Elec R O N C S MAY 1984 $1.95

WORLD'S LARGEST COMPUTER MAGAZINE

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i+IdS6 tiJ 2t7 Y00 71311 Q. S_ a-9- ons b p*so;,; tis of Pointing Devices 0 r633a OTbT T601,10Sb9 N21a ¿60£0£, Leadin PC & TRS80

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Introducin g the MTX 5 2 AWorld Apart from the ordinary. It begins with the sense of touch. Interactive Languages With the sleek black metal housing. Cool to the touch. Cool to And Routines Look the advanced circuitry and components contained within. -A And the solid feel of people -sized keys set up in a field that gives At The Way All Micros you room to work and space in which to think. Will One Day Perform But the difference only begins with what you see and feel. Where Forget the way all other it ends...well, that's really up to you. micros perform. This is the In a very practical sense, the only limits you'll experience with way they should. the MTX5I2 are those you choose to accept. Interactively. 64K To 512K RAM - A Look On The Inside With the MTX, you can create and manipulate programs using four different languages in dynamic interaction, all coordinated Take a close look at the MTX512. through the FRONT PANEL DISPLAY. Interweaving elements We could tell you it offers the greatest performance and versatil- as you would in creating a symphony. ity of any micro in its price range, but we think you're smart enough And take a serious look at the languages housed in the MTX's to draw your own conclusions. 24K ROM. MTX BASIC, a more powerful form of BASIC that The design is elegant in its simplicity. Remarkable for the power allows you to use all standard BASIC programs. MTX GRAPH- and complexity it represents. 64K RAM built in, with total expan- ICS, with straight forward commands, eliminates the tedium and sion to 512K. And doesn't include 16K that of video RAM con- difficulty of creating complex graphics programs. NODDY, an II - trolled by its own processor. command "easy learn" language that can transform real world pro- Speaking of video, keep in mind this is no ordinary monochro- gramming into a child -friendly activity. And MTX ASSEMBLER, matic, single screen system. The MTX starts off where other micros which enables sophisticated programming in assembly language. vivid end up. Delivering screen capabilities with 256 x 192 pixels Something else the advanced programmer will appreciate is our that crisply define interference -free high resolution graphics. 16 ASSEMBLER/DISASSEMBLER, tied to BASIC, which provides brilliant colors that can be displayed simultaneously. In a format unprecedented display and keyboard access to Z80 CPU storage powered by 32 easily movable, user -defined graphics characters. locations, memory and program. Graphics capabilities you'd find impressive in a system that gives If you're hungry for more, PASCAL and FORTH are also availa- you a single screen to work in. With the MTX, you have eight. ble as add-on ROM packs. Yes, eight. On the keyboard side of things, you'll find a number of operator - Eight windows definable to operate independently or in tandem. oriented features that speed up and ease up the operation of the And still maintain full screen capabilities. Thus, you can manipu- MTX. The separate numeric pad with quadri-directional cursor late spread sheets on the MTX and see the impact of changing control and full editing functions. The eight dual function keys. variables in graphics at the same time. Eight separate windows on the world. We call them Virtual Screens. You'll call them extraordinary. Far from ordinary as well are the built-in system outputs that come standard on the MTX. The Centronics parallel printer port. The two industry -standard joystick ports. The uncommitted parallel I/O port. The Cassette port with 2400 baud. Separate TV and Video Monitor Ports. The 4 -channel sound hifi output. We've even installed a ROM cartridge port for word processing and other dedicated programs. _

MUM AmericanRadioHistory.Com The auto repeat function on all alpha -numeric keys. Add to this such programmer -saving features as the use of abbreviated BASIC commands, a built-in syntax verifier, automatic cursor -honing to errors, auto -line numbering and automatic scrolling, and you begin to see the MTX not only opens a lot of doors that other micros leave closed, but speeds you through them as well. The 160 Megabyte Connection -A Look At The System To build a good system, quality must be designed in at every level. We designed the MTX and its complete line of system periph- Price erals using proven, standard components. Striking a strategic bal- A Look At The ance between power, versatility and dependability. Our Z80A There's a very simple equation that covers the pricing of processor, running at 4MHz, gave us the high performance charac- the MTX512. teristics we were striving for, plus the ability to expand into the The more engineering you put in a system, the less it will cost MTX Hard Disc, MTX Silicon and Floppy Disc CP/M operated to produce. As you've already seen, the MTX is a pure product of systems. Systems that could provide up to 160 megabyte storage advanced, innovative engineering. capacity. More power than you'll probably ever need, unless you Which is why we can sell it for $595:* take full advantage of the MTX's impressive system capabilities. And why we can confidently back it up with a full one- Systems hookup is as simple as every other MTX procedure. year warranty. By merely plugging in the twin RS232C Serial interfaces and the Make no mistake. When you turn this page, you'll be return- Node software, sold optionally, you're ready to create a disc -driven ing to a world very different from this one. interactive communications network (OXFORD RING®) that can A world in which all microcomputers will suddenly seem link up to 255 units. very different. Software? You'll never worry about software availability with Suddenly very ordinary. the MTX. Dozens of MTX-dedicated programs have already been For more information about the MTX512, or to find out the created, supplementing the vast landscape of CP/Nl applications location of the MTX dealer nearest you, contact Memotech software currently available. And advance word of the MTX's Corporation, 99 Cabot Street, Needham, MA 02194; or phone technical capabilities has precipitated an MTX soft ware "push" 449-6614 on the part of many leading software manufacturers. (617) Word Processing For $999 -A Look At A Great Deal MEMOTECH Look first at the capabilities, then at the price. This is word processing the way it should be. Quick. Easy. Professional. A package that includes the MTX512; the powerful CORPORATION New Word;M word processing ROM cartridge; and the Memotech CP/M is a trademark of Digital. Research, Inc. DMX80 correspondence quality printer:` An exceptional value! New Word"' is a trademark of New Star Software, Inc. And that brings us to the bottom line. *DMX8O correspondence quality printer suggested retail price $395. **Suggested retail price.

AmericanRadioHistory.Com .1111:CE

THE,, THE IBM® PC BE " -E OBSOLETE.

It was,a Monday in the autumn of '83: The day they announced the Leading Edge® PC-a personal.computer that's just plain better than the IBM® PC, at just ,about half the price. The Leading Edge PC is. faster (by more than 50%), more powerful, more flexible anc more dependable (for example, our disk drives have a "mean time between failures" of 20,000 hours, versus an 8,000 -hour MTBF for theirs). It's compatible with just about all the software and peripherals that the IBM is. 11ii;ili14 And unlike IBM's, ours ,o ' _---. comes complete with a high 1.111 resolution --44/4.4044; monitor, controller, seven expansion slots, serial '-- port, parallel port, a time -of -day d' clock, double the standard _ memory (128K vs. 64K) plus 014{_=` ..^rn :'.. _ ..',.. hundreds of dollars worth of software ta get yoú up and running immediately including MS" -DOS version 1.25, GW Basic, and Leading Edge Word Pro- cessing' (the most powerful wp. program ever created to run on an IBM -type personal computer). In short, the basic package comes to you complete and ready to work. With IBM, on the other hand, you get charged extra for everything. Even for the PC DOS disk that makes it run (an extra $40) ... and $170just for the time Of day (a calendar/clock that's ------standard with Leading Edge). In short, the basic package comes LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIÜIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII4uuuoia4Illlll to you as a, very expensive paperweight It's this simple: The Leading Edge Personal Computer is _he A first and only serious alternative to the IBM PC ... and at only $2895 for the Leading Edge PC... Get serious.

Now at 500 Leading Edge . Dealers across the country. For the one nearest you, call. _a iw-s 10.1._ toll free 1-800-343-6833. In pr. .r pr 1~__o 4 , r 111-1 Mass., call collect (617) 828-E150.

K. LEADING ED1E PlIJDUCTS, INC., S'STEM SALES DIVISION, 225 TURNPIKE STREET, CANTON, MA 02021. LEADING EDGE' IBM is a re@5`eredrademark of Interrohonal Business Machines Corp. MS Is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Circle No. 20 on Froo Information Card

AmericanRadioHistory.Com MAY 1984 WORLD'S LARGEST COMPUTER MAGAZINE VOLUME 22, NUMBER 5 orn I uters & E L E C T .R O N ICS

84 Two dBase II Features Front -Ends ON OA By R. Rioja 48 New Low Cost Modems N.EE By TJ Byers New technology yields no -frills products MIRO for less than $100. Columns 52 Painting a Good Business Picture ttfrr 16 Les Solomon on Computer Hardware By Jack Bishop rd`.r..-__1 Top hardware and soft ware for building Logic Is Our Business and Business ------a business graphics system. Could Be Better. COVER PHOTO BY BOB LORENZ i/ 80 In -Circuit Emulation By Les Solomon Equipment for trouble shooting your micro.

ct Reviews . A ` areek. !i0 34 The Sanyo MBC550 a By Bill Barden 22 Bits & Bytes 60 Getting Mainframe By Sol Libes Data to Micros 26 The Computer By Jan A. Gugliotti and Scientist B. Weitz Elliot By Forrest M. Mims, Ill to Making corporate databases available Experimenting with Computer Art. micro users-a difficult endeavor. 64 A Few Quick Pointers By Forrest M. Mims, 111 The many types of pointing devices for Departments personal computers. 6 Letters 70 New Architectures 36 The Leading Edge. PC 12 Editorial Ed By Teja By Robin Webster By Seth R. Alpert a faster Novel computer designs promise Of Micros and Mainframes. generation of computers. 42 Radio Shack's TRS-80 Model 4P 88 New Products 76 Stocks, Bonds & By J. Smith -Richardson Personal Computers 123 Computer Mart/ By Barbara E. McMullen and 44 The Leading Edge Electronics Classified John F. McMullen Word Processor EF Hutton's home brokerage system. By Robin Webster 130 Advertiser's Index

May 1984. Volume 22. Number 5. Published monthly by COI'YR IG I IT o 1984 IHY /.1 rF-DA V IS 1'11131.1SI11 NLos Angeles. CA including EI.EC'f RONICS mailing otlices. Authnrmed as second class mail by the Post Office Dept.. Ottawa. Canada.and for payment of postage in cash. POPULAR ELECTRONICS I is publishes Boating. Car and Driter. Cycle. Flying. Popular Photography, Skiing, Stereo \VOR I D trademark registered. Indexed in the Reader's Gentle to Periodical iterature. Ziff-17:o also Dept. P.O. lion Reviett. hlccronic P.spcnmenter's Handbook. and "I ape Recording & Buying Guide. POST\TASTER: Send address changes to COM 1'l TERS & 1.1-r.CI-RONICS. Circulation publicar ion may not be 2774. lino lder. CO 80302. Please .dlott at lea.I eight weeks for change of address. enclosing. if possible. an add res' label from a recent Issue. Permissions. Material in this Park Ave.. New fork. NY 10016. reproduced in any, brnr rs it hour pernussion. Send requests for permission ro Elizabeth Arriado. Rights and Permissions. Ziff-Davis I'ubishing Co.. One

:\ lay 1984 3

AmericanRadioHistory.Com IBM PC Softwaréi the value of choosing

Size up the selection.

hull find many types of programs in the IBM software library. They'll help keep you on your toes in the office, at home or in school. There are, in fact, seven different categories of IBM pro- ot grams called "families." A family of software for business, productivity, education, entertainment, lifestyle, Shoes. communications or programming. If they don't fit, they're riot worth wearing. Of course, every program in Software programs. every family is tested and approved by If they don't rat, they're not worth using. IBM. And IBM Personal Computer That's why it's altogether fitting that IBM Software is made to be compatible Personal Computer Software offers you a choice. with IBM Personal Computer hardware.

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com programs thatfit.

Putting your You may write interoffice memos and want a streamlined word processing program. Or you best foot forward. may he a novelist looking for a program with features worth writing home about. Although every person isn't on equal footing Now you can find IBM Personal Computer when it conies to using personal computer Software that fits- to help you accomplish software, there's something for almost everyone in specific tasks and reach individual goals. the IBM software library. For example, you may he on a shoestring into store today. budget and want a big selection of programs Stroll a with small price tags. What's the next step? You may be introducing students to Visit an authorized IBM Personal Computer computing and want programs that are simple to dealer or IBM Product Center near you. To find use and simple to learn. out exactly where. call 800-447-4700. In Alaska You may run a business requiring or Hawaii, 800-447-0890. sophisticated inventory and payroll Ask your dealer to demonstrate your choice . programs. Or you may run a business of programs. Then get comfortable. Sit down at for size. requiring a single accounting program. the keyboard and try 1BM software on Free Information Card Circle No. 41 on .A

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com WORLD'S LARGEST COMPUTER MAGAZINE 01 )lHptuIers $ELECT ON I CS' LETTERS WILLIAM S. DAVID Publisher SETH R. ALPERT Editor Kudos for Mims plan to plant carrots this spring, wire LESLIE SOLOMON Technical Director I seldom write fan mail to authors but, them ill series/parallel and use them as JOHN R. RIGGS Managing Editor since I have been a fan of Forrest Mims's an alternate source of low -voltage ener- JAMES KIEHLE Art Director from the time I read his first Radio gy for IC experiments. A. W. BURAWA Senior Editor Shack books, I wanted to let you know -R. N. MUFFLY how valuable his work has been and how Wenatchee, WA JOSEPH DESPOSITO Technical Editor we are planning to use the pressure sensi- Have you tried celery?-Ed. JOSEF BERNARD Technical Editor tive resistors discussed in the "Project of ANDRE DUZANT Technical Illustrator the Month" of November 1982. Strong Functionoid ROBERT LASCARO Associate Art Director I work in an institution for severely Thanks for your mention of our CARMEN VELAZOUEZ Production Editor mentally retarded/physically handi- funct'onoid in your March "Bits & capped people, many of whom spend Bytes." Your readers might be interest- JEFF NEWMAN Editorial Assistant their days in wheelchairs. Because of the ed to know that, while it has been de- AMY MADWED Art Assistant lack of sensation in the lower parts of signed for possible military applications Contributing Editors: Sol Libes, Forrest M. Mims, Ill, their bodies, they don't shift their weight to spare humans the dangers of the bat- Barbara E. McMullen, John F. McMullen when tissues begin to break down and tlefield; it has commercial, industrial, Editorial and Executive Offices therefore develop complications similar and business applications as well. For One Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. 212-725-3500 to bed sores. the record, it can lift 2000 lb-not the Advertising Sales Offices Since many of the clients have various maximum 100 noted in your write-up. hip and spine deformities, the high-pres- -LES GOLDBERG New York sure areas when they sit are not always Odetics Inc. Tom Ballou 212-725-3578/Ken Lipka 212-725-3580 predictable. When we design cushions or Anaheim, CA Midwestern wheelchair seats, it would help to have Robert Vanek, Suite 1400, 180 N. Michigan Ave., this information. Electronic Mail Chicago, IL 60601. 312-346-2600 So we are working on a cushion made As noted in your article "Front One Western of approximately 260 small foam poten- Computer to Another" (March 1984), Joe Mesics, J.E.M. Associates, 1905 fierce St., San tiometers. Using the comparator circuit the electronic mail marketplace is un- Francisco, CA 94115. 415-563-3230 in your article and some sort of monitor- dergoing tremendous change, with a va- Anne Abeln, Ziff-Davis Publishing Co., 3460 ing device (a computer with video dis- riety of players vying for their respective Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010. 213-387- a visual Western 2100 play or LEDs), we hope to get shares of the market. Union, presentation of the high-pressure areas with its Easylink electronic mail, is one Southeastern on the client's body and of the move- of the key players in the game. (This is in Mark Browning, PO Box 81306, 2511 Carroll how Infocom, Ave., Atlanta, GA 30366. 404-455-3430. ment patterns and they affect addition to Telex, and Tele- weight distribution. tex.) There are approximately 35,000 Consumer Computers & Electronics Magazine Division -SCOTT A. ALLNER Easylink users in the U.S. By means of a personal Larry Sporn President New York, NY wide variety of computers, Jeff Hammond Vice President, Marketing communicating word processors, and Carole Mandel Vice President, Circulation Hey, Doc, Which Way intelligent terminals on Western Union's Eileen G. Markowitz Vice President, General Manager Did the Glitch Go? network, these users can communicate Jerry Schneider Vice President, Licensing While working with my computer and with one another via the public tele- & Special Projects Jonathan D. Lazarus Editorial Director a black -and -white monitor, I happened phone system. Peter J. Blank Creative Director to be munching on a raw carrot. Sudden- -GUY B. PiERCE Ziff -Davis Publishing ly, I noticed a faint glitch on the screen. Western Union Corp. Each time I took a bite of the carrot, an- Upper Saddle River, NJ President Richard P. Friese; President Consumer Magazine Division Albert S. Traína; Executive other glitch was produced. Thinking the Vice President, Marketing and Circulation Paul transient was due to mechanical vibra- Kaypro Hardware H. Chook; Senior Vice President Phillip T. Heffernan; Senior Vice President Sidney Holtz; tion in the TV, I tried simulating the In your review of the Kaypro 4 Plus Senior Vice President Edward D. Muhlfeld; Se- noise, but nothing happened. Checking 88 computer (March 1984), it was stated nior Vice President Philip Sine; Vice President Baird Davis; Vice President George Morrissey; for static charges, I stuck the probes of a that plug-in expansion slots are not \'ice President Rory Parisi; Vice President Wil- FET VOM into the carrot and got 85 available. This is true but the following liam L. Phillips; Treasurer Selwyn Taubman; Sec- millivots. Over a period time, the polari- hardware can be used with piggy -back retary Bertram A. Abrams ty of this voltage changed from negative expansion methods: 16 -bit 8088/8087 Editorial correspondence: COMPUTERS & ELEC- TRONICS, I Park Ave.. New York, NY 10016. Edi- to positive. By inserting copper and zinc coprocessor conversion kit; external torial contributions must be accompanied by return electrodes into the carrot, I measured drives C & D add-on, 5 -MHz CPU hop postage and will be handled with reasonable care; however, publisher assumes no responsibility for re- 850 mV and this remained constant up kit; real-time clock kit; built-in 300- turn or safety of manuscripts, art' work, or models submitted. overnight. The output current measured 1200 modem; 800K disk drive upgrade; The publisher has no knowledge of any proprietary 50 microamperes. Several checks 1M semiconductor disk (RAMdisk); 8" rights which will be violated by the making or using of about any items disclosed in this issue. were made to determine whether the DS/DD disk drives; 640 X 250 pixel bit - transient voltage was reaching the TV mapped graphics; and external video MPA directly or through the computer. All in- monitor and hard disk drives. ABC the The -MELVIN F. PEZOK Member Audi Bureau dications point to computer. of Cvcufanona glitch is not serious but quite puzzling. I Novato, CA

6 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com . ir.tr.ta,r- . 'c -rº=*-.a._ t-se.lt: --.cr'... 40Assor J r

MBC 1150 THE SANYO LINE OF SMALL BUSINESS COMPUTERS.

(The 00 in the model number means single drive. The 50 indicates dual drive.) FEATURE 1100/1150 1200/1250 4000/4050 Disk capacity per drive 320K 640K 640K Now, at last you Bit/Ram 8/64K 8/64K 16/128K -256K Number of Drives Single/Dual Single/Dual Single/Dual can get advanced { Operating System CP/M80 CP/M80 CP/M86 e CPU Z80A Z80A (Two) 8086kMS-DOS capability,. Parallel Port STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD quality and Serial Port STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD 15 Function Keys STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD reliability. 12 Inch Screen STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD Detachable Ergonomic STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD Keyboard PLUS FREE SOFTWARE TO GO WITH IT. MBC 4050

The features in the chart are not all you get Sanyo computers can balance your check with Sanyo's advanced line of 4 -digit desk -top book, keep household budgets or plan small business computers. You also receive a one year business strategy. And for the operating system warranty on the Memory Board and a 90 day used in Sanyo computers you have the largest warranty on all other parts. library of software applications available today. And, unlike some other Personal Computer So there you have it. The Sanyo line of 4 -digit companies, Sanyo gives you extra software at no computers. They give you more than any other extra charge. Such as WordStar®CalcStar® business computers_ MailMerge® SpellStar: and InfoStalr An independent national survey has rated this Sanyo computer line in the top 20 for word processing capability. So, whether you are writing a thank you letter to your aunt, a business letter to your partner, or a book for publication, Sanyo is here to help. SANYO DESK-TOP COMPUTERS SANYa sAvO BUSINESS sYsrIvts CORP

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New NRI home training prepares you for a rewording career in Americo s newest high-technology field.

The wave of the future is to grow, salaries have no place here. Already, advanced robotic to go but up! systems are producing every- Build thing from precision electronic Your Own Robot circuits to automobiles and As You Train at Home giant locomotives. By 1990, Now, you can train for an over 100,000 "smart" robots exciting, rewarding career in will be in use. robotics and industrial control Over 25,000 New Jobs right at home in your spare time. NRI, with 70 years of 0921'17 Keeping this robot army experience in technology running calls for well -trained training, offers a new world of ,. technicians ... people who opportunity in one of the most understand advanced systems fascinating growth fields since and controls. By the end of the the computer. key subjects like instru- decade, conservative estimates You need no experience, mentation, digital and com- call for more than 25,000 new no special education. NRI puter controls, servomotors technical jobs. These are the starts you at the beginning, and feedback systems, fluidics, kind of careers that pay takes you in easy -to -follow, lasers, and optoelectronics. $25,000 to $35,000 a year right bite -size lessons from basic And it's all reinforced with now. And as demand continues electronics right on through practical, hands-on experience to give you a priceless confidence as you build a programmable, mobile robot. Program Arm and Body Movement, Even Speech Wta ' 17 Designed expecially for training, your robot dupli- ,11111.1 cates all the key elements of industrial robotics. You learn b -.L,,~d,. to operate, program, service, and troubleshoot using the same techniques you'll use in the field. It's a on-the-job training at home!

You get and keep Hero 1 robot with gripper arm #'and speech synthesizer, NRI Discovery Lab for electronic experimentation, professional multimeter with 3'/z -digit LCD readout, 51 fast -track training lessons.

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com SETH R. ALPERT J ITORIAL

OF MICROS AND MAINFRAMES THE article "Getting Mainframe megabyte of main memory and around between micros and mainframes lead Data to Micros" by Jan Gugliotti 100 megabytes of disk storage, figures one to wonder what the future of main- and Elliot Weitz in this issue of which are growing rapidly. Micropro- frames will be. It seems safe to predict C&E has set me thinking about those cessors with true 32 -bit performance and that the actual number of mainframes in two classes of machines. Like anyone virtual memory management will great- existence will probably remain fairly sta- who has been in computing for a fair ly enhance microcomputer processing ble in the coming years, but they will number of years, I got my start on main- power in the near future. As local area contribute an ever smaller percentage of frames. In those days, they were the only networks and supporting software be- the world's available computer power. game in town and so were simply called come more prevalent, micros will begin Mainframes will continue to be of computers. Big expensive things they replicating the shared databases and great importance because of their unique were, and only the privileged could go communications now available only on abilities in carrying out certain special- near them, much less submit decks of mainframe computers. ized tasks. For one thing, their sheer cards for batch runs. processing power is essential for work The advent of timesharing systems in that requires a lot of number crunching, the early seventies made computers like sophisticated computer graphics or more accessible and can in many ways be animation, or that requires vast amounts considered the start of personal comput- of real memory. Similarly, mainframes ing. Gone were the hours of waiting to will continue to be required for manag- get your batch run back only to find that ing massive, shared data banks. one card had a spelling mistake and the There is also a compelling business rea- job had to he resubmitted. Gone too was son for corporations to go on running the arcane JCL (Job Control Language) mainframes, as Jan Gugliotti has pointed that accompanied every job and consti- out to me. The software that is used to run tuted one's interaction with the operat- corporate America represents an enor- ing system. Advanced languages for end mous investment of money and man- users rather than programmers became years and virtually all of it is built to run available, making it easier for even larger on mainframes. Much of it isn't even that numbers of people to use and benefit well understood by the companies using from computers. it, having been written by programmers The widespread use of microcomput- On the software side, operating sys- who have long since moved to other posi- ers and the explosive growth of easy -to - tems for micros are gaining multitasking tions without leaving behind very good use software for them have carried this and multiuser capabilities, just like the documentation. Even the richest compa- trend one step further. Micros have pro- operating systems for the big guys. In- nies cannot afford the cost, to say nothing liferated to such a degree that large busi- deed, Unix may soon be running on ev- of the risk, associated with converting this nesses are facing some serious dilemmas erything from microcomputers to the software legacy to run in a new and in- about connecting them to corporate largest mainframes. Similarly, applica- compatible environment. mainframes for purposes of sharing data tions software is rapidly growing in so- or computing resources. Gugliotti and phistication. In fact, mainframe soft- Getting it all Together Weitz discuss the issues involved here ware considerably lags that for micros quite ably. I would like to discuss two re- when it comes to ease of use. I hope that at some point true distrib- lated issues. A machine that personifies these uted processing will be the order of the blurred distinctions between micros and day. Then end users will no longer have Micros vs Mainframes mainframes is the IBM PC-XT/370. In to worry about which type of computer addition to running PC -DOS, the XT/370 to use for a given task. Instead, the user As micros get more powerful, it will runs a version of IBM's mainframe operat- will sit at a workstation that is his gate- be harder to define how they differ from ing system VM/CMS and can use a half way to a network composed of many dif- mainframes. Of course, we will continue megabyte of real memory and up to four ferent computers and data bases. When to think of IBM's biggest machines, like megabytes of virtual memory. That is he wants to accomplish a given task, he the 3081, as mainframes and its smallest enough horsepower for a goodly number will simply enter a request and the net- machines, like the PCjr, as micros. But of existing mainframe applications. work will decide which processors and for other machines, the distinctions have data bases are best used to get the job begun to blur. The Future of Mainframes done. Distinctions between micros and Let me cite a number of examples. Mi- mainframes will no longer be a major crocomputers can now provide around a These observations on the fuzzy line concern for most of the world. O

12 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Radio Shack Presents the Transportable TRS-80®

The New Model 4P Computer-From the World's Largest Computer Retailer The Computer for Today's Easy to Use, Easy to Tote Upwardly Mobile Society The Model 4P works anywhere there's AC. And when If you're headed for success, our you're ready to move on, slip the keyboard into the newest TRS-80 can help you get there hi -impact case, snap on the protective cover and go. in record time. The Model 4P is a It weighs just 26 pounds. compact, disk -based desktop computer Like Every TRS-80, We Stand with a big difference: it has a handle. So Behind wherever your work may take you, you the "4P" 100% can get a handle on scheduling Tandy Corporation is a two -and -one-half billion dollar problems, ever-changing sales company with over 6,600 stores nationwide. That projections, and last minute means software, service, leasing plans and friendly reports. It's like having your faces are always just around the corner. office with you on trips, at Available Nationwide home-anywhere! Stop by your rearest Radio Shack Computer A Completely Portable, Center, participating store or dealer today and Self -Contained System find out where Model 4P will take you. We don't sacrifice features for portability, either. The Model 4P comes standard with two 184,000 -character disk drives and 64K internal memory. You also get a full 80 - ftadielhaeK character by 24 -line 9" display, an electric The biggest name in little computers° typewriter -quality keyboard with numeric A DIVISION OF TANDY CORPORATION keypad, and printer and communications interfaces. And you can add an extra 64K of memory, an internal modem or even external hard disk drives! "Off the Shelf" Software fl' In addition to running the entire selection of TRS-80 Model III/4 disk software, you can add the optional % 1". CP/M PlusT" operating ,i: .-" .. system to use thousands of _. o additional ready -to -run °' , ° programs. i-".-- "" Lr or= - °

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j1J111911)I11 TRS-80- Model 4P Cpmputer _....,.. 179 i:, :.: Commercial Lease Available For Only $65 Per Month (Plus Applicable Use/Sales Tax) t

Prices apply -at- participatingRadlo Shack stores and dealers.- CP/M Plus le,a trademark of Digital Research.

AmericanRadioHistory.Com IntroducingMacintosh.. What makes tick.And talk..

Well, to begin with, 110 volts of bring a Macintosh to the problem. (It And with Macintosh BASIC, Mac- alternating current. weighs 9 pounds less than the most intosh Pascal and our Macintosh lbolbox Secondly, some of the hottest hard- popular''portable") for writing your own mouse -driven pro- ware to come down the pike in the last Another miracle of miniaturization grams, you, too, could make big bucks 3 years. is Macintosh's built-in 31/2" drive. Its disks in your spare time. ox99 sleo. r The garden rariery WZ, store 400K-more than conventional 5Ik" You can even program Macintosh 16 -bit 8088 floppies. So while they're big enough to to talk in other languages, like Yiddish microprnc.ecror: s j, YJt hold a desk full of work, theVre small or Serbo-Croation, because it has a built- Macintash's32-hit MC68000 micropraxG,so: enough to fit in a shirt pocket. And, in polyphonic sound generator they're totally encased in a rigid plastic capable of producing ML8EOOOU so The Mouse itself 6CIB110 they're totally protected. high quality' speed tIpd -in or music. /¡' Replaces And talk about programming. computer commands with a form of communication you Some hard facts may be in order at There are already programs to already understand - plenty of pointing this point: keep a Macintosh busy Like MacPaint; M Macintosh's brain is the same blind- Some mice have two ingly-fast 32 -bit microprocessor we gave buttons. Macintosh has arlercitz=mcr our other brainchild, the LisaTMPersonal one. So it c evtremely dcult to push the Computer. Far more powerful than the hp& wrong button. 16 -bit 8088 found in current generation computers. d,- .,4. F;, Its heart is the same lisa Technology of windows, pull -down menus, mouse commands and icons. All of which make that 32 -hit power far more useful by The irtsuk story -a making the MacintoshTMPersonal rotating ball Computer far easier to use aandoplicalsensos translate movements than current generation afNx mouse to Macrntash'sscreen pointer urth pinpoint accuracy computers. In fact, if you can point with- a program that, for the first time, lets a out hurting yourself, you can use it. personal computer produce virtually any All the right image the human hand can create. There's connections. Now for some small talk. more software on the way from developers On the back of the machine, you'll find Thanks to its size, if you can't bring the like Microsoft: Lotus; Mand Software built-in RS232 and RS422 AppleBus serial problem to a Macintosh, you can always Publishing Corp., to mention a few communication ports. Which means you can connect printers, modems and other peripherals without adding $150 cards.

! It also means that Macintosh is ready to I :r:....µ . _ hook in to a local area network. (With .µ,-^ AppleBus, you will be able to interconnect up to 16 different Apple computers and peripherals.) Should you wish to double Mac- Macintosh automatically makes roan MacPaint produces r irtu ally any image Mkro o,/1s Multiplan for Macintosh for your illustrations in the text. the human hand can create. intosh's storage with an external disk

AmericanRadioHistory.Com (i//ra compact, snitching -type tlaintrsti is a trcutniarr,t licensed toAp9le computer hie Apple, d.rAtple trgrr, M1cPaint and Lisa are trademarks ofApple Computer, Inc Alicrcaofl power high lnsollrlion F a regsteral nralenurrk ofAlimmof! C,rrrl.oration. Lotus is a trademark of nidal ciraúhy :oºus L_atIcpment Lin)nnration. For an authorizal Apple dealer nearynu high resolution Bclltelyfir A/acintasb: 9" call In Canada, call or brrilt-in cla.A! calenda': (800) 538-9696. (800) 268-7796 512 .v 342 pixel (800) 268-7637. bit-nlappeddisplay Bláll-iv handle for getting arrived au ay

Thanks to del'ca' reidhag, ,I/c-oI/KASb requisen no - nitl'lldlall.

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RS232, RS422 AppleSttc serial conmmnic'ationspoets for printem, modems and other peripherals. Mouse cotuledor: External disk chore connector Po/iphonic sound port

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!i _ i,,if , I ./. j t. , ' o .....4.:1 Brightness conhol i ° _ ..;4'19.11 \ i a r ,... - !.. ° ° 128K bytes RAW. ; 1 ° ' Built in 31"" /\ \ . wi \ disk Chine . \ . ',i.. L Cloca/culencL-rr' cap. `a y Macintosh's digital hoard - f the processing power ofan . ! Kchcxnd connector Oyes 1?0M - 1. + 6iK entire32-bit digital graphics a telc¡lxrne-t/re jack you ps4 computer in 80 sawn. inches. already knou' Iwln to use 32 -bit Motorola MC68000 ndaoproc'eanr drive, you can do so without paying for Macintosh from conventional computers, its 32 -bit Lisa Technology, or its 31/2 a disk controller card-that connector's we'd like to point you in the direction of floppy disks, or its serial ports, or its soft- built-in, too. your nearest authorized Apple dealer. ware, or its polyphonic sound generator. There's also a built-in connector Over 1500 of them are eagerly The real genius is that you don't for Macintosh's mouse, a feature that waiting to put a mouse in your hand. have to be a genius to use a Macintosh. costs up to $300 on computers that cant As one point -and -click makes perfectly You just have to be smart enough even run mouse -controlled software. clear, the real genius of Macintosh isn't to buy one. One last pointer.

Now that you've seen some of the logic, Soon there'll he just two kinds of people. the technology, the engineering genius Those who use computers. And and the software wizardry that separates those who use Apples. I,

AmericanRadioHistory.Com LES SOLOMON ON

LOGIC IS OUR BUSINESS AND BUSINESS COULD BE BETTER

THOSE of us in the computer busi- used by too many manual writers are ness pride ourselves on being based on the fog index-sometimes A Word to the Source pretty sharp when it conies to known as the "look how smart I am" hardware and software. syndrome. The source of the problem Manufacturers, please have a heart. We tell ourselves, and other people, (and this is even more disturbing) may You spend so much time and money de- that we are successful because we are so also he that the instruction manual signing a beautiful new product and ad- logical and fully understand a problem wasn't even considered until the last pos- vertising it; please spend a little more before we attack it. sible minute before the product was time looking at the user manuals that ac- Taking a look at the wealth of super shipped and so it wasn't written to any company your product. Manuals are hardware that is currently available and specifications at all. your interface with the customer in his home place business. the abundance of great software that is :::::::::::::::::::::::::...... ,:., or of They should ...... ::::::::::::::::::::.::::::::::::. ::. rnJ :::::::...... y ta to support it, I guess we're _ ...... ;';- not be considered to be simply a neces- obtainable ..::¡::...... ::.::.:. : i: E¡ .Y.. doing pretty well. The industry is cer- sary evil that is relegated to creation and tainly thriving and we can do great printing during the last week before things with the devices and programs shipping the product. that we have. It all seems logical and Even if you have the best product in well -planned. However, Lord help the the history of mankind, if a customer person who buys one of our wonderful can't get it up and running in a reason- products and tries to figure out how to able time, he may speak badly of you and use it by reading accompanying instruc- your product. And he shouldn't have to tion manuals, for this is where the logic make phone calls to ask you how to hook of the people who run this business ap- it up or to find out what he's supposed to pears to fall apart. It is the one area that do with some extraneous piece of stuff. If seems to defy our clear thinking; and if it he gets it going, likes the way it works, is neglected, it may well cause problems. and can understand your instructions, I am talking about technical manuals he will be happy and he will tell others, written in English by technically orient- about it. ed Americans. These are the manuals Word-of-mouth is good (and free) ad- that come with over-the-counter com- vertising. On the other hand, it can be di- puters, plug-in boards, and other periph- sastrous if it is negative. erals. They also accompany most soft- If you are a manufacturer of any com- ware packages. The Foggy Outlook puter products that require a manual, take one of them right now and start at in Help! As I sat down to write this column; I page one. Put yourself the position of was prepared to illustrate my point with a first-time reader-one who doesn't Maybe I am naive, but I have always some examples of the foggy impressions have your computer expertise and is try- felt that an instruction is supposed to I had gleaned from manuals accompanying to get your product to work as you help the user. Unfortunately, like too ing recently purchased equipment. But claim it does in your ads. Remember, the many I to turn man- paid good money to be helped, others, tend to the the more of these books I looked at, the customer ual only as a last resort. But what do I do more confusion I found. not confused. when the manual is more confused than Then I thought, "Maybe it's just me. Another possibility-and a good am? the manufacturer is to get a I I'll ask around." Well, I found that a lot one-for If you don't know what I am talking of other people agree with me. In fact, at nontechnical person to read the user haven't a manual. Obviously, the technical level about, you probably bought one computer store, I started a very live- of .new piece of equipment recently. If you ly discussion just by asking, "And what the manual reviewer should be represen- have-be it hardware or software-the did you think about the manual?" tative of your typical customers. The re- are have viewer be the guys who odds pretty good that you may Of course, I must point out that not all shouldn't one of product. been somewhat puzzled as to how to use manuals are confusing. There are still a works on development the manual, much less the equipment. few companies around that care. But Try it out. Pass your manual around it with your Even when you think you know what is there are so many that make the picture for reading before shipping at some going on, you wonder, "What the heck very cloudy that I decided that it would product. You may be surprised the that will he asked by does that paragraph on page 33 have to be unfair to single out a few to pick on. of questions do with what's on the rest of the page." Go ahead and read the manuals and readers of your "simple to understand" It seems that the writing specifications make up your own mind. manual. O ILLUSTRATION BY RACOUEL BALIN 16 Computers & Electronics

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Computers & Electronics 18

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com SOL LIBES BITS BYTES

51.4:1-{y,; claims to have developed low cost drive electronics.

r IBM Announces Unix For PC

As previously rumored in this column, IBM has introduced a single -user Unix operating system for the PC/XT. But the big surprise is that they did not go with Microsoft's Xenix. Instead they chose to have Interactive Systems Corp., of Santa Monica, CA transport their implementation of Unix for VAX machines to the PC. The operating system will be called "Personal Computer Inter- active Executive" or "PC/IX." There is no doubt that this is a precursor of Rumors & Gossip Shack and NEC machines.... NEC is multiuser versions of Unix for other also rumored to be readying a new com- IBM machines. Radio Shack is expected to shortly puter with MAC -like characteris- introduce the Model 200 Portable Com- tics.... Spectravideo is expected to in- ISSCC Features puter, an upgraded version of the popu- troduce next month a knee -top portable lar Model 100. Reportedly, it will he with an 80 -column display that is com- Papers On New IC identical in size to the 100, have an 8 line patible with the Radio Shack and NEC Devices by 80 character display and offer some machines, and to offer CP/M and MS- IBM-PC compatibility.... Samples of DOS as optional operating systems. At the International Solid State Zilog's new Z800 and Z80,000 micro- Summer introductions of knee -top ma- Circuits Conference held in San Francis- processor chips will not be available un- chines with 80 column displays should co in February, papers were presented til late this year. The Z800 is a greatly also come from TI, Casio, Radio Shack, on many new IC devices currently in de- enhanced version of the popular Z80 -bit Compaq and Commodore. velopment. Fujitsu, Hitachi and NEC microprocessor; the Z80,000 is a new 32 - described their new 1 -megabit dynamic bit microprocessor. Details on both New Flat -Panel RAM chips. The NEC chip was orga- chips appeared previously in this nized as 128K x 8. column.... Digital Research will re- Display Technology Stanford University, the University of portedly augment their recent contract Yields Color & 3-D California at Berkeley, and Digital to port Unix System V to the Intel IAPX Equipment Corporation presented pa- family with an agreement to add such Binary Star Inc., Bellevue, WA, has pers on new 32 -hit microprocessors. The productivity tools as graphics, addition- disclosed details of their new flat panel SU unit is a pipelined NMOS device. al languages and a library of applications display. It is less than 'a half inch thick The Berkeley device featured a reduced packages.... Also expect Digital Re- and capable of producing high -resolu- instruction set. search this month to announce 10 to 15 tion color and 3-D at prices competitive Other devices described at the confer- consumer-oriented applications pack- with CRTs. The display consists of sin- ence were new image sensors, GaAs cir- ages to run under its new Personal gle or multiple transparent substrates, cuits, data acquisition, high-speed ana- CP/M system. They will be sold via containing color filters and incandescent log and data processing circuits, mass merchandisers.... The first Japa- light elements that are sandwiched be- dedicated signal processors, non-volatile nese home computers using Microsoft's tween glass faceplates. The tungsten memories, and many others. MSX operating system will probably be light elements are smaller than grains of introduced at next month's Consumer sand, have little thermal inertia, and de- IBM Sues Two Rivals Electronics Show in Chicago, where velop little heat. Each element requires dealers will be placing orders for the about 0.1 mW at 5 V and brightness is On PC -ROM Copyright Christmas buying season. Expect ma- over 20 times that of a conventional chines by Matsushita and Toshiba and CRT. There can be over a million ele- IBM filed copyright -infringement by U.S. maker Spectravideo.... Look ments on a panel. suits against Corona Data Systems and for NEC to soon introduce a battery -op- Multi -level color displays which pro- Handwell Corp, charging they copied erated disk system for its knee -top com- vide true three dimensional images have the software contained 1BMPC BIOS puter. And Data Corp., Dallas TX to in- already been constructed by Binary Star ROM and used it in "look -alike" ma- troduce a similar product for the Radio for military use. The company also chines. The companies quickly reacted

ILLUSTRATIONS BY CARL WESLEY 22 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com by agreeing to cease marketing machines and 2 million IBM PCs this year. If they Motorola And DRI that use the chip. Handwell is a Califor- can do it, then by the end of the year 2.3 nia importer of Taiwanese machines. to 2.8 million IBM PCs will he in opera- Announce Software Setting an industry precedent, Apple tion. Thus, the number of IBM PCs will Agreement computer has filed suits against more have exceeded the number of Apple II than 50 companies (most outside the machines sold and will approach the U.S.) charging similar copyright in- number of Commodore C-64 machines Motorola has announced its com- fringement. One case, against the U.S. sold. Of course, in dollar terms IBM-PC missioning of Digital Research to imple- micro manufacturer, Franklin Comput- sales are almost equal to the combined ment Concurrent CP/M, with windows, er, dragged through the courts for over sales of both the Apple II and C-64. on the 68000 and to implement its family two years. Apple finally won and Frank- of languages to run under Concurrent lin agreed to cease producing the chips DRI Drops CP/M-68K and Motorola's new version and pay Apple damages. Nonetheless, of Unix Version V. This arrangement there has been a virtual flood of Apple II CPM-86-Plus should allow software developers to easi- computer copies arriving front Taiwan, ly port source code applications, pro- Ko ea and Europe. The U.S. customs CP/M-86-PLUS, a greatly en- grams developed using DRI's C, Pascal service has confiscated many, but a sub- hanced version of CP/M-86, which Dig- MT+, CBasic, Fortran 77, and PL/I stantial number have slipped through. ital Research Inc. has had in beta testing languages between the IBM PC running Thus, it is common to see Apple II clone for several months, will not be released either PC -DOS or CP/M-86 and 68000 - computer kits being sold at computer for sale. The new version would have of- based systems running either CP/M- hobbyist flea markets for about one third fered the features currently available in 68K or Unix Version V. Puportedly, the list price of Apple's machine. The CP/N -80-PLUS. Reports from the beta Digital will complete the project by year- same may happen with the IBM PC. test sites were that this would have been end and the software packages will be the fastest DOS available for 8088/8086 sold by both Motorola and DRI. Unix News systems and would have offered many system enhancements. Motorola has announced the com- In dropping CP/M-86-PLUS, after pletion of its port of AT&T Unix System investing several man-years of work, V to the 68000 microprocessor and has DRI is conceding that CP/M-86 has submitted the product to Bell Labs for fi- achieved too limited a market to justify nal acceptance testing. Motorola is the the expense of introducing and support- first semiconductor manufacturer to do ing it. DRI will now concentrate its ef- this. Intel, National Semiconductor and forts on its new windowing version of Zilog also signed agreements with Concurrent CP/M-86 (CCP/M-86), AT&T to port Unix System V but have which they demonstrated at the Comdex not as yet completed their ports. Intel show last November, and which should has entered into an agreement with Digi- be released by the time you read this col- tal Research to have them to do the port umn. CCP/M-86 will also be capable of to the 80286. running all PC -DOS software that fol- Microsoft and National Semiconduc- lows proper interfacing rules and it is ex- tor have announced that the Xenix oper- pected that IBM will market the new ating system will soon be available for version. the National Semiconductor 16032 and CP/M-80-PLUS, for 8 -bit machines, 32032 microprocessors. was released almost a year and half ago by DRI. Despite its extended features and speed enhancements it has met with Random News very limited acceptance. Only a handful of OEMs have adopted it and most users Digital Research and Coleco have are content to run the old Version 2.2 of announced an agreement for Coleco to CP/M-80, which sold well over 2 mil- implement Personal CP/M in ROM for

lion copies. For very low cost home com- the Coleco Adam home computer... . puters using Z80 microprocessors, DRI There are reports that prices on 256K is releasing a new version of CP/M-80 RAM chips, which are still in very limit- called "Personal CP/M." Reportedly, ed supply, have already dropped over Zilog will soon release a new version of 50% from their initial $110 prices to the Z80 microprocessor with most the $38. Further price decreases are expect- tPº CP/M code ROMed in the microproces- ed this year as availability increases. sor chip itself. In addition, late this year Thus, we may see the devices being used Zilog is expected to introduce a "super" in personal computers before the end of Z80 chip, called the Z800, that will add the year.... Amiga Corp., Santa Clara,

t. powerful features such as memory man- CA, a maker of peripherals for video' agement and hardware multiply/divide, games, has announced that this fall it Predictions etc. Thus, CP/M-80, is expected to dom- will introduce a 68000 -based home com- inate the 8 -bit micro world and to conputer with 128K of RAM and a 320K Industry prognosticators predict tinue its popularity for many years to disk drive that it expects will retail for that IBM will manufacture between 1.5 come. under $700.

