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Table of contents: |
| COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE Issue #36 | Home | Index | Magazine | ||||||
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| Articles in section: ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE |
| "ABOUT
CFDM" ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE |
| Back to top |
"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 |
| BONUS
DISK DIRECTORY (i36) CONTENTS...PART 1 (i36) CONTENTS...PART 2 (i36) PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i36) THIS MONTH'S COVER |
| Back to top |
Here's a description of the files on the BONUS DISK.
File names preceded by an asterisk are data files or
program files used by other programs. Do not RUN or
EXEC files preceded by an asterisk.
------------------- SIDE 1 -----------------------
CFDM SUBMISSION DISK TEMPLATE...SEE ACTIVE COCO
----------------------------------------------------
------------------- SIDE 2 -----------------------
NAME.........COMMAND..SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
* *5MAD .NIB.........ART GALLERY
* BUGSBUN .BAS.........PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* BUGSBUN .HR0.........DATA FILE FOR BUGSBUN.BAS
* BUGSBUN .HR1.........DATA FILE FOR BUGSBUN.BAS
* BUGSBUN .HR2.........DATA FILE FOR BUGSBUN.BAS =>
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* BUGSBUN .HR3.........DATA FILE FOR BUGSBUN.BAS
* BUGSOUND.SW .........DATA FILE FOR BUGSBUN.BAS
BUGSRUN .BIN.LOADM:EXEC PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* CFDM-PC .NIB.........ART GALLERY
* CFDMBABY.NIB.........ART GALLERY
* COLLAGE .NIB.........ART GALLERY
* HEADQTRS.NIB.........ART GALLERY
* INVA1994.NIB.........ART GALLERY
* LOWORBIT.NIB.........ART GALLERY
MAD .BAS..RUN....ART GALLERY
* NIBLOADR.BIN.........PIX LOADER UTILITY
NIBSHOW .BAS..RUN....ART GALLERY VIEWER
* PLYLODSW.BIN.........DATA FILE FOR BUGSBUN.BAS
* RUNABOUT.NIB.........ART GALLERY
* SIGNS .NIB.........ART GALLERY
* SYSTEM .NIB.........ART GALLERY =>
____________________________________________________
* WORLD .NIB.........ART GALLERY
=*
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ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE (2)
1 "ABOUT CFDM"
2 ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE
ABOUT THIS ISSUE (5)
1 BONUS DISK DIRECTORY (i36)
2 CONTENTS...PART 1 (i36)
3 CONTENTS...PART 2 (i36)
4 PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i36)
5 THIS MONTH'S COVER
ACTIVE COCO (4)
1 CFDM SUBMISSION DISK TEMPLATE
2 CFDM TRIVIA TEST
3 CHRISTMAS CARD PROJECT UPDATE
4 THE CFDM INDEXES =>
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ADVERTISEMENTS (9)
1 ADVENTURE SURVIVORS
2 CFDM Patches at $4.00 each
3 CFDM SUBSCRIPTION
4 NEW! MAX-10 BORDER DISK 1
5 SMALL GRAFIX ETC.
6 THE COCO REGISTRY 1ST UPDATE
7 THE COCO TRADER
8 The "UPGRADE" Disk Magazine
9 WANTED - to sell & buy
ARTICLES OF THE MONTH (3)
1 ELECTRONICS/DOUBLE SIDED DRIVES
2 ELECTRONICS/PART 2
3 FD 502 DRIVE PROBLEM RESOLVED
=>
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COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY (6)
1 CFDMBABY
2 More Cartoons for Rick
3 OUR WORLD
4 RUNABOUT & LOWORBIT
5 THE MAD MINUTE
6 VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY
FAMILY TREE (2)
1 'Tis I
2 HOORAY FOR THE CFDM EDITORS!!
FORUM (2)
1 COCO EMULATOR FUND UPDATE
2 HE FORGOT by Garry W Spencer <g>
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FROM THE EDITOR (2)
1 KUDOS <g>
2 THIRD ANNIVERSARY MESSAGE
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (7)
1 DON'T FORGET
2 EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS
3 MORE EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS
4 Miscellanea etc.
5 THANKS AGAIN
6 THIS AND THAT
7 USING 40 TRACKS/TELEWRITER OFFER
POTPOURRI (4)
1 CFDMTIME by Jim McNeill <g>
2 THE WIND BENEATH MY WINGS =>
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3 WHY LEAP YEARS?
4 What justice in the world?
PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH (10)
1 A Small Original Game......
2 ANALYST+
3 Bugs Bunny meets the CoCo 3 !!
4 ID
5 ORDERING THE PRESIDENTS AROUND
6 PREPO
7 PRINTME3 by Hallock/Stevens
8 VIEWING /CM3 PICTURES: "CM3MENU"
9 VIEWING /CM3 PICTURES: PART 2
10 VISULAID for forgetful eyes!
REVIEWS (2) =>
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1 ** CGP-220 COLOR PRINTS **
2 Uninterruptible Power System
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (7)
1 >> I NEED "ULTIMATERM3" DOCS! <<
2 FAX MODEMS ON THE COCO 3?
3 HELP
4 HELP FOR A SICK COCO 3
5 SIMPLY BETTER QUESTIONS?
6 The Interchangeable Startup Page
7 WORKING WITH GRAPHICS FILES
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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 are not to be RUN or EXECed!
NAME.........COMMAND..SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
ANALYST+.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* BFR .BIN........DATA FILE FOR ID.BAS
* CFDMINDX.00A........**************************
* CFDMINDX.00B........* *
* CFDMINDX.00C........* DATA FILES FOR *
* CFDMINDX.00D........* *
* CFDMINDX.00E........* CFDM INDEXES *
* CFDMINDX.00F........* *
* CFDMINDX.00G........* *
* CFDMINDX.00H........**************************
CFDMTRIV.BAS..RUN...ACTIVE COCO =>
____________________________________________________
CI .BAS..RUN...ACTIVE COCO
* CI .DRV........DATA FILE FOR CI.BAS
CM3MENU .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
ID .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
IMBECILE.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
KTC .BAS..RUN...QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
ORDER .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
PREPO .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
PRINTME3.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* SP3 .BIN........DATA FILE FOR VISULAID.BAS
VISULAID.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
WIND .BAS..RUN...POTPOURRI (MUSIC)
* WIND .BIN........DATA FILE FOR WIND.BAS
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3rd Anniversary I made up a picture for our 3rd Anniversary
cover picture. Let's sing a new song this new
year and really come out and support our CoCo 3
with new programs, new pictures, new articles,
etc. Thank's to Rick and all of his hard work
over these past years.
.............. Jim Gibbons
=*
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| Articles in section: ACTIVE COCO |
| CFDM
SUBMISSION DISK TEMPLATE CFDM TRIVIA TEST CHRISTMAS CARD PROJECT UPDATE THE CFDM INDEXES |
| Back to top |
CFDM SUBMISSION DISK TEMPLATE Back in June of 1994, I made a plea for material for
CFDM. You responded and we've been enjoying your
submissions for about 7 months now! And although we
still have a number of submission disks with certain
types of material, we are again running low on other
types. We need programs...we need Family Trees.....
we need articles...we need reviews...we need music
and graphics. Please help where you can!
In order to make it easier to submit material I've
included the standard Submission Disk Template on
side 1 of the Bonus Disk. Many of you have and use
this format to submit material. Others who joined
us later, do not have this disk. So now there's no
excuse for you to put off submitting your material!
=>
____________________________________________________
If you need some instructions, here's some tips on
how to submit material.
- MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF THE SUBMISSION DISK TEMPLATE
- USE THE BACKUP COPY TO SEND IN YOUR MATERIAL
- RUN "C.BAS" (if you use RGB) OR "M.BAS" (TV/CMP)
- WHEN THE MENU IS DISPLAYED, ENTER THE SECTION THAT
BEST FITS YOUR ENTRY.
- WHEN YOU ARE IN THE APPROPRIATE SECTION, HIGHLIGHT
'ENTRY WRITER' AND PRESS ENTER.
- ANSWER THE EACH PROMPT AND PRESS BREAK =>
____________________________________________________
- PRESS SHIFT/0 TO GET IN LOWERCASE LETTERS.
- TYPE IN YOUR ENTRY AND PRESS BREAK WHEN COMPLETE.
Please note that the Submission Disk Template has
39 FREE granules. Use the same side of the disk to
place any programs, graphic, etc. files.
A note to all: Please send an entry explaining your
contributed programs, graphics, etc. by using the
Entry Writer. I cannot include material in CFDM
without your explanations. Although I attempt to do
some editing of text entries, I sometimes leave it
basically as you send it. Be careful not to use
more words than necessary to explain your work. =*
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CFDM TRIVIA TEST Okay it's test time!! After three years of CFDM,
there's plenty of trivia that you should remember!
