Does the new Atari XMM801 printer work with Broderbund's Print Shop
software?
Gary Vimr
CompuServe
ID 72407,2573
As this issue went to press, Broderbund said it was "too soon to tell"
if the XMM801 will work with Print Shop. But by the time you read this,
you should be able to get the information by calling Broderbund's tech
support department at (415) 479-1170.-ANTIC ED
GOOD QUESTION
What is the significance of having 128K memory in the Atari 130XE,
if only 16K can be accessed at one time, per program?
Brian Schade
Tucson, AZ
While it's true that you can only access a single 16K "window" into
the 128K memory at one time, the time you devote to that particular 16K
can be very, very short-fractions of a second. The 128K in the Atari 130XE
is nothing more than 8 separate 16K blocks of memory. Your program may
select any one of the 8 separate blocks to be active anytime, with virtually
instantaneous switching. If you don't find what you're looking for in block
1, switch to block 2 and keep looking. If you run out of memory storage
space in block 5, switch. to Block # 6 and keep writing-ANTIC ED
PLUGGING PLUGS
I was pleased to see my Tech Tip in the July, 1986 Antic. However,
Alpha Products is no longer a source of the ST monitor plugs. The sole
US. distributor is Interface Technology, Inc., 14440 Cherry Lane Court,
Suite 219, P.O. Box 3040, Laurel MD 20708. (301) 490-3608.
Gary Grider
CompuServe
ID 71016,1000
AMDEK SHOPPING
To answer John Hawkins' question in the June, 1986 issue of Antic,
Amdek 3-inch disk drive hardware and software may be purchased at the Computer
Corner, 7101 Broadway, Merriliville, IN 46410. (219) 738-3282.
Mark Brewer
CompuServe
ID 74146,3665
ATARI BEATS IBM
For two years, we used two IBM PC computers here at the publications
unit of the California Division of Mines and Geology. Recently, I began
purchasng Atari 130XE computers and AtariWriter for staff geologists and
editors. The ease with which staff learned to use them was amazing, and
none had any previous computer experience. Small database jobs, word processing
and management statistics are done on the Ataris. Each station has a 1050
disk drive, Comrex amber monitor and Star SG-l0 printer.
After suffering verbal abuse from my mainframe and IBM friends for buying
Ataris, the wisdom of the purchase became undeniable. With little dollar
investment and no formal training, productivity has increased.
John Rapp
Department of
Conservation
Sacramento, CA
DIRECT CONNECTIONS
Commenting about the August, 1986 Online issue of Antic, regular
contributor Chris Chabris points out that in the general computer world,
"direct-connect" modems are those which plug directly into telephone lines
via standard modular outlets, instead of the old-fashioned acoustic couplers
with their rubber cups.
Antic's August stories tended to define direct-connect as
it applies primarily to the Atari world-modems that plug directly into
8-bit Atari computers without requiring an 850 interface or other RS-232
connection.-ANTIC ED
SOUTH PACIFIC BBS
I am running a BBS here on Kwajalein Island in the Marshall Islands
with a 130XE, a Supra 10 megabyte hard disk and Bulletin Board Construction
Set software. However, our phone system does not allow us to log onto the
wonderful world of U.S. bulletin hoards. We would be willing to pay a small
fee for floppy captures of messages that are on U.S. boards.
Al Anderson
Kwajalein
Atari Users Group
Box 1065
APO San Francisco, CA
96555 .
EPROM ERRORS
I really enjoyed Build Your Own EPROM Burner in the December, 1985
Antic. After constructing the circuit board, I found that I can successfully
program an EPROM, but the read function returns many random errors which
change every time a read is done. I have double-checked the circuit completely.
Have any readers experienced the same problem?
Allen Hurst
CompuServe
ID 70206,137
Some readers have built 800XL EPROMS that will work on an 800, but will
not work on their 130XEs. Charles Cherry, who built and tested the do-it-yourself
EPROM burner for Antic says slight manufacturing differences between
800XLs could be the cause of some 800XL incompatibilities. And as far as
he knows, the EPROM burner will not work with the 130XE.- ANTIC ED
RECIPE CONVERTER
The Recipe Converter (Antic, June 1986) is great. I sell food to restaurants,
hospitals and schools. And now I use this program to help them convert
home recipes to larger portions.
Rick Stamper
Houlton, Maine
MOUSE THAT ROARS
Thank you for your review of Sound Mouse in the June, 1986 Antic. We
couldn't be more pleased with it. However, we have now reduced the price
from $39.95 to $29.95.
Larry Gentieu
Sound Soft, Inc
FOREIGN FONTS
In response to Elisas Leousis' April, 1986 Antic I/O Board query about
a foreign language ST Font editor: We are currently working on a general
purpose editor to handle 7,000 Chinese characters broken up into 128 character
fonts. The technique we are using will be applicable to other foreign languages
by late 1986.
Con Neri
Xenotron
Victoria, Australia
COLORS!
If any of you dug deep into your pockets after reading about the Radio
Shack CGP220 color inkjet printer in the February, 1986 Antic-or if you
own the nearly identical Canon PJ-1080-A-here's a demo program to try.
It gives an idea of the wide range of effective colors possible with these
printers through RGB mixing.
Judson Pewther
New York, NY
IU 10 REM COLOR DEMO CANON PJ-1080A
SN 26 DIM S(3),P1$(240),P2$(24O)
FY 30 REM SET BITS: NONE,ODD,EUEN,ALL:
HD 40 S(0)=0:S(1)=1+4+16+64:S(2)=2+8+32+128:S(3)=255
HA 50 OPEN #2,8,0,"P:"
YL 60 FOR K=l TO 240 STEP 4
EE 70 BYT1=S(INT(4*RND(0)))
EM 80 BYT2=S(INT(4*RND(0)))
RH 90 FOR J=0 TO 3:I=J+K
FA 100 P1$(I)=CHR$(BYT1)
GC 110 P2$(I)=CHR$(BYT2)
GF 120 NEXT J
GR 130 NEXT K
VJ 140 FOR K=1 TO 16
PV 150 ? #2;CHR$(27);"X";CHR$(80);P1$;
RE 160 ? #2;CHR$(27);"X";CHR$(80);P2$;
GZ 170 NEXT K
RQ 180 GOTO 60
Antic welcomes your feedback, but we regret that the large
volume of mail and online messages makes it impossible for the Editors
to reply to everyone. Although we do respond to as much reader correspondence
as time permits, our highest priority must be to publish (and upload) I/O
answers to questions that are meaningful to a substantial number of readers
and online subscribers.
Send letters to: Antic I/O Board, 524 Second Street, San Francisco,
CA 94107. ANTIC ONLINE has an I/O section for email to the Editors
only- online queries about Antic products should be uploaded to the Customer
Service I/O section of ANTIC ONLINE.
ANTIC VOL. 5, NO. 6 / OCTOBER 1986 / PAGE 6
