SPACE Newsletter

•..--.....,. Minnesota Atari ST

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In this issue: From the editor Treasurer's report News from the Pres (SPACE) SPACE: November minutes SPACE: December minutes

General Information (SPACE) January SPACE DOMs January MAST DOMs JRI J.A.T.O. accelerator board review Mini MIDI lessons (part 2) by G. Miller

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From the editor How to tell when you should renew your membership: The mailing label looks like this: SPACE/MAST exp 9001 (message} Your Name Your Address Your City, ST ZIP## If the expiration date is 9001, then January 1990 is your last issue, and it's time to renew. If the date is 8912 or earlier, you are past due and should renew immediately. Currently there are 22 members who need to renew for another year and 21 members who are past due in membership renewal. So, check your label! ·- David Paschall-Zimbel

Treasurer's report by Allan Frink Correction for December 1989: MAST welcomed Greg Peasley as a renewed member and not Steven Pauley as written in the newsletter for December. Bank balances as of 5 Jan 1990 SPACE: $210.17 MAST: $285. 75

[ed. note: Allan wrote that the bank balances remained the same as those published in the last newsletter because there were no deposits or payments made during the month of December. Room rental for December and January, and newsletter costs for the January and February issues, as well as DOM costs for December and January will come out of the current balances plus deposits made in January. So, buy those DOMs so we may make operating costs!!] Membership counts are: SPACE: 37 MAST: 78 Both: 10

February newsletter articles are due the week of 29 January!

Page 2 News from the Pres By Jim Schulz First off, a happy new year to all as we enter a new year and a new decade in 1990. The overall outlook looks good for the ST and MAST in the coming year. This month, we will look at a number of current issues, what's behind, what's current, what's ahead, some news and some miscellaneous stuff as well. First up, a reminder!!!! About 75% of MAST members memberships are up for renewal in the first three months of 1990. With Christmas new system purchases and the MAST annual birthday party, this seems to be the time of choice to sign up for MAST. Please check your label on the back of your newsletter. If you are up for renewal in February, please think about renewing early. Each year, Allan gets buried for quite a while with renewals at the birthday party. Help us and Allan, renew early. Also, if you can't make ii to the meetings, use the membership form in the newsletter and send it to the SPACE/MAST post office box. I pick up the mail weekly and your membership renewal will be recorded. MAST has quite a bit planned for the year to come. Don't get left out!!!! Next, two old topics, z•Net and AIM. I have written both of these companies in the last week so that for once and for all we can settle the situation. z•Net did arrive just in time for the December issue, but because of nonpayment of $90.00 in back printing charges, it was not printed. If we get the printing charges reimbursed and the address corrected so that we actually get it on time, it will more than likely return next month. If not, we will once and for all put Z'Net to rest and continue to go along without tt. The latest issue of Z'Net has gotten quite newsy since the last printing covering the recent COMDEX show, three pages of news items from both the US and Europe, a closeup look at the Turbo 816 upgrade for the 8 bit, a Portfolio review, and a look at the latest public domain and shareware software. I have not heard back from them so I don't have anymore news. This issue will be put to rest at the end of the month. For new members, Z*Net is an Atari newsletter supplement which is 12 pages with news and ads. And for publishing ii, we get reimbursed based on the number of issues printed. The overall cost to SPACE/MAST is small for this because the money reimbursed just about pays for the extra printing and postage. Now on to AIM, AIM is a magazine similar to the Current Notes magazine which is being sold as a user group newsletter replacement. AIM was discussed in a couple of meetings and then we had trouble getting hold of the AIM editors so things have been in limbo over the last few months. This past week, I got a copy of the latest issue and wrote them to see what we can do with them. AIM has three options for user groups. Option 1 is a complete replacement of your current newsletter for a cost of $0.50 an issue to the members. Option 2 is a second

SPACE/ MAST • January newsletter for all members al the same cost. In both option 1 and 2, the user group get about a page each month inside the magazine to tell what's going on, similar to this column. Option 3 is to offer the AIM magazine as a subscription at a discount. Under this option, AIM is $15.00 a year vs. the subscription price of $18.00 a year. This is the information which I received from talking to the editors. Newsletters and the cost to produce them has become a hot issue among user groups over the last few months. The user group from Duluth has recently replaced their newsletter with AIM. Based on some of the user group newsletters, a number of other groups are joining up as well. AIM told me that five new groups were added in the January issue and the magazine has been added more pages to accommodate the new groups. We have discussed in the past continuing this newsletter and the response has been overwhelming to keep It going. Dave is doing an excellent job and it is showing by your support. So option 1 is out. Optioo 2 looks enticing and looked like the best option, but the kicker which I wasn't told about in the past was that all members need to get the AIM magazine. II we go this route, all membership fees would have to be increased up to $6.00 a year to support the added cost. So ii looks like option 3 is our best bet. This is similar to the current situation with Current Notes. I have a couple of issues of AIM coming in the mail so you can look them over at the meeting. We will make the final decision on this at the meeting. Enough issues and on to last month..... Last month, we had a cold night for a meeting. We had a pretty good crowd, but only two STs for MidiMaze. It was just a little too cold to bring out the old ST. We did have our news and rumors, a goodly number of DOMs at a cheap price, and our raffle of the copy of Midimaze. With the Christmas music in the background, it was a good meeting for all in attendance. This month........ This month, we will look at some of the new software which has come out over the last few months. Some of the demos include the new Chaos Strike Back!!!, DC Utilities, Hotwire, and Maxifile. More demos are in the process of being scheduled. Also tor those of you who missed out on the great DOM deal last month, we are extending it for one more month. Yes, you can get all of the MAST DOMs for $4.00 each for one more month!!!! Also we will talk about the latest news from this month's CES Show, and other late breaking news and rumors. Lots of questions and answers as well. It should be another great meeting. Coming in the months ahead...... Next month is one meeting not to miss! Yes, February marks the fourth year of MAST and time tor another birthday party. We will have birthday cake, pop, and our annual raffle of ST gifts as well. And a few surprises????? Stay tuned here next month for more information.... The raffle currently includes a copy of Pagestream from SoftLogik, a Tweety Board, and the new game Chaos Strikes Back for starters. If you have software

