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_______________________________________ ST-REPORT 14 DECEMBER 19, 1987 Volume 1 Number 14 _______________________________________ ZMAGAZINE BBS (201) 968-8148 300/1200 _______________________________________ Published/Edited by: Ron Kovacs Assistant: Susan Perry _______________________________________ ST INDEX 14 _______________________________________ <*> A few notes....................................Ron Kovacs <*> GFA Errata.....................................Ron Hunter <*> Michtron Contest...............................Ctsy Michtron RT on GEnie <*> Educational Software...........................D.A. Brumleve <*> Cable-Tec Expo.................................Howard Whitman <*> Creating your own Printer Cable................Don Garr <*> FoReM Coupon/Correction Notice.................Calamity Jane <*> Error 164......................................Bill Wilkinson <*> Probing Your ST................................Mr. Goodprobe _______________________________________ a FEW NOTES............ _______________________________________ I want to thank everyone for supporting this magazine this year and hope you will continue to support us in 1988. There are many plans on the table for you in 1988. More coupon offers, special discounts and details on a contest starting very soon in the future. This publication will be the primary publication in 1988. Zmagazine is slowly beginning to be over taken by ST-Report and if this progress continues, I will have to decide which of the two gets more attention. Starting in January, ST-Report goes to a weekly format with columns being displayed on a bi-weekly basis. An example would be Mr. Goodprobes column will appear every other week along with Calamity Jane's "Garbage On The Line". If you would like to see your ideas implemented here, Please give me a call on the ZMag BBS at (201) 968-8148 and I will be happy to chat with you, or send me a letter to: ZMagazine/ST-Report Post Office Box 74 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074 Merry Christmas everyone and hopefully see you again in Issue #15 with our end of year ST-Report. _______________________________________ GFA BASIC ERRATA _______________________________________ by Ron Hunter Thanks to Gordon Monnier for permission to quote the manual in this document. Gfa Basic is by far the most impressive piece of software I have yet seen for the Atari ST line of computers. It is the Basic the machine deserves, and should have been shipped with the machine from the beginning. Beside it, ST Basic is a poor excuse for ANYTHING. However, in the mad rush to bring this fine program to the North American ST user, Michtron had little time to devote to the manual. What we have is a fast translation of the German version of the manual. There are numerous errors, mistranslations, and partial translations. In fact, one need only turn to page one to find the first of these. It is true that Gfa Basic is a giant step forward, but didn't they mean to have a Foreword, rather than a Forward? Michtron informs me that they have a new, completely rewritten manual at the printers, which they will make available to all users for a minimal charge. Until this new manual arrives, I hope this document will help. Page 1. Change Forward to Foreword. Page 2. Add - 'digits.' after ...works with an accuracy of 11 Page 3. Paragraph 2. Forward - change to Foreword. Note that paragraph 3 last line should read: command IF....THEN has been modified: Page 5. Paragraph 4. Change 'straight away' to immediately. (readability only). Page 6. Next to last paragraph. Should read: Only one BASIC command can be accepted per program line. One program line can contain a maximum of 255 characters of use at the most 255 bytes of storage. As an example, 1.3 will require about 6 bytes of ram, and strings such as "***", 4 bytes in the line, and about 10 in ram, it is possible to recieve the message "LINE TOO LONG" even if far less than 255 characters have been entered. Last Sentence. Should read: The rest of the program is not altered. Page 7. First paragraph. Should read: After terminating input by pressing, for example, <RETURN>, the first 79 program characters will be displayed followed by the 'right arrow' sign, which indicates that the line is more than 80 characters long and that, therefore, the complete line cannot be displayed at once. Page 8. Before line beginning <F8>. Add. As the first mouse click only moves the cursor to the beginning of a line if a line is left using the mouse, a second click may be necessary to position the cursor within the line. Page 9. After the <UNDO> paragraph. Add: NOTE: LINES AND/OR BLOCKS DELETED CAN **NOT** BE RECOVERED WITH <UNDO>. Page 13. Last example (hide). Should read: <H> (=HIDE) Deletes the block markers, and hi-lighting. No changes are made. Page 14. <F1> (=LOAD) Should read: Loads a