Z*Magazine: 30-Oct-88 #129

From: Atari SIG (xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 09/12/93-05:25:57 PM Z


From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: Z*Magazine: 30-Oct-88 #129
Date: Sun Sep 12 17:25:57 1993



*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
    SYNDICATE ZMAGAZINE          Issue #129          October 30, 1988
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
                       Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs
                            Post Office Box 74
                         Middlesex, NJ 08846-0074

Contents
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                (*) Editors Desk................Ron Kovacs
                (*) ZMAG Newswire........Ctsy Antic Online
                (*) Wordperfect Offer Extension......Antic
                (*) US Robotics Rebate Certificate
                (*) HOT News Shorts
                (*) ST Transformer Update....Darek Mihocka
                (*) ZMAG Update (Correction for #128)
                (*) PC Pursuit (More for Free)...K Whitton
                (*) GEnie RTC Help............Marty Albert
                (*) Ronstat Press Release


Editors Desk
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Our deepist sincere thoughts to Neil Harris on the passing of his mother.

We are awaiting proposed changes at GEnie and look forward to a return 
shortly.

The ZMAG Survey will be released next week.  If you haven't sent in your 
address, Please do so quickly.  If you prefer, I will make the survey 
available as a file for downloading.  Stay tuned for details.

Happy Halloween!  Remember to search the candy before you eat it!!




ZMAG Newswire
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ctsy Antic Online

26-Sep-88       ATARI ZAPS PIRATES    (From combined Wire reports)

Atari corp said it raided several stores in New York City that were
selling imitations of its copyrighted video game consoles, joysticks and
cassettes.

Michael Katz, president of Atari's Entertainment Electronics division,
told Reuters the raids are part of the company's continuing effort to
combat manufacturing and sales of products that imitate its popular video
game product line. He did not know the extent of such sales in the New
York area.  "We're hoping that these nine stores were either the only or
the majority (of stores selling the pirated products)."

On September 17 and 19, Atari's representatives seized more than 700
consoles and joysticks that strongly resembled Atari's 2600 line of
videogame products, along with many imitation cassettes, at nine stores
in New York City.

Howard J.  Schwartz, of New York law firm Davis and Gilbert, the company's
attorneys, said the defendants have agreed to open their records to Atari,
which will allow the company to pursue the distributors that supplied the
imitations, and to destroy the seized material.  He said they have also
agreed to sell genuine Atari products.  Atari's videogame consoles are
manufactured in Taiwan.

Earlier this year, Atari raided retailers in Los Angeles that were selling
pirated versions of its videogame products. Katz said the company is
likely to make further confiscations of imitation products based on
information obtained from the records of the New York retailers.

Later, Atari Corp.  said it reached a settlement in U.S. District Court
with New York City retailers that were selling counterfeit Atari 2600
personal computers.

On Sept.  16, Atari said it conducted an unannounced raid of six stores
and confiscated more than $100,000 worth of Atari game consoles and
related game equipment.

Under the agreement reached today, the stores will purchase a like number
of new systems from Atari, and become authorized Atari dealers, Atari
said.  The copies of the 2600 game consoles, which Atari said were made in
Taiwan, will be destroyed, it said.

NOTWITHSTANDING...

Atari Corp expects sales of its video game products to continue to boom
this year, despite intense competition from Nintendo Co.  of Japan, the
market leader.

Michael V. Katz, president of Atari's Entertaiment Electronics Division,
told Reuters that the company hopes its video game sales will double this
year, compared with 1987 when they were "about 100 million dollars." 
Katz said he could not comment further on Atari's financial outlook,
although he said video games account for about 25 percent total annual
sales.



WordPerfect Offer Extension
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT 1988    REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.

          WORDPERFECT EXTENDS ATARI USER GROUP BARGAIN DEADLINE

WordPerfect Corporation announced September 29, 1988 that they are
extending the deadline on their special discount to Atari user group
members.

The special offer allows user group members to purchase WordPerfect for
the Atari ST for only $155, a saving of $174 off the list price of $329.
Originally running only through the end of September, this promotion has
now been extended through December 31, 1988 -- an added incentive to
holiday buyers, according to WordPerfect Corp.'s Todd Ashman.

User group members must show proof of Atari user group membership to be
eligible for the special offer.  All Atari WordPerfect orders qualifying
for the special price must be accompanied by a WordPerfect Corp.  user
group purchase agreement, available from WordPerfect Corp.

