ewbray

I flew military helicopters during my stint in the U. S. Army and our "cyclic" control had a trim button on its very top just like the Radio Shack "Super Stick"; we used our thumbs while flying to control the aircraft's trim, so it was second nature for us to be able to change direction of the aircraft and control the aircrafts trim at the same time. On the gunship versions of the helicopters that same button control was switched to the fire the rockets. So for aviation buffs that was the "natural" place to place a "fire" button. You civilians just didn't know what was military protocol! I rewired a couple of Radio Shack "Super Sticks" back in the mid 1980s (costs back then were $9.95 each) when my original pair of Texas Instruments joysticks with surface printed foil-to-foil on plastic electrical contacts wore out. I just removed the wires from the Texas Instruments joysticks and added the two "Super Sticks" as the replacements. These still function correctly to this day some 30+ years later because they contain rudimentary aluminum micro-switches instead of surface printed foil-to-foil on plastic contacts! (P.S. I remember you had to soldier five (5) 1N914 diodes into each base to have them function correctly) https://groups.yahoo.com/.../TI9.../photos/albums/1868089068 … .. . You can also find a schematic and article in MICROpendium on page 37 http://ftp.whtech.com/magazines/micropendium/mp960708.pdf

Mike why don't you just get an old TI99/4a and get the old files off the hard drive that way. You can convert them to V9T9 format with TiDir99 https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjWNjAZpt3oLgYlPsOd_AXbpSajZww

In the PATIUG (Philadelphia Area Texas Instruments Users Group) we had over 125 members when we had one of the largest memberships of the PACS (Philadelphia Area Computer Society) when every third Saturday of the month it would take over the unused classrooms of LaSalle University. We used to keep all of our equipment in a locked footlocker that was kept in a secure closet by the Security Department office and every meeting two guys would fetch it and bring it to our lecture hall classroom in the science building! The "Society" back then even had a young Bill Gates as one of its speakers, who filled the university's main auditorium with standing room only and the university even piped the video feed into all of the university's other lecture halls. In the PATIUG, Barry Traver (Publisher of Genial Travler Diskazine) & Michael Riccio (Myarc, Inc. contract programmer) were a couple of our software "guru(s)" and Alan Silverstein (Electrical Engineer for several national corporations) was the leader of our hardware "guru(s)". Alan Silverstein, myself, and others would hold "hardware" sessions after the main meeting and do whatever previously arranged hardware projects {cable modifications, console video enhancements, and etc.} were scheduled. I wrote about two (2) of my favorite hardware projects in the March 1988 issue of MICROpendium and April 1990 issue of MICROpendium. MICROpendium Articles.pdf Looking back on my articles and my experience with their results, I would recommend that the March 1988 hardware hack was a "easier" job to perform and an "easier" job to correct if you ever had a failure of the voltage regulator, capacitors, or diodes; which the April 1990 modification did when I tried to perform my annual connection of my real TI equipment, just to exercise it the other day. Some of the electrical components to our Texas Instruments hardware are rapidly becoming rare [40+ years old] and/or nearly obsolete and replacements are becoming hard to find.

Lou Phillips once told me that when he presented the CONTRACT for Paul to write "MDOS" to Paul; Lou suggested for Paul to get an attorney BEFORE he signed it! Paul didn't do that!!!! Lou told me that in the CONTRACT there was a finite dollar figure for Paul's programming. Paul wanted more money, but he had signed the contract and Lou HELD him to the contract! Paul thought he knew "contract law" {which he didn't} and thought he could extort money from Myarc, Inc. when he didn't feel he was paid enough for the product that he produced. So, we had two very stubborn men who wouldn't budge and so that is how the whole MDOS fiasco started. It didn't help that Jack Reilly, Lou's money man, wanted to take Paul to court. Lou thought that he could reason with Paul about learning before you sign a CONTRACT hire an attorney, and just write it off as a mistake. In my opinion, Paul was angry with himself for not listening to Lou about hiring an attorney and took it out on Lou, Jack, and the 9640 Community because he wasn't as "knowledgeable" as he thought he was about contract law!!!!! Lou's brother was the attorney for Myarc, Inc., so his legal costs were next to nothing. You noticed that Paul never sued Myarc, Inc., Lou, or Jack for breech of contract! {I bet he took the contract to an attorney and was told it was ironclad} He just extorted monies from the Geneve 9640 community once Myarc, Inc. dissolved its corporation!!

The Last time I spoke with Lou Phillips he told me that Paul was working for one of the big banks; Chase?

