vancouver sinclair USers gr oup

THES ISSUES REA e BITS O FIELES sae r£ SIR CLIVE IS BACK!.... 3 MEETING DATE... ese 3 OL DORAN POLES

MEETING MINUTES....... 4 PLAYING WITH... $

ZXAppeal is a monthly 7X VOICE PROJECT...... 9 newsletter put out by the MODEM UPGRADE.........13 Vancouver Sinclair Users Group. MEMBER PROFILE........14 For more information on the 7X81 VIDEO UPGRADE....15 group and 7ХАрреа! see the backcover. MORE VALUE............15

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Another month zipps by and another Issue of ZXAppeal. And a pretty good Issue, if I don't say so myself.

The major report this month is from Dan P. regarding his recently aquired Video Digitalizer for the 2068 in Spectrum mode. His report is within. Gerd B. supplies the constuction details for the ZX Voice board from the Hardware SIG. Some boards are still available and more can be made so step right up. Harvey T. submits his latest in his ongoing series on things OL. Rusty T. gives us his 'Member Profile'. Ken A. supplies a simple modem hardware upgrade. Vince L. offers 'More value for your Bytes'. Joe J. of the Lone Star State sends in a neat little program to display the drawing abilities of the 2068. Tim S. gives us a simple hardware fix to get that perfect picture on the 1000. And other stuff I think you'll interesting and informative.

k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k kk k k k k Ж

OILD- PIECEBZ4. А

.. another periodical is leaving the ZX/TS scene. TS Horizons has advised all subscibers that only nine more issues will be published. Rick says many things contributed to his decision but the main obstacle was TIME. He says he might reconsider if he is able to find people willing to share the various tasks that go into such a publication.

... the QL draw is well underway but some members have yet to get their tickets. You out-of-towners can get in the draw - just send in your $ and your in. Your ticket stubb will be sent back to you. We can't make the draw until all 100 tickets are gone. The kit will be shown at the meeting.

... ZX Voice boards are available at the meeting. It's been a while since we had a hardware project originate with the group.

...128К NVM for the 2068 is now available. Rumours mention 256K of

2

МҮМ Ramdisk is just around the corner.

...reports of their demise were slightly exaggerated! ZEBRA SYSTEM is still with us and I am assured they will be for sometime. Their BBS is also back up.

... the POWER 3000 lives! Some of you will remember the article on this 1000 clone that mentioned sound and colour but when availability was looked into -- pooof -- smoke and mirrors. Well look at the ad in the April Radio-Electronics for American Design Components near the back.

-.. You'll recall the offer conveyed to the group last meeting from Tim S. re: upgraded rampaks. Tim says he'll upgrade any members 1000 to 64K INSIDE for just the cost of parts. More details at the meeting. ...remember to inventory your set-ups and bring your equipment profile to the meeting. This'll help form a equipment database for future reference.

..any of you wishing to test the TIMEX Service Department turnaround time, the address is TIMEX SERVICE DEPT., P.O. Box 2740, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203. The fee for repairs to a 2068 is $29.95US. I'm not sure re:1500s or 1000s k k k k k k k k k k k k k kk k k kk k k k k kk k k k k k k k k k k

RENEWING MEMBERS:

Eric Sakara, Marcio Vieira Marie Kendall, Dan Pinko Ian McLean, Doug Jeffery

NEW MEMBERS:

George Patterson, Queen Charlotte City, В.С: John битро1ес, Jr., Газ Vegas, NV.

Remember to renew at the meeting if you received the dreaded EXPIRY NOTICE.

NEVER-SAY-DIE SINCLAIR IS BACK IN THE COMPUTER BUSINESS

T UK's computer guru, Sir Clive Sinclair, has risen from the ashes to launch a new computer—almost a year to the day after he quit the

computer business. He announced this week at the Which Computer? Show in Birmingham, UK, the formation of a new company, Cambridge Computer Ltd., and introduced the first in a family of personal computers, a laptop costing $300 that will be available in April. Sinclair sold Sinclair Research

Ltd.'s computer business to Amstrad

last year and said he was going to

concentrate on other technologies, such as wafer-scale integration and elec- tric vehicles [Electronics, April 14, 1986, p. 64]. Sinclair also sold Amstrad full . fights to the name Sinclair to use with computers. О

Electronics / February 19, 1987

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1987 Sa hing ега барыан НАНА

Sir Clive tries again

Sir Clive Sinclair, the British inventor who was forced to sell his computer empire after it fell on hard times last year, has unveiled what he contends is the world’s smallest and most portable personal computer.

Described as the ''first portable with full personal computer facili- ties," the new 288 weighs less than two pounds, measures 1114 by 8\4 inches and has a memory capable of storing the entire works of Sha- kespeare.

Sir Clive, whose disastrous ven- ture into electric cars with his min- iature C5 tricycle failed to catch the public's imagination, sold his previ- ous computer company and even the “Sinclair” name to rival com- puter maker Amstrad Consumer Electronics PLC last year for $10.2. million.

But the deal did not prevent him from producing other models. The 288 is the first design from his new company, Cambridge Computer, although it cannot bear his name.

The first models will be produced by Thorn-EMI Datatech. Talks are taking place with other manufactur- ers to expand production.

А REACH E

MEETING DATE...

тиит

33 TICKETS SOLD

4

INUTES Feb 13/87 [ 28 present ]

— کے = —

— by your humble scribe

The meeting was opened by Ken, the prez, at 19:22. The first topic raised was the Help Clinic. It seems that so far only one problem has arisen; а fellow out of town had а problem with a 20608 joystick. Note was made of the fact that in general no Equipment Lists were forthcoming. Lets try for next month gang!

