I/O BOARD
CODEMAKER FIX
There is a minor problem with Text Screen Codemaker (Antic, July 1988). As the program stands, it adds an increment to the line number (LN), even if there's a blank line. For example, if you set the line number to begin at 100 with an increment of 10, but you start your text on line 5, the the first line number of your source code will be 140.
To correct this problem, remove the LN=LN+IN from line 20255 and add it to line 20275, so the new lines read:
20255 FOR Y=0 TO 22:C=Y*CC+1
20275 LN=LN+IN:GRAPHICS 0:POSITION LM,4:? LN;
Gary Golaszewski
Nanticoke, PA
COLDSTART
In your June 1987 Tech Tips you published a USR call-USR(52487)-which ostensibly causes a coldstart reboot. I assume this works only on an XL or XE, because it makes my trusty 800 crash, leading me to believe that the published call is illegal.
West Plains, MO
Thanks for letting us know It turns out that the statement X = USR(52487)
was a misprint! The correct statement is X = USR(58487) which refers to
COLDSV, the coldstart entry point. -ANTIC ED
SEGA CREDIT
Matthew Ratcliff would like to credit Paul Wilson of the St. Louis Atari Computer Enthusiasts for the Sega Light Gun modification discussed in his First Look Inside the XE Game System (Antic, August 1988). The correction to the modification is needed. The Sega gun's trigger contains a normally-closed switch. The XEGS requires replacement with a normally-open switch which should be easily found at Radio Shack stores. To exchange the switches, follow the instructions in the article.-ANTIC ED
GUAM'S NOT FOREIGN!
I live in Guam. Recently I ordered software from a mail order company, that advertises in Antic. But instead of software, the company sent back my order along with the message that "international and APO orders must be prepaid with U.S. money order."
Guam isn't international! It's a United States Territory, specifically included in the United States domestic postal coverage. The civilian residents of Guam are not foreigners. My address is neither an APO or FPO address. It's a normal, domestic United States Post Office box number in a place where U.S. law applies. At least I've never had any trouble when ordering from The Catalog.
For trivia buffs, I want to mention that there are at least three other sovereign nations now included in the United States domestic postal system, as well as two Commonwealths and three Territories. Nations: Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Republic of Palau. Commonwealths: Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. Territories: United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam.
Agana, Guam
NEWSROOM COMPATIBLE?
I have an old Atari 800 that has been upgraded to 288K. Can I use Springboard Software's Newsroom on my machine, or, if not, can the program be modified?
Las Vegas, NV
Sorry, it's not a matter of memory SIZE that prevents Newsroom from
working on the Atari 800-it's because of different memory LOCATIONS used
in the XL/XE models, and we don't know of any modifications. But by the
way, Springboard says they are still working to overcome the incompatibility
problems with the Atari 850 interface reported by some users. -ANTIC
ED
BAD SIGNAL
If you happen to want to simulate bad television reception, type in the following short program:
10 CHBAS = 756:SDMCTL = 559:CRSIN H = 752
20 X = PEEK(CHBAS):Y= PEEK(SDMCT L):? CHR$(125):POKE SDMCTL,0:POKE
CRSINH,1
30 POKE CHBAS,212
40 FOR I=2 TO 37:FOR J=2 TO 21:POSITION I,J:? "A":NEXT J:NEXT I
60 POKE CHBAS,212:REM START IT!
70 POKE SDMCTL,Y:FOR I=1 TO 5000:NEXT I:? CHRS(125):POKE CHBAS, X:POKE
CRSINH,0
Douglas Blackwell
Scarborough, Ontario
Canada
ATARI MAGAZINE
In your editorial in the July, 1988 issue of Antic, you state that "At this writing, Antic is the only magazine covering all Atari computer models every month." In West Germany we have the German-language Atari Magazin for all Atari computers. It was first published in January 1987 as a bi-monthly, but since March 1988 it has been published monthly.
Hannover-Muenden
West Germany
It was just about "At this writing" that Atari Magazin went monthly Thanks for updating us.-ANTIC ED
Antic welcomes your feedback, but we regret that the large volume of mail makes it impossible for the Editors to reply to everyone. Although we do respond to as much reader correspondence as time perm its, our highest priority must be to publish I/O answers to questions that are meaningful to a substantial number of readers.
Send letters to: Antic I/O Board, 544 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94107.