(1:1:1)This is a compilation of articles from the first three issues ofour newsletter, which were originally available on paper.Forobvious reasons not everything that was printed is includedhere, things such as Sales and my own out of date ramblings havebeen omitted, but all the relevent articles are here, and I hopenewer members will feel they are "IN FROM THE START". Our first editorial written by JIM WOOD just after the Discoveryhad been abandoned by OPus, is I think still apt... Well here we go again, it seems that we are now on our ownregarding the Opus. I suppose we should have suspectedsomething when Opus dropped the price and Boots stopped dealingwith it. It seems ironic that once, Spectrum users craved forfast storage, yet now as we were getting used to a reliablemedium the rugs been pulled from under our feet. If we want togain knowledge about Discovery and its many interesting facetswe must look to ourselves. No one at this juncture is interestedin producing or writing anything for Discovery owners. In mywardrobe lies a Dragon 32 along with an Oric Atmos, I wouldntlike my Discovery to have to join them, so lets keep theDiscovery alive if only within the group. (2:1:1)Issue one only consisted of three A4 pages printed both sidesand most of the text consisted of reviews of transferdevices,there were two small programs, one a format program byTom Nicholson and a super cat program by Morten Geppart. Boththese programs are on the disc as runnable versions.(see menu). The devices reviewed were, Spec Mate by Peter Hoar, 007Interface by Ian Morris,and comments on Multiface one by yourstruly. Unfortunately Spec Mate is no longer being produced soI have left this one out. INTERFACE 007.I have been using this interface for over twelvemonths now, firstly with Microdrive and then with Discovery,ithas saved all the programs I have tried with no trouble atall.The only snag with this device is that it will not connectdirectly to Discovery,to save a program Discovery has to bedisconected and the device plugged into the Spectrums edgeconnector. Then load a tape based program in the normal way andwhen you wish to save press the save button on the device. Thisfreezes the program,now insert a blank tape in your recorder,set to save and press the 1 key,the program is then saved totape. Now reconnect Discovery and play in the saved tape.

(3:1:1)The transfer to disc is done automatically. The device costs`25.00. and can be obtained from G.A.Bobker. 29,ChaddertonDrive, Unsworth , Bury, Lancs, Bl9 8NL. MULTIFACE ONE..As most of you know by now this device has becomethe standard magic button interface for program saving,thedevice saves to disc as well as tape, microdrive and waffer.What many of you considering buying this device should knowis,the device fits between Discovery and your Spectrum, it wontwork on the Discoverys through port. This can make things veryawkward when inserting and removing discs. In fact if yourelucky enough to have a double drive fitted the second drive iscompletely blocked off by the Multiface. You can overcome thisproblem in two ways, firstly you can buy an extension ribbon todistance the Discovery from the Spectrum, or you can connect theNMI line from the Discovery front connector to the sideconnector. A word of warning on both these methods,if buying aribbon cable,dont buy one more than six inches long,you may findthe power supply too weak to cope with anything longer. Ifrunning the NMI line through. This intails taking the Discoveryappart and soldering a wire from one edge pin to the same pin onthe side connector,check the Spectrum manual to make sure the (4:1:1)correct pin is the MNI. Many members have tried this method somebeing successfull and some not, it would appear that some otheraddition is needed on some models to make this method work.? More Multiface tips from Simon Turton. The copy command in theMultiface manual will only copy to Epson compatible printers,however, if you enter the toolkit option and poke address 8200with an alterative number to the default 112 Epson, then otherprinters are supported, the two I have tried are, POKE 8200,48for a Seikosha GP 100A and POKE 8200,144 for a Micraline 80.Thenquit back to the menu and copy, note however the poke resetsafter print out, and the procedure has to be entered again forfurther copies. We published not a review but a letter relating to RomanticRobots Trans Express, many members agreed whole heartedly withPeter Hoars comments,so heres your chance to comment further. Could it be me? Has anyone else suffered the same fate? What! Ihere you cry. Well I am talking about TRANS EXPRESS the discbased utility from Romantic Robot. As anyone actually achieved atwo part transfer? I have followed the instructions to the

(5:1:1)but have never been able to load a program off disc after a twopart transfer.Also if a program sets up a m/c routine to loadfrom tape,this is not modified by Trans Express,and when thefirst part of the program is loaded from disc it waits for therest to be loaded from tape.I have also never been able totransfer headerless files and re-load them.Now what am I doingwrong? Is it that the program doesn't work properly? If thelatter is the case then I think Trans Express is a prettypointless purchase for Opus users,as a good percentage of todayssoftware have tricky loaders and hence need these aforementioned routines to achieve successful transfer.Of all theprograms I have transfered, 90% of them I have done with asimple header reader. If of cource it is me that is at fault,then my sincerest apologies to Romantic Robot for me being athick headed pratt , but could some one let me know one way oranother.Thank you..PETER HOAR. BRIAN PARKS our Adventure writing expert sent in a short programto transfer the shadow rom into ram,saving it so it can bedissasembled at liesure. I'll list the program here on Taswordtext as its quite short and easy to type in . So go to the nextpage for the full listing. (6:1:1)10 LET address =0: CLOSE #4: OPEN #4; "CODE": POINT #4; address 20 POKE 32768+address,CODE INKEY$ #4 30 LET address = address +1 40 IF address = 16384 THEN SAVE *1;"SHADOW ROM" CODE 32768,1638450 GO TO 20 BRIAN MUMFORD sent in a couple of pokes that makes a ZXL print 3interface plus EPSON RX 80 printer work in conjuntion with theprogram ARTIST II, they are,POKE 651806,6 and POKE 65186,6 The one software review from issue one came from NEIL OUGHTONand was of BRADWAY SOFTWARES ASTRUM+. At present this is the only monitor/assenbler package availablethat is compatable with the OPUS DISCOVERY. Supplied on Disc orTape for `13.50,the program contains several files,the assemblerand the editor being two of them.These two programs are notco-resident in memory and hence the text file,this unfortunatelynecessitates the frequent changing of discs (unless you have atwo drive system).Larger files are also catered for by a systemof page numbering,the editor and assembler programs allow linesup to 256 characters long, so as to permit comprehensive

(7:1:1)comments.If a space is typed between the instructions andoperand,then the text is automatically formatted on completionof the line.This feature can however,be turned off in order tolet the editor act as a simple word processor.In fact almost allfeatures of the assembler can be controlled,either by directcommand or by use of the comprehensive system of pull down menushoused in the top line of the screen. Several pre defined macrosare also supplied to cover often used ROM calls,its a shame thata few of the DISCOVERIES hook codes are not supported aswell.Assembly can be to memory or directly on to disc with theusual options on the assembly listings and symbol tablegeneration.The monitor is supplied in three versions,eachrunning at different addresses so most needs are catered foralthough I would like to have seen a relocatable version likeHisofts Devpac 3.It is much the same in use as the otherdissassemblers on the market except that up to nine break pointscan be set and that most of the commands are typed in as wordsrather than meaningless mnemonics. Overall,I would recommendthis programming suite if you have an Opus Discovery 1, althougha two drive system would make its use much easier. Available from Bradway software 33 Conalan Ave Sheffield S17 4PGDont forget your members 10% discount from Bradway. (8:1:1)The last feature explained in issue 1 of our newsletter was onfitting an extra drive, this included details of fitting the RAM6116 chip and replacing a 2.1 ROM with version 2.2. I'm going to attempt a fuller explenation here, and supply a fewdiagrams to make matters less confusing. First of all the extra drive,what kind do we need? where can weget one from? and how much is it going to cost us? Now Opus have stopped dealing with Discovery,the single sided 40track 3.5 drive units are hard to come by. Appart from the oddcompany selling off stocks I havn't found a regular supplieryet, if anyone knows of any I'd love to hear from them. Much more easier to find are double sided 80 track drive units,The best place to look for these and most other computer relateditems is in MICRO COMPUTER MART. This fortnightly publication(usually published wednesday) is packed with new and second handitems, I can really recomend it for drive units. You need to look for whats called a Shugart compatable unit.What this really means is any drive compatible with BBC micros, so if the advert states BBC compatabillity your on the righttype, dont go for Commodore or drives that seem non standard.Looking through my latest copy of MICRO MART the prices of theseunits range from `40 to `100 for 3.5 DS 80 track drives,