May 1984 23

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com FORREST M. MIMS,III THE COM UTER SCIENTIST EXPERIMENTING WITH COMPUTER ART

THOUGH pen plotters are primari- These problems can usually be elimi- Astroid and the beauty of The Four - ly used to generate hard -copy nated by stopping the program and ei- Leaved Rose are enough to attract even business, engineering, and scien- ther sending the plotter a default com- those artists intimidated by the simplest tific graphics, many users enjoy pro- mand or switching it off and then back formula. gramming their machines to create on. Now, when the program is run from Jerry O'Dell, a professor of psycholo- multicolored pen and ink compositions. the beginning, the correct plotter proto- gy at Eastern Michigan University, is an The results, which we'll refer to as plot- cols will he reestablished and the plotter expert at converting mathematical equa- ter art, can be intricately complex and should perform properly. tions into plotter art. Professor O'Dell spectacularly beautiful. has described some of his work in 80 First-time plotter users are usually Microcomputiug ("The Artful Plotter," surprised to discover that striking exam- September 1983). One of his more strik- ples of plotter art can be created by rela- ing creations is an eight -leaved rose tively simple programs. Considering the made by superimposing two offset four- very high resolution of most pen plotters leaved roses.

(up to 0.001 inch), the possibilities for Figure 1 ("Spectralipse") is a three - plotter art programs are essentially color example of a modified eight -leaved endless. rose generated by the program in Listing 1. The lines that draw the rose (130-220) Types of Plotter Art are adapted from a program given in Fig. 1. Spectralipse. Professor O'Dell's article. Most programs for creating plotter art I've selected Spectralipse as an initial are based on one of the following: example of plotter art since it nicely il- 1. Mathematical formula lustrates some of the practical problems 2. Random number generation that may befall the novice plotter artist. 3. Man -machine interaction The first is time. Plotters draw straight 4. Sketch/paint manual control mode lines very fast, but curves require consid- I've used several different computers erably more time, particularly when and a high -resolution HP7470A plotter each tiny increment is calculated in BA- to explore all of these categories. While SIC. This explains why the HP -7470A the specific programs and art that ac- required slightly more than one hour to company this column were generated Fig. 2. Connections. draw Spectralipse. with a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100, Another problem is color selection

the programs can be easily revised for and availability. Note that Listing I pro- many other computers. Other plotters vides only two pen selections. Since the can also he used simply by revising the plotter works so slowly, pens of other lines containing plotter instructions. colors can be placed in the unoccupied Each program includes a line that stall while the plotter is drawing. opens a file for establishing the comput- Caution: Be sure to use care when sub- er -plotter communications.protocol. stituting pens while the plotter is operat- For the Model 100-HP7470A combi- ing. Blocking the pen carriage or placing nation, the line is: OPEN a pen in the wrong stall or in both stalls "COM:48N2E" FOR OUTPUT AS 1. may damage the plotter. Each program also contains a line that Fig. 3. Asterisk Mosaic. Making plots with more than two col- closes the opened file when the program Other pitfalls await the neophyte plot- ors is simplified by using plotters having is complete. ter artist. Fortunately, none is major, three or more pens. In any case, the pa- As you experiment with plotter art, and you can find out more about them in per upon which the pens draw will be you may sometimes find that, when a the following discussion. subjected to considerable stress when a program that's been temporarily complex figure having a common origin stopped is restarted, the plotter fails to Equation -Based Plotter Art is drawn. Multiple layers of ink laid respond or begins plotting in an incor- down over the origin and other intersec- rect location. The plotter may also ne- The graphs of the standard equations tions can soak through the paper and glect to retrieve a pen from its stall, presented in analytical geometry and cause stains. Furthermore, excess ink thereby producing lots of action but no calculus textbooks are a gold mine for can so soften the paper that it can be torn drawing. the plotter artist. The symmetry of The by pen motion.

26 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com This problem can be alleviated by us- Figure 4 ("Asterisk Flats") is a varia- ing a good grade of coated plotter paper tion of Fig. 3. Here, the random charac- Interactive Plotter Art and by placing strips of transparent tape ter rotation command (line 110 in List- behind trouble spots on the back side of ing 3) is omitted. The remainder of the The programs in Listings 1-3 have a the paper. If these precautions don't program is unchanged. mind of their own. Though some of their solve the problem, you may have to man- Figure 5 ("Arrows") shows one possi- parameters can be varied, when these ually execute a Pen Up command from ble result of an additional revision to programs are run, they draw without op- the plotter's control panel each time the Listing 3. Here, the asterisk in line 100 is erator intervent ion. pen reaches a potentially soggy intersec- replaced by the "greater than" symbol Interactive plotter art programs allow tion. A more complicated but even bet- (> ). Also, the dimensions of the symbol you to revise drawing parameters as the ter alternative would be to revise the pro- are controlled by a third random num- plotter draws. This allows a relatively gram to automatically lift the pen over bered instruction contained in a new simple program such as Listing 4 ("Do - potential problem areas. program line. Here are the two lines add- It -Yourself') to produce plotter art hav- ed to Listing 3 to create "Arrows": ing amazing diversity. Random Art When Do -It -Yourself is run, the com- 90 T=RND(1)*8 puter display asks "A,B,C,D?" (line To create the modified eight -leaved 100 PRINT #1, "SM > ;SI" 100). The four numbers entered by the rose in Fig. 1, the computer followed a T,T";" user are then used as plotter coordinates precise set of instructions that trans- in line 110. After the pen draws the fig- formed the relevant equation into a ure, using the coordinates (see line 110), hard -copy graph. In other words, the the computer asks for a new set of val- computer processed the instructions, ues, and the cycle is repeated. calculated the plotter coordinates and Figure 6 ("Interconnected Trian- controlled the plotter. Therefore, the gles") is a simple example of interactive general appearance of the end result was plotter art. This composition was pro- known before the plotter drew the first duced by running Listing 4 and making line. the fallowing entries: The random number function of most computers makes possible the creation A B C D of plotter art with a final appearance 90 100 110 120 which cannot be planned or predicted in 100 110 120 130 advance. Figure 2 ("Connections"), for Fig. 4. Asterisk Flats. change pen) example, was made by instructing the 130 120 110 100 plotter to draw an asterisk at thirty ran- 120 110 100 90 dom locations. By keeping the pen in the down position while it was moved to the Adding more entries and changing the next random point, all the asterisks were starting point will give a diagonal string linked by a continuous line. The pen was of interconnected triangles. Reducing changed after each ten asterisks to make the step size will reduce the size of the in- the composition more colorful. dividual triangles and allow more to be As you can see by referring to Listing drawn. 2, the program that draws Connections Modifying the sequence, order and is very simple. Line 60 establishes a plot- step of the A,B,C,D inputs of "Do -It - ting window, outside of which the pen Fig. 5. Arrows. Yourself' can provide an amazing diver- will not move. This leaves a blank strip sity of compositions. Figure 7 ("Coun- along the bottom of the drawing for a ti- terpoints"), for instance, is a pair of tle and byline. Line 60 also scales the back-to-back, stepped sequences of tri- plotter. angles. Counterpoints was drawn by Line 70 specifies the size of the aster- making the following entries into "Do - isk (0.5 X 0.5 centimeters) and selects It -Yourself': the plotted character (*). Both the character and its dimensions can be easily A B C D changed. 50 50 50 95 Lines 80-110 select the random num- 60 60 60 95 bers used as coordinates for two 70 70 70 95 successive random locations. The program in Listing 3 is a modified version of the previous program: It pro- 140 140 140 95 duces the interesting pattern in Fig. 3 Fig. 6. Interconnected Triangles. (change pen) ("Asterisk Mosaic"). Like Listing 2, it 55 55 55 95 draws asterisks at randomly selected lo- The program draws arrows pointing 65 65 65 95 cations. But they are much larger (10 X in one direction. The arrows pointing in 75 75 75 95 10 centimeters; see line 100) and are ori- the opposite direction (Fig. 5) were pro- ented according to their location (see duced by reversing the position of the line 110). The program draws forty as- paper in the plotter and running the pro- 135 135 135 95 terisks in two colors. gram a second time. (Continued on page 32)

May 1984 27

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Now A 16 -Bit Microcomputer Designed To Expand Your Knowledge.

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com Computer Scientist (Continued from page 27)

A very different array of triangles is 80 150 80 150 shown in Fig. 8 ("Prisms"). Actually, (change pen) only the smallest figure is a triangle. The 15 150 145 150 remainder are four-sided figures having 25 150 135 150 a common off -axis side. The unintended 35 150 125 150 result is that all these figures appear to have part of one side blocked by the triangle. The visual effect is the masking of 75 150 85 150 so-called hidden lines. "Prisms" was produced by entering this sequence into "Do -It -Yourself': Fixed "Interactive" Plotter Art

A B C D Many kinds of plotter art can be 40 50 60 70 planned in advance using graph paper. 40 50 60 75 Fig. 7. Counterpoints. Test programs can then be run and sim- 40 50 60 80 ple modifications made until a desired effect is achieved. Since revisions to such programs require only a few seconds, 40 50 60 130 they can be considered interactive. Figure 12 ("Trispangle") is an exam- "Prisms" is prettier if you change the ple of a drawing that was perfected by pen color between entries. making minor modifications to a pro- A very different product of "Do -It - gram during a series of trial runs. The Yourself' is Fig. 9 ("Acceleration"). Re- program is given in Listing 5. sembling an impossibly stylized swept/ The two-color, offset effect was delta -wing aircraft, "Acceleration" re- achieved by first making an initial plot quires a more complex series of entries and then changing pens. The paper was than Figs. 6-8: then moved slightly away from its initial position, and the program was run a sec- A B C D Fig. 8. Prisms. ond time. 70 8.0 90 100 65 85 85 105 Manually Controlled Plotter Art 60 90 80 110 It's fairly simple to develop programs that cause a plotter's pen to follow the 40 110 60 130 movements of a joystick or cursor control keys. With such programs you can Figure 10 ("Spacewarp") is among create an electronic version of the Etch - the most spectacular and complex A -Sketch toy. Though I've experiment- drawings I've coaxed from "Do -It - ed with manual control programs, the Yourself." Look closely and you'll see a results have not been nearly as appealing four sided polygon rotated in uniform as the plotter art generated by using the increments inside a square. All the lines other methods outlined above. Never- are perfectly straight, but when viewed theless, you may wish to explore this ap- together they form four distinctive arcs. proach on your own. Spacewarp is identical in appearance Fig. 9. Acceleration. to a popular string art design. The com- Titling Your Creations puterized version is just as pretty and to produce many other kinds of much easier to make. Here are the drawings. The modifications can be as I would not be surprised to see a mar- entries: simple as lifting the pen between two ad- ket develop for good examples of plotter A B C D jacent coordinate pairs to provide a art. In any event, examples of plotter art 150 150 10 10 three -sided figure when a four-sided one make nice gifts for friends and relatives, 150 140 10 20 would otherwise have been drawn. Fig- especially those who have glared at your 150 130 10 30 ure 11 ("Arde") is a good example. This computer and asked "What do you use it figure was produced by revising line 90: for?" 90 PRINT # 1, "PA"A,B"PD,"BC, Listing 6 will let you label your cre- 150 20 10 140 CD,DA,"PU,"A,B";" ations with a title and your name. You (change pen) Here are the entries that produced can even include a copyright notice, seri- 150 145 10 15 "Arcle": al number or other information. 150 135 10 25 The PA (Plot Absolute) coordinates 150 125 10 35 A B C D in line 100 determine where the pen will 10 150 150 150 begin labeling your title. The spaces after 20 150 140 150 T$ in line 110 determine the distance be- 150 15 10 145 30 150 130 150 tween the last letter of your title and your copyright notice. Do -It -Yourself can be easily modified Of course you can alter these parame-

32 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com ivN.:%.== iíi%f< PLOTTER AlT LISTINGS _'ii%ii, ks'/j:la,41//¡rp Listings below were used to draw the plots ín Figs. 1 through 12

130 N=N+ I:IF N=20 THEN PRINT# I, "SP2;" LISTING I 140 IF N =40 THEN PRINT # I,"SPO;" 150 IF N=40 THEN CLOSE # t:END 10 'SPECTRA LIPSE 160 GOTO 70 20 'FOR MODEL 100 AND HP7470 PLOTTER 130-220 ADAPTED FROM "ROSE 30'LINES LISTING 4 PROGRAM" 40 'BY JERRY O'DELL (80 MICRO, 9/83) 50 CLS 10 "'DC) IT YOURSELF" 60 PRINT "SET PI TO CENTER OF PAPER." 20'COPYRIGHT 1984 BY FORREST M. 70 FOR N=1 TO 500: NEXT N MIMS, HI 80 PRINT "PRESS R TO RUN." 30 'FOR MODEL 100 AND HP7470 90 IF IN KEY$="R" THEN 80 ELSE 70 40 CLS

100 OPEN "COM:48N2E" FOR OUTPUT AS 1 50 PRINT "PRESS Q TO QUIT." Fig. 10. Spacewarp. 110 PRINT #1,"SC0,500,0,500;" 60 FOR N = I TO 500:NEXT N 120 PRINT #I,"SP1;" 70 OPEN "COM:48N2E" FOR OUTPUT AS I 1305=100 80 PRINT # I, "IW250,500,10250,7479;' 135 REM SIZE OF INITIAL ROSE 90 I'RINT # I,"SC0,206,0,153;SP I;': 140 P=4 100 INPUT"A,I3,C,D' ;A,B,C,D 145 REM NUMBER OF PETALS/2 110 PRINT # 1,"PA"A,B,"PD,"B,C,C,D,D, 150 RA=57.3 A A B"PU; ' 155 REM DEGREES IF ONE RADIAN V20 FOR X =1 TO 500 160 FOR L= I TO 10 130 IF INKEYS="Q" OR INKEY$="y" THEN 165 REM NUMBER OF ROSES 160 170 S=S+15 140 NEXT X 175 REM SIZE OF NEXT ROSE 150GOTO 100

180 FOR 1=0 TO 360 STEP 1 160 PRINT # I, "SPO;" 185 REM PLOTTING INCREMENT 170 PRINT "DONE.":CLOSE # I:END 190 Q= 1/RA 200 R=S*SIN(P*Q) LISTING 5 210 X=R*COS(Q) 220 Y=R*SIN(Q) 10 'TRISPANGLE 230 PRINT# I, "PI;PD;PA"INT(X),INT(Y)';" 20 'COPYRIGHT 1984 BY FORREST M. 240 NEXT I MIMS, III Fig. 11. Arcle. 250 PRINT #1, "SP2;" 30 'FOR MODEL 100 AND HP7470 PLOTTER 260 NEXT L 40 CLS 270 PRINT # 1,"SPO; ':CLOSE # I :END 50 OPEN "COM:48N2E" FOR OUTPUT AS I 60 PRINT #I,"SC0,I00,0,50;' LISTING 2 70 PRINT # I,"SPI;" .30 PRINT # 1,"PA50,50;' 10 "'CONNECTIONS" 90 Y=50 20 'COPYRIGHT 1984 BY FORREST M. 100 FOR X=0 TO 50 STEP 10 MIMS, III I l0 Y=Y-5 30 'FOR MODEL 100 AND HP7470 PLOTTER 120 PRINT # 1,"PD;PA"X,Y.X,Y-10."50 50;" 40 CLS 130 NEXT X

50 OPEN "COM:48N2E" FOR OUTPUT AS 1 140 Y=5 60 PRINT # I. "IW250,500,10250,7479;SC0,100, 150 FOR X=50 TO 100 STEP 10 Fig. 12. Trispangle. 0,100;SPI;' 160 Y=Y+5 70 PRINT # 1,,"SI.5,.5;SM *;" 170 PRINT # 1,"1'D;I'A"X,Y,X,Y+ 10,"50,50;" 80R=RND(I)*100 180 NEXT X ters to suit your purpose. For instance, 90S=RND(1)*100 190 PRINT # I,"SPO;" to place your title near the left side of the 100 T=RND(I )* 100 200 CLOSE , 1:END page, change line 100 to PA 1000 or a 110U=RND(I)*100 120N=N+I:PRINTN LISTING 6 value. similar 130 IF N= 10 THEN PRINT 4{ 1, "SI'2;" 140 IF N=20 THEN PRINT 41, "SP I;" 10 'TITLE LINE AND COPYRIGHT NOTICE Going Further 150 IF N=30 THEN PRINT # I, "SPO;" 15 'FOR MODEL 100 AND 1-11'7470 PLOTTER 160 IF N=30 THEN CLOSE # I :END 20 CLS 170 PRINT #1. "PD;" 30 OPEN "COM:48N2E" FOR OUTPUT AS I a If you decide to give plotter art try, I BE WITH 180 PRINT # t ."PA"R,S' ; PD;"T,U"; ' 40 PRINT "PEN SHOULD BLACK don't be afraid to experiment. That's the 190 GOTO 80 0.3 MM TIP." method I used to develop most of the ac- 50 I'RINT "" IS THE TITLE";T$ companying examples of plotter art. LISTING 3 60 INPUT "WHAT 70 PRINT "ARE YOU SURE (Y OR N)?" a present- As reminder, the programs IO "'ASTERISK MOSAIC" 75 A$=INKEYS:IF A$=""THEN 75 ed here, though designed for the 20 'COPYRIGHT 1984 BY FORREST M. 80 IF A$="N" OR A$="n" THEN 60 HP7470A plotter and the TRS-80 Mod- MIMS, III 90 IF A$="Y" OR AS="y" THEN 100 ELSE 60 100 PRINT #1, "SI. I..15;SP I;IP;PA 1500,0;" el 100 computer, can be easily adapted 30 'FOR MODEL 100 AND I1P7470 PLOTTER -plotter 40 CLS 110 PRINT # 1, "LB"T$" COPYRIGHT 1984 BY for many other computer 50 OPEN "COM1:48N2E" FOR OUTPUT AS I (YOUR NAME)"CIIR$(3) combinations. 60 I'RINT # 1, "I W 250,500,10250,7479;SC0,100, 120 PRINT #1, "SPO;" No matter which plotter you use, be 0,100;SPI;" 130 CLS sure to become familiar with its instruc- 70 R=RND(1)* 100 140 PRINT "DONE.":PRINT "" 80 S=RND(I)* 100 150 PRINT "CHANGE PEN I TO DRAWING set. You will then be fully prepared tion 100 PRINT # 1,"SM*;5110,10;" PEN." to exploit its capabilities as a versatile ro- 110 PRINT #1, "DI"R,S' ;" 160 PRINT "":CLOSE * I bot artist. O 120 PRINT # I," PA"R,S";" 170 END

May 1984 33

AmericanRadioHistory.Com HARDWARE REVIEWS

have a bus connector internally for external devices (as yet undefined by Sanyo). The motherboard in the main unit holds 256K of memory. It's relatively easy to expand to this amount by adding 64K RAM chips to the basic configuration. (The manual provides the n)>R I IiT.'R 2 for . RIR f In,.. procedure this.) 302 wxif URI ux The Sanyo is compact. Its "foot- 2224 print," or area taken up by the system 32151 base and keyboard, is about 330 sq in. 24131 This is quite a bit smaller than the 450 sq in. of the IBM PC, and makes it easier to 1111I I112 n ,F R/II IRI UM Imo fit the Sanyo on a small desk. - The rear panel of the main unit has plugs and connectors for the system. There's a standard Centronics connector 3..-3.dammoommw3.. l.. for a system printer, and an optional RS- 232C DB-25 connector for a serial inter- 1 face. (The serial interface is $100 and can be added internally in about 5 minutes.) There's both an RCA -type monochrome jack and a DIN -type RGB jack on the rear panel, along with a plug for the keyboard. Other rear -panel connectors include the line cord, a female ac plug for another piece of equipment, the main power fuse, and a "knock-out" plug for an optional joystick. The keyboard on the MBC550 has 85 - keys with 5 function keys on the left- hand side and a numeric keypad on the right-hand side. The LOCK and GRAPH keys have red LEDs that signify when is roughly three times as much. they are active. The feel of the keyboard "What's the catch?" you might compares very favorably with the feel of THE SANYO ask-and rightfully so. The word "com- the IBM PC although the keys are some- patible" is sometimes used loosely by what noisier in operation. The keyboard companies trying to gain a foothold in has two brackets that can be swung MBC 550 this market. If the machine is not "fully" down to provide a better operating (99%) compatible, questions arise. Will angle. New low cost the computer gain enough of a market There's a built-in cooling fan that is share to encourage software companies not excessively noisy. (I prefer a com- micro runs MS-DOS to rewrite their software for it? Is the pletely silent system, however, and am operating system computer a viable product at the price, not favorably disposed towards any regardless of the degree of compatibil- fans.) BY BILL BARDEN ity? We'll try to answer these and other Connecting a second disk drive is questions about the Sanyo in this review. easy. It's a 15 -minute operation that is fully described in the operating manual, F the many IBM PC compatible The Basic System and you can use the TEAC drives that microcomputers currently on come with the Sanyo or a variety of other 0 the market, none is more in- The Sanyo MBC550 consists of a Shugart compatible half -height disk triguing than the Sanyo MBC550. And main computing unit and a detached drives. Currently, though, the choice of the reason can be summed up in one keyboard. The main unit has one singlé- a second drive may take some delibera- word-price. Sanyo offers its system sided double -density 5'/4" disk drive. tion, and we'll tell you why. with 128K RAM, the same high -resolu- This is a "half-height" drive that fits tion color graphics as the PC, a built-in nicely into the right-hand side of the Second Drive or Not? Centronics parallel port, two word pro- unit; a second drive can be added in cessors (WordStar and EasyWriter I), place of a storage compartment on the The most apparent difference between and a spreadsheet called CalcStar-all left-hand side. the Sanyo and the IBM PC is in the disk for a suggested retail price of $995. The The main unit does not have IBM PC drives. The Sanyo MBC550 and cost of a comparably equipped IBM PC expansion board capability, but it does MBC555 (the two -drive version) come

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB LORENZ 34 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com with single -sided double -density disk drives. The MS-DOS 2.0 version of the IBM PC, however, .comes with double - sided double -density disk drives. Thus, the Sanyo user is faced with a dilemma. If you buy the two -drive version of the Sanyo, you'll get two single-sided drives. You won't be able to upgrade to double - sided drives unless you buy new drives. Why would you want to upgrade? To use the new Sanyo MS-DOS 2.0 version of MS-DOS, of course. This isn't out yet and the stateside factory won't say when it will be coming out, but it is rumored to be in the works. Why not, then, buy a single -drive system and a second double - sided drive and install it yourself? A , e>"' good idea, but then you won't get the second portion of "bundled" software 8111HIIIIIIIufIIII101111111111111111Illlllllllllllll available with the purchase of the second unrlatualtllulrm1111111111101111111111111111 drive. This portion includes SpellStar (a spelling checker), InfoStar (a data manager), and Mailmerge (a program that can be used for form letters). The Sanyo user at this point, then, must either be The profile of the MBC550 shows its clean, modern styling. prepared to buy the second drive and bundled software (for another $399) and MHz compared to the 4.77 MHz of the then upgrade to two new drives when PC. Graphics Capability MS-DOS 2.0 becomes available or he There is a socket on the main comput- can buy a second double -sided drive ing board for an 8087 processor. The Like the IBM PC, the Sanyo MBC550 without the bundled software. 8087 is a coprocessor that operates inde- is capable of 640 pixels horizontally by For those unfamiliar with MS-DOS, pendently of the 8088 to perform opera- 200 pixels vertically in eight colors. Un- the 2.0 version includes support for dou- tions such as floating-point additions, like the PC, however, color capability is ble -sided drives and a more powerful subtractions, multiplications, and divi- included in the basic system at the base structure for disk directory files. The re- sions. Obviously, Sanyo plans to incor- price. Like the PC, the Sanyo has com- maining commands are largely the same porate the 8087 into the MBC550, which mands relating to graphics such as CIR- as the 1.1 version. There's no question, is a big plus for the system, although the CLE, which draws a circle, ellipse, or arc; however, that the double -sided disk ca- 8087 processor is not currently LINE, which draws a line, box, or filled - pacity for the 2.0 version is a great con- supported. in box; GET/PUT, which defines a video venience for storage. As mentioned, the MBC550 comes area for storage and later retrieval; and with 128K of RAM and can be upgraded PAINT, which colors a portion of a System Internals on the motherboard to 256K. The mem- figure. ory map of the MBC550 is different from As in the latest release of PC BASIC, Like the IBM PC, the Sanyo uses an the IBM PC in that the BASIC inter- the Sanyo includes the powerful WIN- 8088 microprocessor. The 8088 is basi- preter is loaded from disk instead of be- DOW and VIEW graphics commands. It cally an 8 -bit microprocessor as far as ing in high -memory ROM as it is on the allows you to operate in a logical coordi- the system bus or memory accesses go, PC. Most other system addresses, such nate system for graphing in which the but it does perform 16 -bit arithmetic. as those of the I/O devices, are the same coordinates could be as large as 32767 by The clock rate of the MBC550 is 3.6 as on the PC. 32767 (with a full complement of external RAM). You can select any portion of Sanyo's keyboard layout differs from that of the IBM PC. this logical area for display by the WIN- DOW command, which would display a 640 by 200 pixel area. Within the window, you could then VIEW any portion of the area and use this as your working space to plot points or draw figures, en- REM I `:s:;'LIEIO CDS ,.. abling you to perform instantaneous 4i ® Lk S1 le 0 '11drlra,O;10 ¡i zooms or reductions at will. There are c software packages that will allow you to © 1º: Ww 1016,01111 Cs C7 I ® Ti .+1 do this on other systems, but this is a Ile BI11O 111wñil = WI al 41 WW1111'I powerful capability that is integrated into the BASIC and is a definite plus for the system. The Sanyo has full -screen editing capability, which means you can move the (Continued on page 106)

May 1984 35

AmericanRadioHistory.Com marumm11smiuwunnu¡urw"nl/S,ja,,,,ánur-, =

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to be put to serious use immediately. Leading Edge machine and the brand The machine comes with 128K of new machine from Sperry Univac. THE LEADING main memory, seven internal expansion The Leading Edge and Sperry ma- slots; a serial and a parallel communica- chines are essentially the same Mitsu- tions port; a system clock/calendar; two bishi -built product and, as far as I could EDGE PC half-height floppy disk drives (320K tell in a short and not too involved com- each); and a monochrome monitor. Ad- parison, the only major differences A well-known ditionally, Leading Edge has decided to (apart from the fact that the Sperry ver- include the following software: the MS- sion is more expensive) are that one has a marketer enters DOS 1.25 system disk, including the Leading Edge logo and an IBM -style the compatibles arena Microsoft GW BASIC programming keyboard and the other has a Sperry logo language and the Leading Edge Word and a Sperry -designed keyboard. Processing package (which can also be Since the Leading Edge PC uses half- BY ROBIN WEBSTER used on the IBM PC or other MS-DOS height disk drives, they occupy just a lit- machines). tle more space than one normal drive MOST people will recognize the That's a good line-up as IBM compat- would in the far right-hand corner of the name Leading Edge Prod- ible machines go, particularly when you system unit. The drives never failed to ucts-it's the company that consider that this can all be yours for read from or write to disks correctly dur- sells the low cost Gorilla Banana dot- $2895. But let's look at how all this ing the review, but it was occasionally matrix printer and a host of other com- equipment works together as a system. troublesome to remove disks from the puter support products. Now, for the actual drives themselves. Normally, first time, Leading Edge is marketing a Hardware floppy disk drives have a simple latching personal computer-one that is compat- mechanism (a flip -down door, or a small ible with the IBM PC. I say marketing The Leading Edge PC is not for users latch like those that you find holding up because the Leading Edge PC is actually with a refined sense of aesthetics. Al- refreshment trays on the back of aircraft manufactured by the giant Japanese though it comes with the usual set of seats) that retains the disk securely in computer maker, Mitsubishi. parts-a system unit, a monitor, and a place. To remove the disk after use, you While the Leading Edge machine of- keyboard-it is evident that Mitsubishi have to take it out manually. fers a fair degree of IBM compatibility didn't really dwell too much on the ex- With the Leading Edge PC drives, (it will run IBM format WordStar, for ternal design of the product. The front disks are first held in place by a spring - example), it is also described in one ad- part of the square, sharp -cornered, sys- loaded mechanism and then gripped in vertisement as having "a whole lot tem unit is moulded from the predictable the center by an arm that the user has to more." Translated, this means that, incorporate grayish -beige plastic. Howev- lower into position manually. It's all stead of the standard machine with just er, most of the front panel is covered by a very precise. Occasionally, though, I had the same bare necessities as the IBM PC sheet of satin finish aluminum with the to fight with the mechanism to get the (64K of main memory, one low -capacity Leading Edge logo set off to the left. I disks out. It would sometimes take two disk drive, no serial port, etc.), the Lead- mention the logo merely in case anybody or three routines of opening and closing ing Edge PC comes with enough features notices a startling similarity between the the drive doors before a disk would be

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL CARDACINO 36 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com launched back into my hands by the rearranged along the back of the system are first pushed in and then bolted se- luctant springs. Obviously, this is not a unit. To the left (looking from the back), curely into place (as with the IBM PC). serious problem, but it can be annoying there is the three -pin socket from which This should reduce the possibility of sys- when you're working with a number of the monitor obtains its power. Next to tem malfunction if the machine is ever disks, say, during a copying operation. this there is the power socket for the jostled while in transit. The other problem I noticed was that the main system. Grouped to the right are drives were rather noisy: you could tell all the I/O connections and switches: an Using the Leading Edge PC when the machine was switching from RS -232C serial interface port; an 8 - disk to disk by the clunking noises that switch microswitch unit; an external After switching on the system unit, occurred. disk drive interface port; a parallel print- the Leading Edge PC goes through a di- Below the drives on the right side of er port; and a 9 -pin video monitor con- agnostics routine. The time taken to the system unit is the power switch, a nector (for the monochrome or color complete the test will depend on factors simple on/off rocker unit. A small red display). The monochrome monitor such as the amount of memory installed light next to the switch indicates wheth- bundled with the system has a 12" green (you may have between 128K and 640K er the power is on or off. At the front -left phosphor screen, capable of displaying of RAM). If everything checks out OK corner of the system unit is the keyboard 80 columns by 25 lines. and you have the system disk in drive A, To gain access to the inside of the ma- the machine will beep once (it has a chine you only have to remove five small screws that secure the top aluminum The Leading Edge PC casing to the main chassis. Once these can be put to screws are removed, you slide the casing toward you and then lift if off-it comes use just as away without a struggle. Internally, the components are laid out quite neatly- it comes out 1 T tTTrt,,r,l all the wiring is routed from point-to- { Y of the box point sensibly, and the heavier compo- IlT1`t'T`Ti1 nents (the power supply and two half - height drives) are securely held in place. connector. This is a five -pin plug into Interestingly, most disk units are nor- The keyboard is totally which the coiled, telephone cable key- mally encased in a sheet metal casing to compatible with IBM PC. board lead is inserted. Unfortunately, reduce electronic interference, but the the connector plug sticks out towards drives on the review machine were not small internal speaker), display the the user, preventing the keyboard from separately covered at all. Microsoft system messages, and ask for being positioned as near to the system The machine uses a version of the the current date. If, for some reason, the unit as one might require. Also, the Intel 8088 microprocessor (the 8088-2) system loader code could not locate a coiled lead itself does tend to get in the which can be set to run at one of two op- disk or any system tracks on the current way. erating speeds: 4.77 MHz (as with the disk, then the machine will display the The Leading Edge PC's 83 -button key- IBM PC) or 7.16 MHz. The speed is message: board is totally compatible with that sup- changed by the user by means of the plied with the IBM PC, even down to the microswitch panel on the back of the E-FD20-TIME OUT ERROR awkward arrangement of many keys and main system unit. the confusing use of arrows on the tab, re- There are seven expansion slots de- All this means is that 20 seconds have turn, and backspace key caps. However, it signed into the main motherboard which elapsed since the first attempt was made is a little bit more like a surfboard than is quite large and lies horizontally along to load the MS-DOS system. This hap- IBM's version, measuring 18" across and the bottom of the system unit. Two of pened a couple of times during the re- 8" deep. According to Leading Edge, the view, but a second try overcame the keyboard on the Mitsubishi machine uses problem. as "inductive technology." The impor- After loading the system disk, I listed tance of this is that there are no contact the directory to see what files were avail- points and hence no wear or danger from able. All the usual files such as spilled liquids. COMMAND.COM and With some systems, you can change FORMAT.COM were on the disk along the resting angle of the keyboard on a with a number of demo programs that ei- flat surface by adjusting little "legs" at ther showed off the machine's ability to both ends: the Leading Edge keyboard is combine graphics and sound, or its color no different. But it is an all -or -nothing generation facilities. Since I didn't have adjustment-it's either completely flat the color monitor connected, I just ran a on its back or canted at a preset angle. couple of the monochrome programs to It's hard to say which is the better key- Profile shows simple design. make sure everything was working board: the Leading Edge version feels correctly. rather Iighweight, but performed well; the slots are occupied with the video and The FORMAT.COM program obvi- the IBM model has a professional look disk controller cards, leaving five slots ously follows IBM specifications since a and feel to it, but it was designed by an available for further expansion. Unlike blank disk formatted by this program engineer instead of a user and clicks a bit the simple push-in/pull-out method of can be accessed and used to store infor- too much for my taste. installation that you get with the Apple mation on an IBM machine. As far as All the input/output connectors are II, for example, the Leading Edge cards (Continued on page 130)

May 1984 37

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Learning electronics is no picnic.

- .,,.._._.-.-lectronl^ ......

I -

...--- --

At any level it t ,J es work and a few sacrifices. But !th CIE, it's worth it.

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Whoever said, "The best tronics course that's right for you. CIE offers you an Associate things in life are free; was writing a Learning electronics is a lot Degree. song, not living a life. Life is not more than memorizing a laundry list One of the best credentials you just a bowl of cherries, and we all of facts about circuits and transis- can have in electronics-or any know it. tors. Electronics is interesting! It is other career field - is a college You fight for what you get. You based on recent developments in the degree. That's why CIE gives you get what you fight for. If you want a industry. It's built on ideas. Sn, look the opportunity to earn an Associate thorough, practical, working knowl- for a program that starts with ideas in Applied Science in Electronics edge of electronics, come to CIE. and builds on them. Look to CIE. Engineering Technology. Any CIE You can learn electronics by Programmed learning. career course can offer you credit spending some hard-working time That's exactly what happens toward the degree...more than half at home. Or, would you rather go with CIE's Auto -Programmed` of the number needed in some cases. bowling? Your success is up to you. Lessons. Each lesson uses famous You can also prepare for the At CIE, you earn your diploma. "programmed learning" methods to government -administered FCC It is not handed to you simply for teach you important principles. You (Federal Communications Commis- putting in hours. But the hours you do explore them, master them complete- sion) Radiotelephone License, put in will be on your schedule, not ly, before you start to apply them. General Class. It can be a real mark ours. You don't have to go to a class- You thoroughly understand each in your favor...government-certified room. The classroom comes to you. step before you go on to the next. proof of your specific knowledge Why electronics training? You learn at your own pace. and skills. Today the world depends on And, beyond theory, some Today is the day. Send now. technology. And the "brain" of courses come fully equipped with Fill in and return the postage - technology is electronics. Every electronics gear (the things you see free card attached. If some ambitious year, companies the world over are in technical magazines) to actually person has removed it, cut out and finding new ways to apply the let you perform hundreds of check- mail the coupon. You'll get a FREE wonders of electronics to control ing, testing, and analyzing projects. school catalog plus complete infor- and program manufacturing, Experienced specialists work mation on independent home study. processing...even to create new closely with you. For your convenience, we'll try to leisure -time products and services. Even though you study at home, have a CIE representative contact And the more electronics applica- you are not alone! Each time you you to answer any questions you tions there are, the greater the need return a completed lesson, you can may have. will be for trained technicians to he sure it will be reviewed, graded, Mail the card or keep sophisticated equipment finely and returned with appropriate the coupon or write tuned and operating efficiently. CIE (mentioning the instructional help. When you need t, That means career opportunities in ' name and date of additional individual help, you get CIP the eighties and beyond. it fast and in writing from the this magazine) at: Which CIE training fits you? faculty technical specialist - 1776 East 17th Beginner? Intermediate? best qualified to answer `' , Street, Cleveland, Advanced? CIE home study courses your question in terms Ohio 44114. are designed for ambitious people you can understand. y at all entry levels. People who may have: 1. No previous electronics knowledge, but do have an interest in it; 2. Some basic knowledge or experience in electronics; -- 3. In-depth working experience or prior training in electronics. You can start where you fit and fit where you start, then go on from there to your Diploma, an Associate Degree if you want it, and career. Many people can be taught electronics. Cleveland Institute of Electronics, Inc. PE -11 There is no mystery to learning OCIE 1776 East 17th Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 electronics. At CIE you simply start Accredited Member National Home Study Council with what you know and build on it YES...I want to learn from the specialists in electronics-CIE. Send me my FREE to develop the knowledge and tech- CIE school catalog...including details about the Associate Degree program... niques that make you a specialist. plus my FREE package of home study information. 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AmericanRadioHistory.Com RADIO SHACK'S 1.an..,cr.. ,T. w..,u . TRS-80 wun.:y K..w MODEL 4P TRSDOS and CP/M compatibility in a 11111111111111111111L111ll111i111Lu transportable computer , BY J. SMITH-RICHARDSON

T is interesting to speculate what the state of the portable computer marketplace might be if Radio Shack's Model 41' had been the first "transportable" machine to appear on the scene. Quite likely, the models that have a ten- the weight and provide the most com- desktop use. The keys have the sculpted dency to lean like the Tower of Pisa fortable grip for transporting the look of the IBM Selectric II typewriter when set on the floor or that have exter- computer. keyboard and have a very satisfactory nal hardware and controls that tend to The front cover is really a front cover. "feel." snag and bump up against things would It is secured with steel clamps-not the All I/O connectors and the modem never have appeared. usual plastic snaps. This cover contains a compartment are concealed behind a Appearance is not all, though. This storage area for the computer's ac line flush door that spans almost the entire compact transportable computer is an cord and separate storage bins for disk- rear of the cabinet. Though Centronics excellent performer, able to use both Ra- ettes and/or documentation. compatible, access to the printer port is dio Shack's TRSDOS and third -party The CRT screen is centrally located in through a card -edge -connector arrange- CP/M 2.2. And it is almost totally soft- the computer's front panel. To the left of ment, rather than the more common ware compatible with Radio Shack the CRT is a combination power DB-25 connector. The RS -232C serial TRS-80 Models I, III, and 4. port, however, has the standard DB-25 connector arrangement. The I/O expan- Hardware Characteristics sion bus and modem compartment are protected by a removable steel plate in- The Model 4P portable is derived from The 4P is a side the compartment. Radio Shack's Model 4 desktop comput- magnificent machine Modem installation is very simple. Af- er. It has a Z80 microprocessor that oper- ter removing two screws that secure the ates at either 2 or 4 MHz, depending on ... almost the steel plate, the connector on a revealed the operating mode, and 64K of RAM, ideal portable cable plugs into the modem, which then expandable to 128K. Built in are two slides into its own compartment, where "thinline" half-height 51/4" single -sided, computer it becomes an integral, though remov- double -density floppy -disk drives, each able, part of the computer. capable of storing 184K of data. A 9" On the bottom -rear of the cabinet is a white -phosphor CRT, Centronics -com- threaded leg, similar to that found on patible parallel printer port, RS -232C se- switch/indicator assembly, RESET slide projectors, for adjusting the tilt an- rial port, an I/O bus for future expan- switch, and BRIGHTNESS and CONTRAST gle of the front panel (actually, the entire sion, and a prewired compartment for a controls for the CRT display. To the computer). The leg is designed to com- user -installable 300 -baud plug-in modem right of the display are the two vertically bat potential reflection and glare from round out the electrical hardware fea- mounted floppy -disk drives. room lighting on the CRT's screen. tures of the Model 4P. Stowed in a compartment under the There is a real need for this arrangement, Housed in a heavy-duty plastic cabi- 4P's front panel is the detached key- because the CRT screen is as far forward net, the computer weighs slightly more board that slides in and out and is safely as it can be inside the computer housing than 27 pounds and measures 161/2" X secured for transport when the cover is and is particularly sensitive to reflec- 131/4" X 93/4". The Model 4P's cabinet attached. The cable tether between key- tions from ceiling lighting. Though the has to be the best -thought-out design for board and computer is 16" long, which is leg can be effective in reducing some of a transportable computer anywhere. Its barely sufficient to allow lap operation. the glare, a small slide -out hood or a lip pop-up handle is positioned off-center, Two pivoting "legs" at the bottom rear on the front edge of the cabinet over the over the center of gravity rather than the of the keyboard assembly permit key- screen area would have been much more physical central axis, to evenly distribute board typing angle to be adjusted for effective.

