gibson@trwrb.UUCP (Greg Gibson) (03/15/90)
Spectre GCR: A few days ago I posted an article stating I could not get my Spectre GCR to read Mac disks. Well, I have solve that problem. My GCR to Mega 2 cable was to loose. The rubber insulation on the cable fitting was to thick for flopy disk port on the back of the Mega2. I used a knife to remove about 1/8 inch of rubber so the cable would fit tightly. Now my GCR will read, write, and format Mac disks. The Spectre GCR will also read Magic Sac formated disks. Also, I did not have to reformat my hard drive when I converted a Gemdos partition to a Spectre partition. The Spectre GCR will accept hard drive partitions created by the Magic Sac but a Magic Sac partition does not work as well as a Spectre partition. The Spectre uses HFS and the Magic Sac uses MFS file system. So I copied the files from my Magic Sac partition to my Spectre partition and convert the Magic Sac partition to a Spectre partition. I also managed to transfer a spreadsheet .wks file created by VIP to the Mac for loading into Excel. I did a xmodem binary upload to a mainframe followed by a xmodem binary download to the Mac Mode. The download must be done with MacBinary disabled. I am very happy with my GCR. Multisync: I received letters asking me about my Nec GS(black & white) Multisync monitor. I got an article from comp.sys.atari.bin describing how my friend made the box that allowed me to use the Nec Multisync GS in all three Atari screen modes, High, Med, Low Res. The box works on both the color and b&w Nec Multisync. My box cost about $40 to make. At that time, the Atari monitor plug cost $20. I also had to buy a case, switches and resistors. These boxes are currently commerically availble. In the "ST Informer", one such box is advertised: Talon Technology Group (619) 792-6511 Omniswitch $90 The GS is as good as the Atari in mono mode. However, I expect my GS to live longer than my Atari mono. The GS is better than the Atari for text in medium mode. The GS will also work is low rez mode. The low rez mode picture is sharp and clear. The Atari color monitor is better than the GS in low rez mode however, the GS is an acceptable option. Also, the GS does not have a speaker or amplifier. I use two monitors, the Atari color and the GS. I use the monitor switch box made by Practical Solutions to switch between monitors. This switch box provides a audio RCA plug (stero plug) that I have connected to a tape recorder to provide sound when I am using the GS. If I were forced to used only one monitor, I might lean toward using the Nec GS multisync instead of the Nec color multisync because of the GS screen is excellant in high res mode. Cordless mouse: I have had the cordless mouse for over a month without changing batteries. The mouse shuts off when not in use. The cordless is more comfortable to use than the Atari mouse. However, the Atari mouse seems to respond faster to quick left and right motion than the cordless mouse. The only time I see the difference is when playing a game that requires quick mouse motion. Gregory S. Gibson gibson@pigpen.dsd.trw.com.