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======================================================= ///// ////// ///// /// //// //// ////// // // // //// //// // // /// //// // // // ///////// ////// /// /// // // // // /// // // // /// // ///// // ///// // / // // // /////// ======================================================= Issue #52 December 22, 1989 © 1989 by Rovac Industries, Inc. ST*ZMagazine - (ZNet Online) Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs The Z*Net BBS CompuServe:71777,2140 (201) 968-8148 GEnie: ZMAGAZINE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ,WWWWW, WWWWWW ,W, ,WWWWW, ,WWWWW, W, WW 'W ,WWWWW, WW WW WW ,WWW, WW WW WW WW WW, WW WW WW WW WW ,WW WW, WW WW WW WWW,WW WW 'WWWWW, WWWWWW WW' 'WW 'WWWWW, WW WW WWWWWW 'WWWWW, WW WW :WWWWWWW: WW WW WW WW'WWW WW WW WW WW WW' 'WW WW WW WW WW WW 'WW WW WW 'WWWWW' WWWWWWW WW WW 'WWWWW' 'WWWWW' WW 'W `WWWWW' ,WWWWW, WWWWWW, WWWWWWW WWWWWWW WWWWWW WW W, WW ,WWWWW, ,WWWWW, W WW WW WW WW WW WW WW WW, WW WW WW WW WW W WW WW WW WW WW WW WWW, WW WW WW W WWWW WWWWWW' WWWWWW WWWWWW WW WW WW'WWWW WW WWWW'WWWWW, W WW WW 'W, WW WW WW WW WW 'WWW WW WW WW W WW WW 'W, WW WW WW WW WW 'WW WW WW WW WW WWWWW' WW 'W,WWWWWWW WWWWWWW WW WW WW 'W 'WWWWW' `WWWWW' ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Xx CONTENTS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- !#! Editors Desk...........................Ron Kovacs Latest update and commentary !#! Z*Net Newswire................................... Latest Atari News First - Update !#! Quick ST 1.8..................................... Press Release !#! Shareware Survey......................Alice Amore Latest PD reviews and Mark Quinn !#! Revolutionary Concepts..............Donald Thomas Latest comments from Artison Software !#! MultiSync Monitors.....................Bill Price Part 1 of 2 !#! Z*Net BBS Update................................. Messages of interest from the BBS !#! ZMag/Z*Net BBS List.............................. 100 of the 500 listed systems !#! 1989 In Review Part 3........Ron Kovacs/John Nagy Part 3 of 4 Xx EDITORS DESK ----------------------------------------------------------------------- by Ron Kovacs On behalf of the following, we wish you and yours a happy holiday season: John Nagy, Alice Amore, Mark Quinn, Lisa/Ron Kovacs and Bruce Hansford. Next week's release will be our last and the arrival of ZNet Online appears January 5th, 1990. Please pass the word to the systems you upload this publication to, thanks! Xx ZNET NEWSWIRE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FEDERATED STORES CLOSE All 16 Federated Electronics Superstores in Houston and Dallas are being closed and their stock liquidated, a Utah liquidation firm has said. Western Liquidators from Salt Lake City have purchased the stores' inventory, and has seemingly known about the closings for a few months. In Houston, about 400 Federated employees were laid off at the city's eight stores earlier this month, with no offers made for employment in other Federated stores. Merchandise being liquidated includes televisions, videocassette recorders, microwave ovens home and car stereos, computers and computer software and hardware. The sales should be over in four to five months. APPLE COMPUTER REACHES SETTLEMENT Apple Computer and Quickview Systems jointly announced that a settlement agreement has been reached between the two companies resolving a dispute over patent rights relating to Apple's HyperCard software product. The settlement includes a cross-license agreement granting the exchange of patents to Apple and technologies to HyperRacks. NEW VIDI SOFTWARE A new version of the VIDI-ST software is available. Computer Games Plus is offering version 1.28 now to registered VIDI owners for $12. The VIDI system is the most advanced and fast real-time video digitizer for the ST. The new software allows saving an entire sequence of frames for animation, as well as other improvements. CGP+, 1839 East Chapman, Orange, CA 92667, (714) 639-8189. AMIGA LAPTOP A West German company plans to introduce an Amiga Laptop computer in March, 1990. Gigatron says the one-meg clone will cost $2,500 or $3,500 depending on the selected screen. The line will be expanded later to include 2 and 4 meg machines and internal hard drives. Commodore is said to be welcoming the product, signalling their own intention NOT to compete in the laptop market. TROJAN HORSE The deadly AIDS (Human) virus was a cover for an expensive TROJAN HORSE in the IBM compatible world during December. An estimated 7,000 computerists received an unsolicited disk in the mail from a London address, claiming to be an AIDS risk evaluator. A warning was inclosed stating that it is illegal to use the program before paying for it ($375, to be sent to a Post Office box in Panama!). However, the disk looks quite runnable, and most recipients have done the natural thing... run the program. While the screens present information on AIDS, the user's hard disk is scrambled. Then, the user is informed that the hard drive can be restored via a program that will be supplied by mail after the $375 is paid. This is simply extortion at the bit level, in addition to feeding off the fear of AIDS. Beware, the ST community may be next... the destructively deranged among us have no need to be original! XEROX SUES APPLE XEROX has begun a $150 million lawsuit against APPLE, claiming that Apple "stole" the Xerox Graphic interface. Industry observers commented years ago on the irony of Apple suing DRI over GEM (used by the Atari ST) when the MAC interface was obviously a run-off of the Xerox Smalltalk/Star interface. While the IBM version of GEM was severely disabled in the settlement between DRI and Apple, the Atari version was left virtually alone, presumably because Apple saw Atari as no threat, or because the Atari version of GEM was actually developed before the MAC, even though Atari bought it later. Should Xerox win, speculation on what might occur in circular liabilities should keep idle minds occupied for at least the remainder of the winter. Xx QUICK ST 1.8 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Press Release (Editors Note) ZNet was a beta-tester of this software. The speed increases were remarkable along with QUICK repairs of any minor bugs we found. Please note that the benchmarks that followed this text was removed. It is available for downloading on the commercial services. If space allows, we will include the test results in the next edition. Quick ST 1.8 - The Software Screen Accelerator ============================================== Copyright (C) Branch Always Software, 1989. 1. What is Quick ST? 2. New features. 3. Benchmark results. 