(9:1:1)both for new and second hand. This may sound expensiveespecially if you only paid around `60 for your Discovery unit,but remember you will have over 700k of storage space on adouble sided drive rather than your present 178k. So it may bewell worth the investment. The other option you have is to go for a 5.25 drive unit, theseunits are often much cheaper as are the 5.25 discs. One word ofwarning here, the Discovery power supply can be on the weak sideso if you can,try and pick up a 5.25 unit with its own ifpossible. Also remember that the 5.25 unit is too large to fitinside the Discovery case and its either going to have to siton the top or stand alone on your cluttered table.(mine isanyway) You may see adverts saying bare uncased drives, thisonly means they have no fancy covers hiding the workings, Ifyour not bothered or can make your own (two planks and a blackand decker) then these units are the cheapest. One other option I hav'nt mentioned, if your lucky enough to beable to get hold of a discarded Discovery cheaply,it may be lesscostly and easier to remove the drive unit and fit to yourworking unit. Now I'll assume youve bought your drive unit and are gettingready to fit it, before rushing in you'll need to configure the (10:1:1)unit as either drive 1 or drive 2. You may want your new unit asdrive 1, especially if its a double sided one. Turn your newunit over on to its back, If its cased you'll have to remove itfirst, if its a 3.5 unit and its going inside the Discoverycase, the case (if it has one) is not going to be needed so itcan be discarded. Closely look on the underside of the unit andyou will see a group of small pins, sometimes marked 1 2 3 or AB C and so on, across two of the pins will be a small connectoror jumper. To configure as drive 2 this jumper needs to bridgethe 2 or B connections, Drive 1 the 1 or A connections. If yourdrive unit is not marked, the jumper will usually be on 1 or Aalready so remove it and move it to the next set of pins in theline, for configuration of drive 2. Before going any further I'll explain the fitting of the RAM andROM chips as this is best done before the second drive unit goesin. If youve upgraded to a 128k Spectrum you'll need to fit a newROM chip,version 2.2. To obtain your new chip, send a cheque for`10.00 to DAVE CORNEY the author of the rom, his address is asfollows.....THE NOSTROMO, 6,HAMPTON ROAD, COTHAM, BRISTOL. BS66HJ. The RAM 6116 chip you will need if fitting a second driveunit and they can be obtained from many electronic outlets such

(11:1:1)Maplins or M.Robinson one of our own members. TEL 0535 682766for details and prices. To start, remove your Discovery from the mains and Spectrum, andturn the unit on its back. You will see four small screwsfastning the case to the base, remove these. There's anothersmall screw at the back of the unit next to the power cable,remove this also. Turn the unit back over and grasping the coverin both hands, slide back the cover from the unit, tacking carenot to catch the joystick connector. Onced removed,you will seethe drive unit and the PCB. THrough the square aperture in theinner cover you will see the ROM chip, (this aperture issometimes covered with a blanking plate which must be removedfirst, saving the single screw for later use) next to the ROMchip will be an empty socket, this is where the RAM 6116 chip isto be fitted. (see diagram) Gently ease out the old ROM and push home the new one, makingsure the pins are in line and the chip is the correct way round.You can make sure of this by fitting the notched end nearestdrive 1. The RAM chip is fitted in the same way, notched endnearest drive 1. To help,when ordering your RAM chip, ask for chip number 6116-3 (12:1:1)With your new chips now fitted we can turn to the drive unit. For 3.5 drives, place your unit alongside the one already inplace and fix from the underside using the two screws removedearlier. Note a short scewdriver will be needed. Slide the powercable into the connection at the back of the drive unit (if yourunsure of the correct way look at drive one). Then slide in yourribbon cable into the port at the back of the unit and into thespare connector next to the drive one cable. If your unit comeswithout a ribbon cable you will have to make one up. Many Tandystores have the appropriate cable and connectors. At this stagereconnect your drive and do a cat on both drives to make sureeverything works before re fitting the cover. The procedure is areverse of the removal. For 5.25 drives, fit the ribbon cable the same way. If yourusing the Discovery power supply you will have to connect thepower leads together, cut any connectors off the ends of thecables and using any electrical screw type connector fasten thewires together. (These wires are usually colour coded so youcant go wrong). For units with their own power supplies, tuck the Discoverypower cable inside the unit again and connect the power cable tothe Discoveries power plug. This ensures the units power uptogether. (see diagrams)

(1:2:1) ISSUE TWO Issue two saw the newsletter grow to 20 pages, programs includedin this issue were, 1) A solution to The Art Studio printing problem (version 2.1 ) 2) An erase function for Tasword II 3) A disc header reader 4) A conversion to disc for the quill utility. Reviews of transfer utilities, Lerm and 007 Depulser 2 as wellas Code Slicer 2 were also included. Reviews of utilities included Gener 80 ass/mon,007 Superfile 2and Listfile 3. The programs are included on the disc in runnable form. NORMAN JOHANSSEN started off the newsletter articles with aspecial feature on Radio and computing, NORMANS article whichwas titled " A HAMS GUIDE TO RADIO" is the first article on thisdisc newsletter, many other interesting features follow so turnthe pages to start. (2:2:1) A HAMS GUIDE TO RADIO DEAR MEMBERS I have been asked to write an article on using theSpectrum in conjunction with the recieving of radio signals,other than with telephony or normal speech. This is a vastsubject to deal with in just an article in a newsletter, but Iwill try and deal with the subject in such a way as to beunderstandable to any members wishing to start this exciting andinteresting hobby. Most of us at some stage of our lives have tuned to a short wavereciever through 0-30 mega Hz and heard many wierd noises. Thesenoises are not always beacons or plain old interference, theyare quite often messages being sent between radio hams. Thequestion is, how do we decode them? What do we listen to themon? What are the costs involved? What are the messages about? We have all been using our computers for various applicationsfor a long time now, our Opus drives are a luxurious safe, fastloading device. For example I can tune to a transmission and infifteen seconds be decoding the signals.

(3:2:1)Our computers can, once programmed, translate any 8 bit data, aslong as you have the right program for the right transmission,then Hey Presto! up it comes on the v.d.u. Firstly we'll deal with recievers or in radio terms RX. I'ts nogood using a medium or long wave reciever on the high frequencybands, all transmissions are between 1.8 mega Hz and 28.7 megaHz. For this purpose a reasonable reciever is needed and bearingcost in mind an ex forces AR88 reciever is quite adequate, thecost being around `70 to `80. For an ariel a 66 ft long piece ofwire will suffice. For recievers dealing with very high frequency (vhf) or ultrahigh frequency (uhf) it becomes a different kettle of fish. Foranyone who seriously wants to get involved and are consideringbecoming a radio ham please refer to the addresses at the end ofthis article, as the subject becomes too involved for the spacewe have available. For someone who just wants to eavesdrop, then a cheap 2 metre(144-146 mgHz) or 70 cm (432-444 mgHz) reciever can be boughtfor around `40. Alternatively for as little as `12.50 a 2m (4:2:1)converter can be bought, this puts all the 2m band onto 28-30mgHz on a high frequency reciever. The types of transmission vary. We've all heard morse code atsome time or other. Against other types of transmission its veryeasy to distinguish the dots and dashes. Next most popular isradio teleprinter messages or Rtty, and slow scan and fast scantelivision or sstv and sftv. The easiest is data. Imagine youhave written a program and you want to give a copy to a friend,just save out your program as to tape but connect the micoutlead to a transmitter, your friend miles away gets an instantcopy. A word of warning, it's illegal to transmit copyrightprograms. Other modes include amtor and fax (fascimile pictures) To get you started you will also need sone programs. Multi ModeRX, is probebly the most popular of all, the program is 8K long,loads in about 10 seconds, it covers auto speed track, morsecode and RTTY as well as SStv and Amtor. To buy on tape theprogram costs `20.00. Others include Ritty, Transmit/Recieve,CW, (morse) ext ext. I have managed to cram all my programs onone disc, with an auto run program of my own, leaving only 1/2Kspare.