that you aren't using, donate it to the raffk others can get good use out of it. Also we ,, volunteers for bringing munchies and helping out. See Dave or myself if you would like to help. Coming in March is another MAST swap meet. In the months to come pending their release, an emulator night including PC Ditto II and the Spectre GCR and a night of ST utilities including UIS Ill, Turbo ST, and more. So lots is coming in the months ahead. Also Stacys are coming very soon as well. As always, keep watching here as MAST moves ahead!!! Now for some news!!!!!!! First, a time of mourning.... Another ST magazine has folded. This time, it is ST Xpress. It looks like their special issue was their last. It also looks like problems are occurring at ANTIC/START as well. Quite a number of their longtime editors are leaving the magazine for other jobs. This doesn't bode too well for START, although START is proclaiming a bigger and better magazine this month. STACYs are coming soon. Now that the FCC has given some approval, you should see them in your favorite computer store in the next few months. Wizard's Works has been approved of as a STACY dealer. The new STE is also just around the comer as well. This computer seems to be stuck in the FCC. It is currently available in Canada and is selling like hotcakes. The dealers can't keep them in stock. One store sold out of 50 STEs in just two days!!! Finally, this is a hot off the press rumor for the coming CES show..... Atari will be announcing a new ST package called the 'Atari Power Pack", This will include a 520STFM and a goodly sum of software for around $400. The software lineup looks like Music Studio, Neochrome, Planetarium, Maps and Legends, Star Raiders, Missile Command, Alien Brigade, and F15. Also included will be either the Timeworks set of Word Writer, Swiftcalc, and Data Manager or the set of First Word Plus, Phaser, and Informer II. The three applications packages are still in the discussion stage. Either way, this sounds like a super package for a new user. For complete information on this and other ST late-breaking news, don't miss this month's MAST meeting. Now it's that time for more miscellaneous news..... We have just recently received two copies of Pa~estream from SoftLogik. One for Dave and the newsletter and one for the birthday raflle. We will also be making available a demo copy of Pagestream as well. Look for a review of Pagestream in the months to come. Also, if any members have any public domain fonts, could you please pass these on to Dave? The more fonts that we have, the better the newsletter will look and we also won't have to locate and download the additional fonts. (Bruce, are you listening?, please) ..... Also we now are associated with Bix's user group program and information service. Bix information is included with this month's issue and an additional logo is on the front cover of the newsletter. Help!!!!!, Could we please get a volunteer who

Pa e3 be willing to write up the minutes of each h's meeting for the newsletter? See Dave , yself if you are interested. inally .... don't forget the Sony double-sided disks for $0.80 each. We still have them in stock al this good low price, but they are going fast. Also MAST has two single-sided disks for sale for $50.00 each. This is a great way to get a second drive!!!! If you are interested, see Allan at the next MAST meeting. Don't forget the MAST BBS either run superbly by Tom Cook. Give tt a call at 472-6582. Well, that's tt for January. The envelope has opened tt flap and says "Buy Chaos Strikes Back!!!" repeatedly. I suppose we should all check this out al the next meeting. Also it is available now and in quanttties, not like two years ago when Dungeonmaster came out. So until next month, have a Happy New Year. I hope to see you all at the January MAST meeting and at the MAST+ programmer's meeting the following Tuesday.

Minutes of the SPACE Meeting (NOVEMBER 1989) by Larry Vanden Plas 1. The meeting was called to order November 10, 1989 at 7:30 PM by President Greg Howell. 2. The minutes of the October meeting as printed in the newsletter were approved. 3. Larry Vanden Plas reported that SPACE had acquired two years of ANTIC magazines wtth disks and they would be rented to members for $1 per month. A depostt of $5 would be required on each. 4. The treasurer reported that there is about $160 in the SPACE treasury. There is a need to buy disks. 5. Amos Jackson said he was confident that he had gotten the bug out of the BBS. The Board had had no problems for 56 hrs. He recommended that everybody calls at least once every 14 days to get their E-Mail. 6. Dave Cole reported that he has not had time to find anything to say so he had nothing to say. 7. Greg Howell reported on MIDI. He reported that AIM, the Atari Interface Magazine, had been criticized by CHAOS, a major Michigan user group. Greg Peasley said that AIM had publically quoted informal comments and rumors as fact. Some claim the user group had lost control of AIM. Others indicated that CHAOS never had control of AIM. The owners of AIM said if you doni like tt, doni send your money. AIM is no longer a user group magazine. 8. Aon Van Aossem was nominated for Treasurer. There had been an informal agreement to rotate the treasurer between

SPACE and MAST. Questions were raised about having a separate treasurer for SPACE. 9. Hardware Problems. Questions were raised about the 410 tape recorder. Error 138 is indicated. The recorder plays, but the computer has no control of the remote. Other people reported similar problems with the 41 O. The recorder first mentioned had previously worked wtth a 400 computer, but did not work with the 800XL. Another member reported that the values of the resister were too wide and he had seen an article suggesting replacement of some resistors with more precision resistors. Another member reported that if you sent an 810 diskdrive and $75 to Atari, they would send you a 551. Most agreed tt was well worth tt. A question was raised about files on the BBS wtth the suffix •.AMP: I was suggested they were for a music player. 10. Joe Danko, the Disk Librarian, reported that he had been on vacation and then became sick so there was not an article in the newsletter. However the article for November will be in the December newsletter. He also provided copies of the newsletter article for those who wanted them now. The December Disk of the Month will have a library and data base. NEW PRICING POLICY -- All disks will be $3 each. There have been steady mail order sales. There is also a request to purchase or rent the entire library. There are over 100 disks in the library. CHAOS has a program to rent, leaving a depostt, or purchase. 11. ELECTION RESULTS - Greg Howell was reelected to be president and Nathan Block was elected to be vice-president. Allan Frink was elected to be treasurer by acclaimation. 12. There was a discussion about a by-law admendment allowing SPACE to have tts own treasury. A checking account would cost $1 per month and ten cents per check. Currently printing and mailing costs for the newletter are split 50/50 between SPACE and MAST, not prorated. MAST has about double the number of member that SPACE has. The use of a free room at the bank was mentioned as a way to conserve money. A motion to pursue a separate treasury for SPACE, to continue to share the newsletter and explore the use of a free room was passed. The meeting concluded wtth a demonstration of the DOM and many small discussions.

