Site News (2013-2018)

January 9, 2013 – New Cover, Thanks to Bob Beatty

January 9, 2013 – New Covers, Thanks to David Sutherland

January 10, 2013 – New Book Covers, Thanks to David Sutherland

January 10, 2013 – New Sourcebook Cover, Thanks to Bob Beatty

January 11, 2013 – New Covers, Thanks to Bob Beatty

January 12, 2013 – New Cover, Thanks to Bob Beatty

January 22, 2013 – Updates to Matthew Reed’s DMK Utilities

Matthew Reed, author of the TRS32 emulator, has updated his DMK and DSK Management Tools: TRSREAD / TRSWRITE (Command Line) to v4.3 and TRSTOOLS (GUI) to v1.08.

Changes:

• New: TRSTools now includes read and write support for over thirty-two TRS-80 CP/M formats, including Holmes, Lobo, LNW, Radio Shack, and Montezuma Micro.
• New: Model I TRSDOS 2.7 and 2.8 are now supported for reading and writing
• New: The “Disk properties” dialog box displays PDRIVE values for NEWDOS/80 disks
• Fixed: The recognition of NEWDOS/80 disks is much improved. The geometry of even heavily damaged NEWDOS/80 disks can now usually be detected
• New: The built-in file viewer supports MULTIDOS high-resolution images
• Fixed: Improved recognition of Level II BASIC files
• Fixed: TRSDOS 1.3 file date and size values are now correct for new files
• Fixed: Graphic display in the file viewer is no longer locked out after a hexadecimal file display
• New (TRSREAD Only): Added new -o option to always overwrite files

February 1, 2013 – VDK-80 v1.6 DSK/DMK Utility

Miguel Dutra’s TRS-80 Virtual Disk Kit utility has been updated to v1.6. I do not have a changelog, but know that this version fixes a directory reading bug found by David Cooper.

February 3, 2013 – Lance Wolstrup Passed Away

I am sad to report that Lance Wolstrup, publisher of TRSTimes, passed away on Jan. 2nd at 70. He was an avid TRS-80 collector and a supporter of the site. He will be missed.

February 4, 2013 – School Looking for Model 3, 4, or 16

A district school in S. Carolina is looking for a Model 3, 4, or 16. They can afford to pay shipping but nothing else. If anyone has a Model 3, 4, or 16 that they were looking to dispose of should the right cause arise, perhaps this is it. If you are such a person, please contact me and I will put you in touch with the school. Thank you.

February 5, 2013 – Software Sourcebook Download

I was reminded that I had received permission to permit downloads of Software Sourcebook, 1st Ed. from Alan J Lewis who published the book in 1984.

February 15, 2013 – New Scans thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

As mentioned, Lance Wolstrup passed away. It will take me quite a bit of time to scan his books, magazines, manuals, and to read his thousands of disks; but I will endeavor to do so. Here are some of the new items:

February 20, 2013 – Added Software Manual Covers

While I continue to scan Lance’s immense collection, I have (finally) created a pages for the (covers of the) software manuals which have been archived to date. Of course, their quality swings WILDLY so if you have any manuals, please let me know!!! As always, if you have a friend in congress and would like to explain to them how it is INSANE that these are still covered by copyright, please feel free to give him/her a call; but until that is fixed, there are no downloads available. Links are on the right navbar.

February 22, 2013 – New Scans thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

Additional new scans thanks to Lance.

February 26, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

Additional new scan thanks to Lance.

February 28, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

Additional new scan thanks to Lance.

March 4, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

Additional new scan thanks to Lance.

March 5, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

Additional new scan thanks to Lance.

March 5, 2013 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

March 6, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

Additional new scan thanks to Lance, including the missing THE ALTERNATE SOURCE magazine Issue 4.

March 7, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

Additional new scan thanks to Lance.

March 8, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

March 12, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

March 13, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

March 13, 2013 – Updates to Matthew Reed’s DMK Utilities

Matthew Reed, author of the amazing TRS32 emulator, has updated his DMK and DSK Management Tools: TRSREAD / TRSWRITE (Command Line) to v4.33 and TRSTOOLS (GUI) to v1.09.

Changes:

• TRSTools can properly recognize LDOS and LS-DOS hard disk images with a volume smaller than its formatted capacity.
• Even more types of damaged NEWDOS/80 disk images can be recognized.
• PDRIVE display is now correct for all NEWDOS/80 hard disk images.
• TRSTools file viewer now labels corrupted /CMD files correctly.

March 14, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

March 15, 2013 – New Scans thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

March 18, 2013 – Model I Power Supply Replacement Schematics

I receive a fair share of emails from people with Model I Power Supply issues. While common wisdom is to cut open those supplies and replace the fuse, sometimes that is not possible, that is not the problem, or the individual is missing a supply altogether. I had asked Ian Mavric to look into the matter and Ian has now advised that Dean Bear has designed a replacement power supply for the Model I. It has enough power to drive both the Model I and the Expansion Interface, so two will not be needed. The graphic to the left are designs for a 120V and a 240V, depending on your need. Of course, I have not tested these, and have no idea if they work (Dean has been running his for over a year and Ian and Dean will be testing these schematics shortly), so build/use at your own risk.

March 23, 2013 – Model I Power Supply and Composite Video Cable

The emails about people needing power supplies keep coming. I have been working with Dean Bear, Ian Mavric, and David Cooper to put together a power supply page, featuring technical information, repair instructions, and the below schematics with a hotlinked parts list. I have not made the page public as we want to prototype and test the thing first, which is expected to start this weekend. Stay tuned.

Another popular request is for a TRS-80 to Composite video cable. Ian Mavric has finally cracked that, and hopes to make a video on how to construct such shortly. Again, stay tuned.

March 24, 2013 – Model I Power Supply

… and thank goodness for testing. The schematic has been replaced. If you were starting with the prior schematic, consider yourself warned … The DC was being over-powered by the 7.5V transformer and the schematic has been revised down to 6V, which after the bridge gives an output around 16.7VDC. With the 7.5V transformer we were getting 23.6VDC which is at the upper end of the spectrum (if you go by the Sams computerfacts book) or wildly overdriven compared to what is marked on the stock TRS-80 transformer.

We will continue to test before making the web page public.

March 25, 2013 – Building a Composite Cable for a Model I

Ian Mavric has created a YouTube video on how to build a composite cable for a TRS-80 Model I.

It can be found on the Model I Composite Video Cable page.

April 1, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

April 4, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

April 4, 2013 – Model I Power Supply

The Model I power supply page is live!!!

April 16, 2013 – Still Going

I continue to scan magazines which were already present but which were in HORRIFIC shape (scanned as B&W, a cardinal sin, with uneven page sizes etc) so none of those are showing up as news. As part of these rescans, however, I am revamping the magazine/manuals/books to be a little more consistent in terms of layout and size. For the magazines, where they used to link to a non-wordpress page with a vague representation of frames to bring you back, the sub pages are now smaller consistent pop-ups.

April 17, 2013 – TRS-80 Emulator for Android

Arno Puder has advised that he has released v1.0 of his TRS-80 emulator for Android.

According to the Google Play store description:

This is the first version of a TRS-80 emulator. It is a port of xtrs to Android. Please note that this version is alpha-ware. At the moment you can only run Model 3 programs in text mode. More features are to follow as I find time. I’m releasing my work under the Apache V2 Open Source license. Instead of giving this app a one-star rating either wait or head over to SourceForge, create a patch and send it to me! If you have some graphic skills, perhaps you can help with by contributing a nice app icon. You can find the complete source code at: https://github.com/apuder/TRS-80

April 24, 2013 – New Scan thanks to Kenneth Kinder

April 25, 2013 – Hard Drive Emulator for a Real TRS-80 Model III/4

Ian Mavric will be handling sales and distribution of Hard Drive Emulators for the Model III. The circuit boards will be attached to a TRS-80 just as TRS-80 hard drive would, so the TRS-80 will believe a full fledged hard drive is attached; but the media itself will simply be a SD card.

Ian intends to offer the product in three different forms:

• Kit A – just the bare PCB and a CD of dropbox data and is best suited to hard-core electronics enthusiasts who have the equipment to program GAL and PIC chips. All parts need to be supplied by the builder, and a complete BOM list is provided.
• Kit B – the PCB, and programmed GAL and PIC, and a CD dropbox of data suit people capable of soldering together a project kit of some complexity. All parts apart from the GAL and PIC need to be supplied by the builder, and a complete BOM is provided.
• Kit C – fully assembled kit, tested, partitioned and loaded with DOS ready to plug into your Model III, 4, 4D or 4P. Boot floppy disk provided. Just connect it to a 5V power source, a hard drive cable, and boot the floppy.

Prices have yet to be confirmed and Ian will know more when he starts building them. Each is hand made and then tested on Ian’s own TRS-80 system with the OS installed to make for easy set up.

The initial hard disk image supplied on the drive will be 42Mb divided into 6 partitions and installed OS will be LDOS 5.3.1 for Model III users and LS-DOS 6.3.1 for Model 4/4P/4D users.

To be put on the waiting list, contact Ian at ianm at trs-80 dot com.

April 26, 2013 – New Scan thanks to Kenneth Kinder and the late Lance Wolstrup

April 30, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

May 2, 2013 – New Scan thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

May 7, 2013 – New Scans thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

May 8, 2013 – Video Comparing TRS-80 Hard Drive and TRS-80 Hard Drive Emulator

As you may know from prior news items, Ian Mavric will soon be selling a TRS-80 Hard Drive Emulator; a tiny circuit board with a standard SD card that plugs into an actual TRS-80 Model III/4/4P via its standard 50-Pin Bus and then acts exactly as a TRS-80 Hard Drive would act. Ian has prepared a video which demonstrates his TRS-80 Hard Drive Emulator. The video starts off showing booting and using Model 4 with an actual TRS-80 Hard Drive attached, moves on to show the insides of a TRS-80 Hard Drive system, and then shows the same operations (albeit on a Model 4P) using his emulator. If you are interested in purchasing a TRS-80 Hard Drive emulator, contact Ian Mavric at ianm at trs-80 dot com.

May 9, 2013 – New scans thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

May 10, 2013 – New scans thanks to the late Lance Wolstrup

May 14, 2013 – Z80ASM Updated to v1.2

Matthew Reed has released v1.2 of his PC-Based Z80 Assembler, updated to fix a small bug. Z80Asm assembles TRS-80 assembly language programs and creates /CMD files that will run on a real or emulated TRS-80, but it runs on the command line of your Windows PC.

More information can be found on the official Z80Asm Page.

