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Table of contents: |
| COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE Issue #67 | 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 |
| ABOUT
THIS MONTH'S COVER BONUS DIRECTORY (#29) CONTENTS...PART 1 (i67) CONTENTS...PART 2 (i67) PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i67) |
| Back to top |
ABOUT THIS MONTH'S COVER Sometimes, when you get a wet snow, it will cover
the tree branches creating a veritable winter
wonderland. That's what I've tried to portray. If
you've had as bad a summer as we had here in the
East, you'll be looking forward to a little cooler
weather. Even some snow might be welcome.
=*
|
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 these files.
- SIDE 1 -
-- NAME..........COMMAND...SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
* CFDMINDX.00A.............ALL
* CFDMINDX.00B.............
* CFDMINDX.00C............. USED
* CFDMINDX.00D.............
* CFDMINDX.00E............. BY
* CFDMINDX.00F.............
* CFDMINDX.00G............. CI.BAS
* CFDMINDX.00H.............
CI .BAS....RUN......ACTIVE COCO =>
____________________________________________________
* CI .DRV.............Used by CI.BAS
* JINBELS .MOD.............POTPOURRI
* LETITSNO.MOD.............POTPOURRI
- SIDE 2 -
-- NAME..........COMMAND...SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
COLORMAX.BAS....RUN......PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* COLORMAX.BIN.............
* TITLEPGE.MGE.............ALL
* DELUXE .BIN.............
* DELUXE1 .BIN............. FILES
* DELUXE2 .BIN.............
* DELUXE3 .BIN............. FOR
* DELUXE4 .BIN.............
* DELUXE5 .BIN............. COLOR MAX DELUXE
* DELUXE6 .BIN............. =>
____________________________________________________
* DELUXE7 .BIN.............
PRINTER .BAS...RUN.......Printer Setup Program
* C1080 .DMP.............
* CGP220 .DMP.............ALL
* EPSON .DMP.............
* NODUMP .DMP............. FILES
* OKI20 .DMP.............
* PRINTER .DMP............. FOR
* RSPRINT .DMP.............
* LYNCHBRG.FNT............. COLOR MAX DELUXE
* COCO3GO .GIF.............FROM THE EDITOR
=*
|
ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE "ABOUT CFDM" ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE ABOUT THIS ISSUE ABOUT THIS MONTH'S COVER BONUS DIRECTORY (#29) CONTENTS...PART 1 (i67) CONTENTS...PART 2 (i67) PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i67) ACTIVE COCO 1999 CFDM INDEX Hard Drive on the INSIDE PENN FEST 2000! WHERE TO SEND SUBMISSIONS => ____________________________________________________ WORK-IN-PROGRESS ADVERTISEMENTS CFDM SUBSCRIPTION Cloud-9 CoCo Hardware CoCoNUTS Now Available CoCoPS Membership NEW BOOK BY NICKOLAS MARENTES Other Nickolas Marentes Products Select OS-9 Tools & Utilities Software from Sundog ARTICLES OF THE MONTH * The Grizzly CoCo * Building the Basic Grizzly #1 Building the Basic Grizzly #2 => ____________________________________________________ Building the Basic Grizzly #3 Erik Gavriluk & Greg Miller Last son of the Hardware Store The CoCo3Go COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY ** OUR VIEW AT DESTIN, FL ** Christmas Bear Happy New Year SETTING SUN The Hick Brothers The Millennium Generation VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY WINTER FUN FAMILY TREE (SEE PART 2) =* |
Active on Cloud-9
Bay Area CoCoist
Plant or Update your TREE
FORUM
** PC Connections **
Gate Crasher Development Status
Glenside CoCo IDE
NEWS from the Net 12/99
NEWSFLASH! VENDORS!
FROM THE EDITOR
CFDM UPDATE - DECEMBER 1999
Footnote on the Diskette
KUDOS FOR ISSUE #67
Loading the CoCo3Go.GIF =>
____________________________________________________
New Member Welcome
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
HELLO AGAIN
Issue #66
Laura R. Boyce
News from "Down-Under"
Send me a "CoCoNUTS"!
Updated Web Page
POTPOURRI
** JIGSAW PUZZLE & EMULATOR **
DRAGON
E-mail address & Website
Holiday MOD Music
POLITICIAN =>
____________________________________________________
PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
#66 Puzzle Printer
COLOR MAX DELUXE
FOURCUBE PART I
FOURCUBE PART II
FOURCUBE PART III
REVIEWS
** CoCoNUTS by NICK MARENTES **
How about some REVIEWS?
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
CoCo MIDI Pro
STAR NX-1000 Ribbons
=*
|
Here's a description of the files located on the
PROGRAM SIDE. File names preceded by an asterisk
are data files and should not be RUN or EXECed!
-- NAME..........COMMAND...SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
BOOT1 .BAS....RUN.......POTPOURRI
* DESTIN .NIB..............ART GALLERY
DRAGON .BAS....RUN.......POTPOURRI
* DRAGON .NIB..............Used by DRAGON.BAS
* ELEPHANT.BIN..............Used by DRAGON.BAS
FOURCUBE.BIN...LOADM......PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* FOURCUBE.TXT..............FOURCUBE Instructions
* GAVRILUK.TXT..............Interview Text File
* HICK150 .NIB..............ART GALLERY
INTRVIEW.BAS....RUN.......ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
* MILLER .TXT..............Interview Text File =>
____________________________________________________
* MiGe2 .NIB..............ART GALLERY
* NIBLOADR.BIN..............Used by NIBSHOW.BAS
NIBSHOW .BAS....RUN.......ART GALLERY
* OLDMAN .BIN..............Used by POLITICS.BAS
POLITICS.BAS....RUN.......POTPOURRI
* PROFESOR.NIB..............Used by POLITICS.BAS
* SETTING .NIB..............ART GALLERY
SRCHPUZL.BAS....RUN.......PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* WEEE! .NIB..............ART GALLERY
* WOODY .NIB..............ART GALLERY
* XMASBEAR.NIB..............ART GALLERY
=*
|
| Articles in section: ACTIVE COCO |
| 1999
CFDM INDEX Hard Drive on the INSIDE PENN FEST 2000! WHERE TO SEND SUBMISSIONS WORK-IN-PROGRESS |
| Back to top |
1999 CFDM INDEX As is customary, in the December issue, we
update the latest CFDM Index. This one contains
Issues 48 to 67 inclusive.
Again, as a reminder, only the author and title
are searchable by keyword. You may use either full
words or fragments as keywords, but they must be
entered in UPPER CASE.
(You'll find the CFDM Index on side 1 of the Bonus
Disk, simply RUN "CI.BAS" to view it.)
=*
|
Hard Drive on the INSIDE Why not put a hard drive inside your coco's case?
I did it! Its really not that hard if you think
about it. There is one problem you might run across
when starting this project. What might that be...oh
yeah, got that !"#$ IDE card yet! After getting over
that hurdle you need to find a hard drive small en-
ough to fit into the coco's case. I used an IBM 2.5"
drive. It fits perfectly!
Now as everyone knows...the coco 3 runs very cool...
NOT. I knew there would be a heat problem so one of
the first things that you need to do is pull out the
power supply and add six feet of cable to allow it
to sit on the floor. I found an article on upgrading
the power supply. I noticed that the only way the =>
____________________________________________________
IDE board would fit into the case was by attaching
ribbon cable from the motherboard (40 pin) socket to
the IDE card.
The keyboard fits over the hard drive nicely. There
is no extra space under the motherboard when the IDE
card is there. I used a piece of cardboard to separ-
ate the two boards. Now if you took your time sold-
ering the ribbon cable, you should be able to start
up your coco as normal. The IDE card should look
transparent to your system!
So if the hard drive is transparent to the coco, HOW
does it work? Software of course! I created a driver
to use the drive under RSDOS. I have one of the ear-
ly boards so the addressing is a little different =>
____________________________________________________
than what you might have. If you need a driver for
your hard drive leave me an email and I'll send you
the routines I've written to emulate floppy drives.
I can be emailed at: rogerjh@mindspring.com
- Roger
=*
|
PENN FEST 2000! ---------------------------
* PENN FEST 2000 *
"The Big Birthday Bash"
---------------------------
August 19 - 20, 2000 (Sat. 9am-5pm; Sun. 9am-5pm)
The show will be held at:
Holiday Inn
1406 Beers School Road
Coraopolis, PA 15108
Phone: 1-800-333-4835 for reservations today.
=>
____________________________________________________
ADMISSION: $10.00 per person per day.