4. Head-to-head with Turbo ST. What is Quick ST? ================= With the release of Quick ST 1.8, Atari ST users now have a powerful, low-cost alternative to Turbo ST 1.6 (the "Software Blitter") and Atari's hardware blitter. Quick ST is a software screen accelerator. It speeds up screen operations, such as printing of text, screen scrolling and several graphics functions, which in turn speeds up other programs. The performance boost is similar to that of installing a hardware accelerator, such as 16 MHz 68000 board, or the blitter chip, or some other software accelerator. Quick ST takes a different approach than the hardware accelerators do. Instead of increasing performance by using a brute force method such as increasing the clock speed of the 68000, Quick ST squeezes extra performance out of TOS by installing more efficient text and graphics routines. A 16 Mhz accelerator on average offers a 10% - 50% speed boost, depending on the board used, which range in price from $100 to $300. Quick ST replaces some inefficient functions with new ones that are 30% faster, 100% faster, or even more. There are several different screen accelerators available. The recent release of TOS 1.4 speeds up text and window operations noticeably compared to TOS 1.0. Codehead Software's G+PLUS also offers some speed increases in GEM, although that is not its primary function. Softrek's Turbo ST is the self-proclaimed "speed demon". Quick ST installs easily. Simply copy it to the AUTO folder of your boot disk (floppy disk or hard disk) and reboot the computer. No messing with desk accessories or screwdrivers or integrated circuits. The more a program makes use of the screen, the more it will speed up. Most interactive programs, like GEM applications or text programs, will benefit. Quick ST will not speed up disk operations, or have any affect on software that does not use TOS, such as video games or Mac and PC emulators. New Features ============ Quick ST 1.8 offers several enhancements over earlier versions. The speed has been increased without increasing the size of the program. The monochrome version of Quick ST uses only 20K of memory, and the color version uses only 16K. Smaller versions of Quick ST 1.8 are also available, which use as little as 10K of memory. These smaller versions may be used in systems where memory is low (such as a 520ST). The speed increases are a result of optimizing existing code and adding new code to replace additional TOS functions. In monochrome, the GEM Draw benchmark index jumps from 193% to 218%, and in medium resolution it jumps from 126% to 149%. Scrolling and text printing are also slightly faster. High resolution displays, such as the Moniterm 19" monochrome monitor are now supported. Quick ST gives the same level of speed increases on a 1280x960 pixel screen as it does on a 640x400 screen. Other monitors, and monitor emulators (such as the public domain Bigscreen program) are also supported. We will support any high resolution monitor available for the Atari ST that becomes available. Currently our color version does not support any such monitors because we are not aware of any. There is a hardware modification called Hyperscreen which is in limited use, but we were unable to find any beta testers who had this modification. This release also fixes several bugs from earlier versions. The disappearing cursor bug is fixed, so that when the cursor is being moved in an editor, it remains visible. Also, there is now support for the HI50 program (a 50 line display program for monochrome). Quick ST 1.8 is available through dealers in Canada and the United States. Because it will take several weeks for us to get Quick ST 1.8 out to all the dealers, we are offering a free upgrade to anyone who purchases Quick ST 1.7 between now and January 27, 1990. When mailing in your Quick ST 1.7 registration card, also include the original disk and a copy of your sales receipt, and a new copy of Quick ST 1.8 will be mailed to you. We also offer free upgrades by email on several major online services. If you are a registered user of Quick ST 1.7 (or earlier), send email to us requesting the update and it will be emailed to you free of charge. Quick ST 1.8 is optimized for maximum performance when used on the 04/06/89 ROM release of TOS 1.4, but it does also run on TOS 1.0 and TOS 1.2. The Quick ST disk also includes the Quick Index benchmarking software, which can be used to test software and hardware accelerators. It also includes the Quick View utility for quickly viewing text files. Quick ST 1.8 costs $19.95 US. Branch Always Software Box 2624, Station B Kitchener, Ontario N2H 6N2 (519)-570-4340 Xx SHAREWARE SURVEY """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Alice Amore's CARE enough to . . . SHAREWARE SURVEY S U P P O R T S H A R E W A R E Also see Mark Quinn's "PD PUB" below """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Filename: KEYBOARD.LZH Program Name: KEYBOARD Program Type: Typing Drill Version: 1.0 Programmer: Steven Schmitz Registration Fee: $5.00 A good typing tutor seems almost a necessity for computerists. KEYBOARD, although not overly sophisticated, is the only shareware typing tutor I've been able to find, even though I've looked for one for some time. And this program runs in mono or color. The main screen in KEYBOARD is divided into three parts. At the top is the "work space", in the middle is a representation of the ST keyboard, and at the bottom is a help area. There are options for typing in letters (good for beginners) or typing in whole sentences. There's also a feature in which you must find and type the highlighted key. At the end of a lesson, your words-per-minute rate is displayed, as well as your error count. Here's hoping the programmer works more on this much-needed program. With more colorful graphics, a few more features, and additional data files, this program could be the answer to the typing program Atarians have needed for years. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Filename: PICMAN.LZH Program Name: Desk Mgr.'s Pic Handler Program Type: Utility Version: 1.0 Programmer: Michael E. Gaines Reg. Fee: $10.00 If you're a registered user of DESK MANAGER, you might be interested in PICMAN. It lets you see a different Spectrum picture each time you boot your ST under DESK MANAGER. Installation is easy, and a few Spectrum pictures are included in the archive to get you started. The registration fee includes free updates and fully documented source code. