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Table of contents: |
| COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE Issue #28 | Home | Index | Magazine | ||||||
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| Articles in section: ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE |
| "ABOUT
CFDM" ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE |
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"ABOUT CFDM" COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE is dedicated to those who still enjoy running under RS DOS. It will deal with that format exclusively. A primary goal is to keep the COCO community strong. By providing a unique means of communication, maybe old fires will be rekindled as you and I share our knowledge and experiences! The success of this effort depends on each one who becomes a subscriber. Everyone must contribute his/ her two cents in the form of articles, programs, opinions, experiences, etc. If this happens we will all look forward to the next issue. (Check out the manual with your starter kit for details on how to submit material.) Now let's have some fun!!! =* |
ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE is the creation and property of Rick Cooper. It is distributed solely by RICK'S COMPUTER ENTERPRISE. The material which makes up each issue remains the property of the author(s) or contributor(s) unless an agreement has been made otherwise. COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE is dedicated exclusively to those who enjoy the COCO3 operating under RS DOS. It is hoped that this publication will encourage the continued usage of our favorite computer. Neither CFDM nor RICK'S COMPUTER ENTERPRISE will be responsible for the submission or publication of any material that does not belong to the submitter. WE DO NOT ADVOCATE OR SUPPORT PIRACY! =* |
| Articles in section: ABOUT THIS ISSUE |
| CONTENTS...PART
1 (i28) CONTENTS...PART II (i28) PROGRAM DIRECTORY <i 28> THIS MONTH'S COVER |
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ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE (2) 1 "ABOUT CFDM" 2 ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE ABOUT THIS ISSUE (4) 1 CONTENTS...PART 1 (i28) 2 CONTENTS...PART 2 (i28) 3 PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i28) 4 THIS MONTH'S COVER ACTIVE COCO (3) 1 More Info on Op PATCH 2 PHONE FEST II..ANOTHER SUCCESS! 3 Serial-to-Parallel Converters ADVERTISEMENTS (7) => ____________________________________________________ 1 3RD ANNUAL "LAST" COCOFEST 2 CFDM SUBSCRIPTION 3 For Sale - CFDM Patches 4 GET YOUR HARDCOPY NOW! 5 THE COCO II EMULATOR FOR THE PC 6 THE COCO TRADER 7 The "UPGRADE" Disk Magazine ARTICLES OF THE MONTH (2) 1 6809 ASSEMBLY PROGRAMMING PT5 2 ARTS & CRAFTS COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY (7) 1 BY A WATERFALL 2 CALIFORNIA GULL - Ray Berney <g> 3 Entry for Dragon Thaw => ____________________________________________________ 4 FUNNIES FROM HAROLD MOENICH <g> 5 No Thaw 6 OWLS 7 SMOKEY THE DRAGON FAMILY TREE (4) 1 A CFDM Family Tree Entry?? 2 JOHN LOMBARDO 3 Spencer Family Tree 4 VINCENT CARDILLO JR. FORUM (4) 1 #?!(#% in CFDM by McNeil <g> 2 FAVORITE/MOST POPULAR SOFTWARE 3 My Most Used Software 4 THE NEXT COCO..WHAT COULD BE! =* |
FROM THE EDITOR (4)
1 FROM RICK
2 IS IT MARCH & APRIL?..YES!
3 MY OLD KENTUCKY COCO (KUDOS <g>)
4 Thanks Friends!
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (6)
1 "ONE MOMENT PLEASE"
2 An order for H. Allen Curtis
3 CFDM is better all the time!
4 FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
5 Letters to the Editor
6 Love You HARDCOPY
POTPOURRI (3)
1 How To Cold Start a COCO 3... =>
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2 Stars And Stripes Forever
3 WISH LIST
PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH (6)
1 DRAWPOKR RGB/CMP Conversion
2 DSJACKET
3 LETTER FORM III (A Project)
4 SQUASH TECHNICAL
5 SQUASH pix compression
6 Wide Screen Disk Menu (M.BAS)
REVIEWS (4)
1 BATTERY BACKUP SYSTEM
2 THE COCO II EMULATOR
3 THE COCO II EMULATOR PART II
4 War Monger =>
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (9)
1 A COCOMAX 3 DRIVER FOR NX-2420
2 A Question and an Invitation
3 GREAT RESPONSES!!!
4 HELP WITH TELEWRITER 64 FILES
5 Misc. Qs & an A
6 Reply: To Auto Key Repeat...
7 Reply: To MULTI-PAK Up-Grade...
8 Submission Entries
9 TO LOGAN BLECKLEY
=*
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Here's a description of the files on the PROGRAM/
SIDE. File names preceded by an asterisk are data
files and not to be RUN or EXECed!
NAME.........COMMAND..SECTION OR DESCRIPTION......
ASSEM5 .BAS..RUN...ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
* ASSEM5 .TXT........DATA FILE FOR ASSEM5.BAS
* CLOWN .NIB........ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
* CNFSDRGN.NIB........ART GALLERY
* DISKMENU.TXT........DOC FILE FOR M.BAS
DRAWPOKR.CMP..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* DSJACKET.CM3........PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* ELVIS .SQS........SAMPLE SQUASH FILE
* L$MAKER .BIN........DATA FILE FOR LF3.BAS
LF3 .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* LF3 MAIN.BAS........LOADED BY LF3.BAS =>
____________________________________________________
M .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* NIBLOADR.BIN........PIX LOADER UTILITY
NIBSHOW .BAS..RUN...NIB PICTURE VIEWER
* NOTHAW .NIB........ART GALLERY
* OWLS .NIB........ART GALLERY
* SMOKEY .NIB........ART GALLERY
SQSMAKER.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* SQSMAKER.BIN........DATA FILE FOR SQSMAKER.BAS
SQSREADR.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* SQSREADR.BIN........DATA FILE FOR SQSREADR.BAS
STARS .BAS..RUN...POTPOURRI (MUSIC)
* STARS .BIN........DATA FILE FOR STARS.BAS
* WATRFALL.NIB........ART GALLERY
=*
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Spring in the Grand Tetons Spring is a beautiful time of year and what
better place to see this season of spring than
in the Grand Teton National Park area of Wyoming.
This picture is painted from the Grand Teton
Mountains of Wyoming. This is a new state for
which the picture is taken from this month. It
was particularly hard to draw and paint and took
several hours to do, but with enough patience, I
finally achieved what I wanted to. This was a big
challenge and it's off to more challenging
pictures in the months ahead. See you next time.
..... Jim Gibbons
=*
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| Articles in section: ACTIVE COCO |
| More
Info on Op PATCH PHONE FEST II..ANOTHER SUCCESS! Serial-to-Parallel Converters |
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More Info on Op PATCH After a 2 hour talk on the phone with Dann McConnell
and a 20 minute talk with Rick, I've decided to make
available patches for sale; but ONLY after the
contest is over AND if I have any patches left over.
I have 1 prototype patch which I contacted the
supplier with the necessary corrections and have
ordered 70 for the contest. I hope to get many
correct responses. If I don't, I'll probably find
out who the REAL talented or dedicated Friends are!
So Enter! It only costs you 29 cents to enter!
=>
____________________________________________________
Which is better than the price of a patch AFTER the
contest!
Since the calculated weight of the patch, envelope,
stamp, return label and ink total too close to 1 oz.
all winners from Canada requires 63 cents postage;
all winners from U.S.A. requires 52 cents postage;
all winners from overseas requires $1.34 postage.
So, the cost of each patch AFTER the contest, not
before, not during, but after the contest is $7.00.
This DOES NOT mean a big profit for me. I've given
it a lot of thought on how much to charge. Of course
this will only happen if I have any patches left. I
may have to order more, who knows?? =*
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PHONE FEST II..ANOTHER SUCCESS! On Saturday, April 2nd, Phone Fest II occurred. I
must admit that we didn't get the 20% participation
that we aimed for, but we did have about 25 callers!
And that was enough to deem it another successfull
event!
The auction was exciting with bids coming in hot and
heavy the last few minutes. Bernard Churnetski took
the OS9 package (Package #1) for $32. Laura Boyce
got the CoCo MAX package (Pk. #2) for $35 and Joe
Henderson outbid his competition for Package #3 by
only 50 cents.
The two most popular auction packages were #4 and
#5. The Disk Edtasm package went to William Astle of
Canada for $66. The library of CoCo books was =>
____________________________________________________
won by Arnold Garlic for $60. Thanks to all the
bidders! You made this an exciting event and I hope
you'll get hours of enjoyment from the items in your
packages.
We advertised only one doorprize but thanks to Jim
Sternett (CoCo Trader) and Terry Simons (MI&CC) we
ended up with three prizes. Terry donated a nice
looking mouse and Laura Boyce won it. Jim Sternett
found he had two copies of UNBELIEVABLE OFFER #2, so
he donated one for a doorprize. Dan Maguire was the
lucky winner. Thanks Jim and Terry for your support!
