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BASIC programming

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

215 threads · 1537 messages · 2002-04-29 → 2026-09-29

In the groups.io era, BASIC work centred on a text-first toolchain. In 2022 David Anderson took up zmakebas, the C tool that turns ASCII BASIC into a TAP, along with Tim Swenson's tsmake pre-processor, which maps the 2068-only tokens (SOUND, ON ERR, RESET, STICK, FREE) onto Spectrum characters. He used them to type in magazine listings: Obstacle Run from Time Designs (working out embedded inverse characters and PAPER/INK escapes, then fixing his own typos in the key-decode line), Bob Mitchell's Digital Clock (driven by the FRAMES variable; adding CLEAR 65019 lets the machine-code clock survive NEW and toggle with RANDOMIZE USR), and his own AdamPhone. Ryan Gray revived his 1985 QuickFont font editor, moved its master source to a zmakebas text file under version control with a Makefile, and fixed zmakebas bugs along the way. Jeffrey Burrell entered the main program from Richard Booth's Applied Sinclair math-subroutines book via zmakebas.

Technique threads produced concrete answers. With no bitwise operators in Timex BASIC, Ryan's DEF FN b(n,x)=INT (x/n)<>2INT (x/(2n)) tests a bit, and composite FNs build bit-AND/OR; Kevin and others added string-building binary converters that also work on the TS1000. Jay Carlson posted a selective renumber utility that leaves fast early GOSUBs alone, and Ryan explained Sinclair's line and number storage (text plus a CHR$ 14 marker plus a 5-byte float). Ryan also explained where LOAD "" CODE can safely land: above a lowered RAMTOP, or inside a large pre-allocated string. Jeffrey Burrell's tapToCart (BASIC to cartridge) thread showed that BASIC AROS programs PEEK into RAM rather than the dock, so QuickFont needed a cartridge-detect mode. The single Yahoo-era thread (2006) documents the 2068 DELETE-key bug in long edit lines and Jack Dohany's fixed dual-ROM EPROM.

Much of this topic is drift. The Library Tape archiving thread turned up club BASIC listings such as Frank's W5GAA. The "64 Column Mode Support" thread covers Carol Corcoran's 64-column code and Ryan's OS-64 memory map. The TS2060 interface thread discusses channels and streams for parallel and serial from BASIC. The Calliope, Starblasters, Clock, Core War (Eduardo Fuentes' Redcode-94 version), RPG and emulator-help threads all touch BASIC only in passing. Charlie Day's 2026 alpha replacement ROM with a full-screen BASIC editor is the newest arc.

Key threads

All threads (215)

↳ marks a thread where this topic begins mid-conversation — the link jumps to the message where it starts.

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
⭐ New TimexSinclair ROM - Alpha test 📎 21 💬 2026-08-27 Charlie Day
⭐ 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
⭐ Creating a work space for Machine Code in a Basic Line 📎 14 💬 2023-04-25 Michael A. Druckenmiller
⭐ Sinclair BASICs: DEF FN, Beginner 📎 14 💬 2025-05-24 Luis D'Ardis.
⭐ 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
⭐ Introducing Super2068 10 💬 2026-08-15 Charlie Day
⭐ Bugs in Astronomy Programs by R. Asa Gordon 📎 10 💬 2026-07-01 John Stroebel via groups
⭐ "Machine Code Graphics Loop" by Bernard Bush 📎 10 💬 2022-05-31 Adam Trionfo
⭐ Type-In Program Suggestions (Master List?) 8 💬 2021-07-02 Adam Trionfo
⭐ Ottawa-Hull usergroup newsletter indexed ↳ #151 8 💬 2021-07-01 David Anderson
⭐ 1000, 1500, 2068 Font 8 💬 2026-06-23 David Anderson
⭐ Do T/S 2068-Exclusive Type-In Games Exist? ;was: "Sorting TimexSinclair.com Prog 📎 8 💬 2024-09-27 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
⭐ 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
⭐ Benchmarks 4 💬 2023-12-04 Mark Scheck
⭐ Fuse Utilities: listbasic fixing 2068 keywords 📎 4 💬 2025-06-22 Ryan Gray
⭐ 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
⭐ JLO Disk extensions support added to zmakebas+ 2 💬 2026-08-20 Tim H
⭐ 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
⭐ 2068-Leap V2 1 💬 2026-09-29 Charlie Day
⭐ Sinclair BASIC Variables 1 💬 2023-05-06 John Mobley
⭐ 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
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
More 'Turtle Graphics' Example Program? 📎 8 💬 2021-06-30 Adam Trionfo
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
TS2068 / TS 1000 BASIC Compatibly 7 💬 2019-09-11 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
Inspired by Ryan’s charts 📎 6 💬 2023-05-09 David Anderson
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
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
Keyword reference card v2 📎 3 💬 2023-05-22 David Anderson
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
Choose One of Three BASIC Type-In Programs for Adam to Type into BASIC 2 💬 2023-04-11 Adam Trionfo
New T/S Programms -- Any Ideas 2 💬 2002-05-13 David Solly
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
there's Gold in them there archives 2 💬 2025-01-07 Paul Holmgren
USR command for TS 1510 2 💬 2007-06-22 george.orr1
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
New Timex Sinclair 2068 ROM - Alpha Testing 📎 1 💬 2026-08-24 Charlie Day
zmakebas multiplatform builds 1 💬 2026-08-19 Tim H
ZX Destroyer 1 💬 2023-04-26 larry lorenson
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
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