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Z*NET Online Magazine Issue 509
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Atari Online Magazine Issue #509
=========================================
(½) 1990 by Rovac Industries, Inc.
Post Office Box 59
Middlesex, New Jersey 08846
=======================================================================
Publisher/Editor - Ron Kovacs Editor - John Nagy
Z*Net Online 24 Hour BBS (201) 968-8148 3/12/24
CompuServe 71777,2140 GEnie Z-NET
=======================================================================
MARCH 2, 1990
(TABLE OF CONTENTS)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- THIS WEEK
Update...............................................Ron Kovacs
- Z*NET NEWSWIRE
Weekly news update..............................................
- ON THE ROAD WITH BOB BRODIE
Special Report..........................................Leo Sell
- CD ROMS DOWN UNDER
Report by.............................................Jon Clarke
- ST STACK
PD/Shareware Report..................................Alice Amore
- ISD UPDATE
News...............................................Press Release
- CAUC UPDATE
Atarifest Info.....................................Press Release
- QUICK ST
Version 2.0........................................Press Release
- NORTHEAST ATARIFEST
Pittsburgh Area....................................Press Release
- ST IN AN IBM
Project...............................................Jon Clarke
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
THIS WEEK - by Ron Kovacs
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
If you are a caller to the Z*Net BBS, you read about the 1000th caller
contest and this week we award Tim Roeder an IMG Scanner as that caller.
We are planning a 2000th caller contest and will have more information
in the weeks ahead, please call for details! (201) 968-8148 3/12/24.
A reader sent me a capture from ST-Informer Magazine about a comment
about our BBS, to that reader, we now have 2400 baud available and
thank you for the comments!
This week, Leo Sell has written an interesting article about Atari's Bob
Brodie and J Clarke from New Zealand has contributed an article about
CD-ROMs down-under.
If you are carrying Z*NET ONLINE on your BBS, please let us know who you
are! We are updating our BBS list during the month of March and want
your system listed!
***********************************************************************
Z*NET NEWSWIRE
***********************************************************************
WEATHER VIDEO FOR THE ST:
The MET-2 satellite receiving system enables the ST user to receive
detailed cloud cover pictures from the American GOES and European
Meteostat 4 satellites. This system currently available for the ST, IBM
and Amiga systems starts at $600.00 and includes the receiver. pre-
amplifier, Yagi antenna, power supply and 60 feet of antenna cable. ICS
Electronics, West Sussex, England. (0903) 731101
COMPUSERVE/FORUM FOR EUROPEANS - PRESS RELEASE:
CompuServe is pleased to announce that members located in Europe now
have the benefit of local access and customer support through our new
European service, CompuServe/Forum. CompuServe/Forum features
connection to the world's most comprehensive information service through
new, lower-cost local network arrangements. CompuServe also has
discontinued its foreign handling fee. Customer service is provided
from Europe, eliminating the inconvenience of time-zone differences when
seeking answers to questions. In addition, a special top menu is
designed specifically for European members. Soon, European sections of
CompuServe forums will address specific hardware and software needs.
These enhancements are the first steps in a multifaceted plan to offer
CompuServe throughout Europe. Later this year, a version of CompuServe
Information Manager will support the European networks and keyboards.
In addition, European full-text searchable databases with a CompuServe-
like interface will be released. CompuServe/Forum is marketed through
TeleServe of Berne, Switzerland, a partnership of CompuServe
Incorporated and TeleColumbus of Baden, Switzerland. In Europe,
customer service is available in the United Kingdom at 0800 289 458; in
Switzerland at 031-509 800; or in other European countries at +41-31-509
800.
NINTENDO PLANS DISTRIBUTION CENTER:
Nintendo is planning to build a distribution center in the Seattle area
and link it to retailers by computer. Nintendo currently has annual US
sales of about 900,000 video games and 100,000 pocket-sized units.
WORDSTAR 6.0:
WordStar will began shipping WordStar 6.0, an upgraded version of its
word processing package, on March 1. WordStar timed the release to
coincide with Hewlett-Packard's introduction of its LaserJet III
printer. The updated version supports scalable-font printers, such as
the new HP printer. WordStar 6.0 also supports kerning, so documents
will look as if they were professionally typeset. Other new features
include:
* Access to font shadings on LaserJet III and PostScript printers.
* An upgrade to WordStar's StarExchange file conversion program.
SPRINT RENAMES TELENET:
Sprint has renamed its Telenet data network to "SprintNet." Also,
Telemail has been renamed SprintMail.
KNOWLEDGESET LICENSES HYPERCARD:
KnowledgeSet announced this week that it has licensed HyperKRS, its
full-text retrieval engine for HyperCard stacks, to Apple Computer for
corporate, worldwide applications. Apple will include HyperKRS in
information products such as reference materials, product information
and technical documentation for internal distribution and third-party
developers.
APPLE'S NEW FONT FORMAT:
Apple announced this week that TrueType will be the name for its outline
font format. Outline fonts are precise mathematical descriptions of
text characters that will allow the Macintosh computer to accurately
display sharp text at any size on any screen or output device. This
includes all existing output devices, such as PostScript or direct-
connect printers, typesetters and film recorders. Apple also announced
a licensing agreement with Bitstream to provide the digital typeface
data for the ITC typefaces.
RETAILER TAKES HYUNDAI TO COURT:
A computer dealer has filed the first-ever lawsuit of a dealer against a
major computer vendor, seeking to force Hyundai to honor its promise to
replace a pair of 286-C computers used by a Paulist priest, to support
his efforts to meet the pastoral needs of the UCLA community and bring
the Catholic Gospel into the academic dialog there. The dealer alleges
Hyundai shipped problematic computers, that it authorized replacement of
the troublesome 286-C computers with a new newer model on a case-by-case
basis, and that it specifically promised to replace two computers.
Pursuit of the case against Hyundai may threaten the dealers
relationships with Compaq, Epson, Zenith, AST, Novell and other
prominent computer manufacturers, but says he intends to win a judgement
against Hyundai, whatever the cost. He is already exploring the
potential for a class action suit against the company.
ACTIVISION UNVEILS "COSMIC OSMO":
Activision announced this week the eagerly awaited "Cosmic Osmo" for
CD-ROM. Specifically designed for the CD-ROM environment, "Cosmic Osmo"
is made up of more than 100 megabytes of code and music, making it one
of the largest entertainment software products ever. "Cosmic Osmo's"
simulated 3-dimensional graphics and animated characters are
interconnected by advanced linking technology. This technology enhances
the exploration of the program. For example, players will find that
there is more than one way to travel to the different worlds and that
there are dozens of secret passages waiting to be discovered. The CD-
ROM version of "Cosmic Osmo" was developed by Cyan in cooperation with
Activision's technology department. It will be available in June at a
suggested retail price of $79.95. "Cosmic Osmo" for CD-ROM requires an
Apple Macintosh Plus, SE, or II with 1 megabyte of RAM, and AppleCD
SC and a hard drive. A floppy disk version of "Cosmic Osmo" is now
available.
***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***
ON THE ROAD .... WITH BOB BRODIE
***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***=***
Z*NET SPECIAL REPORT
by Leo Sell, President
Capitol Hill Atari Owner's Society (CHAOS)
Z*Net asked me to try and give some flavor of what a visit from Bob
Brodie is like from my perspective. So, here you are. Strictly my
experience and opinion.