Here is a link to a spreadsheet (.ods format) that I created several years ago comparing most of the top TI99/4A emulators/simulators: https://1drv.ms/x/s!AjWNjAZpt3oLgYlXPkt4ezrVjNyB1A It probably needs to be updated since some of authors have since released later versions of their programs. In my opinion: For the better sound emulation I suggest you use Win994a (tested running XB version of Axel F on both of them, then recording the sound in .wav format with Audacity and comparing the graphic representations on the two graphs that were produced) For the better speech emulation I suggest you use Win99a (tested running Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on both of them, then recording the sound in .wav format with Audacity and comparing the graphic representations on the two graphs that were produced; same was performed again with the music in the program) For the better bitmapped graphic emulation I suggest you use Classic99 (tested viewing converted Convert9918 files on both of them; images appear to have more definition with Classic99) Classic99's speech portion of the emulator still isn't finish (according to author); used "old" version of speech synthesizer software and needs to correct the interrupts Classic99's sound portion of the emulator still isn't finish (according to author); used "old" version of sound chip software

In my opinion: For the better sound emulation I suggest you use Win994a (tested running XB version of Axel F on both of them, then recording the sound in .wav format with Audacity and comparing the graphic representations on the two graphs that were produced) For the better speech emulation I suggest you use Win99a (tested running Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on both of them, then recording the sound in .wav format with Audacity and comparing the graphic representations on the two graphs that were produced; same was performed again with the music in the program) For the better bitmapped graphic emulation I suggest you use Classic99 (tested viewing converted Convert9918 files on both of them; images appear to have more definition with Classic99) Classic99's speech portion of the emulator still isn't finish (according to author); used "old" version of speech synthesizer software and needs to correct the interrupts Classic99's sound portion of the emulator still isn't finish (according to author); used "old" version of sound chip software

The Microsoft Multiplan cartridge was released in 1981, while the TI-Calc cartridge was released in 1983. TI-99/4A Calc {released in 1984, however the program has copyright dates of 1981, 1982, & 1983} was NOT designed to run in Extended Basic! It was written to run on very minimal systems of just a TI99/4A console (with just TI BASIC) & Cassette player/recorder (pg. 22 of Manual). TI-994A Calc.pdf The sophistication of Microsoft Multiplan allows the creator of the spreadsheet to do advanced mathematics such as square roots, sines, cosines, logs (10), tangents, and etc. as well as simple averages of cell groups; which no other spreadsheet program (TI-99/4A Calc, TI-Calc, Vector Calc, & etc.) for the TI99/4A can even approach this degree of versatility. Microsoft Multiplan's list of functions available to the user are too numerous to list in this narrative. Microsoft Multiplan - Guide & Template.pdf With Microsoft Multiplan's degree of sophistication and versatility makes it IDEAL for doing; Modelling and Planning, Household Finance Planning, Business Accounts and Budgeting, Invoices, Wages, Predictions / Simulations, Break even analysis, Statistical analysis, Collect data from different sources (e.g. phone number, prices.), & Explore and interpret data in order to draw conclusions for business. In making a comparison of ALL of the spreadsheet programs for the TI99/4A; using Microsoft Multiplan is like driving a Silver Shadow Rolls Royce while using the other spreadsheet programs (TI-99/4A Calc, TI-Calc, Vector Calc, & etc.) is more like driving a Model T Ford.

I have a copy of TI Planner for Win994a; it is a 8K ROM cartridge, that I can get to load but never run, from what I have seen it appears to be another simple spreadsheet program that doesn't approach the degree of sophistication of Vector Calc and of course Microsoft Multiplan. For simple and quick calculations, its cost/benefit over Microsoft Multiplan was advantageous to the users with limited systems just like TI99/4A Calc.

