Acorn export bandwagon is rolling
A DRAMATIC breakthrough by Acorn on the export front has resulted
in a forecast that overseas sales this year will account for up
to 15 per cent of the group's turnover.
Such is the company's current success story abroad that The
Micro User has learned that it will have opened up eight new foreign
markets by the summer alone.
"We are going from strength to strength", said Bob
Bayham of Acorn International, the organisation formed little
more than a year ago to spearhead the export drive.
"By the end of the year, we expect exports to make up from
10 to 15 per cent of Acorn's revenue".
The company has yet to announce details of its eight new markets
but The Micro User is reliably informed that three are in Europe,
two being Italy and Spain.
Acorn has already established two overseas subsidiaries — in
the United States and Germany — while the remaining markets will
be handled for the time being by appointed distributors.
The US operation is expected to start paying real dividends
in the second half of this year as orders already taken there
are well in excess of 50 million dollars.
More than 1,000 dealers have been appointed in North America
to sell the BBC Micro and the American subsidiary has also established
an educational advisory board to vet software for the machine
out there.
Business users get a boost
BUSINESS software for the BBC Micro has received a powerful
boost with the release of new programs from Acorn and Clares.
BetaBase, from Clares, is claimed to be the most powerful database
yet for the BBC Micro.
A disc based system, it can handle over 2,000 records with a
maximum of 200 fields, each of up to 254 bytes.
On entering the parameters of a file, BetaBase formats the disc
to the required number of records.
Meanwhile, Acorn have finally released its long-promised suite
of business software for the BBC Micro.
Officially titled 'Small Business Programs', the intention is
to offer a com-prehensive range of accounting, invoice and stock
facilities essential to the small firm.
Air ace flies again
BATTLE of Britain fever gripped London again when a wartime
fighter ace scrambled to take to the air in a Spitfire.
Only this time Air Vice-Marshal Sandy Johnstone didn't leave
the ground, for it was all achieved on a BBC Micro.
The occasion was the launch of the world's first home computer
Spitfire flight simulator — the Aviator — developed by Acornsoft.
In what guests described as "a press relations masterstroke",
the event was held in the Battle of Britain Hall at the RAF Museum
in Hendon, with a real Spitfire in the background.
Air Vice-Marshal Johnstone, who commanded the world famous 602
Squadron during the battle, accepted an invitation to try his
hand at the new game.
SOFTWARE PIRATES ON THE AIR
SOFTWARE pirates, always ingenious in thwarting the protection
attempts of manufacturers, have begun to use the radio waves to
distribute their illicit copies.
Radio hams have started to use their sets to transfer software
directly to each other.
The whole operation is beginning to become highly organised.
Ringleaders frequently broadcast catalogues of hundreds of programs
from which other hams can take their pick.
Estimates of the amount of software pirated this way range from
£5 million to more than £20 million.
The practice came to light when Rochdale-based A&F Software
began to monitor transmissions.
Said managing director Mike FitzGerald: "We were amazed
at the scale of the operation. It's not just games - the other
night they were talking about sending Acorn-soft's View over the
air.
"Rest assured that we will take action against anyone pirating
our programs in this way.
"We've already got a list of call signs, and if the offenders
don't stop they'll have injunctions served on them to close down
their stations".
Contacted by The Micro User, the Radio Society of Great Britain
said it had no knowledge of any of its members being involved
in piracy.
"We know that some of our people are programmers and send
their programs over the air -which is quite legitimate",
said David Evans, the society's secretary.
"But obviously we would not expect amateurs to broadcast
any material where copyright law exists".
A&F seem to be leading the fight against piracy and other
abuses — to such an extent that their solicitors have just had
to dissuade Acorn themselves from using unauthorised copies.
At a recent Acorn Roadshow they were found to be using a disc
copy of A&F's best selling Chuckie Egg in their display.
Said Mike FitzGerald: "It was obviously an unauthorised
copy as we don't do a disc version. On top of that, the code had
been altered.
"If they'd asked permission they could have used the program
— it's good publicity.
"But it's bad publicity when they have the audacity to
change code and use a non-standard version".
An Acorn spokesman told Micro User they had no knowledge of
this happening, and if it did happen they believed it wasn't any
of their doing.
Spring launch for Second Processor
THE coming of spring saw the launch of Acorn's long-awaited
6502 Second Processor, an expansion device which converts a standard
BBC Micro Model B into a high speed dual processor system.
This means that the Model B takes care of all the screen and
input/output handling while the Second Processor runs the program
proper.
In effect, the BBC Micro acts as a terminal, controlling the
graphics.
The usual trade-off between the amount of memory available for
running programs and the graphics definition is thus avoided.
