PersonalComputerNews059-28Apr1984.pdf

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THE
NAME IN
VIDEO GAMES
Shortageof workingdaysoverthe Easter
holiday has
led
toa reduction in
the
size of
PCN.
This hasbcen
neccssarytocnablcus
to
publish
a1all. But
youcansec
from this
issue
that
editoria
l
content
has been
maintained.
April28, 1984
MENU
Miraclemodem
37
'
Ralph Bancroft
marvelsa1
a
featu re
-
packed modem from Minor Miracles-
witha
magical
price tag
of
£118.
REGULARS
Monitor
2
QL
:
Sinclair's overflow
solu
tion
-
page
2;
Research
Machines gets businesslike
-
page
3;
Survey points out
teac hers·
problems- page 4; Addressograph
-
5;
Multigra ph
ent ers
IBM race-page
plus the rest
of
the
week"s news.
PCNCharts
Random
Access
Your lette
rs
and your chance
to pick
up
a
crisp
tenner. Let usknowyourthoughtson
lifetheuniverseandeverythingtodowith
computers
.
6
8
PRO-TEST
SORWARE
AppleHomeword
38
Look.ingfor a
low-cos1word
processor'!
Mike Batham
takes home
Homeword,
a
disk-based
package that
offers some
advanced features.
Routineinquiries
Got a
problem'!G
et some
help-o ur
panel
ofexpen sa
waitsyourquest ions.
9
10
12
Thei ndu
stry"s
latest bandwagon
is
portability.
In
1hisupda teon
thestateof
play, PCNbrings
you
Pro-Test
on
thr
ee
new micros for
every pocket.
40
A
Z80seoond
processor and
CP/M
for
£57?
That's what
Com
modore is
offering
to64
owners.
lfit
soundst oogood
to
be1rue
•
check
Peter
Worlock"s
report.
Microwaves
Yourmicr
ocomputingbrainwav es
presented
fora wider audience.
Th
is
week
brings helpful
routines for
TI
99/4a. Orie.
LynxandCommodore64.
Billboard
Quit/Datelines
51
56
MICROPAEDIA
I
What
do a
Welsh
micro, an American
magazine,
an ignition key and a French
computcrfairhav e
incommon
'!They'
reall
,
ont
heba
ckpa get
hiswcek.
Pu/loutandkeep
Games
galore
Yet
more
entertainments get
the
PCN
appraisal treatment from our
review
tea
m
.
Tius week we
round up games
for
the
Spectrum, BBC.
Dragon
32
and
Atari
and separate the wheat from
the
chaff.
Dragon
sprites
41
SPECIALS
Seffassembly
22
Afte
r
last week's review
of
a hardware
implementacion. Bryan Skinner
loo ks
at a
mcthodofproducingspritesthrough
software
.
Pan
two of
Keith Hook'sguide
to
easy
machine
code with the
aid
of
an assemb
ler
.
PROGRAMS
PRO-TEST
PERIPHERALS
Atari in print
35
Yet
mor
e
products in Atari's
range
of
peripherals-twonewprintcrsthistime.
PicrslctcherlQOksat the
1025dot matrix
and
t
he
10271etterqualil
ymac
hines.
rs/Jb!r,
!
;
45,'
PCNp
rese
nts Huebcrt,acolo urful.
action-_filledversionofanarcade
favounte.
PCN APRIL281984
;
,,
~,,
;
'1'_-'I
4'
~
iG'-
;
~
BodgedQL
limps
in
Ill'
GoofWhNlwrig1,t
The
firsi
•few
thousand' S1ncla1r
OL.sw,11 released at
the
month's
be
cndw1th
2S
pcrccntofthc opcraung
system
and
SupcrBasic
pr
ogram-
ming languagehanging
off 1hcback
of
1h
machine
in a $mall
black
c
cartridge
Sinclair admincd 1
his
week
to
problems in fi
ttin
g 1he amb1t1ous
ODOS
operating system
and the
Supcr
Basic
programm ing
Ian·
guagcsonto
the
32K
ROM
chipsset
aside for them
m
the original
OL
design.