Just over a week ago, I had a great time visiting with Bob Brodie and
observing his style as he visited a MAC users group, Atari users and
user groups, and a retailer or two. Bob is an able and articulate
communicator and a joy to visit with. But, I'll save other such
observations for the rest of the article.
Bob and I visited by phone some time ago as several Michigan shows that
Atari could/should be interested in came to light. The most serious
interest seemed to be in an Ann Arbor/University of Michigan MAC user
group invitation - MacTechnics. They wanted to see the STacy with the
GCR Mac emulation with their own eyes, and promised an attendance of at
least 400 people!! Seemed worth coming out for. Bob was also
interested in packing in as much visitation with the Michigan Atari
community as he could. Many arrangements were made thanks to some of
the local Ann Arbor people. But those that weren't in the Southeast
Michigan area had to be tied up. And Bob and I wanted to spend some
time together (party animals!?). So, with arrangements made for an
at-large meeting of Atari users in Ann Arbor, a dinner with the
Presidents of Michigan User Groups that could make it, and a visit to a
Grand Rapids retailer (2.5 hours from Ann Arbor), I ventured forth.
I had heard good things of Bob. And I already had a fair idea what kind
of person I was dealing with from our phone conversations. But I had
never met him in person. I'm fairly astute with people, and I was
looking forward to the opportunity to see if my opinion to date would be
supported by what I saw and heard this weekend. Ann Arbor (aka A2) is a
pleasant hour's drive from Lansing, especially if you know where you're
going. Well, I knew ABOUT where... but I started out a little later
than I expected, and I was a little in doubt where the Sheraton was. No
need to worry, I found it with no problem, and knocked on Bob's door.
"Where you been....I ate breakfast without you!!", said Bob. I told him
I'd planned to catch lunch... (oh, oh, a communication problem).
Actually, we went on to greet each other warmly and heartily. We
visited there in his room for an hour or two while he got cleaned up for
the User Group Forem on Sunday afternoon. We had a great time right
from the start...and you all know I'm shy and don't get to know people
easily (grin).
While we were there, we tried out the TT, as well as a new mainframe in
a briefcase dubbed BBLOC - Big Bucks Like Other Companies....(what's
that? it's not April? Oh no, I feel like such a fool!)
Bob and I just had a high old time shooting the breeze about Atari/
industry happenings, user groups, people, places, products, and so on.
He shared with me, as well as the forem later in the afternoon, his
happy welcome at MacTechinics. And yes, those of you who know me, know
we talked of Atari politics, in the company and in the user base.
Anyway, we charmed the devil out of each other and then headed out to
the User Group Forem.
For 2 hours formally and another couple informally, Bob showed off the
new products he had with him, regaled us with the stories from the day
before, gave lots of personal anecdotes, and answered every question
posed, as best he could. I'm not going to try and outline the
presentation, or the q &a. Rather, I'll pass on my observations of Bob
in this setting... Bob is not a big bull-----ter. When you pose a
question to him you'll get one of the following responses:
* The answer as he knows it. In other words, if he knows, and can say,
he does
* He knows the answer, but can't say
* He doesn't know
That last one especially makes me respect him. I can tell more about a
person by what they say when they don't know the answer, than I can by
all the answers they do give. Bob is forthright, straightforward, and
honest.
By what he told us, he's also working very hard to promote our interests
as users and user groups - often interceding on someone's behalf and
helping to cut through the bureaucracy. Welcome news, indeed. And we
all took pride in how well the STacy and GCR had been received by the
MacTechnics folks.
The hardware demonstration was great. Virtually everyone there saw
something they hadn't seen before. Bob showed the Portfolio first. He
demonstrated that it did fit into his breast pocket. I jumped up and
cried, "Here, let me try that", but Bob didn't trust me that much!! But
being the good-humored fellows we are, we used the joke chronically
though the rest of the demonstration. You know, as in, "I don't think
the STe will fit into Leo's pocket, even though he'd be willing to try."
Then he showed a 4meg STacy with a 40meg hard drive, with and without
the GCR. The Lynx was hot, hot, hot!! And last, but not least, the
STe. This one was also 4 megs. I'll tell you what. The articles don't
do it justice...that is a great upgrade to the line. The PCM stereo is
out of this world.
Once the demos and questions and answers were done, we broke up and
socialized a bit. Many people bending Bob's ear, many using the
equipment for themselves, but all seeming to have a fine time.
I had arranged a dinner meeting of the Michigan user group presidents,
so after a time Bob and I and the presidents that could make it, headed
off to the restaurant. That was a very productive time. I have been in
a user group leadership position for nearly 10 years, and this was the
first time I know of that a majority of user group presidents in the
state sat down together to discuss mutual concerns, suggestions, and
cooperative ventures. We generated various ideas, some of which Bob is
taking back to Atari with him, some that we'll have to apply ourselves.
Most valuable in my mind is that we were all agreed that we needed to
form an umbrella organization, like an association, to more closely
communicate and coordinate. Let's hope we can make it happen.
After dinner, Bob and I headed back to the Sheraton to wrap up our visit
for the night. The next morning we had breakfast and headed of to Grand
Rapids. One of the few Atari retailers outside of Southeast Michigan
had arranged an "open house" reception for the day, featuring Bob.
Software Carousel had advertised and put the word out, and we were all
hoping for good things. Sure enough, as we rolled up to the store we
saw a welcome message on the marquis. Bob and I agreed to pose as
customers when we walked in, since no one there would know us. We
thought it might be interesting to see how customers were treated. But,
old gregarious Bob...couldn't do it. He introduced himself almost right
away and blew our cover!!
The day at Software Carousel proved very productive. With the shortage
of hardware in the retail outlets right now, we had to do some fancy
footwork to get everything all hooked up. But, before long the STacy,
the STe, and the Lynx were all out for show and tell. And people came!
The folks at the store seemed very happy at the traffic. And Bob
enthusiastically pitched in with his version of the Atari gospel with
people. Once again, the sales people, and the customers, found him
charming and helpful. After about 12 noon, it was rare that there
wasn't 6 or 8 new customers in looking around every hour. One man
bought a Mega 4 they had, because he couldn't buy the STacy. Boy did
that thrill the Carousel folks.
A very nice MIDI display was set up by a local music dealer. They had a
Mega driving several Roland "Black Boxes". It was FANTASTIC. The
string sounds were superb. It showed off well.
Mike Olin, from the STING user group (produces a very fine looking
newsletter), was right near the entrance of the store showing off a
publishing system using PageStream and the Atari Laserprinter. I saw
more than one customer sit down to see the power at hand for themselves.
Very effective.
But, once again, the STe got the most attention. When you hook up that
PCM stereo sound and let it go, people notice!! It wasn't just the
sound that impressed either. A young man who recently registered as a
developer brought a demo from the Developer's Newsletter that showed off
the new smooth scrolling features of the STe. It loaded NINE pictures
into memory. Then you could scroll ANY direction - up, down, sideways,
or diagonal - and do so smoothly. Shades of the 8-bit, but very
impressive with the resolution now achieved.
