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| vtsteam:
Good thinking Russell! I forgot that the first bits were zero for letters. Man, so much forgotten since those really fun days when all this seemed new and I had my first computer, a Tandy Color Computer with 4K of memory and interpreted basic in ROM. Those had a MC 6809 processor. Apples 6502 and the RS Model 1 a Z-80. Eventually I built a z-80 based computer from scratch (couldn't afford a Model 1) and learned Z-80 assembly and FORTH. |
| DavidA:
Russell, 32 to 127 if I remember correctly.(spacebar to +/-) The thing your program has to do is decide which of the zeros is the start of the character. It's quite easy doing it using paper and pencil. a bit when you have to write the program. I have an good idea how I'd do it. it will be interesting to compare methods. VT, I still have a TRS-80 model 1. Upper case only and 4K of memory. I did my initial learning on that then moved on to an Amstrad 8256; using CP/M and Locomotive BASIC. But went back to TRS-80 model 4 with LS DOS. I still have them all. and they still work. Dave. |
| vtsteam:
YES LSDOS! I had that, too! Didn't it have a built in monitor and disassembler. I built an LNW-80 from scratch, soldering in a couple hundred IC's etc. Programmed EPROMS with a wire wrapped board off the printer port, and erased it with a sunlamp. I customised the ROM a little -- otherwise it was straight TRS-80 Model 1 (extended) . Also figured out that if I changed the clock divider I could overclock from 4 Mhz to 5.33 Mhz though I never knew it would be called overclocking years later. The LNW did color, though a Z-80 based computer, and I wrote a wire frame 3D projection mini CAD with FORTH and mixed-in assembler routines. This was just before the IBM PC came out and I was disappointed it was 8088 based. But really liked the bus and cards architecture (IBM's ultimate downfall due to ease of cloning and Microsoft selling to all comers) but they really opened up the computer world with the biggest name backing open architecture. We owe them a lot. Now we're seeing a reversal of that revolution. Locked OS's and boot loaders, single boards, irreplacable batteries and components, cloud computing and apps. We're back to the mainframe and dumb terminal era. Just fancied up with another name: "cloud". Chromebooks incapable without a connection. BASIC in ROM unheard of. No one programs PCs, when once evryone did. The personal computer is practically dead. The PC revolution, a thing of the past. |
| lordedmond:
Looks like I need to get out the nascom and Fire up polly dos then load up polly basic Now where are those 5 1/4 floppies to boot the machine up Good luck with your quest ( or was that colasal cave) no it must be hunt the wumpus Boy I have forgotten such a lot of $basic Stuart |
| awemawson:
5 1/4 floppies - those are modern !!! My first home machine had 8" floppies - Shuggart 801's iirc !!!! |
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