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Syndicate ZMagazine Issue 103
______________________________________
|////////////////////////////////////|
|////////////////////////////////////|
|//SYNDICATE ZMAGAZINE Issue #103//|
|//================================//|
|//EDITOR |April 25, 1988 //|
|// Ron Kovacs|Vol 3, No. 4 //|
|//================|===============//|
|////////////////////////////////////|
|////////////////////////////////////|
|____________________________________|
|Syndicate Zmagazine c/o SPC |
|Post Office Box 74 |
|Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074 |
|____________________________________|
|BBS #1: Syndicate (201) 968-8148 |
|BBS #2: Stairway (216) 784-0574 |
|____________________________________|
|CONTENTS |
|____________________________________|
|*|Letter To The Editor |
|*|Super Dos Press Release |
|*|Video Title Shop Review |
|*|Survey Results |
|*|BBS Listing |
|*|Zmag On GEnie |
|*|Zmag On CompuServe |
|*|Destroying The Hard Disk Myth |
|_|__________________________________|
______________________________________
Letter To The Editor
______________________________________
The following letter received April 8,
1988. Edited for clarity and grammer.
Panama, Republic of Panama, March 31,
1988
Dear Mr. Kovacs,
Greetings from Central America! I am
an avid reader of ZMagazine, (when I
can), who was also a CompuServe
subscriber. Foreign rates went up and
that has kept me from using the
service. (I had to cancelled my
subscription).
ZMag is a great magazine. I would like
to find a way to be able to read it.
Perhaps a little background on Atari's
here would help.
The company that used to sell Atari
equipment here decided to drop the
line, leaving us out in the cold.
Furthermore, computer dealers seeing
this decided to drop all Atari related
magazines.
This happened over a year ago. Since
then we have relied on the states to
get equipment, software and other
peripherals. A local Atari repairman
still repairs Atari's equipment, so we
can fix them easily. For most of us an
8 bit is all the computing we'll ever
need, and that holds true.
I was thinking, we have a small user's
group, the PCACUG, and we are at a
loss for news or Atari related
information. I'd like to propose to
you to establish a contact by mail, so
that I could receive Zmagazine by
mail. I beleive rates for a disk to
Panama are not too high. A friend sent
me three Atari disks in a fairly sized
envelope and it cost him $2.22. I am
not sure whether you actually mail
your Zmag's to BBS's or just upload
them to CompuServe. In a few words, I
would like to subscribe to ZMag, and
be added to your BBS list carrying
ZMagazine.
I run the two Atari BBS's in the
country. BUGBBS named after the BBCS
bugs, updated to AMIS then to Express
and maybe to Express Pro if it is ever
released. It runs 24 hours at 3-12
baud and the number is: 60-0530 I also
run the club's BBS, which is called
the PCACUG BBS which is the longest
running BBS in the nation. (Nation
here applies to our two million
people).
AS I said, we have a lack of
information and there are no magazines
locally. The clud is subscribed to
Antic and Analog, but we only get one
issue for our sixty members. Since
each ZMag is weekly, it would cost too
much (and too much effort) to send.
Maybe if you cram 4 issues a month
into an enhanced or double density
disk we could get this off the ground.
Your help would be invaluable. There
are alot of hopeless Atarians down
here.
We have not seen the jump from 8 bit
to 16 bit mainly because the cost for
a 520ST is $1500.00 (no kidding) and
that's a substantial chunk of money.
Mostly, people jump from 8 bit to no
bits at all. Beleive it or not, our
national currency is the US Dollar,
even though the US has frozen all
panamanian accounts there, so there is
a definate shortage of cash right now.
I run an Oasis BBS. I have ofcourse
trouble getting utilities for it.
Could you tell me the whereabouts of
it's original creators? I run the BBS
with RamboXL, Spartados 3.2, RTIME8,
US Doublers on one of the drives and
hopeful for a 576K upgrade to me
130XE.
Once more, Thanks again for your
invaluable help, please pardon my
shaky english grammer, since we are a
spanish speaking country and I am not
using my word processor. I will
somehow try to contact you on
CompuServe via my friend. Thanks
again!