Attached to the micro by the tube interface, the Second Processor
consists of a 3mHz 6502 chip and 64k of user memory, running 50
per cent faster than the BBC Micro.
Up to 44k of the Second Processor's memory can be used for Basic
programs, with a massive 60k available for assembly language programs.
Two ROMs come with the package. The first is the 16k "Hi-Basic"
chip which provides the Basic for the Second Processor.
The second ROM updates and replaces the user's disc or Econet
filing systems with a single chip.
Acorn claims that the Second Processor out performs all other
home and personal computers currently available -including 16
bit and 32 bit machines.
The unit, complete with the two ROMs and User Guide, costs £199.
Despite Acorn's assurances that the Second Processor is available
now, dealers have been told that it will be several weeks before
they are in the shops.
... and Bitstick opens way to CAD
THE BBC Micro has entered the field of computer-aided design
with the launch of its Bitstik.
Basically a precision three axis joystick with software, it
uses the speed and power provided by the 6502 Second Processor
to provide a low cost computer-aided drawing facility.
The menu-driven Bitstik allows wide and easy control over the
creation and manipulation of onscreen drawings.
Lines, curves and circles can be drawn in three user-selected
colours with "painting" available in four colours and
twelve shades.
An outstanding feature of the Bitstik is its ability to zoom
and pan in on a drawing, allowing it to be magnified and displayed
to virtually any degree.
Also individual elements of the picture can be moved, copied,
enlarged, shrunk, reversed and reorientated as needed.
Finished drawings can be saved onto disc, each holding up to
48 pictures which can be displayed on a pictorial index.
An in-built dump facility enables screen images to be printed
on Acorn's Sparkjet Printer.
The graphics software for the Bitstik is held on a ROM chip,
while the system master utilities are provided on an 80 track
floppy disc.
The entire system, consisting of Bitstik, BBC Micro, high resolution
colour monitor, 6502 Second Processor and 800k disc drive, costs
under £2,000.
* * *
PERSISTENT rumours that Acorn is about to drop the Econet local
networking system have been strongly denied.
"Far from dropping it, we are still developing Econet and
will continue to develop and support it for quite some time",
said an Acorn spokesman.
As a proof of this comes the Level II Econet fileserver, an
update on the Level I which allows, among other things, the use
of random access files and password protection.
Enter the 100k Phloopy
A NEW and revolutionary mass storage system for the BBC Micro
called Phloopy has just been launched by Phi Mag systems of Falmouth.
Aimed at BBC Micro owners who want to save their programs on
something faster than cassette tapes but can't afford discs, the
Phloopy uses a 12-foot loop of 1/4 inch magnetic tape.
The system consists of the Phloopy drive itself, an interface
to the BBC Micro and ROM based software.
The tapes come in cartridges, each of which can store 100k of
data
Phi Mag claim that their tape loop system scores over other
such systems in its reliability.
This is the result of the "byte-wide" magnetic head
used to read and write to the tape.
The head reads nine tracks across the width of the tape, instead
of the usual single track.
This allows a shorter tape loop and, hence, faster access times.
The time to access a file can be as little as three seconds.
Robot pingpong is on the way
BRITISH and American robots are set to play each other at pingpong
in 1986.
The Robot Pingpong Contest, dreamed up by Dr John Billingsley
of Portsmouth Polytechnic, will pit computerised robots against
one another
Contest organisers think that sensors enabling robots to "see"
the ball and return it will be available within two years.
They also believe most of the contestants will be built by hobbyists
The first British "friendlies" will take place later
this year.
And American robotics fans are expected to take up the British
challenge at the International Personal Robot Congress and Exposition
this month in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Enquiries
Meanwhile, British contestants can get a fact sheet from Dr
Billingsley.
Already he has had around 30 enquiries from budding robot builders
-including one who wants to control his robot with a mainframe!
But Billingsley thinks most will be masterminded by humbler
gear such as the BBC Micro. And robot size will be limited by
its having to stand on a one-metre square.
"After all, we don't want the contestants too big"
he said. "Just imagine what would happen if a big one got
out of control".
* * *
HOBBIT publisher Melbourne House has brought out a "Guide
to Playing the Hobbit" at £3.95.
CABLE TV PUSHES COMPUTER GAMES
THE MICRO market may shortly make another sharp change in direction.
By the end of this year, computer games will start to pour into
the homes and TV sets of a growing number of cable subscribers.
And at a rental of around £10 a month, industry observers
predict a down-turn in business for retailers of micros and software.
Three companies are now wooing the cable operators - all with
basically similar plans.
British Telecom proposes to lend each of its cable subscribers
a Spectrum complete with joystick and a choice of 20 games and
educational programs.
