GrACE NEWS
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE GREENVILLE ATARI COMPUTER ENTHUSIASTS
VOLUME: S' NUMBER! 8
MEETING; AUGUST IS, 1587
DOORS OPEN AT 7:00 pm
GRIER MEMORIAL ARP CHURCH
WELL I HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYED
THERE VACATIONS THIS SUMMER!!
NOW THAT SUMMER IS ABOUT OVER
AND FOOTBALL SEASON IS JUST AROUND
THE CORNER, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE
GOOD TO IDEA TO HAVE SOMETHING GET
US IN THE MOOD. SO THIS MONTH
GRAIG TOMPKINS IS GOING TO DEMO
TOUCHDOWN FOOTBALL BY ELECTRONIC
ARTS.
WE WILL ALSO HAVE KEVIN
KINGSMORE WHO IS GOING TO
TELL US WHAT'S NEW IN THE
ATARI WORLD FOR THE ST AND
THE XL AND XE. HE IS ALSO
GOING TO DEMO TWO PROGRAMS
FOR THE ST. ONE IS A GRAPHICS
PROGRAM CALLED COMPUTER EYES
AND THE OTHER IS THE NEW IBM
EMULATOR PROGRAM BY ADVANT
GARDE SYSTEMS CALL PC DITTO.
WE WILL ALSO HAVE THE DISK
LIBRARIANS TELL US ABOUT THE DISKS
OF THE MONTH.
Also we'll have the disk
librarians tell us what they have
on there disk of the month.
REMEMBER the cost is $2.00 for 8-
bit and $3.00 for 16-bit disks
(non member s $ 1 . 00 addi t i onal
charge)
So join us Tuesday, June 16th
at the Gr i er memorial ARP Church
Fellowship Hall. Meeting begins
at 7:00; program at 7:30. SEE YOU
THERE !
<unar ii, mr
Froi the Prez. ..
For the past several years, I have had the dubious honor of being
in charge of registration for our local area soccer league. To
give you sose idea how long ago, I began with the best data base
available at the tiie for the Atari 800 , good ole DOE. A
couple of years later, Synfile caie along which was quite an
iip^Gveient. I finally loved to the advantages of Data Pe v fect
for rapid sorting, great print-out options and bach-up security.
Even though I have had «y ST for about a year now, I still pull
out the ole 800 tank Each soccer season to handle registration
instead of transferring the data over to one of the iany powerful
data bases available for the ST, Every tiie I go through
lagging all the equipient out of the closet and start connecting
the IQ cables, especially to the 850 (I had to thin!: for a ainute
chat that was for), and the power supplies* ! ash ■yss!f J "Mhy do
1 do this instead of taking the tiie to do the whole thing on the
ST"? Possibly for one of the following reasons:
*) Too lazy to read doc (have you ever looted over DE-flan
doc?)
2) Not activated to transfer data files, - .. good guess,
3) Both of the above.
After soie soul searching,. I realized that therE was another, !
perhaps, lore honest answer... its just plain FUN draggin r all the
S-bit stuff out and blowing the dust off sole of the great ole
disks 1 Before I ever cose close to loading up Data Perfect to
actually do business*, its absolutely iiperative to see how far
I can go on Juapian, what new lares I can design with hr. Robot,
how long I can last before bankruptcy with Trains, what GS level
I can achieve on Kenned) Approach. . .or yes... if I r i really into
this... how iany times I can grease it in 1 on one of the few
actual still-in-existence gases of Final Flight! I have found
myself taking literally hours to finally get around to do what 1
originally intended.
After each soccer season is underway, its tiie to pack everything
back into the closet, as the kitchen table is needed for other
things (like eating so 1 an told, over and over, etc,). But in
just a few lonths, it will be tiie for Spring sign-up, and once
again I will be duty-bound to pull out the 800 stuff and fire up
Data Perfect for soccer purposes, but not before seeing if I can
do better with the egg wave on Joust, or lake it past the city
with Blue flax...
Don a Id Sh oc k 1 ey
Vice-Fre&i dent
JOHN DISHER
PREZ
GrACE news
VOLUME: 5 NUMBER: 8
Gr .A . C
E .