42 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com P

Operation Details

Like the Model 4, the Model 4P automatically accommodates both the CP/M and TRSDOS operating systems. TRSDOS support is provided for both the Model 4P's own Version 6.0 and Model III TRSDOS. TRSDOS Version 6.0 runs the Z80 at 4 MHz and provides a screen display of 80 or 40 X 24 characters, while Model III TRSDOS runs the Z80 at 2 MHz and provides a 64 or 32 X 16 -character display. By making the Writirig Model 4P accommodate both orrespondence Qualify rintér TRSDOSs, Radio Shack maintains compatibility with its rather extensive line of existing Model I software, because the You can depend on it. Model III computer can convert much ...to deliver high-speed printing capabilities in a wide range of expressive of the Model I software to its mode. formats. quality print-outs with clarity and Though derived from the Model 4 ...to deliver regular or correspondence crispness unusual in a dot matrix printer. 4P desktop computer, the Model access- ...to keep on delivering long after its full One-Year Warranty (parts and labor es the two TRSDOS modes in a totally included) has become a distant memory. different manner. The desktop machine Built with rugged, anodized aluminum, and sold standard with both single contains the ROMs from the Model III sheet and tractor feed modes, the DMX80 sells for $395*. See the DMX80 at dealer now contact Memotech Corporation, 99 Cabot Street, and will function as a Model III when your computer or Needham, MA 02194. Telephone: (617) 449-6614. booted from Model III DOS or an When aftermarket DOS like NEWDOS. "Suggested retail price MEMOTECH booted from a Model 4 TRSDOS or CORPORATION CP/M disk, the ROMs are switched out by the computer and 16K of RAM is RATED #1 FOR SERVICE & REIJABILITY substituted. Since no ROMs are provided in the Model 4P, the computer must CALL TOLL FREE 23 PARK ROW MUSK NEWYORK CITY, use software to create an image of the 800-221-8180 NEW YORK IN NEW YORK STATE ^ Model III ROMs in the first 16K of CALL (212) 732-8600 ,WORLD ATARI 80020. RAM. COMMODORE Having Model III ROMs, or creating THIS MONTH'S SUPER STARTER PACKAGE their image in RAM, is required for the SPECIALS Model 4 to maintain software :6m4MmoaaO On $28995 series . p BASK 640 Computer COLECO $49995 compatibility as hardware and software ATARI V 1541 170 bU Urry ! 60001 HOME COMPUTER ADAM TOD.Rated Sierra on -une upgrades are made. With the Model I mew02OlAVOM WocessOn 1 Searle, SYStern E Oa tia'N8 1520 F179ºá COMMODORE 64 HARDWARE computer, Radio Shack reserved all CARDCO }9 Print«T Inter ace 49 95 ATARI HARDWARE V64 CPO Card VerSro0 2 2 . `59.95 ATARI 1010 Program Re0Order '74.95 D,rvel°ccolt11 COMMODORE 64 SOFTWARE RAM from 0000 up to the first 16K ATARI 1050 090 Orlve '359.95 $127995 V64 EASY LESSON/0012 . 13.95 ATARI 850 Intestate MOOUIe . `169.95 APPLE SOFTWARE 064 Q XPIPT OlA '3795 MICRO PEW. 61X BID 101 BRIAr '119.95 169.95 V64 E2 SPELL D5Y '19.99 use. This it BARROWS FDU. SAT. 000 par boundary for future made ATARI SOFTWARE NOME ACCT. o50 49.95 ATARI.SOFT RX8502 Nan '14.95 CONTINENTAL RX8505 '34.95 ATARI CX4020 :3010!00 '34.95 EINSTEIN COMPILER DM '79.95 .SOFT Centrce0e ATA. 004101 ation Prop 021.95 SUBIOGIC FUGNT SIMULATOR 150'29.95 DeltaSPINNAKER '24.95 possible for Radio Shack to easily up- SPINNAKERR G1.1 ATARI CX401815011HOme OPalea9e'64.95 0023006 ACE 1000 640 RAM. APPLE' 0tron Feverg '2495 DATASOFT 2A3C401 Cassette `26.95 BRODER1UND BANK STREET WR149.95R COMPATIBLE eCALL FOR PRICE grade its computers, without having to ATARI 2600 GAMEWARE .010 Pore.. big 14995 CANON PC20 PERSONAL CARTRIDGE vlt 01111 1614AM11 nOerE '64.95 W CARTRIDGE '899.95 VK V1211 SK m0re '49.95 2795 COPIER IFREE g'a0nt1 ATARI CX2699 'ai EPSON 00.10 256E RAM ATARI CX269070 `27.95 EAGLE PC2 already utilized memory loca- COMW/TFR SYSTEM ,CALL FOR P4KE ATE RI SOFT 4X8501 PaC Man '34.95 overlay MS PRO Man .23.95 ATARI 0X2675 PERSONAL ATAN 50Fí 405507 Delen011 '29.95 ATARI CX2676 . . '27.95 Centloene COMPUTER ATARFSOFT RX8544 65 040.041 '3495 tions. The major disadvantage of reserv- ATARI CX2691 roust '27.95 ATARI 0X2694 Pole POSebOn `20.95 ATARI 5200 FLOPPY DISCO PARR. 5300 Fr099er '22.95 280 RAO ELEPHANT 000«. Of ID '24.90 ing low -end RAM, however, was that it PARKER 5570 PoORYe `32.95 2 Drrvet MAXEBA5FF61019oBO1 1D '17.90 ATARI 5200 GAMEWARE mP OQ '29.90 iMCOmn 9/Sten WKRBATIM MO525180. Of 101 `27.90 prevented use the operating ATARI C05209 Rea50011 8aseball'27.95 of CP/M ATARI CX5290 lust '27.95 MS DOS pA B6 YSAN 104/1 5"'500 01 IDI '12.90 AT. CX5206 400.Orl '27.95 $258995 s"`1ceá 2.0x11 WABASH 55/00 5" 18pR 0f 1b '24.90 ATARI 0X5211 Pole 00900n '27.95 system, which requires memory to start 3UKI 6100 MODEMS DISC DRIVES at memory address 0000 and work ATARI 1030 O'reCt Connect '119.95 CONCORD PERIPHERAL DRIVES 112995 ATARI 830 O Modem '139.95 CON;ORD C221CA Atari VIC 1600 MAUROOPn for VK 20 .19.95 fiX uC ]Slaves `289.95 VIC CONCORD C322.1, for C 64 upward. ANCIHOR AUTTCUT,. VOIXsmOden, 2 3 99.95 Im Pounle+'Oe áM (1000 UnrveDal errs.. car. '59.95 CONCDOR 01 O AoolOe n 1650`719.95 GAMES Came COmWe '109.95 With Models 4 and 4P computers, 30.104 CRD4 FOn AOole Texas 1st CONCORD 0130 For Apt. X Contender COIECOVSION the 1 Fp Atan CAM Id 00 t0 4 Crv!S 159.95 C01fC01100 Carts '59.95 DaetteneN WerneriXBUH« 1 '12.95 II '69.95 ANCHOR AUTOM00ION 4111.411I R ANA 10 00 For Atari 180 '119.95 MATTEL 58721nteIlONOn ATARI (001011 994.95 Radio Shack departed from the earlier RS232 Como Keyes Compatible '349.95 MERE a 1 For AOOI1 II dls=1 $49995 '119.95 VKTRFX2/1sma 99.95 II master OOnent '59.95 SANYO MBC555 RANA ELIT 1'I 101 0 0 II 34995 ODYSSEY Cdn'5vsrem design philosophy by freeing up memory 1280 Cote CO-n0uter PRINTERS /TYPEWRITERS ei SMITH CORONA ULTRASONIC l0. FREE GIANT CATALOGS MESSENGENCmOuter Ready :1áM CoOmlOIlIle VIDEO all the way down to address 0000. This Software Pal 288 PAGE GIANT AUDIO 30 PAGE GIANT TVCORONAr 479.95 CATALOG: WITS over 7 Ow SM1102.10010NttnTH CORONA LETTER WAlrtv PRIMER VIDEO/COMPUTER 449.95 C' 111012íe Video (255 CED 11.Ser makes the computers both TRSDOS CATALOG: Plus Tr Run `479.95 $119995 DISC MO- IeS TO, OM 600119 SOIITCP STAR MICPONICS DELTAIC, 160 CPS GIANT RECORD 8 CASSETTE CATALOG: Complete l.Ist o1 80 Buffer and compatible. The company *2001305501200121410011171819.931.11K550 64 PAGE Sereal/Parallei '5495 CP/M P00Llar 001151 and TIDES STAR 810001IKS CEMINI'ISX 100 CPS Corve the nlOsl SANYO (2807100 32112 '1199.95 132 Col 1121,0' Feet '399.95 handled the TRSDOS-CP/M mismatch MONITORS NEC PC8023 impact Mtn 301111 '479.95 23 PARK ROW, DEPT. CE5, NYC, NY 10038 EPSON RXBOFt VIC 1702 14' COW '249.95 FMt6an E Tractor Feed 'CALL AFC CC12202A lo, '259.95 HOW 11.144 FOR 0001001 .N0 COORS OUS 5. 41.1ENT SEND MONEY- 4 by the set - EPSON Printer in the Model including ROM MOTS/VISA 60CABlennune Ca10 TAXAN 415 12 IRGO \'loon 111 '429.95 OOTOER 00ÉDCH V I,T OOrter TARAN 100 12 Greeneen 501221 '129.95 umber interbank NO 200 1410111141027 V9.111R/Dnatu IRE NOT 59311 PR a ATARI Mat11F BO COI '299.95 TARAN 105 12 m Screen '139.95 SINAI CHECKS OUR 1025 DOI from the Model III. When a Model 4 Ha0ing61muran1000400 GIOIOPI wan ATARI 1027 Letter Chanty Porter TARAR 210 12- RG8 C0mp01e'289.95 MOORBUS..SL Y'Sm01012 155501, 20005 289.95 a S3 9S mrVmute WO 51110 TO CONTINENTAL US ALASHA HAWAll PUERTO RICO 950 126ík1 a minimum charge I VIC V1526 Ser'4 Winter Dot 011111. is the 0 12 Green e '1á9 95AM0 CANADA ONLY KaM001nDI0ers000 15- 30001ng wan 5995 TRSDOS or CP/M disk booted, 0F3GvSen CP5 column 279.95 FOr IhnamentS dY all please double mRe 0Nr4es SORRY, NO C 0.0 S. NEW 00120 80 12 Amber MERCHANDISE COMMODORE90 005801 SO C05 001 math. 2205110 225111122 1} '119.95 '2 29.IS ROMs are switched out to free up the PANASONIC 10" Color '269.95 ó00YE 061001, ASO 10096 GATax ANTRIs AARENFOT R PONSARBLE Wº ANY forE4 4160 TELETE( 1014 0.3. W V Printerinter PANASONIC 0013000 13 Ca. '349.95 TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS Tact. eFrICtron 449.95 PANASONIC 0T1000 10" Clr RG8,319.95 low -end memory locations to give access . (Continued on page 105) WRITE or CALL for FREE 288 PAGE-AUDIO/VIDEO/COMPUTER CATALOG Circle No. 23 on Free Information Card May 1984 43

AmericanRadioHistory.Com SOFTWARE REVIEWS

tion, documents for further editing are Standard Document) so that you don't listed, or sub -menus with further, more need to worry about learning all the mar- THE specific, options are displayed. If at any gin settings and format options before time you want to escape from a menu se- you even write your first few words. LEADING EDGE lection, you press the CANCEL key and Since every subsequent document cre- respond to prompts that usually appear ated by the package will conform to the at the top right of the screen. initial document layout, once you have WORD While using the LE Word Processing learned your way around the system, package, I was constantly made aware of you can go in and alter the default docu- similarities with the Wang environment. ment to suit your own personal prefer- PROCESSOR Rather than having documents reside in ences. This approach to automatic docu- libraries, however, Leading Edge has de- ment formatting is similar to the that created A package cided to adopt the more current concept "prototype documents" are powerful of storing documents in "folders," which with dedicated word processors. with many text are, in turn, stored in file cabinet features "drawers." Features editing Because the Leading Edge and IBM - type personal computers do not have Rather than having menu options list- By Robin Webster sufficiently high -resolution screens, they ed as "Edit a document," or something are really unable to display visual repre- similar, the LE Word Processing pack- IWAS looking forward to reviewing sentations of desktop objects in the same age employs the menu selection area at the Leading Edge Word Processing manner as the newer computers with bit - the bottom of the screen that Lotus 1-2-3 package because the company has mapped displays. Instead, the folders are or Multiplan users will be familiar with. invested a large amount of money in given as a list of names; when one is se- A couple of lines are given over to a set marketing the product in computer and lected, all the documents contained in of command words, such as "EDIT," related publications. It has also generat- that folder are shown as a further list. "CREATE," "DELETE," "COPY," and ed a lot of interest at exhibitions around There may be up to 32 named folders per "PRINT," and as you place the cursor the country. disk (or "drawer," as Leading Edge re- over each word it is highlighted in re- Most readers will be familiar with the fers to them in this context) depending verse video. Additionally, as each com- avertisement that begins by stating: on the size of saved documents. mand is selected by the cursor, further "History will record as a profound irony When you start up the LE Word Pro- text is displayed to explain the effect of that the most powerful word processing cessing package, you will find that the each command. package ever created for the IBM Per- system already contains an initial folder Earlier, I mentioned that Wang word sonal Computer can be worked with two (the Initial Document Folder) ready for processing systems used a proprietary fingers." Another ad even suggests that use. Also, a first default format docu- keyboard design. This greatly simplifies the LE Word Processing package will ment is created by the system (the LE the typist's job since special keys have transform your PC "into something with Processor comes with an overlay for the IBM PC keyboard. the speed and power of dedicated word The Word processors costing $10,000 and . more..." 'Itrr;: b ó

There is some truth to the latter state- I ment since Leading Edge-like the developers of the Multimate word processing package for the IBM PC-has drawn quite heavily on the word processing concepts developed by office automation companies like Wang. On the Wang Of- C R fice Information System (OIS) range of -. machines, the word processing facilities I/IL~F..en, ! are completely menu driven and are 5 f 1 -.c-.,l1TS ' 1 . ( - Ww--.p... a o around a proprietary keyboard de- . . . . !--....',t,y,.,y.. based - . -...--,. sign. Users are presented with a main r.sc.- -vvT"-- 0--. aoa A :,..- -8 menu which allows them to EDIT an old l=-1- sa"x- "..- t`--"_ .. oa = aau -- - Y rca+--_.s:-,..1.,_4 . _ nsr_" document, CREATE a new document, = :;. _a-aº ._. aaa--=---,.- - _ so on. . PRINT a document, and I: t - t V` You are not required to type in any r rIt. r r 1 I y complex commands. You just place the i" I`" 1 h` I" 6 i" I I` cursor next to the menu option desired, t'r't"'s"r"Ifr`f' enter the document number and the name of the library in which the document resides, then press the EXECUTE key. Depending upon your menu selec- PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVE BORNS 44 Computers & Electronics

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com ¶/f'll "V/" Your computer's telephone.

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What are the adverse effects of this Gary: The pedigrees for next week's Sold 1000 shares at 33 for net profit compound? auction are as follows... of 6000. Richard.

Wouldn't it be great if you could also dial, answer and disconnect simple steps required to create, send, use your IBM* PC to tap into vast calls. Automatically. And without receive, display, list, name and re- resource libraries across the country? going through the telephone receiver, name files. It even receives data To transfer files to your partner, making them far superior to acoustic completely unattended-especially upstate? Or from your broker, down coupler modems. helpful when you're sending work the street? Choose your speed; choose your from home to the office, or vice versa. It's possible. All you need is a price. The lower -priced Smartmodem If you need it, there's always "help:' modem, to connect your computer 300 is ideal for local data swaps and This feature explains prompts, mes- to others. Down the hall. Or thou- communicates at 300 bps. For longer sages, etc. to make communicating sands of miles away. distance and larger volumes, Smart - extra easy. modem 1200 operates at baud rates W íth Smartcom II, it is. Case in r of 300 or 1200, with a built-in selector point. Before you communicate with that automatically detects transmis- another system, you need to "set up" sion speeds. your computer to match the way the Both work with rotary dials, remote system transmits data. With

, Touch-Tone®and key -set Smartcom II, you do this only once. systems; connect to most time- After that, parameters for 25 differ- ,: sharing systems; and feature ent remote systems are stored in a an aucio speaker. directory on Smartcom II. Smartmodem 1200BTM is also avail- Calling or answering a system listed able as a plug-in board. Developed in the directory requires just a few specifically for the PC, it quick keystrokes. Hayes Smartmodem. Think of it as comes packaged with Hayes' You can store your computer's telephone. Hayes own communications soft- lengthy log -on Smartmodem 300Tm and the faster ware, Smartcom IITM Hayes® sequences the Smartmodem 1200; M allow you to com- Smartcom II. We spent same way. Press one municate over ordinary phone lines. a lot of time developing it, so key, and Smartcom II automatically But any modem will send and you can spend less time using it. connects you to a utility or iniorma- receive data. Hayes Smartmodems Smartcom II prompts you ín the don service.

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Smartmodem 300. 1200, and 1200B are FCC approved in the U.S. and DOC approved in Canada. Leading Edge WP Smartmodem 1200B. (Includes telephone cable. No serial card or separate power source is needed.) (Continued from page 44)

for I found the LE Word Processing aV been designated every major editing ter, task. If you want to go to the next page in package coped well with the task. a large document, you simply press the There are far too many functions P.r "GO TO PAGE" key and respond to the available with the LE Word Processing "WHICH PAGE?" prompt with the rele- package to cover them all in this review; vant number. If you want to go to the but it might be useful to indicate some of end of a document of unknown size, you the features assigned to the ten function simply respond to the latter prompt with keys (Ft to Fto). They are as follows: an absurdly high number like "999." Ft: obtain help information and Wang uses special keys to center, in- list the main command menu. dent, insert, and move text around with- F2: the decimal tab key. in a document. There is even the so- F3: edit a current format line, called glossary feature, which allows insert a new format line. users to write simple word processing F4: set the type of text Itaycy '- Smartt/mil ' "programs" that will automatically for- indentation. mat a document according to pre -deter- F5: set text attributes such as mined settings (say, inserting a page bold, and underline. break every 33 lines and indenting the F6: center text. first line of each paragraph by three F7: carry out search and replace o spaces). operations. While the LE Word Processing pack- F8: insert page breaks. age has almost all these features, it does F9: select an area of text to run into trouble because it must cope move, or cut. with the limitations of an IBM style key- Flo: paste an area of text previ- Smartcom II communications software. board. Leading Edge has decided that ously selected by a cut. the best way to tackle this is to provide a The exact result of each of these keys NOTE: Smartmodem 1200B may also be Installed in the IBM Personal Computer XT or the Expansion Unit. multiple color keyboard template, which changes when they are used in conjunc- In those units, another board installed in the slot to keyboard and lists ef- tion with the CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT keys. the immediate right of the Smartmodem 12008 may not fits around the the clear the modem: also, the brackets may not fit properly. fects of the various function keys when If this occurs, the slot to the right of the modem should be left empty. used alone or in concert with special, or Additional Functions "booster," keys. The Escape (Esc) key has been chosen There is a very wide selection of other as the CANCEL key and the plus (+) key specialized text editing features. You on the numeric pad has been chosen as can, for example, transpose two charac-' And, in addition to the IBM PC, the EXECUTE key. ters that are typed in the incorrect order Smartcom II is also available for One aspect in which the Leading Edge by placing the cursor to the immediate the IBM Personal Computer XT, product differs from the Wang word right of the characters and pressing the COMPAQ Portable, Corona Por- processing systems is that you can select ALT and SHIFT keys. If you ever need to, whether not you wish to in INSERT you can also switch lower-case letters table PC, Columbia MPC, DEC or be mode (insert words in the middle of sen- into upper-case letters (and vice versa) Rainbow 100, Xerox 820 -II, and tences without overwriting what's al- by pressing the SHIFT and CAPS LOCK Kaypro II personal computers.* ready there), or OVERTYPE mode (cur- keys, highlighting the text to be Backed by the experience and rent text is overwritten by new text). switched, and then pressing the EXE- reputation of Hayes. A solid On the Wang systems you are always CUTE (+) key. Groups of words that are leader ín the microcomputer in- in overtype mode and must press the in- hyphenated, but which would normally dustry, Hayes provides excellent sert key to make additions in the midst of be split by the end -of-line word wrap, text. The problem is that all text after the can also be kept together by a "required documentation for all products. A insertion point is temporarily wiped off hyphen" facility. limited two-year warranty on all the screen, making it a little difficult to It's not that everyone will need such a hardware. And full support from gauge the effect of the additional materi- range of options-many people would us to your dealer al on the document layout. I much pre- rather retype the two transposed charac- So see him today. Break out of ferred the Leading Edge way of doing ters than worry about learning the spe- isolation. Get a telephone for your the job since you can immediately see cial command-but it's nice to know Personal Computer. From Hayes. how your new text fits in with the old. that such a toolkit is there if needed. It is also possible to split the word pro- Again, unlike word processing soft- Hayes Microcomputer Products, cessing screen into two working areas, or ware on some of the newer bit -mapped Inc., 5923 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., windows, and edit more than one docu- machines, the LE Word Processing Norcross, GA 30092.4041441-1617. ment at a time. By using the cut and package is not capable of displaying spe- paste options it is also possible to trans- cial text attributes on -screen. So, when fer data from one document to another. you underline a section of text-single There have been many times that I need- underline, double underline, or under- ed to work in this way and, although re- line in red-it is merely highlighted. cent "windowing" products such as the (Whenever you place the cursor within Smartmodem 300. Smartmodem 1200. Smartmodem 120011 and Smartcom II are trademarks of Hayes Microcomputer Products. Inc. Apple Lisa or Macintosh systems-as the highlighted area, a brief message ap- 'Trademarks of International Business Machines Corporanon. Compaq Computer Corporation. Corona Data Systems. Columbia well as the DesQ and Visi On software pears at the top of the screen to indicate Data Products. Inc.. Digital Equipment Corporation. Xerox Corporation. and Kaypro Corporation. Touch.Tone is a registered packages-naturally do the job a lot bet- (Continued on page 84) service mark of American Telephone and Telegraph. ©1984 Hayes Microcomputer Products. Inc Circle No. 6 on Free Information Card 47

AmericanRadioHistory.Com NEW L COST i

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48 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com v w .

Modems have become less expensive and more capable. Here's a roundup of products that retail for less than $100.

BY TJ BYERS

yOUR personal computer has been her - ally keep you in touch with the world. aled as the ultimate communications Modems come in many different shapes and device. Out there in the vast beyond are sizes, with a wide range of prices. Recently, low promises of home banking services, telephone cost modems have appeared on the market- catalog sales, and up-to-the-minute stock quotes. budget modems, which retail for under $100. Presently, hundreds of database sources and But does a lower price -ag reflect an inferior community bulletin boards are available to the product? Can you use one with your system? To computer owner. All are but a phone call away. answer these questions, we need to .00k first at Ah, but there's the rub. Unless you have some modems in general. way to couple your computer to your telephone, these conveniences may as well not even exist. Modems Fortunately, the situation is easily resolved 11 with an ingenious device called a modem. A Basically, the j pb of a modem is to transfer dig- modem gives your computer the freedom to talk ital information from your computer to another to other computers, access databases, and gener- computer, and vi;e versa. It does this over a telephone line (Fig.1). TJ Byers is the author of numerous books on elec- To our dismay though, we find that telephone tronics and computers. lines are not equipped to handle digital

PHOTOGRAPH BY BARRY BLACKMAN

May 1984 49

AmericanRadioHistory.Com F

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Clockwise, from top: Radio Shack Modem 1B, Volksmodem, HESModemi, Westridge 6420, Signalman Mark I; Center: Teledata TD -200

conversations. They are designed, in- sound. This form of encoding is called database, such as The Source. This is stead, to carry audio signals in the range frequency shift keyed (FSK) modulation, how it's done. of 300 to 3500 Hz. This is intentional. appropiately enough. It is a specialized You begin by dialing the telephone As we know, telephones are designed form of FM (frequency modulation) as number of The Source (which they gave for the human voice, which falls within illustrated in Fig. 2. you) and securing a connection. You can this narrow frequency range. By limiting At the receiving end of the conversa- do this manually or the modem can do it bandwidth, and chopping those frequen- tion is another modem, which takes the automatically. cies that carry little information, the tones and converts them back into digi- The Source responds to your call with speech patterns become very clear and tal pulses. a carrier tone, which the modem recog- intelligible. By using different pairs of tones, a nizes. The modem then returns a greet- This frequency cropping, though, se- modem can both transmit (originate) a ing carrier tone and the link is estab- verely attenuates digital pulses, making it message and receive (answer) one. To do lished. Next, you instruct The Source to impractical to send such pulses over tele- so, the modem must contain a modula- serve up its menu. The modem makes phone lines. They just can't get through. tor and a demodulator. Hence the acro- this instruction clear to The Source by But there is another way. Using the nym, modem. modulating its frequency according to audio characteristics of the' telephone The data is commonly sent at 300 bits the pulse commands. line to its own advantage, the modem is per second, or 300 baud. When using the Likewise, The Source responds with able to communicate digital data. It be- standard ASCII format, 300 baud trans- the requested information in tone for- gins by taking your digital pulse and en- lates roughly into 30 characters (letters) mat, which your modem decodes and coding it into a frequency. One specific per second. An average word takes displays on your CRT screen. If you frequency is used to represent a logic 1 about one -fifth of a second to send, re- were to listen to the conversation, it and a different frequency represents a sulting in 300 words per minute. would sound like a cacaphonous four - logic 0. note symphony by some obscure modern As the train of pulses enters the Typical Modem Cycle composer. modem, the pulses are changed into au- To prevent the transfer of erroneous dio tones, the frequency of each tone cor- The best way to understand the opera- data, a certain signal integrity must be responding to a logic state, and sent over tion of a modem is to actually put one maintained. In other words, you can't the phone lines in serial form. The result- through its paces. Of course, you need a have the carrier signal fading in and out ing output is a characteristic "doo-dah" computer. Let's say you wish to access a on you, otherwise valuable pieces of in -

50 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com formation will be lost. Therefore, a but in their ultimate use. Without filter- Most personal computers nowadays threshold is set, below which incoming ing, there is a chance that cross modula- have an RS -232C DB-25 connector or a data is ignored. This is the carrier -detect tion could generate a spurious signal dedicated I/O port built right into them. limit, and it is usually established right that the modem would mistake for a They also support their own version of a around -42 dBm. If the carrier is absent data bit. cassette interface or monitor, and unless for too long, the link is broken But separate filter chips have been de- you expect the modem to function on its altogether. veloped. Until their advent, the function own, extra interfacing is of little use. At the end of the conversation, the of filtering the telephone signal was per- Along more practical lines, you find modems say their goodbyes and hang up formed by several operational amplifi- modems with automatic answering. Al- the phones. All modems, cheap or ex- ers. A single filter chip can replace up to though this feature is built right into the pensive, are capable of doing what we've 18 such amplifiers. That's quite a saving. modem chip, it requires external circuit- so far described. The final result is a modem chip set ry for you to be able to use it. Extra cir- Why, then, is there such a widespread made up of two VLSI chips: a modem cuits mean extra money ... and a higher difference in the prices of modems if they and a filter. price tag. all do the same thing? What makes one Often the number of times the phone modem cheaper than another? These are Frills rings before the modem answers it can be all good questions. programmed into the unit. This also in- The answer is twofold. But dedicated chip sets are only part of creases price.

1 Fig. 1. Typical components of a computer-to -computer phone link.

the answer. Many of the expensive On the opposite side of the coin are Dedicated Chips modems also use chip sets in their design. modems that can originate their own In fact, most modems on the market to- calls. They can even remember phone The development of VLSI (Very day are designed around a modem chip. numbers and re -dial them if the line is Large Scale Integration) chips has a lot OK, so what does separate the expen- busy. to do with it. Using this process it is pos- sive models from the budget modems? Such a feature can be a definite time sible to incorporate all but a few of the Frills. saver if you make several calls a day. Just modem's operations into circuits on a Frills are those things that add conve- think of all the labor saved by having the single chip of silicon. And it's a proven nience to life, but aren't essential to per- computer dial up and query the receiver fact that multifunction chips cost little formance. They can best be compared to with no user intervention. Then again, more to manufacture than single -func- the service on an airplane trip. There are think of the price. tion ones. economy coach flights and champagne Therein lies the biggest gain. A flights. Despite the difference in price, Budget Modems modem chip, by itself, is a conglomerate they both accomplish the same end: get- of digital functions. It processes the digi- ting you where you are going. As you may have gathered, budget tal input, converts it to an audio signal, In a modem, frills amount to modems have none of these frills. They and transmits the signal over the tele- "gadgets." are basically manually operated devices. phone lines. The modem chip is also re- Oh, gadgets are neat things to In almost all cases, the originate and sponsible for the reception of the in- have-if you need them.' Most of us answer modes are selected not by an coming signals, their decoding, and sub- don't. It was this lack of need that automatic controller, but by a switch op- sequent digital output to the computer. sparked the budget modem revolution. erated by you. If you're placing a call, That's quite an undertaking for just one Let's look at some of these convenience you flip the switch to the originate posi- device. items, why they exist, andd»'hat they tion. When receiving a message, you Well, in fact, it does have a little help. mean to you. 7° turn it to answer. Until very recently, it has not been feasi- Probably the most frivolous of modem Budget modems also require you to ble to include all of the modem functions gadgets are the added monitors, cassette dial the telephone number of the intend- on only one chip. Filters, in particular, outputs, and TTL ports. I'm sure that, in ed receiver and to answer the phone are not readily adaptable to multi -func- their day, they were well -received addi- yourself when it rings. That's not too tion designs because of the many param- tions to a bare -bones computer. But, much to ask for $100 or less, is it? eters involved. Not in the filter design, those days are pretty well past. (Continued on page 93)

May 1984 51

AmericanRadioHistory.Com I 1 a. 1 f., 11 t s

The best of the available hardware and software for building a top-notch business graphics system BY JACK BISHOP IN the business community, the abili- broken, and dotted lines or different gra- ty to communicate information and dations of shading. data to an audience in the least -complicated and easiest -to -grasp manner is Business Graphics Users of paramount importance. Since much of the business information communi- The term "bus'ness graphics" is a cated consists of numeric data, the best catch-all. It includes everything from communication medium is pictures in line, bar and pie charts to sales territory the form of graphs and charts. It is usu- maps to engineering drawings to pictori- ally easier and more acceptable to al representations of products to block present dry numerical data in picture (and other types of) diagrams that depict format than to tabulate it in columns. corporate structure trees or procedures Today's sophisticated and powerful to be performed. In fact, any pictorial microcomputers and software packages representation can be constructed with make it possible for nonprogrammers to and presented by a desktop computer. construct dazzling, informative graphs Sometimes, however, the computer must and charts that save the person present- reach out beyond its own realm, to a ing the information a great deal of expla- larger mainframe or minicomputer, to nation time. Color gives modern busi- obtain the data needed to construct a ness graphics visual appeal and makes it graphics image. However, since the fo- possible for graphs and charts to contain cus here is on business graphics, our dis- multiple levels of related information cussion will be limited to the charting without undue complication. Assigning and graphing options available. [For a a different color to each division, for ex- discussion of getting corporate data to ample, permits a graph of income data your micro, see "Getting Mainframe for several divisions over time without Data to Micros" elsewhere in this issue. the need for possibly confusing solid, Ed.] Users of business graphics range from top executives in large companies to Dr. Jack Bishop's consulting firm, Bishop salesmen in the field to managers and an- Associates, specializes in corporate plan- alysts in accounting, stock, engineering, ning and operations analysis. and any other departments in which pic-

AmericanRadioHistory.Com .

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com .r torial images will be beneficial. Consid- price of complex operator requirements ering that numerical data is the common prevents the system from being consid- Charts denominator at all levels, there is no lim- ered to be the state of the art. it to who can use business graphics in the State-of-the-art software must be able The first step in putting together a professional community. to produce text and pictures, in addition business graphics system is to decide on When we discuss business graphics, to line, bar, scatter, and area (pie) charts. what types of charts will be needed, our frame of reference is on the "state of Ideally, the system should be able to de- based on the type of audience(s) for the art," since it is the standard by which velop maps of sales territories, plant and which they are to be designed. Different a top-quality microcomputer business office layouts, process flows, and equip- audiences require different things. For graphics system must be judged. ment placement. Additionally, the sys- example, for a presentation to a drafting tem should be able to develop a third di- and engineering audience to be effective, Toward the Ideal mension to permit evaluation of sophisticated three-dimensional plotting graphics from alternative perspectives. capabilities might be required. For It is almost impossible to avoid men- The software should also be flexible graphics artists, considerably higher res- tioning "state of the art" in any discus- enough to permit the user to construct olution would be required than for, say, sion of computers. Actually, the state of his own custom charts and graphs. a sales department. If you have the re- the art in business graphics at the micro- Most modern software can generate sponsibility for putting together a busi- computer level is far from the ideal most users would like it to be. Available systems are too limited in their capabilities, too complicated to operate by the casual U.S.60U'T SPENDING, GOODS & SERVICES,72$ user, or both. To be considered state of the art, a mi- 1983 Federal, Calender Year crocomputer -based system must support 270 the charting needs of the business professional, though not necessarily by itself. B 210 I 150

I You must first 0 90 decide on the types N of charts needed for 30 the intended 39 44 49 54 59 64 69 74 79 84 89 audience YEAR

El FEDERAL ----- STATE & LOCAL To achieve the desired level of performance, hardware and software must be viewed as an integrated "system." The A Graftalk multiple display using bar, line, and pie charts. system chosen must be able to support all the charting needs for analysis and the four basic types of charts, but few ness graphics system, the needs of your presentation both now and in the fore- packages are able to produce all types of audience(s) will obviously dictate what seeable future. In the business environ- charts easily, flexibly, and well. To be hardware and software you select. ment, however, one should think of state truly flexible, a state-of-the-art system Most business graphics charts fall into of the art in terms of simplicity and clar- must produce all types of charts simply the basic -set category consisting of line, ity, not complexity and dazzle. and easily and have the ability to fetch bar, scatter, and area (pie) charts. Other Opinions differ about what consti- data from other programs, data files, and types of charts, such as star (spider -web) tutes state of the art in business graphics, databases. At the very least, such a sys- and triangle, may be useful for special depending on the user, the intended au- tem should be easy to operate in order to applications but are usually too difficult dience, and the information to be com- accommodate even infrequent users. for the general business audience to in- municated. The three-dimensional Regardless of type, any chart pro- terpret. The majority of current business graphics of the engineering department duced for business graphics applications graphics software can produce the four just now beginning to reach the board- falls into either of two categories. Most basic types of charts; but few packages room in a few companies may indeed be are standard charts produced on a regu- can produce all varieties easily, flexibly, state of the art by one definition but may lar basis. The other category consists of and well. be inappropriate to a user who does not special charts that are produced only as Software to produce sales territory require this level of sophistication. Very the demand arises and that are almost al- maps, in which results or potential can powerful and flexible systems are almost ways unique. The flexibility of the soft- be added as a pseudo -third dimension, always unwieldy to use and require of ware required to produce special charts are not yet available for current stand- the user a considerable amount of tech- should not require repetitious operations alone microcomputer systems. A survey nical expertise. For the more casual user, to produce standard charts. Obviously, of available products for microcomput- such as the inventory manager, budget the hardware/software system must be ers reveals that software can be a major analyzer, or salesman, a high degree of able to accommodate both types of limiting factor in putting together a busi- technical sophistication bought at the charts with ease. ness graphics system. However, a

54 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com modem link to a mainframe computer available user RAM inside the computer no single device will provide a "perfect" can give access to software that can be so much as to the system's disk storage solution, though a number can come used, with a microcomputer to produce capacity. Though a good graphics sys- very close. almost any type of chart or graph. tem can be built around a computer with Among the hard -copy devices avail- as little as 256K of user RAM, it would able are dot-matrix impact printers, x/y Hardware be a wise move to have as much RAM as plotters, and RGB-to-slide duplicators. possible to avoid needless system pro- The dot-matrix printer is not the best The hardware side of a business cessing limitations. choice here, since it is primarily a text graphics system consists of a basic mi- Memory capacity is of paramount im- generator and only secondarily a graph- crocomputer with high -resolution color portance in being able to store very large ics device. Graphics images produced by graphics monitor; a means to generate programs, many of which may not fit on the dot-matrix printer generally lack the hard copy of the charts on paper and/or single floppy disks. This requirement is fine detail and color quality available transparent film; and means to connect best filled by a hard -disk (also known as with other hard -copy devices. The quali- to the outside world. The external con- "Winchester") system with at least a ty of even the latest color -ribbon dot-ma- nection, obtained with a modem, pro- 10M -byte capacity. trix printers cannot be considered to be vides the system with the ability to use The system's video display monitor state of the art, though for less stringent powerful mainframe software packages should be a color model, both to provide needs, these printers may suffice. In a when the capability of the simple micro - based system is overtaxed. Using a modem to access a mainframe computer NL BASE STEALING TREND, 4950-1992 provides other capabilities as well, such B 120- as the ability to get information (market- A 1101 ing, financial, cost, etc.) from central- IOO ized data banks to use in constructing S charts and graphs. E9 Though the ideal system does not yet BO S exist in the microcomputer world, some 70

of the currently available machines 60- come close to the mark. In terms of user - S friendliness, the Apple Macintosh and 50; T4,, Lisa and the Hewlett-Packard HP 150 0 are among the best. Though not avail- 30: /

able in color yet, they offer excellent L 2o _i NOTE: BASED OH SEASON'S BEST BASE STEALER graphics capabilities. If color is a neces- ro NOT TOTALED FOR EACH TEAM OR LEAGUE sity, the Texas Instruments Professional , I Computer (see "System Overview" box) N o 1' 1' ITI I I' 1-rTT1 I '1 I provides an excellent choice, though at a 50 52 54 56 58 B0 fi2 64 66 68 70 72 74 78 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 slight sacrifice in resolution. The stan- SEASONS dard IBM PC is a distant second to the O5AMN BY'BUSINESS 6 PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE. INC. Apple, HP, and TI machines but is wor- thy of consideration because a great deal Business Graphics from BPS permits annotation in charts. of third -party hardware and software is available or under development for it. visual impact and to be able to display well-rounded business graphics system, (Note: The ranking of these computers is the various colors that will be used for however, a good dot-matrix printer of- based on manufacturer -configured sys- combination charts and graphs. To as- fers an inexpensive means of obtaining tems. In some cases, particularly with sure maximum resolution and color ren- rough copies of charts to be used for ref- the IBM PC and PC -XT machines, basic dition, with a minimum of interference, erence purposes. system performance can be considerably the monitor must have an RGB (red, A color pen plotter is a much better enhanced by adding third -party green, blue) signal input. (See "Color choice for generating hard copies of hardware.) Monitors" box.) business graphics. Prices for plotters Spending more money on the basic cover a wide range, with quality varying system yields greater performance capa- Printers and Plotters accordingly. There are, however, several bility. The $10,000 to $13,000 (fully brand names that instill confidence in loaded) DEC Professional 350 comput- Virtually all users of business graphics the graphics arena. Among the most re- er, for example, offers excellent color systems want the images constructed on spected is Hewlett-Packard, which graphics capabilities. Going higher in a computer to be converted into hard makes a series of color plotters that have price, tó the $15,000 and up range, we copy. To meet this demand, a number of achieved a deservedly good reputation. reach the top of the graphics line with devices can be used to obtain images on Plotters made by HP are the most widely Tektronix and Hewlett-Packard ma- paper, transparencies, and slides, in used in the graphics community, both chines. These long-standing favorites of monochrome (black and white) or in full because of product quality and the fact the professional provide resolution that color. that they are supported by a number of can be described as superb. In keeping with the low cost philoso- software packages and require no modi- A fair amount of storage capacity is phy of microcomputers, the devices fications or complicated hookup to the required to plot many points and for ease most likely to be chosen will require only computer. of use in handling many charts. Memory a moderate investment. At this level (ac- Though the Tektronix Model 4662 capacity in this context does not refer to tually, at any level) of the cost spectrum, pen plotter has been around for more

May 1984 55

AmericanRadioHistory.Com than five years, it is still an excellent de- system requires a special lens housing ness graphics system should also have a vice for generating business graphics in and associated camera to avoid parallax projection -TV hookup to bring the hard copy. This top -of-the -line model, from the curved screen, particularly at graphics from the screen of the comput- which sells for about $6000, can digitize tight angles. Using a camera mounted on er to the screen of the boardroom. For drawings into the computer, a handy a tripod may be adequate for the budget- less than $5000, for example, an feature to have for some special conscious, but it leaves much to be de- Electrohome projection-TV system can applications. sired with regard to quality. be interfaced with the computer to Irik jet printers offer an attractive al- The electronic approach can be used present a graphics slide show produced ternative to the pen plotter. The $1600 with any computer that has an RS -232 and controlled by the computer. Tektronix Model 4695 uses four ink car- serial output port. An electronic system, Finally, there exist dial -up services tridges to produce an 8" X 10" copy of driven by a computer, can provide hard that can produce a hard -copy version of the screen in three to four minutes at a copy in color by bypassing the optical a chart as 35 -mm transparency for less cost of about 100 per copy. Time, price, system altogether. Prices for such sys- than $10. One such service is "Target" and performance all recommend that tems range from about $2500 to $15,000. from Comshare, 1935 Cliff Valley Rd., this piece of equipment be seriously con- The $3000 Polaroid VideoPrinter is an Atlanta, GA 30329 (404-634-9535). sidered for inclusion as part of a business example of such a system. It has the abil- Some services offer aid with chart mak- graphics system. ity to make 8" X 10" prints and/or ing as well. Truly professional chart - Another alternative to the conven- transparencies from the screen image. making requires a specialized minicom- tional plotter is to capture screen images The transparencies it generates can be puter with proprietary software and is on photographic film. For photography - made with either instant or regular film. available in large cities. based hard copy, two choices exist-one (See "Hard -Copy Devices" box for a list optical, using a standard film camera of makes and models of hard -copy hard- Reconfiguring a System and fast 400 -speed film, the other elec- ware that is suitable for business graph- tronic, using RGB video output signals ics applications.) One way to obtain near -state-of-the- for making direct -to -film images. art performance from a basic microcom- With the optical approach, two or Conference Room Connection puter system that ordinarily does not three exposures of each screen are re- provide such a high level of performance quired to ensure a good print. An optical To be really up to the minute, a busi- is to reconfigure it. Most computers have expansion slots or facilities for us- SYSTEM OVERVIEW ing expansion chassis to accommodate hardware add -ins or add-ons. This feature can be used to upgrade a computer Manufacturer*/Model TEK HP DEC APPLE IBM TI so that it has the desired capabilities. 4105 150 Pro Lisa PC -XT Pro By reconfiguring a system, the user who wants near -state-of-the-art perfor- Display Size (in.): 19 12 12 14 13 mance can preserve his original invest- number of colors: 16 1 8 1 16 8 horiz. resolution: 4096 512 960 720 320 720 ment in computer hardware. This may vert. resolution: 4096 390 240 364 200 300 not be the best route to take in all cir- Refresh Rate (Hz): 60 60 60 15 19 cumstances, however. Reconfiguring an Memory (bytes): 256 256 256 1000 256 256 existing system usually requires the ser-

'Manufacturer abbreviations are as follows: TEK = Tektronix; HP = Hewlett-Packard; DEC = Digital Equipment Corp.; vices of an expert who has considerable TI = Texas Instruments Inc. experience with computer hardware and software to devise a working system. o eo When such expertise is available, this COLOR MONITORS - ; can certainly be a viable approach. É Some computers are more easily The following is a representative listing of RGB-input color video monitors available in the reconfigured than others. These ma- marketplace. chines have available to them performance -enhancement add -ins and/or Manufacturer Model and Details add-ons from the computer manufactur- NEC Home Electronics Model JC 1216: er and other sources. Among the two 12" RGB; 8 x 8 -dot matrix; most popular series of microcomputers 10 -MHz bandwidth; 640 x 240 - with good expansion capability are the pixel graphics resolution Apple II series and the IBM PC and PC- XT. The popularity of the Apple II se- Princeton Graphic Systems Model SR -12: 12" RGB; 0.31 -mm dot pitch; ries often has been attributed to the ease 31.5 -kHz scan rate; 690 X with which these machines can accom- 480 -pixel graphics resolution modate a wide variety of circuit cards that plug directly into the expansion Amdek Model Color IV: slots. By plugging in a couple of cards, a 13" RGB; 15.75 -kHz scan rate; lowly games -playing Apple II can be 720 x 420 -pixel graphics resolution transformed into an advanced 16 -bit TSK Electronics Corporation Taxan RGBvision Ill: computer with 256K of RAM to up- 12" RGB; 15.75 -kHz scan rate grade performance to the near -state-of- the-art level required for top-quality Wyse Model WY300: 8 colors Technology (Continued on page 108)

56 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Before you work anywhere, take a look at the tools we work with: NASAs space shuttle. For Air

Force officers working as electrical - or aerospace engineers, the challenge is just beginning. In fact, from laboratories to lasers to launch pads, we have exciting. - projects and management opportunities very few employers can offer. For example, we are developing experiments that will be an

important part of the space - shuttle's cargo in the years to come. Experienced Air Force engineers will work asshuttle mission - pllanners and as astronaut flight controllers. If you have an electrical or aerospace engineering degree, or loom will have, we may have a challlenging future for you as an Air Force; officer. It's a future that 61 demands the vision and , ) commitment of people like you. And it's vital to our country. For more information. about Air Force engineering opportunities, mail the card. Or call toll -free U S A 1 -800 -423 -USAF (in California 1 -800 -232 -USAF). Better yet, send -your resume to HRSIRSAANE, Randolph AFB, TX 78150. There's -no obligation.