Interested groups can call (800) 321-456 or (801) 227-5800 to request the
user group purchase agreement, which must then be submitted directly to:

                           WPCorp Atari Orders
                           315 N.  State Street
                              Orem, UT 84057

For more information about the ST version of WordPerfect, or the user
group promotion, call (801) 225-5000.  (If you don't know of any users
groups in your area, check the list of users groups in the Mailbox section
of ANTIC ONLINE.)


US Robotics Rebate Offer
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ed. Do NOT modify this rebate offer.)

    *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
    *                                                              *
    *               USRobotics Courier HST 9600                    *
    *                $50.00 REBATE CERTIFICATE                     *
    *                                                              *
    *                                                              *
    *   This offer is valid towards any new customer who buys the  *
    *   HST modem upon the recommendation of a Sysop presently     *
    *   operating the Courier HST.  This offer does not apply to   *
    *   Sysops who buy the HST directly from USRobotics, nor can   *
    *   it be used in conjunction with any other promotional       *
    *   efforts conducted by USRobotics.                           *
    *                                                              *
    *  Users of this board may take advantage of this offer by     *
    *  downloading and printing the entirety of this certificate.  *
    *  Then, simply attach it to the warranty card of a Courier    *
    *  HST modem with proof of purchase and return it to           *
    *  USRobotics.  The entire text of this rebate certificate     *
    *  must be included with the Courier HST warranty card. NO     *
    *  REQUESTS WILL BE PROCESSED WITHOUT THE INCLUSION OF THE     *
    *  PROPER PAPERWORK.                                           *
    *                                                              *
    *  USRobotics will send the customer identified on the         *
    *  warranty card a check for $50.00.  This offer is open to    *
    *  commercial and institutional customers as well as           *
    *  individual endusers.                                        *
    *                                                              *
    *  Please allow four to six weeks for processing and mailing   *
    *  of rebate checks.                                           *
    *                                                              *
    *                                                              *
    *              BBS ID# 30001___ (must be included)             *
    *                                                              *
    *                                                              *
    *             Sysop Name_Keith Petersen__________              *
    *          BBS Phone #_SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL_[26.0.0.74]           *
    *                                                              *
    *                                                              *
    *   USRobotics reserves the right to cancel this offer at any  *
    *   time, as well as refuse rebate requests sent in without    *
    *   proper documentation.                                      *
    *                                                              *
    *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


(((((((((( HOT NEWS )))))))))))  UPDATE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
News Shorts

                               Daisy Dot 3

#: 216001 S5/Application pgms    26-Oct-88  20:44:29
Sb: #Daisy-Dot 3 in works
Fm: ROY GOLDMAN 72347,3705
To: All

I've got some good news:  I've started Daisy-Dot 3!  I'm working on the
new font editor first -- this is the time to make suggestions.  Any ideas
for more editing commands?  How about Koala Pad support?  Let's hear ya!

If you're wondering why a new font editor is even needed, there's a good
reason (which of course I'll keep a surprise!)

Release for DD3 is a long way off and I don't want to make any release
predictions now.  But I'll keep everyone updated!
            Roy Goldman


                       New Access for Michigan Area

Effective Nov. 8 in Lansing, Mich., the 110- to 1200-baud access number,
517/487-2140, will replace 517/321-2388 and the 2400-baud access number,
517/487-2182, will replace 517/321-3850.

By using the CompuServe network, members save substantial communications
surcharges levied by supplemental networks and receive higher quality
service and quicker response time.


                             8 Bit Extenders

#: 216183 S6/DOS Related Q & A    30-Oct-88  00:39:04
Sb: #216169-EXTENDERS
Fm: Karel Chovancik 73707,716
To: JOE PECORARO 76060,1437 (X)

ALF - This file is actually a set of files compacted into one using a
program called ALFcrunch. To turn this file back into its original
format, you need AlfUnCrunch, or an UnArc'ing program that will handle the
AlfCrunch format.

ARC - Arc is the program where AlfCrunch originated. This is again a
storage format where a set of files is compacted into one for easier
transmission over the modem. You need UnArc, or SuperUnArc to "decompact"
these files.

DCM - This is a Diskcomm file. The Disk Communicator is yet another file
to compact a disk of files, or a boot disk into one file for transmission
over the modem. You need DiskComm to convert this file into its original
format so you can run it.

AMS - This is a music file. THe only way to play this music file is with
an AMS (Advanced MusicSystem) player, or the actualy AMS program.


