E in length eg
adventure programs. No more waiting for 6 minutes whilst your adventure
programs load. REPLICA II is very easy to use and the user just enters a
name, how many sections and whether CHAIN, ‘RUN or *L0AD is used to
load the first section. Press play and let the program do the rest, even a
menu. You cannot afford not to have a REPLICA II. think how much it will
cost you to buy just 1 disk version of your favourite program - it is probably
more than REPLICA II which will hold up to 16 programs, limited only by
the disk capacity.
BEEBSYNTH: disk £1 1.00 cassette £8.00
A very powerful yet easy to use sound generating program that can be used
by expert and novice alike. Up to 16 envelopes can be defined and saved.
The envelope definer is very easy to use. control is through the cursor keys,
and the effects of your changes can be heard immediately. When you have
defined your envelopes press K for Keyboard and the keyboard is
transformed into a musical instrument, but you control which instrument.
Lets you play chords, not just single notes, change pitch and duration etc
etc. A superb program that you can use immediately. Unlimited sounds at
your disposal. Recommended by MICRO USER, PCN, HCW etc.
THE KEY: £12.95
A disk utility program that provides the user with the tools to explore the
disk environment and use it to its best advantage The programs are:
1)
F0RM40
2)
FORM80
3)
BACKUP
4)
EDITOR
5)
RETRIEVE
- Formats and verifies 40 track disks.
- Formats and verifies 80 track disks.
- Allows backup copies of your valuable disks to be
made.
- Enables the user to read the disk sector by sector and
to alter programs on the disk, even most protected and
unlistable ones. More fun than any adventure game.
- Allows the user to recover data or programs that have
been accidentally erased or damaged by 4 a head crash.
Every disk owner should have one,
you will wonder how you ever managed
without it. Recommended by
WHICH MICRO.
EDUCATIONAL COMPUTING etc.
THE KEY' has been imitated by
many but bettered by none
JOYSTICK UTILITY:
r v
£6.00
Converts non joystick programs to work with joysticks. Works with any
program using INKEY (-) in Basic or machine code, to detect movement
which applies to most programs The routine is relocatable and sensitivity of
the joystick can be varied. Compatible with
most games, including Acornsoft. Very easy
to use, just press the keys you want to
transfer. The machine code can be saved
as a block of just 100 bytes. Supplied on
cassette but can be transferred to disk
SHADOW:
£8.00
SHADOW is a tape cloning program that will enable you to make security
copies of your own valuable cassette software SHADOW works with 99%
of all known programs including those with sections at 300 BAUD and
those that load as files SHADOW will handle programs with any number of
sections and it will work with any of the current operating systems including
0.1, 1.0. & 1.2. SHADOW is the definitive tape backup system and as a
bonus you aiso get INSPECTOR on the same tape This allows you to view
all areas of memory, search and alter bytes, etc. Colour coding helps to
simplify memory usage All this for just £8.00. I don t know how we do it
It is a condition of sale that this program is not used for piracy
State 40 or 80 track when ordering discs.
NOTE: All prices are inclusive of VAT and postage - NO EXTRAS'
MICRO SUPPLIES
Dept. AU7, 98 Middlewich Road,
IMorthwich, Cheshire, CW9 7DS.
Tel: 0606 48511 Open 9.5pm. Monday-Friday
All prices inclusive of VAT + Carriage - No Extras^
74
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
How to sort
out your
Basic confusion
AN EVENING’S computing at a friend’s
house recently brought out some
interesting ‘problems’ that Beeb users
all over the country have encountered
over the last six months. I’d taken some
utility programs with me on disc, but
they just wouldn’t run correctly, throw-
ing up all sorts of error messages. Back
at home, though, the same programs
functioned correctly.
It was only after some severe head
scratching that (somewhat more sober)
I realised I had been trying to run pro-
grams written in Basic II on a Beeb
fitted with Basic I. While Basic I pro-
grams work with Basic II, the reverse is
not the case, and the differences are
not always as obvious as in the much-
publicised commands OPENUP and
OSCLI and the EQU functions. For
example, the following program will
produce a syntax error when run on
Basic I
10 INPUT FIRSTS, SECOND 0 /,; THIRD
The offender here would be the semi-
colon, for only commas are allowed as
deliminaters in the Basic I INPUT state-
ment. Replacing the semicolon with a
comma solves the problem -a subtle
difference, you’ll agree.
A bit of investigation has resolved
more of these naughty quirks. Here
they are:
COUNT is a function used to hold the
number of characters that have been
printed across the screen. In Basic I it is
unaffected by a mode change, but in
Basic II it is zeroed by a mode change.
The program:
10 PRINT “Acorn”;
20 MODE 4
30 PRINT “User”;
40 PRINT COUNT
would produce 9 in Basic I and 4 in
Basic II, thus discrepancies in text for-
matting could occur.
I BEEB FORUM
Bruce Smith starts you off with
advice on the Basic differences.
Help from readers covers angled
printing, Forth and the WP chips
The INSTR function is another com-
mand that can lead to a downfall. In
Basic I the second string had to be
shorter than the first for it to perform
correctly, thus:
100 PRINT INSTR (“Lydia” , “d”)
would return 3, but thefollowing will not
work:
100 PRINT INSTR (“d”, “Lydia”)
Performing the latter in Basic II will
resultin INSTR returning the valueof 0.
In Basic II the ELSE test can be used
successfully inside functions or pro-
cedures as part of an ON . . . GOTO . . .
ELSE or ON . . . GOSUB . . . ELSE struc-
ture, thus:
500 DEF PROC_Commander
(branch 0 /,)
510 ON branch % GOTO 520, 530, 540
ELSE GOTO 550
520 PRINT “A” : ENDPROC
530 PRINT “B”:ENDPROC
540 PRINT “C” : ENDPROC
550 PRINT “Failed!” : error 0 /, = 0 :
ENDPROC
would not work in Basic I.
The EVAL statement is particularly
useful for using the lexical analyser to
evaluate expressions. This has been
extended in Basic II to allow it to be
used in conjunction with Basic’s vari-
ous pseudo-variables:
100 time$ = “TIME”
110 page$ = “PAGE”
120 himem$ = “HI MEM”
130 PRINT EVAL (time$)
140 PRINT EVAL (page$)
150 PRINT EVAL (himem$)
This is not possible in Basic I.
Basic II programs that manipulate
strings can run out of memory, result-
ing in a ‘No room’ error when used with
Basic I. This is because the allocation
for string space in Basic II is more
efficient than in Basic I. Amazingly, the
following lines run in Basic I would eat
up more than 3.75k of memory com-
pared to around 0-25k in Basic II:
10 REPEAT
20 X$ = X$ + ”!”
30 UNTIL LEN(X$) = 255
The ABS command has been recoded
to allow the unary minus to take the
absolute value of an integer value with-
out bit 31 set. Therefore:
PRINT -ABS(1)
will work in Basic II but will return the
error message 'Type mismatch’ in
Basic I.
The mnemonic assembler can be
thrown into an acute state of confusion
in Basic I if a line such as:
140LDA ASC”:”
is used. Though this is assembled cor-
rectly by Basic II. The Basic II
assembler will now also display its dis-
gust with a ‘Bad DIM’ error if you try the
following:
100 DIM P%- 2
These points should prove useful in
converting Basic II programs to run on
a Beeb with Basic I fitted. We'll pay a
fiver for any relevant Basic II to I con-
version tips we publish.
One of the seven
deadly sins
ANDY CROWHURST of Portishead,
Bristol, writes: ‘In Beeb Forum recently
you have devoted pages to auto-
running Basic programs. Come off it,
the word RUN obviously makes the
interpreter jump to an address. There-
fore ^saving the program at this
address will enable a Basic program to
be *RUN. The syntax for Basic I is
therefore
★SAVE “PROG” <PAGE>
< TOP + 1 > BD2C page 77>
Beeb Forum is a platform for ideas, tips and applications relating to the BBC micro and the
Electron, intended for experienced programmers to share their thoughts. For every reader's
tip published we pay £5 -or more for something special. Contributions should be typed or
printed, with substantial listings on cassette. WRITE TO Beeb Forum, Acorn User, Redwood
Publishing, London WC2E 9JH.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
3 DISC DRIVE AT A
SMGULAR PRICE.
THE OPUS
SUPER 3 MICRODRIVE
FOR USE WITH YOUR BBC MICRO.
F( >r only <£229.95 ( and that includes VAT,
and all the necessary leads) you can have an
OPUS 5()0k double-sided disc drive. And
remember 3" disc drives are fast becoming
the standard for home and business use.
This is an even bigger bargain than it
sounds. For you’re getting a d< >uble sided
drive at the price that ( >ther cc >mpany s sell
single sided drives for. It reads and writes to
the disc cartridge from b( >th sides, giving \ ( >u
twice the on-line capability of other 3" drives.
And there’s no need to flip the disc over!
STATE OF THE ART TECHNOLOGY FEATURING;
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76
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
BEEB FORUM
This program can then be *RUN much
more simply.’
This method does work but try the
program on Basic II. It will load but not
run. The Beeb has been provided with a
very sophisticated set of operating
system calls that if used correctly will
allow programs written on any version
of Basic to run on any other version of
Basic. While jumping directly into the
interpreter works it is not transferable
and should be considered as one of the
seven deadly sins on the Beeb (can
anyone think of the other six?). We
receive many programs that contain
this type of illegal call into the inter-
preter and MOS, and this makes them
unusable.
Machine code
auto-run
PHIL COLLET of Banbury adds to the
Basic program auto-run saga by pro-
viding a piece of machine code that will
auto-run a Basic program when it is
loaded and also when Break or even
CTRL-BREAK are hit. It therefore has
advantages over the normal *KEY10
method of programming the Break key.
The program (program 1, page vii)
works by placing OLD < RETURN >,
RUN < RETURN > into the REM state-
ment of line 10, which initially contains
49 Xs. Lines 30 to 80 use the operating
system to write to the Break intercept
code and re-vector it to point to the
REM-based machine code.
To use the program enter it as shown
and then run it. Next delete all lines
after line 60 and add or spool the Basic
program onto the end of it. When com-
plete save the lot with
*SAVE "NAME” <PAGE>
<TOP + 1> < PAGE + 6 >
On a disc system the program can be
chained using *NAME and on a tape
system *RUN“NAME”.
A safety valve can be built in to allow
CTRL-BREAK to work by adding a line
with *FX247,0. The Escape key can be
disabled with *FX200,1.
Finally, Phil Collet has a plea to Beeb
owners to provide a means of recover-
ing strings and string arrays after a
Break. CIO from the Editor s wallet for
the best solution.
Eccentric solution
to string problem
CAMBRIDGE reader Philip Hazel
writes:
There are a number of other
approaches to J T Hindle’s problem
(Beeb Forum, April 1984), depending
on whether the use of store or speed of
execution is the more important factor.
He has an array of values Z which
depend on two values X and Y. His note
does not say explicitly that all these
values are integral, but this fact is
obvious from his solution. Using a two-
dimensional array Z%(X%,Y%)
requires nearly 9000 bytes of memory,
since the values of X and Y range from
1 to 47. However, the values of Z range
only from 1 to 71, which led to his some-
what eccentric solution of encoding the
data in a character string.
The first comment is that, since the
values of Z are so small, a two-dimen-
sional array of bytes cuts the store
usage by 75 per cent (since each
integer value normally uses four
bytes). Unfortunately, Basic does not
provide the facility of using arrays of
bytes, but this can be simulated using
the indirection operators and the ability
of DIM to allocate store and return its
address.
Program 2 shows how to set up a
47 x 47 array, with indices ranging from
0 to 46, and clear it to zeros.
A reference to element (X%,Y%) of
the array is then written as
Z?(X% *47 + Y%). This method uses
2209 bytes of store but gives fast access
to individual elements, and makes it
easy to set new values. Indices 1 to 47
can, of course, be used instead of 0 to
46, but this requires more computation
for each access.
A careful look at Mr Hindle’s charac-
ter string solution shows that, in his
GRAHAM WALKDEN of Banchory, Kin-
cardine, has sent a listing (program 5)
allowing the users of the BBC A and B
and Electron to produce multi-
coloured, enlarged text at any position
case, the values of Z are unique, and
each possible value of Z occurs pre-
cisely once. In fact, it seems that the
(X,Y) pairs depend on the Z value,
rather than vice versa.
Mr Hindle’s solution does not in fact
store values of Z, but merely a suc-
cession of (X,Y) pairs in the right order.
Because he uses the INSTR function to
search the string, separator characters
are necessary. These can be done
away with if the string representation is
changed to an array of byte pairs. The
data than occupies only 142 bytes. Pro-
gram 3 shows how one could set up the
array, using his example data for the
first few bytes, and program 4 is a func-
tion which returns the Z value corres-
ponding to a given (X, Y), or zero if there
is no such value.
Of course, the price paid for such
close packing of the data is the time
taken by FNZ to search for the (X,Y)
values. If it is the case that the X or Y
values (or both) increase as Z in-
creases (which is true in the example
above) then FNZ can be speeded up by
stopping when a value is found that is
greater than the one being sought.
Alternatively, a technique such as
binary chop’ can be used.
Mr Hindle’s problem is an example of
a more general problem of how to store
sparse arrays efficiently. If the 71
values of Z were not the first 71
integers, but arbitrary (possibly non-
unique) values in the range 1-255, then,
of the solutions discussed so far, only
the two-dimensional array would work.
and/or angle in any graphics mode.
The routine works by printing the
message to be placed on the screen,
and using the POINT command to
sense whether a pixel is to be plotted or
page 79>
SUPERPRINT Deno
A*
NORMAL SIZED-
A**
A**'
BY GRRHBM WHLKDEN
Angling text in multicolour
ACORN USER JULY 1984
TELETEXT '
emulator
Now you can create your own electronic
magazine, noticeboard or database using Edfax
with your BBC 'B' and disk drive. The powerful
EDIT program allows you to implement all the
features of a commercial teletext system including
coloured text and graphics. coloured
backgrounds, double height, flash, conceal/reveal,
'separated' graphics, 'hold' graphics or any
combination of these. ‘Define pixels' facility
enables complex displays to be created easily.
'Cycle page' facility enables you to create
sequences of pages for automated displays. Any
page is easily updated.
retail display, exhibitions, noticeboard applications
and wherever the presentation of information is
important. Edfax is supplied with an 80-page
sample database full of • useful ideas and
examples. Also included is a coloured keystrip.
screen planning sheet and an 88-page users'
guide, written and edited by educationalists,
which explains how to create and structure Edfax
pages and provides many worked examples.
Available ex-stock at £30.00 plus £2.00
pBp and £2.68 VAT (total £34.68).
United Kingdom schools pay only €20 00
plus £2 00 p&p and £1 88 VAT (total £23 88)
Edfax stores up to 80 pages on a 40-track disk
and a massive 182 pages on an 80-track disk.
Separate DISPLAY program enables any page (or
sequence of pages) to be recalled simply by
entering a three digit number.
Edfax is entirely content-free and is ideal for use
in education (art and design, English, computer
studies, language development, recording of
events, display of students' work, etc), and for
Send cheque or LEA order to:
Tecmedia Limited, Dept MA/1, 5 Granby Street,
Loughborough, LE1 1 3DU,
stating 40- or 80-track version, or write for colour
brochure. Trade enquiries welcome.
Requires BBC B’ with OS 1.0 (or later) and any Acorn compatible
DFS. 40- and 80-track versions available. 3" version available soon.
DISPLAY software and Edfax datafiles may be used with Econet
_ (Level II only).
Edfax was developed by the
Microelectronics Education Programme.
Tecmedia software product
More than just a joystick
- a system
Volf mac e delta 14b
DELTA 14b HANDSET £14.95
DELTA 14b/1 A/D/USER PORT INTERFACE £14.85
DELTA DRIVER CASSETTE £5.95 or DISC £9.95
Prices include VAT and P&P. SAE for more detailed information.
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Complete control
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A
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Nylon encased — Steel shafted joystick
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Fast sprung return to centre.
Graphite wiper linear potentiometers.
12 Months Guarantee.
7 day Money back Guarantee (on Hardware).
A superb joystick and a keypad for the price
of either one. Plus the software to integrate
it into the computer’s system.
One handset will work on it’s own in the A/D port as a
joystick and two fire buttons. Joystick is immediately
compatible with ACORNSOFT and similar software.
The interface joins together the analogue and the user ports
to use the full keypads giving a total of 24 user definable keys.
The interface can also be used as a splitter for the A/D port to
take two items at the same time, e.g. joystick and lightpen.
DELTA DRIVER on cassette or disc: Two programs on each cassette or disc. One converts
machine code programs from the keyboard to the joystick or keypad, with adjustable
sensitivity on the joystick and will run on any O.S. The second program (needs O S 1.0 or
later and an interface) duplicates any keyboard keys on the keypads, in the operating
system, so that it can become a numeric keypad or will take on the function keys.
78
A CORN USER JUL Y 1984
BEEB FORUM
not. Before the program will operate
several variables have to be assigned.
M%-the number. The number of
pixels in your particular mode has to be
multiplied to produce either 1280 for
the horizontal axis or 1024 for the verti-
cal, eg, it is 2 in a 640 x 256 mode, 4 in a
320x256 mode and 8 in a 160x256
mode. Best results are obtained by
using mode 1.
XMAG% - the horizontal magnification
factor. One is normal.
YMAG%-the vertical magnification
factor, 1 again being normal.
COL% - the colour of the characters to
be printed (normal colour rules apply).
ANG% - the angle at which the text will
be printed. Positive values cause the
text to slant upwards, while negative
values do the opposite.
To call up the routine you have to use a
system of variable-assigned pro-
cedures, i.e. PROCPRINT (“Text to be
printed”, (X co-ordinate), (Y co-ordi-
nate). So:
1 0MODE1 : M % = 4: XM AG% = 2:
YMAG% = 2: COL% = 2:
ANG% = 2: PROCPRINT
(“HELLO”, 640, 512): END
will cause the word HELLO to be
printed in yellow, upward-slanting,
double-height, double-width lettering
in the centre of the screen.
Superprint can be used for all sorts of
purposes, and is considerably more
effective than the mode 7 double-height
lettering.
Arrays as
parameters
IN HER ARTICLE Brush up on your
writing’ (April issue, page 111), writes
Allen Hardy of Birmingham, Susan
Jones describes some useful facilities
peculiar to BBC Basic but observes that
it is not possible, without using indirec-
tion operators, to write a general pro-
cedure using arrays because arrays
cannot be parameters. The problem is
also discussed by John Ryding (same
issue, page 89).
Here’s how to do it: the name of the
array is passed to the procedure (or
function) as the actual parameter, and
EVAL is used in the procedure defini-
tion to evaluate the formal parameter.
Program 6 calls Ms Jones' PROCWordin,
rewritten as a function using an array
parameter.
The function is similar to PROCWor-
din in that it repeats a question until
you reply with one of the words in the
DATA line. It returns the position of
the word in the array (the index) to
the main program, which prints it.
Unlike John Ryding’s technique, this
one can be used only to read arrays
and notto write to them.
Showing the flag
for Forth
RICHARD CLARKE of Croydon has
some Forthright views. He writes:
It is rare to see items in Acorn User
relating to BBC languages other than
Basic or assembly language. As an
Acornsoft Forth user, I hope to set a
precedent for others to send in their
ideas and thus make Forth more widely
known.
Initially, Acornsoft Forth sets LIMIT,
the top of memory pointer, to &5800 and
allows you two mass-storage buffers
(screens). If you are going to use only
mode 7, memory from &5800 to &7C00
will be free. To take advantage of this,
increase the top of memory pointer to
&7C00 by:
31744 ’LIMIT!
and re-allocate storage for your buffers
by:
n #BUF ! SETBUF FLUSH
where n is the number of buffers you
want (see Forth manual, pages 81-82).
Now that you are using what would
be screen memory in any other mode to
store your source-code, you must take
care not to change mode. This can be
done inadvertently by EMITting 22, fol-
lowed by another number, or TYPEing
a string containing 22, which is quite
possible if you are using TYPE on the
wrong area of memory by mistake. I
have found it very useful to prevent 22
being sent to the VDU drivers by the fol-
lowing:
DECIMAL : &EMIT DUP 22 = 26
7ERROR (EMIT) ;
ASSIGN EMIT TO-DO &EMIT
Now, 22 EMIT gives EMIT ? MSG #26.
You can disable this by:
ASSIGN EMIT TO-DO (EMIT)
Multiple printing
with Wordwise
JONATHAN EVANS of Plymouth points
out that one of the limitations of Word-
wise is that it does not have a facility for
multiple printing. This can be very
annoying, he says, if you want to run off
a number of copies of a short document
on fanfold paper. Program 7 provides a
short Basic program to simulate this
function.
First, design your document on
Wordwise in the normal way and proof
it carefully. Then save to disc or tape
using option 8. This 'spools’ the format-
ted text as an ASCII file (you will lose
any special control codes to the printer
for underlining etc when you do this).
Then return to Basic and run the pro-
gram. This will read your file into a
single byte array and print it out for you
as many times as required.
All formatting is preserved by the
simple byte-by-byte PRINT CHR$ at line
280. For example, blank lines are
coded as carriage returns (ASCII 13)
which are automatically produced by
PRINT CHRS (13).
Automatic formatter
in View
THE routine by Susan Jones ‘Saving
text for View’ is a splendid idea, says
Bernard Wilson of llkley. ‘It certainly
allows me to make better use of my own
micro at home, using a View machine
to format and edit the results.’
‘However,’ he adds, ‘it is a bit tedious
to have to press RETURN after each
line, and forgetting to do so can ruin the
whole text. I have improved the routine
(see listing 8) to insert a RETURN and to
format each line automatically, and to
allow text generation in either Mode 3
or Mode 7 (invaluable if you are using a
TV).’
More on
sequential tapes
G A SMITH has some comments to
make on P H Cowley’s suggestion for
running of programs in sequence on
tape (April issue, page 58). He says:
Listing 5 will not work as shown. Line
1 appears to have been added after the
program was tested, thus changing
TOP-2 to &E31 rather than &E21. Either
delete line 1, or change 0E21 to read
0E31. A neater, and more general, sol-
ution would be:
2 LOMEM = HIMEM - &1000
4 top$ = STR$~(TOP — 2)
6 REPEAT
8 DIM X% — 1 :Y% = X%DIV256
10 $X% = ”L. *F tops
12 CALL-9
L. ’ in this case is, of course, an abbrevi-
ation for LOAD. ‘CALL-9’ is a slightly
cheaper way of calling the OSCLI at
&FFF7.
Incidentally, ‘CALL! -4’ is a useful
way of generating reset, rather than the
release-dependent call shown in Janu-
ary’s Beeb Forum, page 69.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
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80
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
TOPOFTHELIST
Top of the List is a new regular feature in Acorn User in
which we publish the most interesting, original or useful
program received. Our first winner- we pay £25 for the one
we publish -is Andrew Britton, who sent us a function key
strip printer tested on the Epson FX80, MX80 and RX80
printers and the Star DP510. As it stands the program will
print you a sample keystrip suitable for use with View. By
editing your own items into the data statements you can
define your own keystrips. To leave a key blank move on to
the next item by adding a comma, as demonstrated in line
480 of the program.
Submitted listings should be no longer than 100 lines and
authors should enclose a cassette or disc containing the
program and, if it is to be returned, an sae.
Entries to: Top of the List, Acorn User, 68 Long Acre,
London WC2E9JH.
10
20
30
40:
50
SO
70
80
90
100 :
110
120
130
140
150
ISO
170:
180
190:
200
210 :
220
230
240
250
260:
270
280
290
300:
310
320
330
340
350
360:
370
380
390:
400
410
420:
430
440
450:
460
ETE
470
CTER
480
REM *** FUNCTION KEY STRIP PRINTER ***
REM *** BY ANDREW BRITTON ***
REM *** (C) Acorn User July 1984 ***
MODE 0
PRINT "Function key strip printer (By Andrew Britton (C) 1984)."
PRINT ''"Enter text in DATA lines at end."''
PRINT ''"Set up printer and press < RETURN >" ; : *FX 21,0
REPEAT UNTIL GET=13
n= 1 2
VDU 2
VDU 1,27,1,64
VDU 1,15
VDU 1 ,27, 1 ,ASC"U" ,1,1
VDU 1 , 27 , 1 , ASC " 3 ", 1 , 1 6
: REM Reset printer
: REM Condensed characters
: REM Unidirectional
: REM Line spacing 16:STAR/MX 24:FX/RX
PRINT : PRINT
FOR A7.= l TO 10: PRINT " + STRING* (n NEXT: PRINT " + "
FOR L7.= l TO 3
IF L7.<3 PROCpl i n (2) ELSE PR0Cplin(3>
FOR A7.= l TO 10: PRINT "4-" - STRING* (n NEXT: PRINT " + "
NEXT
PR I NT : PR I NT : PR I NT
VDU 3
END
DEF PROCpl in (n7.)
FOR z7.= l TO n7.
FOR N7.= l TO 10: READ A*: PRINT " ! " ; A*; SPC <n— LEN <A$> );: NEXT: PRINT "!"
NEXT
ENDPROC
REM data limited to a maximum o-f 12 characters/f ield
REM ***** Sample Keystrip For VIEW word processor *****
DATA DELETE , NE XT , FORMAT , JUST I FY , I NSERT , DEFAULT , SPL I T , CONCAT , MARK ,
DATA BLOCK, MATCH, MODE, MODE, MODE, RULER, LINE, LINES, AS RULER,
DATA MOVE, SWAP, RELEASE, DELETE TO , HLT , HLT , GOTO , SET , EDI T , DELETE
DATA BLOCK , CASE , MARG I NS , CHARACTER ,1,2, MARKER , MARKER , COMMAND , COMMAND
DATA FORMAT, TOP OF , BOTTOM , DELETE , BEGINNING , END OF , INSERT , DELETE , I NSERT , DEL
DATA BLOCK, TEXT, OF TEXT, END OF LINE, OF L I NE , LI NE , L I NE , L INE , CHARACTER , CHARA
DATA ,,,,,,,,,
DELETE
BLOCK
NEXT
MATCH
FORMAT
MODE
JUSTIFY
MODE
INSERT
MODE
DEFAULT
RULER
SPLIT
LINE
CONCAT.
LINES
MARK
AS RULER
r
MOVE
SNAP
RELEASE
DELETE TO
HIGHLIGHT
HIGHLIGHT
GOTO
SET
EDIT
BLOCK
CASE
MARGINS
CHARACTER
1
2
MARKER
MARKER
COMMAND
FORMAT
TOP OF
BOTTOM
DELETE
BEGINNING
END OF
INSERT
DELETE
INSERT
BLOCK
TEXT
OF TEXT
END OF LINE
OF LINE
LINE
LINE
LINE
CHARACTER
DELETE
COMMAND
DELETE
CHARACTER
HINTS &TIPS I
See pages 51-54
Listings 1-5. Testing the keyboard for the space bar
•
10
REM listing 1
9
•
20
CLS
9
•
30
PR I NTT AB (6,10) "Please
press the space bar"
9
A
40
REPEAT
a
w
50
A= INKEY (-99)
•
60
UNTIL A=— 1
9
•
70
PRINTTAB (15,15) "Thank
you"
9
•
A
10
REM listing 2
9
A
W
20
CLS
W
•
30
PRINTTAB (6, 10) "Please
press the space bar"
•
•
40
REPEAT
•
A
60
UNTIL INKEY (-99)
A
w
•
70
PRINTTAB (15, 15) "Thank
you"
W
9
•
10
REM listing 3
9
•
20
CLS
9
•
30
PRINTTAB (6, 10) "Please
press the space bar"
9
40
A=INKEY (300)
•
50
IF A=32 THEN PRINTTAB ( 15, 15) "Thank you"
9
•
60
IF A >32 THEN PRINTTAB ( 15 , 15) "Wrong key!"
9
•
70
IF A=— 1 THEN PRINTTAB (15, 15) "Too slow!"
9
•
•
10
REM listing 4
9
%
20
CLS
•
30
PRINTTAB (6, 10) "Please
press the space bar"
9
•
40
REPEAT
9
A
50
UNTIL GET =32
0
•
60
PRINTTAB (15, 15) "Thank
you "
9
•
a
10
REM listing 5
9
a
9
20
CLS
w
•
30
PRINTTAB (6, 10) "Please
press the space bar"
9
•
40
REPEAT
9
a
50
UNTIL GET*=" "
a
•
60
PRINTTAB (15, 15) "Thank
you"
w
9
•
Listings 6 and 7. Space bar test procedures for modes 1/4 and 2/5 respectively
9
a
10
REM Listing 6
10 REM Listing 7
9
20
MODE 4
20 MODE 5
9
9
30
PROCspace
30 PROCspace
40
PRINT'* IT
WORKS ! "
40 PRINT” IT WORKS'"
w
9
50
END
50 END
9
60
:
60 :
9
10000
DEFPROCspace
10000 DEFF’ROCspace
9
a
10010
REM Mode
1/4 procedure to wait
10010 REM Mode 2/5 procedure to wait
9
10020
REM until
space bar is pressed
10020 REM until space bar is pressed
9
A
10030
VDU 24,175; 10; 11 00; 60s 5, 18, 0,131
10030 VDU 24,120; 10; U60;60;5, 18, 0,131
w
10040
VDU 12,18
,0,0
10040 VDU 12, 18,0,0
9
9
10050
MOVE200 , 47
10050 M0VE1 88 , 47
A
10060
PRINT"Press space bar to continue"
10060 PR I NT "Press space bar"
w
•
10070
*FX15,0
10070 *FX15,0
9
10080
REFEAT: UNTIL GET=32
10080 REPEAT: UNTIL GET=32
9
10090
VDU 18,0,
128, 18,0,3, 16,4,26
10090 VDU 18,0,128,18,0,3,16,4,26
9
9
9
10100
ENDPROC
10100 ENDPROC
9
9
ACORN USER JULY 1984
I JOE’S JOTTINGS
See ‘Logging On page 32
Program 1. Joe Telford’s RS423 simulator
10 REM SERIAL TRANSMISSION SIMULATOR
20 REM J. TELFORD APR. 1984
30 PROCinit
40 REPEAT
50 MODE?
6 0 PR 0 C m e n u
70 M0DE4: PROCsetscreen
80 REPEAT
?0 char=FN type
100 IF char<>27 PROCsend (chor)
110 UNTIL char =27
120 UNTIL FALSE
130 END
140 DEFPROCinit
150 VDU23, 128, 128, 128, 128, 128, 128, 128, 128,255
160 V D U 2 3 > 129, 255, 128, 128, 128, 128, 128, 128, 128
170 UDU23, 130,187,170,170,170,170,170,170,238
180 v'DU23> 131, 143, 136, 136, 136, 136, 136, 136,248
190 VDU23, 132,60, 126,255.255,255,255, 126, *60
208 VDU23 » 133,60,66, 129, 129, 129, 129,66,60,
210 ODU23, 134, 0,62,8, 10, 106, 138, 138, 107
228 DIM binary < 12)
230 *FX220,0
240 ENDPROC
250 DEF PROCmenu
263 CLS
270 REPEAT I NPUTTAB ( 0 , 5) " How many data bits/word? (7/8) “D%
280 IF 0X0 8 AND 0X07 VDU7
290 UNTIL D % > 6 AND D7.<9
300 REPEAT
310 REPEAT : INPUTTAB >! 0 , 7> " 0 (dd) E(ven) or N(o) Parity? 'parity*
320 pari tyf = LEFT$ (par i ty* , 1 )
330 P%=INSTR ( " OENoen ■ , parity*)
340 IF Py.il VDU7
350 UNTIL P%>0
360 IF P ’/. MOD 3 =0 AND D% = 7 PRINT ' CHR*131 * 7 bits and No Parity is
not a 1 1 o w ed . • : V D U 7
378 UNTIL P% MOD 3 <>0 OR D%<>7
380 P‘/. = P'/. MOD 3
390 REPEAT: INPUTTAB (@, 11) "How many scop bits? (1/2) "S%
400 IF SSOl AND 5X02 VDU7
410 UNTIL S%>0 AND S%<3
420 IF D% = 8 AND S% = 2 PRINT ' CHR*131 * 1 stop bit only with S Data
bits" : S % — 1 : 0DU7
430 PRINTTAB (0 , 15) CHR$131 ; CHR* 136 i ' Press SPACE to Continue"
440 REPEAT UNTIL GET=32
450 ENDPROC
460 DEF PROCset screen
*70 CLS
438 VDU19 , 0 , 4 , 0 ; 0 ; 0; 19 , 1 , ? , 0 s 0? 0 i
490 PROCrect (0,0, 1279, 1023)
500 PROCrect (320, 866, 224, 96)
Continued ►
n
JOE’S JOTTINGS |
See ‘Logging On \ page 32
•
A
◄ Continued
•
9
5 1 0
p R 0 C r e e t < 7 3 6 . 8 6 6 - 2 2 4 > 9 6 )
•
9
5 2 @
PRINTTAB (1 1,3) “ CTS “ ; CHRf 133
•
•
530
PRINTTAB (24. 3) "RTS “;CHR$l33
•
A
540
P R 0 C r e c t ( i 2 3 • 6 1 8 , 16 0, 192)
A
w
5 50
FROCre 06(128,610,160, 96)
9
9
560
PROCrect (384,610, 160,96)
•
•
570
PROCrect (384 , 618 , 168 , 192)
•
A
530
PRINTTAB (5, S) ”CHR‘
a
w
590
PRINTTAB (13, 8) " A S C “
9
9
608
PRINTTAB (26, S> "BINARY. "
9
•
610
P P. 0 C r C- c t ( 7 3 o ? 6 1 0 > 4 1 6 » i ? 2 >
9
A
6 2 0
PROCrect (736, 610, 416, 96)
638
PROCrect (128, 354, 416, 192)
9
•
64 0
PROCrect ( 128, 354 ,416, 96)
9
•
6 5©
PROCrect (736 , 354, 416, 192)
9
a
660
PROCrect (736 , 354 , 416 , 96)
•
678
PRINTTAB (8, 16) “R5432”
9
9
68©
PRINTTAB (27. 16) "MODEM"
9
9
6?G
PRINTTAB (5, 26) "SERIAL TRANSMISSION SIMULATOR”
9
a
70S
P R 0 C c r s r ( 0 )
9
710
ENDPROC
9
•
720
DEF FN'type
9
9
730
P p 0 £ c t 5 (i )
9
a
74-0
*FX2l - 3
1 9
758
= GE7
9
9
760
DEFPROCcts (x)
9
9
770
PRINTTAB (15 , 3) ; CHR* <132+ ( i-x) )
9
a
780
ENDPROC
9
770
DEF PR 0 C send <c h }
9
•
800
P R 0 C c t s ( 0 )
9
•
810
PRINTTAB (6, 11 ) ;
9
a
820
IF c h > 3 1 AND Ch <127 PRINTCHRlch ELSE PRINTCHRil
3 4
9
838
PRINTTAB (13,11)" * : PRINTTAB (16-LEN (STR$ (ch) ) ,
i 1 ) ; ch #
•
348
PROCbinary
9
9
850
PR0CPS432
0
86 0
PROCMODEM
•
878
P R 0 C = 0 u n d
9
9
830
ENDPROC
9
9
830
DEFPROCb i nary
9
a
900
lengths D%+S%+SGN (P%) +1
9
910
binary (0 > = 0
9
9
920
IF 0% = 7 ch= ch AND 127
9
9
930
to ta 1 =0 : FOR I *: = i TO DX
•
940
binary (IX) =ch MOD 2 = ch*ch DIO 2
9
950
t o t a 1 = t o t a 1 + b i n a r y ( D X - I X )
9
•
968
NEXT
9
•
970
b i nary ( 1 eng th- i ) =i
9
a
9 80
I FSX=2 binary (lengt h -2 )=1
9
990
IF P%=8 PROCPr i n tbi n : ENDPROC
9
•
1300
b mar y < D % + 1 > = 1
9
•
1010
IF PX=1 AND (total MOD 2)=1 binary (D%+1 ) =0
9
a
1020
IF P % = 2 AND (total MOD 2)=0 binary ( D X + 1 > = 0
9
1038
PROCPr intbin : ENDPROC
9
9
9
9
1040
DEF PRO C P r intbi n
9
9
9
I JOE’S JOTTINGS
See Togging On ' page 32
•
•
1050
PRINTTAB <24, 11) ; STRINGS (length, " ")
•
•
1060
PRINTTAB <24, 11) ;
•
1070
FOR 0 TO lengtrh-l
A
•
1080
PRINT i h i no r y ( I X ) ;
w
•
1090
NEXT : ENDPROC
•
a
1100
DEFPR0CRS432
•
w
ill©
PRINTTAB (5,1?) ; STRINGS < length, » * )
A
•
1120
PRINTTAB (5 ,19) ;
•
•
1130
FOR IX = 0 TO length-1
•
1140
VDU1 28 + b x nary (IX)
•
1150
NEXT : ENDPROC
A
•
1160
DEFPROCMODEM
V
•
117©
PRINTTAB (24,19); STRINGS (length, » ” )
•
1130
PRINTTAB <24, 19) ;
•
^F
1190
FOR I%= 0 TO length-1
A
•
1200
UDU1 30 + b i nary ( I % )
w
•
1210
NEXT : ENDPROC
•
•
1220
D E F P R 0 C 5 o u n d
•
1230
FOR I%= 0 TO length-1
A
•
1240
SOUND 1 , -15, binary (IX) *48+156, 0
w
•
1250
NEXT : ENDPROC
•
•
a
1260
DEFPROCcrsr (x) ; IFx = 0 THEN VDU23;
8202 ; 0; 0; : ELSE VDU23; 29194 50501.0s
•
•
w
127S
ENDPROC
A
•
1280
D E F P R 0 C r e c t ( x , y , 1 , w }
•
•
1290
MOVE* , y : DRAWX+ 1 , y
•
•
1306
D R A W x + 1 , y + w
•
131©
DRAW x , y + w
a
•
132S
DRAW* , y
w
•
•
1330
ENDPROC
m
•
Program 2. Direct BBC to BBC comms.
10 REPEAT*- IF < ? & F E 0 8 AND 1 ) = i ch=?SFE09:
VOUCH: if c H = 1 3 PRINT
20 h $ = I N K E V $ (0) : " " ?SFE09=A5CA$:
P R I N T A % ; : IFA*=CHRtl3 PRINT
3 0 U N TIL 0
•
•
•
Program 3. Pocket terminal program for most modems and phone comms.
•
•
•
w
•
5 # F X 8 , 3
•
•
6 #FX7,3
•
•
a
10 REPEAT ; IF (7.SFE0S AND 1)=1 UDU(?SFE09 AND 127}
20 A S = I N K E V S ( 0 ) : I F A S < > “ “ ?&FE09=ASCA*
•
•
•
30 UNTIL©
^F
•
•
DISC UTILITY ■
AN INSPECTO R CALLED
INSPECT is a useful utility provided by
Martin Clayden, which enables you to
examine a Basic program held on disc
without affecting one already in
memory.
To use the program type in the
source program as shown, run it then
save the object code using:
*SAVE "VIEW” 8D0 9F0 8D0
Ensure that the program you wish to
view is on the same disc and enter:
* INSPECT < fsp >
where fsp is the name of the file to be
viewed. If the program cannot be found
the message 'File not found’ will be
issued.
If the program is too large to fit in the
available memory the message
‘INSPECT space’ will be displayed. ‘Not
Basic’ will be output if the program is
not a Basic program.
As the Beeb is placed into paged
mode by the program the Shift key
should be pressed to continue the list-
ing.
Pressing Escape at any time will
abort the listing.
100 REM *** INSPECT VI. 2 ***
110 REM *** By M. Clayden ***
120 REM *** Acorn User ***
130
140 osf i nd=&FFCE: osargs=&FFDA:
osf i 1 e=S<FFDD
150 oswrch=S<FFEE: osnewl =8<FFE7:
osbyte=8<FFF4
160 page=&18: max si ze=&87 :
handl e=&84: top=&13
170 loadin=S<8E: himem=7
1 80 BRK V=8<202 : BAS I C=&8A99 :
BREAK=&B433
190 FOR PASS=0 TO 3 STEP 3
200 P7.=S<08D0
210 COPT PASS
220
LDX
top
230
INX
240
STX
1 oadi n
\ RECORD TOP
250
LDX
hi mem
\STORE
260
DEX
WALUE OF
270
TXA
\LARGEST
280
SEC
\LOADABLE
290
SBC
1 oadi n
\ PROGRAM
300
STA
max si ze
\FOR THIS MODE
310
LDX
#5
320
LDA
&700 , X
\GET COMMAND
330
CMP
#&20
\ SPACE ?
340
BEQ
ok 1
350
LDX
# (SY— MSG)
\SYNTAX
360
JMP
out 2
370
. ok 1
380
INX
390
LDA
#&40
\OPEN FOR
400
LDY
#7
\READ
410
JSR
osf i nd
\ONLY
420
STA
handle
430
BNE
ok2
440
LDX
# (NF-MSG)
\NOT FOUND
450
JMP
out2
460
. ok2
470
TAY
480
LDX
#&70
490
LDA
#2
500
JSR
osargs
510
LDA
&71
\SIZE - HI
520
CMP
max si ze
530
BCC
ok3
540
LDX
# (VS— MSG)
\T00 LARGE
550
JMP
out 1
560
. ok3
570
JSR
close
580
LDA
#0
\CLEAR
590
LDX
#&12
\PARAMETER
600
. cl
\ SPACE
610
STA
S«6F,X
620
DEX
630
BNE
cl
640
LDA
#5
\POINT TO
1 190
RTS
\AND END
•
650
STA
&70
1200
. out 1
660
LDA
#7
\FILE NAME
1210
JSR
close
•
670
STA
&7 1
1220
. out2
680
LDA
1 oadi n
1230
JSR
output
•
690
STA
S/73
1240
RTS
a
700
LDX
#&70
\POINT TO
1250
. newv
•
710
LDY
#0
\PARAMETER
1260
LDA
#126 \ ACKNOWLEDGE
a
720
LDA
#&FF
BLOCK
1270
JSR
osbyte \ESCAPE
W
730
JSR
osf i 1 e
\LOAD FILE
1280
LDA
#25
m
740
LDY
#0
1290
STA
page \ RESTORE PAGE
750
STY
1 oadi n-1
1300
JSR
osnewl
760
LDA
(&8D) , Y
1310
LDA
# (BREAK
770
CMP
#?/0D
MOD
256)
•
780
BEQ
ok4
\CHECK THAT
1320
STA
BRKV \ RESTORE
790
LDX
# (NB-MSG) \ IT IS BASIC
1330
LDA
#( BREAK
•
800
JMP
out 1
DIV
256)
810
. ok 4
1340
STA
BRKV+1 \ BREAK VECTOR
•
820
LDA
# (newv
1350
JMP
BASIC
A
MOD 256 >
830 STA BRKV
840 LDA #(newv
DIV 256)
B50
B60
870
880
890
900
910
920
930
940
950
960
970
980
990
1000
1010
1020
1030
1040
1050
1060
1070
1080
1090
1100
1110
1120
1130
1140
1150
1 160
1170
1 180
STA BRKV+1
LDA loadin
STA page
LDA #12
JSR oswrch
LDX # ( V— MSG)
JSR output
LDA #14
JSR oswrch
LDA #138
LDX #0
. i nbuf
STX &B0
LDY RS , X
BEQ out
LDX #0
JSR &FFF4
LDX &80
INX
JMP inbuf
. out
RTS
. output
.char LDA
MSG , X
JSR oswrch
INX
CMP #&0D
BNE char
JSR osnewl
RTS
. close
LDY handle
LDA #0
JSR os
1360 RTS
\REDIRECT 1370 .MSG
1380 3
1390 REM ADD TEXT TO END
\ BREAK VECTOR OF CODE
1400
1410
\CLEAR SCREEN
\PAGING ON
\PUT LIST
\AND
\?24=25
\ I N
\KEYBOARD
\ BUFFER
\DISPLAY
\MESSAGE
\ ROUTINE
1 en=0: NB=FNTEXT
("Not BASIC")
1420 V=FNTEXT
( " Inspecting" )
1430 VS=FNTEXT
("INSPECT space")
1440 SY=FNTEXT
("Syntax: INSPECT <fsp>")
1450 NF=FNTEXT
("File not found")
1460 RS=FNTEXT
( "L. " +CHRS (13)+" 724=25 "
+CHRS(13)+CHR$(0) )
1470 NEXT PASS
1480 END
1490 DEFFNTEXT (A$)
1500 L=1 en : 1 en=l en+LEN ( A$) +1
1510 $(MSG+L)=AS
1520 =MSG+L
\CLOSE THE
\FILE
ACORN USER JULY 1984
I
BEEB FORUM
See pages 75-79
Program 1. Machine code program to auto-run a Basic
program, by Phil Collet
Program 5. New angles
on screen lettering by Graham Walkden
10
xxxxxx
REMXYXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
20
VDU 1
5
30
*FX2
47,76
40
*FX2
48, 6
50
A7.=2
49 : Y/1=0 : X7.=l
60
CALL
&FFF 4
70
FCR
I7.=0 TO 3 STEP3
80
P7.=PAGE+6
90
COPT
\\
100
LDA
#133
110
LDX
#0
120
LDY
#79
130
JSR
&FFF 4
140
LDY
#76
150
JSR
StFFF 4
160
LDY
#68
170
JSR
?<FFF 4
180
i rw
#14
190
DEY
200
JSR
SjFFF4
210
LDY
#82
220
JSR
&FFF4
230
LDY
#85
240
JSR
8<FFF4
250
LDY
#78
260
JSR
S<FFF4
270
LDY
#14
280
DEY
290
JSR
&FFF4
300
RTS
: 1
310
NEXT
Program 2.
10
DIM Z 47*47
5 REM SUPERPRINT - GRAHAM WALKDEN
10 MODE1
20 COL7.=3: M7.=4: XMAG7.=2: YMAG7.=2: ANG7.=0
30 PROCPRINT< "SUPERPRINT Demo" , 70, 960
)
40 C0L7.= 1 : XMAG7.= 1 : YMAG7.=2: ANG7.=4
50 PROCPRINT ( "Any Angl e" , 820, 600)
60 XMAG7.= 1 : YMAG7.= 1 : ANG7.=0
70 PROCPRINT < "NORMAL SI ZED" , 100, 750)
80 C0L7.=3: ANG7.=-2
90 PROCPRINT ("FOR BBC MICRO MODEL B",
100,550)
100 C0L7.=3 : ANG7.=2 : PROCPR I NT ( " OR BBC A-
MODE 4" ,120,300
1 10 C0L7.=2: AN67.=0: XMAG7.= 1 : YMAG7.=2
1 20 PROCPR I NT ( " BY GRAHAM WALKDEN ",110,
100 )
130 PROCPRINT <" ",0,0)
200 END
250 :
30010 DEF PROCPRINT (DS,X7.,Y7.)
30020 X17.= X7.: Y27.=Y7.: GCOLO, C0L7.
30030 PR I NTT AB ( 0 , 30 ) : DS ; STR I NGS ( 39-LENDS
•• it \
30040 FOR J=32 TO 64 STEP (M7./YMAG7.) : Y 17.=
Y27.
30050 FOR I7.=0 TO (LENDS* (M7.*8) ) STEPM7.
30060 I FPO I NT ( 1 7. , J ) < >OPLQT69 , X 1 7. , Y 1 7. : PLO
T 1 , M7.* XMAG7. , O: X 17.=X 1 7.+M7.* XMAG7.+2 ELSE X 17.
= X17.+M7.*XMAG7.+2
30070 Y 1 7.= Y 1 7.+ANG7.
300B0 NEXT
30090 X17.=X7.: Y27.=Y27.+4
30100 NEXT
30110 ENDPROC
20
FOR X7. = 0 TO 46
30
T7. = X7.*47
40
FOR Y7. = 0 TO 46
50
Z? ( T7. + Y7. ) = 0
60
NEXT Y7.
70
NEXT X7.
Program 3.
10
DIM Z 142
20
FOR 17. = 0 TO 14 i
30
READ J7.
40
Z?I7. = J7.
50
NEXT
60
DATA 1,1,2,7,12,8,...
Program 4.
10
DEF F N Z ( X X , Y 7. )
20
LOCAL 17.
30
17. = 0
40
REPEAT
50
IF (Z?(IX)*X%) AND (Z?(
60
IX = IX ♦ 2
70
UNTIL IX > 140
80
=0
Program 6. Using an array parameter, by Allen Hardy
10 REM
20 N=5
30 DIM TABLES (N)
40 FOR 1=1 TO N
50 READ TABLES ( I >
60 NEXT I
70 PRINT FNWORDIN( "TABLE". "WHICH DIRECTION" , N)
80END
100 DEFFNWORD IN (ARRAYS, MESSS,N) LOCAL W, WORDS
120 REPEAT PRINTMESSS: s INPUT WORDS: W=0
130 REPEAT W=W+ 1
140 UNTIL WORDS=EVAL (ARRAYS+"S ( "+STRSW+" ) " ) OR W=N
150 UNTIL W<N
160 =W
180 DATA BACK, FORWARD, LEFT, RIGHT, " "
) = Y X ) THEN = (17. DIV 2) + 1
ACORN USER JULY 1984
FORUM ■
See pages 75-79
Program 7. Multiple printing with Wordwise, by Jonathan Evans
>WU1 , 2">, 1 , 69
>L 1ST
10REM UTILITY TO PRINT MULTIPLE
160-X-FX15, 1
20REM COPIES FROM SPOOLED
1 " 7 0REPEAT UNTIL GET=32
30REM WORDWISE FILES
180F=OPENIN<N$)
40REM BY JONATHAN EVANS
1 90KOUNT =0
50REM
200REPEAT
60REM FOR SERIAL PRINTER ENTER *FX
2 1 0AX7KOUNT =BGET#F
* 7 0REM COMMANDS AS APPROPRIATE
220KOUNT=KOUNT ♦ 1
80DIM A% 20000
230UNTIL EOF#F
90MODE7
240CLOSEHF
100REPEAT
250FOR 1=1 TO NX
1 10CLS: INPUT’ "Enter name of -file to be
260VDU2
printed"’ "or type END ■ ; N$
270FOR J=0 TO KOUNT
1 20 IF N*= “ END " THEN MODE" 7 : END
280PR I NT CHR*(A%?J>;
130 INPUT* "How many copies do you requi
290NEXT J
re "JNX
300VDU 1,12
140IF NXM0 PRINT* "Are you sure you wa
310REM THE ABOVE SENDS PRINTER TO TOP
nt that many?" : REPEAT: G*=GET$: UNTIL G*= "
320REM OF FORM BETWEEN PRINTING OF
Y" OR G*="N":IF G*="N" GOTO 130
330REM EACH COPY. CHECK THAT CODE 12
1 50PR INT *" Ensure that you have the cor
340REM IS CORRECT FOR YOUR PRINTER
rect disc"* "or tape in position and that
350NEXT I
pr inter” "is switched on and at * top o-f
360VDU3
•form’ . " * "Press SPACEBAR to start."
370UNTIL FALSE
Program 8. Saving text for View, with each line formatted automatically, by Bernard Wilson
>L 1ST
10
REN ********** VIEW3/7 **********
20
REM **** B. WILSON (C) ****
30
REM *****************************
40
CLS
50
REPEAT
60
PRINTTAB (2,5) : CHR$ < 141 ) ; CHRT ( 131 ) s "VIEW
Text File Transfer
Utility"
70
PR I NTT AB ( 2 , 6 > ;CHR*(141> ;CHR$<131> : "VIEW
Text File Transfer
Utility"
80
PRINTTAB (0 , 12) ; CHR$ ( 141 ) ; CHR$ ( 133) ; CHRT ( 136) ; "Edit ?< Format
after loading
to VIEW"
90
PRINTTAB (0,13); CHRT ( 141 ) ; CHR* (133) ; CHRT (136) ; "Edit & Format
after loading
to VIEW"
1 00
PRINTTAB <2, 17) ; CHR$ ( 131 ) "Press TAB to Terminate and SAVE"
1 10
PRINTTAB(2, 21) :CHR$<131) "Select MODE 3 or MODE 7 G$=
GET*
120
UNTIL G$="3" OR G$="7"
130
mode=VAL(G*>
140M0DEmode: N7.=HIMEM-L0MEM--124: *FX1 1 .0
1 50D I M B7. N7. : P7.=B7. : L7.=0 : @7.=5 : C7.=&C00
160
PROCbvtesl eft
170
REPEAT
180
GT=GET$
190
PRINTGT-;
200
IF G*=CHR-tS<7F THEN P7.= P7.-2 ELSE *P7.=G*
210
IF G$-CHRf ?<D THEN PRINT
220
P7.=P7.+ 1:N7.=N7.-1
230
IF mode=3 AND P0S=79 THEN PROCCR
240
IF mode=7 AND P0S=39 THEN PROCCR
250
UNTIL GT=CHR*9 OR N7.-C255
260
T (P7.- 1 ) =CHRf ?<D
270PRINT"Name of text file to be written
280 INPUT *C7. : IF *C7.= "" THEN *C7.= "TEXT" ELSE
290*C7.= " SAVE " +*C 7.+ " " +STR*~B7.+ " " +STR*' V P7.
*C7.=LEFT* (TC7..6)
300
PRINT ' TC7. ' : X7.=0: Y7.=S<C: CALL S<FFF7
31 0M0DE7 : *FX 1 2 , 0
320END
330
DEFPROCCR
340
M7.=P7.
350
REPEAT : M7.=M7.- 1 : VDU 1 27 : UNT I L ?M7.=«<20
360
?M7.=S,D
370
vpos=VP0S
380
PROCbvtesl eft
390
PRINTTAB <0,vpos)
400
PRINT* (M7.+ 1 ) ;
410
ENDPROC
420
DEF PROCbvtesl eft
430
PRINTTAB (0 , 1 ) N7." bytes remaininq.
"
440
ENDPROC
ACORN USER JULY 1984
I
HARDWARE
See ‘The Beeb in Slow Time', page 81
Program 1. Setting up and demonstrating program for
slow-speed operation of the BBC micro (enter it with
page; = ;&2ooo)
10
PROCassembl e
680
STA &204
20
PROCinit
690
LDA # IRQ IV DIV 256
30
REPEAT
700
STA &205
40
A* = GET*
710
CLI
50
A = ASC ( A* )
720
60
IF A = 0 VDU 0
730
\ initialise the VIA
70
IF A >47 AND
A<56 MODE A— 48: A = 0
740
\ ******************
80
IF A* * "T"
PROC_T_wi ndow: A = 0
750
90
IF A* = "G"
PROC_G_wi ndow: A = 0
760
LDA #1 \ Set PB0 as 0/P
100
IF A* = "F"
PROCf i 1 1 : A = 0
770
STA &FE62 \ Data direction reg. B
110
IF A* = ”W"
PROCwait:A = 0
780
RTS
120
IF A* = "Z"
MODE 6: PROCz ero_page_map :
790
A = 0
800
.off \ Restore original IRQ1V
130
IF A VDU A
810
\ **********************
140
UNTIL0
820
SEI
150
END
830
LDA #ol d IRQ1 V MOD 256
160
840
STA &204
170
Interrupt Routines
850
LDA #ol d IRQ1 V DIV 256
180
*************************
860
STA &205
190
870
CLI
200
DEF PROCassembl e
880
RTS
210
IF ?&FE62 = 1
CALL Z7.
