TUIMBLIINE Z

Volume 2 Issue 3 March 1964 ; $1.00

TIMEX SITUATION REPORT USER GROUP INFORMATION COME To THE FAIRE CARD SHUFFLE ROUTINES 2068 GRAPHICS EXPLORED SPARE PARTS ORDER FORM

rerise announcement an e Paime Said it wes tinuing productican on alt oF its Rome computers, ame a2 Quite ea Shock ta yo oRres User Gra CUP Members. aiLiLy thase Whe ettended mi. Bo, Bay meeting where ri} Timex UP, Bitiy Skurme, WET Pressive Presen— Feet mg many Exciting ta-be leased" products € 285 Me. Skyrme was uernmtiyo tet ga bis Timex with mare than 28 ather er division emp LOYEeSs » C. Michael Jacobi. UP aF Marketing and sates, faid Timex Withdreuw because af negative Future praogectians cancerning the home computer market. He Said “the industry if aon a Kamikaze path.” He was Li comcerned that Future price war & aes could “cause the value oF ifnven-— = tories 6 BeeLine. making it a. difficult ta make a fréeastanable prafit.' Timex ssid it would comtinue to make computers far ci other manufacturers. MOU wi: BlLeste cal Bame analysis have atsa the ay at f speculated that Timex was hurt Will have fi because it had taken tittle regiatering imterest in Buppaorting its Of the ciube. users. A New York Times articie qguctes ane computer auner as Beuing, “When you called ta ask amg technical questions, their attitude was tac damn bad.*" This same uncooperative attitude Was encauntered by many af the 408 campanies that sell pragramnms atid peripheral sea ye For the Timex machines. imex's : (Cc) cverali philosophy seemed ta be PUBLICATION © changing in the last few months, SINCLAIR but apparentiy the damage had SAN ae se already been dane. AREA. OLD AND MRE ALWAYS WELCOME Heil, what happens now? AS we HAROWARE, SOFTURRE. gc to presse it has anly been oa COMPUTER BEGINNERS couple af weeks since the @ AT THE NEXT MEETING. announcement and sa far, we have ma word an amy other COMpPanies Possibly taking aver the computer partion af the business From Timex. If anyane

(CONT. ON BACK PAGB) Liz]

| MELI RE PRODUCING GRAPHICS ON THE 2068

A BOOK REVUIEL by Wait Gaby White the Tri 2065 has only been or the market for @ Short time, there are already 2 books avail- able which relate to this cameu- tor, The SUbBUEeCt Of this review 1f 6 book €rititled:

TINEx SINCLAIR

COLOR GRAPHICS

bY Nick Hampshire

arid PuUbBLISnEd by:

Hayden Book Company Rocheiie Park, Nad.

Although unimportant, there are ae ccupile af things Which reflect the rush of PpubLiching this dace umernt: {¢1i the cover features a Ficturée of the TyrS 2848! and (tz! the text use the ward "“caotlour" throughout findiceting that the book if 8 Quick re-write of one for the Spectrum. TRE contents af this book, not EUrPBriasingiyu, can be Summarized from its tabie af contents:

Coiagur Platting

High Fesciution Graphics

Graph Platting

ising the Uideo Memary

Scaling and Stretchina

Raoteting end Haoving

SD Displays TRE book contains a@ total af 45 Programs, Each if accompanied buy & summary of the program struce- ture and an example af the caut- Put. The sequence cf programs begins With Fairly simple techniques and @valves ta these Which are More f0Phisticated and camplex. ALL programs are in BASIC. For most techniques presented, this ig quite adequate. But for some,

uch a5 the 32D Graphic, the out- Put if Excruciatingly slow.

For those who are interested in developing eae im graphic techniques tbheyond the little Frovidéd in the User Manual), this book is an excellent start.