VENDORS: Tables are just $45 each.
For further information please contact:
Ron Bull
115 Ann Street
Duncannon, PA 17020-1204
Phone: (717)834-4314
E-Mail: RonBull@aol.com =*
|
WHERE TO SEND SUBMISSIONS Please send CFDM submissions to:
JIM DAVIS
c/o CFDM
P.O. BOX 1704
NIXA, MO. 65714
You may also send them via my E-Mail address at:
gearboxed@mindspring.com
Help continue to make CFDM possible by sending in
your submission today!!
=*
|
WORK-IN-PROGRESS THE PARTY HAS JUST BEGUN
"Doom" on a CoCo? Not quite but a good attempt on a
2Mhz, 8-bit computer.
Gate Crasher is a "Wolf3D" style game featuring a
full 360 degree 3D environment (based on John Kowal-
ski's Gloom engine), explosive 2 channel digital in-
terrupt driven sound and the hottest action seen on
a CoCo for years! The game requires a 512K CoCo 3
with 1 disk drive and is due for completion before
the end of 1999.
Game Scenario - It is an era of high technology, an
era of perfection, an era of the mind enhancing
Brain Implant devices. Small microcontrollers =>
____________________________________________________
implanted into the human skull acting as a "co-proc-
essor" to the brain. With this device, a persons ab-
ilities can be enhanced while disabilities removed.
Millions of people worldwide have undergone surgery
to have a device installed and reap the benefits of
an improved lifestyle.
"He who controls the mind, controls the world."
But there is now evidence to prove that there is
more to these devices than creating the perfect hu-
man. Leaked information has revealed that each im-
plant has a means of remote control via the internet
providing low orbit satellite system also owned and
operated by the same company creating the implants.
This has been found to be used as a form of mind =>
____________________________________________________
control allowing the CEO of the company to control
things such as the outcome of an election, the buy-
ing habits of consumers, even invoke death!
You are the Gate Crasher and it is time to crash
this party, destroy all the computer data and defeat
the evil CEO himself!
COMING SOON....
=*
|
CFDM SUBSCRIPTION SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ------------------------ CFDM Subscriptions are offered on an annual basis. You will receive 4 issues per year, which will be delivered to you quarterly. The quarterly year runs from September of the current year, to June of the following year. Each issue will include 2 "flippie" disks and you will also get HARDCOPY, the magazine side of CFDM printed by Arthur S. Hallock. CFDM/HARDCOPY - $30 per year. *Your mailing label will have a membership number as follows: ##-##-Q4. The Q4 means that the last issue on your subscription is June, 2000. Please don't let your subscription expire! We need you in our group!* |
Cloud-9 CoCo Hardware What's new and available from Cloud-9!
Available Products:
-------------------
o AT Keyboard Interface
o CoCo3 SCSI Interface
o CoCo 512K Memory Card
o Pro-Tector
Projects:
---------
** CoCo3 512K-2048K Memory Card (prototype) **
=>
____________________________________________________
For current pricing and availibility on the internet
visit:
Cloud-9 Color Computer Hardware
http://www.isd.net/mmarlett/cloud9.html
Mark Marlette -- mmarlett@isd.net
or direct inquiries to:
Cloud-9
Mark Marlette
3749 County Rd. 30
Delano, MN 55328
=*
|
CoCoNUTS Now Available Apon his arrival to the states, Nickolas Marentes
brought stocks of his new book entitled, "CoCoNUTS".
This soft bound, 118 page book contains intriguing
interviews with people who helped shape the "CoCo".
Written in a Q&A interview format, you'll get the
chance to read interesting and sometimes humorous
responses to questions asked by Nickolas. You'll
read about some of the "Behind the Scenes" action
and hear personal stories from some of the talented
individuals who're part of the CoCo's History!
Stocks of this book are very limited, so be sure not
to miss out on this opportunity to own it!
=>
____________________________________________________
To order your copy, send a check or money order for
$15 + $3 s/h to:
JIM DAVIS
PO BOX 1704
NIXA, MO 65714
=*
|
CoCoPS Membership Membership to "The Color Computer Preservation
Society" is available for the low retro-price of
just $5 per year (U.S.) With your five dollar sub-
scription you will receive four issues, each being
3 to 4 pages in length. It is currently intended
for this to be a quarterly publication, though,
with many new ventures, things may change. We hope
that even if you are viewing these pages on the
World Wide Web you might consider signing up for
the print version just to support the group. To do
so, send a check or money order to:
CoCoPS (c/o Rick Cooper) Or email CoCoPS at:
P.O. Box 276 cocops@stg.net
Liberty, KY 42539 for more information.
=*
|
NEW BOOK BY NICKOLAS MARENTES CoCoNUTS - "Interviews with people who helped shape
the CoCo".
This book has interviews with the following people:
ALAN DEKOK - Nitros09, Smash
CHET SIMPSON - Gold Runner, Digger II
DALE LEAR - Fire Copter, Color Baseball, Scripsit II
DAVE EDSON - Tube Frenzy, Catch'em, Planet Raiders
ERICK CRICHLOW - Gold Runner 2000, Pro Gold Runner
ERIK GAVRILUK - Color Max, Color Max Deluxe
GLEN DAHLGREN - Sundog Software
GREG MILLER - Color Max, Color Max Deluxe
GREG L. ZUMWALT - Star Blaze, Malcom Mortar, RoBoCop
JEREMY SPILLER - Zenix, Crystal City
JOHN KOWALSKI - Boink Demo, Gloom Demo =>
____________________________________________________
KEVIN K. DARLING - Inside OS-9 Level II, Lvl.3 Upgrd
MARK SEIGEL - Tandy Head of CoCo 3 Development
RICK ADAMS - Temple of ROM, Shanghai, Delphiterm
STEVE HARTFORD - Sam Sleuth, Franchise, Maui Vice
Read about their development days, why they chose
the CoCo, secret "behind-the-scenes" info, and what
they are doing now.
This book is 118 pages and features many photos and
screenshots.
Only a limited number are left, so get yours before
they run out. Available directly from Jim Davis for
the reasonable price of $15 plus $3 s/h.
=*
|
Other Nickolas Marentes Products ----------------------------------------
- Pac-Man - "A Tribute to the Classic" -
----------------------------------------
If you haven't had a chance to pick up this great
game by Nickolas Marentes yet, now's your chance!
Nickolas has this game specially priced at only $15!
So here's your change to get a great game at an even
more affordable price! Help support the continued
development of CoCo 3 games by ordering yourself a
copy today!
Requiremnts:
CoCo 3 w/512K, RGB/CMP Monitor, Disk
Drive and Joystick (Keyboard support).=>
____________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------
- The Nickolas Marentes Collection "1984-1992" -
------------------------------------------------
FIVE Complete games for your CoCo, all on one easy
load "flippie" disk!
Collection includes:
- Donut Dilemma
- Neutroid 2
- Rupert Rythym
- Space Intruders
- Cosmic Ambush
=>
____________________________________________________
Also includes the original color artwork as used for
distribution at Tandy Australia and some "special"
souvenirs for only $5!
