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SYNDICATE ZMAGAZINE January 18, 1988
Issue #89 Volume 3, Number 3
======================================
Editor
Ron Kovacs
Circulation Assistants
Ken Kirchner
Tony Santos
======================================
HEADQUARTERS FOR FIRST RELEASE OF ZMAG
East Brunswick Bulletin Board Service
Ascii System.
International FidoNet ID# 107/323
300/1200/2400/9600 24 hours
XBN Oasis BBS (617) 559-6844
======================================
Xx INDEX 89
______________________________________
From The Editor.............Ron Kovacs
Zmag E-Mail.................Ron Kovacs
XF551 Review...................Unknown
Whatever Happened........Bruce Kennedy
Zmag System Update...........Nut House
Zmag Newswire............Bruce Kennedy
Commentary-Reply.........Ralph Mariano
CompuServe Update (Atarians).......CIS
Programming in Basic.....Jackson Beebe
______________________________________
Xx FROM THE EDITOR ______________________________________
by Ron Kovacs
Incase you are not aware of it, The
ZMagazine BBS is no longer available.
I have taken the system down for good
because of commitments on my time, and
for the fact that problems with the
hardware have caused me to decide what
my future plans dictate.
I have moved the Headquarters to the
EBBBS (which is local to ZMag) and the
XBN BBS (which is another Oasis BBS).
XBN has aquired ALL of the current
passwords from ZMag. You can call
there direct for immediate access. No
callback required. Your password will
be validated as it was on ZMag.
I am looking for other carriers to be
headquarter systems. I will select
one from each area code and let you
know shortly. If you decide to become
a regional headquarter system, you
will be asked to carry atleast 5-6
weeks worth of past issues.
I am very sorry I could not let you
all know before, the system crashed
earlier today and the work required
to once again restart it was too much
for me right now. Perhaps at a later
time this year, we will return to the
telephone lines. But until then, I
sincerely hope you will continue to
support ZMagazine.
(201) 968-8148 will become a voice
line direct to ZMagazine. If you have
questions on anything, feel free to
call me. The voice line will become
official Feb 1, 1988. Until then, a
busy signal will be in effect.
Changes are on the horizon, with the
newly found freedom, I will be able
to work on more things and will keep
you all up to date.
Zmag and ST-Report will continue to
be found on CompuServe and GEnie.
Thank you for your understanding. To
those who know what it takes to run a
BBS, know that it is a tough decision
to make.
______________________________________
Xx ZMAGAZINE ELECTRONIC MAILBOX
______________________________________
Here are a few letters received over
the past month from the ZMAG MAILBOX
EasyPlex
Date: 15-Dec-87 03:13 EST
From: John Hoffman - BPForum
[76703,1036]
Subj: Happy Holidays
HAPPY HOLIDAYS...AND WELCOME BACK TO
THE FORUM !!!
The BP Forum has been on the run....on
the go...and on the move with many
additions and improvements!
New sections include RADIO/TV TALENT
(section 5) for on-air personalities
looking for placement and for
potential employers to find you! The
CATV/MMDS has been established to
share information on Cable TV related
programs, utilities, and current news.
We now have a RADIO SALES area
(section 16) for discussion of sales
information and techniques.
The BP Forum is ready to bring in the
new year with a special section to
deal with election coverage issues
found under COVERAGE '88 section 15.
This area will also be looking at
OLYMPIC COVERAGE too!
Jay Trachman's ONE TO ONE is now
permenantly on line with the Forum.
You'll find lot's of interesting
information here for your on-air show
with tid bits on the latest in the
industry. So get yourself reaccquinted
with us and enjoy the new services
here in the forum for YOU!
IT'S GOING TO BE A BUSY 1988 SO BE
STAY HERE FOR THE LATEST (GO BPFORUM)
Happy Holidays from the Staff of the
BPForum - John H., Chris, Joe, John
R., Jim, Chuck, Gerry, Ron, Steve B.,
Steve J. and Bob
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
EasyPlex
Date: 18-Dec-87 19:30 EST
From: Charles Melichar [71270,2413]
Subj: Zmag on My BBS
Hello.
As you can see, my name is Chas
Melicar, and I run a BBS in Boise,
Idaho, and I was interested in if it
was possible to carry your magazine on
my BBS. I don't believe anyone else
carries it here, and I think that is a
shame. Please leave me some
information, I'd sure appreciate
anything you can tell me about ZMAG.
The BBS # here is (208)/342-5981. I'm
using BBS Express!, the Xm-301
version. Run 24hrs.
Thanx for your help and patience.
Merry Christmas,
Charles 71270,2413
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
EasyPlex
Date: 04-Jan-88 20:17 EST
From: Charles Melichar [71270,2413]
Subj: Raves About ZMag!
