Archive Magazine 1995/ARCHIVE95.iso/text/products/volume_03/issue_08

Text File | 1995-02-16 | 13KB | 245 lines

Å   A3000 Technical Manual Ö Acorn have produced a manual for the A3000
which includes full circuit diagrams including the User port/Midi I/O
podule and various other bits of hardware and interfacing information
(ú29.95 from Acorn or ú28 through Archive). It consists of an A4 ring
binder with 32 pages of text plus all the various physical and circuit
diagrams, some of which are in separate plastic folders.
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Å   A400 series prices reduced Ö Acorn have reduced the prices of the
A410, A420 and A440/1 as well as the A3000. Also, if you are thinking of
an upgraded 410, note that we now sell Oak Computersæ ST506 drives which
are cheaper than the Computerware equivalents. Acornæs new prices and
the upgraded 410 equivalents (all including VAT) are as follows:
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   Acorn   Our   Acorn   Our
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   Old   New   equiv.   Educ.   equiv.
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A3000   746   689   Ö   574   Ö
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A410/1   1379   1264   Ö   1034   Ö
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A420/1   1954   1724   1530   1466
1304
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A440/1   2874   2414   1860   2053
1634
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The Archive prices include ú50 worth of free software of your choice
with an A3000 and ú100 worth of free software with a 410.
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(If you want an Acorn monitor at the same time, add ú230 and if you want
an Eizo 9060SZ lowradiation, multisync monitor at the same time, add
ú510.)
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Å   A410 ram upgrades Ö The threatened price rise has not come Ö 410 ram
is still only ú80/Mbyte and if you buy it fitted into an A410, it is
only ú70/Mbyte as reflected in the Archive prices for upgraded 410æs
quoted above.
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(Note that an Archimedes can only have 1, 2 or 4 M of ram, not 3. So, if
you order ö2M of ram for a 410ò, we will presume you mean that want a
further 2M to add to your already upgraded 2M computer.)
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Å   Apocalypse Ö 3D space shootemup game from 4th Dimension which also
requires some brain power Ö ú29.95 (or ú28 through Archive).
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Å   Archive Monthly Program Discs Ö To reiterate for the benefit of new
members of Archive, these are available at ú3 each. There is one each
month and, although there is no disc subscription as such, you can order
them in advance. So you could send in, say, ú18 and ask for the next six
program discs starting from Volume 3, issue 8, or whatever. When we send
out the last disc for which you have prepaid, we put in a note to that
effect.
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What is on the discs? Well, to be frank, the contents is very variable.
If there are any listings in the magazine, whether in main articles or
in Hints & Tips, they will be put on the disc. Then, if any of the
contributors send in sample files, we include those. For example, Gerald
Fitton has included a lot of examples that readers have sent in of
applications of Pipedream. Then, if there are other public domain
programs or demos we have lying around, we may stick a few of those on
it. So, sometimes it represents exceptional value at ú3 but at others
less so. Unfortunately, we havenæt really got the time to ensure that
the standard is maintained at a constant level, so itæs up to you to
decide if it is worth paying ú3 a month in advance or if itæs better to
wait and see what the magazine says is on the disc.
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Å   Brainsoft MultiI/O podules Ö Unfortunately there has been a problem
with the supply of the Brainsoft I/O podules. Technomatic who are now,
we understand, the sole agents for Brainsoft, do not seem able or
prepared to give us any discount. We will therefore be unable to supply
them.
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Å   Bug Hunter / Moon Dash Ö Two in one games from Minerva. Bug Hunter is
an animal going round various rooms trying to pick up objects and drop
them on top of a variety of insects. Moon Dash is a variation on space
invaders. ú17.95 or ú17 through Archive.
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Å   Careware N╝7 Ö contains all sorts of utilities such as Keith Sloanæs
new improved !PCDir 1.00, for transfering files between Archimedes and
MSDOS, !FontEd, !Chars, Sprite <Ö> GIF, Amiga/ST/MacPaint Ö> Sprite,
Draw Ö> Metafiles, 12 BBC fonts, Batch file printer driver, Printer
buffer, Z88 link, File utilities, Desktop BASIC module, Jot pad,
Application examiner, Lowmemory screen mode and various other bits and
pieces.
