1975 1.13 1977

Vol.1 n°13 september 1976

Vol.1 n°13 september 1976

(byte_1976_09.jpg)

[editor : Carl T. Helmers Jr.] [publisher : Virginia Peschke, Manfred Peschke] [art : Mary Jane Frohlich, Bill Morello] [cover : Robert Tinney] #Magazine

p.4 In This BYTE

p.4 In This BYTE

#Abstract

About the Cover: BYTE began with its first issue dated September 1975. Since that time, a 96 page magazine has grown into a 128 page monthly compendium of information with a reputation of which we're quite naturally proud. That first issue was assembled from scratch in seven weeks of hectic activity starting May 25 1975. At that time, we had no real estimate of the way in which you, our readers, would respond. The goal was simply to put out the best product possible given the constraints and problems of a new enterprise. Since that time, much has changed as the people who bring you this magazine have all grown and improved with experience. The principles upon which BYTE is based, technical excellence combined with a sense of humor and a spirit of fun, have not changed. As a celebration of that combination, we commissioned Robert Tinney to implement a fanciful picture of the BYTE 0.01 Centennial Celebration. With this very personal anniversary, we look forward to the developments and improvements of the coming year. In BNF notation, <we::= <We> <the contents of the BYTE staff listing, page 5>

Whatever your stand on the questions of free exchange of software, one thing is certain : To write software of any form is an act of creation. The decision as to what is done with. a work of software should reside with the creator. If you are a writer of software, find out about some of the legal aspects of your work by reading Calvin N Mooers' Are You an Author?

A multiprocessor system is a combination of two or more processors to accomplish more than what a single processor could do by itself. In his article Build This Mathematical Function Unit, author R Scott Guthrie describes a simple form of the multiprocessor concept: a scientific calculator unit controlled by an 8 bit microprocessor. The calculator comes preprogrammed with all the software you need to carry out floating point arithmetic operations and special functions, to say nothing of an arithmetic expression parser implicit in the parenthesis keys. The calculator peripheral in one fell swoop elimimites a lot of the software development required for an interpretive mathematically oriented computer language.

Learn how to Randomize Your Programming by reading Robert Grappel's discussion of pseudorandom number sequences along with practical software to implement 8 or 16 bit generators.

Well, here it is: the first version of Star Trek to be printed in full in BYTE. Gerald H Herd describes his version of A BASIC Star Trek Trainer as implemented on a Data General NOVA, but easily adaptable to any BASIC machine with about 5 K bytes of text area.

One of the choices open to readers familiar with the industrial OEM markets is to purchase computer products intended for systems engineering situations. In his product description article on The MSC 8080+ Microcomputer as a Personal System, BYTE reader Ken Barbier enthusiastically describes one such product and his experiences using it.

Binary, octal, hexadecimal or decimal? That is the question. Whatever your preference, however, James Brown will help you out with his article on How to do a Number of Conversions. By implementing the whole set of conversions, you can try each base on for size, depending upon your mood and idiosyncracies.

Last month, Burt Hashizume described the neat new architecture of the "super 8080" called Z-80 by its maker, Zilog Inc. In this issue, Dr Robert Suding brings the excitement down to earth with the complete details of The Circuit for Z-80s, a complete central processor with some programmable memory and a dash of systems software in an erasable ROM thrown in for good measure.

What's an SC/MP? Find out by reviewing Robert Baker's Microprocessor Update: SC/MP Fills a Gap.

In the final instalment of our series of three reprints from Nat Wadsworth's Machine Language Programming for the "8008" (and Similar Microcomputers), you'll find some information on the details of machine language programming in computers with limited resources.

Recycling pretested integrated circuits mounted on surplus printed circuit boards is an inexpensive way to obtain a good parts inventory. The main problem is getting the circuits off the board. Ralph Droms and Jonathan Bondy have dreamed up A Flameless IC Recycling Trick as one way to accomplish the recycling goal.

What does it take to program an 8080 debugging monitor? Joe Kasser and Richard Allen describe AMSAT's answer to this question in AMSAT 8080 Standard Debug Monitor: AMS80 Version 2. This is a complete assembly of a useful control program which can be adapted to any 8080 based microcomputer system.

p.6 Come One, Come All!

p.6 Come One, Come All!