Bye from Panama:
Carlos Hassan
6-401 El Dorado
Panama, Republic of Panama
[Ed]
We will be sending Carlos all of the
issues we can in the next few weeks.
How about some assistance from some
United States User Groups? Send this
group a copy of your newsletters, your
disk of the month and whatever else
you can! We cant allow Atari users to
be un-informed on the latest and
greatest happenings with the greatest
micro around!
Lets show Panama our support of Atari,
(Seriously folks!!!)
______________________________________
Super Dos Press Release
_____________________________________
NEWS: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Apr 22, 1988
CONTACT:
Charles Cherry
Technical Support
205 Peoria Street
Daly City, CA 94014
SUPERDOS, the most popular DOS in
Australia, is finally available in the
United States. It is an easy to use,
powerful replacement for DOS 2.0 and
2.5. Although SUPERDOS is more compact
than the other DOSes and uses less
disk space, it has several new
commands, such as RESTORE DELETEd
files and PATCH damaged ones.
The convenient, high speed menu is
available instantly with all
computers, even 400s and 800s (no
MEM.SAV, no lost data). It closely
resembles DOS 2.5 in appearance, but
is optimized for ease of use and
speed.
SUPERDOS supports Atari 1050 and 810
drives as well as double density
drives. Automatic density sensing
configures SUPERDOS for each disk as
it is used. Copying between densities
is easy, even with only one drive.
SUPERDOS also supports 130XE-
compatible RAMdisks up to 320K bytes
and Axlon-compatible RAMdisks up to
288K bytes. SUPERDOS automatically
sets up the largest RAMdisk possible
and copies designated files into it.
SUPERDOS is NOT a public domain
program. It was written in Australia
by Paul Nicholls who retains sole
ownership of it. It is marketed in the
United States by Technical Support. If
you have not paid for the copy you are
using, please send $20 (plus $1
shipping) to:
Technical Support
205 Peoria Street
Daly City, Calif 94014 USA
(California residents add 6.5% sales
tax.)
SUPERDOS is warranted to perform
satisfactorily. If you are not
satisfied with SUPERDOS, your purchase
price will be cheerfully refunded.
SUPERDOS is fully compatible with DOS
2.0 and 2.5. It even looks and feels
like Atari DOS, there's nothing new to
learn. However, it's much easier to
use, and much more powerful. It
supports most Atari configurations,
including Single, Enhanced (Dual), and
Double density disk drives, Axlon and
XE RAMdisks, and most memory
expansions. We are convinced that
SUPERDOS is the most convenient Atari
DOS ever created. If you use it for a
week, you'll never want to return to
another DOS.
SUPERDOS features:
==================
1. SUPERDOS works with all Atari
400/800/600XL/800XL/1200XL/65XE/
130XE computers and the XE Game
Machine.
2. Supports Single, Enhanced (Dual),
and Double density.
3. Automatically configures to the
density of the disk in the drive.
4. Density of each drive is displayed
at the top of the screen.
5. Copy files between different
density disks with only one drive.
6. Automatically finds and sets up
largest RAMdisk possible.
7. Supports 130XE compatible 128K,
256K, and 320K RAMdisks.
8. Supports Axlon compatible 128K and
256K RAMdisks.
9. Automatically copies files with
.RAM extender to RAMdisk.
10.I/O defaults to RAMdisk if drive 1
is not available.
11.SDUP.SYS available instantly, no
MEM.SAV (even on 800s).
12.Short DOS.SYS and SDUP.SYS files
leave maximum space for you.
13.RESTORE files which have been
DELETEd or left OPEN.
14.Directory can display DELETEd and
OPEN files.
15.Automatically TRACE and PATCH to
recover damaged files.
16.Single keystroke menu (no Returns).
17.Clear English prompts.
18.Concise double column display lists
40 files at once.
19.Full screen scroll, won't wipe out
filename you were about to use.
20.Screen border color indicates type
of operation.
21.Use upper and lower case, inverse
and numbers in filenames.