Thorn EMI offers a software-only option for owners of micros
such as the BBC. Apple and Sinclair.
And high-street retailer W.H. Smith has a tie-in with The Games
Network, already a big name in America. The deal will include
a Japanese-built micro, and will also feature more than 20 programs.
But games are only the tip of the iceberg.
All. three companies expect that once they have a foot in the
door it will lead to home word processing, banking, shopping and
electronic mail.
And W.H. Smith is working on a range of software aimed squarely
at the small businessman.
Chips pop the cork
A LEADING manufac-turer of peripherals for the BBC Micro officially
opened its new £150,000 headquarters recently with a ceremony
where the champagne cork was fittingly popped by a computer.
Broadway Electronics of Bedford also marked the event by predicting
that it will create up to 50 new jobs in the next two years.
The success story of the four year old business which now has
a turnover in excess of £1 million -began when managing
director Paul Vaughan failed to clinch a sale.
Acorn Computers did not want to buy Paul's components. But instead,
he decided to stock their computers at his tiny Bedford shop.
"It was a major turning point", he explained. "When
the BBC Micro was launched, we established a reputation with schools
and colleges within a 50 mile radius as a servicing agent.
"Then a year ago, we began to design and manufacture peripherals
for Acorn to give us a measure of product independence".
Ian McNaught Davis of BBC Television's programme, "Computers
in Control", was on hand to assist with the official opening.
Plug-in processor
CAMBRIDGE Micro-processor Systems has introduced a single board
plug-in second processor for the BBC Micro.
It is designed to enable software houses and engineering departments
to develop new hardware and software, and as a teaching aid in
further education.
When a BBC micro spells hope..
A POLICEMAN'S lot isn't always a happy one.
Like the time PC Colin Sanders, of the Greater Manchester force,
realised that his son Andrew was not like normal children.
For the sad fact is that 10-year-old Andrew is handicapped.
"Looking back, the signs were always there", recalls
his father. "He was late when it came to crawling, walking
and talking. I suppose we didn't want to face up to it.
"So it wasn't until after nine months at primary school
followed by transfer to a special school that his mother and I
had to come to terms with the problem".
Like most parents in the same situation, Colin Sanders and his
wife lived in hope of a miracle which would enable Andrew to show
some real improvement.
Now they are convinced he is on the verge of a breakthrough
- and it's all thanks to the micro revolution.
For since Andrew was introduced to a BBC Micro he has come on
in leaps and bounds.
His concentration has intensified, his coordination improved
substantially and he has recently mastered the ability to count
from one to ten.
The youngster first got hands-on experience of the computer
at the Hawthorne Special School in Denton near Manchester. It
was on the advice of his headmaster that his parents decided to
buy one for him at home.
As always however, money was the problem.
But Colin was so convinced that the computer was vital to his
son's wellbeing that he was prepared to sacrifice the family car.
However officials of the Police Benevolent Fund got to hear
of the story and stepped in with cash to buy a BBC Micro.
"We have been delighted with the results ever since we
got it home", Colin told The Micro User. "Every evening
he goes on it for a while, and he has already shown all round
improvement".
As they watch their son improve day by day, the Sanders are
filled with gratitude for the help they received.
"To the Police Benevolent Fund, I offer my heartfelt thanks",
says Colin. "I now hope and pray that the BBC Micro will
turn out to be the best buy of my life . . ."
Government aid is a Buggy-booster
A PLAN to give pound-for-pound government aid to secondary schools
for buying computing equipment is boosting sales of the BBC Buggy,
reports Economatics, maker of the robot.
The scheme also applies to printers and upgrades for the BBC
Micro.
It is administered by the Council for Educational Technology,
which acts as a clearing house for bulk orders.
Equipment bought under the scheme is paid for with cash from
the Department of Trade and Industry. Schools are then invoiced
at half price.
This means they pay about £60 for a buggy.
Economatics expects these low cost buggies to establish a grass
roots interest in robotics, just as the BBC Micro sparked off
a nationwide computer boom.
The DTI hopes that by the time the scheme ends in July every
secondary school will have a Buggy.
After July, further sales will go through the normal dealer
network.
In anticipation of a growing robotics boom, Economatics is working
on add-ons. A pen kit is to be released later this month followed
by a grab arm.
Some higher education establishments are also buying the BBC
Buggy, even though they do not qualify for the DTI rebate.
Party line
WIGAN Labour Party is putting all its records onto a BBC Micro
database system.
Beebriefs
THE BBC Micro is now fourth in the home micro charts. Just ahead,
in third place, is the Commodore 64.
Sinclair's Spectrum and ZX81 have a combined one-third market
share. Sales of two million home micros are forecast for 1984.
