iss2 A M I G A N A I R W A V E S ---------------------------- August 1988 WELCOME to the second issue of Amigan Airwaves. Hopefully, everyone received the first issue, but I received very few comments on it and even fewer contributions to this issue! My latest database listing shows that our Group has grown to about 45 and is still growing as sales of the Amiga continue steadily upwards. Kathy tells me that her US Group currently numbers around 270 and that the German Group is now well established. Our Group is publicised on Compunet and elsewhere and I continue to receive enquiries almost daily by phone, by post and through my PBBS G4KCM-2. PD DISKS 1-3 Andy, G8NTH tells me that he has been kept very busy with requests for copies of the PD disks which brings me on to the subject of problems that have been experienced with these disks by a number of people. The most serious problem seems to have been with Connplex on Disk 3. This definitely seems to have bugs in it, one of which is capable of crashing or corrupting a hard disk as Ian G6KHW found to his cost. This has been reported back to Kathy and the author WA1PTC, and the problem has been confirmed; as a result, Kathy has stopped sending out this disk in the States. Access seems to have caused problems for some people; one theory is that this program will not run properly without memory expansion. The good news is that new, improved versions of both these programs are on the way, but whether they will be on the next PD disk remains to be seen. Before leaving the subject of disks, it is worth mentioning that I have encountered several cases of poor quality disks resulting in `read/write' errors and other problems. With disk prices coming down, the savings to be made by buying some of the more dubious unbranded disks are surely questionable. If anyone is interested in obtaining reliable, cheap disks in quantity, they should write to Ian, G6KHW who may be able to help. June Commodore Show The show at the Novotel seemed less crowded this year and was certainly dominated by Amiga hardware and software for the first time. My main acquisitions were an Okimate 20 colour printer and Deluxe Paint II. I am well pleased with both of these; the Okimate 20 at #140 was particularly good value and I was lucky to be able to pick up some cheap colour ribbons for it shortly afterwards. Normally these cost about #9 each and as they only make about 20 colour prints, running costs can be quite high. European Travels Immediately after the Commodore show, I drove to Portsmouth to catch the ferry to Caen and spent the next 14 days touring France, covering 2500 miles in all. The highlight of the tour was the Pyrenees and a visit to the Principality of Andorra where I was able to look up Ken C30BAB(G4HYQ) a member of our Group who had written to me previously explaining that his A 500 was out of action because of a failed IC 8520. Commodore service in that part of the world is virtually non-existent and he had no reply to his letter to Commodore U.K., so he was over the moon when I arrived with a replacement chip and he was able to get his A 500 going again. Andorra is a fascinating place if only for the duty-free prices and well worth a visit if you are in that part of the world. It was noticeable that there was very little mention of the Amiga in French computer magazines. In fact, I got the impression that computing in general was nothing like as popular in France as it is in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe. Perhaps one reason for this is because the French use the SECAM colour TV system and as far as I know, only NTSC and PAL versions of the Amiga are available; this would certainly limit the usefulness of the Amiga for video applications. Magazines In the last issue, I mentioned the impending arrival of a new magazine-Your Amiga. This has been followed in quick succession by Amiga Computing and ST/Amiga format leaving us with an almost bewildering choice at the bookstalls. I think that all the Amiga magazines are worth reading and as long as they don't fall into the trap of filling their pages with endless games reviews, I shall be tempted to take them all regularly, at least for the time being. At last I have heard the sad end to the story of the ill-fated Enigma magazine. I was invited to (but unable to attend) a creditor's meeting in Southampton at which it was reported that at the time of going into liquidation, Enigma Publishing was #63,000 in debt and it's founder, Julian Rosen was now living in the U.S. under an assumed name. I don't think that us creditors stand much chance of getting our advance subscriptions back........ RSGB 75th Anniversary I was fortunate enough to be among the invited guests at the opening ceremony and luncheon attended by Prince Philip on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary RSGB Convention at the NEC Birmingham on July 15. This was a memorable occasion in many respects; I acquired a new 2m multimode and antenna and met Andy, G8NTH for the first time which gave us a chance to chat about disk distribution and various other things. We also looked at the new Amiga-Fax on the ICS stand which was displaying remarkably detailed pictures and talked to the 18 year old German who designed both the hardware and the software. We learned that more developments are in the pipeline, so expect to hear a lot more about this very talented young man who runs his own company in Germany. Amiga Nets I still contact Kathy WB3KRN most Sunday evenings at 2200Z on 14.345 MHz. Summer time propagation has not been very favourable but conditions should be much better this autumn so keep listening and call in if you can. I would like to start up a European net, probably on 40m, but I am open to suggestions, so please drop me a line or send me a packet message via G4KCM-2 (NOW GB7KCM-2). Future PD Disks Kathy tells me that Disks 4 & 5 are in preparation and should be available September/October. Some members have suggested that other PD disks could be copied around the group which seems a good idea as long as we are all very careful about the dreaded virus. Andy has agreed to compile a list of `who has what' so please let him know what you have available or better still, send him copies and we should be able to set up a worthwhile library within our Group. Software Reviews I would like to include short reviews of the less well known Amiga software as a regular feature in future issues of Amigan Airwaves. Morris, G1PIB has kindly provided the following review of the Panmead Business Package which should be of interest to those of you who run your own businesses: `For the price, it's great value. In the package you get invoicing and sales analysis, stock control, sales ledger and general ledger. 500 accounts - 2500 transactions can be stored on disk. Instructions are at the bottom of the screen and both disks are interactive, depending on your choice of format. The amount of information printed on invoices is amazing, including auto VAT and special promo. messages. End of month and end of year are also catered for. All in all, a good package for the small business person (like me)'. Please let me have your views (however brief) on the software (or hardware) you have which other members might like to know about; also details of programs that you would like to see reviewed. Newsletters Issue 5 of Kathy's Amigan Beacon was sent via Compuserve across the Atlantic to Ian, G6KHW and thence via four hops of the NTS packet network to G4KCM-2 from where I downloaded it onto disk, letter perfect. I then used ED. to correct an error (made by Kathy) before printing the hard copy and sending it to Charlie for distribution. A pretty impressive demonstration of the ruggedness of packet transmissions. Many thanks for your help Ian. Reminders Please don't forget to send another SAE to Charlie in advance for the next issues of Newsletters. Please publicise the existence of our group whenever and wherever you can. Write to me (with SAE please) with any general queries about the Group, contributions for Amigan Airwaves and/or for an update of the database listing. For Your Diary The Personal Computer Show, Earls Court, Sept. 14-18 Commodore Christmas Show, Novotel Hammersmith, Nov. 18-20 73 for this time de BOB G3LMH