Dr. Dobb's Journal of $1.So COMPUTER Calisthenics & Orthodontia Running Light Without Overbyte June/July, 1976 Box 310, Menlo Park CA 94025 Volume 1, Number 6
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dr. dobb's journal of $1.so COMPUTER Calisthenics & Orthodontia Running Light Without Overbyte June/July, 1976 Box 310, Menlo Park CA 94025 Volume 1, Number 6 A REFERENCE JOURNAL FOR USERS OF HOME COMPUTERS .CONSUMER COMMENTS ·fraUie for Pittman's 6800 Tiny BASIC [letter & reply] 4 Denver's Digital Group Kit Draws Praise [letter] 5 Good Reports & Plaudits for MOS Technology[letter/note] 5 Accentuate the Software; Eliminate the Games [letter/reply] 6 Short on Length, hut Long on Quality [letter] 6 A Novice Constructs an IMSAL S. A. Cochran, Jr. 7 Don't Underestimate BASIC fletter] 40 an attorney builds his first computer BASIC Complaint & Macro Message [letter & reply] 40 FCC Petition on ANSCII Transmission by Hams 42 Dennis Allison reply points out BASIC limitations SOFTWARE A Bootstrap for the 8080, Lichen Wang 8 Byte-Saving Programming Tricks for the 8080, Tom Pittman 9 An Exercise for Novice Translator Implementors, Bill Thompson 11 A Classy 8080 Text Editor, similar to a PDP-9 Editor, F. J. Greeb 13 includes general comments, user documentation & extensively annotated source code Tiny Trek for Mueller's MINOL, Erik Mueller 37 Button, Button Game in 8080 Machine Code, Ron Santore 38 CORRECTIONS & IMPROVEMENTS Errors in & Improvements for Texas Tiny BASIC (TBX), Charles Skeldon 3'4 Errata & Additions to Wang's Palo Alto Tiny BAS1C, Lichen Wang 35 MinErrata for MINOL, plus Tiny Trek, Erik Mueller 36 VIDEO OUTPUT 48 Lines of 64 Characters on a TV for $499. 95, Video· Terminal Technology 27 512-Character Video RAM from Canada, Matrox Electronic Systems 27 Variable Character Spacing in Video Displays, Jim Day 28 TVT-11 Mods to Get 64 Characters per Line, David Valliere . 29 Homebrew TV Display System with Graphics, Glendon Smith 30 complete design & implementation details, including complete schematics $98.50 Graphics Terminal Kit, Southwest Texas Products Corporation 33 MISCELLANEOUS HARDWARE 4K Static RAM Board (Unpopulated) for $18.75 4 Adaptor Makes LSI-11 's and ll/03's into Real PDP-11 's 36 $450 Dot-Matrix Printer for 6800's and 8080's 36 Western Data's 6502-hased Data Handler Kit for $169.95 43 RCA COSMAS & µScope [letter], Jim Day 43 LED Replacements for Burn-Outahle PDP-8/E Lamps 43 RANDOM DATA POINTS Do You .•• , a request for your assistance 3 16-hit, 3-MegaHertz Micro? [rumor] 5 Going to Submit a Program to S9meplace? .[letter & reply]6 New club: TRACE in Ontario 15 Table of Contents for First Six Issues of Dr. Dobb 's Journal Pointers to Other Good Stuff 26 + propaganda, subscription form & questionaire centerfold 6800 BASIC, Editor, Blackjack; Tiny BASIC Star Trek; etc. Sonoma County Computers Hold Meetings 27 Central Oklahoma Computer Group 29 1980 Census: Have Any Suggestions? 34 Club: ICE-NINE in Illinois 36 Computers & Education ffour brief notes] 40 Tiny Time Sharing? Lee Felsenstein 41 lversons Initiate APL Newsletter, Jean Iverson 41 Software Exchange for 6800's [letter & reply] 41 IMS Associates, Inc., Moves 41 A Club Survey for a Club Club · 42 TV Dazzler Contest back cover SUBMITTING 00::KEEP IT A SECRET! I ITEMS FOR ~ PUBLICATION ' let us know what exciting new soft~re and ~ystems you are ' working on. We'll tell everyone else (1f you wish). Maybe someone is also working on the same thing. You can work together and get results twice as fast. Or, may be someone t t else has already done it; no reason for everyone to reinvent the wheel. DR COBB'S JOURNAL OF' ~'~]--:" ?; COMPUTER CAUSTHENICS & ORTHODONTIA t l I \ ,I~~~ ,, - Volume 1, Number 6; June/July, 1976 t DATE'M-Please include your name, address, and date on all tidbits you send to us. Box 310, Menlo Park CA 94025 t TYPE'M-If at all possible, items should be typewritten, Copyright © 1976 by People's Computer Company double-spaced, on standard, 816 x 11 inch, white paper. If we t can't read it; we can't publish it. Remember that we will be retyping all natural language (as opposed to computer languages) Publisher t communications that we publish. People's Computer Company PROGRAM LISTINGS-We will accept hand-written 1010 Doyle, Menlo Park, Californio. t Editor (415) 323-3111 programs only as a very last resort. Too often, they tend to say Jim C. Warren, Jr. t something that the computer would find indigestible. On the Contributing Editors other hand, if the computer typed it, the computer would probably accept it-particularly if it is a listing pass from an F. J. Greeb t Lichen Wang assembler or other translator. t It is significantly helpful for program listings to be on continuous paper; either white, or very light blue, roll paper, or t fan-folded paper. Since we reduce the copy in size, submitting it Dennis Allison on individual pages forces us to do a