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BASIC programming

Sinclair/Timex BASIC programming — POKE/PEEK/USR, type-in listings, renumbering, BASIC techniques.

207 threads · 1483 messages · 2002-04-29 → 2026-05-22

Across both eras, BASIC programming on the list has been first and foremost an archival activity: re-typing listings from old magazines and books so they survive in modern formats. That mission shows up explicitly in 2008 when zxbruno asked whether "homemade" (non-commercial) type-ins were worth uploading and was told yes (#1001888), and it powers the sustained recent campaign by Adam Trionfo and David Anderson to enter classics from Time Designs, Sync, Sinc-Link, the Boston Computer Society newsletter, and Jeff Mazur's Intermediate/Advanced Guide, then test them on real 2068 hardware and on FUSE/EightyOne/ZEsarUX (#977, #1487, #788, #3061, #2347). The consensus, voiced early by Edward Solly, is simply to grab a book and start typing — there is still no master index of what is already archived, and tapes keep rotting.

The central modern tool is zmakebas, a C program that compiles ASCII BASIC into a TAP. Tim Swenson's tsmake preprocessor translates TS2068-only tokens (SOUND, ON ERR, RESET, STICK, FREE) into Spectrum equivalents (#736). The group worked out its quirks together: embedding inverse / PAPER / INK escape codes for reverse-video text (Obstacle Run, #788), the backslash-as-block-graphics escape, weak sanity checking, and Borland TurboC builds corrupting SOUND. Ryan Gray became the de-facto maintainer, fixing ON ERR / ON ERR RESET handling and adding the missing DELETE keyword. Other dev tooling discussed: PASMO, Z88DK / Boriel (Eduardo Fuentes; #3431, #4733), KliveIDE, and the TimeMachine BASIC compiler (which several couldn't get working, #3782). On the alt-ROM side, the Yahoo era documents Andrew Owen's whole SE BASIC / OpenSE BASIC lineage: announced in early 2006 with SOUND-command compatibility for TS2000 programs (#1000874), iterated through 2010 (2.13–2.18, #1002754) with bug fixes to RENUM and ON ERR, and released as a GPL replacement ROM via pledge drive in 2011 (#1002901). Open81 (a GPL TS1000 ROM) came out of the same effort. Recent alt-ROM work (Dohany ROM, OS-64) descends from this thread.

Recurring technique questions got concrete answers in both eras. Bitwise ops: Sinclair AND/OR are logical, not bitwise — Ryan Gray and Jeff Burrell supplied INT-based DEF FN formulas for testing individual bits without machine code (#3958). Machine code from BASIC: store as decimal in DATA statements and POKE into a CLEARed area, not in REM lines (#3301; 30 Music Programs and the Tech Manual cited). Renumbering: Jay Carlson posted a self-contained renumber listing (#4663), and the same need showed up in 2010 as the RENUM bug in SE BASIC (#1002754). FRAMES (the 60 Hz frame counter) underlies background clock displays (#2877). TS1000 vs TS2068 BASIC compatibility is asked once per decade and gets the same answer each time: it's an evolution, not a superset — keywords and graphics differ, tape encoding is different, and David Ornstein's Firstloder / commercial Upload 2000 are the conversion path (Fred Meunier in 2019, #1004054; thread #2707 in 2023). Obscure 2068 commands got their first deep writeup back in 2002 from Edwin Krampitz Jr.'s eight-part series (PRINT #n streams, BEEP precision past 69 semitones, etc., #1000143). And the famous DELETE bug in 2068 BASIC — a long-edit-line corruption that Jack Dohany fixed with a 32 KB swap-EPROM in the late 1980s — was first surfaced on the list back in 2006 (#1000908), context that informs current work on replacement ROMs.