program from a storage device. The search path *.GFA is preset. Any program which is in the Editor at the time will be overwritten WITHOUT WARNING! (Though it is not officially sanctioned by Michtron, or Gfa, users have agreed, generally, to use the extender 'GFA' for Gfa Basic programs to avoid confusion on BBSs and Library disks. A simple sector editor can change your working copy to make this extender the default.) <SHIFT>+<F2> (=SAVE,A) Should read: Saves the program in the editor as a text file. If there is no extender, .LST is used. <F9> (=FLIP) Should read: Switches to the display screen. (see Foreword). Page 16. ^Z Should read: ^Z Cursor moves to end of program Page 17. Add at top of page. ^H Hide Block (Remove marks) Page 24. (). Should read. () Parentheses have the highest priority. They are used to control order of precedence. ^ Exponentiation. Page 31. Last paragraph. Should read: The absolute value of a numerical expression is always greater than or equal to 0. Page 32. In example. The example should read: T=Timer For Z%=1 to 10000 Add a%,5 Next Z% Print (Timer-T)/200 A%=0 T=Timer For Z%=1 to 10000 A%=A%+5 Next Z% Print (Timer-T)/200 Page 33. Replace page. Graphics Command ALERT How: ALERT a,m$,b,b$,c Abbr: A Example: M$="Hey!|How are you feeling?" Alert 2,M$,1,"Good|Bad",B Print B Purpose: Creates a GEM Alert Box. Explanation: An ALERT box makes it possilbe to warn or inform the user of a condition, or to request information with up to 3 choices to choose from. Parameter 'a' chooses the icon which will be displayed in the ALERT box: 0 = No icon 1 = ! 2 = ? 3 = STOP sign Parameter 'm$' is a character string expression, which contains the main text. It can be up to a maximum of 4 lines with up to 30 characters per line. The string is divided into lines by the character '|' placed in the string to designate division of the string into displayed lines. Lines longer than 30 characters will be shortened, lines in excess of 4 will be omitted. It is possible to highlight one of the buttons by specifying the button number with 'b' where 'b' is a number 0 (for no highlight) to 3. The highlighted button will have a wide border, and may be selected by pressing <RETURN>. The number of the chosen button is returned in 'c'. Page 37. Purpose. Should read. Purpose: Returns the arc tangent of 'x' in radians. Page 38. Extra information. The functions Bin$, Oct$, and Hex$ all return a string of the minimum length necessary to hold the converted value. Page 44. Next to last paragraph. Should read: Chdir "\" switches to the root directory. To switch to any other directory, the pathname must be given. This always begins with "\" when starting out from the root directory. For example: Chdir "\VEHICLE\DRIVER" declares the directory with the name DRIVER, in directory VEHICLE of the root directory, as the current directory. Page 45. Delete warning. The warning about changing the drive to 0 is groundless. Nothing happens at all. Page 60. Next to last paragraph, first sentence. Should read: There is a pattern table on page 61 of this appendix. Page 64. Example: This example uses a variable I which is easily confused with the number 1. To correct this replace from the For line with: For z=1 to 6 Print "S=";Z;":"; Defline Z,1,0,0 Line 50,25+Z*16,350,25+Z*16 Next Z Page 69. Purpose. Should read: Purpose: Defines the color, style, rotation and size of text to be displayed by the command TEXT. Explanation. Last sentence. Should read: 'g' defines the height of the characters in graphic dots: 4=very small (Icon text), 6=standard color (8x8) 13=standard monochrome (8x16) and 32=largest print. Numbers between 6 and 13 yield intermediate sizes of print. There is a break in size after 13 when the print switched from an 8x8 matrix to an 8x16 matrix. Page 70. Last sentence. Should read: The command Dfree(0) returns the free space on the default disk. Page 73. Extra information. The Dir command, unlike others requiring file names requires that ALL filenames be enclosed in double quotes. Page 75. Explanation. Should read: 'n' is a numeric express, which represents the value of the disk drive number. 0 = Default (active) drive 1 = A: 2 = B: ...... Etc. Page 76. Extra information. The Div command has an alternate syntax. When used, the alternate syntax yields an integer divide capability which complements the Mod command. How: n Div var Example: Print 10 Div 3 The result is 3. Page 80. Added Note: Values larger than 3600 for the start, and/or end angles generate seemingly random lines on the screen. _______________________________________ MICHTRON CONTEST _______________________________________ The Michtron RT is having a contest! The contest is divided into two categories. The most uploads by an individual and the Best GFA Basic program. To reach the MichTron RT from any menu prompt just type move 490. There will be 3 winners in each Category. The Prizes to be