AS an e€xample of the technical Quality of thit book, there fai- lows @ ¥VErYy nice Little proaram which takes the drudgery cut af designing user-defined charace- ters,

But eret & copy of the screen € :

its

= i SYMBOL: E | 127 i ra H i 16 i & 16 | 23 _ 127 i 2 | H

| CURSOR [41 | i H | PRESS: "A" TO ADD A PIXEL | “DY TO DELETE A PIXEL | i “HO FOR NEW CHARACTER ; i “ES TG EXE H Lo pee shee | Eu moving the cursor afd hitting A iedd or D tdetlete:, ane can d@étign = SpEeciai character in the 8&2 grid of 64 bite. am CR" Causes the EQuaere to became dark blue end 2 "ER makes it white 2QBin. FE you detign. the cher- = er gifta evolves teat ite more a = i afi &@ Space ta the tert oF th rid, {For what it meu be wor th he ditpilsyu alsa resents the d mei velue of Each oF the €ight €5.)

Up ZL fteparate charactere can be igned. These characters ar 27 BVSiLabiLe, through the ar cf mode. by using ietters i) ugh wu.

Wid the Reo gr Shire:

ne & bit more rr S7@io and he flLines £96 en

AAM

IMELIMES 2068 GRAPHICS (CONT. )

SB Sg iE

ADPREM Eee SEER SETHE H SE ETH 7i@ FOR G=64 TO S , BQ REM = CHARACTER EDITOR + 715 pare eee se SQ REM + BY NICK HAMPSHIRE + s38 42 REM + Fr art. ¥ 72s 5Q REM # TS COLOR GRAPHICS + = 30 . ES REM 245444 eeExee ee eeseesee 325 . 7@ INK @ cep 82 PAPER 7 Eid 110 LET X=10: LET Y=6 ad us y 215 CIM Crs: ses TNT OT 45. 20:0 103 120 CLs - Go SUB ioe 580 NEXT O. ey eee, Qb2o SINT AT 8,6; “SRS S10 PRINT AT 1,2; “SERRE BS a ae CHARAC SPRINT C ER NUMBER" S207 CR INT Co igotteerey ene 6yy 140 PRINT AT 18,9;"(FROM 170 2 peer ee dese B er 830 PRINT (AT 7,2; "PRESS: ""A"" ee 1 ADD A PIXEL eaes C221 THEN Go To 1 S40 PRINT AT 18 rope eens TO CEL ape ETE A PIXEL" 168 850 PRINT AT 15,2; "USE ARROWS T eos O MOVE CURSOR [4+]" oes S60 PRINT AT 19,9;"""°N"" FOR NE Sig IF_INKEY$="" THEN GO TO 212 Deo ee =i is bed si Tri = = - ets ae pera ss =, wT ais Let xo=x_ LET yG=y eee ey (AU SR sce oy eae (B50 IF INKEYS$=" THEN GO TO 5@ cio. PETE Ar ese GAne. (aeeue e 2 : =, ea LIF f. 230 IF INKEY$="D" THEN GO TO 60 ose RETURN c_ta) Ba ees kal aches Sigel esis i $15 LET zZ=2txy = Se aa 5 THEN LET x= k- O20 LET Usy-5 a: GU Ee See | eee 625 IF foi T 40 25a IF eee THEN LET ¥=¥+ eg ag Area nt aman 1: Go TO 308 oo 935 GO To s45 e6@ IF INKEYS$="7" THEN LET Y=¥- Sea ee eto Be erg ake : nee S45>FOR G=1 TO 6 Bl ist eG Rae Ses TH oT oi = = iid Zee IF INKEY$="N" THEN GO To 10 aeo PRINT AT a45 20/0103 & ads each . o65 i S=sUSR CH (1434C) age? IF INKEY$="E" THEN GO TO 20 ee an gal 0 oye Secs = 7S i 1 fia Ge xc THEN LET X=10 340 NeXT oo Sil i e as sae _ 4a tae} 3BQ>IF X>17_THEN LET X=17 See eee ae eee 332 IF ¥<6 THEN LET Y= 340 IF ¥:13 THEN LET Y=13