(5:2:1)The ariels you will need for VHF and UHF can be bought or madefor approx. `20.00, but see th end of the article again for moreinfo. The places I listen to are immence, but briefly:- 1.8 TO 2MHz (160m). 3.5 TO 3.8MHz (80m). 7.0 TO 7.1MHz (40m). 10.1 TO 10.2MHz (30m). 14.0 TO 14.35MHz (20m). 18.07 TO 18.18MHz (17m). 21.0 TO 21.45MHz (15m) 24.89 TO 24.99MHz (12m). 28.0 TO 29.7MHz (10m) 50 TO 54MHz (6m). 70.025 TO 70.500MHz (4m). 144 TO 146MHz (2m). 432 TO 440MHz (70cm). 1240 TO 1300MHz (23cm) Amongst these frequencies are many that are satalites, repeaterbeacons, calling frequencies, Raynet (radio emergency), and awhole host more. (6:2:1)I find it enthralling to combine two much loved hobbies at thesame time, and hope if any member is interested, they too willopen up a brand new world of computing. NORMAN JOHANSSEN. Anyone wishing more details as outlined by NORMAN in hisexcellent guide to radio, should contact him at his addressbelow, please enclose a s.a.e. if you want a reply. If any othermembers wish to comment or give tips, please contact NORMAN ashe is dealing with radio matters for the club. NORMAN JOHANSSEN, 102, OLD CHAPPEL STREET, EDGELEY, STOCKPORT,CHESHIRE, SK3 9JL. There is a group especially for radio and SPECTRUM users called SARUG (Sinclair Amateur Radio User Group). The group is run byPAUL NEWMAN, and PAUL can be contacted at.. 3, REDHOUSE LANE, LEISTON, SUFFOLK. IP16 4JZ. Membership costsjust `5.00. for 5 issues. More details from the above address. DONT FORGET TO INCLUDE A S.A.E. or an IRC coupon from EUROPE. END

(7:2:1) SOLUTION TO THE ART STUDIO PRINT PROBLEM MORTEN GEPPART of HENDON has come up with the goods on thisproblem suffered by many members. The following should prove very useful to the masses! Open upyour ART STUDIO manual on page 46 and read it. Then get orborrow an assembler and enter the following machine code program ORG 874H START: EQU $ DEFW START DEFW INIT DEFW BUSY DEFW LPRINT DEFW LENGTH INIT: RET BUSY: XOR,A BIT O,A RET LPRINT: CALL 1708H LD H, A LD B, 00H (8:2:1) LD A, 81H CALL OF29H CALL 1748H RET END: EQU $ LENGHT: EQU END-START Now save the code. Get your installation cassette and load ituntil you get the input device options. Press caps shift 6 toget into basic. Then loAd your code like this: LOAD "CODE" CODE48000 Then run and answer 255 to the interface type when you getthere. The rest of the questions depend on your printer. Dontforget to save the runnable version. The results are extremelyimpressive, but not identical to the screen. eg. Draw a cicleand print it..! STEVE HUNT of HANTS as converted the assembly program into pokesfor those without an assembler. This program is on the disc .

(9:2:1)The addresses in line ten are where the code will reside in ARTSTUDIO so they could be poked directly into place using amultiface. The code has been saved to disc with SAVE "opus" CODE34660,30. It should be loaded into ART STUDIO as LOAD "opus"CODE 48000. END BRIAN PARKES our Adventure writing expert sent in a couple ofprograms for issue 2, one was a header reader which noinstructions are needed and one was a program that converts the"QUILL" so it can be used from disc. Both these programs are onthe disc in runnable versions. PETER HOAR wrote the original introduction which follows. Here are two programs from BRIAN PARKES of COLCHESTER ESSEX. Ipersonally found them of great use, as I am an ardent user ofGILLSOFTS "THE QUILL". These programs will save the code ontodisc and enable the user to SAVE and LOAD databases onto disc.BRIAN has used several, short basic programs, to ensure they rununder ramtop 24999 and still allow the disc system to work. (10:2:1)When the copyright symbol is entered (extended mode +smb/shift p) the tape version of the "QUILL" jumps to romaddress 0000H resetting the computer. BRIAN has changed this toa jump to rom 1BF4H, which executes the next basic command, inthis case line 30 which loads "QUILL DISC" The other pokes areused to remove the "QUILLS" error handling system. Consequentlyit's very easy to return to basic. If this happens, just GOTO 20Run the program, and then load your original "QUILL" tape. END DAVE WEBB of BROMSGROVE also a "QUILL" user has sent in thefollowing two short programs which should also prove useful. ROUTINE FOR SAVING A QUILLED ADVENTURE TO DISC. THIS METHOD DOESNOT REMOVE THE ERROR PROTECTION FROM THE QUILL. This works equally well on comercial adventures provided theyhave not been protected in some way. Save your adventure in it's final form onto tape and type in thefollowing program. Because the listing is so short the programis listed here on tasword file.

(11:2:1) 10 CLEAR 24999 20 LOAD " " CODE (note you may need two of these depending on how the adventure was saved) 30 SAVE *1; "NAME" CODE 25000,40535 This should save the adventure to disc. To start write thefollowing loader. 10 CLEAR 24999 20 LOAD *1; "NAME" CODE 30 RANDOMIZE USR 25000 INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXTRACTING THE DATABASE FROM QUILLED ADVENTURES(quill c only. Quill a adventures load back as databases anyway)Change the loading and saving commands to suit your medium thentype in the following program and run it. 10 CLEAR 24999: LOAD "FILENAME" CODE 20 SAVE "FILENAME" CODE 27356,32000 Play the tape of your adventure, ensuring you dont load thescreens by mistake, the save code will load into "QUILL" as aDATABASE. END (12:2:1) TRANSFER UTILITY REVIEW LERM is an entiely software based system for transferingprotected commercial software from tape to disc. Although veryuser friendly and memu driven, you will need to spend severalhours getting used to the various routines. The basic method isto load in from cassette, modify using LERM, save onto tape, andtransfer to disc. On offer at present is TP3 which comprises 2 cassettes and therelavent manuals, which includes 20 information sheets. TheDiscovery user will recieve WD1B and TU9. The designation WDindicates that the software does not require the presence ofInterface 1 shadow rom, originally designed for Wafadriveowners. This cassette consists of a number of routines and Iwill attempt to describe each one in turn. 1.BYTES MOVER. This is a very sophisticated block copy routine,designed primarily to move blocks of code around in memory toavoid clashing with addresses used by the drive operatingsystem.

(13:2:1)2. ADVANCED HEADER READER This is a multi-purpose, menu driven utility.Naturally, it translates the 17 byte header into a file name,load address, code length, basic start line, etc. It also allowsyou to load in a block of code and split it into 2 or moremanageable parts or remove a section completely. This latterfeature will be used mostly where a long headerless file loadsin address 16384 and continues right through to address 65535.It isn't often a screen is needed for a game to run and so itcan be chopped off. Headers are automatically written when thecode is saved. Another feature is the byte counter, which simplycounts the number of bytes in a headerless file. The last partof this utility is the header creator. (There are two headercreators in the complete package.) THis is the less useful ofthe two as it produces a stand alone header which needs to bepositioned immediately in front of the relavant headerless file.The separate utility is much more effective. 3. HEADER CREATOR This utility is very simple to use. The headerlessfile is loAded into the program and when completed, you areasked to enter a file name. The complete file is then saved out, (14:2:1)the file length information having being calculatedautomatially. 4. PROGRAM ANALYSIS Is in my own opinion, the least useful of all theutilities. If you can understand and make use of this programthen you will probably be sufficiently experienced to use a fullblown disassembler. Only the weakest protection will allowProgram Analysis to penatrate a games defences. It is intendedto reveal those all important details of where to load the codeand where to call it from. Unfortunately, more often than not,it will give the result:- "I don't understand". LERM acknowledgethe limitations of this routine and have overcome the problemmost effectively by issuing Information Sheets. The first 20 ofthese come as part of the package. When I recall that theseoriginally cost me two pounds each, I consider them to beexcellent value. Each sheet consists of a detailed explanation of the transfer of8 popular games, though this number has dropped by half onoccasions where transfers have been particularly difficult andinvolved. "ELITE" is a good example of this. Incidentally, theWD1b manual also contains example transfers, so the entire

(15:2:1)package probably includes over 100 detailed transfers. 5. VAL CREATOR/REM STRIP This is a very simple routine to precede all decimalnumbers with a VAL and remove all REM'S. Either or bothoperations can be preformed. 6.TU9. The other cassette is Tape Utility 9. TU9 itself will make atape back up copy of almost any commercial game, but, of greaterimportance to us, it will slow down high speed loaders to thenormal 1500 baud rate, to enable transfer. The baud ratedetection is not an hit and miss afair, but is assessed veryaccurately by the depression of the "b" key whilst the tape isplaying. The tape is then loaded in at it's own speed and savedout at normal speed. 7.CONVERSION UTILITY 2. This utility is the second main program on this tape,and is a wonder to behold! I have not encountered a pulsing(speedlock) game that this utility will not cope with, and it'ssimplicity itself to use. The long section of basic which (16:2:1)precedes the pulsing section is loaded in first. The screen thendisplays the final RAND USR number, which you need to note down.Following prompts, you then save a short block of code ontotape. The next stage is to load in the pulsing sections thensave them out at normal speed and format. Transfer these 3blocks of code together with a short basic loader and that, asthey say, is that. Almost entirely automatic. 8.0PUSTAPE. This is the third routine on this tape, and is designed toenable the user to load in normal-headed files and transfer themsemi-automatically to disc. I am hoping LERM will improve thisprogram to the standard of it's microdrive equivalent, Minitape6, as it isn't a lot of use as it stands. 9.CODE COMPRESSOR. This is the most recent addition to the LERM stable, andwill enable the user to compress machine code and sceens thussaving both disc space and loading times.The utility achievesreductions in space by identifying blocks of identical bytes andreplacing them by 1-3 bytes of information that can beinterpreted to it's original state by the expansion program.

