andrem@pyrman2.pyramid.com (Andre Molyneux) (03/16/91)
Time for yet another question about ye ol' 1000TX... :-)
One must enter the time and date everytime one powers up or resets this
beast. The Radio Shaft (I can call it that 'cause I worked there years
ago ;-) ) catalog lists a $40 option that keeps the time when the machine
is powered down. I think that it's just a chip, but it may be a plug-in
board. I'd rather not have to enter this info everytime I power up the
machine, but $40 sounds a bit steep to save a few extra keystrokes.
Is there a third-party chip or board that performs this same function
at a lower cost? I've recently seen some ads for third-party stuff for
Tandys, but this item was not among them.
P.S. For those who asked me to post if I got any answers about finding
a driver that allows a joystick mouse to be used with programs other
than Deskmate - unfortunately, I haven't. Looks like I may have to
buckle down and buy a serial mouse if I want to do more "point and
click"ing. :-(
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+---------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+dave@kbvan.com (Dave Van Allen) (03/18/91)
In article <148427@pyramid.pyramid.com> andrem@pyrman2.pyramid.com (Andre Molyneux) writes: >Time for yet another question about ye ol' 1000TX... :-) > >One must enter the time and date everytime one powers up or resets this >beast. The Radio Shaft (I can call it that 'cause I worked there years >ago ;-) ) catalog lists a $40 option that keeps the time when the machine >is powered down. I think that it's just a chip, but it may be a plug-in >board. I'd rather not have to enter this info everytime I power up the >machine, but $40 sounds a bit steep to save a few extra keystrokes. > >Is there a third-party chip or board that performs this same function >at a lower cost? I've recently seen some ads for third-party stuff for >Tandys, but this item was not among them. Ya, I worked there too. The smartWatch option is what you are refering to from tandy. It is a double-trucked IC socket with a clock chip and battery in it. They (Tandy) say it lasts 7 years. We (former Tandyites) know better and give it 3 years. For 39 bucks and the short trip to a shack it's worth it. Plus why wait for two weeks to save 5 bucks from a mail order house only to find out that it doesn't work in a TX?? +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Lehigh Software Systems --- (Medical Industry Software) | | Van Allen and Associates -- (anything for a buck enterprises) | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Dave Van Allen - dave@kbvan.com uunet!kbvan!dave CIS 73530,2463 | | Robert Repko - rtr@kbvan.com uunet!kbvan!rsquare!rtr | | | | "You'll never go forward unless you have something to look forward to" | | ~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~ | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
uhclem@nemesis.UUCP (03/18/91)
<> >One must enter the time and date everytime one powers up or resets this >beast. The Radio Shaft (I can call it that 'cause I worked there years >ago ;-) ) catalog lists a $40 option that keeps the time when the machine >is powered down. I think that it's just a chip, but it may be a plug-in >board. I'd rather not have to enter this info everytime I power up the >machine, but $40 sounds a bit steep to save a few extra keystrokes. The part is called a SmartWatch, and is made by Dallas Semiconductor. The actual part number is DS1216E. When you look at one, the DS1216 is on the chip, and the "E" is on the PCB that the chip is soldered to. These are available from retailers other than RS, but the price runs between $35 and $40 just about everywhere. They last anywhere from 5 to 10 years, depending on how you use it. You plug the SmartWatch into a ROM socket in your system and then plug the original ROM into the socket in the SmartWatch. >Is there a third-party chip or board that performs this same function >at a lower cost? I've recently seen some ads for third-party stuff for >Tandys, but this item was not among them. As above. Note that Dallas Semiconductor has sooo many patents on this that nobody has come up with an equivalent yet. Frank Durda IV <uhclem@nemesis.lonestar.org>|"How do I know? Been staring ...letni!rwsys!nemesis!uhclem | at a messed-up one for the ...decvax!microsoft!trsvax!nemesis!uhclem | past week."