| Hardware World |
EPROM Services has brought out an Eprom holder for the QL which fits into the ROM cartridge slot. For those of you who are not into blowing your own Eproms, Eprom Services can supply a number of programs ready blown.
The advantage of programs in Eprom is that they are instantly available and unaffected by resetting the machine. The ones supplied by Eprom Services act as an extension to SuperBasic.
Utilities adds six commands. CLOCK gives a continuous display of the date and time in the top right-hand corner of the screen, while TIMER shows elapsed time at the top centre. CLOCK can also be used while running the new version Psion programs if it is called before the program is booted.
The other commands are DUMP which dumps 2K of memory in Hex and ASCII to a channel; XDIR which gives an extended directory showing the length of the file and the name - microdrive only; RPT which sets the keyboard repeat and delay; and MEM. This allows you to create a file in memory, and then LOAD, SAVE or MERGE programs to and from it.
Basic+1 contains more utilities, which fall into three areas: The first group allows you to list all the variables, procedures, functions and keywords resident in the system. The second gives you random access of microdrive files by letting you PUT and GET bytes to and from them using PTR as a pointer to the position. Lastly there is an odd collection of functions which allow you to TRACE a Basic program, RENAMe procedures, including SuperBasic keywords, find the cursor position and to convert from Hex and Binary to decimal.
Multi-tasking has a group of commands which give you control of multi-tasking jobs from Basic. You can list, start, stop or alter the priority of jobs, display the contents of the job registers or those handed to procedure from Basic, and call TRAPs directly with pre-loaded registers. Most useful is a SPOOL routine which takes a file from microdrive and prints it while you are doing something else. Also included is WSET which allows you to set up a window using the cursor keys.
The price of the holder is £14.95 or £24.95 with one program, £29.95 with two and £34.95 for all three - remarkable value. The forthcoming programs are expected to be around £9.95 each - plus holder if necessary.
If you would rather use your own programs in Eprom the holder has two sockets which can accept Eproms of up to 8K.
Further details of this, and other QL products, can be obtained from Eprom Services, Leeds.
ARCADE freaks who wear out joysticks at a rate of knots and are looking for a cheap replacement should look at the new Gunshot from Vulcan. Unlike most low cost joysticks, such as the Quickshot, it uses leaf spring switches and so should last a little longer.
It has the standard features of two fire buttons, one on the stick and the other on the base, rubber suckers to hold it on the table and a moulded grip.
The feel of a joystick is a matter of personal taste. You have to move the Gunshot stick a long way before it registers and some might prefer a more delicate touch.
With the joystick Vulcan is marketing a Kempston compatible interface, priced £11.50. The Gunshot, priced £8.95, is available from high street stores.
ORION has released a re-usable graphics kit which is extremely simple. The Format 4 kit - the SP42 - has four plastic sheets with different sized grids and two water-soluble pens. Once you have perfected one design you simply wipe the plastic with a damp cloth and start on the next one.
The grids are two full-screen grids showing print positions, pixel positions, screen and attribute file addresses, a larger scale quarter screen and one with six, 4X4, enlarged character squares for UDGs. Also included is a pixel ruler.
It is available from Orion Software Products, priced £5.99, or the educational suppliers Griffin and George.
HAD Arthur Dent been at the launch of the Heart of Gold he might well have mistaken the Hooloovoo for a Mega Rule.
The error would have been a natural one. A Mega Rule is a clear perspex ruler, with a hint of blue, which magnifies the text beneath it.
If Arthur had been in the habit of entering listings from magazines, rather than hitch-hiking round the galaxy, he would have found it just right for helping him to read that minuscule printing and keep his place at the same time.
Mind you, he would have had to write to Dealer Deals Ltd at London, with £2.99.
An ideal present for intelligent computer users everywhere ... and to all those out there with an Acorn, the secret is to bang the rocks together, guys.
THIS month we look at two monitors from Citadel Products, the 101QL, and Multitech MVM12G, both 12in, green screen models.
The 101QL is the cheaper at £79.93 including VAT with a simple black and white plastic case. The only user control is an on/off/brightness switch under the carrying handle on the top.
It is to be hoped that you will never have to adjust the picture size or position as those thumb wheel controls can only be reached with the back of the monitor casing removed and the tube exposed.
The socket into which the video lead plugs is of the 'bnc' type which is rarely used on home computers. A special lead can be supplied for £5.95.
The MVM12G is a very professional looking monitor priced at £102.93 including VAT. It has a matt grey housing and is supplied with a swivel/tilt stand. On the front is a brightness control and power-on light.
At the back are the usual adjustment controls, and the video socket. There is also a video out socket, plus mode switch, to allow a number of monitors to be chained together.
Both monitors were tested on the Spectrum and QL. On the Spectrum both displayed a series of bright white lines across the top of the picture and the MVM12G suffered excessive shimmering.
On the QL the picture was better, the MVM12G still shimmered but had quite good definition and gave a bright picture. The 101QL gave the best picture with negligible shimmer, but with a black screen a moving band of bars was noticeable on the left-hand side. The picture was also dull, which on the Psion programs made parts of the Prompts window difficult to read.
The 101QL is reasonable on the QL and adequate on the Spectrum and seems the better buy of the two.
For further details contact Citadel Products Ltd, Middlesex.
A JOYSTICK on the QL is a useful addition. Dedicated joysticks fit directly into the CTRL port, and standard joysticks use an adaptor lead.
The joystick from Eidersoft is a standard Quickshot II with a QL-type lead. It costs £11.95, or if bought with the QL Art program, £9.56. Contact Eidersoft, Essex.
A cheaper alternative, if you already have a joystick, is an adaptor lead. One can be obtained, priced £4.95, from CLPS Ltd, Cumbria.
MONITORS are popular if Sinclair Surgery is anything to go by. Both the Spectrum - issue three onwards - and the QL are capable of driving a composite video monitor without the need for an extra interface, but both require a special lead.
Transform supply one for the Spectrum. It costs £11.50 from Transform Ltd, Kent.
CLPS produces QL leads, which can have a phono or aerial plug to the monitor. Both are priced £2.50 inc, from CLPS Ltd, address elsewhere on this page.
AS programs such as Tasword Two require good definition to give more than 32 characters across the screen, many users are turning to black and white monitors for a readable display. A special interface is not required for such monitors and they are a low cost alternative to RGB for the QL.
The Boxer 12 from Hantrex is a 12in high resolution, green screen, composite video monitor designed for the home computer user.
The usual controls - brightness, contrast, on/off - are on the front, while others, such as picture size and position, are hidden under a flap, also on the front. It has an attractive silver grey casing.
The Boxer 12 costs £99.95 from Hantrex, (UK) Ltd, London.
DOWNSWAY Electronics has released an RS232 to Centronics converter for the QL. Unlike many of the other converters on the market it has a switchable baud rate, the default of 9600, and 19200 for fast printers.
It is the cheapest so far at £31.95. Downsway Electronics (UK) Ltd, Surrey.