::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||| ST*ZMAGAZINE #37 September 8, 1989 ||||||| |||||||---------------------------------------------------------||||||| ||||||| Volume 1, Number 37 Ron Kovacs, Editor ||||||| |||||||---------------------------------------------------------||||||| |||||||(c) 1989, Rovac Ind., PO Box 59, Middlesex, NJ 08846-0059||||||| |||||||=========================================================||||||| ||||||| News Headlines.... ||||||| ||||||| ~ Bob Brodie attends JACG meeting... ||||||| ||||||| ~ Atari announces Rainbow TOS availability... ||||||| ||||||| ~ Hewlett Packard purchasing Commodore??? ||||||| ||||||| ~ FunctionZ Reviewed along with our features... ||||||| |||||||=========================================================||||||| |||||||CompuServe: 71777,2140 GEnie: ZMAGAZINE||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: <*> The Editors Desk.....................................Ron Kovacs <*> ZNet Newswire.................................................. <*> Public Domain Shelf.................................Alice Amore <*> Virus Update - Part 2..............................Joe Ceklosky <*> User Group Response....................................Leo Sell <*> User Group Update..........................Unicorn Publications <*> Software Review.......................WK Whitton and Ron Kovacs <*> FrankenStein......................................Press Release <*> NEC Multisync II to Atari ST................................... <*> Atari 1040STE........................................WK Whitton THE EDITORS DESK ================ by Ron Kovacs If you have been trying to access GEnie the last few days, there is a problem system wide. While attempting to upload this issue late Saturday evening, we could not through 4 different nodes in the country and still again could not early Sunday morning. This is the second time in about 10 days problems have occurred. Good luck curing them! Jersey Atari Computer Group MEETING 9/9/89 I want to discuss and report on Bob Brodie's appearance at the September JACG meeting, of which I am a member. This was the first major appearance by Atari's new user group coordinator. In attendance with the 200 plus members and guests, Arthur Leyenberger from Analog Magazine, David Noyes from Atari Explorer Magazine, representatives from JACS User Group, BASIC User Group, LVAUG User Group and one group from Connecticut. In total, there were groups from five states here to enjoy the meeting. JACG is to be commended for organizing such a large group for the meeting. They were certainly rewarded, with Atari donating an XE Game System, an XF-551 disk drive, an XEP80, and Atari Writer 80 to the group. In addition, the JACG PD Library sold over $600 in disks!! All the group reps where given a chance to speak. Arthur Leyenberger of Analog spoke about changes in the Atari community since he was President of the JACG in the early eighties. David Noyes of Atari Explorer echoes Arts' comments and his support and needs for support for the 8-bit Atari computers. I was announced and chatted briefly about Z*Net and it's concept, online magazines, and allowed a short question and answer period. During a break before Bob spoke, I was surprised at the number of people that wanted to speak with me about Z*Net, ST-Z*Mag, and Z*Mag. They were by and large complimentary, with a number of them anxious to see what they had to do to get Z*Net included in their newsletter, or carry Z*Mag on their BBS. Some of the questions asked where interesting and pleasing to hear. Sitting behind the computer day after day and to hear the appreciation for publishing this material was encouraging. Another point brought up was the fact that Atari's commentary on what the three online magazines release each week never seems to appear. What exactly does Atari think about the onlines? Your guess is as good as mine. After a brief intermission, Bob Brodie was announced and started with a short speech on how he got to Atari and goals he planned for the next year. Look for the seldom produced Atari User Group Newsletter to be resurrected in 1990. Bob wants to produce the user group newsletter at least quarterly, with hopes of going bi-monthly by the end of the year. Atari is convinced that user groups need to be nurtured, and developed not just as an avenue of support for their product, but as a special market as well. Bob recognizes that user groups need a better way to communicate with Atari, as well as other user groups. To that end, Atari will be making the completed user group listings available to all groups that are registered, first for verification by the groups, then for publication. Soon after he showed a short tape from a recent Atari show in Dusseldorf, West Germany attended by over 35,000 people where Atari announced the TT. We saw over 145 developers gathered in a large hall showing a wealth of products, all for the ST. Atari Germany had a section at the show called "The Atari Shop" were they displayed all kinds of goodies for Atari fanatics; Atari backpacks, Atari sweatshirts, Atari jackets, and more. He also brought along the new Atari Portfolio for all to see, and some to try! The Portfolio is set to begin shipping next week, and looks to be a great success for Atari! Bob allowed a 50 plus minute question and answer period. If time weren't an issue, I am sure the q & a's would have went on for at least another hour. Some of the questions pertained directly to dealer support and the lack of it, other questions on 8-bit support, upgrading, and various comments on the current state of affairs at Atari. At the meeting, Atari announced that they have a new solution to the old problem of getting service where there are no dealers. Atari has enlisted a group of dealers located across the USA to be "Regional Service Centers". If a user has a hardware problem, he can call Atari Customer Service Department, give his zip code, and get the name of the Regional Service Center closest to him. This is a good step forward for users that live hundreds of miles from dealers, and a big improvement over simply returning the defective unit to Sunnyvale for Atari to replace or repair. Nothing is as effective as having your own local