[net.micro.cbm] datasette speed loader

bub@rlgvax.UUCP ( Mongo Mauler) (02/24/86)

I've received some mail from folks interested in finding speed systems for
the CBM datasette tape machine.  Following is a reprint of an article from
a month or two ago about the Rabbit cartridge from Eastern House.  I've also
heard from several others who were well pleased (more like ecstatic) with
the new power it gave their datasette.  I intend to get one for myself just
to see if it's all true!

I personally use the TURBOTAPE 'software only' speed utility from COMPUTE!
publications.  I'll find the mag and get back to you with the info needed to
secure a back issue from them.  The same issue also contained the TURBODISK
utility which I also use.  Both are marvelous considering they cost me only
a few dollars each.  Since I'm lazy, I ordered the disk from them (after I
bought the magazine since disks contain no documentation) for $12.95.  It
contains many other programs as well, but I can't recall them right now.  As
I said, I'll post the issue and contents as soon as I remember to grab the
magazine off my rack.

	REVIEW OF RABBIT FAST CASSETTE OPERATING SYSTEM

A short while ago, someone asked about the address of Eastern
House, the manufacturers of the Rabbit cartridge for the VIC.
That address will appear at the end of this posting.

This is a product review of the Rabbit cartridge for the C64.  I
have not used the VIC version, and so cannot comment on it.

The Rabbit is a cartridge for the C64 which offers faster tape
operation.  It will load and save files much faster than the
standard cassette.  The examples that E.H. give are for loading an
8k file.  The times are 3 min. for standard tape, 30 seconds for
tape with the Rabbit, and 22 seconds with the 1541.  It also
includes a machine language monitor, and commands for converting
values from hex to decimal, and vice versa.

the Rabbit stores data on tape in a special format, so you must
convert your existing tape files to rabbit format before you can
speed load them.  It has a copy command to do this for you.  The
copy command will also copy many commercial tape programs into
Rabbit format.  Once your files are converted, they really do load
at amazing speeds.  The copy command has some problems with
protected and multi part load commercial programs.  With a little
experimentation, most commercial programs can be made to work.

The Rabbit also has two data file types, which I didn't try very
much.  They seem to work pretty much as advertised.  The machine
language monitor seems to be pretty similar to supermon or
micromon.  It can be handy, especially if you need a ml monitor
which cannot be overwritten by software.

To use the Rabbit, you plug it into the cartridge port.  After
powerup, you need to issue a sys command to "turn it on".  It
takes away 8k from the top of your basic memory.  You lose this
memory whenever you have the Rabbit plugged in, whether it is
acitvated or not.  Once it is activated, you can load and save in
either standard format or Rabbit format.  To load in Rabbit
format, you type *L "filename".  There are two ways to save a file
with the Rabbit.  You can choose to save it with a long header or
with a short header.  I allways used the short header format, with
no problems.  The verify command works differently from the
standard C64 one.  The Rabbit verify just tests to see if the file
can be read without errors.  It does not compare the file to the
program in memory.  The Rabbit also has a command to append a
program from tape to a program in memory.  This command will not
renumber the program being appended however.

In summary, this is a product that not only works, it does
everything claimed and does it well.  At the time that I bought
it, I had no disk drive, and this product was a great help to me.
I was entirely satisfied, and would not hesitate to reccomend this
product to others.  The Rabbit is available directly from Eastern
House, but you can sometimes find it cheaper at a mail order
house.

I am not associated with Eastern House in any way, except as a
happy customer.

	          Eastern House
	          3239 Linda Dr.
	          Winston Salem NC
	          27106
	          (919)924-2889
	          (919)748-8446

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Hope this helps you out!  I've lost the original author's name, but I'd
like to thank you if you're still out there.

Bubba Pearson