418 LET “C=x048: LET yC=t2i-yoa) +5

420 PLOT INVERSE 1;xC+e,yvt4+4s 425 DRAL INVERSE 1;,4,@

43@ PLOT INUERSE 1; X44, ¥C¢+e2 425 DRAW INVERSE 1:0,4

440 LET *C=x48: LET YC=t21-7) +6 452 PLOT xC+2,7C+4

460 DRAW 4,2

47@ PLOT xC4+4,¥C+2

510 LET Gs oo Des264 (324)

2a IF PEEK (6)}=1@ THEN GO TO 2 Word Processing

a8 2068 computer se 53@ IF PEEK (G)=8 THEN GO TO 2@

FEATURES: Headli

S4@ POKE @,18 full screen && 550 LET P= ; 7 Sé6@:60 SUE g02

S7¢@ GO TO 288

618 LET @=k+4+225254+(32+4¥)

aco IF PEEK (61=56 THEN GO To 2 At your dealer or:

B50 FOKE @,56 Bob Orrfelt

Ba2 LET P=i 3436 Bay Road.

65@ GO sue saa Redwood City,fa 98406

668 Go To 208 Price: g24,a5+tax

IMEL! Mes CARD SHUFFLE ROUTINE FOR GAMES conn seuss a5 te tea FIG. i 2 : pL & + BYs WILLIAM GORDON ae HS eS. vk Sb oOo: 35% Bethistgi TO a2 Card games are interesting programing 40 LET Cg=c Pe to ial projects, but the random selection of ag tie Se ee cards (shuffling the deck), can be ES =Tor difficult. Assigning a card name of ieee LET value to a random number between one a. LLEEE and fifty-two is simple, but checking Serer rcs scr: for duplicate selection can be costly 1005 LET C$="" on in memory usage, and can require long ee ee oF einen Agezl execution times, especially if a full 1e2G LET C$=CHetAs(eeC-1 TO 24) — 1630 NEXT N

The following subroutine in very eco- nomical in both memory and execution time. Jt occupies only 292 bytes af program space, and will completely randomize $2 card games in just over three seconds in “fast mode". If fewer cards ere needed, the routine runs even faster.

Line 1666 sets up a string A$, con- taining all 52 possible cards (Figure 1). Inverse characters are used for spades and clubs for clarity. Note the use of the letter T to represent 16. Line 1605 initializes CS where the results will be stored in memory loc- ation 101@, and can be altered for the number of cards needed for the game to be programmed. The remaining lines pick a two-byte card representation from AS at random and store them in CS. Those two-bytes are then truncated fron AS and the routine loops back for an- other selection. The final result is a string C@ containing, in random order, the representation for a series of cards up to the number specified in Tine 1636.

1¢ RAM space is critical for execution

of your program, additional space in

the variables section may be gained by

adding 1635 let Asew’’’’. This is effec- tive only if your game routine uses

less than the full deck. If all 32

cards are used, then AS has already

been fully collapsed by the routine.

Cards can now be used by taking two byte slices out of C$, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.

1835 LET Ass" 1648 RETUPH

ssc a A SS a ESE,

FIG. 2

cn to

COT TD bs aur Woo WT

a J rae ol mano

ee)

AMMO

ie)

OTGune & haz AMNenagu

Ete

vSfDt a

een cf)

ng ft

nie

se Sa aes te feos at

18@5 LET cga""

14610 FOR Nel To 52

4815 LET O=14+INT (RNDSlLEN Agee 4820 LET Cpale+heiee+C-1 TO 24#C: 1GEZE LET Be=Aei TS Set-21 +S (E40 +1 To |

1638 WEST tf

1640 FPRIHT OF

THTTNGN af i

ToEe

TIMELINEZ is your mews- letter. It will be as goad as you make it. How about comtributing an article, review, letter or whatever?