Awarded are as follows: Most Uploads 1st Prize = $500 worth of your choice of Michtron Software 2nd Prize = $300 worth of your choice of Michtron Software 3rd Prize = $150 worth of your choice of Michtron Software Best GFA Program 1st Prize = $500 worth of your choice of Michtron Software 2nd Prize = $300 worth of your choice of Michtron Software 3rd Prize = $150 worth of your choice of Michtron Software The rules of the contest are written below. Hope we see you there. CONTEST RULES ============= The following are the rules of the Michtron RT Contest. -Uploader's of all files submitted and accepted in the Michtron RT Software library between November 30, 1987 and January 30,1988 will be considered for the most number of upload's. -For a file to be counted as an upload it must have something to do with one of the Michtron products. In other words it must either have used one of Michtron products or be an example of their usage or an aid in their use. -File's will not be accepted which are: * Duplicates of existing programs in the Michtron Software libraries. * Individual programs uploaded singly rather than ARC'ed. An example of this is where a program consist's of the main program, dat files and docs and the user upload's the main program, docs, and dat files seperately instead of arcing them together. The upload's will counted as one upload. * Files must be at least 4k in length to count as an upload. -Files submitted for the Best GFA program MUST include the source code. -Employee's of Genie, Michtron, and the Sysop's of the MichTron RT are not eligible for the contest. -The decision to reject or accept a file submitted rest's in the hands of the sysops and their decision is final! -The prize for the best GFA BASIC program will be awarded for the best GFA Basic program uploaded by it's AUTHOR during the contest. Previous submissions to the MichTron RT do not count. <sorry> REMEMBER ALL UPLOADS DURING THE EVENING AND ON ALL DAY ON WEEKENDS ARE FREE ! Good Luck to all of you. Programs previously uploaded elsewhere are eligible for the contest as long as they are GFA BASIC programs. Entries do not become the property of MichTron but they will be posted in the Michtron RT Library. The files can be uploaded elsewhere and shareware programs are eligible. As for the copyright the author may keep it but the programs must be PD or shareware. The whole purpose of the contest is to try to get some really good GFA PD programs. Remember to get to the MichTron RT just type move 490 at any prompt! _______________________________________ EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE _______________________________________ Because I've been working with kids and computers (and perhaps because I have five kids and three computers), I am frequently asked to recommend "educational" software. This question always catches me off guard, because it brings with it an attitude regarding computers (and education, for that matter) that I simply do not share. In my experience, the educational value of a computer has more to do with HOW the computer is used than with what programs are run on it. Most people have a concept of "educational" software which includes programs that teach or provide practice in specific academic skills. Most programs of this kind are electronic worksheets, and few serve any greater purpose than the little workbooks one can pick up for $1.29 at K-Mart. Even if I didn't know about the various studies on it, I could tell you from watching the kids that the question-and-answer-type program is not very effective. We do own a few, like Algebra I (MichTron), which our oldest likes a lot, and Decimal Dungeon (Unicorn), which he regards as "ok". But really, my feeling about computers in education is that children should use them as they are used in the real world, because a child's world IS a real world. Our basic software list for our children is essentially the same as that an adult would want. The job doesn't end with the provision of programs, of course--the kid has to learn how--and when--to use them. Parents and teachers can help him learn to use the programs and play games with him, but they can also observe the child's needs and point out when the computer can help meet them if he doesn't think of it himself. Our son Danny hates to write manually, and I think it's because of the awkwardness of error-correction with pen or pencil. He will write long stories and reports with a word processor, though, and go over his work several times making small corrections before he prints it out. He didn't see the correction potential of word-processing until I pointed it out. The desire to type his homework provided motivation to learn touch-typing (by the way, many children are not developmentally ready to exercise this degree of fine-motor control in the grade school years). Danny enjoys drawing, and he uses NEO or Degas to illustrate