22.Adjust the key delay and repeat
rate for XL/XE (fast keyboard).
23.Write with or without verify,
toggle from menu.
24.A Binary Save that even saves
cartridges.
25.Support for high speed transfer
with SUPERMAX and US Doubler.
26.Skewed sectors for even higher
speed with SUPERMAX.
27.Format disks in any density.
28.Write DOS.SYS and SDUP.SYS or
DOS.SYS only.
29.Copy all .SYS files except DOS.SYS
using wild cards.
30.True sector copier copies boot
disks, skips empty sectors.
31.Option to format destination disk
during disk copy.
32.Copy sectors and display bad sector
numbers.
33.Copy to and from cassette (C:)
using long or short IRG.
34.Display the configuration block for
non-Atari disk drives.
35.Enter sector numbers and addresses
in hexidecimal or decimal.
36.Handle up to eight double density
files open concurrently.
37.Handle up to four double density
drives plus a RAMdisk.
38.Easy to change file buffers and
drive buffers, no POKEs.
39.Copy from DOS 3 files using one or
two drives and wild cards.
40.SUPERBIN - a compact boot program
which displays menu of binary files
and runs them.
41.SUPERBAS - a compact AUTORUN.SYS
program which displays menu of
BASIC files and runs them.
Note: SUPERMAX is an enhancement for
the Atari 1050 disk drive. It provides
true double density and SUPERSPEED
data transfer. SUPERMAX is a product
of SUPER Products, P.O. Box 507,
Beenleigh, Queensland 4207, Australia
Note 2: We have just discovered that
the current version of SUPERDOS
(V.4.4) only supports 128K of the
Newell 256K memory upgrade.
______________________________________
Software Review ..VIDEO TITLE SHOP..
______________________________________
from DATASOFT by Bill Pike (PAC)
review copy loaned by IB Computers
Here's what we who own VCRs have been
waiting for. Have you ever wished to
be able to put professional titles on
your tapes? Well here is the best way
for you to do it. The Video Title
Shop sells for $24.95 and is available
at IB Computers. The program uses
Micropainter format background screens
ie:62 sector pictures. Did I tell you
that the digitized pictures from
Computer Eyes are 62 sector
Micropainter type screens? What does
this suggest to you?
DataSoft has published a program
called Video Title Shop. This program
allows you to place titles at the
beginning of your video tapes, over
Micropainter type pictures or over
colored backgrounds. You are able to
wipe individual lines or over the
entire title at one time. You can
scroll text or graphics constructed
from text characters across the
screen. Pictures and text can be
digitally dissolved (fizzed) between
two pictures and/or text. If you have
a computer with extended ram (ramdisk)
you can load all the pictures, text,
and command files onto the ramdisk and
save your diskdrive.
Video Title Shop has the newest
version of Micropainter on the disk to
construct backgrounds. Included is
documentation for Micropainter and a
Quick Reference card for both
programs. You have two fonts on the
disk, plain and fancy. There are two
double sided disks of Micropainter
screens provided for you or you can
construct your own. The screen disks
also have 5 different borders to chose
from as well as many different
screens.
You have the option of either a RF
connection from the computer to the
VCR or monitor output (direct video).
There is even a section on how to
setup your VCR and what cables to use
and how to use them. However the
program doesn't support sound or
music.
There is a command line at the top of
the screen, this means that the
program isn't fully menu driven.
However you are prompted for your
selection and the commands are
relatively easily remembered. Just
about everything except text entry is
by joystick control. You are able to
place text around the screen and
change fonts. The text and background
can have the color and brightness
changed independently during display
for greater effect.
As you can see there isn't much that
you can't do with Video Title Shop.
This is the first commercial program
of its type available. There have
been several public domain programs of
this type around but they won't do
one-tenth of what this program will
do.
I would rate Video Title Shop a
excellent buy at $24.95. It is fairly
easy to operate and the documentation
won't snow you.
