dan@Apple.COM (Dan Allen) (03/12/90)
The HP-48SX is an excellent complement for the Apple Macintosh. The HP-48 has an optional serial interface kit for the Macintosh (~$60) which includes two critical items: a cable and Kermit software to run on the Mac. (Kermit file transfer software for the HP-48 is built into the ROM of the 48.) Operation is simple. Probably my most common operation so far is to archive the entire contents of my HP-48 to the Mac. Here are the steps needed for such an operation 1. Plug the cable into the Macintosh's modem port and into the HP-48 2. Launch (double-click) Kermit on the Mac 3. Select "Receive file" from the File menu on the Mac 3. Create a tagged object such as :IO:Mar11 in stack level 1 of the HP-48 4. Press the ARCHIVE command (Memory menu #3) on the HP-48 The operation takes a minute or two for your entire HP-48 to be archived as a text file on the Mac. (Be careful not to edit it on the Mac because the file contains many control characters.) I do this every few days with the date of my archive as the name of the file. This operation is highly recommended right before messing with the debugger (ON-D) of the HP-48! One of the nice features of the Mac is that it is easy to create your own fonts. I have in fact, done just that: I have an HP-48 font that makes editing programs on the Mac very nice; no escape characters, backslashes, etc. When I finish the font (I have not done the diacritical vowels yet) I will post it to the net. I have also used MacTerminal with the debugger and the space key to download a portion of the ROM of the HP-48SX to the Mac as a text file. It looks like a disassembler written in ANSI C would be helpful in exploring the HP-48SX ROM. Dan Allen Apple Computer