This is the monthly newsletter of the Eagle Computer Users Group, P.O. Box 3381, Saratoga CA 95070. Deadline for submission of material for the newsletter is two weeks before the following meeting. The 1989 deadlines areFeb. 24, Mar. 24, Apr. 28, May 26, June 23, July 28, Aug. 25, Sep. 29, Oct. 27,Nov. 24, and Dec. 29 (for the Jan. 1990 newsletter).
The material in this newsletter is copyright ~=105~q~=083~ 1989 by the authors. Unless otherwise noted, the author is the editor of the newsletter. Permission is hereby given to reproduce material belonging to the editor, aslong as the notice ~=109~Q~=083~Copyright ~=105~q~=083~ 1989 David A.J.McGlone~=109~q~=083~ is included in the reproduction. For permission toreprint other material, contact its author or authors.
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~=103~|MEETING PLACE|~=083~
Meetings are held at Tandem Computers Incorporated, 10435 North Tantau Avenue,Cupertino. To get there, take 280 to Wolfe Rd. exit, left at Vallco Parkway,left at Tantau, over the bridge and turn in where it says ~=109~Q~=083~TandemComputers~=109~q~=083~ on the ~=094~left~=083~. This is ~=094~across thestreet~=083~ from our previous meeting place. Sign in with the guard at thelobby. The meeting will be in either the Strategy Room or the War Room.
Meetings are the second Saturday of every month, from 9 A.M. to Noon. Theremaining meetings in 1989 are Feb. 11, Mar. 11, Apr. 8, May 13, June 10, July8, Aug. 12, Sep. 9, Oct. 14, Nov. 11, and Dec. 9.
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~=103~|FEBRUARY 11 MEETING|~=083~
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|9:00| Meeting begins. David McGlone will talk about laser printers.
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~=103~|RENEWALS DUE|~=083~
We have had some complaints from members who did not notice the little slips ofpaper inserted with the newsletter to alert them to renew their memberships. We will continue to use the slips, but from now on I'll also list expiringmemberships here.
This is the last newsletter for |John Kennedy| unless he sends in hismembership check right away.
Members who come up for renewal in February 1989 are |David Glick|, |AlSchultz|, and |Dean Yon|. Send $15 payable to ECUG at the P.O. Box.
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~=103~|NEWS|~=083~
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|ECUG membership statistics|
Out of curiosity I tallied the mailing labels for this issue by gender andgeographically. Out of 123 labels, 72 are California addresses, 6 are inTexas, 5 each in Florida and Virginia, 4 each in Ohio and Washington, 2 each inDelaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. We have 1member each in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts,Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin,Mexico, and Malaysia. As far as gender goes, 93 labels are addressed to males,18 to females, 8 to companies, and 5 I can't tell (foreign names, initialsonly, ambiguous names, etc.). Our typical member would appear to be a maleresiding in California.
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|Eagle logo to be digitized|
The Board of Directors of ECUG has approved the expenditure of $50 to get theEagle Computers logo used in this newsletter digitized, that is, converted to afile that can be downloaded to an HP or compatible laser printer and printed. Currently the Eagle logo is the only thing in the newsletter not printeddirectly on a laser printer. Instead, the logo is pasted onto the first pagebefore printing.
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|Erratum|
Last issue I stated that class coupons were each good for a $35 class,therefore they are worth $17.50 apiece (~=109~Q~=094~Cash in your classcertificates~=109~q~=083~, January 1989, page 1). No one has questioned this,but I should put it straight.
Clearly if each coupon is good for a $35 class, then each coupon is worth $35,and should be redeemable for ~=094~two~=083~ years membership (plus $5). However, we no longer have paid classes, and the actual reasoning is asfollows: At the time the coupons were issued, a Regular membership was $50,and an Associate membership was $15. Since the two class coupons were what aRegular member got for the $35 difference between a Regular and an Associatemembership, each coupon can be said to have cost $17.50. It was this reasoningwhich led the Board to offer to redeem each coupon for a year's membership atthe present rate of $15.
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|More stuff your HP manual didn't tell you|
Last month when I was producing the TURBO Pascal manual, I attempted to printthe words "TURBO Pascal" on the title page in 72 points (about 1 inch tall). Icould not get it to work, and settled for smaller letters. This month I foundout why it didn't work. A sales brochure from Digi-Fonts, Inc., includes theinformation that "LaserJet+ and compatible printers will not print characterslarger than 40-50 points. LaserJet II and compatible printers are only limitedby the available memory in the printer." Needless to say, this information isin ~=094~neither~=083~ of the two manuals I have for my LaserJet Plus!