I've spent some time this morning going thru some of
the early issues to refresh my memory. If you have
all the issues, you can find the answers to the
questions I've come up with in "CFDMTRIV.BAS". You
can find this program on the back of this disk. Just
RUN "CFDMTRIV", get a piece of paper and pencil to
record your answers.
I'll give you until March 1st to return your answer
sheet to me. The Friend with the most correct
answers will receive a prize. In case of ties, I'll
randomly draw a winner.
If you enjoy this contest, you may wish to =>
____________________________________________________
compose one for the Friends. Just replace my data
statements with your questions and send in your
CFDM trivia disk. I'll try to get in as many as
possible.
If you don't have all the issues, you can get the
back issues for $4 each. To get them at this price
you must mention the trivia contest. Or you might
get some answers by calling on some of your CFDM
Friends!
=*
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CHRISTMAS CARD PROJECT UPDATE Thanks to the 25 Friends who participated in this
year's Christmas Card Project! And thanks for the
many beautiful cards that my family and I have
received from the CFDM Friends!! Here's a list of
those participating this year.
Vic Neufeldt, Clarence Bowers, Esther Millard, Norm
Barson, Laura Boyce, James McNeill, Dorothy Topping,
Michael Gross, Godfrey Moll, Nancy Lowery, Garry
Spencer, Guy Charbonnier, Pete Blackwell, Arnold
Garlic, Terry Simons, John B. Sayewich, Ben Walker,
Larry Bryant, Terry Stafford, Betty McCormick, Raul
Guido, Kathy Rumpel, Barry Miller, Loyal Gaskin, and
Terry Laraway.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! =*
|
THE CFDM INDEXES In issue #24 we included a database of all CFDM
entries thru the first 24 months. With this issue
you'll find a new database with the next 12 months,
issues #25-#36. Although the first effort included
the work of Stuart Wyss-Gallifent, Rick Cooper, and
Norm Barson, this update must be credited entirely
to Norm. Throughout the year he has added, sorted,
and corrected the additional entries which make this
a supplement to the first issue.
On the back side of this disk, you'll find the files
CI.BAS, CI.BIN, and the eight data files. RUN "CI"
and wait for the prompt that tells you to "PRESS A
KEY". There are three prompts that give the program
the information for your search. At the first
prompt, type in a key word or phrase that you =>
____________________________________________________
wish to find. (Only capital letters, numbers, and
symbols are acceptable.) You may also press ENTER
to signify "all entries". Also be aware that the
only exit to the program is at this first prompt.
Press BREAK here to exit.
At the second prompt press a letter to designate
which sections of CFDM to search (A searches all
sections). At the third prompt press a letter to
designate a theme you may be searching for. The
proper entries are displayed quickly. Press any key
to move to the next screen of entries.
>>>>> ENJOY! <<<<<
=*
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ADVENTURE SURVIVORS 24 Perthshire Drive
Peachtree City, GA 30269
Telephone (404) 487-8461
Adventure Survivors is a CoCo Adventures Players
Club. The Club bi-monthly Newsletter includes
comments, reviews, maps & solutions, and a SWAP
SHOPPE. FREE back-issue for NEW MEMBERS! Write
for a FREE introductory Newsletter!
--------------------------------------------------
Annual Dues: U.S....$6 Canada & Mexico....$7
All others....$10
--------------------------------------------------
D&D GRAPHIC ADVENTURES: THE POWERSTONES OF ARD II
2 disks....................$18 =>
____________________________________________________
(Both CoCo3, RGB/CMP) THE POWERSTONES OF ARD
(Newlife Pgm Inc)...$13
GRAPHIC ARCADE/ADVENTURE: HONOR QUEST, CoCo3,
RGB/CMP, J/S......$13
GRAPHIC ADVENTURES (CMP): TOMB OF T'IEN, and
MR. COREY...each..$10
TEXT ADVENTURE COMBOS: ATLANTIS, KINGDOM OF
BASHAN, ALCATRAZ.....$13
ESPIONAGE, CUBE ADV.,
4 MILE ISLAND........$13
MY HOUSE, PIRATES ADV.,
SNAKES (arcade)......$13
DATA MANAGEMENT COMBO: LABELIII, FILEIII,
PROGRAM FILE.........$13
FREE with a Combo Order: CASTLE OF THE CREATOR
(Text adventure)! =>
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DECB Software. DISCOUNTS for A.S. Members!
U.S. Dollars - Check or M.O.
S&H/ORDER: U.S. Mailing - $2
Canada or Mexico - $3
All others - $4
Mention your CoCo Registry number and get a
dollar off EACH ORDER!
=*
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CFDM Patches at $4.00 each When I advertised the CFDM patches for $7.00 each,
there was no real interest in it. Oh sure, G. Moll
bought one only AFTER he saw the actual product when
he visited Rick. AND I sold one to Bob Brutko 'cause
Mac asked me to bring Mac one when I visited Mac's
place this past June 1994.
I got to thinking: Was the price too high? Are the
Friends not very committed to CFDM? Was buying a
patch for a computer disk magazine too bizarre? Well
I can't answer the second two questions, but I
certainly can do something about the first question!
YES, THE TITLE YOU READ IS CORRECT!
CoCo Friend's Disk Magazine patches are now $4.00 =>
____________________________________________________
each. Shipping, handling, postage; all is included
in the price. Maybe more people will be interested
in them now that the price is lower.
I still have 61 left as of December 12, 1994. Once
they're gone, I won't order any more to be made.
This may be your final opportunity to order one.
Send your orders to: Ray Berney
Star Route 68 Box 880
Okanogan, WA 98840-9704
Thank you. =*
|
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!! =* |
NEW! MAX-10 BORDER DISK I N MAX-10 Only N
E BORDER $10.00 E
W DISK I W
----------------------------------------------------
Introducing 8 fresh new borders for Max-10. No re-
sizing or re-shaping is necessary! Each border comes
pre-sized for ease of use and high printout quality.
Includes other useful features and a detailed ten
page manual. Still not convinced? Send for a free
copy of the actual printout quality. Take Max-10 to
the max!
Also Available: $10.00-COCO MAX III GRAPHICS PACKAGE
ALADDIN OPTIMUS
JEFF CHO ALADDIN2 SUNSTREK
187 BRAMBLEBUSH RD. BEAST THEXDER
STOUGHTON, MA 02072 CONSTRUX THE WALL =*
|
SMALL GRAFX ETC. SMALL GRAFX ETC.
"Y" & "TRI" cables, Special 40 pin
MALE/FEMALE end connectors each...$6.50
Rainbow 40 wire ribbon cable per/ft....$1.00
Hitachi HD63C09E CPU & Socket.........$13.00
512K Upgrades.........................$72.00
MPI Pal upgrade. #26-3024 (chip),
#26-3124 (Satellite Board) ........$10.00
Serial to Parallel w/64k Buffer
Interface w/cables/ps .............$50.00
2400 Baud Hayes comb. extl. modems....$40.00
S/H EACH ORDER $2.00
=>
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Service, parts, & hard to find software,
complete documentation available. Inks &
refills kits for CGP-220, Cannon & HP
Inkjet printers, ribbons & Ver.6 Eprom for
CGP-220 Printer (BOLD MODE). Color Printing.
-------------------------------------------
TERRY LARAWAY
41 N.W. Doncee Drive
Bremerton, WA 98311
Telephone: 206-692-5374
-------------------------------------------
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THE COCO REGISTRY 1ST UPDATE The first updated CoCo Registry was recently sent to
nearly 180 members of the Registry. This first
update contains 364 records (102 more than the first
edition) and three or four new ads.
If you haven't sent in your data form, please do so
before it's too late! The final update will go out
in March, 1995. I believe it's definitely worth-
while to be in this database!
If you haven't ordered the Registry, you can get the
current edition and the March update for $12.
Rick's Computer Enterprise
P.O. Box 276
Liberty, KY 42539 =*
|
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) =*
|
WANTED - to sell & buy My daughter and son-in-law-to-be want to sell or
perhaps negotiate a trade:
Commodore 128k w/ 64k mode; BMC green screen monitor
; #1541 Disk drive; #1571 Disk drive; MPS #802
printer; VIC #1525 printer (like new); Mouse and
Joystick; All operating manuals, VCR tape tutorial
and Computer Tutor. Software includes: Certificate
Maker; Wordwriter 128; Power Assembler; Word Pro w/
File Pro; Spanish I & II; Science I & II; Personal
Spreadsheet; DOS Shell; Self Load (speed); Pro
Financial Organizer; Wordmaster Senior; Home
Managment; Pro DOS User's Disk; DOS 3.3 System
Master; Consultant; Spell Pack Dictionary; lots of
games and copies of other software. All cables are
included.------------------------------------->
=>
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They are interested in buying - price is important
- a hard drive for a TANDY 1000 SX/2 - perhaps
someone has a used one they'd like to sell or
trade. Also, last but by no means least, my
daughter wants a SHANGHAI that will run on the
Tandy 1000 SX/2 (PLEASE help me, send her home
and get her off MY CoCo!).