GrACE OFFICER S
FOR 1 987
PAGE 1
The Sreenville Atari Computer Enthusiasts is an
independent, non-profit organization and astr's group
with no affiliation with Atari Corporation, or any other
organization. Membership dues (family) is i2i.it per
year. Membership includes access to the club's public
denain program library, subscription to the fr.A.C.E.
newsletter, and access to the club's electronic bulletin
board, Amazin' Grace <883-248-8138),
The GrACE newsletter is published monthly by the
Greenville Atari Computer Enthusiasts, 187 Saratoga Dr.,
Greer, SC 29451. Permission to reprint articles in any
non-conercial publication is permitted without
authorization, provided credit is given to the
Greenville Atari Computer Enthusiasts and the author.
Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not
necessarily represent the views of Gr.A.C.E..
The GrACE newsletter will accept any articles by
nembers on any topic found pertinent to the club.
Articles will be accepted in any form, although word
processing files uploaded to the club's BBS <248-1138)
with a utfsage leu tu
Eli CiiibfrUufj iif
. m:o . t.u
mat? urUf
Editors, are preferred.
Editors
ED Culbertson
<877*1 544)
Mike Jett
(248-8542)
Production Editor
George Marin
<472-2815)
Contributing Editors
Ken Richardson
(277-8824)
A1 Tompkins
(292-3244)
Rhett Bryson
(244-318?)
6r .A.C.E. Advert i si
no Rat
Full Page
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Half Page
412.88
Quarter Page 4 9.88
Eighth Page
4 5.88
Correspondence Address and Newsletter Exchange
6reenville Atari Cmputer Enthusiasts
187 Saratoga Dr,
Greer, South Carolina 29451
8B3-B77-8544
PRESIDENT
JOIN D1SHER
244-1947
V. PRES/PGM DIR
DON SHOCKLEY
B95-521B
SECRETARY
MARY AhN TERM1NATD 292-8288
TREASURER
DOUG SLAGH
877-7453
BOARD MEMBERS
NEWSLETTER EDS.
ED CULBERTSON
MIKE JETT
877-8544
248-8542
LIBRARY- 8-BIT
- 16-BIT
- PAPER
GEORGE NELSON
JIM COOPER
SENE FUNDERBURK
292-2355
244-5793
248-9177
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GENE FUNDERBURK
24B-9177
MEMBENSHIh 1 KtNEWAL
Take a moment and look at your
mailing label on this issue of the
'GrACE NEWS' . Check the rioht-hand
side of the label for the word
'DUES'. Just after this word are
the month/year when your membership
expires. Try to renew at least one
month early. This helps us with the
accountinp and record keepinp and
also avoids your missing any issues
of the newsletter,
There are two easy ways to
renew :
1, At the monthly meeting talk to
Doug SI aoh the club treasurer and
present him with $28 <in cash or
check) .
2. Send your name and renewal ($20)
to:
Doug Slagh
104 BurQoyne Court
Greer. SC 29651
VOLUME: 5 NUMBER: 8 GrACE NEWS PAGE 3
WHH
ST NEWS
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/HR TRRI E
CERTIFICATE
MAKER
UPDATE
In the June, 1987
newsletter I contributed
a review ol the
program. Certificate
Maker by Springboard.
I presented a
demonstration of the
program at the meeting
that month as well.
Although I was generally
pleased with the opera-
tion and completed
product of the program,
I expressed several re-
servations to it. In the
demonstration I ex-
plained that I had not
yet been able to get
different fonts to print
-^ut on separate lines in
he body of the certifi-
cate as described in the
documentation. I was
sure that I was doing
something wronger that
I had a defective copy of
the program.
After the meeting,
Kevin Kingsmore - lrom
whom I bought the
program - approached
me with an olfer to ex-
change the program disk
for me — he had a new one
in his car. I took him up
on this offer and eagerly
returned home to try the
new disk. To my dis-
may, it too failed to
allow me to have more
than one font used in the
body of a certificate. I
was now sure that I was
-.doing something quite
wrong. I decided to call
Springboard’s technical
help line the next day
and put the problem to
rest once and for all.
