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