his reports. He writes his own programs for his own purposes--he has one that keeps track of his savings toward a radio-controlled car, for example. In other words, Danny has learned to regard the computer as adults do--as a TOOL, not a toy, and he uses it for his own real purposes just as adults do. Thus, I would recommend this "starter package" for home or school, age 8 and up: 1. a good drawing program 2. a good, easy-to-use word processor 3. a programming language 4. a few desk accessories (especially an on-screen calculator) 5. a typing tutor (for children who do not already touch-type) 6. a music program 7. and a LOT of games that challenge one's thinking skills My starter package for preschoolers is not much different. SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS Providing all this software need not be an enormously expensive endeavor. There are adequate (and sometimes superior) public domain alternatives in most categories in my starter package. It also isn't necessary to provide everything from the start, although it would be wise to introduce at least one program from each category during the child's first few months with the computer. The order in which these programs should be acquired is an individual matter, depending upon the child's own needs and interests. I list below some programs in each category which children in grades 3 and over are likely to find useful and usable. There are certainly others, but these are the ones I have observed children using successfully with genuine educational benefits. 1. Drawing-- Commercial: Degas, Degas Elite (Batteries Included) PD: NEO, Kidsketch, Kidgrid2, Kidgraph 2. Word Processing-- Commercial: 1st Word, Kidtalk (1st Byte) PD: STWriter, Word 400 3. Programming Language-- Commercial: GFA (MichTron) (forget LOGO and STBASIC--children of this age will simply not be satisfied with their products in these languages) PD: No acceptable substitute 4. Desk Accessories-- PD: Rastacalc (calculator), Eternal Ram Disk 5. Typing Tutor (not needed if the child can already touch type) Commercial: Word Invaders (Academy Software) PD: No acceptable substitute 6. Music Program-- Commercial: Music Studio PD: Deluxe Piano (color), GFA Piano (monochrome), Kidnotes (age 10 and under) 7. Games-- Commercial: King's Quest series, Sundog, and the like, Word for Word (don't invest in Infocom programs for kids--they really need the graphics) PD: Deluxe Stone Age, DGDB (color), Awari (mono) And here's a somewhat more limited listing of recommended programs for preschoolers and first- and second-graders: 1. Drawing-- Commercial: Preschool Kidprogs (MichTron) PD: Kidgrid,Kidgraph, Kidgrid2 (these last two for kids over 4 only) 2. Word Processing-- Commercial: Kidtalk (1st Byte) 3. Typing Tutor-- Commercial: ABZoo (MichTron) PD: No acceptable alternative 4. Music Program-- Commercial: Preschool Kidprogs (MichTron) PD: Kidpiano, Kidnotes, Kidsong1 ("Makin' Aiken") 5. Games-- Commercial: Preschool Kidprogs (MichTron) PD: Barnyard2 ("Picture Barnyard") THE MISGUIDED USE OF COMPUTERS IN THE SCHOOLS Most local schools provide computers in each classroom and some have "computer labs". The machines are used for isolated computing experiences. The kids may play an "educational" game or work through an electronic worksheet, or they may even learn some programming skills, but in all cases the use of the computer seems to be a separate experience, essentially unrelated to other schoolwork and other purposes. How much more beneficial it would be if schools showed kids how to use computers FOR EVERYDAY NEEDS. The computer becomes a tool. Now THAT's an education. Submitted by D.A. Brumleve for the CUSTUG December Newsdisk, 1987. (c)1987 D.A. Brumleve _______________________________________ EXPO DETAILS _______________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Howard Whitman, SCTE, (215) 363-6888 EXHIBIT FLOOR SOLD OUT FOR SCTE'S 1988 CABLE-TEC EXPO There is no remaining exhibit space available for the 1988 Cable-Tec Expo, to be held June 16-19 at the San Francisco Hilton and Towers in San Francisco, Ca., it was recently announced. Sponsored by the Society of Cable Television Engineers, Inc. (SCTE), Cable-Tec Expo is a fully technical conference and trade show offering an instructional exhibit floor featuring all areas of cable industry hardware, as well as a wide variety of educational programs, hands-on training sessions and technical workshops. Over 85 exhibiting companies, displaying all types of products, services and equipment used in the operation of cable television systems have rented space on the exhibit floor for Cable-Tec Expo '88. The exhibit hall has been carefully coordinated to provide industry suppliers with the opportunity to present live technical demonstrations of their products in a relaxed and non-commercial atmosphere. An added feature on the floor will be the Technical Training