Volume 32 : Issue 2 - Glenside Color Computer Club
Contents
1. Written in BASIC to allow user customization i j 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 OO ONO OI NN NT N NT N NS NST NT _ 1 LogiCall exits the CoCo when a new program is LOADed and returns when you re through with that program to maximize the available RAM space Filenames on disk are parsed for extensions to permit easy calling of files into the CoCo No longer will you have to power down the CoCo between programs You can change the logic if you wish because LogiCall is written in BASIC2. aes 4 x F el eel j Vow rQu wa a p ae os oCo 12 ay ae 4 ANE vi ty pr te y al merg 4 4 Glenside Color Computer Club Inc Carpentersville Illinois Volume 32 Number 2 Summer ele CoCo 123 Memor Map Routines Address BELCE DEE Vee rs eva tiw aot e ele eae eee oe ee oe ee ee 1 Es Ee DE saatei iw nea tae ee ie Sot a aaa 2 GCCC Contributions a0 c 0 5 6 6 oe e em oa ae amp GSS ws Se we 2 Contributors to this ISSUE win eee rewire i oak 2 CCE Meetinga ieser anaa ieam a oe a eo ee ee ee 2 From the FPresident s Dist eees exer ae wea wae eae eee 2 Treas MNOtER sents eee el eee eee Oe Ge ee eee ee ee 2 gectetary S Notebook soea aia ao aa a a a a a a a a a aa 2 AP IAG sares a Ga er Gee eee Gh a ae ee eee 3 Annual Glenside CoCoFEST 2011 Lowering the Cost s Eeeping the Dream Alive 1a CoCoFEST 2012 Information The 5 U s ee ee ee 11 Upcoming Events The 22 drnual Last Chicago CoCoFEST April 27 28 2013 Regular meetings every znd Thursday Schaumburg Library G C C C OFFICERS Here is the list of 2012 club officers and how to contact then If you have questions about the association call one of the officers for the answers POSITION HARE FHOHE PRIMARY FUNCT ITOH President Tony Podraza o47 425 3576 The buck stops here Vice President Chris Hawks Vice President Tony Podraza Vice President Brian Goers JeCLetary Boh Swoger Treasurer George Schneeweiss Librarian John C
3. Up until now have had very little exposure to the line of TRS 80 Color Computers It s not that ever had anything against them Instead it is just by chance that the first 8 bit home computer that ever had the pleasure of being exposed to was the Commodore 64 so latched onto that Some years ago did buy one of the models of the CoCo still in its original box on eBay but since it was just the computer with no software cassette tape recorder or floppy disk drive of any sort pretty much just checked to see that it powered on and then stashed it away in my basement for a later day had always intended to buy some software and peripherals for it but the opportunity to do so had never really presented itself before now As a result when went to CoCoFEST was on a mission to buy some software disk drives and other accessories so could finally do something with the CoCo that had sitting in its box in my basement for all of these years When arrived at the CoCoFEST was introduced to everyone in attendance and given a guided tour of every exhibit and vendor that had a display Knowing next to nothing about CoCo s was quickly taught the basics and any question that had was kindly answered None of the attendees at the event even held the Commodore t shirt that was wearing against me was able to pick up plenty of stuff there for my CoCo at the fest and some of my purchases for the day included 4 Full
4. Height CoCo compatible 5 25 floppy drives made by various manufacturers As for why bought 4 of these rather large and heavy metal cased floppy drives instead of just one which is all really needed as often do with inexpensive questionable condition vintage electronics decided to apply the Mongolian Hordes technique to my purchasing strategy In other words since there is no guarantee that any of these old beat up and in some cases slightly rusty floppy drives are still in working condition decided to increase my chances of getting one working floppy drive by buying 4 of them know that there are probably some people in this group that has the knowledge tools and expertise to repair and re align vintage floppy drives but do not have these skills so decided to hedge my bets by buying these fragile devices in quantity 2 brand new never opened old stock CCR 83 Computer Cassette Recorders Once again only really needed one of these but the vendor selling them told me that they cost 10 for one but that he would make me a deal and sell me two for 12 Well took him up on that and plan to use one with my CoCo and keep the other factory sealed in its box as a neat little collector s piece 2 Direct Connect Modem Paks for the Color Computer While these two 300 baud modems did come in their original boxes they are definitely not new so since they were inexpensive applied the Mongolian Hordes technique