If you purchase on item advertised in TIMELINEZ please tet the sponsor

know where you found his ad. THANKS

Information

IPIELINE Bay Area User Group

East Bay Z8so Oo User's Group Ve & Panst BRANCH OF

Tal Pa

L BRoOoY K LINK

Cv MCPHEETER: Cv’ MCPHEETERS Dy MCPHEETER:

KO LINK,

CONCERNING SENT Ta:

Pie

ooanwm tn t sa MT}

n H 7

MEETINGS BEGIN 7:30 PM NEXT MEETING - MAR. 13

MEETINGS ARE HELC ON THE 3RD SUNDAY OF =e MONTH :

6 SED aSeir bet fgill EL!

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THE FOLLOWING INFO.

! WAS GATHERED BEFORE TIMEX STOPPED SALES. TIMELINEZ WAS TOLD T

HAT THE REPAIR FACILITIES WOULD STAY OPEN

IMELIMES

If you feel that your system requires repairs, please proceed as follows:

1. Call our toll-free "“hot-line" 1-800-24-TIMEX to confirm the need for repair.

2. If the Technical Support Representative instructs you to return the system for repair, please mail your computer to:

TIMEX Product Service Center Building 19

Adams Field

Little Rock, Arkansas 72203

Please be sure to enclose a letter which outlines the problem (as specifically as possible), with your name/address/zip code/telephone number/ serial number. We also recommend that you insure your computer to protect it against shipment-related damage or loss.

To purchase extra support hardware, or replacement parts, please fill out the enclosed form as indicated and send to: Timex Product Service Center, Building #19, Adams Field, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203.

TIMEX COMPUTER CORPORATION PIECE PART ORVER FORM

a eS PAS TITTLE RO TE Wex PRODUCT SERVICE CENTER TITY: -- : ~——SCSSTATE: Ss BUILDING #19 - ADAMS FIELD TELEPHONE NO. —“—™S™~™SCCCCCCCCCCC;S LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72203

PART NAR z A. T_PARY NO. [QTY PARTY RAM z 7 1_PARY NO. Tgri PARRY WAM Pr 71 PART WO. IQ

| feet bol eat pe ee be Fhe ee nas oe al | {

C.P.U. 13 12:00 1330-610901|_|IRESISTOR 16k 14 3.00 |330-sh0914|_| IUSER WAMU is 7.50 |330-011006 | U.L.A. | 12.00 1330-855856|_| [RESISTOR 560 3.00 | 330-8115031_| {awe TV SWITCH | 2.95 | 330-01 1002 1 R.O.4. 12.00 |330-8108631_| JRESISTOR 270 3.00 {330-B10111|_| |ScHEDATICS | 2.50 | 330-870503-1| _ 2KS-RAM ! 10.00 {330-811518|_| IRESISTOR 10 3.00 |330-811506|_| {1166 RAN PARTS) ! |_ MODULATOR {___ 9.00 |330-611508| _| [CAPACITOR GLASS sre. 3.00 1330-61010) _| {D-RAM | 6.00 |331-812009 | KEYBOARD | 7.50 1330-e11515|_| [CAPAC TOR GLASS _10N. |__3.00_ |330-siolo2}_| |DC-DC_TRANSFORMER 6.00 |331-819010 | CASE ASSEMBLY _|__—-7.50 |330-5555541_| {CAPACITOR GLASS a7N.F 3.00 1330-g101031_| Icast ASSEMBLY | 5.00 1331-555555 | ESISTOR 407 3.00 |330-610001| _| {CAPACITOR ELEC. SOV 3.00 1330-810151|_| [1.C. DATA SELECT 6.00 {331-612011 __ RESISTOR 680 3.00 | 530-810003|__{ |CAPACITOR ELEC. 16¥ 3.00 |330-810152|__| [1.6- ASC_BINARY cr | 6.00 1331-812010_|_ RESISTOR 10K 3.00 {330-a10008|_| (CAPACITOR ELEC.100P.F{_ 3.00 330-810153/__{ [1.6 quae INPUT ! 6.00 {331-812012 1 RESISTOR 2.2K | 3.00 | 530-810005|_| | CAPACITOR GLASS amt 3.00 {330-811500| _| H.C. und INP.& care | 6.00 {331-612013_|_ RESISTOR 1K | 3.00 |330-a10006|_| | CAPACITOR cna | 3.00 [smo-enszi}_| [22 connector __| 7.50 1331-818020_|_ ESUSTOR_1M |__.00 [sn-etoon| | fmmsiston 2.00 fso-movs}_} fas. 2 mm, SE |_2.00_tanemoeo | RESISTOR 220K | _-3.00_|330-810008)__ | [JACK |___3.00_|330-810801|__—| IScHEMATICS | 2.50 |331-870504-1|_ RESISTOR 330 3.00 | s0-e10009|_| | powen SUPPLY 6.95 [30-0r1031_| {eRINTER PAPER ! 7.95 | 332-096002_|_ ESISTOR 4.7K 3.00 {330-1000 __| {DUAL AUDIO CABLE 4.95 _1330-0110041_| |__| _ ESISTOR 220 | 3.00 | ,s0-ston1| _| {coax CABLE {4.95 | s30-0110054 _ | { eee | jen 4702e

