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The Hitachi 6309: a POWERFUL ALTERNATIVE

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The Hitachi 6309: a POWERFUL ALTERNATIVE coco • CJ tht 5t1'vin..J The Levels THE COLOR COMPUTER MONTHLY MAGAZINE September 1992 vo1. x11 No. 2 Canada $4.95 U.S. $3.95 The Hitachi 6309: A POWERFUL ALTERNATIVE ost CoCo 3 owners wish there were some way they could alter their machines to make Lhem run faster; while owners of PC POWERBOOST : SPIEED�NG UIP 1fHIE lCO!CO 3 compatibles have for years been buying faster and faster computers, the speed at which the CoCo exe­ cutes programs has remained the same since the CoCo 3 was Chris Burke learnedof the hidden regis­ mdi r e took 8.75 seconds without the introduced. ters. instruclions and modes of the Hitachi patches installed and 5.5 seconds with the 6309 roughly a month before the Chicago p atches - a 40-percent speed increase. In Some OS-9 users and hardware hac kers 1992CoCofest, and it immediately occurred another test in which the CoCo 3 was asked have been so desperate to squeeze addi­ to him that he could use these enha nce­ to read a full megabyte of data from a hard tional performance out of the Color Com­ ments to make OS-9 software (system and drive it took 55.5 seconds without the puter that they've tried various bizarre and applications) e><ecutemore quickly. In one patches and 39.5 seconds with-the patches chancy hard­ month, Chris devised over 50 separate - again a throughput increase of about 40 ware modifica­ patches to mo<h1\es in the OS-9 system. percent. Ina more dramatic (hut less truly tions - a few These patches have become an important meaningful) demonstration, ·perforµiing a have gone so pan of a new product Burke & Burke calls cobbler to a RAM disk took 20 seconds far a� to install PowerBoost. without the patches and only J _8 seconds a faster clock The PowerBoost package includes a with patches. What this would translate to crystal. (They Hitachi 63B09£, a 40-pin socket and a for .. cobblering" a floppy disk is dependent did achieve specially formatted disk including the upon the efficiency of the data transferfrom roughly a 10- patches to OS-9, as well as some patches to the system to the drive. It is important to perc en l in­ Disk BASIC. The idea is that you replace the note, too, that these figures represent per­ c rease in 68B09Ein yo ur CoCo 3 with the socket and formance increases while in the emulation speed, but at 6309., then patch the software to take ad­ mode of the 6309, not the native mode in the expense of vantage of the new features, in­ which fewer instruction cycles are required. rendering most creasing the speed at which the The OS-9 p atcher program Chris sup­ monitors use­ CoCo 3 performs. plies is an exceptionally professional item. less with the The patches Chris had As it installs itself, it goes one by one CoCo because devisedprior to theChicago show through the modules.shows the user which the timing of produced a noticeable and impressive speed modules it recognizes as patchable, and the video sig­ increase in aCoCo3running OS-9 Level II. nal was also How impressive is impressive? A given See PowerBooston Page 16 a ff e c t e d . ) Such a modi­ fication is 0 OS·9 Learns to Count more a curious intellectual exercise than of the 6309 microprocessor to Color Com­ In this issue: by Stephen Goldberg 6 any kind of practical route to speeding up puter users has come to light. thanks to the Print#·2 the CoCo 3. recent unofficial release of information Back Issue Information 11 by Lonnie Falk 2 Now. however, a sound and reliable about the ch.ip. • Brand-label Disk Jackets Received and Certified 11 means exists for speeding up program cxc­ bvRonDalilke 13 . Scramble curion on t\1e CoCo 3. at least under OS-9 The 6809 and the 6309: CocciConsultations bl' Trevor Boehm 4 Level ]] . by I 0 10 30 percent (possibly up lo A History of the Technology by Marry Goodman 14 .To l:lex With Decimal 50 percent in the ncar futurc).1l1is means is As most CoCo users know, the micro­ Delphi Bureau bv Steve Rickelfs 4 the Hitachi 6309 microprocessor. which is processor used in the Color Compu ter 3 is by Eddie Kuns 10 • UpTop With the Coco 3 available through electronics part• houses the Mororola 68B09E. The 6809 family of • Driller of the Times by George & EllenAftamonow 12 and as part of a complete kit, called Power­ microprocessors was engineered using by Trevor Boehm 13 Boost. ld B e & Burke (see the so by urk • Equation Solver ("Print#-2") Product Reviews: review. at right). potential importance The See £rrJ9on Page 15 by Bob Teague and Class 2 Bible & lntructional Programs • Find Your Roots from Sebastian LaSpada 6 bv William P. Nee 17 PowerBoost • Graphlt from Burke & Burke 1 by Rick St. John 22 The Hitachi 6309 h'· Manv Goodman 1 Letters to Rainbow l Up T 12_c.c 3 O OS·9 Hotline 22 SeePage12 2 September 1992 THE RAINBOW Wimhrop, Maine, where