"Ad Astra..." Journal

[16kRAM]

I recently chanced upon two issues of Ad Astra... - The Journal of the Atari Microcomputer Net Amateur Radio Operator Users' Group (volume 2 nos. 1 & 2) at a local used video game store. Before that, I was completely unaware of this publication but now I'm intrigued by the technical level of its articles.

 

I've scanned my 2 copies and uploaded them to archive.org. Mr. Savetz has already archived volume 1 nos. 3 & 4 in 2017.

 

For my scans, I created two versions of each: one that is strictly monochrome and one that is gray-scaled. Other versions were generated by archive.org including some with OCR. Inspect the archive.org Files section depending on your level of interest.

 

Here are links to the 4 issues so far:

 

v1n3:

https://archive.org/details/AdAstraV1n3/

https://archive.org/download/AdAstraV1n3/Ad%20Astra%20v1n3.pdf

 

v1n4:

https://archive.org/details/AdAstraV1n4/

https://archive.org/download/AdAstraV1n4/Ad%20Astra%20v1n4.pdf

 

v2n1:

https://archive.org/details/AdAstraV2n1/

(mono): https://archive.org/download/AdAstraV2n1/Ad%20Astra%20v2n1%20mono.pdf

(gray): https://archive.org/download/AdAstraV2n1/Ad%20Astra%20v2n1.pdf

 

v2n2:

https://archive.org/details/AdAstraV2n2/

(mono): https://archive.org/download/AdAstraV2n2/Ad%20Astra%20v2n2%20mono.pdf

(gray): https://archive.org/download/AdAstraV2n2/Ad%20Astra%20v2n2.pdf

 

Does anyone else own any other copies? It'd be cool to complete the run.

 

- Michael S.

[_The Doctor__]

You're a HERO !! I have been searching forever for these! If only you had found a full trove of them.... but still !!!!!!

Yessssssss!

 

I haven't heard a peep out of anyone about these or the Astronomy books either.

 

I am very excited, there is hope after all!

Edited November 7, 2018 by _The Doctor__

[Keatah]

Astronomy books?

[_The Doctor__]

Yes, a series of which, along with software and schematics for different controllers/servos for azimuth, declination et al for your telescopes, dishes, antennae, and the like. over time they had quite a library of on screen text and pictures of what to look for as you adjusted and calibrated on your journey out among the stars.

Edited November 7, 2018 by _The Doctor__

[Schnurrikowski]

Very nice find, thanks for scanning and uploading!

[16kRAM]

While attending the recent "Atari 8-bit Computer Old School User Meeting" graciously hosted by the National Videogame Museum, in a box of mostly unremarkable floppy disks, I found two more issues of Ad Astra...

These have been scanned and uploaded to the Internet Archive (links below).
 

https://archive.org/download/AdAstraV2n3/adastra_v2n3.pdf
 

https://archive.org/download/AdAstraV2n4/adastra_v2n4.pdf

 

I typed in the BASIC and assembly programs found in Volume 2 Number 3. (Hopefully no typos)

adastra_v2n3.atr

 

The MORSEGEN program is interesting. It installs a timer driven interrupt routine that converts typed text into Morse code beeps. A portion of the stack is used as a keyboard buffer so you can type as fast as you wish and the Morse code beeps will play at a steady rate, eventually catching up to your input. The code header explains how to use the program.

 

Several years ago, I had found Volume 2, Issues 1 & 2 in a local video game store. It turns out the same collector who sold those issues to the store also donated the box of disks to the meetup. So it was just good fortune that I happened to have been to both at just the right time.

[16kRAM]

I should've included a bandwidth-friendly path to these scans.

https://archive.org/details/AdAstraV2n3

https://archive.org/details/AdAstraV2n4

[+Allan]

And the 'Your so awesome!!' award of the day goes to 16KRAM. Thank you so much.