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MORE 2068 GRAPHICS HELP

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wap The following article by Michael Wiesenberg is reproduced with IMEL! FE * permission from the December 1983 issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal. 24

Things Ive Tried

Usually the products I write about in this column are picked from a stack of press releases sent each month to DD/J. U rarely have the product in front of me when writing about it, and de- scriptions here are not intended to be endorsements.

Once in a while I do get the oppor- tunity to try out products, and I'd like to share a few with you.

You may have gathered from pre- vious columns that I like inexpensive computers, particularly the Timex products. One of the wonderful things you can do with a TS1000 or 1500 is learn Z80 assembly language. BASIC on a Timex runs achingly slow, partic- ularly since some 60% of the micro- processor’s time is spent updating the screen. Machine code programs, how- ever, run literally hundreds of times as fast as BASIC ones. Several good books have been written about machine code programming on the TS1000. The best of these are two by Dr. Jan Logan, whose knowledge of the ZX80 and 81 (predecessors of the TS1000) is exceeded only by that of Clive Sin- clair (inventor of these and the Spec- trum, a version of which should now be available, modified by Timex and called the 2068).

You cannot write effective code for these little wonders without know- ing the entry points for the various system variables. Melbourne House, an international publishing company, has Dr. Logan's Understanding Your ZX81 ROM, $14.95, and The Complete TS 1000 {Sinclair ZX81 ROM Disassem- bly, $19.95, and their own apparently authorless Machine Language Program- ming Made Simple for Your Sinclair & Timex TS1000, $14.95. 1 have all three of these, and they are excellent. Mel- bourne also offers Not Only 30 Pro- grams for the Sinclair ZX81, $9.95, program listings that ingeniously all mun in the “‘unexpanded” TS1000 (2K RAM), and what appears to be the ultimate hardware manual for the two “simpler” machines, The Ins and Outs of the Timex TS1000 & ZX8!1, by Don Thomasson, $12.95. Add $2 for p.&h., and residents of California, Maryland, and Tennessee add sales tax. Melbourne carries software and books for Timex, TRS80, Vic 20, and Commodore 64. They will send you a free catalog and are looking for contributions from authors.

Far better than hand-assembling your machine code programs and then trying to POKE them into various memory locations is to use an assem- bler. International Publishing & Soft- ware Inc. offers ZX Assembler. Jt has

its own éditor. You write programs using standard Z80 mnemonics. No need to figure jump addresses; just use labels and the assembler figures them for you. Programs assemble in seconds and execute either directly from ZX Assembler’s monitor mode or from a program that executes with a USR statement where the code is in a REM statement created by the assembler. The assembler also retains the source code in a second REM statement.