(17:2:1)Even with the expansion program incorporated into the condensedmode I have experienced savings in the order of 15-20% in codesizes. The exception to this is that in most text basedadventures,some form of compression has already taken place inorder to maximise the memory available. I have used LERM products for almost 4 years and have comparedthem with others who make similar claims, and in my opinion arequite simply the best available. If like me, you prefer thechallenge of using software transfer techniques, as oposed tothe ubiquitous "red button" then I would unhesitatinglyrecommend LERM. They are precision products, fully errortrapped, user friendly and very well documented. FULL REVIEW BY PETER C MARLES LEEDS 1987. LERM CAN BE CONTACTED AT, 11, BEACONSFIELD CLOSE, WHITLEY BAY.NE25 9UW. (see computer press for latest prices) Two more transfer utilities are reviewed on the following pages,and the club will be happy to hear your comments and views onthese or any other such utility. (18:2:1) REVIEW OF CODE SLICER TWO AVAILABLE FROM FORAITS SOFTWARE, 32 GLADSTONE ROAD, HOCKLY, ESSEX. TEL 0707 201368. REVIEWED BY DAVE WEBB. One of the major things you discover when you buy anOpus is that you cannot throw away your cassette machine, BINGO!The daydreams of all your software on disc go off in the samedirection as a Mark Thatcher mystery tour! The big problem with transfering programs is, that to foil teenypirates, software companies have developed ever more difficultprotection dodges, including high speed loaders, headerlessfiles etc, and this is where Code Slicer comes into it's own.The utility consists of three programs, one is almost a bogstandard header reader, the plus being that it will save aheader for any basic program without an auto start so that youcan get at the basic loaders that are merge proof. The second program is a short machine code routine that willlist an "unlistable" basic program and also recalculate any

(19:2:1)hidden numbers so that you can see where the m/c loader iscalled. However the third program is the guts of the utility, whichconsists of a program that will count the bytes of a headerlessfile and allow you to load any part of any file at whateverspeed into any store address, provided that you have a littleidea of how your Spectrum works, you should be able toconvert most programs without too much trouble. Using the clearand well written manual I soon had several programs that hadcaused me to tear out what little hair I have left, up andrunning, the only failure I have had so far is with IncentivesGraphic Adventure Creator, which I suspect they've donesomething sneaky with. All in all as an aid to transferingprograms and for general hacking I can recomend Code Slicer 2 asgood value for only `5.50. REVIEW OF 007 DEPULSER 2 AVAILABLE FROM G.A. BOBKER, 29 CHADDERTON DRVE, UNSWORTH, BURY,LANCS. PRICE `5.95. (20:2:1)REVIEWED BY PETER HOAR ESSEX 1987. The arguments against software piracy are many and varied. Onone hand the offender claims that the price of software is toohigh and that if games were cheaper he wouldn't have to copythem, and on the other hand the software houses say that thehigh price of games is due to the revenue lost by piracy. I amnot here to discuss the issue one way or the other, just t saythat this age old problem is also said to be the cause ofcompanies using silly loaders on their products in the hope ofdetering piracy. But where does that leave us? By us I mean theowners of disc drives. Well I'll tell you . Up sh***t creekwithout a paddle, thats where. Most of us have neither the knowledge nor technical skill totransfer these protected games oto our drives, and we feelcheated that after paying out so much money we are unable to getour favourite games onto disc. Do we really want to pay out`30-`40 for a device that will do the job for us? More to thepoint, can we afford to? Problem solved. The people at 007 havereleased a suite of programs that will do the job for us.Admittedly it only copes with those infuriating "jerky tone"

(21:2:1)loaders (like "V" and "GREE BERET" ) but most games these daysuse this form of protection. The programs are very easy to use and well documented, so even Ican use them without difficulty. The first program de-pulses thegame and saves a "stand alone" copy onto tape. This can bere-loaded and played without transfer to disc or cartridge. Notonly that but it loads at normal Spectrum baud rate, so even themost crackered of tape decks should be able to cope. (unlikethose stupid high speed loaders) The next program must have this De-Pulsed copy loaded into it.From here it saves two blocks of M/C onto a blank tape ready forthe transfer program. Program 3 then transfers the game to disc. Simplicity in itself.The reason for four separate programs is obviously to use aslittle memory as possible, and even if it is a bit fiddly I canassure you it works.(unlike some of the other utilities I havetried). It starts the game at the same point as if it had beenloaded from tape. This is a point well worth mentioning forthose who use transfer interfaces. (22:2:1)You will know that when a game is transfered the sceen$ iscorrupted. This is most anoying when it is one of those gamesthat never re-draws the whole screen: eg. WAR and THE GREATESCAPE. After transfer with our interfaces screen information ispresent throughout play with these games, giving an untidyappearance. This does not affect game play, but it isn't verypleasant to look at. Using 007 Depulser 2 this problem iseliminated and a professional load is achieved. VERDICT- Well worth the measley asking price of `5.95, even ifyou already own an interface. I would recomend this utility toany Opus disc user. ALSO FROM 007, SUPERFILE 2 AND LISTFILE 3. PRICE `6.95. REVIEWED AGAIN BY PETER HOAR. Have you ever wanted to store all your games on a database?, andthen print them all out at the touch of a button? Or have youever wanted to store all the information about those people youtalk to on your cb radio? No. Well read on anyway, because I'msure you will find a use for these programs somewhere.

(23:2:1)SUPERFILE 2. This is a very good database with plenty of optionsavailable to the user. Once loaded from tape it can be set up touse your particular printer, and then backs up onto disc. Theactual workings of the program are all in super fast machinecode, and these routines are called up from basic, giving plentyof scope for customisation. The manual is very user friendly andeven a complete idiot will be using this program within minutes.You are able to "label" fields for personable reasons, and thisfield will not be printed when print option is selected. It hasa very comprehensive "search" facility, and takes no time at allto come up with all the files containing the search string. Forthose of you who need a label facility, there's one of thosetoo. All in all this is a very good database package, and Ifeel sure that anyone could find a use for it, LISTFILE 3 This is a similar sort of program, but only allows onefield per file. This is ideal for games lists where only asingle entry is required. <This block is now finished, continued on block 3> (1:3:1)WE CONTINUE OUR LOOK AT ISSUE 2 WITH A REVIEW OF THE GENER 80 ASSEMBLER AND MODER 80 MONITOR/DISASSEMBLER AVAILABLE FROM SEVEN STARS PUBLISHING, 34 SQUIRREL RISE, MARLOW,BUCKS. SL7 3PN. PRICES `7.95 AND 5.95 RESPECTIVELY. REVIEWED BY DAVE SHERRIFF. GENER 80 is a symbolic editor/assembler which can be loaded totwo different addresses (normally for 16K and 48K Spectrums).The editor is full screen and lines are processed on entry todetect syntax errors (and save source space). The assembler andeditor are integrated, so that it's quick and easy to use.Transfer to disc is straightforward and source and object filescan be saved, loaded, verified and merged to and from disc. Theprogram is intended for microdrive, but works fine on the Opus,and accepts the shortened syntax, e.g. "SAVE *1; "FILENAME"CODE" will save the object code to disc. Assembler listings,with or without symbol table, can be sent to a ZX or full sizeprinter. (via stream 3). The program does not supply any macrosfor rom routines, and does not support unofficial Z80 commandsexcept via DEFB's. On its own it does not allow break points to