dealer, but while Atari adds more dealers, this is a good alternative. If you have attended any show, user group meeting, AtariFest or World of Atari show, I am sure you have listened to previous Atari employees baffle the airwaves with fluff, appear not to be interested, and really leave you feeling you wasted your time. Bob Brodie did not fit any of the above. His remarks were straight forward and to the point. If he didn't know an answer, it was simply stated as such, when one user continued to pursue information on upgrading his system, Bob handled himself well and honestly. When the user continued to press that he should be able to trade in his computer directly to Atari for an upgrade, Bob tried to point out that Atari does not have a used computer business, but that a number of dealers do. He suggested that the user contact a dealer that would be interested in trade-ins. But when the user insisted that Atari should be the one taking the trade-in, Bob told about his first new car, a Fiat sedan. He told how it fit his needs wonderfully for a number of years, but after getting married, and starting a family, he found that little sedan was no longer met his needs. "When I realized our family needed another car, I did NOT go back to Fiat, and ask them to add another six feet to the car, add two more doors, cruise control, etc. I sold the car, then bought one that met our family's needs. Likewise, users whose needs have changed need to upgrade their systems." The groups showed their support for his analogy with their loud applause! Bob's caring feeling shines through everything he said. A spokesman for Atari he is and I am sure he is going to fill the shoes of his previous position holders and more. Atari has latched on to a good public speaker and someone who cares about it's users. After the meeting adjourned, Bob and a number of user groups officers had another meeting, enjoying a lunch at restaurant close by. This was a great opportunity for both Atari and user groups officers to speak frankly about hopes and plans for the future. Bob shared some of his ideas that he wants to advance at Atari, getting users points of views to share with Sunnyvale executives. He stressed that he wants to be accessible to the users, and encouraged all to call (408-745-2052) or send e-mail (GEnie address: BOBBRODIE) with any of their needs or requests. It also proved a good time for contacts to be nurtured between the groups, with promises of exchanges of material flowing between the groups. You will find additional accounts of this meeting, in upcoming editions of Analog and Atari Explorer magazines. ZNET NEWSWIRE ------------- ~ Hewlett Packard is said to be getting ready to purchase Commodore! The exact details are NOT known at the present time but will be updated shortly. The reasons could be numerous and will be interesting to see what developes. Maybe the end of the AMIGA! ~ The Portfolio should be released next week, and in October Atari should be nearing the release of other announced products. The Stacy should be out by Christmas, but again with FCC holding things up, we can only hope at the present time. In a past issue of ST*ZMag, we printed the fact that the Portfolio was shipping overseas, that story was incorrect as it stated it would be released overseas first. The Portfolio at the present time is NOT available in Europe. ~ Press Release from Atari: To All Atari Owners: Rainbow TOS: The Operating System Upgrade from Atari Atari is proud to introduce Rainbow TOS, a new version of the ST/MEGA operating system. During the early stages of the development of Rainbow TOS, we actively gathered suggestions from our customers and incorporated many of these suggestions. We have made many enhancements, including an easier to use GEM Desktop. Here are a few of the changes: - Faster disk access. - IBM compatible disk format from Desktop. - Compatible with high resolution monitors. - Automatically run GEM applications on boot-up! - Soft-Reset available from keyboard. - Revised File Selector. - GEM Desktop supports "moving" of files. - Folder renaming ability! - Better memory management. - Archive bit handling for Hard Drive backup. And many more! We consider Rainbow TOS to be a major enhancement to ST and MEGA computers and recommend that every one of our customers upgrade. Rainbow TOS is available now through your local Atari dealer. For additional information on Rainbow TOS please call our Technical Support Department at (408) 745-2004. Rainbow TOS is available from, and only installable by, your local Atari Dealer! Suggested Retail Price $99.95 (parts only). Call (408) 745-2367 to locate an Atari Dealer near you. Augie Liguori, V.P. and General Manager, Atari Corporation PUBLIC DOMAIN SHELF ------------------- by Alice Amore STXF25 (ST Xformer 2.55) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darek Mihocka has decided to release this final (?) version of ST XFORMER, the 8-bit emulator, into the public domain. Within the documentation is Darek's essay on the reasons behind his decision, and how he feels about Atari in general. Read it and think. A2LSWTC2 ~~~~~~~~ The possible acceptance of LHARC as "the better ARCiver" has caused an avalanche of benchmark lists and test results from users. If you're still in the dark, use A2LSWTC2 to switch back and forth between ARC and LHARC and compare the ARChives for yourself. Written by Jan Dembowski in HiSoft Basic, A2LSWTC2 requires both ARC.TTP and LHARC.TTP to run. LZHSHELL ~~~~~~~~ Speaking of ARChives, if you'd like to use LHARC from within a shell, LZHSHELL should keep you happy. It allows all the usual deARCing functions such as add, extract, move, run, update, copy, freshen, list, delete, verbose, test, convert, read, retain backup, suppress compression/messages/notes, hold screen, encode/decode, overwrite, crunch, squash, and Quick LZH. Output can be sent to the screen or printer. Paths are fully configurable. LZHSHELL (version 1.1) was written by Kerry K. Flint of _KKF Software. FND ~~~ For those who use a PC at work and an ST at home, FND ("a portable data look-up utility") will allow you to search for keywords in data files by pre-marking specific lines of data as they're entered. FND will run on either