My call to technical
support turned out to
be most unsatisfactory!
After a rather lengthy
explanation of the prob-
lem, I was tola that the
ATARI version of the
program did not, in fact,
support multiple fonts.
I asked why the
documentation, which
specifically said was for
the ATARI, did not
correctly detail the
operation of the prog-
ram. I was told that it
was a typo. ..even
though the references to
the procedure to use
multiple fonts appeared
numerous times in the
doc. I was told that
there would probably be
no updates to the doc
correcting this over-
sight and that the prog-
ram would probably
never be updated to sup-
ply all of the features on
the ATARI that it does
on other machines.
I was not very
satisfied by the
response of
Springboard to my in-
quiry. The advertise-
ments and documenta-
tion for Certificate
Maker are deceptive as
to this desirable
feature.
Let me say that I do
still like the program. I
just wanted to explain
this interchange with
this particular software
publisher in order to
remind you that things
are not always what they
seem and that some
software publishers
support ATARI better
than others.
Rhe 1 1 Bryson
GrACE NEWS
VOLUME: 5 NUMBER: 8
PAGE 4
NEW RELEASES
FROtt
IfichTron
I received in the
mail yesterday a
catalog from
MichTron advertis-
ing the software
releases they had for
the ATARI ST.
Among the 45 titles
for the ST by this
most prolific of
software developers
were several new re-
leases seemed espe-
cially exciting.
Several months
ago, I bought GFA
BASIC from
MichTron. I have
been completely
satisfied with it.
MichTron now has
several utilities and
support programs to
go along with the
BASIC. A brief
summary:
1. GFA BASIC
Compiler. A fast
2-pass Compiler
which converts
your programs into
fast-running
machine- language
.PRG files.
2. GFA Compan-
ion. A new RC5
editor that creates
custom dialog boxes
for use in your
BASIC programs.
3. ST Replay. A
new program that wil
allow you to digitize
sounds and music
which can be put into
your GFA BASIC
programs.
4. Knovice. An
artificial intelligence
program that works
in conjunction with
your GFA BASIC
programs.
6. GFA Vector.
Allows you to cre-
ate and manipulate
astounding images,
optical effects then
place them in your
GFA BASIC
programs.
6. GFA Object.
A 3-D drawing prog-
ram which allows you
to create stunning
objects for use with
your GFA BASIC
programs, or for use
with GFA Vector.
7. Easy Record.
A sophisticated B-
Tree record storage
management system
within your GFA
BASIC programs.
B. FROG. A data
base language that
works with GFA
BASIC making it
easy for you to get
information from a
data base.
With GFA BASIC
only being on the
market a short time,
this is a phenomenal
support for a BASIC
language.
Upcoming re-
leases which should
quicken the pulse of
some of you include:
1. Easv Page.
Claimed to be the
"...easiest page lay-
out system in the
world!" They say it
will do practically
everything the big-
ger, complicated,
more expensive prog
rams do, but is much
easier to use.
2. GFA Draft Plus.
A 2-S CAD program
that is claimed to be
"...equal to anything
running on the IBM,
at a fraction of the
price."
| VOLUME: S’ NUMBER: 8
GrACE NEWS
PAGE S'
New Releases from
MichTron continued
3. GFA Film. A
fantastic graphic
program that lets you
do all kinds of special
effects.
4. Weide Math
Coprocessor. A
math coprocessor
board that fits into
the 520ST and the
1040ST. This board
allows you to use
a new version of
GFA BASIC called
GFA Float which
gives you the
jpeed of the math
coprocessor.
6. GFA Object.
An object manipula-
tion program that
lets you draw 3-D
objects. You can
Merge, Size, Rotate,
Stretch, just to name
a few of the features.
The objects can be
exported to be used
by GFA BASIC,
Vector, Draft Plus,
and even DEGAS.
6. GFA Publisher.
The ultimate page
layout program, that
will be "...the Cadillac
of page layout
programs."
7. Realtizer. A
new utility that
allows you to
digitize Images from
a video camera or
video cassette re-
corder! There is a
variety of grey level
support with 4
speeds of scanning.