(2:3:1)be set, however the MODER 80 program, does support break pointsand single stepping (though DI disables the keyboard and stopsMODER 80 responding). This program also disassembles Z80 code inmemory and saves it to tape (BUT NOT DISC!!!) for input to GENER80. The package is probably not the most powerful machine codesystem around, but I have found it extremly useful and very easyto use. DAVID GUEST OF 41, BERECROFT, HARLOW, ESSEX, CM18 7SB. Wrote inwith a problem and solution to his double drive problems. I recently upgraded my Opus (2.1) to a duel drive, and I thoughtyou may be interested in my experience. I bought a Mitsuibishi80 track double sided drive and fitted it as drive 1, with theoriginal 40 track drive as drive 2. I then ran the formattingprogram (see menu), saved some files and did a cat of the disc, no cat, just an i.o error. I formatted the disc again andrepeated the procedure, no problem. Great, switched off, when Iswitched on sometime later the problem with i.o errorreturned,Argg! Three days off work with a cold help sort things out. (3:3:1)The drive was checked and is within spec. What seems to happenis that if the head is at a high track number at switch on(40/80) the first disc operation causes it to step out 2 tracksbeyond the real track 00. It fails to find the catalogue for thedisc, hence the error. It dosn't do this if the step time isincreased to 12 msec before the first operation or at any laterdisc access. I think the problem is caused by a bug in thediscovery rom, but i'm not certain . My solution is to deliberately force the error track -2 andformat a new disc in this position as "WRONG CAT" . I then savea basic program as "run". The program generates machine code toload block 100 from the disc. I then format the disc in the truetrack 00 position, and use as normal. Should the drive find the"Wrong Cat" on switch on all that is needed is to RUN theprogram. The head steps in to the required track but fails tofind the block because the second format operation hasoverwritten it. An I/O error occurs, but the system now findsthe correct catalogue. If any other readers have this problem they can send me a discand sae and I will be happy to subject it to my doubleformatting treatment.

(4:3:1) C L U B S S A L E S A N D W A N T S If you have computer equipment surplus to requirements or are onthe lookout for additions/replacements for your system, make useof the club sales/wants service. Supply details of your sales and wants, and these are displayedfor you on Micronet and Viewfax System of Prestel which are seenby thousands of computer users. Potential buyers/sellers areput in touch with each other for delivery arrangements etc. WHAT TO DO 1 Provide details of equipment for sale or required TO: J L PHILLIPS, THE WHITE HOUSE, ST. CATHERINES WELL,MILTON ABBAS,BLANDFORD,DORSET DT11 OAS 2 Ensure that equipment is adequately described, pricerequired is clearly stated and whether offers are acceptable. 3 Quote your phone no for quicker communication/sales. (5:3:1)4 Enclose a sae for transmission of enquiries and contacts. WHAT TO EXPECT Enquiries or offers received as a result of the micronet/viewfaxadverts will be referred to the advertiser once preliminaryenquiries have established the possibility of a deal. WHAT DOES IT COST Just 50p to cover administration costs and expenses,note thisservice is available at any time. All monies and orders to J.L.Phillips please, not to the club. MORE HINTS AND TIPS JOHN BEESTON FROM BRACKNELL writes...That to put a copy of theOpus rom on disc it is only necessary to SAVE *1; "OPUSROM"CODE 0,8192. The act of saving causes the Opus Rom to be pagedin.

(6:3:1)DAVE WEBB SENT IN A ROUTINE THAT ADDS AN ERASE FUNCTION TO TASWORD II. This program is listed on the disc (see menu). Some versions of TAS II are slightly different, if this routinedoes not work with your version, please refer to issue 3 of thenewsletter where some alterations are listed. BILL BOWES OF SUNDERLAND sent in the solution for Masterfileprinting. 4210 OPEN #3; "B": GOTO USR R 4290 CLOSE #3:GOTO USR R A screen copy requires a screen dump (see issue 3) 4010 OPEN #3; "B" : RANDOMIZE USR COPY: CLOSE #3: GOTO USR R (REM COPY=ADDRESS OF ROUTINE) THATS ABOUT THE LOT FOR ISSUE 2, LOAD IN THE NEXT PAGES ANDBLOCKS FOR THE INFORMATION FROM ISSUE 3. (7:3:1) ISSUE 3 SAW THE NEWSLETTER GROW EVEN MORE IN VOLUME, PROGRAMSLISTED IN THIS EDITION INCLUDED. 1) GAME CONVERSIONS FROM IAN VAUDREY (now available on clubdiscs 1+2) 2) FORMAT 512 FROM M.FORCE AND A. WILSON (on disc) 3) GRAPHIC ADVENTURE CREATOR CONVERSION FROM A. OSTLER. (ondisc) 4) MENU MAKER FROM COLIN GLAISTER. (on disc) 5) SCREEN DUMP FROM BILL BOWES. (on disc) OTHER ARTICLES INCLUDED A NEW KEYBOARD FITMENT (see sheet) DAVE CORNEYS CONFIGURATION INFORMATION (program available onclub disc 2) AND MANY MORE, READ ON FOR DETAILS.

(8:3:1) DAVE CORNEY'S CONFIGURATION. This information was originally published on MICRONET, so thanksto DAVE and CHRIS LEWIS for permission to publish. The OPUS DISCOVERY is a highly useable floppy disc system butthe drive supplied as standard is a single sided 40 track unitoffering a meagre 178K on a 3.5" disc. On a larger capacitydrive the same floppy can hold as much as 800K !!! If it's any consolation, it is possible to squeeze up to 199Kout of a standard drive. (without any new hardware) For more storage it's necessary to splash out on drives with alarger capacity. Up to two 1 Megabyte drives can be fitted toDiscovery, giving 1.6 Mb of disc space. (the other 400K is usedduring formatting) Discoveries disc operating system (dos) has been written withexpansion in mind. It can be configured to use any BBC (shugartcompatable) drive, either 3", 3.5" or 5.25", double or singlesided. (9:3:1)A second drive makes disc copying more easy, but the main reasonfor adding more drives is for extra disc space. Although less sturdy than 3.5" discs, 5.25" floppies are,currentley cheaper, and if you have a lot of stuff to archive,the `60.00 + you will have to fork out for a 5.25" unit may beworthwhile. Mere mortals with one drive who wish to enjoy these advantagesmust plug in a 6116 static ram chip, (for fitment see issue 1) What's the extra ram for? DOS makes extensive use of the look-uptables, normally held in a rom where they can be altered. Atswitch on, DOS checks for the ram and, if fitted, copies some ofthese tables onto it. Here they can be modified. The program actually saves 8 files onto disc, they are: 1) defaultram - Start up data. 2) boot - For fast installation of your configuration.

(10:3:1)3) config - The main configuration program. 4-7) floppy 128, floppy 512, floppy 1024, ram 1024. These are example configurations 8) load me - Pass this on to your mates, it saves all the abovefiles onto a disc. I stress at the outset that even the wildest eyed hackers willbe hard put to find a use for some of the multitude of options.Buy you never know!! When you load the main config program, a menu listing a numberof floppy and ram drives will appear. Plus a system option. Curser keys move the bar up and down the list to select a drive.Pressing enter will display the current configuration of aparticular drive. Before we get stuck in, a bit of background info. Although thehardware can only support two physical disc drives, DOS can keeptrack of four logical drives, prompting for the correct disc tobe inserted if a user refers to drives 3 or 4. (11:3:1)Each of these logical drives can be configured independently,DOS keeps a separate table for each. Note that drive 4 and 6 are only available on version 2.2 of theDiscovery rom (or 2.22). Drive 6 (paged ram) only applies to128K Spectrums. Information is stored on a disc in 256 byte blocks calledsectors. DOS can be set up to use other sector sizes - 128, 256,512 or 1024 bytes. A larger sector size gives a noticeable increase in speed ofdisc operations. However, when a disc is read from or written toDOS sets up a buffer in Spectrum memory. Forget Opus blurb about"uses no memory", it uses some Spectrum ram on a temporary basiswhilst accessing discs or other DOS functions. A disc with alarger sector size needs a larger buffer. In this case you willnormally set an error message, "out of memory". A disc with 1K sectors needs slightly more than 1K of free spacebetween the end of basic workspace and ramtop. Tasword III forexample, clears ramtop so low that it cant save text to a disc