May 16, 2013 – CoCo/Dragon Emulator

Joe Hagen has let me know that a new CoCo/Dragon emulator, called XROAR, has been released. XRoar is a Dragon emulator for Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, GP32, Nintendo DS and Windows. Due to hardware similarities, XRoar also emulates the Tandy Colour Computer (CoCo) models 1 & 2. The main XROAR page can be found at http://www.6809.org.uk/dragon/xroar.shtml

June 1, 2013 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released the June 2013 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site

June 3, 2013 – TRS-80 Hard Drive Emulator Update

Ian Mavric has announced that there are now cases available for the freHD TRS-80 Hard Drive emulator.

For those who want to make their own freHD, Fred Vecoven has updated his site (http://www.vecoven.com/trs80/trs80.html) with tech details and information for electronics enthusiasts who wish to make their own FreHD from scratch.

For those who would like to at least have a pre-fab circuit board, The freHD pricing is $20 for Kit A (bare PCB and a CD of dropbox data), $50 for Kit B (PCB, and programmed GAL and PIC, SD card socket, battery holder, and a CD dropbox of data), and $250 for Kit C. A hard drive cable ($45) may be needed, or if buyers already have a TRS-80 hard drive they can use that cable with FreHD.

June 13, 2013 – Shrink

I note that a few pages are so large that WordPress chokes on them which is, in no small part, because the site is so expansive that the HTML is pushing the limits of what WordPress can serve. I am trying to shrink large pages through use of CSS and am currently working on the NEWDOS/80 zap page (the largest file that looked like it could transition to CSS; In revising just the first 11 zaps on that page, the HTML shrunk 3K). I think the organization of the site, other than the Zaps/Mods pages, seems to be fine; but the Zaps/Mods pages are unwieldy and not terribly useful. Any ideas how to better serve up the zaps/mods are appreciated as those pages are particularly large.

June 25, 2013 – TRS-80 Hard Drive Emulator Update

Ian Mavric has provided three documents to go along with the freHD TRS-80 Hard Drive emulator.

June 30, 2013 – French Model I – Free for Local Pickup Only (Paris, France)

A complete TRS-80 Model I including the expansion, a DW II printer, all the documentation, even the original desk with 4 floppies, french keyboard, word processor with french accents etc. is available free for local pickup in Paris, France.

Owner says it was all stored away dry and clean on the attic, but has not been used in some time.

If you are able to pick it up in Paris, France, please contact me.

July 1, 2013 – New Repair Person in France

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading if his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has advised that he can repair TRS-80 Model III’s and Model 4’s for those in need, making him the only entry we have on the TRS-80 Repairs page in Europe. For thse in need, Pascal’s information is on the TRS-80 Repairs page.

July 15, 2013 – TRS-80 Hard Drive Emulator Update

Ian Mavric has advised that the FreHD now works with the auto-boot feature of the Model 4P, which is being offered for no extra cost to FreHD buyers who own 4P’s.

July 20, 2013 – TRS-80 Model I Hard Disk Adapter Board

TRS-80 Model I’s require an adapter board to adapt the 40-pin connector on the Model I Expansion Interface to a 50-pin connector for hard drives.

Since these boards are virtually impossible to find today, Ian Mavric has created an adapter board, so those with Model I’s can connect to a real TRS-80 hard drive or a FreHD SD-Card Hard Drive emulator.

The cost for the fully-assembled board (including Model I hard disk drivers) is $50.00 + Shipping. For those without the Hard Drive cable, cables are also available for purchase for $40.

The ideal system is a 48K Model I Disk system (in good condition) running LDOS v5.3.1 with a TRS-80 Hard Drive or FreHD.

As from this moment on, this adapter is now compatible with FreHD.

August 5, 2013 – Updates to Matthew Reed’s DMK Utilities

Matthew Reed, author of the TRS32 emulator, has updated his DMK and DSK Management Tools: TRSREAD / TRSWRITE (Command Line) to v4.34 and TRSTOOLS (GUI) to v1.10.

Changes:

• TRSTools wasn’t recognizing some TRSDOS 1.3 disks that it created itself.
• The LS-DOS date patches that TRSTools applies were updated to fix a problem with the DIR command.
• RSTools wasn’t recognizing certain LDOS/LS-DOS disks that did require the 2012 date patches.

August 16, 2013 – New scan thanks to John Wittkoski

August 18, 2013 – TRS-80 Hard Drive Emulator Update

Ian Mavric has gotten FreHD working on the Model I and is currently available.

It has been tested on the early and late Expansion Interfaces, early and late Model I ROMs, also tested on the LNW system expansion, and works with the Tandy and Percom-type doublers. It supports usual Model I upgrades like lowercase characters and double-sided disk drives.

To use it you need a Model I with 48K, a disk drive, and one of Ian’s Model I HD adapters, the interconnect cable, and the FreHD.

Speed and versatility are much better than traditional TRS-80 MFM hard drives, an the cost is less than a typical eBay Model I hard disk system.

August 20, 2013 – TRS32 Updated to v1.28

Matthew Reed has updated his TRS32 emulator to v1.28.

Changes Include:

• The registered version can read/write images used by the FreHD hard drive emulator.
• Epson FX-80 condensed state now persists after a form feed.
• An error sometimes encountered when write-protecting hard drives is now fixed.
• Behavior is consistent when selecting a hard disk file that has already been selected.

August 22, 2013 – Modern PC In a TRS-80 Case

Mike Ford has taken a non-working Model 4 and, keeping the keyboard and case, transformed it into a system running an i5 3.1Ghz Motherboard, with two 4TB hard drives and Windows 8. Every step is documented, in detail, with pictures. It is great read.

You can read about it on Mike’s site at http://mechanicalarcade.com/TRS-80-Conversion.htm

August 26, 2013 – TRSTools Updated to v1.11

Matthew Reed has updated TRSTools, a DSK/DMK Utility with the ability to show BASIC files de-tokenized, CMD files disassembled, graphic files as graphics, etc., to v1.11; correcting a small bug.

September 1, 2013 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released the September 2013 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site

September 9, 2013 – Dave Phillips Software Available for Download

Dave Phillips has provided the TRS-80 software he had written to the archive and has graciously permitted them to be made freely downloadable. For those interested, go to the Software Search Page and search for David F Phillips in the author box. Thank you Dave!

September 16, 2013 – New TRS-80 Book (Covers) Thanks to David Sutherland

September 17, 2013 – Wayne Green passed away

David Cooper was kind enough to let me know that Wayne Green passed away on September 13, 2013 at the age of 91. While Wayne had many properties to his name, I will always remember him for 80 Micro, a magazine I simply loved.

September 30, 2013 – New scan thanks to Ian Mavric

October 14, 2013 – New Schematics Web Site

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading if his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has been deconstructing TRS-80 related add-on boards for a while and now has decided to put them up on a web site. The web site is in French, but it isn’t that hard to figure out 🙂

Items which are posted and have schematics, gerber files, etc., include 6 doublers (Percom, Aerocomp, EACA, LNW, IGK, and Micro Production), 3 color cards (HIFI, HRC-80, and GRAFIX-80), the RS-232, Model I CP/M, ORCH-90 and more.

October 18, 2013 – TRS-80 Hard Drive Emulator Update

Ian Mavric has taught the FreHD another trick … self booting without any floppy disk, and then a menu which lets you choose which DOS image you wish to boot.

October 19, 2013 – Another Copyright Owner OK’s Downloads!

John DeRegnaucourt, author of Block Breaker, Leaper, and Voice-Master has graciously allowed his software to be posted. Links to download are live. THANK YOU JOHN!

October 20, 2013 – Statistics Programs for the PC-2 Pocket Computer

Richard Graf has provided a copy of his book, Statistics Programs for the PC-2 Pocket Computer for downloading! Thanks, Richard!

October 21, 2013 – George Geczy OK’s Downloads!

UPDATE: The kickstarter was cancelled on May 10, 2014 after reaching $10,693 of a $45,509 goal.

George Geczy, author of Supreme Ruler, Millionaire, Exterminate, and Battle of Zeighty, has graciously allowed his software to be posted. Links to Supreme Ruler are live, and links to the rest will hopefully go up tonight.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of Supreme Ruler, his company, BattleGoat Studios, is developing a a PC and MAC version of the game. For those interested, the project description and kickstarter link are:

BattleGoat Studios is delighted to announce the launch of their Kickstarter to fund the final stage of development on their upcoming Strategy game, Supreme Ruler 1936 for PC and Mac. For TRS-80 enthusiasts, this is the current version that all began with Supreme Ruler for the TRS-80 in 1982 (back then the company name was JMG Software International). In fact a picture of the game running on a Model 4P is featured on the Kickstarter page!

October 28, 2013 – Project to Use a Raspberry Pi to Read TRS-80 Disks

Alan Page is working on a project to use the Raspberry Pi to read TRS-80 floppy disks. As of this time, I believe that Mr. Page is able to read unprotected single-density disks, with future updates to include writing, double-density, and protected disk actions.

November 7, 2013 – FreHD to System-80 Adapter

The FreHD seems to be a project in full swing. Andrew Quinn and Ray Whitehurst have developed an add-on adapter which will allow the FreHD to work on a SYSTEM-80 with NewDos/80 v2.5 and LDOS v5.3.1. The adapter would plug into the P2 socket (or 50 pin header) on a System-80. The board is currently in prototype.

December 1, 2013 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released the December 2013 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site

December 25, 2013 – FP-215 Flat Bed Plotter Service Manual – Thanks to Bill Bass

FP-215 Service Manual
Pages: 128
Year: 1982
TOSEC: FP-215 Flat Bed Plotter Service Manual {26-1193} (1982)(Tandy)
Size: 39.7MB
Cat: 26-1193
Publisher: Tandy

December 30, 2013 – Another Author OK’s Download

Jim Smith, author of the Dr. Who Adventure, has ok’d the file to be downloaded. The link in the Software Archive is now live. Thank you Jim.

January 3, 2014 – IDE Hard Drive Interface

James Pearce has developed a simple DYI IDE adapter for the Model III/4. “The Lo-tech TRS-80 IDE Adapter rev.2 is an external IDE storage adapter for Tandy TRS-80 model III/4/4P PCs, enabling connection of standard IDE drives (and CompactFlash cards, with an adapter).

To keep his design down to just a few 7400 series IC’s, it ignores half the data coming in from the device so as to provide the 256-byte sectors the TRS-80 expects.

The web page describing the adapter is at http://www.lo-tech.co.uk/trs-80-ide-hard-drive-interface/ and the Wiki is at http://www.lo-tech.co.uk/wiki/Trs-80-ide. The Wiki page lists the components, power needs, etc. and also provides the Eagle and Gerber Files.

January 4, 2013 – Laurie Shields OK’s Download

Laurie Shields has ok’d his files to be downloaded. The links in the Software Archive are now live.