there are eighr CoCos in the compuler lab in my classroom. We receive THE RAINBOW and RAINBOW ON DISK each month, and many of the programs you have provided are THE RAINBOW integrated into my math and science courses. Tire CoCos are in constant use by my students. Print#-2 During our st11dy of solving equations in one unknown. I de­ Editor and Publisher cided co challenge some of the stud ems in my Algebra I course by Lawrence C. Falk havin11 them create a proivam to solve equations in severalforms. Managing Editor Cray Augsburg Once they understood how to solve the equations by hand, the Associate Editor Sue Fomby A Promising Education students set about teaching the computer co solve the equations SUbmissionsJReviews Editor electronically through BASIC. Julie Hutchinson It is common knowledge that computers, CoCos included, are The work went slowly at first, but once the students got into the Greg Law Technical Editor widely used in the field of education. But those of us without project, it proceeded quickly. Since many of the students had little Tet:lmlcal AnlstanlS Ed Ellers, children, or whose children have finished their educations, often programming experience,I helped with some ofrhe mechanics of Contributing Edlto11 Tony OiStefano. lose sight of just how important and effectivethe use of computers building a menu-driven program. The result is Equation Solver, Martin Goodman, M.O., Eddie Kuns can be when combined with traditional educational methods. And which the class and/ hope will inspire other algebra students to try ArtDil'8ctor Oebbee Diamond there are several approaches that can be taken tn enhance the their hands at programming. BASIC is alive and well in Mr. Sharon Adams. Nelson Designers Heidi educational process through the use of computers. Teague' s Period I algebra class. Co11111Hlng Edlton Judi Hutthlnson, The most common strate gy used today is the drill program, a Keep those great programs coming. We lookfonvard to explor­ Laurie 0. Falk program with which students are quizzed by the computer. Work­ ing the disk each month. ing much like flash cards, such programs are useful for teaching everything from simple math and spelling to anatomy and chem­ Sincerely yours, istry. Another tactic is to first teach the given subject through tradi­ Mr. Bob Teague and students: Falsott, Inc. tional methods. Then afterthe students have a basic understanding of the subject, the computer is used to present concrete examples Jaime Clark DarcyDunn (proof) of the material learned. This approach is used by Louis Dana Fales EthanFoyt Lawrence C. Fa k Pr11id1nt l Toscano in"The ElectronicBlackboard" (THE RAINBOW,e S ptem­ Levi Huntley Marty Matthews ber 1987, Page 106). As he explains in that article, Mr.Toscano Crystal Pendexter Lynn Scribner Gen111l MHIDll Peggy LowryDa niels first introduces the concepts of calculus, then uses the CoCo to Barbie William.< Eric Weber Ant. Glnt11I Mgr. tor Finance show the students how the graphs and equations relate in physical FrankFitzgerald Veronica Guimont Donna Shuck terms. Amy Phillips Mike Murphy Admln. Ant.to tht l'Ubllsher A third approach is to teach the material in a traditional manner, Amy Bryant Ethan Savage Ellen Patterson then let the students actually use what they have learned in a Jess Shepard Editorial Dll'Bctor John Crawley physical way. While it seems this method is used less frequently Dil'IClor DI Crtltln Services than the other two I've mentioned, it can be highly effectives ince O'Neil Arnold the students are given some way to mentally basethe material - Enclosed with the letter was a disk comaining the result of Mr. Booldleeper/D11terAccounta they are given a tangible use for the material, reinforcing their Teague's class's efforts, which I amprinting here foryour useand BeverlyQuick learning efforts. This approach has been used by Bob Teague, a educational benefit. Ant. Oe1. Manager For Administration RAINBOWreader. We recently received the following letter from I think the students in Mr. Teague ' s class deserve, at the very TimWhelan Mr.Tea gue and his algebra class: least, a big pat on the back, as doesMr. Teague. Theircreation, after Cof'811111 BalnenTe cllnlcal Director all, is the very meaning of education. Calvin Shields Dear Sir: Customer Service Man1gar I teach mathematics and science at Winrhrop High School in - Lonnie Falk Beverly Bearden Cblel ol Printing Services Melba Smith 16K ECB Business Anilllnt Shannon Yoffe • Chief ot Building security and Maintenance 'fhe Listing: EQUATION 330 I NPUT"ENTER A"; A 540 !NPUT"ENTER A";A Lawrence Johnson 340 I NPUT"ENTER C"; C 550 INPUT"ENTER C" :C 350 X-C/A 560 LET X-A*C Adwrtlsina 1 'EQUATION SOLVER LET Anlmnt 2 360 PRINT:PRINT A;"X -":C:PRINT 570 PRINT:PR!NT"X /":A;"-":C:PR! Carolyn Fenwick 3 'COPYRIGHT (Cl 1992 370 PRINT"VALUE OF X IS ";X NT Western Sales Director 4 'BY FALSOFT, I NC.
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