A distinct sub-project, almost entirely modern-era, is putting BASIC programs onto cartridges (AROS/DCK), driven by Jeff Burrell and Jeff Kuhlmann (qwertyfan2000). Findings: AROS-compliant BASIC can't rely on pre-initialized variable-area values, TAP CODE headers can be non-standard, and the workflow is zmakebas → raw binary → DCK image, debugged as a simulated cartridge in emulator RAM before burning to EEPROM (#2138, #1797). Burrell wrote DCK-creation utilities in PowerBasic and cross-platform Python; the Timex Technical Manual and Bill Jones' "Extra Memory Programming" article are the reference docs. Notable people across both eras: Adam Trionfo and David Anderson (archiving/type-ins, modern), Ryan Gray (tooling, QuickFont font editor, recovering his own 1980s listings — #1590), Tim Swenson (compilers, tsmake), Jeff Burrell and Jeff Kuhlmann (cartridges), Andrew Owen (SE BASIC / OpenSE BASIC), Eduardo Fuentes (Z88DK, Core War port), Philip Kendall and Fred Meunier (FUSE emulator authors, both active on the Yahoo list).

Key threads

All threads (207)

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Thread Msgs Activity Started by
T/S 2068 Library Tape Archiving Process 📎 64 💬 2026-05-22 Adam Trionfo
BASIC to cartidge 📎 55 💬 2022-11-02 JEFFREY L BURRELL
"64 Column Mode Support" from T/S BASIC; was: New Timex documents uploaded ↳ #5016 📎 49 💬 2023-11-30 Adam Trionfo
ABQ User Group "Meeting" - Sat. Feb. 25, 2023 📎 47 💬 2023-05-16 Adam Trionfo
Timex Programming Tools; was: Archiving 1983 'Timeblasters' (3-20-83 Version) by 📎 34 💬 2023-04-26 Adam Trionfo
Renumber Programs 📎 33 💬 2023-11-18 Jay Carlson
TS2060 parallel and serial interfaces 📎 29 💬 2023-10-24 David Anderson
Archived "Starblasters" by Dan Tandberg 📎 27 💬 2023-05-16 Adam Trionfo
Clock program 📎 25 💬 2023-03-03 Adam Trionfo
I need assistance 📎 23 💬 2023-04-11 David Anderson
LOAD "" CODE with Zesarux 📎 23 💬 2024-01-01 David Anderson
Math Subroutines Book by Richard Booth 📎 23 💬 2023-06-22 Adam Trionfo
How to do Binary Comparison (BIT Test) in Timex Basic 📎 22 💬 2023-07-26 kevin.personal
TS2068 Music Maker; was: Thank you, Tim Swenson! 📎 21 💬 2022-03-07 Adam Trionfo
Blank Tape Recommendations?; was: Graphics One Liner - Archiving Interest? 📎 20 💬 2022-03-14 Adam Trionfo
Core War 📎 20 💬 2023-07-29 David Anderson
Obstacle Run 📎 19 💬 2022-02-18 Adam Trionfo
QuickFont 📎 16 💬 2024-02-12 Ryan Gray
A work in progress software catalog 📎 15 💬 2026-04-04 David Anderson
Sinclair BASICs: DEF FN, Beginner 📎 14 💬 2025-05-24 Luis D'Ardis.
Creating a work space for Machine Code in a Basic Line 📎 14 💬 2023-04-25 Michael A. Druckenmiller
T/S 1000 and T/S 2068 - How Compatible? 📎 13 💬 2023-01-29 Adam Trionfo
Five more detailed questions about creating a TS2068 AROS cartridge image 📎 13 💬 2022-09-15 qwertyfan2000
Assembly Language Idea and Build Tools Example 📎 13 💬 2023-10-12 John Mobley