One of the ‘most’ powerful production pieces but very UNDER USED pieces of software every written for the TI99/4A was Microsoft Multiplan! It could be used for creating spreadsheets for finances, mailing lists, inventory records {such as databases}, school grading records, and etc. There have been other spreadsheet programs for the TI99/4A: TI99/4A CALC Freeform SNAPCALC Vector CALC However not one of them could match the degree of sophistication that Microsoft Multiplan displayed. Learning to use Microsoft Multiplan was also great preparation for learning how to used the later “standard” Excel! To learn how to create spreadsheets, I once converted most of the Scott Forsman cartridges to spreadsheets for the TI99/4A for Microsoft Multiplan program. I then took on the task of converting the very thorough Home Budget Management cartridge to a spreadsheet for the TI99/4A with the Microsoft Multiplan program; there was just one “tiny” problem! The largest file that could be created was only around 12K and that was just enough to get three (3) months of data on the spreadsheet, so to view a full year’s budget I had to break the year into four (4) quarters. When the Myarc Geneve 9640 was introduced with its 64K of memory for those type of files when running in the TI99/4A mode, I made a full one (1) year spreadsheet for the 9640 and it can be found on the WHT Site under 9640 files. When I switch totally to IBM PC files for my serious business purposes, I learn to create Excel spreadsheets and then made a clone of the Home Budget Management cartridge in Excel format and had it published on the https://www.vertex42.com website. That cartridge was first published in 1978 and the budget categories and tax categories lasted until 2018 when the new tax laws took place. Too bad all three (TI99/4A Cartridge, TI99/4A & Geneve 9640 spreadsheets, and the Excel spreadsheet) are now OBSOLETE pieces of software. One of the great things about the many different commercial spreadsheet programs is that they have a file sharing format of SYLK where a spreadsheet written on one principles could be shared with another program including Microsoft Multiplan. So even today in 2018 the TI99/4A can share simple spreadsheets written on other computer types. Here are a group of Microsoft Multiplan Templates for the TI99/4A: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_y_L9EkmQbc8FuDtdsHuvx0BElaj2k7c

One of the ‘most’ powerful production pieces but very UNDER USED pieces of software every written for the TI99/4A was Microsoft Multiplan! It could be used for creating spreadsheets for finances, mailing lists, inventory records {such as databases}, school grading records, and etc. There have been other spreadsheet programs for the TI99/4A: TI99/4A CALC Freeform SNAPCALC Vector CALC However not one of them could match the degree of sophistication that Microsoft Multiplan displayed. Learning to use Microsoft Multiplan was also great preparation for learning how to used the later “standard” Excel! To learn how to create spreadsheets, I once converted most of the Scott Forsman cartridges to spreadsheets for the TI99/4A for Microsoft Multiplan program. I then took on the task of converting the very thorough Home Budget Management cartridge to a spreadsheet for the TI99/4A with the Microsoft Multiplan program; there was just one “tiny” problem! The largest file that could be created was only around 12K and that was just enough to get three (3) months of data on the spreadsheet, so to view a full year’s budget I had to break the year into four (4) quarters. When the Myarc Geneve 9640 was introduced with its 64K of memory for those type of files when running in the TI99/4A mode, I made a full one (1) year spreadsheet for the 9640 and it can be found on the WHT Site under 9640 files. When I switch totally to IBM PC files for my serious business purposes, I learn to create Excel spreadsheets and then made a clone of the Home Budget Management cartridge in Excel format and had it published on the https://www.vertex42.com website. That cartridge was first published in 1978 and the budget categories and tax categories lasted until 2018 when the new tax laws took place. Too bad all three (TI99/4A Cartridge, TI99/4A & Geneve 9640 spreadsheets, and the Excel spreadsheet) are now OBSOLETE pieces of software. One of the great things about the many different commercial spreadsheet programs is that they have a file sharing format of SYLK where a spreadsheet written on one principles could be shared with another program including Microsoft Multiplan. So even today in 2018 the TI99/4A can share simple spreadsheets written on other computer types. tutor1.pdftutor2.pdf Here is a series of Microsoft Multiplan Templates: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_y_L9EkmQbc8FuDtdsHuvx0BElaj2k7c

There is an "Oldie but Goodie" spreadsheet program from the early 1980s - TI99/4A Calc - that only needs TI Basic on a barebone console & a cassette player/recorder that can also be used to keep an inventory of a vinyl record collection! Here is the program & its documentation in .pdf format: 4A-CALC.pdf TI-994A Calc.pdf

You can use one of four (4) programs: Two (2) of the XB database programs are: 1.) IS-BASE (a relational database program) 2.) VECTOR BASE (a reasonable database program) Two (2) of the XB spreadsheet programs are: 1.) SNAPCALC (a small spreadsheet program) 2.) VECTOR CALC (a reasonable spreadsheet program) to keep track of the items that you want, like a record collection. They are found on the TI-OFFICE1 & TI-OFFICE2 Disks! * IS-BASE * - COPYRIGHT 1987 HOME COMPUTING JOURNAL VERSION 3.0 - TI EXTENDED BASIC * VECTOR BASE * VERSION 1.00 - is a software package available on disk and is for systems with EXTENDED BASIC, 32K MEMORY EXPANSION, RS-232, AND A PRINTER. * SNAP-CALC * BY Gary Strauss HOME COMPUTER MAGAZINE VERSION 4.3.4 - TI EXTENDED BASIC * VECTOR CALC * VERSION 1.00 is a software package available on disk and is for systems with EXTENDED BASIC, 32K MEMORY EXPANSION, RS-232, and a PRINTER.