                  Ron Kovacs/Ralph Mariano in Conference

The Atari Forums will be sponsoring a national online teleconference on
Wednesday, November 9, 1988 at 8:00 PM EST.  Our guest speaker will be
Ralph Mariano ("REX READE") who is the the managing editor of the often
controversial ST REPORT weekly online news magazine.  Also joining "Rex"
will be Ron Kovacs, publisher of ST REPORT.

The ST REPORT Conference will be held in the Electronic Convention
Center(tm) (GO CONVENTION).  Please read ECC.TXT in LIBRARY 17 for
detailed information on how to use the Convention Center facility.  This
is your opportunity to share your thoughts, opinions, and/or concerns
with the management of ST REPORT.   Please join us!

                              Carina Update

Captured from ZMAG NORTH (The Launch Pad)

You can now become the game master of the incredible World of Zenobia,
the most detailed online adventure ever to be seen on a home computer-
based BBS!

Zenobia comes complete and ready to use, consisting of over 16 program 
modules, dozens of support files, and complete online documentation.

Zenobia is designed to be used with the Carina II bulletin board system
and requires 300k of disk space as well as Basic XL or Basic XE to
opperate.  It prefers to sit on a RAMdisk, though it is perfectly happy
on a Hard Drive, as well.

Complete installation instructions, inside hints and tips, update and
support info, and sysop documentation is included in an easy-to-use
guide.  Registered owners of Zenobia will be able to purchase new modules,
updates, and modifications.  Plans for future expansions include new
fighting modules, more cities to explore, new interactive user
competitions, and even a networked world that will allow Zenobia
adventures consisting of citizens from across the nation!

The 3-disk (6 sided) set of Zenobia costs $35.00 prepaid, including
shipping costs and the sysop guide.  All prepaid orders will be shipped
on Novemember 25th.  All orders received after this will cost $45.00 and
will be shipped imediately upon arrival.

The ONLY acceptable means of payment is with a MONEY ORDER.

Send all orders to:

                          Katt-Ware Productions
                              P.O. BOX 1391
                           Martinez, CA  94553

Please include your name, phone number, and return address as well as your
BBS name and phone number.  Experience Zenobia on The West Coast Syndicate
at (PCP node CAOAK) 415-825-2952.


ST Transformer Update
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Darek Mihocka

I know it's not the first of the month yet, but next week (Nov. 6) I'll
be at the First Canadian Atari Users Convention in Toronto getting as
many new registered Xformer users as possible. Anyone within driving
distance of Toronto (3 hours east of Detroit, or 90 minutes north of
Buffalo) is welcomed to attend. I'll be demoing the latest Xformer 2.2,
with the 8 bit drive interface, and if time permits, I'll be giving a
sneak preview of the Xformer 2.5 130XE emulator now in the works. 10am -
6pm. The address is: Airport Hilton, 5875 Airport Rd., Toronto.

Speaking of the 130XE emulator, it will be, as I said before, strictly an
8 bit Atari emulator. Apple and C64 support has now been dropped due to
lack of support from either company, and the extra space freed up will
allow for the 130XE emulation. Also, ST Xformer Jr. will become a thing
of the past, as this new version will run (I should say, _should_ run) on
a 520ST when completed. It will still be GEM based, and on a 520ST it
will only emulate a 65XE, due to the limited memory. Since final exams
are coming up for me in December, I don't anticipate this one being
finished until February.  When it is, I'll be posting another bulletin.
Registered users will be able to upgrade for about $5, while for the rest
of you, it will still be the regular $20 shareware. It will of course,
still support the drive cable and virtual disk drives.

A few people have started calling about the Xformer BBS. Due to
difficulties in getting straight answers from anyone at QMI about some
problems I am having with the ST Talk Autopilot language, it seems that I
will not be running the Xformer BBS, since I can't finish writing it.
However, about a month ago, several sysops of various BBSs did contact me
about setting up Xformer sections on their BBSs, and unfortunately at the
time, I declined their requests. So far I do have one BBS planning to
convert, and if the other sysops would contact me again, we can arrange
something. I would like to have 4 BBSs, one in Canada, and 3 in the States
(west coast, east coast, and south) which would provide Xformer-ready .SD
and .DD files, as well as Xformer support. Hopefully I'll have some
numbers by next month.

Anyone who sent money for the drive interface cables may experience some
delays. All orders received by the middle of October have been processed
and the cables are on their way, and may have already arrived. Due to ill
health earlier this month, and other delays, I was not able to start
shipping them until 2 weeks ago.