Once the store closed we all headed out for food and libation (you know,
beer). We had a good time at dinner. Once we got going, Software
Carousel's owner and the Sales Manager, along with others, filled Bob in
on very specific dealer concerns. He listened attentively, answered
those he could, and once again gave assurances to look into other
questions. The owner must have seen something he liked, because after
awhile, he pulled out a manila envelope and handed it over to Bob. It
was the store's application to become an Atari Business Center. They'd
debated for sometime, and I THINK they made a final decision based
partly on the impression Bob made.
After a hearty meal, we all headed our own ways. Ron, the Sales
Manager, ran Bob back to A2. And I headed home.
Wrapping it up, and looking back, I'll say this. Bob does his job the
way it ought to be done. And he conducts himself much like I would in
the same situation - with a maximum of integrity, good humor, and plain
good sense. I hope Bob stays on for a good while. Atari needs people
like him in there.
So, thank you Bob for sharing here in Michigan. And thank you Atari for
sending him our way. We hope to see him again, real soon.
***********************************************************************
TO CEE DE_ROM OR NOT TO CEE DE_ROM
***********************************************************************
CD ROMS DOWN UNDER
By Jon Clarke, Auckland, New Zealand
Hold on to your myths and old wives tales as most of them are about to
be blown out the door. For a few years now most of us have heard
stories and tales of massive storage devices and one of them we have
been told is available for the Atari ST. By massive I mean a device
that will store over 400 megabytes of data, and is even made by Atari.
No you say, impossible! Well let me introduce you to the 2nd best kept
SECRET in the USA. For a over a year now you have been able to purchase
a brand new CDAR504 CD_ROM down here and in other countries world wide.
The CDAR504 is the Atari Compact Disk Reader, which will among other
things allow you to play music though your Stereo via the audio output
sockets on the rear. As a music CD player it is very good, better than
my old Midi Music Centre. So while I am typing this article I can
listen to "Dire Straits' Money for Nothing", and this is food for
thought. All the listening pleasure aside, the CDAR504 is also a large
storage device that can hold over 400 megabytes of data.
So now you know there IS AN ATARI CD_ROM what do you do with it, besides
playing music? Well you can do several things, one of which I intend to
cover is as a storage device for a BBS. You can buy CD_ROMS with all
sorts of information on them like, a dictionary, an encyclopedia, IBM
PD, MACintosh PD, population Statistics, and games. Yes there is a
company in the United States that have developed a game for the Atari ST
with over 420 megabytes of data used for the game, but more on this in
a future article.
There are 2 BBS's in New Zealand that have a CD_ROM (CDAR504) attached
to them as storage devices. We are the second BBS here to have a CD_ROM
on-line, ours being "STatus BBS". We are using version 3 of the
MichTron BBS, which a lot of you will have seen or used in your tele-
computing activities. The CD_ROMS we use have all sorts of MAC, IBM,
CPM, pic's, source code, public domain files on them. All you do is
select the option for the CD_ROM and then you are asked if you want to
view the files or download the files from the CD_ROM. With over 400 meg
of storage you do not have to worry about getting PD files to place on
your hard disks, as you have them on the CD_ROM. (Please note, some
companies that advertise CD_ROM's for sale have very little on them ie
40 odd megs, so buyer beware.)
So what is this CD_ROM thing all about? The CDAR504 is like a BIG hard
disk except you can not write to it, you can only READ from it, thus the
expression Compact Disk_Read Only Memory. For a BBS or information
service the Atari CD_ROM is first rate and far cheaper than a 440
megabyte hard disk, however the CD_ROM does have a few quirks, like the
access speed is between that of a floppy disk drive and a hard disk
drive. If you are not running TOS 1.4, TOS 1.6, or Rainbow TOS, you
will soon discover all sorts of problems, like little cherry bombs
because GEM can not handle the amount of entries in the folder, and so
on.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// We Support the Revolution and The Atari Users Association //
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
" S T S T a c k " by Alice Amore
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
This month's file offerings were chock full o' upgrades, so here are
some mini-reviews of the best of them. When searching for these files
on local BBSes or the online services, be aware that some may have been
upgraded further since this column was written, and their FILENAMEs may
be slightly different to reflect different version numbers.
Any file indicated as SHAREWARE requires you to pay a fee if you use the
program regularly. Other files, though not indicated here as shareware,
require regular users to send the programmer a postcard, a letter of
greeting, or whatever. If you use any of these files on a regular
basis, please respect the wishes of the programmer and contribute in
whatever manner is specified.
* AGGNDA13.ARC *
Programmer: Jonathan Carroll
Version 1.3. Stores appointments, reminders, and a personal phone book.
GEM-based, written in GFA BASIC. A special group of functions allows
porting your data to the Portfolio.
* AREACODE.LZH * From: DO NOT STAMP Software
Version 1.3. Written in GFA BASIC 2.0. AREA CODE LOCATOR finds area
codes in the U.S. and Canada. Includes time zone info. Works within
other programs. Search options.
* ASCIIVEW.ARC * Programmer: David M. Seberg !This file is SHAREWARE!
Version 3.25. Very fast ASCII text reader, an excellent replacement for
the SHOW-PRINT-CANCEL desktop option. Page, search, block commands,
file statistics, and print functions are all supported. Even faster
than the previous upgrade.
* CARDFIL2.ARC * Programmer: Tyson Gill DEMO
Version 1.20. Database in "card file" form. Addresses envelopes,
prints phone lists, autodials. Passes info to your word processor,
desktop publisher, or spreadsheets. Demo version limited to 10 cards.
* CLDEMO.ARC * From: ICD, Inc. DEMO
Version 3.10. "Cleanup" checks the integrity of hard/floppy disks,
repairs damage, marks out bad sectors, and runs several other tests.
Demo version reads but will not write. Requires an ICD ST Host Adapter.
* CLKSNK16.ARC * From: Solo Polyphony
Version 1.6. "Clock Sync" sets both of the ST's internal clocks. It
gives you the option of setting both clocks to either GEMDOS time or the
XBIOS time. Bugs in previous version have been fixed here.
* CV2IMG98.ARC * Programmer: Craig W. Daymon
Version 0.98. Converts D.E.G.A.S. (compressed or not), NEOchrome,
Spectrum (compressed or not), Art Director, MacPaint, and TINY picture
files to .IMG files, which can then be imported to a variety of other
programs. Speedier than previous versions.
* DEARC20.ARC * Programmer: John M. Tutlis !This file is SHAREWARE!
Version 2.0, written in GFA BASIC 3.7. DeARCs all .ARC or .LZH files
into folders automatically. Also prints a hard copy list of files that
were deARCed.
* DYNACDD.ARC * From: ISD DEMO
Version 1.76. This demo requires a hard drive, at least 1 meg of
memory, and a mono system (or in color using the Image System interface
card). If present, a math chip will be used. DynaCADD is a
professional 2-D and true 3-D Computer Aided Design and Drafting
program. Four new commands have been added to this upgrade.
* FLU.ARC * Programmer: George R. Woodside
Use FLU as a "learning experience". It will teach you about many known
ST viruses by demonstrating their symptoms. This program will NOT head
off virus attacks, but it will help you learn to recognize the various
viruses so that you can take action before they do damage.
* FORMS2.ARC * Programmer: Alex Fetesoff !This file is SHAREWARE!
Version 2.0. FORMS will help you in filling out preprinted forms by
constructing a grid and entering the coordinates where "fill in the
blanks" occur. Very useful for those who have to fill out the same
forms over and over again.