890
3
220
oldIRQlV = ! &204 AND fcFFFF
900
230
910
NEXT
240
FOR N7. = 0TO2
STEP 2
920
ENDPROC
250
P7. = &D00
930
260
940
DEF PROCinit
270
COPT N7.
950
ON ERROR PRQCer r _h an die: END
280
NOP: NOP: NOP
\ NMI Routine
960
*FX12,2
290
NOP: NOP
\ ***********
970
REM increase auto-repeat
300
NOP: NOP
speed
310
RTI
980
*FX 16 , 0
320
3
990
REM ADC interrupts off
330
1000
CALL on : REM Enable
340
P7. = 5/.C00
1010
Z7. = off : REM To allow IRQ to be
350
COPT N7.
swi tched
360
. IRQ1V
1020
: REM off before re-assembly
370
\ *****
1030
380
BIT &FE60
1040
*KEY 10 PAGE = &2000 I MOLD ! M
390
400
410
420
430
440
450
460
470
480
490
500
510
520
530
540
550
560
570
580
590
600
610
620
630
640
650
660
670
BVS pb7
LDA #0
STA &FE60
LDA #&FF
STA &A80
STA &A81
STA &A82
STA &A83
JMP oldIRQlV
\ PB6 pressed?
\ Switch pulses ON
\ Make a white marker
\ visible on the bit map
1050
1060
1070
1080
1090
CLS
PRINT"Ad just speed of pulses."
PRINT ' "Press PB7 when ready."
7&FE60 = 0 : REM slow down
Continued ►
Program 3. Produces a display mimicking the effect when
you run program 1 and clear the screen at slow speed.
Press the space bar to start and stop the progress of the
display
. pb7
BMI no_key_pressed \ PB7 pressed?
LDA #1
STA &FE60 \ Switch pulses on
LDA #0
STA &A80
STA &A81
STA &A82
STA &A83
\ Remove white marker
. no_key_pressed
JMP oldIRQlV
.on \ Change IRQ1 Vector
\ ******************
SEI
LDA # IRQ IV MOD 256
10
MODE0
20
VDU 1 9 ; 4 ; 0 ; : REM If
blue background
you like
30
FDR M7.= 1TO80*32-1
40
PRINT"X “ ;
50
NEXT
60
FDR M7.=0 TO 255
70
FOR N7.=&3000 TO
&7F00 STEP 256
80
N7.?M7.=0
90
IF INKEY (0)>0
REPEAT
UNTIL INKEY (0)
>0
100
NEXT
110
NEXT
ACORN USER JULY 1984
HARDWARE ■
See ‘The Beeb in Slow Time’, page 81
•
•
◄ Continued
•
•
•
•
1100
REPEAT
•
•
•
1110
PRINT" I”;
•
•
1120
UNTIL (7&FE60 AND 1) = 1
a
1 130
REM i.e. PB7 was pressed and IRQ
•
•
1140
REM routine has set PB0 to logic 1
•
•
1 150
#
•
1160
CLS
a
1170
PR I NT "Ready"
•
•
1 180
ENDPROC
•
•
1190
•
•
1200
DEF PROC T window
A
1210
VDU28, 10,25,70, 10
w
•
1220
ENDPROC
9
•
1230
•
•
1240
DEF PROC G window
A
1250
VDU24, 100; 200; 1100; 900
•
•
1260
ENDPROC
9
•
1270
•
•
12B0
DEF PROC-f ill
a
1290
D$ = GET $
9
•
1300
IF D$ = "A" PROCalphabet: ENDPROC
9
•
1310
FOR N7. = 0TQ2556
9
•
1320
IF D$ = "R" VDU (32+RND (95) ) ELSE PRINT D*;
a
1330
NEXT
9
•
1340
ENDPROC
9
•
1350
9
•
1360
DEF PROCwait
a
1370
REPEAT
9
•
1380
UNTIL (7&FE60 AND 1).= 0
9
•
1390
ENDPROC
9
•
1400
a
A
1410
DEF PROCzero_page_map
9
w
1420
VDU19; 4; 0;
•
m
1430
VDU23; 12; 0; 0; 0;
•
9
1440
7&34E = 0
a
1450
VDU 12, 28 , 0 , 24 , 39 ,14,12
9
•
1460
7&E00 = 13: 7&E01 = 255
9
#
1470
FOR 17. = &E02 TO &1000:?I7. = 0:NEXT
9
•
1480
ENDPROC
a
1490
9
•
1500
DEF PROCalphabet
•
•
1510
FOR N7. = 1 TO 100
•
•
1520
PR I NT " ABCDEFGH I JKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ " ;
1530
NEXT
w
•
1540
ENDPROC
9
•
1550
9
•
1560
DEF PROCerr handle
1570
7&FE60 = 1
9
•
1580
REPORT
9
•
1590
PRINT" at line " ; ERL
9
•
•
•
1600
ENDPROC
9
9
9
ACORN USER JULY 1984
HARDWARE REVIEWS
See ‘ Triple Test', page 155
•
Listing 1.
•
•
Acorn
•
10
REM *IEEE488 with string
data output
20
M=Sc4000
: REM
Set pointer to base address of array
•
30
pr ogend7=7St71*Stl00+78t70
: REM
Calculate data array end address
•
35
♦ IEEE
: REM
Call IEEE file
40
cmd7.=0PENIN ( "COMMAND" )
: REM
Open command channel
•
50
data7.=0PENIN ( "DATA" )
: REM
Open data channel
•
60
PRINT#cmd%, "BBC DEVICE NO" , 1
: REM Set device address of BBC computer
70
PRINT#cmd'/., "CLEAR"
: REM
Intilialise interface
•
80
printer7.=QPENIN("4">
: REM
Set printer device address
A
90
PRINT#cmd’/., "LISTEN" , printer'/.
, "EXECUTE" : REM Set printer to listen
w
100
REPEAT
•
110
M$=SM
: REM
Get data string from memory
a
120
PRINT#data7.,MS
: REM
Output data string
•
130
M=M+LEN(M$)+1
: REM
Update pointer
•
140
UNTIL M>=progend7.
: REM
Until end of data array
150
CLOSE#pr i nter 7.
: REM
close printer channel
•
160
CL0SE#data7.
: REM
Close data channel
•
170
CL0SE#cmd7.
: REM
Close command channel
•
•
Listing 2.
•
•
•
Acorn
•
•
•
10
REM ♦IEEE488 with binary
data
i output
•
20
M=&4000
: REM
Set pointer to base address
of
data array
w
*
30
pr ogend7=?&7 1 *& 1 00+7&70
: REM
Calculate end address
of data
array
•
40
♦ IEEE
: REM
Call IEEE file
•
50
cmd7.=0PEN I N ( " COMMAND " )
: REM
Open command channel
•
60
data7.=0PENIN ( "DATA" )
: REM
Open data channel
•
•
70
PRINT#cmd7. ."BBC DEVICE N0",1
: REM Set device address of BBC
computer
•
80
PRINT#cmd7., "CLEAR"
: REM
Intialise interface
•
90
pr i nter 7.=0PENI N ( " 4 " )
: REM
Open printer channel
A
•
100
PRINT#cmd7, “LISTEN" printer’/.,
"EXECUTE" : REM Set
printer
to listen
W
a
110
PRINT#cmd'/., "WRITE BINARY
", PROGEND7.-&4000 :REM Set
binary
output
9
9
and
number
of
bytes
9
130
REPEAT
9
140
BPUT#data'/.,?M
: REM
Output data byte
9
9
150
M=M+1
: REM
Update pointer
9
160
UNTIL M=progend7.
: REM
Until end of data array
9
170
CLOSE#pr i nter 7.
: REM
Close printer channel
a
9
180
CLOSEttdata'/.
: REM
Close data channel
9
9
190
CLQSEttcmd'/.
: REM
Close command channel
•
Listing 3.
Cambridge Computer Consultants
10 REM Cambridge Computer Consultants IEEE4Q8 data string output
20 M=&4000 sREM Set base address of data block
30 progend7.=?&71*&100+?St70 s REM Calculate end address of data array
40 printer 7=4: sec_add7=—l : REM Set device primary St secondary addressf
50 PROCIEINIT (StFC20) : REM Initialise the interface
60 PRQCIEWRIT (pr i nter’/. , sec_add’/J : REM Open printer channel
70 PROC I EPUT A ( M , progend7.-M> : REM Output data array from memory
80 PROCIECLR : REM Close channel, good housekeeping!
ACORN USER JULY 1984
HARDWARE REVIEWS
I
See Triple Test', page 155
•
•
Listing 4.
•
•
Cambridge Computer Consultants
•
•
•
10 REM Cambridge Computer
Consultants IEEE4B8 data byte output
•
•
20 M=&4000
sREM Set base address of data block
a
30 progend‘/l=?&<71*Scl00+?&70
:REM Calculate end address of data array
W
•
40 pr i nter’/.=4: sec_add7.=- 1
sREM Set device primary & secondary addresses
•
•
50 PROCIEINIT (&FC20)
sREM Initialise the interface
60 PROCIEWRIT (pr i nter7i , sec
_add71) sREM Open printer channel
•
•
70 REPEAT
•
A
80 PROC I EPUTB ( ?M )
sREM Output data byte
w
90 M=M+1
sREM Update pointer
•
•
100 UNTIL M=progend7.
sREM Until end of data
•
•
110 PROCIECLR
sREM Close channel, good housekeeping!
•
Listing 5.
C.5.T. — Procyon
10 REM IEEE488 C.S.T. - Procyon data string output
20 M=&4000 : REM Set pointer to base address o-f data array
30 progen dX=?&7 l*&100+?&70 s REM Calculate end address of data array
40 *IEEE : REM Call IEEE file
50 REPEAT
60 M$=$M : REM Get data string from memory
70 PRINT#4,M$ sREM Output data string
80 M=M+LEN(M*)+1 : REM Update pointer
90 UNTIL M,»=progend7. : REM Until end of data array
Listing 6.
C.S.T. ~ Procyon
10 REM IEEE488 C.S.T. - Procyon data byte output
20 M=&4000 : REM Set pointer to base address of data array
30 pr ogend L— ?&7 1 100+7&70 : REM Calculate end address of data array
40 *IEEE sREM Call IEEE file
50 printer7.=0PEN0UT ,, 4 n
60 REPEAT
70 BPUT#printer7.,?M : REM Output data byte
80 M=M+1 : REM update pointer
90 UNTIL M=progend7. : REM Until end of data array
s REM Open printer channel
ACORN USER JULY 1984
J PRINTERS
See ‘Pixels on Paper' and A Dump in its True Colours', pages 163-167
REM *** C/EPAT ***
REM Hybrid program to dump all graphics MODEs in actual colour
REM on any printer with the ESCape L nl n2 graphics facility
REM including EPSONS, STARS, CANONS, SHINWA, INFORUNNER etc
REM G.B.Hill September 1933
REM PROGRAM START
S%=4A00
?480=00s?481=40A! REM point to pattern
PROCcheck
IF NOT graphics THEN PR I NT "Not a graphics MODE. Can’t dump . " :VDU7: END
PROCassemble
REM enable printer, and set linefeed (send ESC A 8)
VDU2 ,1,27,1,85,1,3
03- 788 dots per line)
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
30
90
100
110
120
130
140 REM clear paper
150 VDU1, 10, 1,10, 1,10
160 FOR X%=0 TO 1279 STEP 16
170 REM send bit code (ESC L
180 VDU1, 27, 1,76, 1,0, 1,3
190 FOR Y%=0 TO 1023 STEP 4
200 ' XI o=Xtt+Y%*& 10000
210 CALL three_bytes
660 ldy #logi col DIV 256
670 Ida #4B
680 jsr o sword
690 rts
700 \subroutine to print three prepared bytes
710 .print Jbytes ldx #2
720 .loop Ida #1
730 jsr oswrch
740 Ida byte,X
750 jsr oswrch
NLA 1
230 VDUl , 10
0
760
dex
#
240 NEXT
770
bpl
loop
250 REM reset linefeed and disable printer
•
780
rts
•
260 VDU 1 ,27,1 ,65,1 , 12,1 , 12,3
790
\ increment X
by 2
270 END
•
800
. inc_X2
clc
•
230
A
810
Ida
X 1 o
a
290 DE F PROC c h e c k
•
820
adc
#2
300 DIM user 3
%
830
sta
X 1 o
9
310 A%=487
840
Ida
Xhi
320 ! user=USR(4FFF4)
9
850
adc
#0
9
330 mode=user?2
860
sta
Xhi
340 IF mode >5 OR mode =3
•
870
rts
•
THEN graph i cs=FALSE ELSE graph l cs=TRUE
a
880
\to calculate
three bytes 4 print
them
a
350 ENDPROC
•
890
. thr ee Jbytes
Ida
#8
w
360
m
900
sta
count_8
9
370 DEFPROCassemble
u
910
•byte_loop
jsr
point
380 osword=4FFFl
9
920
Ida
value
9
390 oswrch=4FFEE
930
an d
#7
400 pattern=S%
9
940
tay
•
410 1 pat tern=&040 10200
a
950
Ida
<480) , Y
a
420 pa 1 1 e rn ! 4=407050306
•
960
ror
A
9
430 pa 1 1 e rn ! 8=403020000
970
rol
byte
9
440 pa 1 1 e rn ! 1 2=40705050 1
980
ror
A
450 S%=S%+16
•
990
rol
byte+1
9
460 X 1 o=S%
1 000
ror
A
470 Xhi=S7+l
•
1010
rol
byte+2
•
480 Ylo=S7+2
A
1020
1 da
user+2
a
490 Yhi=S%+3
•
1030
eor
#0
w
500 logicol=S%+4
1040
beg
mode0
9
510 value=Stt+5
w
1050
Ida
480
520 byte=S%+9
•
1060
eor
#8
9
530 count_8=S%+12
1070
sta
480
540 mode=S7+13
•
1080
•mode0
jsr
inc_
,X2
•
550 S7=S%+ 1 4
1090
dec
count__8
a
560 FOR opt =0 TO 2 STEP 2
•
1 100
bne
byte
_1 OOp
9
570 P7=S%
9
1110
jsr
print Jbytes
9
580 [OPT opt
1120
rts
590 \ SUBROUTINES
•
113.0
]
9
600 \to calculate P0INT(X,Y)
1140
NEXT
610 .point ldx #Xlo MOD 256
•
1150
IF PX04A89 THEN PRINT
1 ’"You must
have made an
9
620 ldy #Xlo DIW 256
error in the
assembly
language routine.
a
630 1 da #9
•
" 1 "please check i t . " : VDU7 : END
9
640 jsr osword
9
1160
ENDPROC
9
650 ldx #logi col MOD 256
Listing 3. A ‘universal' pattern
dump for all graphics modes.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
■ill
PRINTERS I
See ' Pixels on Paper' and A Dump in its True Colours', pages 163-167
Listing 4. Assembly language dump for Canon PJ1 080A.
10 REM MACCAN4
20 REM Copyright G-B-Hill
30 REM March 1984
40 REM Version 4
50 REM Prints all graphics modes using physical colour
60 REM Assembly language printer dump for CANON PJ1080A printer
70 REM with all slow subroutines removed
80
90 MODE 7
100 REM Operating system addresses
110 oswrch=4FFEE
120 osasci=4FFE3
130 osword=4FFFl
140 osby te=4FFF4
150 osargs=4FFDA
160 oscl i=4FFF7
170 DIM user 3,cli 30
180 REM Locate program
190 PROCf i 1 ing_system
200 IF tape THEN base=&D00
210 IF disc THEN base=4A00
220 IF NOT (tape OR disc) THEN PRINT"Can’t *SAVE , unrecognised filing system. " :VDU7: END
230 S%=base
240 REM reserve space for jump
250 S%=S%+3
260 REM Set up constants and variables
270 REM Xlo,Xhi bytes of X coord: Ylo,Yhi bytes of Y coord
280 X 1 o=S% : Xh i=S%+l : Y1 o=S%+2 : Yh i=S%+3
290 1 X 1 o =403 F F 0000
300 REM logicol is the byte where osbyte deposits the logical colour
310 logicol=S%+4
320 REM value is the byte where osbyte deposits the physical colour-
330 value=S%+5
340 S%=S%+9
350 REM Store starting coordinates for subroutine setzero
360 XYstore=S%
370 ! XYstore=! Xlo
380 S%=S%+4
390 message=S%
400 $message="Orily modes 1,2,4 and 5"+CHR$13+CHR$<7)
410 Sfc=S%+24
420 control=S%
430 * c on t r o 1 =CHR$27+ " r " +CHR$ 1 +CHR$80
440 S%=S%+4
450 REM pass and cnt8 are counters, store is a byte to pass to the printer.
460 cnt8=S%
470 pass=S%+l
480 store=S%+2
490 ! cnt8=400000108
500 S%=S%+4
510 FOR PASS=0 TO 2 STEP 2
520
P%=S%
530
[
540
OPT PASS
550
\
560
\SUBROUTINES
570
\
580
\Reset X and Y
to 5
icreen top
left
590
\
600
. setzero
ldx
#3
610
.pi ing
Ida
XYs tore , X
620
sta
X 1 o , X
630
de>;
640
bpl
pling
650
rts
660
\
670
\Check current
mode, if not
graph
issue error message and set carry flag.
Listing 5. How long does a screenful take?
10
REM
Pri
n t e
r Benchmark
20
REM
Time taken to print
rows
of
80
characters
30
VDU2
,1,
7,1
, 13
40
FOR
1=1
TO
25
50
FOR
J=1
TO
40
60
VDU1
,42
,1,
120
70
NEXT
80
VDU 1
90
NEXT
100
VDU 1
,7,
1,1
3,3
ACORN USER JULY 1984
| PRINTERS
See ' Pixels on Paper’ and ‘ A Dump in its True Colours’, pages 163-167
•
680, \
1310 .print char
Ida #01
•
690 .mode check
Ida
MSI
1320
jsr oswrch
•
700
jsr
osbyte
1330
Ida store
•
A
7 1 0
tya
1340
jsr oswrch
a
•
720
cmp
#6
1350 \
w
730
bpl
wrongmode
1360
Ida #8
•
740
cmp
#3
1370
sta cnt8
•
750
beg
wrongmode
1380 \
•
760 -nghtmode
clc
1 390 . e o 1
Ida Xhi
•
770
rts
1400
cmp #05
•
a
7S0 .wrongmode
ldy
#00
1410
bne line
A
w
790 -msg
1 da
message , V
1420 .reset Xhi
Ida #0
W
•
800
jsr
osasci
1430
sta Xhi
m
810
iny
1440 \
•
820
cpy
#24
1450
inc pass
•
830
bne
msg
1460
Ida pass
•
840
sec
1470
cmp #4
•
850
rts
1480
bne line
a
•
860 \
1490 \
w
870 \ MAIN PROGRAM
i 500
Ida #1
m
880 \
1510
sta pass
•
890 . canon
jsr
modecheck
1520 \
•
900
bcc
start
1530 -eop
sec
•
910
rts
1540
Ida Ylo
•
Vend if not graphics
1550
sbc #04
A
9
920 -start
j sr
set zero
1560
sta Ylo
W
#
930
Ida
#2
1570
Ida Yhi
•
940
J sr
oswrch
1 580
sbc #0
9
950 « scan
ldy
#0
1 590
sta Yhi
•
960 .Ctrl
Ida
#01
1600
Ida Yhi
9
970
j sr
oswrch
1610
cmp #&FF
•
a
980
i .(a
control , Y
VYhi goes negative at end of page
9
990
jsr
oswrch
1620
beg finished
w
#
1 000
iny
1630
jmp scan
•
1010
cpy
#4
1640 -finished
Ida #3
•
1020
bne
Ctrl
1650
jsr oswrch
•
1030 -line
1 d x
#X1 o MOD 256
1660
rts
•
Vosword
1 to get physical colour
1670 ]
•
A
1 040
ldy
#Xlo" DIV 256
1680 NEXT
A
9
1 050
Ida
#409
1690 IF P%< >base+256 THEN PRINT” "You must
W
9
1 060
J sl-
o sword
have made an
error in typing in the
•
1070
id);
#logicol MOD 256
code. Please
check and try again.
•
1 080
ldy
# 1 o g i c o 1 DIV 256
":VDU7:END
•
i090
Ida
#&B
1700 REM set up jump
•
1100
jsr
o sword
1710 base?0=44C
•
a
1110 . onebit
1 da
value
1720 base ?1= canon
MOD 256
A
9
\select the colour to be printed
1730 base?2“canon
DIV 256
W
•
1120
ldk
pass
1740
#
\red on
pass 1
, green on 2, blue on 3
1750 COM$="SAVE ,,,,
CANON PJ " " " +STR$'base+"
9
1130 -rgb
de::
+100 "+STR$"base
•
1140
beg
this_ colour
1 760 PROC o s c 1 i ( COM$ >
9
1 150
r o r
A
1770 PRINT 1 "SAVING
DUMP"”"*" ; COM*
•
a
1 160
jmp
rgb
1780 END
A
9
1170 . this__colour
ror
A
1790
V
A
1 180
rol
store
1800 DEFPROCf i ling
_sy5tem
#
W
1190 \
1810 X%=&80
9
1200 • incX2
clc
1820 Y%=0
•
1210
1 da
Xlo
1830 A%=0
9
1 2 20
adc
#02
1 840 ! u s e r =USR o s a r g s
•
1230
sta
Xlo
1850 tape=(?user=l
OR ?user=2)
9
1240
Ida
Xhi
1 860 d i s c = < ?u s e r=4 >
•
a
1250
adc
#0
1870 ENDPROC
A
9
1260
sta
Xhi
1880
w
0
1270 \
1890 DE F PRGCo s cli($cli)
•
1280
dec
cnt8
1900 X%=cl i MOD 256 : Y%= c 1 i DIV 256
9
1 290
bne
line
1910 CALLoscl i
•
9
9
9
9
9
1300 \
1920 ENDPROC
•
•
•
•
•
ACORN USER JULY 1984
SOUND EFFECTS J
LISTINGS
TO LISTEN TO
WE had a noisy postbag after our challenge to readers
to invent simple routines that produced entertaining
sound effects. Sadly, more than half of the programs
didn’t work! Here are our five winners, though, each of
which earns a crispy blue note, as promised.
Two of them put a Sheene on their programming
technique with a motorbike effect. Dunstable reader
Robin Smith’s program sets up a linear speedo on the
screen to keep pace with the acceleration and decele-
ration, while Paul Riley’s version kicks-starts and then
works up through the gears. For the best effect, turn
your computer chair around and straddle it.
Worcester must be one of the farthest points in
England from the sea, which could be why S J Bates
of that town sends a program so evocative of a holiday
idyll. Pour yourself a Bacardi, close your eyes, and
listen to the pounding surf . . .
From the sublime to the ridiculous with E R Osborne
of Lowestoft's cheeky Wolf Whistle. And finally The
Tree from Crispin Turville-Petre - mysteriously titled
but mesmerising.
Any more?
10REM WOLF
WHISTLE
20REM E.R.
OSBORNE
30ENVELGPE
1 , 0 , 3 , 0 ,0,21.0,
0,127,127,0,
-127,126
, 126
40S01JND l ,
1 , 1 40 , 5
50S0UND 1 ,
0 ,0,6
60ENVEL0PE
1 ,0,3, -2, -2, 18,
t 18, 18,127,127,
0,-127,1
26,126
70S0UND 1,
1,140,1 0
l ocls
20REM**Th© Tree**
30REM** bv Cri spi n Turvi 1 1 e— Pet.re**
4 OREM** piano and organ music *-*
50ENVEL0PE .1 ,12, - 1 2 , -36 , -45 , 90 , 255 , 255
127, -40 , O , 0 , 1 26 , 0
60ENVEL0PL 2,11, -26 , -36 , -45 , 255 , 255 ,
255 ,127, 0 , 0 ,0,1 26 , 0
70S0UND i, 1,1,1: SOUND 2 , 1 , 1 , 1
1 OREM#* MOTORBIKE **
20 REM** by Paul Riley **
30EN VELOPE 1 , 1 , 3 , O , 0 , 7 , 7 , 0 , 1 26 , U , 0 ,
-126,90,1 GO
4 OF OR 1=1 rO 3
30 BO UNDO , 1 ,63,12
6CSOUNDO , 0 , O , 5
7 ONE XT
BO SO UN DO ,-15,3, 255
90 A* INKEY (200)
100F0R G=1 TO 4
11 ORE AD S , F
1.20FOR J=S 10 F
130S0UND 1,0, J,0
1 40 A* I NKEY (5)
150NEXT
1 60A= I NKEY (40)
170NEX1
1 80A* I NT- EY ( 100)
1 908=185
20 OF OR I =-15 TO 0 STEP .03
2 1 0S=S-. 1
2 20 BOUND 1 ,0,S,0
230S0UND& 1 O , 1 , 3, 100
2 4 ONEX T
250DATA 40 , 1 60 , 1 00 ,170,1 00 , 1 80 , 1 1 O , 1 B5
1 OREM ** MOTORBIKE **
2oREM ** by R. Bnu th **
30M0DE1
40VDLJ 19,3,2,0,0,0
50EN9EL OPE 1,15, -20 , -20 , -20 , 4 , 4 , 4 , l 26 , O ,
0 ,0,1 26 , 1 26
60S0UND 0,1,255,1
7 OPR J NTTAB (0,4)" SPEED* : MPH "
80PRIN TTAD (0,6) "0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
90 100"
90 VDU4 : PR I NT F AB ( 1 0 , 10) " PRESS ANY KEY'*
100*FX21 ,0
UQ|f BET
1. 20PR I NTTAB (10,10) "
1 30 FOR X=8 fU 250
1 40 SOUND 1,0, X,1
i 50 I f X i 00 SOUND O , l , 7 , 1 ELSE SOUND 0 , 1 . 7 , 2
.1 60PR0CSPEED ( 3 >
1 7 ONE XT
1 HOF OR X = 2 '50 TO 7 STEP - 1
190S0UND 1,0,X,1
200 IF X ICO THEN SOUND 0,1 ,7*2 ELSt. BOUND O,
1,7,1
2 1 OPROCSPEED ( O )
220NEXT
230 GOTO 90
2 40DEF F ROCSPEED ( C )
250VDU 5
260GC0L0 , C
270 IF X*4 >400 AND C«3 THEN 6COLO,2
280 IF X*4 850 AND C= v THEN BCOLO , l
290M0VE X*5~'32 , 860: PRINT
300ENDPR0C
10REM Sea-side by S.J . Bates
20ENVEL0PE 1 , 6 ,0, O , O , 6, 3,4 , 1 1 ,-2,0, -2,
126,75
30ENVEL 0PE2 ,4,0, -3 , -2 ,3,3,21,50,-1,-12,
-2,126,126
40REPEAT
50wave=RND (3)
60 SO UN DO , 1 , wave+3 , 20
70Ienqth=-RND (20) +40
80 SO UN D& 1 000 ,0,0,1 enqt h
90 I F RND (2) ~2 PRGCcry
1 COUNT I L FALSE
1 1 OEND
1 20DEFPR0Ccr v
J.30num*RND ( 3)
1. 40F0Rqul .1 = l TOnum
1 50SDUND 1,2, 230 , 20
160 IF nuni>l S0UND2 , 2 , 21 5 , 25
1 70 1 F nun. >2 SOUND 3 ,2,240,1 0
1 BONE XT
1 90ENDPROC
ACORN USER JULY 1984
I HARDWARE
Paul Beverley’s
second probing
into the inner
workings of
the BBC micro
THE
IN
SLOW TIME
L AST month we looked at what the
BBC micro is doing internally by
using the ‘bit-map’ technique. This
displays the lower part of the com-
puter’s memory on the screen, but
many things happen so quickly that it is
difficult to see what is going on - hardly
surprising as the 6502 processor can
execute up to a million instructions per
second! A way is needed of slowing the
whole thing down to the sort of speed a
human being can appreciate. The most
obvious way would be to slow down the
system clock. Unfortunately, this is not
possible because many functions of the
computer depend on the internal clock,
not least of which are the video system
and the RAM.
Another technique is to generate a
rapid succession of interrupts and
spend so long servicing them that there
is hardly any time left to do any normal
processing. This is done by feeding a
square wave into the NMI (non-mask-
able interrupt) input of the 6502 pro-
cessor. Since we don't actually want to
do anything in response to these inter-
rupts, the service routine consists of a
simple delay created by using a
number of NOP (no operation) instruc-
tions.
The actual timings used in my proto-
type were as follows: interrupts were
generated roughly every 15 micro-
seconds (ps), the interrupt service rou-
tine takes 7ps (seven NOP instruc-
tions), the time the system takes to
respond to an NMI is 3.5ps, and then
to execute the RTI takes another 3ps.
Thus there are only about 1.5ps out of
every 15 left for the processor to do its
own processing. The actual timings can
be adjusted by changing the number of
NOPs and by altering the frequency of
the square wave with a variable control.
A mere 1 .5ps processing out of every
15 suggests the system should work at
about one-tenth normal speed, but in
‘A way is needed of
slowing the whole
thing down to the
speed a human
can appreciate’
fact it is much slower because the
normal IRQ interrupts on which it
depends are still coming at the same
rate as before and still take the same
number of cycles to be serviced. This
then takes up a much higher proportion
of the available processing time. (In
program 1 on yellow pages ix and x, I
have suggested that the ADC interrupts
be switched off to reduce the number of
IRQs and hence the likelihood of a
system crash.)
You may wonder what happens
when an instruction is being executed
which needs more than three cycles of
processor time (1.5ps). When an NMI
occurs, the processor always finishes
off the instruction it is executing before
starting the service routine, so, if a six-
cycle instruction is being executed, by
the time the processor has finished it
and dealt with the NMI, there is zero
time before the next NMI occurs, in
which case it cannot do another
instruction until the end of the succeed-
ing NMI routine. If the NMIs come too
rapidly, the system cannot cope and the
stack becomes corrupted, rendering
the machine inoperable. The only way
out then is to press the break key. The
hardware is arranged so the pulse gen-
erator is disabled when break is
pressed because it is when the PBO line
is low that the generator is enabled; but
when the VIA is reset, PBO becomes an
input and hence the pull-up resistor has
the effect of making the external circuit
register a logic 1 , ie fast speed.
Figure 1 overleaf shows the simple
circuit used. It consists of two chips - a
7413 Schmitt trigger circuit which pro-
duces the square wave pulses, and a
ACORN USER JULY 1984
<&>
&
£33.35
incl.
Doctor
DISC DOCTOR is a general purpose utility ROM which adds 20 new commands to the BBC Micro
Most of these are concerned with disc operation although some of the commands are general
purpose
The extensive range of disc commands include a disc search routine and a very easy to use sector
editor which allows any sector to be examined and changed if necessary. The built in formatting
command has a special option allowing dual catalogues on each side of the disc, so that up to 60 files
per side may be used almost twice the normal limit.
♦ RECOVER and ♦ RESTORE commands are provided to help in the restoration of deleted or partially corrupted files. Any area of the
disc may be transferred to memory, altered and *SAVEd or *RESTOREd back onto the disc. These commands prove invaluable
when hours or even days of work are accidentally lost
Many disc users often encounter the frustration of programs originally designed for use on cassette and require relocating to operate
on disc. Disc Doctor provides commands to help with the transfer. *TAPEDISC and *DISCTAPE provide a simple means for
automatically transferring non protected files between tape and disc. Once programs are on disc, there are several relocation
functions available. * MOVE will move a program from one page in memory to any other. * DOWNLOAD will toad the program from
disc and automatically move it to a specified position. ♦MENU is more comprehensive still, offering a menu of programs available
and allowing single key press selection of any one The chosen program is then loaded, te located if necessary and automatically
executed, whether BASIC or machine code.
General purpose commands include: *D!S which will disassemble an area of memory, following or skipping jumps,
adding an offset, disassembling an instructional a time or disassembling continuously.
♦ MSEARCH to quickly locate any string of bytes in memory, specified either as a character string,
numeric values of a mixture of both.
♦ MZAP a very easy to use memory editor, allowing the user to scroll quickly up/ down memory. It can be called from other
programs to examine memory, then return to the program.
♦ EDIT will list any or all of the function key definitions, so that the user may edit and copy them
The DISC DOCTOR ROM contains a full help menu listing all the commands and their syntax for quick reference. A spiral bound
manual gives general information about discs and describes each of the commands in detail, with examples. Easy to-follow fitting
instructions are supplied, allowing the ROM to be easily fitted by even the inexperienced user.
DISC DOCTOR 1 09
OIS (<st«» «»nd>> «of*»
DISCTAPE <•♦ sp> «afsp».
DOWNLOAD <#*p> ««dr»
DSEARCH <*tr> <trk> « \ rk><*ct ><drv>>
DZAP «trk>> «trkXfct><drv»
EDIT «k*u no »
FIND <*tr>
FORM <drv> <no . trk*> «*tt>> <<S>>
JOIN <fsp> <«<sp> <<«f*p>>
MENU <<drv>>
MOVE (<d*st p«g«>> <<*rc p«g»>>
MSEARCH <*tr> (<«dr>>
MZAP (<adr»
PARTLOAD <f*p> <of*> <oxt> <«dr>
RECOVER < t rk> <*ct> <*ct> <«dr> <drv>
RESTORE < t rk> <*ct> <«ct> <«dr> <drv>
SHIFT <src> <d#*t> <»xt>
SWAP «drv»
T APED 1 SC ««sp»... „ AAVN
VERIFY «drv» «no trk*>> <<*M>>
The GRAPHICS EXTENSION ROM brings 30
new powerful graphics commands to the BBC
machine. The commands may be typed
immediately or included within programs written
in BASIC, BCPL, FORTH, etc. The commands
act quickly (being machine code) and are always
available without taking large amounts of
program memory The commands can be split
into three catagories:
1. Sprite Graphics
A sprite is similar to a user-defined character,
except that sprites may be multi coloured,
several times larger (8x8 to 24x24 pixels in size),
they are easily defined and altered with in built
commands and may be saved and later loaded.
Sprites may be displayed and quickly moved
around. Up to 32 different sprites may exist at the
same time ‘Films* may also be created, in which
any sprite is treated as a single ‘frame*. Each time
the ‘film’ is used the next ‘frame’ in sequence is
automatically displayed, allowing simple
animation of sprites Any number of the possible
32 sprite numbers can be defined instead as a
‘film’ which may include a list of up to 47 ‘frames’
in any order.
2. LOGO ‘Turtle’ Graphics
By using simple FORWARD, BACKWARD.
LEFT and RIGHT commands a ‘turtle’ can be
moved very quickly around the screen, producing
intricate patterns by the most user-friendly
means. The commands may be included in
structured BBC BASIC programs providing a
system faster and more powerful than many of
the packages currently used to demonstrate
LOGO turtle graphics.
3. General purpose commands
* FILL will fill an intricate shape.
* CIRCLE provides fast and easy circle drawing.
* ARC fast easy arc drawing
* PLOT provides 3D graphics drawing by plotting
with X, Y, and Z co ordinates.
* SCALE allows a scaling factor to be applied to
everything subsequently plotted.
* ROTATE applies a rotation upon all
subsequent standard PLOT, DRAW and
MOVE commands so that they are rotated
around any origin.
A built in help menu showing the syntax of all
commands is provided for quick reference.
Included in the package is a comprehensive
spiral-bound manual and step by step fitting
instructions, suitable even for the inexperienced.
Further details available upon request.
BNV COLOUR
aTTiTWH k
•USB
£33.35 incl.
Computer
M .oncepts
16 Wayside, Chipperfield, Hertfordshire. WD4 9JJ Telephone: Kings Langley (09277) 69727
HARDWARE
4k7
4k7
‘FAST’ ‘SLOW - | *
0.1 pF
-O + 5v
0.1 pF
-O 0v
-O +5v
-O PB6
-O PB7
Decoupling
Capacitors-
(One on
each 1C)
Figure 1. Circuit diagram for slow-speed BBC
7401 open collector NAND gate to
enable you to switch the pulses on and
off using one of the lines of the User
Port (PBO). If you do not need the NMIs
for anything else such as discs or
Econet, you could make it even simpler
by not bothering to use the open collec-
tor circuit and just driving the NMI line
directly from the 7413. This works, but
is not ‘good practice’, because you
should only use open collector devices
on the NMI line.
The circuit has to be connected to the
micro through the user port. Unfortu-
nately, although this provides almost
all the lines needed, including the +5
volts supply, it does not give access to
the NMI line. The only connectors on
which this is available are the 1MHz
bus and the disc interface, both of
which use 34-way, IDC connectors. A
34-way connector and cable is expen-
sive for just one line, so I suggest you
solder a wire directly onto a component
on the PCB (shock, horror!). You could
solder to pin 3 or pin 8 of IC27 or direct
to pin 6 of the 6502A. However, rather
than solder directly to the leg of a chip,
you can solder to the north end (ie near-
est the back of the computer) of R81 , the
3k3 pull-up resistor on the NMI line.
This is situated along the west side of
the 6502A. Unfortunately on earlier
machines (up to and including issue 3)
R81 is mounted vertically. Thus, if the
resistor body is over the north hole, it
makes it more difficult to get at some-
thing solderable. With a fine soldering
iron, though, it should not prove im-
possible, and with issues 4 and 7 PCBs
it is simplicity itself as the resistor is
horizontally mounted.
One problem is that on some of the
earlier machines there was a mistake
on the printed circuit boards in the area
of the NMI connection to the disc con-
troller chip. This means that if you have
an issue 1, 2 or 3 PCB and you are not
already using disc or Econet, you
would be well advised to check the volt-
age on the NMI line first. If it is less than
0.5 volts (ie logic 0) then you have prob-
lems and the safest way is to consult a
dealer. One thing you could check
though is that links S2 (Econet) and S9
(disc) are made with tinned copper wire
and if they are not, then they should be
fitted.
The only other hardware we are
using is PB6 and PB7 for inputs to allow
us to signal the system to switch from
slow to fast and vice versa. This is done
because when the system is being fully
stretched by the NMI interrupts, it often
does not respond to the keyboard. Also,
since we are using an IRQ routine to
scan PB6 and PB7, the monitoring pro-
gram does not need to be running to
enable the user to switch speeds.
Therefore, demonstrations can either
be done using the main program or by
typing in from the keyboard.
The program listing to run our little
circuit consists of two main parts. The
first contains the machine code rou-
tines for both the NMI and the IRQ inter-
rupts. The NMI routine is a simple delay
using NOPs, while the IRQ routine
checks whether PB6 is grounded and. if
so, switches to slow speed and, if PB7
is grounded, switches back to fast.
The second part is the Basic demon-
stration routines. These allow you to
set up various test situations by single
key presses. As you play with this
system you will find other things to
demonstrate and add to the program,
but as it stands, the software sets up the
following keys:
0-7: To switch between the different
modes you can use the number
keys, 0 to 7.
F: Pressing this key allows you to fill
up the screen with characters. The
key pressed after the F is the
character used for filling the
screen, except that pressing R pro-
duces a set of random characters,
and A produces sets of the alpha-
betic characters.
W: This is a wait’ function. It allows
you to enter other keystrokes, but
does not act on them until PB6 is
pressed. In fact, it waits until the
IRQ routine has responded to the
pressing of PB6 and has set PBO
low. When you press PB6, the sys-
tem switches to slow speed and the
keyboard no longer responds, but
the characters previously entered
are already in the keyboard buffer
and will therefore be acted on by
the system at the slow speed.
Z: This key puts the micro into mode 6
and displays the bit map we dis-
cussed last month. However, doing
so wipes out the program! There-
fore you must enter or load the pro-
gram at &2000 by setting PAGE
&2000 first. You should notice in
this mode that as you switch from
fast to slow a white marker
appears and disappears in the
middleofthe screen.
T and G are used to define a text and
graphics window respectively.
Here are a few other suggestions. The
letters in quotation marks are the key-
page 87 ►
ACORN USER JULY 1984
£ 199.00
£ 274.4
£ 102.3
Whether its your first computer or whether you’re already a
enthusiast, LVL COMPUTERTOWN offers you the quality of
service you expect from experts. If you invest money, you go 1
a bank or a broker - a specialist who can guide and advise yoi
on the best return for your capital. At LVL COMPUTERTOWN
we’re specialists too. We’re there to help guide you through
the micro maze, keep you up to date on innovations, help you
get the best value for money, whether your computer is for
you, your children or your business. Your computer can chang
your life - make sure you change it for the better:
Come and talk to the experts and move into micros with LVL
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PAUL ELECTRICAL
250/ 2 , Grand Dnve
Raynes Park
LONDON SW20
01 542 6546
COMMSCOT
30 Gordon St
GLASGOW
04 1 226 4878
HASLEMERE COMPS
25. junction Place
HASLEMERE
Surrey
0428 53850
P & H ELECTRONICS
5. The Parade.
Reading Road.
YATELEY
Surrey
0252 • 877 222
he items featured represent a very small selection from our vast
roduct range, and at the time of going to press where all available from
ock.
owever, not all dealers carry every advertised item, please telephone
efore making your journey.
iirther information of both product and services available can also be
stained by telephoning or visiting your nearest LVL Computertown
ealer.
WOODS RADIO
257 Lavender HU1
Battersea.
LONDON
01 228 1768
NORTH LAND
NEWTONS
Main St.
SEAHOUSES
0665 720307
ACORN USER
SOFTWARE
FOR THE BBC MICRO AND ELECTRON
PLUS
ARTICLE LISTINGS
ON CASSETTE
Yes, at last, the tape you’ve been
crying out for! Save the wear on your
fingers by sending for one of our
cassettes giving all the major listings
in this issue.
Each cassette costs £3.75 (inclusive)
for the Electron and BBC micro. This
includes a menu and disc transfer
routine to help you find your way
around - and use on your own
ON DISC AND CASSETTE
programs.
The tapes come with BBC programs
DISC UPGRADE SERVICE
Return your cassette of Trek or Swordmaster, and we will exchange it
for a disc (which will run on 40 or 80-track drives) for just £3.50. Please
specify Amcom, Watford or Acorn DFS.
on one side and Electron programs
as the other, so it shouldn’t be
possible to mix the two.
Just turn to pages 177 and 178.
Save yourself
the time and
bother of typing
in Acorn User
listings
SWORD MASTER is one of the few
two-player games around, and is
designed for joystick or keyboard.
Sword Master by Ken Worrall is
based on the fencing rules written in
1190 by Herman von Salza for the
Deutscritter Order of Teutonic
Knights. It features full-colour ma-
chine code animation of a sword
duel between the players shown on
screen as knights.
Full instructions, music, sound
effects, player rankings (from Green-
horn to Swordmaster) and a roll of
honour (which can be saved) are all
included. The game also closely
reflects the rules, style and dress of
the Deutscritter Order.
TREK was the first game to take
advantage of voice synthesis on
the BBC micro - and uses joystick
or keyboard.
Trek puts you in charge of a
Starship with the task of wiping out
an alien fleet. It’s an excellent adap-
tation of the classic game with 7
screen displays, 3 on-board com-
puters and 2 weapon systems.
Versions have been written for
BBC micro and Electron to use both
machines to their full. The BBC tape
uses voice synthesis (if the chips are
fitted).
The game has been extensively
developed from Tim Heaton’s
famous Trek III. It barely fits into 32k.
Two quality, full colour games to test your skill,
nerve and cunning.
Each £7.95 per cassette or £1 0.95 per disc (40/80 track).
Price includes VAT and postage.
Both games need OS1 .0, or later, and 32k.
STATUS REPORT:
ALL SYSTEMS OK
Tbit is ths short ranga scon (S B S ».
It showi on* *rs* and givM r*i«**nt
data! Is about tbs stats of tbs
starsbip. Your sbftp is tbs wallow ♦
HARDWARE
strokes needed to achieve the particu-
lar effect, and statements like
'CTRL - L’ mean you hold the CTRL key
down and press L. This produces a con-
trol code which, in the case of CTRL - L
is 12 which clears the screen. After
each combination of keystrokes, press
PB6 to initiate action on those com-
mands typed in after the W.
‘0 F X W CTRL- L’: Go into mode 0,
fill the screen with Xs and then clear the
screen. The screen is cleared neither
from top to bottom nor from bottom to
top, but by clearing the first byte of each
page of memory, followed by the
second byte of each page and so on. If
you try CTRL - P instead of CTRL - L, ie
do a CLG, you will see that it clears
from the top down and, by comparison,
takes a very long time. If you get tired of
waiting, press PB7 and go back to full
speed.
'0 F R W 7 O’: Having filled the mode 0
screen with random rubbish you can, in
slow time, watch it being cleared as
mode 7 is selected. As it goes back to
mode 0 it produces a very strange dis-
play in the interim, the screen splitting
into four sections. This is presumably
due to the processor re-programming
part of the 6845 CRT controller, then
working something else out, then
finishing off the re-programming. The
only explanation I have is that it may
get held up as it tries to alter the CO and
Cl lines which changes the 'hardware
wraparound’ for the hardware scroll-
ing. The internal VIA operates at 1MHz
rather than 2MHz and therefore may be
even more tied up by the excess NMIs.
But that is only a theory.
If you want to see what is meant by
‘hardware scrolling’, go into mode 0,
press escape and list the program.
When the listing reaches the bottom of
the page and is about to start scrolling,
press PB6. You will see that each time
the screen scrolls, the top line appears
momentarily at the bottom, is wiped out
and then overwritten by the new line of
text. If you try this again with a text
window defined from within the pro-
gram either by using T or by going into
the zero-page bit map by using Z, you
will see software scrolling. Starting
from the top of the screen, each line is
copied on top of the one above, the
bottom line is wiped out and then the
new line is written in. This is a labori-
ous process and hardware scrolling
does save a lot of processor time.
There are many things that can be
done by using control codes. Page 507
of the User Guide will show you what
they all are, but for example you could
draw a filled triangle as shown in pro-
gram 2.
Even if your machine uses disc or
Econet, you will still be able to use
these interfaces in the normal way as
long as the pulses are switched off. The
circuit is designed so that when
switched to fast speed, the NMI line is
available for normal use by other
devices. It does not matter that you
have over-written the NMI routines in
PAGE &D00 since as soon as a disc
function is called for, these routines are
re-written into RAM by the disc filing
system (I presume the same is true of
Econetthough I have nottried it).
A word of warning. It is possible to
simplify the pulse circuit even more if
you are prepared to disconnect the cir-
cuit manually before using the disc
system. However, in the development
stages I was doing just that, but on one
occasion forgot to disconnect the
pulses while trying to save the program
onto disc. The result was a disc that
was so badly corrupted that not only
was I unable to read track and sector
using Disc Doctor , but what is more,
when I had given up the idea of res-
cuing the other programs on the disc, I
could not even get it to re-format with-
out generating errors! In the end I had
to wipe the whole disc with a tape-head
de-magnetiser. That did the trick -I
was then able to format it again.
This technique can also reveal an
obscure design fault in the 6502 micro-
processor. Apparently, if an NMI
happens to arrive just as the processor
is finishing off an IRQ service routine
(during the last cycle of the RTI, I
believe) itdoes notfinish off the instruc-
tion properly, thereby corrupting the
stack. The chances of this ever happen-
ing during normal operation of a 6502-
based system is literally several
millions to one against. However,
because we are stretching the system
to its limits, we should not be surprised
if it hangs up on us occasionally. The
remedy is simply to press BREAK,
which is programmed to restore things.
If in using this method, you do dis-
cover anything of interest, or anything
you do not understand, write to the
Editor and let us know. We may be able
to find an answer, and in any case it is
interesting to have some feedback to
let us know that people are actually
using our project ideas.
Next Month we turn our attention to the
random number generator that is con-
tained within the Basic ROM. How does
it work? How good is it? Can it be used
from machine code programs? We will
also be looking at a piece of simple
hardware to go on the user port that will
provide a high-speed supply of random
numbers.
ctr 1 — P
(Clear the screen)
ctrl-Y
(= PLOT)
Ctrl -©
( = PLOT 0 i.e. MOVE)
Cor use
ctrl — E
(PLOT 5 i .e. DRAW) 1
ctrl-©,
ctrl — B
(X co-ordinate = 512 =
&20)
ctr 1 — © ,
ctr 1 — C
(Y co-ordinate = 768 =
&30)
ctrl-Y,
U
(Draw a triangle = PLOT
85)
ctr 1 — © ,
ctr 1 — D
(= 1280 = &40)
Ctrl-©,
Ctrl-©
(= 0 = &00)
Program 2. Manual program for drawing a filled triangle
ACORN USER JULY 1984
II
IHK
4|v professional 737 pilot, this
comprehensive simulator was originally ' '
designed as an aid to practice in instrument flying. 9
Performing to the specifications of a modem high performance jet airliner, the 737
Simulator was written specifically for the BBC Micro, and affords the following features:
* Accurate and detailed flight deck layout with both ‘Simulated Engine Failure.
analogue and digital readouts. *Use of preset runway layout, or design your own.
•Colour Hi res graphics and sound. *Set up your own atmospheric conditions
‘Three-dimensional take-off and landing sequences. (e.g. crosswinds).
‘Radar plot of aircraft in mid-flight. ‘Accurate limitations and variations according to
•Option of resetting stall speed, for beginners. height and atmospheric conditions.
•Instrument Landing System ( ILS) and Ground ‘Three radio navigation beacons.
Proximity Warning System ( GPWS ). ‘Flight Manual, including diagrams and a flying lesson.
Instruments include: •Compass •Artificial Horizon •Altimeter •Vertical Speed Indicator
• Air Speed Indicator •GWPS • Radio Beacon Indicators •ILS •Engine Power Indicator •Fuel Gauge
• Stopwatch • Flap Indicator
Price £9.95
Please add 50p p&p to all orders. Send A5 SAE for full catalogue.
17 Norfolk Road, Brighton BN1 3AA
Other titles available for the BBC Model B
EDG Graphics Package BBC Utilities Package:
A sophisticated technical Sound Shaper. EDG Epson
drawing package. Screen Dump. Teletext Screen
Tape Version £19.95 Editor. Disassembler.
Disc Version £24.95 £9.95
All products compatible with all operating systems.
French Tutor:
Tests Vocab, speech idioms
and irregular verbs; 1000 word
vocabulary; full accenting
capability; create your own files;
progress assessment and
revision list available at any time.
£ 9.95 j
88
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
SYSTEMS
ADVANCE 86
BM compatible. 128K RAM,
2 x 320K Drives. Price includes:
Perfect Writer, Perfect Speller,
Perfect Filer and Perfect Calc,
plus 12 months on site warranty
monitor available at extra cost).
£1437 inc. VAT.
SANYO 555
80% IBM compatible, 128K RAM,
2 x 160K Drives. Price includes: Wordstar.
Mailmerge, Info-Star and Calc-Star.
Limited number of SAGE Accounts still
available.
t Monitor available at extra cost ) £1148 inc. VAT.
Electron £199 inc. V\T.
Includes free software
BBC-B from £399 inc. VAT.
Includes free tape recorder. Full range of
Software and Disk Drives available.
tuned to
Microware for
vther discounts
DRIVES
Epson 400K- 200K- 800K
plus new 314" Epson Drives
and 100K Superdrive from
£329 inc. VAT.'
200K
62 file names including cable and power lead.
Send £2 15 to include VAT, p&p, 40 Track
inc. formatting disk & manual. Single & Double
400K
124 file names including all necessary leads.
Send £399 to include VAT, p&p, 80 Track
inc. formatting disk & manual. Single & Double
800K & 800K Switchable
124 file names including cable & power lead.
Send £490 to include VAT, p&p.
Send £499 for 800K Switchable.
PRINTERS
Brother Printers
Juki Daisywheel
Daisystep
Epson Fx 80
Including lead for BBC. £399 inc. VAT.
MONITORS
Sanyo/BMC £ll0inc.VAT.
12'amber or green screens.
Full range Microvitec colour from £199.
Call for our full price list.
Diskettes
Memorex, in packs of 10
SS40tk. £18.00
DS 40tk. £23.00
SSBOtk. £26.00
DS 80tk. £29.00
Including VAT. p&p.
Disk storage boxes
£17.00 (takes 35)
Disk storage boxes
£25.00 (takes 80)
Prices include VAT, p&p.
ACCESSORIES
BBCStands
Dust covers,
(for BBC.
Drives and
Printers)
£15.00
...£5.60
Product Price Qty. Total
£
£
£
£
t
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
_ £
£
SEND DETAILS ( )N
TOTAL SIM ENCL( )SEl)l Cheque or credit card no.) £
ALE PR( )Dl*CTS ARE BRAN I ) NEW. B( )XED AND < IFFERED WIT! I FILL
MANT'EACTLRERS WARRANTY. ALL ( S ERIES WILI . BE ANSWEREI ) BY MAIL
yttiCROMflRE
14 Charles Street Hanlev Stoke-on-Trent
(0782)269 883
44 Westow St. Upper Norwood London SE19
01-771 5123
637 Holloway Road London N19 5SS
01-272 6398
I enclose mv order for the above products.
Address.
Signed.
• Power cable to power one drive from BBC Micro
• Switch on rear of case to select 40 or 80 TPI operation
using FD55E or FD55F.
F n^B 40 TraCk
HANDBOOK
AND FORMATTING DISC
DELIVERY: Up to 28 days
WARRANTY 90 days
TERMS Strictly cheque with order
Send to P 0 Box 11 , Stroud, Glos UK GL5 1 JN
or phone through your
Access or Barclay Card number
TO ORDER: ADD CARRIAGE/PACKING/INSURANCE AT £1 0 (COVERS
NEXT DAY SECURICOR DELIVERY) THEN V AT AT 1 5% TO TOTAL.
THE ABOVE PRICES ARE VALID UNTIL END OF APRIL 1 984
DIGITAL PERIPHERALS LTD.
BBC COMPATIBLE
FLOPPY DISC SYSTEMS
AND DRIVES
• CASE to hold two drives (complete with
blanking panel for use should only one drive
be installed).
• Ribbon cable to connect two drives to
B.B.C. Micro.
• Integral power supply for two drives
• Switch on rear of case to select 40 or 80 TPI
operation when using FD55E or FD55F.
THIS CASE CONTAINS ALL HARDWARE NECESSARY FOR TWO DRIVES
JUST SELECT ONE OR TWO DRIVES FROM THOSE SHOWN BELOW
YOU SELECT JUST ONE NOW, THE SECOND CAN JUST PLUG IN LATER.
CASES ONLY SOLD WITH DRIVES.
