Msg: 3526 *Conference*

12-07-92 00:33:52

From: RICHARD HANSON

To : MICHAEL VOLOW

Subj: REPLY TO MSG #3523 (DVI CABLE AWKWARDNESS?)

Right you are... be careful pluging and unpluging your DVI cable in your Model
100.  Those pins will break! (bad news!!)  A new cable cost $70 from Rat Shack
due to low demand and high production cost, i.e., not many are sold and making
a DVI cable is a nightmare.
 
What you are looking for is called a "Zero Insertion Force Socket."  Most
electronic shops either carry them or can order you one.  Or, you can buy one
mail order from companies like Digi-Key.  Their catalog is free for the asking.
Call: 1-800-344-4539.  This is an easy number to remember since it is also
1-800-DIGI-KEY.  Tricky, huh?!  Like some marketing brain was sitting around
thinking, "How could I make our number easy to remember?"
 
Are the TPDD1, TPDD2, or Chipmunk drives any better?  Who knows.  It all
depends on what you want to do, what you own, where you want to use it, or how,
and lots of other interesting questions that can drive you nuts just thinking
about them.
 
The TPDD1 and TPDD2: These drives are portable, run on AA batteries, use 3.5"
media, and format that media to: TPDD1 = 100K, 40 entries in one directory.
TPDD2 = 200K, 80 entries in two, 40 entry directories.  These drives connect to
the serial port (IEEE RS232C).  The drives come with a DOS.  From Tandy it is
called: TPDD1 = FLOPPY.CO.  TPDD2 = FLOPPY.  The only useful thing about
FLOPPY.CO and FLOPPY is that they both contain a disk-image coping command,
enabling the user to make a image copy of any disk, including bootable
disks--the exception being the Sardine Dictionary Disk.  Much more useful DOS's
exist.  We carry TS-DOS on both disk version and ROM version.  Amoung other
tricks, TS-DOS allows drive access from within TEXT and BASIC.  There are other
DOSes, as well.
 
The Chipmunk drive: This storage device was always "better" technology.  It
left the market for one big reason: It only ran on a Model 100.  When the Model
102 replaced the 100, Chipmunk owners found that they could not run it on a
stock 102 but could run it on an "altered" 102--altering, of course, eliminated
the warrenty.  The "Munk" drive uses 3.5" media formatted to 360K per disk.
Munk drives require a special Munk-adaptor fitted to the system bus under the
keyboard of the Model 100.  The munk's DOS (CDOS = Chipmunk Disk Operating
System) resides in ROM on the drive and is loaded via a RESET or CALL0 in
BASIC.
 
Both the DVI and the Munk drive have the apility of being accessed while
online, i.e., upload and download directly to the drive.  This is possible
because these drives connected to the system bus.  Both the TPDD1 and TPDD2
connect to the serial port (IEEE RS232C) and may not be used while online; with
one exception.  There's always an exception to the rule.  A super programmer
named James Yi invented a program for Model T users that, indeed, allow drive
access while online.  This program is available on CIS's M100SIG.  Several
members of our club have tried James's program and like its action.
 
That's a brief overview of the various drives still "sort of" available today.
Hope this helps... -Rick-