an ST or a PC. FUJIDSK2 ~~~~~~~~ FUJIDSK2 is simply a rotating Fuji for your desktop. It appears in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, right next to the 'Desk Menu'. In medium res it rotates nicely, and in low res it does some nice color- cycling. In high res... well, just about everything looks great in high res, doesn't it? MGWRITER ~~~~~~~~ Dr. Bruce D. Noonan, an ophthalmic surgeon, has written MAGNIWRITER, a large-text word processor for those with low vision. MAGNIWRITER is based on ST WRITER/ELITE, also written by Dr. Noonan. Indeed, if you've used ST WRITER or ATARIWRITER (8-bit), you won't have the least bit of trouble with MAGNIWRITER, since the look is similar, and most of the commands are the same (although, due to screen size limitations, the GEM environment is unavailable). In high res, you will see 40 columns by 20 lines, and in medium res, 40 columns by 10 lines. For exceptionally large text, use low res and get 20 columns by 10 lines. Any file made with MAGNIWRITER may be saved in ASCII format in order to be ported to other programs and other computers. MAGNIWRITER is from the September, 1989 issue of ST-LOG. Although the file is available on GEnie, buy the magazine and read the article for best results. HARRIER ~~~~~~~ Here's another VIDI-ST animation. This is the Harrier VTOL jet at take- off. Short but good. Use ANIMATE to view this .SEQ file. OCPART ~~~~~~ This is a demo of "The Advanced OCP Art Studio" from Rainbird Software. Because the demo is self-running (and at times makes you think there's a phantom at the console), you are able to sit back and watch an expert assemble various pictures on the screen, plus an impressive animated sequence. This is high-quality STuff. The demo loops, making it suitable to keep on display at user group meetings, computer fairs, and other such events. The commercial version is available from Datel Computers. SEARCHER ~~~~~~~~ SEARCHER takes any word list and makes a word search puzzle from it. The puzzle can then be sent to the printer. If you don't have a word list handy, you can make a list while within the program. Puzzle words can be placed forwards, backwards, or diagonally, or a combination of all three. Grid size is adjustable. The finished puzzle can be quite challenging, even though all search words are given in advance. SEARCHER is shareware from DWBinnion. VIDEOTXT ~~~~~~~~ VIDEOTEXT, a commercial program, is a video titler and character generator available from Water Fountain Software. This demo, which includes the SHOWTIME program, lets you see how various fonts and special effects can be put together to make some dazzling, animated title displays. A few data files are available, and can be recognized by their file extensions (.VT1 and .VT2). VIRUS UPDATE - PART 2 --------------------- by Joe Ceklosky After reading about a virus in the ST Z Magazine #35, I decided to have a look at mine own disks. In this Z-mag, the author said that a virus has been making it's way around the ST community. It is found in the boot sector of floppy disks. The article said that a boot sector (sector 00) with the following hexadecimal values $60 $38 $00 $00 $00 $00 has been infected. According to R. Jung (the author) the virus seemed to be harmless for the moment, maybe waiting for another virus to come along and 'trigger' the first one. Now back to my point, a few days before this report came out, I noticed that a few of my floppy disks went bad (meaning no directory or garbage directory). I thought nothing of it, the disks were old so I felt it was time for them to go bad, but this article triggered me to look a little closer. The program that came to my mind was George Woodsides' Virus Killer, so booted it up and threw in some of the questionable disks. All of a sudden the monitor started to ring and the program said that a virus existed on the disk. I viewed the boot sector and the hexadecimal values listed above popped in front of me, it looks like I was infected with the virus. The article by R. Jung said that the virus seemed to be harmless for the moment, but after my experiences with the virus it appears that the virus either is trigger by an event or a counter of some type. Now after reading an article from the NEOSTAG ST group in Ohio, I saw that they know about the Trojan Horse program, but have not found the "TRIGGER" virus. Looking at the problems I have encounter, it seems that the trigger virus existed on my disks. The group asked for a copy of the disk, but I killed the disks before I read that article. NEOSTAG wanted to know the results of the virus, so I have found some of them (scrambled directories, disk pretends to be blank, or 6 gig free on a floppy). Also a friend of mine had an even worse bout with the virus. He was ready to get a new floppy disk drive because of this. He had problems with disks getting trashed or having junk directories. He checked out his disks and found the viruses covered about 90% of his floppies. Maybe he will not end up getting a new floppy drive after all. I wrote this letter NOT TO ALARM the whole ST community, but to warn everyone who might have had weird things happening to them. So your best bet is to clean up your disks with the PD program, VIRUS KILLER Version 2.2 from GEORGE WOODSIDE. Make sure you run through all your floppy disks because this virus will spread and spread quickly. Once a disk has been cleaned protect the disk so NOTHING can get onto it. I found about 50 disks that had the virus on it!!!! If you have any problems, questions, or answers to this crazy virus please send me a letter or mail on GEnie. P.S. I have not noticed any problems with my Hard Drive, so I would assume that the hard drive is safe! Joe Ceklosky 109 West Dorrance Street Kingston, Pa. 18704 (717)-288-1319 GEnie Id: J.CEKLOSKY Sources Used: Virus Killer 2.2 George Woodside ST ZMagazine # 35 Article on Viruses by NEOSTAG USER GROUP RESPONSE - AIM with Caution -------------------------------------- by Leo Sell Let me lead this article with a very solid statement that the positions and information in this article are my OPINIONS, backed by my experience and the facts as I believe them to be. It is not an attack, it is an explanation to all our