(12:3:1)with a sector size over 256 bytes. Multiface 1 can cope with a256 byte sector size but gives an error report if faced with adisc using 1K sectors. It pays to mark the config details on thedisc label where it's easily checked if a problem occurs. Where a space is really tight, a disc with a 128 byte sectorscan almost always be accessed, in contrast microdrive alwaysneed a 512 byte buffer. It's a good idea to persuade your Opusowning friends to fit the Ram chip or they wont be able to runyour discs. Take a look at the table for floppy drive 1. Again, curser keysmove the bar up or down, pressing enter selects the option. Atthe base of the screen are 5 more options. 1) Write - transfer drive table to ram chip. 2) Abort - return to main menu. 3) Load - load a previous config title. 4) Save - save the current config file. (13:3:1)5) Copy - print screen on a ZX printer.(or any printer that usescopy) To format a disc with 512 byte sectors (199K). Press L and whenthe prompt appears, type 1 and Enter. Now input the filename ofthe example config file you want to load, in this case floppy512. Assuming you had the right disc in drive 1, the drive table willbe redisplayed, with some changes. Can you see what has beenaltered? What is the sector size now? These changes wont take effect until you press W to write to theconfiguration to the ram. Do that and press Break to get backinto basic. Then format a disc, dont do any other discoperations between pressing break and formatting or 512 will belost. To format the disc type FORMAT 1; " big one " CAT 1. Theresult should be a disc with 199K of space, because the 1/2Ksector makes more efficient use of the disc surface. However, a part of each disc must be used to store a catalogue.To squeeze the maximum space from the disc we have cut the

(14:3:1)number of sectors available for the catalogue from the usual 6to just 1. Type GOTO 9200 to restart the program and take a lookat the catalogue sectors entry in the drive 1 table. As it stands, your 199K disc has enough catalogue space for only30 files, to get more you must sacrifice file space and reformat with more catalogue sectors. As a general rule, those items printed in the table in cyan areof use to those with standard drives only. The ones higher onthe list are the most useful. If you have fitted other drives,the green options will also be of interest. For now, you'reunlikely to want to alter the red items. The Boot program's purpose in life is to save the haplessDiscovery user from the dreadful fate of fumbling through theconfig routines every time you switch on. Boot loads up apreviously saved configuration automatically. To use boot a special file must be saved from within config,using the save ram image option on the main menu. This is notthe same as the save option displayed when viewing an individualdrive table. (15:3:1)A ram image file is simply the contents of the Opus 2K ram, orthe drive tables themselves. Start by copying boot to a new disc (you could rename it run andmake things easier). Now load config and enter yourconfiguration details. Press W to write the information to theOpus ram chip. You will be returned to the main menu. You cannow save the ram image onto the disc you've copied boot onto.Press S to do this. You will be prompted to enter a drive numberand filename - as supplied, boot looks for a file calleddefaultram so, for the moment, give this nsme to your file. NOTE: There's a file called defaultram on the original disc,don't overwrite this. Reset the Spectrum and load the copy of boot that you have justmade. IT will auto-run and read the defaultram file, transferingyour configuration to the 2K ram. So, to install that particularconfiguration from now on, you have only to load boot. The filethat boot looks for is specified in LINE 10, so this can bechanged if you want to change the name of the defaultram file.If you wish to store a range of ram images on one disc, alterline 10 of boot to prompt for a filename.

(16:3:1)You only need to install your ram image once, at power up, as itwont be affected by resetting the Spectrum. However, a crashcould corrupt the ram, so it's safest to reload the image if oneoccurs. The USR 14070 command also resets the ram. Although boot makes it easier to set up your system, certainparts of a floppy configuration are stored on the disc itself.These items will be detected by DOS whenever the catalogue of aparticular disc is read. They are as follows... 1) Number of sectors per track 2) Number of tracks per side 3) Number of sides per disc 4) Sector size These 4 are stored on every disc when it's formatted. So if youload the relevant ram image and format a disc immediately, DOSwill know what values apply to that disc whenever, for exampleyou cat the disc. If you find yourself unsure of the contents ofa particular ram image file, the fastest way to check is to loadram image option on the main menu of Config. Then look at eachof the drive and system tables to see what set up the imagespecifies. (17:3:1) DISCOVERY FLOPPY TABLES Here follows a summary of the entry points for each of thefloppy disc tables. UPDATED BY CATALOGUE ACCESS, means DOS reads this item wheneverthe catalogue is accessed, and sets itself up to suit, so, ifyou read a file from a disc and then insert a disc with adifferent sector size, DOS adjusts automatically. NB. Catalogue access doesn't only refer to CAT command since DOShas to update the catalogue when, for example, a file is saved. Those items which relate to only one version of the Discoveryrom, are marked accordingly. The version 2,22 ROM is identicalto version 2.2 except that the step rate defaults to 12ms not 6.With reference to drives, PHYSICAL means the actual disc drivesitting on your desk. LOGICAL refers to a drive number, e.g.CAT1 and CAT3 will access the same physical drive but promrt fora disc change. If in doubt, try it. Dont use a disc with important informationon, just in case!

(18:3:1)SECTOR SIZE: The number of bytes in a disc sector. The channelsize in Spectrum memory will reflect this value. Useful foroptimising access speed v Spectrum memory useage- larger sectorsare faster but use more memory to read/write. Used by read,write and format routines and is updated by a catalogue access. SECTORS/TRACK: The number of sectors which will fit on one trackof the disc. This value depends directly on the sector size anddensity. Used by read, write and format routines and is updatedby catalogue access. CATALOGUE SECTORS: The number of sectors which will be used bythe catalogue. Each file entry in the catalogue =16 bytes. Anempty catalogue always has two entries marking the catalogueitself and the end of the disc. Useful for optimising disc spacev number of files. Default =7 sectors, allowing: 7*256 (sectorsize) /16 bytes=112 - 2 entries= 110 files. Used by formatroutine. SECTOR SKEW: The number of sectors between each consecutivelynumbered sector on a track. An 18 sector track with a skew of 13has the sectors in the order, 0,7,14,3,10,17,6,13,2,9,16,5,12,1,8,15,4,11. (19:3:1)Having read sector 0 the drive head will be positioned oversector 1 by the time DOS is ready to read it. Useful foroptimising access speed. Used by format routine. TRACK SKEW: The skew between consecutive tracks. Useful foroptimising access speed, though effect is minimal. Used byformat routine. ANCHOR SECTOR: The first accessable sector on a disc, i. e.Where the catalogue starts. Standard discs reserve 1 sector forconfiguration information. Useful for creating sub-volumes on adisc, if anyones feeling adventurous. Used by read, write andformat routines. DATA ADDRESS MARK: Each sector may be written with either anormal or deleted Data Address Mark. Reading a sector with adeleted Data Address Mark will give an i/o error, though thesector will have been read correctly. Useful for data protectionschemes. Used by read and write routines. SECTOR OFFSET: The number of the lowest sector on each track.Useful for data protection schemes. Used by read, write andformat routines.

(20:3:1)DENITY: The format in which clock pulses are inserted betweendate bits written to disc. Sometimes referred to as double(MFM) or single (FM) density. Useful for reading or writingdiscs intended for other computer systems. Used by read, writeand format routines. UNUSED (V2.1): The high byte of the current track parameter - not setable. UNUSED (V2.2): Maybe used in future versions. TRACKS/SIDE: The number of tracks on the disc. Useful for80 track drives. Used by read, write and format routines andis up dated by a catalogue access. SIDES/DISC: The number of sides on which data maybe recorded ona disc. Useful for double sided drives. Used by read, writeand format routines and is updated by a catalogue access. STEP RATE (ms): The time in milliseconds allowed for the driveto move the head between tracks. Useful for drives which stepthe head more slowly, such as old 5.25" types. Used by read,write and format routines. (21:3:1) HEAD SETTLE DELAY: A pause of 30 milliseconds may be insertedjust before each sector read or write. Useful for some types ofdrives. Used by read, write and format routines. MOTOR ON DELAY, TYPE 1 (disc'y only): Wait one second for thedisc motor to reach full speed on a track seek. Useful for sometypes of drive. Used by read, write and format routines. MOTOR ON DELAY,TYPE 2 (disc 'y only): Wait one second for thedisc motor to reach full speed on a read or write command.Useful for some types of drive. Used by read, write and formatroutines. VERIFY ON SEEK: Verify the head is on the correct track after aseek command. Useful for optimising access speed v reliability. i.e. Faster if no verify. Used by read and write routines. WRITE COMPENSATION: Data written to a disc will be delayed oradvanced by 125 nanoseconds after certain combinations of bitpatterns. Useful for some types of drive. Used by write andformat routines.