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com Making corporate databases available to micro users isn't as easy as it sounds

BY JAN A. GUGLIOTTI AND ELLIOT B. WEITZ

WITH the rapid proliferation of access to mainframe data at a reasonable personal computers and inex- cost. Who's telling the truth? pensive software in the work- The fact is, both arguments contain an place, there has been reason to celebrate. element of truth. The packages adver- Applications software such as spread- tised can solve some of the problems of sheets, database managers and word- attaching a micro to a mainframe for processing packages is helping users of purposes of data sharing. But the data- personal computers produce higher processing people are also correct- quality work more easily and rapidly. those packages solve only some of the Their enthusiasm, however, can problems. quickly come to a halt when they at- The purpose of this article is to pro- tempt to tap directly into their organiza- vide some explanation of the issues, defi- tion's big mainframe computer. Having nitions of technical jargon, and examples developed a hunger for more fact and of products, so the personal computer more analysis, users naturally begin to user can have a more informed discus- wonder why they have to wade through sion with both vendors and data process- reams of paper to get at the information ing. But because the past months have they need. Wouldn't it be simpler just to literally opened the floodgates to new siphon off information from the corpo- mainframe -to -PC software, the com- rate mainframe into a micro spread- mercial products we reference have been sheet? Why not just bypass the main- limited to (a) those that provide a physi- frame entirely, and develop all new cal link between an IBM mainframe and applications on personal computers? an IBM PC, and (b) representative IBM - Those who'd like to pursue this course to -PC software packages. Apologies to of action typically run up against seem- those who have been omitted in the in- ingly contradictory information. Their terest of space. data-processing department, using extremely technical and rather obtuse lan- The Issues guage, says that the micro -to -mainframe connection can't be made-it costs too Knowing the meaning of the technical much money, takes months to imple- terms you will encounter in your search ment, and won't produce the desired re- for the micro -to -mainframe connection sult (ready access to fresh data). (see the sidebar) isn't enough. You need Yet, the packaged solutions adver- to understand the problems that exist tised so widely seem to promise instant and how they place a barrier between the personal computer and the company Jan A. Gugliotti and Elliot B. Weitz are mainframe. senior associates of Index Systems, Inc., a There are two technical issues that consulting firm specializing in business must be addressed to make the micro - applications of information technology. mainframe link feasible. The first is ILLUSTRATION BY BILL PLYMPTON May 1984 61

AmericanRadioHistory.Com making the physical connection-how to widely supported by personal computer al -computer end, in a synchronous, clus- introduce your personal computer to the equipment and software vendors. These ter -controlled environment, are the company mainframe without spending a links are relatively inexpensive, and have IRMA board (TAC, Atlanta, GA), vari- quarter of a million dollars for new hard- been around for a long time. The invest- ous hardware/software connections ware and software. The second, making ment required at the micro end is an or- from AST Research (Irvine, CA), and the data connection, is how to get the dinary personal -computer modem (e.g., the 3270 PC made by IBM, which has data you want without the resources of a Hayes, Novation, Rixon, etc.) and com- the added advantage of allowing four squad of black belt programmers. munications software (e.g., Crosstalk, separate programs running simulta- Mite, or even a public domain program neously on the mainframe to be piped The Physical Connection like MODEM 712). into "windows" on the PC screen. Most other vendors whose products Connecting your personal computer primarily support the data -grabbing to your company's big one requires play- Before you run function (see The Data Connection, being by the mainframe's rules. Before you low) have integrated the physical con- run out to the corner computer store and out and spend nection into their "tool kits" of main- spend money on hardware or software to money, define frame -to -PC software. A good example make the link, spend time with your in- is the IT series of micro -to -mainframe formation systems and communications your requirements connections, from Martin Marietta Data departments to define exactly what your System of Princeton, NJ. The IT series mainframe requires or is able to provide If your mainframe does not support includes a physical link for asynchro- to support communications with a per- remote timesharing, however, you will nous communication (Link -IT), and for sonal computer. be forced to explore and become familiar synchronous communication (Pass -IT), If the mainframe already supports re- with the world of synchronous proto- as well as data management software de- mote timesharing, and if the number of cols, cluster communications, and IBM scribed below. Omnilink and Omni - personal -computer users who want to 3270 terminal emulation. As a general micro (On -Line Software International, access the mainframe is small (and likely rule, personal computer links to this en- Fort Lee, NJ) is another powerful family to remain so), you're in luck. You can vironment are more expensive and have of tools that support a variety of main- use simple one-to-one links with your undergone less of a technical shakeout frame asynchronous, synchronous and mainframe, and one of the asynchronous period. Examples of products that forge networked physical links, in tandem communications protocols that are the physical link alone from the person- with a query facility to grab data out of a

AGLOSSARYOF MS

APHYSICAL link consists of the computer A, is transferred from the From the (physical) serial port of hardware, the media, and the ac- computer's keyboard or memory to the computer A, the bits representing the tual physical configuration used circuitry of its serial port as pulses of character can be sent to the serial port of to link one computer to another. electricity. There the bits are rearranged computer B, where the serial -to -parallel The link starts (and ends) with a serial so they can be sent serially-one bit after process is reversed and the character is port for the computer and a modem the other-as dc voltages to the physical displayed on the computer's screen, (modulator/demodulator). The easiest termination of that port, the connector printed out, or entered into its memory way to understand the role of these com- to which a modem can be attached. Each (see figure below). The character can get ponents is to follow a single character as bit's presence or absence is represented (Continued on page 104) it is transmitted from one computer to by a high (about 12 V) or low (close to 0 another. V) pulse whose duration depends on the Modem transmission The character, represented by seven transmission speed being used. The of signals from one or eight bits (binary digits; logic is and higher the speed, the shorter the length computer to another. Os) in parallel-side-by-side-within of the pulse.

Parallel data letter "C"

Computer A O.O Serial data Serial data letter "C" letter "C" 1 0000000 0.0000

From phone !`=_.1 line ft- Modem Modern Bit high Computar B 00000000 O Bit low Parallel data letter "C"

62 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com variety of "live" data files on the mainframe. Other software families with sim- PROTOCOLS ilar physical link additions to their data - grabbing bridge capabilities include By Charles Daney tion) are detected and corrected. System W (from Comshare, Ann Arbor, For asynchronous terminals, a num- MI) and ADR/PC (Applied Data Re- ber of ad hoc methods have been devised search, Princeton, NJ). pERSONAL computer owners who for dealing with such matters. For exam- However, the real investment that use their equipment to communi- ple, the use of the parity bit permits the may be required to support personal cate with mainframes or other terminal or host computer to detect computer access shows up at the main- personal computers are generally aware whether the number of bits in a byte is frame end-a cluster controller, new ca- that they must use "asynchronous termi- incorrect. The XON/XOFF characters bling, networking software, and addi- nal" emulation software to do this. Just (CONTROL -S, CONTROL -Q) can be used tional front-end communications gear. what is an asynchronous terminal, and as signals for one side to stop sending It is easy to spend a quarter of a million what makes it different from other types momentarily while the other catches its dollars on hardware and software en- of terminals? breath. But every such device tends to hancements for the mainframe to enable The chief respect in which terminals introduce other problems. For example, dialogue with an office full of $2000 differ-as far as communications is if the parity bit is in use, arbitrary 8 -bit micros. concerned-is in the communications bytes (binary data) cannot easily be sent, protocol employed. A dictionary defini- so special methods of character encod- The Data Connection tion of "protocol" might read: "A for- ing must be provided. mal standard of speech or behavior To handle such problems in a satisfac- Four types of generic software offer- governing interactions between individ- tory and uniform manner, genuine pro- ings to bridge the gap between mainframe uals." The purpose of such a protocol is tocols have been defined with the inten- data storage and personal computer ap- to establish who should speak at what tion that both terminals and host plications packages (usually spread- time, and how his words should be computers will employ them "transpar- sheets) began to appear late in 1983. interpreted. ently" to the user or application pro= The first type provides a bridge from a Although computers communicate gram. One of the earliest of these, devel- mainframe fourth -generation language using bits rather than the spoken word, oped by IBM in the 1960s, is called (one that permits nonprogrammers to the problems to be solved are much the binary -synchronous communication, or quickly produce reports from main- bisync for short. frame data files) to a micro version of the As the name "bisync" implies, both language or to a spreadsheet. The bridge ends of the communications link at- makes it easier for nonprogrammers Protocols determine tempt to remain in sync with each other. who have spent time learning the fourth - how data flow is This is done using a special character generation language to find, extract, re- (i.e., a bit pattern) called SYN. Bisync is a format and download data that already controlled and how half duplex protocol, in that only one reside in the mainframe version of that potential errors side can be transmitting at any given language's data files. time. Another special character called The following things typically must can be corrected ENQ (for "enquiry") is therefore used to happen in a fourth -generation language gain control of the communications line, link: which must subsequently be relin- Data of interest to many users are same. Whose turn is it to transmit data? quished with an EOT (for "end of trans- taken from a variety of sources (e.g. ac- How fast can the data be transmitted? mission") character. This mechanism counting programs, production pro- Are special signals required to get the handles the flow control problem to pre- grams, "bought" data such as market other side's attention? Are there special vent data from being sent faster than the share reports) and stored in a file accessi- signals to use to indicate that an error recipient can handle it. ble by the mainframe fourth -generation has occurred? Instead of using a parity bit for error language. An experienced programmer Strictly speaking, asynchronous com- checking, bisync employs a checksum, is almost always required to write this munications really implies the absence which is just a number computed from "data read/write" program. Each time of a protocol, since either side can talk at the actual data to be sent. The sender the original source of data is updated any time. The two ends do not need to be computes the number and forwards it (for example, each time new production in sync with each ,other. In practice, of along with the data. The recipient re - statistics are reported) the "data course, it is not feasible to communicate computes it. If the checksums match, read/write" program must be re -run. without some further conventions. the recipient assumes the data is correct An individual user decides what Therefore, many asynchronous termi- (although there is still a low probability kind of information he or she needs from nals and communications programs can that it isn't!), and replies with an ACK the mainframe, fourth -generation file. be configured to use a specific baud rate, (for "acknowledge") character. Other- Someone writes a program in the fourth - parity, number of data bits, number of wise the data is assumed to be in error generation language, usually off-line on stop bits, etc. But these parameters are and a NAK (for "negative acknow- the micro, to find, aggregate and possi- arbitrary. They are not truly a part of ledgement") is sent. The originator then bly reformat the data into a set that asynchronous protocol. retransmits the data. serves the micro user's purposes. Dedi- While the format in which data is Note that ENQ, SYN, ACK, NAK, etc. cated nonprogrammers can often write transmitted is important, it is not "pro- are just ordinary control characters, so this "data fetch" program with a little tocol." Protocol determines how the they could be present in normal (binary) outside help. flow of data is controlled, and how po- data. To prevent confusion, yet another (Continued on page 100) tential errors in transmission (or recep- (Continued on page 103)

May 1984 63

AmericanRadioHistory.Com UI inters Mouses,- touch screens, touch pads, light pens, -- and the like can make you system easier to use

BY FORREST M. MIMS III

AHONG the most powerful pe- Many of these pointing devices have quality driver software, is available. ripherals for personal comput- long been available to users of sophisti- Many computer users have had little ers are those that enable the user cated scientific and engineering comput- or no experience in the use of pointing to move a cursor and enter commands ers. However, with the exception of devices and therefore are unsure which and data without resorting to the key- some joysticks and light pens, their price is best suited for their needs. If you fall in board. Collectively known as pointing was far beyond the means of the typical this category, you're not alone. Even ex- devices, they include various kinds of personal computer owner. perienced users of pointing devices con- joysticks, digitizing tablets, touch Fortunately, the rapid growth of the tinue to debate the merits of the various screens, light pens, and mice. personal computer industry has made a kinds by citing research studies and major impact on the availability of rea- scholarly papers that claim their favorite Forrest M. Mims, III is a contributing sonably priced pointing devices. Today a pointing device is indeed the best. editor to C&E. wide variety of such devices, along with Notwithstanding the ongoing contro-

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVE BRONSTEIN 64 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com versy it is possible for even a novice user joysticks and game paddles are the most potentiometers whose rotors are me- to decide which pointing device is supe- pervasive of pointing devices. Virtually chanically linked by a two -axis coupler rior for a particular application. All every low-cost computer system sold to- and shaft assembly. Movement of the that's required is a comparison of the day includes a pair of joystick input shaft (the "stick") along either the x or y features of the various kinds, followed by ports. axis moves the rotor of the respective po- a "hands-on" session with those that The two major kinds of joysticks, ana- tentiometer. Off -axis movements of the seem best. The review that follows will log and, digital, use entirely different op- stick move both rotors, each in direct help you get started. erating principles. The analog joystick is proportion to the direction and displace- a proportional device. Long a favorite ment of the stick. Joysticks control interface for radio control air- In a typical analog joystick, a dc volt- plane enthusiasts, the most common age is connected across each potentiome- Thanks to the video game industry, kind of analog joystick consists of two ter. A variable voltage appears at the ro-

May 1984 65

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com _ ._-^ _ iLLil.L LJi5I-. l'11111L4JL-.er1111iLLLLL tion. As the ball rotates, it turns one or EJ_.lo.Mr-- --, maid. -.Ja1 mall. LL LLiLi -YLLFrYYLLL-.Li... _ls..r-LLLJ + I__.§ -,__Alb LLLL.º..L4111LLF-L_L., - both of two small rubber wheels, each of JLLJJaJL.Mali LJiL-iLL1.-.iL._,L.` . 1,116LLLL - - . a:.JJii. .i0..x.JL-LiLLLiLLLLS. - r.. MIEN - " Lgii liaL___. which is attached to a shaft that is free to JLl...fb..JL.Ji..J- I-, iLalLJMIL1.-1-.~1-.1-LLIRIL7-ie+41iI -- LLLLL_. 6.J'{Ji.JJJ} iiULrLiLJiLiiiL6f iL,L_L_ L_ rotate. i.-J.-PJr.Ji, - -. .YJULJLJI...JLIL...riLLLLLL L.L+ULLL_L_ The - . iULJLJL iLJL..J-LL..iL.LLJ -- LL_LL-.LL shafts of the analog trackball are rJ.J..J`_J r... - LJi LJLULJIJLLJLLLu-. LLL - mechanically linked to the rotors of po- ai...__LJt...Ft1._ .,._L_"ILi..-_ - Ya.. LL.L-L_ Ij ; tentiometers. Other trackballs include v - LcJ-u.l-_.-LL LLL _ . ;Ala L I - - u... 1t_ encoding devices such as slotted pick -off LJ _ _ _, _ fF' t L F JJ Kl 1 r t J J,,.-_ - - wheels. A -71111I-t.J .._ light emitting diode and pho------, , ____Li_ - L,- F.;i 11. totransistor on opposite sides of the pick -off wheel cause a series of pulses to ,d.' s be generated as the trackball is moved. - - ` CJ_- _ -j =IS ` - - - ( f J. " ._ L:. The trackball is well suited for very l t-f _LJ._U ;__ rapid movements of a cursor across a I 1W....- w ' Ljid -:fE' display and for causing a cursor to fol- . - tit L.1-./-J...`1. i--..11111_ low an on -screen outline. Simply by ---u-tmmLJ ..r...... ! UULIM1Jrr,r..{ varying the speed at which the ball is ro- .~/ 1/0/ -JJN-. ,rijni.-.m.- L-Z111111111111111UMMIIIIIMr.. --.I tated, the motion of the cursor can be / NW 21,1JItI r.rl .- ML+raLLLJ,IJt varied from a slow crawl to a rapid clip. `- WI-tlL=ld.. ~ 21111111LJ l,ul_Jrr. ... . >1f -411/1I._ H. Id e r This is why the trackball is superior to ..r. r. - E=éa the joystick for some kinds of video , _iGtu ;_iErnl....1 games. On the other hand, an analog joy- . l stick is generally a better choice for con- r irUl-iL-rr.riI it `:= É31- - - - w . - - --`-:,~ .L. : .eit+l2:, k.114_ tinuous tracking of moving on -screen objects. Joysticks, light pens, trackballs and mouses are all pointers. Trackballs are more complicated, hence more expensive, than most joy- tor terminals. Thus, as the stick is switch on the stick is pressed, the joysticks. Precision units designed for mili- moved, analog -to -digital conversion cir- stick functions in the absolute mode. tary and flight control applications can cuitry in the computer transforms the The absolute mode permits very quick cost more than $2000. Trackballs for variable voltage into digital bytes that movements of the cursor to a general home computers and video games can be can be processed as data entries or used area of interest, while the rate mode al- purchased for as little as $30. to move a cursor. lows the cursor to be precisely located. Some analog joysticks have a "float- Quality joysticks for use with personal The Mouse ing" stick that remains where it is computers cost under $50, a good buy moved. Others are equipped with considering the ruggedness of most The mouse is a movable pointing de- springs that return the stick to its center vice. About the size of a bar of soap, position when it is released. Some cen- most resemble an up -side down trackball ter -return joysticks can also be operated designed to be rolled across the surface in the floating mode. of a desk. Others incorporate optical The digital joystick, commonly used sensors that generate pulses as the mouse with many low-cost home computers, is is moved across the surface of a specially much simpler in design. It generates an marked grid. output byte when its shaft is moved in Developed more than fifteen years ago each of eight directions. A typical digital at Stanford Research Institute, the joystick contains only four switches. The mouse has only recently come into wide- additional four output bytes are generat- spread use. It's biggest proponent, Apple ed when two of the switches are simulta- Inkwell Systems' Flexidraw. Computer, has staked its future on the neously closed. viability of the mouse as an efficient, ef- Analog joysticks are usually operated units. Specialized joysticks for flight fective pointing device. Both Lisa and in an absolute mode in which the cursor control systems, radar operators, and Macintosh replace function keys and follows the position of the stick. Digital outdoor use can cost considerably more. complicated sequences of keyboard joysticks are rate devices. The cursor For instance, miniature, finger-oper- commands with on -screen options and moves in the direction the stick is ated joysticks made by Measurement icons that can be quickly selected by moved. When the stick is returned to its Systems, Inc. cost from $444 to $1126. moving a small mouse -driven, on -screen center position, however, the cursor sim- Tiny silicon piezoresistive elements pointer over them. The selection is then ply stops moving. The next time the stick within these hermetically sealed joy- implemented by pressing a button on the is moved, the cursor follows in the same sticks generate a small voltage as pres- mouse. direction. Some rate joysticks increase sure is applied to the stick. It's important to understand the dif- the speed of the cursor as the stick is ferences between mechanical and optical moved farther from its center position. Trackballs mice. A mechanical mouse detects Recently the features of absolute and movements of its rotating ball using the rate joysticks have been combined in a The trackball permits very rapid same methods applied to trackballs. hybrid device called the absolute/rate cursor movements. It consists of an en- Some mechanical mice create noise joystick. One such device normally func- closed assembly containing a plastic ball when they are moved. And the ball can tions as a rate joystick. When a small that can be freely rotated in any direc- transfer eraser particles and other debris

COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL CARDACINO 68 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com from the desktop to the inside of the r//_rc._, rrr_r_r ..0 `a°a u JM..J-J/U...JIW,1irú _ . U-_u_uU_-...... ! .JJJ.iJ//rJrLl-_ _L.+.. u mouse's housing. - ' rra//UUr-.-/.7 ' u....- Optical mice have no moving parts. J J//../L.IL.:/=. r .... u -_ But the grid -marked pad they require ..-Juaa-..Y_...eu rJaJUJ.+__c]-Uur-_..--. ..U_1--_:,:..,_..,,-, occupies valuable desk space. JuuuJ.. _ r Jua_aaa//u/--.. as V An ongoing debate among mouse uraliaiiiáii" manufacturers concerns the number of .ry.+3uaaa1- aaaaa. switch buttons on the device. Apple 4..,..Jaaaaa_1 i claims the best approach is a single 13rIaaalliiiiisít switch that can be operated in three aaar..raa/aaaeó4r..ra1 modes. For example, one press might se- aa.. _aaaal aarrr_aar . aaarr_a/1t . lect an option, two presses might imple- .aarral:br r.r.r._rr, ment an operation and continuous pres- ..rarrra/ MI a Lrr.r~r sure might draw a line. 01412a%11 Il 9r Others claim that multiple buttons are ar/r1ó/// N/ r best. They note, for example, that sever- RIM r hdlg... via B r al buttons allow lines to be drawn with- rr/rrr11//Irrr/1 rlrrrwrr out the nuisance of having to press con- rr////1/r/////1 /111 rrlrrr! tinuously on a switch. ir1111111 I brlrrimr MI///I/ PbnerPad lrrlrrir How effective is the mouse? A 1978 /rrrrl/1 r project known as the Xerox study com- /1d////1 - Alml/rm pared the relative effectiveness of the *WarIIIrIM walk I(M1/lrra 111111111111 h._ /rrrrr mouse, joystick and cursor and text keys ji I I for text selection and editing purposes. whim/IOM I-I t/Io mamma gimm...rlr.,m The mouse was " ... found to be the fastest on all counts and also to have the low- The Koalapad and PowerPad are two types of digitizing tablets. est error rates." (Stuart K. Card, Wil- liam K. English and Betty J. Burr in light (or extinguish) a pixel or select a Worse, it's both tiring and unnatural to Ergonomics, Vol. 21, No. 8, pp. 601-613.) menu option. draw with a light pen on a typical com- These advantages, however, must be Recently several light pens specifical- puter monitor screen for extended peri- viewed in light of the mouse's drawbacks. ly designed for home computers have ods. These drawbacks may not be signifi- These include the fact that it requires been developed. Some cost as little as cant when the light pen is used for space and is totally unsuited for use with $25. Much more sophisticated versions relatively short sessions. And they can lapsize and other portable computers. can cost more than $100 and are sold be eliminated entirely if the display Furthermore, long-term operation of a with surprisingly complete software screen is mounted ill a horizontal posi- mouse is more fatiguing than a joystick. packages. tion. The screen then becomes a properly Finally, the mouse is more expensive and positioned sketchpad on your desk or ta- bletop for the light pen. more fragile than most joysticks. x The Light Pen Touch Sensitive Screens

There's something magical about a 5.111.L=?Síi_r,= Touch sensitive computer monitor pen that leaves behind a trail of color as rWW1:: rr screens permit an index finger or, per- it is moved across the face of a computer haps, a stylus, to function much like a screen like an electronic paintbrush. light pen. They provide a very simple And since the light pen is held and used and totally natural interface between a like a pencil, it's operation is much more computer and its operator. natural and familiar than most other Hewlett-Packard's touch screen. Because of the relatively large size of pointing devices. even the smallest finger tip, however, The operation of a light pen is less A particularly impressive light pen - touch sensitive screens have low resolu- mysterious than it appears. The screen of software combination is Inkwell Sys- tion. While they are fine for selecting a cathode-ray tube used as a computer tems, light pen and Flexidraw' software. menu options, they cannot be used to display is repeatedly scanned by a tightly Designed specifically for the Commo- point to a single character or digit. focused electron beam. Therefore, be- dore 64, Flexidraw's on -screen menu in- Some shopping malls have replaced cause of the slow response of the human cludes such functions as Box, Circle, their directory signs with a computer- eye, the entire screen appears to glow. Line, Draw, Point -to -Point, Grid, Fill, ized touch screen system. Shoppers can Actually the glow is caused by a fast Zoom, Rubber Band and Shade. find directions to any store in the mall moving dot of light that can be easily Flexidraw can be used to make on- simply by touching the appropriate cate- sensed by a phototransistor or photodi- screen drawings such as circuit dia- gory in the listing on the screen and, ode in a light pen. grams, graphs, musical scores and when it appears on the screen, the store's The light pen generates a pulse when floorplans. The completed drawing can name. Instructions for finding the store it detects the sweeping dot. Since the po- then be printed on paper by a dot-matrix then appear on the display. sition of the dot at any time can he easily printer. Several sensing methods for touch determined, the computer "knows" ex- Though in principle the light pen is screens are in use. The simplest incorpo- actly where the light pen is pointed. De- more natural to .use than most other rates two clear plastic sheets, each coat - pending upon the software, it can then pointing devices, it lacks high resolution. (Continued on page 114)

May 1984 69

AmericanRadioHistory.Com ¡tectres Novel computer designs proving the performance of these com- The point here is that steps one and two ponents will raise the system's cost, too. can be executed in any order, or, and this promise a dramatically And you might find that even the system is important, they can be executed at the faster generation of bus itself needs improvement. In this same time without adversely affecting case, it's back to the drawing board to the result. So instead of the system wait- computers create a new system bus. Even after all ing the time it takes to perform two mul- this effort, the computer might still tiplications sequentially, the system BY ED TEJA prove too slow. What then? could assign both at the same time. In an 8086 processor, the simplest possible ad- Adding Processor Power dition, a register -to -register immediate, DESIGNING computers that run takes three clock cycles. Doing all three faster than existing models is a Fortunately, faster processors and steps in sequence would require three never-ending challenge facing memory chips aren't the only solution to complete clock cycles for each addition. computer scientists. The task is largely a increasing a computer's speed. Design- Performing the two multiplications si- matter of looking at the places where a ers can choose another tack-creating multaneously would mean that both little more speed will make a lot more systems that use multiple processors. could take place during the same clock difference in the overall system Each processor you add to the system cycles. If you are in a hurry for the result performance. has the potential of adding to its overall (in a real-time industrial control situa- A block diagram of conventional performance. tion, perhaps), saving clock cycles can be computer architecture is shown in Fig. significant. 1. What can be done to speed it up? Without changing the architecture, Adding Specialized Processors about all a designer can do is choose newer and faster microprocessor chips. But this describes the solution-what Since the processor does the bulk of the does the hardware look like? To put sev- Instructions work in this design, faster processors eral processors to work in a single sys- usually mean faster computers. As a re- tem requires a new architecture. The sult, a great deal of research effort has simplest approach is to extend the basic Program Data been dedicated to finding new manufac- Counter - architecture somewhat, using one or turing processes and materials that will more specialized processors that are op- provide us with faster processors. timized to repetitively perform a special- 7 ized task. Take, for example, the math coprocessor. No one, even computers it seems, likes to do arithmetic. Math is the Processor processor's most difficult task. There- fore, nearly every one of the popular 16 - bit microprocessors has a math chip Fig. 2. The Von Neumann design. available to work with it. This chip, the coprocessor, sits on the bus along with The basic idea behind using extra pro- the microprocessor and handles all math cessors to gain speed isn't a new one at processing-at much higher speeds than all. In fact, it comes from oné of the old- the processor could handle them. est adages applied to any problem solv- Using the math coprocessor to save Fig. 1. Basic computer architecture. ing task-divide and conquer. Whether system time is fantastic if the application you are talking about armies or mathe- is sure to encounter certain types of But the newest processors are always matics problems, breaking a big problem math problems over and over again. But the most expensive. This is one strike up into a bunch of easily solved smaller while the math processor is working, the against relying on state-of-the-art com- ones makes a great deal of sense. And main processor takes a vacation. It will ponents, but not the most important orie. your computer already does that much. pass the math problem to the math pro- Using a fast new processor also demands When you program it to compute: cessor and wait for the answer; it won't comparable improvements from other do part of the math itself. So you still system components. This might mean x=(34*4)+(2*6) wind up doing all three steps of our faster memory chips as well as disk problem in sequence. It is more of a di- subsystems that transfer data at higher the computer doesn't try to handle it as vide -and -send -the -parts -to -a -specialist rates (and this is a major bottleneck in one large problem, rather it breaks the approach than it is divide-and -conquer. many small systems) just to keep up with problem into three smaller ones. Proper- We are stuck with what is termed a the processor's new-found speed. Im- ly divided, the problem is now to: control -flow or control -driven computer (1) solve: 34*4 architecture; a design developed in 1945 Ed Teja writes frequently for C&E on (2) solve: 2*6 by John Von Neumann. The diagram computer electronics. (3) add result of (1) to result of (2). shown in Fig. 2 describes the flow of data

70 Computers & Electronics

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Columbia University's research facility, where the Non -Von 1 is being developed.

and instructions that defines the basic central processor passing tasks off to in- must decide, and then specify, how each Von Neumann computer architecture. dependent processing elements running problem will be divided among the pro- The program counter (PC) plays an concurrently (Fig. 4.). Each processor cessors. The central processor has no in- important role in Von Neumann's has access to the data directly, allowing herent way of knowing which pieces of design-it controls the passage of in- it to run independently of the other pro- the job can be performed concurrently. structions from memory to the proces- cessors. In the case of one such machine, The programmer must subdivide the sor. The PC tells the processor the next the Non -Von 1 currently under develop - work; the central processor will assign it. activity that should take place. The pro- Programming, therefore, becomes more cessor itself decodes and executes each Data of a chore with the enhanced architec- instruction. The instruction will contain ture than it was on simpler machines. the coded address of the data. Before the processor can execute the instruction, Instructions Data -Driven Machines therefore, it must first fetch the data from memory. Another part of the in- But extending the existing architec- Coíar struction tells the processor where to ture isn't the only way to improve per- store the results when it is through exe- Instructions formance. A new generation of designs cuting the instruction. might manage to gain speed and avoid Adding a coprocessor doesn't really the problems and limitations of control - change the computer's design-it ex- Coprocessor driven machines by abandoning the Von tends it. We have modified the flow of Neumann approach altogether. Unlike Instructions data and instructions a bit so that the the coprocessor 'approach, they will con- path appears as shown in Fig. 3. When Fig. 3. Adding a coprocessor. figure the prdcessors as equal general - the PC indicates that an instruction processing units that operate concur- must be executed, the processor must ment by a group headed by Dr. David rently. And unlike the Non -Von -1, these still decode the instruction, but the math Shaw at Columbia University in New machines will automatically uncover the processor can access the data directly. York, each processor has its own path to concurrency within a problem. memory via an intelligent head unit-a Instead of using a program counter to Extending Control -Driven disk head that will read just the data control the flow of data and instructions, Computers needed by the processing element that it these machines will be either data- or de- serves. (For more information on this mand -driven architectures. Let's see You can gain a great deal more speed project, see the accompanying sidebar.) what that means. by extending the control -driven archi- All control -driven machines suffer Data -driven machines quite simply tecture until it resembles a tree, with a from one weakness-the programmer call for a processor to execute an instruc-

May 1984 . 71

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Known as symbolic reduction ma- plugs into a conventional Multibus. The two processors are loosely cou- Central chines to artificial intelligence research- Processor ers, the demand -driven engines auto- pled; the design is more parallel than matically reduce a complex symbol to a many, but serves more as a practical ex- simpler one, repeating this task until it ample of the trend toward parallelism as the first article of any particular Processmg Processing Processing can reduce it no further. In semantic than Unil Unit Una terms, the machine evaluates symbols architecture. The processors are nearly until it reduces them to actual values. independent, but networked together. The expression 3+4, for example, The dual -processor environment uses would become 7. The expression 2(3 + 4) the 68000 (running Unix) to handle nor- Memory would first reduce to 2(7), then 14. mal system tasks; the faster LISP ma- The tree diagram shown in Fig. 6 il- chine runs the AI algorithms-directly Fig. 4. Extended design. lustrates how a demand -driven machine executing instructions written in the might execute the simple math problem LISP programming language. tion whenever the data which that in- we used earlier. The more complex a struction needs becomes available. To problem is, within limits, the more time Speaking in Tongues implement this, data is packaged with its the demand -driven engine saves when destination and information about how compared to Von Neumann machines. Part of the process of dividing prob- it is to be processed, into units termed Apparently then, systems using paral- lems and assigning tasks will reside in tokens. lel architectures resemble networks of the system software. At least some of the A network of input/output switches computers more than conventional com- success of parallel computers will de- (Fig. 5) distributes the tokens to inde- puter architectures. Each processor does pend on the ability of system software pendent processors. Within each pro- its job independently of the others the designers to develop high-level lan- cessing unit, the token flows through a same way that each user on a network guages that take adequate advantage of circle where it is processed and then re- does his or her job, while sharing valu- the hardware. And this is no mean feat turned, via the network, to the system. If able system resources, such as a hard by any estimation. disk. Each user has access to the same At the University of Illinois in Cham- data, the same programs, the same sys- paign -Urbana, for example, researchers tem capabilities. The success of the over- have spent 10 years working on making all operation depends on how well man- versions of the FORTRAN program- agement has divided up the problem ming language that will support parallel, parts and assigned them to the users. pipelined and multiprocessor systems. It's important that FORTRAN run on State of the Art the next generation of machines, because it is the most popular language for large- Perhaps nowhere more than in artifi- scale scientific programming. Program- cial intelligence applications, where the mers want to be able to use the vast num- computer is called upon to do large bers of programs already written in quantities of calculations quickly, is par- FORTRAN. There's no pain like that of allel processing awaited so excitedly. starting completely over. And most in- Fig. 5. Data -driven architecture. And the future is already beginning to stitutions won't be willing to do it. appear. Architectures become more like But new languages are also being de- the information in the token indicates networks and less like conventional con- veloped; languages that uniquely allow a that other data is needed, the processor figurations all the time. In other words, programmer to get the most from a high- will monitor the network for data ad- they become more parallel. The Lambda ly parallel structure. Many of the algo- dressed to the same location as the cur- machine, for example, from LISP Ma- rithms used in artificial intelligence have rent data. If no other data is needed, the chines, Inc. (Culver City, CA) uses a 10 - been contorted to fit the demands of con- processor will fetch the appropriate in- MHz 68000 microprocessor and a 4 - ventional programming languages. Per- struction and execute it. The processing board 32 -bit LISP processor that runs at haps languages based on those algo- unit then transmits the results via the 20 MHz. Each processor has its own rithms would help break new ground in network, to the destination required by memory and its own bus. The LISP pro- artificial intelligence. the tokens. cessor uses the NuBus with its 40M- The University of Manchester has de- byte/s peak transfer rate while the 68000 Getting There from Here veloped a version of the data -driven machine that uses 12 processors. It executes Currently research and development 1.7 million machine instructions per sec- projects to create what is called the ond (MIPS). "Fifth -Generation Computer" are un- derway in the United States, Japan and Demand -Driven Machines Europe. The Japanese goal, in fact, is to have a commercial model available by The last technique being used to make the 1990s. This drive to build a non -Von a computer's operations run in parallel is Neumann, parallel processing computer the demand -driven machine. Here, a should not only give new meaning to the task isn't executed until the results of word "fast," but should also create a that process are needed. Effectively, this computer the likes of which we've never prioritizes the parts of the problem. Fig. 6. Reduction machine. seen before.