There is a subtle degree of depth in that 3D Anaglyph! I have found through my experimentation over the years that a four layered or more 3D Anaglyph is the minimal that you want have before the effect is outstanding by the viewer. In the previous image of the tree stump, it is a four (4) layered 3D Anaglyph; the first layer is the photograph credit in the lower left corner and the lone leaf left on a branch right above it, the second layer is the actual tree stump, the third layer is the tall trees immediately behind the tree stump, and the fourth layer is the wooded area and Lowry Hall (Oglethorpe University) in the background. The stump is on the TI99/4A demonstration disk after being converted into 9918 bitmapped format as an XB program. In the previous image of my Vietnam unit's gunship patch, it is a three (3) layered 3D Anaglyph; the first layer is the missile coming out of the snake's mouth, the second layer is the actual snake's head, and the third layer is the patch's base with its writing. Both of these images were originally plain flat 2D images that were converted into 3D Anaglyphs by using the techniques shown on the YouTube video to build up each layer; fairly labor intensive, as it is when manipulating any significant image with a great deal of detail!

The FREE site only produces "Single Layer" 3D Anaglyphs that appears to be floating in front of you. [i'll let you in on a graphic method of reversing that site's producing projected 3D Anaglyphs] 1.) Use an image manipulating program like GIMP to "flip" your image horizontally; save the "flipped" image 2.) Run your "flipped" image through the FREE site so that it is now a 3d Anaglyph; save the 3D Anaglyph 3.) Use an image manipulating program like GIMP to again this time "flip" your image horizontally; save the "flipped" 3D Anaglyph 4.) View the "new" image and it will now have 'depth of field' rather than be a projected 3D Anaglyph The YouTube tutorial instructs you how to produce "Multiple Layers" 3D Anaglyphs that have even more depth. Here are a couple of "Multiple Layered" 3D Anaglyphs that I have produced using the method displayed in that tutorial: Originally photograph taken in February 1967 Taken in June 2014

It is VERY POSSIBLE and I don't think it would have to be "simple block characters". I have started and outline of an adventure type game that runs out of XB; a XB 3D Anaglyph image takes up 54 sectors on a disk, so you could get up to 26 images comfortably on a DS/DD disk. I am trying to collect a series of dragons, demons, and etc. that have basically one color and not too much intricate detail in their appearance. Using the tutorial that I posted on YouTube the author(s) could produce multi-layered 3D Anaglyphs to add even more depth to the images. As you can see in the previous example the author(s) can have the 3D Anaglyph images either floating in space in front of the viewer OR the subjects in the 3d Anaglyph can appear to be a small distance away from the viewer; this makes for a variety of 3D anaglyph images that can be presented to the viewer of the many situation(s). Having a Ram Disk or Hard Drive probably would load in the 3D Anaglyph images a bit quicker, but I don't think loading the images from disk would prove too much of a time delay. With any graphics intensive endeavor [e.g. animated cartoons], it is labor intensive and must be planned out and then executed with great attention to the story particulars. I might be able to finish my first project by the summer of 2019!

What a P.E.B., Console, Speech Synthesizer, and Monitor could look like as a 3D Anaglyph on a Ti99/4A monitor either coming towards the viewer or going away from the viewer!

There is an excellent collection of Christmas songs (including Snoopy's Christmas) on the Genial Travler diskazine #251! http://ftp.whtech.com/genitrav/

One of the better ways of producing excellent quality videos of the TI99/4A running a particular program is to run the program on an emulator/simulator (i.e. Win994a) and use the Windows 10 game record feature: Run the emulator/simulator of your choice using Windows 10 and make sure that the “window” that it is displayed on your screen does not take up your full screen. Load the cartridge and program disk the you wish to use to create the video into your emulator/simulator program. With the Windows 10 recording feature the user can also use their own microphone (if connected to their system) to add voice narration to the video that the user is creating in addition to the normal audio of the running program. Once your set-up is complete, push the ‘Windows key’ along with the ‘G key’ to start the “game record” mode of Windows 10. You can start the recording and then start your emulator/simulator to commence running the software you wish record. After you feel that you have recorded whatever you want to demonstrate, you can stop the recording and Windows 10 will automatically save the just recorded video to the Videos/Captures folder. You can then close out your emulator/simulator. Normally, I review the video that I have just created and repeat the process if that recording doesn’t meet with my approval. If the video does meet with my approval, then I generally rename it from the time and date stamp name the Windows 10 record program automatically gives it. From there you can distribute the video you have just created to whomever you wish!

