ftp.whtech.com/ftp.whtech.com.tar/ftp.whtech.com/articles/limanews/RAVEKEY2.TXT

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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN LIMA
NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 1988


     ^^^^^^^A REVIEW OF THE RAVE
99/105 KEYBOARD
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^by Charles Good
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Lima Ohio User Group

    In an article I wrote last year
about expanding 99/4A systems cheaply,
I stated, "Because of cost, I can't
recommend the fancy (RAVE) keyboard..."
Well, guess what?  I bought one anyway!
If you already have two double sided
drives, a good printer, lots of
Horizon Ramdisk capacity, and are still
looking for additional ways to expand
your 99/4A system then the RAVE
keyboard deserves serious
consideration.  In terms of
cost/benefit the question of
whether the additional features of the
RAVE keyboard justify the price of
$199.95 (Why not be honest, RAVE, and
make the cost an even $200?) only you
can decide.

     INSTALLATION: You have to remove
the existing keyboard from your console
and install a circuit board in its
place.  Very detailed directions and
illustrations for this procedure are in
the RAVE docs.  The process does not
require any soldering, and took me
about 25 minutes.  Basically all you do
is unscrew the console covering, unplug
the internal components including the
original keyboard, plug the circuit
board into the motherboard in place of
the keyboard, and screw everything back
together again.  You plug the keyboard
into a connector on the circuit board.
The keyboard attaches to the console
with a very sturdy coiled cord that can
extend about 5 feet.  It can easily be
unpluged if necessary.

    The general appearence of the
console after the RAVE circuit board is
attached is rather ugly.  The circuit
board is recessed about 1 inch below
the top of the console and has lots of
chips and a few wires exposed to view.
You can, if you wish, spend $12 and
purchase from RAVE an optional plastic
cover that mounts flush with the top of
the console.  This seems rather
expensive to me for just a piece of
plastic.  I have read in the
newsletters of some users who have made
their own home made covers.  I choose
not to use a cover.  In my system the
console is out of sight, so the ugly
doesn't show.  Also, I suspect that
without a cover cooling is improved.
Air can get in to the power supply from
the side now in addition to the normal
"in the bottom and out the top"
convection cooling air.  I realize that
this means dust can get into the
console, but I don't think dust by
itself is much of a problem to
electronics.

    Although the RAVE keyboard replaces
the console keyboard, you still need
access to the console and can't get
away with hiding the console in some
difficult to get at out of the way
place.  You have to get at the module
port, and you have to use the console's
on/off switch for correct system
powerup and powerdown.  For example, my
GRAM KRACKER, sometimes loses part of
its memory if I turn off the PE box
without first turning off the console,
which means I can't get away with using
a switched plug box to turn on and off
my entire system all at once with just
one on/off switch.  This GK memory loss
can occur even after I first move the
GK's NORMAL/GK OFF switch to the GK OFF
position, which I always do.  Use of
the RAVE keyboard will significantly
increase the footprint (required flat
surface area) of your system, and
potential purchasers should keep this
in mind before purchase.

    RAVE keyboard owners can purchase
an optional wiring harness that allows
the keyboard's HELP button to act as a
reset and load interrupt switch.
Installation of this option requires
some soldering.  It is not necessary to
solder or desolder chips, so the work
probably isn't very delicate.  Since I
already have a reset switch in my
system, I did not choose this RAVE
keyboard option.

     THE KEYBOARD:
    The current version of the RAVE
keyboard has 105 keys and is quite
different from the original 101 key
RAVE keyboard that was reviewed in the
December 86 issue of Micropendium.
Almost all operational details of the
new keyboard are different from those
described in the Micropendium review,
so prospective purchasers will get a
much better description of the current
product by reading this review rather
than referring back to the review
published in Micropendium.  The current
model 99/105 keyboard is probably
better than the original, and the cost
is higher.