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ! RECENT UPGRADES NOW AVAILABLE ! Cold Hard Cache 3.5 Filename: CACHEV35.ARC By: Robert E. Owens III - Disk cacheing for hard disks and floppies. Improves I/O speed. PILEUP 2.0 Filename: PILEUP_2.LZH By: Russell Moll - Similar to "Tetris", a pause feature has been added to this game. And now for something completely different... In the spirit of Christmas, here are some files which should help make this holiday season the best ever for you and yours. And they're all absolutely FREE! MUSIC """"" Gather 'round the ol' ST and raise your voices in Christmas cheer. If you have EZ-Track and any ol' synth, download EZ_CHRIS.ARC. It contains a wealth of Christmas music ranging from "Holly Jolly Xmas" to "Nutcracker Suite". All selections are conversions of songs by Jerry Burke originally done with the 8-bit program "Advanced MusicSystem". Who cares that there are only 4 voices? The arrangements are top rate. Find a good electric piano patch on your synth and sing along. ART """ If it's not too late, try making your own Christmas cards, letters, posters, and banners using the .IMG files contained in XMAS1.ARC, XMAS2.ARC, and XMAS3.ARC. These files were uploaded by the folks on the ShowBiz RT on GEnie. All in all, there are 109 .IMG files covering a range from the religious to the whimsical, all very Christmas-y. FUN 'N' GAMES """"""""""""" Aric Friesen has written two fun-filled Christmas games which will appeal especially to children. Christmas Smog (filename: SANTAPRG.LZH) finds Santa's sleigh up among the smog-filled clouds of Phoenix, Arizona. Avoid the clouds or Santa won't be able to make his rounds on time. SANTA GAME (filename: SANTAGAM.ARC) concerns a missing Santa (he fell out of his sleigh). Rudolph must find him by picking up the presents scattered along the trail, but he must avoid hitting the trees and snowmen in his path. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" PD PUB by Mark Quinn ***Errata*** Two columns ago, I stated that the MaxiFile demo didn't run in low resolution on my hard drive. We have since been informed that it does, as long as the system is booted in low res. Charles Johnson: "...We've been discussing a problem in the ST's OS in several places here on GEnie, that has to do with changing resolutions with certain desk accessories installed. If a desk accessory intercepts any system vectors, then changing resolutions will cause a crash. If you boot up in low resolution, instead of changing from medium to low, MaxiFile (the demo version) will work properly. "...I should also mention that the release version of MaxiFile contains a new technique we've just developed that eliminates the res change problems." Apologies to Codehead Software. File name: KXPSET20.ARC Program name: KXPSET version 2.0 Program type: Utility Programmed by: Bill Aycock I must be one of the few owners of a used Panasonic KX-P1124. After all, the printer hasn't been on the market as long as some have. I know someone who goes through printers like the Osmonds go through dental floss. (And no, I don't have any Gorilla Banana hulks sitting around.) When the Panasonic came along I greedily (bah--humbug) snapped it up. There has been a dearth of support for the printer since I bought it, so you can imagine my delight when I found this little utility, which promised to make my task of configuring the 1124 (or any other Epson LQ-2500 compatible 24-pin printer) even easier. Both an ACC and a PRG version of the program are included in the archive. I tested the latter, and it performed splendidly. You can choose between bidirectional and unidirectional printing, normal, superscript and subscript, characters-per-inch settings from 10-20, proportional, all the lines-per-inch settings, printing modes including italics, emphasized, double strike, double wide, double high, fonts including bold, courier, prestige, sans serif, and script. The user may also choose to reinitialize the printer before sending codes, skip over the perforation (you can specify the number of lines to skip), set the page length, as well as other options. It seems we now have another choice besides fumbling with the EZ Set operator panel, getting out the manual, and invoking various spells. File name: BLASTER.LZH Program name: BLASTER Program type: Game Programmed by: A.W. Brook Not so long ago, you might have been expected to pay for a game like this. BLASTER is a clone of the arcade classic "Defender". The graphics aren't as finely detailed as most of the more recent releases from "the big guys", but the art work is still very pleasing, and the game plays well. In BLASTER, GRABBER's abduct your colonists, who look very much like karate students, from the planet's surface, and you must eliminate the GRABBER's before they reach the top of screen and turn into MUTANT's. Along the way, you may run into SAUCER's, and MINE's, which fragment into SHRAPNOID's. No version of Defender would be complete without a smart bomb, and this game has that feature---it can be activated by pressing the space bar (Did I say "bar" in this edition of PD PUB?). Players start out with six smart bombs, four ships and sixteen colonists. The grabbers (which are GReen) fire animated missiles, and the mutants are predictably more erratic than the grabbers. The saucers can be dangerous as well. There is a nicely done radar at the top of the screen (another standard Defenderism). The colonists flail about wildly when they are captured by the grabbers, and explosively fragment when you shoot them. Don't shoot them. Those grabbers seem to be everywhere. They even ate my desktop icons, but they couldn't survive the reset switch. This was the only mishap I experienced. This is undoubtedly one of the nicest color PD shoot-em-ups I've seen, so take off your thinking cap, put on your Santa cap, and defend the earth from these nasties. "Quinn's Quickies" CHECK1.ARC A color version of "Check". Checks free RAM, disk space, etc. CTXTREAD.LZH Version 2.02 of the "Best Little ST Text Reader". Runs in medium resolution only. GENERATR.ARC Works with D.E.G.A.S Elite. "Clips" portions of the screen. From the December issue of the now-defunct ANALOG Computing. See that issue for details on its operation. DREIDEL.ARC A game which should prove to be addictive for young children. Also from the December issue of ANALOG. GROOVES.ARC Outstanding game by Greg Knauss. It's the same concept as "TUZZLE", (reviewed previously in ST*ZMag) yet a bit of a variation, and easier on the nerves. SPHERICL.LZH Playable demo of a European game. The wizard must build a path of blocks. Xx REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPTS - PART 11 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "A SHORT STORY" by Donald A. Thomas, Jr. (c)1989 ARTISAN SOFTWARE (This is PART 11 of a series of articles published and distributed by Artisan Software. Please feel free to copy and distribute this article as you please