PRINTER AND
PLOTTER — MCP 40
• 4 colours
• Selectable 40 or 80 characters per line
• Easy to use— simple software commands
• Standard Centronics interface— cables available
for most micros
• Uses 4V2" plain paper Y ALL
1 High resolution— over 100 steps/inch y^'STOCK 4
Rodney House. Church Street. Stroud. Glos U K GL5 1 JN
Tel (04536)71387 Telex 43551
Company
CUBE/BBC SECOND PROCESSORS
EuroBEEB/EuroCUBE-65: 6502 Second/Independent Processor
* xs
°o \ 'S
\
EuroCUBE-65 is a 6502 multi-function SBC/CPU. It is both a second processor and a stripped-down industrial
equivalent to the BBC Microcomputer.
EuroBEEB is EuroCUBEwith 16kB BBC BASIC Interpreter ROM and 8kB battery-backed CMOS RAM memory on board.
Features include:
Four RAM/ROM memory sockets, up to 16kB per device
Real-time clock
Battery back-up for CMOS RAM and clock
VIA providing 16 digital i/o channels
ACIA providing a bi-directional RS-423/422 serial port
The BBC Micro acts as an intelligent terminal/file server to EuroBEEB
Turnkey feature allows automatic power-up-and-run
CUBE bus connector for rack-mounting with peripheral Eurocards
From £167.00 ex. VAT
6809 Second Processor Unit
★ Fully supports the FLEX operating system on the BBC Microcomputer
★ Housed in self-powered beige metal enclosure with 2 spare CUBE Bus sockets
★ Wide range of software available to run under FLEX: macro-assemblers and cross-assemblers,
compilers and cross-compilers, and high-level languages.
Supplied in 4-slot mini-rack with power supply, 64kB DRAM, supporting monitor ROM, CUBE
BeebFLEX ‘sideways’ ROM, and TUBE interface.
£328.90 ex. VAT
Please ask for our new Catalogue which fully describes the CUBE range of 6502/6809 Eurocards. An explanatory colour
leaflet on our CUBE/BBC Eurocard extensions is also available.
Pnntrnl I Iniuareol I Manufacturers of the CUBE Range
V/UnirUI universal LIU of Industrial Microcomputer Systems
Andersons Court, Newnham Road, Cambridge CB3 9EZ. Tel: Cambridge (0223) 358757, Telex: 995801 GLOTX-G.
CUBE BeebFLEX:
90
A COHN USER JUL Y 1984
•Cl Ni l
PCRCYPCNGUIN £7 95
HUNCHBACK £7 95
COSMIC KIDNAP £7.95
SPITFIRC COMMAND £7.95
V
A
STAR BATTLC £7.95
SCORE □□□□□□□□
i
BORIS IN THCUNDCRWORID £.7 95
CH6SS
£.7 9S
ROCKV
£7 9S
D€fll€ftS...D€fll€ftS...D€Al€ftS
Our software is now avai lable at oil good dealers
including:
Selected branches of UU. H. Smith, Soots, John
Menzies, Rumbelows, laskys, Currys, HMV,
Greens at Debenhoms, and Spectrum shops.
Also ot oil major computer dealers - Cltec
Computers, Micro Management, UUest Coast
Personal Computers, Microstyle, Clectronequip,
3D Computers, Computeromo, GTM Computers,
etc. Our software is also available through all
the major distributors, and directly from us by
mail-order.
MOON MISSION £.7 95
STRRNDCD £7.95
MUTANT SPIDCRS
£6.95
GNASHCR
£6.95
NCUTRON
£6.95
DARTS
£6.95
ALSO AVAILABIC:
ALSO AVAILABIC:
ALSO AVAILABIC:
ALSO AVAILABLE
OVCRDRIVC
£7.95
CRAZVPAINTCR
£7.95
INVAD6RS
£7.95
COLDITZ ADVCNTURC
£7.95
BATTL6 TANK
£795
2002
£7.95
FAIRGROUND
£7.95
PLANCTARIUM
£795
STAR STRIKCR
£7.95
CCNTI8UG
£7.95
FRUIT MACHINC
£7.95
DRAUGHTS
£6.95
MR. UJIZ
£7 95
SPACC FIGHTCR
£7.95
STAR TR€K ADVCNTURC
£7.95
RCVCRSI
£695
ROAD RACCR
£795
GALAXY BIRDS
£795
LOST CITY (ADVCNTURC)
£7.95
CRIBBAGC
£6.95
FROGGV
£795
ALICN DROPOUT
£7.95
GIDCON’S GAMBLC (ADY'NTURC)
£7.95
PONTOON
£6.95
SPCCIAl OFFCR! - DEDUCT £1 Pi R CASSCTTC UJH€N ORDCRING 2 OA MORC.
SUPCRIOR SOFTUJRRC LTD.
Dept.AU7, Regent House,
Skinner Lane, Leeds 7
Tel: 0532 459453
(1) All our
(2) All our
(3) In the t
cosset
OUAGUMMITTCi
are is available before we advertise
^re is despatched uuithin 48 hours by first-class post
j event that any of our software fails to load, return your
s and we will immediately send a replacement
UTILITY J
MY BLUE
HEAVENS
Peter Vasey brightens
up the background
H ere is a neat method for changing the background
colour of the screen when running protected software.
A frequent problem with commercial programs is that
protection techniques prevent the user from changing
features such as sound effects and colour. This short routine
shows how the difficulties can be overcome.
Type in the program and save it onto disc or cassette with-
out running it. Once you have done so press Break and then
type MODE 5. Notice that the background colour of the
screen has changed to blue.
To understand how it works, look at the listing once again.
Line 1 10 sets the VDU vector at &20E,20F to point to the new
routine. Line 130 then waits until the VDU drivers are sent the
MODE 5 command. When this happens the machine-code
equivalent of VDU 19,0,4,0,0,0 is executed (lines 150 to 180)
and the VDU vector is then returned to its normal state (line
190). Lines 250 to 270 are included to allow disc users to auto-
start programs with SHIFT/BREAK.
If you prefer another colour to blue, simply change the 4 4’
in line 170 to the appropriate colour code.
This technique was originally designed for Aviator but it
can be applied to most software and with a little modification
more complex effects can also be achieved.
10 REM ****************************
20 REM BLUE HEAVENS! by Peter Vasey
30 REM ****************************
40 REM DISC/CASSETTE
50 REM Press BREAK to activate
60 REM for cassette version
70
80 FORN7.=0TO3STEP3
90 P7.=S<A00
100 COPTN7-
1 1 0 LDA#&B : STA&20E : LDA#&A : STA&20F
120 RTS
130 CMP#5: BNEnotyet
140 JSR&E0A4
150 LD A# 1 9 : J SRScFFEE
160 LDA#0: JSRStFFEE
170 LDA#4: JSR&FFEE
180 LDA#0: JSRStFFEE: JSR&FFEE: J SRScFFEE
1 90 LD A#$<A4 s ST A&20E s LDA#S<E0 2 STA&20F
200 LDA#247:LDX#0: JSR&FFF4
210 LDA#0
220 -notyet JMP&E0A4
230 3
240 NEXT
250 *FX247, 76
260 *FX248 P 0
270 *FX249, 10
CUMANA
PRICE LIST
Cumana BBC Microcomputer compatible disk drives:
retail prices
Cumana disk drives supplied with formatting diskette,
drive connecting cable and comprehensive user
manual. Independent power supply, mains lead and
moulded plug included.
CS100 Single 40 Track single sided £1 65
CS200 Single 80 Track single sided £205
CS400 Single 80 Track double sided £231
CD200 Dual 40 Track single sided £305
CD400 Dual 80 Track single sided £38f
CD800 Dual 80 Track double sided £43'
CD400/S Dual 80/40 SwitGb^ble single sided £46!
CD800/S Dual 80/40 Switchable double sided £49!
Cumana disk drives with independent power supply,
mains lead and plug. Excluding other accessories.
CS100E Single 40 Track single sided £1 5:
CS200E Single 80 Track single sided £191
CS400E Single 80 Track double sided £2V
Cumana disk drives supplied with formatting diskette,
drive connecting cable and comprehensive user
manual. Power supply taken from BBC Microcomputer
with lead supplied.
CSX100 Single 40 Track single sided £1 4!
CSX200 Single 80 Track single sided £1 9:
CSX400 Single 80 Track double sided £21 1
★ Top quality 5V4 inch TEC and Mitsubishi Japanese
disk drives
★ Fully assembled and tested before packaging
★ 12 months warranty
★ Attractive hardwearing cabinets in BBC beige
Available from the following retail outlets:
W. H. Smith, John Lewis Partnership, Greens Leisure, Laskys, Spectrum UK
Area distributors:
HCCS Associates (Gateshead) 0632 821924, Eltec (Bradford) 0274-722512, Basic
Business Systems (Nottingham) 0602-819713, Walters Computer Systems
(Stourbridge) 03843-70811, Microage Distribution (North London) 01-205 7688.
J. S. Simnett Computers (South London) 01-390 6161, Ferranti & Craig (Basingstoke
0256-69966, Gwent Computers (Wales) 0633-859582, National Micro Centre
(Stockport) 061-456 9548, Microworld (Edinburgh) 031-228 1111,
Microtest (Cornwall) 0208-3171.
^ ^ Ajf D + National Dealer Netwoi
Jj L M A /Yl //L l\ mmrn Please note: all prices exclude V.
%## and delivery chargt
...THE BEST NAME IN MEMORY
ACORN USER JULY 1984
Print from Japan
Disk Drives
from Cumana
Look out for the distinctive Cumana packaging in your high
street, today!
Like the beautiful prints from Japan, Cumana disk drives
represent the very highest standards in design and
production. Also like the prints, Cumana disk drives
represent the highest state of the art; and they not only look
beautiful, they perform beautifully as well.
Cumana disk drives for the BBC Microcomputer
are available in slimline single, dual and dual switchable
versions. They have 12 months warranty, are fully
assembled and tested before packaging, and are available
— at unbeatable value for money prices — from W. H. Smith,
The John Lewis Partnership, Greens Leisure, Laskys,
Spectrum UK, area distributors (see below) and Cumana’s
national dealer network.
gaga
Area distributors:
HCCS Associates (Gateshead) 0632-821924. Eltec (Bradford) 0274-7225 12. Basic
Business Systems (Nottingham) 0602-819713. Walters Computer Systems
(Stourbridge) 03843-70811. Microage Distribution (North London) 01-205 7688.
J. S. Simnett Computers (South London) 01-390 6161, Ferranti & Craig
(Basingstoke) 0256-69966. Gwent Computers (Wales) 0633-215008. National
Micro Centre (Stockport) 06 1-456 9548, Microworld (Edinburgh) 03 1-228 1111.
Microtest (Cornwall) 0208-3171. DRG Business Machines (Weston-Super-Mare)
0934-415398. Kingdom Design (Belfast) 0232-643720, Hugh Symonds
(Bournemouth) 0202-26535. Audio & Computer Centre (Jersey) 0534-74000.
The Highest State
of the Art
For further information
about Cumana disk
drives for the BBC
Micro, please complete
and return this coupon.
Interests:
Home Use
Education
Dealer
Business
zz:
Name .
Address -
Tel. No._
AU7/84
The best name in memory
Cumana Limited,
Pines Trading Estate, Broad Street.
Guildford. Surrey, GCI3 3BH.
Telephone: Guildford (0483) 503121.
Telex: 859380.
Note: If dealer, please attach this form to your letterheading.
"ANNIVERSARY
COMPETITION
THIS issue marks the second anniversary of the launch of Acorn
User. To celebrate the event here is a special birthday quiz open
to everyone to enter. It’s designed to test your general knowledge
of computing and computers, and almost all the answers to the
questions have appeared in the pages of the magazine within the
last two years. We’re giving away no less than 20 first prizes of
five packs of software (three for the BBC micro and two for the
Electron), worth about £40. Ten runners-up will receive an Acorn
User sweatshirt. See panel belowfor details.
-\ \What is the meaning of Basic?
. ^ a) Just a nice name for a language designed to
introduce newcomers to computers.
\How much RAM does the BBC model A have?
a) 8k
Jtfl6k
c) 24k
2* \Was the first home computer in the UK to be sold at
under Cl
a) the 2
*tfjfthe2
c) the /
Beginners’ All-purpose Symbolic Instruction
Code.
c) Beginners American Standard Interface Code.
a) checks that the high-resolution graphics on a
computer are working?
U^gives a better picture than the average TV set?
c) enables you to use your computer to switch
between different TVchannels?
3 \ On a BBC micro how many elements are there in an
'array created by the Basic statement DIM A$(20,2)?
HOW TO ENTER
a) 40
£#& 2
c) 63
Select your answers from the categories a, b and c in
each question (for example la, 2c, 3b, etc), complete
the ‘tiebreaker’ sentence and send your entry on a
postcard to July Competition, Acorn User, 68 Long
Acre, London WC2E 9JH to arrive not later than
Friday, August 3, 1 984.
^ v On a BBC micro, is a bit:
. ^ a) half a byte?
J?fa binary digit?
c) one of the pins on a silicon chip?
PRIZES
£ \ Was the original name of the
XL \ Did the first issue of Acorn User appear in:
a) January 1982?
July 1982?
c) November 1982?
Each first prize will be made up of the top five pack-
ages listed in this month’s software chart (see page
145): ‘Snooker’ (Visions) and ‘Hopper’ (Acornsoft) for
the Electron, and ‘Twin Kingdom Valley’ (Bug-Byte),
‘White Knight II’ (BBCSoft) and ‘747 Flight Simulator’
(Dr Soft) for the BBC micro. Ten runner-up prizes of
an Acorn User sweatshirt will be awarded.
BBC micro:
a) Quark?
b) Proton?
c) Neutron?
We regret that no correspondence or negotiation
can be entered into regarding the competition or
prizes - only postcard entries will be accepted.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
COMPETITION
Which screen mode in BBC Basic does the
\ $ \ Electron not work in?
a) mode 0
b) mode 2
,/C) mode 7
Which of the following is an
interactive or two-way system:
, a) Prestel?
b) Ceefax?
c) Oracle?
Snapper , Rocket Raid and JCB Digger are all games
written by Jonathan Griffiths. Who are the publishers?
a) BBC Publications
>^Acornsoft •• 1 » | u>
c) Micropower V | js;
§ \\M
A modem is:
i a) a device which enables a computer to communi-
cate with another computer down a phone line?
b) a computer which runs full CP/M? as
c) a computer which acts as a terminal to drive'
another computer?
ASCII means:
a) the second, upgraded version of the American
Standards for Computers recommendations?
American Standard Code for Information Inter-
change?
c) a coding system based on the name of its inven-
tor?
i In hex, B392 is the decimal equivalent of:
^45,970?
b) 43,298?
c) 46,026?
^Charles Babbage’s ‘Analytical Engine’ is:
_a) a 19th-century forerunner of the computer?
b) an early computer developed at Manchester
University around 1946?
c) A device which allows you to tune a car by means
of a BBC micro?
In a standard flowchart for a program what does this
sign (right) mean?
a) the beginning or end of the program
b) an input or output operation
Kfa decision-making operation
^Information Technology Year was:
a) 1981?
b) 1982?
,-<1983?
0
yWhich one is Chris Curry?
Picture a
Picture b
Picture c
'Vi
Sargon is:
a) an adventure game?
b) a chess program?
c) an interface?
2-0 \Complete in not more than 20 words the following sen-
tence:
I like Acorn User because . . .
MARCH/APRIL
COMPETITION
WINNERS
H ERE are the answers to the March
and April competitions. Both
involved putting up with the appalling
Mad Alex -well, we all have to some-
times . . .
In the March competition it was appar-
ent to most of you that Alex had talked
the most demented drivel. Those of you
who weren’t driven around the bend
worked out that, yes, the kitty does
work and the highest value the coin
could have would be 700 addisons and
the lowest 27 addisons.
In the second part, the occupations of
the four newly elected committee
members were as follows:
Anthony - Graphics consultant
Bartholomew- Machine-code pro-
grammer
Christopher- Designer
David - Hardware expert
The winners, who each receive £20
worth of Acornsoft software, were M
English of High Wycombe, Bucks: D
Moore of Birkenhead; and F M
Cameron of Hereford.
In the April comp the amount Alex
owes you after your sojourn through
the dungeon is 19,700 gold pieces
(19,712 if you include your entry
money). About half of you got this right.
The winners- were Andy Cowan of
Birmingham, David Westbrook of
Oxford, and S Jhawar of Stockton-on-
Tees. They have been sent £20 worth of
Acornsoft software.
Those of you who continue to send in
lengthy descriptions of Mad Alex’s gen-
etic make-up do so at your peril:
rumour has it that he has perfected a
technique of electrocuting his least
favourite people over the telephone
line. You have been warned . . .
As usual, the best entry came from
Frank Dashwood of Edinburgh, whose
scribbles were composed on the back
of an enormous poster advertising a
wine called Bull’s Blood -Mad Alex’s
favourite tipple!
For wit and humour beyond the call
of duty we’re awarding a special prize
to Mr Dashwood - a fiver to buy himself
a bottle of the red stuff.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
II
MODEL SPECIFICATION OF EACH DRIVE
110 S/SIDED 40 TRACK 100K
210 D/SIDED 40 TRACK 200K
220 D/SIDED 80 TRACK 400K
(40/80 TRACK SWITCHING)
SLIM CANON DISC DRIVES
All CANON 40/80 switchable disc drives feature an on-board dual-colour
■I LED on the front panel to show track mode selected. This is coupled with our
own unique two-stage illumination, to give a clear operating status, as follows:
40 TRACK MODE: LED GREEN
80 TRACK MODE: LED RED
POWER ON: HALF-ILLUMINATION (GREEN OR RED)
_ DRIVE SELECTED FULL-ILLUMINATION (GREEN OR RED)
IH Super-slim CANON drives, models 21 1 and 221 and the SANYO model 548S,
are available with their own custom-built secondary switching power supply.
This is safe, low in heat generation and excellent value for money.
The SANYO disc drive is our latest acquisition in quality Japanese products.
This is a "half-height" unit of standard dimensions.
96
A CORN USER JUL Y 1984
DISC DRIVES
SLIM SANYO DISC DRIVES:
MODEL: SPECIFICATION OF EACH DRIVE
548S S/SIDED 40 TRACK lOOK
SUPER-SLIM CANON DISC DRIVES
MODEL: SPECIFICATION OF E ACH DRIVE
211 D/SIDED 40 TRACK 200K
221 D/SIDED 80 TRACK 400K
(40/80 TRACK SWITCHING)
All inclusive price list:
This means: disc drive + case + all power & data cables + U.K. carriage + utilities disc & manual + VA.T.
CANON
SANYO
MODEL:
110
210
220
211
221
548S
Formatted Capacity
per drive on BBC Micro:
100k
200k
400k
200k
400k
100k
Single Drive & Case:
£149
£174
£209
£179
£236
£154
Single Drive
& Case/P Supply:
£174
£199
£234
£209
£266
£184
Dual Drive & Case:
Dual Drive
£274
£324
£394
£329
£437
£467
£284
£314
& Case/P Supply:
EPROMS 2764 (250 NS)
£299
£349
£419
£359
_ 5.75 EACH
come
Support:
Warranty: All disc drives sold by Chase Data Ltd.
with a fufl one-year warranty on parts & labour.
Non-warranty service: As THE experts in our field we
can offer service on most makes of floppy disc drive.
Recalibration & Alignment ... £25 per unit inc. VAT.
(parts extra). Phonetor details: (Tel: 0784 38487)
Payment ra
By Post: Send your remittance (cheques only please)
with your order to:
CHASE DATA LTD
P.O. Box 6, Woking, Surrey, GU21 4PB.
By Phone: #7% (Tel: 0784 38487).
iS>
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
97
HARRIS McCUTCHEON SYSTEMS
HMS
HMS
HMS
HOME ACCOUNTS
VAT TRADER'S LEDGER
BASIC ENVIRONMENT
£28.75
£21.50
£14.50
, ^? B ^n' Cr0 , C T P l U / er ^ rSW,tham ' nimumconfi9urationofl 40 tr ack single sided disc and an 8 " 1 32 column (condensed mode) printer, toa maximum configuration
ot2 x 80 track double sided disc and a 1 5 " printer . The programs allow user allocation of each file between * DB I VE 0 , 1 , 2 or3 , thus making full use of the disc space available
HMS HOME ACCOUNTS allowsall financial transactions within a defined environment to be recorded, printed and analysed . Accounts may be reconciled with statements
or passbooks, uncleared entries being highlighted Depending on the analysis structure you choose, the system can keep track of anything from answering how much is
in the piggybank ? to independent tracking of multiple bank accounts, credit cards, building society accountsand cash in hand . Theonly reason for keeping home accounts
in any form is to have your current financial state apparent on demand and reconcile statements received in order to find out where the money goes . This program is designed
mMrAr ' reme h tS YOU wouldn 1 keep them if these areas were of no concern, and being of concern you want to keep them thoroughly and effectively H MS
H MS VAT TRADER ' S LEDGER , on the other hand, fulfills a different requirement. Instead of emphasizing analysis, the VAT trader wants to record all his invoices and bills
in the least time possible consistent with making out the quarterly VAT return and getting a well -presented ledger listing on demand Varying and multiple VAT rates are of
coursecateredfor. Add the facility to maintain period totals on user defined bases other than VAT quarters (such as weekly, monthly and to theend of each trading account)
and HMS VAT TRADER S LEDGER should be a boon to you as a sole trader through to the low transaction company.
Both systems allow for 1 000 to 1 0000 records per file depending on configuration and use. and initialise on shift BREAK without user OS intervention Fully documented
source listings and optional user modifiable VIEW text operating documentation are included on the master disc, and hard copy manuals are provided
HMS BASIC ENVIRONMENT is specifically an aid to BASIC program development designed to encourage the creation of well structured readable code in circumstances
where memory becomesa constraint. Procedures to handlescreen I 0, cursor switching, CLI invocation, and keyboard validationare provided, with a linking BASIC source
file compressor which includes variable name compression to two bytes. The ability to link as many BAS 1C source modulesasdesired mtoa singlecondensed runninq version
resolves the coder s conflict between space and intelligibility; 60% compression is effected on our sources for the above accounts packages
T he disc, manual and information contained are sold under license subject to the condition that they are for single user single site application by or on behalf of the purchaser,
are not for resale in whole or in part either as originals or copies, and may not be supplied to a third party as part of a package or used as part of a package supplied by a third
party to t le purch iser, without the written consent of the copyright holders. Damages will be claimed where this occurs, with revocation of license Purchase indicates
acceptance of license terms
I enclose C for the following products (tick and delete where appropriate
HMS HOME ACCOUNTS (£28.75)
HMS VAT TRADER'S LEDGER (C21.50)
HMS BASIC ENVIRONMENT (£14.50)
Please supply on 40 80 track disc. I have VIEW WORDWISE; OS 1 0 1 2; BASIC I II
Name
Address
VAT, disc, manual, post
and packing inclusive.
The credit card companies
4% take precludes our
offering their service.
Postcode
Telephone Date
Please send with cheque or postal order to Harris McCutcheon Systems, 40 Huntingdon Street, London N1 1 HM (01 609 3207)
Southfield House, 11 Liverpool Gardens, Worthing, Sussex BN 11 1RY
Telephone: Worthing (0903) 213174
BBC Model B £399.00
BBC Model B Disc Interface £469.00
BBC Model B Econet £446.00
BBC Model B Econet & Disc £516.00
Acorn Electron £199.00
Acorn 6502 2nd Processor £199.00
This allows the BBC Model B to run faster with greatly increased
memory especially in high resolution graphics modes, the package
includes Tube software, the latest version of the DFS & NFS
called DNFS, a Rom containing Hi-Basic and a comprehensive
User Guide.
Acorn Teletext Adaptor £225.00
Allows the downloading, storing and running of programs via
Ceefax, transmitted free of charge, pages can also be saved and
printed from all 4 channels.
Acorn Bitsik £375.00
This superb menu driven graphics package allows high quality
CAD at a modest price. Needs 6502 2nd Processor and dual 80
track dies drives, a must for all design teams.
Acorn IEEE 488 Interface £325.00
Provides computer control of compatible scientific and technical
equipment. Useful in experimental work in industry and education.
Acorn Z80 2nd Processor £299.00
If you have wondered how to make the best use of your BBC for
Business, then the Z80 2nd Processor and CP/M must be the
answer. This package comes with a suite of business programms,
including Memoplan, Fileplan, Graphplan, Accountant, BBC Basic
(Z80 Version), Cobal, Neculeus (Programming Aid), Professional
Basic. This software alone is worth hundreds of pounds and with
CP/M you can buy any of the programmes written for this
operating system.
Acorn Word Processor View £59.00
This Rom based word processor has many advanced features
including macros, still one of the best available on the market.
Acorn Spreadsheet Viewsheet £59.00
A new spreadsheet from Acornsoft comes in a 16K Rom with a
comprehensive manual, it is compatible with view and the 6502
2nd processor.
Acorn Prestel Adaptor £99.00
Makes the BBC Micro into a Prestel Terminal revealing all the
pages of information and allows you to use British Telecom Gold
for electronic Mail etc.
VKA
All prices include V AT and delivery
98
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
John Vaux picks the Acco untant
out of the Z 80 second processor
bundle and renders this account
T HE Z80 second processor is a unit
which connects to the BBC micro-
computer via the Tube interface.
The hardware and software was sum-
marised last month, and this and sub-
sequent reviews will concentrate on
the software ‘bundled’ with the second
processor. Bundled software is a new
trend whereby programs are provided
apparently free with an item of hard-
ware. Nothing is really free of course,
but if you add up the total normal price
of the software it can come to a sur-
prisingly high figure. If you have a use
for the majority of it then it is well worth
having.
Acorns Z80 second processor
comes with the packages listed in
figure 1 overleaf, and the total value of
all this lot if bought separately at retail
prices would be over four times the
price of the second processor!
The software comes on a total of
seven discs, all fully documented in a
set of matching manuals of very good
quality. A special program called Pre-
pare is provided to help you produce
working copies of whichever programs
you wish to use. This program is fully
menu-driven with good prompts at all
stages telling you what to do. If you
generate all the software you finish up
with 12 working discs. This program
was quite impressive and augured well
for the professional quality of the rest of
the package.
ACCOUNTANT
This month we look at the book-keeping
program called Accountant, written by
Compact Software International, which
is well-proven on other Z80 business
computers. It is a simple system based
on sales and purchase daybooks and a
nominal ledger, from which a range of
management reports can be obtained.
Extra software can be bought to expand
it at a later date to a full integrated
accounts suite with sales ledger, pur-
chase ledger and stock control.
The package lives on three discs: a
start-of-day disc, main program disc
and data disc. It runs on twin disc drives
(2 x 400k), although if you have small
data files it would be possible to run it
on one drive. The system is started by
inserting the start-of-day disc in drive A
and keying in START. All this does is
ask for today’s date and then tell you to
load the program disc in A and your
data disc in B. The sequence seems a
bit strange and got a bit annoying after
a while. One could have expected this
to be incorporated on the program disc,
thereby saving a disc change.
Nominal ledger set up
The first thing to do in any accounts
package is set up a set of nominal
codes in a logical manner to ensure the
ability to produce meaningful manage-
ment reports. This can be quite a prob-
lem for the beginner and it is therefore
a pleasant surprise to find that
Accountant has a sample set of codes
already set up, which can be modified
as required for your particular
business. A full description of this
excellent idea and an explanation of
the code structure provided is in the
manual. In fact, a full set of files is
provided so you can dive straight into
trying out the system. When you have
finished getting to know the system
these may be regenerated from the
original discs using the Prepare pro-
I
Jhe MONEY
PROGRAM I
ACORN USER JULY 1984
20,000K Winchester Disc
for your BBC Micro
INTEC MAKES THE BBC REALLY COMPETE WITH
SYSTEMS COSTING 2X AS MUCH !
Supports BBC and Acorn DFS.
Full file handling and diagnostic software
Data capacity from 5 Mb upwards.
High speed accessing.
UK manufactured.
utilities.
The INTEC 5o5 gives all these benefits PLUS the
removable hard disc cartridge providing a compact,
secure and usable back-up or cartridge per application
approach. Why pay more for less?
For full details on the INTEC range of hard discs for the
BBC Micro, complete and post the tear-off slip or
phone INTEC now - 01-761 5999.
INTEC
41A-45 Knights Hill
West Norwood. London SE27 OHS
Telex 8813271 GECOMS G
SEE US AT
The 2nd
Official
Acorn User
Exhibition
OLYMPIA
16-19 AUGUST
1984
gram or a blank set may be generated
using an option in Accountant. If you try
to do anything without having created
any data files it soon tells you!
Certain nominal ledger control
accounts must be present for the
system to run. The codes for these must
be entered on a control file which also
contains your company details (name,
address, etc.) and VAT codes and rates
and your period end, year end and VAT
dates. Facilities are also provided for
entering budgets against nominal
codes and also group codes for further
analysis.
Journal entries
Direct posting to the nominal ledger for
such things as opening balances, petty
cash, adjustments, etc, is done in
batches using the ‘journal entries’
option. The batch technique enables
easy checking that all entries have
been made by reconciliation of a manu-
ally-calculated batch total with one
generated by the computer. It also
gives a better audit trail for checking by
auditors or VAT men. A printed copy is
always produced for any posting.
Taking the ‘journal posting' option on
the screen menu display brings up
another screen for entry of the details.
Entered dates are always checked for
validity, and a check that entered nom-
inal codes are on the file is made at
time of entry. Amount entries are only
allowed through if they are numeric.
At this point a slight criticism must be
made. If you have made an entry and
wish to change it, only the newly-
entered characters are taken, even
though the old ones are still displayed.
For instance in a description, say the
original entry was WWIDGETS and it
should have been WIDGETS: when you
key in the correction the field will show
as WIDGETSS but will enter correctly.
This is even more confusing in amount
fields. Say you had entered 1000 and it
should be 100. Values are moved to the
right of the field by the system, so it will
show as several blanks followed by
1000.00. When you enter your correc-
tion it will show as 1001000.00 - which it
will correctly pick up. If you blank out
the 1000.00 the system will reject the
entry because it objects to blanks in
numeric fields. It would be better if the
field was cleared when you start enter-
ing new data, as it is in some cases
when re-entering an invalid nominal
code.
Daybook entries
The ‘purchase daybook’ option handles
purchase invoices, credit notes, cash
purchases, and so on. Again, all input is
batched giving a check that all docu-
ments have been entered.
Defaults for dates, description and
nominal code can be entered which will
be offered as the value for each line
and can then be changed if required.
Net amount, VAT amount and gross
amount must all be entered, although
VAT is not calculated. Each item may
be split across additional nominal
codes if required. At the end of the
batch the totals are checked. If they dis-
agree you have the option to either
correct the batch total, step through the
items looking for the error, or abandon-
ing the batch.
On acceptance the audit trail is
printed and then the nominal ledger is
updated with the details.
‘Sales daybook’ entries are made in
a manner almost identical to those for
the purchase daybook. One difference
noticed is in the cash sales option. Here
the system can be made to calculate
the net amount from the gross by omit-
ting the entry of a net amount.
Reports
Several types of report can be gener-
ated, including:
• Account enquiry to show details of
any nominal account and transactions.
• Trial balance with or without period
balances.
• Transaction listing showing full
details of all transactions for every
nominal code.
• Budget/variance report showing
performance against budget for current
period and year-to-date. The variance
is shown as pounds difference and also
as a percentage difference.
• Formatted trial balance based on
group codes.
THEZ80
BUNDLE
• CP/M operating system with the GSX
graphics extension. This is the standard
operating system for eight-bit business
micros and should give access to the
enormous range of programs already
available for that system provided they
are made available on BBC format discs.
• Z80 version of BBC Basic.
• Professional Basic Similar to Basics
from Microsoft and Digital Research.
• CIS Cobol Popular language for writing
business software.
• FilePlan Card-index type system for
storing data for rapid indexed retrieval.
• GraphPlan Financial modelling pro-
gram or spreadsheet.
• MemoPlan Word processor.
• Accountant Book-keeping program.
• Nucleus Program generator.
Figure 1. Bundled software
After all reports for a month have been
done, the month end routine must be
run. This clears all individual trans-
actions and carries tbe balance into
the next month. At year end further
balancing is performed and specified
accounts set to zero.
CONCLUSIONS
The whole program has been specially
adapted for the BBC micro, and seven
of the BBC’s function keys are used.
Luckily f9 is not included as this is
adjacent to the break key -and inad-
vertently hitting that drops you out of
the program and back to Z80 Basic. A
book of function key strips is provided,
one for each piece of bundled software.
The system is rather slow in opera-
tion. Loading a new program module in
on changing a menu option takes from
10 to 30 seconds. Even passing from the
heading level to item entry level on the
screen takes about 30 seconds. Up-
dating of the data files also is rather
slow, typically about 20 seconds per
item in a batch: as there can be up to
200 items per batch this could take a
very long time. The conclusion is to
keep batches small, say up to about 20
items.
Apart from deliberately hitting the
break key, it was not found possible to
‘crash’ the system in normal operation.
Ridiculous input such as wrong dates
or enormous amounts were trapped
with an appropriate message.
The documentation appears excel-
lent on-initial perusal. However, having
read it from cover to cover it does not
appear to be in the best logical order.
The beginner will find himself hopping
about from one chapter to another, and
possibly not getting back to where he
was.
The layout of the printed reports is
very good. The main heading of each
report is in wide print to make it stand
out and pages are properly numbered
with totals appearing where appropri-
ate.
To place the above criticisms in per-
spective, this software is well up in the
league of better accounts packages for
microcomputers. It is obviously in-
tended for the smaller business with
not too many documents to be input as
it is not one of the fastest systems for
data input. Having got the data in, the
enquiry and reporting facilities are fast
and give very good information.
To summarise then,* Accountant is
well-written, well-documented and
proven. If the rest of the software pro-
vided with the second processor is as
good (and I know some of it is) then the
total package is excellent value for
money.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
THE FIRST CHOICE FOR THE B.B.C. MICRO
THE UNIT Precision engineered by
Hitachi using tomorrow’s technology
today. Housed in a High Stability
aluminium one piece casing for
durability and smooth function. The
case is finished in a tough epoxy
coating which complements the BBC
micro and other quality equipment.
COMPLETE PACKAGE Supplied
with data and power cables, utility
disc, and instruction manual. Ready
to plug in and use. Compatible with all
known disc interfaces for the BBC
micro. Powered by the BBC micro -
no extra power supply required. 12
month parts and labour guarantee.
THE MEDIA The disc is encased in
rigid plastic and the disc surfaces are
protected by a stainless steel shutter
which is automatically opened and
closed by the disc drive.
SPECIFICATIONS Track to track
access time is 3 ms. Data transfer
rate 125 Kbs -1 . Dual double sided
Disc drives give 1 Megabyte of on-
line storage.
TERMINOLOGY GUIDE
A single sided drive accesses one side of
a disc at a time.
Dual single sided drives access two sides
at a time.
A double sided drive accesses both sides
of a disc at a time.
Dual double sided drives access all four
sides at a time. No need to turn discs over
in double sided drives.
Unformatted capacity of one disc is 500K
(double density), 250K (single density).
Storage density is dependant on interface
used.
Please send me:
□ Single Disc Drive Double Sided Pack (a £252.00.
□ Double Disc Drive Double Sided Pack (« £491 .50.
□ Single Disc Drive Single Sided Pack (a £195.85.
□ Double Disc Drive Single Sided Pack (a £360.60.
□ Pack of 5 3" Discs <§> £22.50. » . .
ZZ All prices include
□ Pack of 1 0 3" Discs (a> £4 1 .00. VAT. post and packing.
Generous Dealer Terms Available.
Name_
Address
SPIDER SYSTEMS Web House. 29 Elmfield Road. Stockport SK8 8SE. Telephone: 061-483 7692.
102
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
MANAGEMENT
=BY MENU=
Ian Rowlings test runs StarBase
StarBase’, GCC (Cambridge) Ltd, £69
(plusP&P)
S TARBASE is a ROM/disc-based
data management system that is a
truly professional tool. It is sup-
plied with a 16k ROM, fitted in the usual
manner, and a 40/80 track disc contain-
ing applications and extension software
(51k). It is essentially menu-driven and
makes extensive use of the function
keys to provide the necessary func-
tions. The manual is also comprehen-
sive and explains not only how to use
the system but also how it works.
Each file created can contain up to
4096 records. A record may consist of
up to 69 fields, each of which can hold
up to 255 characters of alphanumeric
data. The maximum record size is 920
characters. The database capacity, that
is to say the maximum file size,
depends on the disc system used -a
double-sided, 80-track drive will allow
a file of 396k, almost full capacity; a
single-sided, 40-track drive obviously
allows proportionally less.
When you have formatted a disc to
hold your database you are ready to
start. Once you’ve mastered the struc-
ture of the system, its menus and func-
tion keys, it is easy to use. Calling
‘STARBASE provides the initial menu:
C CREATE
F FILE
Q QUIT
Pressing *C’ provides the ‘CREATE’
menu:
<f0> Initialise disc
<f1 > Build inputform
<f2> Review disc
<f3> Re-date disc
<f4> Re-name disc
<f0 > should not be confused with
physical disc initialisation; it initialises
the system and creates a file in the form
you require. At this stage you are
prompted for the user name, date and
disc configuration, etc. You can also
enter a password for security pur-
poses. It can take a while to initialise
and a useful tip is to ‘BACKUP the disc
after initialisation so that, without
having to repeat the procedure, you
have blanks available for future use.
<f1 > provides a subsidiary level 2
menu which is
used to design the
record structure.
Once construction is
complete the file structure can’t be
modified. Other calls from this menu
allow review of the file structure and
certain minor modifications.
The second, level 2 menu accessed
from the main menu is the ‘FILE’ menu:
<f0>
INSERT
<f1>
AMEND
<f2>
DELETE
<f3>
BROWSE
<f4>
SORT
<f5>
SHORT FORM
<f6>
SELECT SUBSET
<f7>
SAVE SUBSET
<f8>
LOAD SUBSET
This is used for manipulating data once
the file has been created. Each of these
calls in turn provides, where appropri-
ate and controlled by the function keys,
the additional facilities that, once
mastered, make the data management
easy. All the normal functions you
would expect of a professional system
are provided, including useful addi-
tions to make the work quicker and
easier. For example, calling <f5>
allows you to select and thus restrict
the fields on which the other functions
are to work. It is surprising, given that
you have a lot of work to do in particular
fields, how much time this can save.
<f6> works in a similar manner,
allowing you to restrict the work carried
out on a subset of records of your
choice, and provides the following
Create Subset menu:
<f0> Finished
<f1 > All records infile
< f2 > No records (Clear)
<f3> Record by Keysearch
< f4 > Add to subset from file
< f5 > Select from Subset
When you select any of these you are
prompted to enter the value or value
and test condition by which the subset
is to be defined. A wildcard facility
allows selection of any specific value in
any field. Such subsets may be manipu-
lated with the other functions, including
saving onto another disc. Sorting (des-
cending or ascending) uses the Shell-
Metzner method, which is very fast, and
it can be based on the contents of up to
five fields.
In addition to the facilities dealt with
so far, there are other utilities and
applications software on disc. Booting
this provides thefollowing menu:
A SBU01 Recover deleted record
B SBU02 Incrementfield
C SBU03 Field statistics
D SBU04 Configure printer
E SBU05 Printfile review
F SBU06 Print record cards
G SBU07 Build printformat
H SBU08 Print address labels
I SBU09 Printformat
Option B allows you to increment or
decrement the value of a particular
field. The destination field need not be
the same as the source field, and it can
be used in conjunction with either
numeric or alphabeticfields.
C allows you to calculate a total and
average value of a specified field in a
defined subset.
Booting the disc provides default set-
tings for an Epson-type dot matrix
printer. Calling D prompts for input con-
cerning print formatting, enabling a
variety of paper sizes and printer types
to be used.
Utility E automatically prints most of
the relevant statistical information
relating to a file. F does as it says, also
printing the field titles.
G is used before and in conjunction
with H and I. It dictates the layout and
contents of address labels, forms, let-
ters and the like. The menu is:
1 Save form
2 Load form
3 New form
4 Edit form
5 List format
6 Print format
Selecting 3 provides yet another range
of function keys to enable formatting,
printer configuration and so on.
Utility H uses the predefined print
format and allows you to arrange it in
such a way as to suit a variety of
labels -eg, which fields are to be
printed and in what order.
I is similar to H, allowing formatting
of invoices and forms.
The disc contains 21 further utilities
which may be used at will and incorpor-
ated into your own programs. They pro-
vide useful functions relating to the
manipulation of data and files, extract-
ing and inputting data and statistical in-
formation and many more. Useful
examples are included.
Because the system is menu driven
and makes extensive use of the func-
tion keys it is flexible and easy to use.
StarBase is adequately protected with
suitable error messages. It is an excep-
tionally good package, and I believe it
would compare favourably with similar
products.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
.COm “TEC comp »TER centre ltd
ft)
DEALER
AND
SERVICE
CENTRE
DEALER
23 Sheffield Rd
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
Tel: 0226 46972
. Educational Orders Welcome
Discounts Available on Bulk
Orders
DISCS
ROMS
(Scotch 3m)
Wordwise
45.00
744SS40 19.32
Disc Doctor
33.00
745 DS40 27.95
Graphics Ext
33.00
746 SS96 34.50
Print Master
33.00
747 DS96 46.25
Caretaker
33 00
7440 Clean kit 19.50
ADE
60.00
Spy 2
30 00
SOFTWARE
Felix in Factory 7.95
Swoop
7.95
Martian Attack 7.95
Carm
7.95
Cybertron Miss 7.95
Chess
7.95
Hell Driver 7.95
Physics
6.95
Moon Raider 7.95
Where
6.95
Alien Swirl 7.95
World Geog
6.95
Laser Cmnd 6.95
Adventure
7.95
Danger UXB 7.95
Caveman Ad
6.95
Escape Mnbs 7.95
Fairground
7.95
Galactic Cmnd 7.95
Crazy Painter
7.95
LabrynLacush 7.95
Lost City
7.95
Dambusters 7.95
Monaco
7.95
Lunar Rescue 7.95
Flexibase
9.95
Gideons
Alligatacalc
9.95
Gamble 7.95
Order 1 : deduct £1 .00
Order 2: deduct £3.00
Order 3: deduct £6.00
Order more than 3. deduct £2.00 per game.
CARRIAGE FREE ON ALL ITEMS
Access and Barclaycards accepted
Tel: 0229 46972
-T--~ — |
BBC Model B
BBC Model B + Disk
Electron (now in stock)
Disk Interface Kit
399.00
469.00
199.00
101.00
PRINTERS
Seikosha GP50A
138.00
Seikosha GP50S
138.00
Seikosha GP500A
228.85
Seikosha GP550A
299.00
Seikosha GP700A
458.00
Seikosha GP250X
264.00
Friction Feed G PI 00/250
28.00
Epson RX80
310.00
Epson RX80FT
356.00
Epson FX80FT
431.00
Star Gemini 10x
280.00
Star Gemini 15x
400.00
4 Colour Plotter + BBC lead
129.95
RIBBONS
Seikosha 4.99 Epson £5.74
BNC Green Screen
Mitrovitec14" Cub
Phoenix Green Screen
BBC Monitor
Amber Screen
113.85
245.00
130.00
99.00
135.00
SO Single Drive DD Dual Drive
SS Single Sided DS Double Sided
SD SS 40tk 100k 194.OO
SD SS 30tk 200k 253.00
SD DS 40tk 200k 228.00
SD SS 80tk 200k 221 00
DD DS 40tk 400k 431.00
DD DS 80tk 800k 511.00
SDDS 40/80 310.00
DD DS 40/80 534.00
All drives include leads, manual and
utility disk
Torch Disk Pack
839.00
DIGI-
BOXES
Ideal far
Robotics or
Experimenters
IS YOUR
MICRO IN
CONTROL?
It could be
with one of
these
(BBC Comp
only)
BBC MODE 7
SCREEN DUMP
FOR EPSON MX- 80 & FX-80 PRINTERS
Caters for:-
CONTROL INTERFACES
(1 ) MAINS CONTROL UNIT - Enables the user under software control lo switch 240v Mains appliances
up to 2.5Kw (10 Amp Max ). Uses latest technology Solid State Relay (Opto-lsolated. Zero Crossover)
Neon indicator. Comes with cable for direct connection to Unit 3. Up to TWO units may be connected
to Unit 3 or FOUR may be connected direct to the computer via the Unit 4 (see below)
PRICE £35.95
Double Ended ribbon cable for direct connection of one mains unit to User Port. (Special low once hence
not supplied separately)
PRICE £2.99
(2) ANALOGUE UNIT - This unit brings out ail 15 lines to enable equipment to be connected to the BBC
Analogue Port using commonly available terminals (4mm Banana type). Also 4 x 2-pin (Channel
+ Earth) Din type sockets for experimental use All terminals are Colour Coded (sef of matchinq dIuqs
supplied) and Numbered. a H y
PRICE £25.95
(3) DIGITAL UNIT - Enables connection to be made to the User-Port using commonly available terminals
(4mm Banana type). Also All EIGHT Input/Output ports terminated in 2-pin Din type sockets All ter-
minals are Colour Coded (set of matching plugs supplied) and Numbered.
PRICE £24.95
(4) MAINS CONTROL 4 WAY ADAPTOR — (not illustrated) This unit utilises the same ribbon cable used with
Unit 1 to enable up to FOUR of the Mains Control Boxes to be linked to the computer User-Port
PRICE £16.95
STOP PRESS - 16-way Numeric Keypad (quality key switches) ALL keys fully programmable. Cased and
complete with tape software driver plugs into user-port
PRICE £38.95
PT*^ vEa] Accepted. To Order send Cheque/P.O. (or telephone Credit Card number to
0272-562741 (Not Wednesdays).
Please Add £1 .50 p 4- p (any number of items) and 1 5% VAT to total.
INTERFACE COMPONENTS - 172, Burley Grove, Downend, Bristol
AVON, BS16 5QQ.
* All text & graphics characters
* Double & normal height characters
* Separated & contiguous graphics
* Graphics hold & release
* Black on white for monochrome graphics
* Grey tones for colour graphics
* Takes less than 80 seconds (FX-80)
* Large central printout (17cm x 14cm)
* Disk & tape versions on same cassette
* Includes programme for completing
Prestel double height characters
cheque for only
T-SOFT
38 The Crescent,
Caddington,
BEDS.
LU1 4 JA
for further info & sample printout
Tel: Luton (0582) 37039
£ 4.50
Send
To
Or call
104
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
. qty storage boxes filled with 50 single-sided Q
Please rush me
50 double-sided □ disks at £59.50 or £87.25 respectively.
(£2 already added for p&p and insurance) I enclose a cheque for £
or debit my Access card N o .
Name Signature
Address
To Disco-Technology Ltd,
20 Orange Street,
London WC2H 7ED
DI5CO*TCK
COMPUTER PRODUCTS
Postcode
Telephone
Take Advantage of us!
50 s/s d/d disks + box - £50 plus vat + P & P
50 d/s d/d disks + box-£75 P iusVAT+ P & P
Discotek sells disks and accessories, we’ll sell them to practically anyone, anywhere. So when we got
a telephone order for a lot of storage boxes and disks we didn’t waste any time and stocked up. Then
the order was cancelled. So we’re having to let them go at cost, in fact, less than cost.
For just £50 we can supply a rigid, high impact plastic storage box, with four dividers packed with 50
single-sided, double-density disks. The same storage box filled with 50 double-sided, double density
disks will cost just £75. And all carrying our five year guarantee - if a disk is faulty send it back for two
free replacements.
To Disco-Technology Ltd,
20 Orange Street, ^
London WC2H 7ED 01-930 1612 (24 hours)
To order just clip the coupon below.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
105
EPIC ADVENTURES PRESENTS
WHEELOF FORTUNE
THE NEW GRAPHIC ADVENTURE FORTHE BBC
"This has to be the adventure of 1984. It really
is superb Epic should be proud. "
MICRONET 800
FULL MULTI-STATEMENT LANGUAGE INTERPRETER : INTELLIGENT MOVING CHARACTERS
REAL-TIME ACTION : HALF-SCREEN GRAPHICS FOR EACH OFTHE250 LOCATIONS
UNBELIEVABLE VALUE AT £9.95 + 50p P&P
Please specify BBC or Electron - no graphics on Electron version
ALSO AVAILABLE: OUR POPULAR TEXT ADVENTURES FOR BBC AND ELECTRON
CASTLE FRANKENSTEIN
"... a substantial adventure with
fast reaction times and a good
screen layout.
QUEST FORTHE HOLY GRAIL
"... I found Holy Grail the most
gripping tale and its construction is
excellent . . . You've got to buy this
one. "
Acorn User May 84
ONLY £7.95 EACH + 50p P&P (Please specify BBC or Electron)
POSTAGE FREE IF ORDERING TWO OR MORE GAMES
P.C.W. 16th Feb
KINGDOM OF KLEIN
"An extremely good adventure
and excellent value for money.
Recommended. "
Electron User May 84
Please make cheques payable to: EPIC SOFTWARE, Dept Au 1
10 Gladstone Street, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicester LE8 OHL
ALL OUR GAMES ARE AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DESPATCH
Dealer inquiries welcome
BBC MICRO REPAIRS
by MICROFIX
ACORN AUTHORISED SERVICE CENTRE
"Cumana Disc Drive and Acorn DFS
supplied and fitted at low prices”
We will repair your faulty BBC micro, disc
drive or monitor quickly and at a
reasonable charge. Most repairs cost
between £1 0 and £20.
We can also offer extended warranties on
all your equipment.
Send S.A.E. for full price list.
Phone 01 -968 9214
or call in at
191 Freston Road,
(Latimer Road Tube)
London W10
and ask for
Mark Duffill or Derek Mullings.
BBC/ELECTRON PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE
Our educational software is used in thousands of schools and homes
throughout Great Britain.
KON-TIKI by J Amos BBC Tape £12.95 Disc £14.95
Simulation program based on Thor Heyerdahl's KON-TIKI expedition. Enjoy a journey on the Kon-Tiki recording
on a map the raft's position and entering notes in the logbook on creatures found, unusual events etc. Inclusive
of booklet, background information, maps and fully supportive illustrated data sheets
EDUCATIONAL 1 BBC! ELECTRON Tape €8.00 Disc £10.00
Hours of fun and learning for children aged five to nine years. Animated graphics will encourage children to
enjoy counting, maths, spelling, and telling the time. The tape includes six programs MATH1 . MATH2,
CUBECOUNT. SHAPES. SPELL and CLOCK
. . .'An excellent mixture of games' . . . Personal Software - Autumn 1983.
EDUCATIONAL 2 BBC/ ELECTRON Tape £8.00 Disc £10.00
Although similar to Educational 1 this tape is more advanced and aimed at seven to 1 2 year olds. The tape
includes MATH1 . MATH2. AREA. MEMORY. CUBECOUNT and SPELL
FUN WITH NUMBERS BBC/ ELECTRON Tape £8.00 Disc £1000
These programs will teach and test basic counting, addition and subtraction to four to seven year olds The
tape includes COUNTING, ADDING and an arcade type game to exercise addition and subtraction. With sound
and visual effects.
FUN WITH WORDS BBC /ELECT RON Tape £8.00 Disc £1000
Start your fun with alphabet puzzle, continue your play with VOWELS, learn the difference between THERE and
THEIR, have games with SUFFIXES and reward yourself with a game of HANGMAN
. Very good indeed' . ..A&B Computing- Jan/ Feb 1984.
JIGSAW AND
SLIDING PUZZLES BBC/ELECTRON Tape £7. 95 Disc £9 95
There are two jigsaw and four sliding puzzles on a 3 x 3 and 4 x 4 grid Each program starts off at an easy level
to ensure initial success but gradually becomes harder It helps children to develop spatial imagination and in
solving problems The tape includes: OBLONG. JIGSAW. HOUSE. NUMBERS. CLOWN and LETTERS!
GAMES & UTILITIES
GAMES OF LOGIC BBC Tape £495 Disc £6 95
For children and adults alike The tape includes AUCTION. FLIP. REVERSE. TELEPATHY and HEXA 1 5
. ..'This package is good value'. Acorn User -Nov 1983.
SUPERLIFE BBC/ELECTRON Tape £4 95 Disc £6.95
Fast (machine code) version of a popular GAME OF LIFE' in a large universe
KATAKOMBS BBC Tape £5.95 Disc £7 95
The ultimate adventure game
UTILITIES BBC/ELECTRON Tape £5. 95 Disc £7 95
An assortment of useful procedures and functions which can save you hours/days of programming effort date
conversion, input and validation routine, graphic routines, sort, search and many more
★ ★ SPECIAL OFFER 'kit
Buy three titles and deduct £4 00
Add 50p p&p per order. Please slate BBC or Electron. Cheque! PO
Golem Ltd, Dept A. 77 Qualitas. Bracknell, Berks RG124QG. Tel: 034450720.
106
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
Serious Decisions
NffdThfSi ipport
OfOur8o Columns
Most serious users of
micro computers require
the facility to display in 80
columns, especially for word
processing. Try this on most
monitors and the result will
be a frustratingly fuzzy image
The Microvitec CUB 653
gives the user not only
glowing colour, but also pin-
sharp- images, thanks to a
medium resolution screen
653 pixels wide by 585 high,
plus a selective transmission
panel giving super-high
contrast. These features
make this model from the
CUB range of monitors
the perfect partner for
the high resolutions
generated by BBC B,
SINCLAIR Q.L., I.B.M.,
COLOUR DISPLAYS
ELECTRON, ORIC, APPLE II
and lie, and many others.
So if you wish to sharpen
your image, whether in the
office or at home, decide
Microvitec:
Remember- the highest
quality doesn’t have to
mean the highest cost.
Call at your local dealer
or contact us direct and we' I I
send you full details with a
pleasant surprise &
- our price list.
England. Tel. 102741 3W0I I Telex: 517717
Microvitec PLC Futures Way. Bolling Road, Bradford. West Yorkshire, BD4 7TU
Microvitec Monitors arc available from your specialist localcomputer dealer. selected branches of W. H Smith.
. i . r>_ L •_ I . I . . . i . I r"\ U rv> , r In iN i n n t
EDUCATION I
PRIVATES
Geoff Nairn turns the pages
of the Edfax teletext emulator
Edfax’, Tecmedia, BBC model B with disk
drive, £30 (£20 to schools)
T HE WORD teletext conjures up
images of desperately looking
under the sofa for the handset, or
ploughing through interminable menu
pages just to find out what’s on tele-
vision that evening. Add to this the
delay between pages and the limited
nature of the information stored on
them, and the broadcast teletext
services come out as very much the
poor relation to public viewdata
services such as Prestel. However,
Prestel is expensive to use, and many
organisations are now setting up their
own private viewdata systems.
Edfax is a software package that lets
you set up just such a system on a
single BBC micro, with the pages of in-
formation stored on disc. Strictly
speaking, it’s a teletext emulator rather
than a viewdata system; the difference
is in the method of going from one page
to another -more about this later. The
name teletext’, however, is reserved
for broadcast services such as Oracle
or Ceefax, so to avoid confusion Edfax
will here be described as a private
viewdata system.
