

           
                             
                             
                            
                           
                          
                         
                        
          
          |  ROVAC ZMAGAZINE  |
          |    Issue  #172    |
          |  August 29, 1989  |
          |Copyright 1989, RII|
          
                 
                
               
                           
                            
                             
 
 
 
        
        |This week in ZMagazine|
        
 


  Kentuckiana Atari Fest Cancelled 
             Lawrence Estep

        Null-Modem Adapter 
              The Traveler

     GEnie New 8-bit Uploads 

 World of Atari--Dallas (Part 3) 
                Z*Staff

   CompuServe New 8-bit Uploads 

  Atari Interface Magazine Offer 

                    


 
 |KENTUCKIANA ATARI FEST CANCELLATION|
 
          
          |by Lawrence Estep|
          


The Atari Exchange Of Louisville,
Kentucky has announced the cancellation
of the Kentuckiana Atari Fest '89 that
was scheduled for October 28th and 29th
at the Sheraton Lakeview hotel in
Clarksville, Indiana.

The primary reason for the cancellation
was lack of support and a firm
commitment from Atari Corporation,
according to Lawrence Estep, AEL
Convention Coordinator.  The problem
was further complicated by the
dismissal of Chris Roberts, user group
coordinator of Atari Corp., who was
helping with the organization of the
convention.

The AEL felt that the quality and
reputation of the show could have been
ruined by the cancellation of Atari
Corp., and that the time restraints
caused by the October convention could
have caused many coordination problems.

According to Lawrence, the convention
has been tenatively rescheduled for
sometime in July, 1990, and that
interest exhibitors may contact the AEL
Kentuckiana Atari Fest headquarters at
(812) 944-8997 for more information.

The Atari Exchange Of Louisville,
Kentucky would like to thank everyone
who expressed an interest in the
convention, and apologizes for any
inconvenience that this cancellation
may have caused.

As a token of our appreciation to user
groups, dealers, developers, and PD
authors, the AEL is offering two
advertising packages for our
newsletter, AELien Transmissions.  For
one piece of Atari software/hardware
per month, you will receive a free
advertisement, or for a donation for
our December computer raffle, you will
receive an ad in either our November or
December newsletter.

A special price has been set-up for
advertisements without donations, and
more information can be obtained from
AEL Promotions director, Lawrence
Estep.

The AEL would also like to encourage
user groups to exchange newsletters and
PD catalogs with us.  All materials can
be sent to the address below.

Thank you for your time, and patience.

        Sincerely,
        Lawrence Estep
        AEL PD Librarian/Promotions
               director

Atari Exchange Of Louisville
c/o Lawrence R. Estep
524 Roseview Terrace
New Albany,IN 47150-4457

                    


          
          |NULL MODEM ADAPTER|
          
            
            |AtariTech BBS!|
            


Have you ever tried to transfer files
from one computer to another?  You
probably connected two modems together,
or called yourself if you happen to
have two telephone lines.  It was
probably a very slow process, unless
you happen to own TWO 9600 baud modems!
A Null-Modem Adapter can help you.  It
will allow you to transfer files at up
to 9600 baud and not have to tie up
your telephone line.

A Null-Modem Adapter is simply a
connector between two computers that
allows direct communication between two
computers.  An actual modem is never
used, so you can use the highest baud
rate that both computers can handle.
What the null-modem adapter does is
convince the computers that they are
connected to a modem instead of another
computer.

Before building your Null-Modem
adapter, you need to determine which
types of connectors to use.  Most
null-modem connectors use a male and a
female DB-25 (modem type) connector.
If you already have modem cables for
both computers, you will probably find
that a null-modem connector with two
female connectors will be more useful
to you.  This way you can connect the
two modem cables together with the
null-modem adapter and be ready to
roll!