______________________________________
Survey Results
______________________________________
GEnie recently ran a survey for their
Atari callers, and, after taking the
survey, and reading some of the
postings, I got the impression that
certain people had the idea that the
Atari Corp. 8-bit user relationship
was doing -just fine.- One example-
Atari released a 1200 baud modem!
Isn't that just great!?
Well, in response, I wrote my own
survey, and a few of the area boards
ran it. Here are the results and a
condensed version of that survey.
[1]
There is/was an Atari 8-bit computer
in my life. At present, I feel that
the support Atari Corp. is giving to
the 8-bit users is:
< 4%> Satisfactory.
<89%> Unsatisfactory.
< 4%> Comparable/others
< 3%> Undecided.
[2]
Before the advent of the ST line, I
feel that the support given by Atari
Corp. was:
<48%> Satisfactory.
<12%> Unsatisfactory.
<30%> Comparable others
<10%> Don't know.
[3]
At present, thinking about the
relationship between Atari Corp. and
the 8-bit user:
<74%> Atari don't care about 8-bit
users.
<10%> Atari is doing fine for 8-bit
users.
< 6%> Atari supports 8-bits as their
sales deserve.
< 8%> Atari is trying to discourage
the 8-bit line.
< 2%> Undecided
[4]
Third party software for Atari 8-bits
has rapidily declined. I feel that it
is because:
<45%> Atari forgot about the 8-bit, so
others followed.
< 2%> Decline? What decline?!?!
<13%> Piracy.
<36%> Software hard to find because of
sales drop.
< 4%> Undecided
[5]
I own a modem. It is:
<34%> Atari 300 baud.
< 8%> Non Atari 300 baud.
< 8%> Atari 300/1200 plus.
<50%> Non Atari 300/1200 plus.
* Note: -plus- greater than.
[6]
Non-Atari modem users:
<25%> I bought this because I got
tired of waiting for Atari to
release a 1200/2400 modem.
< 4%> I will buy a 1200/2400 baud
Atari modem and will wait.
<31%> I own a 300 baud modem.
<40%> Atari didn't offer a modem of my
baud rate at purchase.
[7]
Atari Corp. recently released a new
modem. However, it was up to the
purchaser to find a Terminal program
for it. I think this is:
<20%> A sound business practice.
<53%> The dumbest thing possible.
<12%> Better to release the product
when PD software is available.
<15%> Undecided
[8]
I like my 8-bit. If I was transported
back to the day I bought it, and
remembered what Atari Corp. did since
I bought it:
<45%> I would buy an 8-bit Atari.
<50%> Buy some other computer.
<00%> Would not buy a computer
< 5%> Would buy a game machine
instead.
[9]
In summation, thinking about how Atari
Corp. has supported their 8-bit users,
I would say:
< 7%> average satisfied.
<43%> below average.
<49%> is non-existant!
< 1%> Undecided.
Total users participating:__> 186
This survey was run in the Allentown,
Bethlehem, Easton area of Pa.
Conclusions at a glance:
------------------------
Support given by Atari is now nearly
non-existant and completely
unsatisfactory; and this changed with
the advent of the ST line. The reason
for this decline is Atari's doing, and
is also affecting support that was
given by third-party software
companies.
Nearly half of the callers are
300 baud, and more than half are using
non-Atari 1200 baud or faster modems
because Atari did not supply one
better than 300 baud at the time of
purchase.
50% of the users in this area would
buy another computer because of the
lack of support Atari is showing
today.
Finally- 92% thats right 92% of the
users say Atari support for the 8 bit
people is either below average or
non-existant (49% nonexistant!)
This may be too little and too late,
but, there is always hope Atari will
wake up and get back on track.
______________________________________
BBS Listing
______________________________________
This is the pre-release of the
ZMag/ST-Report BBS list. This will be
updated weekly and published every few
months here.
You will notice a rather large gap in
the registration numbers. These
systems have not be validated, so will
not be added until that time. This
list is not complete.
These systems support our
publications. Please call and support
these systems. If you are not on any
of the pay services, call these boards
and pass the word.
We thank each and every BBS listed
here many thanks. Without your weekly
support we would not have made it this
far.
