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651 lines
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| ROVAC ZMAGAZINE |
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| Issue #168 |
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| August 1, 1989 |
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|Copyright 1989, RII|
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|This week in ZMagazine|
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* Analog Computing Table of Contents *
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*** ST*ZMag Education Focus ***
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D.A. Brumleve
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*** Hard Drive: Toy or Necessity ***
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Geo Frazer
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*** Weatherman's Wisdom ***
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*** Z*NET Newswire 8-bit Edition ***
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Harold Brewer
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|ANALOG COMPUTING TABLE OF CONTENTS|
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ANALOG COMPUTING #76, September '89
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FEATURES
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Macro Editor..............Frank Seipel
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Type complete lines with a single
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keystroke. This program will also
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create an AUTORUN.SYS file that'll
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install your macros at every boot-up.
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Sharp Shooter....Matthew J.W. Ratcliff
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More light-gun fun from the author of
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last month's light-gun tutorial, -Gun
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Assist.-
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Recursion................Gregg Hesling
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It has been claimed that Atari BASIC,
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because of its inability to pass
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parameters into subroutines, is not
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capable of recursion. Guess again.
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RAM Disk 800XL..........Jerry van Dijk
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Now 800XL owners can use some hidden
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memory to set up a RAM disk.
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Skeet Shoot...............Tracy Jacobs
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Ready? Pull! Use your joystick to
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blast clay pigeons out of the sky in
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this all-machine-language simulation.
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XF551 Commands..........Jerry van Dijk
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An exploration of the undocumented
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commands for controlling the new
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XF551 disk drive.
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REVIEWS
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The Chessmaster 2000
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.................Matthew J.W. Ratcliff
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Diamond GOS
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....................James F. Patterson
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Crossbow
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.................Matthew J.W. Ratcliff
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Crime Buster
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.................Matthew J.W. Ratcliff
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COLUMNS
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Boot Camp...................Tom Hudson
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BASIC Training..........Clayton Walnum
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ST Notes...................Frank Cohen
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The End User........Arthur Leyenberger
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DEPARTMENTS
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Editorial...............Clayton Walnum
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Reader Comment
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8-bit News
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Disk Contents
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M/L Editor..............Clayton Walnum
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BASIC Editor II.........Clayton Walnum
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|ST*ZMAG EDUCATION FOCUS|
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|by D.A. Brumleve|
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Reprinted from ST-ZMagazine #31
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An extract from Parent Page offered at
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the WOA Seminar on Kids and Computers
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Copyright 1989 by D.A. Brumleve
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Used by STZMagazine and/or ZNet by
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permission
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WHERE'S MY DISK?
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Adults use various cataloging systems
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to help them find the disk they want.
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A typical store-bought disk box has
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partitions which the adult user will
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label according to the type of program
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filed in that location.
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The labels on the disks themselves can
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also be a big help. There are a myriad
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of labeling programs to choose from.
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Store-bought labels encourage the use
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of color in separating disks into
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categories, and this can also aid
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at-a-glance identification.
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Effective labelling can also help your
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pre-schooler identify and select
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programs from his or her disk box.
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Colored labels, colored disks, and,
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above all, pictures on the labels can
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all be helpful in allowing the
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pre-schooler to find the disk he or she
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is looking for. A picture of piano
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keys identifies the child's on-screen
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piano program. A picture of a barn
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tells the child that this disk holds
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his favorite matching game Barnyard.
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The simplest way to provide picture
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labels of this kind is, of course, to
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draw them with a marker. At least one
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of the adult-oriented labeling
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programs, STICKER (Shareware for the
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ST), allows the display of
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computer-printed pictures. Another
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alternative for computer printing is
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complicated, but the results can be
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very handsome, durable, and useful.
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The director of a local preschool,
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Creative Discovery School, had asked
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for picture labels with large-type
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titles and arrows indicating the proper
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position of the disk when inserting it
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into the drive. I used a paint program
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to draw the pictures, then loaded them
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into a desktop publishing program to
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add the title and arrow. The result
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was printed out on an 8 1/2- X 11-
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sheet (with several labels to a page),
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and then I took the sheet to a copy
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shop where it was duplicated onto
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sticker-backed paper. The labels were
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cut out and mounted on the disks.