Typed in a 1K "Galaxian" game for fun tonight 📎 12 💬 2024-09-16 andy
"Bubbles" T/S 2068 BASIC Program; was: TS Online User Group Meeting Sunday Decem ↳ #8865 📎 12 💬 2025-12-29 Adam Trionfo
zmakebas and BASIC Backslash? 📎 12 💬 2022-02-14 David Anderson
WRX16 DEMO 📎 11 💬 2023-05-21 Adam Trionfo
"Machine Code Graphics Loop" by Bernard Bush 📎 10 💬 2022-05-31 Adam Trionfo
"Cavern Quest:" Greg's Ported Astrocade Maze Game? 📎 8 💬 2022-12-03 Adam Trionfo
Creating Arcade Games on Your TS 2068 Book??? 8 💬 2008-01-09 M. Emrah Oral
Type-In Program Suggestions (Master List?) 8 💬 2021-07-02 Adam Trionfo
Ottawa-Hull usergroup newsletter indexed ↳ #151 8 💬 2021-07-01 David Anderson
Do T/S 2068-Exclusive Type-In Games Exist? ;was: "Sorting TimexSinclair.com Prog 📎 8 💬 2024-09-27 Adam Trionfo
Calendar Print 📎 7 💬 2023-01-04 Ryan Gray
The Box Trilogy by C. Vernon Tidwell ; was: Sprites 2068 - Sprite Development an 📎 7 💬 2022-05-24 Adam Trionfo
Zmakebas fixed ON ERR and added DELETE 📎 7 💬 2025-06-22 Ryan Gray
2068 Basic compiler / Assembler 7 💬 2022-01-18 Willie Jones
TS Pico Script 7 💬 2025-01-24 Jay Carlson
menu program for TSPico 📎 6 💬 2024-08-26 Floppy Days Podcast - Ra
1000 and 2068 Character Cheatsheet 📎 6 💬 2023-02-08 Ryan Gray
DEF FuN 📎 6 💬 2025-05-23 Ryan Gray
ts 2068 video programming. 5 💬 2013-03-05 Luis Alberto D'Ardis
Sinclair BASIC question 5 💬 2024-01-29 Ricardo Calcagno
Support for TS2068 Basic in zmakebas 📎 5 💬 2022-06-30 Adam Trionfo
Exploring Truchet Tiles on the ZX81 with BASIC 5 💬 2025-07-15 Adam Trionfo
Subroutine parameters via DEFADD trick 📎 5 💬 2025-06-18 Ryan Gray
More 2068 programs 5 💬 2022-03-03 David Anderson
What is the difference USR and RANDOMIZE USR 5 💬 2023-06-15 Michael A. Druckenmiller
For loops of zero executions in AROS 4 💬 2024-08-30 Ryan Gray
Fuse, Zesarux, Eightyone emulators 4 💬 2026-04-09 larry lorenson
TS1000 "gray" block graphic characters for the TS2068 📎 4 💬 2023-01-27 David Anderson
ZMakeBAS bug? 4 💬 2022-10-04 Ryan Gray
Spiders - Video Art from Synchro-Sette (Vol. 3, no. 2, Feb. 1984) 📎 4 💬 2022-06-09 Adam Trionfo
Fuse Utilities: listbasic fixing 2068 keywords 📎 4 💬 2025-06-22 Ryan Gray
Benchmarks 4 💬 2023-12-04 Mark Scheck
Recursive DEF FN 📎 4 💬 2025-04-05 Ryan Gray
TS 2068 keyword reference 📎 4 💬 2021-08-03 David Anderson
ts1000 rem line Machine Code in ts2068? 4 💬 2021-07-04 Luis Alberto D'Ardis
ZX81 utilities 3 💬 2023-02-06 Ryan Gray
My first computer experience: Hangman (green screen terminal recreation with TS 📎 3 💬 2026-02-24 Jon
Binary in REM statements in text files 3 💬 2026-01-18 Ryan Gray
BasinC Developing Environment for Spectrum 📎 3 💬 2022-05-03 Adam Trionfo
Another Claude story 2 💬 2026-04-02 David Anderson
ZX Spectrum Tilde and vertical bar characters for the TS2068 📎 2 💬 2023-01-26 Ryan Gray
TS-Pico helper 📎 2 💬 2024-04-29 Ryan Gray
USCII - Hires zx81 basic 📎 2 💬 2023-01-02 Greg Bennett