Center offering additional equipment demonstrations. "We are very encouraged by the interest the industry has shown in Cable-Tec Expo '88," commented SCTE Executive Vice President Bill Riker. "The exhibit hall has never sold out as quickly as it has this year, and we feel this bodes very well for the overall success of the expo. "This is the second year in a row that the exhibit hall has sold out, "Riker continued. "Cable-Tec Expo '87 showed a 30% increase in attendance over the previous year, and are confident that Expo '88 will be another record-breaking event." Riker added that companies wishing to exhibit at Cable-Tec Expo '88 can contact SCTE national headquarters to be placed on a waiting list and contacted in the event of an exhibitor's cancellation. Registration packets for Cable-Tec Expo '88 will be mailed out to SCTE national members in January 1988. Persons interested in further information on Cable-Tec Expo '88 are encouraged to contact SCTE national headquarters at (215) 363-6888. _______________________________________ CREATING YOUR OWN PRINTER CABLE _______________________________________ by Don Garr Have you ever wanted to buy an Atari 850 interface but when you added up the price for the interface and the cable, you needed to make it work, it was just too much. The printer cable for the 850 runs about $30.00 and adding that to the price of the interface has probably prevented more people from making the purchase than just me. Everytime I look at the magazine adds and see the 850 for $99.00 I think, wow, I sure would like to get it but the whole purchase would be more like $130.00. Well now I have the answer for you...make your own cable. For less than $10.00 and these instructions you can construct your own cable. Go to Radio Shack and get two connectors, a parallel printer connector: (1 cat. no. 276-1534A) price $4.99 and a D-subminature MALE 15 pin connector (1 cat. no. 276-1527) price $2.49. And the last ingredient you need is a cable with at least 12 conductors. Now, how to connect them: DB-15/850 36 pin (Centronics) ==================================== 1.................. 1 data strobe 2.................. 2 data 0 3.................. 3 data 1 4.................. 4 data 2 5.................. 5 data 3 6.................. 6 data 4 7.................. 7 data 5 8.................. 8 data 6 11................. 14 Grnd 12................. 32 fault 13................. 11 busy 15................. 9 data 7 Your Atari computer sends data out of the I/O (Input/Output) port in an arrangement called serial. Serial data is sent out 1 single bit at a time. Standard printers are set up to receive data in an arrangement called parallel. Parallel data is sent 8 bits at one time, hence all 8 bits are in parallel. The 850 interface receives the serial data from the computer saves the data until it has 8 bits and then sends the data out in a parallel arrangement. If you look at the signal cable above you'll see data 0 thru 7... totalling, yep you guessed it, 8 BITS. Funny how that works out, isn't it? And now for you Atari ST owners here's a pin out chart for creating a printer cable for the ST. (Instead of a DB-15 you'll need to purchase a DB-25 (Radio Shack cat. no. 276-1547) price $1.49. DB-25 36 pin (Centronics) ============================= 1........ 1 2........ 2 3........ 3 4........ 4 5........ 5 6........ 6 7........ 7 8........ 8 9........ 9 10....... 10 11....... 11 12....... 12 13....... 13 20....... 18 21....... 19 22....... 20 23....... 21 24....... 22 25....... 23 26....... 24 27....... 25 31....... 16 32....... 15 You know the thing about making your own cable is that you can save a bunch of money and make it any length you want. You should limit the length to under 150' but I don't think that should normally be a problem with us home computer buffs. Well good luck, and happy computing (and printing). _______________________________________ FOREM COUPON and CORRECTION NOTICE _______________________________________ by Calamity Jane I must apologize to Matt Singer... The discount coupon for the FoReM BBS program that I worked up for him which appeared in Issue #12 of ST-Report and Zmag81 is getting some response. But when I screw up I do a good job. I must of been in New Mexico that morning, because on the coupon I have Farmington, and Matt lives in Framingham. Geeze. Close but no cigar. Do you know how LONG I stared at that coupon, while working it up >>?? Along with the ad I received in the mail >>?? I have no excuse. Thank you Matt, for calling my BBS, letting me know of my mistake and for being so nice about it... Try this... Commnet Systems 50 Eaton Road Framingham, MA 01701 For the most powerful BBS System for the IBM and Atari ST... -=-CJ-=- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *12/19/87 ST-Report * * FoReM BBS Coupon Offer * * The Most Powerful BBS System for Atari ST & IBM * * Exclusively