(22:3:1) IDENTITY MASK (V2.2): A bitwise AND operation on the identitymask and drive mask (from the system table) will give thephysical drive select. Only 1 bit in the byte should be setafter this operation. For example, if the identity mask is 10and the drive mask is 3, the drive select will be 2, meaning thesecond physical drive will be used. Useful for adding more thantwo physical drives to a system. ( Though a hardwaremodification is needed to Discovery for this to operate). WARNING: Misuse of this field may result in more than one drivebeing selected at the same time. A bitwise AND operation on the identity mask and the secondarymask allows more than one logical drive to access the samephysical drive. If the result of this operation is differentfrom the previous time this secondary mask was used, then DOSwill prompt for the correct disc to be inserted. Useful foradding more secondary drives to a one drive system. Used byread, write and format routines, it is not changed when readinga new configuration as it's drive specific. (23:3:1)SECONDARY MASK (V2.2): Logical drives with the same secondrymask will prompt for the correct disc whenever a drive with adifferent identity mask is accessed. Drives which share asecondary mask should access the same physical drive. Secondarymasks which differ should not have any of the same bits set inthe drive mask. Useful for adding a second drive to a one drivesystem. Used by read, write and format routines, it is notchanged when reading a new configuration as it's drive specific. IDENTITY MASK (V2.1): Similar to the 2.2 version except that thedrive mask is always 3 (bits 0 and 1) Bit 2 is the secondarymask for the secondary identity which is bit 3. Users wishing to investigate this paameter are advised toupgrade to version 2.2. Used by read, write and format routines,it is not changed when reading a new configuration as it's drivespecific. CURRENT TRACK OFFSET (V2.1): Gives the offset to the currenttrack memory location. Of no practical use and highly dangerousto play with since likely to corrupt memory! Used by read, writeand format routines, and again is drive specific. <end>

SERIOUS GAMING WITH THE SPECTRUM (1:4:1) JOHN WELLER gives advice on PBM. If your feeling a bitjaded ater a late night programing session. Then how about somePBM to liven you up again? Its not an illegal drug its short forPLAY BY MAIL GAMES and they come in levels of complexity andsubject matter to suit everyone. The only snags are they costmoney to play and are too large to fit onto an home micro, butwe can't have everything! Postal games have always been around in some form or another,but the current commercial PBMs give you the chance to play inlarge and sophisticated games with up to 400 other players.Their basic scenarios range from role playing in a fantasy worldthrough to science fiction, empire building, etc. Computer moderated PBMs are usually run on either IBM PCs orApple Macs, with 10 megs. of hard disc used for program and datastorage. When you start in a game you are sent the rules, infoon how to map the game and a print out listing your initialunits, ships, characters whatever. You then decide on your movesor actions on the first turn, fill them in on a turn sheet andsend them off to the game master. It is then entered onto their (2:4:1)computer and processed (taking into consideration every otherplayer data) and a print out is generated giving full details ofyour new position and statistics for all of your units. You thenuse the new print out to decide on your next turns actions. (Inone game I'm in my print outs are regularly 3 to 4 ft long,sothere is always plenty of data to go on with). This is where the Discovery will really come into its own. Adata base can be set up to store and manipuate all the data inthe game, which will make it a lot easier to handle than sortingthrough old print outs all the time. If you want to know thestatus, for example, of another players world which isn't listedon your current print out, just search for the previous data onit and hey presto! Another idea is to try writing a program toprint out an up dated map every turn, but it is always worthwriting to other players to see if anyone has already writtenone. The other great beauty of PBM games is the amount of interaction between players, alliances, brinkmanship and bluffing canall be indulged in by contacting other players in the game, bywriting or via the phone, so expect an increase in the post youreceive!

(3:4:1)Most games cost about five pound to start which covers therules, game info and generally the firt two or three turns, eachsubsequent turn that you play will cost you around two pounds,this may seem to be fairly expensive, but, believe me, thecomplexity inter action and high levels of involvement in thegames make it a bargan, especially as the games mechanics arebeing run by someone else, leaving you free to work out yourmoves in detail, a whole week end if need be. I can think of no other area of gaming in which the sense of agenuinely alternative reality is so well produced. If anyone wants to know more about PBMs or to chat aboutcomputers in war gaming then drop me a line. s a e please toJOHN WELLER, 49 HAILETT GARDENS, SURBITON CRESCENT, KINGSTON,SURREY.KT1 2ER EVER WANTED TO BE RID OF THAT OLD RUBBER KEYBOARD? YES, WELLREAD ON AND REFER TO THE SHEET PROVIDED WITH THIS DISC FOR FULLINFORMATION. HARDWARE PROJECT - A NEW KEYBOARD (4:4:1) There must be many of you who wish you had a better keyboardfitted to your Spectrum computer. The old rubber keyboard israther like poking someone in the eye, all soft and squidgy, andthe plus was rather a feeble improvement. These days you willfind that there are many of the older computers lying aroundunwanted,i.e. DRAGONS,TEXAS and even some EINSTIENS. These canbe picked up at jumble sales and car boot fairs at incrediblysilly prices. I got a TEXAS TI99 for `3.00 and an EINSTIEN for`10. Almost any computer keyboard can be successfully convertedto work with the SPECTRUM, and I will and try and show you how. The SPECTRUM has two connectors to the keyboard, one with 8wires and one with 5. If you draw a grid 8*5 you will note thatthere are 40 intersections, each of these corresponds to one keyon the spectrum. We will call the line with 8 wires the "x" lineand the one with 5 wires the "y" line. (see fig 1 ) In figureone you will see the intersection for the H key has been marked.This is to show roughly how the computer detects which key youhave pressed. When a key is pressed the "y" line will go low, inthis instance y4, and then the "x" line is searched to findwhich of the 8 keys on that line has been pressed, in this casex6.

(5:4:1)So you can see that y4,x6 corresponds to the H key and no other. The first thing to do is to remove the keyboard that you aregoing to use from it's casing. If it's an old computer thenremove all the PCB's and throw them out. Next you need todesolder all the pins from the keys and remove the circuit boardfrom the keys. You will now have the keyboard ready to work on.Make sure all the pins on the back of the keys are straight andmelt a little solder on them. First thing to do is solder wires to the "y" line. In fig 2 Ihave drawn where they have to go. You will note that the keysare written backwards, I have done this to avoid confusion, aswhen the keyboard is upside down the keys are obviouslyreversed. It may be of help also to rub on some letrasettransfers corresponding to the keys, this will save youconstantly having to turn the keyboard over to check you aresoldering the wires to the correct keys. In fig 3 I have drawn adiagram of the connections to the "x" line. To connect the keyboard to the computer you will need either apiece of 0.1" veroboard cut into two bits, one 8 strips wide theother 5 strips wide. (6:4:1)This is too thick to fit into the sockets of the Spectrum andyou will need to file it down until it does. The other way isthe "BLUE PETER" way. Cut two strips of a margerine tub lidabout 4" long and the width of the sockets. Solder the ends ofthe wires and then selotape them to the plastic tub lids leavingabout 1/4" exposed at the end. This will then fit into thesockets of the computer. I have used both these methods. On theTexas I used veroboard, and on the Einstien I used the tub lid. And here's one I did before the program.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is also possible to add extra keys to the spare tabs you mayhave on your keyboard. This is just a matter of followingthrough the correct x and y lines for the extra key you require.On the Einstien I had eight function keys on the top row of thekeyboard, so I added extra CAPS SHIFT AND SYMBOL SHIFT keys tothe top left and the rest of the keys I used for disc commands,ie. FORMAT, ERASE and CAT. If you have any problems with this project, and need any extrainformation, thn you can write to me and I will try to help. PETER HOAR. (TEAM LIST)

