The TS 2068 and Business
3 messages · 2008-01-08 → 2008-01-08 · Yahoo Group era · View archive on archive.org
Participants: Adam Trionfo, Bill Loguidice, Bill Dunlop
Preserved from the Timex/Sinclair 2068 Yahoo Group (2001–2019), which is no longer online. Text reproduced from the archive.org archive; email addresses masked.
Messages
1. The TS 2068 and Business
Adam Trionfo · Tue, 8 Jan 2008 18:17:
Bill Dunlop, on Tue 1/08/08 at 5:31 PM, wrote:
>>
My wife and I owned a small craft shop specializing in plastercraft and soft-fired ceramics.
>>
I think that it was businesses like you that the small computer companies looked after to use their computers. That was the hope, anyway.
>>
Tasword (64 char-wide word-processor) running a dot-matrix printer and the Larken
>>
So, you MUST have had some sort of monitor other than the composite. PLEASE say you had an RGB monitor.
>>
4 floppy drives and a Larken RAM-Disk
>>
A RAM disk of what size?
I used to use a 256K RAM disk with my Atari 8-bit (800XL). My favorite use for it was file transfers. It saved VERY quickly (it seemed instant). After the whole file was transfered to RAM, then I would save to floppy. It saved time. It could also save money. In about 1994 I tried GEnie for a short time. GEnie was a service like AOL-- ya know, the type of service that people used before the Internet. I would usually log on at 2400 BAUD, since this didn't charge premium rates. Then, when I looked around, found some files I wanted, I would call back at 9600 BAUD (the fastest my Atari could handle) and download the files to RAM disk and then log off (then save from RAM disk to floppy disk). 9600 BAUD was a premium rate at the time, so I paid more for the time online, but I got the files four times faster-- which usually was worth it because although 2400 BAUD wasn't a premuim charge, I only had a limited supply of time per month and THEN I was charged per minute. At the time it was pretty cool. I was able to download demos and interact with other Atari users this way.
>>
The main limitations were the result of my hanging interfaces and such off the backplane
and suffering the famous "wobble-crashes" of the old "1000 Ram-pack" days.
>>
I didn't realize that this was also a problem with the TS 2068. I thought that this would have been a problem that would have stayed with the earlier machine.
>>
The CCATS was our local Timex-Sinclair user group Clackamas County Area Timex Sinclair.
>>
Okay. It makes sense why I couldn't find information about it now. It wasn't some big-time magazine or anything like that.
>>
Our "parting shot" was to publish a book "The Best of the Plotter"
using material from our past news-letters and progs. from members.
>>
I'd be interested in seeing that. Also, when did the user-group finally break-up? The C64 user-group here in town lasted until about 1997/8. The Atari user-group until about 1996. The Amiga user-group a bit longer-- maybe 2000. I don't even know if there is a PC user-group here. User-groups seemed to fade away. Anyone have local groups near you?
>>
At the time of the groups dissolution I was the librarian and I still have these
materials in storage. I fear "bit-rot" for the stored cassette tapes but will try to
salvage what I can .
>>
Don't fear for the loss of the tapes, as I'm sure that they are fine. You may have trouble loading them on a TS 2068, but they can probably be digitally archived. I'm familiar with this in the Astrocade world. We've archived about 500 programs, and only one was bad.
Adam
_________________________________________________________________
Make distant family not so distant with Windows Vista® + Windows Live™.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/digitallife/keepintouch.mspx?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_CPC_VideoChat_distantfamily_012008
2. RE: [ts2068] The TS 2068 and Business
Bill Loguidice · Tue, 8 Jan 2008 21:35:
Neat, I actually have "CCATS PRESENTS THE BEST OF THE PLOTTER". It's nice
to know its origins. It has a publish date of 1994! It looks like it was
printed on a dot matrix printer. It also has an order form for a disk that
contains most of the programs listed in the book, available in various sizes
and formats apparently, LKDOS or Oliger (didn't realize that they were not
really compatible).
=================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
(A PC Magazine Top 100 Website)
http://www.armchairarcade.com
=================================
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email] [mailto:[email]] On Behalf
> Of Adam Trionfo
> Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 9:18 PM
> To: TS 2068 Yahoogroup
> Subject: [ts2068] The TS 2068 and Business
>
>
> Bill Dunlop, on Tue 1/08/08 at 5:31 PM, wrote:
> >>
> My wife and I owned a small craft shop specializing in plastercraft and
> soft-fired ceramics.
> >>
>
> I think that it was businesses like you that the small computer
> companies looked after to use their computers. That was the hope,
> anyway.
>
> >>
> Tasword (64 char-wide word-processor) running a dot-matrix printer and
> the Larken
> >>
>
> So, you MUST have had some sort of monitor other than the composite.
> PLEASE say you had an RGB monitor.
>
> >>
> 4 floppy drives and a Larken RAM-Disk
> >>
>
> A RAM disk of what size?