The hardware group reported that the ZXVOICE project is coming along well. The only work remaining is the documentation and the edge connectors. These boards work with both the ZX81 & the 2068. Rod Humphries has 19 of the boards available to club members at $19.90 each. With all chips the project will cost about $25.00. The next project іп the works is a Keyboard Beeper/Eprom Burner for the 2Х81 & possibly the 2968 as well. Final design specifications have not been drawn up, so take that as very changeable.

Rod, the Treasurer/Editor, reported that as of meeting time we have $241.17 in the credit union as well as one unreceived QL kit & the 10 ZXVOICE boards. Rod then fantasized about driving nonstop to the Indiana ComputerFest in a whirl of bits, bytes & nonprescription enthusiasm. Rod then showed his Sinclair Flat Screen TV which he got at the same time as his QL kit. All were generaly impressed with the quality of the picture.

Rod then mentioned that Tim Stoddard from New York State (!) wished to join our little group & further that he was making a 16K->64K conversion deal available to club members at cost. Contact Rod if interested. Tim’s next project will be 64K on the 2X81 with three chips, no doubt using the new 62256-32K statics.

The next Robotics Club meeting is 18:39, ЛИК 18 at 470 Granville; that's Al Wright’s office.

Ian, the ZX81 Librarian, stood to ask for more programs for the club. He made available a list of programs in the library. Ian raised the possibility of a Programming Special Interest Group similar to the Hardware Group. Several people expressed interest in this. lan is to be the Contact person.

Rusty Townsend donated а whole bunch of ZX81 software to the library. We were faced with the interesting spectacle of а hardware auction, with all proceeds going to tbe club. Long live Flea markets! By the way, Rusty will be doing a member profile this month.

Guido Vereira stood to announce that he is setting up a BBS on his 2068. I think we should all support Guido in this undertaking. At present he is waiting for a modem repair, but we will publish the number when we get it.

There was some discussion of problems members might have getting their new QL hooked up to monitor. Harvey made himself generally available for questions of this sort. Harvey mentioned the Transputer board being developed in the UK as а QL add-on.

Ken then stood to introduce Rois Harder, one of the original founders, just recently back from 2 years in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia with the telephone company. Rois mentioned that the very first meeting (3 people) away back in the dark ages of 1982 was quite short because the basement flooded. We were then told tales of translation woes (trying to buy 2 shovels from а Bedouin who didn't speak а word of English), different management styles (being ’glued to the job’ by absolute reponsibility), and benzene being cheaper than water (12 cents a liter versus 15). Rois told us that to save his sanity he took up 91, computing and bird photography. He brought several albums of photos for us to look through. Rois says he returned to Canada with a much greater appreciation of the freedoms we take for granted.

The meeting dissolved to general mayhem & merriment.

PLAYING WITH ELECTRICITY . -Harvey Taylor

At the bottom of the 68908’s address space there is provision for a 1K table of vectors to use іп exception processing. An exception is what the Motorola engineers call ап interrupt, but the term is also used to apply other conditions, such as Bus errors, software errors such as Divide by sero. See the program below for the complete list. In fact, the whole table is rarely completely filled in and this is the case on the QL.

The 68000 has 7 interrupt priorities [1-7], but the 68998 has only 3 levels [2,5 & 7]. Of these the QL uses Level 2; Level 5 is ignored and Level 7 is present but requires special software.

Coincidentally, there are several things that Sinclair does not mention in the QL User Guide. DO NOT DO THIS WITH A MICRODRIVE INSERTED. Touching the keys <ALT><CTRL><7> causes the 8749 coprocessor to generate а Level 7 Interrupt in the 68998. QDOS does not trap this eventuality however & the QL heads for NeverNeverLand unless the above mentioned special software is present. [ Briefly, each job can redirect a subset of 19 Exception Vectors, among them Level 7, and you have to write a Level 7 exception handler. ]

One of the other useful things not mentioned in the User Guide is the fact that <CTRL><F5> freeses the screen display.

. You will find this useful in long directories.

Because the 1K map of exceptions is well defined one can easily write a program which will read this table. The only tricky part is that there are some undocusented vectors in the table. Similarly, one can follow what the QL does on being interrupted. This code follows, and then the basic

program for printing out the Exception table is listed.

+

+ This is what turns up as CODE in the Basic program.

+

898728 6126 BSR 1$09887858 + Address Error

00202۸ 6124 BSR 906000050 + illegal Instruction

Райс 6122 BSR 060990508 + Zero Divide

98802Е 6129 BSR (300800950 + CHK Instruction # These addresses all go to

#90930 АЕ BSR LSBBBARAS@ Æ TRAPV Instruction — * $58...The subroutine there

000032 6110 BSR (380808058 + Privilige Violation # checks where its coring {гов 698854 611A BSR 080000508 + TRACE воде + by examining the stacked

8908036 2118 BSR 960000950 + INT. LEVEL 7 + return address.

