USE CURSOR KEYS TO SCROLL TEXT. USE CURSOR KEYS TO SCROLL TEXT. HELP! MESSAGES HELP! MESSAGES FROM 3SQ TO 999 (ALL) SUBJECT MIDI My "WIFE" has just bought our eldest daughter an Electronic Keyboard for Christmas, it is a Yamaha PSR310. On the box it comes in, it mentions that it is MIDI compatible, meaning that it has a MIDI interface for connecting up to "computers", now I don't know anything about this MIDI thing myself, I am hoping one of the membership will know the answer to my obvious question: IS this MIDI thing available on a BBC Master (or "B"), if so, can anybody please let me know what I have to do, to obtain one, or make one? I would imagine that MIDI, IS ONLY really available on a PC ! Tim Parsons (3SQ) 40 Coniston Road, Flitwick, BEDS, MK45 1QH 1525-715013 after 6pm ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, From K8C Arthur Adams, HELP! (1) I have several items which work well (or well-ish) on the B+, but simply do not want to know on the Master. A few months ago I acquired a 10-year old (but pristine) Cumana Pad. It works fine on the B+, but on the Master the signals are just not getting through the RS 423. I have tried two different Masters, so do not think that there is any physical malfunction. I have also tried to run SLEUTH. On the B+, it will run a Basic program in either single- or multi-step mode quite happily, but I have not been able to implement the Dual Screen facility. Any attempt to do so causes a lock-up. On the Master the whole thing locks up from square one. I have tried running CONVERT on the Master, and have also tried running the Master on Basic 2 instead of Basic 4. Neither helps in the slightest. The problem must presumably lie with the Operating System. (There are also several games which are Master-shy). Can anyone suggest (a) how to get the Dual Screen facility to work on any machine and (b) why the Master locks up on systems which are happy enough on the B+? (2) Has anyone who uses Quest Paint, or any similar system, discovered how, in Mode 1 (or any other mode for that matter), to produce a realistic brown colour? My renewed thanks to Chris for all his hard work in running such a fine service, and all best wishes to all for 1996. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: L1M (Janny Looyenga) Subject: Pendulum Patience I finished the game in 75 moves, and am trying to do better. You too? Press the function keys for commands - F0 SWING F5 LOAD F1 MOVE F6 SAVE F2 OUT F7 HELP F3 SHOW F8 REDEAL F4 FIND F9 EXIT And don't forget to press RETURN! Abbreviations are used for the cards: AH is the Ace of Hearts KC is the King of Clubs QD is the Queen of Diamonds JS is the Jack of Spades Purple colour instead of black. You must begin to collect the ACES. Look for AH, AD, AC or AS. Only the bottom card of each column (0-9) is free to handle , so if you see any ACES there, maybe AH, type (or press F2) OUT AH. The card will be moved up. Build these cards in ascending order, look for the 2s now. (F2) OUT 2H when you see this card free. If you have created an empty place then you may move any KING onto it... just type (or press F1) MOVE KH 9 (or 0) -whatever king or column is free. For creating more empty spaces the ultra right and left hand upper card may be used to move cards onto in descending order. When you don't see any more free cards you can press F0 or type SWING and all cards will swing to the other side of the screen, hopefully to show some useful cards being free to handle now! Remember: only the ultra right/left card can be used to move cards onto... When you want to know where is the next following card in the tableau, just type FIND or press F4 and the name of the card you want to find. If you don't you remember the first card in the corner..., just type SHOW or press F3 and the name of the card you see on top, to reveal what is underneath. This game does behave like a good wordprocessor, because: TAB type last command SHIFT + -> goto end of line SHIFT + <- goto beginning of line SHIFT + ^ INSERT mode Default is OVERTYPE mode. CTRL + -> delete whole line CTRL + del delete char. right This patience game is difficult to finish, most of the time you get stuck, but it is very addictive. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D4H (Paul Smith) Subject: Packet Radio Last issue Martin Wilson (4WL) asked for an idiots guide to Packet Radio. Well, I have been called an idiot in the past and I am a Radio Ham who has used Packet Radio so I guess I qualify to write something on the subject. :-) If Chris receives other articles on the subject I accept his decision as to which he will publish. Anyone asking the question "What is Packet Radio?" probably knows little about Amateur Radio so I offer a brief explanation. Any Radio Hams among you will, if interested, probably require more information than this. But here goes. Amateur Radio enthusiasts are people with an interest in transmitting messages for their own personal benefit. As the name implies you receive no reward for this and you only go "on-air" as and when you wish. Almost all the countries of the world have some people interested in Amateur Radio so it is possible to contact "Hams" in these countries by choosing the most opportune frequency, time of day or year to attempt a contact. Several mode of transmission are available. Morse code, various speech modes and these days a number of data modes are available; one of which is Packet Radio. Packet Radio is a system where you set up your equipment to allow you to type messages at a keyboard and the equipment assembles what is typed with information about the sender and recipient into a "Packet". If the "Packet" arrives at it's intended destination a confirmation Packet is sent back to the sender. If the Packet contained an error the receiving