Minutes of the SPACE Meeting (DECEMBER 1989) by Larry Vanden Plas 1. The meeting was called to order December 8, 1989 at 7:40 PM by President Greg Howell. 2. The minutes of the November meeting were read because the newsletter was not out yet.

3. Jim Scheib, the paper librarian and reinker, reported that the library is looking for donations. He also asked that members bring their ribbons in for reinking. He wants them to trickle in, don't let them accumulate. Jim will reink ribbons for members for only $1 each and $2 for wide carriage Epsons. 4. NEWS AND RUMORS Joe Danko reported on a new group: FACE, Federation of Atari Computer Enthusiasts. If we became a FACE BBS, they would send us a disk each month. To qualify the BBS needs 2 meg of space available and run at 1200 and 2400 baud. We qualify. It we send a stamped, self-addressed envelop, they will send a free demo disk. 5. BBS Amos Jackson reported that he had made corrections to the modem. There have been some probles with the Y-modem protocol. One member logged on with an ID and password; then he got hung up. Amos reported that you can answer •y• to skip system news and tt will skip the news until tt is updated. Carl reported that a 134 or 135 error occurs when an 80 column machine logs off. It runs normal, but the error shows up only when the machine logs off. Amos said one set of commands will disconnect the next caller if he logs on too quickly after the previous caller logs off. Amos requested that all old E-Mail be deleted because tt is starting to pilw up. He will delete all E-Mail received. If you want tt left on so you can print a hard copy, sent the sys op a message. 6. VP's REPORT Nathan reported that is working on a repair special interest group (sig). He will have information on a table in the front of the room. He had a new catalog of Public Domain disks, many of which he had not seen before. The answer to the biggest question -Where do I buy software in the TC's? - is Computer Station, where they also have the lowest prices. A user group and store in Florida went under. He got five letters looking for help. He also received a letter from a user in France; the address is available. 7. PRESIDENT'S REPORT Greg Howell reported that we need a secretary. Larry will resign in March or sooner if one is available. We will have to postpone the vote on a separate treasury. There was a discussion that we currently have a joint treasury and we would more control. Our treasurer would be at SPACE meetings. This might separate the groups more than they are now. We may have to add a member to the board. MAST is a very volatile organization in regard to money, e.g. the last report put them $300 into the red. SPACE was technically solvent, but the account was almost broke. Greg does not want to separate the groups. Membership is about one third SPACE and two thirds MAST. There is a need to resolve newsletter costs which are now split fifty/fifty. Overall both groups are better off sharing a newsletter. Costs are about $90 for printing plus 25 cents each for postage. Greg will try to get a free room. There was a motion

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to add a SPACE treasurer to the board.

a. DEALS Budget Computer is selling 8~it software, magazines and boo~s. ~o. to 25Yo off.

There is a lot of software, all is ong1nal wrap. Loderunner Rescue is selling for $4. It is located near University and Osborne ~oa~. next to U.S. Swim and Fitness. There IS a little hardware. CMO is clearing out all Atari, a ~.S. Doubler is selling for $23. There was an ad in the November/December Antic. Antic is now bimonthly. The SX212 is on sale with SX EXPRESS. 9. WANTED Jim Scheib is looking for Graph!cs

a drawing programs. He believes some are in the library.

10. INFORMATION Nathan has a MIDI compatible keyboard. Rainbow Music has a MIDI interface for the 8-bit. If you have a SF551 -- leave the cable in the disk drive once it is plugged in. The connection is very weak. One of the members is in contact with Roy Golden. Daisy Dot Ill is very nice. It is not know whether it will be Public Domain or Shareware. It has beautiful fonts. Roy hopes to be able to receive some of the more popular word processors. It will suppo~ under)ining and micro-spacing. The Atari Portfolio sells for $399, offers a very clear 40 col~mn screen, a very functional word pr<>?es~r. Is Lotus compatible, has communications and runs MSDOS. They can not make them fast enough. Atari is also offering Lynx, a small ga~e machine. Black Box, $200, by CSS picks up where the MIO left off and is on sale now. 11. DISK LIBRARY A li>rary index disk is available for $1. It will give information by . DOM, category, text file, text file, a synopysIs of what the program does and can be read on a monitor. The DOM has several shareware games. The Force of Four is a tatical war game. 12. The meeting concluded with a demonstration of the DOM.

GENERAL INFORMATION (SPACE) St. Joseph's Home for Children _is in ne~ of Atari compatible software, mo~Itors,_pnnters and disk drives for computer s1mulat1on exercises used to supplement the children's eduction cirriculum. If you can help, please call Noah Miller at 827-9318. Thank you. The parts to make a Morse Code Receiv~r that takes the code from a shortwave transceiver and translates it at up to 70 words per minute are available from Larry Vanden Plas. The receiver was put together on a bread board and worked well. The article appeared in t~e November 1985 Antic. See Larry for more info. Members may rent Antic magazines with disks

for $1 per month. There is a $5 per issue/disk deposit.