880938 6116 BSR (388881958 + TRAPES

008034 6114 BSR 1499000850 + ТААРЕЬ # Note that Motorola defines

BRBASC 6112 BSR 9002072058 ! # the table as being LWORD entries; CLAIE 2110 BSR 300009056 ! + whereas 0005 uses WORD entries. ВЯ GIBE BSR 1900000958 ! + This is because other LWORD vectors 998042 blec BSR 4000200950 : # point to these WORD entries, 800844 ALBA BSR LtPegeensa : # which аге the Redirectable Vectors. 090945 6189 BSR 900000050 }

#98849 6186 BSR L$paererse :

BADAIA 6104 BSR. 1400000050 :

#8984С 6182 BSR 1$89888858 + TRAPEIS

Qgee^E FFFF DC.W

š Filler b

#00758 6980 BREA BRA 489808 3c t

CLOSA 0495 6090 882A SUBI.L #$8800892А, (А7) + # Subtract $2А from the stacked return address BORSA 5582 BNE 11111153 + If non zero:

600856 504 ADDO.W 188,47 # Adjust stack

88085Е 4Е73 RTE ^

А E RPRISC 4AB9 8002 8058 TST.L #80142 — 5700 FF10 ВЕЙ 888146 2FBE #88148 ICEF 0006

# Return from Exception

140828858 1160002854 MOVE.L АБ, -(А7) МОУЕА. М #608047) Ab

+ Has а Redirected Vector Table been defined? + If noi

# Save current Sys Var pointer

# Get Stacked Return Address

#8014С DCCE ADDA.W АБ, АЬ # 17

98014Е DOF 0002 8850 ADDA.L 1480028058, Ab # Add to base of Redirected Vector Table

#08154 2756 0004 MOVE.L (AK) $8884 (A7) # Take address from table & put it above Sys Var pointer on stack 988158 2CSF MOVEA.L (A7)+,A6 # Retrieve the Sys var pointer

888154 4Е75 RTS # "Return" to subroutine address defined in R V Table

à # After the Processor reads $8354 in the Interrupt 2 slot of the # exception table it jueps here & finds this code.

+

888354 48E7 8106 MOVEM.L 07/А5/АЬ,-1А7) — * save some registers

000358 2A4F MOVEA.L А7,А5 +

PROISA 2C7C 8882 9808 MOVEA.L #$08028888 AG * set Ab=base of system variables

980358 1639 0001 6021 MOVE.B L580018021,07 $ get Interrupt status frog hardware

980366 E20F LSR.B H8I,D7 * Test bit 8

098358 6588 279C BCS (388082886 š Bo take саге of aicrodrives

888356 Е2@Е LSR.B 81,07 # Test bit |

QQR3bE 6500 2%ҺЬ BCS 1900082016 $ бо take care of interface

000372 Е28Е LSR.B ##1,07 # Test bit 2

809374 6588 29AC BCS L$88882022 # Go take care of Serial ports

800378 E28F LSR.B — H81,07 # Test bit 3

98937А 6588 8548 BCS 1398000924 + Go take care of Video

80037E Е2ВЕ | LSR.B — H1,07 # Test bit 4

000380 6429 BCC L$80000342 # |f not bit 4: exit ( Note BCC )

#89382 48Е7 FEFS MOVEM.L D8-D5/A8-M,-(A7) * Take саге of external interrupt

880386 7020 MOVEQ 1306,00 # [nit for subroutine

888388 205 8838 MOVEA.L $@B3B(A6) АВ # Get pointer to List of Int 2 Drivers from Sys_var #0939С (ЕВА 8734 JSR L$8000pAC2 š бо through the list k find the riqht interrupt handler #80398 1E2E 8835 MOVE.B $8835 (АЬ) ,D7 # Get the current value of the Interrupt control Register 0003974 0007 8818 ORI.B #$18,07 + Set Bit 4

#88398 13C7 8881 8821 MOVE.B D7,L$80818821 + Tell the hardware

88039Е АСЕ 1F7F MOVEM.L (A7) *,D8-D5/A8-A4

#88342 6808 8814 BRA 980090388 +

GRA 7000 MOVEQ — t98,D0

ВВВЗАВ BB2F 8805 BBBC Т $$85,f008C(A7) — + Test Bit 5 of SR register on stack

@@B3AE 6688 BNE 300009389 + If Not Supervisor sode: exit

PPPJ ABE 8838 TST.W — f883BlA5) # Check count of poll interrupts sissed

#98384 65588 85A4 BNE 1$8980995А # If non-zero:

PARIPA 4CDF 6888 MOVEM.L (A7)+,D7/AS/A6 — * Retrieve saved registers

8083BC 4Е73 RTE + Return from Exception

š

' 6 BASIC Listing in next Issue

Feature Report

HARDWARE REVIEW: Data-Skip VIDEOFACE

I recently received Data-Skip's VIDEOFACE Interface and Software and was so impressed with this product I wanted the rest of the TIMEX/SINCLAIR world to know of its existance so the following is a short review of this product.

The purpose of the VIDEOFACE is to take a video signal either from a ТУ or VCR equipped with a video out jack and transfer this signal into a digitized format that can be used by the SINCLAIR SPECTRUM (2068) Computer as a screen display. The hardware part of the package consists of a unit a little wider than the old ZX81 КАМРАСК with a SPECTRUM through edge connector, a jack located on the left side (for VIDEO IN signal) a small variable control above the jack and aproximatelu in the center of the unit, two LEDs — one red and one green. The unit is designed to plug into the back of the SPECTRUM computer with the through edge connector allowing uou to connect the SINCLAIR printer or the 2040 printer. I have one of mu TIMEX 2068 Computers connected to the SPECTRUM INTERFACE 1 and MICRODRIVE through one of the "TWISTER" boards that simulates the SPECTRUM bus. The INTERFACE 1 has the standard SPECTRUM bus available at the rear of the unit allowing me to plug the VIDEOFACE directlu into the rear of the INTERFACE 1. The VIDEOFACE requires the standard 1 volt VIDEO signal that is found on all VCRs (the signal from mu TOSHIPA VCR works just great). When the unit is powered up the green LED 15 lit anutime there is а video signal present at the input jack. The one variable control is referred to as the "SLICE" control. This determines the level of the video signal that the electronics either turns on that specific screen pixel or turns it off thus allowing uou to control

the computer generated screen all the way from a totally white screen to an all black screen. The unit is I/O mapped and the red LED only comes on when the unit is been accessed.