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|~=109~Q~=083~You're no ~=094~Profiles, PC World~=109~q~=094~|
PC World~=083~ magazine has purchased the subscription list of~=094~Profiles~=083~ from Kaypro. Subscribers to the latter will get anequivalent number of issues of the former. There is still no information abouthow one gets back issues of ~=094~Profiles~=083~, but the situation does notlook good.
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~=103~|ECUG LIBRARY|~=083~
The contents of the ECUG Library reside at the editor's house. Regular membersmay borrow material between one meeting and the next. Either call me eveningsat (408) 293-5176 and ask me to bring what you want to a meeting, or phone toarrange a time to come over.
~=094~The Convocation~=083~, Newsletter of the Screaming Eagles User Group,issues 2/1 (March 1986), 3/1 (Spring 1987), and 3/2 (Summer 1987). Donated byEugene Austin.
~=094~CP/M Review~=083~, September/October 1983 and January/February 1984. Donated by David McGlone.
~=094~(These ads are posted for the third time)~=083~
Eagle I for sale with Eagle manual, Spellbinder, CP/M and CBasic, UltraCalc,Alphacomm printer. $100. Pat Raskowsky, (408) 336-8430.
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~=109~v w v w v w v~=083~
For sale, 20MB hard disk drive and controller board (for external box, not on aPC card). $125 or best offer. R. Dethlefsen, (408) 246-5378.
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~=109~A B A B A B A~=083~
Eagle II for sale, in fully working order, with original documentation, forsale for best offer. I hate to give it up, but in any event I'd like it to goto a good home. Janet Fairchild, (415) 843-6330.
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~=094~(These ads are posted for the second time)~=083~
Eagle PC2 for sale, 512K, 2 floppies, external 10Mb hard drive, Herculesgraphics card, new enhanced 101 keyboard, mouse (Genius w/Dr. Halo), set up torun copy-protected software. Includes NEC V20 and new BIOS chip. $800. MaryAlexander, (415) 449-6007 (message machine).
Diablo 630 API daisy-wheel printer, 45 cps, with ribbons, original owner. $500. Mary Alexander, (415) 449-6007 (message machine).
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~=094~(These ads are posted for the first time)~=083~
Eagle III for sale, August 1983, serial no. 30530113, with CP/M, CBasic,Spellbinder, DataStar, ReportStar, InfoStar, StarBurst, manuals, Diablo 630printer. Complete, $400. Contact Foundation for Medical Care, (408) 248-9400,extension 45.
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~=109~t u t u t u t~=083~
Monitor for Eagle PC, green phosphor mono, and mono adapter. Has a verticalhold problem. $40 or best offer. Ed Uber, (415) 961-1102.
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~=103~|REMINDER|~=083~
If you have something for sale, or wish to be listed as a consultant, contactDavid McGlone. For membership matters, contact Shirley Welch.
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. ~=103~|NEW MEMBERS|~=083~
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~=103~|LETTERS|~=083~
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December 14, 1988
EAGLE COMPUTER USERS GROUP
P.O. Box 3381
Saratoga, CA 95070
Gentlemen:
I bring to your attention a new type of PC software that will excite theinterest of the ski enthusiasts among your members. Our new World-[>Filedatabase gives the skier easy access to an immense wealth of ski and travelinformation that he can use to plan his ski vacation.
The program is menu driven and intended to be run without the need ofinstructions or a manual. People don't read manuals for enjoyment. The flowof action is intuitive, and mis-steps easily correctable. Most users say thesoftware is fun to use. The system supplies travel expertise to guide theskier through his choice of resort, hotel, and tour. The information issupplied on floppy disks containing profiles of nearly 3000 tours and 300 skiresorts. World-[>File's PC-based shopping database is a delight to the seriousskier and a significant development in the travel industry. We have providedPC-based travel databases to the Professional Travel Agent for two years. Withthe ski set, we are making the power of these databases available to thepublic.
I would like you to review WORLD-[>FILE SKI. I am sending the 5.25 inch disksfor your evaluation. With these disks, the skier has everything he needs toplan his ski trips. The devotee can compare stats and study details on skiresorts. And he has a powerful database that he can use to compare prices andbook his tour. The software has travel expertise built into it, so that eventhe novice can make ski travel arrangements like a Pro.
The disks are available mail order from World-[>File for $14.95 (plus $3shipping and handling). We will discount to your club on a volume purchase. Updates for next year are available for $9.95, with the original instructioncard plus $3 S/H. The disk sets include a refund coupon for $14.95, good on anincreasing number of selected tours in the database.