1..er1 w,th
the
cho
ice
of
further
serious delays
,n
sh,pp,ng
01..s
or
having
10
ravage
the
opcratingsys1cm
Supcr
Basic
to
and
m
ake them
fi1
m
32K , Sinclair
has
opted for
neither
and produced
1n
c
ad1h1
,;1
s'dongle'
whi
ch slots
m10
the
OL's cartridge
sof1w
.1rc
port
and without
which
you cannot use
the
mac
hine.
Smcla1r
is
cu
rrentl
y redesigning
th
e
OL
arcun board
to
accommo-
date
the cx1ra 16K
chip
1ha1is now
needed
for
QDO
S and
Super Basic
.
When 1ha 1
redesign
is
comp
lele
Sinclair
v.ill
o
ffer
free: upgrades
1
0
people supplied
v.ilh
1hc
early
"dongle'
QL..s
1
be sh
ipped
lhis
0
mon1h. Thisrelhink
abou
l
1hcOL's
~ig
n
has
also
mean
I
the
cxclu,;ion
of1hcorig1nally
promiscd.ba11cry-
backcd.
on·boa
rd.
digita
l
dock
-
which will not rea1urc
on e,1hcr
th
e
·o
ld'
or
new-design
OL..s
.
Sinclair
would
not com
men t
as
1
0
whether
the
upgrade
for dongled
machines will
req uire
sending your
OL
back
10
Sinclair or
whe1her
the
cha
nge
could be
made
at a dealers.
Howeve r
. since a chan ge is
hkcly
to
be
m
ade
in
the actual circu11boa
rd
desig
n
-a
nd
not just
the
placcmen1
o
f
chips
-
Sinclair
will
almos
1
ccnamly
ha,·c
to
swap old circuit
boa
rds
for
nev.•and do 1hcir
best to
rcco"cr "'hat part
s
they ca
n
from
the
ea
rlyarcui
t
boa
rds .
But
such a
sv.ap would probably require
se
nd
-
ing
machin
es
back to
Sinclair. as all
the
do
ngled
QLs
have
been orde
red
from Sinclair
by
mail
and 1hcrcforc
eanno
1be
1
akcn
back
10 shops.
0
The
othe
r
benefit or
th
e
do
ng.le
The
appear
a
nce
of dangled
OL.s
docs
m
ean that
no-one will
be
in
an)
dccistOn is that some c,ura corn·
grea
t rush
to
bring
out car1ridgc
mands
have
been added
to
Super·
software
for
the
OL
.
as
th
e
OL.s
Basic. in
clud
mga
set of
kcyv.ordsto
wi1h
a dongle
will
no1 be able
10 use ha ndle
turtle
graphics.
Once the
can
ridgcs un1d
they
a
rc
upgraded
.
decision was
taken defi
nite ly
to
Howeve r.
since
softw.1rc
house
s
have
48K
for SupcrBasic
and
will
be
using
1
same
·do
nglcd'
OOOS -
ra1her
tha
n th
e
32K
he
\•crsions
of the
O
L
as all ear
ly
OL
orig.inally as.s
igned
to
it
-
OL
customers.
they
v.ill
probably
dis-
designers
stopped
trying
10 find
pense
wi1h
im
media
te
plans 10 ways
to squeeze
t
he langu3ge
a
nd
produce
can
n
dgc
so
f1warc
and
s.awopportuni11cs
to
add
to
it.
instea
d
use
M1
crod
rivcs
.
The
good
news
in
all
this.
Have
)'O
U
orde
red a
Sinclair OL
m
hov.e\'Cr.
is that despite
r
epons
1he
past
fe
w
months
?
throughout
the
industry th
at the
re
If
so. you
arc
now
th
e
luck
y
was
no
way
Sinclair could begin owne
r
of
a
free
RS·232C
seria
l
shippin g
1hc
OL.s
by
the
'target
primer
cable
for
)'our
QL.