72 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com WORKING S R TOGET R C&E talks with Dr. David Shaw about his efforts to build a new kind of computer By Joe Desposito

THERE are various ways to squeeze more speed out of a computer, as discussed in the accompanying article. One of them is being tried by Dr. David Shaw, whom we spoke with at Columbia University in New York City. Shaw has designed a machine, called the Non -Von computer which uses massive parallelism as its underlying architecture. He contrasts his approach with other parallel processing designs, saying, "There are certainly various interesting relationships between it (Non -Von) and other architectures, but I think that most people in the field will agree- especially my critics-that it has very little to do with other approaches to parallelism. "For one thing, many people today are trying to design parallel machines with one hundred, one thousand or at most a few thousand processing ele- Dr. Shaw is a pioneer in parallel processing design. ments. Our machine, on the other hand, is really designed to ultimately use a mil- know that the brain is made up of a tre- making computers do things that seem lion processors or something on that or- mendous number of neurons, and that to require intelligence. He went on to do der. And you have to use those proces- there are a tremendous number of inter- graduate work at Stanford University, sors in completely different ways. Some connections between them. Even though one of the two important research cen- of the influences on this architecture the neurons work quite slowly-in com- ters for that type of research at the time. were, first of all, thinking about humans parison to a computer a brain works ex- Shaw studied at the artificial intelli- and how they work, and the association - tremely slowly, or at least an individual gence laboratory there, trying to make al nature of human memory. We seem to neuron does-when you put them all to- computers do things that we consider income up fairly rapidly with many associ- gether, the net processing power of the telligent. Near the end of his graduate ations to a single concept. Also, there's brain seems to be sufficient to do all the career he realized that, even if he and his the notion of massive parallelism. We things that we do. It's not that Non -Von colleagues could figure out what thought is an attempt to be a by any means. is about and how you might a f brain trick com- ;- -- And it's not that I believe that the brain puter into imitating it, available comput- -11 ... moll= is organized that way. But those are er power would be a limiting factor. That car ° Bóa o l°S o t some of the subtle influences that pushed is, even if they were able to figure out . me in that direction." how to get a computer to understand 5tnj:2r Dr. Shaw's knowledge of the brain's people speaking English and figure out T©..©l, structure doesn't come from casual read- what they were talking about-and 1 ing about the subject. He studied experi- there were still a lot of problems as to _ _ P mental cognitive psychology at the Uni- how they would go about achieving versity of California at San Diego this-it would take existing computers (UCSD). His advisor there was very in- hours to do things that ought to happen terested in using the computer to model in seconds. That led Shaw to look at rad- how people think and remember things, ically different ways of organizing com- what attention is all about, and so forth. puters to enable them to do work much CAD terminal display. That's what first got Shaw interested in faster. Most of his research over the last

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRITAIN HILL May 1984 73

AmericanRadioHistory.Com New Architectures

five years has focused on this problem. least 60 people thus far writing software Shaw. "For example, Ted Sabety came He has also done work on artificial intel- for Non -Von, or rather simulating it," to us from Hewlett-Packard's integrated ligence, database management, and oth- says Shaw, "since we don't have a com- circuit labs where he was involved with er applications of computers. But his puter actually working." several things. He was himself an IC de- main concern is how these tasks can be Creating a new computer means using signer, but also a consultant within the done dramatically faster using complete- existing software and hardware as your company, telling other people various ly different types of computers. primary tools. Dr. Shaw's group first de- things about how IC design works. This Dr. Shaw's perspective is not only the- fined what they wanted their computer is, in fact, one of our advantages over oretical; it's practical, too. Before he got to be and then went to great lengths to many universities-most of them don't his PhD at Stanford, he took out some simulate it at various levels of detail. In have a Ted Sabety. They have mostly time to start his own corporation and he fact, they have five levels of simulation university people who have learned ran it for three years. This gave him a for the machine. The first is to see about the process of IC design through a slightly more practical perspective on whether or not programs can be run on very effective system of teaching it, the question of computation. It was real- it. Then there is a more detailed level to which has been spread through the ly the first time that he stopped thinking find out if the data is transferred between country during the past three years. But about how "thought" could be accom- the registers the right way. The levels go the system doesn't help you get out of se- plished on a computer and started to all the way down to testing the primitive rious unexpected binds that come up consider questions like efficiency and physics properties (device physics) that when you're building a production chip. what computers really are and how they described the behavior of the transistors. And then we have people with different are organized. Much of the work was done using ordi- sorts of experience in other technologies. What's the current status of the nary computers, mostly from Digital "We also go outside for help-often to project? Dr. Shaw says, "There have our competitors. For example, Chuck been two significant milestones to date. Seitz of Cal Tech, who I think is one of One was having a chip that was 100% The big prize the most gifted researchers in this field, functional. The chip had a single proces- is building some very interesting ma- sor on it, not the eight it will ultimately in the field chines that are organized according to have, but it executed all of the instruc- completely different principles. He tions perfectly. That was just recently will be a doesn't really agree with our basic archi- accomplished. The next big milestone successor to tectural principles, but we enjoy talking will be producing our first prototype, a to each other, and he has helped us tre- very small one. What we'll be doing is the Von Neumann mendously in thinking out how we were hooking up 64 of these single -processor going to do our timing and solve other chips in the same way that they will be system problems." hooked up in the final machine. So it will Equipment Corporation (DEC). Soft- Does Dr. Shaw see commercial viabil- be a real Non -Von machine, but it will ware simulation is one part of the project ity down the line? "I'm not sure about only have 64 processing elements. It and it is proceeding for designing later that," he says. "There seems to be some won't be enough to demonstrate any- versions of the computer and for writing evidence in selected areas to indicate thing useful in terms of speed, but it will new programs for the one being imple- that it ought to be commercially viable. demonstrate that the approach works mented now. But we won't know until we actually and give us the signal that our further The other part is the actual hardware build one. But I guess I should say that work will be likely to produce a machine design, which involves design of the we wouldn't be doing any of this unless that could do something-funding per- chip. For that they use color graphics we thought it had the that kind of poten- mitted. The time that we're shooting for displays connected to DEC VAX com- tial. Not that we want to do it here, but is the end of this year. At that time we puters. They also use a whole set of de- we're really interested in producing a should also have software to run on the sign tools imported from places such as machine that will have a substantial eco- machine. It won't be very extensive- Berkley and MIT and software that they nomic impact. It's just a long process of just some toy programs-but we would wrote themselves. The final part of the research and trying it out on various ap- be able to demonstrate a working process is submitting integrated circuit plications until one knows that it's machine. chips to a manufacturer, first with vari- possible." As director of the project, Shaw over- ous components of the processor, then When asked whether he thinks his ap- sees both the hardware and software de- with larger and larger pieces until a com- proach to parallelism is the best one, velopment of the machine. However, the plete processing element is built. With Shaw responded, "Again, it's hard to key person involved with the hardware this final step of processor design al- say. I think it's premature to say whether effort is research engineer Ted Sabety, ready completed, they have begun order- Non -Von or any of the other machines is who has three other full-time engineers ing all the components for the first pro- using the strongest approach. Most of on his staff. In addition, he has a fairly totype, Non -Von I. They now have to my serious colleagues have some inge- large number of students working either put the whole system together. "And nious ideas, and we aren't yet able to for him or one of the other engineers. Al- find out why it doesn't work the first compare them. We really won't know though they aren't full-time staff mem- time, because it never does," commented until we see a completed machine, find bers, per se, many of them spend huge a smiling Shaw. "At that point we'll be out how much it costs, and see if it's amounts of their spare time on the able to perform some really interesting maintainable, produceable, and so forth. project. "Because it's an exciting project experiments with it." Then we can actually run some applica- for them," says Dr. Shaw. On the soft- Where does the broad range of abili- tions programs generated by real users, ware side, most of the work has been ties needed to build Non -Von 1 from instead of generated just as test done by PhD students doing theses, who scratch come from? "No one person on programs. report directly to Shaw. "We have had at my staff has all those abilities," says Dr. (Continued on page 111)

74 Computers & Electronics

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' Brokerage firms, beginning with EF Hutton, are providing on-line access to customers' account information

BY BARBARA E. McMULLEN & JOHN F. McMULLEN

ON December 13, 1983, after 5 years of planning and development, EF Hutton & Company introduced an electronic information service called Huttonline. With this step, Hutton became the first securities firm to provide such a service to its clients. It also became one of the few companies with foresight enough to design a system before it became economical- ly feasible to market it. While we expect that EF Hutton will soon have competition, the story of this unique product warrants our attention. What is Huttonline and why is it important? It is a system that enables Hutton's clients to use a personal computer or terminal to access Hutton's computer files containing its Research and In- vestment Briefs as well as the client's own accounting records. It also allows the client to send messages to his Hutton account executive (AE) through the system and receive investment reports and messages from his or her AE. The system is menu -driven, and we expect that Hutton's clients will find it easy to use. The service is available to them for an initial charge of $25 and a monthly fee ($17 for the first 2 hours of use and $7.50 per hour 4 thereafter). The importance of the system is hard to overestimate. In announcing the service, Norman Epstein, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Operations at EF Hutton, said, "We are bringing our computing and communications resources even closer to the client. The home is the last frontier." We agree with Mr. Epstein and think it is obvious that Hutton has far outpaced its competitors in this area. A service like Huttonline brings its users immense benefits that reach far beyond those directly related to investment. A significant portion of subscriptions (33% to date) come from individ-

Barbara and John McMullen euch have nearly 20 years experience in data processing for the securities industry.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BOB BRODY TRADING FLOOR COURTESY OF AMERICAN STOCK EXCHANGE 77

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Connection to CompuServe 1. Your Account WiSelection of 1. Balances Subaccounth, 2. Portfolio l 3. Recent Transactions 4. Transactions by Class Host: EFH 5. Open Orders 6. AMA/ARA Checking Connection to IL_r` Menu of Huttonline t 2. Investment Briefs Available ( Reports ¡ VIC:

E Password: -rn,. Meñu of Acccount r 3. Research Briefs Available Validated ICY Reports

1. Use the Service 2. About the Service l- 1. Send Message to Your Account Executive 3. 4. r Quit the Service Communications 2. Send Feedback to EF Hutton III 3. Read Your Mail

1. Order Sign -Up Kit 2. Service Description 1. Essential Commands 3. Commands & Usage Tips 2. Go Commands 4. What Is New on Huttonline

Fig. 1. Menu tree for the Huttonline service.

uals who have never before had up -close formation (including SEC form 10K), lege in 1975. In the 3 years of his employ- experience with computers or terminals. earnings estimates, fundamental infor- ment at Hutton that preceded this as- Using this system is bringing computer mation (from Media General), and auto- signment, he had come to appreciate literacy to the novice; and, for many, it matic searches of the Wall Street Jour- how well the company had responded in will be but the first step toward the use of nal, Barrons, and the Dow Newswire. the past to technological opportunity in other information services such as Now, research opinion and specific cus- supporting its securities business. In CompuServe, The Source, and Dialog, tomer information is dispensed through 1904, the year the firm was founded, Ed- and programs for word processing, Huttonline. ward F. Hutton helped finance the first spreadsheet analysis, and database While the above points may be inter- private, direct coast -to -coast communi- management. esting from a social science viewpoint, cations wire. (Hutton still holds Western Another long-range benefit will ac- Huttonline would have little impact if it Union's contract No. 1.) Since the time crue to users of Hut tonline and any simi- were not an attractive product offered at when Epstein was responsible for its lar services that may arise. They will a reasonable price-which it is. Further- data processing and communications re- take part in a democratization of the in- more, it would not be considered for dis- sources, the firm pioneered the following vestment decision -making process. As cussion in this magazine if it were not an applications: most insiders in the investment commu- innovative system that made use of state - 1966-Use of a third -generation, nity know, institutions and professional of -t he-art electronic technology-which general-purpose computer (IBM investors have access to much more it does. System 360) for message switch- timely and comprehensive information ing and order entry. and research opinion than the average Background 1973-Branch-office retrieval individual investor. The reason for this from a central database. advantage is not insidious; it relates, Over 5 years ago, the management of 1975-Installation of a compre- rather, to the cost of disseminating EF Hutton recognized that eventually hensive, high-speed telecommuni- masses of information. there would be the capability to deliver cations network. Institutions have both the capital to information directly to individual 1976-Integration of its market obtain costly services and a method of homes. They set up an organizational data system (Bunker Ramo Sys- receiving such services with little or no entity to study this rapidly developing tem 7) into its private communi- out-of-pocket expense. As such where- world of microcomputers, videotex de- cations network. withal has normally not been available vices, and information services, hoping In this environment, Pica felt confi- to the individual investor, there has been to determine what impact such develop- dent in taking on this assignment even a decided difference between the quanti- ments might have on their own business. though it appeared that such in -home ty and quality of investment information Chosen to head this study was Vincent service would not be practical or eco- available to individuals and that to fi- T. Pica II, a staff assistant to Norman nomically feasible to anyone concerned nancial institutions. Now, the gulf has Epstein. until the 1990s. been made smaller. Already available Pica had joined Hutton immediately By 1980, it became obvious to Epstein from Dow Jones are public disclosure in- following his graduation from Iona Col- and Pica that technology was moving

78 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com much more rapidly than they or anyone - Vrc-6:TRON.,HUTTON _ EFH138 else had expected. To better enable riTTLeiIT%50LD' _ Design Considerations Hutton to take advantage of the bur- ACCT H 819 12345 THRU 10/31/82 TRANSACTION/ ATY/PRICE geoning technology, a new organiza- DATE/TYPE DESCRIPTION - AMOUNT There were two main goals in design- BOUGHT 200 ing the system. The first was to provide tion-MIS Operations-was set up un- 10/34 HYDRAULIC COMPANY 7.375. der Pica; and his charter was expanded 2 3;51.7.00 the client with as much information as SOLD TO PAY FOR BUY 7,432 to include the support of microcomput- 10/34 HUTTON AMA CASH FUND 1,Oo0 possible in the most efficient manner. 1 3,567,00 - was ers throughout Hutton's internal organi- BOUGHT - 15,577" The second to insure that the system Pica was presented with staffing t0/06 HUTTON AMA CASH FUND 1,000 served only as a supplement to the ser- zation. 1 16.577.00 and budget authorization and instructed SOLD 100 vices pet formed by the Hutton account 10/22 GTE CORPORATION 37.000 to develop a formal plan for carrying out 2 3.622.00_ executives. It was very important that these responsibilities. Huttonline in no way reduce the respon- As a first step in the support area, Pica Personal accounting service. sibility of the AEs in managing the cli- began planning an internal newsletter ents' accounts. The New York Stock Ex- ' OituürFióivrif = -_-- rig, _ _. that would provide general information III W4y1aI t1 T 81211,-.J - change and other agencies have

computers, product re- ' "know -your -client" regulations that about personal 1 DAILY MARKET OPINIONS views, recommendations. To put 2 WEEKLY ECOromIC OUTLOOK make AEs responsible for questioning and 3 BRAVING THE MEW WORLD OF INVESTMENTS this newsletter into operation, and to as- 4 FIVE REASONS TO JUMP ON THE BOND WAGON any client trading activity that is incon- 5 PROFIT FROM A PLUNGE ÍN INTEREST RRTES sist him generally, Pica added Lee R. 6 PLANNING FOR YOUR OWN SOCIAL SECURITY sistent with either the client's stated or 7 OVER THE COUNTER: OUT OF THE WOODS Greenhouse to his staff. Shortly there- 8 HOW TO FIGHT TAX BRACKET CREEP normal trading objectives. Nothing in after, EF Hutton Personal Computing the system design could be allowed to in- Newsletter came into being. terfere with carrying out this responsi- At the same time, Pica and Green- bility. In short, there could be no input- house were planning the overall duties of FFHutton ting of orders directly by clients. MIS Operations. It was then, also, that Inrtrirnar.L, NnFY . _ - ° Another obvious design requirement Huttonline was conceived and integrat- Investment briefs menu. was that the system be easy for the client use. For many of them, this would be ed into the overall plan. The concept of - -` to Huttonline was dynamic for Pica and R nC-- -= their first, and perhaps only, use of com- Greenhouse because expanding technol- ACCT H 819 12345 puters or terminals. Finally, the system

ogy continually made new things feasi- 1 MONEYLINE BALANCES had to be compatible with Hutton's 2 PORTFOLIO ble. Also, the planner's view of Hutton - 3 TRANSACTIONS THIS MONTH overall high-speed communication net- 4 TRANSACTIONS BY CLASS work, Compass (an IBM TCAM com- line's place in the overall scheme of 5 OPEN ORDERS Hutton operations changed dramatical- 6 APIA/ARA CHECKING munications system based on IBM 3033 7 RESEARUI ly. It was originally conceived as a sup- 8 FEEDBACK TO EF HUTTON and 3))83 mainframes). Another new 9 MESSAGE TO ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE plementary service to benefit Hutton by Hutton system, BIPS (Branch Informa- increasing the number of accounts and tion Processing System), is to be added improving the productivity of account EFHutton to deliver electronic mail through executives through reduction of time- 'lotoienat~11T2 Huttonline to the AE. BIPS is to be consuming customer inquiries. Soon, Account menu. based on Data General MV/4000 it superminicomputers in each of the 400 however, came to be viewed as a signif- r VI EWTROH,HUrTON EFFTra-- icant product with a marketability of its Mann ,. Hutton branch offices and will control own. STOCK PICKS' OVER THE COWER over 8000 Data General Dasher and

Pica and Greenhouse also foresaw Securities -as aggressive purchases Bunker Ramo System 7/90 terminals. It that this service would attract clients 'for a 6 to 18 month period. will operate under Data General's CEO who did not have either microcomputers RECENT 1-YR. (Comprehensive Electronic Office) COMPANY - PRICE TARGET or terminals of their own and that many Electro -Rent Corp (ELRC) 18 30 automation software. in Fartia 8.8 (FOPHY) 45 65 of them would need guidance select- First Unio Corp (FUNC) 26 37 ing and installing a computer to use the McCormick MCCR6) 28 41 System Configuration SFE Techno ogy (STEM) 19 34 Huttonline. They realized that it would be both a service to such clients and a In selecting equipment for both the use and the be- source of revenue to sell the necessary toff Yí:1111211 1 ~.7-"9-7 client's communications equipment directly to clients requiring Research brief. tween Hutton and the client, Pica was it. With the approval of management, concerned with imposing as few techni- VIEWTROMAIrr '° Et M'6H on they began to negotiate with the appro- I 1' RCCT EXEC cal restrictions as possible the client. be priate vendors to become what is known TO: JOHr SMITH, ONE BATTERY PARK PLAZA He wanted any client anywhere to in IBM parlance as a VAR (Value Add- able to access the system through public JOHN, I AM VERY INTERESTED IN THE ed Reseller). NEW ARA CCOUNT OFFERED BY HUTTON. 15AW telephone lines (at local rates) using By June 1983, it was decided that AN RD IN THE PAPER, PLEASE SEND ME INFO whatever terminal, personal computer, AND RN APPLICATION. - Huttonline was to be viewed as a profit - THANK YOU or communications device was available. making entity. Agreements were JOE NELSON This precluded terminals designed ex- reached with Convergent Technologies, clusively for use with Huttonline as well IBM, Wang Laboratories, and Quazon, as the use of private communications allowing Hutton to act as a vendor for lines connected directly to Hutton. Ac- their equipment. Huttonline was public- cording to Epstein, the aim was "to de- ly announced and launched on Decem- INFXTtin F"E' D5 ISE DEfiULI COStarin liver services to clients through any ap- ber 13, 1983. Electronic mail., (Continued on page 112)

May 1984 79

AmericanRadioHistory.Com IN-C.IRC UIT

A diagnostic approach to fixing a microcomputer from the inside out

BY LES SOLOMON

Ribbon' cable

Emulator Plug assembly control .- POD unit

CPU' socket

Target system

Fig. 1. The microprocessor in the faulty computer is replaced by the in -circuit emulator.

DESPITE preventive mainte- For a computer to run such a utility, The operating voltage can be checked nance, any piece of digital the bulk of the system must be operat- using a dc voltmeter, while almost any equipment from a microproces- ing. This includes the microprocessor, oscilloscope can show the presence of sor-controlled washing machine to mi- RAM, ROM, I/O port, the disk con- the clock signal at the pertinent CPU crocomputer can "go down" at any giv- troller, the disk drive, the diskette, and chip and bus pins. en instant. When this happens, what can the bulk of the ICs in the system. An emulator can be used for debug- you do? Then there is the question of disk - ging hardware and software, pinpoint- Once the initial panic is over, the next based CPU diagnostics. If the CPU is ing potential problems before produc- thought is to find out what went wrong bad and requires the diagnostic, how do tion, or for on -site repair calls to save and repair or replace the faulty part. you run it? the expense and bother of bringing com- This article will focus on microcomput- To further compound the problem, it plete systems into the shop for repair ers although the same diagnostic ap- is always possible that the hardware is when only a plug-in board has a fault. proach can be used for any piece of good, and the fault is in the software. For the sake of this discussion, con- digital equipment that uses a micropro- Then what do you do? sider a hypothetical situation in which cessor as the controlling element. There is an answer to this seemingly your computer's disk drive is acting up. The first thing most people would do unanswerable paradox, and it is called Thus, even if you had the best diagnosis to reach for the diskette containing "in circuit emulation," or I.C.E. for tic utility on the planet, there would be system diagnostic procedures, or call short. no way for you to load it. whatever form of diagnosis utility (if To.use this approach to digital servic- any) that is built into the operating sys- ing, in which every element in the faulty How It Works tem. Although these are both obvious computer can be tested, all that the non- choices, the chances are that they will working system needs is system operat- An emulator is a digital diagnostic not work. ing voltage (usually + 5 volts) and device that permits complete control of "clock." That's all. The emulator the target microprocessor's function, Les Solomon is Technical Director of doesn't need any of the target system's including control of every device con- COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS memory or I/O. nected to the system bus. Although em -

80 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com ulators are (or soon will be) available for almost every microprocessor, our atten- ,iK tion here will be devoted to a low-cost =hf=f for Z80 systems from Nicolet . : 8C=0000.S`uffNL DE=,E758'. HL=r531 . S=E8FC P=E7171 tq(P)=77 emulator °n e7F . B'_ -FF =FcFF H'=FFFF ,S=F998 Y=FBL

nothing has changed. The em- " ing" that =70 BC=i=+Ot?Ei. .Df=E758: HL =PM.- `-cSFL` °=E780 t1(F)=ri ulator operating system is controlled by `_urf,Nr .4'=7F 5'=. -FF D'=F.FFF--. H'=FFFF ;:=FR.Ag Y=FBDF ° :=00 a conventional RS -232 terminal driven ====> r'; ° by circuits within the emulator. f'?.( rr However, as selected via the RS -232 terminal, the emulator firmware allows Fig. 2. Quit and trace commands. examination and modification of the microprocessor's internal registers, and OK followed by an arrow), the user provides the capability to alter and ma- types in the Q (uit) command. This act to imple- stops the Z80, inhibits interrupts and nipulate the system RAM, OK ____ ` P1T. EBaLa: OFF: ment and observe systen I/O opera- bus requests, and displays a listing of tions, to control interrupts, to °. '?K = ===? E FF current Z80 registers and the SZHVNC single-step the program to trace instruc- --- > $La system status flags on the CRT screen as tions, and to perform all the functions shown at the top of Fig. 2. Note that the OK -____` tl FE 2.1 ` :- shown in Table I. Thus, almost all possi- program counter (P register) is at ad- ble functions in the target system can be dress E701 which is where it should be OK _==_ ) 0 FF; aLa. t.a,1 RL tested and checked. u. . o . when exercising the disk driver routine In the following discussion, all emu- in this particular program. lator commands and the resulting CRT The next terminal entry is the screen displays are specific to the Nico- Fig. 3. Memory test. T (race) command which is used to fol- let unit. low a program through one or more instruction steps. After each instruction is Basic Operation ,MAIN RI6 .0068- CALL 00C2H executed, the monitor CRT displays all -001 006C C2 OPERAND FETCH the CPU registers and flags. LOC: +002 006D . 08' OPERAND FETCH is at the (ma- When the T is used alone, only a sin- Since emulation CPU . +003 1FFC .00 STACK WRITE gle instruction is traced. When a T is fol- chine language) level, it is very impor- SIG: . 1004 1FFB 6E . STACK WRITE' a as 4 (as shown tant. that the user have a full under- ° 145EA057 1005 00C2 RET . ° lowed by number such standing of the machine -language code +006 1FFB 6E STACK READ in Fig. 2), that number of instructions of the program being run on the faulty +007. 1FFC 00 STACK READ will be traced and displayed. target system. +008 0097 JMP 0090H ° Examining these particular instruc- -+009 0098 90.. OPERAND FETCH' When the target computer is turned tions, and comparing them to what +010 0099 00 .. OPERAND FETCH° '. first be is should be going on according to the pro- on, it must reset. This done +011 009A" JH 0090H in many gram, shows that the disk driver routine automatically systems. ° ; +012 0098 - 9D.. OPERAND FETCH The reset command places the emula- +013 009C NO OPERAND FETCH is functioning as it should. tor in the GO mode which permits the +014 009D JP 00A0H Up to this point, everything looks target system to operate just as if its own +015 009E AO OPERAND FETCH normal. So, The next thing is to test the microprocessor had never been re- target system memory. This is accom- moved. in this mode of operation, the Fig. 4. Assembly/disassembly. plished by entering MT (memory test) emulator is said to be transparent to the after the prompt, followed by the start- target system. easy and the disk drive will probably ing and ending addresses (E800 and The RS -232 terminal screen display still give you trouble. At this time, the E8FF in the example shown in Fig. 3) will then produce a stat us message to in- best approach is to halt CPU operation This particular memory test uses a dicate that the terminal, emulator, and and examine the processor registers, "walking" Is and Os pattern. If an error the target system are all properly inter- particularly the program counter which is detected, the address of the failed bit acting. If by chance, the disk drive prob- will tell you whether or not the target is displayed, otherwise the OK prompt lem goes away, then the Z80 that was re- system is even executing the program appears. It takes approximately 15 sec- moved from the faulty system was the within the disk driver routine. onds to check each 1K block of 'problem. After the prompt is displayed (in the memory. Unfortunately, things are rarely that case of the Nicolet instrument, this is an If the target system passes the memo -

May 1984 81

AmericanRadioHistory.Com nal) produces a Microprocessor Devel- - 'Data bus opment System that can be used to develop, test, modify, and patch software 'Address bus in a target system. To CPU .Assembly/ in disassembly ' :Control bus tenet, Emulator Design PROM syaem The block diagram of a typical in -circuit emulator is shown in Fig. 5. To accomplish a low parts count (six ICs), Nicolet elected to use a 6 -MHz Z8OB as the main processor, a custom control miscroprocessor that incorporates the operating system within its internal ROM, two high-speed custom logic arrays, a PROM containing the assembly/disassembly routines, and an address latch for the PROM. - Gated Some emulators multiplex a single control lines CPU to perform the functions of both main and control CPUs. In the Nicolet L instrument, the Z8OB takes the place of Out the CPU removed from the faulty target o .;P.'roprietary° Tc acts like a Z80 nothing CQnt'rol ;' .logic RS -232 RS -232 system and and CPU' 3,, interface í árrays ' .termnal more. The separate control CPU handles all aspects of the emulation includ- . ..-ti . ing command execution and error Fig. 5. Block diagram of an in -circuit emulator. reporting. The high-speed logic arrays, under ry test, the next step is to check the sta- man operator to read and understand. the control CPU, gate the Z8OB's con- tus of the disk I/O port. This is done by The process of translating a machine - trol lines as well as stopping the Z8OB at entering the, command E (xamine) after language instruction into its mnemonic particular states so that the control the prompt, followed by the address of equivalent is called "disassembly". For CPU can gain access to the Z8OB's data that port (FF in the example shown in example, the Z80 instruction for a jump bus. Fig. 3). The emulator returns 80H from in binary is 11000011, in hexadecimal it 'The emulator's main CPU connects the port which, according to the pro- is C3, while the more understandable to the microprocessor socket in the tar- gram, indieates that the disk drive is mnemonic is simply JP (JumP). An ex- get computer via an interface that con- ready. ample of disassembled code for the Z80 nects all the required signals into their The fourth line in Fig. 3 shows the use respective pins on the Z80 plug. Note of an O (utput) command to send in- that this particular emulator gets its op- structions to the disk head at port FE. erating power (+5 volts) and clock sig- The instruction 81H loads the disk head An emulator nal directly form the target CPU socket. and sets the direction to "out." The RS -232 terminal connects to the The fifth, line shows a simple routine permits complete emulator via a conventional DB-25 con- that first sends a 0 to port FF, followed control of the nector, with all signals passing through by a 1, a 0,'and the command RL (Re- the proprietary logic arrays. An algo- peat Line). The effect of this alternating microprocessor's rithm is provided within the emulator sequence is to skip the disk head from operating system to automatically set one track to the next in a continuous functions the communication rate between 150 fashion so that the disk driver circuit baud and 19,200 baud by measuring the can be checked with an oscilloscope if length of the first start bit transmitted desired. is shown in Fig. 4. from the terminal when a carriage re- Thus, even with just a handful of the The opposite of disassembly is called turn is entered. 48 powerful commands shown in Table "assembly." In this mode the emulator I, you will note that an emulator per- accepts an English -language mnemonic Conclusion mits some fairly in-depth tests. and translates it to machine language for use by the processor. For example, if You can now understand why in -cir- Bells and Whistles the programmer wants to jump to a par- cuit emulation is a very powerful diag- ticular item, he writes JP xxxx where nostic tool that can be used even with a Most emulators display instructions the xxxx is the address to which the pro- "crashed" computer. When will such and data from the target system in hexa- gram should jump. The assembler con- potentially useful instruments become decimal format. Some (including the verts this to the machine readable bina- readily available? Well, up to now, they Nicolet instrument) display this infor- ry 11000011xxxx. cost several thousand dollars, but it is mation as mnemonics-the English lan- An emulator having assembly and hoped that the introduction of the Nico- guage equivalent abbreviation of the disassembly capabilities and used with a let emulator which is priced at under hex data which is far easier for the hu- computer (instead of just with a termi- (Continued on page 98)

82 Computers & Electronics

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what special attribute has been given to and cope with a power failure, I created generate a (presumably) bug -free pro- that text). a small document and then switched the gram that can be run immediately by Other special attributes include super- power off. On restarting the system, the dBase. Of course, you can modify the scripts and subscripts, bold, special fonts program discovered that the document program so generated at a later time to (italics or other possible type styles), had been damaged in some way and an- optimize it for your needs. Two such overstrike (where one character is print- nounced that it was trying to repair it. program generators are Quickcode and ed over another to create special, non- When the document was finally dis- Autocode 1. standard symbols), and color (for displayed, it was in just about the same con- play on the color monitor and eventual dition as it was before I yanked the Quickcode printing in color if you have the required plug-only odd bits of garbled text had peripherals). to be retyped. Quickcode, from Fox & Gellar, is a The main documentation provided huge program that consists of one main Safety Features with the program is quite good, and module (33K) and some twenty pro- should present the user with few prob- gram overlay modules. The total size of Basic word processing packages just lems (an "800" number is listed to call if the files on the Quickcode distribution sit and take all the words a typist can troubles do occur). The documentation disk is 229K. (As compensation it throw at .them. It's only when you go to provided with the tutorial disk is ano -h- should be noted that Quickcode can gen- save a document that anything is actual- er matter. While the tutorial lessons do erate code without dBase being present.) ly recorded on disk. The problem with show off the various features, they are a It is fairly obvious that one should think this is that, if there is a power failure, or bit "over -the -top" and "gee whiz!" twice before running Quickcode on a somebody removes your disk without about it all. system with low -capacity disk drives. In typing "KD," or some other hallowed While I'm not sure that the Leading fact, when you consider the space need- command, you lose your precious data. Edge Word Processing package is "the ed for dBase, Quickcode, and the result- The Leading Edge Word Processing most powerful word processing package ing application program, a hard disk sys- package, however, offers users the abili- created for the IBM Personal Comput- tem might be a good idea. This is ty to automatically create backup ver- er," it has a lot to commend it to those especially true if you really want to use sions whenever they load an old docu- users appalled by many of the other all of Quickcode's fancy features. The ment. (The system tells you that it's products on the market. O Quickcode manual is commensurate in doing this. when you enter the program). size with the program, but you can get I liked this feature, and you can turn it away with reading only parts of it if you off if you are running short of disk space. are just setting up a simple database. Another handy feature is that the pro- TWO DBASE II When you start up Quickcode, a menu gram will occasionally save text to disk filling the entire screen appears. It lists while you are actually typing. This can every single command and serves as a be a little disconcerting at first. In fact, FRONT ENDS fast guide to Quickcode's capabilities. since I once lost most of a 3000 -word The first feature of Quickcode that original article to a word processing pro- By Robert Rioja you will probably want to use is its gram that had a similar feature, I am a "Quickscreen" mode. This is a screen little sensitive about such matters. In editor (Fox & Geller calls it an "elec- software design circles, it's a controver- IF you have ever needed to set up a tronic blackboard") that allows you to sial issue whether or not programs specialized database on your com- design data -entry forms with incredible should automatically carry out certain puter, chances are you have done it ease. A data -entry form emulates on the actions without the users' prior knowl- with Ashton-Tate's dBase II. Although screen a printed form, such as a driver's edge. I guess this kind of thing is just a other database management programs license application. It can contain in- question of personal taste. may be easier to use, dBase has gained structions on how to fill out the form, de- As an experiment to test the pro- great popularity because of its inherent scriptions of the data to be filled in, and gram's ability to automatically save text power. However, this power comes at a blanks to write the data in. price: it requires you to learn dBase's To design such a form, you simply OVERVIEW unique language, which is often difficult move the cursor of your terminal around to master. So you must spend time pro- on the screen and type in whatever de- Product: Leading Edge Word Processor gramming, testing, and debugging. scriptions, titles, prompts, etc., you wish Manufacturer: Leading Edge Products, You can write a program using to have. You also type in the names of Inca is each item in locations 325 Turnpike Street dBase's Modify command, which ac- data the screen Canton, MA 02021 tually a very simple and limited text edi- where you will be entering the data. If Price: $295 ($350 with mergeprint option) tor. Otherwise, you can use a text editor you want a simple database, that's all Operating System: MS-DOS, PC -DOS or word processor like WordStar. But you have to do. You can let Quickcode Memory Required: 256K mastering the complexities of some of to- take care of the rest. It will generate an Disk Requirements: Two drives day's editors can be quite a chore. Thus, integrated series of dBase programs that recommended although the tools are there, using them will let you enter, update, or delete can present problems. records within the database. Also it will The Leading Edge Word Processor is a To alleviate this difficulty, some clev- allow you to generate reports, print powerful one, and quite well designed for er people have come up with program mailing labels, and produce a Word- its intended task. It should find particular favor among those who learned word pro- generators-or "front ends"-that actu- Star/MailMerge-compatible data file. If cessing on Wang equipment and want to ally "write" dBase programs for you. you don't specify any parameters, use a similar system on their personal These programs let you specify the char- Quickcode will make assumptions and computers. acteristics of your database, and then decide for you how to print the reports,

84 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com dBase Front Ends

labels, etc. It will even decide how to set based systems. (The .COM file is only tions such as page heading, lines per up menus so you can tell the program 7K long; the distribution disk contains a page, page width, totals and subtotals, what to do next! total of 138K.) To generate a database formats for each column, selection crite- If you have a clear idea of what you program, you must use it in conjunction ria, and so forth. want the program to be generated to do, with dBase; Autocode cannot stand you can give Quickcode all of your speci- alone the way Quickcode can. The man- Evaluation fications and it will use them instead of ual consists of a user's guide of some 50 making assumptions. For example, you pages, and a larger "Book of Examples." It is difficult to say which of the two can specify the exact nature and contents To use Autocode, you must first de- programs, Quickcode or Autocode, is of each report, the actual wording of cide exactly what the program you want better. Each has its pros and cons. each menu, and perform complete data - it to generate is going to do for you. Quickcode is totally self sufficient, entry error checking. If you are willing Autocode will not make any decisions while Autocode relies on dBase's Modi- to learn all of the intricacies of for you and has no default parameters. fy command for screen generation. Al- Quickcode, you can tailor the programs Although using Autocode is considera- though this seems to give Quickcode an it generates to your heart's content. bly easier than using dBase, it has no edge, it is not necessarily a big one. However, if you don't feel like specifying "quick -and -dirty" mode, so you must Quickcode is great for quick -and -dirty every detail, Quickcode will not re- define all parameters for all databases. work, but also allows you to go into de- proach you but will use its default pa- Fortunately, Autocode prompts you for tail should that be required. Autocode rameters to produce a complete, work- all of the information it needs through a has no quick -and -dirty mode, but its ing dBase program. series of well -documented menus. menus and prompts make even detail The Quickcode manual has almost To set up a data -entry form, dBase work a snap. 170 pages. It is well organized and easy must be used. You use the dBase Modify The Autocode manual is definitely to understand. Its first section, "Instant text editor to create the form using your easier to read and understand. All of the Programs," gives an overview of Quick - terminal's cursor controls. This is simi- instructions are printed on white paper, code and shows how to create simple lar to Quickcode's "Quickscreen" mode while the examples are printed on light dBase programs very quickly. We gener- as explained above. Once you have used blue paper. This allows you to easily dis- ated a name -and -address database pro- the dBase screen editor to set up the tinguish instructions from examples as gram in less than 15 minutes! data -entry form, you can use the you leaf through the manual, and is a The second section of the manual, Autocode to generate the program that terrific idea. Autocode also has a sepa- "Quickcode in Detail," explains how to will employ the form. rate book of examples that contains nine make Quickcode generate tailored data- When Autocode is run, it presents a complete Autocode-generated programs base programs. With a little practice, it simple menu with the following three se- covering such areas as payroll and stock was possible to set up relatively complex lections: Menu Generation, File Mainte- control. Quickcode has the built-in abili- programs in half an hour. All this with- nance Generation, and Report Genera- ty to print mailing labels, as well as the out once typing a dBase command! It is tion. Each of these must be selected in WordStar/MailMerge interface referred far easier to master Quickcode than it is sequence so that Autocode can generate to as the "WordStar Connection." to master dBase. the necessary dBase programs. Then, Both programs are well documented, The third part of the manual, "Your through sub -menus and prompts, Auto - easy to use, and require no dBase pro- Quickcode Programs," gives an insight code asks you for every single scrap of gramming knowledge. Best of all, both into the dBase programs that Quickcode information it needs. The user's guide seem to work quite well, although they generates and is intended for those who has excellent examples that lead you step are sold "as is" and neither is guaranteed are already somewhat familiar with by step through the entire process. by its manufacturer to produce perfect dBase programming. Unfortunately, al- Menu generation allows you to define results. though the manual does explain every the exact wording of whatever menus If you are interested primarily in sim- command, and gives examples of how to you may need to handle your database. ple databases requiring virtually no use each one, it does not contain a com- This is actually the easiest part of work on your part, Quickcode is for you. plete example of how to set up a database Autocode. If you are willing to do a little work to from beginning to end. You have to The report generation lets you define produce better application software, ei- study the manual and learn what each your report formats very easily. Auto - ther program will do, although Auto - command does. This means that if you code simply presents on the screen a code 1 is probably easier to use because are an absolute beginner, it may be diffi- form for you to fill out with specifica- of its example -filled manual. cult for you to follow the manual. Al- though a brief section on database ter- OVERVIEW minology is included, it assumes you

already have some background. Program Quickcode Autocode 1 We didn't realize all that Quickcode Supplier Fox & Geller Stemmos, Ltd. was really capable of doing until we 604 Market Street 666 Howard Street asked it to set up a simple database and Elmwood Park, NJ 07407 San Francisco, CA saw the results. All in all, we were really 94105 Price $295 impressed by Quickcode. $200 System(s) CP/M-80, PC -DOS, CP/M-80, CP/M-86, MS-DOS PC -DOS, MS-DOS Autocode 1 Both programs do their job well, although, in some cases, it may be possible for a program- Autocode 1, by Stemmos, Ltd., is a mer on intimate terms with dBase II to create a more elegant code. If disk space is no prob-

compact program generator for dBase II lem and your needs not too demanding, use Quickcode. If your disk capacity is limited, or if that should run well, even in floppy disk your needs are complex and require some customization, use Autocode.

May 1984 85

AmericanRadioHistory.Com ti g

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. .. printer and an internal modem for telecom- -tr". -. IF= I= INE=MI IC:=3 munications, it can handle a great variety of jobs. r Children can learn new ways of learning, w CL-7_ and make short work of homework. Adults can c r . keep track of household expenses, write letters, s i 4 Q rt- file tax data, plug into information networks. And everyone can enjoy challenging new cartridge games. IBM designed PCjr with lots of bright ideas to make computing easier. The "Freeboard"- a keyboard that doesn't need a connecting cord - is easy to get comfortable with. Built-in picture instructions can help the first-time user get started.

AmericanRadioHistory.Com NEW PRODUCTS

IBM -COMPATIBLE INTELLIGENCE FOR COMPUTERS DUMB TERMINALS Zenith Data Systems' new "Screenstor" from Climax Models Z-150 PC and Z-160 Computer Corp. provides PC are claimed to be fully dumb terminals with off-line hardware and software com- intelligence and memory. It patible with third -party hard- connects to any dumb termi- ware and software designed nal's RS -232C serial port and and written for the IBM PC. provides: up to 100 pages of The desktop Model Z-150 PC memory; parameter and char- and Model Z-160 PC trans- acter conversion features and portable share features: 5 - translation facilities to stan- MHz 8088 16 -bit CPU; 128K dardize different terminals; (expandable to 640K) of auxiliary printer/computer RAM; color/monochrome port; easy -access prompt graphics with 80 X 25 -char- menu; back/forward scroll- acter text and 320 X 200 - ing; character search facility; pixel color or 640 X 200 -pixel function key capabilities; monochrome graphics resolu- character -by -character dis- tion; detached keyboard with play. Technical features: large RETURN and SHIFT three programmable RS- keys; two RS -232 serial and t 232C serial ports; 300 to 9600 ® t one Centronics parallel I/O k .11 baud rates; odd/even/no par- A ;.._,_old, ports; RGB color and com- -,. ,. . ity; 1/1.5/2 stop bits; posite monochrome video full/half duplex and syn- outputs; and four user -avail- chronous/asynchronous op- able expansion slots. With the eration; XON/XOFF protocol; Z-150, display monitor is op- 320K 5'/4" disk drives. The Z- $3099 with dual drives, $4799 battery backup of parameter tional, while the Z-160 has a 150 is also available with a with one and one 10.6M hard memory. $485. Address: Cli- built-in 9" amber picture single 5'/4" floppy drive and disk; Z-160: $2799 with one, max Computer Corp., 4790 tube. Both computers are 10.6M hard disk system. Z- $3199 with dual floppy drives. Irvine Blvd., Suite 105-172, available with one or two 150: $2699 with single drive, Circle No. 83 on Free Information Card Irvine, CA 92715.

SOFTWARE SOURCES

Spreadsheet Calculator. Videx's UltraPlana spreadsheet program for use in Apple II and IIe computers is designed to automatically take advantage of a wide range of memory cards, up to a total of 512K, as well as Videx display cards. The program has a command structure similar to that of VisiCalc and includes individual column widths and a variety of security commands. With UltraPlan, standard VisiCalc or DIF data files can be used to insure compatibility with a wide range of programs. UltraPlan has easy -to -follow menus for printing and accessing the disk and can be used with Videx's own 132 -column by 31 -line display peripheral or in Apple's 40 -column mode. UltraPlan supports upper- and lower-case text characters, uses control characters to home or move the cursor around COMPUTER overlay and a highly conduc- the screen, and features individually adjustable column widths. PROTECTOR PAD tive "scrim" intermediate lay- Circle No. 92 on Free Information Card 3M Static Control Systems' er bonded to a nonskid, noise - "First Touch" Series 900 reducing foam backing. When Graphics System. Chalk Board's "Leo's 'Lectric Graphics" Static Control Computer Pad grounded, the pad protects computer graphics package gives the user the ability to construct for desktop computers is de- the computer from static -in- finger-painted multiple-contact drawings or to draw fine point-to- signed to save on computer duced damage by draining point pictures. Built-in structures permit pushbutton creation of malfunctions due to static dis- static charges from the opera- such basic shapes as circles, triangles, rectangles, and straight lines. charges. The 24" X 26" X tor to ground in less than 0.5 'Lectric Graphics also features a slide -show capability. $199.95 for 1/8" (trimmable) pad consists second. $69.95. IBM PC. Versions also available for most home computers. of a semiconductive vinyl Circle No. 84 on Free Information Card Circle No. 93 on Free Information Card

88 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com SOFTWARE SOURCES

Flowcharting Program. Automatic drafting of program flowcharts is now possible on the Sharp PC -1500/1500A and Radio Shack PC -2 handheld computers with the Flowcharter program from Pocketlnfo. The program lets you select from among 15 different symbols, which are then drawn on the computer's printer/plotter. A multiple -line description can be printed alongside the symbol. $29.95 cassette. Address: Pocketlnfo Corp., PO Box 152, Beaverton, OR 97075.

Text Formatter. Textform from Gibson Software is a CP/M- RGB CARD FOR tion with option of mixing 40 - based text formatting program for the Heath/Zenith H/Z- APPLES or 80 -column text; 16 -color 89/90 computers. It recognizes more than 30 text -imbedded Amdek has introduced the medium resolution with op- commands, allowing the user to control page and line lengths, Model DVM-III RGB card tion of mixing 80 -column margins, line spacing, text centering and justification, headlin- for Apple computers. The text; 6 -color high resolution ing, footnoting, and text underlining. Included are commands card fits into slot seven of the with option of mixing 40- or that provide access to many of the special print modes of Epson computer and reproduces on 80 -column text; 16 -color dou- printers. Requires a minimum of 48K of RAM and at least one RGB monitors the video ble high resolution (140 X disk drive. $49.95 hard- or soft -sectored disk. Address: Gibson modes that the computer is 192 pixels) with option of Software, Rte. 1, Box 317, Iron Station, NC 28080. capable of displaying in mixing 80 -column text; and NTSC or composite -video monochrome double high res- File Management System. MegaFinder from Megahaus is a monitors. The DVM-III per- olution (560 X 192 pixels). database management program for Apple II and IIe computers. mits user selection of text col- The card is compatible with It comes complete with a report generator and includes a selec- or by setting soft switches on all Apple II 40 -column soft- tion of ready-made forms and reports models. With the board. Modes supported ware. $195. MegaFinder, you can custom design forms from scratch, as well include: 16 -color low resolu- Circle No. 85 on Free Information Card as change existing forms, using its built-in screen editor. The program maintains information in up to four sorted orders simultaneously, each of which can be sorted in up to five sublev- els. A preview mode allows any report to be checked before printing. An on-line help facility is provided to make the system user-friendly. $149.95. Address: Megahaus Corp., 5703 Oberlin Dr., San Diego, CA 92121.

Cataloging Program. Cat*Man from Zephyr is a mini -file system that lets you catalog your books, records, tapes, etc., on an IBM PC or Apple II/III computer. You input title, author, and subject for each item to be cataloged, according to prompts from the computer. Up to 5000 items can be cataloged on a single IBM PC disk (2000 on an Apple disk). The program makes it easy to add or delete items and includes a handy search function that quickly pinpoints any item or group of items called by name. Requires 64K of RAM and at least one disk drive. $19.95 PORTABLE 16 -BIT floppy -disk drive with room for disk. Address: Zephyr Services, 306 S. Homewood Ave., COMPUTER for a second optional drive; Pittsburgh, PA 15208. Packaged in an 18" X 15" X bit -mapped color graphics 3" attache case and weighing support (display is optional); Spelling Corrector. S tar-Kits' Spell 'N Fix Level II is a spell- less than 16 Ib, the Commuter support logic for 80 X 25 - ing correction program for the Radio Shack Color Computer. from Visual is an IBM PC and 40 X 25 -character dis- The program splits the CoCo's screen into two windows. The workalike in a go -anywhere play; parallel and RS -232C upper window displays upper/lower-case text as it is being portable. It is claimed to he serial ports; RGB, composite - read, while the lower window displays program status, mis- hardware and software com- video, and r -f outputs; and a spelled words, and possible alternative spellings. Supplied is a patible with the PC and in- connector for using an IBM 20,000 -word dictionary, to which you can add an additional cludes as standard features: expansion chassis. An 80 X 20,000 words or use alternative dictionaries. The program is 8088 CPU; 128K (expandable 16 -character LCD display is self-prompting and has extensive error -recovery routines that to 512K) of RAM; MS-DOS optional. $1995 base; $2450 eliminate the need for you to refer to the manual after first use. 2.1; keyboard with all IBM with optional second drive Requires 32K minimum RAM and at least one disk drive. functions and identical key - and display. $69.29. Address: Star -Kits Software Systems Corp., PO Box hoard layout; 5'/4" (360K) Circle No. 86 on Free Information Card 209, Mt. Kisco, NY 10549.