             What you need 

> Soldering Iron and Solder
> Approximately 12- of #24 stranded
     wire
> Cover shell--Shack # 276-1520
> Two DB-25 solder-type connectors
      Female--Radio Shack 276-1548
      Male--Radio Shack 276-1547
      (determine which ones you need)


            How to build it 

Full Handshake Null Modem (best):

  Connector:    A            B
  
                1     to     1
   Connect      2     to     3
     these      3     to     2
     pins:      4     to     5
                5     to     4
                6,8   to    20
                7     to     7
               20     to   6,8

The pins on the connector are numbered,
but remember that pins on the Male
connector, looking at the solder side,
narrow-edge down, are numbered
right-to-left, top row first.  The
female connector is numbered
left-to-right!

If this one does not work, and you have
CHECKED the WIRING, then try using the
-No-Handshake- null-modem adapter:


Connect the following pins OF EACH
connector together:

     Connect pins 4 + 5 together.
     Connect 6, 8, + 20 together.

Connect these pins BETWEEN the two
connectors together:

     Connector: A            B
                1     to     1
                2     to     3
                3     to     2
                7     to     7



         How to use the adapter 

Boot up each computer with a good
terminal program.  For the Atari 8-bit
I suggest AMODEM 7.5 because it can
handle BOTH 9600 baud and YMODEM
transfer protocol.  This will give
you the fastest possible data transfer.
Set both terminals to the fastest baud
rate that both computers can handle.

Next connect the computers together
with the Null-Modem Adapter.  Following
the instructions of each terminal
program, simply set the sending
computer for upload and the receiving
computer for download.  Remember to use
the same protocol on each computer, and
it is usually better to start the
receiving computer first.  Basically,
that's it!   Easy!

If you have any questions about this or
any technical questions about Atari
8-bit computers, you can call the
AtariTech BBS at (813) 539-8141.

We have many files on easy-to-build
hardware projects, memory upgrades,
fixes and mods.

                Traveler

(Editor's note:  Amodem 7.5x is a very
fine terminal program.  However, with
the release of BobTerm v1.1
(shareware), a baud (bps) rate of
19,200 is available, as is Fmodem
protocol (4K blocks as compared to
Ymodem's 1K blocks).)

                    


        
        |GENIE NEW 8-BIT UPLOADS|
        

Courtesy of GEnie's 8-bit Atari Library


 
 No.  File Name
      YYMMDD   Bytes   Access Lib
 

 4550 SXFORMAT.ACC
      890808    1260      4  26
      Desc: SpartaDOS X Format
            Accessory

 4574 XON2.ARC
      890825    2520     23  22
      Desc: Turns SpartaDOS X on after
            disable.

 4573 DEAD.ARC
      890825   98280     13   5
      Desc: 21 DEAD SONGS ON AMP2 WITH
            LYRICS

 4572 PUBCHAT4.ARC
      890824    8820      2  24
      Desc: Replacement PRO BBS Chat
            Module

 4571 OASISTD11.ARC
      890822   22680     10  27
      Desc: Update 1.1 of Oasis Test
            Drive

 4570 Z171.ARC
      890821   17640     70  13
      Desc: ZMagazine issue #171 for 22
            Aug '89

 4565 MANUADDR.TXT
      890820    3780      2  12
      Desc: Company Addresses, CES
            exhibitors

 4564 SCES89.TXT
      890820   25200     14  12
      Desc: Summer CES show report!

 4563 TURBO1.TXT
      890820    8820     35  12
      Desc: Intro to the Turbo-816

 4562 AIMJUL89.ARC
      890820   32760     13  12
      Desc: Archive of July '89 AIM
            articles

 4561 MACEEXPO.TXT
      890820   10080      6  12
      Desc: MACE Expo Show Report

 4560 OASISPRESSRELEASE.TXT
      890819    7560     34  27
      Desc: Oasis BBS Press
            Release!!!!!
 4559 LFTOGGLE.ARC
      890816    1260     13  22
      Desc: MIO printer line feed
            selector.