As I mentioned, next weekend I'll be in Toronto, with all my remaining
cables and Xformer registered user kits. If I run out, new disks and
manuals are no problem to make, but the cables are. Assuming UPS takes
their usual 2 or 3 weeks to deliver my next shipment of parts, I won't
have any new cables available until mid-November, so anyone who orders
one after Nov. 6 (i.e. I receive your order after that date) will
experience a small delay.

Unfortunately, the cables are outselling the Xformer registrations by a
large margin. I hope that this does not imply that ST users are just too
cheap to pay for shareware. Rather, I'll assume that the sudden increase
is due to the usefulness of the cable. If you buy a cable, please register
too! Support other shareware as well. How many of you have paid for ARC
Shell or DC Formatter or other shareware? I have!

I have been asked whether or not the cables allow PC Ditto to use the 8
bit drives. The answer, as far as I know, is NO. All 8 bit drives, like the
810, 1050, Indus GT, Rana, Trak, etc. are single sided, and some of them
are not even double density. Therefore you can't read a 360K IBM disk on
a disk drive that only supports 90K or 180K of storage. The XF551, which
I have, is double sided double density, but thanks the extremely useful
XF551 manual, which will try to convince you that the XF551 is just a
single sided 1050, I have not been able to find out whether or not the
XF551 can read IBM disks. I have been trying to get an answer from Atari
for weeks, and all I've been told so far is that they're looking into it.
Arghhh!

I have been benchmarking my new 130XE against the emulator, and can
finally give a more exact figure of the emulator's speed. On the average,
in Atari BASIC, text mode, the 6502 emulation runs at 41% the speed of a
real 8 bit. This is for straight number crunching. Due to other factors,
such as graphics mode and type of graphics being displayed, the _apparent_
speed will vary from between 30% and 40%, on average. Some programs are
slower, and some are actually full speed.

If time permits during the development of Xformer 2.5, I will implement
one of the speed enhancements I am planning for Xformer III, which will
raise the speed of the emulator to 48% (or so the calculations show!).

The next issue of ST LOG will have an article explaining the inner
workings of ST Xformer II, updating the information they published about
a year ago. I will post the source code to Xformer 2.1 this weekend, so
anyone who is into self-inflicted pain, and has Megamax C or Laser C might
be interested in it. I for now have dropped support for Apple and C64
emulation, but the source code contains all the code one would need to
improve it. I would like to see someone take over the task of the Apple
and C64 emulators.

Look for the code on Compuserve, in ATARIPRO, in DL 16. On Genie, the ST
Roundtable, file #8547. On Delphi, in the ST LOG Recent Arrivals library.

The latest issue of Computer Shopper also talks about the emulator, but be
aware that the piece was written before the drive cable was available.

That's all until next month's bulletin. Hope to see you all in Toronto.

- Darek Mihocka

310-D Bluevale St. N., Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA  N2J 4G3
(519)-747-0386 evenings

ST Xformer II registration is $20 (US or Canadian).
The 8 bit drive cable is $25 US or $30 Canadian, plus $3 for postage,
$5 less if you register.
Money orders only, please.


ZMAG Update
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a correction in Issue #128 of ZMagazine.

#: 215908 S7/HOT News/Rumors    24-Oct-88  01:33:10
Sb: #215889-Zmagazine
Fm: SYSOP*Don LeBow 76704,41
To: Ron Kovacs (ZMAG) 71777,2140 (X)

Ron...
I like the issue! It's the best example of what Zmag is all about. Broad
support!

Alas, in proofing, I noticed I made slip in the CIS UPLTYP file! The
correct syntax using FILEFIX is EOL=ATARI RETURN.

CR/LF=ASCII (control-m) (control-j) ... I'm sure most people using the
program would pick that up, but I thought I should take the hit and
confess to a slip o' fingers. Sorry!

 Keep up the good work.

 >>don


PC Pursuit "More for Free"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Mr. Goodprobe (Keith Whitton)
Reprinted from ZMagazine 1987 Archives

Recently there has been an influx of information regarding PC Pursuit that
has finally reached the Atari user. I wish to correct one common
misconception I have seen time and time again on bulletin boards across
this fine land of ours regarding this service, and then proceed to
demonstrate how you can expand the areas PC Pursuit presently covers
legally and at absolutely NO extra cost!

Numerous messages I have seen, and even some out-dated text files which
contain information on the money saving network called PC Pursuit lead the
user to believe that there is in effect, a one hour time limit on phone
calls made to the area code of your choice. This is at present absolutely
inaccurate, for the only real time limit one has on this phenomenal
service is the hours which are from 6p-7a on the weekdays, and 24 hours
on Saturday, Sunday and several holidays.