The VIDEOFACE is manufactured in HOLLAND and I was concerned whether the unit would work with the NTCS TV sustem so before ordering the unit I wrote Data-Skip and asked if it would work with the NICS TV system. They wrote back saying that it should work and mu experence has proven this to be correct. European TV has a higher resolution than ours and the onlu problem that I have found (not reallu a problem) is that the screen wrappes around. if you use the cursor keus and scan the most right and bottom of the TV image. I was interested in the electronics inside the unit and also wanted to know if the unit could be plugged directly into the 2068. A preliminary inspection shows that the unit uses the following edge connections - DO to D7, RD, IORQ, А7, Аб, Al, ^0, GND and +9v. All of these signals except the +9v are located on the same traces of the SPECTRUM and 2068 buses in reference to the SLOT location. The *9v trace on the SPECTRUM is not used on the 2068 and the VIDEOFACE uses the *9v and a 7805 voltage regulator to power the unit. The SPECTRUM uas prone to overheating problems and I assume the designers of the VIDEOFACE decided to add their oun *5v so as not to overload the SPECTRUM's 5v supplu. The 2068 uses a switching powersupply and can handle a greater load on its +5v supply so a simple modification to the unit may make it 2068 compatable. I have NOT tried modifying the VIDEOFACE but Plan to in the near future and will notify the newsletter as to the outcome.

The software that comes with the unit consists of a short BASIC and machine CODE program. The machine code is the work horse portion of the program controlling the

interface and displaying and storing the digitized video signal in memory. The РАЅІС handles the main introductory screen and all SCREENS saving to Micro-drive,; Cassette or Disk drives. 1% is easlu MERGEd and changed to handle anu Disk drive sustem uou тач have — I had no problems converting the Software to Micro-drive or to my OLIGER disk drives. The software works in SPECTRUM mode only and is VERY GOOD. The VIDEO image is scanned 3 times a second thus a slow moving or still picture is not required and my experence with the unit indicates that a usable image is almost alwaus available from most TV programs. The software stores the last six digitized screens in memory constantly updating them. You can at anu time stop the scanning and reveiu the last 6 stored screens picking out the best one to save or send to the printer or just watch a simple 6 screen animation shou. The speed at which the computer switches from one screen to the next can also be controlled Over a wide range by using the ’F’ and 'S' keus. Since the 2068 has

a screen resolution of 256 * 192 pixels the whole TV screen can not be displayed at one time but bu using the 4 cursor keus (5,6,7 and 8) uou can shift the screen around locating the best view. The unit does not color the picture - the screen rs black INK on white PAPER and the actual SCREENS SAVE is a CODE SAVE of 6144 bytes leaving ` out the Attributes section. This code can be loaded into any ART tupe program and then modified and colored to the user's satifaction. I have noticed that the VIDEOFACE prefers a color video signal and produces a screen picture with more shading than when feed a black and white picture (this produces a veru high contrast picture but can produce some interesting effects.

The unit comes with a veru short, Poorly written manual being translated from Dutch into English and although helpful it is hard to understand in some places. The

software makes up for this and once you load the program within

a few minutes you will be familiar with all the features. I recommend that the source of the video signal be a VCR because it allows you to rewind and view the picture over again ajusting the SLICE control until you have the exact Picture you want. I originally used the direct signal from the ТУ but found that while adjusting the SLICE control I would miss the Picture I wanted to save. By recording the program and then using the VCR this was no longer

a problem. 1 did run into one very big problem though - I got so enthusiastic about saving screens that within the first hour I had filled a 60 minute cassette tape with SCREENS dumps. After using it for a while you learn to be more selective with what you

save.

Having used this product for the last few weeks I know that it was money well spent and I will be using it for a long time to come (not like some of the software 1 have purchased and looked at once). If you have any interest in screen displays either for business or just for fun I highly recommend this product the Possibilities are endless. The Price including AIRMAIL from Holland was $93.90 (US funds) in December but this may have changed because of the constant changing dollar so please check with DATA-SHIP before ordering your VIDEOFACE. Their address is:

DATA-SKIP, LANGE WILLEMSTEEG 12-14 2801 WC GOUDA, HOLLAND.

O

ZX VOICE (<) 1986 w. рістер

FOR STARTELS, WOULD YOU PLEASE DIG OUT YOUR OCTOBER 1986 ISSUE OF ZX-APPEAL AND READ WILF FiGreg's ARTICLE ON Ра 9 ВЫ Tiy eh "Z Vc 2

THANK YOU: Now 1 ONLY HAVE то TALK ABouT HOW TO ASSEMBLE THE HARDWARE. THE SCHEMATIC HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY Ex PANDED IN DETAIL OVER THE ONE PUBLISHED IN OCT '86 , Bor tT IS ESSENTIACCY THE SAME. PLEASE REFER To “NOTES FOR EXPEZIMENTELS” ON THE SCHEMATIC FOR EXPLANATIONS OF DIFFERENCES.