* IGS_EDIT.ARC * Programmer: Anthony S. Rau
Version 1.4. A completely revamped version of THE INSTANT GRAPHICS AND
SOUND EDITOR, a program which explores new vistas in online graphics and
sound. A tutorial program is included to get you started.
* LOANANLY.ARC * Programmer: John M. Tutlis
(Version number not available.) LOAN ANALYST now does printer dumps of
any computational screens. Use it to calculate amortizations, credit
card payments, future values, mortgage payments, and more.
* PINHED15.ARC * Programmer: Charles F. Johnson This file is SHAREWARE!
Version 1.5 of PinHead, a program which dramatically speeds up the
loading of programs, especially at boot-up time. Added to this version
is complete compatibility with the new Atari STe Computers.
* ST_UNZIP.ARC * Programmer: Arthur Cravener !This file is SHAREWARE!
Version 2.71. Now you can unZIP PC files! ST_UNZIP will deZIP
compressed .ZIP files (which are pretty much the standard in the PC
world). Great for anyone using any sort of PC emulator, since files can
now be unZIPped in the ST environment as well.
* UNLZH16.ARC * Programmer: John Harris !This file is SHAREWARE!
Version 1.6. This is the fastest .LZH deARCer alive. Automatically
creates folders for each file. Now supports multiple files. Searches
within .LZH files are supported also.
* VIEW13.ARC * Programmer: Terry Kabel
Version 1.3. TEXT FILE VIEWER supports non-case sensitive string
searches. Runs in any resolution. Printing options, change screen
colors.
* DBLIB_ST.LZH * From: SaraWare !This file is SHAREWARE!
Version 2.20. Disk cataloger and label printer. Builds a database on
title, category, publisher, date, source, number, size, comments, cost,
and more. Generates reports. Prints labels for both 3.5" and 5.25"
disks. Many improvements.
* IMGCAT2D.ARC * From: \/\/iz\/\/orks! DEMO
Version 2.0. IMG CAT catalogues .IMG files by printing from 6 to 15
.IMG files per page. This latest version does not require GDOS. Works
with all memory configurations, and is compatible with Epson FX, Epson
LQ, HPDJ/LJ, and Atari SLM804 printers. Preview options are supported.
* MACAT_D.ARC * From: \/\/iz\/\/orks! DEMO
Version 1.0. This is part of the IMAGE CAT package from \/\/iz\/\/orks.
MAC CAT catalogs .MAC-format (576 x 720) pictures on HPDJ, Epson FX,
Epson LQ, and SLM804 printers. Will also handle "pseudo .MAC" files
created by Touch Up.
* PICAT_D.ARC * From: \/\/iz\/\/orks! DEMO
Version 1.0. Yet another demo from \/\/iz\/\/orks, this one catalogs
DEGAS, TINY, and NEOchrome pictures by sending them to printer at up to
15 pics per page. Color pictures are grey-scaled.
***********************************************************************
ISD UPDATE
***********************************************************************
PRESS RELEASE
Ditek International is proud to announce the release of Outline Art.
Now shipping, this Vector Graphic creation program is the latest product
to be released for the Calamus integrated desktop publishing solution.
Outline Art comes with a complete Vector Graphic Editor, defining lines,
Bezier curves, control paths, etc. This program also allows the
generation of freely-defineable raster areas and the creation of rayed
objects from a font to a central point. Files created may be saved as
Outline Art graphics (OL) or Calamus Vector Graphics (CVG). A second
program has been included called Convert2X which allows the conversion
of CVG files to either Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) or PostScript (PS)
file format.
Outline Art allows unlimited possibilities for the manipulation of text
attributes, a fully-programmable calculator with a pre-defined
extendable library and much more. As with Calamus itself, all creations
are true "WYSIWYG".
We are also proud to announce the Calamus Linotype Interface. This
device, now available, connects the Atari DMA port to the LI2 port of
the Linotype Imagesetter, bypassing the Raster Image Processor (RIP).
The interface also contains 6 more DMA ports for the connection of the
Atari SLM804 Laser Printer and multiple hard drives. Since it bypasses
the RIP, output is not only 100% "WYSIWYG", but using the Calamus
solution as a front-end workstation also impacts dramatically on the
speed, value and performance of the Imagesetter. Compatible with the
Linotype L100, L200, L300 and L500 with resolutions up to 2540 DPI on
typesetters paper or directly onto film, the Calamus solution can meet
your needs whether you are a Service Bureau typesetting the work of
others or doing your own in-house publishing.
Calamus itself, is based on the Atari ST platform, perceived as a "home"
computer by many, Calamus offers a truly professional desktop publishing
solution with performance and speed at a value unmatched by any.
Calamus is a complete page layout program containing over 350 features,
including true 100% "WYSIWYG". I might ad that its use of its own
Vector Graphic Outline Font Technology, to output precise, identical
results whether to the screen or printer has been available for over a
year now, far in advance of other solutions on other platforms.
Rotating text 360 degrees in 10th of a degree increments, Grouping
Frames, Multiple Clipboards throughout the document, Multiple Master
Sheets for both page and layout, the ability to assign a macro key
combination to every single feature in the program as well as text,
style and format macros and much more make Calamus a definite contender
in the professional desktop publishing arena. Because it is based on
the Atari ST platform the sheer value for every dollar spent for this
solution has no peers.
If you have even once waited for your PostScript printer to output one
single page containing text and graphics, then a serious look at the
Calamus solution using Atari's built-in DMA port to output the identical
page, at true "WYSIWYG", to Atari's 300 DPI Laser Printer in
approximately 30 seconds, is well worth serious consideration.
Another member of the Calamus family is the Calamus Font Editor. This
program allows the User to create their own Vector fonts or manipulate
ours, (with the exception of the AGFA Compugraphics fonts) create
graphical objects ie; logos and ad them to an existing font. As all
Calamus fonts are scaleable in 10th of a point increments from 1 to
999.9, without any distortion whatsoever, this has obvious benefits.
Additional features include a graphical interface, automatic kerning, a
built-in Calculator employing italics, free rotation, mirror imaging,
font condensing and more.
Ditek International is also proud to announce the release of "The Guide
to Calamus Desktop Publishing". Written by a Designer and Graphic
Artist that uses Calamus professionally, this 300 page guide is filled
with hints, tips and tutorials on all Calamus products and is a valuable
learning tool.
Realizing the importance of well-known, professional fonts, Ditek has
now expanded its available AGFA Compugraphic font families for use in
Calamus. We now have over 40 Font Families with more arriving on a
regular basis. These typefaces are optionally available to Registered
Calamus Owners only. And once again, these fonts used in Calamus are
all true "WYSIWYG" and scaleable in 10th of a point increments from 1 to
999.9.
The result of the Atari-based Calamus product line is a complete,
integrated Desktop Publishing solution combining speed, performance and
features to offer value unsurpassed on any other platform.