members and to other clubs who may wonder just what is going on in Michigan regarding club magazines. A week ago as I write this, several of us met with Bill and Pattie Rayl, the publishers of Atari Interface Magazine (AIM), to hear about their new participation criteria and cost schedules. Only a few clubs actually sent representatives. Among other things, the publishers stated a hope to expand AIM to clubs across the country. They are lowering the price of their commercial magazine effort to clubs who will embrace it as their official newsletter and provide it as a condition of membership. Benefits are now reduced and costs are higher for groups wanting a lower level of involvement, which is what C.H.A.O.S. had been using until now. While the new full participation price and the "we do all of the work, you just pay us" message is attractive, C.H.A.O.S. is now ending our already limited participation for a number of reasons that I believe need to be explained. I've been president of C.H.A.O.S. for over 6 years. C.H.A.O.S. itself has existed since about 1979. That makes us one of the oldest Atari clubs in the world. One of the things we've become known for in that time is steadiness and constancy. Those things are important to the health of a club, and they are important to me. Another thing that is important to me is integrity. In all of my dealings, I try to have integrity - "a firm adherence to a code of moral or artistic values". I try to let people know where I stand and I try to be honest. I expect the same from others, but C.H.A.O.S. and I have not always been dealt with in such a manner. Our most challenging dealings have been with the publishers of AIM. It seems as if we have had to watch everything we say or do with those people, otherwise it gets twisted or changed around for some purpose of theirs. The meeting I mentioned is only the latest case in point. The meeting itself was above-board and straightforward, having to do only with AIM re-organization. Afterwards we all started shooting the breeze about Atari stuff. You know how it goes. No one paying a lot of attention, just talking and complaining and kibitzing - no one guarding their tongues. Hey, we thought it was safe. Unfortunately, what was said didn't stay in that room. One of the subjects that came up was recent rumors about pressures from an online service and Atari. One person spoke up, and, using a colloquialism, expressed that from what he'd HEARD, an Atari executive was prepared to tell that service where to go, what to do, or whatever. The point is, he spoke of what he'd heard from here and there, and didn't claim to have spoken to this executive or that what he was saying was a quote. It was much like how you and I might talk about Tony Mandarich's contract negotiations. While we might say that Green Bay says Tony can to go to hell, no one in the room would think we'd talked to Green Bay management and were quoting them. Well, true to form, it now appears that the Rayls passed the discussion (in what seems to be an "adjusted" format) on to someone at the online service, to a publication of questionable and reactionary repute, and to the Atari executive himself. And guess what Atari executive called our member, furious and even threatening suit for his making up and attributing a DIRECT QUOTE to him, above all else, "as part of a an Official Meeting of all the Michigan Atari Club Presidents!" In fact, it wasn't the actual message, it was the colloquialism that the executive objected most to. That, and being quoted "verbatim" by someone he didn't recall talking to. All of it was quickly quenched when the actual words and setting were explained. Our member assured him that he had not attempted to quote him, he only expressed the sense of what he'd heard from a variety of sources. In the end, the executive confirmed that, while he couldn't or wouldn't use the same language, the fact is he will not allow Atari to be blackmailed or forced into anything by anyone, online or elsewhere. So, what's my point? Only this. The things said during the informal, after-meeting discussion were exactly that - informal. No one should have been quoted, and nothing should have left the room. But, Bill and Pattie, perhaps on some unspoken agenda, used and twisted an unguarded comment against someone, seemingly to undermine his credibility.. again. And the damage has indeed been done, but to EVERY party involved. For those tale-telling and those told about, the communication has needlessly been soured and tinged with credibility questions. I have found such things to be typical of our dealings with the Rayls. Misquotes, shifting stories, denials, hidden agendas, and so on, have been continuous since they began to publish. The two Detroit shows are another example. To my eyes, Bill and Pattie rewrote the history of the shows to suit their own aims. I'm not going to go over all of the deceptions and problems that ensued, but as an example of the difference in attitudes between us, I'd suggest you read and contrast the coverage GLAD had of the MACE show (June issue) to the AIM coverage of the World of Atari show (August issue). Where one reports, the other editorializes. Contact me for photocopies if you need them. Worse, in their recent editorials and promotions, little regard for accuracy or clarity is shown. AIM attributes statements and opinions to people while paraphrasing in ways that change the spirit or context. Time after time, what a difference a single changed word can make! And even when permitting room for reply, they have edited parts of those replies to weaken their impact. Perhaps it all goes back to our original disagreement with the Rayls - ownership and control of the magazine. We've always maintained that user group control of a newsletter is vital. We contended that the groups never gave up their ownership or control of Michigan Atari Magazine when the Rayls began publishing it for us. Bill and Pattie flatly claimed to own it and have absolute control after six months of production. As a result of that dispute, MAM was put to rest by the Rayls and the clubs, and AIM (and GLAD) arose. With the AIM ownership exclusively and unquestionably in the hands of the Rayls, the participating