PLEASE REFER TO THE “BILL OF MATERIAL" Fok YouR SHOPPING / INVENTORY LIST. IF YOU ARE BUILDING THE BOARD FOR A TS looo ое 2x 81 ONLY , CROSS ClO, Ctl, ЕС, AND X1 OFF YOUR LIST.

IF You ARE BUILDING FOR ^ 2068, Ceoss OFF J2. ° THE 2068 VERSION WILL моек ON TS/ZX 81 ° KEN ABRAMSON 15 ADAPTING THE SOFTWARE For THE 2268 AND IT МАТ BE IN TIME For THIS ISSUE OF ZX- APPEAL OE THE NEXT

ONE For Sorte.

e YOU CAN NOT USE THIS BOARD ON A SPECTRUM ( PIN 23 Reser ON

ёх $1» 1S - IZVbC ом SPECTRUM )

KEN ABRAMSON ALSO ADVISES THAT IN AREAS NEAR STROWG RADIO TEANS-

MITTE 5 , SPEAKER LEADS CAN АСТ AS АН ANTENNA ¿ You END UP бетеше TO THE STATION AS weu AS Z voice ! THE FIX FOR THAT IS AN RE BY-

PASS CAPACITOIZ Оо yF Acgoss U2 INPUT PIN 3 TO GROUND. I Guess YOu HAVE ACC YOo€ PARTS BY NOW, AND YoU ARE REAPY TO POPULATE THE BOARD. IF Yoo Use AN EARPHONE JACEE COP TIONAL ) You мисс

HAVE TO ENLARGE THE EXISTING HOLE ro THE cokrecr Sl2€ To Fir Your

PAZTICULKLe TACK. YOU COULD Atso socpeQ IN YOUR $РЕАКЕХ. LEADS

DIRECTLY INTO THE BOARD AND Бок бет ABOUT ANI EFAEPHONE Тас.

(f YOU ARE BUILDING THE 2068 VERSION , PLEASE READ THE “NOTES OM

INSTALLATION OF RG" ON THE COMPONENT LAYOUT DRAWING срок

Con TIPO (DG °

ALSO, THIS IS А Good TIME TO DECIDE WHETHEE you WISH To IN $ ТАСС. THE OPTIONAL AUDIO AMP BYPASS FOR EXTEZNAL AUDIO AMP ConNEcnon AND OPEZATION — PLEASE REFER То THE SCHEMATIC.

WARNING $ THE wire WRAP PID EDGE Е уы IN S €@ TED

SOLDERING (RON TIP

INTO THE Родер FROM THE SOLDER SIDE! "у

BE САбЕЕРОЕ TO AVOID SOLPER BRIDGES VA. моем BETWEEN THE PINS - You CAM T GET "IM THEE” то Ех THEM! < MALE connector SoL рег. THE MALE CONNECTOR BETWEEN THE PINS, Ниша OBSExVED THE CORRECT KEY SLOT POSITION. ONE WAT OF DOING IT IS TO ALIGN THE MACE CONNECTOR WITH AND THEN SOLDEX IT To THE outer PNS ON BOTH ENDs FIRST, AUD THEN ALL THE OTHERS.

MOUNTING THE THUMB WHEEL VOLUME CONTÉOL AS SHOWN ow THE COMPONENT CAYOOT HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF BEING ARLE TO TORN IF EASILY WITH Owes FIMGEES WHILST тетә о TO AVOID WA BBEU IG THE RAM РА СІС. ~ E A ЕВ: سے‎ EXD Va" Lowe 2 Bear

C | Down So» THUMB WHEEL (оў T +

p t ^ VOLUME CONTEOL л e делк НА ТУР ENLARGED 7 U 4 LASS PIN DETAIL Vlog: sk?

ATTACH BARE 22 GA WIRE (Socio) LEADS TO VOLUME сортеос AS SHOWN . СЕРЕС TO COMPOWENT LAYOUT Foe INSTALLATION DETAIL. AFTER SOLDERING COMPONENTS INTO PLACE, сот ACC PROTU PING LEADS AS FLUSH AS YOUR {С SOCKET PINS (ое Ic PINS IF You SKIPPED THE sockers). CHECK EVERY THING VERY CAREFULLY : WATCH FoR socpex- BRIDGES AND “OPENS” IN THE TRACES. - О.К. "Риос IT INTO Your MACHINE AND WATCH Foe THE ҮЛ Соё5зок TO APPEAR. IF IT DOES NOT WITHIN THE USoAC TIME, Нот HER Down” AUD TROUBLE -StooT THE BokfD- INSTALL YOUR SOFTWARE AS PEC THE OCT ‘дс ARTICLE AMD

HAFP Y ZX VOICINIG TO TEG

MAK 7, GELD BEEING

ооо a o @ @ аа Q о 2 е

COMPONENT LAYOUT لط‎

FOR TS/ ZX 8]

LU е Ф e Ф e ° e e. e ° &

@ w. RIGTCR

SOLDER sipe

This printed Circuit board layout is reproduced here so You Can more easy ly cheek Your work for solde bridges. It vos not beosed (w re- Production . Club M Em bers Cán purchase boards Lev $10.2 each from the club, already evil ect. amA ready to popeleat е. Мои - mMemlbes please contact club

fv re ске to Mv. wW. Rigter.

