SLO BYTES PC USER'S GROUP NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER, 1987 CLUB INFORMATION The SLO BYTES Newsletter is a monthly publication of SLO BYTES of the Central Coast of California (San Luis Obispo) an IBM/compatible personal computer user's group. Information found in this Newsletter is derived from magazine articles, manuals, books, other PC user group newsletters, and our own members. The purpose of this publication is to inform our members of meetings, their program content, and other information related to the use of IBM-PC's and compatible computers. Dues to SLO BYTES are $18 per year. As a member you will receive a membership card, an updated membership list, SLO BYTES monthly newsletter, and free use of our Public Domain Library. Contributors are asked to submit articles for the next issue by the 15th of each month either in writing or on disk (ASCII format preferred). Address all correspondence to SLO BYTES PC USER'S GROUP, % Bob Ward, 2100 Andre' Ave., Los Osos, Ca. 93402. Phone 8am-5pm 756-2164, after 5pm - (805)528-0121. Other user's groups have permission to publish any material found in this newsletter. Have a computer related item to sell? Tell the editor and we will put it in our newsletter. For further information call Bob Ward @ (805)528-0121 eves. ****************************************************** Meetings are held the 1st Thursday of every month, unless noted otherwise in the newsletter calendar, at 7:15 pm. New users SIG 6:15 to 7 pm. Meeting place: Cal Poly University Biology Department, Science North, Room 215. ****************************************************** DI$COUNT$-DI$COUNT$-DI$COUNT$-DI$COUNT$-DI$COUNT$ Discounts usually apply only to regularly priced merchandise. Ask a salesman to make sure. You must present your membership card to receive a discount. Paradise Computers 5% - all computers, peripherals, 441 Marsh St. and software. San Luis Obispo 10% - Ribbons, paper, disks & 544-7127 other expendable items. Star Computers 5% - any software in stock. 655 Morro Bay Blvd. Morro Bay 10% - paper, ribbons, cable & 772-7827 other supplies. Computer Logic 10% - off list - all computers, 973 Foothill Blvd. software, computer periphe- Store #4 rals and products. Contact San Luis Obispo Bruce, Paul, or Dave for 544-8347 your discount. WITCO Computers 10% - off already discounted 3563 Sueldo, application software. Building B Special prices on group San Luis Obispo purchases of peripherals. 549-0811 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ COMINGS & GOINGS Our many thanks to Jules Lieber for demonstrating WordStar ver 4.0. For those who are using an older version you had to be impressed by the many improvements they have made, including the dictionary and thesarus. And if you really don't like those typical Ctrl-X!?@* keystrokes, it's easy enough to create a macro to redefine your keyboard which supports your own weird strokes. And of course we can't leave without also thanking Jules for the candy he so generously distributed before his demonstration. I preferred the lollipops with the smiley face. For some reason it reminded me of Jules. I was looking forward to seeing him demonstrating WordStar in his WordPerfect T-shirt. He said he forgot..... hardly (I reminded him too many times). I think he was afraid his WordStar program would self destruct at the thought of a user in a WordPerfect shirt! This coming month is to be one of our most intense hardware demonstrations ever. To start the meeting both Witco Computers and FISBOSA Systems will be showing us their computer lines. Come and compare prices and features. Both companies are quite competitive with their respective computer products. Gary Shacter from Witco Computers will then start out by showing us how to install a hard disk in a computer and do a low level, high level format and put the SYSTEM on the hard disk. This should take about 30 minutes for you clock watchers. After a very brief intermission, Mel Sage from FISBOSA Systems will build a computer before your very eyes. This will take about 1 hour so prepare to stay late. SLO BYTES will take possession of this computer after it's birth and sell raffle tickets for $2.00 each. The drawing will be at the end of our December meeting. This system will be a PC clone, similar to the one described in the accompanying article on "How to Build a Computer". It will be a monochrome system with 2 disk drives, parallel port, and keyboard. Where else could you buy a computer for $2. Come on.... take a chance, or maybe two or three. The club isn't looking to make money on the raffle but then we don't want to lose our shirts either. ====================================================== CALENDAR October 1st 6:15 pm - Brief business meeting. 6:30 pm - Both Witco & FISBOSA computer stores will demonstrate their computer lines. 7:00 pm - Gary Shacter from Witco will install and format a hard disk. 7:30 pm - Mel Sage from FISBOSA will build a computer for us. ******** NOTE ***** NOTE ***** NOTE ***** NOTE ******* Due to the length of our October meeting, we will NOT have a new user's SIG THIS MONTH ONLY. We will start at 6:15 with the hardware demonstrations. October 3rd Central Coast Computer Faire. 