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Å   ChangeFSI Ö Acorn have changed the status of the graphics application,
ChangeFSI. After releasing it into the public domain including putting
it as a free download on SID, Acorn have now decided that it is no
longer public domain! Iæm not sure whether they expect the hundreds of
people who already have the program to destroy their copy, but they say
it is now no longer to be distributed on our Shareware discs. We have
complied with their request and replaced it on Shareware 21 with
!Translator written by John Kortink which is, so I am told, as good as
ChangeFSI anyway. (John reckons it is better, but I suspect he may be
biassed.)
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Å   Colour Video Digitiser Ö MicroEye 1A is a new colour video digitiser
with multitasking software from Digithurst, a large company who produce
digitisers for a wide range of computers. There is a version for the
A400/1 series at ú400 + VAT and one for the A3000 series at ú495 + VAT.
Note though that the software requires 2M ram minimum, so it could not
be used on an unexpanded A310. Also available is Picture Book (ú99 +VAT)
which is a database for pictures and text.
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Å   DIY hard discs for A410 Ö If you have an A410 and would like to put a
hard disc in it, you should realise that you already have the hard disc
controller hardware. Thus, all you need is a suitable ST506 hard drive,
some metalwork, screws and a pair of cables. (The HFORM program is on
the RISCOS Support Disc.) Drives can often be bought, from various
sources, more cheaply than through Archive, so if you want to go down
that route, we can sell a hard disc mounting kit for ú19 which consists
the metalwork, screws and a pair of cables. You should note, of course,
that doing it this way is a little risky in that it may be difficult to
get support if it doesnæt work properly when you have set it up.
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Å   Geoscan (version 3) Ö A teaching aid for GCSE and A level. It consists
of (1) a booklet of worksheets and ideas for more worksheets and (2) a
wimp based database of 100 countries with 80 items of data on each.
Information is presented in charts and diagrams and can be subjected to
various statistical calculations. Geoscan is ú45 from Passkey Marketing.
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Å   Integrex colour dump Ö D.W.Brown has produced a colour dump for the
Integrex colour printer which is claimed to have a better colour
gradation than the one supplied with ProArtisan. He will supply this for
ú17 inc p&p. He also has an enhanced version which allows a colour to be
picked off the screen and printed out with varying shades. The required
shade can then be selected and your range of shades can be stored on
disc for repeated use. Using this facility, you can öfine tuneò your
colour dump. This version is ú25 inc p&p. (D.W.Brown, 2 Westend Villas,
Westend Parade, Gloucester, GL1 2RY. 0452Ö417697.)
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Å   JOYsticks!!! Ö If you pass 18 Mile End Road and see a flag flying over
the building itæs because, after months of frustration, we now have
joysticks in stock. We were getting a few joysticks at a time and
maintaining a back order list of, at times, up to 50 customeræs orders,
but Voltmace have finally provided us with a reasonable volume of their
Deltacat Mouse Eliminator joysticks.
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According to my two games consultants, Tim and Jonathan Beverley,
several games, most notably Interdictor and Rotor, are much easier to
play when using a joystick. Voltmace joysticks are now available from
stock at ú28.
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Å   Maddingly Hall Ö Adventure game from Minerva ú14.95 (or ú14 through
Archive). öMurder, mystery and intrigue in this text and graphics
adventure. Bertie Hall, a single young man with a reluctance to work, is
running short of money. In an attempt to solve his problems, he arranges
to visit rich Aunt Agatha╔ ò
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Å   Maths Pack 1 Ö HS Software have produced Maths Pack 1, Éa totally new
concept in educational softwareæ for just ú11.95. Designed for National
curriculum key stage 1, age 5 Ö 7 years.
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Å   Pineapple Digitiser now available for A3000. The popular Pineapple
colour digitiser can now be operated on the A3000 by buying their
convertor kit Ö basically a metal housing plus a 12V power supply Ö for
ú65 + VAT. (The software supplied with the digitiser has also been
improved by adding powerful noise reduction and outline drawing
facilities.)