May 1984 89

AmericanRadioHistory.Com ~at , - -- NEW PRODUCTS FINGER PRINT . 11 DUAL -DISK DRIVE video monitor. Technical im- PRINTER UPGRADE A new floppy -disk drive unit provements include a new ACCESSORY containing two half-height, disk -eject mechanism and ad- Finger Print from Dressel- 140K drives side -by -side in a vanced head -positioning haus upgrades Epson MX and single case has been intro- mechanism for more precise FX series and IBM PC print- duced by Apple. Called reading of half tracks. Opera- ers by providing easy access to Duodisk, the system offers tionally identical to the Disk special print functions such as improved technology and full II floppy drive, Duodisk runs compressed, italic, or empha- compatibility with Apple II all Apple II software and is sized. The plug-in module software at a lower price than supplied with a controller puts numerous modes at the two separate Disk II drives. card that connects to any Ap- user's fingertips, permitting Duodisk is exactly as wide as ple II, II+, or IIe computer. instant selection from a vari- the Apple II computer and $795. ety of print functions simply can sit between computér and Circle No. 87 on Free Information Card by tapping the printer's control panel buttons. The increased capabilities do not in- terfere with normal printer operations. Installs without soldering and is accompanied by instructions. $59.95. Ad- dress: Dresselhaus Computer Products, 837 E. Alosta Ave., a..,....1.11. r.A* Glendora, CA 91740.

SOFTWARE SOURCES

Word Processor. OmniWriter from Human Engineered Soft- ware offers a word processor and integrated spelling checker for Commodore 64 users. The page -based WP program provides such features as multiple line headings and footings; name, address, and label merging; underlining and boldfacing; full scrolling and function keys to page forward/backward; global search/replace; and support for a wide variety of printers. The integrated 30,000 -word OmniSpeller can be expanded to include additiona? words. A simple conversion allows files from Microsoft's Multiplan spreadsheet to be transferred to OmniWriter. Supplied are a quick reference card, keyboard INTELLIGENT MODEM compatibility. The Mark XII overlay, and reference manual. $69.95. Address: Human Engi- Anchor Automation's Signal- detects dialt one and busy sig- neered Software, 150 N. Hill Dr., Suite 35, Brisbane, CA 94005. man Mark XII intelligent low - nals and automatically dis- noise auto-dial/auto-answer plays dialing status on -screen. Mainframe Graphics Link. CompuView Products has an- modem is said to emulate the A CMOS microprocessor as- nounced availability of Vgraph, a software package designed to command structures used in sures very low power con- allow microcomputer users to access powerful mainframe the Hayes Smartmodem. It sumption and high reliability. graphics packages. The program emulates a Tektronix Model can be operated manually, An RS -232 cable and two tele- 4010, the industry standard display terminal. It also allows the through a keyboard, without phone jacks (one for an atten- user to print out his display screen and, with the aid of a color computer coding, or automati- dant phone) are built in. $399. monitor, to display text in up to eight colors. The software is cally to answer or originate Address: Anchor Automa- menu driven and permits modification of communications pa- calls at 1200 bps for Bell 212A tion, Inc., 6913 Valjean Ave., rameters during execution. Computers currently supported in- and up to 300 bps for Bell 103 Van Nuys, CA 91406. clude the Heath/Zenith H/Z-100 series and Victor 9000. $120. Address: CompuView Products, Inc., 1955 Pauline Blvd., Suite 200, Ann Arbor, MI 48103.

Word Processor for PCjr. Word -Jr from Micro Architect is a word processor for the IBM PCjr that supports both color and monochrome monitors. The program consists of a full - screen editor and a powerful text processor. Also included is a built-in file/merge capability. Word -Jr requires a minimum of 128K of RAM and at least one disk drive. $59. Address: Micro Architect Inc., 6 Great Pines Ave., Burlington, MA 01803.

Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com HOME Cr commodore COMPUTERS SX-64 s PORTABLE 8 39 ATARI 1010 Program Recorder '74.00 6 r.:p 1020 Color Punter_ '24900 ` - _.-:': .,..:>-,._ 1025 Dot Matrix '349.001``' CBM 8032 '599 CBM 64 '199 CBM 4032 '599 1027 Letter Qualty '309.00 VIC 20 -CALL 1030 Direct Conner Modem CALL LAST' CBM 12880 '769.00 MSD-1 Disk Drive '349.00 1050 Disk Drive '399.00 WHILE SUPPLIES CBM 64K Memory Board '269.00 MS0-20isk Drive '599.00 [X30 Paddle '12.00 8032 to 9000 Upgrade 269.00 C1541 Disk Drive '249.00 CX40 Joystick.. each '8.00 600XL '149 2031 LP Disk Drive '299.00 Detesette '69.00 CX77 Touch Tablet 64.00 C1530 - 8050 Disk Drive '949.00 C1520 Color Porter/Ratter 169.00 CX80 Trak Ball ' 48.00 800XL '299 8250 Disk Drive 1199.00 M-B01 Dot Manx/Parallel '219.00 CX85 Keypad '105.00 1200XL CALL I 4023 Porter '379.00 01526 Dot Meteix/Serial '279.00 488 Communicator I '229.00 8023 Printer '569.00 C1702 Color Monitor '249.00 4003 Assorted EdLcauon '47.00 1400XL CALL 6400 Porter '1399.00 C1311 Joystick '4.99 4011 Star Raider '33.00 Z -RAM '499.00 C1312 Paddles '11.99 4012 Missile Command '29.00 Silicon Office '699.00 01600 VIC Modem '59.00 4013 Asteroids '29.00 The Manager '199.00 C1650 Auto Modem '89.00 5049 VisCalc '159 00 Soft ROM '125.00 Logo 64 '49.00 7097 Logo '7920 PERCUM VisCelc '159.00 Pilot 64 '39.00 7101 Entertainer, '69.00 '369.00 PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE Word Pro 64 Rus 59.00 7102 Arcade Champ '75.00 A' 88-$1 Ai 68-A2 '259.00 Word Pro 2 Rus '159.00 Parallel Printer Interface '49.00 8026 Dig Dug '33.00 M 88-S1PD '449.00 Word Ro 3 Rus '189.00 CelcResult 64 '65.00 8030 E.T. Phone Home '33.00 !T 88 DDA '119.00 Word Pro 4 Rus/5 Rue...each '279.00 CalcResult Easy '39.00 8031 Donkey Kong 39.00 40-S1 '449.00 InfoPro '179.00 Codewnter 64 '75.00 8033 Rohotron '35.00 PFD 40-A1 '269.00 Administrator '399.00 Cluck Brown Fox '49.00 8034 Pole Pospon '39.00 PFD FFD 40-S2 ' 699.00 Power '79.00 Vidtex Telecommunications '34.95 8036 AtanWnter ' 79.00 8040 Donkey Kong Jr '39.00 FFD 44-S1 539.00 8043 Ms. PacMan '39.00 RFD 44-S2 '869.00 APPLE/FRANKLIN 8044 Joust....._ '39.00 TEXAS INSTRUMENTS DISK DRIVES MEMORY BOARDS -X 99-S1 '279.00 - FOR ATARI RANA MICRO -8C1 Axton 32K '59.00 000 '329.00 5 '219.00 42 Axton 48K '99.00 INDUS A40 '299.00 Axton 128K '299.00 i? Drive '379.00 A70 '319.00 Inter 659.00 '79.00 32K TRAK C2 Controller Intec 48K '85.00 '89.00 AT -02 '389.00 C47 Controller Inter 64K '99.00 RANA Inter Real Time Clock '29.00 KOALA PAD (ROM) '82.00 .. Eire 1 '279.00 Atari 853-16K '49.00 Atan Bite 2 '389.00 Apple '85.00 MONITORS IBM '95.00 ACE 1000 Color Computer CALL Elite 3 '569.00 CBM 64 (ROM] '82.00 ACE Family Pack System CALL APPLE Ile STARTER PACK AMDEK 300 Green '149.00 ACE PRO PLUS System CALL 64K Apple Ile, Disk Drive 6 Cont roller, 30 Column WICO CONTROLLERS 300 Amber '159.00 ACE 1200 OMS CALL Card, Monitor II E. DOS 3.3. Joystick '21.99 Amber 169.00 "NOT Ile EXPENSIVE" COMPLETE CALL 310 3 -way Joystick '22.99 Color 1 '279.00 Famous Red Ball $23.99 1 '299.00 PRINTERS Color Pus Power Gnp '21.99 Color 2 '399.00 BOSS Joystick '17.99 AXIOM '419.00 SOFTWARE FOR Color 2 Plus ATARINIC Trsk8dl '34.99 AT -846 Atari Interface '89.00 Color 3 '349.00 Apple Trak Ball '54.99 ÁT100 Atari Interface '239.00 ATARI, APPLE/FRANKLIN, Color 4 '699.00 Apple Adapter 15.99 GP -100 Parallel Interface '199.00 i CBM & IBM BMC Aople Analog 37.99 BMC ELECTRONIC AR'S 12" Green '79.99 401 Duality '589.00 Letter Hard Hat Mack (AT/AP/CBMIBM) '29.95 12" Green HeRes '119.99 MODEMS BX-80 Dot Metro '269.00 Archon [AT/AP/CBM/IBM]..... '32.95 9191-13" Color '249.99 ANCHOR C.ITOH One On One (AP ONLY] '32.95 GORILLA Volksreodem '59.00 Goclla Banana '209.00 Cut E. Paste Word (AT/AP/CBM/IBM) '42.95 12" Green '88.99 MARK IL '79.00 Prownter 8510P '379.00 Rnball Construction (AT/AP/CBM/IEñ1) '32.95 12" Amber '95.99 Mark VII(Auta Ans/Aum Did) '119.00 Proanter 1550P '679.00 INFOCOM NEC Mark XII [1200 Baud] '299.00 A10 [18 cps] '569.00 JB 1260 Greer 1U9.99 '99.00 Zork 1,2,3 (AT/AP/CBM/IBM] '29.00 TRS-80 Coder Computer F10-40 '999.00 JB 1201 Greer '149.99 Deadline ]AT/AP/CBMPBM] '32.95 9 Wlt Power Supply '9.00 F10-55 '1499.00 JB 1205 Ambe '159.99 Enchanter [AT/AP/CBM/IBM] '32.95 JC 1215 Color 269.00 HAYES EPSON Ranetfdl [AT/AP/CBM/IBM] '32.95 '209.00 JC 1216 RGB. '429.99 SmarGeodem 300 MX-80FT, MX-100, RX-B0, RX-80FT, Witness (AT/AP/CBM/IBM) '32.95 1200 '499.00 JC 1460 Colo.... '359.00 Smartmodew FX-80, FX-100 CALL '29.00 Starcross (AT/AP/CBMABM) PRINCETON GRAPHICS Smaronodem 12006 '449.00 OKIDATA ATARISOFT Micromodere Ile '269.00 HX-12 '519.00 100 '299.00 82. 83. 84, 92. 93. 2350, 2410 CALL PacMan [IBM/AP] '29.99 TAXAN Micromodem PacMan (CBMNIC] '37.99 Smart Con II '99.00 SMITH CORONA 12" Green '119.00 '199.00 Centipede (IBM/AP) '29.99 Chronograph TP-2 '399.00 12" Amber '129.00 Feed '119.00 Centipede [CBMNIC] '37.99 NOVATION Tractor Texan 1 RGB '279.00 SILVER REED Dig Dug (IEIM/AP] '29.99 J-Cet '99.99 Dig Dug (CBM/VIC) '37.99 SAKATA Smart Cat 103 '179.00 500 Latter Quality '469.00 Donkey Kong (IBM/AP) '29.99 50-100 '269.00 Smart Ca 103/212.. '399.00 550 Letter Quality '699.00 Donkey Kong [CBMNIC) '37.99 USI Auto Cat '219.00 '29.99 STAR Defender (IBM/AP] Pi 1, 9" Greca '99.99 212 Apple Cat 569.00 Gemid 10X '299.00 Defender (CBMNIC] '37.99 R 2. 12" Gre-n '119.99 Apple Cat 212 Upgrade '309.00 Gemid P15X '399.00 Robotron [IBM/AP] '29.99 R 3, 12" /inter '149.96 Cat '139.00 Delta 10 '559.00 Robocron (CBMNIC] '37.99 R 4, 9" Amber '139.95 0-Cat '149.00 Serial Board '75.00 Star Gate [IBM/AP]. 29.99 1400 Color.. .269.9E PC -Cat '339.00 TRANSTAR Star Gate (CBMNIC] '37.99 ZENITH ZENITH '499.00 120P CONTINENTAL SOFTWARE ZVM 122 Amber '109.00 .Z1-1 '309.00 130P '689.00 Home Accountant (AT/AP/CBM). '49.00 ZVM 123 Green '99.0C ZT-10 '339.00 . 315 Color '499.00 Home Accountant (IBM PC] '88.00 ZVM 135 CoEr/RGB '469.98 ZT-11 '399.00 =WEST =CANADA.. o E^Yrez.. 800-233-8950 '800268-4559 .; 800=648=331 ,. ;In PA call (717)327-9575,DeptL 40507 In Toronto call (416)828-0866,Deat.40507 In NV call (702)588-5654,Dept: 40507' Order Number. 327-9576. Ord.- Status Number: 828-C866 1°' Order. Status Number: 588-5654 Status , Unit 3B II ' Customer Service Number: 327-1450 2505 Dunwin Drive, P,O.Box 6689 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L1T1° - 477 E. 3rd St., Williamsport,p PA 17701 - Steteline, NV 89449 No' risk, no deposit on C.O.D.-orders and no waiting period for certified checks or Honey orders. Add 3% (minimum'5) shipping end handling on all orders. Larger shipments may re uire additional charges. NVand PA residents 'Add sales tax. All items subject to availability and price change. Cell tóday for our catelo CANADIAN ORDERS: All prices are subject to shipping, tax,and'currency fluctuations. 'Call for exact pricing in Canada. Circle Ao. ,11 on Free lnformattan Card

AmericanRadioHistory.Com NEW PRODUCTS

HIGH-SPEED/RES JOYSTICK -.---'------'! i The Turbo Stick is a new type i of joystick from KA Design Group. It offers high pointing speed, high resolution (one _ part in 4096), and full RS -232 ASCII output. Incorporated into the handle are two finger- tion. These switches can also tip -operated microswitches be redefined through software that allow the user to switch to perform different func- IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII :..- between an absolute mode tions. $395. Address: KA De- ' \ .t with high pointing speed and sign Group, 6300 Telegraph \\Nw a rate mode with high resolu- Ave., Oakland, CA 94069.

PARALLEL I/O levels on the IBM PC by SOFTWARE SOURCES INTERFACE means of a plug -type jumper MetraByte's Model PIO-12 on the board. All out puts can I/O parallel interface board drive one standard or four Financial Management. Turning Point Software's Time is for the IBM PC and XT pro- low -power Schottky TTL de- Money' personal/small-business management tool is designed vides 24 TTL/DTL-compati- vices, and CMOS compatibil- for the person with no accounting or bookkeeping background. ble lines. It also offers inter- ity can be obtained by adding It balances checkbooks, calculates and monitors budgets, calcu- rupt input, enable lines, and a pullup resistor. Three pro- lates net worth, prints out checks, and tracks fully or partially external connections to the gramming modes are avail- deductible items. Full report generation and graphics capabili- PC's power buses. Interrupt able to the user to permit stan- ties are included. The program can keep track of 240 accounts, handling is via a tristate driver dard, strobed, and bidirect- 240 expense categories, and 240 income types from 240 sources. with a separate enable line, ional I/O. $89. Address: Any transaction in any category can be added, deleted, or and it can be configured to MetraByte Corp., 254 Tosca edited at any time. A system of virtual menus allows instanta- any of the available interrupt Dr., Stoughton, MA 02072. neous movement to any point within the program. Available for Apple II, II+, Ie, and Apple -compatible computers with at least one drive. $100. Address: Turning Point Software, Inc., 11A Main St., Watertown, MA 02172. en. Information Control System. Precision Software's Super - base 64 is a comprehensive database management/information control system for the Commodore C-64 computer. It is claimed to be the only multifile information retrieval system available for the C-64. The number of possible databases Superbase 64

1 can handle is claimed to be unlimited. Each database can contain up to 15 files, while the number of records possible for each file is constrained only by disk capacity. The program comes with a user -programmable interface that permits creation of custom applications packages within the Superbase environment. The program can also be menu -driven or accessed via direct commands to the database. Linking to other programs is also supported. INK -JET COLOR million characters. Quadjet Circle No. 90 on Free Information Card PRINTER has both image printing and Quadjet from Quadram Corp. hard -copy functions and can Operating System Enhancer. DoubleDOS from SoftLogic is a compact, lightweight use almost the entire width of Solutions lets the IBM PC and XT run foreground and back- inkjet printer that prints out an 8'/2" sheet of paper. Oper- ground programs simultaneously. It divides memory into two in up to seven colors at a ating sound level is rated at separate areas, in either one of which a program can run in the speed of 40 characters per sec- less than 50 dB. The printer background without keyboard interaction: When that program ond. It uses a drop -on -de- measures 153/4" W X 11%"D is recalled, the current screen display reflects any processing mand ink -jet printing system X 41/4"H and weighs only that has occurred while the program was running. Meanwhile, capable of a text and graphics 12.3 lb. Accessory kits con- the operator can run any other program in the foreground. If resolution of 640 dots per line. taining software programs to two video displays are used, one can be assigned to display Its bidirectional scanner take advantage of Quadjet's background runs while the other displays the foreground run. prints 80 standard or 40 en- features, are available for the DoubleDOS can run in systems with as little as 128K of RAM, larged text characters per IBM PC,and Apple II series but 192K is recommended. DoubleDOS supports PC DOS ver- line. Each color user -replace- computers. $895. sions 1.2 and 2.0. $299. Address: SoftLogic Solutions, 530 able cartridge is rated at 4- Circle No. 88 on Free Information Card Chestnut St., Manchester, NH 03101.

92 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Modems (Continued from page 51)

The fancy cases, indicator lights, and purchase a "Y" adapter that accepts one dialing the number, the modem keeps elaborate switches are also conspicuous- input from your phone and another in- the circuit alive until it is requested to ly missing. Most budget modems have put from the modem and connects them hang up the phone. cases made of molded plastic, not metal. to a single wall jack. Disconnecting the modem from the And few have fancy panels or expensive In direct -connect modem setups, the line is done in many different ways. nomenclature. modem and telephone are connected in More often than not, however, you sim- The only indicator you will find on a parallel with each other. This means you ply turn the modem off. budget modem is an LED that lights up are free to use your telephone normally, when the modem has locked onto the as if the modem weren't there. Telephone -Based Modems carrier signal. Acquisition of the carrier When the modem is engaged, though, permits you to carry on a conversation. it seizes control of the telephone line and Another way to approach the problem Switch count is reduced by eliminat- directs phone operations. Even though of connecting a modem to a telephone ing the self-test function from the you are instructed to replace the receiver line is to make use of the telephone itself. modem. And some budget modems of the phone back into the cradle after The H.E.S. (Human Engineered Soft- don't even have an off/on switch! Now, that's really cutting costs to the bone. Almost all low cost modems connect r'FCC-REQUIREMEMTS to the computer through an RS -232C interface. This is done with a DB-25 con- Since a modem connects to the tele- sible for the modem's actions while it is nector built right into the modem. All phone lines, it actually becomes part of connected to their system. If a modem you have to do is hook a cable from the the telephone system. Therefore, it must causes abnormal operation of the phone modem to the RS -232 port of your meet certain FCC requirements, as laid or induces noise on the lines, you must computer. out in Part 68 of the Rules and Regula- disconnect it immediately. This is your tions for direct telephone connection. responsibility. Don't worry, though, the rules aren't Should the telephone company have 11. terribly restrictive. to notify you that your device is causing First, direct connection to the tele- harm, it has the option of discontinuing phone lines may only be made using a your phone service. If this becomes the standard RJ-11 modular plug. No other case, the telephone company will notify yvvvwwwwwu type of direct interface is acceptable. you in writing of a temporary discon- If your present telephone doesn't have tinuance of service, give you an opportu - Fig. 23. FSK modulation a modular plug outlet, one can be easily nity to repair the modem, and inform is a form of FM. added. All telephone stores and Radio you that you have the right to bring an Shacks sell a modification kit (for a cou- FCC complaint against them if you feel ple of dollars) that changes your current they are in error. Unfortunately, few budget modems junction -box into a modular jack. All All repairs to the modem must be come with this cable, although you will you have to do is remove the old cover made by the manufacturer or an autho- need one to make the modem work. So and replace it with the one supplied in rized service agency. In other words, be prepared to dish out another $20 or so the kit. Everything is color coded, so you don't try to repair it yourself. Failure to above and beyond the cost of the modem can't make a mistake. comply with this rule voids the FCC cer- itself for a cable. You can also have the telephone com- tification, making it illegal to use the Connecting the modem to your tele- pany make the conversion for you. Just modem until restored to its original phone line, though, is quite another mat- remember, they're going to charge you a condition. ter. It seems everyone has a different service call for doing it, which could cost Modem circuits operate at and gener- idea of how to do it. as much as $50. If you have the older 4 - ate radio frequencies. Consequently, pin phone jack, you don't have to change they must also adhere to Part 15 of the Direct -Connect Modems it. You can buy an adapter that simply FCC's Rules and Regulations concern- plugs into the outlet and converts it to a ing spurious radio emissions. Most budget modems, you will find, modular hook up. Part 15 states that no electronic device are of the direct -connect type. What this Direct -connect modems cannot be may cause interference to other electron- means is that they plug directly into a connected to telephones on a party line, ic equipment. This section refers primar- standard RJ-1 1 modular phone jack. in multi -phone systems or to coin -oper- ily to radio and television, but does not In some cases, as with the Radio ated phones. exclude other devices that may be Shack IB modem, you disconnect your Some telephone companies require affected. telephone from the wall jack and insert that you inform them before installing If your modem does happen to cause the phone plug into a modular jack on an alien device such as a modem, and interference with your television set or a the modem. You then connect the register it with them. You need to give neighbor's, the problem is usually easily modem to the wall jack. them the telephone numbers(s) of the corrected. Look for excessively long ca- Sometimes a modem comes with a line(s) the modem will be connected to, bles or loose connections. Chances are telephone extension cord, other times the make and model of the modem, the you will find the problem there. you will have to supply your own. One FCC registration number, and the ringer In more stubborn cases, you may have modem, the Teledata model TD200 by equivalent. This information is printed to reorient the TV antenna or relocate Compro Electronics, has only one tele- right on the modem itself. the modem with respect to the receiver phone outlet on the modem, and no pro- Not all phone companies require you affected. If necessary, contact the manu- vision is made for you to connect the to alert them of your intentions, though. facturer or an experienced repair techni- telephone. In this case, you will need to Mine doesn't. You are, however, respon- cian to resolve the problem.

May 1984 93

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Modems ware) HESModem I is a good example not aware of it, but pushbutton phones of this type of modem, although others actually come in two different styles. exist. The H.E.S. modem actually uses Does a lower There is the short -keystroke model, and part of the telephone as an extension of an the full -keystroke version. the modem. price reflect To identify which is which, you need To use the modem, you dial your inferior product? to measure the travel of the button as phone normally and establish contact you depress it. If the travel is only 1/32", with the receiving modem. Once the link the phone is a short -keystroke model. A is made, you unplug your handset from in the base of the phone. You can't use a movement of 1/8" or more means it has the phone base and connect the modem phone that has the dialing portion of the a full keystroke. to the telephone base, not to the tele- telephone contained in the handset, like The HESModem I (by H.E.S.) won't phone wall jack. the Princess or Trimline models. work on telephones with a short key- Of course, you must have a telephone Furthermore, not all phones will work stroke. It will, however, on all full key- with modular plugs on both ends of the with this scheme even if they meet the stroke models and on all rotary dial coiled cord and the dialing mechanism above requirements. You're probably phones that have removable handsets

MODEM CHIP SETS

THE introduction of modem chip MHz oscillator which generates the structed digital message is buffered and sets has dramatically reduced the clock signal necessary for modem opera- output to the computer. complexity of modems and is tion. The clock -output frequency is di- The modem chip even has provisions chiefly responsible for the appearance of vided several times to create the carrier for self -testing. It does this by internally the low cost modem. Although modem frequencies used for modem communi- routing the transmitter's output to the A -wave generator shapes chip sets are available from a number of cations. sine Transmit wave pulses into distor- manufacturers, notably Motorola, Texas the square clock Modem Filter Instruments, and Exar, most modem tion -free sine waves, which the tele- Receive makers have adapted Motorola's phone lines are better equipped to Amplifier/ MC14412/MC145440 chip set to their handle. Limiter designs. The MC14412 modem also contains modem The actual modem is the MC14412 circuitry to process incoming Comparator chip. Inside this single 16 -pin package signals. The signal is first passed through reside all the functions needed to gener- a level change detector, which monitors Fig. B. Bare essentials ate and receive modem communica- the input voltage, then sent along to a de- of a modem circuit. tions. A block diagram of the chip is pre- modulator. With the help of the clock sented in the drawing shown here in Fig. signal, the demodulator decodes the in- receiver's input. This way, you test the A. coming frequencies and changes them modem alone, not the telephone lines. A The modem chip contains its own I - back into digital Is and Os. The recon- similar test for the entire system is also possible by placing the modem in the echo mode. 3 The second half of the modem chip set OSCoUT Clock Divider is made up of the MC 145440 filter net- OSCILA work. This chip is a switched -capacitor VDD digital filter that provides the necessary 9 lower -band separation for 1 Sine -wave Transmit Carrier upper- and `1 ~I ti ti - Generator O (FSK Transmit 12 Output) full duplex (simultaneous two-way) op- Enable O eration at 300 baud. Without filtering, Transmit narrowly separated information fre- Data the 10 Modulator quencies could become entangled. Mode O Frequency Voo When two are used togeth- 14 Decoder these chips Tree O er, the result is a modem. Some external Echo O ) 13 circuitry is required, however, to sup- TTL O 1 the modem in its efforts. The simple DisablePullUp port O Receive Carrier modem block diagram in Fig. B better Voo explains the story. Level (t Demodulator I _ Recame Data Rate Charge Counter IIr Basically, the external amplifier, lim- Data Rate Generator Detector iter, and comparator receive and condition the incoming modem signal before VOD ever sees it. They also Reset (} the modem chip e tered Post - Demodulator Receive 4 Output evaluate the quality of the transmission O 001001ío Decoder Data T Register Filter by monitoring the level of the signal. If VDD = Pin 16 level is too low (usually less Vss = Pin 8 the input than -42 dBm), it forces the MC14412 Self Test O to ignore the signal, thus preventing the Fig. A. Block diagram of Motorola's MC14412 modem chip. deciphering of erroneous data. O

94 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com Modems

and the dial in the main body of the come complete with software-and sell use software to control its operation. phone. for under $100. The reason is, the soft- In fact, the Model 6420 does just that. In other words, check your phone be- ware has to be written for only one ma- It has automatic answering and dial- fore considering a modem that uses the chine: the Commodore 64. ing-all controlled from the keyboard. phone base for its operation. You might But that's not all that happens. Re- In effect, this budget modem has become wind up buying a new phone just to ac- member our mentioning that the modem a smart modem. Computer controlled, commodate the modem if you don't. chip comes with automatic features built of course. And that's no bargain. right into it? It could originate and an- You will probably see more and more swer calls-if extra hardware were of this type of modem in the near future. Dedicated Moderns added. Dedicated modems that plug right into Well, the same thing can be done with the expansion slots of computer cabinets Another trick the manufacturers have a software package. By tying the auto- will eventually replace many of the uni- used to bring down the cost of modems is matic -function pins of the modem chip versal designs now on the market-and to specifically tailor a modem to work to the I/O ports of the computer, we can at lower prices with better features. O with only one computer model. In fact, the HESModem described above is a dedicated modem. The Model 6420 MODEM POWER SOURCES modem from Westridge Communica- tions, Inc. is another. THE means by which budget it to operate the modem! modems are powered are just as No batteries, no cables; no muss, no diverse as the modems them- fuss. Simply plug the modem into any selves. Some simply use a battery. The telephone jack and it's ready to go. One With VLSI an Volksmodem is such a model. It uses a disconcerting feature of this design, entire modem standard 9 -volt transistor battery. though, is that the modem may hang up In order to make the battery last, if someone picks up an extension tele- circuit can be though, some design improvements had phone while the modem is in operation. put on one chip to be made in the circuit. The use of a This forces you to re-establish the con- small battery precluded the inclusion of tact and begin transmission of your in- any indicator, including the carrier - formation over again. monitoring LED. In its place is a piezo- Radio Shack and several others power Unlike the universal modems so far electric beeper that emits an audible car- their modems right from the ac line. In discussed, which are made to interface to rier -detect tone when the carrier has all cases, a stepdown transformer plugs all computers with an RS -232C port, the been acquired. To further reduce power into a wall outlet and a cable runs from HESModem I and the Model 6420 are consumption, all chips are of CMOS the transformer to the modem, where specifically designed to work with the design. the ac input is rectified and used to pow- Commodore 64. Two benefits are gained A unique approach has been ventured er the modem. by using this approach. by Compro Electronics in its Teledata Dedicated modems, naturally, receive The first is the lack of connecting ca- model TD200 modem. It actually takes their power directly from the computer's

bles. As we've seen, most budget power from the telephone lines and uses I/O expansion port. . O modems come without connecting cables. To use them, you must purchase ° ° ° ^ . MODEM MANUFACTURERS one, which adds to the total cost of the modem system. Power The 6420 and H.E.S. modems, on the Manufacturer Make Price Supply Features other hand, use the expansion outlet of Anchor Automation, Inc. Signalman $99.95 AC Universal Type

the Commodore 64 for connection. In 6913 Valjean Avenue Mark I Adapter fact, the modem cases have the edge con- Van Nuys, CA 92626 nector molded right into them, and the entire modems plug into the back of the Volksmodem $69.95 Battery Audio carrier -detect computer. No cables are needed! tone Compro Electronics Teledata $79.95 Phone No power supply Software 3185-A Airway TD -200 lines needed Costa Mesa, CA 92626 The second benefit is derived from the

software. Most universal modems don't Human Engineered HESModem I $69.95 I/O port Uses telephone come with a software package, but one is Software powered base needed before the computer can commu- 150 North Hill Drive nicate over telephone lines. Brisbane, CA 94005 Depending upon the computer you are using, this software can run you any- Radio Shack Radio Shack $99.95 AC Color Computer One Tandy Center Modem IB Adapter interface where from to $20 $150. Suddenly, our Fort Worth, TX 76102 budget modem begins looking pretty expensive. Westridge Products, Inc. Westridge $99.00 I/O port Commodore 64 Dedicated modems have eliminated 330 Washington Street 6420 powered dedicated modem/ this expense. The Westridge Communi- Marina del Rey, CA 90291 with software cations modem and the HESModem I

96 Computers & Electronics

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com In -Circuit Emulation (Continued from page 82)

$400 will bring a host of such low-cost approach to problem solving should go both the hardware and software areas instruments on the market. This fresh a long way to easing many headaches in for microcomputers. O

TABLE 1-EMULATOR COMMANDS

Type in Type in Type in Command Description Command Command Description Command Command Description Command

1. Display a block of memory D 17. Substitute into memory S sa 34. Disable breakpoint 1,2 or DBP n starting at the last beginning at the given start 3, where (n) is the referenced memory address (sa). breakpoint number. address. 18. Trace one instruction. T 35. Enable all printpoints. EPP 2. Display a block of memory D sa beginning at a given start 19. Trace one or more T d I6 36. Enable printpoint 1,2 or 3, EPP n address (sa). instructions. where (n) is the printpoint number. 3. 'Display a block of memory D sa,la 20. Untrace one or more U d16 beginning at a given start instructions. (Only display 37. Disable all printpoints. DPP address (sa) and stopping the registers for the last at a particular last address instruction traced.) 38. Disable printpoint 1,2 or 3, DPP n (la). where (n) is the printpoint 21. Verify that target system V sa, la, da number. 4. Examine the data at an E pa memory is the same I/O port address (pa).. [beginning at a given start 39. Enable interrupts to be El address (sa) and ending at received from the target 5. Fill memory from a F sa,la,d8 a given last address (la)] as system. starting address (sa) up to that value beginning at a and including the given given destination address 40. Disable interrupts from the DI last address (la) with a (da). target system. particular 8 bit data byte (d8). 22. Display all the Z80 X 41. Enable bus requests to be EB internal registers and flags. received from the target 6. Go into run mode starting G system. at the current program 23. Display and allow for Xz counter location. modification of one of the 42. Disable bus requests from DB Z80's internal registers, the target system. 7. Go into run mode G sa where z can be any one of beginning at the given start the given registers as 43. Enable the emulator's ER address (sa). indicated below: automatic refresh function. z = F, F', A, A', B, B', 8. Use hex arithmetic to H d16,d16 D, D', S, P, X, Y, I 44. Disable the emulator's DR calculate the sum and automatic refresh function. difference of the two given 24. Have the emulator wait a Z dl6 16 bit data values. given amount of time 45. Display the emulator's ST before executing the next status which includes: 9. Move memory between a M sa,la,da command. (Good for scope breakpoint address given start address (sa) and loops.) pass counters a given last address (la) to breakpoint enable or a destination address (da). 25. Set breakpoint address 1 to BP I,d16 disable the given 16 bit value printpoint enable or

10. Run a memory test on the MT sa,la (d 1 6). disable target system RAM interrupts enable or between a given start 26. Set breakpoint address 2 to BP 2,d16 disable address (sa) and a given the given 16 bit value bus requests enable or last address (la). (d16). disable refresh enable or I I. Output to the specified O pa,d8,d8,... 27. Set breakpoint address 3 to BP 3,d16 disable port address (pa), one or the given 16 bit value more 8 bit data bytes (d8). (d16). 46. Soft reset the Z80 by SR storing zeros into all the 12. Quit full speed run mode. Q 28. Set breakpoint pass counter BPC 2,d8 internal registers.

1 to the given 8 bit value 13. Read an Intel hex file and R (d8). 47. Accept assembly language A sa load the data into the inputs at the terminal and target system's RAM. 29. Set breakpoint pass counter BPC 2,d8 place the machine -language 2 to the given 8 bit value equivalents in the target 14. Read an Intel hex file and R off (d8). system's RAM beginning apply the given offset (off) at a starting address (sa). value prior to loading the 30. Set breakpoint pass counter BPC 3,d8 target system RAM. 3 to the given 8 bit value 48. List Z80 machine -language L sala (d8). instructions as 15. Repeat the given command RL disassembled English - line in order to provide a 31. Enable all three EBP language mnemonics. The loop. (Useful for breakpoints. list will begin at starting oscilloscope address (sa) and end at last troubleshooting.) 32. Enable breakpoint 1,2 or 3, EBP n address (la). where (n) is the breakpoint 16. Substitute into memory S number. starting at the last referenced memory 33. Disable all breakpoints. DBP address.

98 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com TO KEEP UP A-,

WITH TODA / 1 T C N " HAVE WHERE

h TURN. t.~ ' 'i, T -'+, , '"Ai .5, r a;1 .; ;;á,;,.. 9J 1, a`'*v,; . 4.r ..+,°'*, / d m . i air Mi.. ,;,:;;;;Z:,r . ..:"+,,`3iN. l fM 4.'ti- 'f M ,4í h i eY Plenty of Hands -On Action, Too With expert input from Computers & Electronics, and your own electronics savvy, you'll find dozens of ways to experiment with...upgrade...and increase When you turn to the versatility and performance of your system. Computers & Electronics, you're For example, with less than $3 and very little time, you reading the world's foremost publication can add a feature to your keyboard that lets covering the microcomputer industry - you automatically repeat a character by hold- where last night's discovery is today's ing down a key. Or you might want to build a circuit technology. Computers & Electronics is your direct link to state- that lets you match a 600 -baud CoCo to a 300- of-the-art information in: baud printer. Heard about the important new electrically - Microcomputer Developments erasable PROMs? Computers & Electronics will Whether you're investing $300 or $3000, turn to Computers & `-" keep you filled in on the improved memory chips as Electronics first. You'll find candid test reports of all major new they're produced - how they work, how to wire microcomputers ...from the Commodore 64 to the Apple 'bile to them, what applications to use them for. the IBM-PCXT. And you'll discover which unit has the power, software and expansion capability to meet your specific needs. At Get Every Issue...PLUSSavings up to 37%! If you're not getting every informative issue of Computers & Elec- your specific budget. - tronics, there's a gap in your knowledge - and enjoyment - of New Peripherals and Software ^ today's high-speed, high-tech revolution. And now's the best time Micro programs and add-ons are in- to subscribe, while this introductory offer is in effect: One year (12 creasing almost geometrically. Let big issues) for just $12.97, with long-term savings available up Computers & Electronics sort it all out to 37%! you. for So keep up with what's happening. Turn to the special postpaid ______.-S.0.1.ii::''_; 51E You'll get features like a buyer's order card or the coupon below...now! guide to printers. A preview of the first workable economical thesaurus program that runs on virtually any CP/M- based system. r . r.,.. i Advance looks at new products like a joystick for CiiiiiuiirsP.O. Box 24 Visicalc®-..disk drive assemblies...a color monitor for B°ulder, C77O 80322 the IBM-PC. 8 E l E C T R O N- l CS Increase Your Computer Science I.Q. YES! Keep me tuned in with Computers & Electronics for the - Computers & Electronics will enlighten you with easy - term I've checked below: to -understand discussions of computer fundamentals. One year (12 issues) just $12.97-1 save 24%! (Savings based on Such as the series on learning 16 -bit microcomputer full one-year Two years just $22.97-1 save 32%! technology and an in-depth look at the structure of CP/M. subscription price Three years just $31.97-1 save 37%! You'll also delve into the future with articles like Super of $16.97) Chip: next -generation personal computers with double Mr. /Mrs. /Ms. the performance at a lower price. (please print full name) 4S143 Address Apt.