for the Readers of Zmagazine/ST-Report * * * * NEW 2.0! * $59.95 * * * * Fifteen dollars off if you send in this coupon to: * * * * Commnet Systems * * 50 Eaton Road * * Framingham, MA 01701 * * (617)877-0257 (Voice) * * (617)877-8756 (BBS) * * Specify ST or PC Please * * * * This Offer May be Withdrawn At Any Time * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * _______________________________________ _______________________________________ ERROR 164 (for 8 bitters) _______________________________________ 201366 S3/Utilities 15-Dec-87 03:04:41 Sb: #201344-#mess.fix Fm: Bill Wilkinson [OSS] 73177,2714 To: MR GOW 73167,3607 There is NO program that can GUARANTEE to fix a disk when you get an error 164. An error 164 usually results when you have two files trying to use the same spot on the disk. This usually happens because you have saved one file to disk, done something illegal, and then saved a second file to the same disk. The second file is probably okay and is probably completely accessible. But the first file is simply GONE because the second file has written over the top of it. Period. Can you recover part of the damaged file? Possibly. But I would suggest that unless it is a text file (e.g., a word processing data file or possibly a LISTed -- NOT SAVEd -- program) the effort is bound to fail. Most SAVEd files, whether binary files or BASIC programs, simply CAN NOT be restored if they are missing pieces. Sorry. Having said all that, what CAN you do with a damaged disk? Well, the DISKFIX utility that is part of DOS 2.5 will at least TRY to recover as much of a disk as it can. But if it decides a file is damaged beyond repair, it simply removes the file from the directory! So I would recommend making a sector copy of any damaged disk before attempting to use DOS 2.5's DISKFIX.COM program. You can get DISKFIX here on CIS, in the DL's (DL 3, file DISKFI.*). But I personally recommend that you send off to Atari for a copy of not only a disk with DOS 2.5 but also a really good manual. The manual alone is worth the $10 or so that Atari charges. Finally: The Atari DOS manual suggests this program to recover as much as possible of a damaged file, so long as the file is not bigger than available RAM in your machine: 10 PRINT "INSERT DAMAGED DISK THEN GIVE NAME OF FILE TO RECOVER "; 20 F=FRE(0)-300 : DIM BUF$(F),FILE$(20) 30 INPUT FILE$ 40 OPEN #1,4,0,FILE$ 50 TRAP 100 60 FOR I=1 TO F : GET #1,B : BUF$(I)=CHR$(B) 70 NEXT I 80 PRINT "FILE TOO BIG" 90 END 100 REM GET HERE ON ERROR... 110 TRAP 120 : CLOSE #1 120 PRINT "INSERT FORMATTED DISK THEN GIVE NAME TO SAVE FILE TO "; 130 INPUT FILE$ 140 OPEN #2,8,0,FILE$ 150 PRINT #2; BUF$ ; You could be neat and add line 160: 160 END Finally, line 150 might be safer done as: 150 FOR J=1 TO I-1 : PUT #2,ASC(BUF$(J)) : NEXT J OOPS...One more finally. In one of my articles in COMPUTE in that last year, I discussed probable causes of messed up disks. I noted that I personally have virtually NEVER had a disk messed up by DOS. Reason: I never never never change disks unless the program tells me to do so. If I am changing disks while using BASIC, I always type "END" before doing so. In desparation, I will hit RESET before changing. The single most common cause of disk crashes is inserting a new disk while a file (or files) is still OPEN for output on the first one. This can happen with word processing programs, data bases, etc., etc. ALWAYS WAIT for the program to tell you it is time to swap disks. ALWAYS use the menus to get to the "disk change" point. NEVER just yank a disk and plunk in a new one. These are a FEW hints from that article. Good luck. _____________________________________ SURGE PROTECTION _____________________________________ Copyright (C) 1987 by Garry Jones DO-IT-YOUSELF SURGE PROTECTION FOR YOUR COMPUTER When setting up a computer system, one piece of equipment which might get overlooked is a surge protector. The purpose of a surge protector is to protect equipment from voltage spikes and surges caused by lightning strikes on power lines (c'mon, it never rains is Southern California, does it?), electrical equipment turning on and off (you didn't really plug your computer into the same circuit as your refrigerator, did you?), the crummy wiring in your apartment that your landlords won't fix because they're too cheap, and just plain lousy performance by your friendly local Edison Company. A surge protector works by clamping the voltage and preventing it from rising beyond 130 volts when a sudden increase occurs. To do this, a surge protector uses a device called a metal oxide varistor, or MOV for short. Of course, you want to know if they wear out, and when they do, how to tell. MOVs do have a finite life, depending on the number and severity of surges they're exposed to. When they fail, they typically create a short which will pop a circuit breaker if one is included in the