To order Pac-Man or The Collection Disk, send check/
money order to:
JIM DAVIS
PO BOX 1704
NIXA, MO 65714
=*
|
Select OS-9 Tools &
Utilities + LEVEL II TOOLS - A collection of tools for use in
the OS-9 environment that helps simplify tasks and
create more productivity. - $5
+ TOOLS II - A set of 27 useful tools for the OS-9
Level II user. Contains utilities for: windowing
features, easier use of file management, changes
and conversions, multitasking, more power and flexi-
bility in writing script files, I/O system control
and a full feature command line calculator. - $5
+ DISK MANAGER TREE - A comprehensive file manage-
ment for your OS-9 disks, with a graphic "Tree dis-
play". Works with any type of OS-9 disk device, such
as Ramdisks, Harddisks, Floppies, etc. - $5
=>
____________________________________________________
+ THE ZAPPER - A utility that allows you to patch
files as well as entire disks directly. Displays
files in a format similar to the dump command that
comes with OS-9. Edit the file or disk in either
hexadecimal or ASCII. - $5
+ MULTI MENU - A Multi-View compatible menu utility
that allows you to define your own menus for use in
the Multi-View environment. - $5
+ DATA WINDOWS - A complete database handling pack-
age for the CoCo 3. Allows you to create and main-
tain databases on your CoCo with windows. - $5
+ DATA MERGER - A document processing system that
allows you to incorporate Data Windows Data into =>
____________________________________________________
your documents. The documents can be created with
any OS-9 word processor. - $5
+ PRESTO PARTNER - A full featured NOTE PAD, CALEN-
DAR, PHONE BOOK, with CLOCK and MACRO-KEYS. - $5
+ NEWSPAPER09 - A full featured DeskTop Publishing
package for the CoCo 3 and OS-9 Level 2. Add graph-
ics, arrange story blocks and type up articles. Uses
an easy to follow assembly line approach for ease of
use. *Includes NEWS FONTS, a set of 20 new fonts all
in one complete package. - $8
To Order, send check/money order to: JIM DAVIS
Please be sure to include PO BOX 1704
$2 s/h for entire order. NIXA, MO 65714 =*
|
Software from Sundog Games from Sundog Systems:
--------------------------
o CRYSTAL CITY (action/arcade)
o PHOTON (puzzle/strategy)
o ZENIX (action/arcade)
o THE CONTRAS (action/arcade)
o QUEST FOR THELDA (action/adventure)
o IN QUEST OF THE STARLORD (adventure)
o KYUM-GAI (RSDOS) (action/fighting)
o KYUM-GAI (OS-9) (action/fighting)
o WARRIOR KING (action/fighting)
o WAR MONGER (wargame/simulation)
Applications from Sundog Systems:
---------------------------------
o GRAFEXPRESS 2.0 (programming/development) =>
____________________________________________________
o SOUNDTRAX (sound sequencing system)
o SOUNDTRAX INSTRUMENT DISK SET (requires SOUNDTRAX)
All of the above listed application and game titles
are only $5ea. + $2 s/h for entire order.
To order, send check/money order to:
JIM DAVIS
PO BOX 1704
NIXA, MO 65714
=*
|
* The Grizzly CoCo * Why bother to repack a CoCo? I suppose if you
can't answer that question there's no need to read
further. For me, the reasons are many: 1. To Elim-
inate the clutter of components and cables. 2. To
eliminate the strain add-on circuits place on an al-
ready inadequete CoCo power supply, 3. Esthetic rea-
sons (let's face it, the CoCo, MPI, etc. aren't that
pretty), 4. Bragging rights, and 5. Because it is
there. Nearly everyone who has repacked a CoCo has
used a PC box, either a desktop or a tower. One ex-
ception is Frank Swygert's famous KAYPRO portable
CoCo. For most of them, the reason was simple nec-
essity. They required the MPI for all the accesso-
ries they tied to the MPU bus, and most of their
drives, both floppy and hard, were 5.25". All this
required a lot of space and electrical power that =>
____________________________________________________
those cases could provide.
The Grizzly, however, started out a simple
project that was going to use three 3.5" floppies
only. I had worked out a scheme that would run
OS-9 this way almost as efficiently as a small hard
drive, although somewhat slower. Under RSDOS, it
would make a neat little 3 drive package. What was
the most important thing required to do this on a
CoCo chassis? To paraphrase the real estate field...
power supply, power supply, power supply. I happened
to find a 65W PC supply at a hamfest that was per-
fect. It was 5.25"L X 1.75"W X 4"H and could be
mounted on end in the corner vacated by the trans-
former. This power supply, the three floppies, the
disk controller and the ill-fated parallel printer
board was all I originally had in mind. Oh yes, =>
____________________________________________________
of course, the extended CoCo keyboard. Then I
happened to buy a Disto 3 in 1 board at the '98 Penn
Fest and, later an AT keyboard adapter from Cloud 9.
Finally, Cloud 9 announced the SCSI controller was
ready so that was added on a Y cable and a 3.5"
216mb hard drive was installed along with an adapter
for a port to ZIP drive. I was concerned about
overloading the small supply, but now feel confident
I can add a second hard drive. But only after Cloud
9 is done with the 2mb RAM board so that can go in.
Like Topsy, that ole Grizzly just growed!
=*
|
Building the Basic Grizzly #1 How do you make a Grizzly CoCo? First, you take
20 lbs. of chocolate. Then you add 10 gal. of milk.
Heat until they are well mixed, then get the hell
out of his way!
Don't even start the project until you have a
suitable power supply in your hand. There are many
150W or bigger tower supplies available for as
little as $10, however, when mounted in any useful
configuration, i.e., with the plug and fan in back,
they will prohibit access to portions of the mother
board. If you can install one so that it is conve-
nient to you, you are home free (or, at least,
cheap)! One possibility might be to mount the supp-
ly externally to the side of your desk and just run
a cable to a plug on the CoCo.
The BASIC list of tools and materials required =>
____________________________________________________
are as follows (the cement and knife were described
in previous articles):
2ea 1' X 2' .080 polystyrene sheets
plexiglass scoring knife
both Ambroid and Testors cements
numbered drill set
4-40 and 6-32 taps
heat source (hair dryer or heat gun) and vise
hand drill (manual preferred over power)
small clamps and snap clothespins
Dremel tool (optional but priceless)
Now, remove the cover, keyboard, mother board,
transformer and cartridge spring cover from your
CoCo. Cut off the keyboard center support post and=>
____________________________________________________
the two lower keyboard mounting posts. Being care-
ful not to injure the threaded hole for the mother
board, remove the kybd mounting post by the RGB mon.
hole. Next, slice 2" off the right side of the bar-
rier strip just in front of the forward vent holes.
Grind all removed surfaces even with the CoCo base.
We are now ready for assembly. Cut 16 3/4" X 1" tabs
from either flat areas of the CoCo cover or the sty-
rene sheet. The CoCo cover is preferred because the
injected styrene is tougher than the sheet and you
will be drilling and tapping these pieces later.
Using testors cement, glue 7 of these tabs to a mate
and clamp with a clothespin. This will give you 7
tabs of a double and 2 with a single thickness. Let
sit overnight. While we are waiting, we might con-
template why on earth we are doing this! =*
|
Building the Basic Grizzly #2 We are now going to install the tabs. They will
be located so that their centers are 1.25" in from
the inside edge of EACH corner plus one in the front
middle. The 2 single thickness ones will go on the
rear corners of the two SIDES. With the 1" length
vertical, apply Testors cement over the entire lower
1/2" of a tab and some more on the inside lip of the
CoCo in the placement area. Attach the tab so that
it evenly bottoms out on the CoCo base ledge and
clamp it down with a clothespin. Repeat for all 9
locations and let dry overnight (hang out to dry :-)
Now for the fun part. Carefully cut 2 5" wide
by 24"long pieces from one of the sheets. From the
other sheet, cut a piece 14.75" by 10.375". On each
of the 2 identical pieces, carefully draw a perpen-
dicular line 4.625" in from the edge and a second =>
____________________________________________________
line exactly 14.75" from the first. These lines will
mark the bending points of the pieces. Using exten-
sions to the jaws, if necessary, clamp down one of
the pieces in a vise so that the line is parallel to
and about even with the jaws. Apply heat by blowing
it on both sides of the piece where it enters the
jaws. When you feel the piece softening, carefully
begin bending it over SQUARELY until you have good
90 deg bend. Allow to cool and place it up against
the CoCo base for an alignment check. If the bend
did not occur exactly on the line, calculate the ad-
justment you will have to make on the other side for
a perfect 14.75" between bends and bend the other
side. Now repeat with the second piece. Use MUCH
CARE since any attempt to correct poor calculations
or sloppy bending will cause severe distortion. =>
____________________________________________________
Now to bolt these 2 pieces to the base. All
holes will be .25" from the bottom of the pieces.
Drill 5 #24 holes in the front piece, 1 in the mid-
dle and the other 4 1.375 in from each side of the
corners. On the back piece repeat except for the
middle hole. Lay them up against the base so that
they rest on the outside lip and mark the center of
each hole on the tab inside. Double check that the
tabs are marked near their center and drill (#36 if
you used the old CoCo for tabs, #38 if you cut them
from the sheet) at the marks. Tap each tab for 6-32
holes. Attach the pieces with 9 6-32 X .25" screws.
Note the approx. 1" gap on each side. Accurately
measure and cut 2 pieces 5" long and insert them in
the openings. Brush in Ambroid cement, then glue in
reinforcement pieces and clamp down overnight. =*
|
Building the Basic Grizzly #3 You should now have a cover shell in need of a
top. Using a file and a sander, insure that the top
of the shell is smooth and even all around. Invert
it and place it atop the 14.75" X 10.375" piece cut
from the second sheet. Align for a best fit, then
quickly (it evaporates VERY fast) liberally brush on
Ambroid cement to one corner and press down on the
shell for 30 sec. Now repeat for about 1.5" along
one side of the corner and then repeat again along
the other side. Continue this operation around the
perimeter until the whole shell is glued to the top.