January 19, 2014 – Another Model I Power Supply Design

Charles has developed a Model I power supply using more readily accessible parts in the USA (i.e., common transformers available from Radio Shack). All steps and parts, including an external enclosure. Thanks Charles.

January 20, 2014 – Space Battle

Rick Papo has taken a look at the copies of his game, Space Battle, and has figured out that they suffer from issues based on some copy protection he had inserted in the code (to prevent saving another copy to tape) and that USR routines were different under disk basic. While the 1978 and 1979 versions of Space Battle remain posted, it is the 2014 version which Rick advises is the one to use.

january 22, 2014 – ORCH-90 Schematics

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has deconstructed the very hard to find ORCH-90 board, and has prepared schematics and gerbers for those who wish to build their own.

January 25, 2014 – Cavern Quest

Barry Diller has ok’d the posting of his game “Cavern Quest,” which is now live in the Software Archive. Barry wrote Cavern Quest in 1982 while in college. Thank you Barry!

February 6, 2014 – F.P.S-3 Hardware Manual Scan thanks to Ray Whitehurst

February 11, 2014 – New Book Covers thanks to David Sutherland

February 12, 2014 – New Book Covers thanks to David Sutherland

February 13, 2014 – New Book Covers thanks to David Sutherland

February 21, 2014 – Any C Programmers Out There?

Update: George Phillips, author of the Model I/III/4 emulator TRS80GP has graciously offered to do the feature implementation. Thank you George!

If anyone out there is fairly proficient in old timey C, has some time on their hands, and thinks they can handle this project, please let me know. As many of you may know, Tim Mann has developed amazing software to use a Catweasel to read and write TRS-80 disks. As I have learned from reading tens of thousands of disks, not every disk has fared so well over the past 35 years, and it is quite disheartening to see the program undergo numerous retries of varying success on a given track, to wind up giving fewer good sectors than it had read on a previous retry, simply because the retry counter expired and THAT read wasn’t as good.

To this end, if anyone out there can assist in tweaking the existing CW2DMK code which Tim Mann has prepared so that each time a track is read, the good sectors are put into an array, and when the read is done, the track is written out from that array; ensuring that if a sector was read good even once, it will be there for the output, instead of being discarded by each successive track retry. It would be best to set this up as enabled by a command line trigger, so those who wish to read without the cache can do so.

Any volunteers?

March 1, 2014 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released the March 2014 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

Contents:

• Page 3 – Diagnosing and Repairing Model I’s
• Page 8 – How to Build the FreHD Hard Drive Emulator
• Page 13 – Radio Shack Level II ROM UPGRADE to Version 1.3
• Page 42 – ZEN85 v6.2
• Page 51 – Mounting FreHD in a Model I Disk Drive Case
• Page 59 – Play the Doctor Who Adventure on your Model I / III
• Page 61 – Creating image and .DSK files

March 4, 2014 – Converting Disks

With George Phillips having prepared a beta of a cached-best-track modification to CW2DMK, I find myself in need of test disks. For those visitors out there who have not yet sent in their disks for converting, now would be a great time 🙂 Please remember that the data on these disks isn’t getting any fresher!

March 17, 2014 – New DMK Utility by Alan Page

Alan Page has created a utility which will view and edit DMK images as well as allow for side-by-side sector and track comparison of two DMK’s. It works on single, double, and mixed density DMK’s. CRC’s are updated with changes.

March 22, 2014 – Catweasel Software Mods Progessing

Despite not even having a Catweasel card, George Phillips has made amazing strides with modifying Tim Mann’s Catweasel software to output the BEST track read instead of the LAST track read. He is toying with the idea of actually repairing bad sectors based on bytes which are read differently, bringing a far higher level of granularity than I would have hoped. Stay tuned, and thanks George!

March 23, 2014 – New Hardware Manual thanks to Malcolm Ramey

April 6, 2014 – FreHD for Diskless System Now Available

Ian Mavric has completed testing and is now making a version of the FreHD kit with all the parts needed to make it work on a diskless (cassette based) Model III or 4 with no disk drives. People with cassette-based machines can now do something useful with them.

April 16, 2014 – TRSTools Updated to v1.12

Matthew Reed has updated TRSTools, a DSK/DMK Utility with the ability to show BASIC files de-tokenized, CMD files disassembled, graphic files as graphics, etc., to v1.12; correcting a small bug dealing with unpatched LDOS 5.3.1 disks.

April 26, 2014 – Looking for Information on the Omikron CP/M Card

UPDATE: We have a volunteer – Thanks Amardeep.

Pascal Holdry has been working on the difficult task of preserving TRS-80 hardware by mapping thenm out into schematics and parts lists. If anyone has an Omikron CP/M Card, he is interested in high resolution photographs. Please Contact Me if you can help. Thanks.

May 1, 2014 – Model 4P for Cost of Pack/Ship

UPDATE: Claimed.

A site visitor has a Model 4P located in Sumner, Washington that he is willing to give away for the cost of pack and ship.

As always, first come first served. If you want it, please Contact Me.

May 6, 2014 – Another TRS-80 on TV

A new series on AMC called HALT AND CATCH FIRE is running a trailer/commercial that starts with a TRS-80.

Of course, a technical consultant might have been nice, as drive :0 is empty while :1 is populated, and those are MSDOS commands, not TRS-80 ones … but, hey … the Model III lives on !

May 19, 2014 – Catweasel Tools Updated to 4.5 (Unofficial)

George Phillips has completed his work on updating Tim Mann’s Catweasel Software. Although it is numbered v4.5, it should be considered “unofficial” in that it is up to Tim Mann as to whether he wishes to accept the changes or not. The meat of the changes are:

• The ‘-j’ option which re-uses good sectors from previous track reads to replace bad sectors. The idea being that a successful read of a track can be obtained in the face of inconsistent failures. For example, you might read a track once and get sector 5 failing. Then sector 11 failing the next time. But my merging the two reads you’ll get the full track.
• Additionally there’s ‘-y’ which is something David Cooper wrote to prompt for more retries when a track has used all of its retries up.
• Ira wrote code to detect when the 2nd side of a diskette is in MS-DOS format and ignores it if it doesn’t match the format of the first side. This is for when trying to read a TRS-80 formatted single-side diskette that used a pre-formatted MS-DOS diskette.
• Finally, there is a ‘-D’ which dumps the raw track reads to individual files. While primarily used for debugging purposes, it also could be of interest in terms of preserving data more precisely and archiving bad data in the hopes that improved bit stream translation algorithms can recover it at some later date.

The ‘-j’ option has been fairly extensively and we’ve gone through a number of bug-fixing rounds to get it where it seems quite robust and reliable. And, most importantly, useful. There have been many cases where it manages to get the data off a diskette where many retries fail to get the perfect track.

May 30, 2014 – New Book (Cover) thanks to David Sutherland

June 2, 2014 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released the June 2014 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

Contents:

• Page 3 – The TRS-IDE vs The FreHD
• Page 7 – Business Time (Environmental Considerations)
• Page 15 – In Mav’s Workshop – Project 1 (Composite Video Cable)
• Page 18 – On the Shoulders of Giants (Lesser-Known Names)
• Page 20 – New Hardware (How to Install 3.5″ Drives In a Model III or Model 4)
• Page 31 – In Mav’s Workshop – Project 2 (Mounting FreHD in a TRS-80 Hard Drive Case)
• Page 36 – Some Helpful Hints on Developing a Disk Definition from Scratch
• Page 46 – Reader’s Emails, Texts, and Letters
• Page 47 – “Ask Mav” (About The Model I)
• Page 52 – Dr. Who – Part 2 (The Startup Graphics)
• Page 60 – Testing The Z80 Address Lines (Using a Wire Wrap Socket to Test all the Z80 Address Lines)

June 5, 2014 – New Software Manuals (Covers) thanks to Ron Garbin

June 15, 2014 – New Manuals (Covers) thanks to Ron Garbin

June 1, 2014 – CoCo With a Ton of Goodies for $75 – Local Pickup in Pasadena, California

June 23, 2014 – Video On Repairing Stuck Brightness/Contrast Controls

I am no hardware expert by a long shot. However, there are a few out there, and every time someone emails me a hardware question, I have to ask … but I then add the answer to the REPAIRS page. One question has been coming up a lot: I HAVE A MODEL III/4 WITH STUCK BRIGHTNESS / CONTRACT CONTROLS. Ian Mavric has been kind enough to make a video on how to fix such a problem. It can be viewed on the right, or on the REPAIRS page.

August 11, 2014 – How to Fix Model I Video Sych Problems

Ian Mavric has taught has put together an instructional video on how to diagnose, and repair, a Model I with video synch problems.

August 25, 2014 – Schematics for Omikron CP/M Card

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has been working on the difficult task of preserving TRS-80 hardware by mapping thenm out into schematics and parts lists. He is making great progress with the Omikron CP/M card.

August 25, 2014 – How to Fix Model 4GA and 4D Serial Ports

Ian Mavric has taught has put together an instructional video on how to repair Model 4GA and 4D Serial Ports.

August 27, 2014 – Looking for Information on the Sprinter II and III Cards

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has been working on the difficult task of preserving TRS-80 hardware by mapping then out into schematics and parts lists. If anyone has a Sprinter II or a Sprinter III card, he is interested in high resolution photographs. Please Contact Me if you can help. Thanks.

August 28, 2014 – New Books (Covers) thanks to David Sutherland

• 
  Title:Microcomputer Software Sources
  Year: 1990
  Publisher: Libraries Unlimited
  Pages: 200
  TOSEC: Microcomputer Software Sources (1990)(Libraries Unlimited)
• 
  Title:Using the Z-80 in the TRS-80
  Year: 1982
  Author: Elmer Poe
  Publisher: Howard W Sams
  Pages: 262
  TOSEC: Using the Z-80 in the TRS-80 (1982)(Howard W Sams)

September 4, 2014 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released the September 2014 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

Contents:

• Page 04 – PROBLEMS WITH A MODEL 4P AZERTY KEYBOARD
• Page 08 – GARBAGE COLLECTION
• Page 11 – RE-INKING
• Page 14 – REVIVAL OF A MODEL 2
• Page 27 – ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
• Page 29 – IN MAV’S WORKSHOP- AUTOBOOTING A M1 WITH THE FREHD
• Page 32 – CARTRIDGE DRIVE OR STRINGY-FLOPPY
• Page 33 – IN MAV’ S WORKSHOP
• Page 39 – A NON-BOOTING MODEL 4
• Page 59 – BUSINESS TIME WITH KEV
• Page 64 – ASK MAV
• Page 70 – USEFUL PROGRAMS FROM THE PAST

September 23, 2014 – Schematics for Omikron CP/M Card

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has completed mapping the Omikron CP/M Card for the Model I into schematics and parts lists.