equipment would request the Packet be sent again. If neither a confirmation Packet nor a "send again" Packet is received the sending equipment will send the Packet again a set number of times. So what's the point? The point is that if part of a message does not successfully arrive only the part containing an error or a part that did not arrive is retransmitted. The system therefore has a certain level of error correction built in. A number of Radio Hams also set up BBSs so that messages can be left on the BBS if the person you are trying to contact is not immediately available. In fact most of the traffic tends to flow through a BBS one way or another. It's bit like an on-air version of the Internet. However, you don't need an access provider but then again it is very slow and you only have access to the amateur radio fraternity. I hope this gives some of you an idea of what Packet Radio is. As for the cost? Well, you do need an Amateur Radio transmitting licence. The cost of this in terms of cash is small but you will need to pass a technical examination (courses are run by many Technical Colleges) and if you want to use the lower frequency bands you will also need to pass a morse code test (courses run by the Radio Society of Great Britain and local clubs). The cost in terms of equipment will vary a lot depending on how far you want to go with it. Maybe 300 pounds upwards for a tranceiver to get you on the air to start with. A computer of some description. A few years ago I used a BBC "B" and at that time it was quite adequate. These days I imagine most people use a PC of some sort but a high specification is not necessary. You also require a Terminal Node Controller which is a bit like a modem to take whatever you type at the keyboard, assemble the "Packets" and generate the audio tones which you will use to feed your transmitter so that your messages can be sent on-air. The cost of a TNC may be between 100 and 300 pounds. So is it worth it? If you are only interested in Packet Radio I would say no, don't take up Amateur Radio just for Packet. But then Amateur Radio has far more to offer than just Packet Radio ... but that's another story. Regards, Paul (G4BJG). ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D4H (Paul Smith) Subject: Beeb and Monitor faults 1) I had a problem recently with my Beeb. I was getting errors when using the last 8BS disc even though, previously, I had no problem. There was no problem with other single sided discs. I did a *CAT of the disc and this showed the usual info. I did a *CAT2 and even though the heading showed Drive 2 as expected the catalogue was of side 0. (???) No, I hadn't done a BACKUP 0 2 or whatever else might cause this. I removed the disc drive lead from the computer and reinserted it and now everything is OK again. No doubt this problem will recur and I will end up replacing or reterminating the drive lead. At least I will have an idea where to look for the fault. I have documented this in case anyone else has a similar problem. 2) I have a Microvitec monitor which has a problem. The manual tells me that the problem is east-west correction but if I adjust the appropriate control there is no change at all. Could anyone guide me to the fault? Paul Smith, 9, Renishaw Road, Mastin Moor, Chesterfield, S43 3DW. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: K4V (Trevor Crapper) Subject: View Professional Part 6 Hopefully anyone who has followed the tutorial and has got this far will have written and printed a document of some sort. And that the result has been worth the effort. As with all things practice makes things that much easier. Perhaps now I should follow my own advice and learn a lot more myself about what VP is capable of doing! VP is not just a word processor, it can be used as a spread sheet, and also as a database. I have used it as a simple desktop publisher too. All its functions can be used separately or altogether, or in any combination. The choice is up to the user. It is not my intention to go into any details because, apart from using the word processor and making a database I have not gone any further myself. A manual is recommended to anyone who is thinking about using VP, it will help a very great deal in mastering this program. It will also open the door to a lot of information designed to assist the committed user. Trevor Crapper K4V ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: K4V (Trevor Crapper) Subject: Z88 For anyone with a Z88 and would like some personal advice on its use, or perhaps a lot of written information to read and digest then write to:- Mr J.E. Lawrie 15 Sycamore Grove, Southam, Leamington Spa, CV33 0EY For anyone without a Z88 and would like one, then contact Jack. He has Z88 outfits for sale, and other items of hardware as well. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D4R (BARRY SIMPSON) Subject: PRINTER I have an old printer which has no identifying marks or logo but which appears to be an IBM. I would like to get hold of some literature on it. The only information I have is from the test print. The first line is as follows: 6493229 COPYRIGHT IBM CORP 1984,1985. I would like to be able to use NLQ if this is available. I can get it to print NLQ with some font programs. Also, I need to know what the DIP switches control. Anyone know anything about this machine ? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D4R (BARRY SIMPSON) Subject: TAU 87-2 This is a cross stitch program which I have in order to get my wife to take an interest in computing. The program works OK but I feel I need a copy of the article to make better use of it. Can anyone oblige ? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D4R (BARRY SIMPSON) Subject: TAU 89-12 This knitting pattern designer asks for a picture in order to produce a pattern to knit. I have tried some but the program doesn't recognise what I offer. Has anyone a copy of the printed article ? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D4R (BARRY SIMPSON) Subject: PENGO I have a copy of Pengo from my BBC B but I can't get it to run properly on the Master. Apparently Snobee doesn't chase Pengo as is supposed to happen. Can anyone help ? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: K3H (ALBERT SCHOFIELD) Subject: REPLAY DISC UTILITY It is often useful, when playing a game, to be able to re-save (or update) a file on disc for replay at a later date. With the REPLAY utility some files can be continuous update files in which case pressing the REPLAY switch will cause a save to the program just loaded. To set a program to be continuously updated, simply enter the EDIT FILE mode (option 4 from the main menu) then press the program letter, and then once the data file is displayed, press "U". The program name will then change colour to purple and "R&W" will appear to the left of the name which means READ & WRITE. Then press "E" to exit the edit mode and re-save the data file. On the mark 2 REPLAY the procedure is slightly different. In this case go into the EDIT DATA file mode and press the "R" key. The program name will then be prefixed by R/W instead of "R". To cancel this just repeat the process by pressing "R" again and the prefix will re-appear as "R". Once set, a program can be loaded as normal and then at some time during the program execution, the REPLAY switch can be pressed (along with one of the drive keys f0 to f3) and REPLAY will overwrite the old program on the disc. On the MARK 2 REPLAY it is advisable not to use the AUTOMATIC FILE CREATION feature on the disc with R/W files on it. This is because if you load a program from a R/W file, then any subsequent save to the disc will over-write this file except when there is a W-only file to save to, or the user has accessed the main menu. The file priority to a disc is:- (1) a W-only file. (2) a R/W file if the last access to the disc being used was to load in a R/W file. (3) a blank file. ie. automatic file creation. If the disc is full then nothing will be saved. More next month. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: 15A (Steven Flintham) Subject: Soldering/lead construction This is not strictly BBC-related, but it seems vaguely appropriate to mention it here and I'd love to know the answer. Could any 8BS members possibly write a nice detailed idiot's guide to soldering and lead construction. The best guide I've seen so far was in one of the Body Building articles in The Micro User, but (from memory) it said that you should bring the soldering iron, solder and circuit board (or whatever) together simultaneously. It would seem to me that this needs three hands, as something has to hold the circuit board to keep it steady and to stop the component being soldered in from falling out. Leads are even worse. I haven't got a clue how to stop the wire from twisting itself round while I'm trying to solder it, and even when I eventually get a connection it invariably 'snaps' off when I'm trying to solder one of the others up, then I have to strip some more cable and try to resolder it, then another one snaps etc etc. This means I have to strip off a lot of the outer insulation in order to have plenty of free inner cables ready for stripping them further. As a result of this, the inner cables never fit inside the plug and, even more annoyingly, due to some having snapped off more times than others the inner cables are different lengths and so the inside of the plug is a complete mess. Recently I tried wiring up a serial cable using a 9-pin D socket and in an attempt to get the better of it I got a socket shell and some 'snap in' pins, so that I could connect the pins before inserting them into the socket. Better still, I could crimp the wires on rather than solder them. It was still not particularly successful, as the wires still snapped off the pins on a few occasions and so I had all the usual problems. It works, but it is a bit unreliable and forcing the connector housing on is a real nightmare. In fact, it seems to work better without the connector housing, being much more sensitive to things nearby being switched on and off with the housings on. In any case, this approach is not available for (say) DIN plugs. Am I a lost cause, or are them some sort of tricks of the trade which could help me? EDITOR...... Coming next time, an article on soldering from K6X Paul Clucas. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: D6E (Richard Harker) Subject: Monitor Leads Could anyone please send me a wiring diagram(s) or preferably complete lead(s) for the following :- BBC Master -> Acorn AKF18 monitor. VCR with BNC video output -> AKF18. (at the moment I am stuck with 2 colour, and 1 green monitors in my room - they take up far too much space). I am willing to pay between 5 and 10 pounds for each lead, or exchange them for something. My address is ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: K6E (ROGER LINGWOOD) Subject: MANNESMANN TALLY MT90 MANNESMANN TALLY MT90 INKJET PRINTER CAN YOU HELP CAN ANYONE ADVISE ME ON THE CORRECT CONECTIONS FOR CONNECTING THE ABOVE TO THE SERIAL PORT ON A MODEL B I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE PRINTER WITH LOADSA CARTRIDGES BUT NO LEAD IF YOU CAN HELP I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL AND IF YOU ARE AN OWNER OF THIS MACHINE I WILL GLADLY FORWARD YOU 4 CARTRIDGES FOR YOUR TROUBLE I am aware that this printer can have a paralel board fitted but this is too expensive so it must be for serial connection HOPE YOU CAN HELP! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, PRESS SPACE