Since the season is upon us and interest will peak soon, I would appreciateyour timely attention. For more information and additional background, call meon (800) 624-5659. I am very seriously interested in your comments andfeedback on how we can make the database more useful to your members. Thanksvery much for your consideration.
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Sincerely,
Clara DiStefano
President
World Associates In Travel, Inc.
29 Birch Brook Road
Bronxville NY 10708
(914) 793-7310
(800) 624-5659
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~=094~As you can see, this is really an advertisement, rather than a letter. The software Ms. DiStefano mentions has been passed along to a ski enthusiastfor review. Anyone who wants more information should write to the addressabove, or call one of the phone numbers.~=083~
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24th December 1988
Mr. Jerry Davis
Eagle Computer User Group,
P.O. Box 3381,
Saratoga, California 95070,
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Dear Mr. Davis,
I am the proud owner of an Eagle PC II purchased in July 1983 and am pleased toannounce that I have not experienced breakdowns of any kind from my Eagle. Iam afraid that I can't say the same of my IBM PC. This confirms thereliability of the Eagle machines, for which I am very grateful.
However, with the fall of Eagle I felt very left alone in terms of hardwaresupport and upgrades. The local distributor for the Eagles has taken onanother brand, and no longer offer support for the Eagles. I have just comeacross the article ~=109~Q~=083~Gone But Not Forgotten~=109~q~=083~ in theNovember issue of ~=094~PC Computing~=083~, and suddenly feel that I havefriends out there somewhere. I have written to Wilkinson Software, but haveyet to receive a reply.
I should be pleased if you could admit me as a member of the Eagle Users Group,because the Eagle has served me well and is still in perfect working condition. I would appreciate help to upgrade it, and I am willing to offer assistance toother Eagle users wherever I can.
The Eagle I have will not run Lotus 1-2-3 version 2.01, nor will it run dBaseIII Plus. There are very strong incompatibilities with the IBM standards oftoday, and I would appreciate whatever advice you and the user group may offer.
Should my application be approved, please advise me of the fee I should pay asan overseas member, so that I will be able to get the newsletters andassistance I seek.
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Yours faithfully,
KHOO CHEANG EE
c/o Magnet Management Sdn. Bhd.
Room 1, 1st Floor,
Lee Rubber Building,
145, Jalan Bandar,
50000 Kuala Lumpur,
MALAYSIA
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~=094~Jerry replied to your questions on upgrading your Eagle to a newer ROMthat removes some of the incompatibilities before passing your letter on to me. Please feel free to write again if you still have problems. On the subject ofoverseas members, foreign air mail from the U.S. is 45 cents for the first halfounce, and 45 cents for the next half ounce. We figure the postage for ayears' subscription to the newsletters as 25 cents per issue times 12 issues. 12 issues overseas costs $10.80, therefore an additional $7.80, for an annualmembership cost of $22.80, should cover an overseas member.~=083~
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December 30, 1988
Dear Dave:
I am writing at the suggestion of David Banoff to request advice andassistance.
I am interested in converting an Eagle IIE into an Eagle IV. So far I haveassembled an extra power supply and a used fixed disk. The hard disk came froman Eagle IV unit, so I am confident that it will suffice. David tells me thatI need something called a Xebec controller board, and perhaps additional wiringor cabling in order to make the conversion. Can you give me a parts list ofwiring diagram?
On the software side of things you should know that we already have a copy ofthe Eagle IV operating system.
I have also replaced the top floppy drive with a suitable 96-TPI double-sideddrive.
I realize this letter has rambled on a bit, but I am hopeful that it will makesense to you and that you will be able to provide guidance and advice. I lookforward to hearing from you soon.
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Sincerely,
Thomas E. Cone, Jr.
202 Madison Street
Tampa, Florida 33602
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~=094~Thomas: An Eagle II has two single-sided 96-TPI floppy disk drives forinformation storage. An Eagle IV has one double-sided 96-TPI floppy diskdrive, a hard disk, a hard disk controller (usually by Xebec), a SCSI board,and an additional power supply to handle the load of the hard disk. If youwere to buy an Eagle IV and open it up, you would find that the mother boardhas been raised up on supports to make room for the Xebec controller and theSCSI card below it. The hard disk sits where the lower floppy is in an EagleII or III, and the extra power supply is attached on the inside top of thecase.
The easiest way to convert an Eagle II into an Eagle IV is to put the harddisk, Xebec controller, SCSI board and power supply into an external box andlink it to the rest of the computer with a cable. Eagle in fact sold suchboxes with either 10MB or 40MB hard disks inside, called File 10s and File 40srespectively. Most later Eagles (the ones manufactured by Eagle as a separatecompany, rather than as a division of AVL) have a port on the back for hookingup a File 10 or File 40. File 10s and File 40s could also be daisy-chained.