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While the ink from labels printed on a
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printer sometimes smears, copier -ink-
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normally does not, so the resulting
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labels are very hardy, even in the
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hands of children.
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|HARD DRIVE: TOY OR NECESSITY|
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|by Geo Frazer|
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Reprinted from The Atarian
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Knoxville Atari Users Group
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ONCE YOU HAVE TRIED ONE, YOU WILL NEVER
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WANT TO GIVE IT UP AND THAT IS THE ONLY
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PROBLEM WITH HARD DISK DRIVES: they
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are psychologically addictive.
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A hard drive will move your computer
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into a whole new class of productivity.
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Whether you use it for word processing,
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telecommunications, or a database, it
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will double your efficiency.
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Once you own a computer, you have
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nothing without an output device, so
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you purchase a printer and now you
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think you are in business. Then you
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find that some programs require a
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second drive. What now, are there any
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alternatives? Well, there is a good
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one if you have the memory. It's
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called RAM and works great until you
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turn off your machine. Another choice
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is a second floppy, but of course
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you're limited to 760K or less and it's
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slow. What about a hard drive? Let's
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talk about it and maybe we can learn a
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thing or two.
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Maybe we should start with a comparison
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of the data transfer rate.
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1050 DISK DRIVE .9K bytes/sec.
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1050 w/ultra speed 2.5K bytes/sec.
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ST RAM Disk 200K bytes/sec.
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SF354/314 DISK DRIVE 4K bytes/sec.
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These estimates are actual--not burst
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rate. All drives will actually read
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much faster, but a hard drive can read
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30K bytes/sec, and we must subtract the
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head movement time.
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So, it can be seen that the hard drive
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is 7 1/2 times faster than the 3 1/2
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drive and 33 times faster then the 1050
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drives. This gives a significant
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increase but it isn't the reason most
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people buy a hard drive--it's the
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capacity that is the deciding factor.
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A hard drive can be anywhere from 10Mb
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to 230Mb for the home drive. It is
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more reliable than a floppy, is
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quicker than a floppy, and has the
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capacity to store more than one disk at
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a time. A hard drive can be made to
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look like many drives by partitioning
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it into large sections of (for example)
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15Mb each.
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How do they work? I thought you would
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never ask. GREAT! Well, so much for
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the technical data. Lets move on.
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First of all the normal drives spin at
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around 288 to 300 rpm, while the hard
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drive winds at a 3600 rpm. Second, the
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floppies have only one platter spinning
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while the hard drive may carry four or
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six platters, reading and writing on
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both top and bottom with one or more
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heads on each side of the platter,
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riding on a cushion of air several
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microns above the surface. The
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platters are divided up into concentric
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circles called cylinders, (tracks on
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floppies) from 150 to 640 per platter
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(40 on the 1050 and 80 on the ST
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drives). As you may have guessed,
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precision head stepping is required
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and the drive is sealed to keep out
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dust and grime.
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At present there are two density
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schemes is use that are common, MFM
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(modified frequency modulation) for us
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tech types--bit packing for the rest of
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you. It is the standard for the 1050,
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XF551, and ST drives. The main
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difference is the 8-bit drives use 128K
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sectors and the ST drives use 512L
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sectors. MFM has been around for a few
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years and is very reliable, but
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recently a newer packing scheme called
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RLL (run length limited) has been
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introduced and is catching on well
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because it packs 1.5 times the data as
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MFM in the same amount of space. A
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better type of media must be used on
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the platters and some timing changes,
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but everything else is the same
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machine.
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If these hard drives are capable of
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5Mb/sec, how come they slow to thirty
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Kbits? Because of the computer
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architecture, the operating system, the
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sector skew, and the DOS all combine to
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slow down the actual rate of data
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transfer.