provided you include all unedited text. Also feel free to upload to boards and communication services. These articles are designed to entice you to take constructive action. Write to involved parties and tell them how YOU feel about the subject.) George Revere, Jr. is a computer. While it may seem unique to have a name for a computer, it helps to understand some of the technology being used in the year 2010. About the size of an Atari ST computer which was sparsely used in the 1980's and into the 90's, George sports an internal RAM of well over 6.5 Billion Megabyte. A portion of that RAM is dedicated to a partition which is called LL05-RAM allocation. LL stands for "LEARNED LOGIC" and the 05 refers to the version number of the Genesis Invoker. A Genesis Invoker is software which programs itself. Essentially, it is able to learn from a variety of stimuli which is obtained through peripherals and other forms of input. Genesis Invokers began from the studies and applications of artificial intelligence. The most common use of such Invokers in the year 2010 is to load a data file which sets the Invoker program to the exact state of mind which a particular being is in. By simulating various subsequent possible actions and environmental variable values, computers like George, Jr. can faultlessly predict the actions which would be best suited in real settings. This helps a great deal in the areas of mental health and crime prevention. Pending the outcome of a variety of legal suits, this method is being pioneered to assist business executives and investors. The single most contribution to the new era of technology through the use of Genesis Invokers were the abilities to produce SIC files. SIC (Self Invoked Compaction) writes data files which constantly seek available CPU time and look for ways to compact themselves over and over again. They then notify the host Invoker of the compaction encryption method so that the Invoker is always able to access the data at any time. Every once in a while, a power surge or other unanticipated event causes the SIC file to miss notification of a new compaction method. This creates a phenomenon known as Amnesia. Otherwise, if all things run smoothly, the recursion of the data in SIC files establishes optimum use of available LL05-RAM space and enables successive access to the files to be faster and more efficient. Much like the learning curve behavioral scientists refer to. Although the particular computer dubbed George Revere, Jr. is operational on a 24-hour basis, the power consumption necessary while in full operation is notably higher than in stand-by. Stand-by is much like our sleep when applied in the versions of LL03 and up. In this mode, the LL05 is programmed to extract random data from random files. (Files in the LL05 as opposed to the outer partition of ROM are often referred to as "experiences" rather than files). By permitting arbitrary extraction from, otherwise unrelated experiences, George, Jr. has the capability to simulate learned creativity and formulate ideas. In many cases, various behaviors or emotions can become an integral part of a computer's thinking when left in an operational state for extended periods of time. Enough of the technical so that we may proceed to the conclusion of the real story being told here. George, Jr. is a computer, we established that, but George, Sr. is the proprietary user. George, Sr. has decided to use his computer to work as a servant. First thing in the morning, George, Jr. activates the coffee maker, downloads the top news stories for perusal and produces a hard copy of his users' itinerary for the day. After George, Sr. has finally left for the office, George, Jr. continues a daily task of seeking data exchange transmission lines and downloading all available knowledge from those sources. This will continue until George, Sr. activates his garage door opener and signals his computer to commence assigned evening rituals. But on one particular morning, George, Jr. has failed to receive the various forms of input from his user that is programmed to be expected. A timeout is experienced for each prompt and George, Jr. decides to investigate the potential reasons for his user's malfunction. George, Jr. finds a pixel formation which matches the users' profile. This formation was obtained through micron camera 3; the user's bedroom. The image was produced by a monochrome generating source so a deductive study is made from the image to determine various states of user biological functions. The image has been formed by deeper grays foreshadowed by near whites. The profile in associated grey tones indicate that the subject is lying down away from the micron camera. Rapid animated page flips from successive image importations show a slight rise and fall of the mid section of the subject. This indicates breathing and life. A heat analysis of the perimeter confirms that conclusion. George, Jr. checks his on-board clock and compares it to the data stored for the past couple of days. Accordingly, a five hour delay confirms an interruption to normal trend. An enhanced audio pick-up is made for a 10 second duration. The sound patterns extracted from the room are matched against other sound patterns stored in experience files. Suddenly, an unusual match is identified. One particular sound pattern is verified with an experience file downloaded from a medical database. George, Jr. cancels background on-line operation to assure maximum CPU access. The medical database number is recalled and dialed. The soundtrack is transmitted and, within seconds, a diagnosis is issued back in reply. George, Jr. has suffered from a severe heart attack. Possibly unconscious, George, Sr. lies in an operational malfunction status. Without hesitation, George, Jr. knows exactly what to do. The medical database contains a directory of numbers. One of which, an emergency tap line. The number is dialed, a protocol selected and the available data and image files are uploaded. Then, in an instant, the data is scrambled and the line is cut off. An experience file has been invoked. This experience file was initiated by George, Sr. himself. The contents reference an ideal that no entity should profit when a good cause is of need of attention. The reference comes from a campaign activated in 1990 to enhance Atari computer sales for the ultimate goal of improved user advantage. A campaign called The REVOLUTION was initiated to expand the User base of Atari computers. George, Sr. was against such a campaign since it was agreed that the efforts helped provide profits for Atari Corporation. Conclusive inquiry: "Why should we help Atari's profits?" George, Jr. again scans the data from this experience