groups now have no control. While they claim to be sensitive and concerned for the needs and desires of participating clubs, the bottom line is everything is on the publisher's terms. Don't complain or ask questions - do it their way, you have no right to that information. If I didn't like it, walk, I was told once, point blank. Well, we walked and formed GLAD, but it appears from the continued evidence of friction that a vendetta of sorts may remain in Ann Arbor. The point to all of this is this: We've found in dealing with the publishers of AIM, that we cannot be too careful what we say or do for fear of how it may be twisted, changed, and used against us. To us, the magazine deal is not worth the required vigilance. Our magazine and official newsletter must reflect our own values and interests directly. So, we will be continuing to produce G.L.A.D. even if the effort and costs for our lower volume may be a bit higher. Notice to other clubs: if you are active and concerned for accuracy, control, and integrity, please be careful. Join AIM or any other newsletter service with care. Know what you are getting, and more importantly, what you are NOT getting. Now, for those of you who have heard about our differences with AIM and the Rayls too many times, I give you a promise. Unless it is to answer another attack on me, C.H.A.O.S., or a member (or to give reply space for this!), we won't be printing another article about AIM or its publishers. This horse is long dead, leopards are't going to be redecorated, and the story is cold. For those club officers reading this, I urge you to strongly consider joining with other CLUBS in a joint effort, and do all that you must to retain control of your newsletter and club. May you, your club, and Atari, Live long and Prosper. USER GROUP UPDATE ----------------- Unicorn Publications August 27, 1989 Contact: Pattie Snyder-Rayl (313) 973-8825 Unicorn Publications 3487 Braeburn Circle Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 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+ word processor 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! SOFTWARE REVIEW - FUNCTION-Z ---------------------------- by WK Whitton and Ron Kovacs (Editors Note: WK Whitton provided the following review and I have added some comments within the article) If this writer seems to be a bit too "patronizing" for some of our readers, please let me forewarn you that this review probably will further damage my reputation! "FunctionZ" is one fine program, and you will have to pardon me while I rant and rave about it. We all are well aware that there are several "software gaps" when it comes to the Atari ST, and the need for a good template making program just happened to be at the top of my list of things I'd like to see produced at some future date. It was then with great excitement that I stumbled across some information that informed me that Regent Software would soon be releasing a program for the ST that would allow the user to print out a template for the ST program of his choice. Time flew as I waited for my package to arrive, and finally the day dawned when my "FunctionZ" arrived! "FunctionZ" is comprised of a set of 6 plastic "template" holders and a disk. After booting the program as one would naturally do, I was greeted with a registration screen. After filing in the blanks, the program then proceeded to print out a registration form which I was to fold on the dotted line and mail in to Regent Software. I ran into 2 minor quirks here, and hope they will be "modified" in future versions. When at the "registration screen," you _had_ to either hit the down arrow to go the next line and continue entering your pertinent data, or use the mouse to click the cursor on the next line. What amazed me was that hitting return had absolutely no effect. The hitting of return to go to the next line is probably the most used "natural" reaction for a well-seasoned computer operator as myself, and was a bit startled that this action did not produce the desired results (not at all a big problem though!) Secondly, after the registration form was printed out, I fumbled and jumbled with the dotted lines on the form that were laid out so I could supposedly turn this one-dimensional form into a 2 dimensional envelope with a stamp on it (supplied separately of course!) Instead, I began to think the writer should have called this "RubikZ." I was not able to fold things to get an acceptable and private registration form, so I did the next best thing...I reached in my drawer, pulled out a business size envelope and popped the form in it. It fit rather nicely! Please remember, this may only reflect _my_ lack of brains and oragami skills and NOT on the programmer. Ron had no problems however folding his form, although he hasn't mailed it yet! What I saw on the next screen caused me to instantly forget the small problems I'd had to getting things started up. The information screen (on monochrome) was a top notch and very classy work of art. It's "professional" look let you know right away that you had indeed purchased a quality piece of software, and were in for a treat. Across the top of the screen was the menu bar and contained the following options (am including the info you would receive if you pulled the selection down, does not normally show this info unless you select it): File Edit Help ------------------------------------------------ New F1 Cut Introduction Open F2 Copy Tutorial Save F3 Paste Label Libraries Save As F4 Clear Edit Commands Close F5 Blinking Cursor Printing Print Label F6 Word Wrap Tech Support Quit F7 Upper Case Only Pirates Beware In order to print a template, you would retrieve one from disk, or create one using the built-in editor. Once the template is loaded, you are presented with a graphic representation of the template. The first 5 keys (F1-F5) are shown on the screen, and if you click on the gadget, it will swap this screen and show you the second set of function keys (F6-F10). You may edit the template currently on display, or go ahead and print it as is. If you choose to edit or create, you merely type in your text, hit the TAB key to send the cursor to the next line, and away you go. If you squeeze things, there