ACORN USER BBC MICRO • ELECTRON • ATOM NOVEMBER 1984 £1 GREAT CONTEST! Win a £66 computer desk QUIZ FOR SCHOOLS: 10 software packs to be won from BBC Radio EDUCATION: Getting children to write with confidence CLASHING ROMS: The software solution SIX OF THE BEST REVIEWS: Two digitisers to trace pictures MICRO LIVE ON TV: Behind the scenes with the Producer DOUBLE MEASURE... , wice as much storage capacity on your present or proposed discs. The LVL true double density printed circuit board offers an amazing 1 ,474,560 Bytes of on-hne storage, on a twin 80 track double density drive. Removed is the 8271; (it is not capable ot supporting double density). In it's place, a small printed circuit board with a new disc controller and support circuitry provides a much improved data retrieval. This drastically reduces read errors by using a phased locked loop data separator, which is superior to the standard window circuit. Your BBC micro will now recognise the media density in the drive, and inform you if it is correct. You may define what density you require, 40 or 80 track, and which sides of the disc to use. Tlie device gives complete flexibibty and comes with an Eprom containing firmware; manual, and a 40/80 track utilities disc. On a dual drive it is simplicity itself to copy existing software from single density to double density. • Double Density • 40 or 80 track • Automatically • Own PCB with checks for correct seperate 8Mhz density clock • No 8271 (RareS • Simple to fit expensive) • User definable • Utilities provided density • Defaults to single • Phase lock loop density on power data separator up QLcircuit. Scientitic Mouse. Bridge Street, Sandiacre Norlmgham NGIOSBA Telephone (0602) 394000 OINTS THE WAY TO ll^[^mL»lM ll^-^- ^tr_ Creative Grapi hancea Progr ihe AmX Mouse, from Advanced Memory Systems ArtworX is a powerful graphics program allowing scope :he BBC Micro joins a new league of powerful user- to produce amazingly vivid pictures and designs on iendty computers. Natural hand-eye co-ordination your screen and printer. Simply point to any of the allows the MOUSE to position the cursor quickly and ICONS (small illustrations) and you select options of i — i. a • M.: i.^i-.. .; & Kiiniieir. patterns and iirnpl©^nte|^her otjttionajre offered by V^|rtput specially written new software such as AfrnvofiX pull-down menus. MHHKmi qgffliWBvated using ^.stllij^USE. ^- ^JJH^^^^^^^^H yf•^Wl^AV:^ . ^^ -; The AmX Moust^ckage includes ARiworOQInd an EPROM with software to enable you to use the MOUSE with existing programs and also lets you use the MOUSE s versatility in your own software. Judlplug the MOUSE into the user port on a BBC Micro (model B) and the EPROM into a spare sideways sock^. Now simply fill in the coupon and we will send you an AmX Mouse with ArtworX with our full no quibble money 1 back guarantee. OR phone 0925 602690/62907 for instant Access or Visa orders. AfhworX graphics program Please send No AmX Mouse packages (including ArtwdbX and EPROM) at £89.95 inc. VAT and P&P. 1 enclose a cheque/PO for E or debit my credit card. I Card 1 1 Visa I I I I I I I I I { I I I I I I I I I I I I ' I I I ' No ' ' ' ' ' ' ! I Access Name i Address Signature Date (Please tick choice of r media for ARTWtmX) Cassette 3" Disc 5J" Disc To: Advanced Memory Systems Ltd.. Woodslde Technology Centre, Green Lane, Appleton, Warrington, WA4 5NG. England. tf!;iiVMiim ACORN USER BBC MtCRO ELECTRON ATOM NOVEMBER 1984 £1 THE ONE AND ONLY BBC, ELECTRON AND ATOM MAGAZINE Gm-Al l,CiNil:'<.T' comp<ji«c dBak QUIZ FOn SCHOOLS to be tiun.BacBaaio eiXKATION. GeHinii thjWm. in CtASHIMGROMS ROM juggler 119 The soFtwai* New Users With Beeb and board full of R0r>/1s, how can you be sure of calling up the First Byte 41 one you want? David Blakey has the Tessie Revivis introduces techniques answer for drawing shapes on the screen and assembling them into your own Beeb in the glasshouse 171 designs Second in our Trailblazer series is a report from Danny Green on how Hints & Tips 45 Reading researchers are using the Four pages bursting with good advice BBC micro to monitor plant life on converting TVs, polishing your programs, testing joysticks, sound- proofing acoustic couplers, and Communications achieving - November 3D-effect printing Martin 1984 No 28 tales Cover pholograph by John Barloia Phillips is in the chair Tele 28 /W/cro Z./Ve producer David Allen Letters 58 recalls the traumas of putting live Editor Tony Quinn messages on the air Production editor Keith Parish Hints on RTTY; why do peripherals Technical editors Alex van Someren, cost so much?; the search for schools Bruce Smith software; Wordwlse in Spanish; and a Editorial assistant Kitty Milne suicide theory . Readers speak their Education Art editor Nigel Wingrove minds Art assistant Tacye Davis News round-up 127 Publishing director Michael Potter Dear Kitty ... 