geof@imagen.UUCP (Geoffrey Cooper) (12/15/86)
I am now the proud (?) owner of a TRS-80 Model III computer. I know
nothing about this machine, other than the obvious external
characteristics that show when you use it:
- two 5.25" floppy drives
- 64-column screen
- no control key on the keyboard (sigh)
- serial interface (?) on the bottom of the computer (DB-25 female connector)
- alleged 48K ram (says so on the machine)
- two printed circuit card edges protrude from the bottom of the
printer, implying that an edge connector might attach to them.
I also got a "Line Printer VII" matrix(?) printer. I got a Scripsit
word processing program with documentation.
* I have no documentation on TRSDOS
* I have no documentation on the machine itself (what's in
there, a Z-80?)
* I have a DB-25 to DB-25 connector that doesn't plug into
the printer. The printer has two connectors on it, one for
what looks like centronics parallel, the other a round
connector with some number of slanted slits in it. A switch
that selects "par", "8bit" or "7bit" leads me to believe that
the latter is a serial connector. There is no indication of
baud rate.
Help! Can anyone
a) give me a description of the machine?
b) give me a list of trsdos commands?
c) give me the pinout of the printer's serial connector,
and a hint or two about the baud rate?
d) allow me to photocopy a manual or two, or give me an address
to order them from?
Also, some other questions that I'd like to understand:
1) Are there other operating systems sold for this beast that
I should consider (OS9, CP/M)?
2) Can I run any useful languages on it?
3) Is it a dead end machine, or does tandy still support it
(I'll probably answer that one myself when I go down to radio
shack tomorrow night).
4) Is there a hint of compatibility with more recent tandy computers.
Any and all help will be greatly appreciated!
- Geof Cooper
{decwrl,sun,saber}!imagen!geof
^ n.b.: one 'f'piner@pur-phy.UUCP (Richard Piner) (12/18/86)
This is not to answer all of your questions, but just to give you a point in the right direction. If are really going to use your system, you will need a copy of LDOS 5.3.0. This is the latest operating system for the model III. Radio Shack does not really support the model III or I any more. By the way, note the version number, 5.3.0. has just been anounced. To get more information on LDOS and many other TRS-80 goodies, contact MISOSYS Inc., PO Box 239, Sterling VA 22170-0239, ph. 703-450-4181. (The MAX-80 is also supported). I have dealt with these folks many times, and they seem quite reliable. They also will answer questions. Richard Piner piner@galileo.physics.purdue.edu Usual disclaimers go here.
wchao@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (William Chao <Wchao@topaz.rutgers.edu>) (12/20/86)
I think RS may still have technical manuals for the III but you may have to order it from RS National Parts Division. There are quite a few softwares out there for the Model III but you should purchase the latest issue of 80-Micro to get an idea of what's going on. You should also try to locate as many back issues of 80-Micro as possible(library??) since the magazine has quite a few info/programs/vendors that has Model I/III and IV softwares. William Chao wchao@topaz.rutgers or try this: seismo!rutgers!topaz!wchao