The pictures can
be save in numerous
formats.You can even
make color images
with the included
three filters.There
are built-in printer
drivers which allow
you to adjust print-
outs to fit your needs.
Even though
many of these prog-
rams are not yet
released, MichTron is
a company that has a
history of delivering
everything they
promise. I have al-
ways found programs
from MichTron to be
of high quality and
most useful. Many of
the new releases are
from GFA in
Germany. Look for
reviews and further
information on these
programs in the
magazines and on the
electronic bulletin
boards. It looks like
MichTron will con-
tinue to be a major
supporter of the ST!
Rhett Bryson
SCANNING
CURRENT
NOTES
The latest issue
(July-August) of Cur-
rent Notes brings it's
usual share of news,
scuttlebutt, rumor and
news concerning the
ATARI ST.
A company in
Tucson, AZ offers
three hardware
accessories for the
ST. They have a
Monitor Master for
$49.99 to allow those
St owners who have
both monitors to
switch back and forth
without having to
grope behind their
computers and switch
cables. It has sepa-
rate audio jack
hookups that allow
your sending audio to
your amplifiers. It
also brings out com-
posite video on 520's
GrACE NEWS
| VOLUME: 5 NUMBER: Q
PAGE 4 !
CURRENT NOTES
CONTINUED...
with RF modulators.
They offer a RGB
Video cable to allow
hook-up to non-ATARI
monitors. It Is 4 ft.
long and contains com-
posite leads. It sells
for $21.99. Also in the
cable department,
they offer a Compo-
site Video Cable for
$14.99 which features
molded ends and low
loss video coax.
News is stilt spotty
about the available of
the long promised
"Blitter* chip. Still no
firm word on delivery
dates.
Happy Computer
will produce a floppy
Interface for the ST
that will format and
operate 3.5", 6.25",
and 8" drive In native
Mac, IBM, and other
formats as well as
perform the usual Job
of back-up.
Coming soon will
be a Mega-ST case for
those of you with a
520. All you have to
do Is remove your 520
mother board and
Install it in a new thin-
line box. It moves all
serial, parallel, DMA,
disk drive, and
monitor connections to
the box to unclutter
your keyboard. It
also gives ample
room for 4-meg
boards, blitter and
other add-ons. The
deluxe version has
built-in fan, power
supply, and a set of
AC switches on the
front panel like a
master control panel —
spike, surge, and
noise protection also
present. You must
also buy a new slim-
line keyboard with the
modular telephone
type plug. Could be
neat!
RHETT BRYSON
HELP
G.R.A.C.E.
WRITE
FOR
THE
NEWS
LETTER !-
VOLUME: 5 NUMBER: Q GtACE NEWS PAGE 7
8- BIT LIBRARY WEffS
And how has your summer been?
This month 1 s di sk-of-th e-month
will be a 2-sided disk- Qn
side one will be the following
programs:
1. College Football Analysis -
A neat program that will allow
you to input scores from games
and pr ed i c t most likely winner
of next week's matchup, A very
unusual program- It will be
interesting how well this
program is able to predict
winner s ! This pr ogr am i s
c omp r i sed o f t h e f o 1 lowing:
a, RUN. SYS — should be
. BINary loaded from DOS.
b. AUTORUN- CTB - the main
program (written in compiled
Turbo Basi c -
C. CFANALYS.DOC - the -DOC
file,
d - CURREM T . OF A - u s e t o keep
track of weekly scores/stats.
e, PRES7.CFA - reference
file of pre-season ratings.
2. DETECT20 - A BASIC program
that will check any file on a
disk and tell you what storage
method it is stored in: ARCed,
SCRUNCHED, etc.
3. RE AD ARC - A BASIC program
that will display the contents
of an .ARCed file without
having to actually run the ARCX
ext r actor program !
4. QUIKMENU.BIN - A .BINary
load program that will create a
game-loader menu on a disk.
Does not need to have DOS/DUP
on disk, .just a formatted disk
to write the loader too. Then
-BINary or ML games can be
c op i ed to the d i s k .