Reg No.Area Phone Number BBS Name
======================================
H001- 201 968-8148 Syndicate
H002- 216 784-0574 Stairway
H003- 312 690-3724 Lions Den
X004- 609 451-7475 C.C.B.B.S.
X005- 219 223-8107 Manitou
X006- 718 648-0947 Dateline
X007- 718 604-3323 New York City
X008- 301 437-9813 Ratcom
X009- 916 962-2566 Shadow Haven
X010- 918 835-5198 Tektron
X011- 201 Closed Timelink
X012- 201 298-0161 J.A.C.G.
X013- 216 545-4817 Pirate Busters
H014- 904 786-4176 Bounty Atari ST
Z015- 305 747-9196 Alternate
Z016- 813 821-3188 ST Petersburg
Z017- 505 897-4306 Asylum BBS
X018- 808 423-3140 Wonderful World
X019- 219 674-9288 M.O.U.S.E.
Z020- 404 945-6021 Buford Byte Size
X021- 813 726-3449 Harbor Lights
X022- 912 244-1726 Talisman
X023- 617 674-8361 Westport!
X024- 817 444-3023 Rivendale
X025- 415 825-2952 West Coast
X026- 315 638-8569 The D.E.N.
X027- 505 525-0388 Atari C.A.L.C.
Z028- 201 723-0824 Wild West BBS
X029- 216 758-0284 Command
Z030- 707 252-0631 Irata
Z031- 617 675-8503 S.W.A.T.
X032- 703 560-6318 The Ark
X033- 615 665-1217 Vanishing Point
X034- 301 967-2207 Orion
X035- 207 784-0631 M.A.C.H.
Z036- 516 698-7456 WQNR BBS
X037- 713 923-7392 W.A.S.T.E.
X038- 504 244-0768 Milliways
X039- 617 586-8840 Lost Byte
Z040- 303 796-0539 The Vault
Z041- 404 796-3805 Garden City
Z042- 609 939-6247 Satelite
Z043- 206 848-3371 The Reef
S044- 816 761-2190 Elysium
Z045- 315 454-9612 Atari Hotel
X046- 212 617-0153 The Bunker
X047- 201 247-8252 E.B.B.B.S
Z048- 402 466-5339 Griffon's Nest
X049- 011 494-12997 Kisa Monitron
X050- 011 0340-51117 First Star
Z051- 718 253-8602 Outsiders
Z052- 805 773-5907 Hot Rodders
X053- 203 776-9723 New Haven
X054- 502 964-2964 Bargain Basement
X055- 609 931-3014 Gateway
X056- 602 846-7357 Network 23
Z057- 313 547-0440 Cosmic Stompers
Z058- 804 379-4156 Midnight Express
X059- 314 647-3290 Gateway City
Z060- 312 457-2219 Bluemoon
X061- 617 625-5348 Mall Five
Z062- 312 430-4234 Runequest
X063- 205 772-8526 Bloom County
X064- 205 461-7893 H.A.U.G.
X065- 812 985-2083 West Terrace
Z066- 502 778-9846 WAEL
Z067- 502 964-2924 Atari Scene
Z068- 614 471-8559 ACEC BBS
X069- 614 471-9209 Pandora
Z070- 918 251-5450 Help BBS
Z071- 716 875-7376 Bates Motel
Z072- 516 884-4140 Ol' Hackers
Z073- 203 443-5200 Phantasmal
S074- 402 466-5339 S.T.U.N.N.
S075- 201 929-9351 CoaSTline
S076- 703 665-0087 Infonet
Z077- 201 388-1676 White House
X078- 616 245-8259 Exte
Z079- 404 968-4380 Dark Crypt
Z080- 601 388-3490 C.A.U.U.G.
Z081- 601 374-0709 Irata II
Z082- 612 522-2687 T.A.I.G.