Our grand doorprize turned out to be grander than I
had planned on. We advertised a NX Star-1040 Color
Printer. Nancy Lowery was the winner. That =>
____________________________________________________
turned out to be an even better prize! When I made
the call to order the printer, I was informed that
it had been discontinued. So...the most similar
printer still in production was the STAR NX-2450.
This printer is a 24-pin printer and I believe Nancy
will be more than pleased with it!
Congratulations and thanks to all who made this a
successful event. I believe you'll find that all
who have participated in the two Phone Fests, will
say, "It was certainly worthwhile!"
Let's plan on Phone Fest III in July or August!
=*
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Serial-to-Parallel Converters January 31, 1994 In the February 1994 "COMPUTER SHOPPER", I found several S-P converters, most very reasonably priced. **************************************************** ComputerGear 1-800-234-3434 P.O.Box 7403 1-913-722-5150 ph. Shawnee Mission, KS 66207 1-913-722-6738 fax One Way Serial to Parallel Converter $45.00 **************************************************** Logical Connection 1-800-238-9415 4660 Portland Road NE #108 Salem, OR 97305-1658 SPPS $49.00 => ____________________________________________________ **************************************************** Oscar International 1-909-595-0339 20120 Paseo Del Prado #C Walnut, CA 91789 2 Way Parallel/Serial Universal Converter $49.00 **************************************************** Technologic Systems 1-513-644-2230 204 East Fourth Street P.O.Box 721 Marysville, OH 43040 Serial to Parallel 512k Single User Buffer $119.95 **************************************************** All these S-P converters do not have cables. You must make or get your own. =* |
3RD ANNUAL "LAST"
COCOFEST ******************* NEWS RELEASE *******************
Here are the 5 "W's"
WHO? 1) The Glenside Color Computer Club of
Illinois presents
WHAT? 2) The Third Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST!
WHEN? 3) May 21st & 22nd, 1994
WHERE? 4) HOLIDAY INN ELGIN (A Holidome Indoor
345 W. River Road Recreation Center)
Elgin, Illinois (A city block from I-90
& IL-31S)
(Same great location as last year!)
Overnight room rate: $52 (plus 10% tax)
Call 1-708-695-5000 for reservations. =>
____________________________________________________
Be sure to ask for the "Glenside" or
CoCoFEST!" rate.
> YOU MUST REGISTER UNDER COCOFEST TO GET THIS RATE<
WHY? 5) A. To provide vendor support to the CoCo
Community
B. To provide Community support to the
CoCo Vendors
C. To provide educational support to new
users
D. TO HAVE AN OUTRAGEOUSLY GOOD TIME!!!!
HOW MUCH? 1) Admission: 15$ at the door
2-day pass only; sorry no 1-day passes =>
____________________________________________________
Advance ticket sales: $10 + SASE or
$10 + $.50 p/h
Contact: George Schneeweiss, Treasurer
Glenside Color Computer Club
RR#2 Box 67
Forrest, IL 61741-9629
For general or exhibitor information, contact:
-Tony Podraza - Fest Chairman - 708-428-3576 (Voice)
or 708-428-0436 (BBS) or DELPHI - TONYPODRAZA
-Carl Boll, VP, GCCCI - 312-735-6087 (Voice) or 312-
735-3355 (BBS) or DELPHI - CBJ
-Brian Schubring, President, GCCCI - 708-529-3539
(Voice) or DELPHI - THESCHU
=*
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CFDM SUBSCRIPTION Is your subscription running out? Here's how to check: On your mailing label next to your name is a number. The number after the last dash (-) is the last issue on your present subscription. Please don't let your subscription expire. WHEN YOU RESUBSCRIBE PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR ENTIRE SUBSCRIPTION NUMBER. THIS HELPS ME LOCATE YOU IN MY DATABASE! A single issue of CFDM is $6. Or get 3 issues for only $16. A 6 issue subscription is only $30 (a savings of 6$). Back issues are available at the same rates. COCOs FOREVER!! =* |
For Sale - CFDM Patches On May 1, 1994, the Operation: PATCH contest ended.
The remaining patches are for sale. The cost for
each one is $7.00. I pay for all postage. Since the
banks charge a fee for out-of-state checks, please
use only a domestic or international postal money
order. I'm writing this on a date earlier than
May 1, so I don't have a remaining number of patches
to quote. So, this offer will end without notice and
without warning. All orders not filled WILL be fully
refunded!
Address: Raymond Berney
(If you phone, Star Route 68 Box 880
call between Okanogan, WA 98840
7:30 & 9:30 P.M. 509-826-1435
Pacific time) =*
|
GET YOUR HARDCOPY NOW! As advertised via flyer last month, it will soon be
time to renew your CFDM HARDCOPY subscription. With
issue #30 a new subscription year begins. (And if
you missed out on the first year you can get all 12
issues in July for $25 (out-of-country Friends are
asked to add $4 s/h)).
The cost of HARDCOPY is only $30 for 12 issues (out-
of-country Friends please add $6). All second year
subscriptions will run from issue #30 to #41.
The editor for HARDCOPY is Arthur Hallock. He's done
a magnificent job of improving on each issue. Art
has agreed to do HARDCOPY "for as long as he can".
Thanks Arthur for your commitment to a great product
and companion for CFDM!! =>
____________________________________________________
If you've wanted to subscribe but just "never got
around to it", let me encourage you to do so. I've
explained to Arthur that I'm actually losing money
on HARDCOPY, but I'm so high on it that I'm willing
to take the loss (at least for now)!
So get on board....get your subscription to CFDM on
paper...that's CFDM HARDCOPY!!
=*
|
THE COCO II EMULATOR FOR THE PC I encourage all CFDM Friends to support this product
whether thru purchasing the emulator or by sending
your words of encouragement to the author. Your
support in either or both could be most vital to the
continuing livelihood of our beloved CoCo!
If you would like a copy of the CoCo II Emulator by
Jeff Vavasour, send $5 to:
RICK'S COMPUTER ENTERPRISE
P.O. Box 276
Liberty, KY. 42539
PLEASE TELL ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS WHO OWN PC'S ABOUT
--------------------------------------------------
THIS PRODUCT!!
---------------- =>
____________________________________________________
If you do not have access to a PC, you can still
show your support by writing words of encouragement
to the author of the CoCo II Emulator. Here's his
address:
Jeff Vavasour
c/o Department of Physics
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada V6T 1Z1
The price of a postcard is a small investment for
the potential payoff. DON'T HESITATE...DO IT NOW!
On the next page is a sample postcard that could be
very helpful in making a CoCo III Emulator a reality
for us. =>
____________________________________________________
Dear Jeff,
I've read of your CoCo II Emulator in COCO FRIEND'S
DISK MAGAZINE. I believe a CoCo III Emulator would
be widely received and I want to encourage you to
make this project a reality. Thousands of CoCoists
were very disappointed when TANDY discontinued this
"last true home computer". Many of us are still
actively using our CoCo IIIs and are supporting a
number of organizations and publications which have
kept the spirit alive.
Please send me information of any further develop-
ments. Good luck in your work on the CoCo III
emulator.
=*
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THE COCO TRADER The COCO TRADER is a newsletter for buyers, sellers,
and traders of any COLOR COMPUTER related items. For
$2.50 you can list any items you have for sale or
trade, and any items that you may be looking for.
You may use up to 1/8 of a page per listing. It is
$2.00 more for each additional 1/8 of a page. Please
include your name, address, and phone number (which
will not be listed unless you ask for it to be).
Since TANDY has dropped the COLOR COMPUTER and since
the demise of The RAINBOW, it is hard to find a lot
of the items that you may be looking for...so the
COCO TRADER will be a place to find them.
The COCO TRADER is a bi-monthly. The subscription
rate is $6 for one year. =>
____________________________________________________
Let us list your CoCo items that you no longer have
use for and in so doing maybe get some different
ones back.
Send ads and/or subscriptions to:
James Sternett
2861 Easy Street
Sevierville, TN 37862
For more information PLEASE call:
615 428-1220
(after 5:00 pm)
=*
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The "UPGRADE" Disk
Magazine Looking for good Coco Support?
Look to the:
"UPGRADE" Disk Magazine!
From: "Mid Iowa & Country CoCo"
Now in it's eighth year!
Three as a national Disk magazine.
With the UPGRADE National Disk magazine, we've
grown to be one of the largest CoCo outreaches! I
can say that firmly by the response from over 200
members in over 40 states and 5 provinces of Canada;
with others in Australia & England, we expect to be
around for a long, long time.
The "UPGRADE" Disk Magazine: =>
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- Does not support OSK or computers not compatible
to CoCo. That we leave to those more qualified.
- Not hard copy, but can be dumped to your printer.
- Displays first rate 16 color H2 graphics, with
articles.
- Does keep you informed with news from around the
country. Including ads and recommendations of
better dealers.
- Does have OS-9 articles concerning the CoCo. We've
just started an excellent level II tutorial series
- Does have Basic program technique articles and
tutorials.
- Does carry a full variety of indepth articles and
reviews.
- Recently added "Marty's Memos" column by Marty
Goodman! =>
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- We carry tips on where to buy CoCo hardware.
- Software is available thru our library. ($3/disk.)