9am-6pm at the Park Suite Hotel. Display booths, vendors, door prizes, and seminars throughout the day. Admission FREE. Contact Britt Morris for further details @ 544-2207 or Bob Ward. See this newsletter for complete details. Don't miss it! November 5th Poly Windows & 1st Choice by Britt Morris. December 3rd Display your favorite public domain software. Members are asked to spend a few minutes demonstrating their favorite utility, game, etc. We ask that everyone participate. Give us your 5 minutes. Election of officers Holiday party - refreshments. ====================================================== CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER FAIR WHEN: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3RD TIME: 9AM-6PM WHERE: PARK SUITE HOTEL (San Luis Obispo) - adjoining the new Central Coast Plaza ADMISSION: FREE to the public Well it looks like SLO has hit the big times with the 1st annual Computer Fair. Just what is a computer fair, you ask? It is anything and everything to do with computers all the way from the most inexpensive to the very elaborate. Britt Morris, a member of SLO BYTES PC USER'S GROUP "brain stormed" the idea about 4 months ago and developed it into a full fledged community activity. Want to compare products and see what the local companies have to offer? Come to the fair. The following vendors will be there: Coastal Computers Computer Logic Computer Solutions Computer Terminal Cuesta Systems Fisbosa Systems Paradise Computers San Luis Software Slo Bytes PC User's Group Sanyo User's Group Standard Computer Supply Witco Computers Come see what they have to offer and check out the show specials. Also sign up for one of the many computer door prizes offered by our local stores. Drawing will be at 5:30 p.m. Adjoining the showroom, we have reserved a conference room for talks and demonstrations throughout the day. Here is a schedule of speakers and topics: 9:10 - 9:55 Rose Bowker "Sources of Educational Applications." 10:00 - 10:55 George Campbell "Public Domain Soft- ware and Utilities for the IBM computer." 11:00 - 12:25 Bryan Lawler "High Resolution Alter- natives for Desk Top Publishing." 12:30 - 1:55 French Morgan "Organizing your Hard Disk." 2:00 - 2:55 Peter Mattson "What the Salesman DIDN'T Tell You." 3:00 - 3:55 Lynn Boisen "Computers in Business Applications." 4:00 - 4:55 Britt Morris "Protecting your Computer Hardware and Software." Next Page... COMPUTER FAIRE 5:00 - 5:55 Chris Bort "PostScript - A LaserWriter Language." *** Seating will be limited for these sessions to about 35 people. Should you have further questions call Britt Morris @ 544-2207 eves & weekends, or Bob Ward @ 756-2164 days & 528-0121 eves & weekends. Hope to see you there!!! ====================================================== DEALER SERVICE PERFORMANCE By Dewey Nelson Reprinted from microCHIP Newsletter. June, 1987 There are times when you are not satisfied with the service performance of a specific IBM Computer dealer. The real frustration comes when one decides that a responsible person within IBM ought to be notified so that appropriate action can be taken. I have discovered that there is a Consumer Relations Manager (not all are managers) on each of the NDD Area Headquarters' staff. You can reach the appropriate person by calling the following number of your area. AREA CITY/STATE PHONE NUMBER Northeastern New York, NY (212)407-3500 Southeastern Atlanta, GA (404)888-7100 Midwestern Chicago, IL (312)245-2000 South Central Dallas, TX (214)888-6200 Western San Francisco (415)545-2000 ====================================================== BUILD YOUR OWN XT By Kevin and Kim Thompson Reprinted from Sacra Blue, the newsletter of the Sacramento PC Users Group ( with editing by NYPC). Edited by SLO BYTES to reflect current prices. If your are thinking of building your own XT clone, we recommend it. We've done it, and have been so happy with the results that we have built several more. Constructing an XT is economical, and it's also a lot of fun to know how your system is put together. Case & Power Supply: (1) $76.00 We first bought a flip-top case and 150-watt power supply, for $76.00 total. The case is similar to that used by IBM for their line of computers, except its flip-top provides easy access to internal cards and drives. (Flip-tops can not be used in FCC approved computers). The power supply is 150 watts, which will provide you with all the power you need to run your system both now and in the future. The difference in price between a smaller wattage power supply and the 150 watt is minimal, and the extra power is well worth the extra expense, especially if you plan to add any power-hungry components now or later. Turbo Motherboard with 640K (2) $99.00 A motherboard is what actually runs the computer. We purchased a "turbo" motherboard, which means it will run at about 8 megahertz, nearly twice the