    What can you do on the 99/4A with
105 keys? Except for the
load-interrupt/reset option mentioned
above, and the rather unimportant
ENHANCE key (described below), there is
nothing you can do with RAVE's 105 keys
that can't be done with the 99/4A's 48
keys.  The RAVE keyboard does make
things easier to do, in some cases much
easier.  Whether this extra ease is
worth $200 only the reader can decide.

    Keyboard feel is softer than that
of the keys usually found on black and
silver consoles.  The feel resembles
that of the keys on the newer gray
consoles or the exact replacement
99/4A keyboards now available at Radio
Shack (See a review of these  exact
replcement keyboards in the October 88
BB&&P.) There is a numeric keypad on
the right side which includes a
decimal, all digits, *, -, and + but
does not include an = key or a separate
RETURN key.  The following keys are
enlarged on the RAVE keyboard for easy
touch typing: ESCAPE, CONTROL, SHIFT,
BACK SPACE (left arrow), ENHANCE, down
arrow, RETURN (same as ENTER on the
original keyboard), DELETE, and ZERO
(on the numeric keypad).

    There are 24 numbered function keys
that do with one keypress the same
thing as FCTN/(top keyrow) and
CTRL/(top keyrow) on the original
keyboard.  This still leaves extra
function keys for more stuff such as
F21 used for BEGINNING OF LINE (same as
CTRL/V on original keyboard) in
TI-Writer.  Some of these function keys
have additional labels that seem to
describe word processing functions.
However, these additional labels on the
numbered function keys do not
correspond to any 99/4A software that I
know of, and I find these function key
labels potentially confusing.  For
example the F4 key (same as FCTN/4 on
the original keyboard) is labeled
"PRINT".  In TI-Writer this key rolls
the display down one screen.  In
Multiplan this key moves the cursor
back one character.  Neither of these
actions is a "PRINT".  Users should
ignore all the function key labels.

    There are also specific labeled
keys that perform the named function in
both TI-Writer and Multiplan, and
sometimes in BASIC.  Unlike the weird
labels on the numbered function keys,
when you press these dedicated labeled
keys the action you  get is exactly
what the labeled name suggests.  The
dedicated keys often duplicate some of
the numbered function keys.  This means
that of the 105 keys on the keyboard,
more than one key will often do exactly
the same thing.  Labeled keys include
SCRL/BREAK (scrolls right in TI-Writer
as does F5 ... Breaks a program in
BASIC as does F4), TAB (same as F7 in
TI-Writer ... same as F12 or CTRL/2 in
Multiplan), HOME, BACK SPACE, INS
(insert, same as F2), DELETE (same as
F1), HELP (same as F7), and ESCAPE
(command/escape in TI-Writer, same as
F9).  I really like these plainly
labeled dedicated keys.

    The four separate cursor movement
keys are a real blessing any time full
screen cursor movement is allowed, such
as in T.I. Writer.

    The ALPHA LOCK does not affect
joystick operation in either position.
In the locked (down) position the quote
is automatically selected when the "/'
key is pressed.  This is very useful
when typing in or writing BASIC
programs.  One aspect of the ALPHA LOCK
key I don't like is that when the ALPHA
LOCK key is locked down to select all
upper case letters and you press SHIFT,
you get a small case letter.  I find
this confusing.  I am used to the old
keyboard and to typewriters where SHIFT
gives you a capital letter irrespective
of the position of the ALPHA LOCK.
There are no little lights on the ALPHA
LOCK, or on any other special key, to
tell you that the special key is
activated.  It is easy to forget that
ALPHA LOCK is activated (down).

    CONTROL and FCTN keys are provided
and can be used in exactly the same way
as the original keyboard, but this is
seldom needed because of the numbered
function keys.  The FCTN key is a small
key labeled "ALT" (alternate) on the
keyboard, rather than "FCTN", and its
use is almost never needed.  Regular
keys, which sometimes need to be
SHIFTed, are provided for quote,
question mark, back slash, underline,
etc.  I like this.

    FAST TERM users sometimes have to
press three keys at the same time on
the original keyboard (FCTN/SHIFT/P, T,
or X).  On the RAVE keyboard, these are
reduced to two keypresses (CONTROL/F2,
F3, or F4).