October 7, 2014 – Question regarding NETWORK I

A site visitor is asking if anyone knows the technique for using a Network I to load SYSTEM files onto the “client” machines. Normally, such was done by CLOAD, but there was a method to use SYSTEM for Machine Language. Anyone know? Thanks!

October 17, 2014 – TRS-80 Model I for Free, Local Pickup Only Minneapolis-St. Paul

A site visitor has a Model I with printer, cassette, and expansion interface. Free to someone who will travel to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to pick it up. Emails will be forwarded in the order they are received – ira at trs dash 80 dot com. Thanks.

October 22, 2014 – New Software Manual (Covers)

October 28, 2014 – How to install a Model III hi-res board on a Model 4

Ian Mavric has put together an instructional video on how to install a Model III hi-res board on a Model 4.

November 5, 2014 – Earles McCaul

A site visitor has pointed out a story by Earles McCaul outlining how he wrote the book TRS-80 Assembly Language Made Simple.

Earles had previosly authorized me to make the book available for download!

The story can be found at http://bugbookmuseum.blogspot.com/2014/01/vintage-computer-earles-l-mccaul-author.html.

November 9, 2014 – Tom Thiel of Cosmic Software OK’s Downloads

Tom Thiel, sole owner of Cosmic Software, has given permission to make available Cosmic Software files for download. Those links are now live and include:

• BoskOne v1.51
• Defense Penetrator
• Morgoth (Model I and 4)
• Outland (Model I and 4)
• Rally Racer
• Star Cresta
• Stellar Warp

If you search for cosmic as the publisher on the Software Search page, the downloads are live.

Thanks Tom!

December 4, 2014 – Model 4P in the News – Dr. Who

It seems that ‘a hacker who goes by GP2000’ has made the news by getting a Model 4P to display the opening sequence of Dr. Who, complete with sound. Congratulations GP2000, who shall remain anonymous (except that we all know who that is). One of the stories can be read at http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/195258-how-to-stream-doctor-who-from-floppy-disks-on-a-31-year-old-4mhz-trs-80-pc

December 4, 2014 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released the December 2014 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

Contents:

• Page 03 – PRINTER INTERFACE WOES – BAS GIALOPSOS
• Page 06 – MODEL 3 HI-RES GRAPHICS IN A MODEL 4 – IAN MAVRIC
• Page 13 – 8-BIT COMPUTER EVENT: A SHORT REVIEW OF THE ‘DO’ HELD IN LOUTH ON NOV 1
• Page 15 – THE COCO SDC PROJECT: A SD CARD DISK DRIVE FOR YOUR COCO MODELS 1, 2 & 3
• Page 18 – MEMORY EATING BUG: ANDROIDS REVEALING ‘SECRET’ CODES? HUM!
• Page 20 – CONVERTING A M3 AND M4NGS TO AUTO-BOOT A FREHD – IAN MAVRIC
• Page 23 – IT’S CHRISTMAS – OUR ‘USUAL’ CARD FROM DEE & ME
• Page 26 – ASK MAV – THE TRS-80 MODEL 4D – IAN MAVRIC
• Page 29 – BUSINESS TIME WITH KEV – KEVIN PARKER
• Page 35 – ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS – J LYONS & CO LTD
• Page 37 – IN MAV’S WORKSHOP: UNDERSTANDING THE MODEL 4P
• Page 41 – USEFUL PROGRAMS FROM THE PAST

December 16, 2014 – Phillip Ereaut Has Passed Away

Phillip Ereaut passed away on December 6th at age 76. Phil lived in Australia and was one of the first people to provide utilities to fill needs of the TRS-80 emulation community. Back in 2006 Phil wrote a program to extract files from a DSK/DMK image which was useful when all other means failed. He also wrote the only utility to display what the PDRIVE settings of a DSK image were (now a fuction that TRSTools offers). Finally, he wrote a program to show the track data and allow for hex editing of DMK and DSK images. Phil was a great supporter of the TRS-80 emulation community, and he will be missed.

January 3, 2015 – M.I.S.E. Project

A site visitor just pointed me to Peter Bartlett’s M.I.S.E. project. It is an add-on board for a TRS-80 Model I (with or without Expansion Interface) which provides:

• Direct booting from the inserted CompactFlash card
• 10/100 Ethernet (up 8 IP sockets)
• Real-time clock/calendar
• 800 x 600 SVGA Output
• Joystick Port for Atari 2600 Compatible Joysticks

January 6, 2015 – TRS-80 Model 4P for Cost of Shipping

A site visitor in Madison, Wisconsin has a Model 4P which worked when last powered on a few years ago either free for local pickup or shipped for the cost of pack and ship. As always, emails will be passed on in the order received.

February 5, 2015 – Radio Shack Files for Bankruptcy

Radio Shack has filed for Bankruptcy. Although Tandy / Radio-Shack had long ago sold off any interest they had in the TRS-80, it is still a sad day. I am sure all of us have fond Radio Shack memories, most likely sitting there messing around with their Model I display model. Farewell Radio Shack.

February 11, 2015 – Schematics for Model III High Res Card

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has completed mapping the Model III High Res Card (RS Catalog Number 26-1125).

February 23, 2015 – Wes Grey OK’s Downloads

Wes Gray has given permission to make available his files available for download. Those links are now live and include:

• Centipede
• Nazi Security Fort
• Trap
• Trash-Man

If you search for Wes Gray as the publisher on the Software Search page, the downloads are live. His files include source code for those who are curious in such things.

Thanks Wes!

February 23, 2015 – How to fix a Model II/12/16/16B Keytronic Keyboard

Ian Mavric has put together an instructional video on how to fix a Model II/12/16/16B Keytronic Keyboard.

March 1, 2015 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released the March 2015 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on trs-80.org.uk

Contents:

• Page 3 – Model III’S, Black Wires and a FreHD – Dusty
• Page 3 – FUN AND GAMES WITH A M3 FROM A ‘BOOT’ SALE – DUSTY
• Page 7 – FIXING TRS-80 OR OSBORNE POWER SUPPLIES – MICHAEL LOHMEYER
• Page 15 – TEST YOU PSYCHIC ABILITY – ET FONHUME
• Page 16 – IN MAV’S FREHD WORKSHOP – IAN MAVRIC
• Page 19 – USEFUL PROGRAMS FROM THE PAST: TRASHMAN – A REVIEW BY ROY BARBER
• Page 21 – BUSINESS TIME – KEVIN PARKER
• Page 25 – IN MAV’S WORKSHOP – IAN MAVRIC
• Page 31 – STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS – KONRAD ZUSE
• Page 32 – STRING PACKING USING THE BASIC EDITOR – WOODY POPE
• Page 35 – THE DR WHO COMPETITION – GEORGE PHILLIPS
• Page 56 – TRS-80 HOT-ROD MODEL 4P – BAS GIALOPSOS
• Page 63 – ASK MAV – MAV ANSWERS QUESTIONS ON THE TRS-80 MODEL 2000
• Page 67 – EMAILS TO THE EDITOR

March 3, 2015 – Schematics for Model 4 Microlabs Grafix 4.2 High Res Card

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has completed mapping the Microlabs Grafix 4.2 High Res Card.

March 30, 2015 – Info Needed for Grafix 5.1

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has been working on the difficult task of preserving TRS-80 hardware by mapping them out into schematics and parts lists. Right now he is in need of information on the physical board of the Grafix 5.1 Card. If anyone has such a board and is willing to provide information, pictures, etc. to Pascal, that would be great. Please contact me.

April 6, 2015 – New TRS-80 Repairman in U.K.

Bas Gialopsos has reached out to let me (and you) know that he is in South Wales and can handle the repair of all TRS-80 models. His information, should you need it, is on the TRS-80 Repair page.

April 13, 2015 – Site Resign, Kinda

Google has been whining that the site is not mobile friendly, so I have been looking for “Responsive” WordPress themes that will work without incredible problems. The new one, called DW Minion, seems to do that, although it will need to be configured, which will be slow in the coming.

The old posts definitely look bad, but since there are about 622 of them, I don’t intend to clean them all up.

Otherwise, I am still reading disks for people, sending DOS disks to people, sorting through thousands of disk images, etc. I hope to have another set of eBay auctions soon.

April 14, 2015 – New HRG Board at VCF East

Ian Mavric’s new High-Res Graphics board for the TRS-80 Model 4/4GA/4D will be on display at this weekend’s Vintage Computer Festival East in New Jersey.

It will be at the exhibit entitled “The Customized TRS-80” and will be shown along with the FreHD Hard Drive Replacement and demo software.

April 17, 2015 – Retro-computing article

David Cooper was mentioned in a nice article on Today about retro computing.

April 20, 2015 – VCF East – TRS-80

A short video showing off the TRS-80 display at VCF East has been posted. It discusses Ian Mavric’s FreHD and Grafyx Card. Link is http://hackaday.com/2015/04/18/vcf-east-x-the-not-trashy-eighty/

May 17, 2015 – Schematics for Model 4P Microlabs Grafix 5.1 High Res Card

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has completed mapping the Microlabs Grafix 5.1 High Res Card for the Model 4P.

June 1, 2015 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released the June 2015 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on trs-80.org.uk

Contents:

• Page 03 – IN MAV’S FREHD WORKSHOP (USING DSK/DCT TO MAKE REAL TRS-80 DISKS) – IAN MAVRIC
• Page 07 – ONE OF THE FIRST REVIEWS OF THE MODEL I WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN THE SEPTEMBER 1978 EDITION Of ‘PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD’ – MIKE DENNIS
• Page 12 – ON THE SHOULDERS Of GIANTS – LEONARDO TORRES
• Page 14 – GUESS THE NEXT NUMBER (E.T. SENDS US YET ANOTHER SUPER ONE-LINER! THEY CAN BE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN YOU FIRST IMAGINE!) – E.T. FONEHUME
• Page 15 – USEFUL PROGRAMS FROM THE PAST
• Page 17 – IN MAV’S WORKSHOP (HI-RES GRAPHICS SERIES – PART 2)
• Page 23 – MODEL 3 VIDEO PROBLEMS – LARRY KRAEMER
• Page 28 – BUSINESS TIME WITH KEV – KEVIN PARKER
• Page 33 – COMPETITION DETAILS
• Page 34 – IN MAV’S WORKSHOP (HI-RES GRAPHICS SERIES PART 2 REDUX)
• Page 40 – TRS-80 MODEL I FREHD INTERFACE – BAS GIALOPSOS
• Page 47 – CREATING THE MODEL FREHD EXPANSION INTERFACE – ANDREW QUINN

June 8, 2015 – Pascal Holdry Needs Picture of Model I NEWCLOCK-80

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry continues to reverse engineer popular TRS-80 hardware add-ons. If anyone has a NEWCLOCK-80 for the Model I, and can send High-Res pictures of the solder side, it would greatly assist his efforts.