If you go the external route, you can use two full-height drives and have TWOfloppy drives, which puts you one up on an Eagle IV. If you succeed inmounting the extra hardware in the Eagle case, you can still replace the topfloppy drive with two half-height floppy drives. Jerry Davis and I did thiswith the Eagle IV that I used to have. You have to make an extra power cablefor the second drive, and put another fastener on the floppy data cable, anddrill four extra holes to screw the two half-heights into the Eagle floppycage, but it's well worth it. Note that not all floppies are equallycompatible; stay away from TEC (not Teac) 96-TPI half-height floppies, forinstance. No changes have to be made to the operating-system software when youdo this; the Eagle IV BIOS is already set up for up to 20 MB of hard disk(divided into drives A, B, C, and D of 8, 2, 8, and 2 MB each), and up to twofloppies (addressed as E and F to use them in Eagle III format, or I and J touse them in Eagle II format).
Be aware that you are looking at a LOT of work. You have sensibly minimizedpossible hardware incompatibilities by using parts from Eagles. Jerry Daviscan give you exact instructions, and possibly a parts list; I cannot. Thehardest part to find will not be the Xebec controller (they're a glut on themarket, and both Jerry and I can sell you one), but the SCSI card, which wasspecially manufactured for Eagle. Nowadays Macs use SCSI (no, you can't use aMac SCSI card), but in those days it was rare. If you want an Eagle IV soon, Ithink you'll have to sell your Eagle II and buy an Eagle IV. But if you wantthe fun of doing it, and you aren't in a hurry, forge on! and good luck.~=083~
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January 21, 1989
Dear ECUG:
I am enclosing a check for $15 to join the Eagle Computer Users Group. I havebeen receiving your newletter as a member of the CompuServe Screaming Eaglesgroup.
I have an Eagle PC 2 (~=109~Q~=083~Igor~=109~q~=083~) with the 2.5 EPROMupgrade. I have successfully added a NEC V20 CPU replacement, an IBM expansionbox, PC-DOS 3.2, two RLL Fuji 30-meg hard drives connected to a Seagate RLLST11R controller, an Everex Maxi-magic expanded-memory board, a Genoa Spectrumcolor-graphics display card, and a C. Itoh CM1000 RGB color monitor. Irecently replaced my trusty Okidata 92 with a Panasonic KX-P1124 24-pin dotmatrix printer.
Since upgrading the EPROM I have had virtually no software incompatibilityproblems. I regularly use Word Perfect, Paradox, Smartcom II, SuperCalc 3,Eaglewriter (Spellbinder), and have successfully used many shareware and publicdomain programs, including Newkey, Qmodem, PC File Plus, etc.
I would be interested in hearing about the experiences of your members ininstalling accelerator cards and 286/386 motherboards.
As you can see, Igor keeps changing and continues to serve me well. I lookforward to continuing to receive your newsletter and sharing information.
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Thanks,
Dana Gire
37567 Radde
Mt. Clemens, Michigan 48043
(313) 463-0337
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~=094~And thank you, Dana, for sharing your experience. From the letters we'vebeen getting, I'm sure there are many members interested in doing just the samemodifications that you have already done, and in hearing the benefit of theEPROM upgrade.~=083~
Dear User Group Member:
We would like to offer your user group a license to sell to your members a 1040Federal Income Tax program with the following features:
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Enter up to eight W-4 forms (4 per spouse) for automatic distribution among allforms.
The program contains the following forms: 1040, Schedules A, B, C, D, E, F, SE,2106 (Employee Business Expenses), 2441 (Child Care), 3903 (Moving), andcarries all totals to the 1040 Form.
The instant update feature is terrific for "what if-ing". Enter taxinformation and then change your IRA contribution or filing status.
Prints on actual returns (requires friction printer), and will also print afile copy of all forms. Also saves to disk a copy for future reference orchanges.
Documentation is on the disk in an ASCII file, and can be read on the screen ordumped to a printer.
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A personal note from the writer of this offer: "The user group I belong to hasbeen selling Harv's program for the last three years, to members for fivedollars a copy. This nets the group approximately $150 per year."
You may charge your members whatever you wish, or even put it into the club'slibrary.
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Thanks,
Steve Lee
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~=094~Well, folks, shall we take the man up on his offer? He wants $60 for alicense to distribute his TAX SURVIVAL KIT. If one member wants it and iswilling to pay the whole $60, we'll go ahead. Two members could pay $30apiece, three members $20 each, four members $15 each, and so forth. If theboard gets no response, we'll assume no one is interested.