is room for 6 lines of text. At the present time you cannot use anything other then the Atari font, but printer drivers are currently being developed for a future updated release. Text can be moved around quite handily in FunctionZ with the use of your Atari mouse in cut, paste, copy and block operations. This program also supports word wrap, alternative international character set, and even a clipboard! FunctionZ prints equally as well on most printers as it uses ASCII codes for compatibility sake. Due to the fact that no graphics are used in the creation of the templates, your printer will be able to zip out a FunctionZ template in no time flat. One point here is that an entire sheet of paper is used for each template you print. It is very easy to see that Regent thought this program through before releasing it, and it is a solid piece of workmanship. The only shortcomings of not that I perceive in this fine package are: no capability of using alternate fonts, and no keyboard maps for computers other than the ST, although this might not be important to most users. With the proliferation of quality emulators designed to run on the Atari St platform, it would be extremely handy to be able to print out a template for PaperClip on the Atari 8 bit, or Pagemaker on the Mac. Additionally, I'd like to see the text editor beefed up so you could not only enter the function keys in, but also the alternate and control key selections as well. It also might be appropriate to allow sizing of the editor screen so that all 10 function keys can printed on a piece of paper big enough to fit in just one of the plastic template holders. Also, out of the 12 Sts I tested the template holders on, 2 were such that the holder froze the keys and they would stick and would not pop back up after being depressed. I imagine a bit of creative filing could solve this problem, and believe it is due to Atari's non-standard production rather than the fault of Regent. FunctionZ comes with a program disk and 6 plastic template holders for the amazingly low price of $24.95. If you wish to order more template holders, they come in sets of 8 for 13.95. If you wish to order FunctionZ, you can contact your local Atari ST dealer, or Regent Software. Regent Software P.O. Box 14628 Long Beach, CA 90803 Phone: 213-439-9664 FAX: 213-434-2310 ST*ZMAG RATINGS 100 = Excellent ----------------------------------------------------------------- "First Glance Usability" | 95 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Speed | 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Pleasing to the eye | 99 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Clarity of Documentation | 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Flexibility | 95 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Portability | 70 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Printer Support | 35 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Attention to detail | 98 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Customer Support | 95 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Updates | 95 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Packaging | 85 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Value | 100 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Works in how many resolutions? 2 (Medium & High) Known to work with Tos 1.4 Yes Both keyboard and menu activated functions Yes Hard drive installable Yes Most Liked Feature - Clarity and length of FunctionZ built-in help file. Least Liked Feature - Not able to use additional fonts other than the standard Atari font. Summary - FunctionZ is a program that allows you print templates for the function keys used in your favorite ST applications. It also comes with a set of 6 plastic stands to hold these labels. FRANKENSTEIN ------------ Press Release TURN YOUR ATARI ST INTO A 4 MEGABYTE MONSTER! Canoe Computer Services has developed a new Ram upgrade system for the Atari ST. The "FrankenSTein" solderless memory upgrade board will increase the memory of your Atari 520ST, 520STfm, or 1040ST to 2 or 4 MEGABYTE. The "FrankenSTein" simply plugs into two existing sockets on the Atari board and requires NO SOLDERING. Simple step by step instructions. After installing the "FrankenSTein" your Atari ST will be able to run all the memory hungry software designed for the Atari MEGA computer. A Ramdisk, Printer buffer, and Ramcheck software is included with the "FrankenSTein". The "FrankenSTein" is also fully compatible with pc- ditto II. FrankenSTein Prices: Zero K - $149.95 (You supply the Ram chips) 2 MEGS - $439.95 4 MEGS - $689.95 Add $4.50 Shipping + handling The 2 MEG FrankenSTein can be upgraded to 4 MEGS simply by plugging in more ram chips. Note: Due to fluctuating ram chip prices some users may find it less expensive to order a "FrankenSTein" with "Zero K" and acquire the ram separately. The "FrankenSTein" is available from: Canoe Computer Services 11006-155 Street Edmonton, AB T5P-2N3 Phone (403) 437-4619 NEC MULTISYNC II TO ATARI ST ---------------------------- last updated: September 19, 1988 Copyright (c) 1988 David S. Weaver, All rights reserved This file may be copied freely only with the inclusion of the above copyright notice whether for commercial or non-commercial use. The NEC MultiSync II is an easy monitor to connect to your ST if you want a monitor that can be used with systems other than just the Atari ST. The following text describes how to build a switch box to connect the MultiSync II to the ST to allow use of color or monochrome with the flick of a switch. I have found using the MultiSync II in monochrome mode on the ST to have slightly less clarity than the Atari monochrome monitor, but the bigger screen size more than makes up for the reduction in clarity in my opinion. When used in color mode, keep in mind that the ST only uses half the number of vertical scan lines, so you get black lines in between lines of color. On the Atari color monitor the color lines tend to blend more; with the MultiSync-II higher resolution, the in between scan lines might be more noticeable (I don't find this objectionable, some people might). I find the colors on the MultiSync-II to be as good if not better than the