5. S CLIPBOARD My goal is to put out 4 newsletters a year welcome your articles thoughts and ideas If you have an idea of someone you would like to be a keynote speaker at a CoCoFEST then let Tony Podraza know Please also provide contact information for the person you choose Please make it a point to visit http www glensideccc com newindex shtml These Web pages are the work of Steve Bjork Contact Tony Podraza in order to share your thought and words about these pages that he might convey these of encouragement to Steve like how the Contact Us page works You can write someone without needing to give away their email address Ask yourself what things should be added to this website so that it can become the primary GCCC website and share that information with Tony Podraza John Mark Mobley Newsletter Editor Glenside Color Computer Club TREASURY NOTES We have 8558 21 in checking We have 106 paid members in 2012 down from 136 and a total of 414 members to whom we send newsletters George Schneeweiss Trea urer Glenside Color Computer Club THE SECRETARY S NOTEBOOK At the 2012 CoCoFEST Tony Podraza became our new president John Chasteen became our new librarian The 2012 CoCoFEST finished out of the red ink by 141 We try to get 50 people to come to the fest we had 51 which included members spouses child and visitors The cost for the Inn was 2486 for the two days and our rooms cost 91 30 per ni
6. free booth space here http chiclassiccomp org vcfmw_ex php Computer brands on display include Apple Atari Amiga Commodore Heathkit Timex Sinclair Tandy Radio Shack Texas Instruments Zenith A number of computer clubs will be present The Glenside Color Computer Club Inc Chicago Classic Computing Suburban Chicago ATarians SCAT Southwest Regional Association of Programmers SWRAP 100 150 people are expected to attend Here are some pictures from last year s VCFMW M f A Rockwell AIM 65 undergoes hardware debugging Eric and Bill work to get a Macintosh SE talking through an acoustic coupler modem at 300 bps More win The signal went through a wireless bridge and a VOIP line to a BBS on the other end Frank Pittel is demonstrating a FPGA CoCo Emulator The Glenside Color Computer Club is in the front and the Suburban Chicago ATarians SCAT club is in the rear Michael Lee s Geekmuseum nd Annual 35 Chicz COFEST CoCoFEST a manan mer By The Glenside Color Computer Club Fairfield Inn Lombard Illinois April 27 amp April 28 2013 Here are the 5 W s WHO 1 Glenside Color Computer Club Inc PRESENTS WHAT 2 The 22nd Annual Last Chicago CoCoFEST WHEN 3 April 27 amp 28 2013 Sat 10 am 5 pm 8 pm 11 pm Sun 10 am 3 pm WHERE 4 Fairfield Inn amp Suites Lombard 645 West North Avenue Lombard IL 60148 Near the intersection of IL 355 an
7. This was because was so new to CoCo s that was still trying to take everything in was meeting many of your club s members for the first time and didn t want to rush into joining anything in earnest on my first day However since my first time meeting everyone at CoCoFEST have continued to have nothing but positive experiences with your club s members In fact have to say that every member of the Glenside Color Computer Club that have met and spoken to have been some of the nicest most helpful and most generous people that have ever met So even though am still just starting to learn my way around my own CoCo would like to support your club financially by upgrading to a paid membership Snip Thank you in advance for your time and will be looking forward to hearing back from you Sincerely Daniel Keller am privileged and blessed to have been able to meet and get to Know you all and look forward to this coming year as your President for this brother and sister hood of which we are a part is as close as any other fellowship to which have belonged We have shared much in each other s lives and it is the sharing of information of personal events of joys and of sorrows that has knit us into the family that we are Try to make it to the reunion next year You will have a good time Till next time bid you Peace Tony Podraza President Glenside Color Computer Club THE EDITOR