 4558 PUBCHAT2.ARC
      890815    7560     12  24
      Desc: CMD Mdoule for BBS Express!
            PRO

 4557 Z170.ARC
      890815   21420     99  13
      Desc: ZMagazine #170 for 15
            August 1989

 4556 TBC.TXT
      890814   13860     22  11
      Desc: Info about TBC BBS

 4555 DOCEQU02.ARC
      890811    6300     11  27
      Desc: Part 2 of documented MAC65
            equates

 4554 Z169.ARC
      890811   23940    103  13
      Desc: ZMagazine #169 for 8 August
            1989

 4553 PROPAQ.ARC
      890810   15120     13  14
      Desc: Online file compression for
            Pro BBS

 4552 DIABASIC.ARC
      890809    5040     17  26
      Desc: Program DIAMOND GOS via
            Basic

                    


   
   |WORLD OF ATARI--DALLAS (PART 3)|
   
       
       |Compiled by the Z*Staff|
       

    Reprinted from ST-ZMagazine #35


August 19 and 20 saw the third in the
series of World of Atari Shows,
promoted by Richard Tsukiji of ST-WORLD
Magazine.  After Disneyland (Anaheim,
California) last April and Dearborn
(Detroit, Michigan) in June, the
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas show was again
touted to be -the biggest yet-.
However, according to or interviews
with over 20 attending vendors,
developers, club members, and general
public, this was the smallest and least
successful to date.

Set under the Holiday Inn Holidome in
Irving, Texas (selected for its
metropolitan airport and position
between Dallas and Fort Worth), the
show floor for this latest World of
Atari was reportedly smaller than
either previous show.  However, the
number of vendor booths was apparently
similar to that at Dearborn, the
largest of the floors to date,
providing Dallas a busier overall
-feel-.

Official attendance figures are
unavailable as yet, but consensus
ranges between 1,000 and 1,600 people.
That's just under half of that posted
in Dearborn, and barely 15% of the
Disneyland attendance.  While Saturday
provided a good opening crowd, it
slowly diminished throughout the
afternoon.   Sunday was very light in
attendance, although the afternoon
picked up somewhat.  Nevertheless, the
crowds were both knowledgeable and
enthusiastic.

Atari Corp was represented by Sig
Hartmann and Jay Crosby.  The Atari
booth featured the Portfolio and the
PC4 IBM clone, but not the Stacy Laptop
ST, nor any of the entertainment or
8-bit line.  A user group supplied some
8-bit display hardware and software at
the last moment.

Big ticket vendors reported a steady
stream of -informed- lookers, although
systems and hardware sales were
reported to be very slow.  Software
sold at frenzied rates due to equally
frenzied price slashes.

Fast Technology, makers of the
about-to-be shipped Turbo 16
accelerator board, had a good overall
impression of the show, with lots of
attention to the product being given.
Users at the Texas show seemed to be
more interested than at Dearborn, said
James Allen Jr., developer of the
board.  He also said that he was
pleased with the instant comparisons he
was able to do with a competing system
from CMI, also at the show.
Unfortunately, Jim was unable to sell
his product as the first production run
is not quite complete.

In a similar situation was MIGRAPH, who
drew consistent interest in their new
Hand Scanner, but had no stock to
offer.  The first two shipments have
been shipped to buyers, with the next
shipment already sold before it
arrives.  Orders are being taken,
however, and Liz Mitchell reported that
a number of buyers are -ramping up- to
the scanner by buying the improved
TOUCH-UP software now, to upgrade to a
scanner later.

CODEHEAD said that while attendance
hurt their expected sales, that they
did sell quite a bit of their unique
utilities.  However, Charles Johnson
commented on the rampant price cutting
that many other vendors resorted to
near the end of the show.