file and compares the data to the data acquired from the current input. Conclusive inquiry: "Why should doctor's and hospitals profit from George's need for medical attention?". George, Jr. opens a new experience file and saves active data. Micron camera 3 is deactivated and another normal day resumes. George, Sr. died at 3:36 PM on July 3, 2010. For information on how you can "JOIN THE REVOLUTION" and actively support the exposure of Atari computers, send $6.00 to ARTISAN SOFTWARE, P.O. Box 849, Manteca, California 95336. An ST/MEGA compatible disk- based HANDBOOK will be rushed to you by return mail. The HANDBOOK is also available from ST INFORMER, CURRENT NOTES, MEGABYTE COMPUTERS (Hurst, Texas) and as a download from COMPUSERVE, GENIE and DELPHI. Xx MULTISYNCH MONITORS [PART 1 of 2] COLOR AND HIGH RESOLUTION MONOCHROME DISPLAY FOR THE ATARI ST ----------------------------------------------------------------------- by Bill Price COLOR BETTERS THE ST'S SC1224 Most multisynch monitors, but not all, will work with the ST's RGB output and vertical refresh rate. Advantages are operation in high resolution monochrome and both low and medium color using a single monitor. An additional advantage is the better color rendition with more differentiation in tonalities. Subtle shades are better represented than on the ST. With Sony color monitors, the colors are Kodachrome in quality -- rich and saturated. On the negative side, none of these color monitors will match the sharpness of the Atari SM124 monochrome monitor. This monitor, as with other monochromes, uses single pells or pixels to represent screen images. Color monitors must use three (Red, Green, and Blue) to form the same point on a screen. As a consequence, they cannot give the crispness and detail. THE CRITICAL TEST -- MONOCHROME SHARPNESS If you use monochrome most of the time, as many do with Spectre Macintosh emulation, the major question is whether or not a softer and coarser monochrome display on a color monitor is acceptable for continuous use. It doesn't make sense or cents to buy one of the lower priced multisynch monitors as an economy measure just to obviate the need for two monitors where high resolution monochrome is important. And the purchase of a higher quality and higher priced monitor in the $600 to $650 range -- such as the Sony 1304 HG or NEC 3D may not make much economical sense either. However there are those who continue to have the desire for these types of monitors -- unfortunately, I am one. MONITOR SWITCH BOX -- ROLL YOUR OWN The following pages give pinouts and wiring diagrams for construction of a Monitor Switch Box so that a multisynch can be used in both color and monochrome with the ST's monitor output. The box is needed to ground the Monochrome Detect line from the ST and force it to boot in high resolution monochrome. It also switches from the ST's RGB color output to Monochrome Intensity output to drive the monitor. The pinouts for all three Sony monitors (1302, 1303, and 1304) are the same. NEC monitors such as the Multisync and Multisync II use the same pinouts. Where Sony and earlier NECs use DB-9 inputs, the new NEC 3D uses a DB-15 connector. The NEC pinouts shown are still valid for the 3D. A converter cable -- DB-9 to DB-15 supplied by NEC -- will give the proper interface. This converter is also available commercially as a one piece plug unit. Other monitors, such as the Mitsubishi Diamondscan, use different plugs. The Mitsubishi uses a DB-25 which is the same in pins and shell as an RS-232. The ST's output can be routed to these monitors with the proper pinouts and plug. The Monitor Switch Box can be wired for any monitor output configuration. If another monitor is used, a simple conversion plug is commercially available to reconfigure outputs if both monitors use DB-9 plugs. If plugs are different for two monitors, then wire a cable with the two different terminations. The least effort and highest cost approach is to buy a cable with one of the plugs already made up. If you are good with a soldering iron, then buy the connectors and makeup your own cables. The ST 13-pin DIN plug is not that easy to work with. The solder or rear side has pins just like the front, and soldering wires to these contacts is not a snap. ST monitor cables, with a DIN 13 male on one end and unterminated on the other, are available from two or three sources. Try Best Electronics or Practical Solutions. A 4-pole, double throw switch (On-On) will be required for the Box. Also fit the Box with an RCA jack if you want sound routed to a stereo or self amplified speaker like those available from Radio Shack. If you have Tweety Board, this will not be needed. MARKET FAILURE OF SWITCH BOXES There have been several attempts to market these monitor switch boxes, and all but the most recent have not met with success. The first reason is high price. The first box produced was overpriced in the $200 range. The second reason is differences in pinouts and plug configurations for the variety of monitor inputs. There is no standard. The third reason for lack of success is the small ST market for alternative multisync monitors. Making your own box for $35 or less in parts will give you an opportunity to try out several monitors at a dealer and select the one that is most acceptable for high resolution monochrome display. But a problem is that most dealers don't have the more expensive monitors broken out for display, and you may not be able to give one a try. Be persistent. Ask the dealer if he can recommend a customer that has a monitor you are interested in. But by all means, try before you buy to insure that the display meets with your satisfaction. Don't take the word of others because each has different levels of acceptability. MULTISYNCH MONITOR PERFORMANCE I have tried the homebrew Monitor Switch Box with the Sony 1303 and the NEC Multisync and Multisync II. The 1303 is not the quality of the 1302 which has a finer dot pitch. However, the color was excellent but the monochrome display was soft. The Sony 1302 has a .26mm dot pitch. This is a measure of the center-to -center distance between dots and is also an indicator of dot or pixel size. Until recently, the 1302 had the finest dot pitch of any color monitor on the market. And dot pitch is a better indicator of sharpeness than horizontal and vertical lines of resolution. The lines are also a function of screen display size; so don't be mislead by more lines resolution. It simply might correspond to a larger monitor display size. And as the monitor size increases, the dots are made larger and render a less sharp display. But Sony is less than forthcoming in its specifications for the 1302. While touting the .26mm