b5576879@rick.cs.ubc.ca (barry douglas ferg) (04/25/91)
Greetings all.
I've had my C64 for five or six years now, but only recently started reading
this newsgroup. Needless to say, I was quite surprised by the activity of
such a so-called "obsolete" machine's user base. Anyway, I have a few
questions about certain new developments which I hope that you experts can
answer.
- Most of the time, my C64 is used as a reasonably smart terminal.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a decent terminal prog for it.
I need something that will run at 2400 bps (out of the serial port) with 80
cols, VT100 emulation and kermit. Mostly I use Terminal One v8.15, but it
leaves a lot to be desired in terms of its user interface, and lacks a
workable kermit protocol. Novaterm 9.1 is out also - it has problems
keeping up with 2400 bps, and no kermit at all. Are there any other
programs available with these capabilities? I've heard rumours of
Novaterm 9.2, but haven't seen it anywhere yet.
- I've heard a lot about these 'REU's. (Which I assume stands for RAM
Expansion Unit). Are they still available, and worth buying? How easy is
it to modify them for higher capacity? Is this even possible with a 64?
Are there battery backed up models? Finally, how easy are they to program?
- I am really interested in making my own cartridges, burning EPROMS, etc.
If anyone has had any experience with this kind of thing, I'd like to hear
from them. Also, I'd appreciate it if someone could direct me to a suitable
reference book on the matter.
- I've heard of plans for installing a second SID chip for stereo sound.
Anyone have any info?
- I'm planning on building an audio digitizing board for the C64 this summer.
If anyone else has any experience or info on this I'd like to hear about it.
- What is the capacity of the 1581 (3.5") drive? Are they still available?
- Finally, I've heard a lot about these "super cartridges" filled with
utilities. Which one do you consider to be the best?
>Whew!< Thanks for your time. I'd appreciate any information on the above
topics. I'll post summaries if anything of interest pops up.
Barry Ferg
Email: barry_ferg@mtsg.ubc.ca
or try the return pathcs4344af@cse.uta.edu (Fuzzy Fox) (04/26/91)
In article <1991Apr25.023026.7871@rick.cs.ubc.ca> b5576879@rick.cs.ubc.ca (barry douglas ferg) writes: >- Most of the time, my C64 is used as a reasonably smart terminal. > Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a decent terminal prog for it. > I need something that will run at 2400 bps (out of the serial port) with 80 > cols, VT100 emulation and kermit. See my other message about Kermit 2.2. Oh, it can be FTP'd from milton.u.washington.edu, in the /public/download/c64current directory, I believe. >- I've heard a lot about these 'REU's. (Which I assume stands for RAM > Expansion Unit). Are they still available, and worth buying? How easy is > it to modify them for higher capacity? Is this even possible with a 64? > Are there battery backed up models? Finally, how easy are they to program? They are still available, and prices are lower now than they have ever been. They come in 128K, 256K, and 512K flavors, and many people have posted technical specs to upgrade them to 2 Meg. Software support is limited. Usually only the most recent software will acknowledge them. GEOS uses it to the max, and if you use GEOS at all, you will find an REU to be extremely useful. Watch out for GeoRAM, which is a 512K expansion put out by Berkeley Softworks. It is cheaper and also expands to 512K but it is NOT compatible with a real REU, and can only be used by GEOS. The REU's are easy to program, with simple commands to load, store, and swap the 64's memory to and from the REU's memory. >- Finally, I've heard a lot about these "super cartridges" filled with > utilities. Which one do you consider to be the best? The best is Super Snapshot, V5. Just read one of their ads. -- David DeSimone, aka "Fuzzy Fox" on some networks. /!/! INET: an207@cleveland.freenet.edu / .. Q-Link: Fuzzy Fox / --* Quote: "Foxes are people too! And vice versa." / ---