significant amount of extra t cutting and pasting. For the same reason, we prefer that you exclude pagination or page headings from any listings. Circulation & Subscriptions t Please, please, please put a new ribbon on your printer Mary Jo McPhee t before you run off a listing for publication. Bulk Sales In any natural language documentation accompanying a program listing, please refer to portions of code by their address t or line number or label, rather than by page number. Printer t DRAWINGS & SCHEMATICS-Please draw them signifi Nowels Publications, Menlo Park 94025 cantly larger than the size you expect them to be when they are published. Take your time and make them as neat as possible. We POSTMASTER: Please send Form 3579 to: Box 310, Menlo Park t CA 94025. Return postage guaranteed. Application to mail at do not have the staff to retouch or re-draw illustrations. Use a second-class postage rates is pending at Menlo Park CA. t black-ink pen on white paper. Published 10 times per year; monthly, encl!Mling July & December. LEITERS FOR PUBLICATION-We are always interested t in hearing your praise, complaints, opinions, daydreams, etc. In U.S. subscriptions: Foreign subscriptions: t letters of opinion for publication, however, please back up any (Subscription blank is on centerfold.) Add $4 per year to U.S. opinions that you present with as much factual information as $1.50 for a single ~. rates for surface mail. t possible. $3 for the first three issues. Add 112 per year to U.S. We are quite interested in publishing well-founded, 110 per year. rates for air mail. t responsible evaluations and critiques of anything concerning hobbyist hardware or software, home computers, or computers Discounts available for bulk orders. t and people. Disclaimer We may withhold your name from a published letter if you We serve as a communication medium for the exchange of t so request. We will not publish correspondence, however, which information. We do not guarantee the validity of that information. is sent to us anonymously. t We reserve the right to edit letters fm purpo:res of clarity Reprint pri11il11111es and brevity. Articles herein that are copyrighted by individual authors or t ADVERTISING-Advertising from manufacturers and otherwise explicitly marked as having restricted reproduction rights vendors may be accepted by us. However, we reserve the right to may not be reprinted or copied without permission from People's t refuse any advertising from companies which we feel fall short of Computer Company, O'I' the authors. All other articw may be our rather picky standards for ethical behavior and responsiveness reprinted for any non-ooml"m!rcial purpose, provided a credit-line is to consumers. Also, any such commercial advertiser is herewith included. The credit-line should indicate that the material was informed that we will not hesitate to publish harsh criticisms of · reprinted from Dr. Dobb'i; Journal of Computer Calisthenics & t their products or services, if we feel such criticisms are valid. Orthodontia, Box 310. Mmllo Park CA 94025. ' Dr. Dobi:l's Journal of Computer Calisthenics 8i Orthodontia, Soi:t 31 OI, Menlo Park CA 94025 June/July, 1976 YOU LIKE WHAT WE ARE DOING? * Publishing significant systems software, every month * Reprinting materials from club newsletters * Proposing & detailing "realizable fantasies" ... exciting projects, feasible for home computers * Actively pursuing a role of consumer advocate * Publishing useful references ... indices to periodicals, bibliographies, lists, etc. * "All Meat" pages; we are not accepting commercial advertising * And more- KNOW THAT MUCH MORE MATERIAL IS BEING SUBMITTED THAN WE ARE FINANCIALLY ABLE TO PRINT? * Many more programs than we have room to print * Much more very useful material from many club newsletters * A number of projects that are practical & appropriate for home computer users * More consumer evaulations of products & services * Many, many more reference lists, indices, tables, etc. * Much more KNOW THAT YOU CAN HELP US TO BE ABLE TO PUBLISH ALL THE GOOD THINGS WE ARE RECEIVING? * Since we ... -are supported entirely. by subscriptions & sales through stores - want to keep it that way ("keeps us honest" when we indulge in consumer advocacy) -are serving you; not serving commercial advertisers * Then ... - the only way we can get more income to pay our printers to print more pages, is to have more people and companies subscribe to and purchase the Journal -you have already helped by purchasing this issue WISH TO HELP US HELP YOU? * Tear out the center-fold (not very sexy, but we hope it's attractive) - pass it along to a friend or professional associate - post it on the bulletin board at school or at work - give it to a manager of microprocessor software or design - reprint it in your club newsletter * Stand up and tell your next computer club meeting about the Journal [and ..