Loading a tap on to the TS2068 2 💬 2025-08-27 Daniel Santos
Obscure commands, part 8 2 💬 2002-12-10 ekrampitzjr
Producing Sprites on the 2068 📎 2 💬 2023-12-03 Timothy Swenson
40 Keys: Remembering where everything is 2 💬 2025-05-29 Ryan Gray
Thief game in color 2 💬 2025-05-18 Ryan Gray
Spectrum BASIC "emulators" 2 💬 2023-10-25 Ryan Gray
ZX-Basicus 📎 2 💬 2025-03-12 Ryan Gray
Calendar Printer 📎 2 💬 2025-01-03 Ryan Gray
⭐ AZ80 assembler modification to output decimal data instead of hex data in LST fi 1 💬 2024-08-04 qwertyfan2000
Modified listbasic for FUSE utilities 📎 1 💬 2026-03-25 Ryan Gray
⭐ New ZX81 ROM - Extended BASIC 1 💬 2026-02-02 Josef Jelinek
Homebrew 64 column printing 📎 1 💬 2022-12-26 Ryan Gray
ANN:OpenSE BASIC released 1 💬 2011-05-28 cheveron
Obscure commands, part 7 1 💬 2002-12-09 ekrampitzjr
Obscure commands, part 6 1 💬 2002-12-09 ekrampitzjr
Obscure commands, part 5 1 💬 2002-12-09 ekrampitzjr
Obscure commands, part 4 1 💬 2002-12-09 ekrampitzjr
Obscure commands, part 3 1 💬 2002-12-09 ekrampitzjr
Obscure commands, part 2 1 💬 2002-12-09 ekrampitzjr
Obscure commands, part 1 1 💬 2002-12-09 ekrampitzjr
DEFADD trick 📎 1 💬 2025-03-09 Ryan Gray
⭐ Using the divMMC to LOAD/SAVE a BASIC Program 1 💬 2022-01-18 Adam Trionfo
⭐ Sinclair BASIC Variables 1 💬 2023-05-06 John Mobley
Spectrum and Times Christmas Demos 📎 34 💬 2023-12-24 Adam Trionfo
RPGs on T/S 2068? 25 💬 2023-11-12 Adam Trionfo
Silly question 19 💬 2006-03-14 M. Emrah Oral
Jeff Mazur's Four Sound Examples from his T/S 2068 Guide 📎 16 💬 2022-05-24 Adam Trionfo
The Timex 1000 isn't a 2068 ↳ #215 📎 15 💬 2024-02-02 Adam Trionfo
"2068 Buggy Software" Archived 📎 14 💬 2022-06-10 Adam Trionfo
TS Online User Group Meeting Sunday July 21 ↳ #6797 12 💬 2024-07-27 Adam Trionfo
Forth Programming Language 12 💬 2022-12-13 David Anderson
On Typing In BASIC Games; was: 64 Column BASIC routines - TAP format - Update 1 📎 12 💬 2022-12-08 David Anderson
Time Machine 2068 📎 12 💬 2023-06-07 David Anderson
Homemade TS2068 programs? 11 💬 2008-06-24 zxbruno
Some art drawn on the TS 2068 📎 11 💬 2022-03-03 David Anderson
How to Load Banner Designer? 📎 10 💬 2024-02-21 Ryan Gray
A new game 📎 10 💬 2023-09-22 David Anderson
ABQ User Group Meeting - Sat. Feb. 1, 2025 📎 10 💬 2025-02-12 Adam Trionfo
R Tape loading error when loading after saving a basic program 📎 9 💬 2025-07-23 Juan Noc
IDE for Sinclair software development 9 💬 2023-11-16 David Anderson
Archiving: "More or Less" by Paul Bingham - Is it Archived? 📎 9 💬 2022-03-14 Adam Trionfo
T/S 2068 Type-In's 9 💬 2021-09-01 JEFFREY L BURRELL
Reminder: Timex/Sinclair Online User Group Meeting Monday May 6 8 💬 2024-05-29 David Anderson
Hi-res in ZX81 Basic 📎 8 💬 2023-01-05 Greg Bennett
The Sinclair QL and HiSoft BASIC for the Atari ST and Amiga 8 💬 2026-01-07 David Anderson
More 'Turtle Graphics' Example Program? 📎 8 💬 2021-06-30 Adam Trionfo
