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Please Note: The information in this document has just been translated over from the printed version (14-Aug-98) and is being reviewed. There are errors! This notice will go away once all the obvious errors are corrected. From there, this document will be upgraded over time.
The display on the Model 100, 102 and 200 computer is 40 characters by 8 lines (16 lines for the 200). For a wide variety of reasons, Model T owners want more characters per line on their display. Over the years, people have addressed this problem with varying degrees of success. Here is a run down on options available to those wanting more characters per line on their Model T.
Disk Video Interface (DVI) by Tandy/Radio Shack
Back in the mid-'80s, Tandy marketed a device called the Disk Video Interface (Aka: DVI). The DVI consisted of a box (approx 12" w x 6" h x 16" d), a monochrome monitor, a cable, a boot disk, and a manual. One would plug the cable into their Model T, follow the booting instructions in the manual, and be able to view their Model T activities at either 40 column or 80 column on the video monitor.
The DVI was an ok solution that worked pretty well. The main drawback was the cable for the Model 100. The bus-connector on the Model 100 end was easily broken. Furthermore, for some unknown reason, a decision was made to cross every pin-pair so that making a DVI cable is a nightmare--forcing the customer to go back to Radio Shack for DVI replacement cables at seventy bucks a pop.
A "best" solution for Model 100 users was to reduce breakage by equipping their system bus with a ZIF connector (zero Insertion Force). The Model 102 and 200 bus connector is much less fragile.
Two of the nice things about the DVI was its ability to give the user an 80 column display while online, and to facilitate file transfers (in ASCII only) to and from disk. HAM operators find these features worth investing in a DVI.
Today, DVIs are rare. No longer made, DVIs must be found. Buyer beware: You must get everything in working order. You can forgo the monitor and use your TV quite successfully, however. Club 100's brokerage service has successfully found DVIs for interested parties.
View80 on disk by Traveling Software
Again, back in the '80s, a company known for the best Model T software available (Traveling Software) developed a program that would allow the user to view .DO files in 60 column mode, and scroll right and left to view another 20 characters. An accompanying program allowed Model 100 and 102 users to go online (telcom) under the same 60 chr/line w/horz scroll for 20 more chrs. This program (for Model 100 and 102, not 200) known as View80, was distributed on tape, readable by CCR-82 cassette players--other recorders weren't as reliable.
In 1989, Club 100 acquired the manufacturing and distribution rights to the entire Traveling Software Model T product line. View80 on tape is one of the many products now available through Club 100. The astute management of Club 100, discontinued the tape distribution of View80 in favor of distribution on TPDD (Tandy Portable Disk Drive, 100K per disk), TPDD2 (Tandy Portable Disk Drive 2, 200K per disk) and MS-DOS (3.5" & 5.25") formatted disk media.
TPDD/TPDD2 users need only their drive and a Model T DOS to access and use View80 on TPDD or TPDD2 disk media. MS-DOS media users need one of the following: Lapdos II, BoosterLink (Aka: DeskLink) and a Model T DOS, Xmodem for the Model T, or Disk+ . . . and of course, the skill and knowledge necessary to accomplish a binary file transfer between their DOS computer and their Model T. Regardless, .CO file transfers are procedural, not technical, if you have the right tools.
View80 on the Ultimate ROM II by Traveling Software
Shortly after the introduction of View80 on tape, Traveling Software--with the help of Tom Bennett, PhD, Computer Science, Stanford Univ--developed a method of placing programming on an option ROM, wherein that programming ran from the ROMs address space; not from RAM. This opened the world of option ROM programming to the Model T world. To be fair, others such as Tandy/Radio Shack and PCSG (The Portable Computer "non"-Support Group) also developed option ROM programming for Model T's.
Traveling Software's star product was the Ultimate ROM II. This highly acclaimed option ROM program collection changed the simple Model T into a mighty tool. The Ultimate ROM II contains 4 programs and 2 loaders. They are as follows:
T-TWORD: A full-featured word processing and print formatting program capable of presenting professional looking text output on most parallel and serial printers; as well as laser printers.
T-BASE: A fully relational, programmable database and reporting tool set that could handle an incredible number of complex database application requirements. T-BASE files could also be used in conjunction with T-WORD for form letter output.
Idea!: A thought outline program for those wishing to develop projects in a structured manner.
View80: A fully-functional application of the 60+20 tape-based program with the following enhancements: At last, you could work in text in real-time in the 60+20 mode--no longer just view-only. The telcom online features remained intact.
TS-DOS Loader: Would find, load and run TS-DOS off of an attached TPDD/TPDD2 disk or from RAM if the .CO file existed in RAM. At last, loading and running the DOS was a push button affair. This loader also loads and run TS-DOS when connected to a DOS computer using Desk-Link.
Sardine Loader: Would find, load and run the Sardine spell check program off of an attached TPDD/TPDD2 disk. At last, loading and running the spell check was a push button affair.
Public Domain Programs
The Club 100 online library carries a wide variety of over 1,000 Model T programs. Access to the Club 100 online library is available for just $12 a year. The Club 100 BBS is available 24 hr/day at up to 2400 baud--accessible by any computer.
Note: Club 100 programs are also available on disk by mail.
Within the 1)Text category you will find the following file sets:
VIEW.BA 3943 VIEW.DO 2595 ACCESS.BA 404
VIEW80.100 4525 VIEW80.200 2934 LOAD80.BA 399 VIEW80.DO 1821