speed of IBM's XT. The extra speed is especially nice when you are computing a large spreadsheet or need to sort a large database. The speed can be switched to the standard 4.77 MHz. We have tested a great deal of software and so far have run across only one game that won't run at the turbo speed. there are eight slots available on the motherboard for add-on cards. The motherboard came with 640K of random access memory, the maximum amount of memory that DOS currently supports. You should be aware that you should not purchase a motherboard that has the IBM ROM BIOS chip. This is illegal (violation of federal copyright law) and could lead to a lawsuit or time "up the river" if IBM gets nasty about it. The BIOS that comes with most of the clone motherboards is perfectly adequate and works just as well. In addition, the IBM ROM BIOS does not support software-selectable turbo boards, a non-Blue feature. 20MB Hard Drive with Controller (3) $295.00 A 20 megabyte hard drive gives you plenty of storage space for all your programs and data. We have a Seagate that has worked very well for us. The price above is for a Seagate; prices on other brands may be different. You don't have to put a hard drive into a clone system, but we would certainly recommend it. You can load all of your programs onto the hard drive and not have to mess with swapping floppy disks in and out all of the time. Floppy Disk Drive (4) $72.00 You really need only one floppy drive if you go with the hard drive. You could put in two half-heights next to the hard drive, but that's a luxury rather than a necessity. It does help, however, when coping disks or making backups. Our choice of brand names would be either Teac or Toshiba. both are reputable companies, and we have used both types and never had any problems with either. Keyboard (5) $51.00 The keyboard we have is an AT/XT switchable, made by Maxi-Switch. It responds to the turbo speed without having to boot in slow speed and then switch to high speed, a nice feature not shared by all keyboards. There are many different keyboard layouts, particularly in terms of where the function keys are placed. We originally purchased a 5151-style which has the function keys across the top. We didn't feel comfortable using it, so we then purchased the Maxi- Switch keyboard (function keys down the left-hand side) and have been very happy with it. This is largely a matter of personal preference. Multi-function Card (6) $43.00 Our multi-function card contains a parallel port, a serial port, a game port, and a clock/calendar. Other styles of multi-function cards are available, but this gives you the most functions for one slot. RGB Color Monitor (7) $249.00 You can save yourself some money if you choose to go with a monochrome monitor (a green or amber screen). Also, if you plan to stick with text applications, IBM-compatible monochrome monitors provide much finer character definition than color/graphics monitors. For long hours of word processing, that's a very important plus. However, our personal preference has been color. If you are using a computer for any length of time, the amber or green can become very boring. Also, games are also much more exciting in color. The difference in price is approximately $200. Color Graphics Card (8) $47.00 The color/graphics card allows you to use a color monitor and to do graphics on the screen. 1200 Baud Hayes-Compatible Internal Modem (9) $89.00 A modem allows your computer to talk to other computers over the telephone lines. You can download programs, messages, and many other things from bulletin boards and on-line services. Speaker (10) $3.00 A definite necessity. The speaker lets the computer beep when it needs to get your attention. (maybe you did something wrong?) The Not-So-Grand Total: $1024.00 (next page) BUILD (cont) The bottom line is pretty good, considering how much the system has to offer. However, you could bring the price down further with some substitutions. If you replaced the hard disk with a second floppy, the bottom line goes down to $801.00 If you also replaced the color monitor and card with a monochrome screen and card, you would save another $163.00, dropping the total to $638.00 If you decided to forgo the modem, you'd save another $89.00. The total price would then be $542. Putting It All Together Building your clone requires a certain amount of mechanical ability; but if you can handle a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, you should not have too much difficulty. Manuals are usually included with each component. Be sure to read these manuals completely and be familiar with the particular configuration your system needs. This includes dip switch settings, and proper orientation of plugs and cables. The first thing you do is put the power supply into the case. It fits into the back right-hand side of the chassis (as you face it from the front) and has holes already pre-punched in the metal case. All it really takes is inserting a few screws and tightening them down. The motherboard fits on the left side of