For those members that don't already know, this section of the magazine contains messages from members, including adverts, information, offers, and requests for help. The important change is that if there are any messages to YOU personally, either from me or another member, they will be added to the end of this textfile (if my messaging program works that is). Remember to quote your own user ID in any messages you send. From : L1J (Miroslaw Bobrowski) To : 999 (All Members) I would like to exchange twelve original 'Micro User' monthly discs (from May 1991 to April 1992) for any 'Beebug' or 'BBC Acorn User' discs issued after January 1990. The 'Micro User' discs I have offered are in 80T DFS format. My address is as follows: Miroslaw Bobrowski, Editor's note : to write to Miroslaw by airmail from the U.K., mark your envelope clearly "Air Mail/Par Avion", and put 32p (for letters up to 20g) or 54p (letters up to 60g) of stamps on it (N.B. Do not use specific "1st" or "2nd" stamps). For larger packages, consult your post office (who can probably also supply special light airmail envelopes). Alternatively, write to Miroslaw via the 8BS messaging system (see Changes to 8-Bit Software artice). From : 483 (D.G. Shimmin) To : 999 (All members) Re : For sale Mr E.M. Clark (previously user K24) has now left the BBC world after obtaining a 286-16 PC clone. He has the following items for sale from his old BBC equipment (all in working order & excellent condition) : BBC Master Reference Manual Pt.II #5.00 BBC-B User Port Splitter Unit (see Watford Electronics ads) #7.00 Marconi RB2 Tracker Ball as new (with AMX adapter) #15.00 21 Volt EPROM programmer for 8K and 16K EPROMs, complete with driver software on 80-track disk #15.00 All the above prices do NOT include postage, however you can buy the whole lot for only #35.00 which would include postage. The hardware I know little about (though I imagine the EPROM programmer could be very useful), but the Ref. Manual is a great deal for Master users - I bought my Ref. Manual pt.2 for around #15 and it is very useful whatever your level of expertise, since it contains the full info on BBC BASIC IV, full instructions for EDIT and TERMINAL, plus full details on Master assembly language, including all the opcodes and addressing modes and their uses. You can contact Mr. Clark by writing to : Mr. E.M. Clark Please do NOT write to Mr. Clark via 8-Bit Software. From : 483 (D.G. Shimmin) To : 999 (All members) Re : For sale Mr. Dale Strickland-Clark, from whom I have recently bought a Cub Monitor and 65C102 co-processor in excellent condition (the latter without the supporting disk for some reason), has the following for sale: Games for #8.00 each: Aviator, Speech!, Citadel, Stryker's Run, Thrust, The Sentinel, Repton 3. Elite (for B/B+/Master 128/6502 2nd proc) for #15.00 Any reasonble offers considered for any of: Master 128, Music 5000 synthesiser, Twin 5.25" disk drive Epson FX80+ printer, AMX Mouse + software, Data recorder Adder ROM blower, Acorn Graphics Extension ROM for B/B+ (GXR) Viewstore, Viewplot, ViewIndex, ViewSpell 12+ 5.25" Micro User disks, 9 5.25" Beebug disks Master Ref. Manuals 1 [hardware & operating system] and 2 [internal s/w] Assembly Language Programming for the BBC Micro Mr. Strickland-Clark can also arrange for large items to be delivered by courier for an extra charge, which makes things a lot easier. You can buy the whole lot for #390. Phone , or write to: Mr. D. Strickland-Clark Please do NOT write to Mr Strickland-Clark via 8-Bit Software. From : 483 (D.G. Shimmin) To : 999 (All members) Re : Andrew Black's EPROM service Andrew Black (user 722) has offered to continue providing an EPROM service to members, but the arrangements are slightly different. You must send Andrew the software you want EPROMed, together with a #5.00 payment. You do NOT need to supply ANYTHING else - the #5 covers the cost of the EPROM itself, plus return postage and packing to you. Members who have had EPROMs done elsewhere will be aware that this is an extremely good deal! Obviously this will be of most use to those of you who want to have sideways ROM images (e.g. HADFS, Master UtilROM, etc.) programmed because of a lack of sideways RAM, but in his original message Andrew offered to create any other sort of ROM you want. The original message ran as follows (with some alterations) : The program that goes into the EPROM can be anything. I can generate the Rom Header code for BASIC and Machine code routines which can be called from ROM just like a normal program. I can program the following types of EPROM... 1. 27128 - 16K 2. 2764 - 8K 3. 27256 - 32K All can be programmed in 12 or 21 volts. Bear in mind that in the BBC range of computers the computer can only understand ROMs up to 16K. There are, however, certain conditions attached to this service.... 