SPACE 8 BIT SOFTWARE LIBRARY NEWS January, 1990 by Joe Danko, Disk Librarian It's 1990 and we are still here, wherever th~ is, those of us that are still here. Well, never mind that, we are just taking Iii~ with th~ ATARI B's one day at a time. Speaking of which, I am really short of that precious commodity these days. I spent most of the two weeks proior to Christmas in Chicago at UNISYS school and gained five pounds. Enough of that!

. CLOWN.OBJ Machine language game that needs a Joys You must make the clown jump from ballon I ballon from one side to the other and pick up money along the way. . TIEFIGHT.BAS Basic space shooting game requiring a joystick. Get the enemy in your sight and blow them , away. . CARTAG.BAS Basic two-player game. Take turns being 11 and chasing each other through the maze. Uses joysticks. ZIP.BAS Basic two player line drawing ga~e. seee_ how long you can draw without touching anything. Uses joysticks.

Software is quite scarce right now but we managed to scrape up enough to make the DOM interesting at least.

. OLYMPIAD.BAS Basic two-player game using joysticks. Navigate the maze and try to shoot your opponent.

I would like to mention a few things befor~ we get to the DOM. Anyone who can't make ii_ to meetings and needs to purch~e s~ftware Is . encouraged to either call or wnte directly to me.

OKl10UTIL.DOC EJECT.COM PSON.COM PSOFF.COM This group of files allows the user to gain more control of the OKIMATE 10 printer.

Joe Danko 2766 Chisholm Av. N. North St. Paul, MN 55109 (612)777-9500

TIDIER.COM A machine language file used mainly to process end-of-line codes in text files.

Current prices: All disks are $3, plus: $1 for shipping for each 5 disks If anyone has public domai~ softwar~ that is not in the library we will trade d1sk-for-d1sk. January Disk-Of-the-Month SIDE1 SYS DOS SYS DUP >SPACE_DOM< >01 90 1< SYS AUfORUN MENU OBJ CLOWN BAS TIEFIGHT BAS CARTAG BAS ZIP BAS OLYMPIAD DOC OKl10UTL COM EJECT COM PSOFF COM PSON COM TIDIER TXT PERCOM TXT STEREOXL ARS GUMBY BAS GUMBY COM GUMBY DOC GUMBY DOC ACTSND ACT STRSND 054 FREE SECTORS

037 042 001 001 001 035 027 055 061 030 058 012 001 001 001 028 023 089 012 048 011 024 047 008

. PERCOM.TXT Technical information on the PERCOM disk drive. STEREOXL.TXT GUMBY.* ACTSND.DOC STRSND.ACT This group of files is a set of instructions, documantation and software that adds a second POKEY chip (called GUMBY) to the 8 BIT computer allowing true stereo sound. SIDE 2 has a new special version of TEXTPRO 4.0 for MYDOS. This side also includes MYDOS 4.50. If you are unfamiliar with these prograf!1s, TEXTPRO is the best text editor for the 8 bit ATARI and is available in many !orms ~d . versions. MYDOS 4.50 is a public dqmrun d1~k operating system that supports all types of disks and RAMDISKS, subdirectories and other features not available in DOS 2.0/2.5.

MAST Disks of the Month By Jim Schulz Well ifs DOM time again. This month, I will start with 'a rundown of last month's disks and then what is in store for this month. Wi!h Ch~stmas. time, things have been a little hectic again. I will give you a quick rundown of some of the new stuff. I have quite a bit again this mon~h. but I haven't had the time to wade through it all yet.

re we go into last month..... Last month's lion included six new disks, five updates, d two magazine disks.

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/#1 - ST Report magazine issues for December / #2 - ST ZMAG and ST Plug issues for December #37 - ST Writer V3.4 (Latest version of ST word processor) #78 - Uniterm 2.0E. OCJ? (Latest version of ST commumcatIon program #326 - NetHack V3.0 (Character graphic dungeon game) #386 - BSTAT V2.34 (Latest version of ST statistical spreadsheet prg) #417 - Ani-ST V2.11 (Latest version of ST animation program wtth docs) #437 - December DOM #1 (Utilities) #438 - December DOM #2 (Applications) #439 - December DOM #3 (Games) #440 - Music Disk #8 (Christmas Music and Pictures) #441 - ANALOG Disk #37 (Magazine programs from the December ANALOG) #442 - ANALOG Disk #37 (Magazine programs from the December ANALOG) This month's selection included a number of good programs. The utilities, applications, and games disks sold quite well as well as the Uniterm and ST Wrtter disks. This month, there are a number of specials again in the DOM world. First off, all DOMs at both meetings are again only $4.00 each. This includes current and past disks. For those of you who didn't brave the cold last month, you still have one more chance to get the MAST DOMs at this low price. Second, we will be selling all four of the volume 4 in the ST News series at the meeting. These have been promised for who knows how long, but they are now done. These are the excellent disk magazines from Europe. We will also demo the latest issue al the meeting as well. The price is only $2.00 with more disks from the past coming in the months to come. Finally, the new MAST DOC disk is done and available right now!!!! All disks now have a one line description as well as a directory listing. The doc disk set is $2.00 for 2 disks or $1.00 for either disk in the set. Finally ..... I am thinking about putting together some grab bag disks lull of miscellaneous files downloaded from the BBSs. These are things which too specialized, animations, miscellaneous demos, and assorted utiltties, applications, and games. Just a miscellaneous hodgepodge. These will be on double-sided disks and will be full of arced files. The disks would sell for $2.00. II you are interested in something like this, let me know. It's just another cheap way of getting more public domain software. ..... One more note. Chuck's selection of public domain GNU utilities and source code are still available. I have had two request for complete sets of disks so far. The GNU utilities total over 3 megabytes and fill 8 ARCed disks and the source code fills another 9 ARCed disks. These disks are available on a preorder basis for