About Zmag...
Ron: Sorry to bother you (you must be
extremely busy), but thought you might
want to hear.. with just the first
issue, I've already had people saying
-I actually Learned something- and
-When is the next issue? You WILL get
more, won't you?-
Thanx alot, Ron, keep at it, you're
doing an excellent job (and please
pass it on to all of your helpers,
editors, asciiingers, and so on!
Oh, and before I forget, if you would
like it, or if there is an opening, I
would like to write a short article
for ZMag... lemme know if you are
interested.
The best to you in '88,
-The Loopy Year-
-Chas
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
EasyPlex
Date: 10-Jan-88 20:22 EST
From: JERRY CROSS [75046,467]
Subj: zmag
Ron, you did it to me again. You left
my bbs off your list! I left you a
note once before and you said you
would include it on future lists!
PLLLLLEEEEZZZZZ put my name on your
next one. I have been a faithfull Zmag
bbs for over 1 1/2 years, and
currently carry all of the issues back
to August.
FACTS 3/12/2400 313-736-3920
______________________________________
Xx HARDWARE REVIEW
______________________________________
Author Unknown
(captured from CompuServe)
At a Federated store somewhere in
California...
I can actually hear the salesman's
thoughts as I approach... <not this
Atari 8-bit nut again? Why couldn't I
have listened to my mother and sold
shoes? (-people will always need
shoes, Marvin!-)....>
I notice that there are even more
Atari specific products displayed,
including the stack of XEP-80s and
SX-212s. Even third party 8-bit
products peek out at me from the
racks. Not overwhelming, but the place
is beginning to look like Atari does
intend to sell 8-bit computer stuff
there. My weekly (daily?) visit does
not concern itself with what I can see
though, the Question readies on my
lips... -got any word on the new disk
drive?-
-Well, there is a truck waiting to be
unloaded that just came from Atari....
I could look on the bill of lading.-
Sure, you go look at your paperwork.
I'll just poke around in the displays
until you give me the Bad News.... I
didn't even ask him the price when he
came back and said they shipped him
ONE unit. I think I got home without
breathing, watching for the Atari
Patrol to confiscate my prize....-that
unit was not for sale! It is a demo!
The FCC has not approved the XF551,
yet...-
The Family is so well trained that
they didn't notice the glaze over my
eyes... no mention of the new, grey
thingie on my console.... my mumbles
sounded somewhat feverish, but within
the limits of normality for me. I
actually got an XF551, and it worked,
and it runs all my software, and it is
going to do Great Things!
The Nature of the Beast...
The XF551 is a half-height floppy
drive that is somewhat smaller than
the 1050 and Tramiel Grey in color. It
will read and write SS/SD disks (810),
SS/ED (1050), SS/DD (ICD Doubler or
Percom, etc.), and DS/DD (360K!!). I
have heard rumors that the built-in
controller has a track buffer, but the
performance of the unit that I have
does not confirm that. The XF551 can
transfer data on the SIO at twice the
normal speed, if your DOS knows how to
activate the feature. OSS has written
ADOS for the new drive that will
support all these formats, but it is
not yet available. Luckily, SpartaDos,
from ICD, does a great job on the
XF551. Only the high speed SIO
function is missing from my 3.2d
version of SpartaDos and ICD has
already announced the availability of
an upgrade to remedy that. The drive
can be addressed on the SIO buss as
D1: thru D4:, just like the 1050, and
acts like the previous device in
almost all respects.
Almost all respects.....
The DOS 2.5 manual that comes with the
early XF551 looks like a copy of the
1050 manual with all instances of the
string -1050- replaced with -XF551-
(heck, it IS a copy with all the
references changed....). No mention is
made of double-sided, double-density
operation in the manual. It even lists
the controller as a 6507/2793
combination, which it is certainly
not! I would have to assume that we
will see a proper manual when ADOS is
released.
As for operating quirks, the drive
will normally post a -no DOS- message
(or rather, SpartaDos posts the
message) when you boot the first DS/DD
disk. You have to re-boot to get it to
load in, but only the first time. It
seems that the device will only change
density when it reads sector 1. This
appears to solve the problems that
crop up in protection schemes that
rely on an 810 or 1050 to fail to read
a DD sector stuck in a SD disk. I
tried a number of commercial software
packages that are known to croak on DD
drives and found no problems. There
MAY be a few out there, but I would
guess not many. (very good news for
those buying their first and only
drive...)
This new kid will also read SS/DD
diskettes from ICD and such. Unlike
the ST SS drive, the format of the DD
drive does not write all the sectors
on one head of a track and then switch
to the other head and write those
sectors before moving to the next
track. By writing 36 DD sectors before
moving the head, you get a higher
transfer rate, but you lose SS
compatability. This means that I can
read the first 180K of my DS/DD disks
on my ICD modified 1050 (a SS drive)!