[author : Carl Helmers] #Edito

Extract : «  NCC 1976

BYTE shared a booth with David Ahl's Creative Computing at the 1976 NCC show June 7-10 in New York. For those who are not familiar with the computing trade, NCC is the big trade show sponsored by AFIPS (American Federation of Information Processing Societies) and attended by large numbers of people in the traditional data processing world. It features a strong technological information program with lecturers on numerous topics, as well as one of the most complete trade shows with booths manned by every major manufacturer and vendor in the computer industry. [...]  »

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreground

Foreground

p.26 BUILD THIS MATHEMATICAL FUNCTION UNIT-Part 1

p.26 BUILD THIS MATHEMATICAL FUNCTION UNIT-Part 1

[theme : Hardware] [author : Guthrie] #ComputerKit #Electronic #Mathematics

Extract : «  The small computer system designers and computer hobbyists have a wide variety of 8 bit, 12 and 16 bit microprocessors to choose among for their design problems. Most of these units are capable of performing binary fixed point arithmetic. However, there are many applications which require floating point arithmetic operations with greater precision and extended mathematical functions. Sophisticated software routines or complicated hardware must usually be developed and debugged in order to achieve these goals. However, without undue complication the floating point arithmetic functions can be achieved through the use of the existing hardware found in calculator chips. [...]  »

p.36 RANDOMIZE YOUR PROGRAMMING

p.36 RANDOMIZE YOUR PROGRAMMING

[theme : Software] [author : Grappel] #Listing #Assembly #Programming

Extract : «  Computers are supposed to produce predictable results; when a program acts unpredictably, it is usually time for headscratching and debugging. There are times, however, when unpredictability is exactly what the programmer wants. A class of examples is the simulation of games with a chance element. How can a computer simulate a coin toss or the throw of a die or the picking of a card? In each of these cases, the application requires a value within set limits which is unpredictable in its sequence. [...]  »

p.40 A BASIC STAR TREK TRAINER

p.40 A BASIC STAR TREK TRAINER

[theme : Software] [author : Herd] #Listing #BASIC #Game

Extract : «  While complex Star Trek and Space War games, complete with space warps, fleets of enemy ships, and starbases currently exist, they generally require a sophisticated system to support them. For the microcomputer hobbyist who does not have the resources of Star Fleet at his disposal for the purchase of hardware, the following short version of Star Trek is offered.

The program was developed in BASIC on a NOVA 1200 minicomputer and emulates a Star Trek game I originally encountered on the Univac 1108 system at Georgia Tech. [...]  »

p.50 HOW TO DO A NUMBER OF CONVERSIONS

p.50 HOW TO DO A NUMBER OF CONVERSIONS

[theme : Software] [author : Brown] #Listing #Assembly #Algorithm #Encoding

Extract : «  Perhaps one of the more difficult tasks on any small computer is the conversion from numeric characters to a form usable by the machine and back again. That is, given some type of input output device (Teletype or TV typewriter) connected to your computer, it would be desirable to have the capability of entering a string of numeric characters (consecutive digits) through the keyboard. The computer would then perform some operation on that number. Finally, the result of that compulation is displayed back on the 10 device. Since the computer's natural language is N bit binary (i.e., ones and zeros), how can such a string be converted? An example of the problem is: How do I convert the three character decimal string '196' into the binary integer equivalent 11000100 (or octal 204, or hexadecimal C4)? [...]  »

p.62 THE CIRCUIT FOR Z-80s

p.62 THE CIRCUIT FOR Z-80s

[theme : Hardware] [author : Suding] #Microprocessor #Electronic

Extract : «  The microprocessor integrated circuit is the real engine for your system. Now you can replace that old engine with a real power house, the new Z-80 (the Z-80 was described in Burt Hashizume's Microprocessor Update on page 34 of August 1976 BYTE). After initially reading about this integrated circuit in early '76, I just had to get one to see how many of the blurbs were true (I give sales advertisements a 1% credibility on the first pass). [...]  »

p.104 A FLAMELESS IC RECYCLING TRICK

p.104 A FLAMELESS IC RECYCLING TRICK

[theme : Techniques] [author : Bondy-Droms]