They're asking $300 for the Commodore, complete
as listed, but this is negotiable.
Contact: John Lickert or Barbara Zurga
106 Brooks St
Paris TN 38242
(901) 644-1948
Make an offer!
=*
|
| Articles in section: ARTICLES OF THE MONTH |
| ELECTRONICS/DOUBLE
SIDED DRIVES ELECTRONICS/PART 2 FD 502 DRIVE PROBLEM RESOLVED |
| Back to top |
ELECTRONICS/DOUBLE SIDED DRIVES J.R. Waggoner mentioned that for the last six weeks he had been unable to access the back of his double sided drives. I would like to share with our readers some of what I have learned about electronics, living in the lightning capitol of the U.S.. The biggest enemy of computers is static electricity followed by heat and lightning. Generally, the more complex the chip and the closer to an I/O the more danger. I have a 15 amp circuit breaker in my electrical box with a single 14ga, two conductor with ground cable which is only for my computer bench. At the output of the circuitbreaker is a varister to ground. An electrical surge is shorted to ground by the varister which will blow the circuitbreaker. Under the bench I have a => ____________________________________________________ buss with 8 two amp circuitbreakers and 2 ten amp circuitbreakers, each with it's own varister. All outlets are grounded. A copper strip on the rear of the bench top is wired to ground. During my weekly dusting, I use a cloth dampened with a liquid static guard and fabric softner, which keeps the bench top static free. (This is a trick I learned from Honey- well.) The buildup of static electricity is of special concern in carpeted areas and aggravated by low hum- idity. For working on electronic circuits, I have a wrist strap which plugs into the copper strip on the bench. I use a grounded, temperature controlled, soldering iron. I have muffen fans mounted in my disk drives, computer, and under my monitor. => ____________________________________________________ The electric pole behind my house has been hit by lightning several times and it has only blown the circuitbreaker. Back to J.R. - Side selection on double sided drives is done with pin 32. When this pin goes high (5v.) the second side is selected. On single sided drives, Radio Shack used this pin for drive 3. (The fourth drive, which is why you can use four single sided drives, but only three double sided.) These lines are usually buffered by hex inverters. (74LS04 are common.) These are tested with a didgetal probe or an ocileoscope, to see that changes input result in changes in output. Before going that far, check for bent or dirty contacts on both ends of the ribbon cable. (See ELECTRONICS/PART 2) =* |
ELECTRONICS/PART 2 If the chips are in sockets, carefully reseating the chips can dislodge dust which my have worked its way into the sockets, interrupting the signal. It is doubtful the drives would be at fault since both drives are affected. A side note to Dave Otis - I picked up my spare CoCo 3 from a pawn shop for $20 because it would only put garbage on the screen. I had a spare HC63B09E and figured what the heck - I've paid more than that for a keyboard. The new CPU did nothing so I reseated the memory and PAL chips. BINGO! So I plugged in the old CPU and it's been doing well for over a year now. This is the reason I can test software under DECB, ADOS, ADOS 3, and Extended ADOS 3 with both 128K or 512K of memory. =* |
FD 502 DRIVE PROBLEM RESOLVED I recently bought a Tandy FD 502 disk drive for my
system because one of my original drives (circa '83)
started acting up. The 502 was a single unit in a
case & works very well. Then I bought a 2nd 502 to
put into the same case with the intent of obtaining
4 physical drives (via pokes or burned EPROM). The
results were not that cut & dry, & so I would like
to relate my problem for those of you who may wish
to follow this route:
I found both drives optioned as drive "0"s & they
would both turn ON with a DIR 0 command. A friend t
old me about a 4 pin connector UNDER the main-board
that had a plastic coated connector between pins 0 &
1 (left to right) as you look at the drive UPSIDE -
DOWN. I removed the connector & it no longer saw =>
____________________________________________________
the 2nd drive as drive 0. But drive 1 was still use-
less. Using "Who's Whom in CFDM", I found 8 folks
who had dual 502 drives & tried to call them. To my
dismay only half of these folks are listed in the
REGISTRY! I did reach a few & got some help & then I
called John Daniels & told him my story. He agreed
to look into my problem & called back the next day
with the solution. He checked his manuals & drives &
found there are actually 8, not 4 extender pins
UNDER the main-board, which I had missed seeing. The
resolution to my problem which is quite simple
(although I guess everyone is not aware of it) is as
follows:
To change an FD 502 drive from a drive 0 to a drive
1, remove the plastic connector from the =>
____________________________________________________
UPPERMOST left pins as discribed above (pins 0 & 1)
& reinsert it over the 2 pins DIRECTLY beneath them;
that is the pins between the UPPERMOST pins & the
main-board. I did & my drives work fine, all 4 of
them. The Bottom Line: John Daniels, Thank You, & I
owe you! Your help & research worked for me! Let me
know if I can ever return the favor!
I hope other CFDM friends can benefit from this bit
of information.
Herb Forger, 88 Dry Hill Rd, Norwalk, CT 06851
Tel: (203) 847-4282
=*
|
| Articles in section: COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY |
| CFDMBABY More Cartoons for Rick OUR WORLD RUNABOUT & LOWORBIT THE MAD MINUTE VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY |
| Back to top |
CFDMBABY
One of our Great cartoonist, Michael Lewis, left the
CoCo world a few months ago. I recently talked to
Mike and told him about the CoCo 3 Emulator. Mike
expressed his desire to rejoin us and I hope he'll
do that thru the emulator.
I still have a few of Mike's great drawings in the
CFDM holding tray. CFDMBABY can be found on side 2
of the Bonus Disk. RUN "NIBSHOW" to view Mike's
picture.
=*
|
More Cartoons for Rick
With more spare time on my hands now that there is
more evening, I can devote more time to my trusty
CoCo! (YEA!!) Finding subject matter that is
non-offensive, however, is more difficult though.
Fortunately, I have my sources and my warped
imagination.....
Now that Rick has tried his hand at hidden pictures,
here's my rendition. You might have to look REAL
hard, though. (COLLAGE)
NEWS OF THE FUTURE, NINE YEARS FROM NOW.....
The long-awaited completion of the new headquarters
of CoCo Friend's Disk Magazine has been realized.
(HEADQTRS)
=>
____________________________________________________
Stuart WG must be up to something when he and his
buddy put up this kind of a sign when they expect a
visit from the famous CFDM Editor-in-Chief, Rick
Cooper. (SIGNS)
Here's the latest (?) setup of my equipment in my
CoCo System. (SYSTEM)
and last, but not least,
Here's my vision of Jeff V's latest PC emulator -
CFDM for Windows! (CFDM-PC)
I hope more of you can send in some type of graphic
file to Rick, no matter if it is funny or serious.
Chai B,Ben W,Stu WG,Mike L,MadMike,Mac and Ray B. =*
|
OUR WORLD
After much thought about how our world is going -
from bad to worse - I drew two examples of what I
thought the world might be coming to. I did these
before I began to have this eye trouble I now have.
I can barely see the monitor as I type this.
I surely hope all of you COCOers out there are
doing better than me.
May God bless Rick Cooper and all the COCOers.
I want to thank all COCOers who have helped me all
through the years but especially the following:
Rick Cooper Jim Bennett James Mills
Floyd Kiernan John Sayewich Stuart Wyss-Gallifent
HJM-------=*
|
RUNABOUT & LOWORBIT
I've finished touching up a couple of digitized
pictures and have them converted to .NIB format.
These were taken from a videotaped episode of Deep
Space Nine. ...they are both captioned and pretty
much self-explanatory.
...After playing around with the various graphics
formats, I think I'm starting to see the light in
this aspect of CoCoing. Hopefully, I'll be able to
go through back issues of CFDM and take advantage of
the nifty graphics programs the subscribers have
offered. Those back issues are just a treasure chest
of goodies - so many neat things to learn about.
Thanks for making it all possible.
=>
____________________________________________________
RUNABOUT and LOWORBIT are located on side 2 of the
Bonus Disk. RUN NIBSHOW.BAS to view these pictures.