- MALE | CONNECTOR Clo! ci. г : сэс "M (FEMALE ES э о» о ө ө o CONNECTOR Б ON SOLDER d | SIDE ) мин сата cit} 26 [= 6—4. ba сз "a ‘| | [° coe Di" Ж ; & /

ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS FOR 2068

NOTES ON INSTALLATION OF рс SRN INSTALLATION OF KG

THEZE AZE Ho SOLDER PADS PROVIDED ON THE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD Fore RG. CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THEEE INSTALLATION INSTEUCTIONS:

EITHEZ (А) реше HOLES MARKED ©. INSTALL 2 с FI£ST, THEN C G AND LAST р.

о е. JUST SOLDER РФ TO LEG C or Qi AND LEG OF CG NEAR ТЕ.

ое (€) INSTALL RG ON THE SOLDER SIDE ON PADS OF Qi AND CG

BILL OF MATERIAL

CEH E2 CAPACITOR, CERA - O22, F (2. s) 272-/oe€ £. 99% съ " j SLECTROCT rie Padi dne n

C 4 , | TANTALUM 10. CU (403.97

CS | s , £Cecrzocr»o. 220, FC V (2299.25

C G, C? Ce # ,C€€*Anic Ol AF Acrive Ў /.€ 5 G

C ° н ‚ EERTE loop FGU (24е)#./г2 СТОУС " (Cc 22 pF -2o68 Омет aeri vd f сэл JI JUMPER 22 GA Soup, INSULATED , ТУР

je ^ - 75/24 8/ ONLY

Q1 TRANSISTOR ZN 3904 (24€) + .76C

R | RESISTOR , CARB. Fien, Maw loka

R2,23 " а * T 5345

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1 SPEECH SYNTHESIZER SP 0-ZSG-AL2 (Active) $ (2.49 а AUDIO AMPLIFIER - (24ьго SHACK # 276-1731) $2.19 5 /oF8 Decopec 74HC/33 (ACTIVE #16170) 4 1-09 R1 VARIABLE RESISTOR THUMB weet. (CAE st PTIS NG -/o«) #. 7 X1 CETTE 3.12 Миа oe 3.2268 MHz o£ JA429Ff«t- миг - 2068 ONLY = Acnve J 2.69% of. Acrive y 459 MALE CONNECTOR ~ AVALABLE Flom CLUB For Я 2.°2Е де Ц FEMALE connu Есгое. - (RAE # € 5c - so -De мн] f 6.59 So Postion, Р i еселе), АР е wra eye Counetlor — cut to malke 2 FEMALE сокюєсгое х © Z3 розы ceh - Save oue YOUS ta LaF roj ect, Г.С. SOCKETS Абє огегглоолс AND LECOHMMENDED SE стеле AND RECOMMENDED _

3 ке \ + CS | i. Do 220A F | | £ ве Di l GE f. Sade e deni Мар» эзер me © A Û sas aa IR -.10дЕ GVTAWALUM. sd mm. Do" |. [ov 3 n UT E tod | ie d + : г. $ EXT. = E | . ; Low PASS Рите. (Digital h: : | c4 : U 8c D05 15 UL NE Ы нн ncs . .. Analogue ‚Сопуяуз.) dosis CO c ; Lege qua I T Jue > poe es | —— Кылуу ia SADR AUDIO cL rss x d chock ҖЕ 223 dei 4-329 2 ia ен Ei. L pol E AMPLIFIER | | а: QU Ф т2 “ 27 ЦИ РФ р O i ы C] ЮЗ . c2 СА... | ! (3: M . C10 ا ا‎ ы ا‎ ! КЕ ИЕ Ed mee $2 in Wott Sab PR Be, ЖЕР Массе БОК na | % ` 22pf E3 3. | on or da i - oo i a | LOOF j tes sep = ae | | | co | PM t oy PEE ен dM АР . Q 21€ [25 ЖОООК РЕ. O C AM SSO [^ IOR< К+ "P. sn il hor 1 NOTE ses | | t ‚ 2K2 Rena. У T2 for Ts 72x51. ONLY: | | c8 . . RG کے و ای ا‎ l ЖЕ l ' Í mo PE CEER C10, C11, X 1, RG for Е | 2 ү! & рӯ, НИЕ | 2068 ONLY ar “| | | 1 va , — оз : REE à a А М . 4 4 4 4 < Ln i . , | ! Я ! . i ; ones : : = Voc Ql ; | * THEKE ACE NO PADS FOE RG , | | . OPTIONAL AUDIO AMP BYPASS Ae 0 V 243904 (2068 ONLY) ON, YOOC PEB- _ ‚ FOL EXTERNAL AMP CONNECTION yp | “kuy yz Зов а Q SEE COMPONENT. LAYOUT . . — ea Е ae ERTED E D 40 Ж FOC LOCATION, AND ASSEMBLY. o o 0o VU QU | | Ds sv] NOTES. в} Ps о = — = THESE LINES ARE NOT ON YOUE PEB — à m | ALL Resistors see Yaw 6% | 0 220524 Prin as | m | - | 2105-45 in g г ЭК. | x | | 7 | он | | Q lec RD | | | ; | CN 22c 4 ela | ЖЕ ©) 98c W. RIGTER

сю! DECODER

74 HC138

AMPLIFIER . THE FOLLOWING COMPONENT VALUES PRODUCED ЕХСЕЦЕМТ | RESULTS FOE HIM: P 3- ISK, C1,C2 "O24 fF есь, CF ЛЫР, eq | at CÓ -ражтер, C9- DIOUF , S - 62042. For BEGINNERS /r f |

