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ScuzzBlog: Diaries October 2019

Entry 24th October 2019: Post 03: BASIC Amstrad PCW8256 - Part III.


BASIC Amstrad PCW8256 - Part III.

Other than my copy of Mallard BASIC for the PCW9512 I was pretty
light on technical books. In fact I only had this one. My little
adventure here into the world of BASIC was a consequence of me
happening across the book which I had obviously misplaced. This
book was well thumbed in the day and gave me a great lift up in
the world of BASIC, sufficient for me to write a whole bag of
text game adventures.

I was pretty conversant with BASIC on the Sinclair Spectrum and
found the transition to Mallard BASIC pretty easy. I still got
the odd issue with stuff that was included or not included.

I was testing out the PCW8256 which is the earlier model in the
PCW range. Interestingly on the green screen computer the disc
held data on both sides that required you to flip the disc
over to use both sides. So Side A was say Locoscript and on the
other side is CP/M.

The green lines you see on screen here are the boot process lines
that tell you the drive is working. Such a welcome site.

I did have a problem with the keyboard on this computer and
spent a good while fixing the keys. The last keys to come back
to life have little orange stars on them. By way of a test I
check those keys are working. I also fixed the floppy drive
which required the rubber bands replacing. She also has an
external 3.5" standard floppy drive.

I did manage to build my own bench for the computer and monitor
stand fashioned around the sketch in this book. Worked a treat.

Sorry for the shaky images I struggled without the tripod.

BASIC Amstrad PCW8256 - Part III.


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Last updated 25th October 2019

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