The package was developed by Tec-
media in conjunction with the Micro-
electronics Education Programme pri-
marily for the schools market, though it
is available to others -albeit at a
higher price. This means that the soft-
ware has been tested at several
schools before publication and that the
manual accompanying the software
covers educational objectives and
possible applications, as well as being
an easy-to-follow operating guide.
The software consists of two
separate programs: the editor, which
can create or edit pages of viewdata;
and the display program, which, as its
name suggests, is used to display the
pages. The display program can be
legally copied onto as many discs as
you want, along with any pages.
Also on the disc is a database of 80
pages that demonstrates some of the
possibilities of the system. This is
divided into three main sections, the
first showing the use of the various
viewdata attributes’ - coloured text,
double-height characters, etc -to
create eye-catching pages. The second
section demonstrates two possible
applications of a viewdata system: a
small database of possible career
choices for children, and an ‘electronic’
school magazine. The third section is
possibly the most interesting, contain-
ing 15 picture pages, all designed by
schoolchildren and of a standard com-
parable to that of commercial ‘infor-
mation providers’.
The display program is simplicity it-
self to use: pressing SHIFT and BREAK
automatically runs the program and
displays page 100. In most teletext
systems page 100 is reserved for the
main menu, from which you select
further sub-menus until you reach the
desired page. The page numbers are
keyed in as three-digit numbers that
appear in the top left-hand corner of the
screen, and after a couple of seconds
the requested page appears on the
screen. If the page number does not
exist a message to that effect flashes up
and the program does not attempt to
find the page on disc. A directory of
valid pages must be held in memory.
Unlike proper viewdata systems,
Edfax does not support page routing; to
go from page 200 to page 201, for
example, you have to key in the full
page number ‘201’. With a viewdata
system you might need to press only
'V. As some of the pages on Prestel can
have up to 10-digit page numbers, page
routing can save a lot of typing, but with
only 80 pages on the Edfax system, the
simpler teletext method of page access
is quite adequate.
One of the best features of the dis-
play program is the ‘cycle’ facility, by
which pages can be automatically dis-
played one after the other, in a similar
fashion to a carousel slide projector.
The delay between each page on the
’carousel’ is preset at about 10
seconds, and to break the cycle you
press the space-bar. This feature could
be used for shop window displays,
electronic noticeboards and other dis-
plays.
The 80 demonstration pages and the
display program are good for familiar-
ising yourself with how a viewdata
PAGE 400
MEP MEP MEP
mep mep
Examples of lettering | ■ | La I
MEP
ACORN USER JULY 1984
I EDUCATION
system operates, but the main aim of
Edfax is to enable you to create your
own pages and display them. The suc-
cess or otherwise of any private view-
data system depends on how easily this
can be done -that is, how easy the
editor is to use.
The editor is a machine-code pro-
gram and is copy protected. In a class-
room, therefore, the program would
have to be loaded into each computer
in turn from the master disc -no back-
ups can be made. On running the pro-
gram you are asked to insert a data disc
into the drive. This is the disc on which
you want to save your pages, and a
blank, formatted disc will be prepared
to accept up to 80 pages (or 180 with an
80-track drive). As the Acorn DFS can-
not support 80 different files, the editor
at this point creates a single large data-
file called PAGES, which is initially
empty.
Next, a menu appears and you can
IOO Ho
mniN index
♦ Thf Edfax systet 200
♦ I teas to try 300
♦ Edfax picture gallery 500
Key 100 to return to this page!
edit or create a page, display a page,
display the directory of page numbers,
or exit. On choosing the first option you
are prompted for a page number: if it
already exists the page will be loaded
in for you to edit; if not, the screen goes
blank and you are ready to create your
first page.
At first sight the editor works much
like any other on-screen editing
system: you move the cursor around
with the arrow keys and the typed text
appears as white characters on a black
background. When it comes to using
the various viewdata attributes things
get more complicated, however. These
are selected using the BBC’s red func-
tion keys; for example, to get the word
‘HELLO’ flashing in yellow letters, you
press f2 (for yellow text), f8 (for flash
on), and then type HELLO’. Other attri-
butes change the background colour
and select double-height characters,
but they each occupy one ‘invisible’
character space in front of the text. This
is an important point, because deleting
the ‘hidden’ yellow text attribute in the
example above will cause the text to
revert to white.
To the novice these viewdata attri-
butes can be a bit confusing, but the
Edfax editor helps, to some extent, by
printing a message on the top line of the
screen when the cursor is over one of
these invisible attribute characters.
Two final points: attributes apply only
to text entered on the same line and
only for text to the right of them.
Pages composed only of text are all
right, but by adding graphics they can
be made more interesting. Viewdata
graphics are produced by first select-
ing a graphics colour-the ‘shifted’
function keys - and pressing any of the
lower-case or numeric keys. Each key
produces a graphics character based
on a 3 x 2 pixel grid, but to find out what
key gives which graphics character
involves continually referring to the
back of the Edfax manual. This can
become very wearisome, especially if
a lot of graphics are required.
As an alternative, it is possible to
construct a graphics character from the
individual pixels by selecting the
‘Define Pixel’ mode. If you look at a key-
board, the keys e, r, d, f, c and v form a
3x2 rectangle, and these are used to
turn on or off the six pixels making up
the graphics character. This method is
useful if you are not sure which
graphics character would best suit a
particular part of a picture, but it would
be too laborious to make up all the
graphics characters in this way.
The Edfax editor could do with some
extra features: there is no method of
inserting characters, for example -
very frustrating if you have just done a
page heading and then find it’s not
quite centred. Similarly, there are no
facilities for moving or copying blocks
of characters, or for inserting or delet-
ing lines. These omissions are a result
of Edfax 1 s having been designed pri-
marily for schools, where ease of use
counts for more than sophistication,
and Tecmedia is apparently working on
a Mark 2 version with more advanced
editing facilities, as well as a suitable
screen dump routine for printers.
Having created your page you can
save it on disc, either with the same
PAGE MZ inUr • Pag* Mo
SOUP KITCHEN Horning Brook
TUCK SHOP Lunchtlo* 12-30 pm
ond Afternoon Brook
SCHOOL DINNERS Today's opoctol*
number as that used to load it -and
thereby deleting the old page -or with
a different page number. You are also
asked for a ‘cycle page number’ -the
number of the page you want to follow
yours in the ‘carousel’. If you don’t want
the page to cycle you supply the
number ‘000’.
The possible applications for Edfax
are limited only by the imagination of
the user. In schools, a group of children
could produce an ‘electronic news-
paper’, or a specialised database could
be created for a history project; a high
street shop could install a BBC in its
front window and advertise the week's
special offers.
To summarise, Edfax serves as a
relatively cheap and simple introduc-
tion to the world of viewdata systems.
The display program and sample data-
base of pages nicely demonstrate the
concept without the expense of teletext
adaptors or modems. The editor is not
particularly sophisticated, and the
graphics are tedious to use, though this
is a problem inherent in any viewdata
editing system.
Previously, the software to set up a
private viewdata system has cost
several hundred pounds and required
dedicated terminals. Edfax , at just £30
and running on a BBC micro, changes
all that and will further encourage the
growth of viewdata systems.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
MUG SHOTS..
for £174 phisWT.
rj
&
i«iip
▼ \S*tin*» liilmr fucn
Now available to the micro-user, here is an
interface to permit unlimited manipu-
lation of digitised images from a video
camera. Imaginative operators will be
quick to realise the potential of the unit
and space permits us to list only a few
applications, viz: Computer aided
graphics and design — image analysis for
the physical sciences and education —
robot vision — security — automatic map
and photograph analysis — visual per-
ception experiments, etc.
Taking a typical application, an ordinary
video camera (black/white or colour) is
focused on the subject. A single keystroke
command causes the Video Camera
Interface to digitise the image and display
it on the micro-computer’s monitor.
Extensive menu-driven software options
allow changes of colour palette, the ability
to store (and retrieve) images from disc
and screen dumps to EPSON printers.
iiltljll
4
Hill lljgljj
mil m
4 P
raialiJi 11 Hi. ..
At last. A sensible, low-cost
video camera interface
| to use with your BBC
r microcomputer.
o o
The V.C.I. is under
user control as the
well documented soft-
ware permits considerable flexibility in
the way an image is scanned and stored.
Full technical details are given in the 27
page user guide.
For quantitative image analysis the V.C.I.
has a resolution of 220 (horizontal) and
312 (vertical) pixels and resolves 64 grey
levels.
A complete package:
The V.C.I. comes complete with ex-
tensive software and user guide, con-
necting cable to the BBC user port and its
own power supply.
The Data Harvest Video Camera Inter-
face package is available now and can be
obtained direct from us, enclosing your
remittance of £202. 90 (includes PP and I
and VAT). Overseas users should make
payments by I.M.O.
10473
nanest
Specialists in cost effective data
capture.
28 Lake Street, Leighton Buzzard,
Beds. LU7 8RX
Tel: Leighton Buzzard (0525) 373666
Free. Technical brochures available by sending large S.A.E.
EDUCATION
TEACHING INFORMATION
IIISOFT WAY
Packages are becoming available that can turn the
classroom into a microcosm of the wider world of
information exchange. Jean Beck sorts them out
I N THE world at large, information
handling, communications and
storage have become immensely
sophisticated involving automation and
advanced electronic engineering.
Moreover, the new approach to infor-
mation is widespread, affecting many
corners of our everyday lives. Com-
munications advances now make it
possible to patronise famous Oxford
Street stores without leaving your
home. Goods can be ordered ‘electro-
nically’, entering the appropriate credit
card number and awaiting delivery of
the goods. With the right program and a
modem link through the telephone
system, this is possible with most home
computers.
Customers in banks use information
technology to withdraw cash and order
statements and cheque books. The
travel agent avails himself of it to check
hotel reservations, book flights and
transfer payments. The Nottingham
Building Society has won new
customers by offering investors who
maintain a minimum sum in their
accounts with the necessary tech-
nology in their homes to conduct all
their transactions electronically.
But information technology has
potential outside directly commercial
transactions, too. The public library, for
example, is now equipped to provide a
variety of information sources. As well
as traditional reference such as ency-
clopedias, trade directories, indexes, a
terminal may be available to access an
on-line database, such as Prestel,
which is being constantly updated.
Despite the infusion of communi-
cations technology within society, in-
formation handling and communication
in schools is still largely limited to
reading, writing and talking, while in-
formation storage is confined to hand-
written notes and printed books. Infor-
mation and communication have
always been a substantial part of teach-
ing and learning, with implications
right across the curriculum.
The technological revolution cannot
therefore be ignored by educational-
ists. A recent survey estimated that
more than one in ten homes in the UK
now have a microcomputer, and this
figure is growing.
But integrating the new technology
into schools presents problems, not
least because of the speed with which it
has arrived. Older teachers are often
unwilling to come to grips with the
unfamiliar technology of what the
Department of Industry defines as The
acquisition, processing, storage and
dissemination of vocal, pictorial, tex-
tual and numerical information by a
microelectronics based combination of
computing and telecommunications’.
And even teachers graduating in the
1980s may know nothing about this
technology.
All this points to the need for a broad
training programme, producing not
only teachers in the specialist subjects
of information technology and com-
puter studies but bringing all teachers
up to date with the relevance of infor-
Sample from an initial database menu
ACORN USER JULY 1984
Is yore spewing
reeW crtroshus?
„ . it iust a littel bit oft ke>
either case yob need
SPELtWISE-
SPELLWSE
_ r r . icg w itT
S a spe"' n 9 chec er W0 BD\NISE
, 0 ur BBC micro and w
:iepro 9 ^ a w^co-P-Hen
,ro. a r6000-o.*l3000on
tape) - — ~~~~
• WOBDWSEdocuj^^
checks the Wordwtse ® x ^ jnutes
SPEL U*MSE*ageetlV wiMxt
checks every , SE data *‘ ,e -
against the SPEL ^ be
' Nhen 'VTiist of words which are
left with a typed, or are
incorrectly sP bu i ar y of more l
not in the base v the tape |
than 6000 words l3W udedt0
version). Softwar ur own datal
TAPE SPELUVUISEE12
DlS CSPELLV«S6 xwaMoTderedat !
Backup coPV dis c, or £8
-*c 40 or 80 track. —
state -
s
9
_ ppYCAT:-0 ATA)N ARE
S 0 'rs?WITHA^ E f
Ssssrsa--
jro 10)
LANGUAGEWISE]
LANGUAGEWISE will allow you
to prepare text on WORDWISE in
any of the following languages:-
Albanian, Brazilian, Catalan, Czech,
Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish,
Flemish, French, Friesian, German,
Irish, Italian, Lozi, Norwegian,
Polish, Portuguese, Rumanian,
Sardinian, Scottish-Gaelic, Serbo-
Croatian, Slovakian, Spanish,
Swedish, Turkish, Walloon, Welsh,
Yugoslavian.
LANGUAGEWISE will print on an
Epson FX80 printer and preview
your text with ALL the necessary
accented characters included.
OO est 1* cat*' 7 la grave,
la gita, la role, an aout,
naive, une auvra, (Edipe.
fata, a la hate
a gargon, Noel,
LANGUAGEWISE on DISC only
with machine readable manual
ready for printing £18
DATAWARE
FREEPOST SWINDON SN34BR
; x
Tutorial Software Ltd.
SENIOR SCHOOL
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
Developed in schools and now available to interested home
micro users. Research has identified the compulsory exam
topics, and professional programmers have coded these into
exciting educational games which have been proven to
effectively teach and entertain.
Now available for BBC B and ELECTRON. Each pack
contains main program, extra self test program and Core
Facts book for only £11.95 or any two for £19.95.
MATHS 1:
TRY-ANGLES
MATHS 2:
COORDINATES
PHYSICS 1:
ARCHIMEDES
PHYSICS 2:
ISAAC
GEOGRAPHY 1:
MAYDAY
GEOGRAPHY 2:
WEATHER
Draughts style teaches angles
ratios, tan, sin, cos. 25 levels
Battleship style teaches x and y in
four sectors, directed numbers
Submarine style teaches
Archimedes Principle, pressure
and upthrust
Gunnery style teaches mass,
weight Newtons Laws and
projectiles
Orienteering style teaches O.S.
symbols, grid references, bearings
Forecasting style teaches symbols,
pressure systems, synoptic charts
Send your name, address, and cheque/P.O. to DEPT. A.
TUTORIAL SOFTWARE LTD., FREEPOST, WIRRAL, MERSEYSIDE L61 1AB.
Please state BBC B or ELECTRON
GUARDIAN SOFTWARE
presents
for DISK OWNERS
SOURCE LIBRARY MANAGER
(SLM)
A new concept in ROM based software for the BBC MICRO
Features include:
★ Stores and retrieves any amount of BASIC and/or
ASSEMBLER source code, upto the full capacity of a disk
(1 00/200k).
★ Creates a LIBRARY of upto 399 "members" per 80 track
disk or upto 1 99 "members" per 40 track disk.
★ Allows upto 99 versions of a single program or routine.
★ Will simply and easily "construct" programs developed in
a modular fashion.
★ Stores fully documented code which can be "stripped"
when required for execution.
★ Uses 8 char names and a 20 char description for each
"member".
★ Is fully menu-driven (i.e. no messy commands).
★ Includes 15 page Manual (A4 size) and fitting instruc-
tions.
★ Many other features too numerous to list here.
FULLY COMPATIBLE WITH 6502 SECOND PROCESSOR
IDEAL FOR BEGINNERS AND
EXPERIENCED PROGRAMMERS ALIKE
PRICE £36 (incl. p&p) or large SAE for Fact Sheet to:
GUARDIAN SOFTWARE
21 Harvey Road, Walton-on-Thames
Surrey KT12 2PZ
112
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
| EDUCATION
mation technology to what they are
teaching.
Pupils have always needed to be
able to handle information and to
communicate, and a good secondary
education lays the foundation for inde-
pendent information handling and re-
trieval by showing them how to use
written reference sources. Even at this
comparatively straightforward level,
however, many pupils use these unse-
lectively or inappropriately when com-
pleting project work.
Students now need to be aware of the
new technology, its potential and limi-
tations, and they need to develop the
right kind of skills to survive in a society
whose transactions are conducted
through information technology. There
are vast resources of information from
outside sources to which the micro-
computer in the classroom, serving as
a terminal, can have direct access -
and many schools have set up their
own databases. The development of in-
formation technology skills therefore
becomes a matter of urgency.
These skills need to be reinforced
and developed across the curriculum
and throughout the child’s school life,
and this can happen only as a result of
a coherent education policy. Careful
thought must be given about how
micros can contribute to both the tradi-
tional and the new aims of education.
The following aspects of information
technology should be highlighted:
• Accessing information - Sources
can only be accessed if one knows it
exists, has an idea of the sort of infor-
mation available and knows the
searching strategy required for that
source.
• Evaluating information - Children
must be given criteria by which they
can evaluate information. There is a
great tendency to accept as gospel in-
formation on the screen, and pupils
need to be aware that what is read on a
screen has been put there by an infor-
mation provider.
• Manipulating information - Tech-
nology allows us to manipulate facts in
a way that has never been possible
before. Pupils need to be shown the
potential in this area.
• Distributing information - Electronic
methods of communications such as
electronic mail are changing the ways
in which information is distributed.
Thanks to the Department of Trade
and Industry’s scheme to put a micro in
every secondary and primary school -
an ambition now virtually achieved -
there is enough technology in schools
to get started, plus the programs that
allow us to introduce schoolchildren to
the concepts of information storage, re-
trieval and manipulation. The BBC
Pag* 1
Routing
SHOWS CCroydon)
Kay Page
1*
•
r
3
O O
2.Cin*aa
1 11
Kay O for indax
2 12
1 Structure HB9HP
, 1
2
1 WKKBOM 1 ■HKIflB I
- . 2
I 2
1 1
Select key or # to exit
Tree structure of a database showing diagramatic routing
micro is particularly well-equipped in
this respect, with software that satisfies
the aims of using microcomputers in
education as ennumerated by Daniel
Chandler in the teacher’s handbook for
Factfile, a suite of programs provided
as part of the Microelectronics Edu-
cation Programme. Chandler’s priori-
ties were:
• To introduce the computer as a ver-
satile, subject-independent learning
aid.
• To provide a teaching tool that will
be of use in stimulating discussion,
SOFTWARE SOURCES
The MEP Microprimer pack is available from Tecmedia, 5 Grandby Street,
Loughborough LE11 3DU (tel: 0509 230248) at £107.49 (£49.93 for schools) until
July 1 , when the price rises to £1 1 8.28 (£55).
Factfile pack from the Cambridge Micro Software division of Cambridge
University Press (tel: Cambridge 64122). Price: £15 plus VAT. This was
reviewed in the March issue.
Quest, an information handling package, is obtainable from the Advisory Unit
for Computer Based Education, Endymion Road, Hatfield (tel: Hatfield 65443).
The tape version costs £1 5 and the disc £1 7 (including p&p).
Dataprobe A double pack under preparation at Addison Wesley, Finchamp-
stead Road, Wokingham, Berkshire RG11 2NZ (tel: 0734 794000) aimed at the
10-12 age group. Price yet to be decided. Probably available in late autumn.
Edword (16k ROM) from Clwyd Technics, Unit 4, Antelope Industrial Estate,
Rhydymwyn, Clwyd CH7 5JH. The Teacher Pack costs £18.95 (£21 .95 disc); User
Pack £38.95 and Starter Pack £56.95 (£59.95) - all excluding VAT.
Wordwise (8k ROM) from Computer Concepts, 16 Wayside, Chipperfield, Herts
WD4 9JJ (tel: 09277 69727). Price: £46 (incl VAT and p&p).
Prestel emulator from the Independent Schools Microelectronic Programme
(ISMEC), Westminster College, Oxford OX2 9AT (tel: Oxford 725904). Price:
£1 9.95 for disc and manual.
The Nottingdale ITEC local viewdata package is being prepared by the ITEC
Consultancy and will be available through Acornsoft in September.
Edfax is available from Tecmedia at £34.68 (see review on page 108 of this
issue).
ACORN USER JULY 1984
For little Acorns SHARDS
Mighty SHARDS Grow
If you want well w rittcn and presented software for your Acorn computer then lake a look at Shards.
Shards can offer you entertainment and educational software that reall\ is a cut above the rest.
Take a look at Shards.
Adventure and Strategy (Baines
Pettigrews Diary £7.95 (HUES Electron)
\ massive l 8lk graphic/tcxt adventure with a difference. (Ian you solve it'/
Empire £6.95 (IWE S Electron)
\ superb graphic strategy game against the computer. 8 levels of difficulty Played on a world map. W in at
level 7 or 8 and you deserve a pat on the hack!
Mystery of the Java Star £7.95 ( IWC S Electron)
\ graphic adventure lor all the family . I tilises lOOk of memorv . (/ripping stuff!
Educational
h un to Learn, the definitive (‘durational series - w ritten hv teachers and used in schools nationwide. VII programs are
menu based and make superb use of graphics. I(K>"» user friendlv and error trapped.
“This is how educational software should he written...** Home Cwn/nitinp W eeA/i
Fun to Learn £6.95 (HUE)
A comprehensive program for 6-12 year olds.
Monster Maths £6.95 (IW( )
Helps develop basic maths and logical >kills for 6-1 4 vear olds.
Laser Letters £6.95 (IWE)
Educational word games for 6 year olds to teenagers. Three separate .">0(1 word v ueahularies.
Frac Attack £6.95 (IWE)
Fun with fractions for 8-1 4 vear olds.
Science 1 £6.95 (BBC Sr Electron)
Science education for 1 1-16 year olds. Covers the use ol lenses, meters, thermometers and balances. Super graphics.
Selected titles available at larger branches of Roots and W . II. Smith and all good stockists or by sending a cheque/ 1 \( t.
direct to us at:- Suite C. Rovcraft House. I.inton Road. Harking, Essex. Tel:- 01-591 7666 ( 4 lines)
Please send me a copy of:- (please tick)
Pettigrews Diary □ Fun to Learn
Empire □ Monster Maths
Mystery of Java Star □ Laser Letters
Science 1 □ Frac Attack
□
□
□
□
Please indicate which version required
BBC B □ Acorn Electron □
To (Name)
(Address)
Please debit my Access/Visa account.
A/C No
I enclose a cheque/P. O. remittance for £
(Signed)
All cheques/P. O. to be made payable to
Shards Software
* All orders despatched within 24 hours of receipt.
114
A CORN USER JUL Y 1984
EDUCATION
encouraging creative writing and in
preparing project work.
• To encourage the skills of ordered
thinking and organising information.
• To enable children to assess the
results produced by a computer and to
be aware of the limitations of these
techniques.
The following programs provide infor-
mation handling and communication
on the BBC micro:
• Factfile, Quest or Dataprobe to store
and manipulate information.
• Edword or Wordwise to enable word
processing.
• The ISMEC or Nottingdale ITEC
packages, which allow the BBC micro
to be linked to another computer and
serve as a terminal for electronic mail
or to access vast databases stored on
remote mainframe computers, or to
link schools in an area together on a
local viewdata system.
• Edfax to simulate a teletext system.
In conjunction with the Dol, the Micro-
electronic Education Programme spon-
sored a two-year project in Croydon to
develop an IT curriculum for the 9-14
age range. The Croydon project aims to
ensure that the educational needs spelt
out by Daniel Chandler are met by pro-
ducing pupil material, including soft-
ware, for years 1 to 3 of the secondary
‘Teachers prepared to
learn with children
find it rewarding’
school. The first fruits of the project, six
booklets with accompanying software
and teacher’s guide, are being pub-
lished in September by Addison
Wesley, followed by a second set in
April 1985.
The first booklets deal with infor-
mation handling, information skills,
and information retrieval. The ma-
terials and the programs have been
designed to introduce pupils to the
basic concepts, develop an awareness
of the potential and limitations of tech-
nology, and develop the skills to exploit
more fully the programs mentioned
above. The entire course can be fol-
lowed, or specific sections considered
relevant atthe time may be selected.
Two of these booklets provide a
framework within which each pupil can
develop into an independent and flex-
ible information handler. Experience
shows that the technology can unlock
previously unseen potential in some
slower learning students. For example,
word processing allows anyone to pro-
duce almost perfect work. Less able
pupils can build up a folder of neatly
printed, corrected, work much more
quickly than previously.
The booklet on information skills has
a value beyond the scope of an IT
course and can be used in any situation
where project work is being used.
The series also deals with databases
as applied in many situations in school,
for example in history with census
‘Information may be
retrieved very quickly
to answer a question’
materials; in science with databases on
energy, pollution, periodic tables; in
careers information; fiction and litera-
ture databases in English; and weather
statistics in geography. They also, of
course, serve as information providers
in general through electronic school
magazines. The Serial program
demonstrates a simple database which
stores data in simple tabular form. It
POINTS TO
REMEMBER
1. Information skills are as much
basic skills as literacy and numeracy.
2. Schools cannot opt out of the in-
formation technology revolution - it
is here to stay.
3. Schools should plan ambitious
courses even though their current
equipment is inadequate.
4. Information technology teaching
should use the technology to pro-
duce confident and competent flex-
ible thinkers and independent
learners.
5. Pupils must develop a critical
awareness of the value of infor-
mation provided by various
sources.
6. There is no need to invent uses
for information technology when so
many are seen in everyday life.
7. IT opens new possibilities for
pupils of all abilities, and teachers
must not be frightened to allow the
pupils to develop independently.
8. Teachers can find learning with
their pupils, rather than always
teaching them, a rewarding experi-
ence.
9. The full benefits of an IT curricu-
lum will be obtained only in a
school which has a comprehensive
and coherent policy.
allows serial access to a small number
of records which can all be displayed
on the screen simultaneously: Link
demonstrates how pointers can speed
searching the file; and Invert shows the
use of inverted files as used in keyword
databases.
With Invert all the database can be
seen on the screen but this still allows
sufficient data to show how the price
paid for inverting the file is offset by the
immense increase in speed of access.
It is hoped that pupils will move from
this simple demonstration to using the
British Library SIR program when it
becomes available on the BBC.
Pupils should gain experience of
viewdata systems, whether through
local networks or British Telecom. The
Tree program starts with a simple
tutorial on hierarchical data structures,
with the VDU used as an overhead pro-
jector. The main part of the program
then allows the user to create a simple
Prestel-type database including all
routing between the pages.
Information technology gives the
teacher another tool in helping pupils
to manipulate information in a way that
was not possible before. For example,
information may be retrieved very
quickly to answer a particular question
and then displayed visually using
programs which create maps or scat-
tergrams.
Some teachers will feel that they
have not had enough training or time to
come to terms with the technology
themselves, and so may be hesitant
‘Pupils should gain
experience of
viewdata systems’
about using it with a class of pupils.
However, the basic concepts of infor-
mation and communication remain the
same. Experience has shown that
teachers who are prepared to learn
with the children find it a very reward-
ing experience.
Teachers have a professional re-
sponsibility to ensure that they educate
children for today’s world. These
materials aim to provide a basis from
which to start, introducing pupils to the
concepts of IT, rather than to specific
equipment and programs, to help them
make IT work for them.
Jean Beck is the Communications and
Information Studies Co-ordinator for
Capital Region of MEP and is based at
Kingston Polytechnic. Paul McGee is
consultant to this series.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
DOT MATRIX PRINTERS
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FIDELITY
PHOENIX
DM81 12 12" Green screen 18 MHZ Hi Res
DM21 12 1?' Green screen 15 MHZ Monitor
CD3125 14 RGB Normal Res Colour Monitor
CD3117 t4' RGB Medium Res Colour Monitor
CD3115 14 RGB High Res Colour Monitor
£86 • VAT £99
£66 * VAT £75
£173 • VAT
£286 • VAT
£391 • VAT
£199
£329
£449
MICORVITEC CUB
1431 MS 14" RGB Normal Res Colour Monitor
1451 MS 14'' RGB Medium Res Colour Monitor
1441 MS 14 RGB High Res Colour Mondor
£173 • VAT
£321 • VAT
£417 • VAT
£199
£369
£479
FIDELITY Colour Mondor
CM 14 14 RGB RGBY Composite sound col £187 VAT £215
Phoem* High Res 1?" Green Mondor
Phoenix High Res 1?" Amber Monitor
£66 • VAT £75
£69 • VAT £79
TORCH Z80 2nd PROCESSOR
For only £347 + VAT
Torch 2nd Processor Z80 is supplied with perfect writer (a powerful Word
Processor) perfect speller (spelling checking program - 1 should have used
one lor making this advert') Perfect Filer (A Database Program) Perfect
Calc (Spread Sheen It includes 64K memory (Almost 60K available to user)
Fds inside BBC Computer
Z80 2nd Process • Perfect Software £347 ♦ VAT £399
Z80 Processor • Perfpct Software • Dual BOOK
Disk Drives £695 • VAT £799
GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICES
100% BBC COMPATIBLE MITSUBISHI
AND TEAC SLIMLINE DISK DRIVES
These drives are supplied ready cased with all the necesary cables
formating program and User Guide
There are some very useful utilities included on formating disc e g
DISASSEMBLER This is 650? machine code disassembler
DUP To copy and rename a trie on disc
' FORMAT Formating program lor 40 & 80 hacks
' FREE This utility provides a disk usage analysis
WpUMP Enables you to display and modi tv any part ot BBC memory
MERGE Merge a number of text tiles into one file
' RELOCATE Downloads a basic program to &E00
SDUMP Screen dump tor EPSON in all graphic modes
' VERIFY Verifies every sector on a disk
MENU A flexible menu program
Single drive 100K 40 Irks single Sided
Dual drive 200K 40 trks. single sided
Single drive 200K 40 trks double sided
Dual drive 400K 40 trks. double sided
Single drive 400K 80 Irks double sided
Single drive 400K 40 80 trks switchable DS
Dual drive 800K 80 trks double sided
Dual drive BOOK 40/80 trks, switchable DS
All above drives are low power slimline (0 3 A typ al * I2v andO 4 A at t 5v
per drive) Normally extra power supply is nol required the BBC Compute-
" T 15 NOT
40 Track SS 'DD diskelis (10/Box) £18 • VAT £20
40 Track DS OD drsketls (10-Box) £23 + VAT £26
80 Track SS DD disketls (10/Bo*) £28 « VAT £32
80 Track DS'DD disketts 1 10 Box) £30 - VAT £34
ALL ABOVE DISKETT ARE CERTIFIED EITHER MEMOREX OR DETALIFE
£147 ♦ VAT
£286 • VAT
£173 * VAT
£330 • VAT
£199 • VAT
£217 - VAT
£382 • VAT
£408 • VAT
£169
£329
£199
£379
£229
£249
£439
£469
YOUR CONTACTS AT AKHTER ARE
DEALER-BULK ENQUIRIES
HAMAYUN MUGHAL
TELEPHONE ORDERS
PAULA HAYES
DEALER ORDERS
TONY GLOVER
BUSINESS SYSTEMS ENQUIRIES
DENNIS SUTCH
EXPORT ENQUIRIES
MAHAMAD EDIB
ECONET SYSTEM TECHNICAL ENQUIRIES
ALAN LAFFOLEY
ACCOUNTS
CARON ANDREWS
DESPATCH
PAUL SWIFT
REPAIRS
JOHN MAULE
Prices Correct at the time of this advertisement going to press.
BUSINESS SYSTEMS
APRICOT — SIRIUS — SANYO
IBM - TEXAS — TORCH
APRICOT Portable Executive Computer 16 Bil Micro 256K RAM up to
1 44 megabytes floppy disk storage 3'/' Sony disks Portable brief case
styling Modem with auto dialler (optional) hard disk optional Vast software
library (compatible with Sirius i)
Apricot with Single Drive and Motitor £1690 • VAT
Apricot with Oouble Drive and Monitor and
Free Printer or 2nd Monitor £1890 ♦ VAT
SANYO PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER
16 Bit Micro 128K RAM expandable to 256K Single or Double Disk Drive
built in fuH colour graphics (640 x 200 pixels in 8 colours) IBM compatible
Free software. Sanyo MBC 550 128K RAM single dnve and tree software
Including Wordstar and Calcstar L- 49 • VAT
Sanyo MBC 555 128K double drrve and tree software including Wordstar
Calcstar, Inforstar Datastar etc ^999 + v *f
SIRIUS t Sinus 1 Computer with 12BK RAM and I 2 megabyte Floppy
disc storage including CP M 86 MS DOS and
Microsoft Basic £2195 * VAT
Sinus 1 Computer with 256K RAM and 24 megabyte Floppy disk storage
Including C C M 86 MS DOS 8 Microsoft Basic £2895 • VAT
CF500 COMPUTER with colour monitor includes Twin 400K disks Torr.hnei
Operating System free perfect software (perfect wr-ter, perlect speller
perfect calc perfect tiler) Torcbmail Plus (Eleclrontc Ma-li Torch Mars
(Financial modelling with graphics) Torchtel (Viewdata Access System-
Executive Aid (Menu System 1
Datel 600 (Link to outside ma-nlrame services 1 e
Telecom Gold) £2950 • VAT
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER
Tl 502 Dual 320KB Drives 256K RAM Up to 10 megabyte on board storage
possible Tl speech command hardware option brings a new level of user
friendliness to computing Allows voice operated keyboard control
(Optional) Price C26S0 • VAT
MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS ARE AVAILABLE
COMPLETE WORDPROCESSING
SYSTEMS
INCLUDING DAISYWHEEL PRINTER
From £695 + VAT
SYSTEM 1BBC Micro model B Wordwise. Phoenix monitor Smith Corona
TP1 Daisywheel Printer Cassett Recorder * all the necessary cables and
documentation £696 • VAT £799.25
SYSTEM 2. BBC Micro model B • Disk Interface Phoenix Monitor 100K
Single Disk Drive Wordwise Smith Corona Darsywbeel Printer
♦ alt the necessary cables and documentation
Pnce only £895 - VAT £1029 25
SYSTEM 3. BBC Micro model B ♦ Disk Interlace Phoenix Monitor Dual
Disk Drives 200K Wordwise Smith Corona Daisywheel Printer ♦ all the
necessary cables and documentation
Price £999 * VAT £1148 85
SYSTEM 4. BBC Micro model B * Disk Interface Sanyo High-Res Green
Monitor Wordwise (or view) Juki 6100 Daisywheel Printer Single 400K
Disk Drive • all the necessary cables and documentation
£1049 • VAT £1206 35
SYSTEM 5. BBC Mod B Micro ♦ Disk Interface Sanyo High Res Green
Monitor Wordwise (or view) Juki 6100 Daisywheel Printer Dual Disk
Drive BOOK « alt the necessary cables and documentation
Price £1195 - VAT £1374.25
SYSTEM 6. Sanyo Hi Bit IMB pc Compatible Mk ' 128K RAM, Singi-
Dtive 1 60K, Wordstar Calc Slat, Sanyo High Res Green Monitor. Juki 6 MX>
Daisywheel Printer + alt cable and documentation
Pnce Only £11 45 • VAT £1316.75
SYSTEM 7. Sanyo 16 Bit, IBM pc Compatible Mick; f 2BH n-'-V Dual Disk
Drives 360K. Wordstar, Cate Star. Mailmerqe, Infostar. Speilstar Datastar
Sanyo High Res Green Monitor Juki 6100 Daisywheel Printer * and ail
necessary cables and documentation
F'ff e £1 395 f VAT - £1604.25
system 8. ! omponent
Monitor and Wordstar with Colour Facilities
FT -ce £1445+ VAT £1661.75
SYSTEM 9. lesCoiour
Monitor and Wordstar with Colour Facilities
Price £1695 + VAT £1949.25
WE CAN ALSO SUPPLY PACKAGES WITH COMPONENTS OF YOUR
OWN CHOICE PLEASE PHONE (C —
HAMAYUN MUGHAL FOR A PRlCl
PlhHTER
CPmPUTEB GRDLIP
28/29 BURNT MILL
HARLOW. ESSEX CM20 2HU U K
Tel HARLOW (0279) 443521 Telex: 818894 AKHTER G
ORDERING INFORMATION: f ^
We accept official orders from UK Government and Education
establishments Carriage is Free (UK only) lor normal delivery If express
delivery is required please add £8 (X) ♦ VAt per parcel We accpet telephone
orders on Barclay and Access Card olease ring (0279) 443521 (10 lines i
All cheques made payable to AKHTER INSTRUMENTS
N.B. ALL VAT INCLUDED PRICES ARE THE CORRECT PRICES.
EXCL VAT PRICES HAVE BEEN ROUNDED UP TO NEAREST POUND
OPENING HOURS: MON-FRI 9am-6.30pm, SAT 10am-5pm
We welcome callers, no parking problems.
obofT Plotfc
w ^
£59.50
INC. VAT
CARRIAGE
£3.00
★ FOR BBC MICRO MODEL B CASSETTE OR DISC
★ ENABLES PICTURES TO BE DRAWN OR TRACED
★ WORKS IN ANY GRAPHICS MODE - COLOUR SELECTABLE
★ DESIGNED BY A TEACHER FOR EDUCATIONAL USES BY
STAFF AND PUPILS
★ TRANSPARENT TABLET ALLOWS DIAGRAMS AND MAPS,
ETC. TO BE COPIED
★ ROUTINE INCLUDED TO SAVE QUICKLY TO DISC OR
CASSETTE
★ SCREEN DUMPS FOR EPSON AND SEIKOSHA PRINTERS
★ TRIED AND TESTED - DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTURER
COMMANDS FOR:
LINES
CIRCLES
RECTANGLES
INFILLING
COPY AND MOVE
PRINT AT
AS WELL AS TRACE MODE
Please send me
1 enclose Cheque/P. 0. for
Name —
Address Code
GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT
OFFICIAL ORDERS WELCOME
/■HNHk rnMPI ITPR NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
I ■ • GUIVirU 1 nn BONTOFT AVENUE, HULL HU5 4HF 1
^ DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED TEL: (0482) 448562.
AT LAST. THE VITAL LINK
BETWEEN PHYSIOGICAL DATA
AND YOUR BBC MICRO.
The Harvard Universal Data Interface is a
transient store that links the BBC Micro to an
oscilloscope, a chart recorder, a dot matrix
printer, a biological pre-amplifier, a human
subject, a biological preparation, a stimulator,
an X-Y plotter, a TV monitor and a disc drive.
The Universal Data Interface:
■ Accepts analogue data in the frequency range
DCto6KHz.
■ Typical applications include ECG, EMG, EEG,
Evoked Response Extra-cellular and Intra-
cellular recordings.
■ Has available a complete range of software.
■ Costs just £450. (exc. VAT P&P extra).
For full details contact Harvard Apparatus at the
address below.
FURTHERING
Harvard
HE REALMS OF RESEARCH.
Harvard Apparatus Ltd., FircroftWay, Eden bridge, Kent TN86HE.
Tel: (0732)864001. Telex: 95293.
t* !
SOLIDISK SIDEWAYS RAM: 8,000 UNITS SOLD
"Exciting” (ACORN USER JAN 84), "Power to your Beeb" (PCN 61 , MAY 84)
HOW ABOUT COMPATIBILITY?
The Sideways RAM is completely compatible with all issues of BBC computers, disks, all
sideways ROMs, second processor. Torch disk pack, Teletext, Econet etc. but NOT with
ROM extension boards, since it can replace them.
Its power consumption is so low that you can use it in conjunction with twin disks.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Occupying the same place as sideways ROMs (such as BASIC, DFS, CPN etc), it is treated
like other Sideways ROMs and therefore can replace them.
The Machine Operating System uses Sideways RAMs as naturally as Basic, without
procedures or programming rules.
Sideways RAM can run any language, any filing system including Hi-Basic and second
processor DFS.
SIDEWAYS RAM POWER IS IN THE SOFTWARE:
Different from Sideways ROMs, Sideways RAM can be written into. This property gives
birth to a NEW GENERATION of software for the BBC computer: SERVICE RAMs and
VIRTUAL MEMORY PROCESSOR.
Each SERVICE RAM has its own commands and code as its counterpart Sideways ROM but
has its own private workspace and storage area thus leaving you with the lowest possible
P AGE value (PAGE =&EOO). On the other hand, the Virtual Memory Processor can run huge
MACRO BASIC programs (Megabytes are not the limit), keep them on disk and uses the
basic 32k of RAM as transient program area. All software for the Sideways RAM system is
free.
FREE SOFTWARE?
Solidisk Sideways RAMs is bundled with lots and lots of software, FREE and we mean FREE,
now and later. It is quite simple: for every Sideways RAM sold, £1 is spent on MORE
software. Sideways RAM users are invited to spot new applications and contributions are
rewarded at the usual rate of £1 for every 4 bytes of machine code.
The result is printed on the opposite page.
HOW ABOUT THE FUTURE?
Solidisk Sideways RAM is also widely used in schools for ECONET stations, by professional
programmersfor writing programs, research laboratories for RAM disk data base, at home
for wordprocessing and now even games.
New areas are being developed: Telesoft and Teletext logging, Speech Processor
assembler and Relational Data base to cite a few.
As the price of 16k EPROMs are as high as £20 at the present time, more Sideways ROM
software publishers will be willing to sell their software on disk. Solidisk will mail FREE OF
ANY COST their advertisement to ALL Sideways RAM users providing the price of the Disk
version reflects savings in the cost of the ROMs. Solidisk believes that the majority of BBC
users will have their Sideways RAM fitted before the end of next year.
Also unlike other makes (SIR, APTL, WE Sideways ROM/RAM extension boards and the
Aries B20), Solidisk Sideways RAM is expandable from 16k right to 128k and now to 208K.
As a result of VLSI technology and volume of sales, Solidisk products also have a lower
shop price than any other products.
OTHER PRODUCTS FROM SOLIDISK:
UVIPAC EPROM ERASER:
Uvipac is powered by the mains, simple to operate and can erase 3 Eproms of any type in
just 15 minutes. Uvipac is ideal for home use.
UVIPAC EPROM ERASER
TEAC DISC DRIVES FD55 Senes
DETACHABLE KEYBOARD CASE:
Remove the keyboard from the BBC computer and instal it in the new case. Replace the old
3" keyboard tail by the new 24" cable and you can work really in comfort even for very long
hours. The keyboard case is more a productivity tool than just ergonomics.
CPU CASE:
Replace thetop ofthe BBC computer case by this metal CF*U case. Sityour monitor ontop (it
is tough enough to take even your weight!). The CPU case has 2 compartments for half
height 5.25" disk drives with fixing screws, air vents and provision for a bolt-on fan. At first
sight, there is no trailing wire. Looking inside, there is enough room to accomodate Teletext
Adapter, Second Processor, Solidisk and a fan!
DOUBLE DENSITY DISK INTERFACE:
2 versions of this double density interface will be available: as direct replacement for the
Acorn Disk Interface (Version A) and as a Second Disk Interface (Version B) adding to your
existing interface. They all use the same Western Digital controller chip (WD1770).
Price £39.95 inclusive
DISKDRIVES:
3 models are being offered:
STL55A: 40 tracks single sided, SLT55F: 2 x 80 tracks, double sided and the best of mini
floppy technology STL320: 2 x 160 tracks, double sided.
All disk drives are supplied with cables, formatter disk, head cleaning kit and 2 year
warranty.
HOW EASY TO INSTALL:
WHICH SIDEWAYS RAM DO YOU NEED?
Solidisk Sideways RAM is available in 16 (SWR16), equivalent to 1 sideways ROM, 32k
(SWR32), equivalent to 2 sideways ROMs, 128k (Solidisk), equivalent to 8 sideways ROMs
and the 20 6 Solidisk equivalent to 1 2 Sideways ROMs. You can buy a small Sideways RAM
now and upgrade it later. From the SWR16 to the SWR32 is by straight exchange, from the
SWR32 to the Solidisk is by adding the 96k Solidisk Extension, from 1 28k to 20* is by
exchange of the RAM card.
FREE SOLIDISK SOFTWARE:
W0RD64:
WORD 64 is a Service RAM, it uses Solidisk as storage for WORDWISE, up to 64K free
characters for any text.
SILEXICON:
SILEXICON is a Spelling Checker for Solidisk. SILEX scans texts at more than a 1 ,000 words
a minute and compared each word against the dictionary, Silexicon marks the mis-spelt
words for either addition to the dictionary or eventual correction.
PRINTER BUFFER:
PRINTER BUFFER is a Service RAM, it increases 500 times the normal 32 bytes printer queue
to 1 5K bytes, completely transparent to the user. PRINTER BUFFER is as useful for printing a
long document as for a short program listing.
STLEOO:
STLOO is a Service RAM, it is Disk Filing System that leaves PAGE at &EOO, has built-in disk
formatter/verifier and automatic track stepping for 40/80 track disk drives.
STL150:
STL1 50 is a Service RAM to enhance Acorn's .90 DFS to offer up to 1 50 directory entries per
side.
STL-RFS:
STL-RFS (RAM/ROM filing system) is a Service RAM and an innovation in portable
applications. STL RFS saves any program in a Sideways ROM format, it can then be copied
onto EPROM to give instant recall of your programs. Plug this EPROM into any sideways
socket, type *RFS and it runs itself. Compatible with the ELECTRON and BBC, tape and
disks, SWR16, SWR32 and Solidisk.
INDEX is a Service RAM, it stores all the entry points of one or several sequential data files
such as mailing list, stock list, accounts etc, merges, sorts them in alphabetical order and
gives instant access to any record. INDEX can handle 1 ,100 records of any size, any type, any
number of fields.
MACRO-BASIC:
MACRO-BASIC is a program generator. You use a wordprocessorto create a command file
which is then scanned by MACRO. MACRO uses other programs, subroutine libraries, text
files (actually any or all files on your disks) as source to generate a bug free BASIC program
which can be very large (Megabytes are not the limit).
Push in the base unit
Connect the control wires
VIRTUAL MEMORY PROCESSOR:
VIRTUAL MEMORY PROCESSOR (VMP) uses extensively overlay technique and Solidisk as
back store for very large programs that cannot be run otherwise. VMP uses the 32k basic
RAM as transient area: it operates on a Main Program as generated by MACRO-BASIC,
taking different segments from the Solidisk Store, POOL, HOLD, FREE or CLEAR segments
from the transient area. For example: VMP will accept 20 segments of 10k of Basic
assembler and assembles it into 16k of machine code.
MENU:
MENU puts all computer's resources at your fingertips. MENU displays your Sideways
Firmare, Disk Directories, Sideways RAM system, Solidisk System etc.
MORE FREE SIDEWAYS RAM SOFTWARE TO COME:
While others are making promises for software to be written, Solidisk Systems RAM comes
with a complete, novel and powerful software package including compatibility with existing
sideways software.
Each Sideways RAM is accompanied by the Sideways RAM User Manual, full 1 year
warranty, 1 utility disc* and free mailing on all new publicationsfrom the Software Support
PRICE LIST (including VAT and post & packing)
SIDEWAYS RAM
SWR16K £43.65
SWR32K £59.95
128K SOLIDISK £150.95
208K SOLIDISK £243.00
The following are upgrade prices for existing Sideways Ram owners:
16 - 32 (please return complete item) £18.00
16 - SOLIDISK (please return complete item) . £109 00
32 -SOLIDISK (no return necessary) £93.00
128K-208K SOLIDISK f93.00
DISK DRIVES:
STL55A (40 track, single sided, cased with cables, diskette, manual
and 2 years warranty) £142.95
STL55F (2X80 track, double sided, as above) £232.95
STL320 (2 X 160 tracks, double sided, as above) £499.00
FLOPPY DISKS (DATALIFE Verbatim):
MD525 (SS DD 40 or 80 track) box of 1 0 £16.00
MD550 (DSDD 40 or 80 track) box of 10 £22 00
MD557 (DS DD 98 TPI) box of 10 £27.00
CPU CASE £13.00
DETACHABLE KEYBOARD CASE £27.99
Service.
• It should be understood that we cannot put as much free software on a 40 track single sided as on 80 tracks The present
software package require 160 tracks of storage and can be accommodated on ONE 2 X 80 track double sided diskette, only
the most useful programs are supplied on other formats (ie40 track single sided, 2 X 40 track double sided, 80 track single
sided). Should you require the whole collection of free software, please place an order for extra disks
For the technical minded: the Source Code and Technical Manual (3 floppies and a 300 * page book) price = £10, the
SILEXICON EXTENSION PACKAGE (3 floppies and a 40 page mnual, 30,000 word dictionary: English and French now.
German and Spanish planned) price £9.00. '4S' also publishes regular updated SWR utility discs at £3.00.
Every user can do contract work for the SUPPORT SERVICE and make a lot of money for him/herself'
EPROM PROGRAMMER (used with Sideways Ram) £16.00
UVIPAC EPROM ERASER (free standing unit) £20.95
2764 PACK OF 5 ‘ £36 00
SOURCE CODE + TECHNICAL MANUAL £10.00
SLEXICON EXTENSION PCKAGE £9 00
WE STOCK A LARGE RANGE OF PRINTERS AND MONITORS CALL
OUR SALES OFFICE FOR IMMEDIATE QUOTATION
Credit Card Account:
HOW TO ORDER?
You can order any item using the coupon. Post and packing is only charged once.
Access and Barclay card holders can place their order by phone.
Educational authorities, Acorn dealers and OEMs can obtain quantity discounts.
Name:
Address:
Callers are requested to ring first for appointment.
Total: £
If ordering more than one item, deduct £1 per item as post and packing cost is only charged
once.
SOLIDISK TECHNOLOGY LIMITED SOLIDISK'S NEW TELPHONE NUMBER:
17 SWEYNE AVE SOUTHEND-ON-SEA (0702) 354674
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA (10 lines with automatic exchange)
ESSEX SS2 6JQ
SINGLE BOARD 6809 2nd PROCESSOR
FOR THE BBC MICRO.
PROVIDES A LOW-COST DEVELOPMENT
SYSTEM FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS.
Sits inside the BBC or plugs into an extension rack
Enables standard Flex format Discs to run on BBC
Supports High Level Language Compilers
Cross Assemblers and Disassemblers for most micros
Connects directly on to the tube
64k DRAM on board
Two 28 pin bvte wide memory sockets
Acorn Bus compatible DIN 41612 Bus interface
Also available as a single board controller
For full information contact Phil Taylor at
r Disc Drive Multiplexer
★ NO SWITCHES
★ NO SOFTWARE
★ NO EXTRA CABLES OR CONNECTORS
This is the simple low cost alternative to buying disc
drives for every BBC. This unit allows the connection
of up to 4 BBC Computers to the same disc drives.
The operation is total automatic because it uses one of
the disc interface outputs to electronically switch
between computers. The computer will simply wait for
access to the drives if they are in use. All the DFs
commands are used as normal. It is ideal for use in
schools and offices and saves having to purchase 1 , 2
or 3 dual drive for about £500 each. The unit is
complete with its own power supply.
Prices: £ 75.00 + VAT for dual unit
£135.00 + VAT for quad unit,
BBC Interface Design Service
We now offer a complete design service for interfacing
the BBC Computer to external equipment, e.g.
analogue and digital multiplexing, motor control, and
even complete experiments.
We will be pleased to quote for the complete hardware
and software design and manufacture for your system.
For further details contact:
Benwick Electronics
9 Doddington Road, Benwick, Nr. March, Cambs.
PE15 0UX.
^Tel: Benwick (035477) 471
/~ \
e programming
MLthematical PROBLEMS WITH METRIC OR SI UNITS?
Q
Wcientific UNIVERSAL UNITS CONVERTOR
The METRICATOR suite of programs for the BBC-B and ELECTRON
may be your answer. Can convert ANY unit into ANY other
compatible unit eg. KM/LITRE into MILES/GAL or BTU/HOUR/FT2
into JOULES/SEC/M2 . "SI" may be specified and the correct SI
equivalent automatically calculated. You do not need to know
it. Saves hours of work.
15 UNIQUE routines designed for EASY insertion into YOUR
program give instant access to many thousands of
combinations of units.
Multiples and sub-multiples (mega, micro, nano etc) all
handled automatically. Your own units may be added.
Tape and disc versions available. Both contain a library of
units, a program to give immediate conversions and a
demonstration program to produce conversion tables. Disc
version uses a random access file to reduce RAM requirements
and BINARY CHOPPING for VERY fast access.
All techniques including data packing fully explained in
detail. The routines are written to a VERY high standared.
We are so confident that we GUARANTEE to include ANY
conversion you specify when ordering.
NEED ANYTHING? . Contact us for any mathematical or
scientific methods. We either have it or will find it.
WANTED ! more mathematical and scientific programs and
routines of METRICATOR standard. Send yours to us for
evaluation (tape or printed listing and example run).
METRICATOR Prices (Inc pip)
Tape version £6.95.
Disc version! Acorn standard 40 track) £9.95
including supplementary disc file and
maintenance programs-BBC only.
Instruction manual and program listing only £3.75
(refundable against subsequent program purchace).
Remittance to:-
"EMS Programming"
134 Buckswood Drive
Crawley
Sussex, RH11 8JG.
Please state BBC or ELECTRON.
120
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
ATOM
■ ■ ACTION SEQUENCE
I = CO NVERSION
Barry Pickles finalises his Basic translation kit
I N THE first two parts of this series we
listed some of the keywords in BBC
Basic, explaining how they can be con-
verted for the Atom, and we discovered
which VDU calls have an Atomic equiv-
alent. Before we get down to actually
translating a BBC Basic program into
AtomBasic, however, let’s consider
*FX calls and the problematic conver-
sion of machine code from one micro to
the other.
A full summary of *FX calls was pub-
lished in the November ’82 issue of
Acorn User. The ones that can be used
are given in table 1. In conversion most
calls can be ignored as, generally, they
are not essential to the running of a pro-
gram, even though they are performing
sophisticated functions. *FX calls are
also used in the form A% = &XX: CALL
OSBYTE, where XX is the number cor-
responding to the *FX call.
*FX Atom equivalent
6,x ?#FE = x
19 LI.#FE66
119 SHUT #
121 INKEY (see text)
132 SameasHIMEM
133 Always #8000 on Atom
134 A = ?*DF‘256 + ?#DE 4- ?#E0
135 ?A (where A is as above)
150/151 Read/write SHEILA
Table 1. *FX calls
Machine code is the most difficult of
all to convert, since most machine-
code routines nowadays use machine
specific OS calls to save coding. The
only way to deal with this is to ascertain
what the code is doing (if you’re lucky,
from a program description) then write
your own code, using Atom OS calls.
You will find, in published programs at
least, that the same calls are used
repeatedly and with time you’ll become
used to them. You will also find that few
non-BBC programs are in assembler
format. Most POKE the op-codes and
data directly into memory. If the code is
for a 6502-based machine (Apple, Atari,
Commodore 64, Oric, Pet, Vic) you can
do this yourself, then disassemble it to
see whether you can make sense of it.
You will further find that few BBC
programs make direct calls to OS rou-
tines and ports; instead, they use in-
direction, either through block zero or
OSBYTE (see above). OSBYTE corre-
sponds to location &FFF4 and can
address three blocks, known as FRED,
JIM and SHEILA. FRED is page &FC,
JIM is page &FD and SHEILA is page
&FE. Calls to the FRED and JIM areas
access the Beeb’s 1MHz bus and, if
the program does this, it is non-
convertible.