Side 2 of the DOM will have a
super di sk ut i 1 i t y pr ogr am
called Disk Master on it.
Assoc i at ed , DOC file also
i nc luded.
Hope to see y u at the
meet i ng !
Geor ge Nel son ,
S-Bi t Li brar i an
“FIRST TIME JITTERSP
I have now been a member
of GRace for almost one year!
And I fully believe that I have
been ab 1 e to en joy the use o f
- my computer 500% more than if 1
had never join, but that is not
the reason why I am writing
this article, exactly! I'm
writing to make the point that
there is al ways a time for
firsts in everyone's life!
From the time one is born
there are always first, your
first day of life, your first
birthday, your first day of
school, and many more. Well, I
did a first at the June
meeting, I did a review of a
piece of software that 1 own.
Needless to say I was nervous
at first, because I knew that
most of the peopl e there knew
more about computer technology
in there little finger than
wh at I k n o w in my wh o 1 e b o d y .
But, then I said to myself why
not at least try to add to
there knowledge as well as my
own- I felt this is a user
group not a torture chamber and
the worst that could happen is
that I might submit some
information that someone didn't
know and in turn learn
someth i ng mysel f .
GrACE NEWS
VOLUME: S' NUMBER: 8
Well, I'm still alive from
my ordeal and you know
something I did learn something
from my experience. And right-
now by writing this ar t i cl e I f m
doing another first, I'm
writing a news letter for the
GRace Newsletter! Folk's isn't
this what it's all about! You
never get anymore out of
something than what you put
i n t o it! So f or t h os e o f you
who hav'nt done so already, get
involved with GRace, write a
newsl et t er or review a piece of
software, you'll find it
enjoyable and informative!
— Ray Byrd —
P.S.— A fries sage to those who
haven't been to a meeting in a
1 ong t i me, you 're missing a 1 ot
of GREAT FIRST r
PAGE 8
A Financial Wizard is a
disk of programs that are
completely compatible with each
other and can Finally give you
a handle on your finances and
what happened tD them.
You start by Figuring out
where the money needs tD go
with the Budget program. This
allows you to know if you are
spending more than what you had
really wanted for clothes or
any other catagory . Did I
mention you can have £2 major
catagories Fdt expenses and 1
For income. Each catagories can
have up to 36 sub-catagories .
There are even 3 major
catagories For record keeping
that doesn’t affect your
checkbook balance Ci.e.
kilowatt usage).
A FINANCIAL WIZARD
Do you dread the arrival
of the bank statement? Do you
know it will never balance to
the penny? Ever wonder haw much
you really spent For gas for
the family car? Food?
Electricity?
If you answered yes to any
dF these questions, then you
are ready to use that "game
machine” For what it really
good at. Number crunching is
what I’m talking about. If you
have a 4SK Atari, Basic, and a
disk drive or two you can find
the answer to these and many
other questions about where all
the money you make is going to.
The real workhorse is
Check Entry. With it you enter
all your checks, ATM
transactions, and deposits.
THis is where you really set up
the rest of the programs to
answer your questions and
balance your checkbook, right
to the penny if you are
accurate and in about £0
minutes or so. It is a very
forgiving about mistakes and
will not let you put a date
like July 45 for example .There
is error checking where it is
possible. After you have
entered your checks you can
make use of the other programs
on the disk.
There is Check Search to
Find out how much your wife
spent Dn clothes this year. Dr
you can Find out hDw much your
tax deductable donations were
at tax time without having to
go through the shoe box
counting slips of paper.
GrACE news
VOLUME: 5 NUMBER: 8
PAGE 9
Tabulations and Bar Graph
mill let you compare what you
spent compared uith what you
budgeted for and mill even give
you a hard copy to show the
mife mho says she only spent
$30 on clothes.
Checkwriter mill print
your checks if you get
preprinted checks. Won’t your
creditors be surprised mhen
they get those Fancy printed
checks and begin wondering horn
you got so Far up the social
ladder .