X083- 219 336-3774 Pipeline
X084- 313 736-3920 Facts BBS
Z085- 808 261-2184 Muskrats Den
X086- 507 60-0530 BugBBS
X087- 219 875-8205 One Stone
Z088- 305 793-2975 Carina
Z089- 305 734-6026 Atari Computer
Z090- 216 441-3816 Mega Vision
X091- 419 289-8392 Balloon Works
X092- 517 371-1106 C.H.A.O.S.
X093- 011 470-22183 Sorman
Z094- 206 631-8056 Knotts Nook
Z095- 312 889-1240 C.L.A.U.G.
Z096- 915 757-0788 House of Chance
Z097- 714 653-0447 Thunderbeast
Z098- 203 445-4094 Spiders Web
Z099- 219 693-3485 Acorn BBS
Z100- 606 271-1466 Missing Link
Z101- 704 253-3614 Office
X128- 805 239-8710 The LookOut
Z129- 201 286-6189 AtlantiST
S130- 201 271-8765 Great Fire
X131- 918 622-1121 Future City
X132- 805 872-0377 Home Bace
Z133- 201 752-9466 Piscataway
Z134- 718 373-4669 Blue BBS
X135- 216 376-7618 Rubber City
X136- 317 243-2177 Dog House
X137- 907 338-5005 Public Domain
X138- 309 797-5926 Checkmate
Z139- 707 437-6366 Elsinore Brewery
S140- 602 435-9645 Think Tank
X141- 813 823-1471 MegaPlex
X142- 314 696-3506 AXE***BBS
X143- 201 343-1426 Launch Pad
Z144- 416 648-8359 19th Hole
Z146- 213 631-7328 L.B.C.S.
X147- 314 581-3801 Brickyard
X148- 215 289-5247 Star Fleet
X149- 201 938-6906 Starbase I
Z150- 805 929-1624 My House
Z151- ??? 855-1317 Atarian Domain
X152- 816 637-6163 Schwarzer Drache
Z153- 201 689-4550 Kilroy's Castle
Z154- 415 565-9742 Eagle BBS
______________________________________
ZMag Area on GEnie
______________________________________
Welcome to the Atari 8-Bit
** ** ** RoundTable!...Official
** ** ** Atari Online Support!!
** ** **
** ** ** SysOps:
** ** **
*** ** *** DARLAH Darlah Hudson
*** ** *** MARTY.A Marty Albert
& CRAIG.S.THOM
Weekly RTC is Atari Online:
Every Thursday
Evening - 10PM NHARRIS Neil Harris
(7PM Pacific) TOWNS John Townsend
DMAY Darryl May
DANSCOTT Dan Scott
GEnie Page 667
Set Atari Software Library
Library: ALL Libraries
1. Help Files
2. Programming/Disk Utilities
3. Educational Atari
4. Music/Graphics Utilities
5. Atari Tunes
6. Great Graphics
7. Textfile Graphics
8. Telecommunications
9. Information Processing
10. Atari Amusements
11. Everything Else
12. User Group Newsletters & Info
13. ZMAG <---------------------
14. ALL Libraries
Enter #, <P>revious, or <H>elp?
______________________________________
ZMAG Area Debuts on Compuserve
______________________________________
April 11 -- ZMAG comes to DL 11!
ATARI8 is pleased to announce ZMAG's
new home on CIS -- DL 11! The library
description tells it all...
This Data Library is devoted to
Zmagazine. You will find the weekly
issues of ZMAG as well as other
support files in this Data Library.
Articles written will be extracted and
made available for user group editors
to reprint in local newsletters.
You will find ALL issues of Zmag in
this area. Some issues have been
difficult to find, as they are found,
we will upload them.
If you have an article you would like
to have published in the magazine,
Please upload it here. Remember,
upload time is Free ALL day on CIS!
Publisher/Editor Ron Kovacs
Assistant Publisher Ken Kirchner
______________________________________
DESTROYING THE HARD DISK MYTH
______________________________________
by TOM -REX- READE
To begin, 99% of all hard disks made
conform to IBM standards. With this
thought in mind we shall proceed....
The most readily available and in my
opinion, the most reliable, hard disk
is from Seagate......next in line is
the Miniscribe. There are others, you
must make sure they conform to the IBM
standard.