-----
And with Jim's pictures let's announce that issue
#39 with it's planned Bonus Disk will be our long
awaited Sci-Fi issue. We've already received some
submissions for the issue, but we'd really enjoy
anything that other Friends can come up with. Let's
make this a very special event!.....Please give us
a hand.
=*
|
THE MAD MINUTE
While in the army artillery I was introduced to an
interesting way the military impresses non-military
personnel. On important occasions (Flag Day, Army/
Navy Day, Fourth of July, visit from a Congress
person, etc.) we would line up the entire division
artillery and shoot everything as fast as we could
for thirty seconds at some anti-American rock which
the commanding officer would designate. This would
allow us to use up our old stale ammunition so we
could order new. I thought it was really great
because the rocks never shot back. (RUN "MAD" on the
Program/Side of this disk.
Garry Spencer
909 E. 26th Ave.
Tampa, FL =*
|
VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY
Please use NIBSHOW to view the .NIB pictures on this
month's disk. As you recall, NIBSHOW was featured
in issue #18 and a more complete documentation can
be found there. NIBSHOW is the contribution of our
Friend Stuart Wyss-Gallifent. Thanks Stuart!
After RUNning NIBSHOW, press D for a directory of
the NIB pictures on the disk. Use the arrow keys to
choose a picture and press the spacebar to view it.
Press BREAK to leave the picture. Press X at the
MAIN MENU to exit NIBSHOW.
=*
|
| Articles in section: FAMILY TREE |
| 'Tis
I HOORAY FOR THE CFDM EDITORS!! |
| Back to top |
'Tis I Hi, friends. Well, I finally got around tuit. I'll
be 60 this Dec. '94 and have been a CoCoist since
Xmas '80. Gone through lots of upgrades, add-ons
and lots of tinkering. I still have my old CoCo1
with the 'D' board. It went through upgrades to 16,
32 and 64K, ECB and, excepting a problem with the
'chiclet' keyboard, it still works. I now have 2
CoCo1's (1-'F'board 64k) 4 CoCo2's (3 US - 1 Korean
- all 64k), several printers and other stuff. My
CoCo2's are 'loaned' out to friends and relatives.
After more than 35 years as an electronics tech-
nician (Radio & TV repairman, folks), I was forced
to retire due to a CVA (stroke). So, if I take my
time and don't become too aggravated, I am pretty
well qualified to repair or upgrade MY OWN
=>
____________________________________________________
equipment.
After I 'got back on my feet' and found out I
couldn't work and learned the VA would 'take care'
of me, I went back to college and for about six
years studied everything from anatomy to zoology,
including 3 semesters of computer programming
(learned more from good old RAINBOW, even though I
was on the Dean's List 3 times.
What do I do now? Play with my CoCo (of course),
garden (a few veggies and lots of flowers), go
fishing, read (lots of everything, especially
science and science fiction), and travel when I can
afford it. I manage to keep busy and I love being
retired and doing what pleases me (when I can afford
it).
'Though I mentioned the RAINBOW in a good =>
____________________________________________________
light (I'm sorry they went away), I really believe
I enjoy CFDM (and others) AT LEAST as much as I ever
did the RAINBOW. I only wish I had subscribed to
CFDM years sooner, then I wouldn't have to try to
play 'catch up'.
There isn't enough space to say it individually,
so I'll say it collectively - many heartfelt THANKS
to all those who submit to and support CFDM and the
rest of the CoCo community.
THANK YOU, FOLKS!
Pete Blackwell
1408 1/2 McFadden
Paris TN 38242-3225
(901) 644-2635
=*
|
HOORAY FOR THE CFDM EDITORS!! The editors of CFDM, now there's a great group of
CoCoists!! Who are they and how did they get to be
editors? Back in November of 1991 (was it that long
ago?) I started putting together the ingredients I
felt would be needed to make this project a success.
Here's a few things that would be needed, programs
to display the magazine, subscribers who would not
only purchase a subscription but also participate,
and finally a small core of dedicated CoCoists with
the talents to produce quality contents.
The first part was up to me and the second relied on
advertising and word of mouth. The third essential
was acquired by making a list of contributors to the
Rainbow, creating a recruitment letter, and after
mailing out about fifty, waiting. =>
____________________________________________________
I still have the original handwritten list around
here somewhere. As the responses came in I marked
the list with "yes", "no", "no longer at this
address", "fine idea, but I've left the CoCo", etc.
Our agreement with those that did start out was to
give them a free six month subscription for their
help. Although all contributed to our early success,
I choose seven who seemed to be most interested in
our project to be our permanent staff of editors.
Only one other, Arthur Hallock, has since been added
to our list.
Although there are many other CFDM Friends who could
easily qualify as editors thru their faithfullness
and quality contributions, we had to draw a =>
____________________________________________________
line somewhere!
These eight editors have certainly been a major
reason that CFDM has lasted these first three years!
Thanks fellows!
Norm Barson Jim Bennett H Allen Curtis
Jim Gibbons Arthur Hallock George Quellhorst
Robert Allen Turner Stuart Wyss-Gallifent
Of course I'd like to mention my in-house staff too!
Thanks Donna, Kristin, Kasey, and Kayla!
=*
|
| Articles in section: FORUM |
| COCO
EMULATOR FUND UPDATE HE FORGOT by Garry W Spencer <g> |
| Back to top |
COCO EMULATOR FUND UPDATE On November 19th the CoCo 3 Emulator Bounty Escrow
stood at $133.75. Today, December 21st, our fund is
at $202.75...and that's AFTER I've sent Jeff a check
for $1000! The balance of $202.75 will be added to
in the coming months. Hopefully we will be able to
collect enough to get Jeff's transportation paid to
Kentucky for Rick's Picnic! If this doesn't work
out we'll find an alternative!
Here's how we stand:
Beginning Balance November 19, 1994.......$133.75
Jim Elbourne 5.00
Norm Barson 10.00
Terry Stafford 5.00
James Ogden 5.00
Ben Walker 5.00
Leroy Gschwind 15.00 =>
____________________________________________________
Ray Smith 5.00
Leroy Rafalski 10.00
Nazaire Lamarre 5.00
Arthur Weisberg 20.00
Refund -35.00
Loyal B. Gaskin 5.00
Bob Bonilla 14.00
Ending Balance December 21, 1994 202.75
Thanks to all that have participated and let's
continue to add to this to get Jeff down for Rick's
Picnic!!
=*
|
| Articles in section: FROM THE EDITOR |
| KUDOS
<g> THIRD ANNIVERSARY MESSAGE |
| Back to top |
|
<< ROY ATKINS >> << BOB BARKER >> << NORM BARSON >> << RAY BERNEY >> << JACK BISHOP >> << PETE BLACKWELL >> << DEBRA CAIN >> << JEFF CHO >> << H ALLEN CURTIS >> << JIM ELBOURNE >> << R. V. ENSMINGER >> << HERB FORGER >> << LOYAL B. GASKIN >> << JIM GIBBONS >> << ARTHUR HALLOCK >> << KEIRAN KENNY >> << TERRY LARAWAY >> << MICHAEL LEWIS >> << KENT LORENTZEN >> << JIM MCNEILL >> << JIM MILLS >> << HAROLD MOENICH >> << GODFREY MOLL >> << RAFAEL ORTIZ >> <<LIN & NAN PADGETT >> << DESMOND RAE >> << ALVIN ROBINSON >> << JEANNE ROONEY >> << CHARLIE ROUND >> << TERRY SIMONS >> << GARRY SPENCER >> << TERRY STAFFORD >> << JIM STERNETT >> << LARRY STEVENS >> << KENNEY TREVINO >> << ROBERT A. TURNER >> << BEN WALKER >> << LESLIE WALTZ >> << SALLY WARDLOW >> << ARTHUR WEISBERG >> << EDWARD WOLAK >> << STUART WYSS-GALLIFENT >> |
THIRD ANNIVERSARY MESSAGE Can you believe it? Three years, thirty-six months,
or thirty-six issues of CFDM! My but time passes so
quickly!
It's December 23rd as I write this entry. Here in
Liberty it's about 40 degrees and no snow in the
forecast for Christmas! Actually I'd like to have a
little for this occasion. (At least I'll make this
entry white, just to give the snowy appearance!)
Allow me to take this opportunity to THANK all you
faithful Friends who have made CFDM a success for
these many issues! Yesterday I went thru some of
the early issues and the great energy and spirit was
not difficult to see and feel! Many of the names in
those early issues are still right here with us =>
____________________________________________________
today....and many are not. Believe it or not, when
I look back through my database of names, it makes
me very sad to see the names of Friends that are no
longer with us. Maybe that's being sentimental, but
these "names without faces" mean a great deal to me!