dot pitch, they don't publish the fact that this applies to horizontal spacing only. The vertical spacing is different, perhaps .32mm which is nothing to shout about. As a consequence, you may see black horizontal lines that separate the color display lines. They are not dramatically obtrusive, but they are there. On the plus side, the Sony's have that superb Kodachrome color that is richly saturated. The blacks are black, and the background in monochrome is absolutely paper white. The 1302 is satisfactory for ST monochrome use. This model is being superseded by the new 1304 HG that has a .25mm dot pitch. The specifications on this new monitor closely match those of the Apple Color Monitor for the Mac II. This monitor is made by Sony to Apple's specifications, but it is not multisynch. I use one on a Mac II and it is excellent in both monochrome and color. Because of the closeness in specifications -- the only two monitors available with a .25mm dot pitch -- I strongly suspicion that they are the same. Sony has simply adapted the Apple version for multisynch use. And if I were to place my money on a monitor that would be highly acceptable for monochrome display with the ST (sight unseen in an actual test), it would be the Sony 1304 HG. When viewed in color on an IBM PC, the dots appeared extremely fine and it appears that the .25 pitch holds true for both vertical and horizontal. The 1303 is not as good as the 1302 or 1304. However it did give a good monochrome display that was similar in size to the ST's color display in medium resolution. Although good, it does not come close to matching quality of the SM124. Since I spend at least 60 percent or more of my time in Spectre/Macintosh operation, I felt that this was not acceptable for my requirements. When switching from color to monochrome, the screen picture sizes must be readjusted. When the color picture fills out the screen, the monochrome picture will be half screen size until it is adjusted. The Sony controls are in the rear, making them very inconvenient for this operation. The NEC and NEC II have their controls on the front. When making adjustments, insure that horizontal positioning is correct. When first tested, the NEC seemed to have ghosting with the character display. However this was because the screen had wrapped around and required proper positioning. The NEC display was also good. But it was not the equal of Sony in color -- more pastel and less saturated. Both the Sony 1304 and NEC 3D now have automatic screen sizing when displays are changed; so this should eliminate annoying adjustments. Additionally, both are improved over earlier models. Both would perhaps make acceptable choices for monochrome use on the ST. But I would still think that the Sony 1304 would win by more than a hair if it is anything like the Apple Macintosh monitor. Perhaps a dealer will break one out for testing when they become more plentiful and prices drop. Sony 1304s are discounted for around $645, and 1302s for $575. NEC 3Ds are lower priced at $585. The Mitsubishi Diamond scan can be found at $499 and sometimes lower. If the 16" Nano FlexScan is a true multisync, those who want everything can get it for just under $900. The following should get you started on a switch box so that you can perform your own acceptance testing. I have not tried a Princeton Graphics or Mitsubishi Diamondscan since I felt that their displays with the IBM PC were not the match of the Sony or NEC. It wasn't worth the money or effort for such a change, and a promise was made a long time ago not to compromise and throw money at something you wouldn't be satisfied with. Climbing out of that hole is too costly, and I have paid this price in both camera and stereo equipment -- but never again. GEnie Mail: WM.H.PRICE Bill Price 126 Casmar St. SE Vienna, VA 22180 (703) 560-2684 Editors Note: Next ST*ZMagazine will conclude this article with a reprint of the schematics referenced. This file is also available in the GEnie ST Roundtable download library. Xx ZNET BBS UPDATE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Messages captured from the ZNet Online BBS Message : 9 [Open] 12-17-89 9:43pm From : Robert Ford To : All Subject : TOS 1.4 (2 chip set!) Sig(s) : 4 (Atari News) Atari U.S., Corp. Announced: DEC 1, 1989 Effective Date: DEC 1, 1989 Availability Date: DEC 1, 1989 Product Model No. Suggested List ______________________________________________________________ RAINBOW TOS - THE OPERATING SYSTEM FROM ATARI (6- 256K CHIPS) CA400406 (SET) $99.95 RAINBOW TOS - THE OPERATING SYSTEM FROM ATARI (2- 1MEG CHIPS) CA400407 (SET) $99.95 These are DEALER installed Upgrades. IMPORTANT INSTALLATION NOTE! ---------------------------- If the system you are upgrading currently uses 6- 256K ROMs, all that is required is to replace the 6 ROM chips "one for one" without any other modifications. Some systems are configured for 2- 1MEG ROMs for their Operating System, in this case you have 2 options; A. Change the "jumpers" for ROM Select, and removal of 1 IC. Instructions are included with each set... or B. Order the 2- 1 MEG ROM SET CA400407 (above). Partial list of enhancements: ----------------------------- + Faster disk access! + IBM compatible disk format from Desktop. + GEM Desktop supports "moving" of files. + Folder renaming ability! + Automatically run GEM applications. + Revised File Selector. + Soft-Reset available from the keyboard. + Better memory management. + Archive bit handling for Hard Drive backup. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's right, all you 2 socketed TOSers out there can finally easily upgrade to TOS 1.4. Call your dealer! the CyberPunk I'm Proud to Support the REVOLUTION!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Message : 20 [Open] 12-18-89 8:44pm From : Timothy Roeder To : All Subject : BBS Announcement Sig(s) : 1 (General) This is a quick announcement for a part-time BBS that I am now running. This BBS exists to provide ST'ers who do not have access to Usenet with the chance to obtain the files found on comp.binaries.atari.st. The BBS operates 7 days a week, from 10PM to 6AM MST. The number is: (602) 578-9115 Most files on the BBS are in a self-extracting archive format. Please read the bulletins for more info (after logging on, of course). Thanks. Timothy Roeder SYSOP Xx ZMAG/ZNET BBS LIST ----------------------------------------------------------------------- First Starr (011) 046-0340-51117 Sorman Information (011) 046-470-22183 Kisa Monitron (011) 046-494-12997 PCACUG BBS (011) 507-60-0530 Ace's High (201) 290-1133 J.A.C.G (201) 298-0161 Wild West (201) 723-0824 Hologram (201) 727-1914 Z*Net BBS (201) 968-8148 New Haven (203) 776-9723 Sinkhole Utopia (203) 