Reading and writing to SHEILA
allows access to various internal chips
and conversion may be possible if you
know what it’s doing. One area of
memory that can be easily converted is
associated with the user port (VIA),
mapped at &FE60-&FE6F, directly cor-
responding to £B800-£B80F on the
Atom. Calls are made through the A
and X registers. A% = &96 performs a
read, while A% = &9 7 does a write. The
X register is used as an offset from
&FE00, thus:
LDA £&96
LDX £&60
JSR&FFF4
reads location &FE60, which is port B of
the VIA.
Converting machine code is a matter
of practising until you get proficient at
it.
To convert a program successfully, it
helps to follow a plan of action.
First, read through the program,
using the outline description if there is
one, and break it down into short action
sequences, writing each one down and
the line numbers where it occurs. This
is like preparing a flow-chart in reverse.
Mark the sequences that you think will
convert without much problem and
note any in which AtomBasic will allow
you to program more efficiently.
Now make a list of every variable
used, its type (integer, string or floating
point) and what it is used for. Against
each one, allocate a similar type of
Atom variable. This is where you may
need to do some lateral thinking. Since
most Basics allow the use of long vari-
able names and recognise at least the
0 REM Cubes
5 REM <C> ACOrnsoft 1982
20 MODE 1
30 VDU 5
AO VDU 19, 2.4:0;
50 REPEAT
e>n FOR V s ? ~0 TO 1200 STEP 10
70 H * 1100 RND < Y < >
80 PROCCTfBE< RND ( 1300 > r »0 , H < .
<1200 RND< 4 > 1>
90 NEXT
1 00 VDU 1 9 . RND< 3 > , RND< 7 > ; u ;
11(1 U NT 1 1 FALSE
1 20 DEEPROCCIJBEc X - . V- . S> ,C >
130 D* 3: E% S ^D*
140 VDU29, X*; Y>;
1 50 GCOL.O.C*
1 GO MOVED . O : MOVED . S* :
PI .OTS5. D*. E>.
1 70 MOVED . 0 : PI .OT85 . 1 < . E*
180 MOVEO , 0 : PLOT 85 . F% , D*
1 90 M< >VEO . O : PI OT 85 . S* . 0
200 GCOLQ , C%* 3
210 DRAW S*.S*: DRAWU.S*:
DRAW 0 , O : DRAW S* . 0
220 MOVEO,
230 DRAW D> . E* : DRAW E< . E*
240 DRAW \> . D>' : DRAW . fj
250 MOVE DRAW f . E >
2G0 END PRO'
Listing 1. ‘Perspective’ series of overlap-
ping cubes drawn from top to bottom of
screen by a BBC Basic program from
‘Creative Graphics on the BBC Micro’
first two characters as significant, you
will often find that more than Atom’s 27
variables are needed. You can always
use arrays and, for tables, byte and
string indirection may be a better sol-
ution.
Next, look at the routines again and
see if any are incompatible with the
Atom (eg, SOUND effects) or not essen-
tial to the program. Delete these -you
can always add something later, if
memory allows.
Now you are ready to begin. Convert
each routine separately and test the
conversion before proceeding to the
next one. Do the easy ones first. Suc-
cessfully converting three-quarters of a
program gives you the incentive to
tackle the remainder, rather than get-
ting bogged down at the beginning by
attempting the difficult bits.
Listing 1 is a BBC Basic program,
again taken from the Acornsoft book
page 126 ►
ACORN USER JULY 1984
BBC SPEECH
PRICE B REAKTHROU GH
Speech Synthesizer
For The BBC Computer
Totally unlimited vocabulary is now possible with the revolutionary
“SWEET TALKER” Speech Synthesizer for the B.B.C. A or B Microcomputer,
any series.
The CHEETAH “SWEET TALKER” simply plugs into speech socket IC99
within the computer.
No soldering, no cutting of tracks, :
Based on an allophone system you
easily program any word, sentence
or phrase and incorporate speech
into your software games.
Fully tested and guaranteed.
Complete with demonstration cassette
and full instructions.
Price includes V.A.T., Postage and Packing
Delivery normally 14 days.
Export orders at no extra cost
Dealer enquiries welcome.
Send cheque/ PO now to:-
CHGGT4H MARKETING LIMITED
Dept. AU3, 24 Ray Street, London EC1 . Tel: 01 833 4909
Cheetah, products available from
benches of r ^i.i.i.i,i,|j.u[n WHSMITH 4 * and Rumbelows
122
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
ATOM FORUM
Barry Pickles this month pays
good money for mode 4 text
a
break key mod, aline deleter am
j
a disc utility to recover lost dat;
a
HAVING said recently how complicated
it was to write in text 4, along comes
our old friend Jeff Carter (now living in
Ponderosa territory) to prove me
wrong. It’s not exactly Helvetica -
Acorn User's typeface -but it works,
and earns Jeff £20. Over to you,
pardner:
After reading the Atom Forum’s
article on Mode 4 text (November
issue), I thought I’d send you the
system I have used, which is much less
memory-intensive than the methods
presented, requires no assembly
language and permits the size of the
characters to be varied. Its drawbacks
are that it’s somewhat slow and the
characters look rather strange (especi-
ally K, Q, V and X).
The routine is given in listing 1. It
plots one character at the current
graphics position and resets the
graphics position to five pixels to the
right of the character.
The L vector contains one byte for
each digit and two bytes for each
upper-case letter. The seven least-sig-
nificant (rightmost) bits of each byte
are used to control whether the seg-
ments of a seven-segment ‘display’ are
on or off:
2
4 3 Resulting
— • «- graphics
g 7 position
Current 1
graphics — ►
position 5
The zero (least-significant) bit controls
segment 1, and the sixth bit controls
segment 7. A one means the segment
will be plotted; a zero, the segment will
not be plotted. Digits are plotted as one
seven-segment ‘display’, letters as two
displays’ with two common segments.
Figure 1 shows the character set that
I’ve defined.
The factor of five given in the plot
statements is the length of one seg-
ment and produces fairly large charac-
ters. Digits are 6x11 pixels and letters
are 11x11 pixels. This factor can be
□ IE3H5b1Bb
77 44 3E 6E 4D 6B 79 46 7F 4F
R&CdEFGHI^WLn
1B4E 3F68 3322 386C 3B22 1B02 336A 194C 6622 7602 1D4A 31 20 1746
57 64 33 66 1B0E 4B2E 5B2E 2B6A 46 02 31 64 49 64 71 64 5E 2C 49 0C 3A2E
Figure 1 . The character set
any value in the range 2 to 95. Any
smaller and garbage will be plotted;
any larger and the characters will be
too tall for the display (and only par-
tially plotted).
I got the idea of using the bits of a
byte to control a seven-segment ‘dis-
play’ from a biorhythm program pub-
lished in an Atom user group news-
letter. I designed this character set and
wrote the routine to select the control-
ling byte(s) from a character’s ASCII
code.
The routine is not limited to mode 4.
It will work in any graphics mode,
including colour modes. The size and
shape of the characters will differ from
mode to mode if the plot statements
are not altered.
Page 125 ►
5
REM MQUt 4 CHARACTERS
10
Ul* L ( 6 3 ) , A ( 1 0 )
20
1L = ** 6t 3F 44 7 7 ;
L14
s
•46796840
30
L 1 8 = »4Elh4F7F;
Li 12
=
*2?33683F
40
L 11 6 = # 22 3F 6C 38 J
L 1 20
z
S6A330218
50
L 1 2 4 = «226b4C19;
L 1 28
z
C4A1D0276
60
L 1 32 = *46172031 ;
L 1 36
z
*66336457
70
L 1 4 0 = &2E4HQE lrt;
L 1 44
2
A6A2B2F5B
80
Ll4fl = *64310246;
L 1 52
=
*64716449
90
L 1 5 b = * OC 492C5E }
L • 60
r
»2E3A
99
REM DEMONSTRATION
ROUTINE
100
$ A = " A T UP "
110
CLEAR 4; MOVE 10,
95
120
P OR I = 0 TO LEN(A) - 1
1 30
C = A ? 1 ; G0SU8
c
14 0
NFXT I
ISO
LTN* * F F E 3 ; PRINT
$12
160
END
909
REM CHAR ACT! R PLOTTING
ROUTINE
1 itOOc
IF C = 32; PLOT 0 (
r 10,
10
; RETURN
1010
IF C < 46; RETURN
1020 C = C - 48; IF C < 1 0 ; GUSUH c? PLOT 0, 5# 0? RETURN
1030 C = C - 17; IF C < 0 ON c > ?s; RETURN
10 4 0 C = 2 * C + 10J GOSUtJ d? PLOI 0, 5, 0} RETURN
lu99 Rfc"' UPPfRCASE LETTER. PLOTTING ROUTINE
lirtonu = C; GfSUh e
1 1 1 0 C = D 4 1 ? GQSJH e; RETURN
1199 REM UN'E Sfc VEN •SEGMENT “DISPLAY
i?oo*c = l?c; plot (cm), o,
1210 c = C/2; PLOT (CM), 5,
1220 C = C/2; PLOT (C*l), Or
1230 C = c/2; Plot (CM), -5
1240 C = c/?; PLOT (CM), 0,
125 0 C = c/2; PLOT (CM), 5, 0
1260 C = C/2; PLOT (CM), 0, 5
1270 RETURN
Listing 1 . Mode 4 characters
PLOTTING ROUT INE
Invented a routine or discovered a
hardware modification for the Atom?
Here’s a chance to show your orig-
inality and win some cash. Send your
idea to: Atom Forum, Acorn User, Red-
wood Publishing, 68 Long Acre,
London WC2 9JH.
5
0
-5
0
•5
ACORN USER JULY 1984
MEGABYTE BARGAIN.
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rush me the following: (AJ
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ing: (ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT & CARRIAGE.) 1
Quantity
Description
Price
I enclose a
Or please c
the amoun
My Access,
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lebit my credit card account with
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Bare la yea rd (please tick) No. is
Name.
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Address.
Telephone -iTopus Supplies Ltd.
ATOM FORUM
H
Break key
modification
IF, like me, you find the break key to be
in exactly the wrong position, this
simple mod. (right) from Alan Knowles
is the answer to your prayers. Once
complete, the break key will operate
only when pressed in conjunction with
the CTRL key. It wins Alan CIO.
Fast deletion
of program lines
A FIVER goes to Colin Hollyman of Fare-
ham, Hants, for his time-saving line-
remover utility. He writes:
The Atomdel program in December’s
Acorn User certainly is a useful utility. It
is usually faster to get the computer to
delete unwanted lines and it is less
likely to lead to errors. But how many
programmers will take the time and
trouble to find the right tape, find the
place on the tape and load the pro-
gram, just for the sake of deleting a few
lines?
I have a simple routine which can be
used to remove any number of lines,
provided they are at the end of the pro-
gram, and temporary lines - eg, aids to
debugging or data for testing -can
usually be written as a subroutine at
the end of the main program.
Suppose all lines after 1000 (in-
cluded) are to be deleted. Change line
1000 by entering
1000@ (RETURN)
The new line should contain no spaces
and any character (other than a
number) can be used.
Set a pointer to the start of the cur-
rent text space
A = *2900
Then increment A until it finds the line
DO A = A -F LENA 4- 3;UNTIL $A = “@”
using the character entered in the first
line to be deleted. Set the ‘end of pro-
gram’ pointer
?(A-2) = 255
and then reset TOP by
END
On listing, all lines with a line number
1000 and greater will have been
deleted.
All this, except the change to line
1000, can be abbreviated and entered
directly as one line:
A = ^2900; DO A = A 4- LENA 4- 3;U.$A =
”@”;?(A-2) = 255;E.
T 5v
BEFORE
IC25.24 IC9:13
AFTER
+ 5v
R23
R38
T
C11
CTRL BREAK
i t
Ov
4- 5
+ 5v
Ov Ov
1. Unsolder keyswitch wire at point A (BREAK key).
2. Solder length (lOin) of insulated wire to keyswitch wire.
3. Slide insulating sleeve over joint and down hole A to isolate new wire from PCB
track
4. Solder other end to point B (after removing solder resist lacquer).
Modification to make ‘BREAK’ operative only when used in conjunction with ‘CTRL’, by
Alan Knowles
3
Utility to recover
lost data
DAVID LAKE of Newbury hopes his
disc utility will be as useful to readers
as it has been to him. It earns him our
£20 accolade. Let David explain:
I would be surprised if any owner of
an Atom disc system can say that he
has never lost a valuable program by
accidentally corrupting a floppy. This
may occur if a floppy is left in the drive
on power-up, for example, or upon
interruption of the power supply during
a disc write operation. Another mad-
dening cause of lost data is failure to
type a space as a qualifier after the
*SET command. The short program in
listing 2 is a disc utility designed to
help recover that lost data.
The most usual cause of a corrupted
floppy is an error in the first sector,
which is where the catalogue is stored.
If the disc operating system is unable
to read the catalogue, it doesn’t know
where the programs are situated on
the floppy, so it gives up with one of
those DISC ERROR XX’ messages.
The listing enables you to read any of
the valid sectors on the floppy into
memory, from where the programs can
easily be reconstituted, especially if
you use one of the commercial toolkit
ROMs.
An alternative, which often proves
easier, is to store your own dummy
catalogue on to track 0, sector 0. This
may allow the DOS to read the floppy
in the normal way, and once it has
been established what the real file-
names are, the catalogue can be
reformed correctly and stored back on
the floppy. This method naturally
requires a detailed knowledge of the
format of the catalogue, and this is
given in table 1 overleaf.
For the adventurous, table 2 gives
some of the more useful DOS routines
5P.$12
6DIMR10.Q10
7IN. "READ OR WRITE"*R
8IF$R="URITE" ; GOTO 10
9*R="RERD”
10P."*R"
15IN. "TRRCK"R; IFfl>39 G.15
17?#80=fl
20IN. "SECT0R"R; IF R>9 G.20
25?#81=A
30 1 N . " BLOCKS " ft ; I F A+?#8 1 > 1 0 .; G . 30
32?#82=A
35$Q="?#84=#"
40 1 N . " START PRGE " *Q+6 ; I FLENQ >8 ; G . 40
50?#S3=255; EXEC$Q.i ?#84=?#84-l
110DIM LL5
1 12LL2=#8200
113P.021
1 13FORX=0TO1
1 17P*#8200
120CJSR #E77R
130BNE LL1
140JSR #E75B
150JSR LL2;3
160IFSR="WRITE" ; C : LL0 JSR #E796;3
161IF*R*"READ ,, ;C 110 JSR #E792;3
162CLDR #83; STR #F6
163LDA #84; STR #F7;3
1 70 1 F$R= " RERD " ; CLDR <2#53;3
1 72 1 F$R= " UR I TE M ; CLD A <5#4B;3
130CJSR #E7ED
190 JSR #E7A4
200BNE LL0
210LL1 RTS
220 LL2 LDfi #80
230STR #EC
240LDA #81
250STR #ED
260LDA #82
270STR #F1
280JMP #E709
4203
430N.
435P . t6 > P=#8200 ; L I NKP
440END
Listing 2. David Lake’s data recovery utility
E
ACORN USER JULY 1984
ATOM FORUM ■
126
#2000-42007
First eight ASCII characters of title.
#2008-#20FF
Names and qualifiers of files. This area is split into 31 blocks
of eight bytes, corresponding to each file. The first seven bytes
give the filename, the eighth gives the ASCII qualifier. Bit 7 of
the qualifier is set if the file is locked.
#2100-42104
Last five ASCII characters of title.
#2105
Extent of table.
#2000 + ?#2105 is the start of the last filename in the catalogue.
#2100 T ?#2105 is the start of the data for the last file (see below).
#2106
Unknown.
#2107
Unknown.
#2108-421 FF
This area is again split into 31 blocks of eight bytes, each block
corresponding to the filename in the same place in the table
above. The format is:
1st 2 bytes, start address
2nd 2 bytes, execution address
3rd 2 bytes, length
4th 2 bytes, start sector.
Table 1 . Catalogue format
which access the INTEL 8271 floppy
disc controller. This device is memory-
mapped to #0A00-40A04, and data is
transferred under non-maskable inter-
rupt. The floppies are formatted into 40
tracks of 10 sectors, each containing
256 bytes. Listing 2 could be adapted
for use in other programs, to make best
use of the storage space on the floppy.
In particular, the Forth system could be
modified to access sectors individually,
giving up to 200 screens per floppy,
instead of the meagre 31 in the stan-
dard system.
#CD
*SET qualifier
M C
# USE qualifier
»EE
Drive number & status
flags
#EC
track number
#ED
sector number
#20 4- number of sectors
to read
o
LL
number of attempts to
read/write before giving
up
F6-.F7
address of start of data
Table 3. Page zero locations
#E000
Reset FDC and initialise its
parameters.
#E016
Printthe message follow-
ing the subroutine call (ter-
minated with a negative
byte).
#E231
Load catalogue buffer
CDIR).
#E237
Load catalogue, decode
and display.
#E3E5
New command line inter-
preter.
#E6FF
Load vectors and prepare
to access first two sectors
on disc (catalogue).
#E729
Read result register of
FDC.
#E75B
Load head.
#E792
Boot block of code for read
or write to #00F2-#00FC.
#E7A4
Act on result of operation.
#E7D2
Send command in acc to
FDC.
#E7E4
Wait for end of operation.
#E809
Send parameter in acc to
FDC.
#E84F
Read data bootstrap code.
4E85A
Write data bootstrap code.
4E87B
NMI service routine.
#EEE2
Setup vectors.
Table 2. DOS routines
◄ page 121
Creative Graphics on the BBC Micro.
Breaking it down, line 20 sets up a hi-
res screen, line 50 starts an outer loop
(which is never jumped out of) and line
60 begins the main loop. Line 70 sets up
H% to a constantly reducing value -the
reason for this will become clear later.
Line 80 calls the cube drawing routine,
passing over values for X%, Y%, S%
and C%. Line 90 terminates the main
loop and line 100 effectively re-runs the
program. The cube drawing routine fol-
lows, and line 130 calculates the pos-
ition of the rear cube face, while line
140 sets the cursor origin to X%, Y%.
Line 150 selects the drawing colour for
the front face, which is then drawn by
doing two filled triangles. Line 200
changes the colour palette again,
before finishing off by drawing the rear
face and the connecting lines.
This program draws a series of pro-
gressively larger cubes from the back
(top) of the screen to the front (bottom).
Hidden line removal is taken care of by
‘pasting over’ new cubes on top.
Now for the variables. H% constantly
reduces in value, ensuring that later
drawings start lower down the screen.
S% uses H% in inverse proportion, to
give a cube size (edge) which is con-
stantly increasing. E% and D% use S%
to calculate the position of the rear
cube face (so that all the cubes are
drawn from the same viewpoint) and
X% and Y% determine where the
cube’s screen position is. The remain-
ing variable, C%, determines the
colour of the cube face.
Listing 2 shows the resulting pro-
gram after conversion to AtomBasic.
This is of course in black-and-white, so
line 40 of the original program has been
ignored, and the REPEAT . . . UNTIL
loop has been changed to a straight re-
run. Variable signs have been pre-
served, with the exception of X%,
which now becomes P.
Since plotting filled triangles in-
volves a lot of coding, I have changed
the cube drawing routine (subroutine c)
so that it draws a filled square. There is
no colour, but lines 150 and 160 deter-
mine whether to draw in white or black,
thus achieving the ‘pasting over’ effect.
Apart from the addition of some vari-
ables for intermediate calculation, the
only other change is the calculation in
lines 50-70 for the parameters to pass
over to the subroutine.
I hope that this short series has
shown Atom users that they have a
passport to the pages of Acorn User
that lie outside the Atom section. I can-
not go into every aspect of other
Basics, but practice makes perfect, so
try your hand at conversion and open
up new horizons on your programming.
GREM : Cubes
120C0 S ' l ; F. S * /
2 F >OPL()TG , Z . < Y
[>>
OREM: 1R ANSI. AHI) BY
! 30F D+7. G F- ♦ I)
200 PLOT 6 . /. ( G
r>>
7REM: B PICKLES
JAfJQ-Y S
27UMOVF. F . < Y
O)
1 UCl.FAR A
lOuiFV O M 7; (Lb
280 PLOT 6 . F , < O
L>>
20F. Y 1TO 192 S. *.
1 OOM- 5
2901 FM 8 R.
no O Y
ITOhF.P 7 TO G
IOOMOVI Z. <0
r>>
AO H 100 A . R . >
180 MOVE P.Y
MO PI OTh . F . < Q
i > >
r >0 7 A . K . *200 ; Y H
190 PLOT M.P.O
J20PL.OT o . (i, O
60 S < lOO II > M
200 Y 'k * < P F)
LAOPLOTO.G.Y
70 C A . R . -2. GOS. C
210 Q O ♦ < p E >
3AOPLOT6 , F . Y
80 Y O
220 N .
150PLOT6./'. < V
D >
9 ON .
230MOVF. G , Y
BOOR .
1UOLI . EFFE3; KPN
24 0PLOT6 . F, i Y l) >
Listing 2. The cubes program converted to AtomBasic
ACORN USER JULY 1984
TEAC 55 Slimline Drives
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£225.00
All prices correct at time of going to press and all offers subject to a vailability.
• These dnves are fully compatible with other computers
and can be still used should you change your computer for another type
• Orders welcomed from Educational Establishments
Vi/der
COMPUTER^F SUPPLIES
Disc Filing System 100% Acorn Compatible
£195.65 Integral Power Supply £30.00 £26.09
Unit 7 Trumpers Way
Hanwell W7 2QA
Tel: (01) 843 9903
and Government Departments.
TEC DRIVES (As used by
Cumana) Vm m
40 TRACK 100K £ 1 29.00 £112.17
40/80 TRACK 200K £169.00 £146.95
40/80 TRACK 400K £209.00 £181.74
For Dual TEC drives the price is double
the single drive price.
Integral Power Supply £30.00 £26.00
Full Twelve
Months Guarantee
How to order
By post: To purchase any of the items simply fill
in the coupon with your requirements.
Enclose your Cheque/P. O. or use your Access/
Barclaycard. Please make cheques payable to:
VIGLEN COMPUTER SUPPLIES and post to
above address. Allow seven days for
delivery and add £8.00 carnage, package f
and insurance on all items. ^ A
By telephone: Ring (01) 843 9903. f
Credit Card holders (Access/
Barclaycard only) can purchase
by telephone. Please give Card f
No., Name, Address and the ^
items required. w
Put an end to inefficient, [ slow cassette tape storage
Speed your (data access
withaTEAC) diskdrive
Vi/jl er\
cg!*»A ut>
the
Oni
,Y s tern
V£l9
95
vicl
Vat
s
Track
switch
on rear
panel
C r>¥f«3I5r y ^
Replacing your cassette with a disk drive means Data
Access in less than 5 seconds! If you are looking for a
guaranteed disk drive that’s fully compatible, at a price
that includes VAT, Formatting Disk, User Manual, Case
and Leads, then just look at our all-inclusive prices!
When ordenng Dual Dnves, please
state which layout you prefer. A or B.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
127
Draw with the BBC micro
and show the true potential of your machine
Fill shapes in one of 23 colours (Mode I)
Draw points, lines, rectangles ellipses and circles
Smooth curves
Wire frame diagrams
Hidden line removal
Draw in perspective
Measure scaled distances
Ekta sketch lines, Half tone facility
Mirror images
Repeat images, SS, enlarged, reduced, stretched
Actual colour displayed
Store up to 10 ellipses or circles in memory
Redraw any one of these at cursor position
Change any actual colour for one of 8 others
Clear screen, load screen, save screen
Print characters or numbers at any pixel point
Error messages for incorrect input
Fully comprehensive manual
33* 496
□
* • •
3
This programme has been purpose designed by professional Graphic Designers
for simplicity and ease of use, and is undoubtedly the most versatile drawing
■ programme on the market at this time. There is no need to input any numerical
data, as all judgements are made visually. The BBC Micro is the finest drawing
designs machine in its price range. Find out what it can do.
The A B Designs drawing programme costs only £35 for over 70 functions (Model B) New AB2 Program, available on disc (price £60 50)
and cassette (price £50.50) When ordering send Cheque/PO and include 50p for P&P Please include phone no with all correspondence
For further information send SAE and phone no to A B Designs. 81 Sutton Common Road. Sutton. Surrey. 01-644 6643 (closed all day
Thursday).
VT100 Intelligent Workstation
Plug the 'Emuterm’ ROM into a BBC Microcomputer (Model B)
to give the benefits of both a personal computer and a DEC VT100 terminal.
★ line speeds to 9600 band, 3 or 5 wire operation
★ almost all VT100 features supported including VT52 mode
★ switch between terminal mode and native microcomputer by simple command
★ fitted in a few minutes by following the simple instructions
★ optional intelligent file transfer mode
★ optional numeric keypad (automatically used if fitted)
VT100 Emuterm
£35 inc p&pandVAT
Other terminal emulators (inc Newbury 7000 and 8000 series)
and communication software available. Please send sae for details.
All orders and enquiries to:
Applied Real Time Systems Ltd.,
Dept AU, POBox32, Sunderland, SR2 7SN.
DEC. VT100 and VT52 are registered trademark* of Digital Equipment Corp , Maynard
128
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
• Package assumes you own a BBC Model B with switched mode power
supply plus 1.2 operating system.
OFFER INCLUDES:
• Disk Interface (call at factory for free fitting)
• 200K 40/80 track single sided TEC FB502 Slimline Disk Drive
including case and all leads
• User Guide
• Utilities Disk including formatting, verifying, BASIC program
comparator, disassembler, Epson screen dump, dual
catalogue (giving 62 files), large printing and others
Unit 7 Trumpers Way
Hanwell W7 2QA
Telephone: (01) 843 9903
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
129
I
MAKE THE MOST
OF YOUR
COMPUTER.
INTERRKE
Acclaimed books from the
experts . . .
□ Dynamic Games for your Electron
Neal Cavalier-Smith. £4.95
□ 36 Challenging Games for the BBC Micro
Chris Callender and Tim Rogers. £5.95
□ Let Your BBC Micro Teach You to Program
Tim Hartnell. £6.45
□ Putting Your BBC Micro to Work (includes a full
word-processing program, plus 14 others)
Chris Callender. £4.95
□ Creating Adventure Programs on your Computer
Andrew Nelson. £4.95
□ The Easy Way to Program Your New Computer
Tim Hartnell. £3.95
□ Practical Applications for the Microcomputer
in the Home.
David Hole. £4.95
□ The Art of Structured Programming
Peter Juliff. £6.95
These books are available from most book and computer
stores. In case of difficulty, order directly from us.
Interface Publications, Dept. QAU,
9-11 Kensington High Street, London W8 5NP.
Please send me the indicated books. I enclose £
Name.
Address
INTERRKE
PUBLICATIONS
We’re the Experts.
(TRADE ONLY Interface Publications are distributed exclusively in the UK and
^ Eire by W H S Distributors. Export trade handled by Interface Publications.)
AVAILABLE NOW
Pulse/Heart monitoring unit for PX-8 & BBC with full support-
ing software & printout facility. Only £99.00 inc. VAT.
Excet EMU3
SOFTWARE SUPPORTED MONITORING INSTRUMENT-BBC MICRO
Enables the BBC (B) to measure and display accurately:
POSITIVE & NEGATIVE-VOLTS ★ AMPS ★ WATTS
OHMS ★ TEMP ★ LIGHT ★ TIME
FEATURES
Up to 6 simultaneous readings
Graphical or digital display
Auto scaling and labelling
Plots any 2 variables
Menu driven options
Full software support
Unlimited choice of scales
Event analysis facility
Teaching display mode
£129.00 plus VAT
RANGES
Temp - 10 to 110 deg C
Resistance 0 to 1E6 ohms
D C. Volts 40v.p.d.
D.C. Current 0 to 2000 mAmps
Power 0 to 80 watts
Light 0 to 100 (uncalibrated)
Time 0 to 1 E6 secs (hrs mins
secs)
Accuracy: error generally < 1
per cent
Includes instrument, temperature probe, light sensor, electrical
probes (3 sets), leads, connections, software on cassette, full
instructions, application notes, p&p
BITS & BYTES
(COMPUTERS) LTD.
20/21 South Street, South Molton
Devon EX36 4AA. Telephone 07695 4141
THE EPSON PX-8
130
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
VT CT.BM
branches out
to offer the best value
in monitors fi* printers
L
~M —
1 l\a
\
Dot Matrix Printers
Epson RX80/FT £ 275.00
Epson FX80 £ 379.00
Canon PW 1080 A £ 289.00
160 cps with near letter quality printing
including friction and tractor feed.
Shinwa CP80 £ 209.00
Colour Monitors
Microvitec standard 1431 £ 199.95
Microvitec medium 1451 £ 315.00
Microvitec high 1441 £ 442.00
Philips 14" TV/monitor £ 235.00
(RGB Input)
Monochrome Monitors
Philips 12" Green V2001 £ 75.00
Daisywheel Printers
Juki 6100 £ 375.00
Epson DX 100 £ 450 . 00 *
SAN PLE 2000 £ 299.00
*Previously £499.00 Limited Stock
ALL prices include VAT and leads for the BBC model B micro
Please add £8 for carriage.
We also stock other computer peripherals, accessories and
complete work processor systems at unbelievable prices.
Please call for our latest offers.
You may also purchase these items direct by calling at
our factory/showroom in Hanwell, London. V ^ e>
Prices correct at time of going to press and offers
subject to a variability. S
/ ^ s#
/ <&• ^ y?
&-
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
131
PUBLISHER’S ANNOUNCEMENT
ACORN USER
SUBSCRIPTIONS
We apologise to readers who have suffered
a disruption following the change of
publisher.
All records have now been transferred to a
new computer system, but there is still a
backlog of renewals and queries from
people quoting the old subscriber
numbers.
A 24-hour answering service on all
subscription enquiries is available on
Nutfield Ridge (073782) 2957.
Correspondence will be dealt with faster if
you send or quote the new Redwood 7-digit
code from your current wrapper or renewal
notice. (This is especially important if the
subscription is paid for by someone other
than yourself.)
Do not write in about the same problem
twice - please be patient, you should still
find that your copies arrive.
TOP
SAVINGS
PRINTERS
EX VAT
INC VAT
BROTHER HR 15
340 00
391 00
TRACTOR
62.00
71.30
SHEETFEEDER
185.00
21275
KEYBOARD
135.00
155 25
EPSON RX80T
199.00
22885
EPSON RX80F/T
225 00
258 75
EPSON FX80P/T
324 00
37260
EPSON RX100F/T
350 00
402.50
EPSON FX100F/T
430 00
494 50
FX80 TRACTOR
30 00
34.50
JUKI 6100
335 00
385.25
MANNESMANN TALLY MT 80
199.00
22885
NEC 2050 (IBM PC)
725 00
83375
OKI MICROLINE 82A
255.00
293.25
OKI MICROLINE 83A
395 00
454 25
OKI MICROLINE 92P
379.00
435 85
SEIKOSHAGP 100 A
165 00
189 75
SHINWA CP80
17500
201.25
STAR GEMINI 10X
199 00
228 85
STAR DELTA 10
329 00
378 35
COMPUTERS
COMMODORE 64
152 17
174 99
COMMODORE 1541 DISK
165.21
189 99
COMMODORE C2N CASSETTE
36 51
41 99
INTFACE 64-PAREL
59 50
68 43
APRICOT 2 x DISK f MONITOR
1475.00
1696 25
APRICOT 10 MB - MONITOR
2395 00
2754 25
SANYO MBC555
850 00
977 50
EPSON QX10
1600 00
1840 00
MAYFAIR MICROS
BLENHEIM HOUSE, PODMORE ROAD, LONDON SW18 1 AJ
01-870 3255
PHILIPS 14"
COLOUR
TV/ MONITOR
£235
inc VAT
TV/Monitor (resolution better
than 585 x 450 pixels. Dot-to-
dot distance .65mm)
Plus £8 carriage
and packing
Personal Service & Quality coupled with Wholesale Prices,
Unit 7 Trumpers Way, Hanwell, London W7 2QA.
Telephone: 01-843 9903.
For special attention to your orders or enquiries concerning
MONITORS, PRINTERS. COMPUTERS, DISC DRIVES
ring VERONICA, SYLVANA or CATHY on
01-843 9903 NOW or fill in the coupon below.
I
• Easy to carry • Lightweight • Sparkling picture in seconds • Reliability and
performance excellent • Headphone Socket can also be connected to tape
recorder# Loudspeaker mute switch • Retractable carrying handle
• Metallic silver finish with restful dark picture surround# Includes RGB lead
connecting direct to your BBC Micro. • Philips Model No. 1 4CT 2006/05T
!
Post to: VIGLEN COMPUTER SUPPLIES, UNIT 7, TRUMPERS WAY, HANWELL, LONDON W7 2QA.
Please send me (qty) Philips TV/Monitor at £243 each. I enclose Cheque/P.O. for £ made out to
VIGLEN COMPUTER SUPPLIES or debit my ACCESS/ BARCLAYCARD No.
Name
Signature
Address
132
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
The
Vi/jlerv
Special Service
To order, complete and send form, or ring
VERONICA, CAROLINE OR CATHY Now on 01-843 9903
Post to: VIGLEN COMPUTER SUPPLIES, UNIT 7, TRUMPERS WAY, HANWELL, LONDON W7 2QA.
All prices correct at time ot going to press and all offers subject to availability
Please send me (qty) TEAC 3" Disc Drive at £159 each + £8 carriage. I enclose Cheque/P. O. for £ _
made out to VIGLEN COMPUTER SUPPLIES or debit my ACCESS/BARCLAYCARD No.
Name
Signature
Address .
Vwlerv
COMPUTER #SUPPLIES
A PRINTER STAND
Printer Stand
£12-95 NC VAT
Carriage & Packing £2.00
• For dot matrix printers
• Raises printer high enough to put
continuous stationery underneath
• Beautifully finished in clear perspex • Viglen quality every time
• Will accept paper up to 1 2V wide • Non slip rubber pads
Dimensions: 15" (380mm) wide 12V (320mm) deep 4" (90mm) high
COME TO VIGLEN FOR A FA8T, FRIENDLY, PERSONAL SERVICE
To order, complete and send form, or ring
VERONICA, CAROLINE OR CATHY Now on 01-843 9903
Post to: VIGLEN COMPUTER SUPPLIES, UNIT 7, TRUMPERS WAY, HANWELL, LONDON W7 2QA.
Please send me (qty) PRINTER STANDS at £14.95 each. I enclose Cheque/P.O. for £_
. made out to
VIGLEN COMPUTER SUPPLIES or debit my AC CESS /BARCLAYCARD No. _
Name mmm Signature —
Address
INTRODUCING THE TEAC 3" DISC DRIVE
Single 100K £159incVAT + £8 carriage
Cased, and price includes cables, utilities disc and manual.
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
133
The engineered accommodation for micro and periph-
erals for home educational and industrial environment.
Basic unit complete with power plug and cable, 4-
way socket, central switch, Post Packing and VAT
£54.36
Write or ring for details.
REDHATCH LTD., WAKERLEY STATION,
OAKHAM, LEICS. (Morcott 549).
DISC DRIVE OWNERS!
Still playing games?
Realise the potential of your DISC DRIVES
Learn to handle
RANDOM ACCESS FILES
and start creating for yourself
AN
INTRODUCTION TO
RANDOM ACCESS FILING
ON THE
BBC MICRO
This 101 page publication is available NOW and is supplied
complete with DEMONSTRATION DISC (40 track)
containing an example STOCK CONTROL system and a
PERSONNEL system.
Price £12. 50 complete
MISSING - PRESUMED LOST...
Your favourite program is deleted from your disc by accident *
But WAIT!
UTILITIES 1 is the answer -
two programs designed to help you.
1. DISCMAP
A unique 'picture' of the contents of your disc helps you to
spot where 'missing' programs are waiting to be recovered.
Incorporates full details of all catalogued programs and a
PRINTER option.
2. DELETED FILE RECOVERY
Helps you recover ALL or PART of a deleted BASIC pro-
gram or Machine Code program. INVALUABLE for rec-
overing data from discs with corrupted catalogues. Incorpor-
ating a SECTOR SEARCH which will display sector cont-
ents in a uniquely readable way!
Supplied on disc (40 track)
£8. 95 complete with FULL DOCUMENTATION
THE COMPUTER ROOM
206 MAIN STREET
NEWTHORPE, NOTTS.
Utility Toolkit in ROM for the
BBC Micro
A BRIEF SPECIFICATION
•FIND— find any string or keyword in a Basic program
•REP LACE -any string or expression with another of any
length
• LV A R — list variables used in a program In decimal or hex.
•DEREM — one of three program compecters in the toolkit.
•EXPAND 11, nn — open up a space from line 11 to add no
lines.
• LSTE R R —select or deselect error line listing when an error
occurs.
•MERGE — one program onto anothor .renumbering to prevent
clashes.
•REPAIR -sort out a 'Bad program' and list suspect lines.
*SH I FT — relocate a Basic program up or down to any valid
page.
•KEYS— list the contents of any defined keys.
• MEM LO CS — display all the current program pointers and
sizes
Plus eleven more useful utilities for program development
and debugging. Where else can you buy so many utilities at
this price?
ALL VERSIONS NEED OS 1.20 AND BASIC 1 or BASIC
II (please State which)
£25-50 (inclusiveof VAT and Postage)
Send Cheque / PO to INTERSOFT,
26 Netherfield Road, Sandiacre, Nottingham.
NG10 5LN
EXPANDABLE CONSOLE FOR BBC MICRO
As supplied to Universities, Colleges, Schools,
business 8- home users
A professional console to house
disc drives/2nd processor/Torch
dual drives/teletext, etc. All untidy
wiring out of sight in the strong
aluminium console in a matching
textured colour. AVAILABLE NOW
a bolt on extra module for extra
expansions.
Also available a matching printer
stand, yes stack your paper under
the printer.
ALSO VDU STANDS AVAILABLE
ELECTRON CONSOLES
The console houses the electron
and will safely support the expan-
sion interfaces which plug into the
rear of the micro, supports the
VDU and tidies up all wiring, allows
expansion to disc at a later date.
PRICES
Special Torch Version £46.99 + £4 p/p
BBC Console £44.99 + £4 p/p
Bolt on expansion £14.99 + £2 p/p
VDU/Printer Stand £14.99 + £2 p/p
Electron Console £34.99 + £4 p/p
Please add VAT @ 15%to all prices
For further information enclose sae or send cheque to,
Mail Order
Only
01 801 3014
27 Wycombe Rd
London N17
Viewing by
arrangement
COfflPUTSgS
Please allow 28 days for delivery
134
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
British Disc Drives
direct from the manufacturer
BBC compatible # Metal case
_ Dual drive • Switchable 40/80 track
• Complete with utilities disc - manual and cables
The only 5 Vi in. drive designed and manufactured in Britain
5 Vi single sided dual unit 400K £279
5 Vi double sided dual unit 800K £349
For box with power supply add £30
Carriage £8
Access & Barclaycaxd accepted
Prices exclude V. A.T.
Data Track Technology
The U.K. source for 5 Vi in. disc drives
Data Track Technology Limited,
7 Queensway, Stem Lane Industrial Estate,
New Milton, Hampshire, U.K., BH255NN
Tel: (0425) 619650 Telex: 47674
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
135
whom UKBM Until i UHBI 1 URBIT ORBIT ORBIT ORBIT ORBIT ORBIT ORBIT ORBIT ORBIT ORBIT ORBIT
FOR THE
BUG
ACORN
TRON
Join the Electron User Group
Members receive 10 copies of the magazine
ELBUG each year. ELBUG is devoted
EXCLUSIVELY to the ELECTRON MICRO It is
packed with News, Reviews, Hints, Tips,
Programming ideas, Major articles, plus Regular
program features including games and useful
utilities.
ELBUG is produced by BEEBUG Publications
Ltd., publishers of BEEBUG, the magazine of the
National User Group for the BBC Micro.
BEEBUG now has some 20,000 members and
has achieved a high reputation both in this
country and abroad.
The formula which makes BEEBUG an
invaluable companion for users of the BBC
micro, has been applied to ELBUG.
By subscribing to ELBUG you gain all the
advantages of a single-micro magazine, with
SPECIAL OFFER
8 FREE PROGRAMS
Subscribe now, and get a free introductory cassette
containing 8 tested programs for the Electron.
no space wasted on programs and articles for
other computers.
BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP
ELBUG MAGAZINE
Ten copies a year mailed free of charge.
DISCOUNT SCHEME
Extensive discount scheme with major retailers.
SOFTWARE LIBRARY
A growing range of software titles at budget
prices for members.
SOFTWARE CLUB
Substantial discounts on software from major
software houses.
LOCAL USER GROUPS
Lists of local affiliated user groups.
SPACE
CITY
1 .
2 .
3.
4.
5.
6 .
7.
8 .
SPACE CITY. Defeat the invading Aliens with your laser, and save
the city
3D NOUGHTS AND CROSSES. Pit your wits against the
ELECTRON on a 4x4x4 board
RACER. Guide your racing car to victory, avoiding other cars and
obstacles on the track
3D MAZE. In this challenging game, you must escape from the
maze - The screen displays a 3D view from inside the maze
PATCHWORK. A multicoloured display of continuously changing
patterns
KEY SET ROUTINE. A program to set up the user function keys
MEMORY DISPLAY. An efficiently written utility to display the con-
tents of memory (ROM and RAM)
CHARACTER DEFINER. Define individual graphics characters with
this useful utility for use in your own programs.
RACER
3D MAZE
Hi*
HOW TO JOIN
To subscribe for one year, and get your FREE CASSETTE send £9 90 (payable to Orbit) plus a strong^tamped addressed envelope (tor the cassette)
SUBSCRIPTIONS TO: ELBUG, DEPT 1 3, PO BOX 109, HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKS
Six months trial subscription (5 issues) UK only £5.90~FREE CASSETTE OFFER STILL STANDS
Membershipoutside UK (one year only): Eire and Europe £16.00. Middle East £19.00. Americas and Africa £2100, other countries £23 00.
Editorial Address: ORBIT, PO BOX 50. St Albans, Herts.
mKmmm
I FIRMWARE REVIEW
ADE
I UPGRADE
System’s assembler/debugger/editor
ROM wins praise from Vincent Fojut
T HE ADE ROM from System Soft-
ware is a sophisticated suite of
programs guaranteed to whet the
appetite of any assembly language pro-
grammer. The heart of the package is a
new macro-assembler, complete with
library facilities. This takes ASCII
source files, prepared on the compre-
hensive editor, and generates a file of
object code, or executable machine
code, which can be run and tested
under the debugger. These three pri-
mary functions give the package its
name- Assembler, Debugger and
Editor, or ADE for short.
The system comprises a 16k ROM, a
utility disc (table 1) and sizable manual.
Once the ADE ROM is activated (on
power-up or by typing * *ADE), the extra
commands listed in table 2 are at your
disposal. The three major modules are
by *NOCTRLF). Yet another way of
entering the SPY utility is by using the
*FX100 command (or its machine code
equivalent) from within a user pro-
gram, or ADE command level.
The *LST command calls up a 6502
disassembler, which is in fact part of
the SPY utility but can be used indepen-
dently. Finally, *MODE works in the
same way as the MODE command in
Basic. It is included to allow an 80-
column mode to be selected before an
assembly. Otherwise, in a 40-column
mode, the assembly listing is truncated
at column 39.
To show how the elements of the
system inter-relate, figure 1 (overleaf)
represents a typical sequence in the
development of an assembly language
program. First, the editor creates (or
modifies) an assembly language text
initialised by typing *ASM, *ED/*EDIT
or *SPY, which invoke the assembler,
editor or debugger respectively.
The remaining sundry commands
are mostly intended to assist the
debugging process. The *BRK com-
mand forces the SPY debugger ‘front
panel’ to be entered whenever a 6502
BRK instruction is encountered. This
facility is deactivated with *NOBRK.
Similarly, typing *CTRLF allows the
SPY monitor to be invoked by pressing
the CTRL and F keys whenever a pro-
gram is awaiting user input (disabled
file (it can also be used for the prep-
aration of documentation to
accompany the program, or indeed,
any general word-processing func-
tions). Assuming, for the moment, that
an assembler text file has been gener-
ated, this then becomes the source, or
inputfile, for the assembler module.
The assembler, in turn, converts the
source code into machine code and
generates an output file of object code
which can be directly executed. An
optional assembler listing can also be
produced on screen or printer at this
The ADE package can be obtained
from System Software, 12 Collegiate
Crescent, Sheffield S10 2BA, priced
at £60 (incl VAT). An enhanced ver-
sion of the SPY debugger, SPY2, is
available separately, at £24.15.
T. LIBRARY
macro librarian (source code)
LIBRARY
macro librarian (object code)
T.SYSLIB
source code for common macros
SYSLIB
library of common macros
T.DEMO
demonstration program (source code)
D
demonstration Program (object code)
t.fmt
text formatter (source code)
T.ADV
source code used in demonstration
AC-
object code run in demonstration
Table 1. ADE utility disc files
stage. If errors are present, the edit and
assemble phases are repeated until a
'clean' or error-free assembly is
obtained. However, a lack of errors at
this stage signifies only that the source
code is recognised as valid by the
assembler; it does not, of course, mean
that there are no logic errors in your
assembler program. Hence the need
for a final testing and debugging phase,
using the SPY monitor, to help track
down and eradicate any outstanding
bugs. If any bugs are present the pro-
cess is repeated from the start- edit-
ing, re-assembly, and re-testing - until
a bug-free, fully-tested program
emerges.
The editor makes use of the mode 7
screen, which is divided by a 'status’
display into an upper ‘text’ area and a
lower ‘command’ area. The user may
toggle between the two areas via the
escape key. While entering text, in what
is referred to as ‘immediate’ mode, the
same text-manipulation functions can
be achieved either by control-key com-
binations or by function key. For
example, both f6 and ctrl-0 allow you to
mark a point in the text. I took the
manual's advice and found the function
keys to be simpler to use (only one key
to hold down, as opposed to two), and
the function key strip provided elimin-
ates constant referrals to the manual.
Alternatively, text can be modified
via ‘deferred’ commands which are
entered in the command area. Defer-
red commands can be strung together
in blocks, up to eight levels deep, any
(or all) of which can be iterated a speci-
fied number of times. For instance, the
sequence:
5 < FSmith/e/ = XJohnson/e/ > lei lei
*HELP ADE
ADE 1.00
ADE
ASM <sfsP> <ofsP>
BRK
CTRLF
ED <<fsP>>
EDIT <<fsP>>
Ftfl00.'<lo>.*<hi>
LSI
MODE vn>
NOBRK
NOCTRLF
r-rv..'
or !
Table 2. ADE command level -extra
OS functions
137
ACORN USER JULY 1984
#
> x
jfi
K
N
Trapped in a fiendish Level 9 Adventure?
Your lamp burning low? Every exit guarded?
You need escape plans! Send for one of Level 9’s
great new clue sheets for help. The clue sheets are
free and each answers hundreds of questions: follow
the instructions supplied with your adventure to get
one. (Don’t forget to send a stamped self-addressed
envelope and tell us which game you have.)
NEW REVIEWS: “Level 9 are fast establishing a name for
themselves among computer adventurers as the Number 1
producers of quality adventure software. All their adventures
are text only, but because of a special coding they have
developed, the amount of description and the number of
locations packed in 32K is truly amazing.”
— Midweek , 10 May 84
“Quicksilva call themselves the ‘Game Lords’.
That might be open to argument. But there can be
no doubt that Pete Austin and the team at Level 9
are the ‘Lords of Adventure’.
— Central Press Features, April 84
‘‘Play Lords of Time and get nine times the pleasure!”
— Your Computer, May 84
AVAILABLE FROM: WH Smith and good computer
shops nationwide.
If you local dealer doesn’t stock Level 9
adventures yet, ask him to contact us or:
Centresoft, Drake Distribution, Ferranti &
Craig, Hi-Tech, Lime Tree, Microdeal, R&R or
Wonderbridge.
i —
i Level 9 Computing
i Colossal Adventure: the original mainframe
1 adventure with 70 extra locations □
i
i Adventure Quest: an epic journey across the
, i weird landscape of Middle Earth □
Dungeon Adventure: a truly massive game
which completes the Middle Earth Trilogy □
Snowball: could this be the biggest SF
adventure in the world? □
Lords of Time: an imaginative romp through
□ '
A CHEQUE/PO FOR £9.90
World History
I ENCLOSE
EACH
My name: . .
My address:
I
My micro is a: I
(one of those listed on the arch above,
with at least 32K of memory).
Send to:
LEVEL 9 COMPUTING
1 Dept. A , 229, Hughenden Road
1 High Wycombe, Bucks. HP13 5PG
> x .
138
A CORN USER JUL Y 1984
FIRMWARE REVIEW
Tab -ASCII /hex display t-o99le
L -disassembly /hex display to99le
M -set u.P memory Pointer
Return -increment Pointer by 1
+ or -increment Pointer by 8
/ -decrement Pointer by 1
-decrement Pointer by 3
ij -set Pointer to value of PC
S -set PC to value of Pointer
I -set Pointer from memory (indirect)
R -set Pointer from memory (relative)
G -find byte Pattern
H -find next occurrence of byte Pattern
<HEX> -uPdate memory at Pointer
" -enter characters into memory
p -fill & test area of memory
$ -shift area of memory
V -verify (compare) 2 memory areas
. -move to next register
<HEX>. -modify register
2 -sin9l e-steP
J -oum p to address and run Pro9ram
K -continue Program execution from PC
* -Q„S. command Prefix
*LST -activate disassembler
Table 3. SPY debugger commands
(where /e/ represents one depression
of the escape key) would change five
occurrences of ‘Smith to ‘Johnson’.
Using the escape key as a string termi-
nator (as well as command terminator)
seems odd at first, but there are advan-
tages. For one thing, it means that
search and replace strings can contain
the ‘return’ character within them. In
other words, you can find and/or re-
place blocks of text which span more
than one physical line.
Even more versatile is the ability to
set up command sequences as ‘macro’
commands, which can be executed
either in command mode or in immedi-
ate mode, by pressing the COPY key at
any point within the text.
A text formatting program is included
on the utility disc to give the editor
word-processing capability. Indeed,
the manual (a fine piece of documen-
tation) was prepared using ADE’s
editor.
The BBC micro is already equipped
with a very capable assembler, com-
plete with conditional assembly and
macro facilities, so how does the ADE
assembler compare?
Since the source file is generated
and saved separately by the editor and
is never wholly resident in memory the
only limit on assembler file sizes is that
of the discs being used. If a tape system
is in use, the object code is written to
memory, as opposed to an output file
directly, so in this case there is a limit
on file size. The format of each line in
an ADE assembler program is:
< label > < opcode > < operand >
<comment>
Each element on the line can be separ-
ated by spaces, or a tab character,
which is expanded by the listing rou-
tine. This allows neat, formatted output
without using up valuable memory. The
label, if entered, can be of unlimited
length, but only the first six characters
are significant. For obvious reasons,
try to limit your labels to six characters
or less. This is the only point where I
could fault the ADE assembler in com-
parison with the BBC version, but even
then, the six-character restriction
results in more acceptable assembler
listings.
All labels are translated by the
assembler into upper-case. I was very
pleased not to have to keep changing
cases when entering mnemonics and
symbols, which can be an irritation on
the Beeb. The only reserved word in
the assembler is the single letter A, for
the accumulator addressing mode, so
any other sequence of alphabetic
characters is a valid label -even
“mnemonics” such as LDA or STX can
be used as labels (though they are not
recommended).
Entries in the opcode field can be
either a standard 6502 instruction mne-
monic, an assembler directive, or the
name of a predefined macro (a labelled
sequence of commonly used instruc-
tions). A library of macros can be set up
using the PUT command, and retrieved
from the library file at assembly time
with the GET statement.
Operands, if required, consist of an
expression built up from symbols,
arithmetic operators and constants.
The following prefixes allow constants
to be expressed in a number of forms:
no prefix -the default- a decimal
number
$ or & -a hexadecimal number
% -a binary number
- an ASCII character value
A wide selection of data definition
directives are also available.
Comments are separated from the
rest of the line by either a or A’. Alter-
natively, an asterisk in column 1
denotes the whole line as a comment.
Conditional assembly in ADE is
achieved by embedding code within IF
. . . ELSE ... FI (ie, ENDIF) directives.
These can be nested up to eight levels
deep. An additional command, GUERY,
allows the values of labels to be
changed from the keyboard during
assembly to set the appropriate con-
ditions required.
For all its assembly language
powers, the unenhanced BBC micro
has deficiencies when it comes to
machine-code testing. The SPY debug-
ger goes a long way towards correcting
any shortcomings. The 'front panel' of
the SPY utility gives a display of all
internal 6502 registers and flags,
together with a program/data area
memory block and details of the hard-
ware stack contents (a nice touch).
Breakpoint handling is rather basic, but
with the ability to stop programs using
*FX100 or ctrl-F the result is a versatile
package. I found the single-step feature
particularly useful. There is the typical
selection of commands to step for-
wards and backwards through
memory, alter memory contents and
registers, find specific byte patterns,
and so forth. A brief summary of SPY
commands isgiven intable3.
Of course, the cost of ADE (and its
range of facilities) shows that it is not
aimed at the occasional dabbler in
machine code. But when you consider
that you are getting an enhanced
assembler, capable debugger and an
editor which doubles as a perfectly
acceptable word-processor, 260 is not
a high price to pay. Any programmer
who does a substantial amount of
assembly language work should give it
serious consideration.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
• TELEREF 109
ANSWER BACK
Sf/V/Otf
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
ff/f IOMWF /MtM &£//Z
/V/PJGfStf&OZf/P
BBC (32K)*ELECTRON
The ANSWER BACK Quiz provides on incredible adventure in education by
combining a compelling Space-Age game with an Immense series of
questions on General Knowledge. The thought-provoking and well-researched
quizzes contain an enormous total of 750 questions with 3000 answer options
covering the following subjects:
□Astronomy □ Music □ Natural History □ Famous People DScience □ Sport
□ History □ Art and Architecture □ Know your Language □ Discoveries and
Inventions □ Legends and Mythology □ Geography □ Literature
□ Films, TV and Theatre □ Pot Luck
The highly sophisticated control program rewards each correct answer with
another turn in the colourful, animated game.
ffAW/PfS/A/at/Df
□ Multiple choice answers □ True or False? □ Find the missing letters
□ "Pass" facility □ Immediate correction of errors □ Timer option
□ Performance summary □ Re-run of questions passed or incorrectly
answered □ Full facilities for creating and saving an unlimited number of new
quizzes
Available from your computer store or by mail order Price £10.95.
AVAILABLE SHORTLY:
ANSWER BACK
Junior Quiz
for the under TVs
Other
educational titles include ...
