*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*››MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 1991 MEETING. ›-------------------------------------››GENERAL MEETING:››NEW MEMBERS:››CURT VENDEL is one of two new members ›of our club. He lives in Staten ›Island. He is a collector of Atari ›equipment. He has some very unusual ›Atari equipment which he said he will ›bring to the January, 18,1992 ›meeting. CURT welcome to the club.››Also welcome to the club is WILL ›ROTH. Bill, we know you are closer to ›ATARI CORP. from your home in ›Woodland CA., but we are very glad to ›have you as a new member, joining our ›many other out of the area members.››The GENERAL AGENDA for our meetings ›is as follows: (not always followed ›due to unforseen circumstances)››11:30 - 1:00 PM Set up & Hello'S› 1:00 - 1:05 Welcome & Intro new ›Members› 1:05 - 1:20 Committee Reports› 1:05 - 1:20 Including Treas/Newslt› 1:20 - 1:50 Read min./Corresp.› 1:50 - 2:10 Coffee & Cake› 2:10 - 2:30 Question & Answers› 2:30 - 3:00 Business Meeting› 3:00 - 4:45 Demonstrations› 4:45 - 5:00 Police up Area› 5:00 Meeting adjourns. (SHUCKS)››CORRESPONDENCE:››A letter from HORST DE WITZ about the ›BIT BYTERS meeting in Germany. He was ›the lead off speaker. He conveyed our ›greetings and presented ABBUC with ›the PROGRAMMING KIT, the latest of ›our NEWSLETTER on disk and a DISK ›FULL OF PROGRAMS. This prompted a ›long ovation for OL' HACKERS from the ›members. He further presented gifts ›from ATARI INTERFACE, JACE, NAPCO, ›CURRENT NOTES and greetings from BOB ›PUFF. ABBUC sends their best wishes ›to all of us. There were 7 or 8 ›vendors displaying their ware. Most ›interesting was a FLOPPY INTERFACE ›making it possible to run a 3.5 ›floppy drive with the XL/XE using ›MYDOS or SPARTA DOS. This was made by ›a member. After 6PM the meeting broke ›up and some went to a GASTHAUS for ›some refershments. Horst told them, ›he could not understand the ›documentation for MAGIC PLAYER ›therefore he could not translate ›them. Some members of ABBUC had the ›same problem. They have decided to ›rewrite them in a more understandable ›fashion. They are considering a ›weekly network hookup of LIAUG'S (OL' ›H. members are given full validation ›on the BBS) and ABBUC'S BBS. Language ›on the network would be English. ›HORST said that this is his last ›report as the international ›correspondent because his 8-Bit ›equipment is falling apart. We are ›sorry to hear of this and we hope he ›gets his equipment going again.››CURT VENDEL our newest member ›introduced himself. He has been with ›Atari since 1982. He used to run a ›BBS in Staten Island. He is a ›collector of Atari equipment. Curt ›has some very exotic Atari equipment. ›He promised to bring some of his ›equipment to the January meeting. ›Thanks Curt, for getting involved in ›club activities right away.››NEWSLETTER:››The SAN LEANDRO JOURNAL has a full ›page article on the PROGRAMMING KIT. ›They had a meeting with all the big ›wheels of Atari Corp. and lo and ›behold the OL' HACKERS PROGRAMMING ›KIT was demo'd, and The OL' HACKERS ›got honorable mention.››From the XIO GARDEN CITY ACE, CANADA ›NEWSLETTER: They complimented us in ›their newsletter as a very active 8 ›Bit club. Our Newsletter was made the ›Disk Of The Month (D.O.M.).››From STATUS Newsletter Sep/Oct they ›also mentioned our Newsletter and the ›article COLOR PRINTING IS FOR ›EVERYONE by Ron Fetzer. Also an ›article on Shareware from CALAMITY ›JANE which was from a previous ›newsletter. BYTES and PIECES by ALEX ›PIGNATO was also mentioned. Way to ›go!››The SAGE SCROLL from the SPECTRUM ›ATARI GROUP, EIRE PA. They commented ›on the very high quality of our ›newsletters. Our newsletter will be ›featured at their next meeting ›according to Bob Buman, Editor.››From the HUSTON ATARI COMPUTER ›NEWSLETTER a review by HAROLD GAILEY ›of PIC PRINT HIGHLIGHTS from AIM. He ›had the same problem we had, a lack ›of docs. HAROLD got hold of the docs ›from the author and we asked him to ›send us a copy. We enclosed a disk ›from our library for HAROLD.››We seem to be receiving favourable ›mention from many different quarters, ›for our NEWSLETTER ON DISK!.››CORRESPONDENCE:››JIM CUTLER our member from ENGLAND, ›wrote to ALEX. He liked the ARC file ›disk that ALEX sent him. He said the ›NEW ATARI USER MAGAZINE from PAGE 6 ›is deteriorating fast. He said he ›will not subscribe to it anymore if ›it continues this way. He said he ›will send us a copy, which ALEX said ›was received with thanks to ol' ›faithfull JIM CUTLER. JIM CUTTLER has ›enriched our P.D. Library, as he has ›sent us a load of stuff from England ›and Europe which we would never have ›received without him. JIM thank you ›very much on behalf of all of us. JIM ›also went out of his way to purchase ›and send us the magazine NEW ATARI ›USER. This magazine mostly carries ›articles on XL/XE with a little bit ›for the ST. They also feature a type ›in section. We also received the disk ›that goes with the magazine.››ALEX wrote a letter to BEN POEHLAND ›the 8-BIT editor of C.N. (CURRENT ›NOTES magazine), and he photo copied ›parts of the NEW ATARI USER and sent ›them to him, as per his request.