8. assiccomp group make it to CoOCoFEST Anybody else find any really great or interesting finds there that are worth mentioning bragging about Sincerely Dan Calendar of Events by John Mark Mobley and Salvador Garcia Link http Awww glensideccc com cgi bin mod cal cgi Thursday August 2 Introduction to the Arduino with Mitch Altman http www eventbrite com event 3547226851 Saturday August 4 Vintage Computer Festival Southwest http mit a com Saturday August 4 Chibots SRS RoboMagellan Robot Competition http www chibots org q node 1799 Saturday and Sunday August 4 5 Evanston Mini make Faire http www makerfaireevanston com Wednesday August 8 Introduction to Arduino Class http www eventbrite com event 38348581 64 ref ecal Saturday September 8 Annual Glenside Color Computer Club Inc Picnic Thursday September 13 Glenside Color Computer Club Inc Business Meeting Skype access available via robert swoger Saturday and Sunday September 22 23 Vintage Computer Festival Midwest VCFMW 7 0 Link http vcfmw org Thursday October 11 Glenside Color Computer Club Inc Business Meeting Skype access available via robert swoger There are two other events that are in the planning stage and still do not have official dates WorkShop88 Raspberry Pi hack night Chibots fall Robotics games We are aiming for October Annual Glenside Picnic 2012 by John Mark Mobley The Annual Glenside Picnic is Saturday September 8 from 12 00 p
9. d North Avenue Overnight single occupancy room rate 79 00 plus 11 tax 87 69 Total Call 1 630 629 1500 for reservations You must ask for the Glenside CoCoFEST rate gt gt gt YOU MUST REGISTER UNDER CoCoFEST lt lt lt gt gt gt TO GET THIS RATE lt lt lt WHY 5 A To provide vendor support to the CoCo Community B To provide Community support for our CoCo Vendors C To provide educational support to new users D TO HAVE AN OUTRAGEOUSLY GOOD TIME And now the H word HOW MUCH All Attendees General Admission Saturday amp both days 15 00 1st 10 2nd amp more Sunday Only 10 00 1st 5 2nd amp more Children 12 and under FREE Advance ticket sales available between 1 15 2013 and 3 23 2013 from Bob Swoger 613 Parkside Circle Streamwood IL 60107 Include a Self Addressed STAMPED Envelope SASE For further information general or exhibitor contact Tony Podraza GCCCI Robert Swoger GCCCI 847 428 3576 VOICE 630 837 7957 VOICE tonypodraza juno com rswoger aol com LogiCall Version V7 0 Executive Level Synonym Execution Program and Integrated Software Package for the Color Computer 3 Disk Operating System Introduction to LogiCall LogiCall is an Executive Level Synonym Execution Program and integrated software package that enhances the speed and operating ease of your Color Computer 3 LogiCall permits you to move from drive to drive move into and out of your
10. ght The membership present voted 16 to 10 to move the next 2013 fest to Lombard IL The Conference Center there will cost 480 for both days Our overnight rooms will cost 87 69 per night tax included Square footage is 4100 The LogiCall Disk Management Operating System was introduced at the 2012 CoCoFEST This software package runs on all CoCo s with a disk drive system of up to 4 drives DriveWire 3 and 4 also Vcc Virtual Color Computer It was developed for the CoCo by Bob Roger Swoger John Mark Mobley and Chris Hawks the proceeds of which all went to help pay for the fest Bob s suggestion at the seminar was that all CoCo owners should be using this software package simply because it makes the CoCo more fun to run It comes with a 10 page user manual The seminar and demo were well received lt was shown that with the built in help menus one doesn t need to read the whole manual before getting started There were 25 copies of LogiCall sold at the fest for a special COCoFEST reduced price John Linville s award winning game FAHRFALL was also shown at the fest as was Boisy Pitre s Liber809 Atari board and Tony Podraza s CoCo 2 clone from Brazil LogiCall For The CoCo 18 Years In The Making b Bob a The LogiCall V7 0 operating system for the CoCo was released at the 2012 Glenside CoCoFEST A 20 minute seminar given by John Mark Mobley and Robert GATOR Swoger introducing this software was well received By fe
11. has teen 815 945 4690 o47 420 3576 708 805 1588 630 847 7957 Oo 5 834 444 477 217 1299 Meeting planning etc CoCoFEST Organiser apecial Events Records and Reporting Dues and Purchasing software Manager Tory Pedraza Choris Hawks Robert Saoger George Schreswerss Brian Goes John Chasteen CoCo 123 A Glenside Publication Since 1985 Volume 32 Number lt 2 summer 20le DEDICATION On July 19 2012 Kathryn E Cleveland was called home to spend Eternity with her LORD By unanimous decision of the Board of Directors of the Glenside Color Computer Club Inc this issue of the CoCo 123 is dedicated to the remembrance of her life 1 CoCo 123 INFORMATION CoCo 123 is the newsletter of the Glenside Color Computer Club Your annual contribution of 15 00 helps to keep our club going Send your check to Glenside Treasurer George L Schneeweiss 13450 N 2700 E Road Forrest IL 61741 9629 Our treasury provides newsletters and good times with fellow CoCo users at our Annual Last Chicago CoCoFEST and annual Glenside picnic If you are unsure of when you last paid dues look at the address label on this newsletter envelope The numbers to the right of your name indicates the last year you made your annual contribution CoCo 123 CONTRIBUTIONS lf you have any suggestions for the newsletter or would like to submit an article please contact the CoCo 123 Newsletter editor John Mark Mobley 4104 Wren Lane Rol