"The French Mistress'
"The German Master*
'The Spanish Tutor'
The ANSWER BACK Senior Quiz will educate and fascinate ANYONE over 11
years old
KOSMOS SOFTWARE, 1 Pilgrims Close. Harlmgton. DUNSTABLE. Beds. LU5 6LX
Please send me the ANSWER BACK Senior Quiz for the BBC/ELECTRON
computer
Mr/Mrs/Miss
DOBSOFT FOR
QUALITY AND VALUE
New high quality arcade, business and utility programs.
LASERS: BBC 32k and Electron, 1 or 2 players, £6.95. Avoid
divorce, buy this two player dynamic machine code space battle
game. Beware of the hostile invader. Each player controls a highly
manoeuvrable laser base which fires photon bolts. Try and beat the
computer as well.
TOOLKIT: BBC B: Spiral bound User Guide included, £19.95. An
8k utility EPROM containing 27 commands for graphics; file hand-
ling and "debugging". It simply pops into a paged ROM socket and
is constantly available for use. Some of the commands are:
‘BIG
‘CENTRE
‘DEFCHAR
‘DEFLIST
‘FIX
‘FSAVE
‘MMOVE
‘TAPEDISC
‘VARYLIST
Prints enlarged characters in any graphic mode.
Centres text in any standard screen mode.
Defines characters on a grid and enables a 'macro'
character of 16 x 16 pixels to be created, which
then can be saved to disc or tape.
Lists all defined procedure and function names.
Repairs a 'Bad Program' and then OLDs' it.
Saves files to tape 1-5 times faster than normal,
which later can be loaded with ‘FLOAD.
A memory move command suited for discs and
sprites.
Takes a specified number of files from tape and puts
them on to disc, preserving file attributes.
Lists all declared variable names in a program.
CESIL: BBC 32k and Electron. Instructions included, £6.95. Full
implementation. Ideal for '0' level work. Includes a trace facility.
DISKWORK: A database for BBC B and discs. Instructions in-
cluded, £10 95. Over 400 records on average disc. Up to 25 fields,
maximum field size 255 characters. Index on field; search on field
etc.
Good programmers wanted, will pay excellent rates. Please send a
SAE for other programs.
DOBSOFT (Dept. AU),
CENTRAL BUSINESS COMPLEX, ANDREWS BUILDINGS.
67 QUEEN STREET. CARDIFF CF1 4AY.
BiWEW®
ACORN ELECTRON -£199 BBC MODEL ff - £299
BBC MODEL B - £399
Disk Drives by: TEAC,
MITSUBISHI. AMS. CUMANA,
KORMANDI. TORCH and
others from £ 1 69.00
Monitors by: NOVEX, PHILIPS.
MICROVITEC, FIDELITY from
£79.95
Printers from EPSON. STAR. BIT,
SHINWAH. BROTHER, JUKI.
UCHIDA etc. etc from £89.95
Accessories: Lightpens, Dust
Covers, Joysticks. Monitor Stands.
Cases. Leads, Floppy Discs and
much much more
SOFTWARE: GAMES. BUSINESS
& EDUCATIONAL plus
PROGRAMMING AIDS on
Cassette, Disk or Rom.
UPGRADES. ROM FITTING.
REPAIRS. TESTING etc, etc
1
Special Word Processing, Business
and Programming starter Kits
offered to meet your requirements
at good savings.
WE WILL BETTER ANY GENUINE OFFER IF THE PRICE IS LOWER THAN OURS
SCREENS MICROCOMPUTERS
(A Division of Mayfair Computer Services Limited)
6 MAIN AVENUE. MOOR PARK, NORTHWOOD. MIDDLESEX. ENGLANt
Tel: NORTHWOOD (09274) 20664
Address
Post code
I enclose a cheque/postal order for £1095 pdyable to KOSMOS Software
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COM
PUTER
140
A CORN USER JUL Y 1984
JOBS FOR YOUR
BEEB OR ATOM
Interfacing Projects for the BBC Micro’
by Bruce Smith, Addison-Wesley Publish-
ing, 134 pages, £6.95
AMONG the multitude of computer
books that you can find on almost any
bookseller’s shelves, you will find few
relating to the subject of interfacing a
machine to the world outside. In the
headlong rush to become a computer
literate society, we are in danger of
overlooking this aspect of computing,
and yet it is one that we encounter
every day, and the one that is having
the most profound effect on our life-
As it happens, the design of the BBC
Micro -and, indeed, the Atom -is par-
ticularly suited to real time control and
data capture and this slim volume will
start you along the road to a new hori-
zon.
Written by Bruce Smith, it begins by
introducing you to the arithmetic and
electrical concepts behind the various
user ports and shows you how to read
and write to them. Chapter 3 is devoted
I BOOK REVIEWS
to the VIA port and gives a detailed des-
cription of the lines and controls avail-
able on the 6522, which is used for con-
trol in all the book's projects. Chapter 4
shows you how to use the indirect
addressing that Acorn prefers you to
use (to make things compatible with the
Tube) and chapter 5 details the physi-
cal connection points before describing
the construction of a multiple output
power distribution board.
The rest of the book puts theory into
practice by describing projects for you
to build. These comprise: an automatic
light switch; a door bell and rain detec-
tor (presumably in case you live in a
house without windows!); a tempera-
ture monitor; sound detector; joystick
controller; light pen; D/A converter;
light sequencer (disco lights); EPROM
programmer; and finally, and best of
all, an X-Y plotter. The saving on this
last item alone is well worth the price of
the book.
All the projects are described in
simple, easy-to-understand language
and would be suitable for anyone with
experience of wielding a soldering
iron. All the projects in the book are
available in kit form from Watford Elec-
tronics. Do not be misled by the title.
Most of the projects are suitable for the
Atom as well (I understand that many
were developed on the Atom) and the
translation of the control programs is
an easy matter.
So here is a book different from the
norm, simply and clearly written. It is
recommended for any Beeb or Atom
owner who wants really useful appli-
cations for his machine. Barry Pickles
GAMES WITHOUT
THE FRILLS
‘36 Challenging Games for the BBC
Micro’ by Tim D Rogers and Chris Cal-
lender, Interface Publications, 270 pages,
£5.95
YOU can’t really expect arcade quality
from a games book costing £5.95, and
you certainly don’t get it here. The 36
programs in this new collection from
Interface are all reasonably well-
written, with good use of the Beeb’s
features (colour, sound and user-
definable graphics) but the end results
are, frankly, not very exciting.
Fortunately the programs are not too
long, so you don’t have to spend an age
before you learn how good (or bad)
they are. While it is not purely a book of
listings, the notes accompanying each
program are sketchy to say the least,
with only the briefest outline of major
processes. All the same, the programs
are straightforward and not terribly dif-
ficult to follow. Meaningful variable
names are not generally used, the justi-
fication being that resident integer vari-
ables enabled the programs to run as
quickly as possible.
The book would, perhaps, be of use
to those wishing to pick up the rudimen-
tary techniques of writing games pro-
grams in BBC Basic. The basics are
there, and those with the time and incli-
nation could, with effort, add the frills
that the games need. Perhaps this is
the 'challenge’ to which the book’s title
refers.
Verdict: pretty mediocre, but at 17p a
program . . . Vincent Fojut
GRAPHICS FOR
MATHS DUFFERS
‘Microcomputer Graphics’ by Roy E
Myers, Addison-Wesley Publishing, 282
pages, £9.95
MICRO graphics is one of my favourite
pastimes. I love creating strange and
wonderful patterns on the screen. Un-
fortunately, my maths suffers from
years of neglect, so my efforts tend to
be a hit and miss affair. I was, there-
fore, delighted to see this volume,
which explains the theory behind such
things as translation, rotation and
hidden-line removal.
Originally published in the US, it is
written in the American idea of a ‘user-
friendly’ style. For example, chapter 6
begins ‘Warning - read slowly. Math-
ematics ahead ! If you can live with this
style of prose, the book will impart use-
ful information, illustrated with dozens
of example programs.
There is a considerable amount of
maths to digest, but it was put simply
enough for my ageing brain to compre-
hend.
All the programs are written for the
Apple II, but the graphics commands
are explained and easy to translate to
Atom or Beeb Basic. In fact, the pro-
grams are almost directly translatable
to both machines, since the standard
Apple hi-res mode is a 280 x 192 matrix.
All aspects of graphics are covered in
the book’s 282 pages.
The bible for graphics programmers
is Fundamentals of Interactive Com-
puter Graphics by Foley and Van Dam
(also published by Addison-Wesley),
but, as well as being quite expensive, it
is written in Pascal and requires a
higher degree of mathematical apti-
tude. This book is in Basic and starts at
a much simpler level and I would
recommend it to anyone interested in
graphics. Barry Pickles
ACORN USER JULY 1984
HIERIS’S SliVliN MORI: REASONS l=CR MAKING
MICROSTYUE NO.1
I
Microstyle Disk Drive
Option 1 . Single drive
Microstyle ‘Options’- A system of
disk drives designed to be flexible,
cost concious and practical. If you’re
after a single drive choose OPTION V
100K 5 V4 " Single Slimline disk drive.
Uses BBC power supply. Includes
utilities disk’, all leads and manual.
Microstyle Disk Drive
Option 2. Single drive in dual case
Choose ‘OPTION 2’ now and allow
yourself the flexibility to add a
second drive later: specification as
Option 1. mounted in dual case.
£185.00
+ £6.00 securicor defy
£245.00
+ £6.00 securicor
del'y
Spectravision
3 Quickshot Joystick
At last a quality joystick for
use with your BBC (model B only)
Operating directly through the
existing user-port on your BBC
model B and available for use with
most Acornsoft and many other
keyboard controlled games -even
Planetoids - these joysticks include
a machine-code “driver program on
tape, which converts to remote
control operation.
£19.95
+ 75p p&p
4
Microstyle
Plinth
Top value strong, safe
metal plinth for your
monitor, disk drive, etc.
MIGRC5TYU:
YGURNsd
■ ... i~ict=VA».l)fc a
NB Planetoids and certain
other games may still
require the use of some
keyboard commands
£14.95
+ £2.50
p&p
5
Nordmende
Monitor
The NORDMENDE 14"
colour monitor combines true RGB
performance with U.H.F. T.V. value.
Fully BBC compatible, this dual
purpose design compares favourably
with most quality, stand-alone RGB
monitors while offering far greater
value to the whole family.
R.G.B. Cables _ _ _ _
extra-please state £249 00
+ £6.00 securicor defy
Commodore 64/BBC
£7.50
BBC
Advanced
User Guide
An essential supplement to the “User
Guide’ provided with the BBC micro.
Some of the many areas covered are:
The BASIC assembler/A full 650Z
code ref. section/Complete
description of ALL the ‘FX - OSBYTE
calls/lmplementing
paged Rom software £12.95
+ 50p p&p
and much more.
f ic" crdier
Quantity
Please complete coupon in block capitals,
enclosing your remittance and send to:
Microstyle Dept M.O., 67 High St..
Daventry, Northhants. Tel: 03272 78058.
Name
Address
. Daytime Tel. No.
Order by phone please
telephone 03272 78058
quoting your Access/ Barclaycard number
1. Option Drive 1
2. Option Drive 2
3. Quickshot Joystick
4. Microstyle Plinth
5. Nordmende Monitor
RGB Cables (extra)
6. BBC A. U. Guide
7. Telemod 2
xS
By connecting your microcomputer
to the telephone network, Telemod 2
gives you instant access to viewdata
services such as Micronet 800,
Prestel. and Homelink. Get the latest
news, weather, travel information
and many other topics of immediate
interest. Take advantage of
homebanking, teleshopping,
CitiService financial information, and
a wide variety of direct - booking
services.
Viewdata and Communications Software Packages.
These are required in addition to Telemod 2 to
allow you to connect your microcomputer to
viewdata services such as Micronet 800 and
I Prestel They contain appropriate hardware
interfaces, specially developed software, any
■ necessary connectors and full instructions.
at £185 00 + £6.00 Securicor Dei
at £249.00 + £6.00 Securicor Del.
at £19.95 + 75p p&p
at £14 95 + £2.50 p&p.
at £245.00 + £6 00 Securicor Del
at £7 50 Commodore 64/BBC t delete)
at £12 95 + 50p p&p
at £99 00 + £2.50 p&p
£99.00
Total price including post S packing
Cheques may be made out to MICROSTYLE
Please remember to include appropriate post & packing charges. Allow 28 days for delivery.
-I- £2.50 p&p
(Price includes leads & driver cassette.
ROM version please add £5.00 extra.)
All prices advertised
include VAT
Please Note: While Microstyle will endeavour to
maintain sufficient stocks of items currently or
previously advertised we regret that all items are
offered for sale subject to availability from
manufacturers.
142
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
I BOOK REVIEWS
Shops: * Dealers •
The network
is spreading...
The Microstyle dealer network
is growing all the time. Check
out the list below for a dealer
in your area.
Minehead Radio Ltd
Radtovision House.
Friday Street,
Mmehead Somerset
Tel 0643 5077
Microwise
2i Duke Street
Reading Berks
Tel 0734 591816
Eric Evans
84 Fleet Road
Fleet, Hants
Tel 02514 7625
Frome Computers
21 Fromelieid
Frone Somerset
Te 0378 66883
Alan Sinclair
6 Church Streei
Basingstoke Hants
Tel 0256 21307
Barbury Computers
89 Victoria Road,
Swindon, Wilts
Tel 0793 611487
Bridge Computers
23/25 New Street
Lymington, Hants
Tel 0590 77001
Family Computers
40a Bell Street
Henley-on-Thames.
Oxon
Tel 0491 575744
Trade only enquiries:
If you would like to see your company
name featured here, please contact
Lyn Farmer on Newbury (0635) 42570
for further details.
micraOiijft
THE HOME COMPUTER PEOPLE
M
Branches:
The Aylesbury Computer Centre
52 Friar’s Sq., Aylesbury.
Telephone: Aylesbury (0296) 5124
The Bath Computer Centre
29 Belvedere, Lansdown Road, Bath.
Telephone: Bath (0225) 334659
The Daventry Computer Centre
67 High St., Daventry.
Telephone: Daventry (03272) 78058
The Newbury Computer Centre
47 Cheap Street, Newbury.
Telephone: Newbury (0635) 41929
HANDBOOK FOR
DISC USER
‘The BBC Microcomputer Disc Com-
panion’ by Tony Latham, Prentice-Hall
International, 186 pages, £7.95
FEW peripherals enhance the BBC
micro as much as discs, and despite
the price, an increasing number of
Beeb owners are taking the plunge.
However, sources are many and
varied, as is the level of accompanying
documentation. So a book that purports
to give a comprehensive guide to using
discs with the Beeb is more than wel-
come.
The book starts with an introduction
to disc handling and gives a resume of
the standard Acorn DFS commands. It
then goes on to file handling (both in
Basic and assembler) and covers file-
related Operating System routines
(OSFIND, OSARGS, etc). Later
chapters provide complete program
listings for a number of useful disc func-
tions, from formatting and verifying
routines to a simple text-handler or
word-processing program. To round
off, the author gives technical details
and performance characteristics of the
popular disc variants available.
Much of the material will already be
familiar to prospective readers, being
available in some form or other in vari-
ous documents. For example, those
already using discs will presumably
already have a list of the commands
available with their DFS. Similarly,
most users will almost certainly have a
formatter/verifier at their disposal. On
the other hand, there is something to be
said for having all disc-related infor-
mation, even if duplicated, present in a
single volume. Even existing disc
owners may find useful information in
the chapters covering file handling and
random access, for example.
As for the provision of format/verifier
routines, the author argues that disc
drives originally intended for other
(older) computers could be put to use
with the Beeb, providing discs can be
formatted appropriately- hence the
programs. For this reason, the book
could prove particularly attractive to
schools and other establishments with
limited resources eager to make the
most of existing equipment.
Disc Companion may be beneficial to
those considering acquiring discs. The
well-rounded overview of disc usage
with the BBC micro should help clarify
any outstanding areas of confusion,
and provide useful guidelines for
making the right purchase.
Vincent Fojut
I FUN MATHEMATICS
| ON YOUR MICROCOMPUTER
I
, CZESKOSNIOWSKI
DOESN’T ADD UP
‘Fun Mathematics on your Micro-
Computer’ by Czes Kosniowski,
Cambridge University Press, 195 pages,
£4.95
THIS book aims to cover some areas of
mathematics, illustrating the subject by
the use of entertaining computer pro-
grams. The choice of topic is broad,
covering school mathematics and
areas not taught outside universities.
Having read the contents page, I was
very disappointed by the rest of the
book. It gives an impression of having
been written down in one go and never
checked. Time after time the author
fails to explain terms before he uses
them, and sometimes doesn’t explain
them at all.
The subject-matter Is, however,
interesting and this book could have a
role in computer clubs where
experienced help is at hand. It might
particularly interest the A-level mathe-
matician who wants to broaden his
mathematical knowledge.
Like many things in the world of
personal computers this book claims to
be more than it is. It does not teach
mathematics, but merely describes
parts of the subject. Never before have
I seen someone claim to teach differen-
tial calculus in two pages.
Neither is it, as it claims, a book for
the computer novice. The programs
are not simple, and are complicated by
Czes Kosniowski’s approach to the
computer author s bogeyman, portable
Basic. He has tried to write programs
(using his ACT Sirius 1) that are easily
adapted for many different personal
computers. The result is programs that
will please no-one: verbose and
unstructured in the extreme, and using
a very small subset of Basic.
I cannot recommend this book.
Jeremy Bennett
ACORN USER JULY 1984
The Aries File
CRUSHED BETWEEN AN IRRESISTIBLE FORCE AND AN IMMOVABLE OBJECT?
If your high-resolution screen is
squeezing you from one side, and your
operating system from the other, isn't it
time you tried the ARIES solution?
ARIES-B20 is the board which
banishes forever the conflict between
screen graphics and program memory,
“bad mode” and “No room" become
nightmares of the past when your Beeb
possesses this unique expansion.
Unlike “sideways-RAM" systems,
ARIES-B20 offers you transparent
access to 20K of extra memory, replac-
ing the RAM swallowed up by the high-
resolution graphics modes. The extra
RAM is switched in completely
automatically, meaning that your exist-
ing software can make use of it without
modification.
This means that if you're a program-
mer, you have up to 28K RAM availa-
ble for BASIC, FORTH, LISP, BCPL,
LOGO and COMAL programs in ANY
SCREEN MODE. If you're a business
user, the extra memory is used by
VIEW, VIEWSHEET, WORDWISE
and many other applications. And if
you're a scientific type, you can get
access to a massive 47K of data stor-
age using the Acorn-approved ARIES
★ FX call.
COMPATIBILITY ASSURED
With the huge range of Beeb add-ons
that are becoming available, compati-
bility has become a real headache.
Every extra you buy your computer
might lock you out from a host of
others, even if it works with those you
already possess.
ARIES-B20, designed by BBC Micro
experts, offers you true upgradeability.
In addition to the rest of the ARIES fam-
ily (the ARIES-B12 ROM expansion
board and the ARIES-B488 IEEE-488
interface unit), ARIES-B20 is compati-
ble with double-density disc control-
lers, second processors, ECONET,
hard discs, EPROM programmers and
much more. Several major companies
now test all their products with ARIES-
620 to ensure compatibility.
PROFESSIONAL QUALITY
The ARIES range is designed to work
with all BBC Micros, not just some of
them. This means it has a sensible
regard for the capacity of the power
supply and the natural variations in crit-
ical timings between machines. All new
ARIES products are subjected to brutal
testing in extreme conditions before
they are released on the market.
In quality of construction, the ARIES
range sets a standard against which
others are judged. Custom-made con-
nectors eliminate the damage to the
BBC machine caused by inferior pro-
ducts. Units are electronically tested
before, during and after manufacture.
And all this is backed up by the ARIES
1 year no quibble guarantee.
WHAT THE PRESS SAID
“the most exciting add-on”
-Times Educational Supplement, March 1984
“a very professional product”
- A & B Computing, March/April 1984
“an attractive solution to the lack of sufficient mem-
ory on the Beeb” - Beebug, March 1 984
“this is an impressive piece of equipment in its own
right and deserves to be taken seriously”
- Acorn User, April 1 984
“the trouble with a paged RAM system is that the
software has to be aware that it is there. The Aries
RAM board gets round this limitation brilliantly"
- The Micro User, June 1984
NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH DEALERS
To cope with the continuing growth of demand, the
unique ARIES-B20 RAM expansion has now been
made available through selected dealers. Although
ARIES-B20 can be fitted by a complete layman in a
matter of minutes, a fitting service is offered by
approved dealers to those customers unwilling to
delve inside the case of their BBC Micro.
The recommended retail price of ARIES-B20 is just
£1 1 5 (inc VAT) for the B20 board, operating system
extension ROM and detailed manual. Enquire at
your local dealer or order direct by post from the
Manufacturers (see below).
(Machine requirements: Model B', MOS 1.2
Hardware plugs into CPU socket, software uses
one sideways ROM socket
How to order:
Send cheque or postal order made
payable to:
Aries Computers
and forward to:
Aries Computers
Science Park, Milton Road,
Cambridge CB4 4BH
Telephone Cambridge (0223) 862614
Aries Computers is a trading name of
Cambridge Computer Consultants Limited.
Please send me (Qty.) ARIES-B20(s) at £1 15.00
(incl. P.P. & VAT)
I enclose a cheque/postal order made payable to
Aries Computers for £
Signed
Name (block letters)
Address
Post Code
I TOP 20
SOFTWARE
CHART
TITLE
I PUBLISHER
PRICE
: MICRO
1 (1)
Snooker
Visions
£8.95
B/E
2 (11)
Twin Kingdom Valley
Bug-Byte
£9.50
B
3 (3)
White Knight 11
BBC Soft
£10.00
B
4 (2)
747 Flight Simulator
Doctor Soft
£8.95
(£11.95)
B
5 (19)
Hopper
Acornsoft
£9.95
B/E
6 (5)
The Hobbit
Melbourne
House
£14.95
B
7 (14)
Chuckie Egg
A&F Software
£7.90
B/E
8 (16)
Hunchback
Superior
£7.95
(£11.95)
B
9 (13)
Fortress
Pace
£8.95
B
10 (18)
737 Flight Simulator
Salamander
£9.95
B/E
11 (-)
Ghouls
Program
Power
£7.95
B
12 (8)
Killer Gorilla
Program
Power
£7.95
B/E
13 (10)
Zalaga
Aardvark
£6.90
B
14 (9)
Gorph
Doctor Soft
£8.95
B
15 (4)
Snapper
Acornsoft
£9.95
B/E
16 (17)
Dare Devil Dennis
Visions
£8.95
B
17 (-)
Lords of Time
Level 9
£9.90
B
18 (-)
Cylon Attack
A&F Software
£7.90
B/E
19 (-)
Dodgy Dealer
O 1 Consultants
£6.50
B
20 (6)
Transistor’s Revenge
Softspot
£7.95
B
B- BBC E =
Electron Prices in brackets are for disc
version
i :
BUBBLING UNDER
1
Hulk (Adventure International)
Empire (Shards)
Jet Power Jack (Program Power)
Compiled by RAM/Computer
Pengwyn (Postern)
Battle Tanks (Superior)
Aviator (Acornsoft)
NO NEW Top Ten entries in this tasting of the vidiot
universe -the nearest is the pitter-patter of tiny
Ghouls at number 11. The chart seems to have
settled down, with several favourites keeping their
position for at least three months.
Among these are Snooker- one of Visions’
releases from last year - Snapper , 747 , Twin King-
dom , Hobbit, Chuckie Egg, White Knight, Zalaga,
and the not-so tiny feet of Killer Gorilla.
It’s quite amazing to think that in this, our second
birthday issue, Snapper is still going strong. It
made its appearance, along with Acornsoft’s
Defender and Monsters, in the first-ever issue of
Acorn User.
Another in the adventure style has appeared
Lords of Time from Level 9, a publisher that cer
tainly appears to be keeping up its quality. Then
The Hulk is bubbling -undoubtedly the result of
large orders from the multiple stores, as we
haven’t seen a copy yet.
SOFT
OPTIONS
OPTIMA Software’s latest
release for the Beeb, Bed-
bugs, certainly comes up to
scratch. This original arcade
game has already had some
mothers up in arms as jam
sandwiches come to the aid
of the game’s bedbug-ridden
hero.
Castaway is a new adven-
ture game from Simonsoft, set
in mode 7 graphics. Irate gar-
deners, beanstalks and prig-
gish chemistry teachers are
among the problems you’ll
encounter on the Three Island
Adventure’ as you go in search
of priceless treasure.
A sealed envelope is pro-
vided for defeatists which
offers them hints.
Computer Assisted Table
Bingo is Resource Facilities
way of making the learning of
multiplications from IT to
10T0 enjoyable for children
(or adults!). Calls are made for
a ‘line’ or ‘house’ when a
player obtains three or nine
correct numbers respectively.
Tel: (0422) 65935.
Integrated Accounting is
business software for the
Beeb from Diamondsoft The
software is supplied on 40-
track disc and comes with a
comprehensive user manual.
Features include areas such
as purchase ledger, sales
ledger, nominal ledger, cash
book and VAT analysis. Tel:
(061)485 8705.
One-Disc Home Office from
Doctor Soft provides the first
integrated program for the
Beeb to offer word processing,
an address database and
spreadsheet linked together
on a single disc. The disc is
supplied with a 12-page
manual. Tel: (0903) 206076.
The microdisc invasion
gathers pace as Beebugsoft
breaks into the new 3£in
market with six titles. If your
spelling is really bad then
Spellcheck, for use with Com-
puter Concepts’ Wordwise will
be of interest. It takes a Word-
wise file and searches through
it for spelling mistakes, high-
lighting any it encounters so
that you can then edit. Rent-a-
ghost becomes reality with the
Sprite Utilities package, and
the other titles are Masterfile,
Teletext Pack, Paintbox and
Design.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
Computer wargames are played against the background of a map. On the BBC these are particularly attractive. All the games
are played in a similar manner. Troops are moved from one area to another, taxes levied, and so on. Battles are fought and
wars are won or lost.
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR
The player takes the part of William. Duke of Normandy, in 1047. William’s Duchy consists of eight provinces, and the
purpose of the game is for William to establish complete control over his realm, which is no small task. He dies in 1087.
A good player will not only hold the original provinces, but also have captured two others. He must also, incidentally, have
successfully invaded England.
KING ARTHUR
Most wargames stretch to a couple of hours, some longer. King Arthur is a short one running about twenty minutes. Set in
the time of the Anglo Saxon invaders. King Arthur must protect this island and hopefully drive the Anglo Saxons into the sea.
EMPE ROR
The scenario is the first four centuries A.D. in the Roman Empire. The player takes the part of the Emperor and must pit his
wits against invading Barbarians, rebellious provincials and treacherous Roman generals. Even the Plebs of Rome will have
to be placated with bread and circuses if the Emperor is to keep his head and his throne. In that Emperor is played against the
background of the biggest geographical area of all our wargames, it is probably one of the most interesting.
CRUSADERS
The player takes the part of the King of Jerusalem, and has to rule his kingdom from 1169 to 1177. The ultimate aim is to
prevent any incursions by the invading Saracens. There are a total of 48 fortresses, all interconnected by caravan routes. The
program has a rudimentary artificial intelligence, inasmuch as the Saracens attempt to siege and take castles and fortresses
that they have not previously moved to. Thus, a Saracen army that has been sieging for a few years may be reinforced by
a new army.
NAPOLEON
Unfortunately Josephine does not appear, but Napoleon is probably one of the most absorbing wargames in that it was such
an interesting period of history. Needless to say, the object of the game is for Napoleon Bonaparte (the player) to conquer
Europe completely. Battle commences in June of 1798 and the player has until the end of 1815 in which to manoeuvre the
initial six armies in such a way as to defeat the opposing forces.
Any one wargame (excluding King Arthur) ... £ 13.50 + VAT = £15.53
Any three wargames £ 30.00 + VAT = £34.50
King Arthur £ 9.50 + VAT = £10.93
P & P on one wargame 75p. P & P on three wargames £1 .50.
TEL: (0424)220391/223636 MOLI M ERX ' LTD TELEX 86736 SOTEX G
A J HARDING (MOLIMERX)
1 BUCKHURST ROAD, TOWN HALL SQUARE, BEXHILL-ON-SEA, EAST SUSSEX.
A4 size stamped addressed envelope Cor 21p.
SOFTWARE CATALOGUE
I SOFTWARE REVIEWS
RIDING HIGH
WITH DENIS
‘Daredevil Denis', Visions, BBC B and
Electron, £7.95
COMPUTER game writers have fertile
imaginations. It never ceases to amaze
me how a similar concept in a game can
be presented in so many different ways.
Take Daredevil Denis , for example. It rep-
resents a novel approach to getting from
one end of a screen to another while
jumping over or ducking under various
objects en-route-a Killer Gorilla type of
game, but with some original effects.
The object is to manipulate Denis, a
stuntman, around three scenarios. These
are land, where Denis rides a motorcycle;
sea. where he controls a wetbike (a
James Bond contraption); and snow, in
which Denis dons his skis. The screen
display consists of four evenly spaced
horizontal lines, representing the land-
scape, and Denis rides (or skis) along the
landscape from the top line to the bottom.
Denis’ progress can be controlled from
three keys: space bar to jump. Shift to
accelerate, and Return to stop. There are
six skill levels, ranging from Novice
through Oscar Nominee to Ace, within
each of which there are six intermediate
stages.
Among the original effects is the Denis
the Stuntman' theme, which holds it all
together. This is carried through even to
the high score table, which shows your
achievement in terms of wages earned.
Each new life (there are three) is
announced with the slam of a clapper-
board closing (this is a film set, after all)
and a new ‘take’.
But there are irritating things about the
software. Although the sprites are well
defined, and there are 30 of them, the
screen has an empty look. The graphics
can be unpredictable when there is a
crash and this can detract from the
realism of the game. On the plus side,
however, the break key is disabled,
including control/break. The sound
effects are good, especially those when
Denis is on skis. The graphics are smooth
during a jump, and a crash is fun to watch
at first as Denis is thrown from his vehicle
and lands upside-down flailing his legs.
Daredevil Denis seems to have been
written with a sprite-making package, yet
despite its well-defined characters the
screen display is a disappointment.
Nevertheless, I found the game quite
challenging and the higher skill levels
proved difficult. A pity the screen isn’t
more fully utilised. Dee Vince
BRIDGE WITH A
FEW GAPS
‘Contract Bridge', Alligata Software, BBC
B, £9.95
THIS piece of software will give great
pleasure to keen bridge players
although it has limitations. Load it and
you can get excellent practice at bid-
ding and playing hands with infinite
variation. It plays near standard if a
little conservative Acol-type bidding
with pre-emptive jump bids, strong two
and Stayman convention.
You play south except when north is
declarer, so half the hands are yours to
play. You are offered the hand and pre-
vious bids, and a prompt asks you to
call. You can see the last trick, faintly
visible on the screen. Once contract is
reached you play normally, the tricks
being counted for you. At the end of
each trick all the hands are revealed
and you can analyse the bidding and
play at leisure before going on with the
exercise.
Contract Bridge provides very good
entertainment and my impression is
that the proportion of hands with
unusual distribution is above what
would be expected, although that tends
to add interest.
There are limitations to the program
that are not obvious from the descrip-
tion on the box, and it is as well to be
aware of them in advance. There’s no
scoring or provision for doubles, and
each hand stands alone, so bids such
as the take out double which might be
conditioned by such situations are not
supported. Nor is there a means of dec-
laring, so you must play every hand out
to the bitter end, and the absence of a
slam convention makes the frequent
long, strong suits hard to make the best
of in bidding. More annoying was the
fact that the machine plays a little too
fast for me, especially when any of the
hands, including declarers, is without a
choice. Finally, there’s a bug in the pro-
gram that I was unable to trace which
gives ‘No room at line 6650' about once
an hour, apparently at random.
These are small complaints about a
good idea which will give pleasure to
the many bridge-playing model B
owners and the game is entertaining
and useful at a reasonable price. A
much more sophisticated version is
apparently coming. Roger Carus
HOLOCAUST IN
THE HOLD
‘Demolator', Visions, BBC B, £6.95
THE Demolators are ghost-type nasties
whose sole aim is to destroy the human
cargo held in cryogenic suspension
aboard the Battle Star Quinn (Visions
denies that it is named after AU's illus-
trious editor!) as it transports the last
remnants of Homo sapiens across the
galaxy. Patrolling the cargo bay is the
Phobe, the ultimate robot, and you
have to manoeuvre it around (with key-
board or joystick), picking off the
aliens. The Demolators have the
advantage, though, of being able to
move through any objects they encoun-
ter, whereas the Phobe must dodge
these obstacles, at the same time
taking care not to blow itself to bits on
any of the mines lying around.
Points are scored by zapping the
Demolators with the inevitable ultra-
soniccannon.
The Demolators have their allies,
too. The Minor is a real beast. He
appears randomly and if you don’t zap
him he mutates into a deadly mine
which cannot be destroyed and eventu-
ally the Phobe can be hemmed in. The
Protector is a bit like a mobile Minor
that fires back (not very nice), while the
Tracktor actually homes in on you.
Demolator is well-presented, making
good use of sound and colour. The
graphics are very good, and excellent,
flicker-free use of sideways scrolling
gives a good impression of travelling
down a long cargo hold.
The game gets more difficult as you
progress and it apparently has 24
147
ACORN USER JULY 1984
HOWTO
TURN TOUR
SOFTWARE INTO
HARD CASH.
Turning a great idea into a profitable
idea isn’t easy.
It needs skill, patience and sheer hard
work. But to be really profitable, it also
needs the backing of a large, respected
company.
At British Telecom we are now
looking for writers of games and
educational programs to help. us launch a
new and exciting range of software.
If we like your idea we 11 send you a
cheque straightaway as an advance on
royalties.
Then we 11 package your program,
advertise it and distribute it with the care
and attention you’d expect from one of
Britain’s biggest companies.
So if you’d like to turn your software
into hard cash, simply send your program,
on cassette or disk, to
FIREFLY
SOFTWARE
British Telecom,
Wellington House, Upper St. Martin’s Lane, London WC2H 9DL.
I SOFTWARE REVIEWS
stages - 1 couldn’t get past stage 4 after
about an hour’s practice. The game is
complete when you have used up your
available lives, of which you have three.
The verdict: slightly above average,
with good graphics. Bruce Smith
WIREFRAME
ENEMY
‘3-D Tank Zone’, Dynabyte Software, BBC
(32k), £8.95
THIS offering from Dynabyte follows
Acornsoft’s Aviator as an innovative
piece of software that makes use of the
Beeb’s fast processing speed at
machine level to produce three dimen-
sional wire-frame graphics. For the un-
initiated wire-frame means that the
object, in this case a tank, is displayed
simply as a 3D outline figure, with little
or no detail. This doesn’t mean the
effect is unrealistic. On the contrary, it
stimulates the imagination and I prefer
it to minuscule overdetailed charac-
ters.
Once 3D Tank Zone is loaded you
find yourself at the controls of a tank
looking out onto a landscape contain-
ing a multitude of pyramids (or are they
hills?). The turret may be rotated to face
one of the other three points of the com-
pass to show missile silos, part of a city
and what look like volcanoes erupting
in the distance.
The on-board radar, which is rather
disappointing, shows a single point to
represent the position of an attacking
enemy tank, located visually by swing-
ing the turret around. By using the key-
board or a joystick the sights of the anti-
tank missile launcher are aligned and
the deterrent launched. This process is
harder than you might expect. The
sights are not the cross-wire type but
move up and down the side of the
screen and across the top of the
screen, so it takes some skill to line
them up. The marauder is also
manoeuvring smoothly at an often un-
predictable speed so he’s easy to miss.
Once launched, the missile whistles
away and if you’re on target the enemy
tank is obliterated - and another
appears on the radar screen.
In the skies waves of lifelike jets and
helicopters are on the attack. You can
shoot them down using the on-board
anti-aircraft cannon, the sights for this
being the standard cross-wire type.
Only one weapon can be fired at a time.
Points are awarded for destroying
any enemy hardware, tanks carrying
the greatest value. The object of the
game is to destroy as much of the
enemy before he pops your clogs, so an
eye needs to be kept on the condition of
the energy banks.
As with many of the programs mar-
keted today, little information about the
program is provided on the card insert.
I wish software houses would at least
print the key/joystick functions so that
they may be readily referred to. It’s
annoying to have to reload the program
to note them down.
Really, 3D Tank Zone follows the old
familiar pattern - zap-zap, bang-bang -
which is disappointing. However, the
graphics are its main selling point and
they work exceptionally well, not up to
the A via tor standard but an honourable
second. Bruce Smith
GALLONS
OF TROUBLE
‘Jet-Power Jack’, Micro Power, BBC B,
£7.95
JET-POWER Jack, the inter-galactic
hitch-hiker, has been kidnapped. His
captor is no less a character than
Nogrob the Terrible, who runs the
Botch system.
Jack is held in a garage and must
recover vital fuel pods to refuel the
waiting starships. As usual, his oxygen
supply is limited, so he has to be quick.
The garage is filled with obstacles, but
luckily Jack has a turbo-booster on his
back (the Jet-Power) so he can move
from level to level. In doing so, he must
avoid the live light fittings in the ceiling
and the edges of the platforms.
There are five sections, each with
five fuel pods. The stages become pro-
gressively harder, until Jack meets
Wilfred the hideous Yugg monster on
section five!
The sounds used are simple but
effective, and may be switched off at the
start of each new game. The graphics
are fair rather than excellent. The
movement can be less than smooth, but
this fault is not serious. Colour has
been used well and some of the mon-
sters look really mean!
Controlling Jack is easy, using only
three keys. ‘Control’ and ‘A’ govern
horizontal movement, while ‘Return’
fires the rockets on Jack’s power pack.
You can begin a new game at any
level, a good idea for all games. If you
get tired of playing. Escape takes you
back to the top-ten scoreboard.
Jet-Power Jack is great fun. addic-
tive, quite frustrating at times and, best
of all, good value for money.
Stuart Menges
YOUR SEARCH
THROUGH TIME
‘Lords of Time’, Level 9, BBC (32k), £9.90
LEVEL 9 - arguably the producer of the
best adventure games in the UK -has
done it again. Lords of Time is a spark-
ling addition to its stable of winners,
with more than 200 beautifully
described locations and a repertoire of
witty ripostes to even the dumbest
instruction.
The game’s theme involves nine evil
Timelords who have meddled with
Earth’s history so that they can rule
eternally. Father Time recruits the
player (that’s you) to travel through
time and put an end to their dastardly
deeds by collecting nine symbolic
objects’ which, he assures you, can
repair history. On the way there are. of
course, plenty of valuable knick-knacks
to be picked up, ensuring a comfortable
retirement for the weary time-traveller.
The game is divided into nine time
zones -nine separate adventures in
different periods of the Earth’s past and
future- interlinked in that objects
found in one zone are needed to solve
puzzles in another.
There are some useful additional
features -for instance, longer phrases
can be entered, such as ‘Give drink to
bartender’. This makes the game more
realistic and gets away from the end-
less repetition of ‘Take’ and Drop'.
Also, if you want to know more about an
object before you pick it up, you can
examine it and get a more detailed des-
cription. This might range from the
cryptic (Examine candle - ‘wax’) to the
helpful (Examine suit of armour- ‘Just
your size!’).
Full marks to Sue Gazzard for an in-
genious and entertaining game design,
and to Pete and Mike Austin for its
excellent implementation. Response
time is fast and -most important- you
can restart the game without re-loading
an initialisation data file (other game
writers please note).
Oh well, back to the keyboard - yes, I
confess, I haven’t actually cracked
Lords of Time yet! Now where did I
leave the Galactic Groat? Was it on the
ice-age glacier or in the Tudor hedge-
maze? Mike Milne
ACORN USER JULY 1984
: AMILY
To MIRRORSOFT, PO Box 50. Bromley.
Kent BR2 9TT
Please send me the following (enter
number required of each item
in the space provided)
l enclose a cheque/PO for £ made payable
to “Readers’ Account: Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd’
I understand that my remittance will be held on my
behalf in the
bank account
named above
until the
goods are
despatched.
Signature
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Address
Caesar the Cal (CC01)
Caesar the Cat (CC01)
Postcode
Offer applies lo Great Bntain and Eire only Please allow up to 28 days for delivery in the UK MIRRORSOfT is a registered trade mark of Mirror Group Newspapers Lid ,Co Reg No 168660 Reg Office Holbom Circus. London EC1
150
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
What the competition
hasn't been waiting fen
16k Eprom type 27128
Multi-tasking operating system
for Real-Time use.
Latest version of Forth for the BBC
(Is not rehashed Forth 79 Cod
Unique Stack Display Utility -
Here's the Forth Eprom for the BBC Micro that makes all others
out of date.
It's Multi-Forth 83 from David Husband who has built his
reputation for Quality Forth products with his ZX8 1 Forth ROM,
Spectrum Forth-I/O Cartridge and now New Multi-Forth 83 for the BBC
Micro. This is not rehashed Forth 79 Code, but a completely new
version of the Forth 83 Standard. It's unique in that it Multi-tasks, and
therefore the user can have a number of Forth programs executing
simultaneously and transparently of each other.
Multi-Forth 83 sits in the sideways ROM area of the BBC along
with any other ROMs in use. It is compatible with the MOS, and
specially vectored to enable a system to be reconfigured. It contains a
Standard 6502 Assembler, a Standard Screen Editor, and a Unique
Stack Display Utility.
With this Forth, David Husband has provided the BBC Micro with
capabilities never before realised. And being 1 6K rather than 8K is
twice the size of other versions. Multi-Forth 83 is supplied with an
extensive Manual ( 1 70 pages plus) and at £40+ VAT it is superb value
Order it using the coupon adding £2.30 p&p (£5 for Europe, £ 1 0
outside) or if you want more information, tick that box instead. Either
way, it will put you one step ahead of the competition.
Please send me Multi Forth 83 for BBC Micro E40+VAT De luxe System inc Disc £80 + VAT
Cheques to Skywave Software Readers' A/C (or enter Visa No )
I I 11 I I M I I I I 1 J
Please send me more information
Name
Address.
Post code
SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY FORI OO S ONWARDS
Send to Skywave Software, 73Curzon Road, Bournemouth.
BH1 4PW, Dorset. England Tel: (0202)302385
□ Multi-Forth 83
QJ ZX81 Forth ROM
Q Spectrum Forth ! O Cartridge
SOFTWARE
MULTI -FORTH 83 FOR THE BBC MICRO
HIGH QUALITY COMPUTER DESKS
AT HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PRICES.
THE ORGANISER DESK.
• Top shelf for monitor/printer.
• Large desk top ;irea.
• Lower shelf for paper/book storage.
• Teak finish • On castors.
•Self assembly
• Ample room in front of the
shelf for vou to sit comfortably
J J
* Assembled Dimensions:
H.31" W40M ” D.26 ”
Only £ 59 . 95 .
THE APOLLO RANGE OF BUSIN ESS DESKS.
• 10 models available to suit leading computer
systems. • Immediate delivery
• Sturdy steel underframes.
• Scratch resistant surfaces.
• Lockable castors. • Prices from £ 100 .
All are on display in our showroom and are available from us or dealers throughout
the U.K. All prices include VAT and delivery
For further details contact us at:
158 Camberwell Road, London SE5 OFF. Telephone: 01-701 8668.
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
151
PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE FOR THE BBC MICRO
EASIPLOT
EASIPLOT is a sophisticated AND user friendly graph package for the
BBC Micro, placed 14 th in the top 20 Educational packages by the
leading Educational Computing Magazine. EASIPLOT has also come to
be regarded as an 'outstanding business package' and 'excellent value
for money'.
Note:- EASIPLOT 3 comes complete with the number charting
program DATA PLOTTER with graph magnification, colour and
moving average facilities. SUPERB VALUE AT £22.95.
prepared by J Fdwards Jan/8 J
EASIPLOT FACILITES
DISK CASSETTE
Line, Bar and Pie Charts
YES
YES
Auto & Manual Scaling
YES
YES
Grid & Scatter Options
YES
YES
No of simultaneous graphs
5
3
Overwrite memory
YES
NO
Screensave facility
YES
YES
Screendump facility
YES
YES
Fixed description per graph (char's)
up to 200
100
Full plot and axis editing
YES
YES
Save, Load & *CAT facilities
YES
YES
Single file selection
YES
NO
Operating Manual (pages)
52
52
All our programs will produce hard copy on the following printers:-
EPSON (entire range), Shinwa CP80, Star DP 510, Seikosha (GP80A &
GP100A). Share Analyser will produce reports on any BBC compatible
printer.
PLEASE NOTE:- Our programs CANNOT BE OBTAINED FROM YOUR
LOCAL DEALER so send for details NOV/.
PROGRAM PRICE
Data Plotter (cassette) . . Model B & Electron £7.00
Data Plotter (disk) . . Model B £8.00
Easiplot 1 (cassette) . . Model B & Electron £15.95
Easiplot 2 (disk only) . . Model B £19.95
Easiplot 3 (including Data Plotter- disk only) £22.95
Share Analyser (cassette) . . Model B & Electron £14.95
Share Analyser (disk only) . . Model B £19.95
Disk orders . . please state 40 or 80 track (add £1 for 80 track and £1 .50 for
overseas orders). We will upgrade Easiplot 1 to Easiplot 2 for £7 (£10 to
Easiplot 3).
Write for full details of all our programs or leave your name and
address with our Answerphone service (Luton 33858).
All programs are normally despatched within 24 hours.
SHARE ANALYSER
SHARE ANALYSER is a sophisticated portfolio reporting and share
analysis package designed for the small investor. The disk version has
a capacity of 20,000 SHARE PRICES and up to 320 buy/ sell deals
covering 20 share names. Share Analyser has facilities for profit
flexing and multiple merging of graphs and a variety of selectable
indicators. SHARE ANALYSER IS A MUST FOR THE INVESTOR
AT A BARGAIN PRICE.
PROFIT STATEMENT
NAME BRITISH PETROLEUM
DEALINGS
Bought
Av Price
Cost
600
338
2028
Sold
Av Price
Income
300
426
1278
Held
Curr Price
Mkt Vain
300
438
1314
Gross Profit
564
Income
257
Expenses
101
Net Profit
720
°fo Gain = 36
SHARE ANALYSER FACILITIES
DISK CASSETTE
No of prices stored
20,000
Appx 1700
Max no' of Holdings
20
20
Transactions per holding
16
16
Range adjuster
YES
NO
File Manager
YES
NO
Printer Manager
YES
NO
REPORTS PRODUCED:-
Portfolio Valuation
YES
YES
Portfolio Profit Analysis
YES
YES
Share Profit Analysis
YES
YES
Share Movement Analysis
YES
YES
Transaction Record Report
YES
NO
File Status Report
YES
NO
GRAPHICS FACILITIES:-
Magnification option
YES
YES
Grid
YES
YES
Autoscale
YES
YES
Screenwrite
YES
YES
Screendump
YES
YES
SELECTABLE GRAPHICAL INDICATORS:-
Lagged Moving Average
YES
YES
Centred Moving Average
YES
YES
Rise and fall indicator
YES
YES
Weekly/ Daily Low indicator
YES
YES
Superimpose Facility
YES
YES
Send cheque/P.O. etc to
Synergy Software, 7 St Andrews Close, Slip End, Luton, LU 1 4DE.
152
A CORN USER JUL Y 1984
| HARDWARE REVIEW
ITS FASTER VIA THE
SILICON DRIVE
. . . says Malcolm
Banthorpe
Sideways RAM board (128k), Solidisk
Technology, 17 Sweyne Avenue, South-
end-on-Sea, Essex SS2 5J J (0702) 354674,
£139.95 (inc VAT)
I N HIS review of the 16k version of
Solidisk’s sideways RAM system
(February issue), Vincent Fojut
talked of its exciting potential for
expanding the BBC micro, and
explained that the board itself could be
expanded in two stages to 32k and
128k. This largest version can also be
bought as a complete unit which offers
significant additional facilities.
Here are my experiences with the
128k version.
As the previous review pointed out,
inserting wire terminals into the CPU
socket alongside the CPU pins seems a
little crude, and for me this proved the
most tricky part of the installation. With
the 128k board another five connec-
tions have to be made to the 6522 VIA
and another chip. However, at least the
need for permanent modification to the
circuit board is eliminated and the
system has proved reliable.
Used straightforwardly, the 128k
board gives eight paged blocks of RAM,
each of 16k, into which can be loaded
sideways ROM-type software -or you
can assemble your own machine-code
routines directly into this area, leaving
the main memory free for Basic pro-
grams and screen memory.
What really distinguishes the 128k
unit is that software is supplied that
enables this extra memory to behave
as a 'silicon disc’. In this mode, 100k is
available. The software loads a modi-
fied copy of the DFS into sideways
block 8. For this purpose you must have
Acorn DFS 0.90 already installed in the
machine and it can be assumed that
other DFS systems will not be suitable.
One 16k block (sideways location 15) is
still available for sideways software.
The rest of the sideways RAM now
behaves for most purposes as if it were
a 100k disc drive-only faster. All the
normal DFS commands are recognised
and obeyed, the silicon disc appearing
as drive 1 . If you already have a drive 1 ,
an alternative piece of software can be
loaded to make the silicon appear as
drive 4.
Three new DFS commands are incor-
porated into the modified DFS:
‘FORM40 (or ‘FORM80) formats 40 and
80 track discs; ‘VERIFY, according to
the instructions, or ‘VFY in the software
as received, verifies either the silicon
drive or a conventional floppy; and
‘DCOPY copies the contents of the disc
in drive 0 to drive 1 or vice versa. This
last command behaves almost the
same ‘COPY V to copy all the files
from one disc to another, except that if
you try to copy from the silicon drive to
an unformatted disc the new disc will
automatically be formatted first.
‘DCOPY could be the most useful
command for owners of a single con-
ventional drive, as it enables backup
copies to be made rapidly without the
disc swapping normally required when
using ‘BACKUP or ‘COPY V with a
single drive. With the Solidisk board
installed, one simply ‘DCOPY’s the
floppy into the silicon disc in one opera-
tion and ‘DCOPY’s everything back
onto a new disc in a second single
operation.
The average file transfer speed is
claimed to be 40k per second - up to 15
times the speed of a floppy. The speed
is certainly apparent when loading pro-
gram and data files, especially as no
time is taken for the disc to get up to
speed. Table 1 shows how the speed of
the Solidisk system compared with my
single-density 40-track floppy drive in a
number of typical operations.
These timings include the time taken
for the floppy to get up to speed and
show that, while the speed difference is
not always ‘up to 15 times’ as great,
there’s always an advantage.
The speed of storing single bytes
using BPUT was also compared with
the time taken for a Basic program to
store 1000 bytes directly to the main
memory. Here the time was 0.98
seconds for direct storage -just over
half the time taken to store similar in-
formation on the Solidisk system. This
indicates that, though it is not yet poss-
ible to run a Basic program while it is
still resident in sideways RAM, a large
program could use data files on the
Solidisk as an alternative to arrays
without much loss of speed.
As well as the silicon disc program,
other useful utilities were supplied on
disc. Most of them involve the use of
machine code routines, but in many
instances source code is supplied.
Solidisk Technology offers software
updates at just £2 for a new disc.
Menu is a useful program to include
on any floppy disc to be used alongside
the Solidisk system. It displays the con-
tents of all 16 potential sideways ROM/
RAM locations, plus the catalogue of
the floppy drive and the silicon disc (if
the sideways RAM has previously been
booted into this role). Any file shown
can be loaded with a single keystroke.
Among the other utilities supplied:
Silexicon , three programs which
constitute a fast spelling checker for
any text file on floppy disc. A 4.5k
machine code program plus a diction-
ary file and a ‘tree table’ are loaded into
the silicon drive. The dictionary initially
holds 5000 words and may be extended
by the user up to about 1 5,000 words.
Word64, a utility for creating Word-
wise files up to 64k in length as
opposed to the normal 24k limit. This is
achieved by holding only a 16k
‘window’ to the complete text file in the
main memory area, the rest being held
on silicon disc.
Buffer appears on the disc but was
not documented in the instructions. It
turns out to be a print buffer that sends
any text to be printed rapidly to the buf-
fer first, releasing the computer for use
while the printer is at work.
If you are using a single disc drive
then the Solidisk 128k system is worth
considering as an alternative to a
second drive. Its price compares with
that of a single 40-track drive and it
offers a number of advantages.
Operation
Floppy disc
Solidisk
‘LOAD 12.5k program
2.86 secs
0.24 secs
Open data file and store 1000 6-character strings
19.69
6.01
Open datafile and read 1000 6-character strings
19.49
4.78
‘LOAD mode 1 screen (20k)
3.24
0.32
Store 1000 bytes using BPUT
4.75
1.66
Read 1000 bytes using BGET
4.11
1.56
Load Wordwisefile of 2250 words
29.5
6.8
‘BACKUP floppy to Solidisk: 20.8 seconds
‘BACKUP Solidisk to floppy: 22.7 seconds
Table 1 . How the Solidisk 1 28k board compares for speed with a 40-track floppy disc drive
ACORN USER JULY 1984
e let ext
ispiau
Datapen
BBC
Lightpen Programs ^ Datapen
The Datapen Lightpen itself comes complete
with handbook, software on tape including two
drawing programs and a printed listing
showing useful routines.
PRICE £25.00
Two drawing programs. SKETCH and SHAPE-
CREATE are included with the lightpen and the
programs shown above may be ordered
additionally, or separately as required.
All prices above include VAT. postage and
packing.
Please send your cheque/P.O. to:-
Dept. 4, Datapen Microtechnology Ltd.,
Kingsclere Road, Overton,
Hants. RG25 3JB
BEEBPEN DRAWING PROGRAM
A comprehensive Mode 2 colour drawing program
allowing plot commands, painting, circles, text,
character defining, saving and loading to tape or disc,
all to be selected and used with the lightpen
PRICE £11.95 Introductory Offer £9.95
TELETEXT DISPLAY CREATOR/EDITOR
Allows the busy programmer to quickly create Mode 7
colour graphics and test screens for combination into
his or her own programs Movable on screen menu
allows use of complete screen for graphics. Full
Instructions and a discussion on teletext features are
provided price £9.95 Introductory Offer £7.95
BRITAIN
The first in a series of educational Geography and
Geology programs. Britain comes complete with three
sets of Tests, and these may be very easily changed by
adding DATA statements in the Basic program. Full
instructions and grid map supplied
PRICE £6.95 Introductory Offer £5.95
SUPERIOR
PERFORMANCE
• Intensive to ambient
lighting
• Responds to different colours
• Program accessible LED
lamp readout
• Switch for program control
SUPERIOR PROGRAMS
• Tape storage of your work
• Good documentation
• User routines provided
on tape and
on printout
■ + *
* sc *° v v* ° , *& i*<*< 6e -
' 0 o< c o^ V°*
154
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
| HARDWARE REVIEWS
TRIPLE TEST
BUS PRICES
Acorn
£325.00
Cambridge Computer
Consultants
£224.25
CST-Procyon
£385.00
Including VA T, mains lead and cable
for connection to the micro
Paul Beverley and Nigel Eames try three I E E E488 s
T HERE are a number of stand-
ardised methods of interfacing
computers to other devices and
one of the more versatile of these is the
IEEE488 standard interface bus. Three
companies, all based in Cambridge,
produce one: Acorn, Cambridge Com-
puter Consultants (now trading as
Aries Computers )and CST-Procyon.