You will now go twice around the inside of the seam
and twice around the outside brushing in heavy doses
of more ambroid cement. The next step will take at
least 4 days. Tilting the upside down cover around
45 deg, apply a heavy fillet of Testors cement =>
____________________________________________________
along the bottom inside seam and top outside seam.
Set in the tilted position overnight. Repeat for
the other 3 sides. During the 4 days it takes to
make the fillets, you can use the time to make bra-
ckets to install drives, keyboard conn, etc. in the
CoCo base using techniques described in CFDM #64.
When the fillets are hard, trim off the excess at
the corners sand the outside seam smooth. Fill in
any small cracks or indentations with Testors, let
dry and repeat sanding. Now CAREFULLY measure all
the openings required in the cover for the mother
board, drives, keyboard, etc. and mark them off on
the INSIDE of the cover. Use the scoring knife to
cut out the openings. Fill in the inevitable over-
lap cuts with Testors. Sand and paint it all and
you will now have a basic Grizzly CoCo. =>
____________________________________________________
NOTES: 1. Use both cements ONLY in a WELL vent-
ilated area. 2. No mention was made of mounting a
power supply. This will vary so much from unit to
unit that you will be on your own. The cover must
also be cut to suit. 3. Whenever possible, glue on
extra pieces to brace mounting brackets. Pushing on
connectors exert a lot of stress. 4. The recommend-
ed placement for the floppy drives is on the right
front about 1" from the edge. Most other locations
are best found by experimentation. 5. A Y-cable is
required for the floppy controller. If you don't
own one, it can be had from Terry Laraway.
For answered questions or specific details, send
a SASE to: Ray Watts
P.O. Box 574
Niantic, CT 06357 =*
|
Erik Gavriluk & Greg Miller View text file associated with this article In this issue of CFDM you'll find the full text from the Erik Gavriluk and Greg Miller interviews. Erik and Greg are the authors of COLOR MAX DELUXE, which can be found in the PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH sec- tion of this issue. I have kept the two interview text files separate and you use the same INTRVIEW.BAS program to view them. The program will ask you which one you wish to read. You may also read or print the .TXT files with your favorite word processor if desired. (On side 2 of this disk you'll find INTRVIEW.BAS, GAVRILUK.TXT and MILLER.TXT.) =* |
Last son of the Hardware Store If you have a remote keyboard, we can do one
more thing to alter the CoCo's appearance. This
mod will both "beautify" and ventilate your mach-
ine. Go to your nearest fabric or crafts store
and purchase a sheet of plastic cross-stitching
"canvas" in your favorite color. Also pick up a
1 oz bottle of Testors liquid model cement (red
label). Cut the plastic sheet so that it will
completely fill up all the flat surface surround-
ing the keyboard hole and butts up against the posts
and braces of the cover. Next, cut 14 to 20 bits of
polystyrene 3/16" to 1/4" square. These can be ob-
tained from an old CoCo case, an old model plane or
ship, or from a small sheet purchased at a model
store.
Run a generous bead of cement around the inside =>
____________________________________________________
perimeter of the keyboard opening. Lay the sheet
in place and run a second generous bead of cement
around the perimeter on top of the sheet. Check
that it makes contact with the lower bead. Now,
one by one, dab cement on the pieces and set them in
place over the bead and in contact with the posts
and braces. This is necessary because the sheet, or
any other plastic mesh I know of, will not adhere to
any common cement. The tabs will lock the sheet in
place. Allow to dry overnight and you will have a
strong, colorful ventilation grill for your CoCo.
=*
|
The CoCo3Go I remember the day I saw the posting by Michael Ack-
lin. "CoCo stuff must sell" When I saw the CoCo3Go
made by Frank Swygert in the list I immediately set
the wheels in motion to purchase this. After a few
emails between Michael and myself the deal was str-
uck. After I sent the check, I waited impatiently
for FedEx and became worried about the condition of
the contents. Michael had done an excellent packing
job and damage was minimal.
The CoCo3Go is built in a Kaypro case with a 9"
monitor. The case is made of heavy aluminum stock.
While turning the case different ways, I heard a
rattling sound. Needless to say I dared not power
it up yet. When I took the cover off the CoCo3 moth-
erboard was on top but totally out of place. =>
____________________________________________________
The wire to the video circuit had disconnected, and
the original Tandy power switch had broken. The swi-
tch was no big deal thanks to Frank wiring the cases
power supply after the switch. Most solder joints
for the repack had either disconnected or were just
plain loose. Since this was my first experience with
a CoCo repack, I had a challenge ahead.
I finished removing the motherboard and removed all
the loose pieces floating around in the case. These
consisted of several screws, washers, and the CoCo's
power switch remnants. Now I could get down to the
repairs. The wire to the video had been connected to
the post of the composite RCA jack. I removed the
mount for the video and audio jacks along with the
bracket for the mount. Frank labeled the power =>
____________________________________________________
feeds, +12V, +5V, -5V, Grd. Thanks Frank! I resold-
ered these wires to their respective leads. So far
so good. I then reseated all the chips and the 512K
board. After reinstalling the motherboard I added 2
extra fasteners, reconnected everything, and powered
up. It WORKED! The case needed minor straightening.
After assembling the case I test drove it with OS-9
and all is well again. For the future I need to pick
up another AT keyboard adapter from Mark Marlette.
The AT keyboard would fit well in the cover of this
portable CC3 now. I am contemplating adding an IDE
drive also. Maybe adding Boisy's OS-9 ROM, Paul's No
Can with 8Meg. All in good time I guess. I hope I
haven't bored anyone too much with my first article.
If this hits before the holidays, enjoy them!
-Dave <Dpoitras@mediaone.net> =*
|
** OUR VIEW AT DESTIN, FL **
Muriel & I just want to share 'Our View at Destin
Florida' with all of the Snow Bound Creatures of the
North.
Destin does have Snow White Sand on its Beaches,
and they have a Tractor pulling a screening device
cleaning the sand at least once a week -- need to
pick up the seaweed. Visitors have been very good
about not leaving any trash behind!!
We eat our lunch on the Lanai (that's from Hawaii
talk) as often as we can and look out onto the GULF.
Not too many ships in this area. A few fishing boats
and sailboats.
When indoors we feel like we're on a Cruise Ship
as we are on the 5th Floor and see mostly water. God
willing, we will be in Destin from December 1, 1999
till April 1, 2000. ==>
____________________________________________________
Our address will be:
BREAKERS EAST CONDO UNIT 504
1010 HIGHWAY 98 EAST
DESTIN, FL 32541
E-MAIL IS: GJMOLL@aol.com
OR: MEW48@WEBTV.NET
We would love to hear from you.. Muriel & Godfrey
(You'll find Godfrey's DESTIN.NIB on side 2 of this
disk, use NIBSHOW to view it.)
=*
|
Christmas Bear
When I sat down to draw this Christmas picture for
the December issue, Thanksgiving was just around the
corner. Here in Missouri we haven't had cold weather
let alone snow! I still haven't made the annual trip
to the attic to get down the Holiday decorations and
yard ornaments. The ritual of "untangling" Christmas
lights has yet to be performed and I haven't been
cursed...er..I mean blessed with a block of fruit
cake from anyone. So, I've decided to "keep-things-
simple" for this picture. The Snowman has always
been my favorite theme for the season, but this pic-
ture features a Teddy Bear. I did manage to squeeze
in a really small snowman for tradition sake!
(See XMASBEAR.NIB on the back side of this disk.)
=*
|
Happy New Year
I was trying to think of an appropriate cartoon
character to wind-out the millennium with and ended
up drawing probably the most inappropriate one! I'm
not sure where Woody Woodpecker fits into this or
the next millennium, but I still had fun drawing it.
After completing this picture I decided to print a
small scale color version of it on a CGP-220 and had
very good results. I generally like to print cartoon
character type pictures in smaller scale for a few
reasons: The picture has more of a "comic strip"
feel to it and it takes a lot less time and ink on
the CGP-220 to print. If a picture has a lot of de-
tail or small text in it, this method is less than
suitable. Large scale color prints on the CGP-220
can be extremely successful, as are ones done on a
Star NX-1000 Rainbow printer as well. =>
____________________________________________________
Why bother making color prints on the CoCo? Well,
I find it to be a great way to display and enjoy
pictures and art work done on the CoCo, even after
it's turned off. Also, as Ray Watts pointed out
elsewhere in this issue with the phrase, "because
it is there"!