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Å   Price cuts Ö Various items on the Archive Price List have come down in
price as a result of getting better bulk discounts on behalf of
subscribers: Computerwareæs hard disc podules for A310 (including
metalwork and cables) are now available for ú220. Panasonic printers:
the 9pin, KXP1081æs are now down to ú175 and the 24pin KXP1124æs are
down to ú275. Morleyæs A3000 memory boards are down in price Ö 1M is now
ú110 and 3M is ú330. If you have a 1M Morley board and want to upgrade
it to 3 M, just send it back to us with a cheque for ú220. (Remember,
all the Archive prices include VAT and UK carriage.)
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Å   RISCOS upgrades Ö If you are still using the Arthur operating system
and want to upgrade to RISCOS, we still have a number of upgrades
available. The full price is ú36 but to clear the stocks, we will sell
them at half price (ú18).
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Å   Serial Link to BBC Ö Ivoryash Ltd have produced a true RISCOS serial
link to BBC Micro. It installs as a disc icon on the icon bar and
thereafter is accessible as any other filer under RISCOS. Good value at
only ú9 for the software on its own. If you buy it with a serial lead,
it costs ú20. (Both prices include VAT and p&p.)
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Å   Shareware 24 is now available. It contains two applications Ö bar
chart generator and a simple database, two games Ö ballroom blitz and
ladybird, some 16bit soundtracker music, various utilities including
desktop options for *Copy *Wipe and *Count, desktop options for Epson LX
printer, a desktop printer text spooler and screen modes 20 and 21 for
NEC 3D multisync monitor.
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Å   Shareware 25 is a Maths Disc compiled by our own Brian Cowan partly
from his own work and partly from contributions from readers.
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It contains various programs: Numerical integration, Simpsonæs rule,
Solution of polynomial equations, Cubic splines and interpolation,
Primes, Series, Puzzles, FFT: BASIC, FFT: Assembler, Function plotter,
Extended precision calculator, Recurring decimals, Superfast 3d surface
plotter with movable views, Frequency and time response of linear
circuits, Pole zero plots.
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It also has a number of BASIC functions and procedures which you could
include in your own programs: Beta function, Binomial coefficients,
Elliptic integrals, Error function, Complementary error function,
Factorial, Gamma function, Logarithmic gamma function, Polynomial
interpolation, Simpsonæs rule integration, Trapezoidal integration,
Write# in ASCII form, Hyperbolic functions and inverses, Complex
arithmetic and functions, Polar to rectangular conversion and Matrix
operations: transposition, identity matrix, determinant, solve linear
equations, inverse matrix, decomposition, displaying arrays and complex
matrix operations. For anyone needing mathematical applications, this is
a very good ú3 worth! Thanks to Brian and all the contributors.
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Å   Splice Ö a film editor from Ace Computing (ú30 or ú25 through Archive)
allows you to examine and edit a film, frame by frame. If used in
conjunction with any art package, e.g. !Paint, it can allow you to make
simple cartoons by drawing each frame.
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Å   Talisman Ö A new game from Minerva. Looks like variations on a theme
of Thundermonk. ú14.95 or ú14 through Archive.
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Å   The Olympics Ö 4th Dimensionæs new Olympics program is available now
at ú19. It consists of two discs and includes Diving, Shooting, Javelin,
Swimming, Canoeing and Pole Vault!
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Å   Tween Ö from Ace Computing (ú30 or ú25 through Archive) produces films
from Draw files. It uses techniques similar to Mogul and generates a
film by calculating intermediate frames from a set of key positions.
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Å   Video Enhancer from Atomwide (ú35 through Archive) is a hardware addon
which increases the speed of the VIDC clock so that higher resolution
modes can be displayed in colour. It can produce up to 1024 x 640 or
1280 x 480 in up to 16 colours. Since the sound is generated by the
VIDC, one side effect is that when the enhancer is used, the pitch of
all sound goes up a perfect fifth! This is no problem as you can switch
the higher speed clock on and off by using a toggle switch. It can
alternatively be software switchable but this involves removing the main
p.c.b. and soldering it, so it should only be undertaken by an Acorn
component level service centre. If you are prepared to have it hardware
switched, you can fit the board yourself with a Philips screwdriver and
a bit of common sense. The enhancer comes with a disc providing various
new modes you can use though, of course, the enhanced displays can only
be viewed on multisync monitors. (Atomwide tell us that these higher
resolution modes do not show up very well on the Taxan 770, but are
excellent on the Eizo 9060.)
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