Join the largest CoCo reach out. Join those who
write "Here's my renewal, I don't want to miss an
issue"! Just $16 keeps you in touch with the CoCo
community.
Your subscription includes: 1 year membership in
MI&CC and UPGRADE Disk magazine subscription.
Requires: 128K CC3, 1 drive, RGB or TV
$16 US $21 Canada $31 Foreign Air
Say "I say it in CFDM" and receive a surprise bonus
disk. Mid Iowa & Country CoCo (non-profit)
Terry Simons Editor/Treasurer
1328 48th Des Moines, IA 50311
(Include your phone & system information) =*
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| Articles in section: ARTICLES OF THE MONTH |
| 6809
ASSEMBLY PROGRAMMING PT5 ARTS & CRAFTS |
| Back to top |
6809 ASSEMBLY PROGRAMMING PT5 View text file associated with this article This part and the next will be rather dry since they
provide mostly raw information. The next two
articles provide the rest of the background you need
to have a reasonable knowledge of assembly language
programming. RUN"ASSEM5" for this month's text.
William Astle
5612 43 St Cls
Olds, Alberta, Canada
T4H 1C3
=*
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ARTS & CRAFTS
This article has to do with the picture file called
CLOWN. The picture was digitized from videotape
using the Digi-Scan video digitizer (I intend to
write a review of this hardware/software sold by
Nick Marentes when I get a bit more proficient with
it); and then I touched up the picture a little with
CoCoMax III.
The clown was constructed by my parents using head,
hands, and shoes purchased at a local arts & crafts
shop. Then Dad made a frame for the body of the
clown using regular wire and a pair of pliers. Mom
then made a whole bunch of "pom-poms" out of yarn
and tied them to the wire frame.
This particular clown is fairly big, about 20" =>
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from hat to shoes. I was surprised how heavy it was.
There must be enough yarn in it for a full-sized af-
ghan. Mom has also started a couple of these using
smaller versions of the heads, hands, and shoes. She
says it is a good way to use up leftover yarn from
previous projects, which is good; because she always
has some sort of project in progress, resulting in a
lot of partially unused skeins of yarn.
That brings me to the point of this article. There
must be a lot of subscribers who like to dabble in
arts & crafts, or have family members who like to do
so. Perhaps this will inspire some to tell the rest
of us about their projects-- a sharing and exchange
of ideas.
=>
____________________________________________________
When I told Mom I would like to write an article
about the clown, she was all for it, especially the
part about sharing and exchanging ideas. So, if any-
one would like to exchange ideas with Mom & Dad for
projects (Dad makes a lot of stuff out of lumber on
a Shopsmith), here's the address:
Mr. & Mrs. Ben Mills
618 E. 7th St.
Muscatine, IA 52761
phone: (319) 263-7622
Mom & Dad are retired (also known as footloose and
fancy-free); so the best time to get ahold of them
by phone is in the morning.
=*
|
| Articles in section: COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY |
| BY
A WATERFALL CALIFORNIA GULL - Ray Berney <g> Entry for Dragon Thaw FUNNIES FROM HAROLD MOENICH <g> No Thaw OWLS SMOKEY THE DRAGON |
| Back to top |
BY A WATERFALL
With all the ice storms we've had this last week (January, '94), it seemed like a good idea to do a picture containing water -- but in the LIQUID form. WATRFALL is the result. While it may look complex, it was pretty straightforward. I managed to complete it in about a day and a half. As with all my later pictures, I tried to make this one suitable for conversion into Rick's Puzzle. According to Puzzle Guru, Godfrey Moll, you can only use one color (other than white) in palette slots 12, 13, 14, and 15. Through sheer procrastination, it was only recently that I tried making a puzzle out of some of my pictures. WATRFALL will work, as will my last one, MUSTANG. So, for you Puzzle fans, have fun! =* |
Entry for Dragon Thaw
I found this picture of a cartoon dragon in an old "Popular Electronics" ad. After modifying it a bit, adding a little color and a caption, here is the result. (FILE "CNFSDRGN.NIB") =* |
No Thaw
As a transplant from New York to Florida, I find
that most of the winters are already thawed out. We
do have a few days of cold weather, maybe even a
frost now and then, but it ain't like it used to be.
But, NoThaw offers an excuse for a late thaw.
Sometimes it's a matter of priorities, as many
cold nights and many cold dinners can attest.
=*
|
OWLS
The parent owl and owlet are a part of a scene I
used to make lath art out of wood. I thought they
made a fit subject for graphics. They are of course
not meant to be a certain kind of owl but rather a
caracature picture.
Charles L. Gibson
=*
|
SMOKEY THE DRAGON
SMOKEY the Dragon is my submission for the
DRAGON THAW PROJECT -- I guess that RICK needs the
extra heat to melt the unexpected SNOW of WINTER 94
and also to keep us on our toes.
This was done using CoCoMaxIII -- still my
favorite Drawing Program. I really haven't had the
time to evaluate all of the other Drawing Programs
that I have -- maybe some day??
I'm looking forward to ISSUE #27!
Godfrey Moll
1571 East Erie Apt 103
Springfield, MO 65804 =*
|
| Articles in section: FAMILY TREE |
| A
CFDM Family Tree Entry?? JOHN LOMBARDO Spencer Family Tree VINCENT CARDILLO JR. |
| Back to top |
A CFDM Family Tree Entry?? # # ## # ## # # ## #
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____________________________________________________
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########### =>
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Notice how bare this tree is. It's like the CFDM
Family Tree. Where are all the Friends??? Send in
your Family Tree entry to Rick. Over half of you
have not done this yet. You have no reason not to.
Rick already has your address, all you need to do is
to send in a small entry about yourself.
Here is a VERY small list that should not offend
anyone:
1. Age 8. Who'd you like to
2. Marrital Status talk to in CFDM
3. Types of CoCo software you like
4. CoCo System setup (Is this
5. Hobbies outside CoCo & CFDM too much
6. Work:Current or Retired from to ask?)
7. What you like to read in CFDM =*
|
Family Tree Hello to all CFDM friends. My family and I are new
to CFDM but have found a neat monthly get together
for CoCo owners. We live in Buffalo, New York. My
wife Laura and our two children have had a CoCo for
many years and have used it for everything from
our children's homework projects to keeping track
of medical expenses. The CoCo literally has become
indispensable as an everyday tool around the house.
I am currently 42 years young and am looking forward
to another 42 to come. I am an Air Force veteran
from the Vietnam Era. I worked for 10 years with the
Veteran's Administration Hospital here in Buffalo.
I changed careers at age 34 and am now a criminal
investigator for the State of New York.
My hobbies in addition to the CoCo are many and
varied. Football (The Bills-of COURSE!!), =>
____________________________________________________
I play a twelve string guitar,gardening, reading,
aquariums (Being a Pisces this is only natural) and
am an active member of a local rod and gun club.
One interest I have had for many years is the
work being done in the field of Ufology-or study of
Unidentified Flying Objects. For many years I was
the State Section Director for MUFON in western N.Y.
Anyway, bacck to the CoCo. Many nights, when we
first received our new CoCo, me and the wife sat up
to all hours of the night, typing in programs and
then saving them to tape. We now have 2 CoCo 3's, 2
double sided floppy drives, 1 80 MEG hardrive, a DMP
106 printer, 2400 baud modem, mouse and a CCR-81
tape recorder. For many years I was Vice President
of the Erie County Color Computer Club here in
Buffalo. I no longer hold that position due to far=>
____________________________________________________
too many obligations. Well, there's not much else to
say, but keep up the good work Rick-and thanks for
CFDM!!!!
=*
|
Spencer Family Tree Hi, all you CoCo Nuts! I was born in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin in 1932. My folks moved to Detroit when I
was two, but returned to Milwaukee during W W 2. My
life in Michigan was interupted for two years at the
end of the Korean " Police Action " by guided tours
of Fort Chaffee, Fort Sill, and Fort Richardson.
I moved to Florida in 1968 and live in Tampa with
my wife, Diane. We have six children, and fifteen
grandchildren in Michigan. Diane has been disabled
since 1976, as the result of being over radiated for
cancer.
I worked for the Aerospace and Defense division
of Honeywell as an electronic test technician and
engineering aid untill four years ago. At that time
defense was downsized and the operation was moved to
Mexico. ===>
____________________________________________________
The 6800 and the more advanced 6809 are favored
CPUs in military and industrial microprocessor con-
trolled equipment. There is a 6809 in the Space
Shuttle. So it was natural that when I found Tandy
was working with Motorola to develope a home com-
puter, I started to bug my local Radio Shack.
When they announced the TRS-80 Color Computer I
was delighted, and ran down to order a 64 K machine
with two disk drives, color monitor, and printer.
The salesman said there was no such thing & tried to
sell me a Model One. They later admitted they had a
16K CoCo & more to come. I compromised and ordered a
32K extended basic, dual disk drives, tape recorder,
color T V monitor, lineprinter VIII, and software.