circuit, immediately shutting off the power and saving the equipment. Buying a surge protector is something of a problem, since not all surge protectors are created equal. Good ones are fairly expensive (there's plenty of expensive junk out there, too); how do you tell the good from the bad, and what do you do for cash after you spent the last of it on some superwhizbang software for your new computer? Good news for you clever hacker types who can tell a hot soldering iron when you pick it up (by the wrong end): Make your own surge protector. It's easy, it's cheap, and best of all, it might even work. For the rest of you who haven't developed opposable thumbs yet, watch the ground for pennies, steal candy from babies and sell it to bigger babies, see a loan shark, and read PC (Can you say, "PC?" Sure. I knew you could. It does mean IBM, but your tongue didn't dry up and fall out of your mouth, did it?) Magazine's product tests and take their advice. Anyway, on to the project. You'll need a power strip (make sure you get the kind you can disassemble with a screwdriver instead of a hacksaw), three metal oxide varistors: (General Electric part no. V130LA20A (which means 130 volts 20 amps) Radio Shack catalog no. 276-568B), some rosin core solder (DO NOT USE ACID CORE SOLDER OR FLUX: it will corrode the solder joints in time, ruining them), some miscellaneous tools, like Xacto knives, alligator clips, wire cutters, etc., and a soldering iron. Three hands would be nice, but you can probably manage with two. Most of us do. Take the back off the power strip and look inside. If it has outlets, wires (three of them?), and a cord, it'll work. Notice the three wires inside: they're probably black, green, and white. White is the hot wire, green the ground, and black the common. Now, strip some insulation off the wires. Take one varistor and solder one of its' wire legs to the white wire, and the other leg to the green wire. Fasten an alligator clip to the leg being soldered between the solder joint and the varistor to prevent heat damage to the varistor while soldering. Do the same thing with the second varistor, except it should be soldered to the green wire and the black wire. Solder the third varistor to the black wire and the white wire. Clean the solder joints with a rag dipped in a little alcohol, and examine the joints. There should be a smooth shiny flow of solder between the wire leg of the varistor and the copper wire in the power strip. If the joint is dull, lumpy, or flawed in appearance, resolder it. When all the joints look good, reassemble the power strip. Sit back. Relax. You're done now. Wasn't that easy? Can you say, "Easy?" Sure. I knew you could. -Garry Jones- Compuserve: 72030,273 GENIE: GXRAY _______________________________________ PROBING YOUR ST _______________________________________ by Mr. Goodprobe The following is a copy of a letter we received approximately 11/6/87. " Dear Customer, We very much appreciate your order for a Translator, or a Translator as part of the Magic Sac Professional package. We're running late on shipping them, as you know, and rather than leave you wondering what's going on, we thought we'd tell you our current status. We've always believed in telling our users about known bugs in our software, as you've seen. We don't see any reason to change that policy on bugs in our production process. It's always a little harder having your warts bared in public, but we think you appreciate our honesty. First, the Translator is done, and has been for a long time. We've found a few minor bugs in it, all fixed, during the last couple of months, but they are minor stuff-- mis-spellings in diagnostic messages, stuff like that. I've got ten of them sitting in our lab and they work fine:these are ten I soldered by hand. The hard part for us is getting the things made. It works in four stages. First, you get the circuit boards manufactured. Second, you obtain all the needed parts. Third, you get the parts soldered into the circuit board, and finally, you test, package, and ship the board. The circuit boards are long since done. We obtained all the parts awhile ago. We had them soldered in...and none, zero, of the boards worked. Something was terribly wrong. After a week of so of testing, we found that we'd mis-supplied a key chip. It was supposed to be a part compatible to an AD558 digital to analog converter, and indeed part of the manufacturer's part number had an AD558 in it. What it turned out to be was some weird clock chip. Anytime it was powered on, it sent minus two volt spikes into the rest of the board, which damaged other chips, chiefly the microprocessor. This was very hard to find because every one of the AD588 chips we had was bad, and every board they were plugged into became damaged. You just don't expect an entire run of chips to be bad: you usually swap chips one at a time to look for problems. And