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How come the Atari hard drives cost so
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much? In the magazines they are
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offered for the IBMs for 200 to 400
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dollars. Well, what they expect you to
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know is that the IBMs need boards for
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everything and that goes for the hard
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drives too. They didn't give you a
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price of the whole animal. The hard
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drive needs to have an interface to the
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drive (a host adapter), like on the
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8-bit computers to printers, then it
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needs a controller board. This is a
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high speed intelligent device that has
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it's own CPU, ROM, RAM, and interface
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circuitry. It has an instruction set
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which interprets the commands from
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computer to the drives positioning the
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heads.
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Supra is installing a 20Mb in the Mega
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machines, but I don't recommend it due
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to the fact they are using the Mega's
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power supply and I feel that it wasn't
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designed for the load.
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Most hard drives are designed to last
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for 5 years continuously operating
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without a breakdown and most will. It
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is recommended to leave it on
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continuously as the shock and torque of
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starting does more damage than running
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all the time, but due to lighting I
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don't recommend it. The biggest
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problem with hard drives is bumping
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them while they are running. Remember
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how close I said the head rides over
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the platter? If it touches, it damages
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the platter and the head.
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The hard drive is the next thing after
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a printer to make your system real. It
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will give you good reliable service and
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if you make a back-up, in case a crash
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does occur, you won't loose too much
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time. If you are a PURE GAMER, then
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you will find yourself limited with a
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hard drive, but if not, then like me
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you will quickly become hooked and
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wonder how you ever got anything done
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before hard drives. If you have an
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interest in a hard drive, contact me
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and we will get the best deal we can.
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|WEATHERMAN'S WISDOM|
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September 1989
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SEVERE THUNDERSTORM FACTS
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Most thunderstorm related deaths are
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not from severe weather or tornadoes.
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Lightning is the number one weather
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killer during the warm summer months.
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On the average, lightning will kill
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about 125 Americans a year. Even if
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severe weather isn't expected, follow
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these precautions when thunderstorms
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are on the way:
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1. Get inside! When a thunderstorm
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approaches, it is safer to be inside
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a home, large building, or auto.
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2. If outdoors, do not stand near a
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tall isolated tree, or the tallest
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tree in a group
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3. Get out and stay away from water!
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Thunderstorm winds can capsize small
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boats. Sailboats can act as
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lightning rods.
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4. If your hair stands on end then
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lightning is about to strike you!
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Immediately drop to your knees and
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bend forward with your hands on your
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knees.
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5. If someone is struck by lightning,
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they can usually be revived by quick
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CPR administration.
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6. People in mobile homes should move
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to a designated shelter area.
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7. Objects should be tied down if they
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could be blown around by high winds.
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It's best to bring lawn chairs,
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trash cans, toys, etc. inside.
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KY IN
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Tornadoes per year 8 23
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Peak months April April-May
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Severe storms/year 75 200
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Watches/Warnings Explained
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The first step in the process is a
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-watch-. A -watch- covers a large
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area, usually 30,000 to 50,000 square
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miles. Severe weather is possible in
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the watch area. It does not mean that
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it will happen, only that it could.
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You should -watch- for storms moving
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into your area. There are two types of
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watches:
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SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH--means a
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possibility of large hail (3/4- or
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greater) and damaging winds (58 MPH or
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more).
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TORNADO WATCH--alerts us to the
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possibility of severe thunderstorms and
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tornadoes.
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A -warning- means there is an actual
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report of severe weather or that radar
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suggests the strong possibility of
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severe weather. A -warning- covers a
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far smaller area than a watch. Most
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warnings are for a one or two county
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area covering the location and path of
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a severe storm.
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Next month: Lightning--Super killer
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|Z*NET NEWSWIRE 8-BIT EDITION|
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|by Harold Brewer|
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From ST-ZMagazine #30 and #31 come
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these insights by Ron Kovacs'
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Editor's Desk and Z*NET Newswire:
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-...User Group officers and members
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please take note of the request from
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Atari Corp. They need your help in
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getting the official User Group list completed.