Extract : «  Recently, some computer boards became available to us at a reasonable price (free). Having stacked them up in a couple of boxes, we decided that storing just the integrated circuits rather than the boards would make much more sense, so we investigated techniques for depopulating the boards. An article in a previous issue of BYTE suggested the use of a blowtorch to heat the pins of the chips. Discovering that the cheapest propane torch kit we could find ($15 at today's prices) would have purchased a sizable number of surplus chips, we pressed on in search of a more inexpensive device. The final product was a standard soldering iron (which we already had) with a specially designed tip. [...]  »

p.108 AMSAT 8080 STANDARD DEBUG MONITOR: AMS80 VERSION 2

p.108 AMSAT 8080 STANDARD DEBUG MONITOR: AMS80 VERSION 2

[theme : Systems Software] [author : Allen-Kasser] #Listing #Assembly #Programming

Extract : «  This monitor or debug package resides in low memory in an 8080 system. It is designed as a minimum system debug package.

The source code (see listing 1) contains a large number of comments, explaining in detail what is being done in each routine, so it is not discussed in great detail, but just summarized in a few words. [...]  »

Background

Background

p.16 ARE YOU AN AUTHOR?

p.16 ARE YOU AN AUTHOR?

[theme : Software] [author : Mooers] #TradeAndLaws

Extract : «  Are you the proud author of a piece of hobbyist software? If so, you are in the same class as the author of a novel, a play or any other kind of salable writing. If your software is good, and other people want it, it could be worth something to you. Dollars! Money!

This is the first of several articles in BYTE describing details of an owner's rights in computer software. It is written from the hobbyist and software writer's standpoint. [...]  »

p.44 THE MSC 8080+ MICROPROCESSOR AS A PERSONAL SYSTEM

p.44 THE MSC 8080+ MICROPROCESSOR AS A PERSONAL SYSTEM

[theme : Product Description] [author : Barbier] #ComputerDesktop

Extract : «  In the beginning there were rows and rows of little lights and little switches. Incredible as it may seem, some micro, mini, and mega computers still come with rows and rows of little lights and little switches. After wearing out countless eyeballs, fingertips, and four letter words, Mankind finally asked: "Isn't there a better way?" [...]  »

p.76 MICROPROCESSOR UPDATE: SC/MP FILLS A GAP

p.76 MICROPROCESSOR UPDATE: SC/MP FILLS A GAP

[theme : Hardware] [author : Baker] #Microprocessor

Extract : «  The new National Semiconductor microprocessor SC/MP, commonly called SCAMP, was designed to fill a gap between clumsy 4 bit microprocessors and the currently available 8 bit microprocessors. According to the manufacturer, it is simple to use, requiring very few support chips for a basic system and is upgradable as the need arises. Only a single +10 to +14 V power supply is needed for the 40 pin dual inline processor chip. A block diagram of the processor chip is shown in figure 1. [...]  »

p.84 MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING FOR THE "8008"-Chapter 3

p.84 MACHINE LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING FOR THE "8008"-Chapter 3

[theme : Software] [author : Wadsworth] #Method #Assembly #Programming

Extract : «  Before one can effectively develop machine language programs for a computer, one must be thoroughly familiar with the instruction set for the machine. It is assumed for the remainder of this manual that the reader has studied the detailed information for the instruction set of the 8008 CPU which was provided in the first chapter. The programmer should become intimately familiar with the mnemonics (pronounced kneemonics) for each type of instruction. Mnemonics are easily remembered symbolic representations of machine language instructions. They are far easier to work with than the actual numeric codes used by the computer when the programmer is developing a program. While the programmer will develop programs and think in terms of the mnemonics, the programmer must eventually convert the mnemonics to the machine codes used by the computer. This, however, is almost purely a look-up procedure. In fact, as will be seen shortly, this task can actually be performed by the computer through the use of an ASSEMBLER program. [...]  »

Nucleus

Nucleus

p.12 Letters

p.12 Letters

p.61 Software Bug of the Month 4

p.61 Software Bug of the Month 4

p.73 BYTE's Bits

p.73 BYTE's Bits

p.74 p.81 p.96 What's New?