Delivery was delayed. My CoCo was the only disk dr.
system in the state & was held for a computer show.>
____________________________________________________
Today, thirteen years later, Diane is still using
that system. (upgraded to 64 K, double sided drives,
monitor driver, amber screen monitor, serial to par-
allel printer buffer, running A-DOS.)
My system is a 512 K CoCo III, Multi - Pac, two
double sided drives, Speach/Sound Pac, Orchestra 90,
RS 232 Pac, Hardware Clock, RGB Monitor, Green Moun-
tain Micro E-PROM Burner, 64K serial/parallel print
buffer, speed indicating pilot lights, & running Ex-
tended A-DOS III. My library includes all the Rain-
bows, two years of Chromasette, Color Computer News,
Hot CoCo, some issues of Color Computer Magazine and
Under Color. I have a few 80 Micro & most T&D disks
-Favorite programs are CoCc Max 3 & Telewriter 64.
Garry W. Spencer 909 E. 26th Ave.
Tampa, Fl. 33605-1749 -eof=*
|
MUSIC IS FOREVER I live in a small town in northwest New Jersey
called Lincoln Park, about 6 miles west of Paterson.
I moved here 10 years ago along with my two sons,
Robert, 17, and Michael, 14. I am 56 years old. I
drive for the N. Y. Times.
Following my wife's death in 1983 (from cancer),
I started an organization called the 'Joanne Marie
Cardillo Memorial Fund for Music Therapy'. We raise
money for a scholarship given to a music therapy
student at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.
We also give music awards to several local high
schools and elementary schools. We (some friends
and neighbors) have made this a life commitment.
=>
____________________________________________________
As far as my computer is concerned, I have a
CoCo3 128K, FD-502 single disk drive, RGB CM-8
monitor, TRS-80 cassette recorder, and a DMP-133
printer. The main use for my CoCo is for the
memorial fund. We do all our financial reports,
meeting minutes, mailing lists, sales lists, and
much more for our cause.
I have always looked for a good program to put
out a small newsletter. I did purchase one called
'NEWSPAPER PLUS', but it gave me a lot of trouble. I
have tried it over and over again, but to no avail.
If anyone can help me with any information on
good programs to use in conjunction with our charity
work, I would be more than grateful. Here is my =>
____________________________________________________
name and address:
Vincent Cardillo Jr.
63 Foothill Drive
Lincoln Park, N.J.
07035
(201) 694-3129
*** I think that CFDM is very well put together
and I intend to renew my subscription ***
=*
|
| Articles in section: FORUM |
| #?!(#%
in CFDM by McNeil <g> FAVORITE/MOST POPULAR SOFTWARE My Most Used Software THE NEXT COCO..WHAT COULD BE! |
| Back to top |
FAVORITE/MOST POPULAR SOFTWARE Reply to Jim Bennett:
My top five programs are as follows,
1. Max-10
2. CoCo-Max III
3. CFDM
4. GrafExpress
5. CoCo Tools (Cercomp)
< CoCo's Forever! >
=*
|
My Most Used Software Since someone else started it, I guess I'll list my
most useful and used software on the CoCo 3:
For graphics----------------> CoCoMax III
For word processing---------> TW-128 &
VIP Speller 1.1
For Spreadsheet-------------> DYNACALC ver 5.2
(RSDOS)
For easy games--------------> Anybody I can get hold
of!
For medium games------------> I program them myself!
For hard games--------------> Only the most talented
CoCo 3 programmers!
=*
|
THE NEXT COCO..WHAT COULD BE! After seeing Jeff Vavasour's CoCo II Emulator in
action on my 486, my mind began to search the
possiblities.
When and if the proposed CoCo III Emulator becomes
a reality, I forsee many, many former CoCoists
returning to the CoCo Community. Curiosity will be
the main factor in their return. That and the fact
that they will be able to once again use their large
collection of CoCo software (it's been sitting in
their closets). Also, they will once again be able
to open their long-closed personal files, created
just a short time ago on their beloved CoCos. And
they'll return to an environment which is friendly
to their programming talents.
=>
____________________________________________________
Once again small CoCo businesses will flourish as
programmers will once again find a market for their
programs.
Who knows, maybe RAINBOW or something like it will
also find a market big enough to support a "real"
magazine!
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Now imagine
this:
If the CoCo III Emulator becomes a reality, what's
to keep the apparent ability of Jeff Vavasour from
adding enhancements to the emulator's ROM. In fact
there's plenty of room for such enhancements as
accessing unlimited memory in a PC machine, =>
____________________________________________________
accessing many virtual disk drives on the PC hard
drive (or the hard drive itself), increasing the
number of graphic screens by adding even higher
resolution screens with thousands of available
colors and many more palettes, and importing and
exporting PC and CoCo files thereby making the two
environments somewhat compatible. (With the CoCo II
Emulator, I am already able to write BASIC and
assembly language programs on the emulator. I can
then move them back to the CoCo and run them.)
Hardware possiblities: accessing the many hardware
peripherals available to the PC and not having to
worry about our CoCos breaking down...for good!
(See my review in REVIEWS, an ad in ADVERTISEMENTS,
and PLEASE SUPPORT THIS PROJECT!) =*
|
| Articles in section: FROM THE EDITOR |
| FROM
RICK IS IT MARCH & APRIL?..YES! MY OLD KENTUCKY COCO (KUDOS <g>) Thanks Friends! |
| Back to top |
FROM RICK It's a beautiful day here in Liberty, Kentucky! I've
just returned from a break outside. There's a white
dogwood in my backyard and a pink one in my front.
Both started blooming this last week and they do
look beautiful!
But me, well I'm inside and trying to get this issue
finished. It's been busy with school duties and
such! I really should have had this issue under
wraps a few days ago. I hope my rushing won't cause
any serious problems in the issue!
As you can see from my comments in other sections of
this issue, I'm very excited about the prospects of
a CoCO III Emulator. I cannot find words to tell
you how much this could do for the community. =>
____________________________________________________
Even for those who do not have nor ever intend to
have a PC, this product could have positive effects.
It could lead to the production of new software once
again! It would certainly take the worry out of
replacing a dead CoCo and not being able to find a
replacement. And it would surely bring many of our
old Friends back to our family. (More than a few who
have left have told me the only reason they sold out
was because they didn't have room for two computer
systems. Others have written or called and said
they missed the CoCo.) In summary, I urge everyone
to show support for this project.
Lastly, we are again in need of Family Tree entries,
neat programs, articles, forums, and reviews. If
you have anything to offer, please send them in. =>
____________________________________________________
----------------------------------------------------
*The promise of the Spirit*
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will
pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall
dream dreams, your young men shall see visions+
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in
those days will I pour out my spirit.
- Joel 2:28, 29
=*
|
IS IT MARCH & APRIL?..YES! In the KUDOS for issue #26 there was a contest. The
screen showed a box with a lion and a lamb. A second
box had a picture of a dragon. The caption asked
"What do these two pictures mean?" The deadline for
responses was April 15th.
I received two responses to this contest. The winner
was Roberta Sowell of Osage, Kansas. Her postcard
reply was a simple..."Is it March & April?" That is
the correct response. The lion and lamb represent
the old saying, "March comes in like a lion and goes
out like a lamb." The dragon represented April or
the April issue of CFDM which was the long awaited
"DRAGON THAW" issue. Congratulations to Roberta.
She will receive a package of 10 flippies.
=>
____________________________________________________
The second response was from Perry Friesen of
High Level, Alberta, Canada. Perry's answer was
very interesting and logical when you consider our
backgrounds. Perry is the pastor of a church in
High Level. His response was:
The lion and the lamb represent the 1000 year reign
of Christ on earth (Isa. 65:25) and the dragon
represents Satan who is bound at this time.
Thanks Roberta and Perry for your participation!!
=*
|
MY OLD KENTUCKY COCO (KUDOS
<g>)
<< WILLIAM ASTLE >> << ROY ATKINS >> << NORM BARSON >> JIM BENNETT >> << RAY BERNEY >> << VINCENT CARDILLO JR >> << HERB FORGER >> << PERRY FRIESEN >> << CHARLES GIBSON >> << GLENSIDE COCO CLUB >> << MICHAEL LEWIS >> << JOHN LOMBARDO >> << MAGPYE AND HUGO >> << JAMES MCNEIL >> << JIM MILLS >> << HAROLD MOENICH >> << GODFREY MOLL >> << DAVE OTIS >> << ROY PUTLACK >> << TERRY SIMONS >> << GARRY SPENCER >> << JIM STERNETT >> << LORENE TAYLOR >> << KENNEY TREVINO >> << PAUL WOLF >> << STUART WYSS-GALLIFENT >> |
Thanks Friends! Hi Friends,
Well Rick I FINALLY am getting around to writing
even though maybe a few days er months late. I just
want to say THANKS to you and the many other CoCo
friends who have helped me in various ways. Many of
you may wonder how you have, but you have thru your
submissions to CFDM and some of the other fine CoCo
magazines. I want to give special THANKS to a
couple of guys who helped me more on a personal
level, that being Authur Hallock who transferred a
book my oldest daughter had written on a PC to Basic
and to Terry Simons who helped me with a problem I
was having with a particular program. Keep up the
good work. CFDM is looking GREAT.