RITE-WAY, a Detroit area retailer that
did well at the Dearborn show, says
that their trip to Dallas was a -barely
break even- affair.  While theirs was
one of the busiest booths, Rite-Way had
to cut prices by as much as 90% (!!!)
off most of his available stock in
order to go home with cash.  Ron, of
Rite-Way, nevertheless says the show
was -OK, not fantastic, but OK-.  He
blames what he called the -very
religious- character of the area for
the very low Sunday turnout.  He did
sell out his stock of World of Atari
Hats that he had purchased from CHAOS,
a Lansing, Michigan club that had
prepared them for the Dearborn show.
Chaos still has perhaps a hundred left,
and can be contacted through
ST*ZMAG/Z*Net for further purchases,
either singly at $5 or in quantity
at a discount.

ICD Inc reported far more tire-kickers
than buyers for their complete line of
hard drives and tape backup systems.
Sales were VERY slow, with the 8-bit
support product line almost totally
without buyers.  Sources at ICD
reported that only 3 to 5 total sales
were made from the 8-bit line, with
better but limited sales from their ST
lineup.  They also noted that Rite-Way
was selling ICD FA*ST Hard Drive
systems at $50 BELOW cost in order to
prevent taking them back home.

ABACUS of Michigan was particularly
hard hit buy the lack of buyers,
discounting their fine line of books
finally to ONE DOLLAR per title in
an effort to move them.  Their new
software for the ST, BECKERCAD, was
marked down from the retail of $395 to
only $50, half that of the introductory
price offered at Dearborn months
earlier.

BEST of California, sellers of some of
the most obscure and intriguing parts
'n stuff, is said to have done poorly
enough to have told several other
vendors that this would be their last
show.

Other vendors included SEYMOR-RADIX,
CMI, SOF-TREK, Gadgets by Small,
MICHTRON, REEVE SOFTWARE, and several
local Atari dealers, and others.

Seminars were held as usual.  Sig
Hartmann again held the opening
seminar, with others following the same
lineup as in Dearborn.  Scheduled:
Dave Small spoke about the MAC
emulators, Michtron's George Miller
held a desktop publishing and a BASIC
programming talk, Alan Reeve spoke on
his DIAMOND graphic operating system
for the 8-bit Atari, and ICD discussed
hard drives.

User groups were conspicuous by their
absence.  After significant involvement
in the Dearborn show, groups were
hardly considered at the Dallas World
of Atari, and no group had a booth of
their own.  Area group representative
told us that they learned more about
the upcoming show from reporters
calling them for comments than they
were able to get from ST-World or
Richard Tsukiji.  A major Dallas group,
DAL-ACE, said that they NEVER got any
official info so they did not
participate at all.  The Atari Users of
North Texas say most of their
information came one week ahead of the
show when a local dealer sent them some
fliers.  Alamo Atari, an 8-bit group
from San Antonio, heard of the show two
weeks in advance, and contacted Richard
for information, but were told that
there would be no Atari 8-bit display.
They confirmed this with Jay Crosby,
but later persuaded Sig Hartmann to let
them set up a few systems in the Atari
area and do a seminar on 8-bit
programming.

While receiving neither booth area nor
other benefits, several groups did
provide a number of volunteers to help
staff the World of Atari show.

In the end, the attendees were
generally very happy with the show and
the bargains they were able to snap up.
The vendors were either neutral or
negative regarding profitability and
attendance.  Almost every vendor and
each group stated that they knew of NO
ADVERTISING locally for the show, and
that promotions were poor overall.  One
story making the rounds at the show was
that a major area newspaper took
Richard's check for full page ads, but
never ran them.  While previous shows
were widely covered and promoted online
at GEnie and CompuServe, ST-World
elected to ignore online cooperation
this time, even refusing to return
repeated phone calls for information.

Despite his cancelled San Jose show,
Richard was soliciting for vendors to
attend his future World of Atari shows.
Still on the calendar are returns to
Anaheim next April, and to Detroit next
Spring.

                    


     
     |COMPUSERVE NEW 8-BIT UPLOADS|
     

Courtesy of CompuServe's Atari8 Library


 
 Uploader address
 Filename/type
          Date    Size    Downloads
 

[71361,411]
AIMPRS.TXT
        27-Aug-89 4116    Accesses: 3

    This text file contains information
of interest to ALL Atari user groups.