The ONLY reason that I ever stopped using Mechatronic Extended II+ was that I bought a Myarc 512K ramdisk and the Myarc Extended Basiic II software. That is when I noticed that the Myarc Extended Basic II software had many of the same graphics available as the Mechatronic Extended Basic II+ and I didn't need to use a special command (CALL APESOFT) to access the graphics commands and those graphic commands didn't occupy the lower 8K of memory in the TI99/4A, meaning I had access to the machine's full 32K of memory when running Extended Basic programs. That is when I discovered that the Myarc Extended Basic II cartridge that was sent to me ALSO had a socket for a GROM chip; in which I placed an Editor/Assembler GROM therefore making it a Super Cartridge without a battery.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vxe0pkwieiw9klr/Mechatronic%20Extended%20Basic%20II%20Plus.TICart?dl=0 You can download a functioning Win994a version of that cartridge to use and get accustomed to using it until you can get possession of an actual cartridge! (from the above location) https://www.dropbox.com/s/w8r10bin1xi7v4a/Mechatronic%20Extended%20Basic%20II%20Plus.TIDisk?dl=0 You can download a functioning Win994a version of the demonstration disk to use and get accustomed to using its programs until you can get possession of an actual cartridge! (from the above location)

This is as the King Vulture would appear when converted to be displayed on the TI99/4A! Notice that the resolution can be tinkered with to get a clearer image, however the 3D effect is almost exactly the same as in the original image! I tested viewing this image on my 8 year old granddaughter and she kept trying to reach out with her hands and touch the subject of the image, so the 3d effect is really appealing to the average viewer.

The Mechatronics Extended Basic II+ cartridge is one of the only five (5) TI99/4A Cartridges that I have kept since I packed away my real hardware in the basement and went to the use of emulators/simulators. Those five (5) Cartridges were 1.) Mechatronic Extended Basic II+ Cartridge, 2.) 8K Super Cartridge [actually a Myarc Basic II Cartridge with a E/A Grom {contains no battery}], 3.) Mini-Memory Cartridge, 4.) Microsoft Multiplan, and 5.) The PLATO Interpreter Cartridge. With those five cartridges I found that I could run ALL the software for the TI99/4A, since everything had been converted to disk files over the years. What I had noticed about the Mechatronics Extended II+ cartridge is that it run EXTREMELY warm when plugged into the TI99/4A console for any long period of time; fearing heat damage to is chips and components, I removed the circuit board from the cartridge case and proceeded to drill a series of ¼ inch holes in the cartridge case to allow the excess heat that would accumulate to leave the cartridge by those ¼ holes through convection. If you should be fortunate enough to acquire a Mechatronics Extended Basic II+ cartridge, please consider making that simple modification to its cartridge case.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjWNjAZpt3oLgYlKlZMvUT44A1sQ6g From the above location, a user can download an Extended Basic demonstration disk (V9T9 format) that I recently created that allows the TI99/4A user to view rudimentary 3D Anaglyph images on their screen. These images are "best" viewed from around 4 feet or greater from the screen surface with 3D Anaglyph glasses {Cyan (blue) & Magenta (red) lenses}. Source of 3D Glasses I found a site on the internet that will convert your 2D images into 3D images for FREE. https://convertimage.net/.../create-anaglyph-stereoscopic... Now using Michael Brent's "Convert9918" program http://harmlesslion.com/software/convert9918 any TI99/4A user can very easily try and produce 3D Anaglyph images for display on the TI99/4A. I have found that the BETTER 3D Anaglyph for the TI99/4a can be created from a 2D image if the subject of the image is surrounded by a background that is one solid color and that color is lighter that the subject of the image. (e.g. a black & white King Vulture against a white background) The user can have a variety of graphic manipulating programs from the simple to use 'Microsoft Paint' to the much more sophisticated 'GIMP' to first edit the 2D image before manually converting it into a 3D Anaglyph image as shown in this YouTube tutorial video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3xFAbX5R84 or running it through an online converter such as the one mentioned earlier in this narrative. Here is an original 3D Anaglyph image of a King Vulture soaring in the air that appears to be floating in front of your screen when viewed with 3D Anaglyph glasses {Cyan (blue) & Magenta (red) lenses}; on the TI99/4A the resolution is much LESS however the 3D effect is exactly the same.