At this time each year I have resolved to continue
CFDM for at least one more year. I make that same
resolution this year while at the same time I must
resolve to take more time for my family and away
from the computer. It does take a great deal of time
to do this and that time can never be recaptured. My
family has been very patient to allow me to do this
project that God blessed me with. And I hope that I
can be more proficient at putting CFDM together so
as to allow more time for them. =>
____________________________________________________
We do need to revitalize our group. We need new
projects and program ideas. I have plenty of program
ideas, just no time to do them! So, here's to the
next twelve issues...Let's have some more fun!!!!
----------------------------------------------------
And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant
king instead of David my father: and I am but a
little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which
thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be
numbered nor counted for multitude.
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to
judge thy people, that I may discern between good
and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great
a people?
I KINGS 3:7-9 =*
|
| Articles in section: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| DON'T
FORGET! EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS MORE EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS Miscellanea etc. THANKS AGAIN THIS AND THAT USING 40 TRACKS/TELEWRITER OFFER |
| Back to top |
DON'T FORGET! ..I also want to thank you, Rick, for providing the
focus for us 'CoCo Nuts'. I learn something with
each issue. So I am always watching the mailbox
toward the middle of the month, looking forward to
meeting new friends through CFDM. Oh NO! This is
the last month on my subscription!
This inspired me to include the graphic "DON'T
FORGET" (see the FORUM entry). I am enclosing a $30
money order so I won't miss the Christmas issue. I
hope to start catching up on the back issues in the
spring.
Does anyone know of a source for 'The Newspaper'?
=>
____________________________________________________
Garry W. Spencer
909 E. 26th Ave.
Tampa, FL 33605-1749
-----
RICK: Garry, thanks for your input in this and
previous issues! I think your art work and
sense of humor are tops!!
=*
|
EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS I hope that this year has been a joy to you all,
it has been for me for the most part. I have met
some new friends to add to the old friends and that
is a blessing that I am grateful for.
The Rick's Computer Enterprise Family has made my
life a real pleasure that I treasure. My Joy, My
Spirit, My Happiness, My Love goes out to you all.
- Loyal B. Gaskin
30 Framingham Dr. Ap. 5-F Waterbury, CT 06705-1653
----------------------------------------------------
Please find enclosed my check for renewing my
subscription. I would really miss CFDM, I think you
pull off minor miracles getting it together the way
you do every month.
=>
____________________________________________________
- Debra Cain
P.O. Box 48156 Cumberland, NC 28331
----------------------------------------------------
...I really enjoy receiving the disk and HARDCOPY.
Also I noticed that Harvey Driscoll wanted info
on 512K upgrades. I just got mine from Terry Laraway
and had it installed by Radio Shack Service Dept.
Terry's address is advertised in your CoCo Registry,
advertisement side. Terry furnishes instructions
for installation, if you want to do it yourself.
- R. V. Ensminger
5111 Glen Ridge L12
San Antonio, TX 78229
----------------------------------------------------
=>
____________________________________________________
By this time you have given up on me no doubt. I
received your very informative answer to my inquiry
back in July and as I was down, the CoCo I mean,
nothing got done at the time. Now however the beast
has returned from the Tandy repair center and I also
bought an IBM compatible system from someone who got
bored with it after four months.
- Jeanne Rooney
P.O. Box 3225 Seminole, FL 34645
----------------------------------------------------
I am always amazed at the continued interest in the
CoCo. I wonder if Tandy has bruises where it doesn't
show, caused by kicking themselves.
- Jack Bishop
201 2512 First Ave. NW
Calgary, AB Canada T2N 0C2 =*
|
MORE EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS Hi Rick,
Here's my donation for Jeff Vavasour's CoCo3
Emulator. I think it is a great idea!!! ...Thank you
also for the good assistance. Two CoCo Friends
responded to my request on the MAX10 dictionary
program. My MAX10 word processor works Great!!!
- Rafael Ortiz
4900 Woodman #4
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
----------------------------------------------------
Please extend my subscription to CFDM...also send
the CoCo Registry. It is always a pleasure to sit
down and go through CFDM each month. There sure are
some talented contributors. =>
____________________________________________________
- Kent Lorentzen
HC 02 Box 54
Jacobson, MN 55752-9707
Phone (218) 752-6678
----------------------------------------------------
Please renew my subscription and add $5.00 to the
CoCo III Emulator Escrow. CFDM gets better with
each issue. MUSIC3+ was a big hit at my house.
Thanks to George J. Quellhorst, Falsoft, and CFDM.
Keep up the good work.
- Terry Stafford
107 John Hunter HWY
Elora, TN 37328
----------------------------------------------------
I am enclosing $10 for a copy of the CoCo2 Emulator
and remaining money be placed in the CoCo3 =>
____________________________________________________
Emulator Bounty Escrow. Glad to see the fund is
growing so nicely!
I'm at the lake, (no CoCo) but the Indian Summer has
been fabulous and beautiful this year. I feel guilty
ignoring my CoCo these past few weeks, but I'm
afraid Ole Man Winter will be upon us soon. Chores
must prevail!
- Charlie Round
823 Lotus Dr.
Erie, MI 48133-9634
=*
|
Miscellanea etc. Dear Rick: In the program VISULAID I used the equa-
tion model R=INT(RND(-TIMER)*8)+1 wherever random-
isation was called for. Especially with a small num-
ber of items to be randomised, it can be difficult
to get a good mix of the order in which values are
generated.
---------------------------------------------------
QUESTION: Is there any way of recovering a CFDM text
that has been accidentally killed? I tried to "sal-
vage" a file with CCTOOLS, but file did not show on
the salvage directory. I tried the edit facility and
the menu title, filename and text were intact. I did
not find a filename anywhere else on the disk.
----------------------------------------------------
I wrote last that Arthur Williams had located a new
disk drive for me at Tandy. After some difficulty,=>
____________________________________________________
he finally got it in his hands and lo-and-behold
it was a 120 volt/50 cycle US model. A step-down
transformer suggests itself but that's not a solut-
ion. For some reason oveheating problems arise. So
I'll just have to cherish and care-for my old FD-500
until Arthur hears of another source. I have thanked
Arthur privately for all his time and trouble, but I
think a public thank-you is also in order here!
----------------------------------------------------
I spent some time on AFDOS (CFDM #27) and suffered a
shock when it seemed that everything on my new #27
was being erased. There's no April Fool like an old
April Fool! Just to teach you a lesson, I sentence
you to punctuate this so that it makes sense: THAT
THAT IS IS THAT THAT IS NOT IS NOT IS NOT THAT IT IT
IT IS (Solution on Page 3) =>
____________________________________________________
Solution
THAT THAT IS, IS. THAT THAT IS NOT, IS NOT. IS NOT
THAT IT? IT IS.
----------------------------------------------------
RICK: We haven't heard from Keiran for awhile. My
guess is that he has not yet acquired a new drive
and his old one has apparently bit the dust! I do
hope we get this most prolific contributed back on
line soon!
Per salvaging a killed CFDM entry. Before saving
another entry on the disk, look at tracks 8 and 9.
Find your filename and change the 0 (appears 10
bytes before filename) to 255. Now load the entry,
enter Entry Writer (Edit mode) and SAVE it. =*
|
THANKS AGAIN Thanks again for another subscription of CFDM. I
enjoy reading each issue and appreciate the efforts
that go into each one. Also thanks for the COCO 2
Emulator. I didn't know where to place my plea for
help, (see Terry's entry in Q & A) but I am sure you
can move it where it suits best. We must stick
together with help when one of our Friends have a
system down. Anyway we can all learn from
participating. Has anyone done an article on how the
COCO works?
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK EVERYONE!!!
-----
RICK: Thanks for your efforts Terry! No one has
attempted an article on how the CoCo works. =*
|
THIS AND THAT The enclosed is for the CoCo Emulator-Travel fund. I
still have not gotten the emulator (CoCo 2) to work
properly. It still reads from Drive 'A' disk.
I am very interested in the picnic for next summer
and I will attend. Perhaps I can learn how to
install and run the emulator at that time.
- Ben Walker
17753 FM Road 344 West
Flint, TX 75762
-----
RICK: Okay Ben, that makes two of us that will be
there!!
=>
____________________________________________________
Enclosed is a check for $35.00. $30 to renew my
subscription and $5 to help on the development fund
for the CoCo3 Emulator. Please keep us advised on
it's progress. Enjoyed the CoCo Registry although
I was disappointed that there are no other CoCo Nuts
in Baton Rouge or even the surrounding area. Keep
the CFDM coming.
- Jim Elbourne
1532 Thibodeaux Ave.
Baton Rouge, LA 70806
-----
RICK: Thanks for your renewal and contribution Jim!