June 19, 2015 – TRSWiki (Wikipedia Client for the Model I)

Pete Cetinski has let me know that his Wikipedia client for the TRS-80 Model I, called TRSWiki, has been released. Since this would require both high-res and an internet connection, this would be for those people who have purchased the MISE (Model I System Expander). For those interested in learning more, please visit http://pski.net/trswiki/

June 20, 2015 – TRS-80 Emulator for Android updated to v0.26

Arno Puder has updated his TRS-80 Emulator for Android to v0.26. Information about the app can be found at the https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.puder.trs80 Thanks to Blair Robins for the heads up.

July 1, 2015 – SVD Schematics and Instructions

Eric Rothfus has advised that he is no longer developing the SVD (Semi Virtual Diskette) nor will there be a SVD II.

July 2, 2015 – NEWCLOCK/80 Model 3 and 4 – Schematics Available

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal has advised that work on the Model III/4 NEWCLOCK/80 is complete.

July 6, 2015 – High Res Board for the Model 4!

Ian Mavric is now making an improved version of the Grafyx Solution 5.1 board which fits inside the 4P, so now all of the Model 4 computers are covered.

Check out the installation video for the 4P

If you are interested, reach out to ianm at trs-80 dot com

August 21, 2015 – High Resolution Graphics Kit for Model 4 and 4P

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has completed development of the 26-1126 High Resolution Graphics Kit for the TRS-80 Model 4 and 4P. The mechanics and electronics are compatible with the kit 26-1126 and it is compatible with the programs developed for the 26-1126.

August 28, 2015 – Multi-Pen Plotter Service Manual Cover Scan

Matt Boytim was kind enough to provide a scan of the Multi-Pen Plotter Service Manual (Catalog 26-1191) Cover. Thank you Matt!

August 25, 2015 – Model 4 for Local Pickup in Mortsel, Belgium

A site visitor has a Model 4 (powered up) which he is giving away for local pickup from Mortsel, Belgium. Please contact me if interested.

September 1, 2015 – New TRS8Bit Magazine

Dusty has released the September 2015 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on trs-80.org.uk

Contents:

• Page 03 – PROTECTED SCRIPSIT – ROY SAINSBURY
• Page 05 – EMAILS TO THE EDITOR – ERROL ROSSER FROM SYDTRUG
• Page 06 – PATCHES TO THE MISOSYS DISASSEMBLE v2.4 – ROY SAINSBURY
• Page 09 – TRSWIKI – PETER CETINSKI
• Page 13 – BASIC TRANSLATION – TONY EDWARDS
• Page 17 – STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS – JAMES POWERS AND HERMAN HOLLERITH
• Page 18 – BUSINESS TIME WITH KEV – KEVIN PARKER
• Page 22 – BINARY COUNT-DOWN – ET FONEHUNE
• Page 23 – GIVE YOUR COMPUTER A VOICE – LEON HELLER
• Page 27 – COMPUVOICE – PETER VERNON
• Page 35 – IN MAV’S WORK SHOP – IAN MAVRIC
• Page 43 – DANS L’ATELIER DE PASCAL – PASCAL HOLDRY
• Page 49 – IN PASCAL’S WORKSHOP – PASCAL HOLDRY
• Page 55 – OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR THE M2 – PETER CETINSKI

October 13, 2015 – Arno’s Android Emulator Updated

Arno’s Android emulator has been updated to version 0.27:

It appears that the main change allows easier for ROM downloading, so that getting started should be easier.

Links: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.puder.trs80

October 16, 2015 – Microlabs Grafyx 3.2 for the Model III

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal has advised that work on the Microlabs Grafyx 3.2 high res modification card for the Model III is complete.

November 14, 2015 – Chinese TRS-80 Compatible

A site visitor has provided this photo and has asked for assistance in indentifying the computer. He believes it is a Chinese TRS-80 compatible. Any ideas?

November 16, 2015 – NEWCLOCK/80 Kit for Model I

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has completed development of the NEWCLOCK/80 for the Model I.

November 18, 2015 – Interesting TRS-80 Links

A few new stories and posts have popped up that site visitors might find interesting:

• Matthew Reed has done an article on the Expandabus – http://www.trs-80.org/expandabus/
• Matthew also has a write up on The HUH Electronics Model 8100 – http://www.trs-80.org/huh-electronics-8100/
• George Phillips wrote up hisinterview with TIME TREK’s Josh Lavinsky – http://www.48k.ca/JoshLavinsky.html

November 23, 2015 – Model I available for Pickup from South Bend, Indiana

A site visitor has a Model I with expansion interface and disk drives. Says it worked last time powered on (late 90’s) although there may be an issue with the cable between the Model I and the Expansion Interface.

As always, I will forward interest in the order received.

November 28, 2015 – Pascal Holdry Looking For PMC-50/40 Picture

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry is looking for a good high-res picture of the Personal Micro Computers Inc. PMC-50/40 Interface. If you have such a board, please let me know at contactira at trs-80 dot com. Thanks. – Ira

December 7, 2015 – New TRS8Bit Magazine

Dusty has released the December 2015 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on trs-80.org.uk

Contents:

• Page 03 – Cyclejump – James S Schaefer
• Page 07 – It’s Christmas – Dusty and Dee
• Page 10 – In Mav’s Workshop (Sole) – Ian Mavric
• Page 18 – Problems (Edge Connectors) – Bob Roberts
• Page 20 – In Mav’s Workshop (Hires M3/M4) – Ian Mavric
• Page 25 – Tandy 1100FD
• Page 28 – On the Shoulders of Giants (Gorge Boole)
• Page 30 – In Mav’s Workshop (Hires M4) – Ian Mavric
• Page 37 – Review of Sir – Derek Trayler

January 14, 2016 – German TRS-80 Forum

I have found out about a TRS-80 Forum in German. The link is http://trs80-forum.userboard.org/.

January 18, 2016 – Anyone Have a Model III Omikron CP/M Mapper?

If anyone has an Omikron CP/M Mapper for the Model III and the associated disks, can you please reach out. Thanks!

January 27, 2016 – TRS-80 Podcasts

Randy Kindig has a retrocomputing podcast found at http://floppydays.libsyn.com/. He has done 51 podcasts to date, with the following TRS-80 1/3/4 podcasts:

• Floppy Days Episode 8 – The TRS-80 Model I (Part I)
• Floppy Days Episode 9 – The TRS-80 Model I (Part II)
• Floppy Days Episode 20 – Peter Bartlett TRS-80 Model I MISE
• Floppy Days Episode 28 – TRS-80 Model II
• Floppy Days Episode 42 – TRS-80 Model III & 4, Michael Nadeau

For each podcast, Randy also includes the links referenced on the web site. Check it out!

February 12, 2016 – SUPERMEM 512K Upgrade for Model I – Schematics Available

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has completed development of the SUPERMEM 512K memory upgrade for the Model I.

February 17, 2016 – ANOTHER TRS-80 Podcast!

Pete Cetinski has started up a TRS-80 related podcast. You can find it at http://www.trs80trashtalk.com.

March 1, 2016 – Another Author Authorizes Downloads!

Arthur Glecker, author of Weerd (sold by Big Five) has ok’d making Weerd available for download! Archive search results are live for that file. Thanks Arthur!

March 7, 2016 – New TRS8Bit Magazine

Dusty has released the March 2016 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site. You can find all of the issues on his downloads page.

Contents:

• Page 03 – In Mav’ S Workshop – Transformers Explained – Ian Mavric
• Page 09 – Iss – Instant Sort & Search Database – Molymerx Ltd
• Page 10 – Systrug Meeting News – Errol Rosser
• Page 13 – The Naming Of Planets – Et Fonehume
• Page 14 – Emails To The Editor
• Page 18 – Gnomic Video Genie Rom ‘a’ And ‘ B’ Reviews – Pete Bamfield And Lynn Smith
• Page 23 – In Mav’s Workshop – Ian Mavric
• Page 29 – Flying Bird – Et Fonehume
• Page 32 – 512k Ram For A Modell I – Pascal Holdry
• Page 37 – Cleaning A Model 3 Keyboard – Robert C Baruch
• Page 44 – On The Should Ers Of Giants – Herman Hollerith
• Page 45 – Trs-box – Peter Ceti Nski
• Page 47 – Back From The Dead! – Garry Howarth
• Page 49 – In Mav’ S Workshop – Cp/m On The Model 1 With Mappa-1 – Ian Mavric
• Page 58 – Mav ‘ S Quarterly – Ian Mavric
• Page 61 – Drac064 – Bas Gialopsos

March 8, 2016 – Virtual Disk Kit ported to Linux

Mike Gore has ported Miguel Dutra’s TRS-80 Virtual Disk Kit v1.6 to Linux.

March 19, 2016 – Banc 256K Upgrade for Model I – Schematics

Update: Pascal no longer permits downloading of his schematics.

Pascal Holdry has completed development of the Banc 256K memory upgrade for the Model I. According to Pascal – this mod requires only a single cut to the Model I PCB.

March 21, 2016 – TRSTools Updated to v1.13

Matthew Reed has updated TRSTools, a DSK/DMK Utility with the ability to show BASIC files de-tokenized, CMD files disassembled, graphic files as graphics, etc., to v1.13.

Changes include [1] Fixing a bug that caused invalid 40-track JV1 disk images to be created, [2] TRSTools can usually recognize multiple LDOS/LS-DOS partitions in FreHD hard drive images, and [3] Support for handling TRSDOS 2.3B disk images is improved.

March 23, 2016 – VDK-80 DSK/DMK Utility Updated to v1.7

Miguel Dutra’s TRS-80 Virtual Disk Kit utility has been updated to v1.6. I do not have a changelog, but know that this version fixes a major bug identified earlier this week by Mike Gore.

April 13, 2016 – Model 4, Model 100, and Model 200 for Local Pickup or Cost of Pack/Ship

UPDATE: Machines have been claimed.