=>
____________________________________________________
Larry Bryant
5905 Mc Carty
Farmington, NM 87402
=*
|
| Articles in section: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| "ONE
MOMENT PLEASE" An order for H. Allen Curtis CFDM is better all the time! FROM HERE TO ETERNITY Letters to the Editor Love You HARDCOPY |
| Back to top |
"ONE MOMENT PLEASE" RICK -- I've had HOURS of FUN trying to WIN at your
MINESWEEPER Game from ISSUE #25!!!
I have seen "ONE MOMENT PLEASE" on my CoCo many
many, many times!!! I guess I'm just not cut out to
be a MINESWEEPER Captain! I have won a TOTAL of 3
times after many hours of PLAY & FUN.
The first time I won was 10 minutes AFTER bed-
time! Hard to stop trying -- a real FUN game!
MANY thanks to YOU -- don't know where you find
the time to do all of the GREAT things that you do.
I guess with my tri-focals I have not been able
to SEE the pictures in the STEREOGRAMS -- I'll keep
trying!
Keep up the GOOD WORK -- WE enjoy it!
Godfrey =>
____________________________________________________
-----
RICK: Thanks for the feedback Godfrey! As my Mom
Cooper used to say, "I'm tickled that you enjoyed
the programs." I'd sure love to hear from those of
you who were able to see the Stereograms in issue
#26.
=*
|
An order for H. Allen Curtis Allen, I had seen your advertisement for Patience
Pair (a pair of Solitaire games) while going
through past issues of CFDM. That was a big order
since I only came aboard with issue #14. Since then
I saw your subsequent ads for PP#2, #3 and #4 and
decided to get them all. However as I was getting
ready to write to you and place my order, CFDM issue
23 arrived and offered PP#5. So now the time has
come to get my act together. Therefore my check is
enclosed for Patience Pair as well as PP#2 through
PP#5.
I also have a program called "Solitaire's Journey"
for my IBM clone which has 105 variations of the
Solitaire game. Some are extremely challenging, some
are relatively hard and of course some are to =>
____________________________________________________
easy to replay more than a few times. I would like
to try your versions on the COCO because I do like
the game and am always looking for variations.
Herb Forger 88 Dry Hill Rd Norwalk, Ct 06851-3127
Tel: (203) 847-4282
=*
|
CFDM is better all the time! CFDM is getting better all the time! Please
renew my subscription.
I particularly enjoy Herb Schuler's MUSIC3+
music transcriptions (also Roy Atkins, Charles
Gibson and others). I was delighted to see Charles
Gibson's sing-along entry in issue #24. I had often
wondered if that could be done and if not, why not.
Now I know and I'm going to try to follow his
example.
George Quellhorst's programs are great (I
especially appreciate and enjoy his MUSIC3+, PLAYER
and COCOCAL programs). Also Stuart Wyss-Gallifent's
NIBSHOW. The new CFDM Index is a fine achievement
and it will be quite useful to me. CoCo's Forever!=*
|
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY Please don't ever let me forget to send in my $30.00
again. Have you ever had the feeling of sitting
around and waiting for the mailman to come only to
be disappointed when your CFDM doesn't come. Well I
have and its not a good feeling. Finally Rick wrote
and said "I hope you will resubscribe". Alarms and
bells went off. Down to the post office I went with
a check and a submission disk. Rick here is my $30
for another 6 months. Start me with #25. I don't
want to miss anything ever again.
I have been busy moving and trying to get the
COCO TRADER out. We've settled in our new home and
we love it down here. Also the COCO TRADER for Feb.
has gone out. The COCO TRADER is now offering to
put free ads in for anyone in honor of Groundhog Day
or maybe just because we need all the ads we can =>
____________________________________________________
get. The COCO TRADER is for all buyers, sellers, and
traders of all COCO stuff. It is still a bi-monthly
and we just put out our 5th issue. The price is $6
for a one year subscription. Please write the COCO
TRADER, 2861 Easy St., Sevierville, TN 37862. My
phone # is 615-428-1220. (Published by Jim Sternett)
On another note, it was almost, (I say almost)
worth waiting for the letter from Rick with the
great picture of him on it. For those that have
never seen him or met him, we did about a year ago..
and if you are ever near Kentucky, call him and stop
over and see him. We had a great evening there.
Even my non-computer wife had a good time and wants
to stop again if we are ever in the neighborhood.
His whole family makes you feel right at home. Just
like CFDM. Thanks to them all. =*
|
Letters to the Editor Rick,
Just wondering if we could see more programs
on the disks instead of graphics. Though the art
work is impressive I sure would like to see more
programs and solitaire type games. If I was a
programmer I would gladly submit-however........
Thanks, John Lombardo
-----
RICK: Thanks for the inquiry John. I am interested
in hearing what the Friends would like to see and
hope everyone gets enough of their favorite entries.
But...Some Friends say more graphics, some say more
games, some say more utilities, etc......... =>
____________________________________________________
Some say I don't like graphics, some say I don't do
games, some have no interest in utilities....etc.
The reality of the situation is that I try to
include a balance of things and...
We can only publish what we receive!!
Thankfully the quantity and quality has been GREAT
in my estimation. Please remember everything you
see is CONTRIBUTED (DONATED..GIVEN) for all of us to
enjoy. So let's continue to be thankful that so many
are still actively producing on the CoCo and willing
to share with us!
=*
|
Love You HARDCOPY When I joined CFDM with issue 14, I found a "GREAT"
replacement for Rainbow magazine. As time went by,
and I purchased ALL of the back issues, I felt that
I had received a new lease on "COCO" life.
I worked hard to create my own printouts via the
"HARDCOPY" program in a format satisfactory to me.
But alas, then came "HARDCOPY" (the REAL HARDCOPY)
by Arthur S. Hallock with issue #17. BLESS YOU,
ARTHUR. You have saved me numerous hours of checking
entry sizes to compact each CFDM issue to a minimum
of printed pages of Hardcopy.
Your output is CLASSIC! I admire your ability to
produce this great supplement. I am also very
interested about how you convert from COCO to =>
____________________________________________________
IBM format (to laser printer). Maybe someday you
will share this with the less knowledgeable like
me, since I also own an IBM compatible.
My hat is off to you, Arthur, for a fantastic
"HARDCOPY". HURRAH, HURRAH!
Herb Forger 88 Dry Hill Rd Norwalk, CT 06851
=*
|
| Articles in section: POTPOURRI |
| How
To Cold Start a COCO 3... Stars And Stripes Forever WISH LIST |
| Back to top |
How To Cold Start a COCO 3... To those CFDM members, who are new to the computer
age, and would like to know how to Cold Start or
(clear the Basic memory of their color computers),
without having to turn them off and then back on
again or maybe you have just forgotten the POKE and
the EXEC for doing so just type the following:
For the COCO 1: POKE113,0:EXEC40999 - Press ENTER
For the COCO 2: POKE113,0:EXEC40999 - Press ENTER
For the COCO 3: POKE113,0:EXEC35867 - Press ENTER
=*
|
Stars And Stripes Forever Hi! I am back after a short rest from music
transcriptions. My entry this time is one of
John Philip Sousa's marches. You will recognize
as soon as you here it.
Just type RUN"STARS".
=*
|
WISH LIST Well,here I am again with another "program wish"for
all you great programmers out there:
Instead of loading up your favorite Word Processor
just to look at a text file,how about a simple
program that views text files (now here's the catch)
with the great screen appearance of "V-TERM","HOME
PUBLISHER" or George Quellhorst's "COCOCAL".
I like the appearance of "V-TERM", but I don't like
fumbling with the keyboard just to get the text to
stop scrolling off the screen.
I'M NOT DONE YET GUY'S and GAL's
see next page ------->
____________________________________________________
Options that I would like with such a program:
1> Show a Directory of .TXT or ASCII files on the
disk; and if the file is not on that disk,insert
another disk and press "BREAK"or whatever key and
view that disk, something like "VUMASTER"...
2> As I mentioned before, SCROLLING, how about a
screenful of text, and if there's more, press the
Spacebar for the next screen and so on.
Even up and down arrow keys would be nice.
3> Even a text color option would be nice.(but not
that important).
4> RAM DISK compatible. (512K)
5> A printer dump with a baud rate option.
...................ALMOST DONE, SEE PAGE 3----->
____________________________________________________
6> GOOD LUCK !!! , I know, out there, somewhere in
the CoCo Family, this Project is just a piece of
cake.
*************************************************
You came though with"COCOCAL" (thanks George Q.)
7> If there is a program out there like the one I
would like to see done. PLEASE CONTACT ME:
******************
MICHAEL LEWIS
1311 SECOND ST.
MOUNDSVILLE, WV. 26041 - 1430
=*
|
| Articles in section: PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH |
| DRAWPOKR
RGB/CMP Conversion... DSJACKET LETTER FORM III (A Project) SQUASH TECHNICAL SQUASH pix compression Wide Screen Disk Menu (M.BAS) |
| Back to top |
DRAWPOKR RGB/CMP Conversion... Rick: I really did like the program DRAWPOKR.BAS
you had in issue 13, but the only problem that I
would sometimes have is that I use both types of
COCO monitors (RGB & CMP).