RECOMMENDED ТО LEAVE THE Е/стек AS SHOWN, RS SETS UP THE | GAIN (Ох ro Кг) PLAY wit C 7 AUD CS Foe "BEST? TONIE, | |

ETHAEE HOSEH ПГТ This means that uru Can RELIABLY use the SIMPLE HOLEN UPGRADE computer 9U power iupplu and get rid o£ hat extra 3U modem power pack, «ust uze

t Eu Ken Abramson a stiff wire to fish an extra mire under Here żre two fimple 2050 modem the Shielded coverina o£ the modem ribbon modifications you might wish to concider Cable, and connect this new wire to the if you know which end of a soldering iron 49! contact on the modem edge connector

(ее TE1G@G@ user manual Р. 124 or 221

to hold. pannal P, 167 for pinout diagram of вазе

The first circuit is а simple LEG light. connector). You can even desolder the emitting diode) “LINE FREE" indicator: Modem 9V power supply jack and use it for which lights up when nobody is using the other projects, if чон With.

te} epho ne li ne, If the line 1$ in use 2 the LED Will remain dark and you must wait until the “LINE FREE light comes on

kefore uou do your auto-dialing. This of. Your new GU line thoule connect to the hand little LED eliminates interrupting POSITIVE trace connection Of the 9U power fomebodu's telephone conversation to find Jack.

out whether they are finished talking or not. It also allows wou to watch the dialing process (the LED pulses on and

off), GV POWER SOCKET GROUND єк то 47K (DEPENDS, P 6 12 РНОМЕ LINE TRACE ~ COMMON PHONE JACK

1с the LED does not light up, just reverse its leads.

The second circuit 1: а simple voltage

regulator that isolate: the computer Qu " supplu from any tray modem signals that The FeL@sAWe mounts оп the Component mau find their way back into the 9U RAM side of the modem berd through three suppld circuit. It also regulates the gU holes drilled through the traces zhonm, supply to the L41458 modem amplifier chip, First, Cut the trace that goes from the thu: ivi increased stability to its 49! connection to L1 and C18 = (modem output levels, schematic diagram!, Scrape the remainind trace stubs vell before soldering, because

| they have been coated With an insulatinad

coating. If you dont have the #66 kit,

MODE М 7{1.74 АС you needn't drill the Ро1Е=. Just mount TOP VIEW the 78LG23AUC directly on the trace side of

EDGE CONNECTOR 44V REG, the board AI cabinet clearance! PIN 2, UNDERSIDE Fav and solder it directly to the surface of

the traces.

(COMMON TO GROUND) 1 3

МЕНВЕН PROFILE.

By Rusty Townsend.

On a personal note, I'm maffied and iive in Richmond, both quite happily nou for many years. Му other spare-time interests inctude photography, Star-gazing, and travel, ail or Which go together quite weil.

From formal and other education, I hoid the . classification of Applied Science Technologist (Civil). Except for one 12-year stint with a major civil engineering company, I've spent most or ing working years in the construction industry, and am currently employed here in Richmond by Progressive Construction Ltd. as a manager.

By comparison, most of my electrical and electronic experience has been gained from trying to keep our Christmas tree Lights working, and that was before I found out that you could buy light strings that all didn't go out just because one bulb had burnt out.

I bought my first computer, a 151808, in 1352 With the thought that it would be a Learning experience towards my eventual purchase of a bigger and better machine. Uith the addition of a 16K HemoPac and Hemocalc, I шас soon апа Stiil am amazed With the capabilities of that So-called “disposable computer". I did join the TS User’s Group for a short white, but dropped out because most of the other members were more technically oriented than I, and tended to speak a language I didn*t understand.

In 1984, my work-load ` Shifted almost exclusively into estimating, budgetting, and cost control and analysis. Progressive was not computerized at that time, from mu experience With my TS1@Ə@ set-up i recognized the benefits that would come from a better key-boafrd, a more extensive spread-sheet, and a big printer. So I sold my T518989 and other hardware, sprung for an H#PP Le II+ {compatible of course), monitor, double disk drives, Hagicalc, and a Roland 1111 printer, all of Which Made My work much easier.

project

but

and

م

JI Joe J.'s piece will be in the next Issue due to space limitations.

By 1355 my work-load had Shifted away from paper шо г Е and back into project Management, and Progressive had computerized much of their accounting procedures (IBHM-oriented naturally). 205 even though my Apple system uas not getting as much use, I usas considering switching to an IBN system, and when а good opportunity came up I sotd the entire Apple System retaining onty the Roland printer.

White I uas still trying to decide which IBM compatibie to buy, І picked UP an unused and virtuallu-neu 151596 ati а Local flea martet. This Was soon hooked up to my Smali TU and cassette piager, and I was enjoying the use oí the Programs that I had written and SAVEd back in 1982/83.

Мачье it was fate, but a feu weeks Later I picked ир ап even newer-Llooting 152868 аі that same flea market!

Uith this prize acquisition and with my interest in an IBM system now waning, I "walked my fingers through the че (ош pages" looking for a source of software and other support for both computers without any success. Then I remembered and dug out а Т5 Users Group membership list from 1983. After several phone calls, being referred from one person to another, I was soon talking to Rod Humphrys who invited me to come to the clUb meeting on the following evening. (Fate again, eh7?)

I soon found there was Still much interest and support for att the TS machines. At that point my interest in an IBM system pretty well died, and the next day I bought a Zenith monitor so I could have both computers running at the Same time.