Sinclai
r
dch\'ery
date
s·
from the
end of
announced
this
week
1ha1it
will
be
April
Sinclair
w1ll1nfac
t
be
ab
le
to
giving
away
the printe
r
leads (for
which
i1wasgoi
ngtocha rgc
a
nextra
gi\'C
people
some1hin g.
If
the car1ridgc-port dongle
had
£14.
9S)wit
h
cveryOL that
has
been
not
bee
n
used.
QLs
probabl)
'
delayed.
wouldn
'
t
ha\·c
see
n the
outside
of
a
The
print
er
lead rcprcscnis
Sine·
factory unti
l
at least
the
far
sid
e or
lair's form
of compensation
ror
July
- by
\\hlCh
time some OL
!hose
v.ould·bc
OL
O\\llCrs
who
orders
would
have
bee
n
outsta
nd· ha\lc
waited throu gh
the long winter
mg
six
month
s.
mo
nth
s.
·
BBCtunes up with MIDI unit
long they
should
be
susta
ined.
MID
I
- the
Musical
I
nstrument
Bn
tish
a
nd
German
com
pa nies
Di~t
al
Jn1crfacc-
is ava
ilable
for
have
developed
MI
DI
interf
ace~
the
BBC
at
£65.
This
sys1cm.
r
apidl y beco
ming
a for
popular
mtcrOS. mcludmg the
Spcetrum,
Commodo
re
64 and
standard among
m
akers of electro-
Apple
.
The
BB
C
version
is avail·
nic
instru ments.
is
a way o
f
telling
clcctromc
insu
u
ments
which note_,
able
from
Electro
nic Rew:arch
toplay
.
howthcy
shouldbcandhow
037446n21.
Oriesoftsoap
Support may
be at
h3nd
for Oric"s
Atmos
.
Fi,•e
softwa
re
houses
-
UK
.
Joe
1he
Llon.
PSS.
Arcadia
Sof1warc and Seve
rn
Softwar e -
ha"e banded
toget
her
1
form
th
e
0
Associat
ion
of
Ori
e
Software
~
11
0'6.es.
AOSI
I
membership
is
open 10
othe
r
inte
res ted
sof
twar
e
houses.
and 1hc associa
tion is
mtcndcd
to
form
a vehicle for
1hc
promotion
of
Orie
and
A1mossor1warc.
As
yet
the
group
has
no formal
structu
re,
and
John
A
etchcr of
PSS
stressed
that
members
\\Ould
sllll
speak
indepcnden1ly
.
8u1 his
own
persona
l
feeling was
1ha1
trade
1n
Orie
software
had
been slack of
late.
and
that
som e1hing should
be
done ·1
promote
oursc
h·cs
back
0
int
o1hema
rkc1'. PSSi
sonthcpoi
nt
of
launch ing
Elec1ro Storm and
Moonbase
Alph a
Rescue
Crar1 for
the
Orie/Atmos.
Mr
fletcher
k
it
1ha 1
AOS
II
wouldboosttheOricandthcAtmos
by
fostering inte
rest
in
!he
sys1em.
Me
anwh
ile
Ta
nsoft
has
announced
a
tape
exchan
ge scheme
for
Tan.soft
Ori
c·
I
programs
that
arc
no1
fully
compatib
le
with 1he
Almos
.
Th
e games
in
vol\"ed arc
Orie
Munch.
Base.
Forth,
Mon.
CAD. Zodiac and
House
ofDea
1h.
and
old taped
can
be
e
xchan
ged for
ncwatthcpriceofOpertape.
The
orre
r
docs
n·t
include Orie
Flight
or
Multi
gamcs
I
and
2.
New
\'cnionso
f
lhcsc are
on
th
e
way.so
)'Ou'llhavc1ocough up the
full
price
again
.
Fortunately.
all oth er Tan-
sof1gam es arc
fully
com
patible.