the case and is bolted down using the screws included, with the option slots located to the rear of the chassis. Be sure to tighten down securely, but be careful not to crack the printed circuit board. Also, be sure to plug the power supply cables in correctly. (failure to do so could burn up your motherboard!) Instructions are included in the motherboard manual. Install your floppies and/or hard disk into the metal bracket and install in the case. Install your multi-function card and drive controller, and route the cables to the appropriate drives. Place your monitor card (either color or monochrome card) into another available slot. Recheck the manuals and all of your connections and plugs before turning on the power. If you feel confident that you have installed everything correctly, close the case and plug your monitor into the adapter card (on the back of the case). Put a copy of your DOS diskette into drive A and turn the computer on. Now this is where the problems could start. (Smell any smoke?) If you get an error message, find a source where you can look up their coded meanings, to give you a starting point. Check for wrong dip switch settings, plugs inserted backwards, and jumpers not ||----> installed or in wrong locations. If your floppy drives run constantly, chances are you installed your flat cable backwards. If you run into a RAM problem, check for chips installed backwards or legs not inserted into the socket properly. To be honest, we haven't run into these problems in any of the systems we have built -- not even the first one. But these things can happen, and we wanted to mention that there are solutions. If you can't solve the problems yourself, seek advice from someone knowledgeable. Conclusion We've run many different software packages on our self-built systems so far, and everything we've tried has run without any problems. Building our clone was a lot of fun and very educational. It was also much less expensive than going True Blue. We recommend you try it! Vendors and products: (1) Magictronic Technology, Inc. 800-227-5454 (2) A-plus Computers, Inc. 213-949-9345 (3) Liuski International, Inc. 718-706-7770 (4) See #2 (5) See #1 (6) See #2 (7) See #1 (8) See #2 (9) See #1 (10) local electronics store SLO BYTES editor feels one essential part was left out of this article. Because many of these components are very sensitive to static electricity, the individual handling the components should wear a grounding strap. SLO BYTES neither recommends nor supports any of the vendors or their products above. Sources are merely for prices used in this article. When purchasing through catalogs, make sure you know your vendor and product. ====================================================== $$$$$$-4SALE-$$-4SALE-$$-4SALE-$$-4SALE-$$-4SALE-$$$$$ QuickBasic 3.0. It's a great program but I do not need it. I just don't do enough BASIC programming anymore. Asking $49.00. Call Dick Trueman @ 544-4267 ***** Taxan 620 color monitor. Used only a few times. Excellent condition.................... $250 OBO Contact Rona Lee @ 544-2591 $$$$$$-4SALE-$$-4SALE-$$-4SALE-$$-4SALE-$$-4SALE-$$$$$ BITS 'N BYTES **** We still need volunteers to work a two hour shift at the computer faire. Please sign up at the meeting. You will be handing out door prize entry forms, introducing speakers at the seminars, etc. **** We need to borrow your electrical extension cord. If you have either a 25' or 50' heavy extension cord we could use it for the faire. Please bring it to the meeting. Make sure it is well labeled with your name. If you live in SLO or Los Osos, we will make arrangements to return it to you the week after the faire. **** Some individuals have been lax in returning the training disks you checked out at the meeting. We can not make them available to others until they are returned. Please, they are due NO LATER than the next meeting after you checked them out. **** For those of you using the FILE LOCATOR disks, the new version of PKXARC we use for unarcing onto the hard disk has some incompatibilities with the older version. It is suggested when you update your FILE LOCATOR disk, use DISKCOPY instead of copying the single CATALOG.ARC file to your disk. The catalog files will be made self extracting soon (.ARC will no longer be there, but be replaced by .EXE) and PKXARC will not be apparent in the "unsqueeze" process. Those of you using the "floppy" version, disregard the above notice. **** New issues of the IBM Exchange Magazines will be available at the meeting. Don't forget your copy. ====================================================== NEWS FROM OUR LIBRARY The following disks have been added to our library for the month of September: #210 WordPerfect Macros #211 PC-DEMO - This is a development tool for making Demo disks #212 BAKER'S DOZEN - A Jim Button compendium of favor- ite utilities #213 FILEMASTER - Keep your files and subdirectories in order. Memory resident with pop-up screens. This program is in \FILEMAST subdirectory. TURBOCALC - a resident calculator, clock and DIR shell. This