Maybe someone in your area will show up in one
of the CoCo Registry updates. =>
____________________________________________________
..My favorite wordprocessor is Word Power 3.3 and I
also like several others at times. I use Simply
Better for some purposes and MAX10 for other things.
The VIP Library is very useful also at times but I
still go to WP3 for my overall work.
I wish I was more able to understand a lot of the
uses and programming that is in your mag but I get
enough out of it to continue to enjoy it. Especially
like the HARDCOPY and would like to get the two
subscriptions to end at the same time.
- Alvin E. Robinson
30 Nollkamper
Boerne, TX 78006
=*
|
USING 40 TRACKS/TELEWRITER OFFER ...I am now enjoying #34 disk. You have been doing a
real good job for all of us...I am enclosing a check
for another 6-months enjoyment. I look forward to
receiving these disks. I am pretty busy most of the
time but when the new disk arrives everything stops.
I use 40-track disks and I use a program called
"NUTRAX.BIN" to extend your 35-tracks to 40-tracks
and then make back-up disks immediately before I get
to pressing RUN "C" <Enter>. It has worked out very
well for me up to now. No losses.
The rainy season has arrived for Oregon and I just
got around to a project I had in mind. That was to
make a copy, on disk, of my word processor user's
manual (Telewriter-128). Finally finished the =>
____________________________________________________
job. Even ran a copy of it. If anyone needs a copy
I'd be glad to send them a set of disks (2). The
trouble is I use 40-track disks. I wonder if I made
copies with only 35-tracks of data on each side if
it could be read by a 35-track disk drive system.
Maybe one of you people who are more experienced on
computers than I am would know.
- Arthur Weisberg
230 E. Bain Drive
Tidewater, OR 97390
-----
Rick: Thanks for your offer Arthur! I know that
quite a few Friends still use Telewriter and you are
probably going to get some calls. =*
|
| Articles in section: POTPOURRI |
| CFDMTIME
by Jim McNeill <g> THE WIND BENEATH MY WINGS WHY LEAP YEARS? What justice in the world? |
| Back to top |
THE WIND BENEATH MY WINGS The Wind Beneath My Wings was sung by Bette
Midler in the movie "BEACHES"
RUN"WIND"
*=
|
WHY LEAP YEARS? I was driving home from work today (September 1,
1993), and for some reason or the other, the subject
of Leap Years crossed my mind. I learned of their
purpose some time ago in a science classroom. During
the drive, I wondered just how many other of the
CFDM'ers knew the reason and purpose of Leap Years.
Up until now, I had just naturally assumed that all
schools taught this, but I realized that many of my
friends had no idea (actually, none that I had ever
asked knew the answer).
Well, here is the answer as it was taught to me:
Each year is actually 365.25 days in length. Rather
than attempt to account for that one qaurter of a
day every year, it is just ignored for four years,
at which point it equals one whole day. It is then=>
____________________________________________________
added to February, presumably because February is
the shortest month of the year.
I know that this has nothing to do with computers,
but I just thought that I would share it with the
readers of CFDM. I hope that this little tidbit of
information is of interest to some of the CoCo
Friends. I would also like to invite readers to
submit what they may consider 'little-known' or
otherwise interesting facts. I like to learn all
that I can.
Robert Allen Turner, PO Box 396, Double Springs,
Alabama 35553-0396 =*
|
What justice in the world? CHEERS
-----------------
The horse and mule live thirty years,
And knows nothing of wines and beers.
The goat and sheep they also die,
And never taste of scotch and rye.
The cows drink water by the ton,
And at eighteen years are mostly done.
Without the aid of rum or gin,
The dog at fifteen cashes in.
The cat in milk and water soaks,
Then in twelve short years it croaks. =>
____________________________________________________
The modest, sober, bone-dry hen,
Lays eggs for nogs, then dies at ten.
All animals are strictly dry,
They sinless, love and swiftly die.
But sinful, gin-ful, rum soaked men,
Survive by three score years and ten.
And some of us -- a mighty few,
Keep drinking 'til we're ninety-two!
*** anon ***
=*
|
A Small Original Game...... After I got done programming a very large (10 gran.) Adventure game, I got the urge to program a more reasonably sized game. I got out my PMAZE (Print MAZE) program and printed out a 28x21 maze, then started coding the rooms. But when I realized there were 2352 room locations to be determined, I panicked. So, I switched to a 16x16 maze. This proved to be much easier on my mind, with only 1024 locations. After adding the necessary logic and some dorky sounds, it turned into another Aventure. But, at least this is only 4 granules long. It has only 5 verbs and 8 nouns. I tried to make it simple for all Friends to enjoy, since almost all are users and not programmers like me. So, try to get out of the maze in as few turns as possible. Fittingly, the name of this program is "IMBECILE.BAS" =* |
ANALYST+ While puzzling over how to recover the five
tracks that are lost when a 35 track disk is backed
up to a 40 track formatted disk, I came across a
nifty program on page 84 of the March '86 issue of
RAINBOW by Marty Goodman. The program is called
ANALYZER, and is used to produce a hardcopy analysis
of the contents of a disk, based on the information
contained in the disk directory and GAT. The program
lists filenames, type of file, how it is saved,
starting granule, granules used for the file,
number of sectors used in the last granule, and the
number of the last byte in the last sector. It also
indicates killed files and invalid GAT entries or
the existance of a scrunched GAT. The article also
describes how the ends of different types of files
are marked. I was impressed by the information =>
____________________________________________________
that could be obtained using this program, but it
would hang up if an empty file was encountered, and
no provision was included to view the contents of
the disk sectors. It was written for the 32 C.W.
screen.
Since it provided so much information, I felt
that Marty's basic program could be expanded to be
even more useful as an aid to reconstructing a
crashed disk. As an added bonus, I included a
section to solve the problem of the lost tracks
after a 35 track disk backup.
The resulting program is called ANALYST+. It is
written for the 80 CW screen, and (although it ISN'T
a disk editor) in addition to allowing you to view
or print the same information as above, it will also
permit you to view or print the contents of any =>
____________________________________________________
individual sector or any granule, sector by sector.
It will also allow you to restore access to tracks
35-39 of a 40 track formatted disk after making a 35
track disk backup.
The program operation should be self-evident,
but reference to the above-mentioned article may be
helpful for use of the information provided by the
program.
This program uses the screen/printer routine for
the printout and should work with either RS-DOS 2.0
or 2.1. It prints in the high speed mode and is set
for use with a printer running at 2400 baud by the
POKE150,40 in line 8. If your printer does not run
at 2400 baud, use the correct poke for TWICE your
printer speed.
=*
|
Bugs Bunny meets the CoCo 3 !! On side two of this disk, you will find a demo program I wrote about four years ago while I was still in High School. (Probably explains why I never did so well.) The picture is of Bugs BBunny. It was originally sent to me by a friend of mine from Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S.A. I then converted it in to a file that was of more use to me. Then I scratched about and found a Cartoon with Bugs in it, and digitized it using Studio Work. I then wrote a program to load the picture and the audio as well. Once this part was fine, I then added a title page to it and some mild protection to the program. Use only a standard RS-Dos disk controller to run this program. Only 128K required! Enjoy! Dez. (LOADM "BUGSRUN":EXEC. Side 2 Bonus Disk) =* |
ID ID, the subject of this article, has nothing to do with the psyche or with identification. ID is a game of solitaire. The initials, ID, form a very short acronym standing for Idiot's Delight. Another solitaire, Aces High, is sometimes called Idiot's Delight, but ID to my knowledge has no other name than Idiot's Delight. ID features a Tableau, a Playing Section, and a Foundation. The Tableau initially consists of 9 piles of facing up cards. The piles are numbered 1 through 9. At the start of the game, pile 1 has 1 card, pile 2 has 2 cards, ... , pile 9 has 9 cards. The remaining cards of the deck are in the Playing Section which consists of 7 piles of 1 face up card each. The Playing Section piles are designated by the letters T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z. => ____________________________________________________ On the Foundation, cards are played in ascending SUIT sequence from Ace through King. Cards may be played to the Foundation from the Playing Section or the Tableau. Only the card at the bottom of a vertical Tableau pile, the only card of the pile that is fully displayed, may be moved. It may be moved to another Tableau pile or to the Foundation. On the bottom cards of Tableau piles, cards are played in descending sequence in alternating colors. These bottom cards are played on by a bottom card of another Tableau pile or by a Playing Section pile. Any bottom card of a Tableau pile may be played to an empty Tableau pile as may a Playing Section card. Key commands are used to make the plays. To play a card from Playing Section pile V, for instance, to the Foundation, merely press the keys, V and F, => ____________________________________________________ in succession. Similarly, to play a bottom card from pile 7 to pile 4 of the Tableau, you would press the keys 7 and 4 in succession. An illegal play will cause a beep to be sounded. At the bottom of the ID screen is a menu to remind you of the keys that may be used to make the plays. The menu shows one additional key, Q, which is used to Quit by pressing it twice in succession. It should be noted that if a Tableau pile has 9 or more cards, each succeeding card played on it will be the new bottom card and completely cover the previous bottom card. ID uses Vegas style scoring: The game starts with a score of -52. 5 points are added to the score for every card played to the Foundation. You win the game if you attain a score of 208. =* |
ORDERING THE PRESIDENTS AROUND Of course we'd all like to...and here's your chance
to order the Presidents around!