All Calamus products are represented exclusively in North America by ISD
Marketing. For further information, please contact:
Nathan Potechin
ISD Marketing
2651 John Street, Unit #3,
Markham, Ontario,
Canada, L3R 2W5
Tel: (416) 479-1880
Fax: (416) 479-1882
***********************************************************************
CANADIAN ATARI USERS CONVENTION (LATE) UPDATE
***********************************************************************
February 21, 1990
February is traditionally a dark and gloomy month. And last week the
Toronto Atari Federation was especially dark and gloomy - we just
discovered that a whole series of announcements and press releases about
the 1990 Canadian Atari Users Convention had been carefully put in a box
AND NEVER GOT MAILED!!! They have now been sent out, but if you are
only just now receiving yours, we don't want you to feel that you have
been neglected, or that your participation in this tremendous event is
not important to us. This Atari event on April 1st is rapidly turning
into an even more exciting gathering than we had initially hoped.
The Convention is generating a LOT of interest in Canada, and we're
confident that it will be a bigger hit than the First Canadian Atari
Users Convention that we presented in the fall of 1988. Atari Canada
will be present as the major exhibitor and have provided some excellent
door prizes. These include 8 Atari XEGS' which we will be giving away
every hour as well as a grand prize consisting of a MEGA2, monochrome
monitor, and Atari LASER printer. ISD has graciously added a complete
Calamus Desktop Publishing Package to round out the grand prize, which
will be awarded at the end of the day. Several developers have provided
us with software packages as prizes, and we will also be giving away
other hardware prizes as well as free TAF memberships throughout the
day.
A full lineup of seminars is 90% completed for those wishing to learn
more more about their computers, and related products. If you have a
question regarding your Atari Computer, or if you are a developer who
wishes to demonstrate a new product or service, this is where the action
is taking place.
We still have some booths left, so it's not too late for anyone
interested in being an exhibitor to be a part of the excitement. If we
can answer any questions or if you would like more information, please
don't wait any longer to contact us.
Paul Collard - Convention Coordinator (416) 477-2085
PS - Atari Canada is still saying that the STacy will be available in
Canada by the end of the first quarter of this year, which could be just
in time for the convention!!). Now that alone would make it worth the
trip!
Mike Searl - TAF President................(416) 245-5543
FAX.........................................(416) 245-5089
TAF Online! - Club BBS.....................(416) 235-0318
TAF Infoline - Club Answer Machine..........(416) 425-5357
GEnie....................................... M.SEARL1
Convention Headquarters:
1990 Canadian Atari Users Convention
3 Union Street,
Unionville,Ontario
L3R 2H4
Club Address:
Toronto Atari Federation
5334 Yonge Street, Suite 1527
Willowdale, Ontario
Canada
M2N 6M2
***********************************************************************
QUICK ST 2.0 - PRESS RELEASE
***********************************************************************
Press release for immediate distribution to all Atari ST users. By
Darek Mihocka and Ignac Kolenko of Branch Always Software. March 2,
1990. (C) 1990 Branch Always Software.
Branch Always Software presents...
Quick ST II Quick Tools Quick ST II Demo
Quick ST II - Software Screen Accelerator and Desktop Customizer
----------------------------------------------------------------
Price: $19.95 U.S., $22.95 Canada, 19.95 U.K. Now shipping.
Quick ST II is a major enhancement of the Quick ST software accelerator,
and includes 5 new screen utilities. Quick ST II is a must have
package for anyone concerned with the performance of their ST. It
includes:
- version 2.0 of the Quick ST software screen accelerator,
- the Quick ST II Desktop Customizer,
- the Art-ST graphics editor,
- version 1.8 of the Quick View fast file viewer, and,
- version 1.8 of the Quick Index speed benchmarker.
Quick ST 2.0 speeds up text and GEM screen output, which makes most GEM
or text based programs redraw faster, respond faster, and thus run
faster. Compared to earlier versions of Quick ST, version 2.0 is up to
100% faster, and is now compatible with almost all ST software.
Quick ST 2.0 has many other features. It supports the 19 inch Moniterm
monitor, making the large screen faster than ever. It is compatible
with the Atari Monitor Driver and ZZ Driver, and also works with other
high resolution screen drivers.
Quick ST 2.0 uses only 20K of RAM, which is a lot less than most other
utilities, which makes it ideal for use on 512K or 1 meg systems. Even
the Control Panel uses more memory!
Quick ST 2.0 runs from the AUTO folder. Simply copy Quick ST 2.0 to the
AUTO folder of your boot disk and reboot. It is not copy protected, for
easy installation on a hard disk. Once installed, Quick ST 2.0 is
invisible and worry free.
Quick ST 2.0 supports the installation of custom desktop backgrounds and
fonts, to make your ST feel more friendly. Any DEGAS compatible medium
resolution or monochrome picture can be installed.
The Quick ST II Desktop Customizer is a companion program for Quick ST
2.0, which allows for the installation of custom background patterns and
desktop images. Although there are other public domain and commercial
utilities that install custom desktop images, none of them are as fast,
as easy to use, or support the installation of background patterns
(which saves memory).
Here's how it works. When you first turn on your computer, Quick ST 2.0
checks its configuration. It will be in one of three modes:
- normal green or gray desktop background
- custom pattern
- custom background image (requires an extra 32K of RAM).
A custom pattern allows you to replace the solid green (in color) or
gray (in monochrome) desktop background with your own custom designed
pattern. No extra RAM is required. We liked the way this feature
looked on the Mac, so we just had to give the ST this ability too.
The third option loads a DEGAS compatible picture into memory, and uses
it as the desktop background. Most GEM based programs will also use
this background image. There are plenty of images that can be on the
desktop. Calendars, reminder messages, digitized pictures, or just
plain bizarre drawings.
The Desktop Customizer, which runs as either a desk accessory or as a
regular program, allows the user to instantly change modes, from normal
background to custom fill to custom image, to load, edit, and save
patterns, and to load desktop images. The desktop background can be
changed as often as one wants, without rebooting the computer. And all
configuration information is written directly into the Quick ST 2.0
files. There is no renaming of files required, and the desktop image
files (.PI2 or .PI3 DEGAS pictures) can be located anywhere on the disk.
The Desktop Customizer contains a built-in pattern editor, and as the
pattern is edited, it is displayed on the whole desktop. On a color
monitor, the pattern can include up to 4 colors.
To help users create that desktop image that is just right, Quick ST II
includes the Art-ST shareware graphics editor, by Robert Birmingham.
Users of Quick ST II are encouraged to use this program and send a small
shareware contribution to the author, who will then provide an update.
Art-ST has all the features needed, including circles, boxes, text, cut
and paste, and is compatible with DEGAS files.
The fourth program in the Quick ST II package is Quick View 1.8. This
latest version of our text file reader runs as both a desk accessory or
as a regular program, and can also be installed to replace the desktop's
"Show Print Cancel" function.
Use Quick View to read README files, online magazines, source code, or
any other text, or near text file. Quick View supports standard ASCII,
UNIX text files, and Atari 8-bit text files. Because it can run as a
desk accessory, it is possible to do things like read documentation
files while running a GEM program.
The fifth program in the package is Quick Index 1.8, an upgrade to our
famous benchmarking utility that is used the world over to benchmark
hardware and software upgrades for the Atari ST. Quick Index 1.8 has
been expanded with reference benchmarks for the new Atari STe.
Quick Index benchmarks your computer in various categories: CPU
performance, disk drive performance, and screen output performance.
Quick Index will show you just how much slower your ST is without Quick
ST. It can also be used to test various hardware accelerators.