12. highlight the program you wish to run followed by lt ENTER gt HANGMAN 3 WHEEL UF ARMCHAIR TEMPL OF THE DONKEY KUNG DRYS FORTUNE DREVE ADMIRAL DRY LST ARK DE OSE PAC MAN DEMO THELDA F i6 TEDDY BEAR CRIM 34 DR 11 ae Fi DRY 13 IEY 14 A Library program helps you keep track of 400 disks and 800 tapes After installing a disk on your hard drive collection of 256 disk images you add the program name into the proper Box of the DISKS BAS utility Save the utility and the paperwork is done The screen below shows the utility s Help file to illustrate the versatility of management of this utility LogiCall works on CoCo l II or Ill with disk drives DriveWire and Vcc It comes with a 10 page manual You can now purchase LogiCall by contacting Secretary Bob Swoger at rswoger aol com or by phoning 630 837 7957 for a cost of 10 postage paid My Report of the GCCC 2012 CoCoFEST b y Daniel Keller Posted by hoagiebot hoagiebot yahoo com Thu May 24 2012 9 16 am PDT Hi everyone In a message that posted to the group back on May 17th mentioned that was going to try my very best to make it to the Glenside Color Computer Club s CoCoFEST on Sunday and luckily was indeed able to make it It was my very first time attending a COCoFEST and am very glad that made the trip there had an extremely good time and found the GCCC s members to be extremely welcoming friendly and informative
13. it that is until got home and actually pulled the CoCo that already owned out of storage Now as you can probably tell from my list of purchases above a lot of the software and the relatively expensive monitor that bought could only be used with a 128K or better CoCo3 That was because was absolutely convinced that the CoCo that bought on eBay all of those years ago was a CoCo3 That was also why happily bought the CoCo2 that was up for auction at COCoFEST thought that was adding a CoCo2 to the CoCo that already allegedly had expanding the number of models of CoCo s that had in my collection However when pulled my original CoCo s box out of storage in my basement in bold red letters on its side was branded the following Radio Shack TRS 80 Color Computer 2 Instead of having a CoCo3 and a CoCo2 like thought that had it turns out that actually now own two CoCo2 s Count on me to pull a brain lapse like that So the pricey CM 8 monitor and nearly all of the software that bought at CoCoFEST is completely unusable with the machines that have sigh The going price of a low mileage CM 8 should be 70 plus Dan got a real good deal Sec Anyway my stupid boneheaded move of forgetting what model of CoCo that already had aside had an absolutely wonderful time at CoCoFEST and will probably make it a permanent go to event on my convention calendar Did anyone else from the Chicl
14. lanned for those who will be attending no we WILL have a full weekend Never a dull moment is the goal Wow Glenside is almost thirty years old Just saying As with all the user groups it had its roots in the need for someone getting help with some particular programming hump or machine code function or another We turned to each other for help and got it We still do am amazed that an 8 bit workhorse of a computer designed thirty years ago still has such a large following and it is still growing And you the users are just a fantastic group of people Here let me show you what mean borrowing from an email to George Schneeweiss and some of which is repeated later in this newsletter attended the Glenside COCoFEST convention for the very first time earlier this year and had an absolutely wonderful time there While have been a Commodore 64 enthusiast for some time was almost completely unfamiliar with TRS 80 Color Computers before attended your convention and didn t Know too much about them Despite this all of the members of the GCCC gave me a very warm welcome at the convention showed me all of the projects were being exhibiting there and gave me a very good introduction on how much fun CoCo s can be even came home with some fantastic CoCo stuff from the Sunday auction so that could start playing with a CoCo of my very own At the convention only opted in to a free membership in your club