p.74 p.81 p.96 What's New?

p.92 Classified Ads

p.92 Classified Ads

p.98 Clubs, Newsletters

p.98 Clubs, Newsletters

#Association

p.124 Programming Quickies

p.124 Programming Quickies

p.128 BOMB

p.128 BOMB

p.128 Reader's Service

p.128 Reader's Service

ADS (content taken from the reader service p.128)

ADS (content taken from the reader service p.128)

p.101 Action Audio Electronics

p.101 Action Audio Electronics

p.99 American Microprocessors

p.99 American Microprocessors

p.97 Audio Design Electronics

p.97 Audio Design Electronics

p.105 Brigar

p.105 Brigar

p.93 Burkeshire

p.93 Burkeshire

p.80 BYTE's Books

p.80 BYTE's Books

p.124 BYTE's Poster

p.124 BYTE's Poster

p.111 BYTE's Subs

p.111 BYTE's Subs

p.126 BYTE's T-Shirts

p.126 BYTE's T-Shirts

p.99 Cambion

p.99 Cambion

p.99 CFR Associates

p.99 CFR Associates

p.99 Computer Mart of NY

p.99 Computer Mart of NY

p.103 Creative Computing

p.103 Creative Computing

p.1 Cromemco

p.1 Cromemco

p.81 Data Domain

p.81 Data Domain

p.115 Delta

p.115 Delta

p.7 Digital Group

p.7 Digital Group

p.49 Economy Co

p.49 Economy Co

p.119 Eltron

p.119 Eltron

p.117 Godbout

p.117 Godbout

p.61 HAL Communications

p.61 HAL Communications

p.13 p.83 IMS

p.13 p.83 IMS

p.103 Instrumentation Services

p.103 Instrumentation Services

p.97 Integrated Computer System

p.97 Integrated Computer System

p.14 p.15 p.23 Intel

p.14 p.15 p.23 Intel

p.39 Intersil

p.39 Intersil

(byte_1976_09_p039.jpg)

p.113 p.125 James

p.113 p.125 James

p.101 John Anthony Television

p.101 John Anthony Television

p.101 Logical Services

p.101 Logical Services

p.95 Merrimac

p.95 Merrimac

p.127 Meshna

p.127 Meshna

p.97 Micon

p.97 Micon

p.101 Microcomputer Applications

p.101 Microcomputer Applications

p.101 Micro Peripherals

p.101 Micro Peripherals

p.48 Midwest Scientific Inst

p.48 Midwest Scientific Inst

p.93 Mikos

p.93 Mikos

p.8 MiniTerm

p.8 MiniTerm

(p.CIV) MITS

(p.CIV) MITS

p.2 p.3 p.21 MITS

p.2 p.3 p.21 MITS

p.79 National Multiplex

p.79 National Multiplex

p.75 Ohio Scientific Inst

p.75 Ohio Scientific Inst

p.99 Oliver Audio Engineering

p.99 Oliver Audio Engineering

p.43 Osborn and Associates Inc

p.43 Osborn and Associates Inc

p.49 p.95 Parasitic Engineering

p.49 p.95 Parasitic Engineering

p.69 Per Com Data

p.69 Per Com Data

p.73 Polymorphic Systems

p.73 Polymorphic Systems

p.24 p.25 Processor Tech

p.24 p.25 Processor Tech

p.97 PTI

p.97 PTI

p.19 Scelbi

p.19 Scelbi

p.106 p.107 SD Sales

p.106 p.107 SD Sales

p.121 Solid State Sales

p.121 Solid State Sales

(p.CII) Southwest Tech

(p.CII) Southwest Tech

(p.CIII) Sphere

(p.CIII) Sphere

p.71 STM Systems

p.71 STM Systems

p.99 Synchro Sound

p.99 Synchro Sound

p.72 Technical Design Labs

p.72 Technical Design Labs

p.34 p.35 Texas Instruments

p.34 p.35 Texas Instruments

p.123 Tri Tek

p.123 Tri Tek

p.101 Wilcox

p.101 Wilcox