[71641,1650]
ALGIER.ARC/binary
        27-Aug-89 14208   Accesses: 2

    L'Italiana in Algeri (The Italian
Girl in Algiers) by Gioacchino Rossini


[76046,1756]
PRINT8.ARC/binary
        25-Aug-89 2560    Accesses: 6

    This file contains an ACTION!
utility, PRINT8.ACT, which prints text
on a graphics screen in 40 columns
rather than the usual 20, in any of 3
colors.


[71450,1050]
CANCEL.TXT
        23-Aug-89 2230    Accesses: 15

    This is the official press release
on the cancellation of the Kentuckiana
Atari Fest '89.


[70717,3232]
REDSEC.AMP/binary
        21-Aug-89 10240   Accesses: 15

    'RED SECTOR A' by RUSH Transcribed
with lyrics for use with AMP version 2.


[71777,2140]
Z171.ARC/binary
        21-Aug-89 16384   Accesses: 25
    
    ZMagazine issue #171 for 22 August,
1989.


[72470,2737]
APGEN.DCM/binary
        21-Aug-89 54528   Accesses: 5

    This file is a demonstration
version of -The Electronic Tutor-.


[72470,2737]
ETDOCS.ARC/binary
        21-Aug-89 14592   Accesses: 5
    
    This file is an archive of the
manual and a description of -The
Electronic Tutor-.


[72470,2737]
PRIPLT.DCM/binary
        21-Aug-89 78848   Accesses: 4

    This file is a demonstration
version of -The Electronic Tutor-.


[75126,3446]
CLRPX2.TXT
        20-Aug-89 2211    Accesses: 16

    Got a 1200XL with bad video? With a
few simple changes under the hood, you
can get rid of that tearing, fuzzy
screen and add separate CHROMA
operation.


[76004,1764]
DRIVE.ASC
        17-Aug-89 11493   Accesses: 51

    An ASCII text file, describing the
interesting results, of comparing the
following drives, to give an idea of
-just how fast- they really are!:
Atari 1050, U.S. Doubler, Happy 1050,
Atari XF551, and the XF35-XF551.


[71777,430]
DELDTA.BAS/binary
        14-Aug-89 512     Accesses: 5

    DELDTA.BAS is a LISTED basic
routine that will remove all data lines
from a basic program.


[71777,2140]
Z170.ARC/binary
        14-Aug-89 20480   Accesses: 30
    
    ZMagazine #170 for August 15, 1989.


[72750,747]
DANSGA.ARC/binary
        13-Aug-89 3200    Accesses: 5

       THESE ARE SOME BOULDER DASH
SCREENS THAT I RECREATED FROM A FILE I
DOWNLOADED FROM THE ST SIG.


[74030,2020]
APAC12.ARC/binary
        13-Aug-89 23936   Accesses: 38

    Here is version 1.2 of APACVIEW,
the GIF picture file viewer that
displays in 256 color APAC mode.


[76046,1756]
PRNT15.ACT/binary
        13-Aug-89 4736    Accesses: 17

    Most everyone has a utility to
print text on a Graphics 8 screen, but
many would prefer to use Graphics 7+
and its 4-color display. This ACTION!
program will free you from GR.8's
constraints!


[71777,2140]
Z169.ARC/binary
        11-Aug-89 22272   Accesses: 36
    
    ZMagazine #169 for 8 August 1989.


[72337,1407]
STFX1.DIG/binary
        10-Aug-89 22144   Accesses: 12
    
    A STRUCTURED PARROT file your all
you parrot owners.