Much handier than having the ST style
format, even if it is slower.
So, this XF551 is quiet, fast and
holds lots of data. Just what we
wanted, right? Yeeesssssss.....but I
kinda liked the idea of a 3.5 inch
drive, too. And I'm kinda partial to
the PBI on my 800XL, 1200XL and
130XE..... and ,,,,,
Out Come The X-Ray Glasses...
The best part of this drive is the
part you never see, inside the covers.
The power supply is an old standard
400/800/810/1050/1200XL transformer
that should last forever and costs
almost nothing. There is a single-chip
microprocessor in there directing
traffic, a couple of TTL ICs and a
WD1772 floppy disk controller. The
same controller as the ST. Exactly the
same. The one that does 720K on a
3.5in drive..... Looking at the drive,
it seems to be a bone-stock, IBM
style, 360K drive. With a regular 34
pin interface cable. Just like the
720K, 3.5in ST drive....
Out comes the book, on goes the
soldering iron, snip-snip, solder-
solder. Using a 14 pin ST drive
connector and a foot of 14 conductor
flat cable, I soldered a cable to the
XF551's 34 pin connector site that
would plug into an SF314 drive. You
have to pull the connector to the 5.25
drive in the XF551 since the
controller will select both drives at
once if they are both plugged in.
Without any 3.5in disks to boot from,
I had to boot from a 1050 with the
XF551 set as D2:. Calling the XINIT
program, I formatted a 3.5in disk as
DS/DD, 80 tracks. 720K of available
space!! Of course, it didn't really
have 720K of space, since the XF551
ROM does not understand 80 tracks vs.
40 tracks. With the ROM in a nice
socket, someone should be able to fix
that (are you listening, Tom?).
Regardless, the 3.5in drives work fine
at 360K and promise to be even more
useful in the future.
Did I mention the drive select line on
the WD1772? The one that tells which
of the four drives on the 34 pin buss
to pay attention? If one were to plug
the SF314 into the buss, but use the
D2: select line instead of the D1:
line (the line that the 5.25 drive
reponds to), one could run both drives
from the one controller. No conflicts,
no hassle. A second SF314 plugged into
the back of the first SF314 (using a
standard ST cable), would be D3:! It
would require a new ROM to implement
this configuration, but little else.
Of course, if you were going to use
the PIO to talk to the XF551, you
wouldn't use the ROM anyway. Gee, the
SF314 sits perfectly up there on top
of the XF551. They make such a
wonderful pair. And on such a
wonderful machine.
Made a little more wonderful by the
addition of an XF551.
______________________________________
Xx WHATEVER HAPPENED TO....
______________________________________
by Bruce Kennedy
WARD CHRISTENSEN?
The other day I was visiting the IBM
forums on CIS, trying to get my new
office portable to work, and I bumped
into someone who helped our Keith
Ledbetter along the way. Ward
Christensen. I asked him what his
experience with PERSONAL computers
was, see below. Also where he worked
and a quick summary of his claim to
fame. If you're into telecomputing,
you should know THE pioneer in modem
protocol development, and BBS
frontiers.
------ Ward Christensen ---------
The messages below have been approved
by Ward for publication.
Fm: Ward Christensen 76703,302
To: Bruce Kennedy 72327,1500 (X)
I'm in PC technical support for IBM.
(though have worked for IBM for 20
years, and have been in everything
from small card systems (back a few
years) to mainframe databases. Been in
PC's since '84.
CIS work, its private - my IBM-ness
is not why I'm here - I'm here because
of my hobbyist stuff - and because I
invented XMODEM and programmed the
worlds first BBS, etc>?? from Kennedy:
What computers do you tinker with in
your private life, Ward? Do you
harbour a C64 or an Atari in the
closet?
Nope - all those -other- machines came
along quite a while AFTER I'd gotten
into microcomputing - I had a disk
system back in '75, 8080 CP/M based.
All the other stuff seemed rather
-toyish- compared to mine-since as
early as '72 I decided the system HAD
to be disk based. SO, I went from a
20K 8080 in '75, to the CP/M operating
system in '77, had a hard disk
(whopping 8M) in about 80 or so, with
1.2M 8- diskettes (need 1000 8-
diskettes? ;-) - then a PC in '84.
IF YOU APPRECIATE WARD'S WORK, PAY A
VISIT AND THANK HIM FOR MAKING
TELECOMPUTING ONE OF YOUR HOBBIES!
GO IBMNEW
Reported by Bruce Kennedy of Rhode
Island ACE
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
ANALOG IS ALIVE!!!!!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The following message was posted on
the Analog forum of Delphi In early
January:
For all who are interested...