59 A new feature covering current Editorial director Christopher Ward Mystery of the 'Bad mode' message; issues, with news, opinion and feedback from teachers, pupils and Editorial history of the Beeb. Kitty answers the other involved parties, edited Nick Redwood Publishing, questions that confuse the by Evans 68 Long Acre, London inexperienced micro-user WC2E9JH. Tel: 01-836 2441 Edword at work 131 Advertising Features A classroom project presented Computer Marketplace Ltd, 20 Ron Gandolfo with the ideal opportunity Orange St, London WC2H 7ED. to Sprites cloned 65 Tel: 01-930 1612 introduce wordprocessing to his You've drawn your sprite and learnt pupils. How did Edword work out for Subscriptions how to move it around the screen. them? Jan Potter, Subscriptions manager. Now in part 3 of his sprite generator Tel: Nutfield Ridge (073782} 2957. series Harry Sinclair shows you how Correspondence: Redwood Pub- to produce clone and mirror images Atom lishing, 68 Long Acre, London WC2E9JH, Floating point 74 Atom Forum 121 Annual subscription rates: UK £15 Bruce Smith launches a new series The emphasis this month is on Europe £25 which aims to take the aggro out of hardware modifications, so warm up Middle East £30 assembler. He tackles the subject of your soldering iron while Barry The Americas and Africa £30 floating point variables Pickles introduces readers' wheezes Rest of the World £35 Prices include p&p for 12 issues Yellow listing pages Acorn User welcomes submissions from readers Articles should be typed, double-spaced text, with dia- You'll find all the main listings of this grams on separate sheets Please enclose prograrris on issue in the yellow pages disc or cassette, with a listmg if possible Photos should be 35mnn, or larger, transparencies, or 511 by Tjri black and while prints Ensure your narrte is on everything. Barcode listing 97 Please Include a suitable stamped, addressed envelope Win a barcode reader worth £50! lor return, Atlicles are acknowledged on receipt. Program of the month 99 Typeset and printed in Great Britain by James Clarke's life-saver Watmoughs Ltd. Bradford. Print production by First byte 100 Aquarius Print and Design, London, Distributed to the news trade by Comag, Tavistock Rd, West CALL me a car! Drayton, Middlesex UB7 Tel: 70E. (0895) 44405. Hints & tips 101 © Redwood Pubrishing 1984 A program polished up ' -' ' 'i'«ini I IB , I nil . All rights reserved. No part of tfiis publication Graptiics 103 may be reproduced without prior written per- mission of the publisher. The publisher cannot The final version of 'Design' accept any responsibility for claims or errors in Floating point 108 articles, programs or advertisements pub- Easy-to-follow demos lished. The opinions expressed on the pages of this magazine are those of the authors and do Beeb Forum 110 not necessarily represent those of the pub- Readers ' routines lisher, Acorn Computers Ltd. or Acornsoft Ltd Acorn, Acornsoft, and the Acorn symbol are the ROM-con utility 111 registered trademarks of Acorn Computers Ltd Selection by software and Acornsoft Ltd, -.___'"'i<ii =^—- .iti tm. ACORN USER NOVEMBER 1984 I CONTENTS AUTO Atom 125 Bruce Smith puts a finishing touch to IN THIS the recent series of converting Beeb programs to AtomBasic with the AUTO command ISSUE. Reviews Buggies and turtles 164 With various full versions of the graphics-based Logo Joe's Jottings 82 language set to appear, Geoff Our man Telford tests a mixed batch: Nairn takes to the floor with Toad's extension socket and Watford's six simple robots to explain Speech Synthesiser and Beebfont what they can and cannot do ROM Games 179 Eagle's Wing and Spooks and Spiders by Software Invasion: Vision's Digger ABC marvel 30 Accent on WP 181 Acorn's new 310 boasts the latest software the computer Chris Drage assesses BBtype, a multi hardware and Turn to 30 character-set wordprocessor offering industry can offer. page screen shots of foreign accents and technical/ for a closer look and mathematical symbols the mouse-controlled icons Hardware 191 Ian Rowlings on the Romex 13 ROM board, and Barry Pickles on Philips' NEW TP200 monitor School quiz 127 to win one of 10 Language learners 193 The chance BBC Radio software packs Daily's report on language Simon kicks off a new education news Beebugsoft, coaching packages from section that gives your school Salamander and Kosmos a hearing New books 195 Regulars The News 7 Acorn results, Torch develops Unix, Beebs in India, South America and China, and Beeb could be prescribed for doctors Noticeboard 16 Digitising duo 187 A new page to keep you primed about Two graphics tablets are taken to task events you won't want to miss! and both come out well Competition 87 Simon Dally picks another puzzle from MONTH.