››Another letter to BEN POEHLAND from ›HORST DE WITZ about the lack of 8 Bit ›material.››We got a letter from WILL ROTH in ›WOODLAND CA. He said he wanted to ›become a full member of our group and ›he ordered the 3 disk PROGRAMMING ›KIT.››NIEK VANDERLEE sent us a postcard ›from Holland, where he is ›vacationing. He says he couldnt find ›much in the stores for the 8 BIT.››We decided to make a contribution to ›LIAUG and the BBS of $50.00. It was ›approved by the membership. JIM ›HARRIS said that BBS is there and for ›us to use it. LIAUG and the OL' ›HACKERS always had a special ›relationship and that also extends to ›the BBS. ALAN SHARKIS made a motion ›to contribute $50.00 to LIAUG for the ›maintenance of the BBS. ALLAN ATKINS ›seconded the motion. The motion was ›carried unanimously, by the club ›members.››ALAN SHARKIS made up forms for ›members to order any of the many old ›and new Newsletter from other ATARI ›clubs, that they might want to read. ›A great idea.››JIM HARRIS the SYSOP of the BBS said ›that it cost him approximately $30.00 ›a month in phone and related bills to ›operate the BBS. RON FETZER suggested ›we pay $50.00 and that constitutes ›the contribution of $15.00 a month ›for 3 months until 2/91. As described ›above, it was voted at this time to ›make a one time contribution. We will ›take this up around the February or ›March 1992 meetings.››DEMONSTRATIONS: (NON ATARI DEMO!) ›(ALEX demonstrated a small audio ›device to be used at appropriate ›times to liven up a meeting. You had ›to be there to appreciate it! grin.)››ALEX showed a program that on a ›unmodified 130XE seemed to show that ›it had a RAMDISK D8 of 1410 Sectors ›and DUP.SYS and MEM.SAV with MYDOS. ›We could not believe our eyes, and ›neither could he, which is why he ›brought it to our meeting. HAROLD ›PEGLER will investigate it further, ›and keep you informed››"APAC LOAD"- a program loaded with ›pictures. It will go into the ›library. The loading program for ›pictures is on the disk with FINGERS ›to autoload it››From PAGE 6 a label program. A very ›versatile label program. ›"LABELPG6.BAS" is the name of the ›program.››ALEX demonstrated a very interesting ›STOCK MARKET GAME. You can become ›very rich playing it, or loose ›without pain.››An EPSON CABLE PRINTER TEST program ›was demoed. It is called ›"PRINTEST.BAS"››A program which will compare 2 ›versions of a file was shown. It is ›called "SUPERCOMP.BAS", might be very ›helpful to see if one program has ›changes from the other.››From PAGE 6 NEW ATARI USER DISK. You ›will need the magazine in order to ›understand all the programs on the ›disk.››"BATCH 6" from JACG is a disk full of ›music on side #1. On side #2 it has ›graphics and other programs. It will ›be in the library.››From England a program that makes ›labels. You can use P.S. Icons, you ›can save your own and design your ›own. You have a picture viewer, a ›graphic cataloger, a border ›cataloger, font cataloger, transfer, ›undelete, rename, book mark, coupon ›maker and set up. It is a great ›program.››DOOR PRIZES:››STAN SCHENFELD ALLAN ATKINS RON ›FETZER CURT VENDEL (never fails, new ›members somehow always win on their ›first visit. Truly amazing!!! JACK ›GEDALIUS››JIM HARRIS and MARK GLICKSMAN from ›LIAUG both came to our meeting. JIM ›brought a modified XF551 drive with a ›3.5 drive on top of it. With this ›modification you can use both the ›XF551 and the 3.5 disk drive. He made ›a new ROM for the disk drive. He put ›both operating systems in the new ›software ROM. The 3.5 formats in 80 ›tracks rather than 40 tracks. He ›modified the power supply so that ›both drives receive power all the ›time eliminating switching. He also ›incorportated a D.C. brushless fan to ›cool the drive.››The 3.5 disks are much hardier, than ›a 5.25 floppy. JIM threw one on the ›floor and stepped on it. It was still ›O.K. You can get 720 K of information ›on one 3.5 disk this is the same as 8 ›single density sides. You must use ›SPARTA DOS or MYDOS with this system ›to get the full benefit of the ›extended range. If you use DOS 2.5 it ›will format only to 720 sectors. JIM ›said it takes him approximately 10 ›hours to make this modification and ›he is experienced in electronics. JIM ›showed us all the parts that go into ›making an upgrade. There are about ›$110 worth of parts that go into the ›modification. JIM demoed the upgrade ›and showed us a directory of all the ›SPARTA DOS UTILITIES ever written. ›The directory was a mile long. If you ›can get the parts yourself the ›upgrade would cost you between ›$60-$100. If you do not have the ›parts the upgrade would cost you ›$200. You of course have to supply ›your own XF551 disk drive.››JIM HARRIS also does computer repair ›and disk drive repair. If you have ›any repair call him at 516 234-2925. ›He lives in Central Islip. His prices ›are very reasonable, for all the ›effort he puts into his repairs.››JIM and MARK, it was a great having ›you present, and JIM, thanks for the ›demo, it was very much appreciated by ›all.››Submitted by›                        Ron Fetzer›       >>>>>>>>END<<<<<<<<<<<›