THE X10 POWERHOUSE
If I t o 1 d you t h a t y ou
could purchase a device that,
when connected to your
c omp u t er , wou 1 d c on t r o 1 25 &
discrete devices or an
unlimited number of
non -discrete devices for under
$30.00, would you be
interested? Well, such a.
device has existed for some
time! It is c omp I e t e 1 y
wireless and can control almost
anything one can imagine, from
lights to appliances, even the
heat in your home!
Finally, there Is
Checkbook Balancer , It makes
that task that almost everyone
cringes about , everyone that
doesn’t have Financial Wizard,
easy as pie , This program take
the info entered with Check
Entry and your bank statement
and voilla a balanced
statement , Like I said in about
EG minutes you can be back
watching reruns of Facts of
Life * And you said nobody
balances their checkbook except
by accident .
The whole package is well
documented and comes in a hard
plastic case that is good For
storing* I rate this a 3 (don’t
believe in 10’s) For everything
From ease oF use to price
(around $30 I don’t remember
exactly! -
6F0RQF t*\ AKlfJ
The device I f m speaking of
is the X10 POWERHOUSE - This
thing is amazing! It has a
r esl —t i me e 1 oc k , day c ount er r
programmable RAM and battery
backup, To use the X10 you'll
need an B5o, an R— VERT EE or the
P-R CONNECT I ON - I prefer the
latter for two reasons: 1 ) it's
c omp at i b 1 e with most p r og r am s
that are set up for the 850 j
2> its price: $59.00! With the
P-R CONNECTION, if you don't
have a printer interface, for a
few more dollars than one
costs, you also get two RS-232
ports. If you already have an
interface, then for about 2/3
of what an B50 costs, you can
have RS-232 capability.
First of all, the XI 0
comes with IBM software or no
software, but does come with an
extensive programmer's guide*
Using only this guide, I was
able to program the X 10 to
control everything in the house
I wanted to* (Including my
wi f e ! ! - . * . just ki ddi ng ! > The
X 10 sends signals through the
wiring in your home to modules
that are either plugged into
outlets or ones that replace
existing switches and outlets.
The types of modul es avai 1 ab 1 e
are: Lamp (300 Watts
VOLUME: S' NUMBER: g Gl~ACE NEWS PAGE / 0
incandescent) j 2 & 3 prong
App 1 i anc e ( 1 5 A resistive, 1/3HP
mot or , 5G0W i nc and esc en t or
400 W TV) , single and 3- way wal 1
switches, wall outlet and
thermostat .
The first three modules
listed plug into existing
outlets and the item you wish
t o c on t r Ci 1 plugs i n t o the
module. I know nothing about
the thermostat —only that it is
available. Each module has two
codes that you select to
determine which of the 256
combinations will operate that
module: house codes from A-P
and module numbers from 1-16
<16 house codes times 16 module
codes = 256 different codes).
From the X10 you select a
hOLisecode and module number
that you want to control, then
you select the mode -normal or
sec ur i t y .
Sec ur i t y will t ur n t h e
selected mod ule( s ) o n or o f f
within an hour of the time you
set, never at the same time as
the day before. Next, select
what day <s) you want (weekday,
weekend, today, tomorrow, or
specific days). Then the time
is selected in the form HH:MM
AM or PM. Next , the
operation-on, off or dim. When
dim is chosen, there are 16
i n ten si t i es to choose from, 1
being dims and 16 being brig hit.
There are some
1 i mi tat i ons : the X 1 0 can on 1 y
store 128 events. An event is
one or mor e modui es wi th the
same house code being dimmed,
turn on or off. If you had
house code "B", modules 1-16 on
at 6:00 A.M., that would equal
one event. If you chose house
codes 11 B" and "C H module 1 on
at 6:00 A.M., that would equal
two events. If you change
house codes or the operation
time, or the operation, then
you add events.
Once you have programmed
the XI 0, it can be disconnected
from the computer, unplugged
from the wall, taken into a
closet, plugged back in and it
will continue with the correct
ti me and all of the events
stored in its memory. We come
home to a softly lit drive and
house each night, get into a
warm bed in the winter and get
up to warm lighting and fresh
coffee e a c h mor n i n g . Ah . . . What
my Atari won F t do... and it
didn't cost thousands! ! !