At home I use the RGB monitor and when I'am at my
relatives I use there CMP monitor, but I believe
this program was wrote to be used on an RGB monitor
because a lot of the colors used did not look good
to the CMP monitor, so except for the colors of the
cards I took out all the other colors on the screen
and left all the writting in the buff (white) so
that DRAWPOKR.BAS would look OK on the CMP monitor.
I also re-wrote lines 10 thru 27 so that you will
now be able to choose if you would like a speed-up
poke or not, plus choose the type of monitor that
you are using (RGB or CMP). =>
____________________________________________________
Note: that some HPRINT lines that were using
HCOLOR1 are now using HCOLOR2, so that DRAWPOKR.BAS
can be run on both types of monitors (RGB & CMP).
Line 40 was changed so that you can alter your bet
each time you would run DRAWPOKR.BAS.
Line 1410 was changed so that when you would quit
the program you would end up in WIDTH80 not WIDTH32
with a buff (white) screen.
And last but not least there has been a cheater's
correction made by Allen Curtis to line 780.
I'am sending you a copy of DRAWPOKR.CMP to see if
you think that it could be worth re-publishing
sometime in the future for thoses of us who use a
CMP monitor.
Signed: Kenney Trevino =*
|
DSJACKET COCO MAX 3 - REQUIRED
---------------------
Load up "DSJACKET" in COCO MAX 3.
If you "SCROLL PAGE" you will see the outline of a
blank disk jacket (DOUBLE PAGE FILE).
You can put whatever info you want in the top
half of the disk jacket. (Make sure you don't over-
write into the two flap areas.
This jacket is very versatile, I found that I
like to print a blank jacket and then use "MAX-10"
to put whatever info about a disk on the jacket that
way. You can use the text option in COCO MAX 3 or
put a picture on your jacket.
To get a printout of your disk jacket:
1> Line up paper so that it will begin printing at
the top of paper. (see page 2)---->
____________________________________________________
2> Make sure "DOUBLE SIZE" is clicked "ON" (CHECK
MARK).
3> PRINT.
--------------------------
MICHAEL LEWIS
1311 SECOND ST.
MOUNDSVILLE, WV.26041-1430
--------------------------
=*
|
LETTER FORM III (A Project) LETTER FORM III is a program that has a great deal of potential; however, it is not finished. I pro- pose that we work on completing this program as a collaborative effort. I think that this will be an interesting and unique project for CFDM Friends. The original idea behind LETTER FORM III was to make a program which would simplify letter writing. All you would have to do is type what you wanted to say and the program would automatically set the margins, use correct indentations, and center the text on the page. The program would also enable you to print multiple copies of the letter using a mailmerge fea- ture. This would make the program very useful for newsletters, Christmas letters, and "personalized" direct mail advertising. => ____________________________________________________ The program lends itself readily to modular design. This month's submission has 3 modules: "LF3.BAS" which is the title, "LF3 MAIN.BAS" which is the main routine, and "L$MAKER.BIN" which is a machine lang- uage routine used in typing a letter. As presented here, the program will allow you to type a letter, to save and load letter files to/from disk and to clear the memory. In a future issue of CFDM I will provide the print option routine. This leaves four options to make the program complete. They are: "6 - Write/Save addresses" (line 3000 of LF3 MAIN), "7 - Mailmerge" (line 4000), "8 - Print labels" (line 5000), and "9- Reformat" (line 6000). Also, if anyone sees a way to improve/speed-up LF3 MAIN, or has a better print routine, your input is cer- tainly welcome. => ____________________________________________________ I believe that if we work together on this, it can be a lot of fun for those of us who enjoy program- ming and a real benefit to those Friends who are not really programmers but would have a need for a program such as this. Give the program a "test spin" and see what you think. Most of the features are intuitive and you shouldn't have any trouble seeing how it works. I will, however, provide instructions with the print option when it appears in CFDM. I leave it to the others who wish to collaborate on this project to provide instructions for the part(s) of the program that they write. RUN "LF3" to use Letter Form III. =* |
SQUASH TECHNICAL Theory of operation: SQS works examining each line of 160 bytes and saving to disk ONLY the differences between the current line, and the previous one. To load it, it reads the differences, modifies the previous line, stores it as the new line, and then read the next set of differences. While it is possible that a line would actually be longer in compressed format (lots of differences) Sqaush keeps an eye on the length of the compressed line. If that exceeds 163 bytes, it is saved as an uncom- pressed line. Thus the longest SQS file can be ONLY 14 granules long, no matter how complex. For you compression nuts out there, the program uses a variation of the Lempel-Ziv Dictionary Based compression. Each previous line is the dictionary to which the new line is compared. => ____________________________________________________ Remember I said that a complex picture may cause NIB to crash? I lied. Here is a very simple picture that demonstrates the weakness of NIB, followed by an example that demonstrates the weakness of SQS. Given a black screen, with vertical lines drawn on every other line, from top to bottom: NIB will crash. Since each nibble is different, it takes up so much memory, it won't work! SQS will save that screen in 1 granule. This is because each horizontal line is NO different from the previous, therefore there are no changes to store! Here's the other example: <Cntrl-3> => ____________________________________________________ Given a black screen with horizontal lines, every other line, from left to right. NIB will save this as 1 granule. SQS will save this as 14 granules, because every line is different from the previous one, and SQS must record all the differences between each line! I have not found a picture that will not SQS, and the trick screen with the horizontals still saved in 14 grans. (2 less that the uncompressed 16) A future of SQS? Probably not much. But it was very challenging to write, and it may show up in some of my later programs. If so, I promise to write a SQS to NIB converter, and vice-versa!!!!:>=* |
SQUASH pix compression NO! This is not supposed to be a replacement for NIB
which was written several years ago by our Chief
Friend, RICK COOPER. NIB, as you know, is an m/l
program written for the sole purpose of saving
HSCREEN2 pictures on disk in a compressed format.
NIB is quick and easy to use, and can handle most
files.
I would like to share with you my latest m/l
programming attempt. It is called SQUASH, and it is
also an HSCREEN2 compression system. It works very
differently from NIB (I'll explain later), and has
its own shortcomings. But since I am trying to
learn assembly, I figured I would share my results
with you all, just for sake of you seeing my efforts
in graphic manipulations. The programs are:
SQSMAKER.BAS and .BIN, and SQSREADR.BAS and .BIN =>
____________________________________________________
That's four programs, plus a Squashed picture file
called ELVIS.SQS (Yes, our old dead friend).
To view ELVIS.SQS, run SQSREADR.BAS. Enter the
source drive (Where ELVIS is) and the name (ELVIS)
The picture will load. Notice the picture is only
-5- granules, instead of 16 if it were uncompressed.
If you wish to save a picture in Squashed format,
you would have the picture in memory (same procedure
as NIB), then run SQSMAKER.BAS. Enter the destinat.
drive (where the picture will go) and the name.
A picture may take anywhere from 5 to 25 seconds
to compress, depending on its complexity.
PROS of SQUASH: My system does NOT alter the
Hscreen as it compresses, unlike NIB. The file is
directly outputted to the disk. =>
____________________________________________________
My system reads the file off the disk and places it
onto the Hscreen as it reads it. You watch the
picture being loaded, kind of like CM3>NIB.
CONS of SQUASH: Some files take up more space if
you squash them than if you NIB them:
EG: ELVIS is 4 grans with NIB, 5 with SQS
GIMECHIP is 3 with NIB, 6 with SQS
SEA is 7 with NIB, 11 with SQS
Oops, another pro: A SQS file CAN be 14 or 15
grans long if necessary, unlike NIB which can only
be up to 9 or 10. A VERY complex picture might not
NIB, but it WILL squash, although it will be quite
large.
Please read SQUASH TECHNICAL for more info. =*
|
Wide Screen Disk Menu (M.BAS) View text file associated with this article Wide Screen Disk Menu is a program I wrote,
basing it in part on Bill Bonnell's similar program
for the CoCo 2. RUN"M.BAS". When the date prompt
appears, you can put any disk in the drive, then
type the date (MM/DD/YY) and <ENTER>. The program
displays the disk directory, sorted in alphabetical
order, using Bill Barden's ML sort routine from the
June 1982 TRS-80 Microcomputer News, in four columns
on one page. One of the useful features is the Back-
up command. It backs up the disk's directory track
by copying it to Gran 68. If you back it up every
time you save a new file to the disk, Gran 68 will
always have a copy of the directory. If someday you
get an I/O error or can't load a program, load
M.BAS from another disk, insert the disk you think
may be damaged, and you can restore the directory =>
____________________________________________________
to Track 17 from the copy in Gran 68. This feature
has saved me from disaster several times. It was
taken from Bill Bonnell's Full Screen Disk Directory
program (November 1985 Hot CoCo). Other features
include Copy (copy any file to another disk), Dis-
play (read and display on screen any ASCII file),
Input (change the current Drive number and read the
disk in that drive), Kill (any file), Load (any
BASIC program), Name (rename any file), Print (print
a hardcopy of the directory in four columns or, with
the Label Format option, in two columns for use on
labels, to stick on the disk sleeve), Read (read the
disk directory again - after inserting another
disk), Sort (re-sort the directory - useful after
re-naming a file), Title (give the disk a title of
up to 35 characters, which is saved to the disk =>
____________________________________________________
on an unused part of Track 17. When each disk is
inserted in the drive and read by M.BAS, its Title
and the date the disk was named are displayed on top
of the screen), eXecute (RUNs any BASIC program or
Executes a Machine Language program). There are two
exit commands: Exit (which leaves the program still
in memory) or Quit (which exits to the copyright
notice).