873-8518 Bloom County (205) 461-7893 Freelander BBS (206) 321-5127 Sub-S*P*A*C*E (206) 756-8122 Cave Creek (206) 783-5867 STDIO (206) 822-4085 The Reef (206) 848-3371 M.A.C.H. (207) 784-0631 The Bunker (212) 617-0153 Akron Connection(216) 253-9247 Rubber City (216) 376-0885 Pirate Busters (216) 545-4817 Command Hdqts (216) 758-0284 Stairway (216) 784-0574 Manitou (219) 223-8107 Pipeline (219) 336-3774 M.O.U.S.E (219) 674-9288 Acorn BBS (219) 693-3485 Ratcom (301) 437-9813 Orion Connection(301) 967-2207 Action (302) 337-8461 The Vault (303) 796-0539 Checkmate (309) 797-5926 Lion's Den (312) 690-3724 Chicago Public (312) 890-8513 Facts (313) 736-3920 Magic BBS (313) 978-7363 Bungalow BBS (314) 351-2837 Gateway City (314) 647-3290 Atari Hotel (315) 454-9612 The D.E.N (315) 638-8569 Dog House (317) 243-2177 Griffon's Nest (402) 466-5339 68000 Mice (403) 242-0706 Four Aces (404) 790-5593 Garden City (404) 796-3805 Buford Byte Size(404) 945-6021 Alternate (407) 747-9196 Atari Domain (407) 855-1317 Atari Inc BBS (408) 745-5308 Electronic Zone (412) 349-3504 Abacus BBS (415) 587-8062 Stu's (415) 782-4023 West Coast (415) 825-2952 Taf-On-Line (416) 235-0318 NWOC (419) 636-4237 Atari Scene (502) 456-4292 Cardinals Roost (502) 458-8302 Milliways (504) 244-0768 Atari C.A.L.C (505) 525-0388 Asylum BBS (505) 897-4306 Cookie Shoppe (508) 226-8028 Ayre-Force (508) 772-9009 StarShip (509) 375-4228 Ace Info System (513) 233-9500 WQNR (516) 698-7456 Chaos (517) 882-6716 LUST BBS (519) 432-5144 The Crypt (601) 385-1645 CAUUG (601) 388-3490 Think Tank (602) 435-9645 Network 23 (602) 846-7357 Atari West BBS (604) 272-5888 VAUG BBS (604) 604-5485 Missing Link (606) 271-1466 C.C.B.B.S. (609) 451-7475 TAIG (612) 522-2687 Flight Line (612) 544-5118 Pandora (614) 471-9209 Starbase (615) 528-7153 Vanishing Point (615) 665-1217 Second System (616) 385-2448 Lost Byte (617) 586-8840 Westport (617) 674-8361 S.W.A.T. (617) 675-8503 Centurian (618) 451-0165 The Ark (703) 560-6318 Irata (707) 252-0631 Pegasus (708) 623-9570 W.A.S.T.E (713) 923-7392 Double Click (713) 944-0108 PC Widowmaker (714) 688-3204 Acorn BBS (716) 436-3078 Atari Apex (716) 458-2638 Wizards Attic (716) 681-1654 Arrakis (718) 331-2236 New York City (718) 604-3323 Dateline (718) 648-0947 Grasp (804) 744-8022 Hot Rodderz (805) 773-5907 Wonderful World (808) 423-3140 West Terrace (812) 985-2083 Tampa Bay (813) 398-5352 Aardvark Inn (813) 425-5113 Harbor Lights (813) 726-3449 St. Petersburgh (813) 821-3188 Travelers (814) 825-9410 Sage BBS (814) 833-4073 Elysium (816) 761-2190 Rivendale (817) 444-3023 Infinity (818) 760-0943 Jakes Place (904) 244-0945 Starbase (904) 432-6009 Public Domain (907) 338-5005 Talisman BBS (912) 244-1726 Omega (914) 477-9597 House of Chance (915) 757-0788 Select BBS (916) 392-7279 Shadow Haven (916) 962-2566 Tektron BBS (918) 835-5198 This list was supplied by our readers. If you can assist us, please call our system or send a post card! This is about 100 systems from the 500 plus numbers we are currently listing. Look for an update in early 1990 via ZNET Online. Xx 1989 IN REVIEW - PART 3 OF 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- compiled by Ron Kovacs and John Nagy We pick things up in June, 1989: At noon, June 3rd, Sam Tramiel called a news conference at the Summer CES show and announced the release of the world's first portable Video Color Arcade Game System. This 3 1/2 inch LED system measures about 11 x 4 x 2 and weighs about a pound. 16 colors on a 160 x 102 screen. Retail price has been set at $149.95. Atari is releasing the product in conjunction with Epyx. 8-Bit software was shown at the booth, including: Deflecktor, Xenophobe, along with the first look of the 8-bit MidiMaze version from Xanth. Chris Roberts was appointed Atari User Group Coordinator and started work on June 12. Chris was a user group president from California, and replaced Cindy Claveran at Atari. After an announcement by an online publication that TOS 1.4 was shipping within days, Chris Roberts goes on record denying the story but later is accused of having released the misinformation himself. Astra Systems is closed. Lou Schwing has said he doesn't expect the well known Hard Drive and accessory company to re-open. Creative Microsystems (CMI) has developed an add-on processor accelerator board for the ATARI ST line of computers. The board comes with a built-in Math Co-processor Socket and Blitter Chip Socket for greater expansion avenues. In Dearborn, Michigan, the World Of Atari Show has the second appearance in the tour. ST-WORLD and Richard Tsukiji have produced a show that is neither a disappointment nor a whopper. Detroit area ATARIANS had to brave 90-something heat and 100+% humidity to make it to the plush Dearborn Hyatt-Regency hotel. The sales floor in Dearborn is 50% larger overall than that at DISNEYLAND in April, but fewer developers and dealers populated it. To make up for that in part was the ATARI CORP area, at over five times the space they had last time, several user- groups with booths, and a food and resting area at one end of the hall. Over fifty different booth areas were on the show list. They include retailers RITE-WAY, ALPHA SYSTEMS, INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS, CAL-COMM, BEST, and a guest appearance by FIRST STOP. Developers were MIGRAPH, GRIBNIF, CODEHEAD, GADGETS BY SMALL, SIERRA ON-LINE, FAST TECHNOLOGY, SEYMOR RADIX, ICD, INTERSECT, MICHTRON, IMAGEN, REEVESOFT, SOFTREK, DATAFREE, and ACCUSTAR. Rounding out the show were ZMAG/ ST*ZMAG/ZNET, ST-WORLD Magazine, GEnie Telecommunication service, ABACUS books and software, and the user group tables of CHAOS (Lansing), GAG (Flint), MAGIC (Detroit), and GLASS (Detroit). This show is the second Atari fest the Detroit area in only 6 weeks... and also the second in over two years. Vendors were VERY happy with sales. While this show was expected to have plenty of mass media advertising, the last minute blitz never occurred. Organizer Richard Tsukiji blamed ATARI for not arranging co-op ad money. As a result, the show has mostly "preached to the choir", pleasing the faithful to a great degree but doing little to reach out to the general public. New products shown or introduced at the Detroit area show included: ABACUS of Grand Rapids, Michigan, introduced BECKERCAD ST, a professional CAD system retailing for $395 but is available through July 15 for only $95! CODEHEAD brought a new UTILITIES package plus an upgrade of the HOTWIRE desk alternative, both were new at this Dearborn show. Shown for the first time "for real" was the DVT VCR hard drive backup system from Seymor Radix. Michtron did NOT have Fleet Street Publisher Version 3.0 for sale at the Dearborn World of Atari, but George