• Tag Archives C16

  • Your Commodore (November 1986)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Your Commodore – Issue Number 26 – November 1986



    Your Commodore was one of a number of Commodore specific magazines published in the U.K. It focused on Commodore’s various 8-bit computers, primarily the Commodore 64. However, the November 1986 issue’s cover features the “new” Plus/4 and C-16 which ended up being wildly unpopular. One step forward and two steps back I would say, plus they were incompatible with the C-64. This issue includes:

    Regulars

    • Data Statements
    • Easy Enter
    • Software for Sale
    • Competition
    • Club 128
    • Games Reviews
    • Contributions
    • Letters
    • Welcome to the Machine
    • Back Page

    Games and Utilities

    • Into the Eighties – 80 column mode come true.
    • C16 Sound Sampler – Now you can chat to your C16.
    • C64 Autosave – Cut down on time and frustration.
    • Making Data – Two versions – one for the 64 and one for the 128.

    Features

    • Write On – Parasoft’s Script/Plus reviewed.
    • Disk Doc – Stuart Cooke on a new utility.
    • Disk Utility – What you can get from our free Utilities.
    • Extended Basic – How to use our Extended basic.
    • Newsroom – How you can be a newspaper tycoon.
    • Video Basic – Switch on Adamsoft’s Video Basic.
    • Pick of the Sticks – Zap through some new joysticks.
    • R1D1 – How to play our free game.
    • MIDI, Music and You – The mysteries of MIDI unveiled.
    • Quick on the Draw – Three new graphics packages.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Commodore 64 Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Interfacing With Commodore

    Posted on by Azrael 1 Comment

    Doug Crawford & Chris Fala demonstrated Commodore 8-bit machines performing similar tasks to Arduinos (or any other microcontrollers).  I always like the VCF East exhibits that mix the retro with the modern to provide perspective and a point of reference for the younger generation.

    Starting with a PET 4016, working its way through the VIC-20 and C64, all though the C-128.  Oh, and with an SX-64, C16, C64C, C128D, and Plus/4 thrown in for good measure.  Each machine was interacting with hardware just like an Arduino counterpart – both machines did the same thing.

    For the most part, the demonstration machines were simply running banks of LEDs in unique configurations.  However, the C128D was hooked into a 40 column composite display, an 80 column RGBi display, and a tiny 20 column vacuum florescent display, all operating at the same time.

    Everything was running BASIC, operating on simple peeks and pokes to interact directly with the user ports for I/O.  BASIC does a fantastic job of providing a non-intimidating coding environment for first time programmers.

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/159562580401/commodorez-doug-crawford-chris-fala






    📂This entry was posted in Commodore 64 Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Commodore Microcomputers – September/October 1984

    Posted on by Azrael 1 Comment

    commodore_microcomputer_issue_31_1984_sep_oct-001

    Commodore Microcomputers – September October 1984


    Commodore Microcomputers was an official Commodore publication that covered all of Commodore’s computers. In the September/October 1984 issue that included the Commodore 64, VIC-20, as well as the CBM, PET and SuperPET lines. The contents of this issue includes:

    Features

    • The Quest for Enhanced Productivity: Commodore Meets the Challenge – This article covers the various productivity software produced by Commodore. This includes the built-in software suite of the Plus/4, a spreadsheet program (Easy Calc), a financial package called Easy Finance, automatic spell correcting software called Easy Spell, home accounting software (Silent Butler), a business accounting software package (General Ledger), and graph creating software called B/Graph.
    • Easy Script is Easy – A beginner’s guide to Easy Script, Commodore’s word processing software for the Commodore 64.
    • Four Word Processors for the Commodore 64 – A comparison of four word process for the Commodore 64, including Bank Street Writer, Cut and Paste, Word Manager, and Super-Text
    • Databases – An overview of the various database software available for Commodore computers and their features.
    • Spreadsheets: Number Processing with Multiplan and Practicalc – An overview of two spreadsheet programs available for the Commodore 64, Multiplan and Practicalc.
    • Productivity Software for Commodore Computers: A Complete List – It says ‘complete’ and I would take their word for it. A brief overview of dozens of spreadsheet, database, finance and word processing programs for various Commodore computers.

    Using Your Computer

    • Business – An article about using Commodore computers to help run a small city.
    • Education – An overview of four educational software programs including a program teaching division (Frenzy), a geometry program (Flip Flop), a program providing addition and multiplication practice (Gulp), and a program teaching directionality (Arrow Graphics).
    • Travel – An article discussing the perils, pitfalls and challenges of international travel with a computer.

    Understanding Your Computer

    • Programmer’s Tips
      • Random Thoughts, Part 7: Fun and Games – Discussing the use of random number in gaming and in audio/video demos.
      • Cassette Files for PET/CBM – A program for creating files on cassettes written for the Commodore 8032.
      • Two High-Res Screen Dumps for the 64 – Two different programs (for different printers) to print out graphics saved with LOGO, KoalaPad or saved with standard Kernel routines.
      • Kaleidoscope for the PET and Commodore 64 – This type-in program generates a constantly changing kaleidoscope display on your Commodore 64 or PET.
    • Technical Tips
      • Prime Numbers – A program for estimating the number of prime numbers between 1 and 1000.
      • Adding a Hex Keypad to Your PET/CBM – Instructions for constructing a Hex based keypad for your Commodore.
      • Inverse Trigonometric Functions – A program using inverse trigonometric functions to calculate distance.
    • 64 Users Only
      • Screen Box Data Display Routines – Code to add input and output data boxes to your own programs.
      • Memory Loader/Saver for the Commodore 64 – A program for saving different sections of Commodore 64 memory to disk.
      • Appending Machine Code Routines to Your BASIC Programs for the 64 – A program for easily adding machine code subroutines to your BASIC Commodore 64 programs.
    • PET/CBM Users Only: Line Formatting – A tool for making your program listings easier to read.
    • SuperPET Users Only: SuperPET Potpourri – Using loops and other programming tips for the SuperPET.

    Reviews

    • Hardware: HesModem I – Review of a 300 baud modem for the Commodore 64 and VIC 20.
    • Software
      • Database Manager – Review of a rather generically named database management program for the Commodore 64.
      • Tool 64 – A tool for programming that adds more BASIC commands as well as various editing and debugging utilities.
      • Write Now! – Review of a simple word processing program for the Commodore 64.

    Departments

    • Letters – Letters about cryptography and VIC 20s used in hospitals among other topics.
    • Editor’s Notes – Coverage of the June 1984 Consumer Electronics Show.
    • Industry News – An article about the expected massive growth in software (sales not size though both had massive growth).
    • User Groups – A list of Commodore related user groups throughout the country.
    • That Does Not Compute – Correcting mistakes in past issues.
    • Advertisers’ Index

    📂This entry was posted in Commodore 64 Computer Arcana 📎and tagged