The
£3
is accou
nted
for
by
'mater
ials,
hand
ling
and
pos1age
. ·
Thi
s
would
be barely
pl
ausible if
Tansoh v,.ercsuggcs1ingyou
send
in
the
casscue
label,
and
le111ngyou
keep
the
old
1ape.
but
PCN's
experience
of
the pn
cc of sta
mps
owards
and C
IS ta
pes
wo uld point
1
a
fairly
stagger
ing
'
handlin
g·
char ge.
Dealers
holding
quanti11es
or
old
Oric·I
programs arc 10
be
offered
two
new
programs
for thr
ee old
ones.
But 1f
you've
money
10 spare,
se
nd
)'our
£3
to Tansoh.
Uni ts
I and
2
Tc
chno
Park
,
Ncwmar kcl Road,
Ca
mbrid
ge.
Pf.AKR£FEJtOK:[-AIIMfltslbn.NteZtffltllo.tas,,.t
..........
pnetortlteto,
s,otfwdtedlsk
dl'Mlonb
new
Zip
,ortaW.
ptnOnal
computer. TMZlpMd
tNZ..-PCW1n1Wlt!MMMdillUMUKlattwtelc.lfterW.Cdemomtnttd
........,..,...NltlM...ttlllaw581,Botlidllmfdl8M~;a
l281(1)'tlNtwftlr360KCOltstl,695,wlttlltw4•360Kdbb£l,995,Mdwlttlla
I0.61h
Witdllttter
0,395.
TN sraems an
lNtM
.,.nd
I088s
Md .._....
four
fXPllt'*'
dob.
lMZJp
',.._..
diskunlbslkte
NCklntotltebodyoftlMunll:
...._
I
ls
pacbd
forb'Nllt.
,--------------------
~ta
-
--1
i
I
I~·,;-~·-;;;.
";:II
,
~II
-
-
··
...
·-·-···
'C
111!..:a~
-
-
'llw'oapa,:lass-ZX..,._;:
Eat
)·our
heart
out.
Microsoft
.
Jus1
ou1side
Bas ildon,
in
the
hcanoft
hc
Essex Silicon
Va
lley.
Timcdata
(Basildon 41812
1)
clai ms 1 have
0
cr acked the \\indov.--s
prob
lem
on
the
humble Sinclair
Spectrum.
The
company's
1
-T Scree
n
-11
Enh ancer software
produ
ces
32
lines
of
64
characte rs.
gi,i
ng
scroll·
ing
'windows" in any
rectang ular
pan of
the
screen
.
0
1he r
fat1li11cs
arc
·form
filling'. with
v.hich
)'OU
can
inpul to
any
pan
of
1hc
screen
wi1hout
disturbing ot
her
data.
1m-
o
pro,
·cd
tab ula 11
n.
and
offse
t
printing
.
·11
is
expected
that
Hl
-T
will
appeal
10
serious Spcc1rum
users
...
who
can·
1
wait
for a
OL.'
says
1imeda1
a.
But
why
hide
)'OUrhght
under
a
bushel
?
For
£5.95
isn't ii
worth not waiting
for a
Mac or
a
PC
with
M1cr
sofl
Windows
100?
o
PCN APRIL281984
Vocational
software
-----
--11
--
.....
---.i.i-
--
-
--
___
__
Racardl
M.adainc:s
U$aS
could
has
eaten
a
s.ddca
lW1I
into
very
apcafic...........i
.........
-
11
-.-.
Asbloo·Talc,
pa
gill
RMI... ..
.._.......
bao
deoelopcd •
-
IC8dcd
to
iDboduoc
lllldcats
..
10
.. IOkulg •
mmmcn:iol
•
spccimcn
for
lcacbing
flU'l'OOC",mcrdy-
....
- cilbc:r-
il
works
ror-
Sludaats
or
Ibey
will
fuid
tomcdling
cllc
.
~
product
Ill
nology
in
,cncral
IIIwcU
asd.Base
U
inpmticuw
.
It
does
indicate
a new
dircctioa
-~by
...........