I, as well as many other Atari/PCPursuit users can attest we enjoy on the
weekend seeing our timers that inform us of the length of our modem
visits roll over the 10 hour marK...imagine if we were using a normal
long distance service! And quite honestly, when you stop to think about
it, the fact that the charge for this service is only $25 a month means
that the young "hackers" that persist in using illegal codes and the like
are not only committing a crime, but also lacking sense as this is a very
small charge to be legal and avoid the severe penalties they could and
will receive if they are ever caught.  I would urge them to consider the
MANY benefits of PC Pursuit, and they may in turn be surprised at how
easy it is to convince their parents of the assets of belonging to such a
network!!!

Now, how a modem user can ever wear out 25 jam packed area codes I will
never know, but how would you like to be able to add 3 more heavily
populated area codes to your bulging list! Does the thought of 50 more
Atari 8 and 16 bit bulletin boards tickle your fancy?

Heres the scoop:

1. While in the 212 area code (NYC), you can access the 718 area code,
   which is right next door by dialing as follows:

ATZ<cr>
<control-e><cr>

At the HELLO, I'M READY prompt type:

D<cr>
At the NUMBER? prompt type:

1 718 numbers

If you are fortunate the bulletin board you are calling will not be busy
and you will connect as usual. The reason you and I can do this is because
of the vast amount of people living in the New York City vicinity, the
phone company decided to break it into separate area codes to help with
billing procedures. Not all 718 area code numbers are available through
this method, but a very large portion are and stand awaiting your call!

Another fine area code is the Washington, D.C area code which is 202.
Another quirk allows you to be able to dial the 301 (Maryland) and 703
(Northern Virginia) areas from this access port.  You need to do nothing
differently than you are presently accustomed to in order to be able to
dial the 301 and 703 area codes while connected to the 202 area code.
Merely dial the BBS number of your choice as if you were calling the 202
area code itself, and many more fine bulletin boards will unfold before
your awaiting eyes!

And please, while you are on these systems, make it your practice to
leave a message or two to help promote healthy discussions which are so
vital to the thriving and in fact survival of these fine computer bulletin
board systems!

Enjoy! And don't stay up to late calling all these new boards!



GEnie RTC Help
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

       Guidelines for Participating in Formal Real Time Conferences
 
This short HELP file is intended to help you, the Atari 8-Bit RoundTable
Member, to get the most out of the "formal" conferences that we have from
time to time online.
 
The formal conferences are held for three basic reasons:
 
1> To let the various online developers pass along information about their
   product(s) to you.
 
2> To let you ask the questions of the developers that you want to see
   answered.

3> To stimulate interest in the many new products being offered for the
   Atari 8-bit computer and for the computer in general.

Many, if not most, of you will have attended one of our regular Thursday
night "open" conferences.  With all the people there, it is easy for
important information to get lost.  For a "formal" conference, that is
eactly what we DON'T want to happen!  To prevent this, and to prevent the
developer from being buried under all the questions, we go to the "formal"
format.

In a formal RTC, there is a ROOM LEADER <usually Craig, Darlah, or myself>
that has complete control of the room.  The room is placed in a LISTEN
ONLY mode.  That is, you are not able to send messages that can be seen by
the others in the room.

After placing the room in LISTEN ONLY mode, the ROOM LEADER will start the
conference by introducing the guest speaker.  After the speaker has had
a chance to make a few opening statements, the ROOM LEADER will ask for
questions from the Members there.

To ask a question, just use the command:

                                   /RAI
 
to raise your hand.  The ROOM LEADER will make a note of your hand being
raised and will call on you in order received.

PLEASE!  If you have RAIsed your hand once and are waiting to be called
on, DO NOT issue the command a second time!

When you are called on, the ROOM LEADER will introduce you and you will
be able to enter your question for all to see.  Once your question has
been answered, you will be returned to the LISTEN ONLY mode.

Note that you may carry on a conversation "on the side" by using the:

                                  /SEN #

command.  See below for more details on the commands.

In order to give as many Members as possible a chance to ask their
questions, please don't ask more than 2 questions each time that you are
called on.  You may, of course, RAIse your hand again after your first
questions have been answered and you have been placed back in LISTEN ONLY
mode.

At the end of the formal conference, the ROOM LEADER will open the room
for open discussion.  Note that the developer may or may not stick around
for this free-for-all!