(Select WOODY in NIBSHOW on side 2 of this disk.)
=*
|
SETTING SUN
Sometimes, I get ideas for my pictures from the
most unexpected places. For instance, in this case,
I was driving behind an SUV. The tire cover on the
back had a hand-painted picture that impressed me.
So, I tried to copy it as best I could recall from
that brief look.
(Select SETTING in NIBSHOW on the back side of this
disk.)
=*
|
The Hick Brothers
Well, it's almost time for the two biggest holidays
and the good ole boys are without any plans. (Kind
of like most of us.)
Happy Holidays from the Hick Brothers.
(You'll find HICK150.NIB on side 2 of this disk.)
=*
|
The Millennium Generation
Here is the next installment of "The Millennium
Generation." Sometimes, I think I choose a poor
subject matter, but not every time.
(Select MiGe2 in NIBSHOW on side 2 of this disk.)
=*
|
VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY In order to view the .NIB pictures in this month's
Art Gallery, please RUN "NIBSHOW.BAS".
After RUNing NIBSHOW, you will need to press the <D>
key for the directory listing of NIB pictures on the
disk. Use the <ARROW KEYS> to choose a picture and
press the <SPACE BAR> to view it. After viewing a
picture, use the <BREAK> key to clear it. To leave
NIBSHOW, press the <X> key from the MAIN SCREEN.
NIBSHOW is a contribution by Stuart Wyss-Gallifent
and was featured on CFDM Issue #18, along with more
complete documentation. Thanks Stuart!
=*
|
WINTER FUN
Here is a bit of whimsy you might enjoy for your
holiday season. To all Friends and their families,
a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
(Select WHEEE! in NIBSHOW on the back of this disk.)
=*
|
| Articles in section: FAMILY TREE |
| Active
on Cloud-9 Bay Area CoCoist Plant or Update your TREE |
| Back to top |
Active on Cloud-9 I have had a Radio Shack Color Computer since 1983.
This was the second computer that I had ever owned.
My first system was an RCA COSMAC ELF that was bas-
ed upon the 1802 microprocessor. As most of the die
hard CoCo users today, I attribute my real world
success to this little machine. It was, and still
is an incredible learning tool. I enjoy it as a hob-
by and it has become a part of my everyday life.
Like the rest of the world, I broke down and bought
a non-Motorola based machine. This is not all bad
since it allows me to develop hardware in a fraction
of the time. Throughout the years I have designed a
few devices that I'm making available to others.
- Mark Marlette
(See Cloud-9 in ADS section.) =*
|
Bay Area CoCoist Although, I can't say I use my Coco II much anymore.
I have fond memories of first learning how to pro-
gram in BASIC on it. This fostered and interest in
programming as a career, which I have been engaged
in for the past 15 years.
I have used BASIC on a mini-computer that was more
limited than the Extended Color Basic my trusty $200
Coco II came with. About 13 years ago, I belonged to
2 Coco Clubs here in the Bay Area. I was sad to see
them disband in the late 1980s and consequently lost
touch with the friends I made there. At one particu-
lar meeting, I remember Steve Bjork demonstrated his
mouse program that ran on a Coco II. Marty Goodman
was in attendance as well. Steve Bjork was a top-
notch programmer. I wonder if he is still program-=>
____________________________________________________
ming games.
It is great to see that there is still support out
there for the TRS-80 Color Computer, one of the nif-
tiest computers I have ever used. I still have my
Coco 2, which I fire up occasionally. I would not
have gotten into programming as a profession if it
were not for the Coco, which I learned to program
on. I only wish there were still COCO user groups
near San Francisco, CA where I live. I haven't seen
one in about 12-13 years.
Thanks,
DGrampsas
=*
|
Plant or Update your TREE If you haven't had to chance to send in a FAMILY
TREE entry for CFDM, we'd like to hear from you!
The FAMILY TREE section of CFDM was designed for
the sole purpose of getting to know your fellow
CoCo users. This is a great place to tell the group
about yourself and how you pursue your interest in
the CoCo. It also provides the opportunity to share
other interests you may have with CFDM members.
I have always felt that the CoCo Community was com-
prised of MANY interesting individuals from all wal-
ks of life, from around the world. Be sure to put
your name on the map and get your FAMILY TREE in!
For members who've sent in entries in the past, =>
____________________________________________________
how about an update? What's new with you or your
family? What type of CoCo setup do you have? Did
you make the transition from the CoCo to the Emu-
lator? Fill us in on the latest news in YOUR life!
=*
|
| Articles in section: FORUM |
| **
PC Connections ** Gate Crasher Development Status Glenside CoCo IDE NEWS from the Net 12/99 NEWSFLASH! VENDORS! |
| Back to top |
** PC Connections ** After going to the PennFest 99 and seeing The
Glenside Color Computer Clubs booth, I decided that
it was time to visit their Web Page at:
http://members.aol.com/clubbbs/glenside/
What a SURPRISE! Not a BBS, but a full blown
very colorful Homepage -- starts with a 'Welcome
to GCCC'. From what I read, it is maintained by
'GATOR' also known as Bob Swoger. He placed a neat
photo of Tony Podraza on the Homepage and then his
own on The Club BBS Homepage -- nice touch.
Both pages provide a Link to the Membership List
which to my surprise had over 450 names -- WHEW !! I
guess it includes Active and Inactive persons, as my
name was listed -- haven't paid dues in years. ==>
____________________________________________________
The Homepage includes 21 Links to the Web Pages
of leading CoCoNuts that are on the Internet. Always
nice to find new sources to look into. The Club BBS
Homepage also has 9 Links to other sources of infor-
mation on the CoCo.
The Link that interested me the most was the one
to the 'NEWSLETTER ADS', which would give you the
jump on CoCo and PC items for sale. A real variety
of Computer 'stuff' for sale by individuals (would
take an hour just to read all of the ads!).
The GCCC Homepage is a member of the CoCo Web
Ring, which then leads you to many more great Home-
pages to review.
I did have a problem with the Links to the GCCC
Officers names that were listed -- failed to make
connections with the first two I tried?? ==>
____________________________________________________
For a pleasant afternoon of surfing, I would
highly recommend that you pay a visit to the GCCC
Homepage. This Club is helping CoCoNuts make it to
the Year 2000 by celebrating the CoCo's 20th Anni-
versary at their 9th Annual 'LAST' Chicago CoCoFEST!
Muriel & I will hopefully be spending the winter
in Destin Florida and will be able to receive e-mail
at: GJMOLL@aol.com We plan to leave on November
30th and return HOME on April 1, 2000.
We hope that all of the CoCo's keep running for
another trouble free year -- continue to enjoy one
of the GREATEST inventions of all time!!!
=*
|
Gate Crasher Development Status My new game is progressing at a steady rate and I am
still hoping to have it completed by the end of this
year. Two factors may slow me down, Christmas festi-
vities and my Game Testers offering suggestions of
things to add inn!!
The game is 90% complete and WILL be completed if
not before the end of this year, very soon into the
new year.
To see what my game looks/plays like currently,
download the 900K mpeg movie file off my web page.
I have been keeping a development progress log on
my web page for anyone who likes to keep track of
my progress. http://www.launch.net.au/-nickm/coco
Replace the "-" with a tilde. =*
|
Glenside CoCo IDE The Glenside Color Computer Club IDE project page
at http://ide.stg.net contains the current status
of this project as well as getting updates, new dri-
vers, updated documentation, and so on.
Shipping Status
---------------
We have parts and boards to complete orders. About
seventy-five boards are completely assembled and
tested. Roughly a dozen were distributed at the 8th
annual Glenside Last CoCoFest last May. Another six
were distributed at the PennFest last August. Note
that boards distributed were all to people who had
placed orders long ago! Boards are being distribut-
ed in the order that the orders were placed. If you
have a question about the shipping status of your =>
____________________________________________________
order, contact Carl Boll via EMail:
carlboll@chicoco.chi.il.us or US MAIL:
The IDE Project c/o
Carl Boll
6242 S. Menard Ave
Chicago, IL 60638
We will not accept new orders until all current
orders are fulfilled. In addition, if we have your
deposit but you have not paid fully, please wait to
pay fully until you hear from us. As soon as we have
enough boards built and tested and ready to go, we
will notify the next group of people.