A Novelty: Video Art for the T/S 2068; was: Re: [TS2068] Straight Arc Bug Progra 📎 7 💬 2022-09-10 Adam Trionfo
Greetings from a Brit 📎 7 💬 2025-07-06 paul
Bob Mitcheil Toolkit for the 2068 📎 7 💬 2023-10-17 paulholm
compiling makebas in VS2019 Possible? 📎 7 💬 2023-08-29 Michael A. Druckenmiller
TS2068 / TS 1000 BASIC Compatibly 7 💬 2019-09-11 Adam Trionfo
Clobber Castle, and old type-in 📎 6 💬 2023-04-14 Ryan Gray
Timex 1000 BASIC Type-In Help 6 💬 2023-04-04 Adam Trionfo
ts2068 Pico saving basic programs from cassette to micro SD card 6 💬 2024-03-26 Ricardo Calcagno
Eightyone Emulator 6 💬 2022-10-17 JEFFREY L BURRELL
Reminder: Timex Sinclair Online User Group Meeting Sunday, Dec 17 📎 6 💬 2023-12-15 Ryan Gray
Halley's Comet ↳ #4161 📎 6 💬 2023-08-25 David Anderson
Inspired by Ryan’s charts 📎 6 💬 2023-05-09 David Anderson
Sinclair Extended BASIC... 5 💬 2006-01-06 Andrew Owen
Sinclair BASIC goto 5 💬 2023-04-14 Adam Trionfo
ARCTAN VS COS 📎 5 💬 2026-04-12 Jungle Jim
"Dungeons of Ymir" Program Analysis 5 💬 2026-04-11 Adam Trionfo
T/S 1000 Turkey Holiday Program 5 💬 2025-11-06 Adam Trionfo
ANN: SE Basic 2.13 and Open81 5 💬 2010-10-31 cheveron
An “art” rogram 📎 5 💬 2022-02-15 Adam Trionfo
ugBASIC 📎 5 💬 2025-01-27 David Anderson
TS2068 Keyboard 5 💬 2024-11-15 larry lorenson
Captain Midnight Decoder 4 💬 2023-01-22 John Mobley
SAVE and LOAD cheat sheets 📎 4 💬 2024-04-06 RichJ
ANN: SE Basic 2.21 4 💬 2010-12-26 cheveron
Adam's T/S 2068 Blog #2 (July 7, 2022) - Chapter 1: “Colour Plotting” 4 💬 2022-07-22 Adam Trionfo
Timex Sinclair 2068 - Using Variables both Text and Numerical - Guidance 90 93 2 4 💬 2025-04-03 Ryan Gray
Archived Programs for "30 Music Programs" Book? 4 💬 2022-02-07 Adam Trionfo
zx81 graphics 3 💬 2023-04-17 larry lorenson
Skirmish 📎 3 💬 2026-02-17 David Anderson
Update on my BASIC Interpreter 3 💬 2023-01-02 tbaaron
Graph-All (Ryan's tape archiving) 📎 3 💬 2022-12-12 Ryan Gray
"Pyramid" Q*Bert Clone for Sinclair BASIC 📎 3 💬 2022-12-04 Adam Trionfo
TIMEX BASIC and the Great LISP Fiasco! 3 💬 2022-11-17 tbaaron
WOOHOO! A first-class GOTO statement!! 3 💬 2022-11-10 tbaaron
Timex Sinclair BASIC Interpreter 📎 3 💬 2022-11-06 tbaaron
How to delete a line of code on the Timex Sinclair 1000 3 💬 2022-10-28 tbaaron
Great Plain BASIC Games? 3 💬 2022-10-20 Adam Trionfo
Timex Computer Holiday Programs 📎 3 💬 2025-10-20 Adam Trionfo
ZX Spectrum ray tracing 📎 3 💬 2024-01-25 David Anderson
Bouncing Ball 📎 3 💬 2022-09-05 Adam Trionfo
The fireplace program 📎 3 💬 2023-12-24 David Anderson
BASIC Keyword Spacing? 3 💬 2022-06-21 Adam Trionfo
Exploring the Bresenham Line routine 3 💬 2025-06-04 David Anderson
Shaded Globe Program - How Does it Work? 📎 3 💬 2022-03-04 Adam Trionfo
Tweak font 📎 3 💬 2025-03-30 Ryan Gray
Home Console BASIC in Japan 3 💬 2022-02-08 David Anderson
T/S 2068 Color Palette Comparison 📎 3 💬 2022-01-05 Adam Trionfo