Quick Tools Volume 1 - Useful Utilities And The Quick Manager
-------------------------------------------------------------
Price: $19.95 U.S., $22.95 Canada, 19.95 U.K. Available in April.
Quick Tools Volume 1 is the second commercial offering by Branch Always
Software. It is a collection of 9 different multi-configurable
utilities (that term will be explained below!) plus the Quick Manager.
The package includes the following programs (most are version 2.0):
- Quick View (smart file viewer)
- Quick Find (fast file finder, catalogs disks)
- Quick Label (label printing utility /w mail merge)
- Quick Inf (DESKTOP.INF file editor)
- Quick Env (system environment editor)
- Quick Index (the de-facto Atari ST benchmarking software)
- Quick CLI (simple but powerful command line interface)
- Quick Control (our own easy-to-use control panel)
- Quick Lock (drive & partition read/write protector)
- Quick Manager (manages Quick Tools, calls file selector, displays
time, date, TOS version, free RAM)
As stated above, each Quick Tool is multi-configurable. This is a term
we use to describe a program's ability to work as either a desktop
application (which can be double clicked from the desktop), a desk
accessory (loadable at boot time) or as a Quick Manager Overlay, by
simply renaming the filename extension.
But you may be wondering, "what is a Quick Manager Overlay???" This
question is most easily answered by explaining the function of the Quick
Manager itself. When we started creating more and more Quick Tools, we
realized that sooner or later, somebody would try to install them all as
desk accessories and run out of room. GEM only provides support for 6
desk accessories at a time on the desktop's menu bar. What was required
was a program to manager the Quick Tools, and so Quick Manager was
created.
The Quick Manager is desk accessory which enables the user to load and
run any of the Quick Tools as if they were desk accessories, but without
using any desk accessory slots. The secret lies in the fact that Quick
Manager has its own drop down menu for installing up to 16 overlays.
A Quick Manager Overlay is simply a Quick Tool installed for use with
Quick Manager. It can be considered to be both a desk accessory and an
application, and has the benefits of both. It can be called up any time
the Quick Manager accessory is visible (such as from the desktop or from
within another GEM program), and unlike regular desk accessories,
overlays are not permanently memory resident.
In fact, Quick Manager itself uses only 15K of memory, and with all of
the Quick Tools installed, less than 60K of memory is used!
Almost any desk accessory can be converted into a Quick Manager Overlay.
Any developers interested in converting their desk accessories over to
Quick Manager Overlays can contact us for more information.
Now, a few words about the individual Quick Tools themselves.
Quick View 2.0 is the latest generation viewing program for the Atari
ST. It will automatically determine what type of file is being viewed,
and display that file appropriately. This means that a text file will
be displayed as a text file, and a picture will be displayed as a
picture, and so on. Even ARCed files are displayed as a verbose listing
of the contents. Quick View 2.0 can be thought of as a "smart file
viewer".
Quick Find 2.0 is a fast file searching utility. If you have ever
wondered, "where is that .DOC file", you can find it using Quick Find
2.0. It has the ability to search any combination of drives and
partitions simultaneously, with informative directory style output going
to the screen, printer or any filename you wish. Searches can be done
on any drive, or even subdirectory within a drive. As well, a "non-
recursive" search may be done if you do not wish to search into
subdirectories. Quick Find 2.0 also allows group file modifications as
well. This means that you can write protect, hide, touch, delete or
even set the TOS 1.4/1.6 fast file load bit on any group of files you
search for.
Quick Label 2.0 is a multi-purpose label generation system. It has 10
buffers to handle even the biggest of multi-label jobs you can dream of.
It has provision to create and load any printer driver, plus has a full
suite of text editing commands to make that label look as slick as can
be. It also contains a very simple to use mail merge facility, so the
generation of mailing labels is a snap with Quick Label 2.0. It too can
be configured as an installed application which acts on *.LAB files (the
label files generated).
Quick Inf 2.0 is the Atari ST DESKTOP.INF file editor. It allows you to
edit the normally uneditable features of the desktop, such as drive
search masks (have you ever wanted a window to display only *.DOC files
when looking for the document you want to edit?), or the default
installed text file reader. (An ST fact: when you click on a text file,
any program you wish can be given that file rather than the standard
"Show Print Cancel" utility built into the desktop! It's just that up
until now, you couldn't change it unless you knew exactly what line in
the DESKTOP.INF file to change!)
Quick Env 2.0 is another handy utility since it allows the user to alter
and edit, load or save the current system environment strings. This is
especially useful for program development since all compiler information
can be placed into the environment strings, negating the need to use a
bulky command line interpreter to run your favourite compiler. More
down to earth users will appreciate the ability to take all your
program's resource files (*.RSC files) and place them in a subdirectory,
and edit the system environment string which tells the ST where to find
these files. Never again worry about remembering where those pesky
resource files reside!
Quick Index 2.0 is of course, the de-facto benchmarking utility for the
Atari ST, as described under Quick ST II. Quick Index 2.0 has Quick
Manager support.
Quick CLI 2.0 is a small but useful command line interpreter which has
the advantage of being able to run as an accessory. It contains a
complete suite of commands including DIR, COPY, RENAME, DELETE and a
host of other commands which make life easier in those moments when the
desktop just won't do.
Quick Control is, as the name suggests, our own Control Panel. It
allows complete customization of the standard system parameters, but,
since it's a Quick Tool, you can run it in any of the three ways
described earlier. Use it to change the time and date, edit screen
colors, change the baud rate, reconfigure the printer, and many more
things.
And finally, Quick Lock 2.0 is the drive/partition protection program.
It allows the user to select drives or partitions available to the
system and either write protect them, read/write protect them (which
makes that drive basically locked to the outside world) or leave them
alone. It also has password protection so that you can lock your
system, and leave your ST unattended until you come back and enter your
password to unlock the system. This is especially useful for protecting
a multi-user system from prying eyes.
Quick ST II Demo
----------------
This demo is now available for download from the Atari ST libraries of
the online services Compuserve, GEnie, Delphi, BIX, and Usenet. We
expect that it will soon be available from most Atari ST bulletin boards
as it gets copied around by other users.
The demo has certain limitations, otherwise it wouldn't be a demo. For
one thing, the demo runs slower than the real thing, but still
considerably faster than just plain old TOS. The demo of the Desktop
Customizer has all Save options disabled. The demo displays a prompt to
remind you that it is a demo, and also uses more than 20K of RAM. To
get the full speed 20K no limitations version, simply buy Quick ST II.
Ordering and Upgrading
----------------------
If for some reason your Atari dealer does not stock our products, or you
just wish to order direct, send a check or money order to our address:
Branch Always Software
PO Box 2624, Station B
Kitchener, Ontario Canada N2H 6N2
In Canada or the U.S., add $3 for postage and handling. In the U.K.,
add 2. All other countries, add $5. We accept payment in Canadian
dollars, U.S. dollars, and pound sterling. For fastest service, please
enclose the correct amount. Residents of Ontario, please add 8% tax.
A disk containing the Quick ST II Demo and the Quick Tools Demo is
available for $2, plus postage and handling as above.
We have also set up a VISA card order line, and we will ship just about
anywhere in the world. If calling from outside of North America,
remember to dial the appropriate codes for Canada.