=*
|
NEWS from the Net 12/99 Here are some of the latest happenings on the CoCo from the "Online CoCo Community". * The Glenside Color Computer Club has announced the plans for the 9th Annual "Last" Chicago CoCo Fest. http://users.aol.com/clubbbs/glenside/ * Lonnie Falk has a new spot online called the: E-Mall -- http://www.the-e-mall.net/ There is also a section dedicated to The Rainbow, where back issue are available: http://www.the-e-mall.net/netcat.htm * Ron Bull has the latest Penn Fest 2000 information available on his Bull's Barn Web Site: http://bullsbarn.stg.net/ => ____________________________________________________ * Nickolas Marentes has a downloadable MPEG movie on his web page showing what his new game "Gate Crasher" looks like. He has also posted PENN FEST 2000 information and designed a "snazzy" logo for the event. His web page is located at: http://www.launch.net.au/-nickm/coco/ *Be sure to replace the "-" with the tilde symbol!* * The Color Computer Preservation Society (CoCoPS) has a new URL address and the web site received a very nice redesign, which was done by Steve Bjork. You'll find the CoCoPS located at: http://www.e-technews.com/coco/ * If you missed the Chicago and Pennsylvania CoCo => ____________________________________________________ Fest this year, you may have missed the chance to pick up the SCSI Interface that's available from Cloud-9. See the ADS section in this issue to see what other great hardware goodies are available for your CoCo. Better yet, stop by the Cloud-9 web site for full descriptions of their products, along with pricing. Point your browser to: http://www.isd.net/mmarlett/cloud9.html This is a start of what "should" be an expanding "News" area for CFDM. I feel it is VERY beneficial to CoCo users who don't have internet access, to be kept informed of what's happening "Online". If you have news we can use in this column, please send it to me at: gearboxed@mindspring.com THANKS!! =* |
NEWSFLASH! VENDORS! Due to the outrageous number of weddings planned for
2000, all the hotels in the area have booked wedd-
ings and due to this they have doubled the cost of
the showroom to me!! I will not be able to hold the
show at the costs "originally" planned! All tables
will be $45 each and I need payments as soon as pos-
sible. Please let me know if you'd like to be a Ven-
dor for Penn Fest 2000 - "The Big Birthday Bash!".
- Ron Bull -- ronbull@aol.com
or
Ron Bull
115 Ann Street
Duncannon, PA 17020-1204 =*
|
| Articles in section: FROM THE EDITOR |
| CFDM
UPDATE - DECEMBER 1999 Footnote on the Diskette KUDOS FOR ISSUE #67 Loading the CoCo3Go GIF New Member Welcome |
| Back to top |
CFDM UPDATE - DECEMBER 1999 Greetings friends,
welcome to CFDM #67 for December
1999. I hope this issue will bring some Holiday
Cheer to you and your CoCo! First off, we did man-
age to keep "somewhat" on schedule for this issue
considering the slow rate at which material arrived.
Thankfully, we managed to get what I believe to be,
a meaningful issue put together. There's a very good
mix of material to be found on this month's disks
and I hope everyone will take time out of their
busy Holiday rush to enjoy it!
I would like to thank all those who've helped me
throughout this year with their subscriptions and
submissions. Also, thanks to those who traveled to
the Fests which were held earlier in the year. =>
____________________________________________________
It goes without saying, that we need to support all
facets of the CoCo Community across the board. Each
group or individual that takes the time and effort
to make the CoCo Community a better place...ALWAYS
needs your help in doing so. Let's continue to "keep
the fire kindled" and have a strong foundation of
support for both the CoCo and its users. From the
first time you turned on a CoCo to now, it's surely
been apparent to each that this is no ordinary Com-
puter or group of enthusists!
The need of material for CFDM is always an ongoing
concern. Please keep us in mind over the Holidays
and plan on doing what you can to help make our
first issue of 2000 a good one! My "mission" has
been to make CFDM not just for its members, but =>
____________________________________________________
about its members. I do however, need your help in
doing so. The more input and participation we have,
the more diverse and enjoyable each issue will be.
We always need your help and in all sections of the
magazine. I've always thought of CFDM as a casual
and friendly environment with doors opened to all
users, no matter where their interest or skill lev-
el lies. Consider sharing a part of "you" with the
group as we all have at least one common interest,
that being the Color Computer. Let's continue to en-
joy the exchange of ideas and friendship this ma-
chine has help build.
Have a Happy and Safe Holiday Season,
Jim
=*
|
Footnote on the Diskette ...its your attitude, not your aptitude, that deter-
mines your altitude.
...it is never too late. If it weren't for the last
minute, many things would never get done.
...you'll find you'll learn more from your mistakes
if you don't waste time denying them.
=*
|
KUDOS FOR ISSUE #67 Thanks goes out to the following CFDM supporters
for making...YET another issue possible for us all!
Norm Barson, Dave Battey, Raymond Berney, Ron Bull,
David Bush, Bruce Calkins, CoCoPS, Rick Cooper,
David Deiter, DGrampsas, Ethel Farr, Kevin Frank,
Erik Gavriluk, Glenside Color Computer Club, Roger
Hallman, Keiran Kenny, John Kowalski, Nickolas
Marentes, Mark Marlette, Greg Miller, Harold J.
Moenich, Godfrey Moll, Dave Poitras, Stuart G.
Roberts, Charlie Round, Ray Watts, and Stuart
Wyss-Gallifent.
Also, a special thanks to Arthur S. Hallock for all
the work he does as well!
=*
|
Loading the CoCo3Go GIF Fellow CoCoist Dave Poitras, whose ARTICLE on the
"CoCo3Go" appears in this issue, sent me some GREAT
images of this CoCo Repack recently. I was hoping to
place a few of these images on the Bonus Disk, but
I was at the tail-end of disk space when I received
them. :( All is not lost though, as I did manage to
"squeeze" one of the images on Side 2 of the Bonus
Disk! :) The image is in the GIF format and can be
LOADED from the FILE Menu in COLOR MAX DELUXE...
which is ALSO located on the same side of the Bonus
Disk. So we get a peek at a neat CoCo Repack AND
the opportunity to test out one of the MANY powerful
features of COLOR MAX DELUXE! Watch for additional
images of Dave's CoCo3Go in future issues of CFDM!
=*
|
New Member Welcome I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome two new
members to our group.
Bruce Calkins - Wales, Massachusetts
David Deiter - Pottsville, Pennsylvania
We're glad to have you aboard and feel free to jump
in anytime! Your input is certainly welcomed!
Thanks also, to those who've renewed and continue to
support the efforts to keep our favorite 8-bit com-
puter alive!!
=*
|
| Articles in section: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| HELLO
AGAIN Issue #66 Laura R. Boyce News from "Down-Under" Send me a "CoCoNUTS"! Updated Web Page |
| Back to top |
HELLO AGAIN Hi Jim,
I am happy to hear that you received the
disks I sent. I have to work MUCH harder to get a
program to do what I want it to do, but I just try
harder. I will NEVER give up!
- Your old coco friend,
Harold -- MOEN1@WEBTV.NET
----------------------------------------------------
JIM:
Hi Harold! Always glad to hear from you. I'm
glad to hear you're up and active on your CoCo once
again.:) As always, I REALLY appreciate your contin-
ued support for CFDM and always look forward to see-
ing what you've got up your sleeve next! Have a nice
Christmas and keep in touch too! =*
|
Issue #66 Hi Jim:
September has came and passed, and I have
not as of yet, received my September Issue of CoCo
Friends Disk Magazine. If this issue is late please
reply. Also my email address may be used in future
issues.
Thank You
Charlie Round -- chuckround@aol.com
----------------------------------------------------
JIM:
Hi Charlie! It was good too hear from you! Back
in October. As you and I'm sure other CFDM postal
subscribers are surely aware, we ran behind on CFDM
#66. The main problem of course be that all the mat-
erial came in at the last minute! We're on schedule
for this issue however! Also beginning in December=>
____________________________________________________
of this year, CFDM members can visit my web page to
see the current "status" of an issue in "the works",
and will be able to read any "news" that is happen-
ing BETWEEN issues. I'll be adding the status page
to my web site over the holidays, but for now anyone
is welcome to stop by my web site located at:
http://members.xoom.com/gearboxed/
or I can be E-Mailed at: gearboxed@mindspring.com
Have a Happy Holidays Charlie!
=*
|
Laura R. Boyce October 9, 1999
Dear Jim,
you have been sending magazines and disks
to Laura Boyce for several years, and I know she
loved them!
I'm sorry to tell you that Laura died suddenly on
September 5, 1999. She was my best friend.