The IEEE488 interface bus was orig-
inally developed by Hewlett-Packard
as a means of communication between
'intelligent’ instruments. This first
version, called the Hewlett-Packard
Interface Bus (HPIB) or the General
Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) was stan-
dardised and its specification pub-
lished in the IEEE488 Standard of 1975,
revised in 1978. Up to 15 instruments
may be connected to the bus at any one
time, one or more of which can control
the data transfers between the others.
(The IEC625 Standard, another industry
standard interface, is identical to the
IEEE488 except for the type of connec-
tors used.)
Typical applications include micro-
controlled testing stations for testing
production instruments or running a
complete set of tests on the perform-
ance of a particular system (figure 1).
Measurements of quantities such as
frequency response, rise time, phase
shift and many others can be made
automatically and limited only by the
facilities available on the ‘intelligent’
test gear. The computer acts as the
controller, issuing instructions over the
bus for the transmission and reception
of data and for the function control of
the instruments -for example, fre-
quency selection, range changing,
disabling and enabling of front-panel
controls and pen-up/pen-down instruc-
tions for plotters. In some circum-
stances it is necessary to synchronise
signal generation and the collection of
the resultant data, and this is taken
care of by the controller or computer.
The bus has 24 lines - eight for data;
eight for control (three for ‘handshak-
ing’ and five for ‘management’); and
eight ground lines. The handshake
lines are used by the controller and the
peripheral devices for controlling the
transfer of data over the bus. A device,
often called a ‘listener’, indicates its
readiness to receive data by putting a
logic 0 on the perversely named Not
Ready For Data (NRFD) line, ie, if the
line is low ( = Not high) it is ready for
data. The sending device, often called
the ‘talker’, places the data on the bus
and sets the Data Valid (DAV) line high.
The listener signals its collection of the
data by setting the Not Data Accepted
(NDAC) line low, ie, active low.
The IEEE488 standard bus may be
run at data rates of up to 1 Mb/sec,
which imposes stringent conditions on
the lengths and types of cables used.
The ground lines form twisted pairs
with each of the control lines,
minimising interference between these
asynchronous lines. The bus is con-
nected in parallel to every instrument
in the system either in a linear manner,
one after the other, or in radiating star
arrangement. The connectors on the
cables must, of course, be stackable.
Cable lengths are limited to 2m per
instrument, or 20m overall, whichever
is the shorter.
The interface management lines
which are used to control the flow of
data and commands over the bus and
to reflect its status are as follows:
ATN — When the Attention line is high
this is an indication by the controller
that data on the bus is to be interpreted
as a command and not as data. For
example, this may be used to set up a
device as a listener or to disable the
front panel controls of the instrument.
IFC — Interface Clear. This line, which
is active high, is an overall reset con-
trol line and all devices capable of res-
ponding will do so. It is analogous to the
BREAK key on the BBC micro and
should be used only upon initialisation
of a system. Only the system controller
can issue thiscommand.
REN — Some instruments are capable
of remote operation via the bus as well
as from their front panel. The remote
enable REN (active high) line is used to
put such instruments into the remote
controlled state when they have pre-
viously been set up to receive data or
commands.
SRQ — Service Request. This is the line,
or flag, used by the peripheral devices
to request servicing in the event of an
error condition or some circumstance
beyond its control - eg, input signal out
Figure 1 . Typical IEEE test rig
155
ACORN USER JULY 1984
‘hands off the Ultradrive!’
At last a computer controlled storage device that will load a 1 6k program in under 1 5 seconds* and doesn't use
any of your computer's precious memory!
Each ULTRA DRIVE Micro cassette has an enormous 200k byte capacity*.
The ULTRA DRIVE comes complete with all necessary interfaces, its own sophisticated filing system,
and a utility cassette.
All this for only
■ HARDWARE REVIEWS
of range, data buffer full or invalid com-
mand. It does not affect the current
operation on the bus and it is up to the
controller to take the necessary action.
EOI— End Or Identify. The data trans-
mitting device (which may or may not
be the controller) drives this line high,
simultaneously transmitting the last
byte of data.
The data is transmitted over the bus as
strings of ASCII codes. The strings are
sent one byte at a time and ‘handshak-
ing’ is used for each byte, thereby
giving very reliable (and fast) transfer
of data. Using ASCII encoded data
overcomes the problem of different
instruments or systems representing
numbers and control codes in different
ways. ASCII codes use only seven bits
out of the eight in each byte and so in
some systems the eighth bit is used for
parity checking. It is sometimes
necessary to send the full eight bits of
each byte and this may be done by
transferring each byte separately.
The full complement of functions
described by the standard is rarely
implemented on any one instrument
simply because they are not all needed
and so subsets are implemented as
required. The standard allows for more
than one controller to be connected to
the bus and provides facilities for trans-
ferring control from one to the other.
However some systems, such as Pet
and Apple, implement a subset that
allows only one controller, and in the
case of Pet computers the device
addresses are fixed as well.
Each device connected to the bus
must have a unique address, which
may be in the range 0 to 30. This allows
a range of instruments to have their
device address preset so that any com-
bination of them may be used on the
bus without having to change device
addresses every time the combination
of instruments is changed. The address
is usually preset on each instrument by
a switch on the back panel. In some
instruments it is preset by the manufac-
turer and may be altered by changing
links on the circuit board; in others it is
fixed. Occasionally, it may be set as
required through the software.
This address is called the primary
address of the device. Secondary
addresses are those within a particular
instrument that allow the controller to
select the required function. A digital
multimeter, for example, would have
several secondary addresses for the
selection of DC, AC, voltage, current,
resistance etc.
To make an objective assessment of
the systems from Acorn, Cambridge
Computer and CST-Procyon the rela-
tively simple task of sending a data
array from the computer memory to a
printer via the interface was pro-
grammed for each of the three units.
Data sent was the ASCII encoded listing
of the program required to effect the
data transfer. Two versions of each
program were run, first using data
strings and secondly single bytes. The
program listings are shown in listings 1
to 6 (yellow pages xi and xii) with com-
ments on those instructions peculiar to
each interface. The programs were
written at the highest level available,
ie, Basic, as this is easiest to read to
compare. For high-speed data trans-
fers, lower level routines should be
used where provided.
The Acorn unit is externally attract-
ive, being housed in a moulded case
that matches the colour and profile of
The Cambridge Computer Consultants
(Aries Computers) unit has three useful LEDs
Software for the CST-Procyon interface is
in an EPROM
the BBC computer. Connection to the
computer is via a ribbon cable termi-
nated with an ID connector for direct
connection to the 1MHz bus. The
1 MHz bus connector is stackable at the
interface end, thus allowing other inter-
faces or systems access to the 1MHz
bus. The unit contains terminating
resistors for the 1MHz bus which may
be easily unplugged from their sockets
if the unit is not the last device to be
connected to the computer. The power
supply is on the same PCB as the rest of
the circuit, except for the mains trans-
former, and the unit comes with a fitted
mains cable with moulded integral 13
ampplug.
The software to run the interface is in
an EPROM which plugs into one of the
vacant ROM sockets inside the BBC
computer. The manual has comprehen-
sive instructions for fitting the EPROM
and for making the necessary link
changes if your machine is pre OS 1.0
(Acorn says it will provide and fit a 1.2
operating system ROM free if you still
have the 0.1 operating system ROM).
The computer treats the interface as
a filing system and selects it with the
*!EEE command. Immediately follow-
ing the first use of *IEEE you must carry
out four instructions. These are: open
the command and data channels; set
the device address of the computer;
and clear the interface. Channels to
peripheral devices must be created
using the command OPENIN (line 90,
listing 1) and set up to LISTEN (line 100)
or to TALK before data transfers can
take place (line 130). Up to 14 channels
can be open at any one time.
If the data is to be transferred byte by
byte instead of as a string, the interface
must be informed and told the number
of bytes to be transmitted (line 110, list-
ing 2). BPUT#<channel > (data byte) is
used to output the data rather than
the PRINT// < channel > (data string)
instruction used otherwise. It is good
housekeeping practice to close chan-
nels when they are no longer required,
as the channels remain open even if a
different filing system is selected.
Channels are closed using the CLOSE
#< channel > instruction or the
CLOSE#0 instruction which closes all
channels except the command and
data channels.
Listings 1 and 2 imply that the Acorn
unit requires more programming effort
than the other two and this is probably
true. However, they also disguise its
underlying versatility. It is possible to
allow one device to ‘talk’ to others with-
out involving the computer in data
transfer, leaving it free for other tasks.
Control may be passed to another con-
troller connected to the bus and
requested back again, and the system
may be used with any language
running on the computer that allows the
use of a filing system. The language
structure used in the instructions
makes it easy for the programmer to
keep track of what is going on.
The manual is not for the uninitiated.
It’s brevity is chilling. However, those
familiar with the IEEE interface will
probably find most of what they
require, the documentation outlining
the commands in Basic and the operat-
ing system calls that are used by the
interface.
Cambridge Computer Consultants’
unit comes in a compact metal case
with three LEDs on the front panel that
indicate the status of the ATN line,
whether the interface is addressed to
TALK and whether data is being trans-
ferred— a useful aid when fault-finding
an inoperative system. The back panel
has the device socket and six miniature
DIL switches, five to set the device
address of the interface and one to set
the interface as the ‘master’ controller
or the ‘slave’ controller. Unfortunately,
in the Off position the switches actually
157
ACORN USER JULY 1984
The Broadway Drive,
t i already in use all over the
r i « world by many leading
Colleges and Universities, is
now available at more
competitive prices than ever.
All drives include the Broadway
publication “Making the most of your
BBC Disc System” and accompanying
utilities disc (available separately at
£30. per set), and offer the back-up that
has made Broadway one of the principal
Acorn and BBC dealers.
All 80 track drives are 40/80 compatible, and the
unique Broadway 500 will write 80 to 40 tracks.
Already in use by many leading software houses.
CHOICE OF 5 MODELS \
* 100 K SINGLE 40 TRACK \]
* 200K DOUBLE 40 TRACK X
* 400K SINGLE 40/80 TRACK X
SWITCHABLE X
* 800K DOUBLE 40/80 TRACK X
SWITCHABLE X
* NEW 100 K 40 TRACK PLUS 400K X. !
40/80 TRACK SWITCHABLE —3
Ready to use, includes: Manual, Format Disc
■ & Leads
ELECTRONICS Astoi
>n Road, Bedford, Beds MK42 OLJ. Telephone: (0234) 88303. Part of the Mushroom Computer group of Companies.
158
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
I HARDWARE REVIEWS
touched the side of the slot in the case
and were difficult to move back to On.
Again, the unit’s power supply is on
the same board, except for the mains
transformer. The mains connections to
the transformer tags were covered with
a piece of insulating tape. Connection
to the computer is via a ribbon cable
terminated with a non-stackable ID
connector for direct connection to the
1MHz bus.
The software is supplied on disc or
cassette and consists of a library of pro-
cedures and functions in Basic that are
loaded into memory above the user
program. The library line numbers start
at 30000 and the library itself occupies
just under 1.8k. A well-documented
source program describes the purpose
of the functions and procedures.
The CCC unit is used by calling pro-
cedures to perform the required tasks.
Before any data transfers are
attempted, the bus must be initialised
by calling PROCIEINIT < address > .
The argument for this command is the
base address of the memory mapped
Input/Output, &FC20. To set the inter-
face up as a TALKer the PROCIEWRIT-
cLISTENer device address > instruc-
tion is used (line 60, listing 3). The
device address used here must contain
the device primary address and, if
there is one, the secondary address. If
there is no secondary address ‘ — 1 *
must be inserted instead. Data can then
be sent either as an array, in strings or
byte by byte (line 70, listing 3 and line
80, listing 4).
If the data is to be sent to more than
one listener, each listener must be
enabled separately by calling a proce-
dure PROCIELA< listener address >.
This is necessary where device events
need to be synchronised.
This unit required four instructions,
including the housekeeping, to perform
the simple program listing task, which
compares favourably with the Acorn
interface. But for a more complex
IEEE488 link-up with several devices
connected to the bus the Acorn unit is
preferable, with its greater range of
instructions available.
The manual gives a good introduc-
tion to the IEEE488 standard and
describes in some detail most of, but
not all, the procedures and functions in
the software. The documentation is,
however, inadequate for anything
other than simple data transfers. The
means of implementing such com-
mands as Local Lockout, Selected
Device Clear and a few others is not
described at all. Irritatingly, the user is
referred to the Texas Instruments data
sheetfor the TMS 9914 IEEE488 control-
ler chip to find the necessary infor-
mation.
Details of various options are given
in the manual, as are other technical
details of internal modifications,
including details of operation under
interrupt.
The CST-Procyon unit is housed in a
smart anodised aluminium case with
the 1 MHz bus and IEEE488 bus connec-
tors on the back panel, which also con-
tains the mains socket. The front panel
has three LEDs for Data In, Data Out
and Bus Active. The unit has an on-
board power supply, the mains trans-
former also being mounted on the
board.
The mains connections to the trans-
former are close to the edge of the
board but are not insulated.
The software for this unit is in an
EPROM, which fits into one of the
Christopher Turner, head of Acorn’s IEEE
interface team, demonstrates the cosmeti-
cally matching Acorn bus unit
vacant ROM slots on board the com-
puter. The manual gives explicit fitting
instructions.
It is obvious from the listings that this
unit requires very little programming to
output an array of data from memory -
just two instructions, in fact. The inter-
face is also treated as a filing system,
as was the Acorn interface, and is also
called by ‘IEEE. Using the command
*IEEE automatically initialises the
interface. Opening and closing of data
channels is also automatic and is
performed in the execution of the
PRINT#<channel number> or INPUT-
#<channel number> instructions.
Thus only one instruction is required to
output the data to the required channel.
If a device has a secondary address, or
more than one channel is listening you
have to add a further instruction; a
channel must be opened (with OPENIN)
stating the primary and secondary
addresses of all devices required.
The documentation for this unit is
excellent and complete, covering not
only high-level control of the bus in
Basic but also in the lower level star
commands, which use the IEEE stan-
dard mnemonics, and the BBC’s oper-
ating system calls. Of the three, the
CST-Procyon manual was the only one
to specify the maximum data transfer
rate, quoted as 50k/sec.
All three units have been manufac-
tured to a high standard and are
mechanically robust, giving confidence
in their long-term reliability.
For simple system configurations -
for example, one talker and one
listener-the CCC unit is ideal. It is
easy to program at this level, does not
involve fitting a ROM inside the com-
puter and is relatively inexpensive. The
unit is now marketed by the renamed
company (Aries Computers) with the
model name Aries-B488 and a number
of improvements have been incorpor-
ated since the model was received for
review.
The DIL switches on the back panel
have now been removed and replaced
by software programmable latches; the
initialisation routine now includes the
IEEE device address of the interface;
the unit allows direct device-to-device
communication and the software
includes a simple means of placing
numerical data that has been received
in string format into arrays in the BBC
micro.
The Acorn unit has a very full im-
plementation of the standard and is
therefore well suited to systems involv-
ing several instruments. Programming
for multiple devices is no more difficult
than itisforasingledevice.
The CST-Procyon interface has the
fullest implementation of the standard,
as it is possible to use this unit either as
a controller or as a device and to
change between the two functions. In
controller mode it may be the overall
system controller or a slave controller.
In device mode it behaves as a device
controlled by the current controller,
which enables any machine or com-
puter with an IEEE488 interface to con-
trol the BBC micro remotely.
Control via the interface is achieved
using secondary addresses to give
access to the operating system calls of
the BBC. Specifically, these are the
IEEE filing system, the OSCLI, OSBYTE,
OSWORD, OSWRCH and OSRDCH rou-
tines.
CST-Procyon also offers a CBM filing
system ROM to enable the Commodore
peripherals to be used with the BBC
micro and a set of libraries to support
the use of the interface from most of the
languages available on the Torch and
Acorn Z80 second processors. Also
available is an IEEE bus analyser ROM
for diagnostic testing of other IEEE
hardware.
There is a one-year warranty with
guaranteed replacement of a faulty unit
by the next working day.
Which one is the best buy? Well, it
depends on what application you have
in mind, and what facilities you there-
fore require. It would be fair to say that,
with all three units, you get what you
pay for.
159
ACORN USER JULY 1984
T
f iM Sli i
^ '
#
■■.■ ■■;! /.
fggp
wu
The complete program development package for assembly language programmers. ADE is the de
facto industry standard for professional software writers using the BBC microcomputer. The 16k
ROM contains a full 6502 MACRO assembler a dynamic text editor a front panel debugging
monitor and disassembler. ADE comes complete with a 160 page comprehensive reference
manual and a utility/macro library disc. ADE can also be used with tape based machines.
The ASSEMBLER features macros with library facilities; nestable conditional assembly; flexible
listing options (with or without macro expansion); hex, decimal, binary and ASCII data formats;
dummy section; full range of arithmetic and logical operators; symbol table sort and dump; file
chaining and 29 powerful pseudo ops. Source and object files are kept on disc so there is no limit
on program size or location.
The EDITOR is designed with the programmer in mind for writing both programs and
documentation. The editor includes a very powerful command language (including macros) that
enables much editing to be done on a semi-automatic basis. It features full screen editing and
deferred edit modes; no limit to document size; edit with backup facilities and a versatile text
formatter.
The DEBUGGER is instantly accessible for inspecting, modifying and disassembling machine code
programs. Features include full 64 byte display in hex, ASCII and disassembled format registers;
stack; single step; breakpoints; memory search and much more.
Price £60 inc vat. Please specify 40 or 80T utility disc.
ASM provides all the superb features of the ADE macro assembler on its own ROM.
The program source file may be written using any editor(even Wordwise or View!). Complete with
reference manual and utility/macro library disc. Use the assembler that professional software
writers use.
Price £35 inc vat. Please specify 40 or 80T utility disc.
SPY2 is a front panel debugging monitor, disassembler and disc utility ROM. SPY2 is instantly
accessible to the programmer for inspecting, modifying, debugging and disassembling machine
code programs. SPY2 also features a relocator and program trace facilities. SPY2 will access any
ROM either in the sideways ROM sockets or on an extension board. ROM memory may be
displayed, single-stepped through or disassembled.
SPY2 includes a set of powerful disc recovery commands for interrogating, editing and retrieving
data stored on a floppy disc. SPY2 also includes a disc formatter as well as a non-destructive single
track reformatter.
In all SPY2 has a comprehensive set of 23 utility commands. These are supported by an excellent
Reference Manual.
The SPY2 front panel encompasses all the superb, easy-to-use facilities of the renowned SPY
debugging monitor PLUS additional commands for toggling and finding breakpoints; relocating
machine code programs; single stepping through subroutines in one go andfacilities for accessing
the front panel from programs in RAM or ROM with breakpoints, OSBYTE or CTR-F.
SPY2 features a versatile disassembler with hex dump, full and intelligent disassembly. This
identifies data areas in the program; these being displayed as a hex/ ASCII dump. Operating system
calls are labelled creating very readable code. The powerful trace facilities enable program
instructions and register contents to be traced to printer whilst the program is running.
Indispensable for graphics programs as they can be stepped through whilst observing the effects
on the screen.
SPY2 features a disc sector editor displaying the contents of a whole sector; disc search facilities
for finding byte patterns or strings and free disc space. Files may be recovered by creating a
directory entry with all the data concerning the deleted file. Directory entries can be easily
amended using the 'AMEND command. The 'FORMAT command formats discs with any number
of tracks. A verify command checks discs. The 'REFORMAT command is extremely useful for
recovering information from a bad track, reformatting it and restoring the data. Commands are
included for loading files at 8-1900 and automatically downloading (and running) them.
The most comprehensive of all debugging/disc utility ROMs.
Price £30 inc vat.
Dept A 12 Collegiate Crescent, Sheffield S10 2BA
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
| PRINTER REVIEW
ON-LINE
TYPEWRITER
To Barry Pickles: a 5 lb baby Brother
The Brother EP44 personal electronic
printer, Jones & Brother, £253 (see price
box for further details)
I F YOU have any preconceived
notions about printers, prepare to
have them shattered. The EP44 is the
latest offering from Brother and seems
set to have the same impact on the
printer market as the ZX81 had on the
computer market.
The EP44 is an electronic typewriter.
It is portable, weighing only 5lbs, and
runs off batteries, although an optional
mains adapter is available. It is an 80-
column, text-only machine, giving a
very high quality print from a 24 x 18 dot
matrix head. It prints on plain or ther-
mal paper (if this adaptability puzzles
you, printing is done by thermal trans-
fer and on ordinary paper, this is
achieved by burning through a carbon
film ribbon - ribbon life 40,000 charac-
ters).
It has full margin and tab-setting
options, variable line spacing and
features such as underline, centring,
right margin flush and auto carriage-
return. It also has a 3.5k text buffer
(about three pages of A4) and retains
text storage with the power off (it also
has auto power-off!). When you need to
change batteries, internal ni-cads
retain memory for an hour after batter-
ies are removed. There are some edit-
ing facilities, such as insert, delete and
append text, and a 15-character pre-
view screen to allow immediate cor-
rection of any obvious mistakes. The
screen can be scrolled in any direction,
in the manner of the latest portable
computers.
There are three printing modes:
direct print, which prints immediately;
correction print, where characters are
not printed until they disappear from
the left of the preview screen; and non-
printing, useful for storing text in the
buffer.
Oh yes, the EP44 also has a built-in
four-function calculator, which can be
used in print or non-print modes, it has
the ability to print text with the calcula-
tion (eg, 2 + 3 = 5 acorns), and may be
made to calculate a sum but print only
the answer. One other mode, line-by-
line printing, stores text in the line buf-
fer (capacity 160 bytes) and will not
print until either the buffer is full or
<CR> is pressed, so the entire line
can be edited before this. The text buf-
fer has a ‘memory left’ function.
Finally, there’s a neat STOP key
function which, if pressed, will stop
printing from the buffer and allow you
to type characters from the keyboard
Brother EP44 - typewriter as terminal
which are then printed immediately.
Pressing CONT resumes printing from
where it left off.
All quite remarkable for a typewriter,
you might think, but what makes this
Brother special is a key marked
NORMAL/TERMINAL. Switching to
TERMINAL mode brings into play the
built-in RS232C port, allowing you to
use the EP44 as a computer printer.
Even better, the port is fully duplex, so
you can use the machine as a terminal
to another computer, or even, via a
modem, to Prestel, BT Gold and the
like. In this mode, text can be trans-
ferred out of the text buffer, but, sadly,
the reverse is not true - reception uses
only the line buffer.
The EP44 comes complete with two
excellently written manuals, batteries,
ribbon and two packs of paper. The
detachable lid can store two spare rib-
bons and it has a clip to stow the port
cover. The machine is fussy about the
paper you use, preferring lightweight,
slightly shiny paper, although I
achieved good results with a pack of
fanfold paper from Smiths, once I’d re-
moved the perforations (the carriage is
8in). Paper-feed is friction only, but an
optional roll-feed adapter is available.
Here, then, is a go-anywhere type-
writer/printer/communications device,
with just about everything most users
could need (except graphics). It is well-
designed, well thought out and a joy to
use. I can thoroughly recommend it.
Incidentally, Atom users, lacking an
RS232 port, can use the printer if they
have Procyon’s Disatom chip fitted, so
there’s no need for them to feel left out.
PRICES
EP44
£253.00
Roll-paper holder
£5.95
Ribbon
£1.75
Thermal paper pack
£4-88
Normal paper pack
£2.25
Thermal paper roll
£4.00
Normal paper roll
£2-87
Soft cover
£30.00
Mains adapter
All prices inclusive of VA T
£20.00
Supplier: Jones & Brother, Shepley
Lane, Audenshaw, Manchester (tel: 061-
330 6531). Available from W H Smith,
Boots and other leading retailers.
Print quality of the EP44 is very high, but it is slow at 16cps
ACORN USER JULY 1984
SLOGGER SOFTWARE
MACHINE CODE GAMES for BBC ‘B’, ELECTRON, SPECTRUM 16/48K
A MAZE IN SPACE DOGFIGHT
Use Joysticks or Key-
boards to navigate your
Starship to the planet
surface and then into
the maze below. Having
been told in which
section of the maze
your target is hidden,
your objective is to
seek out and destroy it
to complete a mission, j
Beware of the numerous '
alien defence systems. Two levels of difficulty! Horizontal
and diagonal scrolling I
How many missions can you complete?
Dogfight and A Maze In Space together
Cassette - £14.95 Disc - £16.95
Please state 40 or 80
Track if disc
Still undoubtedly the
most exciting
2-player game available.
The objective is to fire
sufficient shots into
your enemy aircraft to
force it to explode.
Eight levels of difficulty.
Sun, moving cloud,
lightning, ground all
provide real combat
environment.
Can you beat your
friends?
Available now
Cassette
Disc
Available now
Cassette
Disc
BBC 'B'
£9.95
£11.95
BBC 'B'
£9.95
£11.95
Special Offer
Electron
£7.95
n/a
Spectrum
£5.50
n/a
All prices include
VAT and postage
SLOGGER SOFTWARE
215 BEACON ROAD
CHATHAM, KENT
Tel: (0634) 811634
NOW AVAILABLE
FOR THE
electron
THE SIR COMPUTERS
PRINTER/SWITCHED
JOYSTICK INTERFACE
COMPLETE JOYSTICK & PRINTER FEATURES INCLUDE:
JOYSTICK FACILITIES:
★ Provides connections for two standard Atari-type joysticks, allowing the use of two-player games.
★ Immediately compatible with all games offering a joystick option.
★ Extra commands allow joysticks to be defined as any combination of keys, allowing all keyboard-
operated games to be used with joysticks.
★Joysticks may be read directly from BASIC using the ADVAL(n) function
PRINTER FACILITIES:
★ Provides connections for a standard Centronics-type printer
★ Allows use of all BBC Microcomputer printer control commands.
★Special command enables a graphics screen to be copied to any Epson dot-matrix printer
ADDITIONAL SPECIFICATIONS:
★ Only Acorn-approved memory locations are used, ensuring complete compatibility with any future
devices (sideways ROM/RAM, sound expansion, speech synthesizer, disc system etc.).
★ All operating software is held within a paged ROM and is available for use from the moment the
computer is switched on. THERE IS NO NEED TO LOAD ANY ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE FROM
CASSETTE.
★ Housed in a sturdy plastic case
★ Full twelve month guarantee.
★ Available direct from SIR COMPUTERS for only £44.95 (inc. VAT).
POSTAGE & PACKAGING FREE. Please allow 28 days for delivery
SIR COMPUTERS - 1 st for electron support
All our prices are inclusive of VAT and postage/packaging.
We also stock a complete range of printers, monitors, disc drives and software - with many hard-to-
beat prices. Please telephone us for details.
Access/Barclaycard Telephone orders welcome.
SIR COMPUTERS Ltd
91 WHITCHURCH ROAD, CARDIFF CF4 3JP Telephone: CARDIFF (0222) 621813
Also Available for the ELECTRON
the SIR ADC/PRINTER INTERFACE
NOT JUST ANOTHER JOYSTICK PORT -FULL ANALO-
GUE-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER
provides fully proportional control, essential for use with
graphics packages, digitizers, etc; ideal for scientific &
educational applications; usable with a wide variety of
BBC Micro-compatible analogue and switched Joysticks/
Paddles.
CENTRONICS PRINTER INTERFACE - allows use of a wide
variety of parallel printers including entire Epson range;
complete firmware support included
HIGH-QUALITY MOULDED CASE - attractively styled
plastic unit bolts securely to the back of the computer.
EASY TO FIT -no soldering, simply plugs straight into
computer’s rear edge-connector and is held in place by
twin bolts; edge-connector on back of unit provides for
further modular expansion if necessary
THE SIR ELECTRON PRINTER/ADC INTERFACE £65.95
the SIR ROM/RAM EXPANSION BOARD
Provides 12 extra sockets Easy to install -just plugs
which support a variety of in.
ROM and RAM configur-
ations up to a max of 192K
for ROM and 16K for RAM
ROM and RAM is normally
paged in 16K blocks but is
easily switchable to 2K, 4K
or 8K blocks.
Price: £59.95
Professional styled casing
bolts to rear of computer.
Fully buffered design
Permits use of most BBC
ROM-based software in-
cluding utility ROMs, word-
processors & languages.
162
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
■ PRINTER REVIEW
PIXELS
PAPER
!“#^ , 0*+5",/0123456?89!»<»>?SABCDEFGHIJKlMHePQRSTUUyXVZ[M A -'abcdef3hl.lktoTK
PArs tuvwxyzC ! 5*
The character set was ift Tionnal K$ode,
The remaining printing is in BOLD mode* which uses raore ink» but is necessary
tor visibility.
First the OOo - III test. These characters are uSly but distinguishable.
Now to U l
and in colony
E n larked
n colour
TAB function:
1234567890123456739012345678901234567890123456
A P0S20 A P0S30
789012345678901234567890123456789
A P0S50
George Hill finds a perfect colour match for the Beeb
Canon PJ1080A ink-jet colour printer,
£433 + VAT (review model supplied by
Microperipherals)
T HE CANON PJ1080A, one of a new
generation of moderately priced
colour printers, works on the ink-
jet principle, which means that any-
thing you can do on the screen you can
do on the printer -bar charts, pie
charts, colour graphs, screen dumps,
coloured text. The real joy of the
system is that it uses the same
numbers to represent the colours as
the Beeb does. This makes possible
precise screen printing (I will explain
how this is accomplished later).
The PJ1080A (not to be confused with
the PW1080A dot matrix printer
reviewed last month) uses the ink-jet
principle in the ‘drop on demand’ form.
That is to say, small drops of ink are
expelled at high speed from the print-
head by an electrically induced com-
pression (figure 1). The drops are
ejected from four nozzles for the four
coloured inks, and the compressions
timed to cause the required drop to hit
the paper at the right instant.
This form of ink-jet technology pro-
duces a lower resolution than the other
ink-jet method, involving charged drop-
lets of ink in a directing field, the
PJ1080A’s being approximately equal
to that of a conventional dot matrix
printer (560 dots per line, non-overlap-
ping).
To understand how the printer can so
closely mimic what is displayed on the
screen we need to consider the theor-
ies behind producing colour images.
Red, green and blue are the primary
colours for transmitted light, and they
can be mixed in any proportions to
make the other colours -yellow,
magenta and cyan. This is the basis on
which the RGB television system
works.
The situation is exactly reversed,
however, when you are mixing
coloured pigments, because the
colours are now reflecting rather than
emitting light. The primary colours
here are the complementary colours
yellow, magenta and cyan, which can
be mixed to make red, green and blue.
It follows, therefore, that there’s a
simple mathematical relationship
between the two systems for mixing
primary colours to create their comp-
lementary colours.
Actually, the Canon has four different
coloured inks: yellow, magenta, cyan
and black. Although black can be
achieved by mixing the other three
colours, the availability of black avoids
the need to overprint three times -
which carries the risk of smudging-
and allows the printer to be used in
normal printing mode. It also makes it
possible to switch between black and
white backgrounds, even while colour
printing.
There are a few minor problems with
this technology- the blue comes out
rather purple and the other colours a
trifle pale, but the Canon’s overall
results are startling.
What of the Canon’s text? Well, it is
barely tolerable. The style is ugly,
being based on a 6 x 8 matrix with no
descenders. The g is so bad that the
manual mis-prints magenta as
mazenta to avoid the embarrassment
of showing it off in purple. The most
peculiar thing is the O, which is really
an upside-down Q. This distinguishes it
from the 0 but produces very peculiar-
looking text.
The printer can print in bold mode
(ie, deeper colours, using two drops of
ink instead of one), enlarged mode, and
of course in colour. It can print in any
colour with any other colour as back-
ground and all is under software
(ESCape sequence) control. The main
features can be preset on easily
accessed DIP switches.
Print speed is quoted as 37 charac-
ters per second, which boils down to a
benchmark (actual printing speed in
normal use) of 30.5cps in normal mode
and 16.2cps in bold mode if you test it
against program 5 (see page xiv). To
use the program a stopwatch (not the
TIME function on the Beeb) should be
set to time the interval between first
carriage movement and the appear-
ance of the last character. Speed in
characters per second is 2000/time_
taken.
The biggest disadvantage of the
PJ1080A is the paper-handling. This
Canon will cope only with friction feed
paper of a maximum width of 216mm
(8Jin), which restricts it to roll paper or
A4 sized cut sheets. You can’t use fan-
fold paper- it’s too wide to feed in.
Nevertheless, the roll-holding arrange-
ments, as with all the other hardware
features, are neat, well thought out and
well engineered.
The manual for the PW1080A dot
matrix printer was the best I have seen.
This one is produced along the same
lines, but it is so verbose and rep-
etitious that it is difficult to see the wood
for the trees. It is, however, full of pro-
grams, all in LPRINT terms.
To summarise its attributes, the
PJ1080A colour printer is the greatest
thing since sliced bread for graphics,
adequate but slow for program listings,
but a complete non-starter for word-
processing.
ACORN USER JULY 1984
lit
Original
M icrocomputer
5 oitware
The BASIC utility RON
tortlie BBC micro
Available from all good BBC Computer Dealers.
Available by Mail Order from Computer Concepts, 16 Wayside, Chipperfield, Herts WD4 95 J
Or by 'phoning with your credit card number on (09277) 69727.
I PRINTERS
l ■
1 1 TRUE
2 COLOURS
I T IS worth trying to mimic the BBC
Micro’s screen precisely in your
printout, instead of being satisfied
with a mere reasonable represen-
tation. But how do you produce a dump
for a genuine colour printer? To do this
we must first understand the organ-
isation of BBC colour graphics.
The colour system on the Beeb is
remarkably simple. Three bits rep-
resent any of the colours from 0 to 7:
Bit 0 (least significant) represents the
RED component
Bit 1 represents the GREEN component
Bit 2 (most significant) represents the
BLUEcomponent
In binary terms:-
001 colour 1 is RED
010 2 is GREEN
011 3 is red and green mixed, giving
YELLOW
100 4 is BLUE
101 5 is blue and red mixed, giving
MAGENTA
110 6 is blue and green mixed, giving
CYAN
111 7 is red, green and blue mixed,
giving WHITE
Add a fourth bit and any of the above
colours can be made to flash. This is
done by subtracting them from 7 at a
regular interval (using the EOR instruc-
tion), so colour 5 flashes with 2, 3 with 4
and soon.
How does the computer manage in
modes other than mode 2, where only
See your way clear to accurate
clumps with George Hill’s routines
two or four colours are available? The
answer is by ’mapping’.
Let’s look at mode 1 as an example.
The GCOL command can have as its
second argument the numbers 0, 1, 2 or
3 for foreground colour. These
numbers correspond to the colours
black, red, yellow and white. Thus the
‘logical’ colour is 0, 1, 2 or 3, but the
‘physical’ colour is 0, 1, 3 or 7. This
relationship between logical and physi-
cal colour is accomplished by using a
palette’. Thus when a mode 1 GCOL 0,
2 is encountered the micro consults a
table (such as table 1 overleaf) to dis-
cover that logical colour 2 is actually
physical colour 3, and so it plots yellow
rather than green.
A copy of this table is located in
normal RAM, at addresses &36F to
&37E. It can be read by an OSWORD
call, and written to by VDU19, etc, or via
OSBYTE (*FX155) or OSWORD.
The use of VDU19 (which writes to the
palette) is exhaustively covered in vari-
ous places, including the User Guide.
Its OSWORD and OSBYTE equivalents
offer few advantages and are best
avoided by the amateur. The technique
by which you can read the palette is
less well known, but it offers a powerful
method of adjusting screen dump pro-
grams to read the actual colour physi-
cally displayed, as opposed to the logi-
cal colour, which is determined by the
POINT function and its OSWORD equiv-
alent (called with A% = 9).
The procedure to read the palette is:
1. Read the logical colour using
OSWORD with the accumulator set to 9.
2. Use the value found by step 1, and
pass it to OSWORD with the accumula-
tor set to 11 (&B). This will read the
palette, and puts the physical colour in
the next byte, followed by the three
trailing zeros used by VDU19 and
destined for ‘future expansion' - what-
ever form that may take.
To do it we need to set aside a block of
SCORE s
eoeeeo = lul=i
sarins
1000
■
0 0
0 r*
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
CHnnGE
in-*- mi
%
'C
ACORN USER JULY 1984
Now YOU can go for gold
...with the jAlC Hq,
Fancy pitting yourself against the world's
best at this summer's Olympics?
You can do so without going anywhere
near Los Angeles - with the most
challenging package of programs of 1984.
MICRO OLYMPICS is more than a
game. It's a brilliantly written collection of
ELEVEN track and field events.
And because we know we re going to
sell many thousands of them we've brought
the price right down - to just £5.95.
Ever imagined yourself as another Seb
Coe? Then try to run against the world
record holder at 1 500 metres. And if that
distance is too much for you then there's
always the 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres
to have a go at.
Not much good at running? Don't worry,
MICRO OLYMPICS has many more
challenges for you. Why not try your skill at
the high jump or the long jump?
And if you can't beat the computer at
running or jumping then you can always
throw things around in frustration! The
trouble is that it's just as hard to be a
champion at the discus, the hammer or the
javelin.
And the pole vault takes the event to
new heights!
Yes, it's fast, furious fun, pitting
yourself against the world's best times and
distances on your micro.
You may not be another Steve Ovett or
Alan Wells, but with practice you COULD
become the Micro Olympics Champion!
This is a special joint offer from
The Micro User and Electron User
Play Micro Olympics
— and let your fingers
do the running!
Please send me copy/copies of
Micro Olympics
□ I enclose cheque made payable to
Database Publications Ltd.
for f
I wish to pay by
□ Access □ Visa
□
BBC B' cassette
£5.95
□
Electron cassette
£5.95
□
BBC 40 track disc
£7.95
□
BBC 80-track disc
£7.95
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■ PRINTERS
-point Ida
#9
\read logical colour
1 d x
#b lock MOD 256
ldy
#b 1 o c k DIV 256
V 1 n
\inui h\zbp of X coord
DIM block 8 s REM reserve 9 bytes
Ida
A 1 O
s ta
block
block Mi>=X coor d :REM insert X
1 da
Xhi
\high byte of X_coord
block ! 2=Y coord sREM insert Y
s ta
b 1 o ck+1
A%=9
Ida
Ylo
X'X-block MOD 256
s t a
bio ck+2
Y%=b lock DIV 256
1 da
Yhi
CALL rt F F F 1 : R E M OSWORD
s ta
bl 0 ck+3
ii
j sr
& F F F 1
X%=( bio ck+5) MOD 256
Y % —(bloc k +5 > D I \J 256
Ida
#11
\read palette
CALL *FFF1
ldx
# < b 1 o c k +5 > MOD
256
on exit from the procedure
ldy
#<b 1 o ck+5) DIV
256
1 o g 1 c a 1 _c o 1 o u r =b loci ?5
j sr
& F F F 1
phys i cal_co 1 our=b 1 ock?6
rts
Listing 1. Listing 2.
memory. This can be at an absolute
address that you are sure is free (eg,
&B00, &C00, &80, etc) or a block
reserved by a DIM statement. The latter
is the preferred method if you want to
incorporate the procedure into a Basic
program. The length of the block is nine
bytes (five bytes for Osword 9, plus four
for the physical colour and three trail-
ing zeros).
First set the X and Y registers (or X%
and Y%) to point to this block of
memory. The X and Y co-ordinates of
the point to be read are placed in the
first four bytes of the block. Now set A to
9, CALL OSWORD, and the logical
colour is deposited in the fifth byte.
Reset the X and Y registers to point to
the fifth byte of the block (where the
logical colour is), set A to 11 (&B), and
CALL OSWORD again. The physical
colour is deposited in the sixth byte of
the block, followed by three zeros in the
seventh to ninth bytes of the block.
The Basic version would look like
listing 1.
Translated into assembly language it
looks like listing 2.
On exit the logical colour is in
block + 5, and the physical in block + 6.
This is much simplified in actual pro-
grams by the use of labels, and the
internal calculation of Xlo, Xhi and so
on, which do not need re-setting on
every entry.
This gives rise to two programs. The
first (listing 3, page xiii), a hybrid Basic/
assembler program, is a ‘universal’
pattern dump for all graphics modes,
using the ESCape L (double- density
graphics) sequence available on many
Epson, Star, Canon, Shinwa, Inforun-
ner and Panasonic printers (any
others?). It dumps the screen ‘side-
ways’ with minimum distortion -
though it still suffers from the Epson
problem of oval circles. It copes with all
colours in all modes and is impervious
to VDU19changes, though it is less than
perfect in mode 0 if VDU19 has been
used. How it works should be obvious
to those who followed the article in the
December issue on the universal
dump. It is shorter and faster than the
December dump (although I don’t like
the patterns so much) and it overcomes
the problems of that dump in normal
mode 0 use. Use program 3 as follows.
1. Find the place in the program where
you want the dump to occur.
2. If using tape, suppress messages by
inserting the line*OPT1,0.
3. Insert the line VDU7:CHAIN“C/
EPAT” (VDU7 gives a signal to start the
tape- messages have been sup-
pressed!).
4. Run the resulting program.
Listing 4 (pages xiv-xv) deals with the
Canon colour graphics system, which
is not unlike that of the Olivetti Spark-
Jet printer. It requires colour infor-
mation to be sent in single horizontal
lines. You define the number of dots per
line that the printer is to expect, using
ESCape “X” n, where n is the number
of bytes of dots (ie, number of dots/8).
You then send three times that number
of bytes -one set for RED information,
one for GREEN and one for BLUE.
There’s also an alternative system
which repeats each line a specified
number of times. This is ESCape “r” nl
n2, where n2 is the same as n in the
ESC “X” sequence.
I decided to use the latter technique,
and to step the X co-ordinate by 2, thus
reading mode 0 pixels once, modes 1
and 4 pixels twice, and mode 4 pixels
four times. This combines with the two-
dot- line depth per pixel to give a com-
pletely distortion-free picture filling the
paper. (The meaning of nl is one of the
serious errors in the manual, which
states that the line of dots will be
printed nl times, whereas it is actually
repeated nl times -ie, printed nl + 1
times.)
The dump calculates the physical
colour for a point, as described above.
On the first pass the least significant bit
(LSB), corresponding to the RED infor-
mation, is rotated into the printer byte,
on the second pass the LSB is dumped
and bit 1 (GREEN information) is
rotated in, and on the third pass the
BLUE bit (2) is rotated in. The process is
carried out 8 times for each byte, and
then that byte is sent to the printer via
OSWRCH (equivalentof VDUl.byte).
I have departed from my usual style
of short, comprehensible sub-routines
for this dump, as there are clear advan-
tages in having the code fit into a single
page of memory (ie, within 256 bytes).
Furthermore the calling of sub-rou-
tines -even in assembly language
using jsr-is relatively slow, and this
printer is not the most rapid, and so it
needs all the help we can give it.
The program is written so that it auto-
saves the machine code under the
name CANONPJ, which can thereafter
be 'RUN (from tape) or run via
'CANONPJ from disc. It saves in the
unused cassette buffer if you are using
disc, and in page 13 (&D00) if you are
using tape. These can be adjusted
simply at your own need.
The dump includes a jump instruc-
tion at its start. It may be re-operated
after initial 'LOADing or 'RUNning by
the statement CALL&AOO (disc version)
or CALL&DOO (tape version).
Model
logical physical
colour colour
0 0
1 1
2 3
3 7
Table 1.
167
ACORN USER JULY 1984
7 %* fflatalytafre
6 CHATTERTON ROAD
BROMLEY
KENT
for the BBC MICRO
OFFICIAL ACORN DEALERS
WIDE SELECTION OF SOFTWARE
AND PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT
INCLUDING
EPSON, NEC, SEIKOSHA
PRINTERS
ZENITH, CABEL
MONITORS
CUMANA
DI SC-DRIV ES
BOOKS AND CABLES AVAILABLE
plus our personal advice service
MACHINES DELIVERED & SET UP
IN YOUR HOME
PHONE 01 460 8991 (9.30 - 5.30)
ORPINGTON 26698 (Evenings)
(CLOSED WEDNESDAY)
99
• •
Do you ever wonder what you spend on clothing?
Do you need to know how much money will be
in your bank account at the end of the month?
Do you have a part time business?
Do you run the books for a club or society
Do you make VAT returns?
THEN YOU NEED THE
HOME ACCOUNTANT
for only £19.95 (including VAT)
Cassette or Disk versions for the BBC Model ‘B’
(or Model ‘A’ with 32k RAM)
This package - complete with 41 manual
- keeps a 24 column analysed account
of payments and receipts*
- calculates the VAT owed/owing
- produces printed accounts
- handles regular payments automatically
* Each column in turn could be analysed further by creating new accounts
Send cash/ cheque to the Acorn distributor for the
North West and Wales
System Support Services
Brook House, 513 Crewe Road,
Wheelock, Sandbach,
Cheshire CW11 OQX
Telephone (09367) 3842 & 61249
PAYROLL
FOR THE BBC B
For up to 1 50 employees.
Designed for dual 40 track disc
using Random Access Operation
CALCULATES Most tax codes.
Up to 18 N. I. rates.
Tax return information,
24 fixed or percentage deductions,
employer's and employee’s pensions.
PRINT Payslips, cheques, bank list.
Coin and note analysis.
Departmental accounts.
Employee's file.
INCLUDES Pass word, user changeable.
Master file, user changeable.
This holds all the tax rates.
Limits N.I. rates, etc.
Technical backup and notification of
any changes in Payroll procedures.
And many other features.
Price is £49.95 inc VAT, plus 50p p & p from us or from
selective computer shops.
Send orders to:
C.Y.B. Design Services Ltd.,
8, Briar Avenue,
Norburv, London, SW16 3AA.
Tel: 01-764-5994.
Mailmerge Program £39.95.
Trade enquiries welcome.
Emmanuel St.
Our new Personal
Computer Centre
specializing in
the BBC Micro
with complete support
we hasp computers
Business &
Professional
Tel 0223 6533S 4
Home &
Educational .
Tel 0223 358264
Cambridge Computer Store
I&4 Emmanuel Street. Cambridge
168
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
CROYDON COMPUTER CENTRE
OFFICIAL ACORN SERVICE CENTRE
29 Brigstock Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey.
01-689 1280
^ MODEL B
ACORN ELECTRON
£399.00
£199.00
+ Full range of spares always in stock.
TORCH
Z80 DISK PACK
£799.00
Includes £1.250 free software.
MIDWICH DRIVES FROM £160.00
MICROVITEK COLOUR MONITOR £229.00
ZENITH 12" GREEN OR AMBER £99.00
CUMANA SLIMLINE DRIVES from £194.00
EPSON RX80 £333.00
JUKI DAISYWHEEL £458.85
Full range of books, software, paper and spares for every
popular micro and printer. Our four years in the micro
business and investment in trained engineers and test
equipment is your guarantee of peace of mind.
EXPORT ENQUIRIES WELCOME
Happy customers in twelve countries
ALL PRICES
INCLUDE VAT
01-6891280
FOR SPARES AND REPAIRS
FAST SERVICE
SIR ROM
EXPANSION BOARD
MODEL TWO
THE ULTIMATE ROM/RAM
EXPANSION SYSTEM FOR THE
BBC MICRO
★ 12 extra ROM sockets complement those already provided by the micro to allow up to 256K
ROM space
★ Four of these sockets can support either ROM or Static RAM (up to 16K maximum RAM).
★ The Model 2 board allows switching between multiples of 2K. 4K. 8K or 16K ROM/RAM
★ Fully compatible with all ROMs, including LDOS. Aries B20, and TORCH Z80 2nd processor
card
★ NO soldering, plug-m design
★ Fits easily inside BBC case
★ Plugs into CPU socket via short flexible connector
★ Improved plug design allows the Model 2 board to connect securely to any type of BBC CPU
socket with no harm to micro or board
★ Board is held in place by sturdy supports
★ Full instructions provided
★ Additional features include the ability to transfer paged firmware to disc, and then load back
into sideways RAM for future use -giving you no limit to the number of effective ROMs
accessible!
SIR BBC MICRO ROM/RAM EXPANSION BOARD (Model 2): PRICE £49.95
All our prices are inclusive of VAT unless specified otherwise
Postage 4 Packing:
Please add £1 for small items (disc drives, software, etc.)
CIO for larger items (monitors, printers, etc.)
Access/Barclaycard Telephone orders welcome
SIR COMPUTERS Ltd.
91 WHITCHURCH ROAD. CARDIFF CF4 3JP
Telephone: CARDIFF (0222) 621813
Diary & RAM Filing
OwQ+om for the BBC
v-jyoid 1 1 Microcomputer
“The RTC-hRAM provides a fast and efficient Diary and RAM
filing system that is particularly simple to use. "
Acorn User, April 1984.
The Diary is sophisticated, yet simple to use appointments’
storage and retrieval system with unique features:
• Available and accessible at any time - no need to load disc
or tape. • Audible alarms at preset times with associated
screen messages. • Automatic reinsertion of repeating
reminders. • Search of appointments by particular words or
numbers. • Easy entry and display of messages. • Easy
access to real time and date from other programs.
RAM filing system provides convenient storage for most
frequently used programs and documents.
RTC + RAM system comprises Diary and RFS software in a
ROM, electronics in a separate housing (4Kbyte or 30Kbyte
storage) and instruction manual.
4Kbyte RTC + RAM £128.00p + VAT+p/p (£149.00p inc.)
30Kbyte RTC + RAM £300. OOp inc. (4Kbyte to 30Kbyte upgrade
is available)
Further information from Acacia Computers Limited,
7 Supanee Court, French’s Road, Cambridge CB4 3LB.
Tel. 0223 312124
SIR BUSINESS & COMMUNICATIONS
We announce our appointment as TORCH UNICORN Dealers, at a
when Acorn & TORCH are joining forces . . .
THE TORCH UNICORN RANGE:
CP/M compatible extensions to the BBC Microcomputer System:
ZEP 100: Z80 2nd processor card; 64K RAM; FREE SOFTWARE (see
below) £299 + VAT.
ZDP 240: Z80 Disc Pack comprising ZEP 100; 2 x 400K floppy disc
drive; FREE SOFTWARE (see below) £699.00 + VAT.
HDP 240: As ZDP 240 but with one 400K drive replaced by a 20MB Win-
chester Hard Disc unit around £1,995 + VAT.
HDP 68K: As HDP 240 but with twin (Z80B and 68000) “second" pro-
cessors; available complete with full UNIX III O.S.
around £2,495 + VAT
TORCH C-500: Complete self-contained unit (NO BBC MICRO
REQUIRED) comprising BBC Micro system, ZDP, hi-res colour moni-
tor & British Telecom-approved communication card.
Price available on application.
FREE SOFTWARE: BBC BASIC (Z80) [allowing almost 48K User
Memory!]; Perfect’ Writer (word processor); Perfect’ Calc (spread-
sheet); Perfect’ Filer (database filing system); Complete software
package normally worth about £1,000!!
BBC MICROCOMPUTER
BBC Model B
£399.00
BBC Model BD ..
£469.00
DISC DRIVES
Single 100K
.... NOW £149.00
Dual 100K
.... NOW £279.00
Dual 400K
.... NOW £499.00
PRINTERS
Dot Matrix:
Shinwa CP-80 £263.35
Epson RX-80 F/T £275.00
Epson FX-80 £389.00
Daisywheel:
Daisystep 2000 £299.00
Juki 6100 £399.00
MONITORS
Sanyo B/G £85.00
Microvitec RGB £229.00
SOFTWARE
We have over 200 titles currently
in stock including ROM based
programs such as VIEW (£59.80),
HCCS PASCAL (£49.50), Com-
puter Concepts’ GRAPHICS ROM
(£32.20), WORDWISE (£39.95)
and DISC DOCTOR (£29.95).
Please telephone for full details
of software range and
stock.
current
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
169
THE BBC MICRO SOUND SYSTEM
MICROVOC
As supplied to Schools & Colleges
SYSTEM INCLUDES:
Speakers, Volume control, jack sockets
and all connections (assembled) plus
Buzzgo to eliminate the infernal B.B.C.
buzz.
Easily fitted with no drilling, soldering or
cabinet modifications £23 00 inc VAT and
p a p
MICROVOC WITHOUT SPEAKERS
£15 inclusive
Now in stock — The Synth. This program
allows the mixing and saving of all four
channels, including Channel 0 for cymbals and
drums. Complex melodies can now be entered
in minutes by even a complete novice.
MICROVOC IS IDEAL FOR SPEECH
SYNTHESIS OR COMPUTER PRODUCED
MUSIC
MICRO-ADVENT
Ashlyn House, 113 Writtle Road, Chelmsford, Essex.
Tel: 0245 59708
VICTOR
MORRIS
Glasgow
Authorised
acorn A dealer
B.B.C. B & acorn
electron
Disk Drives, Printers, Joysticks,
Acornsoft, Data Recorders, Monitors,
Adds ons by Pace, Torch etc.
Group Dealer
ACC«B,VlM,AlMI,Mim
340 Argyle Street
Between Central Station and Andenton Bus Station
Glasgow G2
Tel: 041-221 8958
A J SOFTWARE
for BBC
The Record Changer'
32K £19.95 Cass. £24.95 Disc.
for indexing, membership lists, directories, inventories,
budgeting, etc, etc.
don't buy a database in the dark-
check the spec!
The Wordsmith' 32K for Centronics 737/739
AND NOW FOR EPSON FX80:
£19.95 Cass. £24.95 Disc.
Options Timetable 32K
£14.95 Cass. £19.95 Disc.
Simple Word Processor 32K
£9.95 Cass. £14.95 Disc.
Picture Maths
£9.95 Cass. £12.95 Disc.
An arithmetic practice program for primary schools.
Character Definer £9.95 Cass.
Enlarge, reduce, etc, etc.
Tape Catalogue £5.95 Cass.
Catalogue all your tapes using this program and never lose
one again
Copy Disc £9.95
Copy disc to tape, tape to disc, M/C, Data or Basic.*
ROM Read
£8.95 Cass. £11.95 Disc.
A machine code program to read the contents of any ROM
socket and copy to RAM, tape or disc. Not to be used for
illegal copying.
Machine code Disassembler
£5.95 Cass. £7.95 Disc.
Open Evening Timetable 32K
£14.95 Cass. £19.95 Disc.
Utility Eprom £19.95
for basic programmers
Mitsubishi Disc Drives
Dual 80 Track 800K £380 + VAT
Single Track Drives
Dual Sided 200K £199 + VAT
Double Density Disc Interface £80 + VAT
The best there is.
Epson Printers
FX80 £370 + VAT
RX80 £270 + VAT
£8.00 Carr
BBC Epson Cable £15 + VAT
Normende
Not only the cheapest, but the best
Switchable 14" RGB Monitor/Colour TV £250 inc. VAT and
cable, £8.00 carr.