The X10 computer
c ont r ol 1 er c an be pur chased at
Radio Shack. The 1 modules can
be purchased at Sears, Radio
Shack and through some mail
order companies. Modules run
from *10.00 to *20,00.
I thin!-’: the X 1 0 is on e o f
the most satisfying computer
accessories purchase you will
make. It is not something you
buy, use for a while and
discard. It is something that
gets used day in and day cut!
The software I have will
be made available to all, for
the cost of a disk.
RON MOORE
MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH BBS
The Sysop has informed me that
the Gt ACE BBS is down until he ean^,
determine the problemll
ed itor
VOLUME: 5“ NUMBER: 8 GrACE NEWS PAGE II
IBM COMPATIBILITY SOFTWARE
Programs for the IBM PC and
compatible systems can run on
the Atari 520ST and 1040ST
systems with help of PC DITTO,
an emulation software program
from Advant- Garde Systems,
The program supports most
popular DDS programs including
Lotus 1 — 2— 3 and Symphony, Word
Perfect, Desq-view, Framework,
Dbase III Plus, and others with
no additional hardware or
c opr oc essor s , The prog r ami r uns
software at BO per cent of the
speed of an IBM PC XT. The
reason is that this emulator is
software rather than hardware
based .
It provides 1040ST users
with up to 703K of usable DOS
memory , and 520ST users with
3S4K of usable RAM. It imitates
MDA and C6A graphics modes and
user s can boot DOS f r cm a har d
disk.
PC DITTO also fully
emulates serial and parallel
ports and supports 3,5 inch 720 K
disk drives and optional 5,25
inch 360 K drives for the Atari.
The emul at i on program! i s
provided on 3.5 inch media.
However , the first ver si on
only works on the color system
and does not support GEM or the
mouse. The list price of $89.95
includes the program's first
upgrade, due this fall, which
will support monochrome systems
as well as the mouse and MIDI
por t s.
PC DITTO i s avai 1 abl e from
our friend, Bob Ehlers at
Concurrent Technologies or from
Advent -Garde Systems, 3S1 Pablo
Point Drive, Jacksonville,
Florida 32225 , (904 ) 221—2904.
A1 Tompkins
HEMS FROM SENECA '
This month Royce Ridings has
cont r i but ed a VIP wor k sheet
( AMDR30. UIKS) that (you quessed it)
calculates loan amortisation
schedules for up to 30 years,
Royce welcomes others to make
changes and additions. He will be
•happy to discuss this worksheet
with anyone who is interested.
A copy of the wor ksheet will be
placed into the ST library.
Nice work Royce! !
Ed i tor
conversations
I have beer, waiting (or ST TALK PROFESSIONAL to
appear for about three acmths. I ai still waiting!
. I decided that since the only response I get when 1
ash about it is 'it's not been released yet
(jerk).’ (eaphasis added). Therefore, I decided to
go straight to the horse's aouth and call SKI
(Suantui Mi cr osysteas Inc.). I got to talk to the
'head-ian' hiiself, John Defier, President of Gf!I.
He told ae that ST TALK PROFESSIONAL was about six
weeks away fro* introduction ( 1'a going to try to
buy directly froa SMI in the hopes of getting it
as quickly as possible— also do a review for the
newsletter), Hr. DeHar told ae of soae of the new
products that ONI has or is ready to introduce. Hr.
Deflar has sent ae a flyer describing the products
that I will bring to the aEeting. The products
aentioned were:
1, DESKCART- cartridge based accessory
2, BE/ST- bulletin board systea for the ST
3. DG IT!- a is dos shell
4. GRAPHICS TABLETS/5GFTWARE- the tablets are 3x12
(S395) and 12x18 (*695) with driver software
I lust say that Hr. DeHar was very courteous and
very willing to talk about GUI's product line. I
wish GUI and Hr. DeHar all the success.
Froa what Hr. DeHar told le about ST TALK
PROFESSIONAL, it sounds great.
Ed Culbertson
Editor
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% ED CULBERTSON
107 SARATOGA DR.
GREER, SC 29651
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