    The current keyboard has two modes
of operation, not the rather confusing
four modes described in the 1985
Micropendium review of the older model
RAVE keyboard.  The latest TENEX
catalog shows a picture of the new
keyboard, but states "four distinct
modes of operation."  I suspect TENEX
bases this statement on the now
outdated Micropendium review.  The two
modes are "MULTIPLAN/CLONE" mode 1
(SHIFT LOCK key up), and "TI-WRITER"
mode 2 (SHIFT LOCK key down).  The
quoted names are from the docs.  I have
no idea what "CLONE" means.  I prefer
to call mode 1 "MULTIPLAN/EVERYTHING
ELSE" because this is the mode the docs
say should be used with any software
that has a prompt strip.  This includes
either BASIC.

    The TI 99/4A console can recognize
two key codes that cannot be created
with the original keyboard.  The RAVE
keyboard can generate these "missing
keys" with its ENHANCE key.  One code
is ENHANCE and the other is
ENHANCE/SHIFT.  Only ENHANCE is
recognized in BASIC, and can be
detected by a -1 in the "return
variable" of CALL KEY.  The docs state
that, "you may be confident that these
keys are truly unused key codes that
have never been used in a program up to
now."  So what good are the ENHANCE key
codes if only those with a RAVE
keyboard can use them?  Not much.  The
only use I can think of for these key
codes is security.  You could, for
example, require the use of an ENHANCE
key code in your personal checkbook
program so that only users of a RAVE
keyboard can read and alter your check
records.  Jim Peterson (Tigercub
Software) has several methods to hide
code in an XBASIC program so that the
code is not obvious when LISTing the
program.

     COMPATIBILITY:
    The Rave 99/105 keyboard is
compatible with all software I have
tried EXCEPT Gram Kracker Extended
Basic (also known as GK UTILITY I).
This "adds features to regular extended
basic" software allows you to move the
cursor up and down rows when editing a
program line or in an INPUT statement
from within a program with FCTN/SHIFT/E
or X.  You can also move instatantly to
the beginning or end of a program or
INPUT line with FCTN/SHIFT/S or E with
GK extended basic.  These keystrokes
don't do this with the RAVE keyboard.
I have discovered that when using the
RAVE keyboard with GK extended basic
CONTROL/F1 will move the cursor to the
end of a program or INPUT line, and
CONTROL/F4 moves the cursor down one
row.  I have not discovered the secret
of moving the cursor up one row, or
instantly to the beginning of the line.
While not many T.I. users use GK
extended basic, there are many who have
purchased the SUPER EXTENDED BASIC
(version 120) module from TRITON or TEX
COMP.  I understand that this module is
an expanded version of GK extended
basic.  This probably means that SUPER
EXTENDED BASIC module users will have
similar problems with the RAVE
keyboard.

     FINAL COMMENTS:
    I recommend to the manufacturer
three changes to the 99/105 keyboard.
First I would get rid of the
meaningless labels on the numbered
function keys.  This requires a little
paint on the existing keys, or
different plastic keytops.  Second, the
incompatibility problem described above
should be corrected.  Finally, I would
like to have a keyboard buffer, a small
amount of RAM that remembers the
previous 10 or so keycodes.  This would
allow you to avoid the occasional
dropped letter that occurs at word wrap
in the TI-Writer/FUNNELWEB editor.
Since the RAVE keyboard already
includes a separate circuit board, it
seems to me that it wouldn't be too
difficult to design such a keyboard
buffer for the circuit board.

    I have gotten quite used to the
RAVE keyboard.  It indeed is easier to
use and much nicer than the original
keyboard, and I am glad to have it.
From strictly a cost/benefit basis, the
$200 cost of the RAVE probably doesn't
justify the features gained.  However,
to many users such as myself, the 99/4A
is a hobby.  Such users sometimes crave
the very best for their computer
systems irrespective of cost.  If you
are such a user then the RAVE keyboard
may be for you.  For the 99/4A it
definitely is the very best!
    .PL 1