                    


    
    |ATARI INTERFACE MAGAZINE OFFER|
    


            August 27, 1989

Contact:  Pattie Snyder-Rayl
          (313) 973-8825

          Unicorn Publications
          3487 Braeburn Circle
        Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108


  Atari Interface Magazine Offers User
     Groups a Low Cost, Hassle Free
         Newsletter Alternative

ANN ARBOR, MI--Has your Atari user
group found itself spending a large
chunk of its funds to produce and mail
a club newsletter?  Do you have an
overworked newsletter editor who
scrambles to get each newsletter
produced?  Does your club find it
increasingly harder to have a quality
newsletter containing original
articles?  Has your club tried
including Z*Net supplements only to
find the increased production costs far
outweigh the benefits?

Unicorn Publications, producer of Atari
Interface Magazine (AIM), announces a
plan to help Atari user groups overcome
the hassles associated with producing
a club newsletter.  We invite your club
to join groups from Michigan, Oklahoma
and Texas in becoming a Participating
Club in Atari Interface Magazine for
the unbelievably low price of only 50
cents per issue per member.  For each
member, that's only $6.00 per year!

For the price many clubs are currently
paying for postage alone, your members
can have a high quality, national
newsletter delivered each month to
their doors.  Here's how it works:
Participating Clubs submit club news,
minutes, reviews, editorials, and other
feature articles on or before the 17th
of each month.  Participating clubs
also supply mailing labels for their
members and a check or money order for
50 cents per supplied label.  Here at
Unicorn Publications, we write monthly
columns and features, and we do all the
-dirty work---editing, laying out and
producing the magazine, and mailing
each issue to the club members.

For those of you unfamiliar with AIM,
Unicorn Publications began producing
the magazine back in December, 1987,
under the name Michigan Atari Magazine.
With the addition of Participating
Clubs outside the state of Michigan in
January, 1989, the publication evolved
into Atari Interface Magazine.  The
magazine supports both the Atari 8-bit
and ST computers.  With
over-the-counter sales in select Atari
stores from Maine to California,
chances are you can find a copy of AIM
at your local dealer.

As well as submissions from
participating clubs, the magazine
currently includes the following
regular monthly columns:

*  Atari Bulletin Board, a look at
   what's new each month in the Atari
   world

*  Turbo Info by DataQue's Chuck
   Steinman who discusses the Turbo-816
   16-bit processor upgrade for Atari
   8-bit owners

*  Hard Drive Myths and Mysteries from
   Dave Troy of Toad Computers,
   supplier of some of the best hard
   drive kits available for the ST

*  An in-depth tutorial to help people
   get the most from the AtariWriter+
   wordprocessor

If your editor is currently struggling
to produce a monthly newsletter, or if
your club has tried including Z*Net
supplements only to find that local
content has to be decreased or
newsletter production costs soar out of
reach, we urge you to consider
participating in AIM.

Production and mailing of a monthly
club newsletter is, quite often, the
largest expense for a club.  As a
Participating Club paying only 50 cents
per issue per member, your newsletter
costs should decrease substantially.
At the same time, your club joins with
other Atari user groups to gain the
benefits of participating in a national
user group publication.

For more information on becoming a
Participating Club in Atari Interface
Magazine and other benefits of
participation, contact Pattie
Snyder-Rayl at (313) 973-8825.  Or give
our BBS a call at (313) 973-9137
(300/1200/2400 baud).

Unicorn Publications can also be
reached via electronic mail on
CompuServe (ID 71361,411), GEnie
(UNICORNPUB) and Delphi (UNICORNPUB).
We hope to hear from your club soon!

                    


 
 |   Rovac Industries, Incorporated  |
 | P.O. Box 59, Middlesex, NJ 08846  |
 |          (201) 968-8148           |
 |Copyright 1989  All Rights Reserved|
 

  
     Reprint permission is granted
  providing ZMagazine and the original
         author is credited.
  

        CompuServe: 71777,2140
             GEnie: ZMAGAZINE
            Source: BDG793

     ZMagazine Headquarters BBSes:     
      Centurion BBS--(618)451-0165
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 Stairway to Heaven--(216)784-0574