IBM STANDARD: ST-506/ST-412
---------------------------
Most commonly found hard drives do not
have controllers built in. These are
the most reliable and economical
drives to use.
WHAT IS THE CONTROLLER???
=========================
This goodie is the custodian of your
hard disk! It directs all I/O
functions to the hard disk it also
points to and accesses each cylinder.
It -controls- everything.
FACTS FOR REFERENCE
-------------------
ST 412 DRIVES WITH MFM ENCODING
5.0 MEGABITS/SEC.
--------------------------------------
DATA ST125 ST138 ST225 ST251 ST251-1
--------------------------------------
SIZE f'm'd
21 32 21 42 42
--------------------------------------
# HEADS
4 6 4 6 6
--------------------------------------
CYL's
615 615 615 820 820
--------------------------------------
STEP RATE uS
3-200 3-200 5-200 3-200 3-200
--------------------------------------
AC'S TIME mSEC
28 28 65 40 28
--------------------------------------
WRITE PRE'C
N/A N/A 300/614 N/A N/A
--------------------------------------
POWER watts
10 10 14.8 11 12
======================================
ST4038 ST4051 ST4053 ST4096
======================================
SIZE f'm'd
31 42 44 80
--------------------------------------
# HEADS
5 5 5 9
--------------------------------------
CYL'S
733 977 1024 1024
--------------------------------------
STEP RATE uS
10-70 10-70 3-70 3-70
--------------------------------------
AC'S TIME mSEC
40 40 28 28
--------------------------------------
WRITE PRE'C
300-732 N/A N/A N/A
--------------------------------------
POWER watts
25.5 25.5 23 25.5
======================================
ST 412 INTERFACE DRIVES
WITH RLL ENCODING 7.5 MEGABITS/SEC
--------------------------------------
DATA
ST138R ST157R ST238R ST251R ST277R
--------------------------------------
SIZE f'm't
32 49 31 43 65
--------------------------------------
# HEADS
4 6 4 4 6
--------------------------------------
CYL'S
615 615 615 820 820
--------------------------------------
STEP RATE uS
3-200 3-200 5-200 3-200 3-200
--------------------------------------
AC'S TIME mSEC
28 28 65 40 40
--------------------------------------
WRITE PRE'C
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
--------------------------------------
POWER watts
10 10 14.8 11 11
======================================
SCSI INTERFACE (EMBEDDED) HARD DISKS
--------------------------------------
DATA
ST138N ST157N ST225N ST251N ST227N
--------------------------------------
SIZE f'm't
32 48 21 43 64
--------------------------------------
SECTORS
63,139 95,015 41,170 84,254 126,790
--------------------------------------
ACCESS TIME
28 28 65 40 40
--------------------------------------
POWER watts
12 12 16.8 13 13
--------------------------------------
Be Advised, as of 01/01/88, Seagate
began using the new I'ntl light code
the front light on the drive is GREEN
not RED only if it is made after Jan.
01 1988. I do not advise the use of
the -N- models as they are limited in
the flexibility of use by the embedded
controller and are more expensive.
Seagate may cost more, but they are
the workhorses of the industry. The
Seagate Hard Disk is extremely
RELIABLE. Seagate units above 40mb
have auto-park.
All of the above are:FCC,TUV/UL/CSA
[CERTIFIED]
The list of other types of drives is
large, some are, Disctron, Lapine,
Microscience, Micro-memories,
Miniscribe, Priam, Rodime, Shugart,
Tandon and Tulin. The formatted size
of these range anywhere from 5-87Mb.
I purposely avoided name Brand Names
of packaged drives because in most
cases they use Adaptek and seagate...I
have found that Atari and Supra have
gone to the small 3.5 hard disk. I
will cover those next. As far as
Atari is concerned, I wish they would
have save a fortune in R&D and went
with the standard assembly, as the
method they used is so typical of
Atari, -they walked all 'round the
barn to walk in the front door-, why
did they have to change the 'prom it
made the SH204 a problem maker, why
the dip switches?, do they really
think the Atari user cant handle
Terminal resistor packs and jumpers??? Bad Move....Some of the companies have
gone to Miniscribe, (the coffee
grinder) to cut production costs, they
will go back to SEAGATE as soon as
they realize the RMA volumn is eating
their lunch!