Atari color monitor; that coupled with the fact that you can use it for monochrome or color makes it worthwhile for me, I use it mainly in monochrome mode, occasionally switching to color. Some specs for the MultiSync II and Atari: NEC MultiSync II Atari low medium high ------- ------- ------- Horizontal Frequency: 15.5kHz - 35kHz 15.8kHz 31.5kHz 35.7kHz Vertical Frequency: 50Hz - 80Hz 60Hz 60Hz 71.2kHz Horizontal Resolution: 800 dots 320 640 640 Vertical Resolution: 560 lines 200 200 400 Signal level: TTL pos --- --- --- (analog) 0.7Vpp 75 ohm pos 1.0Vpp 75 ohm Sync Signal level: TTL pos/neg TTL 3.3K neg (analog) 0.3Vpp neg --- --- --- As one can see from the chart, all the Atari specs fall with the NEC's except for the 35.7kHz (instead of 35kHz) which doesn't seem to be a problem. Also the video signals are a bit high (1.0Vpp rather than 0.7Vpp), but it seems to be working just fine without the addition of any resisters. I initially had a problem with the NEC not syncing to high rez mode on the ST after powering off the monitor and then powering it back on again. The work around was to either unplug the video cable, or reboot the ST. I decided to add a switch to break the horizontal and vertical sync lines. During the process, I switched the cables I was using to feed the DB9 connector to some that were more flexible because I had a problem with the signal lines breaking at the connector. I also grounded the DB9 connector to the shield ground in the cable from the Mega ST. As a result of this rework, I found I no longer needed the extra switch to interrupt the sync signals to force a resync. The following pin assignments are what work when connecting an NEC MultiSync II to a Mega ST2 for color operation, they should work for any of the ST series: MultiSync II 520/1040/Mega ST (female DB-9) (male 13 pin DIN) pin 1 red pin 7 red pin 2 green pin 6 green pin 3 blue pin 10 blue pin 5 mode control or v sync pin 12 vertical sync pin 4 h/v sync or h sync pin 9 horizontal sync pin 6 red ground pin 13 ground pin 7 green ground pin 13 ground pin 8 blue ground pin 13 ground pin 9 ground pin 13 ground The Mega ST can also use this combination for sync: pin 4 h/v sync or h sync pin 2 composite sync pin 5 mode control or v sync * not connected For monochrome to work, use the following connections instead of those listed for the same pins above: pin 1 red pin 11 monochrome pin 2 green pin 11 monochrome pin 3 blue pin 11 monochrome * Connect to pin 13 (ground) if you want to increase the vertical size on the screen. Not really needed as the front panel "v size" switch has enough control, and the image size is big enough with the "v size" switch in the dentented position. In addition, you will want to provide a separate RCA jack to provide an audio out connection, given that the Multisync has no audio capabilities: RCA jack ST connection -------- ------------- audio pin 1 audio out ground pin 13 ground I ended up buying a "multisync" cable from Practical Solutions. The older Practical Solutions cable has the following color coding: Pin Color Function ---- -------------- ----------------------- 1 yellow coax audio out 2 black coax composite out (composite sync on Mega) 3 n/c 4 red monochrome monitor (ground for monochrome) 5 n/c 6 green coax rgb - green 7 red coax rgb - red 8 blue coax shield +12V pullup (1K) (may vary from ST to ST) 9 black horizontal sync 10 blue coax rgb-blue 11 white coax monochrome 12 white vertical sync 13 drain ground The newer Practical Solutions cable has the following color coding: Pin Color Function ---- -------------- ----------------------- 1 yellow coax audio out 2 black coax composite video (composite sync on mega 4 red monochrome monitor 6 green coax rgb-green/shield-ground 7 red coax rgb-red/shield-ground 8 black +12v pullup (1K) 9 blue horizontal sync 10 blue coax rgb-blue/shield-ground 11 white coax monochrome 12 white vertical sync 13 drain ground Note you should check the pinouts that Practical Solutions provides to determine whether you have the older or newer cable (I am told that only the newer cables are shipping now). The difference is in the interpretation of the black wire and the blue coax shield. I cut about a 6" length of cable off the cable from Practical Solutions and used it to wire in a few switches to switch both the monochrome/ color signals and the h/v/composite signals. This cable is much more flexible than the cable I tried using in my first attempt. By separating the individual shielded cables from the bulk wrap, you can get some very flexible/thin shielded coax. The switch box ended up something like the following: Atari ST pin 4 pole NEC Multisync-II pin (13 pin DIN male) double throw (DB-9 female) ----------------- toggle switch -------------------- +---------+ | | Blue Cx 10 - rgb/blue ------- | | /--------------- rgb/blue - 3 White Cx 11 - monochrome -----/ | | | Green Cx 6 - rgb/green ------ | | /---------------rgb/green - 2 White Cx 11 - monochrome -----/ | | | Red Cx 7 - rgb/red -------- | | /---------------- rgb/red - 1 White Cx 11 - monochrome -----/ | | | - n/c ------------ | | /---------------- ground - 9 Red 4 - mono monitor----/ | | | +---------+ 2 pole * double throw toggle switch +---------+ | | Black Cx 2 - comp sync ------ | | /-------- comp/horiz sync - 4 Black 9 - horiz sync -----/ | | | | | White Sh 13 - ground --------- | | /--------- mode/vert sync - 5 White 12 - vert sync ------/ | | | +---------+ * This switch is purely optional, it allows use of both types of video sync, and will ground the mode pin to increase the vertical size when composite sync is switched in. Red Sh 13 - ground ------------------------ red ground - 6 Green Sh 13 - ground ---------------------- green ground - 7 13 - ground ----------------------- blue ground - 8 13 - ground ---------------------------- ground - 9 Yellow C 1 - audio out --------------------- RCA signal line Yellow S 13 - ground ------------------------ RCA ground line shield -------------------------------------- shield Note: Do NOT connect pin 8 (Blue coaxial shield) to any other pins/ signals. This pin may have +12 volts on it. Make sure that you insulate the shield very well on this line so it won't make accidental contact with another signal. When