$16.00 for the utilities and $18.00 for the source. Now on to this month's selection of goodies..... First off, the new version of Sheet, the spreadsheet will see the light of day. This is a BASIC language interpreter, a database and a graphing program all built into one. Also this month, we have a new and super improved version of ARC V6.02. This version will automatically ARC directories and is superfast as well. In addttion, there is a new version of ArcShell to support the new features as well as better support for LHARC. Also this month, we have a new version of LGSELECT, the public domain file selector, wtth a number of new features. The Quick ST people are at tt again with another update with a demo version. We have a preview of a forthcoming product from DC wtth DC SHOWIT. This program replaces the system file show command for better viewing of files. For all you Dungeonmaster addicts, we have a saved game organizer which will work wtth Chaos Strikes Back as well. We also have an update to the Sozobon C utilities with new GEM bindings. Finally, we will have the program and instructions to make your own Blitz cable. The Blitz program will allow you to copy any ST disk, protected or not, with two disk drives and a cable. This program wiH format a disk in 18 seconds per side. It is also the first legitimate backup program because only copies made from original disks or second generation disks are good. Third and later generation disks are not usable. Full information is included to make your own cable or where to buy one. I personally wasn't too hot on this until David Small started pumping tt up as a •good" backup program. When someone of David's reputation recommends something, you listen. This is only a sample of what I have this month. More is coming in daily. And I even started checking all of this month's collection ..... . If you can1 make the meeting and would still like to get ahold of the DOM or would like to get ahold of the DOC disk, my new address is 5900 65th Avenue North #204 Brooklyn Park, MN 55429 That's it for January. Please remember that this is just the start of some of great programs for this month. Come to the January meeting and get some great bargain DOM prices again this month. Happy New Year and I hope to see you all at the meeting.

JRl's J.A.T.O. 16mhz Accelerator by Nick Smith I recently acquired JRl's 16mhz accelerator board and thought I'd share my impressions of the device wtth those who may have considered the possibiltty of adding one to their ST system. Regardless of which of the current boards you might consider to enhance your ST wtth, the first

hurdle is getting your 68000 socketed. This is not a task to be taken lightly by those inexperienced in soldering and desoldering you take the risk of totally killing your ST's motherboard. In making phone calls trying to locate someone to do the job, I encountered many refusals from businesses who wouldn't even attempt tt. From others, very high price quotes for doing what I saw as a rather straightforward task for a competant electronic technician. I found Steve Zipf at Alpha Tech ((612) 524-0424) willing and able to do the job for $30. I also needed to check the speed of the memory chips in my ST. Assuming they're pessimistically rated, the chips must be 150ns or laster. The J.A.T.O. board will not function reliably with chips that are slower - a few ST's were made wtth lower quality chips or with 170ns DRAM's. I crossed my fingers and hoped the 150ns chips in my 520 were up to the job. Both JRI and Steve recommend clipping the old 68000 for ease of removal, so I obtained a replacement 8mhz 68000 ($10) should I want to remove the 16mhz board at a later date. The J.A.T.O. board comes wtth a 64 pin, low-profile soldertail socket so everything you need for installation is included. Other than soldering in the socket, no other modifications are required. The board ttsell is the size of a piece of chewing gum and comes pre-attached to a handful of pins on a 16mhz 68000 chip. Connected to the board are two sets of lead wires: One for the micro toggle switch included to allow you to enable/disable the accelerator, and the other attached to a small red LED which indicates when the J.A.T.O. is accelerating. Installation was a snap. Using a drill with a 3/16" btt, I drilled two holes into the case of my 520: one near the DMA port for the toggle switch, and another atop the case in the corner for easy viewing of the LED indicator. The LED lits snugly into the hole yet can be easily pushed out ii necessary to remove the ST's case. The wires are 12• long, allowing you full freedom to decide on their placement. After installing these and pushing the accelerator chip into the socket, I reassembled my ST's case and was ready to give my souped-up machine a test drive. Problems! In the first 5 seconds it became clear that my system would not boot with the accelerator enabled - the computer would crash with 11 bombs onscreen. I tried it again with the switch off and re-enabled tt once the desktop appeared - everything ran line. Calls to JRI (which were very informative and helpful) suggested removal of a 20K ohm resistor on the accelerator or replacing tt with a 47K ohm resistor as a possible solution. TOS 1.4 PROMs may be slower than original 1.0 ROMs and ST's tend to vary in the amount of 'slop' in their components timing. The resistor on the board attempts to compensate for this. Particularly with later revision accelerators,

Pa (currently revision 'C') the J.A.T.O. board is far more tolerant and hence compatible with more srs than early reviews in magazines had led me to believe. After removing the 20K ohm resistor with a fingernail clipper, my ST has booted flawlessly ever since. More importantly, after 2 weeks of use I have had NO unexpected crashes from using the board. I was initially aware of the acceleration just manuvering around the desktop: opening, moving, scrolling, and resizing windows. Nothing breathtaking, but there was a definite and perceptable improvement in display operations. It reminded me of a few years ago when I replaced the 8088 chip in my PC with one of NEC's more efficient V20 chips• and again when I recently installed TOS 1.4 in my ST: a noticeable, yet subtle overall improvement. My second task was to run Quick Index benchmarks on it to get some numbers to give me a frame of reference. The figures where speed improvements were reflected are shown in the table below: Quick Index 1.6 Benchmarks JRI 16mhz - Medium Rez CPU Divide 182%