>
> I used to use a 256K RAM disk with my Atari 8-bit (800XL). My favorite
> use for it was file transfers. It saved VERY quickly (it seemed
> instant). After the whole file was transfered to RAM, then I would
> save to floppy. It saved time. It could also save money. In about
> 1994 I tried GEnie for a short time. GEnie was a service like AOL--
> ya know, the type of service that people used before the Internet. I
> would usually log on at 2400 BAUD, since this didn't charge premium
> rates. Then, when I looked around, found some files I wanted, I would
> call back at 9600 BAUD (the fastest my Atari could handle) and download
> the files to RAM disk and then log off (then save from RAM disk to
> floppy disk). 9600 BAUD was a premium rate at the time, so I paid more
> for the time online, but I got the files four times faster-- which
> usually was worth it because although 2400 BAUD wasn't a premuim
> charge, I only had a limited supply of time per month and THEN I was
> charged per minute. At the time it was pretty cool. I was able to
> download demos and interact with other Atari users this way.
>
> >>
> The main limitations were the result of my hanging interfaces and such
> off the backplane
> and suffering the famous "wobble-crashes" of the old "1000 Ram-pack"
> days.
> >>
>
> I didn't realize that this was also a problem with the TS 2068. I
> thought that this would have been a problem that would have stayed with
> the earlier machine.
>
> >>
> The CCATS was our local Timex-Sinclair user group Clackamas County Area
> Timex Sinclair.
> >>
>
> Okay. It makes sense why I couldn't find information about it now. It
> wasn't some big-time magazine or anything like that.
>
> >>
> Our "parting shot" was to publish a book "The Best of the Plotter"
> using material from our past news-letters and progs. from members.
> >>
>
> I'd be interested in seeing that. Also, when did the user-group
> finally break-up? The C64 user-group here in town lasted until about
> 1997/8. The Atari user-group until about 1996. The Amiga user-group a
> bit longer-- maybe 2000. I don't even know if there is a PC user-group
> here. User-groups seemed to fade away. Anyone have local groups near
> you?
>
> >>
> At the time of the groups dissolution I was the librarian and I still
> have these
> materials in storage. I fear "bit-rot" for the stored cassette tapes
> but will try to
> salvage what I can .
> >>
>
> Don't fear for the loss of the tapes, as I'm sure that they are fine.
> You may have trouble loading them on a TS 2068, but they can probably
> be digitally archived. I'm familiar with this in the Astrocade world.
> We've archived about 500 programs, and only one was bad.
>
> Adam
> _________________________________________________________________
> Make distant family not so distant with Windows VistaR + Windows LiveT.
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/digitallife/keepintouch.mspx?ocid=TXT_
> TAGLM_CPC_VideoChat_distantfamily_012008
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
3. Re: TS 2068 and Business
Bill Dunlop · Tue, 8 Jan 2008 19:51:
--- Adam Trionfo <[email]> wrote:
> So, you MUST have had some sort of monitor other than the composite. PLEASE say you
> had an RGB monitor.
Yes, an RGB conversion was essential to reading anything usable. I had an internal ROM
switch for "Specy" compatibility also. Plus a lot of other stuff of interest from Jack
Dohany and others.
> A RAM disk of what size?
I think it was around 256K (AFAIR)
> I didn't realize that this was also a problem with the TS 2068. I thought that this
> would have been a problem that would have stayed with the earlier machine.
By the time I had strung a Timex-printer interface (for sales receipts), a Centronics
parallel printer interface, Larken Disk interface, a "real-time-clock" board, and the
RAM-Disk board I had a good 9 or 10 inches of boards plus cables hanging out there. Can't
blame the poor old 2068 for these add-ons unless you wanted to make the possible argument
that the "promised 3068 back-end box" (the one with all the bank switched memory)
could'a/should'a included much of these too.
Lots of discussion flew around about that too in "those days". Conspiracy theories
abounded those days about how the 2068 had suffered a last minute "lobotomy" to loose the
bank switching at the insistence of a "big blue" competitor (a favorite soap-box of W.
Peterson's from "WIDJUP") He even re-constituted most of the ROM code in a reverse
engineering effort. (I have his notes in the library.)
> The CCATS was our local Timex-Sinclair user group Clackamas County Area Timex Sinclair.
>>"The Best of the Plotter"
> I'd be interested in seeing that.
Will scan a copy for the archives soon.
>Anyone have local groups near you?
Nope, sort of a "pariah" when I attempted to attend the C64 group and the C/PM groups so
I gave up and went it solo with a few local Jr.Hi kids for a while, gave them each a
"ZX-1000" to learn some basic on. Still have a few ZX's left, plus a 1500, and Memotech
64K Ram-Packs also. Though I never did get the 64K to work to my satisfaction.
>
> Don't fear for the loss of the tapes, as I'm sure that they are fine. You may have
> trouble loading them on a TS 2068, but they can probably be digitally archived. I'm
> familiar with this in the Astrocade world. We've archived about 500 programs, and only
> one was bad.
That is very reassuring. How about a few tips on how to go about that?
Also a bit of a tutorial on using TAP(?) or other feeds into my 2068? I am "old tech" and
could use a lot of updating on my favorite machine.
Thanks
Bill aka OhnO the Clown
PS: I have a couple of QLs too! Genuine Sinclair nut!