I had played with her computers, but I'm afraid I
don't know how to turn them on, so you might as well
stop sending the material to her. It still doesn't
make sense, I'm in a state of shock.
Ethel Farr, PO BOX 5699, Phoenix, AZ 85010 =*
|
News from "Down-Under" Dear Jim: 8 November 1999
During recent months I have been very busy with
political activities here in connection with a
referendum to decide if Australia would change to
a republic. I spent a time propagandising for the
YES camp. The referendum took place on Saturday and
the result was a clear majority for the NO camp. No
tears and no regrets, and the YES camp will be back
again in a couple of years: possibly without me as
I will celebrate my 80th birthday next week.
I hope to resume contributing to CFDM very soon.
Best wishes to yourself and all your readers.
- Keiran =>
____________________________________________________
----------------------------------------------------
JIM:
Hi Keiran! Thanks for the update and hope all is
well with you. Also, Happy "belated" 80th Birthday
to you!! I'm sure 80 years have provided you with
many a travels and experiences over the years. I
can be pretty sure you've seen and done MANY things,
throughout those years that people such as myself
could only imagine. I also bet you have many inter-
esting stories you could tell! The recent visit from
a fellow Australian from your homeland, Nickolas
Marentes...may one day put me in your "neck of the
woods" for a visit to Australia..."hello, hey where
did everyone go?" :) Take care Keiran!
=*
|
Send me a "CoCoNUTS"! Jim,
please send me a copy of CoCoNUTS -- we bought
our original 4K machine in November of 1980.
Thanks for keeping the history of this magnificent
machine alive.
- Dave Battey
----------------------------------------------------
It's little notes like this that I receive that help
keep the "fire-lit" for me. I'm always pleased when
people support CFDM & the Quality products I repre-
sent for others in the CoCo Community. Nickolas put
a tremendous amount of time and effort in publishing
his CoCoNUTS book and it's a pleasure to both repre-
sent AND mail out this great retrospective of the
CoCo to readers. =*
|
Updated Web Page Hi Jim,
how are things going...I've been playing with
VBScript and decided to try it out on my web page.
I'll be uploading coco files to my web page over the
next month or so. (If I can find them all!)
- Roger -- rogerjh@mindspring.com
Roger Hallman's CoCo World
http://www.mindspring.com/-rogerjh/
* The "-" is replaced with a tilde symbol above. *
----------------------------------------------------
JIM:
Hi Roger! Always good to hear from you. All is=>
____________________________________________________
well here in Missouri. It's certainly been a BUSY
year to say the least! Your web page looks good, I
hope to get some free time over the Holidays to add
some new additions to mine! My page has had a fair
amount of neglect this year due to lack of available
"free-time"! :( I have lots of archived images to
post and will hopefully have some pictures which I
took at the Chicago and Penn Fests to display. I to
have also considered a File Download Section...but
I better not put the "cart-before-the-horse" just
yet! Hope to talk with you more over the Holidays!
=*
|
| Articles in section: POTPOURRI |
| **
JIGSAW PUZZLE & EMULATOR ** DRAGON E-mail address & Website Holiday MOD Music POLITICIAN |
| Back to top |
** JIGSAW PUZZLE & EMULATOR
** Let's all Cheer for Norm Barson, who continues
to provide us with Great Jigsaw Puzzles using Rick's
PUZZLE MAKER. Norm is the CFDM Artist for the Issues
Cover and also contributes many fine pictures to the
Gallery! Over the years I've had many hours of fun
completing the Puzzles. I am using the CoCo Emulator
now and continue to enjoy making them.
As I grow older my eyes seem to grow weaker, but
fortunately a few years back Rick Cooper came to our
rescue with a LARGER CURSOR -- one that I could see
easily. On my Puzzle Disks I usually have two "boot"
files -- BOOT.BAS with the smaller cursor and BOOT1.
BAS with the LARGER CURSOR. There are times, when
the disk is FULL and you cannot have them both
available - so with the emulator I do the following:
==>
____________________________________________________
1. COPY the Puzzle Program to the Hard Drive.
(Never work on the Original)
2. COPY the "BOOT1.BAS" in this Issue to the
Hard Drive.
3. Load the Puzzle Program into the Emulator.
4. Type 'DIR' <ENTER>
5. Type 'KILL"BOOT.BAS"' <ENTER>
6. Hit F6 Key -- Menu
7. Select "P" (PORT Utility)
(Be sure that F7 is BASIC & F8 is Binary!)
8. From the Hard Drive -- Select Puzzle
9. Highlight, Drag & Drop the "BOOT1.BAS" File
to the Puzzle.
10. Hit <ESC> Key
11. Type RUN"BOOT1.BAS" <ENTER> ==>
____________________________________________________
I hope that you have as much FUN as I do making
Jigsaw Puzzles -- many thanks again to Norm and Rick
for providing these Tools and Programs for our en-
tertainment.
And to Jim Davis for including a BONUS DISK with
each Issue of CFDM....
CoCoNut on the Emulator Godfrey
("BOOT1.BAS" is located on side 2 of this disk.)
=*
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DRAGON
Ever since CFDM had a CONTEST on DRAGONS, I became
hooked on them--any kind or shape. I found this one
and thought he was pretty cute. This program has
MUSIC, GRAPHICS and SPEECH. Hope Y'ALL like it. I
wish everyone FUN on all of the holidays.
H.J.MOENICH 11-19-99
MOEN1@WEBTV.NET
FAX: 412-373-1309
(RUN "DRAGON.BAS" on side 2 of this disk to see and
hear Harold's creation. See if you can recognize
the the famous song that is being played!)
=*
|
E-mail address & Website I finally got onto the Internet on 9/13/1999.
My primary e-mail address is 'reberney@qosi.net'
However, Harold Moenich contacts me at my other
e-mail address: 'raymondberney@netscape.net'
My website is at www.zyworld.com/ray12
=*
|
Holiday MOD Music In issue #65 of CFDM you had a chance to play MOD
music files using Sock Master's CoCoTracker program.
In this issue I've included two additional MOD files
for use with CoCoTracker. I figured that since the
Holidays are in full swing, it would be nice to have
some music the coincides with the season. I decided
on the following two selections:
Jingle Bells - JINBELS.MOD
Let it snow - LETITSNO.MOD
The selection of songs I had to choose from was
abundant, unfortunately disk space wasn't!
CoCoTracker can be found on CFDM #65. The two MOD =>
____________________________________________________
files found on this issue are located on side 1 of
the Bonus Disk.
Thanks to John Kowalski (Sock Master) for "cutting"
the MOD files down in size, so BOTH files could fit
on the Bonus Disk! :)
We hope you enjoy them!
=*
|
POLITICIAN
The media is sure having a "Hey Day" with so many
people wanting to be "Someone Special". How can we
be sure that they will keep even one promise? I put
together this little program to show how one person
tried to sway everyone to vote for him. I am very
sorry, but I cannot VOTE now since I'm housebound.
I wish all COCONUTS a very JOYOUS YEAR 2000!
MOEN1@WEBTV.NET
FAX: (412)373-1309
11-01-99 H.J.MOENICH
(RUN "POLITICS.BAS" on the back side of this disk.)
=*
|
| Articles in section: PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH |
| #66
Puzzle Printer COLOR MAX DELUXE FOURCUBE PART I FOURCUBE PART II FOURCUBE PART III |
| Back to top |
#66 Puzzle Printer It was mentioned that there was no program for the
Word Puzzle in the last issue of CFDM. Well here is
one that just lists the puzzle as it is in the maga-
zine. I had to move GIBBONS over one space to the
right as it overlaps.
This usually doesn't happen in the puzzles. Using
William Nee's program listed in Rainbow Magazine,
June 1991, these word search puzzles come out every
time.
Simply set your printer online and RUN "SRCHPUZL" to
print it out.
(You'll find SRCHPUZL.BAS on side 2 of this disk.)
=*
|
COLOR MAX DELUXE via telex from Milliluk Corporate Offices North Dakota Bomb Shelter (address withheld) Happy Final Holiday, CoCo Friends. With the millennium coming to a close, Greg and I figured we'd better spread as many copies of Color Max Deluxe around the globe as possible. How else could we document the pinnacle of 8-bit software development for future archeologists to discover? In light of alien invasions, nuclear energy dis- asters, and widespread chaos that's undoubtedly destroying civilization as you read this, Milliluk's final release aims to preserve our twisted and => ____________________________________________________ egomaniacal view of human history. Copy it wildly, share it with your friends! We hope you enjoy our holiday gift to the CoCo com- munity. Please fire up those CoCo's and draw pretty pictures. Enjoy Color Max Deluxe while you can... before the world ends sometime next week. Best wishes, -Erik Gavriluk and Greg Miller P.S. Don't call us if your Epson Dot Matrix Printer jams printing t-shirt transfers. It's not our fault. (RUN "COLORMAX" on side 2 of the Bonus Disk. See the addendum page in HardCopy for "Getting Started".)=* |
FOURCUBE PART I View text file associated with this article Fourcube is a 3-D tictactoe program for the Color
Computer.