CPU Shifts 179%

BIOS Text 122%

BIOS String 118%

BIOS Scrol 106%

GEM Draw 115%

Watching the LED flicker as you mouse about your day to day operations of the ST is part functional, part novelty. It's interesting to note the LED's response to various applications. In programs which utilize the CPU divide\shift operations - most notably number crunching and graphics applications • the LED glows its brightest. Timework's Publisher appears to make a lot of use of the accelerators abilitites, making it very responsive to screen scrolling and redraws. (Something it's not known for!) The J.A.T.O. board's impact on this was very noticable, significant to those who work a great deal with CAD, EZ-Draw or DTP types of applications. The only program I encountered which dislikes the accelerated mode is Spectrum 512, though it runs fine at 8mhz. All the games I tried ran without a hitch. Zany Golf in particular really benefitted from the acceleration as you move around the scrolling playfield much more smoothly. The bottom line: with the JRI accelerator, you get appreciable speed improvement for a little money and a good value for those wanting extra oomph! without a major investment. In the sports car world, this board isn't the equivalent al a bigger engine but rather, a high performance carbuerator that has a tachometer thrown in for free. And if even higher performance is on your wish-list, you've already got the socket installed. You can just pull out the J.A.T.O. board, pull out your wallet,

and drop in one of Fast Technologies Turbo-16 accelerators to put even more zip in your computing trip. J.A.T.O. 16mhz Accelerator John Russel Innovations P.O. Box 5277 Pittsburg, California 94565 Phone: (415) 458-9577 List Price: $99.95 Street Price: $89

Mini MIDI lessons by Morris G. Miller part 2 of a series

? If the keyboard does not record how the note is performed, then it must be ad the editor. If the keyboard does not respo touch sensitivity, it is very probable the synthesizer in it also does not. That could be more important. Does it have input for foot pedals, modulation control, pitch bend (glide pitch while playing), or pan (stereo balance). Many keyboards and their synthesizers are only monophonic (one output, not stereo). Examine it carefully. Seek advice and help if necessary. You can add the sound system and cassette recorder as anything from a simple AM/FM radio and cassette recorder to a grand home music system. It should be stereo. The rest I leave to your imagination.

WHAT DOES MIDI COST?

WHY SHOULD I DO MIDI ?

Like watches, MIDI can cost as little or as much as you want to put into it. I can give you some price ranges, but they are arbitrary. I can give you some recommendations, but they are generalities. You will still have to evaluate for your application and make the final decisions.

Maybe I shouldn't. MIDI is not for everyone any more than is rhubarb pie. Ugh !

The three basic components, aside from the computer, are the sequencer (software), keyboard and synthesizers, and the music sound system. The first two are most urgent to this discussion. A starter sequencer is available from the public domain for most popular computers. I recommend starting with one, even though I did not. This allows you to find and settle on a keyboard first. Most vendors provide low-end versions of their sequencers starting in the $30 to $60 range. The high-end versions of the same programs will be from $300 to $700. Accessories can cost up to an additional $500, costing $20 to $100 for each added utility. Software is expensive, but good programs are worth it. The low-end versions will not have all the features of the expensive versions, naturally, but will possibly have everything you need or want. Again, try them first. Keyboard seledion is more difficult, and should come first. As in a previous discussion, decide whether you need your emphasis on the keyboard or the synthesizer. Doni be carried away by the "local" features, such as rhythms, chords and fancy noises the keyboard can make while you play it. Most of these things will not be recorded on the MIDI. However, if your daughter will enjoy playing it live, then consider it. New keyboards start about $130 and go to $3000 or more. Keep an eye on swap meets, yard sales, classified adds and pawn shops. Someone gets a good bargain every day, somewhere. Not all keyboards give the same amount of information. If touch sensitivity (how fast and hard the key is pressed and released) is important, then keep it in mind. The difference

Why would I want to hear Fredrick Chopin's Polonaise played on a synthesizer when I have a compact disk of Philippe Entremont in performance ? Because 1) I had fun entering the music; 2) I gained a lot of understanding of both the music and Chopin by doing so; 3) it was edited until I had the performance interpretation I felt Chopin himself would give it; 4) I feel it is MY performance - as though I am playing it - doing it MY way; 4) It can be performed on any of a dozen and a half different pianos - my choice; 5) or played by a trumpet and bass; 6) or whatever interpretation I want to put on it. Besides, who says I have to play Chopin ? Try your hand at Moonstruck. I'll bet you don't have that on CD. Put your. own weird interpretations of sounds into tt. It can sound "spaced out•, tin-pan, heavy-metal, or whatever. Or, very smooth. Did you ever want to sing with your own orchestra or combo? You got it ! Record it and amaze your friends. It's a great way to find out just who your friends really are. And, who is not! Sheet music is in abundance. A lot of it is not on CD. Some of it was out of production before the record player was invented. You have a way of playing it anyway. And talk about inventing - that is my main interest in MIDI. I write songs, mostly a cappella (vocal). I try my songs on MIDI with instruments having the range of voices which will do the final performance. I can hear my songs without having to sing and record all the parts myseH (which I often do). MIDI allows me lo edit until I have my song just the way I want it. The sequencer I use also has tape sync and SEMPTE (another subject). I have an an 8channel recorder which allows me to record eight times with all recordings in sync - playing

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MAST User Group members are invited to join BIX's flat fee service at 25%off

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BIX has turned off hourly rates Unlimited BIX use for only $29.25 a quarter. That's 25% off our regular rate of $39 a quarter. Now MAST members are invited to subscribe for an unheard-of flat fee of just $29.25 a quarter for an annual subscription or $44.25 for a 90-day trial subscription. Not only can you get BIX for a flat rate, but you can purchase unlimited off-peak Tymnet for just $20 a month. At these prices, why use a service with hourly rates? BIX is the BYTE Infonnation Exchange, the on-line resource most prized by the computer-using world since 1985. At $29.25 a quarter, BIX gives you infonnation essential to your peak perfonnance as a microcomputer pro for the same money you could easily bum up in about 2 or 3 hours on an hourly rate service. Your risk-free, one-year subscription may be cancelled at any time without further charge. Just notify us. Here's what you get as a BIX subscriber: More than 150 microcomputerrelated conferences -- Connect with the experts on computers such as Macintosh, IBM PC and compatibles, the Apple II family, Amiga and Atari. Talk with programmers skilled in C, Pascal, Ada, BASIC, Assembler and other languages. And consult experts on operating systems including MS-DOS, OS/2 and UNIX.