A site visitor located near Detroit, Michigan has a Model 4, Model 100, and Model 200 which are available either free for local pickup or for the cost of pack and ship. As always, first come first served. Details as follows:

Model 4

• TRS-80 MODEL 4 with 48K RAM, Anti-Glare Screen, Model III Dust Cover
• Manual – Model 4 Disk System Owner’s & Disk
• Manual – Addendum to Model 4 SuperSCRIPSIT and Customer Service Bulletins
• Manual – Model 4 Quick Reference Guide
• Manual – SuperSCRIPSIT
• Manual – VisiCalc v2.09.02
• Manual – Advanced Statistical Analysis
• Manual – Scripsit Ver. 1.02.03
• Manual – Audio tape cassettes titled “Model I/III SuperSCRIPSIT”
• Manual – SuperSCRIPSIT Dictionary
• Manual – Videotex Plus
• Manual – Alcor Pascal
• Manual – Model III Profile III Plus
• Software – Scripsit Boot-Disk (Backup disk)
• Software – Scripsit Program (Backup disk)
• Software – Scripsit Speller (Backup disk)
• Software – Visicalc Model III (Workdisk)
• Software – Model 4 TRSDOS and BASIC Interpreter

Model 100

• Model 100 with case, power supply, 2 legs
• Bar code reader
• Club 100 User Group Newsletters
• Model 100 Quick Reference Guide

Model 200

• Model 200 with case, power supply, 4 legs
• Model 200 Owner’s Manual
• Model 200 Multiplan Manual
• Model 200 Telecom Manual
• Model 200 BASIC Reference Guide
• Model 200 Application Quick Reference Guide

DW PRINTER II – LOCAL PICKUP ONLY

• Daisy Wheel Printer 2
• Optional Tractor Kit
• Dust Cover
• Tractor Paper

April 14, 2016 – TRS-80 Game Presentations at GDC

For those of you who have not had a chance to see Jim McGinley’s GDC presentations on TRS-80 games, both his 2012 and 2016 presentations are available online.

April 22, 2016 – Dutch TRS-80 User Group – Archive Online and New Website

A long time TRS-80 related site, www.trs-80.nl, run by the Dutch TRS-80 Users Group has been updated.

The Dutch TRS-80 User Group was established on 1 October 1978 to support the new home computer from Tandy, the TRS-80. The User Group made a quick start and grew to over 4000 members. It published a bi-monthly newsletter, Remarks, which was the main source of information for many first-time computer users. The yearly User Day was the main event for buying hardware, software and exchanging knowledge. With the demise of the TRS-80 the User Group became accordingly smaller. The remaining members aim to preserve the TRS-80 and the knowledge of this retrocomputer.

To do so, the User Group today presents a new website and the complete archive of 108 newsletters, Remarks.

The site is in Dutch, but for those using Chrome, Google will offer to translate the pages as you move around the site.

May 5, 2016 – One Millionth Visitor

George Phillips, who has made many many contributions to the TRS-80 and the attempts to keep it alive through emulation, was the site’s 1,000,000th visitor, and was kind enough to take a screen grab. Thank you George, and to the 999,999 other visitors helping to keep the TRS-80 alive!.

May 10, 2016 – New Book (Cover) thanks to David Sutherland

A new book (cover) has been added to the archive: Invitation to Cobol for the TRS-80, written by Lawrence L McNitt and published by Petrocelli Books in 1983.

May 11, 2016 – New Book (Cover) thanks to David Sutherland

A new book (cover) has been added to the archive: Real-Time Control With the TRS-80, written by Russel Genet and published by Howard W Sams in 1982.

June 2, 2016 – New Software Manuals (Cover) thanks to Pascal!

June 3, 2016 – New TRS8Bit Magazine

Dusty has released the June 2016 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site. You can find all of the issues on his download page.

June 6, 2016 – Buffered Expansion Interface Cable for Model I – Schematics

Pascal Holdry has completed development of the buffered expansion interface cable for the Model I.

June 20, 2016 – Model II Kermit File Transfer, Linux Cross Assembler and KBU Repair

Chris Osborne, @FozzTexx, has been tweeting a lot lately about his TRS-80 Model II repairs and other adventures in restoration and use.

Not only did he restore the keyboard to new-like state (using supplies from the Dollar Tree) he was been busy porting a version of Kermit (file transfer protocol) that does proper hardware handshaking, and creating a Linux CP/M cross assembler in the process.

June 28, 2016 – Printer Interface Cable for Model I – Schematics

Pascal Holdry has completed development of the printer interface cable for the Model I.

July 13, 2016 – Model I and Model 4P For Free (or Cost of Shipping)

A site visitor has advised the following is available either free for local pickup or for the cost of pack and ship. As always, first come first served. Details as follows:

I have both a working TRS-80 Model I w/expansion interface and a Model 4p. Unfortunately most of the daily use software disks no longer read. I also have a hard disk drive for the TRS-80 from Clone Computers that no longer boots up. In addition I have manuals in good condition for TRSDOS 6.0, Dosplus 3.5 & 4.0, Montezuma Micro CP/M,and a Model 4p service manual. There are original software disks, not used except for installation, that may or may not be readable. We are moving and I will give it all away to whomever is interested in paying the freight or picking it up, rather than tossing it. We are located near Chagrin Falls, OH.

July 23, 2016 – R.I.P. Teac Drive

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of the Teac FD-55GFR drive which has been used to make people DOS disks and to read people’s disks for them. It was a loyal worker, but was felled by a particularly gnarly set of disks I was reading for someone. Its duties will be taken over by a Mitsubishi drive that seems to be doing well on its first day on the job.

July 27, 2016 – Percom Doubler II – Schematics

Pascal Holdry has completed development of the Percom Doubler II for the Model I.

August 2, 2016 – TRS-BOX on any TRS-80 with a RS-232

Pete Cetinski has improved his TRS-Box so that it now works with a serial port.

TRS-Box is a Dropbox client for the TRS-80 Microcomputer. It allows you to navigate and copy files from and to your Dropbox from your TRS-80.

Trs-Box used to require a TRS-80 Model I with MISE or a TRS-80 Model III or 4 with M3SE, but Pete has gotten it to run on any floppy or hard disk enabled TRS-80 which has a RS-232 interface (although will need to buy a serial-IP adapter).

August 27, 2016 – Trash Talk Podcast

If you are on Twitter, follow TRS-80 Trash Talk for all Tweets TRS-80. These guys are firing on all cylinders, going all the way to 65535, if you know what I mean.

They also produce a podcast and just interviewed Scott Adams on August 25. At time of posting their latest podcast is from August 3rd but check regularly for their latest.

September 6, 2016 – New TRS8Bit Magazine

Dusty has released the September 2016 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site. You can find all of the issues on his download page.

September 22, 2016 – Pete Cetinski offers 8″ Archive Services

Pete Cetinski has a setup where he can read 8″ TRS-80 disks. Details can be found at http://pski.net/trs-80-model-ii-archive-project/

October 8, 2016 – Omikron CPM for Model 3 Anyone?

Pascal Holdry is looking for a DMK image of the CP/M made by Omikron to work on a Model III with an Omikron mapper card. If anyone has a disk with this software please contact me at contactira at trs-80 dot com.

October 17, 2016 – TRS-80 Repairs in Canada

Richard Wyatt has been added to individuals who can repair TRS-80’s. Richard is based on Canada. For those needing TRS-80 repairs in Canada, consider emailing him. Information can be found on the TRS-80 Repairs page.

November 6, 2016 – TRS-80 Replacement parts

Ian Mavric has modern replacement hardware for those in need of the following:

• Model I RS-232 Cable
• Percom Doubler for the Model I
• Grafyx Hi-Resolution Board for every Model 4 (4, 4P, 4D)
• Buffered Cable for the Model I Expansion Interface
• Omikron Mapper-1 for the Model I
• Of course, this is on top of the FreHD product

Those interested should reach out to Ian at IanM at TRS-80 dot com.

December 5, 2016 – New TRS8Bit Magazine

Dusty has released the December 2016 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site. You can find all of the issues on his download page.

December 6, 2016 – Schematics – RS-232 Rev B

Pascal Holdry has completed development of a revised (smaller/simpler) RS-232 interface for the Model I.

January 26, 2017 – TRS-80’s Free for Local Pickup (Detroit)

Multiple computers / parts / books / accessories for Models I, II (3 of these), III, 4 (regular and portable) available free for local pickup in Lake Orion, Michigan (about 30 minutes north of Detroit).

As always, to keep away those would say “hey, would you ship” (when the above states local pickup only), please contact me if you can do a local pickup and I will relay in the order received.

January 28, 2017 – Bryan McKay Gives Permission for Downloads

Bryan McKay has given permission to make his programs downloadable. This includes his wonderful TRSDOS 6 Survival Kit and other utilities. Thank you Bryan!

February 3, 2017 – Bryan Mumford and David Lagerquist (Owner of CLOAD) Give Permission for Downloads

I am pleased to advise that both Bryan Mumford and David Lagerquist have given permission to have their programs made available for download! For those who do not know, David is also the owner of CLOAD; so not only is the software available for download, so are the CLOAD magazines I scanned. Thank you so much Bryan and David!

February 10, 2017 – TRS-80 Sighting – Sleepy Hollow

The team is trying to build a Faraday Cage.

February 19, 2017 – TRS-80 Sighting – Walking Dead

In Season 7 Episode 10, entitled “New Best Friends”, a Model 3 can be seen as Rick battles a zombie in the pit at the home of the Scavengers. He picks it up and ultimately uses its broken screen to kill the zombie!

March 2, 2017 – TRS-80 Books for Free Local Pickup – Cape Town, South Africa

Free TRS-80 books for those willing to drive down to Cape Town.

What? Not living in South Africa? You can dream like the rest of us I suppose. Pass it on.

He originally planned to trash these (-!) but is willing to workout local pickup.

March 6, 2017 – New TRS8Bit Magazine

Dusty has released the March 2017 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

March 9, 2017 – New Emulator – “Sharp 80” Model III Emulator

Matthew Hamilton has released a completely rewritten version of his Model III emulator for Windows. It is free and the code is open source.

March 15, 2017 – New Emulator – Another Author OK’s Downloads

William Demas, author of those amazing talking adventures and other software, has reached out and given permission to have his files downloaded. The links are all live. Thank you, Bill!

March 23, 2017 – TRS-80’s Free for Local Pickup (Thousand Oaks, California)

Free for local pickup in Thousand Oaks, California: Two complete Model I systems + LNW expansion kit. Original owner.

As always, to keep away those would say “hey, would you ship” (when the above states local pickup only), please contact me at freetrs@trs-80.com if you can do a local pickup and I will relay in the order received.

April 3, 2017 – John Waitkus

John Waitkus has turned over his TRS-80 software collection for archiving; thank you so much John!

If any of John’s old crew happens to read this, he would love to hear from you — please reach out to him at john at cws dash computersolutions dot com

June 1, 2017 – Another Author OK’s Downloads

Mike Gore, author of Intersoft C v2.5 has ok’d downloads of his software and manual. Thank you, Mike!