15. ling Meadows IL 60008 johnmarkmelanie gmail com CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Salvador Garcia Daniel Keller John Mark Mobley Tony Podraza Brian Schubring George Schneeweiss Robert Swoger G C C C MEETINGS The Glenside Color Computer Club meets the second Thursday of each month at the Schaumburg Township District Library at 7 00 pm If you need a map see our Glenside Homepage at http glensideccc com A social get together always follows the meeting at a nearby restaurant FROM THE PRESIDENT S PLATEN How do start this out It has been a looong time since opened the newsletter hmm let s try this Howdy Y all Yeah that ll work We have wrapped up the 21 Annual Last Chicago CoCoFEST It was again good to see those of you who were able to attend To those who were unable you were greatly missed have a list mental but a list nonetheless of the faces that were not there Some watched some of the activities thanks to Aaron Wolfe and his Internet feed some emailed some whose keys are now silent watched from the clouds miss those most of all We are already making plans for next year It will be a whole new ballgame We will be gathering a bit further east and south from the past locations See the announcement later on in the newsletter The research committee has really done its homework and is still Scoping out eating establishments in the area and we hope to have a full weekend p
16. ll proper computer syntax took up more time Because program names are abbreviated to accommodate DOS s limited filename length misspelling program names caused errors and more aggravation With over 100 floppies to find in his disk library finding the right disk was becoming a problem LogiCall provided the answer to all these shortcomings and more Press H or F1 or to see a 22 suggestion help file so that you need not go to the manual to recall syntax Want to Format a disk Press F and lt ENTER gt at the prompt Want to backup a disk Press 2 instead of 1 while in the FORMAT routine Pressing M lt ENTER gt at the prompt will call the MOVE routine RGB HDB DOS provides for an AUTOEXEC file to BOOT the system The operator normally types in this file Pressing A lt ENTER gt creates this file on the current drive for you Pressing N calls AUTOEXEC on the current drive Use E or 7 for erase R or 5 for rename Want to call in your Terminal program Press T lt ENTER gt Want to call in your Word Processor program Press W lt ENTER gt When LogiCall returns you see screen below showing all the programs present on the current disk the DRIVE number free granules and a prompt to enter the drive you wish to go to next As for misspelled program names you can either type in the name as you now see it in the CATalog on the screen or at the program prompt press lt ENTER gt followed by the space bar or arrow keys to
17. m to sundown at the home of George Schneeweiss Bring your favorite soft drinks or dessert All other food will be provided Get over to IL 47 Go south to 13450 N 2700 E Road Forrest IL Look for big blue pole barns on your left Call Tony Podraza 1 847 340 1801 if you get lost Top 10 Reasons to Attend the Vintage Computer Festival Midwest VCFMW 7 0 and Emergency Chicagoland Commodore Convention ECCC b y John Mark Mobley 10 You can get a sneak peek at next year s COCoFEST location You can spy out the competition You can find a good restaurant for the CoCoFEST You might enjoy yourself You could make new friends You could race your CoCo against another computer You could play games on networked machines It s a chance to show off any non CoCo hardware you may have 2 You might get to hear the sound of a dot matrix printer or dial up modem 1 It s another excuse to see your CoCo buddies ORTON O Vintage Computer Festival Midwest Saturday September 22 2012 8 00 am to 11 00 pm Sunday September 23 2012 10 00 am to 4 00 pm Heron Point Building next to Fairfield Inn and Suites Lower level oasement 665 West North Ave Lombard Illinois 60148 USA Hotel Phone 1 630 629 1500 Admission is free Parking is free Booth table space is free while it lasts Mention Fall Commodore Expo for special 69 night room rate Link http vcfmw org Link http chiclassiccomp org Get
18. st closing time 25 copies were sold LogiCall was first introduced to the Glenside Color Computer Club back in March of 1994 to first the Glenside President Brian Schubring and later by his invitation to the Glenside membership at the following meeting We present here a portion of Brian s evaluation in the March 1994 CoCo 123 newsletter Cerer De Bi of i of i T T T 3 Me Lot gt eo O oe a Gos cae tele tal Se ed aS somwceeme ha eo es eos eeu aji Article fragment taken from CoCo 123 newsletter February March 1994 issue Volume XIV Number Il by then President Brian Schubring Bob Swoger is a great admirer of the CoCo and its power and flexibility He owns several CoCo s has used them somewhat but his main system is the Timex Sinclair TS2068 Spectrum made in Glasgow Scotland Bob has a keen insight of systems that are no longer manufacturer supported and has a great interest in helping this club getting past the hurdles that may lie before us Bob showed me his system and although it may not have all the bells and whistles that the CoCo has he has a machine that works extremely well to do the things he needs In his words he has turned his machine into an appliance To some of us we want something more than an appliance including myself when first talked to Bob But as listened and watched his machine in action Bob showed me what he really mean