Remember that all these drives (except
for a few) come without a controller,
you really want it without a
controller ..it's less expensive and
works out much better for you in the
long run.....you will see!
The actual chain of connection for a
hard drive is:
1-hard disk
2-controller
3-interface..and the DMA port.
MFM- This is a format style most
commonly found in use although
recently, RLL has been becoming far
more popular as it is a condensed
compact format thus allowing more data
to be stored on an equivalent size
hard disk. The major difference is
the media itself in the hard disk is
PLATED to insure accuracy and
longevity. Think of it like plain
recording tape and CrO2 Chromium
Dioxide tape. The recording media in
the -R- drives is of a high quality
and plated.
In most cases, the Interface, ( Host
Adapter ) determines what type of
system the hard disk will comply with.
It also (usually) has a clock/calendar
built in.
In reality you can take a hard drive
system made for an 8bit XL/XE and
change the interface to one for an ST
and it will now work on the ST (after
a format).
The two most widely used controllers,
and I might add, ARE REALLY THE BEST,
are made by Adaptek they are designed
with the user in mind and provide for
expansion for the future.
ADAPTEK 4000 SERIES CONTROLLERS
-------------------------------
ACB-4000A ACB-4070
--------- --------
Interface SCSI dr type ST506/412
ST506/412 [RLL-Certified]
These hard disk systems are special in
one way, they have embedded
controllers.
IOMEGA
------
ALPHA 10H BETA XXX interface
SCSI dr type Cart 10mb Cart xxmb
RODIME
------
RO650 RO652 interface
SCSI dr type 10mb 20mb
SEAGATE
-------
ST225N interface SCSI dr type 20mb
*** NOTE Iomega, Rodime, and the 1
Seagate listed are the embedded
controller type. These are slowly
fading from popularity.
WESTERN DIGITAL
---------------
WD1002-SHD interface
SASI dr type ST506/412
XEBEC
-----
1410 1410A interface
SASI dr type ST506/412 ST506/412
* These devices are SASI also slowly
fading into the sunset......
ADAPTEK CONTROLLERS
===================
ACB4000A / ACB4070 are highly
recomended and of excellent design.
These controllers will handle most any
application.
HARD DISK INTERFACE
===================
There are three types available for
the ST: ICD, Supra, and Berkley
ICD
---
The -MIO-...Designed for use in the 8
bit field comes in two configurations
256k 1MB
---- ---
Both units handle all your needs as
they include all the fuctions of the
Atari 850 interface. PLUS a printer
spooler and buffer.
THE ICD ST HOST ADAPTER INTERFACE
=================================
The Host Adapter is designed for the
16 bit ST hard drive system or for
most anything you care to couple to
it...ie, tape backup and hard disk and
laser printer etc..
The host adapter interface is also
equipped with an outstanding clock
made non-volatile thru the use of a
lithium battery. Rated **** ICD has
real winner here!
SUPRA
-----
Both of supra's interfaces are quite
good, not as flexible as ICD's but
good.
BE ADVISED! SUPRA IS SLOWLY DROPPING
THE 8 BIT HARD DISK SYSTEMS.
This is the end of the first
installment to placed here for you,
there will be more in the near future.
The configuration for the hard disk
systems are variable, for example, if
you wished to use the stand alone
system with a different computer you
would be able to do so simply by
changing the interface.
Expandable means you can add another
drive at a later date in the existing
cabinet.
NOTE: This article and the -Hard Disk
Series- are for the readers of ST
REPORT MAGAZINE and ZMAGAZINE and may
not be duplicated in any form without
the written permission of the
publisher and author.
______________________________________
Syndicate ZMagazine Issue #103
April 25, 1988 (c)1988 SPC/Ron Kovacs
______________________________________