Actually this program allows you to see how quickly
you can rearrange a list of randomly misplaced
Presidents. From the display screen use the arrow
keys and Enter key to highlight two Presidents from
the list. Their places on the list will then be
exchanged. If they are correctly placed, their
names will displayed with white on red print. You
may have to guess the first few times thru, but you
will get better each time you play the game.
This program is a derivation from the Presidents
program found in Unbelievable Offer #3.
=*
|
PREPO Here's another of Sally Wardlow's colorful programs.
Sally is a teacher, so her programs are educational
in nature. This program can be used with the Radio
Shack Speech & Sound Pak ( or without it ).
RUN "PREPO.BAS" on the back side of this disk.
=*
|
PRINTME3 by Hallock/Stevens Larry Steven's responded to my request for material
(issue #29) with an Arthur Hallock program that
Larry has made a little revision work on. This
simple but quite useful program will read ASCII
files and print them on your printer or display them
on your screen. Such a program is always useful and
this one does the job very well!
Thanks to Arthur and Larry!!
(See PRINTME3.BAS on the Program/Side of this disk.)
=*
|
VIEWING /CM3
PICTURES:"CM3MENU". The need for a convenient method of viewing CoCo
Max III pictures prompted me to write the program:
"CM3MENU". It is a BASIC program with Dave Stampe's
MINILOAD m/l program appended to it via end-packing.
When you run CM3MENU, the program will read the
DIRectory of the last accessed disk drive. If it
finds no /CM3 files, it will inform you of such. You
are then instructed to press [ENTER] to continue.
You should then place a diskette containing /CM3
files into the drive that is being accessed and then
press [ENTER].
When the program is satisfied that the diskette in
the drive contains /CM3 files, it will display a
two-column menu of the available files. You may =>
____________________________________________________
then select the file that you wish to view. The
program will then load and display the picture.
At this point, you may press the following keys to
alter the picture as described below:
[F1] :FREEZE ANIMATION; This key will freeze the
animation (if present) in a picture. Press
this key a second time to re-animate the
picture. If the picture does not contain any
animation, pressing this key twice will
produce random animation effects (this does
not always occur with some pictures).
[F2] :FREEZE COLOR CYCLING; This key will freeze
the color cycling (if present) in a picture.
Press this key a second time to resume the
color cycling effect. If the picture =>
____________________________________________________
does not contain color cycling, you may
press this key twice to cause a random
color cycling effect (this does not always
occur with some pictures).
[ALT] :This key is used to convert the color set
of a picture. /CM3 files contain no way of
detecting whether they contain a CMP or RGB
color set. If the colors appear incorrect,
press this key. The conversion is not 100%
accurate due to the fact that some CMP
colors have no direct RGB equivalent. Press
this key a second time to restore the color
set to its original state.
[CTRL] :This key will restore the original color
set of a picture. It has the same effect as
pressing [ALT] twice. (see part 2.) =*
|
VIEWING /CM3 PICTURES: PART 2. [BREAK] :Pressing this key while a picture is being
displayed will return you to the file
selection menu.
While you are at the file selection menu, you may
press [BREAK] to exit the program. You may also
enter a value of zero, a value that is higher than
the last available file, a value that is lower than
zero, or simply press [ENTER] alone to exit the
program. Upon exit, the program preserves the
palette of the current picture that is in memory.
This is useful if you want to save the picture via
a utility such as Rick Cooper's "NIBSAVER". To
restore the palette prior to running "NIBSAVER" or
any other picture saving utility, you should type:
GOSUB 42 and press [ENTER]. This will cause =>
____________________________________________________
CM3MENU to restore the palettes. You may then run
the picture saving utility to save the picture with
the correct palette. Note also, that when CM3MENU is
run, the first prompt that you will see is:
"RGB or CMP [R/C]". You should answer this prompt
correctly in order for the [ALT] key to convert the
color set properly. For a TV/Composite Monitor or
Monochrome Monitor, answer C. For an RGB Monitor,
answer R. I hope that this program is useful to
the CoCo Friends. I created it for inclusion on the
public domain /CM3 picture disks that I am in the
process of compiling for my PD library. See ads in
recent issues of CFDM. Any software donations,
including pictures, for the library are appreciated.
=*
|
VISULAID for forgetful eyes! While you read the introductory text screen, lines 140-180 initialise eight 77 x 64 SP3 buffers, and lines 190-470 draw eight diferent patterns "behind the scene". The loop in lines 480-540 HGETs each pattern. Press any key at the prompt below on the text screen to call HSCREEN2. If you have been able to read and understand this text so far, press A to select an adult level of diffculty. The loop, lines 610-690, HPUTs the patterns in random order on the screen. Lines 710-750 number the patterns from 1 to 8. Take your time to study the display, and when you are ready for a test press any key. The display dis- appears and line 780 HPUTs a single, random pattern at screen center bottom. => ____________________________________________________ Type what you think is the number of the pattern. You get a right/wrong message and the display reap- pears above to confirm the result. Keep on trying until you become depressed or you feel that the exercise is actually sharpening your visual memory. Children, or the childish (like me), can press C at the difficulty prompt. The display appears and the random pattern is shown below it. All the child has to do compare the random pattern with those in the display and type a number. In line 120, A$ contains palette values as for an RGB monitor. The loop in line 130 pokes these into color slots 0-15. After any run you can press N to end the program, restore normal operating speed and reset the palettes to the CoCo3 defaults. => ____________________________________________________ If you are accustomed to using a "boot" utility to load and run files on a disk, you may find that this program will freeze at the text screen. This happens to me when I use a BOOT that also installs a repeat key routine but not with a boot-only rou- tine. If you have any difficulty, just RUN the pro- gram directly from your disk. =* |
| Articles in section: REVIEWS |
| **
CGP-220 COLOR PRINTS ** Uninterruptible Power System |
| Back to top |
** CGP-220 COLOR PRINTS ** I just had to write about the FANTASTIC COLOR
prints that are available from TERRY LARAWAY located
in Bremerton, Washington. Terry uses a TANDY CGP220
printer and inks that he purchases to reload the ink
wells. He uses Special Paper that appears to absorb
the ink better than the normal typewriter paper.
He has printed the 'CASTLE' that RICK published
and also the 'DRAGON' that K. MILLER created for me
in such good quality that they could be framed to be
enjoyed! He also has printed many of my 'FRACTALS'
created using STUART T. WYSS-GALLIFENT's program.
These prints are all 5 1/8 X 7 5/8 inches with
two being printed per page. He currently charges 50
cents per picture or a dollar per page of two and a
S/H charge of a dollar. If you want smaller pictures
he will be glad to quote you a price as his =>
____________________________________________________
computer room wall is covered with small color print
outs of just about every picture that's been publish
ed from the CoCo -- needs to be seen to be believed!
TERRY enjoys printing colored pictures and it
really shows in the quality of his work.
He has also provided me with a COLOR CHART of
64 colors available with CoCoMaxIII and of the 125
colors that his CGP220 Print Driver will deliver and
their mixing numbers (such as R3G0B2).