24 hour credit card order line: 519-570-4340
Other inquiries and FAX: 519-747-0386
Registered users of Quick ST can upgrade to Quick ST II for the usual
$3 upgrade fee and by sending back their original disk. This only
applies to users who have already sent in their registration cards. If
you haven't, we don't know about you yet.
***********************************************************************
NORTHEAST ATARIFEST - PRESS RELEASE
***********************************************************************
Here is a list of Vendors that WILL be at the NorthEast AtariFEST;
I.C.D Best Electronics Second Childhood
Joppa Computers Seymour - Radix
Cal-Com Alpha Systems * Toad Computers
And I've had several calls from other developers as well.. Including..
D.A. Brumleve Talon (makers of Supercharger, Omni-Switch)
Darek Mihocka (Xformer / Quick ST)
First Stop Computers Gribniff(makers of NeoDesk)
Music Sweet Music
Announcing the North East ATARIfest '90 being Sponsored by PACE (the
Pittsburgh Atari Computer Enthusiasts)
Where: Chartiers Valley High School, near Pittsburgh, PA
Located just off I-79 at the Heidelburg / Kerwin Heights exit
Within 15 minutes of the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport
Easy access from from the PA Turnpike via Exit #3
When: April 28th & 29th
Time: Saturday the 28th - 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Sunday the 29th - 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Users Groups: Tables are available to any Officially Atari Recognized
User's Group for only 25.00 per table.
Need more Information?: Call the PACE BBS at 412-571-0891 and read the
show message base. Validation is immediate! Or call 412-843-0628 voice
after 5:00pm EST.
If you've ever been to a show that PACE has put on before, you'll know
that they are well attended by the best retailers & developers!
***********************************************************************
ATARI ST IN AN IBM
***********************************************************************
A Lion in Sheeps Clothing, An Atari ST in an IBM housing.
By Jon Clarke, Auckland, New Zealand
I have over the last few months seen many references to whether or not
you can put a 520 or a 1040ST in an IBM housing, and to say the least
some of the mail I have been reading is down right comical. The best
saying on this subject was quoted to me by a friend of mine who was
given an IBM AT, and when I visted him last he had all his Atari ST
equipment neatly installed and for all I knew it was an IBM until
desktop arrived. He said to me very seriously "IBM makes one heck of
a housing, a bit of a shame about the mother-board, so I upgraded it to
an Atari ST!" Well what could I say, I had done the same thing several
months before, so I knew the headaches he had been through. In his case
he had it configured as a Tower unit, hmm that was even more work than
normally required.
I would like to set the record straight right here and now. 'YES', you
can put a 520ST and 1040ST and just about any type of computer including
your 8 bit Atari's in another type of housing. While in some cases it
is not an easy job, I hope to outline what you need to do in this
article.
The most important thing to do is a little planning, and to fully
understand what you wish to do with this project, for instance..
a/ Do you want a second or third disk drive, 3 1/2" or 5 1/4" or both?
b/ Do you want to include a hard disk drive, controller, and host
adaptor?
c/ Do you want to upgrade your on-board RAM at all?
d/ Do you want to upgrade your TOS version at the same time, or do you
want to keep your old TOS as well and make them switchable?
e/ Do you want to install a "ROM" drive, in your Cart port?
f/ Do you want to delay the ST from booting so it may auto-boot your HD?
g/ Do you want to switch the power on and off from the front panel?
h/ Do you want a reset button on the front panel?
i/ Do you want to switch Monitors from your Housing or just plug them in
and out each time?
j/ Do you want to be able to select which floppy drive is in drive A & B
configuration, and be able to select what side to write to?
k/ Do you want to be able to Write Protect your Hard disks with
Hardware?
m/ Do you want to use your cart port for things like Spectre, Replay ?
n/ Do you want to mount your modem inside the housing?
o/ Do you want to run all the equipment from an IBM power supply?
p/ Do you want to use Midi?
q/ Do you want to use your centronics port?
r/ Do you want to use an IBM or 101 type keyboard, with your joystick
and mouse ports?
s/ How big do you want the housing to be, and will it sit flat or
vertical?
t/ How much money do you want to spend?
Planning is the answer, if I had taken a few minutes to decide what I
wanted to do and made a "shopping list", I would not have spent all the
extra time repositioning all the drives to fit something else into the
case, each time I decided to change my mind on some little thing.
So first things first, make a "shopping list" of "wants", by this I
mean if you want to do something you have to go out and get it for the
RIGHT price. To complete this project it cost me about $200, by the
time I got a housing, 150watt power supply, a 5 1/4" disk drive, 2 NEC
3 1/4" disk drives, new 25 pin ribbon connectors, new 9 pin ribbon
connectors, 120 megs of hard disks, a controller, and Host adaptor, ROM
card for the Cart port, and connecting wire. The secret to all of this
is, when you have made your "shopping list" you then know what you want
to do, now all you have to find out is what will do what you want (how's
that for double talk), and when you find that out, you can go fore-armed
to your dealer/computer repairman, or computer auction/junk sale and ask
for what you want at YOUR price. If you are prepared to wait, you will
get the right price. I found the best source for hard disks is from
your repairman, from most Systems Managers. They have them lying around
in a so called "dead" state. Did you know that of all the dead drives I
have ever received only 2 of them have been dead! So offer to take them
off their hands with a small donation to their staff social fund ie $10,
or go buy your service man a beer or two, it works! Last but not least,
Computer auctions are an amazingly cheap source of everything, the last
one I was at, I spent about $300 and got 14 40meg Hard disks, 3 NEC 1036
3 1/4" drives, a Teac FD-55GFV 5 1/4", 2 IBM 150 watt supplies, a colour
TV and heaps more, so remember to look in the newspaper for sources for
your "shopping list".
Now that you have decided you want to continue with transplanting your
ST into an IBM case what will do what, for me? I hope this little list
will help you in your search...
Disk Drives Floppy:
3 1/2"
* You can use your Atari drive if you want.
* NEC 1036 a double sided 720k drive.
* Matsushita model JU-253.
NB: These I have found the best, as no extra buffering or the likes is
required.
5 1/4"
* The commercial one you may already have.
* TEAC FD-55GFV
* TEAC FD-55G
NB: These I have found the best, as no extra buffering or the likes is
required.
ROM Drives:
These are available in many forms, all you need to do is get a cart board
and blow your own eproms with your favorite programs in there, and map
it to a drive. Cost anywhere from $12 to $36 not including the eproms.
Hard Disks/Controllers/Host Adaptors:
This is an 100 page article in itself. You can use your existing hard
drive/controller/host adaptor, or look in most mags for adverts on kit
sets for these like the Supra or Triangle Kits, and the list goes on.
In my case a group of us down here are using an other type of Host
adaptor, which will emulate the "IBM Motherboard Slot" and is real cheap
to build or buy, along with this we can use most IBM 1/2 card/
controllers but I prefer the Omiti 5520 or 5527 for it's speed, this
means you can get controller cards from as little as $15 in the local
repair shops "Junk Bin". Hard disks, well this is up to you, what size,
how many etc, what brand. Remember in the IBM housing you have lots of
room to play with, and the limit is that of your pocket book and piece
of mind.