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Subscribe to BIX right now -on your computer. You can call BIX directly, at 617861-9767 and pay no Tymnet rates, or you can purchase unlimited off-peak Tymnet for just $20 a month. You may also use Tymnet's low hourly rates and pay the fees of $3/hour evenings, weekends and holidays, and $6/hour weekdays. Set your telecommuncations program for full duplex, 7 bits, even parity, 1 stop bit, or 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit. If you use Tymnet, call Tymnet Customer Support at 800-336-0149 for your local access number. Now dial your local Tymnet number; after the usual handshaking, you'll see a line of garbled characters (or a request for "tenninal identifier"). Respond with a lowercase "a". Then you'll see a "please log in:" request, to which you should respond with "bix" and a carriage return. Next you'll see the prompt, "Name?"; enter "bix.mast" here and you'll begin registration.

You can charge your BIX subscription to VISA, MasterCard, or American Express, have it billed to your company, or prepay by check. If you dial directly, respond to the log-in prompt with "bix" and enter "bix.mast" at the "Name?" prompt. Continue as with Tymnet.

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to the same conductor, if you please. I record the strings on one track, the wood winds on another, the brass, percussion, reeds and bass on other tracks. When I play it back the entire orchestra plays. This is accomplished with two synthesizers, playing no more than six to eight instruments at a time. Maybe you should not do MIDI. But, if you like to have fun with music, there is no other way you can have this much fun with a full orchestra from the confines of your own music room at home. So, do it !

WHAT IS A SYNTHESIZER? A sine wave tone at any frequency is the most pure and undistorted sound we can make; it is much like a bird whistle, when given notes to play. Most instruments have some pure note characteristics. Only some. There is no musical instrument pleasing to the ear which produces sound in the purity of a sine wave. It is the characteristic distortions of an instrument that makes it sound like that instrument and none other. The trick, then, is to electronically produce sound with the proper distortion and harmonic characteristics in order to sound like some instrument we know and love. Or, for that matter, once we learn to create the sounds of instruments found naturally, and understand the natural laws which govern those sounds, we can create by those rules of nature new sounds of instruments not yet devised by craftsmen. Ain't that exciting ?

The English prefixes •syn• and •sym• mean, simply, iogether". The word ·synthesis' is from the old Greek, meaning io put together•. One way to create distortion in sounds, otherwise pure, is to put two or more of them together with varying amplitudes and phase relationships - and you have the beginnings of a violin, guitar, or piano sound. Add to that control over the amplitude envelopes and it can be quite good. To give even greater flexibility to the sound synthesis, each tone to be combined (operators) can be given a distortion. The easiest way to do this is to generate the tone in various wave forms (shapes). The most common such wave forms are sine wave (no distortion), square wave (rich in odd numbered harmonics), triangle or peaked wave (weak loworder odd harmonics), sawtooth (rich in both odd and even harmonics), and pulse shapes (harmonic content variable). By mixing the selected operators to various degree, many different sounds can be produced. To take this process one step further, allow a low frequency operator (LFO), of one of these shapes, to determine the amplitude or frequency modulation of another (the carrier) at the desired note frequency. Add feedback so that the modulator can modulate itself to some degree. Now combine mixes of these signals in various combinations and you have the

synthesizers available today.

score.

To make a new voice, select the manner in which you want the modulators, carriers and feedback loops to be interconnected (the algorithm). Set the desired range of control for each of the operator parameters, and which of the control functions to vary the operator effects, if any. Set output envelope shape parameters and which of the control functions will vary the envelope effects, if any. Then play....

Entremont, Philippe - a French pianist witt-i his own interpretation of Chopin, no better than my own - or yours.

GLOSSARY After touch pressure - The pressure placed on a key after the key is down. Olten used to control tremolo or vibrato in the voice. Not all keyboards send after touch information; not all synthesizers respond to that information; not all sequencers will recognize it. Attack velocity (key) - The rate, or how quickly, the key is pressed down. Generally used to control the volume, or loudness, of the tone when played. Not all keyboards send attack velocity; not all synthesizers respond to that information.

Audio mixer - A set of low-level amplifiers and gain controls (volumes) to combine a number of stereo inputs into one stereo amplifier and speaker system. Each input level may be adjusted separately and a master output level may be set for the signal to the amplifier. Meters may be provided for monitoring the output levels. Headphone jacks allow listening to the mixed result. Channel - The 'address• of a MIDI message. Each instrument voice can be set to one of sixteen MIDI channels so that only it receives the MIDI codes sent to it. See also, Omni. Control codes - MIDI codes which duplicate the settings of the control devices of the keyboard such as the modulation wheel, pitch bend, foot switches and pedals, etc. Daughter - The person who knows how to play a keyboard. Drum machine - A special kind of sequencer which may be loaded with patterns to play drum sounds and rhythms. Very much like the rhythm sounds buih into many of the low-end keyboards, except that you define the drum patterns before loading them into the machine. Performance of patterns and rhythms may be changed during play. In some machines you define the sound (type) of the drum.

Editor - The program, or function module of a sequencer, which allows viewing and changing of notes, attack velocity, duration, and other parameters of a song. The editor will generally be a part of the sequencer, and allow the entry of notes (writing the song) for performance, and possibly printing the song

Envelope - The shape of a note's output, or that of the operators which make up the note. Portions of the envelope may may be defined to control the sound response of the tone, and in part the timbre (tone quality) of the sound. Exclusive codes - Codes not specifically defined by the MIDI standards, used by manufacturers to do things iheir way•. This is necessary because no two keyboards are exactly the same nor have the same features. Glissando - A rapid slide up or down the musical scale. See also Portamento. Instrument (musical) - Any of the instruments which produce musical sounds by MIDI, or generate the MIDI signals for control of other instruments. Some of the instruments which are now equipped to produce MIDI codes are keyboards, reed (wood), guitar, piano, and horn (brass).