TERRY can be reached at: (206)-692-5374
41 N.W. DONCEE DRIVE
BREMERTON, WA 98310
Try his COLOR PRINTING
I'm sure you'll like it! Godfrey J. Moll =*
|
Uninterruptible Power System Shortly after I got my first CoCo 3, I bought a Tripp-Lite BC200 Battery Backup System. The BC200 was my protection against power blinks, sags and outages during the summer. From 1990 until late 1993 it protected my vital CoCo 3 system. I never lost a single program or data. That is, until I had a double blink. The first blink lasted only a fraction of a second and the BC200 handled it perfectly. The power came back on for about 2 seconds, then went off again for about a full second. This time, the BC200 did not respond to the power outage! I had lost a nearly-completed CM3 graphic file that I had not saved! Needless to say, I was indignant and frantic. I knew I should've gotten a better B.B.S. or even a real U.P.S. => ____________________________________________________ So after saving up for many months, I found what I needed all along. I bought a BEST Fortress LI360VA B a compact 220W no-break, true sine-wave output UPS. The unit measures 5.25" W by 6.75 H by 15.75 L, and it weighs a large 21 pounds. It isn't something you can ignore. The manufacturer recommends you place it close to the system you are protecting so that you can monitor the UPS. You see, it has 4 function buttons up-front that is used for 7 different modes. By pressing just one button, I can read the AC volts coming out of the UPS, the % LOAD currently loading the UPS or TEST the UPS. With a push of TWO buttons, I can read the DC voltage of the internal battery, the amount of RUNTIME is available from the UPS or what the AC input going into the UPS is. There's even an alarm to tell me when it needs a battery!=> ____________________________________________________ All information is displayed on a 4 digit red LED readout. I've even had the UPS turn on and tell me that the AC input was too high! When It got over 126 the UPS reduced it to 120. Really neat! The LI360VA is not cheap! But I think it's worth it's weight in Tandy stock! So if you're think about protection for your CoCo system, try a BEST Fortress or Patriot UPS. It's going to be the most component of your entire system!! Here's where I got mine: POWER PROS, INC. LI360VA 409.00 P.O. BOX 97412 105 CROMWELL COURT (Free shipping on Fortress RALEIGH, NC 27624 and Patriot models) 1-800-788-0800 =* |
>> I NEED
"ULTIMATERM3" DOCS! << Now that I have found an inexpensive modem, the
terminal programs that I have are GETERM 2.5 and
ULTIMATERM 4.0
I have chosen ULTIMATERM because it has a lot of
features I like. But I have no documentation for
this program! Has any Friend out there has the
docs for this program?? I need them, seriously!
Ray Berney
Star Route 68 Box 880
Okanogan, WA 98840-9704
CoCo Registry #23
=*
|
FAX MODEMS ON THE COCO3? Both Jim Bennett and Stuart T. Wyss-Gallifent have
submitted questions or observations regarding the
use of FAX MODEMS on the CoCo 3. Actually, this may
be more feasible than it at first sems. You see, in
the IBM world, there are two terms associated with
MODEMS and FAX MODEMS. They are EXTERNAL and INTERN-
AL. The internal modems are to be plugged into an
IBM expansion slot. The external modems connect via
an RS-232 interface. Radio Shack has both internal
and external FAX MODEMS for their MS-DOS systems. As
you might guess, the external modems cost more. So,
with the external Fax Modem, the interface to the
CoCo problem is solved. It may be connected via a
proper cable to the CoCo's printer port, or to an
RS-232 Pak. The problem now remaining is the soft-
ware aspect of the situation. Someone would have =>
____________________________________________________
to write a suitable software package to interpret
the data received by the Fax Modem into an appropri-
ate displayable image, probably for the HSCREEN 4. I
do not have the experience with or knowledge of how
Fax functions, so at present, I am not the person
for this task. However, I'm sure there are those
among our ranks who could accomplish this. An advan-
tage of a Fax Modem is that it is useable as a stan-
dard modem for data communications, as well as the
FAX. I would love to hear from anyone else with any
ideas or suggestions on this subject.
Robert Allen Turner, Binary Systems, PO Box 396,
Double Springs, AL 35553-0396 U.S.A. (0) (0)
'
=*
|
HELP I am looking for a Emulator program for a Commodore
computer (oops I said a bad word). This program is
for my sister-in-law. I have the only sister-in-law
who does not like my CoCo 3 computer. She keep on
laughing at the my little 128K computer when I got
it upgraded to 512K she changed her song. Now she
cannot find any parts for her computer but I still
can. So she went to IBM 486SX computer. I still can
do the same program that her 486 can with my little
CoCo 3 computer. If any person out there can help
me find a Emulator program for the Commodore I would
be very grateful.
Edward Wolak
13526 S. Buffalo Ave.
Chicago, IL 60633-1838
=*
|
HELP FOR A SICK COCO 3 I am trying to repair a sick COCO3 for Dave Otis.
If anyone has or knows where I can find a TCC1014
(VC2645QC) chip, Please let me know. This chip is
IC6 in the COCO 3. It does the system timing,
address multiplexing, device select and MMU. I think
this is the one we have heard nicknamed the GIMME.
Since all the control lines are goofed up and the
ROM is never enabled, I think it is the problem.
When you power up the COCO 3 there is no sign on,
only a green screen, sometimes there are different
colored squares and question marks. I know the 6809
is not the problem. Besides I have already replaced
it and damaged the old one getting it out. I will
give all the symptoms I can so if there is someone
out there that has had this same problem may be able
to help. The CAS and RAS lines and all the timing =>
____________________________________________________
seem to be out of sync. The cassette relay comes on
at power up and stays on. The reset button does
reset the CPU but it returns to it's confused state
when the button is released.
If all else fails it will not be a total loss. I
have learned a lot about our COCO and have a new
friend.
Comments, advise, encouragement are welcome.
TERRY STAFFORD
107 JOHN HUNTER HWY.
ELORA TN.
37328
615-937-6196
=*
|
SIMPLY BETTER QUESTIONS? Browsing through old Rainbows I found a review of
Simply Better in the issue of Feb. 1990. I know that
I can combine the F1 key, arrows and appropriate
letters to produce accented letters. The article did
not mention other characters as in page 293 the
CoCo3 handbook. I have my TW128 definitions set up
for some accented characters. Can I access other
characters using Simply Better? How do I print
special characters? I understand there was a French
language supplement to Simply Better that covered
these questions.
-----
RICK: Thanks for the interesting questions Keiran
and I hope you got a new disk drive for Christmas!
Per the French language supplement, I did not get
that when I bought Simply Better from CoCoPRO! =>
____________________________________________________
and this is really the first time I've heard of it!
Can someone shed some light on this?
Keiran Kenny
van Montfoortlaan 31
2596 SP The Hague
Holland
=*
|
The Interchangeable Startup Page To: Rick Cooper
First of all I would like to thank you for entering
one of my many replies that I have sent you in last
month's issue ( CFDM #34 ).
But the reason that I'm writing is because of a
question posed by Kraig Kemp asking if it were
possible to change the baud rate for the printer at
the main startup page of your basic CFDM template
program "C.BAS".
I have revamped the template "C.BAS" program to
accept eight diffrent baud rate settings.
600, 1200, 1800, 2400, 3600, 4800, 7200, 9600
=>
____________________________________________________
It did not use any more granules than the orginal
template "C.BAS" program on the CFDM bonus disk #1
but you will see a slight change in the remark lines
at the beginning of the program. I do not run my
COCO using NEW DOS or ADOS so I cannot tell you the
changes that I have made will work with either one
however I do use RSDOS and my COCO had been upgraded
to 512K and with the changes that I have made the
"C.BAS" program will run on my COCO just fine.
Signed:
Kenney Trevino
1146 W. Lynwood St.
Phoenix, Arizona 85007-1917
( Ken's altered "C.BAS" for the template disk has
been renamed "KTC.BAS"..see back of this disk.) =*
|
WORKING WITH GRAPHICS FILES I have three questions that I hope you can help me
with.
1) Is there anything I can use to convert NIB pics
to CM3 when they are too big for NIBLODR+?
(RICK): The problem of graphic file conversion
has been raised many times in CFDM. I
guess the problem has no standard answer.
Specifically to your question, if the
pics are too big for NIBLODR+ and if they
are in NIB format, they must have been
present in another format originally. So
you might try working from the original
picture format rather than NIB. I guess
I have no good answer to your question.=>
____________________________________________________
2) I like to print pics on my CGP-220. How can I
print .SPR, .SQS, .BIN or .PIX pictures, or
convert them to CM3 for printing?
(RICK): There's no problem getting these pics to
the screen because there are standard
loaders for each. But it seems you need
the pictures in .CM3 format to print
them with your CGP-220. Again I do not
know of a conversion program. I know
Terry Laraway does some great printing
with the CGP-220. Terry, how do you
handle this problem? PLEASE HELP?
3) A long time ago, before CFDM, I converted all =>
____________________________________________________
my pictures to VEF under OS9. Is there any way I
can reconvert them to their original formats?
(RICK): I'm unfamiliar with VEF and OS9, so I'll
have to ask our OS9 readers to respond to
this.
Although I have written 'words' to Bob's questions,
I realize that I have been no help at all. The
problem of graphic file conversion definitely needs
a solution. I really don't believe there's a program
available to do this and if someone could write one,
it would certainly be welcome by all!
Bob Barker
P.O. Box 223
Glenfield, NSW 2167 Australia =*
|