1. Enclose an 80/40 track DFS disc with the program/programs on it. 2. Each EPROM can have a max. of 16 filenames regardless of program size. 3. Explain fully what you want me to do. If you just want me to program in a ROM image, tell me. I will program an EPROM I receive the same day. All EPROMs are fully tested. If you do not understand the above information or have any queries regarding EPROMs or EPROMing write to me enclosing an SAE. I will do my best to answer all enquires. EPROM Service, Master-owners should bear in mind that they will need a ROM cartridge to plug the EPROMs into. A suitable cartridge which holds two 16K EPROMs/ROMs, and can be inserted into either of the slots on the right-hand side of the machine, is manufactured by Care ELectronics (I think), and can (again I'm not sure about this) be obtained from Morley Electronics (091 257 6355) for a few quid. (I think there are also ROM slots inside the Master, but I'm not sure). If you don't know whether you want 12 or 21 volts, then just add a note to Andrew to use whichever will work with your machine (maybe both do). You might as well get 16K EPROMs anyway. Members may be interested to learn that Display Electronics (081 679 4414) are (or were a few weeks ago, anyway) selling 10Mb Winchester hard disk drives for only #39.95 + carriage + VAT. However you will need an ST506 interface as the drives were originally intended for PCs. If anyone finds a way of rigging up this lot to a B or Master let me know. From : 483 (D.G. Shimmin) To : 999 (All members) Re : A whole variety of things! 1. Can anyone put me in touch with anyone who has any of the following : 32016 internal co-processor for Master 32016 second processor, accompanying s/w or documentation Master internal modem Master-compatible hard disk drive Prestel Adapter LISP for standard Master (???) Micro-Prolog for standard Master (???) 65C102 turbo board for Master 512 80186 co-processor for Master Sinclair ZX Spectrum, preferably 48K Some of these I am considering buying second-hand at some stage, others I just want to exchange notes on possible uses, compatibility, problems etc. 2. The Master Reference Manual mentions that sideways ROM images can have bits set to indicate the presence of 68000 or 80286 code in the ROM. Did anyone ever build a second/co-processor to make use of this facility, or were Acorn just keeping expandability in mind? 3. Can anyone supply more details as to which Acorn 8-bit machines are lacking in which star commands and BASIC instructions. I already know that any BASIC before BASIC IV lacks LISTIF and ON...PROC, but does anyone know which setups lacked *PRINT (some early BBC Bs?) and *TYPE (BBC B under ADFS? BBC B under NFS?) Is it only BASIC I that lacks the OSCLI command? Which machines is BASIC I fitted to? What version of BASIC does the Electron have? 4. Is it correct that ADFS M is the most commonly-used disk format for Electron users? 5. Speaking of BASIC commands missing from BASIC I/II, why doesn't someone write a *LISTIF command for the BBC B, as I find LISTIF an extremely useful aid in writing or deciphering long BASIC programs. 6. Alan Blundell's Spellcheck program checks the occurence of each word within a document, and Steven Flintham's Text Compressor uses the technique of replacing a word with a single byte which refers to a specific word from a list. Why not combine elements of the two and write a text-compressing program which analyses a document, works out which words in it are using up most bytes (=length of word * number times used), and then makes up its own table of words to refer to when decompressing that particular piece of text. This could probably reduce the size of a large document by up to 75%! 7. Does anyone have any details of the techniques used to control second/co-processors and the TUBE interface, including how to switch additional processors on/off without a hard reset? If anyone out there has any answers or can offer any help, please let us know! Also, if you have submitted a request for help/information or an advert in the past, and would like it published again, send it to me. Messages to you specifically: Thanks for the s/w - as you can see, issue 20 is largely made up of it! Apologies as I've not put some on due to lack of space. Number converter needs rethink - overwrites answers! (Maybe my Master scroll-protected & yours not, or vice versa?) Monthplanner incompatible with my printer, at least not without a major re-writing. Re: offer of Teletext mag., perhaps in issue 22. However: (i) Can cursor be turned off? (ii) Way of exiting back to menu? (iii) How easy to create (very easy, if I remember right?) Will use other disk & stamp to send you issue 21. (But send me lots more s/w between now & then if you want!) Thanks again - D.G.S.