anytime we'd swap AD588's, it'd damage out another chip on the board. Well, we finally got that solved. We had some real AD588's Fed-Exed in, removed all the bogus AD588 chips and replaced them with real ones. Then we tested a lot of boards and replaced the chips that had been burnt out; naturally, the most expensive chip on the board, the 64180 microprocessor, was the one most often damaged. (We are considering making 64180 key-rings and selling them; we've got a supply of dead chips you wouldn't believe.) Testing continued. Now our salespeople were unaware of the extent of our problems. They were told that we thought we could have them worked out by the time we were ready to start shipping. Sometimes, you work on a problem and don't know when it will end until you've finished it. This was one of the problems. Anyway, by the time all this trouble with parts was done, we'd missed our production slot at our board assembly house; they had another big order they had to work on. They scheduled us in for the next slot. Then the production manager up there quit, and we had to train a new person in the special testing techniques we use to make sure the boards are solid. Well, the upshot of all this is we're going to be about two weeks late. We've got good parts now in quantity, boards, firm production and shipping dates, and we will ship the week of Novemeber 16-20. There's just no way we could speed up the process; we tried everything humanly possible to do it. When you're given bad parts, there's just nothing you can do. I apologize to each and every one of you that ordered based on a Nov. 1 ship date, or earlier; while we can say "its not our fault", the truth is, it is our responsibility, and we accept that. If you are tired of waiting and want your money back, I can understand it. just let us know, and we will return it to you promptly and cheerfully. It's been a hard number of weeks, with lots of late hours, trying to overcome these problems, so you'll understand this is a difficult letter for me to write. I don't like being late on orders. I very much appreciate the faith you've put in us by ordering, and I want to return that faith by being honest with you and telling you where things stand. yes, we are going to be two weeks late; yes, we did everything we could to avoid it; yes, we take responsibility for it. We certainly take credit for bad parts, but it's up to us to do something about it. Again, those of you that have placed deposits are first in line for the units as they come off production testing, in our agreed-upon first-ordered first- shipped. No dealer or distributor is getting Translators ahead of you, count on it. (Yes, we've received considerable pressure from distributors to do this, and we would not). Our top priority at Data Pacific is getting these Translators out as soon as possible. We owe you, our customers, that for your patience. I'd like to tell you that if you have any problems getting the unit, or with the Translator itself, you can write or call me personally at Data Pacific, and I'll personally make sure we get it straightened out in a hurry. It's really the least I can do given the loyal support you have given me. Our address and phone number are on the first page of this letter. Again, thank you for your support; our company wouldn't exist without you, and we're well aware of it. We believe we have the best customers around; time and time again they've proven it with bug reports, by letting us know how to improve the product, by telling us what we need to know to be a service- oriented company. Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. Sincerely, Dave Small Developer " The reason I brought this to your attention is: this letter is a good lesson to anyone who is in business, or hopes to dive into this fascinating world of computer products. Data Pacific, despite all the problems they had, took the blame for what happened. That shows me that they have the character one looks for, and sadly rarely ever finds. When an unhappy customer calls your place of business, the last thing they want to hear is "It's not my fault!" Data Pacific took the blame for something they really had no control over, and that shows me that they truly are a company which is going to support their product well, answer any questions you might have, and do things in general the old fashioned way. This is all the more reason you should feel comfortable in purchasing the Magic Sac cartridge for your ST, and the Translator One, which allows your St to directly read Macintosh disks. There is no better feeling than knowing if you have questions, the company who made an item is more than willing to help you in your dilemma. Mr. Goodprobe _______________________________________ ST-REPORT 14 December 19, 1987 (c)1987 Syndicate Services/Rovac Probing your ST (c)1987 Syndicate Services _______________________________________