ANALOG is in the process of being
bought out by a very large publishing
company based in Los Angeles,
California. The publishing company
will provide printing, distribution
and subscription services for ANALOG
and ST/Log Magazines. For the most
part, the editorial content will still
be lead by Lee Pappas, Clayton Walnum
and the assortment of contributing
editors currently adding their prose
to the magazine.
The first issue of ANALOG and ST/Log
that will be published under the new
company will be the March, '88 issues.
These issues will be on the news-
stands in late January, '88. After the
re-introduction, ANALOG and ST/Log
magazines will be published monthly
with approximately the same coverage
and substance as was previously made
available.
Subscribers will continue to receive
their issues as normal under this new
arrangement. ANALOG will be installing
an answering machine on their
Worcester, Massachusetts phone number
sometime this week. The machine will
give more precise details regarding
the publication dates and subscriber
information.
Reported by Bruce Kennedy of Rhode
Island ACE
______________________________________
Xx ZMAG SYSTEM UPDATE
______________________________________
Please add the following number to
your ZMAGAZINE System Carrier Listing.
(602)459-6896 The Nut House BBS
Sierra Vista, Az. 300 only
8N1 7:00pm to 7:00am MST
______________________________________
Xx ZMAG NEWSWIRE
______________________________________
ANALOG IS ALIVE!!!!!
The following message was posted on
the Analog forum of Delphi in early
January:
For all who are interested...
ANALOG is in the process of being
bought out by a very large publishing
company based in Los Angeles,
California. The publishing company
will provide printing, distribution
and subscription services for ANALOG
and ST/Log Magazines. For the most
part, the editorial content will still
be lead by Lee Pappas, Clayton Walnum
and the assortment of contributing
editors currently adding their prose
to the magazine.
The first issue of ANALOG and ST/Log
that will be published under the new
company will be the March, '88 issues.
These issues will be on the
news-stands in late January, '88.
After the re-introduction, ANALOG and
ST/Log magazines will be published
monthly with approximately the same
coverage and substance as was
previously made available.
Subscribers will continue to receive
their issues as normal under this new
arrangement. ANALOG will be
installing an answering machine on
their Worcester, Massachusetts phone
number sometime this week. The machine
will give more precise details
regarding the publication dates and
subscriber information.
ELECTRONIC ONE
Electronic One, the mail order house,
has discontinued phone service
effective January 14, 1987. They are
only accepting mail communications.
Has anyone had problems with service?
Has anyone attempted to cancel credit
card charges to avoid payment for
merchandise not received or delivered
later than promised?????
Let us know??
Reported by Bruce Kennedy of Rhode
Island ACE
_______________________________________Xx COMMENTARY-REPLY
______________________________________
Two weeks ago Jack Lee commented on
the lack of software for the 8-bits.
This a reply to the article.
REPLY
What has been left unsaid by the
article is the story about the glut of
TRASH software foisted upon us by the
same crummy software companies that
are doing all crying about ATARI!
Well, let them take notice..Gents keep
an eye on FTL's Dungeon Master! It is
gonna break every sales record you
clods ever thought you could
establish!!! The message is loud and
clear..- Quit the crying and produce
quality software, the Atari users are
NOT the idiots your demographic
-studies- or your pea-brained sales
managers have said they are! It is
quite evident that the software
released for the 8 bit is partly to
blame for the -widespread
Piracy-...how? easy! It's a pleasure
to pirate a crummy program to show as
many folks out there how really bad it
is...so they dont get suckered into
buying it because of the enticing
promotions.
In short, take your accusations and
stuff em! Release REAL software and
see REAL profit!!! You say you wont
produce for us anymore? Who Cares!
Take ALL your MARBLES and run....when
all the smoke clears, all the users
(not just Atari) will know just how
fickle you are. For every software
publisher that thinks he is hurting
us, let him be the first to pay
attention to FTL sales in 1988...we,
the users pledge full and unerring
support to this fine company for it's
outstanding efforts in producing a
super quality product for the
-so-called- Atari pirates. hahahaha!!
What fools are those who think we will
not spend for quality...just look at
the hardware we use..The very very
BEST....ATARI!!!!!!
FTL [FASTER THAN LIGHT] support these
folks!
totally tired of crybabys,
Ralph F. Mariano
______________________________________
Xx COMPUSERVE UPDATE (ATARIANS)
______________________________________
News from CIS's Atari Section
Forum member Bill Fox will be hosting
an informal Conference on Friday,
January 22, 1987 at 8:00 PM EST in
Conference ROOM 2 to discuss problems
and cures for the Bulletin Board
Construction Set (BBCS) software. All
members are invited to attend! Type
/TUN 2 to join in.
INFORMAL CONFERENCES
The ATARI 8-Bit Forum holds two weekly
-informal- gatherings that all Forum
members are invited to attend: