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ScuzzBlog: Diaries September 2017

Entry 27th September 2017: Post: 3


A day down by the CPC

 

As promised my day with the Amstrad CPC 464

Time to check if she is running fine

That little 'CTRL' and small 'ENTER' most
important when using the TAPE

Amstrad were very keen to add the TAPE
to the basic computer.

Trust me .. there is nothing complex about
the diagram on the tape unit

That's the external 3" DDI-1 that I repaired
earlier this year. Sitting on top of my cassette
case from the early seventies no less

My DDI's have differing cover face plates

If you have an Amstrad you are also going
to need the monitor cus they power the computer
You can also see the DDI interface and ribbon

The interface slot needs a good clean
with a stiff brush to get it working

The GT65 is a green screen. I have a few
colour but they are set up with 6128s

The mouse interface gives you the pass thro
I also have a base modulator for the machine

Nothing like a big BIG joystick

And they don't come any bigger than the
Quickshot with the CPC switch setting

OK to the screen and 64K memory and BASIC 1.0

A Quick bit of boring BASIC

When using the 3" drive to get the tape
working you simply enter 'SHIFT' with the
'at' key and type |tape and you are now in
TAPE mode for saving to the cassette

Time to press the 'CTRL' and small 'ENTER'
to check that the SAVE worked

A quick LIST and you can see all worked fine

Now let me try some software

MiniOffice Database on cassette

Incredibly easy to set up a data base

OK now type |disc and we are back to
using the 3" as the main drive

Type 'cat' to see the contents of the drive
For this I am using CP/M 2.2 with LOGO. Sadly
CP/M plus only works on the 6128 for me.

Entering |cpm [ note the special symbol ]
and we are into CP/M. Now we type ' DIR ' to
get a listing. From here we can FORMAT and
COPY disks and files

We can also fire up LOGO ' whooohoooo !!!

Time for the serious stuff

You can even design your own circuit

I won !!

Brightly coloured books to keep you happy

Manual on the DDI-1

I have a number of these books and they
are all very well thumbed. Same with the
6128. All the Amstrad kit tends to be well
used by the previous owners. Busy machines

Those important |tape and |disc commands explained

Disc usage with the DDI

You just don't get this type of helpful
software and guides with computers now

Software with 3" disk. Amstrad always
anticipated a move over to the floppy
from the cassette.

Teach yourself BASIC Part 1

Teach yourself BASIC Part 1

Teach yourself BASIC Part 2

Teach yourself BASIC Part 2

I just love DataBases

And that was that. My day with Amstrad
by the side of the CPC... and it was glorious


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Last updated 27/09/2017

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