program is in \TCALC subdirectory. #214 PC-MAGAZINE Bench Mark Tests, version 4.0. These files are squeezed and in a self extracting mode. Place each EXE file on a separate disk to start, then run the program. The executable files will be extracted for running. Best done on hard disk. All tests run from single menu. Remember, the new disks added to our library each month may be purchased at the meetings for $.90 each. Save yourself the trouble of copying them yourself. But then if you wish to do so, we have blanks 4 sale: $.80 each or $7.50/10 disks. Boy, what a deal! UPDATES: #188 & #189 PC-FILE+ now has full documenta- tion on #189. Copy both disks as minor bugs have also been fixed. DEMO DISKS: #59 A&B - BOEING CALC #60 - WORDPERFECT Check out the PC Magazine disk of Utilities. This disk is updated monthly and found with the File Locator Disks in the small plastic disk holder. ====================================================== LOTUS TIPS By David Schwartz Reprinted from GS-BUG Newsletter. August, 1987 There is definitely no shortage of Lotus power users, but I would like to share a few helpful tips that I find make using Lotus 123 a little easier. This list is not complete by any means; it is just my list of discoveries. USE THE PERIOD KEY TO WALK AROUND RANGES When defining ranges of any kind, pressing the period key moves you around the range one corner at a time. This nifty little trick allows you to see all four corners of your print range to verify you are including everything before you send it to the printer. When you are sure everything is included, press the return key as usual. USE NUMERIC KEYPAD WHEN ENTERING NUMBERS When entering a column of numbers in a worksheet, hold the shift key down and enter the numbers using the numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard. When the number is entered lift up on the shift key and press the down arrow key (number 2). This will enter your number and move the cursor down one cell. You can continue until all numbers have been entered. RANGE NAMES Use range names whenever possible. Range names give you the opportunity to label cells using descriptive names for easy reference. Ranges are adjusted automatically when you use the move or copy command, but cell references are not always adjusted. This is especially true if you use cell references in macros. (see hint on the F3 table command.) F3 TABLE KEY When selecting a file to retrieve, or a range for any reason, press the F3 key to display a list of all available selections on the screen at the same time. You can then use your cursor keys to highlight the selection, and press return to select the item. This is extremely helpful if you cannot remember what the name of your range is, or if your filename is difficult to type. DATE AND TIME STAMPING Using the 0NOW function, you can date and time stamp your worksheet so you always know which is the latest copy. The 0NOW function returns a numeric value. Format the range as date or time to return the needed information. The information is updated from the system clock continuously in automatic recalculation, and when you press the recalc key in manual recalculation. RECALC KEY TO CONVERT FROMULAS TO VALUES If you need to convert a formula to a value press the F2 key and immediately press the F9 key. This will do the same thing as the range value command in version 2.XX. This is helpful when you need to quickly change a formula into a value. (CONT..) LOTUS PLACE MACROS IN CORNER OF WORKSHEET Because Lotus 2.XX does not penalize you for empty cells, place macros in the bottom right corner of your worksheet. You will now be sure you will not accidentally overwrite your macros. You should also give this range the name "MACRO" to make it easy to get to in a hurry. LABEL AND DOCUMENT ALL MACROS In the cell to the left of the macro type the label \X, where X is the letter for your macro. This will make your macros easy to find when you try to modify them six months later. In the cell to the right of the macro, document each line of your macro no matter how simple it is. English words are easier to read than macros, and you will save a lot of time trying to relearn old macros if you follow this simple tip. Try to keep macro lines as short as possible, and put only related items on each line. This makes documenting and reading your macro much easier. USE 0FUNCTIONS WHENEVER POSSIBLE The 0functions are quicker than regular formulas. The two formulas below accomplish the same thing, but the 0cell function does it a lot quicker. 1. 0cell("contents",al..al) 2. +A1 USER 0ISERR FOR ERROR TRAPPING To prevent ERR messages from appearing in your worksheet, use the 0iserr function. When you are dividing cell A1 by A2, Lotus will return ERR when A2 is a zero. This formula will put a 0 in the cell if the contents would be ERR, otherwise it puts the result of the calculation. 0if(0iserr(A1/A2),0,(A1/A2)) This list is not complete by any means, but I hope it helps make using Lotus a little easier. ======================================================