Since then I have acquired numerous supplier’s catatogs, a Spectrum emulator, ап 05-64 cartridge, several programs on tape or cartridge, some other instructionat books, and Obviously a Т1Т5=848 printer. I have put off ordering some Other goodies, such as a Centronics interface to connect this 152868 to my idle Roland Printer, as I am one of those who have a OBL kit on order, and Want to get it assembled and running, and then maybe hook it UP instead to the Roland Printer.

I’tt give you an Up-date uhen all of that has happened.

2181 DIRECT VIDEO OUTPUT

by Tim Stoddard

Perhaps one of the best additions to your TS/ZX is the direct monitor output. I’ve seen many appear from very complex to very simple. This one is very simple, but very, very effective. Gne transistor (2N3904) and resistor (75 ohms) buffers the composite video signal going to the RF converter. You can substitwe a more common 82 ohm resistor and any good switching transistor for tke ones 1 used. The diagram below shows the connections required to the back of the PCB. A short piece of coax cable with the proper connector (usually an RCA connector) takes the signal out to the monitor. This modification has NO AFFECT on either the normal RF

output or the TAPE output.

KKKKKKKKKKEKKKEKKKEKKKKKKKKKEKKKKEKKKKEKKKKEKEKKES:

MORE VALUE FOR YOUR BYTES ВУ U. LEE

CAN THE 2X BASIC PERFORM MAGIC? THIS WELL KNOWN TRICK 15 USED TO TURN THESE. THREE LINES...

10 IF С=1 THEN GOTO 100 20 IF С=2 THEN GOTO 200 30 IF С=З THEN GOTO 300

.. INTO ONE LINE. 10 GOTO C*100

BUT WHAT IF WE HAD THIS SITUATION;

10 IF С-1 THEN GOTO 200 20 IF Cee THEN GOTO БОО 30 IF С=З THEN GOTO 100

IT'S STILL POSSIBLE TO SQUEEZE EVERYTHING INTO ONE LINE BY USING THE VAL FUNCTION.

10 GOTO VAL "200600100" ССЗ D ID СЕЗ)

ALONG WITH IHE "IO" COMMAND IT REPLACES THE READ, DATA, RESTORE COMMAND FOUND IN OTHER COMPUTER BASICS.

BO LET A= VAL. "0918505" CC*c-1 ТО С*2>

SWITCH IT AROUND,

10 FOR C= 1 ID 3

20 PRINT URL "198019821987" сСеҷ-з IO Des)

30 NEXT C

OR PUT IT PRINT

STATEMENT.

INSIDE A

120 PRINT AT.VAL "120812"(C*2-1 IO C*2),UAL "121518" (C*2-1 IO C*2);"*"

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Е S O1

+ x x BAK sing MAW PCB + *

KEKKKKKKEKKKKKKEKKKKKKKKKKEKEE

HELP! aaa: HELP!

p -2

I’m looking for а better spread-sheet than either ОННТСЯЁЕС 2 ог VU-CALC to use on my 15268658. =

In Particular, I’d like Variable column Widths to i8 Characters ofr more, ог at least columns fixed at 10 characters wide, 50 it would handle negative numbers to 8 Significant digits With some Separation between columns.

Of next importance woutd be the ability to display 64 or more characters per Line оп a monitor screen, either on its oun of by compatibility with ап 05-64 cartridge.

I tike the freedom in VU-CALC to control the depth оғ column tittes and the Length of row titles, but on a large SPfe&ad-sheet ORNICALC’s titties that scrott with the SPréead-sheet are certainly helpful even if they must be too short to be very descriptive.

The grid size should be at least 58 by 58 as with VU-CALC, Of а Specifiabte section of a larger one as With GHHICHLC"'5 93 by 252 grid in order to cut doun on caiculating time.

If you tnow of some Spread-sheet that comes close to the above description, please give me a call.

RUSTY TOUNSEND.....277-8156

ав BY RICH TENNANT

| IN ESSENCE , WE CAN MOVE ) DATA ACROSS сте C

TOWN OR ACROSS OC tan GOT А TOTALLY E IREN S TIPLEXCR. ADAPTIVE DATA PULSE COLE MOXUATEN VOICE CARDS.

7 12,57]

“Z

VIUS

THE VANCOUVER SINCLAIR USERS GROUP HAS

BEEN IN EXISTENCE SINCE 1982. WE ARE A

SUPPORT GROUP FOR THE OWNERS AND USERS

OF THE: MICROACE, ZX80, ZX81, TS 1000,

TS 1500, SPECTRUM, SPECTRUM *, TS 2068, AND QL COMPUTERS.

PRES.--KEN ABRAMSON V/PRES.-- ? TREAS. & EDITOR--ROD HUMPHREYS

OUR MEMBERSHIP DUES ARE_ONLY $15.00/YEAR AND MAY BE SENT TO THE TREASURER,

ROD HUMPHREYS 2006 HIGHVIEW PLACE PORT Moody, B.C.. V3H 1№5

MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES A SUBSCRIPTION TO ZXAPPEAL - OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER. ZXAPPEAL ACCEPTS ADVERTISING, OUR **PREPAID** RATES АВЕ:

$20.00 -- FULL PAGE $12.00 -- 1/2 PAGE $8.00 -- 1/4 PAGE

ZXAPPEAL HAS A PRINT RUN OF 75 COPIES PER MONTH FOR MEMBERS AND IS ALSO DISTRIBUTED TO APPROX ЧО OTHER SINCLAIR USER GROUPS THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA AS WELL AS OVERSEAS VIA THE NETWORK.