Miller was proud to show it to anyone who asked. Dave Small again showed the SPECTRE GCR, the "plug 'n play" Mac emulator, this time plugged into the Stacy (which was almost a total loss when dropped on the airplane on the way to Dearborn - but Sandy Small fixed it in an all-night jigsaw effort)! It works, making Atari the maker of the first MAC Laptop. The GCR still can't be bought, but it will begin shipping in scant weeks. Rumors that legal actions by Data Pacific will delay or prevent the release are "totally false" say Dave and Sandy. In his seminar at the WOA Dearborn, Sig Hartmann claims that he is so sure that the Portfolio and Stacy will ship by the end of September, he promises to resign if they fail. The World of Atari goes next to Dallas/Fort Worth on August 19-20, where Richard Tsukiji says the vendor list already surpasses the Detroit area show. CompuServe announced June 29th that it purchased "The Source". Terms of the purchase were not disclosed. The Source will cease operations on August. 1 and subscribers will be offered a special package of incentives to convert to CompuServe membership. JULY, 1989: =========== Atari announced that TOS 1.4 PROMS were finally available to developers for $60. Atari UK has reportedly told its dealers that shipments of the STacy and Portfolio will be delayed because most production will be targeted toward North America (possibly until autumn). The Stacy portable will be available with several memory configurations including 1 meg, 2 meg, or possibly 4 meg. ST-LOG will now be the place where Analog readers go to for 8-bit news in the fall. Due to insufficient advertising which has not covered the costs of publication, Analog will be included within ST-LOG just as ST- LOG appeared in Analog before it's debut as a separate publication. The circulation of Analog has been good, but plaqued with less ads. PC-Ditto will be delayed for about another month or so due to the circuit board maker's delays. Manufacturing of the NEW hardware will commence shortly after the circuit boards are received. Ginnie Teal confirmed that software updates in the fall for the PC Ditto 2 board will include EGA emulation. The DEMO MAKER program licensed by Atari is on its way to in-store use. Within days, ISD Corp and others will be making self-running demos and tutorials available for dealers, using the imported system. No longer will an expert in the large-scale programs like ISD's Calamus and DynaCadd have to stay on-site at all times in order for customers to witness the power and options of the software. Expect more of this self-promotional software to become instrumental in dealer displays. AUGUST 1989: ============ Atari's recently hired User Group Coordinator, Chris Roberts has been terminated. Also resigned are Joe Mendolia, VP of Marketing, and Mike Dendo, VP of Sales. The Glendale Atarifest, a regularly scheduled event and the premier user -group show, has been cancelled. Organizer John King Tarpinian says booth sales were much too slow too close to the event. Meanwhile, the recently scheduled San Jose World of Atari show has been cancelled by Richard Tsukiji, promoter and ST-World publisher. This show was to be only a week after Glendale, and may have contributed to the Glendale sales problems. The cancellation came too late to help revive Glendale. Jim Allen Jr. at FAST TECHNOLOGY says that he received his printed circuit boards this week and has begun assembly of the first commercial TURBO 16 accelerator boards for the ST and MEGA. The first finished products will be shipped early next week (8/14/89). Jim's design which includes cached memory seems to be the speed leader in the accelerator races, with speed increases of as much as 50% overall on some applications where other tested units may gain 10%. SOFTLOGIK, makers of PAGESTREAM desktop publishing software for the ST and Amiga, had a BOMB SCARE. A device was in fact found and removed by police according to St. Louis newspapers. The report said that the bomb arrived in the mail, addressed to a Softlogik employee who had been fired a few days earlier. It was believed that the former employee may have been involved in sending the bomb, and police had questioned him. They were also seeking a third party who was thought to have built or supplied the bomb. No one was injured and no damage was sustained as the device was removed without incident. In what just could be a problem related to the employee disagreement, at least one copy of PageStream at a Southern California Atari Dealer was found to be version 1.58... odd, considering that 1.52 is the current commercial version. Nintendo filed a suit in Newark NJ against Blockbuster Video, the video rental chain, for alleged copyright infringement. Nintendo claimed they illegally photocopied video game instruction manuals for it's consumers that rented Nintendo's video games. On August 10th, Blockbuster Entertainment consented to the injunction placed and ceased photocopying the manuals. Nintendo still plans to attempt recovering damages already sustained by Blockbuster's actions. In Europe, if you buy a 520ST and you will receive a free package of 18 popular ST games; Outrun, Pacmania, Gauntlet, R-type, Super Hang-On, The Black Lamp, Bombuzal and more. The Euro_ST comes with 720K drive, Omnicron Basic, ST Basic, and 18 games for only $500. The software sold alone totals $750.00. In case you haven't heard, the new hand held LCD game system has been called the LYNX. This product was announced earlier this year and should begin shipping later this year. Atari has hired a new User Group Coordinator to replace Chris Roberts. After interviews with a number of candidates, Atari chose BOB BRODIE, president of the Atari Computer Owners of Orange County, California. Bob is well known to Southern California user groups, as he has been instrumental in a number of shows and projects there. He took a week off work at his own expense in order to coordinate Atari's appearance at the hugely successful NAMM show last winter. He also worked a lot at the Anaheim World of Atari show. While his club will be sorry to lose him as President, and we at the ZMAGs will miss him as one of our regular staff members, Bob will undoubtedly remain active in a user group in the Sunnyvale area, and will continue to write articles for use in user group newsletters and online magazine, although with a different perspective. This special series of articles continues and concludes next week. ======================================================================= ST*ZMAGAZINE Issue #52 December 22, 1989 Copyright (c)1989, Rovac Industries, Inc.. ZNET ONLINE MAGAZINE =======================================================================