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Each time the user wants a copy of personal computer. Most of the applica- thousands of personal computer users the latest data stored in the mainframe, tion package vendors who have an- into the mainframe database, while still the "data fetch" program is used to nounced personal computer bridges are maintaining some semblance of security, bring a copy of the data shown to the mi- in the accounting area, although others system resources, and sanity? cro, sometimes formatting it in a way (for example, vendors of Manufacturing One of the reasons companies have that makes it accessible to a micro Resource Planning systems) are likely to mainframes (even though the power of spreadsheet such as Lotus 1-2-3 or follow suit. Whereas fourth generation personal computers is approaching that VisiCalc. languages and database management of the mainframes of the early 1970s) is Popular fourth -generation languages systems usually serve as a common stor- that they have to support hundreds or or "decision support tools" for which age facility for data that originated un- even thousands of users and devices at personal computer bridges have recently der a variety of application programs, one time with just one set of data. Bal- been announced include Express (Man- these mainframe software products are ancing the potential benefits of linking agement Decision Systems, Waltham, themselves applications. This is an ad- micros to mainframes for greater pro- MA); System W, a financial manipula- vantage if the information you need on ductivity are a number of potential tion language (Comshare, Ann Arbor, the micro comes entirely from a single drawbacks. MI); Focus (Information Builders, New application (for example, a payroll sys- For instance, whose numbers should York, NY); Empire (Applied Data Re- tem). But if you need to combine types of you believe? Once data are transferred search, Princeton, NJ); and Ramis information, you will probably need a from a mainframe to a micro, they no (Mathematica, Princeton, NJ). programmer's help to get it. The most longer stay up to date with the main- The second type of software provides advanced application package -to-PC frame files. When sales figures are a bridge from mainframe database man- programs (for example, Management agement software to a micro spreadsheet Science's Peachpack series from Atlan- or other application. It also extracts, for- ta, GA; McCormack and Dodge's PC mats and downloads data. As a rule of Link from Natick, MA) do provide help Business issues thumb, however, the database bridge re- in accessing information generated by quires more technical skill or learning other than their own mainframe will be solved time than a fourth -generation language. applications. more slowly than A skilled programmer will still be re- The obvious limitation of each of quired to insure that the "right" data is these three "bridge" packages is that the those of hardware written onto the mainframe database. data you want to access must already re- and However, the latest database -to -PC pro- side in the mainframe version of the ven- software grams have built features into them- dor's software. If they don't-either be- selves that make it easier for non - cause your company doesn't have the sophisticated users to do their own "data software, or because some of the data updated or revised today on the main- fetching." Typical of the way the easier- you want are kept somewhere else (for frame, the month -end total you down- to -use database links work is the recently example, in an old fashioned "flat file" loaded last night for your VisiCalc announced PC/204 from Computer of the sort maintained by a 15 -year -old spreadsheet will no longer be correct. Corporation of America (Cambridge, COBOL program)-none of these solu- Horror stories are common in the MA). It allows the user to position a tions will help you. mainframe world about managers argu- cursor over an empty spreadsheet on his The final bridge type is a file-to -file ing over who has the "right" value for or her micro and scroll through data la- transfer facility from á mainframe to a sales, costs, inventory levels, etc. But at bels on the mainframe database until the personal computer (one example is least the concept of a central database- name of the right data is "pointed" into Omnilink). This software does not re- a single collection of data maintained for quire that the data you are looking for be all users-minimizes such conflicts. As in any vendor's proprietary structure. "personal databases" start to spring up Unfortunately, it only reformats and on diverse personal computers around How does a downloads data. You (or your data-pro- the office, arguments (or worse, bad de- company handle cessing department) must write a pro- cisions) are likely to increase. At the gram to actually find and extract the least, corporate policy for micro users thousands of data you want, and store it in a transfer should insist that all users timestamp the file. It also requires a special batch job to time and source of their downloaded users and still be run on the mainframe every time you data, and refer to the timestamp whenev- maintain a sem- want to update the stored data. Exam- er they use or present analyses based on ples of these simple bridges are that data. blance of security? Simware's SIM3278 (Ottawa, Ont.); VM Also, how do you keep a corporate se- Personal Computing's Please and Relay cret? Another reason companies contin- (New York, NY). ue to use mainframes is the elaborate se- the spreadsheet. Examples of other data- curity precautions built into the system base bridge vendors include: Applied The Business Issues itself and into individual data files. Once Data Resources's ADR/Datacom DB a cópy of sensitive data is downloaded to (Princeton, NJ); Cullinet's Information Even assuming your company is able a microcomputer, and saved on a floppy Database/Cullinet PC Software (West- to justify the investment in time and disk, security for that data is about as wood, MA); Informatics General money to link micros to its mainframe, primitive as a locked file drawer. Answer/DB (Canoga Park, CA). there is still a vital business question to Finally, how do you avoid personal The third type of bridge extends from be reckoned with. Namely, how does a computer users tying up the mainframe? a mainframe application package to a company let potentially hundreds or Unfortunately, one of the functions with

100 Computers & Electronics

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AmericanRadioHistory.Com the highest "overhead" performed by a mainframe is I/O-moving data out of and into the computer to and from various peripheral devices. And download- ANFRAME COMMUNICATIONS ing data to a personal computer is a classic example of high -overhead I/O. As TERMINAL$ increasing numbers of personal computer users place heavy I/O demands on a mainframe, companies have a limited By Charles Daney In the early 1970s IBM introduced a number of alternatives. Among them new type of data link protocol called are: SDLC (for "synchronous data link con- Giving low priority to basic transac- THE most common kind of com- trol") as part of its Systems Network Ar- tion -processing applications; that is, munication terminal used with chitecture (SNA). SDLC protocol is slowing up order entry, payroll, ac- the IBM mainframes is a member supported by different types of 3270 ter- counting or inventory control users who of what IBM calls the 3270 family. That minals and control units. IBM has tried are generating the numbers that the per- family includes a number of different de- very hard to convince its customers of sonal computer users in management vices. Some of them are terminals that the wisdom of using SDLC and SNA, at want to access. This solution is not likely differ from one another in many re- the expense of both the bisync and async to please operating departments. spects. Some devices in the family are protocols. Indeed, most IBM main- Giving low priority to personal not really terminals at all, but special- frames support asynchronous communi- computer users; i.e., come in at 3 a.m. to ized pieces of communications equip- cations very poorly, if at all. The newest do your download, or expect the applica- ment that are called "communications and most advanced facilities are general- tion to take a few hours to complete. controllers." ly provided chiefly for SDLC terminals, This may defeat the purpose for making The first members of the 3270 family and sometimes grudgingly, for bisync the micro -to -mainframe link, increasing were announced by IBM more than ten terminals. This has created a rather awk- management productivity. years ago, at approximately the same ward and difficult situation for the very Buying another mainframe dedicat- time that the 370 line of mainframes was popular IBM PC, which is usually ed to personal computer users. This al- introduced. The earliest terminal model equipped to communicate only in the ternative may defeat the argument for in the family was known as the 3277. async mode. Although both bisync and personal computers-an inexpensive Subsequently, models designated 3278 SDLC hardware and software are avail- way to put computer power in users' and 3279 have also appeared. In addi- able for the PC, they are considerably hands. tion, each model has .had a number of more expensive. This often makes it al- subtypes.that differ in such details as the most impossible for PC owners to use In Conclusion number of characters displayed per line, their computers with their office the number of lines per display, and oth- mainframe. There are no easy answers at this time er features and capabilities. A second primary respect in which for those who would link micros to The "architecture" of the 3270 family 3270 terminals differ from most async mainframes. Because of the overwhelm- is, as we shall see, very complex and terminals is that 3270s generally use the ing appetite personal computer users elaborate. Because of this, IBM chose to EBCDIC character set. EBCDIC (for have better, faster and more data, ven- separate some of the functions and build "Extended Binary -Coded Decimal In- dors of packaged solutions have great in- them into a "controller" device. Com- terchange Code"), which assigns hexa- centive to work on the problems that municatioñs controllers in the 3270 fam- decimal values to printable characters, is technology can address. These include ily have included the 3271, 3272, and used on most IBM mainframes. It is integration-which provides a single - 3274. Each model has had a number of quite different from its principal alterna- package answer to the questions of the subtypes differing in such respects as tive, ASCII (for "American Standard physical link, the data link, and system - how they are connected to the main- Code for Information Interchange"), security assurance-and universality. frame computer, how many terminals which is, of course, what is used by the A system utilizing the concept of uni- they can control, and the communica- IBM PC and most "ASCII" terminals. versality would embody a single piece of tions protocols they use. Individual 3270 While conversion between EBCDIC software or hardware able to speak and terminals are usually grouped in "clus- and ASCII is reasonably straightfor- translate among the hundreds of differ- ters" attached to a single control unit ward, there are a few symbols that are in ing hardware, telecommunications, data which is, in turn, attached to a main- one set and not the other. For example, storage, and data interchange standards frame in one of a number of different there is a "cent" character and a "logi- that exist in the typical corporate main- ways. This approach reduces cost some- cal -not" character in EBCDIC but not frame environment, as well as the rela- what by sharing certain functions pro- in ASCII. The latter, however, has the tively broad line of personal computers vided by the control unit rather than du- tilde and grave accent all to itself. Since and applications programs that find plicating them in each terminal. There these symbols aren't too commonly their way into the office. was, however, one model called the 3275 used, this is mainly just a nuisance in try- The business issues will be solved that included a terminal and control unit ing to simulate an ASCII terminal on a more slowly than those of hardware and in a single package. 3270, or vice versa. software, and on a company -by -compa- The complexity of the 3270 architec- A third and final area in which mem- ny basis. But it is safe to predict that the ture, and the ways in which it differs bers of the 3270 family differ from most personal computer on a manager's desk from the more familiar 'async" terminal asynchronous terminals is in specific ca- is here to stay, and it's just a matter of lie in several different areas. The first of pabilities and features. Most important, time until that computer is linked into these is the communications protocol 3270s are essentially block mode devices. the corporate mainframe. O employed. That is, the basic unit of data is a field or

102 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Protocols (Continued from page 63)

even a full screen. (A field is a portion of data link protocol like bisync or SDLC is special character, DLE (for "data link es- the screen used for a specific type of intended to solve are just a small subset cape"), is defined. It must be sent pre- data. In a database there may be, for ex- of all the concerns of a network. The ceding any attempt to use one of the oth- ample, a "name" field, a "zip code" data link protocol "merely" ensures the er special characters for its special field, a "customer" field, and so forth.) reliable transmission of data from one protocol function. To use DLE as normal Data is identified according to the field point to another. Other problems of data, it has to be sent twice. on the screen to which it belongs, and its equal or greater difficulty include how Obviously, a lot of computation must position on the screen has little or noth- data is routed over a variety of different take place if bisync is to be spoken cor- ing to do with the order in which it is transmission facilities, how a legitimate rectly. The algorithms used for this are sent in relation to other fields. Most user connects to a particular application typically hard -wired into bisync termi- asynchronous terminals, in contrast, are by name, and how the data is formatted nals for greater efficiency; that is, they serial devices that display data in se- so as to be comprehensible to both the are built right into the terminals. Ordi- quential order, unless this is modified by sender and receiver. narily, a personal computer can speak "cursor pointing." All these problems are the concern of bisync only if it has a special bisync com- This distinction is very significant in network architecture in general, and munications card installed. Special (and terms of the way programs are written to IBM's SNA is just one example. SNA is expensive) modems are also required. use the terminals. It is, for example, organized into a number of different lay- Many of the older terminals produced much easier to create screens having ers, each of which deals with a particular by IBM and others used bisync. Those fields of diverse types (protected or un- class of problems. Data link control is include certain models of the 3270 com- protected, highlighted or not, of a specif- the function of one specific layer. Other munications terminal and the 2780/ ic color, etc.) on a block mode terminal layers are known as the "path control 3780 RJE terminals. However, bisync like a 3270. Some 3270-family models layer," and there are still others as well. has a number of shortcomings. To give even permit arbitrary redefinition of An SNA network consists of a num- just one example, it tends to use a lot of their displayable character sets. On the ber of nodes (computers or terminals extra characters to control communica- other hand, the 3270 hardware is incapa- usually, although other peripheral de- tions, which, in turn, lowers the net ble of the scrolling that almost all asyn- vices may be included) connected by throughput of useful data. Also, it is half chronous terminals can perform. communications lines. Only the lowest duplex, which is a disadvantage because As mentioned earlier, 3270s can be at- logical layer of each node actually con- time is wasted in "turning the line tached to mainframes in a variety of trols the physical communication with around." ways. A 3270 terminal is always first at- other nodes but, in a more abstract A newer protocol that attempts to tached to a control unit (unless it has one sense, the higher layers of each node also overcome some of the problems of built in). The control unit, in turn, can be communicate with their peers in other bisync is called SDLC (for "synchro- connected directly to a mainframe I/O nodes. The situation is analogous to nous data link control"). This is part of channel. This is by far the fastest type of communications between nations or IBM's very general Systems Network connection (capable of supporting a data large corporations: the "higher-ups" Architecture (SNA). In addition to sup- rate of about 650,000 characters per sec- generally communicate with each other port of full duplex (two way) communi- ond!). Needless to say, it is also the most via intermediaries at lower layers (minis- cations, SDLC distinguishes protocol in- popular kind of connection for people ters, managers), who in turn use even formation from other data sent by a who can conveniently work near the lo- more basic means (couriers, telephones). technique called "bit stuffing." This cation of the computer. This kind of con- Like the 3270 itself, but on a much method manipulates bit patterns in such nection is known as a local attachment. grander scale, SNA is complex and elab- a way that control information can be For those not so fortunate, who must orate. Indeed, since the 3270 terminal readily distinguished from data with less work remotely from the mainframe, the and control unit have many duties to communications overhead than bisyn- connection must be by means of a com- perform' in the network, their own com- chronous "byte stuffing" protocol. munications line, which is considerably plexity is understandable. SNA was de- SDLC, too, has its disadvantages. It is slower-at most 9600 baud, or about signed to serve the needs of many other computationally more expensive, so 1000 characters per second. This is types of communications devices besides again, specially wired hardware-SDLC known as a remote attachment. Al- terminals as they are normally conceived terminals-must be used. Most new though 9600 baud may sound fast to PC of. It also supports such devices as point - IBM communications products, includ- users who are accustomed to 300 or 1200 of -sale terminals and RJE (for "remote ing the latest of the 3270 line, use SDLC. baud, it can be very unsatisfactory, since job entry") workstations. Also, special SDLC modems must be many 3270 applications are written, in- The IBM 3770 product line is typical used with such terminals. efficiently, to send full screens of data of RJE terminals. An RJE terminal is Although we have spoken of bisync (1960 characters or more) back and usually distinguished from an ordinary and SDLC as if they were specific unam- forth quite frequently on the assumption terminal by having a card reader and biguous protocols, this is not really the that most users will be attached to the high-speed printer for servicing batch case. Various dialects exist. There are high-speed channel. job submission and output. It is intended additional protocols that terminals can The communications protocol used for performing the typical batch job pro- use in addition to either bisync or SDLC. for remote terminals can be either bisync cessing functions at locations remote This situation, coupled with the fact that or SDLC. In the latter case, the terminal from the mainframe. The 3770 uses specialized hardware must be used to will be part of an SNA network. Al- SDLC protocol in an SNA network. support the protocols, makes agreement though there is no such thing as a con- There is also an analogous product, the on standards among terminal manufac- cise description of what SNA is, a little 3780 terminal, that communicates in turers and communications services very can be said about the general functions bisync. Hardware and software are important. Fortunately, this is taking of communications networks. available for the IBM PC to emulate place. Even so, plain old async will still It turns out that the problems that a 3770 and 3870 terminals and the 3770. O be around for a number of years. O

May 1984 103

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Glossary of Terms (Continued from page 62)

from one computer to the other by one of uration. The simplest configuration, six "sync characters" at the beginning of two means. point-to-point, uses a serial port and a transmission. If the transmission con- If the distance between the two is modem at the mainframe connected by sists of many characters, additional sync short, the character can be transmitted some medium to a modem and serial characters are transmitted every now directly as electrical impulses through a port at a terminal or personal computer. and then to keep the computers in sync. null modem connection. (A null modem This one-to-one connection is expen- Synchronous transmission requires connection actually involves no modem sive both in terms of the number of serial more overhead in the form of software at all-the serial ports of the two com- ports and modems, and the number of protocols to keep everything running puters are simply connected one to the feet (or, more commonly, miles) of smoothly, but allows about 15% greater other by a cable.) This method is limited transmission medium required to sup- throughput than asynchronous trans- to distances of about 3000 feet. port a large number of users. It is also mission at the same baud rate. This is be- When longer distances are involved, wasteful in that a single user rarely re- cause synchronous transmission re- modems are used to send the data over a quires the full capacity of a 4800 -baud - quires two fewer bits per character than medium such as a telephone line. The or -greater line. Mainframe manufactur- asynchronous transmission. modem connected to the computer con- ers have therefore developed some ways verts the serial pulse train into tones. A to reduce these costs and increase the Software Protocols tone of one frequency represents a high utilization of a link. voltage, and a tone of another a low volt- One method used is a multi -drop line. Personal computers require relatively age. Tones áre used because voice -grade One serial port and modem, and a medi- little in the way of software protocols. telephone lines are not equipped to han- um -speed line (usually 4800 baud) at the Commonly used is the XON/XOFF proto- dle information in digital form. mainframe connects to a star or daisy - col (which allows one computer to indi- At the receiving end, the modem chain network of terminals or personal cate to another when to send and when translates the tones back into true digital computers. This eliminates the need for to stop sending) to govern the transmis- form and feeds the resulting electrical multiple modems and lines at the main- sion of large amounts of data. Error pulses to the second computer's serial frame, but each terminal or personal checking schemes using a CRC (cyclical port. There they are converted back into computer still requires its own modem. redundancy check) or checksum method parallel form. An alternative to multi -drop network- are also being included in a growing There are two types of modems. ing is to put small special-purpose com- number of communications packages. Acoustic modems have two soft rubber puters, known as cluster controllers, in Mainframes have developed far more cups into which a telephone handpiece is an area serving several terminals, per- complex protocols over the years to al- placed. One cup has a microphone, and sonal computers, remote line -printers or low them to be connected to a large the other a speaker. These pick up and other peripheral devices. Cluster con- number of devices without interfering generate the audio tones used for data trollers use one fast, expensive modem with applications software. These more transmission. There is no electrical con- and line (usually rated at 9600 baud) to complex software protocols have nection to the phone lines-the coupling communicate with the mainframe, and evolved in layers to service today's net- is acoustic. cheap null modems or coaxial cable to works of terminals and other peripher- Direct connect modems are connected make the connection to each computer als. The following descriptions are ab- directly to the phone line, usually or peripheral. The major advantage of stracted from the International through a standard modular jack. They this system is the elimination of expen- Organization for Standardization (ISO) are usually more "intelligent" than sive modems for each user station (or DP7498 Reference Model for Open Sys- acoustically coupled modems, and elimi- node), although the controller itself is a tems Interconnection. nate the possibility of ambient room costly piece of hardware. Data link protocols are the low- noise being mixed with the audio tones est layer, dealing with initializa- and "garbaging" the data. Transmission Protocols tion, control, termination and er- Transmission media for data transfer, ror recovery relative to the besides ordinary telephone lines, include After deciding how to make the physi- physical link and the transmission coaxial cable, CATV (broadband radio- cal link, we need to look at the transmis- protocols. frequency), fiber optics, infrared light sion protocols used in telecommunica- Network protocols deal with (with air being the transmission medi- tions. There are two ways for network management, message um), microwaves, and satellites (a spe- information to be communicated be- formats, and data -block cial case of microwave transmission). tween a modem and a serial port: syn- structure. The characteristics of the transmis- chronous (favored by IBM and other Transport protocols handle sion medium determine the speed at mainframe manufacturers) and asyn- message or packet assembly and which data can be passed back and forth chronous, which is used by most mini - disassembly, and message priority between computers. For example, diál- and microcomputers. The difference be- in a network. These protocols also up voice -grade telephone lines are con- tween the two protocols is the way in ensure end -to -end control of net- sidered reliable at speeds up to 2400 which characters are "framed"-that is, work transmissions. baud (bits per second), or about 240 how the beginning and end of a single Session protocols control the di- characters per second. Special leased character are signaled to the computer. alogue between processes in a net- phone lines can handle data rates of up Asynchronous protocols frame data work, as well as buffering and seg- to 19,200 baud. Coaxial cable and broad- by adding a bit to each end of the stream menting large transmissions. band media permit rates up to 56,000 of bits representing one character. These Presentation protocols are used baud, and the more exotic media extend are called "start" and "stop" bits. to handle data formats, and to rates to millions of bits per second. Synchronous protocols rely on inter- translate various sending codes to The last point to be addressed on the nal clocks to time the start and finish of a representations understood by the subject of physical links is that of config- block of characters by sending three to receiving equipment. O

104 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com TRS-80 Model 4P (Continued from page 43)

to the full 64K of RAM and switch the systems from sources other than Radio minal for time-share computers. Its screen display to 80 characters by 24 Shack, produced no unusual effects be- slightly different key arrangement lines. To say that the system works well cause of the pseudo -ROM image. The makes BASIC and other programs is an understatement. It is superb. only Model 4 software that would not somewhat easier to enter, but certain Since the Model 4P does not contain work in the Model 4P was a CPU speed- keys-tab, left and right brackets, the Model III ROMs, a software utility up. At the time we tested the Model 4P, backslash, line feed, escape, underscore, creates an image of the ROMs in the first Radio Shack still had not released its and vertical line-required for CP/M 16K of RAM. To get into the Model III CP/M operating system for either the and most CP/M-based applications pro- mode, it is necessary to first load a Model 4 or the 4P. So we used Montezu- grams are not present. MODELA/III utility (supplied with the ma Micro CP/M Version 2.2, which To make its Model 4 series computers computer). Screen prompts tell when to worked notably well. CP/M-compatible, Radio Shack synthe- load the utility and when the disk can he sizes the "missing" keys by permitting removed and he replaced by the Model More About the Keyboard simultaneous pressing of two or more III applications disk. If the system is to keys to obtain the desired functions. come up directly in the Model III mode, Perhaps the reason Radio Shack has CLEAR and comma are used for the left the MODELA/III utility must be cop- delayed providing CP/M for its Model 4 bracket, CLEAR and ENTER for under- ied onto the applications disk. Then series computers has to do with their score, etc. This approach, however, can when the disk is booted up, the utility "programming keyboards." Both com- lead to conflict. For example, the ASCII will auto -load the ROM image in RAM puters have almost the same keyboard EM is used to advance the cursor in the and automatically start the program. As used in the Model I computer, plus a nu- Model 4 series and also happens to be the far as the user is concerned, the comput- meric keypad, a CONTROL. key for automatic underscore command for a er functions as if the Model III ROMs CP/M, an alpha caps-lock key, and popular daisy -wheel printer. are present. three function keys labeled F1, F2, and F3. Aftermarket vendors of CP/M for the Unlike the ASCII keyboard in general Model 4 series such as Montezuma Mi- User Observations use today and patterned on the typewrit- cro, provide the missing keys through er keyboard, a programming keyboard is the use of two keys simultaneously, such

Experiments with a broad range of derived from the Model 33 Teletypewrit- as SHIFT and 1 to create the escape func- Model III software, including operating er, which was the original standard ter- tion, SHIFT- and - for the left bracket,

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May 1984 105

AmericanRadioHistory.Com TRS-80 Model 4P Sanyo MBC550 (Continued from page 35)

and only for tab in Montezuma screen cursor to a BASIC line to be sures the time it takes for a BASIC pro- Micro's CP/M. Additionally, this ver- edited and then delete or insert charac- gram to compute and display SIN, COS sion of CP/M simplifies the use of ters. At the same time the screen listing values. It's a measure not only of "num- CP/M software by causing the Model 4 is edited, the BASIC program in memo- ber crunching," but also the "display series to function as the ADM -3A termi- ry is also changed. Some PC compatibles driver" software in the MS-DOS BIOS. nal, which is recognized by almost all do not have this capability. Again, the faster the time, the higher the CP/M software. We tried a sampling of "throughput" of the machine. popular CP/M applications software, Documentation ACT Apricot: 38.6s including WordStar, Word Plus, Multi - IBM PC: 45.6s Plan, 'and DataStar, with Montezuma The documentation for the Sanyo Sanyo MBC550: 56.2s CP/M and found that they operated the MBC550 consists of two manuals in the Tandy 2000: 218.7s same as they would have in any CP/M- usual IBM "small notebook" format. only computer. The first is the operating manual for the Benchmark 2A: This is identical to system and consists of rudimentary op- Benchmark 2 except that no screen dis- Remarks erating instructions, a description of the play is done. It is a measure of the com- BASIC, and a description of the MS- putational efficiency of BASIC. Our only complaint with the Model DOS commands. Using the IBM man- Tandy 2000: 7.9s 4P is the same as for most other comput- uals as a criterion, I must say that the Sanyo MBC550: 15.2s ers in which thin -line disk drives are Sanyo operating manual (at least in the IBM PC: 17.6s used. These drives depend on a mechani- version that I received) is poor. A user cal system to pop out disks, which does unfamiliar with MS-DOS or PC BASIC Benchmark 3: This benchmark mea- not always work-particularly if a disk's would have to supplement the operating sures the time to write out varying file write -protect tab comes loose while the system manual with the IBM BASIC lengths to a sequential disk file in BA- disk is in the drive. The fault is not in Ra- and MS-DOS manuals. One good fea- SIC. The test starts with 100 80 -byte dio Shack's choice of thin -line drives ture in the manual, however, is the records and increases in 9 steps up to but, rather, in the fact that all thin -line "Technical Reference" section. It gives 1000 80 -byte records. The test is a mea- drives tend to jam. The industry simply you step-by-step instructions on installa- sure of the efficiency of the disk driver in needs a better eject mechanism for these tion of additional RAM, disk drives, the the MS-DOS BIOS and of the disk drive drives. serial interface, and a joystick. Other itself, for such nonstandard drives as the Otherwise, the 4P is a magnificent technical information is sparse. 3'/2" disk the ACT Apricot uses. Disk machine. It runs quietly, without a trace The other manual contains the instal- VERIFY is off in all cases. of heat, and is convenient to use and lation and operating instructions for Sanyo MBC550: 19s transport. It is almost the ideal portable MicroPro WordStar, CalcStar, Spell - ACT Apricot: 34s computer, "almost" because the disk Star, MailMerge, and InfoStar. This Tandy 2000: 37s drives are single -sided when the compe- manual is adequate (and voluminous). IBM PC: 69s tition has double -sided drives. While Ra- The IUS EasyWriter I word-processing dio Shack does not have its own version software includes its own operations Benchmark 4: This is similar to of CP/M for the Model 4 series, Monte- manual. Benchmark 3, but delays a random time zuma CP/M works admirably and between writes (greater than one disk comes with a disk interchange utility Benchmarks revolution) to simulate random process- that permits the computers to read or ing in BASIC. This is primarily a mea- write 20 different disk formats, includ- Benchmarking is an inexact science. sure of the efficiency of the MS-DOS ing MS-DOS. This allows the Model 4P Too often a benchmark program will be BIOS disk driver. to simulate most other 8 -bit computers. biased to tout the strong points of an in- Tandy 2000: 39s It will run an Osborne or Kaypro pro- dividual machine. I've been running five ACT Apricot: 52s gram and copy the program or store or benchmarks for some time now. They Sanyo MBC550: 64s copy the data in either the Osborne (or are not perfect but I've tried to make IBM PC: 107s Kay pro) or the Model 4P's own format. them general and unbiased. They will Also, with an aftermarket TRSDOS- give you a rough idea of what the Sanyo like operating system, such as can do in comparison to other IBM PC How Compatible is the Sanyo? NEWDOS Version 2.0, the Model 4 can machines. The machines I'm comparing simultaneously work in the Model III here are the IBM PC, the new Tandy Sanyo literature says the the MBC550 and Model I modes, either single- or 2000, and the ACT Apricot (an 8086 will run 80% to 85% of off-the -shelf double -density. With a conversion utili- machine with 3'/2" disk drives). software for the IBM PC. I think this fig- ty, it will even read or write Radio Shack Benchmark I: This benchmark simply ure is exaggerated and would put it at Color Computer software. measures the time it takes BASIC to closer to 50%. Any program with graph- count from Ito 30000 in a two -statement ics that does not go through the BIOS The Bottom Line FOR ... NEXT loop. The faster the time, (the software input/output driver pro- the faster the clock rate of the system grams) will probably not run on the The Radio Shack Model 4P computer and the efficiency of BASIC. Sanyo. Other systems with a high degree has awesome potential. To really appre- Tandy 2000: 15.7s of IBM PC compatibility will run such ciate this computer and become a believ- IBM PC: 37.8s programs as Lotus 1-2-3 and the er in its potential, you have to use it as I ACT Apricot: 42.9s Microsoft Flight Simulator, both of have. Words are inadequate to describe Sanyo MBC550: 47.1s which bypass the BIOS drivers. The the level of software interchangeability it Sanyo definetely will not run these pro- provides. Benchmark 2: This benchmark mea- grams and also will not run such pro -

106 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Sanyo MBC 550 grams as the Personal Editor and the For more Asynchronous Communications pack- information ,.-.- - ages, as well as many others. - One would hope that the MBC550 on would load and run BASIC programs from the 1.1 version of the IBM PC. advertised However, BASIC programs stored with products, the normal SAVE command on the PC We Build to Suit will not load at all on the Sanyo due to file format differences. Only BASIC pro- equipment How would you like your Sanyo System? We have dual 160K drive systems with a CRT -36 monitor from grams stored in ASCII format on the PC tested, etc., (using SAVE "xxxx",A) will load and $1099. We have Deluxe units with MS-DOS, Sanyo Basic, Wordstar, run on the Sanyo, for the most part. Ad- Easywriter, Calcstar, Mailmerge, circle Spellstar, Infostor, ditionally, Sanyo BASIC is not identical o CR1-36 monitor, a Spirit 80 printer and a cable for to IBM BASIC. (The versions differ in appropriate $1575. commands relating to sound generation, Plus, we've been selling Sanyo "550" systems with joysticks, light pen operation, and disk number 320K drives for months. Be then, for dis- directories.) prepared, If you're thinking about buying the hottest micro of appointments if you expect your favorite on 1984 give us a call. Find out why our prices, IBM PC BASIC program to execute inventory, and product knowledge have made us properly on the Sanyo. Also be prepared postpaid Sanyo's largest U.S. dealer. to do some work transferring your PC Free BASIC programs over to Sanyo BASIC. In my case, one of the main things I Information Scottsdale Systems, Ltd. wanted to run was the PC Macro As- 617 N. Scottsdale Rd. # B Scottsdale, Arizona 85257 sembler. It runs fine on the Sanyo. The Card. mistake I made was believing the Sanyo - (602) 941-5856 MasterCard documentation and using the Macro As- Prices hued ore for cosh. No C.O.D.' Fortune 1000 Purchase Orders odd 2%, charge sembler as a test program for compati- cords odd 3%. Az. residents odd 6%. prices subject ro change. product subject ro bility before I purchased the system! availability. 20% restocking charge for returned merchandise f.o.b. Scottsdole. The good news on the compatibility front is that sales of the Sanyo should be impressive enough so that companies it producing IBM PC software will pro- rod Inmac makes duce versions to run on the Sanyo as our well. This appears to be happening al- easy tomakework harder. ready. Companies such as IUS, Micro- ' ,g , computerits, 0 products, Pro, and Ashton Tate are producing over for puTE Choose to helo you Sanyo versions of their products or certi- OHAL C0 specially selected r. {/( all of your fying that existing packages will run on more out r i` 0R1 get shoshopping. rio the Sanyo. One -stop Many ex- cables, more. too. SUPPORTV connectors, roducts, Inmac products, or Conclusions : - elusive phone "; Easy ordering.welcome. CATALOG _ _ "r P.O.s 9 is TO. Verbal costs. All The Sanyo MBC550 a fine micro- shipping _ . lower Order re computer regardless of its compatibility .' cenouf distribution be - ' Inmac can problems with the IBM PC. The results -` " so y stocked, center. fully the nearest of the benchmarks given above indicate from re- shipped -tree that the MBC550 compares favorably risk Full 111 45 -day trial with the IBM PC, even surpassing it in it not completely Most 1 fund quality' computational speed and disk file bench- i Guaranteed some for one year, marks. My primary criticisms of the guaranteed for lite. Sanyo are the current lack of double-sid- guaranteed ed disk drives, and its inadequate documentation. In the latter case, you can 1-800-547-5444: solve the problem by borrowing a friend's IBM documentation. s.r. 1:12-aciodim IZZ UZI 11111 lag If the Sanyo MBC550 were closer in 1 price to the IBM PC, I'd have to opt for I Inman NAME the name and software base of the PC. COMPANY But at about one third the price (consid- Please send me a free copy Inmac's ADDRESS ering the bundled software), I consider 1 of Personal Computer the Sanyo a great bargain. The MBC550 Support Catalog. CITY commands attention now, and will be an Inmac Catalog Dept. STATE ZIP PHONE even more attractive machine as its soft- 2465 Augustine Drive ware base grows. O 1 Santa Clara, CA 95051 In California, call 1-800-547-5447 for your free catalog. 235104 Circle No. 10 on Free le formation Caro' May 1984 107

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Business Graphics (Continued from page 56) business graphics. Similar comments From the artistic viewpoint, the abili- To my knowledge, no currently avail- can be made for the IBM PC and PC - ty to vary the size and type style of all able software package that fulfills all the XT, whose third -party hardware sup- text characters must be built into the above requirements exists, but GrafTalk port base rivals that for Apple Ils. (See software. The "window" for the body of comes closest. This software provides "Hardware Upgrades for Apple and the chart or graph must he locatable any- superior ease of use and a presentation IBM" box for details.) No other make of where on a screen or page and be size -ad- quality approaching that available with computer rivals Apple and IBM for justable to fit any allocated space. There mainframe graphics systems. For most third -party support. should be no practical limit placed on graphs, Chartmaster is a good alterna- the number of data items a chart can tive. Though Chart master is not as pow- Business Graphics Software contain. The ability to combine lines and erful as GrafTalk, it is far better than the bars on the same chart must be a stan- average graphics package currently be- The graphics software situation dard feature. For maximum flexibility, ing sold. Neither GrafTalk nor Chart - presents quite a puzzle. The basic pack- the software should permit placement of master can develop area maps for mar- ages for each computer are usually too multiple charts on the same page. It keting uses. These two products can rudimentary to be used for very sophisti- should be possible to develop pie charts serve as benchmarks for evaluating oth- cated graphing. To approach what with exploded segments. Additionally, a er graphics packages. might be considered to be state-of-the- built-in feature should eliminate the pos- A true state-of-the-art graphics sys- art performance, a great deal of power sibility of text legends from overwriting tem should be able to construct images and flexibility are required. each other or the graphics. Graphics in both two and three dimensions, Certain features of a graphics system software must have defeatable automatic though most support the former and are inherent to the software, and hard- scaling of the axes and permit logarith- very few the latter. To meet this require- ware devices must be chosen accordingly. mic as well as rectangular coordinates. ment a number of computer -aided draft- The more important features the software Finally, bar graphs must be orientable ing systems available for architects and should have are detailed in what follows. either horizontally or vertically. design engineers are now beginning to

r w HARD -COPY DEVICES

Printers and Plotters: HP7475A (11" x 17"; 6 pens) Hewlett-Packard Co. Model Manufacturer DPM-40-2 (11" x 17"; 16K Houston Instruments Black -Print Printers: buffer; 2 pens) XY750 (11" x 17"; 8 pens; IBM Almost any single -color impact dot-matrix model capable of 0.004" resolution) printing screen graphics images can be used with business graph- Nicolet Corp. ics computer/software systems. Printers made by Epson; Okidata, Zeta 8 (8 pens; 20 in./ Zeta Star Micronics, IBM, Apple, and others are good choices. Of sec. write speed) course, the higher -priced makes and models will usually yield high- Strobe 100, 200 Tektronix, Inc. er -density, more precisely controlled graphics images. Direct -to-Film Hard-Copy Devices Color -Print Printers: Since many business presentations to large audiences are still Among the more popular color models are those listed here. best handled with color slides of graphics images, direct -to -film This list represents only a sampling of the makes and models hard -copy devices deserve serious consideration. Among the low - available. to -medium-priced products that directly convert electrical image Color/Scribe DP -9725 Anadex signals to 35 -mm slide film are the following: (240 char./sec.) Quadjet Quadram Corp. VFR-2000-TL-135 ($2495; Celtic Technology 35 -mm only) Transtar 315 (4 -color Vivitar Computer ribbon for 7 colors; 635 ($12,950 for 35 -mm Dunn Instruments 30 shades) 8" X 10" formats; adaptable to any format) Plotters: Videoprint 5000 (about Image Resource As with color printers above, the following list of products is pro- $7000; 4" x 5" Polaroid vided as a representative sampling of the various models of plot- back is available) ters available in the marketplace. VideoSlide 35 ($2599; Lang Systems Amplot II (11" X 17"; 6 Amdek 35 -mm only) pens; 8 in./sec. write 3000 ($10,000 to $12,000; Matrix Instruments speed; 0.002" resolution 35 -mm, SX-70, 4" x 5", Color Plotter (11" x 17"; Apple Computer Inc. 8" x 10", 16 -mm formats) 4 pens) MFR -8 ($9000 to $11,000; Modgraph 945 (24.5" x 48"; 4 pens; Calcomp 35 -mm, 4" x 5", 8" x 10" 30 in./sec. write speed; SX-70, Kodak PR -10 0.0005" resolution) formats) Sweet -P Six Shooter (11" x 17"; Enter Computer, Inc. Palette ($1300; 31/4" X Polaroid Corp. 6 pens; 14 in./sec write speed; 2K buffer) 41/4" formats)

Electronics 108 Computers &

AmericanRadioHistory.Com if GRAPHICS SOFTWARE'S%1MPLER

The following is an abbreviated listing of software packages that can be used to generate medium - to -high -density graphics on popular makes and models of personal computers. Standard Graphics Packages: 3-D Graphics Software Packages:

Software Name Source Software Name Source Business Graphics Business & Professional Software AutoCAD Autodesk, Inc. Flexigraf Computer Associates Drawing Processor BG Graphics Systems ChartMaster Decision Resources Energraphics/PC Enertronics Research

D148S Color Slide DICOMED Corp. Vector Sketch G TCO Corp. System Benchmark MetaSoft Corp. Graph Writer Graphic Communications 3D CAD; MCS Micro Control Systems, Inc. Display Telegraf ISSCO Graphics Software, Space Tablet Executive Briefing Lotus Development Corp. Micrografix System PC -Draw ZChart Nicolet Zeta Corp. CADplan, CADdraft Personal CAD Systems GrafTalk Redding Group Inc. VersaCAD, CADapple T&W Systems SAS/Graph SAS Institute 3Design 3Design

HARDWARE UPGRADES FOR APPLE AÑD IBM COMPUTERS,

The following is a representative listing of plug-in cards that up- IBM grade the graphics capabilities, including color, of popular Apple II Graphics Color Adapter and IBM PC personal computers. All products listed are printed -circuit -card assemblies that are designed to plug directly into the spe- PC Peacock MA Systems Inc. cific computers' expansion buses. MasterGraphics 1+ (640 X MicroGraphics Technology 200 pixels, 16 colors; For Apple 11 Computers: 4096 -color palette)

Product Manufacturer ColorPlus (640 x 200 pixels, PC+Products-Plantronics pixels, 4 colors; 320 Number Nine (1024 x 1024 Number Nine Computer Engrng. X 200 pixels, 16 colors) pixels, 16+ colors) MicroAngelo Scion Corp. Graphics Display (640 x PC Products Inc. 400 pixels, 16 colors; SuperSprite Synetix Inc. 256 -color palette) Arcade Board Third Millenium Engrng. Quad Color (640 x 200 Quadram Corp. pixels, 16 colors) For IBM PC series Computers:

{ PC 640 (640 x 480 pixels, Scion Corp. Product Manufacturer 16 colors; 4096 -color palette) BiGraphix II (640 x 400 Applied Computer Products pixels, 16 colors) Graphix Plus STB Systems Inc. Cono Color (640 x 400 Conographic Corp. pixels, 16 colors) Graphics Master (720 X Tecmar 720 pixels) Artist 1 (1024 x 1024 Control Systems pixels) Professional Graphics Symtec RGB Boards (1024 X 1024 Frontier Technologies Generator (512 x 512 pixels, 4 colors; 640 X pixels, 16 colors) 280 pixels, 16 colors; 2 planes) Multi -Display USI Computer Products

May 1984 109

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Business Graphics

reach the business graphics arena. With ory, a super -high -resolution color puter and the Digital Equipment Corp. these packages, new ways to easily and graphics board, or any other device- Professional 350 offer a vocalizing fea- simply communicate complex business redefines the working environment. ture that can add synthesized narration analyses become possible. (For a list of Any microcomputer that is selected to a graphics slide show. The spoken currently available graphics software will involve hardware trade-off deci- words generated by these computers are packages, see "Graphics Software Sam- sions. As mentioned above, the IBM PC digitized and replayed for a voice-over pler" box.) or PC -XT computers, as configured by narration (16 minutes of text can be IBM, are far from state of the art in stored on one double -sided floppy disk- Putting It All Together terms of business graphics applications, ette for the TI). but they may well fill the bill when The DEC Professional 350 computer Simply putting the best of each the of mated with appropriate hardware and can be equipped with an optional text -to - components a of graphics system togeth- software from other vendors. speech device called DECtalk that con- er will not yield a system that works. verts standard ASCII text into vocalized Any added hardware must be able to Advanced Systems speech. DECtalk generates very human - the support features of the software that sounding speech in an adult male's, is to be used, which means that software Since the objective of using business adult female's, or child's voice at rates of and hardware must be selected together. graphics is to tell a story, why not let the 120 to 350 wpm. It has a vocabulary of Bear in mind, too, that any hardware computer tell the whole story? Two com- more than 20,000 words and an auxilia- component added to a computer must be puters currently on the market offer a ry dictionary for special terms. Added to physically and electrically installed in special feature that takes them one step the 800 X 240 -pixel display in four col- the working environment. In fact, addi- beyond other graphics systems. The ors (384 X 240 pixels in 16 colors), tion of any hardware item-more mem- Texas Instruments Professional Corn - drawn from a selection of more than

MANUFACTURERS & ADDRESSES

Adwar Control Systems Houston Instrument NEC Home Electronics Symtec 335 W. 35 St. 2855 Anthony Lane 8500 Cameron Rd. 1401 Estes Ave. 15933 W. 8 Mile Rd. New York, NY 10011 Minneapolis, MN 55418 Austin, TX 78753 Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 212-691-0976 Detroit, MI 48235 612-789-2421 512-835-0900 312-228-5900 Amdek 313-272-2950 DataSouth Computer Corp. IBM (Plotters only) Nicolet Zeta Corp. Synetix, Inc. 2201 Lively Blvd. Box 240947 Orchard Park, Box 332 2300 Stanwell, Box 4003 15050 NE 95 St. Elk Grove Village Charlotte, NC 28224 Danbury, CT 06810 Concord, CA 94524 Redmond, WA 98052 IL 60007 704-523-8500 203-796-2500 415-671-0600 206-828-4884 312-364-1180 Decision Resources IBM (all other products) Number Nine Computer T&W Systems Anadex 25 Sylvan Rd. Information available from Engineering No. 106 1001 Flynn Rd. Westport, CT 06880 IBM computer centers and 691 Concord Ave. 7372 Prince Dr. Camarillo, CA 93010 203-222-1974 authorized IBM distributors Cambridge, MA 02138 Huntington Beach 805-987-9660 DICOMED Corp. Image Resource 617-492-0999 CA 92647 Apple Computer Corp. 9700 Newton Ave. S. 2260 Townsgate Rd. PC+ Products-Plantronics 714-847-9660 20525 Mariani Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55431 Westlake Village, CA 91361 1751 McCarthy Blvd. Tecmar Cupertino, CA 95014 612.887-7100 805-496-3317 Milpitas, CA 95035 6225 Cochran 800-538-9696 Rd. Digital Computer Corp. ISSCO Graphics 800-638-6211 Cleveland, 44139 Applied Computer Products OH 146 Main St. 10505 Sorrento Valley Rd. PC Products, Inc. 216-349-0600 1916 Welsh Rd. No. 6 Maynard, MA 01754 San Diego, CA 92121 2907 Ladybird Lane Tektronix, Inc. Philadelphia, PA 19115 800-344-4825 619-452-0170 Dallas, TX 75220 PO Box 4828 215-934-6990 Dunn Instruments Lang Systems, Inc. 214-357-5300 Portland, OR 97208 Autodesk, Inc. PO Box 77172 1010 O'Brien Dr. Personal CAD Systems 800-547-1512 Bldg. 5 544 Second Ave. Menlo Park, CA 94025 15425 Los Gatos Blvd. Texas Instruments, Inc. 150 Shoreline Hwy. San Francisco, CA 94107 415-328.5555 Los Gatos, CA 95030 PO Box 202430 h-642 Mill Valley, CA 94941 415-957-1600 Lotus Development Corp. 408-356-3183 TX 415-331-0356 Dallas, 75240 Enter Computer, Inc. 161 First St. Polaroid Corp. 800-527-3500 BG Graphics Systems 6867 Nancy Ridge Dr. Cambridge, MA 02142 Industrial Products Div. Third Mlllenium Eng. 824 Stetson Ave. San Diego, CA 92121 617-492-7171 575 Technology Sq. No. 394 Kent, WA 98031 619-450-0601 MA Systems, Inc. Cambridge, MA 02139 1015 Gayley Ave. 206-852-2736 Enertronics Research 2015 O'Toole Ave: 800-225-1618 Los Angeles, CA 90024 Business & Professional 150 N. Meramec, No. 207 San Jose, CA 95131 Princeton Graphics Systems Software 213-473-2102 St. Louis, MO 63105 408-943-0596 1101.1 State Rd. 3Design 154 Binney St. 800-325-0174 Matrix Instruments Princeton, NJ 08540 4710 University Way NE Cambridge, MA 02142 Epson America, Inc. 230 Pegasus Ave. 609-683-1660 No. 1512 617-491-3377 3415 Kashiwa St. Northvale, NJ 07647 Quadram Corp. Calcomp Seattle, WA 98105 Torrance, CA 90505 201-767-1750 4355 International Blvd. 800-392-9210 2411 W. La Palma Ave. 213-543-0360 MetaSoft Corp. Norcross, GA 30093 TSK Electronics Corp. Anaheim, CA 92803 Frontier Technologies 6509 W. Frye Rd., No. 12 404-923-6666 18005 Carney Ct. 714-821-2011 PO Box 11238 Chandler, AZ 85224 Redding Group, Inc. City of Industry, CA Celtic Technology 91748 Milwaukee, WI 53211 800-621-1908 609 Main St. 213-810-1291 6265 Variel Ave. 414.964-8689 Micro Control Systems, Inc. Ridgefield, CT 06887 USI Computer Products Woodland Hills, CA 91367 Graphic Communications 143 Tunnel Rd. 203-431-4661 71 Park Lane 213-884-6767 200 Ave. Fifth Vernon, CT 06066 SAS Institute Brisbane, CA Associates 94005 Computer Waltham, MA 02254 203-872-0602 Box 8000, SAS Circle 415-468-4900 125 Jericho Tpke. 617-890-8778 MicroGraphics Technology Cary, NC 27511 Vivitar Computer Jericho, NY 11753 GTCO Corp. 1820 McCarthy Blvd. 919-467-8000 PO Box C-96975 516-645-3003 1055 First St. Milpitas, CA 95035 Scion Corp. Bellevue, WA 98009 Comshare Rockville, MD 20850 408-996-8423, ext. 421 12310 Pinecrest Rd. 206-454-9250 1935 Cliff Valley Way 301-279-9550 Micrografix Reston, VA 22091 Wyse Technology Atlanta, GA 30329 Hewlett-Packard, Inc. 1701 N. Greenville, No. 703 703-476-6100 3040 N. First St. 404-634-9525 16399 W. Bernardino Dr. Richardson, TX 75081 STE Systems, Inc. San Jose, CA 95134 Conographic Corp. San Diego, CA 92127 214-234-1769 601 N. Glenview Ave. 408-946-3075 2268 Golden Cir. 800-547-3400 Modgraph No. 125 Newport Beach, CA 92660 1393 Main St. Richardson, TX 75081 714-642-6778 Waltham, MA 02154 214-234-8750 617-890-5764

