Readers Letters

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This month Tech Tips catches up on readers letters - please continue to write in with problems and solutions to any Spectrum related subject. Remember that a personal reply will NOT be given unless an SAE is enclosed ...

Darren Blackett of County Durham has sent in a copy of a program listing (from a rival magazine) for a screen dump program for his Tandy DMP 106 printer which he cannot assemble (doesn't say why). Sorry, Darren, but I can't print the other magazines program here - send details of your assembler problem & an SAE and I'll try to sort you out.

M.J.Hopper of Scunthorpe is having difficulties getting his 8056 printer copy routine to work on his Spectrum 128+2 - it simply feeds blank lines! Well the program you are using is not designed to work on the +2, but make sure that the printer port is set up to send all characters - i.e. in Binary/Unformatted mode, not Text mode. In text mode the printer control sequences are filtered out by the Spectrum.

Paul Squires of East Ham wants to know how good the 8056 printer is for use with his +3 - the simple answer is 'almost usable' if it is free! Screen dumps are difficult and it uses expensive, difficult to obtain, paper. Much better to buy a 'real' printer, if you can afford it.

John Jones has a faulty Alphacom 32 printer which he wishes to repair himself! I would recommend having it done properly, but if you want to try, send me an SAE & details of what is wrong.

Tim Lewis of Swansea has a 128K Spectrum which goes out of tune with the Television after only a few minutes. This sort of problem is normally caused by something overheating. try swapping your television lead and power supply with that of a friend with another Spectrum - if that doesn't cure it then - if you feel brave enough - dismantle the machine and check that the regulator is attached securely to the large heatsink inside the Spectrum.

Craig Dodson of Hull wants to do 'word processing' on his Spectrum+2; so does D.Lasselles of Tyne & Wear. The most expensive item is always the printer (which will cost #150-#200 for a reasonable one) - second hand ones will still cost around #100. A disk system will cost around #150, but for a really cheap solution buy a Rotronics Wafadrive. This costs under #20, for two drives, and also has a printer port built in - its nowhere near as fast as a 'real' disk drive, but does work! Also, 'Spectral Writer' is a word processor program written specially for the wafadrives and may still be available - try Logic Sales Ltd (01 882 4942) or Microsnips (051 630 3013).

Other word processing programs include Tasman Softwares Tasword series (a popular program) which can do almost everything except mix text and graphics - for that look at PCGs WordMaster/Typeliner/Headliner suite which is complex but very powerful (a full review soon ...).

Spectrum+3 disks and 128K games. Unfortunately not, Scott. The SAM Coupe will use much faster, higher capacity 3.5" disks, and has a very special arrangement for using its extra memory, which is different to the method that 128K Spectrums. Brian Gawthorpe wants to know if the SAM Coupe will be compatible with the Swiftdisc interface - possible, but not certain. If you want to keep up to date with details of the SAM project, consider joining MGTs user group, INDUG. Contact Bob Brenchley on 0452 412572.

"Buzby" from Mountain Ash wrote asking about getting more than one life with CRLs 3D Game Maker, then sent in a solution to the same problem! The program, which allows 1 to 255 lives on a game, is too long to print here - anyone interested should send an SAE.

Bernhard Lutz from Germany has written to see if Powerprint II, from Buttercraft Software (Crash issue 30) is still available. Does anyone have an address for them? Alternatively, Bernhard, you could try Bradway Softwares Letta Head Plus (which is similar I believe) - write to "Hilsett", Upper Padley, Grindleford, Derbyshire S30 1JA.

Gary McCloskey has sent in a short machine code program which gives a drum-like sound to any Spectrum. Type in and run listing 2 to see what you think of it.

+3 Letters

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Mark Thompson of Merseyside has sent in a program which allows the Spectrum+3 editor screen colours to be altered - listing 1 gives black characters on a green screen, which may be easier to work with than the normal colours.

Dorian Rodney wrote, some time ago, about connecting an Amstrad CTM640 colour monitor (the one that comes with the Amstrad CPC6128) to his Spectrum+3. I have now got this system working on my machine, using a cable that I made specially (see wiring picture for details). You will need an 8-pin male 180 degree DIN plug and a 6-pin female 240 degree inline socket. The five connections between the two should be made (use four core screened cable, the screen being used for pin 2 to pin 5). You should be able to get the monitor working perfectly without any internal adjustments - though the display may be rather bright (if this is the case, there is an internal 'sub-bright' adjustment - have a qualified electrician set this up for you). DO NOT, under any circumstances, open the monitor - even if it is switched off! There are extremely high voltages present within, which remain for many hours even when the monitor is unplugged!