The program is on the program side of the disk.
RUN "M.BAS".
A text file DISKMENU.TXT gives more complete
information, including guidance on configuring the
program for other printers. Use a word processor to
read and/or print out the file. Hope you like it! =*
|
| Articles in section: REVIEWS |
| BATTERY
BACKUP SYSTEM THE COCO II EMULATOR THE COCO II EMULATOR PART II War Monger |
| Back to top |
BATTERY BACKUP SYSTEM It was a wet summer here in the midwest, as you all
must know from the newscasts. Along with all that
rain, numerous thunderstorms swept through the area.
On top of that, I live in a rural area; and the re-
liability of the electricity isn't that good to be-
gin with. I found out the hard way that I needed to
have a battery backup system. One particular weekend
I lost seven hours of work-- four hours one day and
three hours the next. There was no warning of the
power outage, no thunder or lightning. The power
blinked and everything was gone, leaving me staring
at the green sign-on screen in disbelief. After the
second time, and after I recovered from the slow
burn that had enveloped me, I resolved to find some-
thing to remedy this problem. I found the answer in
a J&R Music World catalog: The TrippLite BC-250 =>
____________________________________________________
Battery Backup System. The unit is about the size of
a disk drive and encased in high impact plastic very
nearly the same color as the CoCo. It has two lights
on the front: a green one to tell you the power is
on and an amber one that flashes when the power is
off and the battery operation has taken over. The
unit is designed to keep your system up and running
by transferring the power in a quick 2 milliseconds,
synchronized, so your computer does not even notice.
The unit also suppresses surges in the power, and if
the power drops from the normal 120 VAC to 103 VAC,
the unit kicks in within 2 nanoseconds and stays on
until the power is back up to 120 VAC. This model
puts out 250 watts for a period of about 18 minutes-
plenty of time to download your work and safely shut
down your system. I paid $90 for this unit; but =>
____________________________________________________
I see in a recent catalog from J&R the price has
gone up. It is now listed at $120. The TrippLite
company has a full line of these types of products,
and I'm sure they would be happy to send you their
brochure listing the products and prices. Here's the
address:
TrippLite
500 N. Orleans
Chicago, IL 60610-4188
I didn't have the courage to test this unit by just
pulling the plug while the CoCo was in operation;
but not to worry, my unreliable electricity tested
it for me. The unit came through with flying colors
and my little CoCo kept right on computing merrily
away. =*
|
THE COCO II EMULATOR I recently received a copy of Jeff Vavasour's CoCo
II Emulator for the IBM PC. This program is designed
to make a PC imitate a genuine CoCo II with 64K and
four disk drives. The documentation says that it
has also been tested successfully with the Dragon 32
with 16K ROM.
The program requires EGA graphics and 256K RAM. It
is recommended that a 286 with at least 12 MHz be
used. A faster processor is necessary to get the
operating speed of the real CoCo II. I tested the
emulator with a 386 and a 486 DX2 66MHz. Of course
the faster machine allows you to run faster than the
CoCo II. A slowdown option is provided for those
with faster machines. (Note: You'll also need one
5 1/4 drive on your PC.) =>
____________________________________________________
The program is freeware, though copyright remains
with the author. You may get a copy from RICK'S
COMPUTER ENTERPRISE for $5.
Although I did experience machine lockup on occasion
I found it exciting to see CoCo programs actually
run on the PC. I found no problem running BASIC
programs. The CoCo II version of my RAINBOW INDEXES
executed magnificently, especially at the higher
speeds. (It ran much faster.)
Programs that did not work were CoCo Max and the
protected early text-adventures of the SUNDOG SYSTEM
collection. Whether alterations can be found to run
these programs in the future, I do not know.
=>
____________________________________________________
Some of the features of the emulator are:
- a RETRIEVE command which allows you to copy entire
CoCo disks to the PC hard drive. The format of the
copy is to make a file called a virtual disk. Then
you load these virtual disks in your emulator disk
drives and access them just like your CoCo drives.
- a DSKINI command which allows you to copy virtual
disks from the PC hard drive to a CoCo disk. It
formats the diskette and copies in one pass. This
process takes less than 50 seconds on my machine.
- function keys on the PC are used to get pop-up
menus for disk access and other options.
(See CoCo Emulator Part II) =*
|
THE COCO II EMULATOR PART II - The F1 key activates the 6809 debugger.
- The F2 key activates the virtual disk menu. From
here you can load any of the virtual disk files.
Also, drives my be "write protected".
- The F3 key takes a "snapshot" of the entire state
of the emulator. Using this feature enables you
to save a program or game-in-play. You can later
retrieve the "snapshot" and continue where you
left off.
- The F4 key toggles the sound on and off.
- The F5 key allows you to change the keyboard lay-
out between PC and Coco. =>
____________________________________________________
- The F6 key activates the Options Menu. At this
menu you can spped up or slow down the emulator.
Changing character sets (normal/inverse), moving
to other menus, customizing joystick action, and
activating "artifacting" are some of the features
of this menu.
In the documentation for the emulator, you'll find
how to copy program paks (ROM paks) for using with
the emulator. There's also a tutorial on how to
make a PC/CoCo connector cable.
Other interesting programs which accompany the
emulator are a "PORT" program and a "VMAX" program.
Use "PORT" to move files to and from the virtual
disks and PC directories. "VMAX" allows you =>
____________________________________________________
to view "COCOMAX" pictures.
The documentation for The CoCo Emulator is most
useful and should be dumped to paper and read before
using the emulator. The many aspects of this program
could fill many pages...but the 15 or so pages are
very nearly sufficient.
I highly recommend The CoCo Emulator to all who own
a PC with the above characteristics. I also believe
this program and the potential for a CoCo 3 version
bodes well for the future of the CoCo.
=*
|
War Monger Hello everyone.
I'd like to talk about War Monger, an excellent
war game originally released by Sundog Systems, now
carried by RCE at a great price (thanks Rick!).
If you are a fan of battle strategy, this is the
game for you. Two armies (battalions, squads etc.)
fight in any kind of scenario you want.
The game comes with six pre-programmed scenarios
that range from easy to very complex. These are
great learning tools as you will soon begin editing
the many icon and terrain graphics to copy your
favorite board games or even dreaming up your own
wars.
Editing the graphics is easy. Icons are provided
to represent troops, artillary, ships, tanks, cowboy
and indians, robots, spaceships =>
____________________________________________________
and variants of each. You can change the color and
shape of any piece you want or custom draw them if
you want. Terrain icons show cities, bridges, roads,
hills, mountains and more. These icons too can be
changed to your needs.
After all that,edit the armies abilities. Change
the strength, firepower and other attributes and if
you are setting up the computer's army, you can even
tell it how to attack.
Use the edited terrain icons to set up your map.
This way you can modify the movement and defense
tables.
The game itself is played on a split screen. The
top half shows the map and the bottom shows troop
info and options. This whole screen has it all. It
looks great and =>
____________________________________________________
is well laid out, so it's easy to understand. All
options of a standard wargame are here, plus a few
like having the computer finish the game for you!
The game is played in 6 phases. Observation, fire,
and movment for each army. Following this pattern
until either an army is wiped out or they lost all
thier flags is how the game is won.
This is a very detailed war game and I have only
brushed the surface here. I have played many games
of this type, both on computers and on gameboards,
and I have to say this one ranks right up there
among the best.
If you like strategy, then I say give this game a
shot. It's easy to learn, easy to use and quite
fulfilling.
Coco Onward! =*
|
A COCOMAX 3 DRIVER FOR NX-2420 Dear Rick,
Thanks for you speedy reply to my problem with Terry
Simon's NX-2420 driver for CoCoMax III. I appreciate
your offer to put it out to the community via CFDM.
However, I am happy to say that I located my problem
and would like to ask you to send the answer out on
CFDM so that anyone else who has the problem will
not go through the difficult time that I did to make
it work.
The following steps should be taken to use any of
Terry's drivers with CoCoMax III.
1. LOADM the name of the driver you wish to =>
____________________________________________________
use from Terry's PR-5 disk.
2. SAVEM the name of the driver to your CoCoMax
disk.