Keyword reference card v2 📎 3 💬 2023-05-22 David Anderson
Choose One of Three BASIC Type-In Programs for Adam to Type into BASIC 2 💬 2023-04-11 Adam Trionfo
SCREEN$ to DEFB 2 💬 2026-03-26 Gus Lahoski
Procrustean 2 💬 2026-03-03 Ryan Gray
ChatGPT and AI 2 💬 2023-01-05 Mark Scheck
Updates for the 6 programs I posted to this site. 2 💬 2024-04-14 RichJ
My Games 📎 2 💬 2024-04-06 RichJ
System Variables 2 💬 2011-01-22 patohd
Derby (horse race) 📎 2 💬 2022-09-05 David Anderson
ANN: SE Basic RC1 / AY tables 2 💬 2010-02-21 cheveron
So hey! I'm new. Anybody care to talk about programming the little beasty? 2 💬 2002-09-14 Scott A. Rossell
Timex GUI 📎 2 💬 2023-12-17 Ryan Gray
So hey! I'm new. Anybody care to talk about programming the little beasty? 2 💬 2002-04-29 David Solly
TS2068 Version of 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10 📎 2 💬 2022-05-03 Adam Trionfo
Cassette Mic port for programming sound on TS1000 2 💬 2025-04-06 Michael Hart
Can You Recommend Good BASIC Games for the TS2068? 2 💬 2008-02-14 Adam Trionfo
New T/S Programms -- Any Ideas 2 💬 2002-05-13 David Solly
there's Gold in them there archives 2 💬 2025-01-07 Paul Holmgren
USR command for TS 1510 2 💬 2007-06-22 george.orr1
Eightyone program 1 💬 2023-04-22 larry lorenson
MiniMorse for the 1K ZX81 BASIC 1 💬 2023-01-30 David Anderson
Using Timex Sinclair Basic in an emulator 1 💬 2012-07-28 Mark Scheck
80 Column BASIC for TS2068 1 💬 2012-07-28 Fred
Sinclair Basic and Chat AI 1 💬 2022-12-13 Mark Scheck
Pi Day 1 💬 2024-03-13 John Mobley
OpenSE BASIC 1 💬 2011-07-09 cheveron
ZX Spectrum Raytracer 1 💬 2024-02-03 Charlie Day
10 print on the ZX Spectrum 1 💬 2025-09-21 Tim H
2068 / 2040 Banner program 1 💬 2022-08-28 Willie Jones
RGB - Solid Display for Programming! 1 💬 2022-05-19 Adam Trionfo
YS Maga-BASIC Programs 1 💬 2002-05-13 David Solly
Moire Patterns Program 📎 1 💬 2022-05-03 Adam Trionfo
Arrays and regular variables 1 💬 2025-05-24 Ryan Gray
Invent a new way to calculate Pi. 1 💬 2023-09-18 John Mobley
Help with "Crater 2068 - 2A" was: Archived "2068 Crater - 2B" By Paul Bingman 📎 1 💬 2022-03-08 Adam Trionfo
Archived "2068 Crater - 2B" By Paul Bingman 📎 1 💬 2022-03-04 Adam Trionfo
Legal for use in states where gambling not banned on Sunday 📎 1 💬 2022-02-13 David Anderson
TS2068 target for ugBASIC? 📎 1 💬 2025-01-27 exile_in_paradise
32 Basic Programs for the Timex Sinclair Computer Book 1 💬 2023-05-26 Adam Trionfo
BASIC Program: The Sound of Breaking Glass 📎 1 💬 2021-07-02 Adam Trionfo
STARS - My First BASIC Graphics Test Program 📎 1 💬 2021-07-01 Adam Trionfo
ZX Destroyer 1 💬 2023-04-26 larry lorenson
TS Online User Group Meeting Sunday May 18 6 💬 2025-05-17 Adam Trionfo
Bally/Timex connection 5 💬 2022-10-07 David Anderson
A program modified by Willie 📎 2 💬 2022-03-31 David Anderson
Old Programmes......... 2 💬 2008-06-28 Joe Blogs
Homemade TS2068 programs?‏ 1 💬 2008-06-22 Adam Trionfo