Atlw<d-dilt-willan-
via •
oommonly
used
piece
°'
Mottctiag-Mike
O"Rc-
that
lbcrc
WCff;
ao
ethical
lo<RML.uddle-y•
iaacaung .. ..,.__
apcrti,c
.
Aac:dlatiomll**Oll<i-cdoa
m
but
ii ...,.,
be .... .._. ....
gtOWld
lhcS.., ............
--....
.....
---dlen:altbiog
-
il oa
its
boob
.
and
RML
is
moving
-
.............
"'only
63
funber -
-....
......
by
n:conll
per
file
.
Tbe .-.
....
lookiagl0<dcalcnfordlelintlime
.
Cdcbratiag
iu
1DO¥C
to
new
-
• dist-bdd -
-
pmnioeslostwcckilohoundc,
-
sompc_.....
...............
-
primcrs
thac
orwcr
databuc
lccb-
liacd
its
COOCICfltratiolll
cduca-
00
-
....
pcr{onnoaoc., __
illllproYc
..
and
•
lilima
llcol..ty "' ..........
die
dilt
wil
plalioal.
11'c -
warcmm.m..rtt.elliicoedilt.il
-
-
£154', _..,
ol
RAM
~
ud
opcn<mgooftw..-c..
RML
is
GOW •
Mil
St.
Odonl
OX2 III
W
T....-,
(086S)
a't
Chameleon
blendseither OS Orie systems
_........,.._
""°
hoe.,
but
hoe
's
di:realy
(q:llu,3881
1
)'1JO'UU
8088...t
O
interfaced
Down<woys .,. ....,.
Orie'•
~
tc:dd
die
is
...
.,
with
Alari, ~-
...........
ZIIIA. --·
CP/MODlllpOlible
IBM
l'Cond
.
Sw,sSl,ot
....
-
joy,oicb.
-
_ .... a....dooa
will
-
•
programmoblc joysock
-be---
.... .... Microooft
F1ipc
Simuloto<
inlerlact
for
tbcir
machines..
Thc
Eigbl -
.
mcd
•
(• mcn:asingly-.d
ICSI
ol
PC
inlc:tfm:
QOIU
Q9
.9S,
IIIOf"C
tbaa
OJatact
Tf'C'WOI"
om
QJ7Z7
Mcie
twice
the
price"' the
inlerUCC
from
mmpati,ility)
.
Tbe ..............
l28K
inlemOI
27222""---
RAM,
c,pandoblc
to
2S6K.
ond
takcl
twin 320K
driws..
It bal
a
buih-ill
9ia
monitor".
serial
and
Supo,Calc:
3. TMS ID-.to<
-
ud
ponlld -
-
"""'"'
C
TcnD mmmu.nicaliom
IOCtwazc
.
ThcCJwndc:on
PlusCOIU£1
,99S
plusVAT
.
Orie
and
Atmm
owners
will
be
plcacd
IO
beo<
Wl
0-.....y
Ila
compll.iblc
Yia • mine-way
.:ad
..._......,
.111c._,_
PC--y-Uy•no
Sccquo
Cllomdooo
Plus,
dsri-
but<d
loctt
by Funri
Soltworc
Fuller
gets
a
rocket from
I
ad authority
put,i;c
compwning
bod bod --
colly .,,.._. ...............
includolg
lk FDS
k<yboonl.
from
Fullc,
.
11'c ..................
uphdd ""
faiharc
IO
iAl'onn
CIIStOmer1
.tiioui
dcloys.
ud lo<;.,
r.a.,,,
..
widt-
dnw
~
when
ii
nt.11
into
supply
problems.
Rdunds
should
have
bccll
offered.
Aid
the
ASA
.
Fullcdtocllllaooqmrcd.......,
ocwphoac-
.
lllsllop•now
oo Ll...-pool
(OSI)
236
4612,
ud
......
lllll9
.
----ro.-
..
IO
OSl-109 9280
«
OSl-109
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