June 6, 2017 – New TRS8Bit Magazine

Dusty has released the June 2017 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

June 10, 2017 – Model 100 for Free for Local Pickup (Finksburg, MD)

Free for local pickup in Finksburg, Maryland: TRS-80 Model 100 (it works), a modem, a printer, software, manuals, AC adapter and a data cable. It also comes with he original cassette tape recorder but that doesn’t work. The take-up reel doesn’t spin.

As always, to keep away those would say “hey, would you ship” (when the above states local pickup only), please contact me at freetrs@trs-80.com if you can do a local pickup and I will relay in the order received.

June 21, 2017 – 80 Microcomputings Free for Local Pickup (St. Paul, MN)

While the free Model 100 (right below) is STILL available, another person is offering most of the 80 Microcomputing magazines for free for local pickup in the St. Paul Minneapolis area.

As always, to keep away those would say “hey, would you ship” (when the above states local pickup only), please contact me at freetrs@trs-80.com if you can do a local pickup and I will relay in the order received.

July 19, 2017 – DMK Format Catching On

While not TRS-80 related, it seems the DMK format is catching on. A French developer has written a command line utility to take DMK images of MSX disks, and convert them into a format usable by a SuperCard Pro device (which I suspect is something MSX related). Source is included if you want to have a look. The page can be found at http://lhalter.free.fr/mgr/

Also, the 80 Microcomputing Magazines and the Model 100 from the below posts are STILL available for those able to do local pickup.

July 28, 2017 – SuperCard Pro

As most of you may know, the Catweasel card is not currently being manufactured or sold and some may be looking for an alternate way to read/write TRS-80 disks on a PC. I was recently (re-?)advised of the existence of the Super Card Pro, and although I have not tested or used one, it does look solid from the stuff online.

The SuperCard Pro is a flux level copier/imager/converter of almost all types of floppy disks to a SCP format; currently any type of disk that uses an index pulse before and after data (which includes the TRS-80). The software that comes with the HxC Floppy Drive Emulator (http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/) has a function to convert from SCP format to DMK format (your mileage may vary).

While the catweasel is/was a PCI card, this card is driven either from a USB port or as a stand alone device! It is powered by the USB cable. The bios/cpu on the card can be reflashed (via USB) so that the card can be kept up to date. Drivers are currently available only for PC’s.

The card currently costs $99.95 and if you look at the PCB carefully, you will see that the creator has quite the sense of humor.

Links:

• The product web page can be found at http://www.cbmstuff.com/proddetail.php?prod=scp.
• The manual can be found at http://www.cbmstuff.com/downloads/scp/scp_manual.pdf.

August 9, 2017 – TRS-80 Trash Talk Podcast #16

TRS-80 Trash Talk, a monthly podcast, has released Episode 16. The description is: In this episode the Trash Talkers are back from summer vacation to wish the TRS-80 a happy 40th birthday. In the first segment, we talk about Tandy Assembly, VCFMW, TRS-XENIX, the Tandy 3, PC-1 and the Network 4. In the second segment, Randy Kindig interviews trs-80.com’s Ira Goldklang.

The TRS-80 Trash Talk Podcast can be found at www.trs80trashtalk.com.

August 14, 2017 – Floppy Days Podcast # 76 – Interview with Ian Mavric

Floppy Days podcast, devoted to all types of vintage computing, recently devoted a podcast to Ian Mavric. Ian is a TRS-80 hardware genius and has done many repair videos as well as providing hardware technical support to this site and many other accomplishments.

The Floppy Days podcast can be found at http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-76-interview-with-ian-mavric-trs-80

September 6, 2017 – New TRS8Bit Magazine

Dusty has released the September 2017 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

September 18, 2017 – No More Schematics

Pascal Holdry has asked all sites to remove links to his reverse engineered schematics, which I have done. If anyone finds any here, please let me know, and if anyone wants to know why there are no links to Pascal’s site, now you know why.

September 29, 2017 – TRS-80 Model I Free for Local Pickup

A site visitor in the metro NYC area is offering a Model I system free for local pickup

• Expansion interface
• Monitor with antiglare
• Modem 1, Modem 1B
• Books
• 3 external drives, 100’s of floppies
• Service manuals
• Cables, power supplies, etc.

As always, to keep away those would say “hey, would you ship” (when the above states local pickup only), please contact me at freetrs@trs-80.com if you can do a local pickup and I will relay in the order received.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

October 17, 2017 – Blair Robins ok Downloads

Blair Robins has provided three sets of utilities, all of which are now available for downloading (search by author): Sorted Directories for TRSDOS 1.3 and 2.7DD/2.8DD, Purge utilities for the same, and Copy Programs to and from TRSDOS v1.3 and TRSDOS v2.77. Thank you Blair!

October 27, 2017 – TRS-80 Trash Talk Podcast #18

TRS-80 Trash Talk, a monthly podcast, has released Episode 18. The description is: In this episode the Trash Talkers discuss what happened at the inaugural Tandy Assembly event on October 7th and 8th 2017. After that we do a little eBay shopping. Then, Peter Cetinski interviews Tandy engineer Mike Yetsko. Mike has quite a few interesting stories to tell about his time working at Tandy Radio Shack back in the day.

The TRS-80 Trash Talk Podcast can be found at www.trs80trashtalk.com.

October 30, 2017 – TRS-80 Mention

Saw this bit of trivia today on https://www.techspot.com/trivia/93-which-computer-games-first-ship-baked-drmcopy-protection/

December 1, 2017 – New TRS8Bit Magazine

Dusty has released the December 2017 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

December 5, 2017 – TRS-80 Trash Talk Podcast #19

TRS-80 Trash Talk, a monthly podcast, has released Episode 19. The description is: In this episode Pete C. and Mav discuss the TRS-80 and it’s role in agriculture while discussing some recent acquisitions. Pete C. relates a tale about an interesting Tandy rescue trip to Newark, NJ. Then, we play a little TRS-80 generated music. Finally, in our continuing series of interviews with Tandy Radio Shack engineers, we talk to Paul Schreiber about his experiences working as a Tandy engineer.

The TRS-80 Trash Talk Podcast can be found at www.trs80trashtalk.com.

December 13, 2017 – TRS-80 Model I Free for Local Pickup

A site visitor in the Alexandria, Virginia area is offering a Model I system free for local pickup.

Details (From the donator): Model I, Level II, 16K. I purchased in in 1980 at the Springfield Mall in PA. It was working when I boxed it up in 1985 and stored it in a bedroom. Now there is a problem. I’m able to enter and run a simple program, but the characters displayed on the screen aren’t as expected. I suspect the monitor is fine, and maybe a contact in the computer is corroded. I’m including the computer, monitor, power supply, cassette recorder, original box, two Level II Basic Reference Manuals and some cassettes.

Note (From Ira): My hardware expert, Ian Mavric, believes from the pictures that it is more than likely that the cause of the problem is that one of the video RAM chips has failed.

• Model I, Level II, 16K Computer
• Monitor
• Power Supply
• Cassette recorder
• Original box
• Two Level II Basic Reference Manuals
• Some cassettes

As always, to keep away those would say “hey, would you ship” (when the above states local pickup only), please contact me at freetrs@trs-80.com if you can do a local pickup and I will relay in the order received.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

December 27, 2017 – TRS-80 TRS-80 Trash Talk Live – Dec 30th

There is going to be another TRS-80 Trash Talk Live show this Saturday, Dec 30th at 9pm EST. We will be chatting and streaming the show live on YouTube. We’ll also have a Skype call going for active participants that want to show off their TRS-80s or give a demo.

February 14, 2018 – New Book Cover

Title: TRS-80 Word Processing with SuperScripsit
Year: 1985
Author: David Kater
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Pages: 308
TOSEC: TRS-80 Word Processing with SuperScripsit (1985)(McGraw-Hill)

February 15, 2018 – New Book Cover

Title: Some Common BASIC Programs TRS-80 Level II Edition
Year: 1981
Author: Lon Poole, Mary Borchers, Karl Koessel
Publisher: Osborne
Pages: 206
TOSEC: Some Common BASIC Programs TRS-80 Level II Edition (1981)(Osborne)

February 21, 2018 – New Book Cover

Title: Student Guide for Learning BASIC Volume II
Year: 1984
Author: Fritz J Erickson and John A Vonk
Publisher: Learning Publications Inc.
Pages: 140
TOSEC: Student Guide for Learning BASIC Volume II (1984)(Fritz Erickson)

February 22, 2018 – New Book Cover

Title: Computer Games for the TRS-80 (1981)(Winthrop Publishers)
Year: 1981
Author: J Victor Nahigian and William S Hodges
Publisher: Winthrop Publishers
Pages: 164
TOSEC: Computer Games for the TRS-80 (1981)(Winthrop Publishers)

February 24, 2018 – New Book Cover

Title: Structured Program Design with TRS-80 BASIC
Year: 1984
Author: Thomas Dwyer and Margot Critchfield
Pages: 356
TOSEC: Structured Program Design with TRS-80 BASIC (1984)(Thomas Dwyer)

March 5, 2018 – New Book Cover

Title: Tenderfoot’s Guide to Word Processing
Year: 1982
Author: Barbara S. Chirlian
Publisher: dilithium Press
Pages: 116
TOSEC: Tenderfoot’s Guide to Word Processing (1982)(dilithium Press)

March 8, 2018 – New Issue of TRS8Bit

Dusty has released the March 2018 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

Contents:

• PAGE 03 – IN MAV’S WORKSHOP: Using Co-Co Drives on a M1/M3/M4
• PAGE 07 – To /BAS in Easy Stages
• PAGE 10 – A review of the Colour Genie
• PAGE 16 – In Mav’s Workshop: TRS-80 Linepinter VI
• PAGE 25 – Binary Countdown
• PAGE 27 – Postacards to the Editor
• PAGE 29 – The FreHD Adapter
• PAGE 37 – In Mav’s Workshop: TRS-80 Farming Articles
• PAGE 47 – Competition
• PAGE 48 – Ebay.co.UK Review
• PAGE 49 – Deal or No Deal – A New TRS-80 Game!
• PAGE 37 – In Mav’s Workshop: Model 4 Roundup

March 9, 2018 – New Book Covers

March 11, 2018 – Komtek I

David Mutimer, a site visitor, used to work for the Australian distributor of a Hong Kong made TRS-80 clone called the Komtek. He has provided 3 manuals and schematics so that they do not get lost in time. Thank you, Mike!

March 14, 2018 – New Book Cover

Title: Learning Pascal Step by Step
Year: 1985
Author: Vern McDermott, Andrew Young, Diana Fisher
Publisher: Computer Science Press
Pages: 262
TOSEC: Learning Pascal Step by Step (1985)(Computer Science Press)

March 21, 2018 – Video About One Model III Repair

Sean Byrd has uploaded a video to YouTube discussing his recent acquisition of a Model III, and what he had to do to get it working.