HINTS AND TIPS (7:4:1) TOM O'RIELLY wrote saying the solution to the ART STUDIO printerproblem in issue 2 can be used with OCP's Editor/Assembler 1 Load the +80 EDITOR/ASSEMBLER tape and run as usual. 2 EnterArt Studio print program into Assembler using ORG 57344 insteadof ORG 8764H 3 Assemble using A/AO and save onto tape 4 Reloadassembler then break into basic at the interface menu 5 Load thedriver into memory using LOAD"" CODE 57344 6 Re-start theassembler with RUN 100 and enter 255 (user-own driver) thenfollow the prompts. 7 Remember to SAVE your new copy of theassembler. You should now have an assembler which send listingsto your printer. Hugh Anderson and David Geldart both write with comments on DaveWebbs Tasword Erase program. Both had trouble getting theprogram to work. Hughs solution was to alter Tasword lines 180and 190, as follows. 180 IF i<0 THEN GOTO 80 190 PRINT AT i, 31; FLASH 1; CHR$ b;: GOTO 500 (8:4:1)David altered line 180 to replace ">" with ">=" ,the 19 with 15in line 8000 and he changed line 4000 so it did not clash withthe Tasman copyright line which he wanted to retain. Here is a money saving tip from Ian Morris to anyone with anAMSTRAD DMP-2000 printer. As you know the ribbons as well asbeing expensive soon dry up! The solution is to buy a bottle of" ENDORSING " ink,remove the ribbon and plastic end , showingone large and one small roller. Put about six drops of ink onthe large roller , replace the cover and return to the printer.Then run a sheet of paper through the printer to spread the inkalong the ribbon. Here's a handy disc re-formater sent in by STEVEN RODGERS. 10 DIM a$ (10): INPUT "Enter new disc name"; LINE a$ 20 OPEN #0; " CAT ";1 RND 16: POINT #0;1 30 FOR f = 1 TO 6 40 PRINT INKEY$ #0; 50 NEXT f 60 PRINT #0; a$; 70 CLOSE #0

COMPUTER MAGAZINES (9:4:1) THE STATE OF THE ART I recently read with dismay of the demise of ZX COMPUTINGMAGAZINE. This finally put the nail in the coffin of the theory that,because this country has the highest number of home computersper capital, then our kids are starting off with the advantageof being computer literate. The truth of the matter is that 90%of home computers are used as games consoles. ZX COMPUTING was the last decent, dedicated ZX magazine on themarket, being full of interesting, informed and useful articles.In my view, TONY BAKER should be on the QUEENS birthday honourslist. All this set me thinking as to what constitutes a successfulcomputer magazine today. Notice I use the word successful andnot quality. The criteria appears to be . (10:4:1)1) 75% adverts for games showing "ACTUAL" screen shots from acomputer with at least twice the screen resolution of theSPECTRUM. 2)The Editorial staff must all have well published inainleystupid nicknames. 3)The ED (sic) must interject comments into letters,articlesetc.at least once every two lines. 4)There must be at least 6 competitions per issue,to win itemsof hardware and software donated by manufacturers to ensure morecost effective media coverage than they would have paid for in astraight forward advert. 5)The cover of the issue must be more Gruesome than the previousone. 6)Several pages must be taken up by what we can expect nextmonth.

(11:4:1)7)Readers must be encouraged to submit letters in a languagewhich can only be understood by members of an aliencivilisation. 8)Any suggestion of serious use of a computer should be skippedover and banished to a single page which is included,only if themagazine needs padding out. But perhaps,as a geriatric 42 year old,I am just getting cynicalin my old age and it's me who has got all this wrong. SIMOM TURTON ,TAMWORTH STAFFS HERES A HIres SCREEN DUMP MANY OF YOU ASKED FOR, SUPPLIED BY BILL BOWES. This program can be found on the disc (see menu) This will give a HIRES Screen Dump to most EPSOM compatableprinters. The code uses the printer buffer. But is positionindependant so can be loaded to any address. (12:4:1)TO run code RANDOMIZE USR 23296 . POKE 23320 = number ofcharacters to TAB : Default 3 . POKE 23326 = The start screenline number x 2 : Default 0 x 2 =0 . POKE 23417 = The last linenumber x 2 : Default 24 x 2 =48 . POKE 23334,76 for a small copyor 75 for a normal copy. Programs should contain the followingat some suitable point :- 1 LOAD *1; "hrcopy" CODE 2 OPEN # 3;"b" 3 LET copy =23296: LET tab = 3 POKE 23320,tab: RANDOMIZE USRcopy. Any problems and Bill's willing to help out at : 72 Stavelyroad, Sunderland, SR6 8LD. We did carry also this issue a full review of MARK PAINTERS ODA,(OPUS DISC AID). MARK at this time was selling this usefulutility to members and over the micronet system. MARK has recently donated this utility to the club, so look outfor a future club disc which will contain ODA. A full review will be in a future newsletter when the disc itcontains becomes available.

MICRONET (13:4:1) There are probably several club members whosubscribe to Prestel and Micronet, but it has been suggestedthat a few paragraphs about these services might be of interestto those members who are not. Prestel is British Telecom's nationwide videotex service, usingthe telephone network as the means of communication There aremore than a thousand information providers to be called upon,who between them provide some 300,000 pages of data. Until recently, there was a section of Prestel, "Viewfax",serving home microcomputer owners, but this has recently beendiscontinued. "Micronet", specialising in microcomputer matters,is the largest of the information providers on Prestel. It isavailable only on payment of an additional subscription.Micronet provides daily updated computer news, and reviews andpreviews of hardware. Software, some free, some at discountedprices, can be downloaded into one's own computer. There arealso facilities for putting up, at relatively small hire fees,ones own frames, and thereby running a User Group for particulartypes of equipment. The Spectrum is well served in this respectby four or five such groups at the moment. (14:4:1)There are two major sections of Micronet devoted to theSpectrum, the Spectrum Microbase, and Spectacular. There was,for a time, a Discovery Users Group, but this has vanishedwithout trace. So much for a very brief description. The subscription costs ofPrestel and Micronet (you cannot subscribe only to the latter),amount to `66 pounds per year. Running costs can be high unlessyou confine your usage to evenings and weekends when access tothe mainframe computers is free - compared with 6p per minute atother times. The running cost is that for use of the telephoneline, which at the economic periods is about 50p per hour asmost localities can access the system at 'local' call rates. What use do I make of these services as a Spectrum/Discoveryuser ? 1) I have bought and sold several items of equipment by makinguse of the advertising facility "SWAPSHOP". As a result of theitem in Newsletter No 2, I have begun to be of assistance toclub members in disposing of their unwanted equipment.

(15:4:1)2) I have enjoyed very early information regarding new productsand - less welcome - the demise of such as the Opus Discoveryand "ZX Computing". 3) The technical advice sections, consisting of answers touser's queries are a continual source of useful informationranging from hardware modification to problems in convertingDiscovery to double drive, compatability problems are alwaysbeing raised and, hopefully, solved. 4) Typical of current items relevant to the Discovery, is aseries of four articles under the general heading of "OPUSDISCOVERY EXPLORED", which discuss the operating system,including the addition of extra drives, formatting to 199k, andan extended cat program. By far the main attraction to the useof micronet is the ready availability of advice and suggestionsfrom other enthusiasts with the same tastes and similarproblems. A rather more rapid source of advice is the "chatline"where messages are displayed almost as soon as recieved. I have tried to aviod making this article look like an advertfor micronet, but insofar as I profit from the availablematerial and enjoy the exchanges, I suppose it is just that. LES PHILLIPS. (16:4:1) REVIEW: DISC MANAGER Although there are quite a few transfer utility programs available on the market, including Trans Express, I think thisis probably the best to date. The options within the program arenumerous and varied, and first off we will take a look at DISCDOCTOR. When loaded you are presented with ten options, and pressingbreak will return you to the main menu. Pressing 1 will selectthe read disc option, this reads the current disc in drive 1.You will from here be given the number of files on the disc, thespace used, space free and the largest space free on the disc. Pressing 2 gives a full catalogue of the disc and an option tosend the information to your printer. The catalogue gives thename of the disc, the name of all the files on the disc, thetype of file, and the length of the file in bytes. Pressing 3 for interrogate file, allows you to select a filefrom the disc and gives even more information regarding the filethan the catalogue option.

(17:4:1)Other options are:- Erase file, Rename file, Read Block, Readrecord, list Blocks, Modify Blocks and Write Block. These areOptions for the more technically minded amongst us and are fullyexplained in the accompanying manual. The second option on the main menu is file transfer. This isbasically a disc to disc transfer utility. You can copy thewhole disc or just selected files. Those of us with singledrives will find this program much better than other transferutilities. The way that disc manager transfers the files is donein such a way that it is only necessary to swap discs twicewhile transferring a whole game. Unlike some other popularprograms where you are continually swapping discs. All in all this is the best utility program to date. With itsmany and varied options it is a snip at 10.50. ORDER FROM: BRADWAY SOFTWARE (PW), 33 CONALAN AVENUE, SHEFFIELD,S17 4PG. DONT FORGET TO CLAIM YOUR CLUB DISCOUNT OF 10%. <end>