19. t He wrote as one of the other members called it a Human Interface System through which he ran all his programs It would be akin to a menu system only more simple but smart Bob s thoughts were that everyone who has a CoCo should have a system that would work the same from one machine to another And the way to do that is to have a front end interface to do the mundane things for us in a uniform and proper way Bob has given me an idea that this could be done for the CoCo as well and he encourages the same So for a club project would like to propose that maybe we could do the same and create a package that would be available to all CoCo users Bob will be demonstrating his system to illustrate his Human Interface System at the next meeting so a more and complete explanation can be given This project is for the sole purpose of giving this club and its member a goal while giving us useful tools The LogiCall Operating System was first written by Bob Swoger of GATOR Software Development in 1984 when he received his LarKen Disk Drive System for his Timex Sinclair TS2068 Computer The commands to perform disk management routines such as Format Load Move Copy Erase Point Rename Save and Catalog required too much typing and began to ware out the key caps Putting in floppies and loading applications to review documents and picture files seemed also to cause a lot of needless activity Having to open up thick manuals to reca
20. to them as well A TRS 80 X PAD This is some kind of line artwork digitizing pad with a stylus which was told was only compatible with the CoCo1 which do not have You also need some other accessory that don t have before you can use it While am not able to utilize this particularly cool looking piece of hardware at this point in time it was free so snapped it up The books Color Computer Graphics and Introducing Your Color Computer 3 The following software titles Zone Runner Ghanabwana Color Computer Artist Rogue Koronis Rift and Color Math Most of these are still factory sealed in their original packaging which is awesome won a TRS 80 Color Computer 2 through their voice auction My biggest ticket item was a working Tandy CM 8 color monitor for the CoCo3 which cost almost as much as everything else that bought put together With that said the monitor was in great shape so figured that paying to get such a nice matching monitor for my system would be worth it To add to all of that wonderful goodness also won a fantastic door prize while was there a 25 roll of golden 1 coins which came in handy when was bidding in the CoCoFEST live voice auction As a result all things considered was extremely ecstatic with my purchases and couldn t wait until got home and pulled the CoCo that already had out of storage in my basement and tried out some of this new stuff on
21. word processor database spreadsheet terminal program and other programs using just a few logical keystrokes LogiCall displays pictures and word processor files on the screen without using a graphics or word processor program The FORMAT MOVE ERASE RENAME POINT CAT and RESET keys all work when using RGBDOS amp HDBDOS making executive level file management easy Also redundant easy to remember single key commands further shorten the file management requests Some features of LogiCall are 1 Prompts for the drive you wish to use next TAPE Drive Sure 2 Automatic display of the selected drive s disk CATalog 3 Current drive POINTer added to the disk CATalog list 4 Prompts for the program you wish to run next Permits SCAN selection of the program to LOAD into the CoCo 3 Contains convenient HELP screens Runs in both Vcc and DriveWire modes Easily creates an AUTOEXEC program on disk Easy call to SAVE the LogiCall program to current disk Easy calls for the FORMAT BACKUP and MOVE utilities Easy calls for terminal and word processor software Easy calls to the RENAME and ERASE routines Easy call to refresh the on screen CATalog handy if disk swap occurred Easy call to re BOOT AUTOEXEC BAS Easy call to return the disk drive POINTer prompt Lets you change FLOPPY drives 1 thru 4 at the Program prompt Displays WP files to screen without using WP application 80 column width Prints CATalog to printer for disk labeling
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