                          A Few Useful Commands
 
This is just a brief listing of the more useful commands for formal RTCs
For a complete listing, go to the RTC and type:

                                  /HELP

/RAI    -- Raise your hand with a question.
/SEN #  -- Will send a private message to the Member with job number #.

For example, if you type "/SEN 1 Hi!", you would send the text "Hi!" to
job number 1.  See the /STA command for the job number.  PLEASE!  Do NOT
send messages to the guest speaker as they have enough to do as is!

/STA    -- Will show you the GEnie Mail address, nick-name, and job
        number of each user in the RTC.

/HEL    -- Gets you HELP!!
/BLA    -- Forces GEnie to send you a blank line after each message from
        another person in the RTC.  Makes the text MUCH easier to read!

/USE    -- The number of people in the RTC.
/EXI    -- Exits back to GEnie.

                             A Few More Hints

To make the RTC more readable and enjoyable for you, try this:

Log on to GEnie with a terminal program that supports a "type ahead"
buffer in HALF DUPLEX.  <Amodem 7.xx and Express! both allow this>  When
you enter the RTC area, set your terminal program to FULL DUPLEX and
turn on the "type ahead" buffer.  Now, when you type, it won't mess up
your screen display!  Remember to reset your duplex to HALF when you
leave the RTC area!

If you have "call waiting" on the telephone line that you use to call
GEnie, remember to TURN IT OFF!!  For tone telephone lines, dial "*70"
before the number and for rotary phones, dial "1170" before the number.
Note that not all phone companies have the ability to turn off the call
waiting.

Write your questions down!  That makes it much easier for you to ask them
when the time comes.

Be sure to watch the SoftWare Libraries for the transcript of the RTC a
few days later.

                                 Summary

Just remember to follow these simple rules and you'll have a much more
enjoyable and informative conference:

1> Use /RAI to ask a question.
2> Ask only two questions at a time.
3> Make your questions to the point.
4> DO NOT /SEN to the speaker!
5> Be polite.
6> Use /EXI to leave the RTC.
7> Use /HEL to get help.


PRESS RELEASE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    October 21, 1988           Contact: Ron Schreiner  (312) 520-8003
                         RONSAT Technologies Inc.
                           368 Lexington Drive.
                        Buffalo Grove, IL.  60089

            STonehenge--Atari ST Memory Expansion Alternative.

A solid state disk drive for the Atari ST is now available as a kit from
RONSAT Technologies Inc.  The STonehenge kit, based on an "Application
Specific Integrated Circuit" (ASIC), emulates a hard disk by interfacing
the ST's DMA port with a block of DRAM.

The STonehenge advantages over internal memory expansion include; ability
to utilize lower cost 200 nano second DRAM parts; memory expansion in
256KB increments (8 DRAMs/bank); does not depend on the ST's power supply;
it's external, you don't take your ST apart; data is preserved even though
a ST power cycle.

When the kit is fully assembled it provides up to 2 meg of very fast
external storage.  If you need more that 2 meg, the DMA pass thru feature
can be utilized to dasiy chain more kits or mechanical hard drives.

Software developers will find that STonehenge's speed and after crash data
integrity make it a very attractive place to keep their development tools.
Animators will enjoy STonehenge's ability to sequence image files at
animation rates.

The STonehenge kit priced at $169.95 includes;

                             STonehenge ASIC
                             Double sided PCB
                              20MHZ crystal
                             DB-19 connector
                              Documentation
                                 Software
                         PGA socket for the ASIC

The Documentation and Software can be ordered separately for $10.00
(refundable with future purchase).                        

The builder of the kit must provide the DRAMs, a 5V 2A power supply, and
a few miscellaneous components that are readily available from electronic
suppliers.

Additional support kits that provide all the components are also
available.

For more information or to order contact:

                         RONSAT Technologies Inc.
               Voice: (312) 520-8003  Modem: (312) 520-7812

Orders placed by modem receive a 5% discount. Dial-in (312) 520-7812, hit
carriage return <return or enter> until "Login: " is the prompt, then
enter "info"<return>.


Next Week
---------------------------------------------------------------------

                              Comdex Starts
                             Survey Released
                       Kovacs/Mariano in Conference
                          ZMAG Returns to GEnie
                         Atari in The Middle East
                                AND MORE!!


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   Syndicate ZMagazine  (C) 1988 American Publishing Enterprises, Inc.
                           ALL Rights Reserved
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