the cable is all built, use an ohm meter and make sure that you have no shorts. When you actually want to hook it up to test it, set the switches on the back of the MultiSync II to the following: Switch State manual switch on mode switch gray (shouldn't matter, digital only) color mode switch 64 (shouldn't matter, digital only) Set the switches on the front to the following: Switch State v posi adjust after powering on v size adjust after powering on h posi adjust after powering on h size on text off (shouldn't matter, digital only) text color white (shouldn't matter, digital only) Now turn on power and you are on your way. Note that for all of the cabling of video signals, I used shielded cables (highly recommended) and soldered all the coax shields together and to the ground pins (use a smaller braided cable to actually connect between the shields and ground pins). # Part# Description Price: Source: - ----- ----------- ------ ------- 1 76108 16-130 1 7/16"x4 13/32"x3 7/32" black box 8.99 A/E 1 69377 904 female RCA connector 0.59 A/E 1 276-1538 female DB9 connector, solder type 2.49 R/S 1 53055 205817-1 female screwlocks (for DB9) 1.49 A/E 1 22104 7401SYZQ 4 pole, double throw, toggle switch 10.99 A/E 1 22048 7301SYZQ 3 pole, double throw, toggle switch 8.09 A/E 1 76292 11-304 5/8" OD, 1/2" ID rubber grommet 0.99 A/E 1 Atari ST "multisync" cable 24.98 P/S ------- Total: $ 58.61 Optional hardware for audio: 1 277-1008B 200mW Amplifier-Speaker 11.95 R/S 1 273-1552 9-Volt Battery Eliminator 4.95 R/S 1 42-2444 6' Phono to Mini Phono Plug Cable 1.99 R/S ------- Total: $ 18.89 Grand Total: $ 77.50 P/S A/E R/S Practical Solutions Active Electronics Radio Shack 1930 E. Grant Road 133 Flanders Road Tuscon, Arizona, 85719 Westborough, MA 01581 (602)884-9612 1-800-343-0874 (617) 366-8899 You will also need various drill bits, solder, and some tool to cut a hole for the DB9 connector into the plastic end of the aluminum/plastic box. The grommet is to protect the ST monitor cable entering the box. Disclaimers: o This hookup worked for my Mega ST, I make no guarantees it will work correctly on your ST, it has also been tested on a 1040 ST using the h & v sync and seemed to work just fine and should also work on a 520. o I have no connection with NEC, Practical Solutions, Active Electronics, Radio Shack. ATARI 1040STE ------------- by WK Whitton Atari's recent show in Dusseldorf, Germany gave the public the first rumblings of new products on the horizon. At this Atari specific show, which drew 35,000 attendees, a mystery machine that they have chosen to call the "Ste" will make it's way to the US soon. The following is the most complete information available to date on this new product from Atari, and will serve to assist you in deciding whether to purchase a Mega ST now, or wait for awhile and purchase an STe later... The Atari 1040STE is a 8 Mhz 68000 based computer (same as the rest of the current ST line). In its initial configuration, this machine will be a 1 meg unit with internal 3 1/2" drive reminiscent of the current 1040 ST. Memory will be SIMM based, thus allowing for quick and easy upgrades, (notice I didn't use the word "cheap" though...). Atari plans to ship the STe to the US in October 1989, a month after the initial shipments go to the European market. The STE will have a palette of 4096 colors. (Still uses only 16 colors in low rez, 4 in med rez, and 2 in high rez, the same as the current ST line. The more colors displayed the longer the processing time, and I imagine they had to juggle the hardware they were going to use with the length of time that would be tolerable for a quality display to be processed. Many more colors could have been allowed on screen at the same time, but speed would have suffered greatly.) The STE will allow for increased "reality factor" in 3D rendering, better shading of objects, and increased quality in the "anti-aliases" of objects. The STe will have 8 bit stereo PCM (Pulse-Code-Modulation) sound. (Same as in the TT!) Audio will be produced via hardware rather than the current method of software interrupts. This reduces the load on the microprocessor, and thus allows programs to work that much faster, and will allow certain Mac emulators to run at full tilt irregardless of whether audio is in use or not. Sound will now be capable of reaching compact disk quality! The number of audio channels is totally software dependent, and the default is stereo. The Ste will sport 4 joystick ports and use the normal and a new style joystick. Built-in support for light guns, light pens, and paddles (the AD convertors necessary for paddle use also can do double duty and allow the design and use of inexpensive audio and video digitizers that can out-perform anything we now have.) Extra Control lines (via 16 additional data lines, 8 of which are bi- directional, allowing for input as well as output.) Genlock support is now standard, plug-n-play! (Genlock is a separate item though, it may be purchased separately.) Hardware support for vertical and horizontal fine scrolling. This will prove to be extremely useful for programmer and user alike. They will be able to place the lines they need anywhere on the screen and not have to bother themselves with dreaming up additional routines to keep those lines from scrolling. Split screen design and titling work will be made infinitely easier with this new feature. Virtual screens will also be an easy feature to implement. ST*ZMagazine ------------ Comments and opinions expressed in this edition are those of the individual authors. They do not reflect the opinions of ST*ZMagazine, Rovac Industries, or ZMagazine/ZNet. Opposing commentary is accepted and appreciated and will be printed subject to the editors descretion. All submissions accepted 24 hours a day locally via the Blank Page BBS at (201) 805-3967. All material becomes the property of Rovac Industries and will not be returned. All submissions must contain authors name. ======================================================================= ST*ZMAGAZINE ISSUE #37 September 8, 1989 Copyright 1989, Rovac Industries Inc, All Rights Reserved. ======================================================================= ----------------- ground -