You can SAVE the entire program on tape, and alter, modify, and reassem- ble it. Those familiar with machine code on the TS will appreciate this method, because code loaded in other areas is either difficult to save or cannot use relative addressing. In the monitor mode you can move whole blocks of code from one memory location to another, examine and modify any loca- tion of RAM, inspect and modify regis- ters, and search the entire memory for any byte sequence. ZX Assembler costs $14.95. International Publishing pro- vides a free catalog and the name of the nearest dealer that handles this and other useful products, including ZX Bug, $14.95, for debugging, editing, and running machine codes, Toolkit, $14.95, to add nine powerful com- mands, including a renumber that changes all GOTO and GOSUB refer- ences, Fastload, $19.95, to load any program four to six times as fast, ZX Forth, $29.95, for the ease of BASIC with machine code speed, and a stack of clever games.

If 1 knew that a product did not live up to its claims, I would not list it here. Usually I have no way of knowing that, because I just go by the press re- leases, which, naturally, are never unfa- vorable. Such was the case with Memo- tech, whose various memory modules and auxiliary keyboard for the TS1000 I cited a few months back. I believed their hype myself and shortly after- ward bought their keyboard and 32K memory for my system. That first 32K memory didn’t work at all, and I took it back to the store. The replacement 32K refused to work in conjunction with either Memotech’s keyboard or the Timex printer. This was not much use to me since I needed the printer for listings during program develop- ment. I took my entire system to the store, and they could get the 32K memory and auxiliary keyboard to work with their systems only separate- ly, not together.

I called Memotech several times for help, and they kept insisting that they had tested a sctup identical to mine with no problems. Finally they agreed to look at my system if [ would send it tothem and, if either of their

products was defective, to replace or fix it. I called them when the system was in their hands, and the technician to whom J spoke said he had set up my system and it had been running perfectly for ten minutes, and he could find nothing wrong with it. But while I was on the phone with him he said, “‘Wait a minute. It’s failing.” He conceded that there ‘“‘might” be a problem with the memory module, which Memotech replaced. They then sent back my system.

When the system returned, again | could make the 32K memory work by itself only, not together with either the Timex printer or Memotech’s keyboard. The keyboard, too, only worked by itself. The store from which] bought the memory unit was kind enough to take it back in exchange for a Timex

16K memory (and even refunded the difference in price!), with which I have had no problems. J sent the key- board back to Memotech, requesting a refund, citing the ‘‘free ten-day trial period” clause in their warranty, stat- ing that, while the ten days had elapsed all the problems had begun the instant 1 began using the keyboard and that I had been in contact with them right from the start. They refused to give me a refund, claiming that the refund applied only to those who had pur- chased directly from them, but instead returned a replacement for my key- board. If I wanted a refund, they told me, I would have to get it where I bought the keyboard.

The store, of course, did not want to give me a refund, because the 1500 would soon be released with its ‘“‘real” keyboard, and auxiliary keyboards for Timex computers would soon be obso- lete. They said that I should contact Memotech for a refund. (My guess is that Memotech is stuck with a ware- house full of these useless keyboards.) As I expected, the replacement worked no better than the original. At this point I no longer had their 32K mem- oty, but the keyboard worked with neither Timex’s printer nor the 16K memory.

By this time I had heard from the South Bay Area Timex/Sinclair Users’ Group (mentioned in my October column) that Memotech was offering a free “‘modification” to purchasers of their 32K memories. It seems several other people had discovered that their memories did not work with Timex printers. Yet all the time I had been in communication with Memotech they insisted there was no incompatibility between their products and Timex

(CONT. NXT PAGE)

(CONT. FROM PAGE 24)

printers; furthermore, they had never heard of anyone having any problems like mine. Altogether, J went through three 32K memory modules and two keyboards without finding even one I could use.

Now Dr. Dobb's has received a press pack announcing Memotech’s $595 MTX-S12 World Class Comput- er™M. It has a Z8O0A 4MHz processor with 80K standard RAM (expandable to 512K; 16K is dedicated to video). Among other things, it comes with Oxford BASIC and a language called NODDY, a real time clock, and a 79- key keyboard. I hope this product is better than the peripherals I couldn't use, and that others will encounter more competent service and better support and attitude than I did. I know J‘ll never get the chance to find out.

IMELI ME

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Machine Language Monitor (helps with Machine Language Programs)

A&J Micro Drive

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