110 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Business Graphics New Architectures (Continued from page 74)

4000 colors, this system offers much for "One other thing worth mentioning," the business graphics user. Further- said Dr. Shaw, "is that there is at least more, a variety of business software is one other project that we on the Non - CONVERTERS Von project view as being of a kindred available for the Pro 350. Largest Selection The Tektronix Model 4109, with spirit, even though it's very different in Model 4170 processing unit, provides an some ways. That's the Connection ma- of Equipment Available even more powerful graphics capability. chine up at MIT. One of the main people $ But' Warehouse Direct & Sane $ For $16,000 to $20,000, this system there is Dan Hillis. Like ours, the Con- gives access to the bottom line of engi- nection machine is based on massive neering packages, providing a great deal parallelism. ,-- 36 channel more graphics power. At the same time, "They, too, are trying to put a number converter the CP/M-86 operating system should of processors on a chip. Like ours, it's $4595 provide access to many business graph- based on something called SIMD (Single ics programs. Instruction Multiple Data) execution, The eight colors that this computer which says that all-in our case, it's ac- 36 channel can put on a chart are chosen from a 64 - tually large subsets of-the processing wired remote color palette and can be changed on the elements are at any given time all doing converter graph easily with a "joy disk." The 480 the same thing instead of working as only X 360 -pixel image is superb. And the completely independent processors. $8895 system can drive a signal for video And many of our colleagues don't be- = projection. lieve that's the right way to go. In fact, Send $2 for complete catalog majority of our colleagues Hewlett-Packard represents the top probably the of converters and equipment level in microcomputer -based graphics think that it's a mistake. They think it's Quantnt ni.:uum. V I.a Mater Charge a approach where systems. For about $17,000, the HI' - better to use different Add 5'l0 chipping-\1ich. readenta add 4'o .nit, tax 8936 computer offers 4960 colors (or the processors are independent. But this to the problem doesn't allow shades of gray) from which to choose approach C&D Electronics, 'inc: and 500K (expandable to 7M) of user you as many processors. P.O. Box 21, Jellison, MI 49428 RAM. Its very -high -resolution 512 X "So things are very controversial, but Ji 390 -pixel screen brings more life to col- I think it's too early to say who's right. (616) 669-2440 - ors than other systems, since it is backed What would be exciting to all of us, I by four memory banks that provide 16 think, would be if one type of parallel ar- Put Professional Knowledge and a shades for each of the system's dis- chitecture emerged ten years from now playable 199,680 pixels. And to round that turned out to be better than the Von things out, the HP-8936 makes it possi- Neuman machine. And it also turned COLLEGE DEGREE ble to use 3D graphics, even though soft- out to be better for most purposes, even in your Electronics Career through ware support for 3D is not yet really if not all, than most of the other kinds of ready for the business user's needs. machines. "It's clear to everybody that, if you Practical Considerations want to do a particular problem as fast as you can, and you have a large amount of A single graphics screen takes time to money to spend (there are such applica- compose. Developing the 10 to 20 graph- tions), it will be best done by a special- ics screens that might normally be used purpose machine. None of us is going to r--=_ ;.--- during an hour-long presentation can re- come up with a general-purpose ma- ._ª'_-` as On the other C=7117-1 quire 4 to 5 hours of computer and com- chine that will do well. Earn Your position rime, which doesn't include hand, the big prize in the field, will be to to the Von `/ time spent fussing with the data to get come up with a successor 1- DEGREE the charts to show what you want them Neuman machine. No commuting to class. Study at your to and in what manner. To take ad- "That's what we're all trying to show own pace, while you continue your vantage of microcomputer business achieve. It will be some new way of or- Learn from Grantham graphics charting, plan to spend about ganizing computers that, although it present job. help one hour of work per chart. isn't perfect, is good enough for people easy -to -understand lessons, with to adopt it for 90% of what they do. from sour home -study instructors. be capable of being mass pro- In Closing And it can You can earn your B. S. Degree in duced and sold to a very wide set of the Grantham electronics degree pro- The ability to use 16 colors and 100 markets. gram, offered by independent home lines in a chart is a technical triumph. It We don't yet have any evidence of by the NI-ISC is also a practical disaster! The brilliance whether that can be done. I rather sus- study and accredited of not using all the available technology pect that it can. It would surprise me Accrediting Commission. simultaneously comes only with experi- greatly if, by the year 2000, there weren't Our free bulletin gives details. Write informa- some other kind of machine that was ence in constructing useful and for Bulletin E-84. tive graphics images. One learns fairly general purpose enough for people to use rapidly that communicating information it in a wide range of applications. But we Grantham College of Engineering effectively is best accomplished in rela- still don't know what that is at this 7500 So. LaCienega Blvd. tively small, easy -to -digest bites. O point." O P. 0. Box 35499 Los. Angeles, California 90035 May 1984 111

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Stocks and Bonds (Continued from page 79)

propriate technology." (suggested retail price). It connects di- alyze stocks and bonds, taxes, and cash To achieve this aim, Hutton began to rectly to telephone lines and can be used flow and perform beta and internal rate - consider the private communications with a standard telephone instrument. It of -return calculations), and connections networks already capable of providing can be expanded by adding a computer. to financial databases of CompuServe, database access to owners of terminals of The choice of a microcomputer was Dow Jones, and The Source. Hutton is all varieties throughout the country. An relatively easy. Hutton sought one that selling the basic Workslate to its clients agreement was soon reached with was certain to be around for a while and for $895, including the initial $25 CompuServe, a subsidiary of H. & R. that would accommodate the widest Huttonline sign-up fee and one month's Block in Columbus, OH. CompuServe possible variety of software for uses oth- unlimited access to Huttonline. Work- was to function as the first conduit into er than Huttonline. Furthermore, Hut- slate purchases, and all other purchases the Hutton network. Best-known to ton did not preclude itself from eventual- related to Huttonline, are made through most consumers as an information utili- ly developing its own software or the Hutton client's account executive ty, similar in many ways to The Source, marketing someone else's. Obviously, and can be charged directly to the cli- CompuServe has for years provided net- then, Hutton wanted to select the equip- ent's account. work capability to industry as a competi- ment with the widest possible distributor to the possibly better-known Telenet tion. There was only one company with System Operation and Tymnet. a product that met these criteria- The agreement negotiated with Com- IBM-and Hutton reached an agree- Clients sign on to Huttonline by dial- puServe was of a nonexclusive nature ment with Big Blue. Hutton also selected ing the local telephone number that and thus allowed Hutton to use other another MS-DOS system, the Wang Hutton has provided with the start-up forms of information delivery that might Professional Computer, as an option for instructions. (As mentioned, this is actu- seem attractive. Another method of de- their clients. This provides a quasi -IBM- ally the local number for CompuServe.) livery was found in the three -county area compatible alternative for users oriented Once connected, the system asks for a surrounding Miami, FL, where View- toward word processing. "Host Name" and the user responds by data Corporation, a subsidiary of The most interesting of the hardware entering "EFH," which directs the sys- Knight-Ridder Newspapers offers a choices is the Workslate from Conver- tem to the Huttonline facility. The sys- videotex service called Viewtron. (See gent Technologies (see the review of this tem will then request "VIC" and, on re- "Videotex and You," by John Helliwell product in the November 1983 issue of ceiving the user's response, will request a in the February 1984 issue of COMPUT- COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS). This is a password. It is these.last two entries that ERS & ELECTRONICS.) Hutton adopted portable computer weighing less than 3 identify the user to Huttonline and also this delivery service for Huttonline on a pounds and designed specifically for ensure the confidentiality of the user's different basis than the CompuServe ser- business people. Its components include records. The user is then presented with vice uses. a built-in modem, a calculator, a date a menu allowing a choice of the To the client accessing through book with alarm memory, a telephone following: CompuServe, using whatever terminal is answering machine, a speaker phone I. Use the service available, the CompuServe link is com- with electronic phone book and auto di- 2. About the service pletely invisible. CompuServe is nothing aler, and a portable dictating machine. 3. Quit the service more than a conduit and the user does While the Workslate has.the same light- This menu is the first of a series that not have access to the CompuServe in- weight portability as the Radio Shack takes the novice user through the system formation utility unless a separate agree- Model 100, it has quite a different orien- with little difficulty (see Fig. 1). The ex- ment has been signed. On the other tation as far as use is concerned. perienced user can bypass the menu tree hand, Huttonline is presented as an op- The Model 100 is a traditional com- by using GO commands to take him dition to all Viewtron users, each of whom puter that includes Microsoft BASIC rectly to the section desired (Table I). must have a dedicated videotex terminal and various applications (including a Access through either method is smooth (the AT&T Sceptre). text editor, a calendar, and communica- and does not irritate the user with inor- Both CompuServe and Viewtron lines tions) contained in ROM. The Work- dinate delays, even at 300 baud. connect with the Hutton Compass sys- slate, on the other hand, is intended to be The presentation of information in all tem in New York. Compass interacts an end -user computing tool, centered areas is both clear and concise and the with the CompuServe network at 9600 around a spreadsheet similar to information is certainly useful to the av- baud using X.25 protocol. Information VisiCalc; it is designed as a productivity - erage investor. The only possible disap- is then transmitted to users at either 300 enhancement tool for managers and pro- pointment to the new user may come in or 1200 baud, depending on the user's fessionals and performs extremely well the section of the "Your Account" menu terminal. Data is transmitted to View- in this capacity. In announcing the ar- entitled "Portfolio." This choice tron using 3270 protocol at 9600 baud; rangement with Convergent, Epstein presents the user with a snapshot valua- and information goes to users at 1200 said, "We are very pleased to get into the tion of present holdings. It is not a clas- baud. area of personal computer distribution sic portfolio management system that in- While Hutton wanted its information with a product as exciting as the cludes the original cost of each service to be accessible to as many types Workslate. It's an excellent tool for transaction, unrealized profit or loss of of hardware as possible, it also wanted to many of our clients who require truly each open transaction, and other perti- be in a position to recommend and sell a portable computing power." We would nent information. We do not see this as a broad range of hardware that would suit go slightly further than that and say that serious limitation to the user, however, the individual client's needs. It was de- it is an excellent tool for almost every for the investor requiring such informa- cided to offer both a low-priced terminal business person. tion can turn to software such as PEAR, and a full -service microcomputer. The Options available for the Workslate Personal Investor, or Reveal (for the low-priced terminal selected was the are a microprinter, Portfolio Analysis IBM PC). The Workslate user can take Quazon Quik-Link, which sells for $249 Task Ware (a series of programs that an- advantage of the Portfolio Analysis

112 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com Stocks and Bonds

Task Ware, which provides some of these ent's interests and needs in order to In short, we find Huttonline useful to functions. The Huttonline approach to properly utilize the electronic mail the investor in its initial implementation the portfolio section is consistent with facilities. and very exciting in its potential. We ex- the entire system, which presents cur- The availability of information is very pect other features to be added to it as rent snapshots of balances, investment important, but the ability to use it well is time passes, and we expect it to have reports, and so forth. more important. Each potential client competition from other brokerage firms The option "Send Message to Your will have to evaluate the service in rela- if they are to avoid losing customers to Account Executive" allows the user to tion to these factors. From our point of Hutton. We commend Hutton for its in- send instructions of a general nature and view, Huttonline is well worth the in- novation and we recommend Huttonline to request research reports, which are vestment of time and money. to your attention. O then mailed to the user the same day. It is not intended to be used as a means of order entry. This restriction is consistent with the system design considerations We'll back you up! = discussed above. The other menu items require little explanation. ATTENTION COMMODORE 64 OWNERS If you own a disk drive then you'll need "The Clone Machine'. Take 'My only . Evaluation control of your 1541 drive. NEW IMPROVED WITH UNGUARD.* ' copy P.a., name. gonet f 1.) Complete and thorough wen manual The decisive question for investors 2.1 Copy with one or two drives use 3.) Investigate and back-up many "PROTECTED" silks considering the of Huttonline- 4.1 Copy all file types including relative types which for some will require switching 53 Edn nod view hock /block in Hex or ASCII 6.1 Display lull corder. of directory and print accounts from another brokerage firm to 7.) Change progrom names. odd, delete files with s,ngk leyshoke EF Hutton -is "What will it do for 83 Easy disk ini /ulna. n 9.1 Sappests up to four doves me?" or "How will it improve my invest- $4995 ment performance?" UNI3UARD Now alto -s you to read. Unfortunately, the write and verify bad sectors and errors on actual benefits are difficult to quantify. your disk making it easy to bock up most oro.Oed software. Huttonline allows the client to receive P.O. Box 113 DeauiriesllDvited Pompton Plains. N.J. more information in a much more timely lers 8' Distributors =u fashion than was previously possible. iir° 07444 . Making optimum use of the system, Circle No. 34 on Free Information Card however, depends on both the client and the AE. The client must make intelligent SAVINGS anazInC use of the newly found abundance of in- 'CALCULATOR r DEVICES .., formation in making investment deci- Val HEWLETT PERSONAL DEFENSE AND PROPERTY PROTECTION sions. The AE must be tuned in to both PACKARD P UTILIZE SPACE AGE TECHNOLOGY. CAUTION THESE DEVICES CAN BE HAZARDOUS AND MAY SOON HP.1 tC Programmable . .s74 99 the capabilities of Huttonline and the cli- HP-I2C Financial 9999 H: BE ILLEGAL. HP -15C Programmable 99 99 A POCKET PAIN FIELD GENERATOR - IPG50 HP -16C Hexadecimal 9999 Assembled $59.50 HP -41C Alpha Piogrmb 14999 S DPG5 Plans $7.00 IPG5K Kit/Plans $39-50 HP-4TCV Full Memory 20999 82160A HP IL Module X94 99 OHASOR PAIN FIELD CROWD CONTROLLER - PPF10 F 82 Cassette Chive . 347 99 0 HPd 1CX Exlnd sent. 25899 61A Assembled $250.00 Beane, 14999 82 62A HP -IL PI inter . 34799 821044 Card R PPF1 Plans $15.00 PPF1K....Kit/Plans....$175.00 82143A 29999293 99Printer ffi 640 RS -232 lnledc . 24999 S BLASTER- Provides a plasma discharge capable of puncturing 82153A wand ... . 9999 92 984 130 col video Int 269 99 TABLE I COMMANDS a can. -GO . HP-71B Computer . 41999 74 OA HP IL Plotter. 89999 824005 Card Reader .. Call 821804 Ealnd Functns .. 5999 BLS10 Assembled $79.50 824010 HP -IL Interlace 10799 82181A Extnd Memory . 5999 BLS1 Plans $10.00 BLS1K Kg/Plans $59.50 824208 41) Mem for 41B 5999 82 82A lime Module . 5999 SHOCKER/PARALYZING DEVICE - Very intimidating and ACC -Your account menu 718 Application PacS hem 6499 82 83A Exton 1/0 . 5999 effective. HP 41 . 4999 HP -75C Computer .... . 73999 System Case SHG60 Assembled $99.50 to, 14999 Po t-X -Tendel to 10 pis 12999 BAL-Balances 827004 8K Mem 75C ' SHG6 Plans 510.00 SHG6 Kit/Plans $79.50 BOU-Bought/sold (transactions by class) Call let Law Prices on all Accessories and Sallware RUBY LASER RAY GUN - Intense visible red beam bums and L welds hardest of metals. MAY BE HAZARDOUS. CHE-AMA/ARA checking TI CC -40 Compact 6K Expandable Compute, .. 519999 RUB3All Parts Available for Completing Device515.00 CG40 Solid State Software Iwm 4999 COM-Communications menu A CARBON DIOXIDE BURNING, CUTTING LASER - Pro - 11-55 II Scientific Calculator w/ Statistics . 3499 duces a continuous beam of high energy. MAYBE HAZARDOUS. LCD Programmer Hexadecimal Convertor .... 5999 ,S DEP-Deposits (transactions by class) LC5. All Parts Available for Completing Device 515.00 BA -55 Advanced Handheld Financial ... ..4999 'E VISIBLE LASER LIGHT produces intense red beam for FEE -Feedback to EF Hutton TI 5310 Desk Printing Financial 10999 GUN - R sighting, spotting. etc. Hand held complete. INC-Income (transactions by class) LGU3..PIans..$10.00 & Sharp EL -7050 Groot -neuter 6899' (Kit Assembled Units Available) INV-Investment briefs E1-7100 Memownter 5999 S IR PULSED LASER RIFLE - Produces 15-30 watt infra -red MAI-Read your mail PC-1500 Advanced Handheld Computer ...... 13999 pulses at 200-2000 per sec. PC-15004 Advanced 81) Handheld Computer 17999 LRG3 All Parts & Diodes Available $10.00 OPE-Open orders CE -150 Cassette InVtcl4-coto, Punter Planer . 17999 BEGINNERS LOW POWER VISIBLE LASER - Choice of CE -151 4K Memory for 1500/A 3999 red, yellow, green - provides an excellent source of monochromatic PAI-Paid out (transactions by class) CE -155 8K Memory Expansion Box lot 1500/A 79 991 light. Interlace for 150010 17999 POR -Portfolio CE -158 RS -2320 a Parallel LHC2 Plans $5.00 LHC2K Kit $29.50 CE -159 81; Memory Expan with Battery Back-up 9999 his listen RES-Research CE-161 16)1 Memory Expan with Battery Back-up 14399 SNOOPER PHONE -Allows user to call premises and PC ROM Modules 4899 S in without phone ever nnging. TRA-Transactions this month -1500íA Sallware Er SNP20 Assembled $89.50 USA -Usage tips Cub FX-708P Handheld Computer.1568 steps 969 99 SNP2 Plans $9.00 SNP2K Plans/Kit $59.50 FA -3 Cassette Adapter for FX-700P 34 99 C LONG RANGE WIRELESS MIKE - Miniature device clearly FP printer for F0-7000 5999 WHA-What's new -12 20 column transmits well over one mile. Super sensitive, powerful. FX-98 Credit carp Solar Scientific Calculator 24 99 U MFT1 Plans $7.00 MFTIK..._Plans/Kit 539.50 FX-450 Scientific Calculator with Hexadecimal 2999 WIRELESS TELEPHONE TRANSMITTER -Transmits both Other commands FX-191 Scientific Scaler 4499 PF8000 Data Bank 6499 sides of phone conversation over one mile, shuts off automatically. 51.803 Film Card 2299 VWPM5 Plans $8.00 VWPM5K...PlansfKit...534.50 T TALK 8 TELL AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE RECORDING F-Forward 1 page Prsry trve eexs PM Osna s [Ma Anal more, mee. vea. or ai[ checks we DEVICE - Great for monitoring telephone use. Malea isnteou,atef7%nn.muml East at R. extrcel So Y ltu sn>D+q flow TAT20 Assembled $24.50 Fn -Forward n pages Gres am Sugecr . , o-lav USA mees TAT2 Plans $5.00 TAT2K Plans/Kit 514.50 B -Backward 1 page ORDER 800-421-5188 Outs de TOLL Our phone is open for orders anytime. Technicians are available 9-11 -FREE Inlormaliwr line I7131 6313762 CA Ail HI Bn-Backward n pages a.m.. Mon-Thurs for those needing assistance or information. Send Tam's Inc, Dept CE -4 M -Previous menu for free catalog of hundreds more similar devices. Send check. cash. 14932 Garfield Ave. MO. Visa. MC. COD to: INFORMATION UNLIMITED Paramount, CA 90723 DEPT Q1. P 0 716. Tel.: 603-673-4730 5 633-3262 Box Amherst. N. H. 03031 tam'i hrcoa oonn.Tao (213) May 1984 113 Circle No. 42 on Free Information Card AmericanRadioHistory.Com Pointers (Continued from page 69) ed with parallel rows of transparent, across the tablet, electromagnetic radia- conductive strips. The sheets are placed Digitizing Tablets tion from oscillatory signals sent sequen- over the monitor at right angles to one tially through the tablet's grid is detect- another to provide an intersecting grid Digitizing tablets, the largest family of ed by a small pickup coil in the pen or of switches that can be easily closed by pointing devices, have flat surfaces that cursor. A properly programmed com- finger pressure. can detect the presence of a special pen, puter enables the position of the pen or Capacitive sensing can also be used. stylus, or even a finger. In 1967, prior to cursor on the active surface to be detect- Touch Technology, for example, has de- the commercial development of either ed with a resolution of 0.005" or less. veloped a touch sensitive screen of glass the mouse or the personal computer, a Electromagnetically scanned tablets coated with a transparent array of tin ox - classic study concluded that the digitiz- cost from several hundred to several ing tablet was the best pointing device thousand dollars. And while they have (W.K. English, D.C. Engelbart and better resolution than pressure -activated M.L. Berman, IEEE Transactions on tablets, some low-cost units may exhibit Touch sensitive Human Factors in Electronics, HFE-8, pincushion distortion. This means the 1, 21-31). Many experienced users of spacing between minimum resolution tablets are good pointing devices still agree. After all, points may increase around the edges of what could he more natural than a point- the table's sensitive region. for the newcomer ing device that's used like a pencil and This phenomenon may require the to computers paper? Until recently, however, digitiz- time consuming development of soft- ing tablets were far too expensive to be ware correction factors or grid overlays considered for use with personal com- with curved, rather than straight, lines. puters. Now the price barrier has been Several new kinds of low-cost, pres- ide rectangles. Each rectangle senses the penetrated by the introduction of several sure -sensitive digitizing tablets have ap- presence of a finger by the resulting ca- kinds of economical digitizer tablets. peared on the market in the past few pacitance change. Some of them are supported by software years. Designed specifically for use with The company makes a touch sensitive having surprisingly high quality. personal computers, these devices use in- screen having higher resolution by ap- The tablets with the highest resolu- novative means to detect the pressure of plying a uniform film of tin oxide over tion, which also happen to be the most a stylus or finger on their active surfaces. the entire surface of a glass sheet. Two costly, use indirect sensing schemes. The Koalapad by Koala Technologies terminals connected to the sides of the Typically, the table incorporates a Corporation is a book -sized table having screen sense capacitance changes any- crossed grid of conductors directly un- a pressure -sensitive pad measuring 4`/4" where on its surface with a resolution of der its surface. As a special ballpoint pen square. The base of the pad is an alumi- about, l00 by 100 points. or cursor fitted with crosshairs is moved num plate to which is attached a plastic Elographics, Inc. uses a resistive sensing method in which a glass sheet coated MANUFACTURERS O F POINTING DEVICES with a transparent, resistive film is covered by a flexible plastic sheet coated Numerous companies make pointing de- Koala Technologies Corp. (3100 Patrick with a transparent, conductive film. A vices as stand-alone products or as com- Henry Dr., Santa Clara, CA 95050) voltage is applied alternately across each ponent parts of systems such as comput- Measurement Systems, Inc. (121 Water axis of the resistive film. When the plas- ers. Here is a representative listing of some St., Norwalk, CT 06854) tic cover is pressed against the resistive of them: Mouse System Corp. (2336H Walsh Ave., film, two alternating voltages are devel- Santa Clara, CA 95051) Rd., Pierce St, Lansdale, PA oped which, when digitized, enable the Ampower Instrument Co. (26 Just Numonics (418 Fairfield, NJ 07006) 19446) computer to determine where its screen Apple Computer (20525 Mariani Ave., Pencept, Inc. (39 Green St., Waltham, MA has been touched. Cupertino, CA 95014) 02154) All these touch screen sensors attenu- Atari Inc. (PO Box 427, Sunnyvale, CA Preh-Werke (PO Box 1540, D-8740 Bad ate the brightness of the image on the 94086) Néustadt, West Germany) monitor's screen. One sensing method Bausch & Lomb (Houston Instrument Div., Radio Shack (1500 One Tandy Center, that does 1101 employs a grid of infrared 8500 Cameron Rd., Austin, TX 78753) Fort Worth, TX 76102) beams on the screen. Infrared emitters CalComp (PO Box 3250, Anaheim, CA Science Accessories (970 Kings Highway along two adjacent sides of the screen 92803) W., Southport, CT 06490) Board, Inc. (3772 Pleasantville Rd., Summagraphics (35 Brentwood Ave., project their beams to phototransistors Chalk Atlanta, GA 30340) 'Fairfield, CT 06430) along the opposite two sides of the Championship Electronics (U.S.A.) Inc. Suncom, Inc: (650 E. Anthony Trail, Suite screen. The result is an intersecting grid (1025 Grandview Dr., South San Fran- E, Northbrook, IL 60062) of infrared beams that permits a comput- cisco, CA 94080) Sun -Flex Co. (20 Pimentel Ct., Novato, er to determine where a finger has been Elographics, Inc. (1976 Oak Ridge Turn- CA 94947) placed. pike, Oak Ridge, TN 37830) Tektronix (PO Box 1000, Wilsonville, OR Some companies make infrared touch General Digital Corp. (700 Burnside Ave., 97070) sensor systems that can be mounted over East Hartford, CT 06108) TG Products (1104 Summit Ave., Suite the screen of a standard monitor. Others GTCO Corp. (1055 First St., Rockville, 110, Plano, TX 75074) Touch Technology (111 Chinquapin Dr., sell monitors with built-in infrared sen- MD 20850) Hewlett-Packard (1820 Embarcadero Annapolis, MD 21041) HP 150 sors. Hewlett-Packard's person- Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94303) USI (71 Park Lane, Brisbane, CA 94005) al computer, for example, features many Information Control Corp. (9610 Wico Corp. (6400 W. Gross Point Rd., menu driven operating modes that can Bellanca Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045) Niles, IL 60648) be selected by touching the appropriate Inkwell Systems (PO Box 85152, MB290, Xerox Corp. (1341 W. Mockingbird Lane, box or icon displayed on the screen. San Diego, CA 92138) Dallas, TX 75247)

114 Computers & Electronics

AmericanRadioHistory.Com t Move up k) Microsystems THE JOURNAL FOR SOPHISTICATED MICROCOMPUTER USERS. Microsystems is not, in any sense, for beginners. A comparison of five popular S-100 disk Unlike "personal computer" magazines, controller cards. Microsystems is written exclusively for expert users OS -1-a UNIX -like DOSwith a CP/M adapter. and designers in the software and support hardware field. Every issue of Microsystems keeps you at the forefront of the industry in customizing software If you need a reliable, high-level, up-to-date and adapting hardware to meet new requirements journal devoted to CP/Ivt® MP/ NV MS-DOSTM and standards. You'll also find industry news, book UNIX® XENIX; M OASIS and other operating and new product reviews, plus our regular Software systems, then Microsystems is for you. We feature Directory listing newly available programs. tutorials on the modification and special use of systems, offer short-cut routines, show you debug- Te get the high-level systems information you ging procedures, techniques for interfacing, and want, join the club of serious microcomputer pro- much more. Our one purpose is to keep the fessionals who subscribe to Microsystems. Use the advanced microcomputer professional at the lead- coupon below to order, and save up to 31 %! ing edge of DOS development and use. PROFESSIONALS In a few recent issues of PLEASE NOTE: 1ei11S Your subscription to Micresy:tem_< Microsystems you would have seen: 42 r --- may be taa deductible. Check with your accountant. 19 Reviews of four C compilers: BDS C, Small C, " .._..._...._. M. tiny c TWOTM and Whitesmiths C. Trademarks: ... XENIX: Microsoft; tiny C TWO: tiny C assoc PL/I-8(1, MS-DOS, MP/M-60 II Digital Research. A programming style comparison: Digital Registered Trademarks: CP/M, MP/M: Digital Researci; UN X: Bell Research PL/I-80TH vs. Microsoft BASIC. Labora orles. sx ^----- Twenty-seven 16 -Bit DOS compared. r CN 1987 Virtual segment procedures under UCSD 1illlv is Morristown,Mo New Jersey 07960 rascal.

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layer coated with a thin resistive film. A Miscellaneous Pointing Devices plastic square with a second resistive film on its back and having an adhesive border is installed over the base. Computers can be The pointing device families described An array of some 2000 tiny, noncon- trained to remember thus far are supplemented by a wide va- ductive bumps in the first plastic layer riety of related devices. Here are some of separates the two resistive films by a few words and the more significant: thousandths of an inch. A simple analog act accordingly Joydisks and Cursor Disks. Identical circuit alternately switches a current in function to the rate joystick, joydisks across first one resistive layer and then and touch disks are circular control the other. When the two pads are disks small enough to be installéd direct- pressed together, the circuit can detect of a hand pressed down on the tablet's ly on a keyboard. A typical joydisk is oc- both the presence of the pressure and -its active surface. tagonal in shape and can be pressed location. Kaolapad and PowerPad are repre- along each of its eight sides to move a The PowerPad by Chalk Board, Inc. sentative of the new generation of touch - cursor in a desired direction. A cursor is another innovative, yet affordable, sensitive digitizer tablets. Already other disk such as the one used on the Xerox digitizer tablet. Its large 12 -inch -square companies have introduced similar 860 Word Processor senses finger capac- active surface is backed by an array of products and the prices for these devices, ity. The cursor of this machine moves in 120 by 120 pressure -sensitive membrane currently in the range of $100 or less, the direction indicated by finger move- switches. This provides a resolution of will likely decrease. ments on the cursor disk. The cursor 100 switches per square inch. Touch sensitive tablets will play an speed is increased when the finger is The PowerPad's hardware scans all important role in introducing computer moved closer to the edge of the disk. 14,400 switches twenty times each sec- novices of any age to personal comput- Single -Axis Joysticks and Thumb - ond. Since the device is purely digital, ing. The icon -oriented software available wheels. A single potentiometer with an the scanning circuitry detects all switch for Koalapad, PowerPad and similar attached handle forms a single -axis joy- closures. This means the PowerPad can tablets is so "user-fiendly" even a begin- stick. It is used to move a cursor along respond virtually simultaneously to mul- ner can perform sophisticated opera- only one axis. A thumbwheel is a poten- tiple data entries. For instance, it can tions without referring to an operator's tiometer with a serrated knob whose display on a computer monitor the shape manual or learning to use a keyboard. edge emerges through a slot in a control

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Single Digit Displays - Common EKI KITS come 3M ScotchFlex° OPCOA Cathode with all parts INSULATION DIS- Special of the Mánth! Stock necessary to PLACEMENT CABLES No. Color 1 100 r'_'. 12082 Red 51.12 S .99 assemble! SÑOOCKCNO. MODUTEC 12085 Green 1.84 1.63 Stock No.88844 Eauo9a LLa ROLLS F sy ' 12087 Yellow 1.92 1.70 TV Jammer Kit "wipes IBATTERY TESTER 12089 Orange 2.08 1.84 Tests all batteries ranging 1p out" your TV Right Angle for Above 4 from 1.35V to 4.5V. Socket screen $ 7.71 Displays w4cw 1á v_cbI o a .ono Stock No 88850 Low profile -.050 Inch Controls: Stock eát9éea

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panel. A single thumbwheel moves a ter, however, has less resolution and is tir- Trackballs are excellent for very fast cursor along one axis. Usually two ing to use with a conventional monitor. cursor movements. And joysticks are thumbwheels are mounted adjacent to The serious pointing -device user good for tracking and in applications one another but at right angles. This pro- should keep all options open. For digi- where precise pointing is not important. vides two -axis control. tizing drawings, either original or As for selecting an actual device, The Track Pen. The Track Pen is a traced, of circuit diagrams, floor plans, nothing beats a hands-on trial with a va- modified mouse. Developed by Am - surveys and the like, a digitizing table is riety of working pointing devices. Final- power, it incorporates a rotating ball probably the best choice. For moving a ly, no matter which device you select, be mounted in one end of a large stylus. It is cursor in word-processing applications, sure to keep other pointing devices in claimed to be more natural to use than a consider a cursor disk or a mouse. mind as your requirements expand. O mouse since it is held like a pen. Sonic Digitizers. This device incorporates a stylus that emits a series of sonic pulses. Two microphones in a receiver system placed nearby detect the pulses and determine the exact distance between the pen and each microphone. With this information, the location of the pen can then be determined. Pantograph Digitizers. Pantograph digitizers use cursor crosshairs attached to one end of a mechanical arm that slides up, down and through a slotted assembly placed to one side of the work area. Rows of conductive contacts along the arm and in the slotted assembly act as switches that enable the device to determine the position of the crosshairs. Ara- Though they are clumsy to use, they give very accurate results. {:'+ . H s: Voice Recognition Devices. Voice rec- CS' n3 d 7 elP iff A . ' A ,4. !!. A Gak ognition hardware provides a fascinat- ára' ® ee.ee'"' IRtvs vh- ing new kind of pointing mechanism. ` A 1. rft Even a brief session with a Texas Instru- ments' Professional Computer equipped , f f` t+ _=, " tt* ` -I.- with a voice recognition capability is

enough to convince a skeptic. This com- - 1984 Mail Order Catalog puter can be "trained" to remember words and respond accordingly when the words are used as commands. This permits menu options to be selected by The One Stop -Electronic Shop! simply stating the appropriate name. Eye Position Detection. By detecting Call Toll FREE 1=800-343-0874 light reflected from the cornea or the ret- 1`n the United States: ina of the eye, it is possible to determine Mail Orders Boston Seattle where the eye is gazing. The military has P.O. Box 8000 133 Flanders Road 13107.Northup Way used the former method to develop, Westborough, Mass. Westborough, Mass. Bellevue, Wash. among other things, automatic weapon - 01581 01581 98004 aiming devices for helicopter gunships. (Mass) (617) 366-0500. (617) 366-9684 (206) 88178191 The same technology can be used to control the movement of a cursor on a moni- In Canada: tor or to determine where on a monitor a Montréal Toronto Downsview user is staring. 5651 Rue Ferrier 14 Carlton Street 86 St. Regis Cr. N. Montréal, Québec Toronto, Ontario- Downsview, Ontario Selecting a Pointing Device H4P 1N1 M5B 1K5 M3J 1Y8 (514) 731-7441 (416) 977-7692 (416) 630-0400 As should be apparent by now, there Ottawa Calgary Vancouver is a plethora of pointing devices. Since 1023 Merivale Road 3220 -5th Ave: N:E. 3070 Kingsway ' each manufacturer claims its device is ; Ontario Bay 2 Vancouver, B.C. the most ergonomic and the easiest to Ottawa, K1 Z 6A6 Calgary, Alberta - V5R 5J7 . use, remember that no single pointing (613) 728-7900 T2A 5N1 device is best for all applications. the (403) 235-5300 (604) 438-3321 Currently, the mouse and pressure - sensitive touch tablets are receiving the Visit your nearest Active store, call, write or circle most attention, but neither provides the the Reader Service Card for your copy of Active's new catalog. natural sensation of the light pen. The lat- CIRCLE NO. 50 ON FREE INFORMATION CARD

May 1984 117

AmericanRadioHistory.Com ' bIGi-'kEY C O Fi O 800-3 P R ATION In Mn., Ak.. HI. Ce14216-631-6674 SEMICONDUCTOR'. PANASONIC-9. - Name brand products from nationaly recognized manufacturers. CHEMICALS ARIES PLESS6V MOLEX.* E.: CMEMWIK ATLANTIC DIODES, N.CUAL/TV DIAMOND TOOL* UNGAR GC CH SERVICE - Computerized order processing and inventerY cpntrol TS R.DIA 51 80-r1g-Ke1' ARIES ^C-00', NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR ,PANASONIC ~M SAVINGS - Volume Discounts OEM Quantity Pricing Toll Free BOO Number CHEMICALS ARIES :Y MOLEX E. DDD-i-=0 71'1 oKfI -NDI-REY -dIQIKEY - y - 1:1101-1MY -D101KI - 0101 era - 01[ -rl"Iffp MU- AI:SI)i..,.r,rHnnl. rd, rrl_Iri. .. Ili isr[errowl-REY-0:71KfY-DíOrñS S±MI.T:DITKEY-0101.KY-DI01.KEY-0101-Kf l(r'n.,rr+ 1 - SEI-D10S-1M-,0101 10- E YE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS CIRCUITS TKIGSTITIron DTAWTAlUM- 'r-¡ QLV I o )am TT4 TTL >. 743500 14500 TTL 4000 CMOS 161400INTEGRATED Linrea KGJ C''''''''' . Put Pow , c. No. KIT _ Y non Alloy - NEW!KIT NEWL 4040Lx7 - '' o p.5. mac r w MCC - NneIc 706 7466016 m In.,....,,,,nn A,4 w 310 DISC ONLY CAT. NO , +a i 7415026 )4oa.I 46 Canmd CAPACITORS l,ax.. I°°a 0H-KI T 06, 7.5036 41 745046 .. 40. g11 O[ S 5046 4 7 51 1x,35 la .5 rrnon wM na6 ,.mv fort. Soc. °t°nENTPOPULAR 53595 L3YY= : '5495 1..l Mo. ,n.msa5X ,OM Ix l26. 2465 ú Am SOLDER t5:711114. OF 11 : L):.: TAILSr1rnnó95..lo=

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The Digs -Key volume discount and service charges ore simple to opply. Most items sold by ig1-Key mor.be combined for o volume discount. hems that ore not discountable are identified by the SERVICE CHARGES. VOLUME DISCOUNT suffioNO following the port number. After miring your order, total an of the discountable items and apply me opproprioe discount. To th, subtotal, odd the non-discountable items. T en add 0.00-3 99.90 NET the htlydlir chorge. We poy all shipping and insurcnce lo addresses in the U.S.A., Conoda and Memco when payment occomponies order, 0.00-6 9.99 Add 32.00,5 3 10.00.523.00 3 3.3 3 . Add 30.73E 100.00.8249.99.... Less 10% WHIM 61111!11116 IT 2110111, CAW 1.1 0-34.51/4 (Mn., Ak., III., e411 111.641.4 74) 3y need aeM youi enter Hi DIGIEIT, II p 32 Scab, Thief tiro !0120, MM SÁ701 23.00.4499.9 Add 50.50 3 250.004499.99....less 15% -you may pay by check, money order, Master Chorge, VISA or C.O.D. DIGI-KEY GUARANTEE: Any pans or products purchasedley- from Dgi-Key that prove to be defective will be 3 50.00-699.99 Add 50.25 $ 500.004999.99 ....I...20% replaced refunded 90 31000.004 or if returned within days from receipt with o copy of your invoice h33100.00 Up No Charge Up Less 25%

AmericanRadioHistory.Com DIGI-KÉY ,' C O. RqO FIO 800-$4.IIl.42.48;-5.b674 P MOLEX E N,1T10NAL SEMICONDUCTOR PANASONIC Name brand products from nationally recognized manufacturers. CHEMICALS ARIES L 'AAVID CHEMWIK ATLANTIC DIODESI, N QUALITY - MACH,NE DIAMOND TOOL UNGAR GC CM VISA fsRiES PLESSEY MOLEX %AAVID E. F. JI SERVICE - Computerized order p ocessing and inventory control. AS INSTRUMENTS D-KI A P PRODUCTS DI/4'" OK MACHINE UNGAR GC CHEMICALS A )ND TOOL UNGAR GC CHEMICALS ARIES (NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR PANASONIC SA VIN.. - Volume Discounts OEM Quantity Pricing Toll Free 800 Number CHEMICALS ARIES PLESSEY MOLEX E: . t [ e -.11-" -D1m .R T " . rf - ' . 1 -6/1 ''. rh. n , p l Is FY mrL :G in ., 0033 orn- -II -41''"- Ii (-" r.r... hr ff., .. r, r iG . o II'IT,-.Gr.,.-DIGI.R[Y-0101R(T OI.R.T-D107R1T-030161 O.« . N W T 0.101.1 .1 III. R (T -4.1t O I -Orly P ero, D O.2 r. Orf SILICON National ...inD)1l:I .Dn91R9Dn RECTIFIERS ¿AFúúMrriwaTi ° 9110 .55 01 ¡, CI ZENER DIODES Semiconducto DD. "16Ná ,, s 50936.0 37 4610 I@ Time -Temp. Clock Module 10 Termination Jumpers i1 ._AMP SILICON RECTIFIER.. Ginm.I Well 4-09 dB DDv 71.6 em 00 - 1043 200 iue PP T . 105 ...0,..,,,,....._,_ . a'h- u6ó . , 1. . ¡ n> - iá iió ]' or sr' }l.nW.1612264126 21 ?1, T) L^ f,] 6xD «)S ]56unDxDRoü} a éSOaAkep In imD{ " IDDSfMILa1137 ' m 1490 p 1l V 50,, P .m... !11 111 ) P-PCBCONNECTORTEx.A705 i >3123; 'III; AI 031 ND 4103.0 RION ND 76 Im m00 m Sm6x0

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The Digi.Key volume discount and handling charges Ore simple to apply. Most derns sold by igi.Key may be comb.ned for o 1110000. ds0ouet. 1751111 .1131 are not discountable are identified by the HANDLING CHARGES VOLUME DISCOUNT saltn.ND following the port number. Alter 441ie9 9001 order. 00001 all of the discountable terns and oddly the apprcpmte discount. To this 008000oí. odd the non.dlscountable items. then old $ 0.00-3 9.99 Add 32.00 0.00 $ 99.99 NET the -ndtirgctwrge.m We poy oll shipping and insu1once ló addresses in the U.S.A., Cana o god Mexico when check or money order oc order. Dmponies $ 10.00-125.00 Add 30.75 5 100.00.5249.99 .... Lobs -10N #05105 MOOING ST NMI, CALL. 1.100-3435114 (MR., Al., Ni., _cell 310101.6 14) Or mil .end your order to: DIGI-EIT, 4 sherry 32 Sourh, Thief Dios Fe ll3, MN 56701 5 25.00.349.99 Add 00.505 250.00-0499.99 ....Less 1S3. , You 0004 poy by check. money order, Master Charge, VISA or C.D.U. OIG4P KEY GUARANTEE: Any parts or products purchased from D.giiKey that prove to he detective will be $ 50.00-099.99 Add 30.25 3 500.003999.99.... Lass 20.3 , Up Lass replaced or refunded d returned within 90 dogs from receipt with o copy your invoice Pna650111 C3 m rn2Dg0 1.41 ow 00140. ' $100.001 Up No Charge $1000.001 251. Circle No. 14 on Free Information Card