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-If you are not registered, or even
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think you're not included, please send
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your group's name and contact
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address/phone number to Chris Roberts.
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Also included in this request, please
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get a post office box registered in
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your group's name. The importance of
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the request cannot be ignored. Atari
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cannot forward your information to
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future members without a PO BOX.
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Current registered User Groups with
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Post Office Boxes are scheduled to
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receive a press package direct from
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Atari. You cannot afford to NOT be
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registered. Send a post card to:
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Chris Roberts
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Atari Corporation
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1196 Borregas Avenue
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Sunnyvale California, 94086...
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-...Total Control Systems seems to be
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unavailable. Calls made to his number
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don't even receive his answering
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machine anymore, and NEVER a call
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returned. I have personally read in a
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few newsletters the same story over and
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over. We at ZMAG have made attempts
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since January 1989 to contact David
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Sullivan without any success. Many
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8-bit users have sent David money for
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his GOE cartridge, and have not been
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updated in any way with it's progress.
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-The GOE cartridge is a Graphics
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Operating Environment for the 8-bit
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Atari computer. It is similar to STjr,
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already released and produced by Alan
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Reeve of Reeve Software. As a former
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8-bit Atari owner, and with the present
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atmosphere surrounding the 8-bit, I
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feel David Sullivan should surface and
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repay or release his product now...
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-...Interesting news from Atari is
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expected next week. Stay tuned for
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more details. Later in the month,
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(August), Atari is expected to make an
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announcement on the 25th. This was
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confirmed with Chris Roberts earlier
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this week.
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-Please make a note of our NEW address.
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Formerly located at Post Office Box 74,
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we move to Post Office Box 59 effective
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with this issue.
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The following message was left to
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me on the National ZMagazine BBS
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(Centurion) by Bob Klaas, the
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owner of K-P Products (selling the
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K-P interface--formerly the Supra
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hard drive interface):
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-From what former Supra Interface
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owners tell me, Supra Corporation has
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been referring all problems to me
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which concern the 8-bit interface they
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sold prior to my purchasing the rights.
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-I will continue to support all owners
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of the interface Supra sold with
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upgrades as they become available and
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assistance with any problems they may
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have. I have set up a message base on
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my BBS (The Repair Shop BBS at
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801-967-8738--300-19.2bps Hayes) also.
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The old text files that Supra put out
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with the interface have been converted
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to disk file and are available for
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download to those owners who have
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bought the interface through second
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parties and have lost the
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documentation.
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-Since aquiring the interface rights
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from Supra I have had requests for
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complete hard disk systems. It was not
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my intention to get into assyembling
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hard disk systems but there are those
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that are uncomfortable putting one
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together, so I have come up with a
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complete package for the 8-bit user.
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Interface and a 20Mg hard disk drive
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system completely formatted out and
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ready-to-run for $503.00 shipped COD.
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This is for either the 800XL or the
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130XE. The drive will be formatted
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with MYDOS as that is what I got with
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the rights from Supra, but can be
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converted to SpartaDOS by the purchaser
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with no effort using XINIT and HDINIT
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after they receive the drive.
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-Thank you for letting the Atari 8-bit
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community know the interface is
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available again. I will do what I can
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to keep the price low and the interface
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will remain available indefinately as I
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can keep it going by selling just 1 as
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well as 100.
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The Pub BBS is no longer a
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regional ZMagazine Bulletin Board.
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We thank the SysOp and users of
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The Pub for their interest in
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ZMagazine.
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| Rovac Industries, Incorporated |
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| P.O. Box 59, Middlesex, NJ 08846 |
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| (201) 968-8148 |
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|Copyright 1989 All Rights Reserved|
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Reprint permission is granted
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providing ZMagazine and the original
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author is credited.
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CompuServe: 71777,2140
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GEnie: ZMAGAZINE
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Source: BDG793
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ZMagazine Headquarters BBSes:
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Centurion BBS--(618)451-0165
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Chaos BBS--(517)371-1106
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Shadow Haven--(916)962-2566
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Stairway to Heaven--(216)784-0574
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