The only problem with this monitor is that there is no sound; I built up a Maplin Electronics kit (LM76H, under #5) which gives ample sound when run off the (now redundant) 5volt supply from the CTM640.

Print program (Crash issue 60) can't work on the ZX Printer since there is no 9volt power signal for it to run from - true (the Alphacom works fine, which is what I tested it on) unless you try using MGTs Fixer. He also gives details of un-SPECTRUMing. After typing SPECTRUM from +3 Basic, if you type in RANDOMIZE USR 23354 you will be back in +3Basic. This should work on the +2A too, but probably not on earlier Spectrums. Don't use LPRINT/LLIST/COPY while in 48Basic, though ...

For some fun with your Spectrum+3, Ian suggests the following: Type in COPY RANDOMIZE and press ENTER. After a short delay, the error cursor will appear (obviously). Now press ENTER again, but hold down P,L,Z and C during the delay - you'll need to be quick (keep trying if nothing happens the first time)! After the fun, RESET is the only exit, so make sure there's nothing loaded. Also, from the test screen (hold down BREAK while pressing RESET) press E,U and A then play a tape.

Finally, try typing FLASH 1 then pressing ENTER from the +3Basic editor, then press EDIT - horrible!

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A new version of Plus D Hacker has arrived at Crash, now available from Bettabytes, 10 Spittal Terrace, Gosforth, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE3 1UT for #12.95 on 3.5" disk. Changes since the version reviewed in Crash issue 62 include a disk test/repair program (which takes 35 minutes to run - I didn't try it!), a file restore command (i.e. an UNERASE), and an automatic tape to disk transfer routine.

There are also routine to compress Snapshots - they take quite a time (up to 5 mins. per file) and are awkward to use (reloading is no longer a simple LOAD) but they certainly work (a 'Nebulus' Snapshot was reduced to 32K, for example).

The actual 'hacking' routines now use the full screen display (rather than just one third) but seem otherwise unchanged. One final point - Plus D Hacker is no longer compatible with version 1 Plus D interfaces.

<<< Put this in subject to the Nick Lewis Advanced >>>

<<< Z80 course in issue 63 - else append it to the >>>

<<< same in this issue. >>>

Z80 Beginners

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Last month we looked at a Z80 course from Nick Lewis, of 52 Kyle Crescent, Whitchurch, Cardiff CF4 1SU. I have now received a copy of his beginners course (part 1), well presented in 8 A4 pages. Nick gives a background on machine code programming & the Z80 then leaps straight in with code sections & descriptions of how the chip inside your Spectrum really calculates things. Seems to me to be rather heavy going for a beginner, but it may get you learning fast ... No price details (Naughty, Nick) so write to him for details, and get to the heart of your Spectrum.

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In Crash issue 62 Mel Croucher wrote a MONITOR about computer killing their users. I would just like to respond to what he wrote ...

Mel likens sitting in front of your television screen playing games to sticking your head inside a microwave oven or living with an X-ray machine. The television screen apparently emits amazing amounts of radiation which will fry your brain, give you leukaemia and help you lose weight (drastically).

I have been working with computers for over ten years now (including programming for a salary). I also watch television on occasions, yet none of this has done me any harm that I can tell (maybe it has - why am I responding to Mels article!?). It is true that microwaves & X-rays are harmful in large doses, but television emissions cannot be put under the same banner. Living within feet of a radio transmitter may harm you, but the effects dissipate rapidly with distance (doubling the distances reduces any effects by a factor of 4) - televisions give off tiny amounts of non-visible waves, and anyone sitting more than half an inch or so away from the screen surely won't be affected - the static build-up on the screen is more likely to be harmful by attracting dust which is then breathed in by the computer user.

Prolonged exposure to television pictures may cause eye strain, especially in computer use when the screen is almost always too close - but this won't kill anyone! I feel that Mels 'technostress' is more likely to be connected with eye strain than 'brain strain'. Strain can also be attributed to more seating at the computer.

Mel recommends that computers users take regular breaks from the screen - I expect that Crash readers already do this, when each new game loads in, etc. And playing games for more than six hours per day sounds extremely boring to me! I agree about eye tests - but that is nothing to do with supposed radiation emissions.

Finally, I hope Mel is happy with his new LCD portable - this is bound to give him much more eye strain that a television (witness the Amstrad PPC display that I am writing this in front of) and will probably ruin his back as he is bound to use it on his lap! Maybe Mel is 'technostress zapped' to have written the article - I don't think that a new computer is going to cure him though ...