3. LOAD the CONFIG program.
4. Change line 187 to read - PRINT:PRINT "9) YOUR
DRIVER NAME"
5. Change line 307 to read - A$="YOUR DRIVER NAME"
:GOTO 310
6. RUN the CONFIG program, selecting number 9 as
your printer selection.
7. To RUN the program simply RUN "CM3".
If you want to use Terry's BOOT1 start-up program
change line 760 in the CONFIG program to read -
OPEN "O",#1,"BOOT1/BAS", SAVE it, and then RUN the
CONFIG program. =>
____________________________________________________
Sometimes, Rick, the answer is right under my nose
and I just can't see it.
Paul L. Wolf
570 Black Rock Road
Hanover, PA 17331
-----
RICK: Thanks for sharing your knowledge Paul! And.
....I can certainly understand your last
statement!
=*
|
A Question and an Invitation Hello everyone.
First the question: Does anyone know the name of
the owner of Ark Royal Games? It was a game company
based here in the Jacksonville, Fl. area years ago.
I am trying to locate this person to chat about our
PD software ideas. Calling the number (local for me)
listed in old Rainbows puts me in touch with two
bubbly young ladies now.
Now the invitation: Anyone interested in war games/
stratedy games and has Warmonger or WarGame Designer
(both Great games AND both at Great deals from RCE!)
then I invite you to have a war with me. Through the
mail we could hash out scenerios and rules of
engagment, set up our icons and have at it! Just let
me know. Magpye and Hugo
115 Ursa St. Orange Park,FL 32073 =*
|
GREAT RESPONSES!!! I want to acknowledge the GREAT RESPONSES that
I received to my request for HELP with my BRAIN DEAD
CoCo3!
The day I received ISSUE #26 I also received a
phone call from JOHN PENDELTON in Independence, MO
with some suggestions as to what may be wrong with
my CoCo.
On the 21st I received a letter from a BRAIN
SURGEON in Chebanse, IL -- BARRY MILLER -- with his
ideas as to what I might try during my SURGERY on
the sick CoCo -- that was to check the seating of
the 512K Board. Unfortunately I'm equipped with all
THUMBS, but was able to do that procedure with no
noticable improvement in the patient.
I'll keep you posted, if I find a way to cure
the problem. Godfrey =*
|
HELP WITH TELEWRITER 64 FILES (This entry originated with a phone call to Rick.)
Lorene desires to make a cookbook. She has typed
all her recipes into TELEWRITER but now she's having
trouble getting TELEWRITER to print them out as they
appear on the screen.
If someone out there is familiar with TELEWRITER,
would you please give Lorene some assistance. She
is nearly frantic after spending a great deal of
time preparing her text.
Lorene Taylor
P.O. 243
Hoxie, AR 72433
Tel: 501 886-2284 =*
|
Misc. Qs & an A Have many questions, but first an answer. Just read #26. Someone asked about the sequence for turning on the computer etc. I have everything (comp., monitor, 2 flop. dr., hard dr. & pwr. supply, & printer) on a power strip. I turn on the power strip. Everything goes on at the same time. Have done it this way for years. No smoke so far. (see P.S. at end) Q#1- Recently heard a news item about video tape life. The report said video tape has a life of 15 years, and suggested copying your 10 year old tapes on to fresh tape before they deteriorate. Floppy disks are a magnetic media. What is the life expec- tancy of a floppy disk? Q#2- The year 2000 will be upon us soon. Most => ____________________________________________________ RS DOS s/w doesn't care about Date/Time but if you are an OS-9er it is important. I recently booted OS-9 and typed 99/12/31 23:59:45 for the date & time. After awhile I did a date t and found it was Jan 1, 19100. The clock added a few hundred centurys instead of 1 year. Is there a patch to handle this? Q#3- My favorite word processor is Word Power 3.2. I have had the 3.3 upgrade for some time and decided to try it but found the file "GRAB.BAS" gave me the infamous ?IO ERROR. Can some friend send me a copy of that file? I'll take an LLIST and key it in. Q#4- A long time ago in a magazine no longer heard from, Tony DiStefano wrote a series of articles on building an EPROM burner. Has a friend built one? => ____________________________________________________ How does it work? Please write a review. Thanks, R. Putlack - 27W370 Geneva L57 - W. Chgo, IL 60185 P.S. The reason Tandy suggested a power up sequence is because when equipment is turned on or off it will generate voltage spikes. These spikes can destroy a piece of equipment already on. The sugges- ted sequence was computer on last and off first. The computer was the most expensive component in the system at one time, but may no longer be the case. A surge protector is recommended. I have my powerstrip plugged into one to protect my system from the frig and other household appliances. * the end * =* |
Reply: To Auto Key Repeat... To: Jim Grogan
You will find the answer to your question about
what is the poke for the automatic key repeat at the
beginning of Ricks: "C.BAS" program if you are using
an ADOS disk controller or you are running the ADOS
program from a disk after power-up, I do not know
the line number of his original "C.BAS" program
because I have renumbered this program for my own
use but I can tell you the poke that he uses outside
the "C.BAS" program will not work on my RSDOS COCO 3
because I have tried to see if I could use it
outside the "C.BAS" program myself...
His poke is as follows: POKE &H7E,1
=>
____________________________________________________
Rick: if I'am wrong please let us COCO'ist know
because I'am sure that there are more of us out
there that would like to know the poke for the auto-
repeat key under RSDOS.
Signed:
Kenney Trevino
1146 W. Lynwood St.
Phoenix, Arizona 85007-1917
-----
RICK: Kenney the poke you mentioned is used only by
the "C.BAS" program. To use a repeat key in the
standard RS Dos environment would require a patch
program to be loaded and executed every time you
boot your CoCo. I don't have such a routine. =*
|
Reply: To MULTI-PAK Up-Grade... To: Mario Lecours
If you are using a COCO 3 that has been Up-Graded
to 512K, then the Multi-Pak that you bought used
will also have to be Up-Graded for use with that
COCO 3.
If you have not yet Up-Graded you COCO 3 to 512K
and it's still at 128K, then you can still use the
Multi-Pak that you have bought used without any
hardware or software interruption, except for some
software graphics display color confusion.
I have found out that the only piece of software
that will not work on my COCO 3 at 512K is a program
by NOVASOFT a Tom Mix company called VAGAS GAME PAK
because the program has an autoexec written into
it and when I try to use it the COCO will Lock-Up =>
____________________________________________________
when I try to load the program.
The only piece of hardware that will not work on
my COCO 3 at either 128K or 512K is the EDTASM+
Rom-Pak version. The disk version will work just
fine.
As for trying to use a Multi-Pak after it has been
Up-Graded for use with a COCO 3 at 512K and, then
trying to see if the Multi-Pak will work on a COCO 2
or not, this I cannot answer because I have never
tried to see if I could exchange my Multi-Pak that
has been Up-Graded for my COCO 3 on a COCO 2 at
16K or 64K. I would expect the Multi-Pak to work on
a COCO 2 so long as it were not Up-Graded.
Since you had bought the Multi-Pak in question used
I would hope that it is in good working condition,
because if you do not believe it is then I would =>
____________________________________________________
either repair the Multi-Pak myself or have it
repaired before I would connect it to my COCO 3 to
be sure that it is in good working order.
GOOD LUCK MARIO.
Signed:
Kenney Trevino
1146 W. Lynwood St.
Phoenix, Arizona 85007-1917
=*
|
Submission Entries Rick, does it give you, as the editor, grief if our
submission entries are at other than the standard
600 baud rate? I have modified my working copy of C.
BAS on my Submission Template to 9600 baud so that I
can print out a copy of the submission without
having to POKE in the baud rate for my printer;
(although C.BAS on the disk that you are looking at
has NOT been altered.) If your answer is YES, I can
easily revert back to 600 baud.
Herb Forger 88 Dry Hill Rd, Norwalk, Ct 06851
-----
RICK: Herb it doesn't matter what your baud rate is
set at when saving or loading entries. This =>
____________________________________________________
would only be a (slight) problem if I tried to
print them from your disk and didn't check the baud
rate in "C.BAS" first. I rarely print entries from
submission disks, so I see no problem.
=*
|
TO LOGAN BLECKLEY In issue #23 of CFDM you asked in which issue of THE
RAINBOW ran a basic windows program. I believe the
feature article you are after is on page 100 of
March '89. It's entitled "CoCo Does Windows and a
Whole Lot More" by Tony Zamora. It is a basic shell
of routines which can be used to create your own
pull-down menu and point and click programs. You
simply enter your programs menu choices in data
statements and the program does the rest. I did key
in the program and use it quite a lot. In fact I
liked it so much I took Tony's idea and wrote a
simular program to work under GrafExpress 2.0 which
is dozens of times faster (see Jim Bennett's review
in #23). Requirements are: 512K and GrafExpress.
If interested please send $4.00 to cover my costs
to the following address: =>
____________________________________________________
PERRY FRIESEN
Box 1743
High Level, AB.
T0H 1Z0
GrafExpress is available from Rick's. It is an
awesome program and worth much more than the going
price. Also if there is enough interest in programs
running under GrafExpress please say so and I well
submit them to CFDM.
=*
|