Key signature - The sharps and flats symbols placed following the clef symbol on a musical staff. Each sharp or flat adjusts the natural pitch of the note indicated by one half-tone. Keyboard - A musical instrument with keys similar to that of a piano, but used to generate the MIDI codes for performance of a song. Assumed to reproduce sound by synthesis or voice sampling and, thus, may not sound anything at all like a piano. Librarian - A utility program, generally used with the sequencer, to load and store voice parameter setups for the synthesizer or sampler. As such, it allows new voices to be performed, as needed, by each song. Local features - The sounds, rhythms, and chords which may be played on the keyboard (or other instrument) which do not generate MIDI codes for recording and play back. Measure (musical) - The time duration between two bars of music as indicated by the time signature of the song. See also, Time signature.

MIDI - The interface standard for interconnecting musical instruments and related equipment. What these lessons are all about. MIDI IN - The MIDI port the instrument "listens· on. If the MIDI code channel number matches the setting of the instrument voice, the instrument will perform by those codes received on the MIDI IN port. Part 3 (the remainder of the glossary) will appear in the February issue.

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SPACE/ MAST NEWSLETTER ST. PAUL ATARI COMPUTER ENTHUSIASTS & MINNESOTA ATARI ST

DISCLAIMER

Published by the St. Paul ATARI Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE), and Minnesota Atari ST (MAST) group, an independent organization with no business affiliation with ATARI Corporation. Permission is granted to any similar organization with which SPACE/MAST exchanges newsletters to reprint material from this newsletter. We do, however, ask that credit be given to the authors and to SPACE/MAST. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SPACE/MAST, club officers, club members or ATARI Corporation.

SPACE/MAST BULLETIN BOARDS SPACE/MAST East (XE)- BBS Phone: (612)-784-9667 Sysop: Amos Jackson & Carl Towberman. SPACE/MAST West (ST)- BBS Phone: (612)-472-6582 Sysop: Tom Cook

~S,o[PojA\o(Co [E

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President Greg Howell Vice President Nathan Block Secretary Larry Vanden Plas Disk Librarian Joe Danko Paper Librarian Jim Scheib Membership Coordinator Bob Siede SPACE/MAST Treasurer Allan Frink

President Jim Schulz 533-4193 Vice President Dave Paschall-Zimbel 823-1276 Secretary Steve Pauley 560-2917 Disk Librarian Jim Schulz 533-4193 Paper Librarian Neil Palosaari 646-1272 Membership Chair Allan Frink 482-7911 SPACE/MAST Newsletter Editor Dave Paschall-Zimbel 823-1276

636-2415 777-9500 721-4185 489-3982 482-7911

MofA\oS,oT

SPACE and MAST are independent user groups of owners of ATARI Home Computers. It has been organized by local owners of ATARI computers for the purpose of mutual self assistance and sharing of information. It is open to all interested computer enthusiasts. Benefits of memberships in the groups include monthly newsletter mailed to your home, BBS access, software demonstrations, group purchases, public domain disk(s) of the month software at low prices, reference book library, educational software library (8-bit only) with over 20 titles, personal contacts/learning, greater information and awareness on the world of ATARI, software at discounted prices from dealers, question and answer session, etc. Come to a meeting to find out more. SPACE • 8BI1 Group The SPACE meetings are devoted primarily to the 8-bit ATARI computers such as the 400,800, 600XL, 800XL, 65XE and 130XE. There is other ATARI related news and some 16-bit news at the SPACE meetings, as well. The SPACE group meets on the second Friday of each month at the Falcon Heights Community Center, 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue, at 7:30pm. Doors open at about 7:10pm. MAST· ST Group The MAST meetings are devoted primarily towards the ATARI 520ST, 1040ST & MEGA computers. There will be ATARI related news items covered, but not 8-bit news. The MAST group meets on the third Friday of each month at the Falcon Heights Community Center, 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue, at 7:30pm. Doors open at about 7:10pm. MAST+ • Programming Language User Sig MAST also has a programmer's group meeting. This group has a more technical discussion regarding programming the ST computers in a variety of languages. The group meets on the Monday following the MAST meeting at the First Minnesota bank on Lexington Avenue near Larpenteur Avenue. Meeting time is 7:30, with doors opening at about 7:20pm. The entrance is in the back of the building and leads to a stairway to the second floor.

For more information, or to confirm a meeting time and location, call Greg Howell (SPACE) or Jim Schulz (MAST) 533-4193

SPACE/MAST Membership Application

-------------------------Name_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date_ _ _ _ _ _ __

Address_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ City_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _State_ _ _Zip_ _ _ _ __ Phone_ _ _ _ _ _Equipment/System Used_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Area of Interest: Check one: SPACE_ _ MAST_ _

NEWSLETTER ADVERTISING RATES: 1/2 page - 5 1/8" vertically x 8" horizontally - $ 15/mo., $140/yr. Full page - 10 1/4" vertically X 8" horizontally - $25/mo., $240/yr. Club members classified - 50¢ per 40 characters, $2.50 minimum per ad. Send to: SPACE/MAST, P.O. Box 12016, New Brighton, MN 55112

Renewal?_ _ Address Change?__ Membership Card Given?_ _ Dues: $15.00 per year - Please enclose with Application. Mail to: SPACE/MAST, P.O. Box 12016, New Brighton, MN 55112

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SPACE / MAST Newsletter January 1990 SPACE meeting: 12 January 1990

MAST meeting: 19 January 1990 SPACE/ MAST regular meetings are at the Falcon Heights Community Center, 2077 Larpenteur Avenue West (meetings start at 7:30 pm)

MAST+ Programmers Meeting: Tuesday, 23 January 1990 At First Minnesota Bank Building - second floor, Lexington and Larpenteur, in back of building, 7:30 pm

S•P•A•C•E / M•A•S•T P.O. BOX 12016 New Brighton, MN 55112

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