Royalties for quality software
All prices VAT inclusive except where shown
AJ Vision Service Ltd, 61 Jeddo Road
London W12 9ED
170
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
Let excitement invade your home computer!
Travel to Alpha Centauri. Enter the Vortex.
Command the ground missiles, or join the
shoot-out at the O.K. Corral!
GUNSMOXE
the movement of the saloon-bar door was all the warning he needed 1 At the
speed of light his hand moved toward his holster, while a sixth sense warned him of the upper
floor window 30 ACTION. SOUND EFFECTS. BEAUTIFUl GRAPHICS BBC MOOEl B
£7 .95 CASSETTE £11.95 DISK
:tl> BOM II ALLEY
... the continued thunder of the hissing ground missiles had long now deafened him unless he
had some of those bombers down, the fleet in die small stretch of water was a sitting deck...
3D ACTION. SOUNO EFFECTS. BEAUTIFUL GRAPHICS BBC MODEL B £7 95 CASSETTE £11 95 DISK
UTTlKKOn
ALPHA CEdTdUM
... he punched the key, and the control monitor filled with the picture of bug-eyed wasps attacking
from their volcanic nest; decisively he dived to the left and his laser gun burst into action...
3D ACTION. EXPLOSIVE SOUND EFFECTS BBC MODEL B i 95 CASSETTE £11 95 DISK
• Distributors, Multiple Store and
Retailer Group inquiries invited.
• Available from WH Smith, HMV, all
Spectrum shops and over 500 retail
outlets in the U.K.
Post to:
SOFTWARE INVASION 50 ELBOROUGH STREET SOUTHF1ELDS LONDON SWIt 5DN
I enclose my Cheque/P O for £.
Name
Address
I am a Distributer/Multiple/Retailer/Dealer Please contact me
(please delete whichever not applicable)
there was no escape, he had to enter the Vortex and bet on his skills!
He grabbed the manual controls and with determination fired both
upper deck guns EXCELLENT SOUND KEYBOARO OR JOYSTICK, BBC MOOEL B
ALSO AVAILABLE ON ACORN ELECTRON CASSETTE FOR £7.95. \
EAGLES WING
he glanced at his fuefWels, a few more seconds of Hying time. He
had to swing round through the burst of fire to reach the Docking platform,
he knew, in two minutes the game could be over . GRAPHICS REALISTIC
COMBAT, SUPERB CONDITIONS.BBC MODEL B, £7.95 CASSETTE, £11.95 DISK.
Spooks G Spiders f
. . . perhaps, very slowly, he could reach the cellar - quietly he stariek
climbing down, his foot slipped as the giant spider dived towards him
SOUND EFFECTS, EXCELLENT GRAPHICS. BBC MODfL B,
£7.95 CASSETTE. £11.95 DISK
nay pu» chase any of the GasneKMisTed horn most good BBCLScfiware Stockist^
r nearest Spectrum Dealer
coupon beiow with your requirements, make c.neoor-P.O payab^tq: SOFTWAftl
t: Please allow 7 to 14 days for delivery. . / ..--O • ' ' .y. W
lease add £0 75p per ordered -
HOW TO ORDER:
W H Smiths HMV
To order direct, fill
INVASION and pos
OVERSEAS ORQf
Do you write your own
programmes?tf yoiMlpve
an unusual programme
which can meet our
standards you could be
earning more than £250 per
week. Why not take
advantage of our sought
after reputation. Write now
50 Elborough St., Southfields, London SWl8 5DN
GAMES
ONTY
TAPE
DISK
40 TRACK
80 TRACK
£
VORTEX
VORTEX
(Acorn. Electron )
ATTACK ON
ALPHACENT OURI
30B0MB ALLEY
gunsmOke
EAGLES WING
SPOOKS &
SPIDERS
TheZEPlOO
• Z80 Extension Processor
• 4MHzZ80A
• G4KRAM
• 24K ROM
The object of any upgrade kit i.
) improve processing ability and to
The new UNICORN range from TORCH Computers
gives the enthusiast and professional user a choice of
upgrades which takes the BBC Model B Micro to the
ultimate height of performance.
The result of TORCH’S total commitment to the BBC
Micro is the only complete range of high performance
hardware available. Offering every BBC Micro owner five
new upgrade channels, UNICORN will transform your
BBC into a fully communicating workstation, a CP/M®
compatible business machine or the ultimate in high
powered 32-bit data processing.
At the top of the range, THE UNICORN, m
offers the power and sophistication of System
III UNIX® whilst other channels make available
the flexibility of languages such as FORTRAN,
PASCAL, BCPL and COBOL. All models,
with the exception of the HDP240, provide
BBCBASIC(ZBO) on theZ80 rather than the
Model B’s 6502.
Tune in to the Channel that most suits
your requirements. Whichever level you
choose you can be sure of a system with
infinitely expandable potential for a confident
future in the world of computing.
to improve processing ability and to
increase data storage capacity.
The UNICORN ZEPIOO is
the first stage upgrade
which opens channels
into the world of
serious computing.
TheZEPlOO is the
proven 8 bit second processor for th
BBC Model B micro. A Z80 extensioi
processor which enables the use of
the well established CPN operating
system, giving access to the vast
range of applications programs and
languages available for all CP/M
microsAVhen fitted to a BBC model 1
microcomputer with compatible hig
quality disc drives it provides a
complete business or scientific
computer which can run large appli-
cations programs or use advanced
languages, with the ability to switch
back to standard BBC programs at
any time.
Any ZEPIOO can be linked, via
the Econet F option on the
, BBC, to a network of other
I TORCH computers to
provide a work-
station running
onTORCHNEl
FullTORCHNE
operating sys-
tems software
is provided to
allow access to
anywhere
on the network, or to com-
municate with other
computers.
The 64 K ZEPIOO is
supplied with full
software support
including word pro-
cessing, spreadsheet
database and
utilities. The ZEPIOO
around £299
(ex. VAT).
TheZDP 240
4MHz Z80A • 64K RAM
24K ROM
Twin, double sided 400K
floppy discs
Independent integral
power supply
NICORN
DP240 (Torch Z8(T
isc Pack) is the proven ^
pgrade for the BBC Model B micro-
Tmputer. Offering the use of more
jwerful and flexible languages such
> Fortran, Pascal, BCPL and Cobol, it
rovides 800K of disc storage plus a
30 second processor with 64K RAM
inning TORCH’S own CP/M ’ com-
atible operating system based in ROM.
This advanced design means
lat almost all of the 64K RAM pro-
ded by theZ80 board is available for
P/M " programming use- an
ivantage no other &BC micro
pgrade can offer.
If your BBC micro has the
conet r option, there is a further
enefit the ZDP240 can offer.
( )RCHNETcan link together up to
54 upgraded Model B’s on a local
r ea network, so for enthusiasts,
lubs and Schools it is a simple and
iw-cost way to achieve networking
icilities.
The discs can be used for
orage under the Acorn DFS system
r for CP/M programs and data.
A comprehensive software pack-
?e is provided with the disc pack. It
icludes word and data processing
id a spreadsheet program, along
ith utilitv programs and manuals.
The TORCH Z80 Disc pack is
‘commended by theCCTA for
Dvernment use. The ZDP 240-
round &699 (ex. VAT).
The HDP240
• 20Mbvte hard disc Winchester
• Double sided 400K floppy disc
• Integral power supply
For users who need much more
storage capacity than is available on
floppy discs and who require the
large speed gains that a Winchester
hard disc provides, the third new
channel is now available.
The UNICORN HDP210 combines a
400K floppy disc drive with a 20Mb
hard disc and its associated controller.
The pack connects directly to the disc
and 1MHz bus sockets on the BBC
Model B.
In conjunction with aZEPlOO, it
provides a powerful business
computer for running CP/M
programs with large amounts of data.
The floppy disc can be used for
storage with the Acorn DFS system,
and both discs can be used by other
TORCH systems on theTORCHNET
local area network. The HDP240-
a round &1995 (ex. VAT).
The HDP68K
• 8MHz MC68000 • 6MHz Z80B
• 256K RAM (68000)
• 64KRAM(Z80)
• 20 Mbyte hard disc Winchester
• Double sided 400K floppy disc
• Integral power supply
The fourth channel in the
UNICORN range is for users who
need the extra processing power of a
68000 32 bit processor, as well as the
Z80 running standard software. The
UNICORN HDP68K provides the
ultimate in performance, offering an
extra 256K RAM and a 68000 pro-
cessor running at 8 million cycles per
second. It also contains a Z80
processor to allow the running of
existing TORCH software.
The HDP68K- around
£2495 (ex. VAT).
The Unicorn
Spec, as HDP68K PLUS UNIX
operating system.
UNIX® System III is the
recognised operating system of the
’80’$. A very powerful and sophisti-
cated multi-tasking system, it includes
a vast library of utility programmes.
The fifth channel and top of the
range, THE UNICORN, puts UNIX
within reach of the individual user, at
a price unmatched by any other
UNIX * systems, by combining the
reliability of the BBC micro with
advanced technology from TORCH
Computers.
TORCH UNIX operates under
the network operating system. Using
UNICORN products, a low-cost
network of BBC Micros can be
configured to offer the most complete
range of educational computing
facilities available anywhere.
Other facilities available include
UCSDp-System, LISP, FORTH, PIL( )T
and PROLOG The UNICORN -
Address
AU 7
t'P M is .i registered trademark ul Digital Researt h Itu
xonet is a registered trademark i if Acorn Computers l.td.
Unix is a registered trademark of Bell Telephone Laboratories Iik
TORCH it
COMPUTERS -iVcT-
UK version Model B necessary. Iext and Graphics provided by BBC Model B.
Disc interfaces are necessary for use with the Unict >rn range. Keyboard provided by BBC Model B
around S2895 (ex.VAT).
HI
Open channels for the BBC micro.
To: Torch Computers Ltd., Abberley House,
Great Shelford, Cambridge CB2 5LQ.
Telephone: Cambridge (0223) 841000.
Please send further information on the UNICORN
range plus your FREE 1984 Software Catalogue.
Name
UJC PAY UPIO 20% ROYALTICS FOR HIGH QUAU1V BBC MICRO AND CICCTRON PROGRAMS
SUPCRIOR SOnUIARC LID.
Dept. RU5. Regent House,
Skinner Lone, Leeds 7
Tel: 0532 459453
( 1 ) fill our software is ovoi loble before we advertise.
(2) All our software is despatched uuithin 48 hours by first-doss post.
(3) In the unlikely event that ony of our software foils to lood, return your
cassette to us and uue uuill immediately send a replacement.
0
OV€RDRIV€ (32K) £7.95
fi highly-addictive multi-stage 3D race game. Vou steer
your car left and right, accelerate and decelerate as the
opposing cars weave about the road. There are five
different stages including night, snow, desert, and
riverside scenes. To qualify for the next stage, you must
finish in the top twelve. Incredible graphics give the
impression that you really are taking part in the race.
Highly recommended, and destined to become another
top-seller for Superior Software.
mensem ••
•*»NO
tcfty
TWO SENSATIONAL NCUI ACLCASCS
OUR
BATTltTRNK (32K)
£7.95
An excellent game, made possible on the BBC computer only by the unique use of
o dual-screen display and specially written plotting routines. Vou ore a tank
gunner looking out onto a mountain plateau. Vou see the distant mountains and
the pyramid obstacles - and also the enemy tank. Vour task is to shoot it before it
shoots you. A scanner is displayed in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
This displays the position of the enemy tank relative to you. Vou con then turn to
get the tank in view. The next stage is to position the tank in the rectangular
viewfinder by fine adjustments of your controls.
(KCVBOARD or JOVSTICKS)
•••/vcuvflaertsc#*#
THE HOME COMPUTER
SPECIALISTS
WITH MORE BRANCHES THAN
ANY OTHER ACORN DEALER
WE OFFER
SOFTWARE
PROGRAM POWER
BUG-BYTE
SUPERIOR SOFTWARE
ONE-STOP SHOPPING
FOR YOUR
BBC MICRO
a a f
SIMON HESSEL
MOLIMERX
ALLIGATA
ACORNSOFT
PERIPHERALS
Easy parking at all
branches
TOLWORTH
230 Tolworth Rise South,
Tolworth, Surbiton,
Surrey KT5 9NB.
Tel: 01-337 4317
SUTTON
30 Station Road,
Belmont, Sutton,
Surrey SM2 6BS.
Tel: 01-642 2534
EALING
1 14 Gunnersbury Avenue,
Ealing, London W5 4HB.
Tel: 01 992 5855
NEWBURY
AND
ELECTRON
WE REFUSE TO BE UNDERSOLD
AND WILL MATCH THE LOWEST
ADVERTISED PRICE ON ALL
PRODUCTS.
INSTANT CREDIT UP TO £1000.
DISCS SINGLE/DUAL
TORCH Z80 DISCS
CUMANA DISCS
PRINTERS
JOYSTICKS
MONITORS
B Et W/COLOUR
LIGHT PENS
BBC BUGGY
targe range of books ,
diskettes , cassettes &
printer paper always
in stock
26, Stanley Road,
Newbury
Berks RG14 7PB.
Tel: (0635) 30047
RICKMANSWORTH
Grey Stone Works,
The Green, Croxle/ Green,
Rickmansworth,
Herts W03 3AJ.
Tel: 0923 779250
LUTON
1 Manor Road,
Caddington, Luton,
Beds LU1 4EE
Tel: (0582) 458575
BBC Micro Fanatics Required
Do you know your way around the
BBC Micro — spend your spare time
using it?
Beebugsoft — the software house of Beebug
Publications Ltd. has vacancies for young per-
sons with software expertise (Basic and/or
Assembler) on the BBC Micro.
Continued expansion at BEEBUGSOFT
has created further vacancies for young
persons with expertise on the BBC
Micro.
Successful applicants will join a grow-
ing team of enthusiasts developing new
software for the BBC Micro and Elec-
tron.
Work will be varied and, where possible,
reflect the interests and expertise of the
applicant. Salary according to experi-
ence.
Applications should be made in writing
to the address below, and should
include a full curriculum vitae together
with the names of two referees.
The Software Manager
BEEBUGSOFT, PO BOX 50
ST. ALBANS, HERTS.
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
175
BBC MICRO
- USER SUPPORT -
• 10 ISSUES OF BEEBUG MAGAZINE
MAILED FREE TO MEMBERS
• 30 EXCITING GAMES AND VISUAL PROGRAMS
• 43 SOFTWARE REVIEWS
• 33 HARDWARE REVIEWS
• 16 BOOK REVIEWS
• 150 HINTS AND TIPS
• 25 APPLICATION PROGRAMS
• SERIES OF ARTICLES FOR BEGINNERS
• MANY ADVANCED TECHNICAL ARTICLES
• NEWS AND PRODUCT INFORMATION
• PLUS SPECIAL OFFERS
• BIG DISCOUNTS ON A WIDE RANGE OF PRODUCTS
• EVENTS
• BRAIN TEASERS
• LOCAL CLUBS
• FULL MAGAZINE INDEX
A YEARS SUBSCRIPTION WOULD HAVE BOUGHT YOU ALL THIS
Figures based on the JO issues of BEEBUG Volume 2.
BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN FOR VOLUME THREE
BEEBUG PUBLICATIONS LTD. PO BOX 109, HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKS
PLEASE ENROL ME FOR VOLUME 3
OF BEEBUG AT £9.90 (10 ISSUES)
NAME
ADDRESS
AMOUNT ENCLOSED
PLEASE MAKE CHEQUES PAYABLE TO
BEEBUG PUBLICATIONS LTD.
AND SEND TO:- DEPT 13, PO BOX 109
HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKS.
(DISTRIBUTION AGENTS FOR BEEBUG)
BEEBUG HAS BEEN
ESTABLISHED FOR TWO
YEARS AND NOW HAS
OVER 25,000 MEMBERS. IT
OFFERS TOTAL USER
SUPPORT TO ALL BBC
MICRO USERS.
176
A CORN USER JUL Y 1984
ACORN USER
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Please start my subscription for Acorn User
from the.
Please answer these questions to help us improve
your m agazine .
01
□ UK £15
02
□ Europe £18
03
□ Middle East £20
04
□ The Americas and Africa £22
05
□ All other countries £24
I 1 Do you use your micro for?:
1 □ school 2D business 3D hobby
2 Do you have, or intend to buy, any of the following?:
ID monitor 2D disc drive 3D second processor
4 □ printer 5 □ modem
3 How many software packages do you think you will
buy in the next 12 months?:
1D0-5 2D 6 to 10 3 D10 or more
Address
□ I enclose my cheque/postal order/sterling bank draft
payable to Redwood Publishing for £
□ Please debit my Access/American E xpress/ Barclaycard
Account no. FI I . Mill" . I ] LJ
Signed Date
Send this lorm, with your remittance, in an envelope, to the address
overleaf.
S
5
ACORN USER
SERVICES
SPECIAL OFFERS ON SWEAT SHIRTS
QUANTITY DESCRIPTION
PRICE
Name.
Binders
1 £4.50 £ .
Address.
RPQ2L Sweat shirts (large) @ £5.00 £ .
|rpo 2 m| Sweat shirts (medium) @£5.00 £.
’ 1
npo 2 s i Sweat shirts (small) @£5.00 £.
□ I enclose my cheque/PO payable to Redwood
Publishing for£
BACK DATED ISSUES @ £1.25 per copy
MONTH YEAR
□ Please debit my Access/Barclaycard
Account no.
Signed.
Total £.
Send this form, with your remittance, in an envelope,
to the address overleaf. All the above prices include
postage and packing.
I
5 to
$
ACORN USER
SOFTWARE
DI SC EXCHANGE SERVICE f ?
Send in your copy of Trek or Sword Master NEW
MONTHLY PROGRAM LISTING
CASSETTES
with a cheque for £3.50 and we will
exchange it for a disc. (Which runs on
40 or 80 tracks).
Tape(s) in exchange for disc
@£3.50 each
Please send me a cassette of all major
BBC Micro and Electrons program listings
(July issue) as advertised on page 86
@ £3.75 £
NE'N
2, A
Total £ .
Name
Please send me: Tape Disc
Copies of Sword £7.95 £10.95 £,
Master for BBC
(32k series 1.0 OS)
for Electron £7.95 £
Copies of Trek £7.95 £10.95 £.
for BBC
(32k series 1.0 OS)
for Electron £7.95 £
Address.
□ I enclose my cheque/PO payable to Redwood
Publishing for £
□ Please debit my Access/Barclaycard
Account no. I
24 HOUR PHONE SERVICE (02934) 72208
Signed Date..
Send this form, with your remittance, in an envelope, to the address overleaf.
All the above prices include postage and packing.
§
m
!
ACORN USER Subscriptions
Redwood Publishing
68 Long Acre
London WC2E 9JH
ACORN USER Services
PHS Mailing Ltd
PO Box 14
HORLEY
Surrey
J
ACORN USER Software
PHS Mailing Ltd
PO Box 14
HORLEY
Surrey
/MICROTEK COMPUTER SERVICES
Authorised
acorn
dealer
B.B.C. B & acorn
electron
CUMANA disk drives
DECCACOLOUR & MICRO VITEC monitors
SEIKOSHA, EPSON & DAISYSTEP printers
ACORNSOFT /MERLE business software
ACORNSOFT full range
NEXUS HOUSE
2 CRAY ROAD
SIDCUP, KENT
01 300 3075/6
ACCESS/BARCLAYCARD WELCOME
WALTON ASSOCIATES
START PROFESSIONAL
STAY PROFESSIONAL
With a Library of Oise Based Utility Programs
For the BBC Micro Model B
[Compatible with all ACORN type DFS systemsl
AUTO SELECT
Includes: Professional Screen Layout. Automatic Menu Production.
Automatic Load Mode Selection (CHAIN/'RUN/’LOAD/'EXEC).
Pre-programmed Function Keys. Multiple Disc Drives Supported.
Easy Selection of Any Program on Any Disc. Easy Selection for
Key ROMs. Supports Sideways RAM systems.
Code WAI Price £ 0.50
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Includes: Flexible Control of Screen/Printer. Formatted Program Listings
[Indents and splits multiple statement lines). Extensive Use of
Function Keys. Auto-List of Error Line. Easy Program LOAD/
SAVE/VERIFY.
Code WA2 Price £ 8.00
MULTIPLE DISC CATALOGUE
Used with either Wordwise or View, insert discs one by one to produce a
complete and fully sorted catalogue of your whole diskette library. This
can be edited, printed or formatted in any manner you wish.
Code WA3 Price £ 6.50
DISC BACK UP AND VERIFICATION
This utility greatly assists the necessary task of making secure backup
copies of your diskettes.
Code WA4 Price £ 4.50
Prices quoted are for utilities only, add £4 to total order price
to cover, cost of diskette (state 40/80 tracks), post and package.
To Order: Phone 0908 - 563005 71714. or write to:
WALTON ASSOCIATES
2 Red House Close
Newton Longville
MILTON KEYNES
MK17 OAH
The Incredible
HULK
(£25 + VAT)
HULK is the poor man's knowledge engineer. Knowl-
edge engineering is the new approach to software design
which underlies the dramatic success of recent expert
systems.
The HULK package (so called because it Helps Uncover
Latent Knowledge) offers users of the BBC and Torch
microcomputers a low-cost route into knowledge engineer-
ing. It will enable you to build up and test a set of decision
rules which can be used for prediction or classification. Thus
HULK takes the donkey work out of developing a 'knowl-
edge base'.
This is what the Practical Computing software review
said about HULK:
"It is very quick and interactive and justifies its
name - it does help uncover latent knowledge."
"It can genuinely help people to make sound
decisions -and bad decisions are extremely costly
in many enterprises." (March 1 984 issue).
HULK is available at £28.75 including VAT for BBC/B
(preferably with disks) or Torch microcomputers. We will
also make it available for the QL as soon as Uncle Clive lets
us have one! Cheque/PO with order form:
Warm Boot Limited
40 Bowling Green Lane
London EC1R ONE (01-278 0333).
[We can also supply xForth at £65 -I- VAT and BDS C Com-
piler at £1 1 0 + VAT in Torch disc format.]
WEST OF
SCOTLAND
BBC & ATOM DEALER AND
SERVICE CENTRE
HARDWARE
Model B with Disc Interface £ 469.00 inc.
Model B £ 399.00 inc.
Postage & Packing £ 6.00 inc.
SOFTWARE
Acornsoft Bug Byte Program Power
also 30 Golf Fruit Machine Dodgems
Send SAE for full list
MONITORS
PRINTERS
A selection on display A
Upgrades carried out
Disk and Econet interfaces fitted
Also a wide selection of books and
magazines
WEST COAST
PERSONAL COMPUTERS
47 Kyle Street, AYR
Tel 0292 (285082)
ACORN USER JULY 1984
179
HIGH RESOLUTION
THAT COMES
MGHiy RECOMMENDED.
“There is no doubt that the JVC range of ECM
colour monitors is excellent value for money . . .
there is no loss in quality of picture after long
periods . . . and remember, as more and more
resolution is available with new micros, the need
for a better display will be that much greater.”
High recommendation indeed from Personal
Computer News. Meanwhile Acorn User said:
“It seems that all ‘normal 1 and ‘medium 1
resolution monitors, including the Sanyo, are
simply inadequate to deal with the Beeb’s graphics
and text output . . . The JVC was excellent, giving
clear, legible results . . . Was the JVC better than the
Microvitec?* Would I buy one? Yes to both
questions.”
Our RGB high resolution colour monitor ( 580 x
470 pixels) sells for £229 95 (excluding VAT) - that’s a
saving of over £100 compared with other leading monitors
of similar specifications.
The unit has a 14" screen and is suitable for the
BBC Micro, Electron, Sinclair QL, Lynx, Oric, Apple, IBM
and most other leading micros.
MODEL REFERENCE
1302-2 1 ligh Resolution
RESOLl TION
580x470 Pixels
CRT.
14"
SUPPLY
220/240v. 50/60HZ.
E.H.T.
Minimum 19.5kv Maximum 22.5kv
VIDEO BAND WIDTH
10MHz.
DISPLAY
80 characters by 25 lines
SLOT PITCH
0.41mm
INPUT: VIDEO
RGB. Analogue/TTt Input
SYNC
Separate Sync on R.G.B. Positive or Negative
EXTERNAL CONTROLS
On/off switch and brightness control
And naturally there’s a year’s full guarantee.
If you order your monitor by post, you’ll receive it
within ten days by courier service.
Simply post the coupon below to: Opus Supplies Ltd.
158 Camberwell Road, London SE5 OEE. Or telephone
01-701 8668 quoting your credit card number. Or, of course,
you can buy at our showroom between 9.00-6.00pm,
Monday-Friday 9.00-1. 30pm, Saturday.
‘Microvitec Cub I t" monitor
To: Opus Supplies Ltd., 158 Camberwell Road, London SE5 OEE.
I Please send me:
High Resolution Colour Monitor! s ) at
£229.95 each (ex. VAT).
• Connection lead( s ) at £6.(X) each.
I understand carriage per monitor will cost an extra £7.00.
( N.B. A 1 ligh Resolution Monitor including VAT. lead and carriage costs £2" 7 9 39 ).
1 enclose a cheque for £ Or please debit my credit card
■ account with the amount of£ My Access/Barclaycard
( please tick ) no. is.
| Please state the make of your computer
! Name AC2±
Address
i Opus.
I Telephone JL. Opus Supplies Ltd.
180
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
I
BBC software: Snapper, Desk
Diary, Tree Killer, UXB. Swoop.
Felix, all originals, £5 each, £32
the lot. A. McDowall, Tel: (0494)
20750. after 7.30 pm weekdays.
BBC B 1.20S + disc interface and
drive wanted, up to £400 cash for
complete system or £250 for com-
puter only. Tel: 670-9147. after
7 pm.
BUGFREE copy of Telesoft’s
‘Connect 4' required. Am being
driven mad by a bug in the one I
copied manually while ill! Listing
or cassette. Dick Greening. 51
Barnfield Road. Ealing. London
W51QU.
TORCH Z80 disc pack for sale.
£550. View ROM complete with
printer driver tape. £45. Tel: (0274)
668642 (Yorks).
COMMODORE Pet 2001-8N old
ROM. Original 6550 RAMs, good
working order, built-in cassette
recorder. £60 ono. Tel: Medway
660637. after 5 pm weekdays, any-
time weekends.
CENTRONICS PI electrostatic
printer. Centronics standard inter-
face. no manuals. £30 ono. Tel:
Medway 660637.
WANTED. Non-working Atom or
keyboard only, also Atom disc
drive. A. Cahillane, Swindon. Tel:
(0793) 39736. evenings or week-
ends.
ROMs Wordwise. Basic II, Beeb
calc, £20 each. Original tapes of
Raid, Arcadians. Planetoids. Mon-
sters, Snapper. Croaker, Chess.
747. Painter. Q-Bert, Freddie.
Missile Control, Micro Tape, £5
each. VU-Type, Muproc, £8 each.
Tel: (0272) 717553.
BBC B 1.20S, 400k Teac 40/80
disc, CP80 printer, ROMs: Watford
DFS. ADE development, BCPL.
Other software, books and listings
etc. Bargain at £800. Mark Ste-
vens, Tel: Slough 33355 (work),
25535 (home).
DISC drives. Micropolis 5| in pair,
each with power supply. Suit
BBC/TRS. swap for Microvitec
colour monitor or sell £180. J. M.
Balye. Hundon (044086) 434 (Suf-
folk).
ROMs for BBC. All originals with
manuals, used once only Beebug
Basic Toolkit, £20. DDT Mass
Macro Assembler, £25. Computer
Concepts’ Graphics Extension,
£25. All three £65. Tel: (0592)
757580, after 6 pm.
SNOWBALL, Fighter Pilot. £7
each. World Travel game. Dam-
busters, £5 each. £20 the lot or
swap for Acornsoft’s Aviator. Tel:
Rayleigh 779875. ask for Shaun
(after 6 pm). All originals.
EPSON RX80F/T printer, hardly
used, including manuals and BBC
interface lead. Just £250. Tel: 01-
868 0330.
ADVANCED User Guide for the
BBC micro. Brand new. unwanted
gift. Only £10. Tel: 01-527 0667.
ATOM toolkit: textflash. load/save
alarm, double height in soft VDU
hexidecimal, variable dumps,
memory dump, design mode 4
graphics, sprites’ key and inkey,
£5. Martin, 11 Courtfield Road,
Ashford, Middlesex TW15 1JN
WATFORD ROM expansion board,
£25. Beebcalc, £25. HCCS Forth.
£30. All three for £70. Prices in-
clusive of postage. Tel: Ivybridge
(07554) 4240, evenings or week-
ends.
2716 EPROMs. Used in project,
have been erased. £1.70 each.
Telephone Don on Thanet (0843)
33398, after 6 pm.
MISSILE Command (Gemini) for
sale, £5. Contact sought with
BCPL users on the BBC. K.
Rutgers, 22 Marriotts Close, Fel-
mersham MK43 7HD. Beds. Tel:
(0234) 781730.
ATOM: fully expanded; printer
interface, 3 amp, 5 volt psu, 15k
RAM. 12k ROM, four 4k utility/tool
kit ROMs in 4-way ROM board, six
books, £70 ono, or will split. Tel:
01-732 3053.
BBC software for sale. Over 50 to
choose from, all under half price
and 1 year old. Ring Hugh on 01-
857 0181, after 5 pm. Will deliver
in London if required.
DFS Acorn disc upgrade kit com-
plete. £75. Wordwise ROM and
manual, £20. BBC Soft painting,
£5. C15 cassettes, 4 for £1. Tele-
phone Mike, after 6 pm. Wilmslow
(0625) 532727.
BBC model B, OS1.2. Basic II,
manual, leads, etc. Fitted with
Wordwise ROM. As new. Many
games and utilities, £390. Will
deliver anywhere in Kent. Tel:
West Mailing (0732) 848436. after
6 pm. Mike Kemp.
ATARI VCS and 8 cartridges
including Pac-Man. Star Raiders,
Star Wars and keep-tidy unit, dust
cover, joysticks, paddles, driving
controls and video touchpad
Good condition, bargain at £100.
Tel: Northwich 44027.
BBC model B, OS1.2. 8 months
old, official joysticks. tape
recorder, leads, manual, cover,
over £120 of excellent software,
blank tapes. Worth £570, will sell
for £380. Excellent condition. Tel:
(0328) 4265, evenings.
GENUINE reason for sale. Barely
used BBC 32k. Sanyo green
screen, Epson RX printer, £600 or
split. Will deliver anywhere. Cost
over £900. Tel: Mansfield 810204,
evenings or weekend. Will split if
required.
BBC model B 1.20S, completely
as new. unused with BBC Soft
software and magazines, etc.
Only six months old and still
under warranty. £335 ono. Tel:
Bolton 391954. 132a Deane Road.
Bolton BL3 5DL
BBC B games: 2002, Saloon Sally.
QxBert, Firebirds. 3D Socca.
Felix, Hell Driver, Killer Gorilla,
Super Invaders, £6 each. Dropout,
Escape from Orion, £5 each.
Pengo. £8.50. Phone Tim, 051-652
5585, after 5 pm.
6264LP-15 8k CMOS RAM, one
only. Will fit ATPL ROM board.
£32. Wanted: ATPL sidewise ROM
board, other types considered.
Tel: Rugby (0788) 817932. after 6
pm.
TEAC 200k single sided disc
drive, £135 ono. Tel: Northwood
26531.
BBC model B. As new, plus joy-
sticks, leads, dust cover, books
(including Advanced User Guide),
loads of mags and software. £375.
Will deliver for price of petrol. Tel:
Leeds 492162, after 4 pm.
We have been alerted to the
fact that some readers are
abusing our free ads service.
Acorn User will support
any attempts to prevent indiv-
iduals copying tapes and sell-
ing them through the pages
of this magazine.
Please do not abuse this
service, and report any sus-
picious offers to Acorn User.
Parents should also check
that their children are not
copying and selling software
in this way. It is illegal.
BBC user’s BCLP and View
ROMs, brand new. still boxed:
sensible offers please. Tel: Wood-
bridge (03943) 7373.
ATOM software to swap or sell.
Life package, Starburst, Adven-
ture 1. Hopesoft, Atom-man, Aard-
vark Invaders. Atomstore, Astro
Warrior, all £3. Cavequest, Pon-
toon, 10 pin bowls, all £1.50. Ring
Andrew (0474)812704.
BBC model B with Acorn DFS 0.90
OS1.2 and Basic II. As new. £380.
John Farrer, 50 Lonsdale Avenue.
London E6 3JY. Tel: 01-552 1473.
after 7 pm or at weekends.
BBC software: Rocket Raid
(Acornsoft), £6. Killer Gorilla
(Micropower), £5. Galactic Com-
mander (Micropower). £5. All
cassette. Tel: (0401) 50716, after
4.15 pm. 48 The Meadows, Cherry
Burton, Beverley. North Humber-
side HU177SD.
ATOM adventure. Wake up your
Atom (book), Atom Magic Book,
Games pack 9. Desk Diary, Ross
software ROM. all £15 ono. Will
separate if required. Tel: Lisburn
(N Ireland) 79066, after 4 pm.
FREE PERSONAL AD SERVICE I
Sell your old hardware or software for cash. Fill in the form below to a maximum |
of 32 words (one in each box) and send it to Acorn User Free Ads, 68 Long Acre,
London WC2E 9JH. Use capital letters, and remember your name, address or tele- |
phone number. This is a free service to readers - no companies please. One entry
per form only, and we cannot guarantee any issue.
I
I
I
ACORN USER JULY 1984
northern
Qeeem
PULSE
For the BBC Computer and the
Acorn Electron
THE
1 1 iivnv.; i
p jmz
3INCH 100K
DISKDRIVE+MIRROR
EXTERNAL ROM
BOARDS
<► BRITISH MANUFACTURE 0 - ALLOWS 8 ROMS ON LINE
■0 HARDWARE-BASED ROM SELECTION AVOIDS SOFTWARE
INTERACTION BETWEEN UTILITY ROMS
0 - SWITCH TO REQUIRED ROM USING MANUAL SWITCH
OUTSIDE THE UNIT
0 RED LIGHTS INDICATE THE SELECTED ROM
0 HIT "BREAK” TO ACCESS ROM, NO NEED TO USE
SOFTWARE COMMAND
■ 0 - INCLUDES Zff SOCKET, FOR INSTANT CHANGING OF A
SELECTED ROM
• 0 - INCLUDES BBC CABLE AND ROM SOCKET CONNECTOR
0 INCLUDES SIMPLE FITTING INSTRUCTIONS,
JUST PLUG IN AND GO!
please contact: Gareth Littler
“ Mark Howard or
Judith Allen at
7 Micro Pulse
Division
I northern I
Churchfield Road,
FRODSHAM
Cheshire WA66RD
Tel: 0928 35 HQ
ACORN USER
ADVERTISEMENT PAGES
-JULY ISSUE
AB Designs
128
Discotek
105
Midwich
80
Acacia
169
Dobsoft
140
Mirrorsoft
150
Acorn Soft
20/21
Molimerx
146
Acorn User Show
6
Educational Electronics
110
Advent
AJ Vision
170
170
Elbug
Electronequip
136
24/25
Northern Computers
182
Akhter
Alphadisk
116
59
EMS (Programming)
Epic
120
106
Opus
76/124/151/180
Ampalsoft
30
Pace
Applied Real Time Systems
128
Flightdeck
17
52
Printerland
104
GCC (Cambridge)
68
Proxima
154
Gemini
64
Beebug
175/176
Golem
106
Redhatch
134
Beebugsoft
40/41
Graphitek Electronics Ltd
23
Robot
117
Bel Tech
62
Guardian Software
112
Benwick Electronics
120
Salamander
88
Birdseye Walls
8
Harris McCutcheon
98
Screens
140
Bits & Bytes
130
Harvard Apparatus
117
Shard Software
114
British Telecom
Broadway Electronics
148
158
Ikon
156
Silent Computers
Simonsoft
134
17
Inmac
11
SIR Computers
162/169
Intech
100
Skywave
151
Cambridge Computer Consultants
144
Intelligent Interfaces
Interface
70/71
130
Slogger Software
Software Invasion
162
171
Cambridge Computer Store
168
Interface Components
64
Solidisk
118/119
102
43/91/174/IBC
152
160
Cambridge Micro-Processor
Chase Data
Cheetah Marketing
CJE Micros
Clares
120
96/97
122
72
74
Intersoft
Kansas
Kosmos
134
42
140
Spider Systems
Superior Software
Synergy Software
System
Computer Concepts
16/82/164
Learnwell
23
T-Soft
104
Computer Room
134
Level 9
138
Computer Town
84/85
Lion House Micros
55/56/57/58
Tec Media
78
Computerama
66
LVL
IFC
Technomatic
12/13/14
Comtec
104
Three D Computers
175
Control Universal
90
Mayfair Micros
132
Three SL
168
Croydon Computer Centre
169
Merlin
26
Torch
172/173
Cumana
92/93
Micheals Business Systems
23
Tutorial Software
112
CYB Design
168
Micro-Fast
39
Micro-Fix
106
Victor-Morris
170
Micro-Man
17
Viglen
127/129/131/132/133
Micro-Peripherals
19
Vine Micros
64
Data Base
35/166
Micro-Resources
98
Vision
22
Datapen
154
Micro-Test
1
Voltmace
78
Datastore
168
Micro-Vitec
107
Datatechnology
4/5
Microaid
15
Walton Associates
179
Datatrack Technology
135
Micropower
36/37/73/OBC
Warm Boot Ltd
179
Dataware
112
Microstyle
142/143
Watford
44/45/46/47/48/49/50
Diamondsoft
68
Microtek Computer Services
179
West Coast Personal
179
Digital Peripherals Ltd
90
Microware
69
Sorting Program Courtesy of Gemini
182
ACORN USER JUL Y 1984
J SMALL ADS
■ Nutcrackers tape2tape +
tape2disc + disc2tape + disc-
2disc: the best package available.
Comparable software sells for £10
per item. R-Soft. 22 Marriotts
Close. Felmersham, Beds MK43
7HD. Tel: (0234) 781730.
■ AC Linear Circuit Analysis Pro-
gram for BBC model B. Analyses
circuits with up to 16 nodes and 60
components. Cassette £35, disc
£45. Tel: Number One Systems.
(0480) 61778. Access/American
Express.
■ Anagram generating program.
(BBC). Ideal for crosswords,
quizzes, competitions. Allows any
characters to be fixed; gives total
number of anagrams; rejects
duplicates. Cassette £3.95 inclus-
ive. Cylindrical Software. 3/177
College Road, Birmingham B13
9LJ.
■ Physics teachers animated
graphics programs including logic
circuit design, motors, ripple
tanks, electrolysis, optics, sound,
bell, colour, result plotting, £3
each. Full details. Tel: 021-449
6648.
■ 40/80 track switching unit for 80
track BBC single/double drives.
All instructions supplied, £10 inc.
259 Manor Road, London E15
3AW. Tel: 01-476 5238.
■ 27128 and 2764 blank EPROMs
are not in such short supply as
some people would have you
believe! Latest news on CME's
hotline, (0473) 77992.
■ Dust covers. BBC & Electron.
Made-to-measure in quality natur-
al vinyl with cut-outs for terminal
leads. Just send £2.95 (no stamp
required) to Allen Enterprises,
Freepost, Luton LU2 8BR.
■ 27128 EPROM, Fujitsu 300nS.
BBC sideways ROM compatible.
One off £18. Five off £17 each. UFF
Design. 1 & 2 The Corner, Horsey.
Gt. Yarmouth, Norfolk NR29 4EH.
■ Sporting forecasts programs by
Professor Frank George for BBC
32k. Horse race forecast, football j
forecast and poolperm. Details "
from Poringware, P.O. Box 161,1
Brundall, Norwich.
■ Beamscan. Beam design for ^
architects, engineers in both steel I
and timber to BS.449 and CP. 112, ®
Printout satisfies L.A. require- 1
ments. Disc £45, cassette £40. ■
Beamscan, 20 Vaughan Avenue. |
Hendon, London, NW4 4HU. Tel: ■
202 8656. \u
■ Printer software for BBC micro
and Epson FX80. Two screen
dumps, business forms generator
and character set redefiner. Tape
£1 1 .95, disc £15.95. Sae for further
details. Processor Applications,
22 Mercer Close. Basingstoke.
Hants.
■ Horse Race forecasting pro-
gram, £12. It picked the 1983
Grand National winner! Football
pools forecasting program, £12.
Electron, BBC, Spectrum. Send
cheque or P.O. to The Butronics.
Penterrick House, Budock, Fal-
mouth, Cornwall.
■ Bored with aliens? Try Kala-
hari. Ancient game of strategy.
BBC (B). Three skill levels. Good
documentation and help screens
teach you to play. Cassette £5.95.
Sixth Sense Software, 20 Somer-
set Folly, Timsbury. Bath.
■ Unbelievable but true! Clemoes
Software put up to 3 absolutely
top quality games on 1 cassette
for £7.95! Arcade games, games
of deduction, plus other cassettes.
Available at W. H. Smith for only
£6.95.
■ Discounts on computers and
peripherals, most makes, large
and small, hardware only. Some
used equipment bought and sold.
Tel: Ascot 26875 or Crawley
883853.
■ Superior Mover, moves Hunch-
back, QBert, Roadrunner, etc to
disk, ready to run. Other utilities,
see previous Acorn Users. R-Soft,
22 Marriotts Close, Felmersham,
Beds. MK43 7HD. Tel: (0234)
781730.
■ BBC “Image”, tape back-up
copier. Copies practically any-
thing. Copes with locks, files,
300 + 1200 baud, any length, false
load addresses, etc. Unlocks/
locks programs. 100% M/C, £3.80.
P. Donn, 33 Little Gaynes Lane,
Upminster. Essex RM14 2JR.
■ ‘*1 think with “Number Skrable'
(BBC 32k, £6.10), you've a winner!
Plenty of good maths and fun!”
Educational Computer. Bryants, 1
The Hollies. Bognor Regis P021
5SX.
■ Juki printer driving for View.
Microspacing, underlining, bold,
shadow, pad. pound. 40/80 disc or
cassette, £6.50. Amurtec Soft-
ware, 27 Prideaux Road, Ivy-
bridge, Devon PL21 0JS.
■ Sideways ROM module for
BBC. Each plug-in module sup-
ports 4 switch selectable ROMs
(may include 2* 8k EPROMs, ie
16k). SAE for details to S. R. Elec-
tronics, 9 Haddon Drive, Balder-
ton, Newark, Notts NG24 3HN.
■ Superior Mover moves pro-
grams like Hunchback, Roadrun-
ner, etc to disk, £5. Nutcrackers
Tape 2 Tape -f Tape 2 Disk -F Disc
2 Tape+ Disc 2 Disc (will handle
locked files), £5. Super disk menu,
£5. R-Soft, 22 Marriotts Close, Fel-
mersham, MK43 7HD, Beds. Tel:
(0234) 781730.
■ Graphics Utilities. *GSAVE
saves mode, palette, & screen to
disk in compacted form. *GLOAD
reloads screen in approximately 2
seconds. Ideal for computer slide
shows, education, games etc. 40/
80 track (state which), £9.50. J. D.
Watson, 84 Albert Road. Caver-
sham, Reading RG4 7PL. Tel:
(0734) 470588.
■ Simeon Tank level controller
simulation with colour-mimic for
dynamic modelling. Ideal training
aid. Cassette £25. Details: Scitech
Software, P.O. Box 6, West Kil-
bride. Ayrshire, KA23 9HY.
■ Globe-Test world geography
quiz for BBC B: Countries, capi-
tals, rivers, deserts, mountain
ranges, oceans, seas. Stunning
graphics. Cassette £7, disk £9.
Newbytes, 3 Hickory Drive, Hares-
tock, Winchester S022 6NJ.
■ Printers for BBC. RS232 inter-
face. 180 CPS. Bidirectional print-
ing. Dot matrix 7x9. True desc-
enders. Buffered. Various baud
rates. Variable traktor settings,
ideal for users requiring fast con-
tinuous printing. £80. Tel: Crow-
thorne (0344) 776894.
■ BBC micros inoperable without
your password. Embedded,
encrypted I.C. revealing proof of
ownership on request, OSI.OO on-
wards. Send name, address,
password, 12 characters maxi-
mum, £18. M. Gillett, 135 Honey
Lane, Waltham Abbey, Essex.
■ User Guide binders. Stiff plastic
backed 16-ring titled open flat
binders. £3.50 inc p & p. Hep-
worth, Waulkmill Farm, Ingersley
Vale. Bollington. Macclesfield,
Cheshire SK10 5BP.
■ Data Crunch, suite of programs
for common parametric, non-
parametric and regression stat-
istics, £12 each. SAE, OUS Soft-
ware, Wayside House. Letchworth
Lane, Letchworth, Herts. (BBC
32k).
■ Copyking- Supreme tape
copier. Copies almost anything.
Locks/unlocks. Up to ten pro-
grams repeatedly saved. Full
length, disguised load address
and headers catered for. BBC
B + OS1.2. £3.50. T. Thornham, 6
The Meadows, Walberton, W.
Sussex BN18 0PB.
■ Multiple choice question pro-
gram, BBC tape, disc, Electron.
Permits more than one correct
answer, space for explanation,
hard copy etc. Tape £8.50. disc
£10.50. Details: Moreton, 91
Umberslade Road. Birmingham
B29 7SB.
■ Epson (FX)/View wordproces-
sor printer driver. Extensive use
of printer facilities including: elite,
italics, proportional character
spacing, etc. 40-track disc, only
£7.50 including documentation.
Rose Gardens, Penstraze, Cha-
cewater, Truro, Cornwall TR4
8PN.
■ BBC keypad. Speed up data
entry with 25-key add-on. Elimin-
ates shift for + * = etc. £50 total.
SAE for details: Extron, 16 Priory
Park, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire
BA15 1QU.
£10 SMALL AD SERVICE
Please include your cheque for £10 made payable to Redwood Publishing. This is
the standard fee. Don’t forget your name, address or phone number. Send cheque
plus form to Acorn User Small Ads, 68 Long Acre, London WC2E 9JH.
■ Romread — a sideways ROM UV
utility. Moves ROM's to disc tape I
and then to sideways RAM, relo- ■
cates ROMs into RAM. gives I
instant directory of ROMs in your ■
machine, adds OS commands |
“Size' and “Media'. Only £5.50 .
from Compromise Consultants. |
20a Kings Avenue. Woodford _
Green. Essex 1G8 OJA.
183
ACORN USER JULY 1984
DIARY
184
ACORN
ABUSERS
Unmasked:
magman they
couldn't gag
CURIOUSER and curiouser.
Derek Meakin, the ‘head of
National Micro Centres’, as he
is proclaimed from his own
press release, has spoken out
against Mastertronic for slash-
ing the price of its games soft-
ware to £1.99.
Funny, says we, haven’t we
heard the name Derek Meakin
somewhere else? And his
address in St Petersgate, Man-
chester: isn’t that also fam-
iliar? Ah, yes, that’s the
address of Optima Software.
That must be why it’s familiar.
But what about the phone
number given for information,
061-456 8383? Try ringing that
and you get Database Publi-
cations! Could it be that some
user magazines are not as
independent as they clai m?
Torch in
opposition
SSSSH! Don’t tell the Tories . . .
but Labour leader Neil Kin-
nock has gone and got himself
aTorch.
Trouble is we can’t throw
much more light on this par-
ticular Torch because they are
all so fwightfully busy round at
the Leader of the Opposition’s
offices.
The ch^p in charge of the
machine is one Charles
Clarke, but when tackled about
the Torch he was in far too
much of a flap to talk about it.
Asked what they were going
to use it for, all Mr Clarke had
time to gasp was: ‘Awfully
busy right now. Can you call
later ... in about a month’s
Coming clean. . .
REMEMBER ‘Yossa’ and
‘Bones’ -the two clean pro-
grams on the naughty Sicsoft
disc which was mentioned last
month? Well, someone has
owned up to them. It’s MRM
Software up in Grimsby with a
skeleton in the cupboard and,
by an amazing coincidence,
their ad was facing the Diary
page on which we revealed
the existence of the blue
disc. However, a high-ranking
spokesman for MRM denied
that they’d written the other
programs.
time!’ Somecomedian.
However, the Curse of the
Acorn Abuser struck the next
day: a wordprocessed press
release from the office went
out with the last paragraph
missing!
Bad call
JEREMY Ruston, who’s having
legal wrangles with Acorn
over his latest book which
pulls apart the Basic ROM,
recently discovered just how
good Acorn’s communications
are. A surprise telephone call
from a programmer at Acorn’s
American operation who was
trying to write a spreadsheet
interrupted his scribing. It
turned out that the only source
of advice on the Basic ROM the
American could find was - you
guessed it- Jeremy. Having a
book banned isn’t the end of
the world after all.
Quite Likely
AS PART of its rapid growth
programme which has already
taken in Torch and Torus,
Acorn is soon to announce the
takeover of an even larger and
more established Cambridge-
based company.
Dr Alex Reid, director of
company purchasing, com-
mented: I cannot yet reveal
who it is, but we have sent off
the cheque and we have been
promised 28-day delivery with
a free gift if they are late.’
Pornographies
A NEW company is being set
up to publish the growing
range of black market porno-
graphic programs. Acornhard
will only sell through high
street adult’ stores and selec-
ted bent dealers.
Wildcards
SECURITY-minded bods at
Cherry Hinton have installed a
cardkey doorlock system for
Acorn’s new high-tech R&D
building.
Mastermind of the operation
was Andrew Mackintosh, for-
merly head of Lisa develop-
ment at Apple and now
Acorn’s head of advanced
R&D.
Claimed Andrew: ‘The idea
of the system is not to stop
journalists creeping in at the
dead of night to see our top-
secret 68032 second pro-
cessors. It was installed to pre-
vent some of our hairy hard-
ware engineers getting out.’
Bitter blow
ANONYMOUS letter from
Acorn’s Cherry Hinton HQ con-
cerning June’s issue toour Ed:
Dear Tony Quinn,
What’s with the Freudian
slips!! ZX80 indeed! You won ’t
live that one down in a hurry.
Serves you right!
Yours in a huff.
Only comment from Ed: ‘What
a load of wind.’
Quote quota
ACORN has hit out at maga-
zines that publish anonymous
comments as official policy. In
a sharply worded statement a
spokesman said The maga-
zines are killing the goose that
lays thesilver lining.’
He also claimed that
rumours of marketing man
Tom Hummingbird’s replace-
ment by a third generation
android were utterly ground-
less. I’m as fifth generation as
Tony Quill. Oops! Don’t quote
me on that.’
Qwerty is three months old
and still having his cliche pro-
cedures debugged.
Spy network
ACORN has won the Queen’s
Award for Industrial Espio-
nage. This follows the demon-
stration of breaking all A&F’s
protection systems and having
copies of their games on
Econet within minutes of the
originalsarriving.
JARGON JUNGLE
N FINCH of Chingford thought
we might like to see this Buzz-
word Generator (right), which
he came across on a computer
course. ‘It is used to demon-
strate how jargon can look im-
pressive but not actually mean
anything,’ he says. This piece,
which earns Mr Finch a fiver,
took minutes to compose:
The integrated manage-
ment capability leads the way
for a systematic and respon-
sive supervisory contingency
with a view to increasing the
inter-active transitional soft-
ware design. This in turn will
have a parallel in the compati-
bility of third-generation real-
time programming.’
BUZZWORD GENERATOR
1
2
3
1
integrated
management
options
2
systematic
organisational
mobility
3
total
monitored
flexibility
4
parallel
reciprocal
capability
s
balanced
poi«v
contingency
«
compatible
third generation
protection
7
synchronised
Incremental
hardware
B
optional
transitional
time phase
9
raiponiiva
logic
concept
10
functional
digital
programming
11
favourable
supervisory
design
12
authentic
real-time
software
13
inter- active
marginal
profitability
14
situational
appointed
facilities
llw a <wi lion >*cfc iihm to mjki • wwWii but
STAR STRIKER (32K) £7.95
fl multi-stage arcade-style game in uuhich you take control of
a 3-stage rocket equipped with 4 side lasers and a central
laser cannon. Not only must you defend the rocket against
the 6 types of circling alien, and avoid the asteroids and
fireballs, but you must also attempt to dock the separate
stages of the rocket together. Stunning graphics, sound
effects, introductory tunes, hi-score and rankings. Another
excellent program from Superior Software.
(K6VBOARD or JOVSTICKS)
9i8B
S85B
• C ?BI
Bit 8
* «
e
*
tfiStf
*
«OUTlMUKANDOV«ftS€ftS.
CM DC
■V
MR. UJIZ (32K) £7.95
From the author of Percy Penguin, Mr. UUiz iso fast-action multi-scene
game. Guide Mr. UUiz around the garden to eat the cherries whilst
avoiding the evil gremlins. The gremlins can be killed by dropping
apples on them or by throuuing the crystal ball. €xtra points can be
gained by eating the magic mushroom, but beuuare . . . this is the
home of the gremlins and makes them permanently furious! Sound
p|' effects and tunes, hi-score, rankings. Superb arcade-style action.
. (K6VBORRDS or JOVSTICKS).
Ul€ PRY UP TO 20% ROYAITICS FOR HIGH QUALITY IMIC MICRO AND €L€CTAON PROGRAMS
SUPCRIOR SOFTUIRRC LTD.
Dept. RU7, Regent House,
Skinner Lone, Leeds 7
Tel: 0532 459453
OUflGUmWNTCC
(1 ) fill our software is available before we advertise.
(2) fill our software is despatched within 48 hours by first-class post.
(3) In the unlikely event that any of our software fails to load, return your
cassette to us and we will immediately send a replacement.
'available from all good retailers including selected 1
WRITTEN ANY PROGRAMS? BRANCHES OF BOOTS
WE PAY 20% ROYALTIES! JOHN MENZIES ^ J
The following top ..ties are AND WH SMITH H H "
available f or both the BBC Micro and Electron - Killer Gorilla £7.95/
Bondrts at 3 o'Clock f 6 95/ Moon raider £7 95/ Croaker £7.96/
Felix in the Factory £7. 95/Felix and the Fruit Monsters £7.95/
Chess £7 95/ Drew £9 95/Escape from Moonbase Alpha £7.96/
Cybertron Mission £7 95 /Swoop £7 95/lntergalachc Trader £8 96/
Positron £6 95/ Adventure £7 95
SHOWROOM NORTHWOOD HOUSE, N ORTH STREET
LEEDS LS7 2AA Tel: (0532) 458800 ■■■ BK9
MAIL ORDER: MICRO POWER LTD. | MS* | ^
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^SPECIAL OFFER Deduct £1 per cassette when ordenng two or morei
Imprisoned by the evil warlord Nogrob
the Terrible, Jack the intergalactic
hitchhiker must collect fuel pods from
the other side of the garage to refill the
waiting starships. With a fast diminish*
ing oxygen supply, an erratic Turbopak,
and a band of nasty Space Googjies to
contend with. Jack certainly has
problems!
m * yX
>
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