Features include:
* 100% machine language
* rotating board display
* 6 selectable strength levels
* demostration mode
* rules mode (see below)
* human vs. human mode
* "Faircube" option to reduce first player advantage
* help screen
* operate via joystick or keyboard
* full color display on CoCo 3 RGB output
Any CoCo with at least 32K of RAM should run the =>
____________________________________________________
program.
Joysticks are optional.
Deluxe joysticks are preferred, centered in both
directions.
To run: LOADM"FOURCUBE"
If you have a CoCo 3, you might want to invoke the
high-speed poke: POKE &HFFD9,0 before you EXEC.
Fourcube is played on a 4x4x4 grid of cells. One
player has red tokens, the other player has yellow
tokens. The players alternate placing one token of
their color in any empty cell. Tokens are not cap-
tured and do not move from their cells once placed.
The object is to get four of your color tokens in
any straight line. If neither side can do this, =>
____________________________________________________
the game is a draw. If you press "R" you will enter
"rules" mode which shows you these rules on screen.
If you press the spacebar after reading the rules,
you will see examples of winning rows. Each example
can be rotated with the left or right arrows, or
with the joystick. Note that when you rotate a win-
ning row, the four tokens remain in a line as the
board rotates. Then you can return to "game mode"
by pressing some key, possibly Enter. The rules
screen will tell you what key to press.
Here are the key commands available to you in game
mode:
(See FOURCUBE PART II) =*
|
FOURCUBE PART II J - will toggle the joysticks on or off.
H - will show you a help screen, listing these key
commands.
1-6 - will select the strength level. 1 is the weak-
est, 6 is the strongest.
R - will enter rules mode as described above. You
can enter rules mode at any time without affect-
ing the game position.
<--> - left and right arrows (or joystick left or
right) will rotate the board.
dn,up - up and down arrows (or joystick up or =>
____________________________________________________
down) will scroll a cursor through the cells,
one level at a time, like reading the pages
of a book (forward for down arrow, backward
for up arrow.) The cursor will cycle around
to the top again after the cell on the bot-
tom. If you want to make the cursor disappear
again, rotate the board. You might find that
these operations are a little fuzzy if you
have high-speed invoked. If you keep the mac-
hine on low speed, the CoCo should never take
more than 75 seconds to move, even at stren-
gth 6. In fact, it will frequently move in-
stantly.
Enter - (or black fire button) will make your move
in the cell indicated by the cursor. =>
____________________________________________________
While the computer is thinking about its move,
you won't be able to enter any commands. If you
press Enter/fire at the start of a game, the
computer will move first. (See F below.)
T - will take back the last move. If your are play-
ing against the computer, its move and your move
are both taken back at once. You can take back
moves all the way back to the beginning I think.
If the game is over, though, you can't take back
moves.
S - will step forward again through moves which you
took back.
(See FOURCUBE PART III) =*
|
FOURCUBE PART III F - If you press F at the start of a game, the com-
puter will move first, but will avoid playing in
any of the 8 corner cells or 8 central cells.
This is the "Faircube" option. This way, the ad-
vantage of the first move is reduced, and the
game is more fair. If you wish to move first in
Faircube, simply avoid playing in any of the 8
corner or 8 central cells on your first move.
B - enters "Board mode." Two humans can play each
other. The computer will recognize when one
side has won, or a drawn position is reached
(all rows blocked.)
D - is "Demo mode." The computer will play against
itself, game after game. The board will rotate=>
____________________________________________________
one notch for each new game.
That's about all I could remember. Sorry, I don't
have my CoCo working right now, and it's been a
while. I hope you enjoy the game!
- David Bush <twixtplayer@yahoo.com>
(You'll find FOURCUBE.BIN and FOURCUBE.TXT located
on side 2 of this disk.)
=*
|
| Articles in section: REVIEWS |
| **
CoCoNUTS by NICK MARENTES ** How about some REVIEWS? |
| Back to top |
** CoCoNUTS by NICK MARENTES ** Those of us on the Internet have had the honor
of reading some of Nickolas Marentes's Interviews
while Online at his neat Web Page, all the way from
Australia! http://www.launch.net.au/-nickm/coco/
(- equals a Tilde)
Thanks to Ron Bull, the organizer of Penn Fest
'99, and Jim Davis, whose extra efforts brought Nick
to the Fest, I was able to purchase a copy of this
very interesting book containing 16 'Interviews with
people who helped shape the CoCo.' These interviews
are well written and contain many insights as to how
the really great CoCo Programs were created for our
enjoyment.
The book is printed on 8 1/2X11 inch paper and
contains photos of the persons interviewed. (except
for Dave Edson & Greg Zumwalt) ==>
____________________________________________________
Interviews are also illustrated with 21 screen
pictures of the most Famous Games and Programs along
with another 6 pictures of ads & hardware.
This book contains 94 pages (equivalent to 188
pages of Reader's Digest) of well thought out Ques-
tions and very honest Answers, presented in a very
entertaining manner. I promise you that if you pur-
chase this book you will not be able to put it aside
until you read all of the Interviews.
Check with Jim Davis for your copy.
The CoCo Programmers included are: Alan DeKok,
Chet Simpson, Dale Lear, Dave Edson, Eric Crichlow,
Erik Gavriluk, Glen Dahlgren, Greg Miller, Greg Zum-
walt, Jeremey Spiller, John Kowalski, Kevin Darling,
Mark Randall, Mark Siegel, Rick Adams, & Steve Hart-
ford. ==>
____________________________________________________
Here's a list of just a few of the CoCo Programs
that they created:
CoCoMax3, Shanghai, Max-10, Digger, Doom, Cater-
pillar, Scripsit, Tutankahm, Star Trek, ColorMax3,
Mcpaint, Hall of the King, Dragon Blade, ZoneRunner,
Warrior King, Tetris, RoboCop, Zenix, Maui Vice,
Gloom, Crystal Palace and many more Games, Utilites,
& OS9 material.
I know that I will read & reread this book many
times this winter.
CoCoNut on the Internet Godfrey
GJMOLL@aol.com
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/1418
=*
|
How about some REVIEWS? This seems to be a continually troublesome section
to get material for. In CFDM #64 I made the same
plea -- "We need more REVIEWS"! I feel there ARE
enough "new" Hardware and Software products avail-
able to justify keeping this section "active". I
hope everyone feels the same! Also, keep in mind
that the REVIEW "doesn't" have to be for a "new"
CoCo product either. In fact, a good portion of
the software I buy myself is old...sometimes REAL-
LY old! Let's hear your thoughts! You might just
point a fellow CoCoer to something they'd like to
try out in the future!
=*
|
| Articles in section: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS |
| CoCo
MIDI Pro STAR NX-1000 Ribbons |
| Back to top |
CoCo MIDI Pro I am looking for a program called CoCo MIDI Pro.
It's a package containing a program pak, Y-cable,
program pak midi interface and software. It turns
my CoCo 3 into a midi sequencer.
I hope someone can help me,
Kevin Frank <kevinfrank@sympatico.ca>
Toronto, Canada
=*
|
STAR NX-1000 Ribbons I've just completed fixing a Star NX-1000 Rainbow
bought from Paul Zibailia at the Penn Fest for $15.
I received a HUGE amount of help from Norm Barson
during the repair job. Restored the old ribbon that
came with it using a few squirts of WD-40 and a lot
of manual winding. After checking out the printer
for a week, or so, I purchased a supply of color
ribbons from a firm in Ft. Lauderdale at great pri-
ces. Since they arrived I've been going crazy trying
different screen dumps in both RSDOS and OS-9. The
company name and some representative prices are
found below.
American Ribbon & Toner Co., Inc.
2895 W. Prospect Rd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309
(954) 733-4552 or 1-888-570-6255 =>
____________________________________________________
Star NX-1000 black $2.39
Star NX-1000 4color $6.95
Star NX-1000 4color $21.50 - heat transfer
Star NX-1020 black $3.88
Star NX-1020 4color $7.50
- Ray Watts
=*
|