Types of IBM Housings/power supplies:
Look around in many cases you can buy an IBM/clone housing for about $70
with a 150 watt power supply already
installed, wow that is like being
1/2 way there. Make sure you have a control panel on the front of the
housing for, say switching the reset button, turning the computer on and
off, switching between TOS's, turning your ROM drive on and off, for
drive select A&B, or what ever you have decided to do. Now if you have
a 150 watt supply you can feed the following with the supply and you
will no longer need the Atari supplies..
a/ Your ST
b/ Your disk drive(s)
c/ Your modem (in most cases)
d/ Your Hard disk(s) and controller(s)/host adaptor(s)
Last but not least make sure you can fit your ST mother-board into the
housing with a little room to spare. How do you do this? Simple, flop
your ST over so the keyboard is face down on a towel and measure the 4
sides of your ST, that is the smallest your case can be, ie an IBM PS2
model 30 sized case. I have not given any measurements here because
strangely enough the sizes vary from model to model. If you wish to use
your cart port, measure how long your longest cart is and add about 1
1/2" and make sure the housing is at least that high.
Upgrade your RAM/TOS:
Again this is up to you how you go about it, if you are into D.I.Y (DO
IT YOURSELF), look in "Computer Shopper" for cheap ram chips, It costs
about $150 to upgrade my 520 to 2.5 megs. Again you can look in most
mags for companies who will either sell you a kit to do it or they may
do it for you. If you get a company to do it, wait until the guarantee
has expired before doing this mod, so you have piece of mind. Remember
if you have TOS 1.1 and you do, do a 2.5 meg upgrade do not "PANIC" if
the computer appears dead for about a minute when you boot it up, it is
merely clearing ram and appears to take forever to compare the 512k or
1024k ram you had before. It was at this stage I bought "Rainbow TOS".
Another source of amusement to me has been the comments re-switching
TOS, on Fnet I received last week, one fellow was so sure it could not
be done, well again to set the record straight it CAN be done.
However, you will be required to re burn your existing TOS sets into an
eprom, and switch between the banks on these eproms, thus you will need
a switch on the front panel to do this. The only real advantages of
this are..
a/ If you want to play games, not all games work with TOS 1.4/Rainbow.
b/ Are programing, and want to be compatible with all ST's ( like the
8 bit TRANSLATOR disk)
c/ Faster boot up, with larger memory.
d/ MS-DOS compatible disk formats.
e/ Just want to be trendy!
Please note this will void any warranty given by the "Atari" for your
TOS, and will breach a copyright if sold!!!
Monitor Switching:
If you are lucky enough to have 2 monitors a colour and monochrome
monitor, you can do a few things and here the choice again is yours.
a/ Use a monitor switch box ie "Monitor Master", and mount it either
on the back panel of the IBM housing or feed to the outside of the
case and use it as you already do.
b/ Buy a Sony/Atari 13 pin monitor plug (male) and make a cable to run
from the monitor to the rear of the IBM housing about 10 " long.
Now make a decision! Do you want to remain Atari standard or do your
own thing with attaching your monitor(s) to the housing? If you wish to
remain standard you will have to source 2 female 13 pin Sony/Atari 13
pin sockets and mount them on the rear panel, or get 2 D9 female plugs
and mount them on the rear panel, either way it doesn't matter. Now one
is for colour and the other is for mono.
Take a line from pin 4 on the ST end of your cable and take it to a SPST
switch, connect it though this to pin 4 onto the female plug you have
called "Mono Monitor". Other than this line take all the other
connections BAR pin 2 to your female connectors. Connect 2 "RCA" female
sockets on the rear of the housing calling one of them "AUDIO" and the
other "VIDEO". Now take pin 1 from the ST end of your cable to the
centre of the female RCA socket marked "AUDIO" and pin 2 from the ST end
of the cable to the female RCA socket marked "VIDEO". Strap both of the
earth connectors to either pin 13 or a common EARTH you have already set
up. (please note on some early versions of the ST pins 2 and 8 were
reversed, my 520ST is a 1985 vintage and pin 2 is video). This has now
given you an outlet to feed to your VCR and your Stereo/Music centre.
To select your Mono monitor simply switch pin 4 on and off, that is the
pin that goes to the SPST switch, it switches the mono detect line, and
will reboot your ST.
NB:- I have not done any diagrams as pin selection is mentioned in Your
Atari Handbook. Also if you do not have a modulator on ST you can
simply go and get one from Radio Shack that only requires Video/Audio in
and 12volt and there you have one, or you can connect up a video
transmitter and send the ST to any TV in your house.
The CARTRIDGE PORT:
This part is somewhat difficult, all you have to do is one of three
things.
a/ Do not use your cart port
b/ Make a right angle adaptor so you may plug in any cart, and mount it
on the side of the Housing. (The easiest to do!)
c/ Remount the cart port from horizontal to vertical, this sounds easy
but it is harder than it looks. Now all the carts merely connect by
pluging straight in "snap".
Mounting the ST Mother Board:
I found the easiest way to do this is to make up two alloy plates, one
mounted under the mother board, and one over the top of the mother
board. I used HEX standoff bolts to mount the plates and the mother
board on so there was enough of an air gap, between all of them. I
painted the Alloy plates Black so they would also absorb the heat. Use
the mount holes on your ST to mark out the Alloy plates, this makes a
template of where to drill the IMB case and the alloy plates, so they
marry up with your ST mother-board..
Now a few tips..
a/ Leave the Joy stick/Mouse ports on your ST mother board.
b/ Drill a hole over the GLUE chip, for those of you with the old
problem with the "Glue chip" this will save you stripping your case
to reseat this little beasty. With a hole over it you can use a
pencil to do the same thing. (Drill the hole in the TOP Alloy Plate)
c/ Mount your Floppy drives,Hard disks,etc on top of the top Alloy plate
thus allowing for a good mounting surface for all the other equipment
you wish to install. (Floppy and Hard drives should line up with the
holes in the front of the IBM housing)
d/ Take the look at where your keyboard plugs into your mother board
(this is the Hard bit :-) you only need to take 5 of these to your
keyboard, if you choose to mount your joystick/mouse ports on your
new keyboard. This can be done by getting a 5 pin din socket and
mounting it on the rear of your IBM case. Take the 5 wires to here
and on the other end have a male 5 pin Din plug going to either..
1/ Your old ST housing
2/ Your new 101 type keyboard.
If you are going to use a 101 type keyboard remember this..
1/ You will have to remount the Keyboard processor.
2/ You will have to re-matrix the keyboard.
If you are going to use your old ST case (the easiest way of doing it),
you will have to put in 2 D9 male sockets, one for the Mouse and the
other for the joystick. It becomes a birds nest of wiring so do not do
this "Like a bull in a china shop."
Well now you have done most of transplant you are ready to boot it up
and have a full blown IBM/CLONE look alike but with the RIGHT MOTOR, an
ATARI ST. This project is an on going thing, as you will find that you
will want to add bits and pieces here and there, and make it a little
more friendly with bells & whistles, for instances LEDs on all the
Hardisks, leds that indicate Formating, a Track indicator for the
floppies and the list goes on, now you have the room to play in, and the
Lion is no longer in Sheeps Clothing!
YOU SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT ANY OF THE ABOVE UNLESS YOU FELL YOU HAVE THE
TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE TO COMPLETE THE TASK, AND THIS WILL SURELY VOID ALL
WARRANTIES ON ALL EQUIPMENT USED.
The Bottom Line:- Nothing is impossible, it just takes a little longer!
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