April 23, 2018 – TRS-80 Model I Free for Local Pickup

Update: Claimed

A site visitor located in Alexandria, Virgina has the following hardware, software, and magazines available for free but for local pickup only.

• Two (2) Model 4Ps (not sure of working order)
• Original TRS-80 Model 4 software manual binders and disks (abt. 14, such as Payroll, Dow Jones, Deskmate, Formation, etc.)
• One TRS-80 Mode 1 (not sure of working order)
• One TRS-80 Expansion Interface
• One Quick Printer II
• Complete Set of the TRS-80 Encyclopedia
• Complete Set of Eighty-Micro Magazine (All Issues)
• Almost complete set of Radio Shack Computer Catalogs (1 or two missing)
• Complete Set (I think?) of TRS-80 Microcomputer News
• Many TRS-80 books (abt. 28)
• More

As always, to keep away those would say “hey, would you ship” (when the above states local pickup only), please contact me if you can do a local pickup and I will relay in the order received.

April 26, 2018 – Note for SVD Users

Andy Silverman was kind enough to point out that the existing software for the SVD does not function under Windows 10. The workaround is to use the CYGWIN1.DLL as is currently packaged with CYGWIN. Download CYGWIN, install, and pull the file from Cygwin\bin.

May 16, 2018 – TRS-80 TRS-80 Trash – Episode 23

TRS-80 Trash Talk # 23 is out. In this episode the Trash Talkers welcome vintage computing podcast pioneer David Greelish as a guest host. Pete, Ian and David discuss how Tandy reacted to the the introduction of the IBM Personal Computer in 1981. Tandy Radio Shack had all the advantages with its massive distribution network, its existing business focused Model II computer and with the forthcoming powerful Tandy 2000 computer. How the company attempted to compete with IBM and eventually failed is the main focus of the discussion.

May 23, 2018 – PLAYCAS Updated to v2.0

PLAYCAS allows you to connect a TRS-80 cassette input to a PC soundcard so as to capture the software for use in an emulator or archiving. Knut Roll-Lund has recently updated it to v2.0 with the following notes:

• Old Play CAS unfortunately had a bug of type copy-paste. It could not load read-only cas files. Easy bugfix. This lead to me making a new vesion also changing the user interface a little and adding a feature. The save features was kind of hidden so adding a few buttons for this and removing my entries from the option menu.
• Save text saves the anaysis content and may be used to detokenize basic for example or recover the source code for edtasm stuff.
• Save wav saves the prepared wav based on your load (storing programs as wav is not efficient but might be convenient. This wav is kind of perfectly formed and better than anything from real cassette.
• LNW 1kHz (new feature in 2.0) whenever enabled modifies the wav to go at double speed. So any TRS-80 with zip kit etc. at double speed can now load cassette without dropping to regular speed.

May 23, 2018 – Frank Durda IV

Paul T Schreiber has some information that should be of interest to anyone with an interest in the TRS-80. Everything that says “I” below is Paul … this is a cut and paste …”

Some of you may be familiar with former Tandy R&D engineer Frank Durda IV who recently passed away.

Frank was a SW (and also a bit of HW) genius. Really. A more loyal Tandy employee/fanatic does not exist. And he kept EVERYTHING.

Frank left, most importantly, a wife and 4month old daughter, a daughter he never saw, or got to hold, as he was hospitalized during her birth and died, without regaining consciousness, soon after.

His wife Corrine now has the task to sort through Frank’s “collection”, which by my estimate, is over 300 file boxes of “stuff”. The Tandy stuff appears to range from Model 2/3 up to the AST computers (4000SX). I even uncovered a box of VIS hand controllers [shudder].

Frank and his team wrote the BIOS/drivers for probably 100 things, as well as TRS-DOS/LDOS/XENIX and so on.

It’s going to take MONTHS to get it all sorted (she lives about a 40min drive from me), today I just grabbed the first 12 boxes in the garage I could access (there was a 1964 Teletype machine in the way).

What I plan to go is sort as follows:

a) SW – floppies, SyQuest drives, 8mm tape. You name it, Frank has it.

b) HW – board add-in boards and full computers. I counted about 12 Tandy computers. There may be 50 more, I don’t know. There are 100s (yes 100s) of add-in boards.

c) books/manuals – I spotted several HW Reference manuals, a FORTRAN binder, and a photocopied dBase III manual. About 70% are Tandy originals, 30% copies.

What is the goal? The goal is 2-fold:

1 – Preservation

2 – raise funds for Frank’s wife & baby daughter

Now, as we all are aware, this stuff is HEAVY. I’m in Texas, and have Fed-Ex, UPS, and USPS options. In some cases, I will put individual items/small lots on eBay, but for the most part, this stuff will be sold by weight. Like $15/pound or some such. I some cases I will be specific, other cases might me a “treasure chest of Tandy Wonder”.

Now, I was 100% a HW designer at Tandy, but I have a few ex-R&D folks in my network I can see if they remember this stuff. If you are collecting ‘rare’ Tandy items, the 2nd box I looked in had 2 internal R&D use boards that were the audio and video portions of the Tandy Sensation! PC. Only 3 sets were made (2 for Tandy and 1 for MicroSoft) and Frank has a Tandy set (I even forgot I designed them!). These were used to write the drivers before the ‘real hardware’ was developed, and they were also used for the VIS development.

I hope to have ‘a new batch of stuff’ every 2-3 weeks. Mainly, I want this stuff to find “good homes”, not to be flipped. I want to be able to have a decent amount of $$$ for his family.

Lastly: Frank ran a few ISPs as well. I’m not an ‘IT Guy’ by a LONG shot. But he has 10-20 Cisco doo-dads as well (1U rack routers, etc). I’ll post a few photos for giggles, and next week hope to have the first batch for sale.

June 3, 2018 – New Issue of TRS8Bit

Dusty has released the June 2018 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site. You can find all of the issues on his downloads page [Hotlink Deleted].

Contents:

• PAGE 04 – Random Numbers
• PAGE 08 – Rick Dickinson Obituary
• PAGE 12 – Frank Durda IV Obituary
• PAGE 13 – In Mavs Workshop – Lineprinter VII
• PAGE 23 – Sierpinski’s Sieve – One liner
• PAGE 24 – The Way We Were – Articles from 80US
• PAGE 30 – In Mavs Workshop – New products
• PAGE 41 – Update on M2 Repair
• PAGE 43 – Competition Page
• PAGE 46 – EBAY Bargains
• PAGE 48 – Curing the Model 1 Screen Wiggle

July 1, 2018 – TRS-80 TRS-80 Trash – Episode 24

TRS-80 Trash Talk # 24 is out. In this episode, Trash Talkers Peter Cetinski and Ian Mavric welcome the Summer of 2018 (at least in the North) with a bunch of TRS-80 news and current events updates. We discuss the upcoming Tandy Assembly 2018, a new TRS-80 Model I diagnostics cartridge and do some eBay shopping. Then, we interview former Tandy Radio Shack employee Ken Brookner. Ken served in many roles at Tandy Radio Shack in Fort Worth, as he climbed the ladder in technical support, starting as a phone rep and ending up as director of the department.

The podcast’s home page is http://www.trs80trashtalk.com [Hotlink Deleted].

July 6, 2018 – Tandy Assembly 18 (Nov 10th)

Tandy Assembly 18 will be held on November 10th and 11th in Springfield, Ohio.

Registration is $10 per attendee, but children 12 and under are free.

You can register at their site http://www.tandyassembly.com [Hotlink Deleted].

August 27, 2018 – More Download Permissions

Thanks to the magic that is Facebook, the following authors have given permission to make their software downloadable.

• Bryan Eggers (Music)
• Nickolas Marentes (Games)
• Charles Forsythe (Adventures)

Thank you all!

August 30, 2018 – Sad News

A site visitor let me know that Leo Christopherson appears to have passed away in 2016. Bryan Eggers also advised that his programming partner, Larry Payne, recently passed as well. Rest in peace gentlemen.

September 6, 2018 – New Issue of TRS8Bit

Dusty has released the June 2018 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on the download page of his web site [Hotlink Deleted].

Contents:

• PAGE 04 – Competition Entries and Result
• PAGE 07 – TRS80 GP v2.0.4 now released
• PAGE 08 – In Mav’s Workshop (DOM Cards)
• PAGE 13 – Palindromes – Do Geese See God
• PAGE 15 – In Mav’s Workshop (Tandy Assembly)
• PAGE 21 – The Way We Were – Two Chess Programs / LDOS
• PAGE 37 – In Mavs Workshop – Extender Boards
• PAGE 43 – EBAY U.K. Bargains
• PAGE 46 – In Mav’s Workshop – Printers – Part 6

September 7, 2018 – Updated TRS-80 Emulator

George and Peter Phillips have released trs80gp version 2.0.4.

It features:

• Model II emulation (and Model I, III and 4 as previously)
• Hires graphics support
• Floppy and Cassette emulation
• Copy/Paste
• Software Keyboard
• Automatic keyboard input
• Turbo Mode
• Source-level debugging and many other programming features

It runs on Windows 10, 8, 7 and maybe even XP and Vista. Runs well under Wine on Mac and Linux

Learn more and get it at http://48k.ca/trs80gp.html [Hotlink Deleted].

October 28, 2018 – 3 Announcements

• The podcast TRS-80 Trash Talk # 26 is out now. You can download or listen at http://www.trs80trashtalk.com/ [Hotlink Deleted].
• Ian Mavric’s new semi-weekly series called “This week in TRS-80” can be found at Here [Hotlink Deleted].
• Tandy Assembly is 2 weeks away. Info can be found at http://www.tandyassembly.com [Hotlink Deleted].

November 21, 2018 – This Week in TRS-80

This weeks release of Ian Mavric’s new semi-weekly series called “This week in TRS-80” can be found Here [Hotlink Deleted].

December 6, 2018 – New Magazine and Video

New This Week in TRS-80 – December 3rd

• View here [Hotlink Deleted].
• Model III/4 contrast and brightness controls
• Orchestra 90 for the Model III/4
• Serial port for the Model I

New TRS8Bit – December 2018

• TRS-Image
• Travelling Mav – A review of TA 2018
• Christmas Wishes
• Mavs Workshop – Model I Power Supply
• Obituary – Paul Allen
• Pick 2
• The Great Snail Race – One Liner
• In Mav’s Workshop – Daisy Wheel Printers
• Flower Power – BASIC Program by George Philips
• In Mav’s Workshop – 2019 Developments
• Software Review – TBA (The BASIC Answer)