* * *
RME Diamant has brought out a series of BBC Micro programs for
builders. Typical subjects are U-value calculation, heat loss
and insulation depth.
* * *
Philips has launched a 12 inch monitor at £70 for micros,
including the BBC.
* * *
Acorn's forthcoming BBC-based business computer will have two
built-in floppy discs, beefed-up CPU, and sell around £900.
* * *
13,000 pirated computer games were seized by police in Manchester.
* * *
Acorn will launch a computer-aided design workstation this year.
* * *
Newsbox has designed a system based on the BBC Micro for newsagents.
* * *
Cyber Robotics is offering a five axis robot for use with the
Forth language on the BBC Micro.
* * *
Acorn has set up a venture capital fund for small high-tech companies
in the Cambridge area.
Micro games go on video
A VIDEO show has been made about computer games.
Christ Tarrant introduces the 35 minute programme, which shows
32 computer games, ranging from animated soccer to outerspace
adventures.
It shows what's on the market and explains how to play them.
The games were recorded without a camera directly from the games
computers - BBC Micro, Spectrum, Oric, Commodore - onto video
tape.
The idea is to let people sample games before they buy. The
video is available for sale or rental from leading dealers.
Sophisticated CAL made easier
AN authoring system for the BBC Micro that enables non-programmers
to write sophisticated computer-aided learning programs has been
launched by Acornsoft.
Called Microtext. the new system simplifies the production of
"man-computer" dialogues for a wide range of applications,
particularly in education and training, expert advice and information
retrieval and gathering.
Microtext is aimed at the non-computer expert, requiring only
a basic knowledge of the BBC Micro to produce sophisticated computer-aided
learning (CAL) systems.
Feature
All have text and graphics, response handling, decision making
and branching.
A key feature of Microtext is its "frame" structure.
Each frame represents a screen of text and graphics, together
with control commands to govern frame sequence.
A series of frames builds up into a module, whose size is limited
by available computer memory.
However a single Microtext program may be constructed from more
than one module — as many as there are room for on the user's
cassette tape or disc.
Microtext also supports sound and hi-res graphics, and can even
control devices such as slide projectors and videotape recorders
through the BBC Micro's user port.
Versions
Microtext was developed by the National Physical Laboratory.
It is currently available on cassette or disc.
ROM-based versions are to follow.
A publishing version of Microtext. to enable application programs
to be securely distributed and reduce user memory requirements,
is also planned.
The system comes complete with comprehensive documentation.
This includes authoring guide, reference card, function key
strip, and a "welcome" guide to the nine demonstration
programs included on the cassette.
* * *
THIS modem links the BBC and other popular micros to Prestel,
Micronet 800 and similar viewdata services.
The Telemod 2 sits beneath the telephone.
It connects to the phone line via the BT module extension socket
and will connect directly to the BBC and most other micros via
an RS232 or serial port.
SYMBNET FOR SCHOOLS
A NEW version of Symbiotic's Symbnet has been developed to enable
teachers to use the BBC Micro for full local area networking.
The system is said to require no great computer knowledge.
BBC Symbnet uses the same fibre optics as earlier versions.
It is compatible with Acorn DFS and with the tube.
NDOS (Network Disc Operating System) will run Acorn DFS software
without modification, even most protected systems.
Acorn DFS ROMs are not required.
All BBC Micros have full access to the network and none are
tied up as file servers.
Each Symbnet disc drive - a Winchester is treated by the system
as several floppies - can be either global or private for read
only or read-write access.
The system manager is kept on floppy disc. It allows configuration
of the system for such operations as automatic downloading of
programs and files when students log on.
Electronic mail is also part of the system, although student
use is restricted.
Symbnet allows project identities to be given to groups of users.
They may be used as addresses for messages and the teacher can
also send messages to individual users, groups, or to all users
of the network.
Full printer spooling is available so that any print can be
dumped to disc without any coding change.
Maximum distance between network stations is 9km without enhancing
the signal.
Secrets on top
BBC Micro fans who are looking for something a bit different
can now buy a system that will let them eavesdrop on secret radio
transmissions.
The breakthrough comes from Microcentre of Bognor Regis. Their
method enables anyone to decode morse, and signals from press
agencies, Interpol, embassies and other users of long-distance
short-wave broadcasts.
The transmissions sound like high-pitched whistles but in fact
contain messages.
No knowledge of morse is needed, because a decoder translates
the signal into plain language for display on a monitor screen.
However the price of around £1.000 is likely to deter
all but the keenest.
Hobbit speeds up
AT Ikon Computer Products, makers of the Hobbit tape drive,
top man David Tucker is busy taking orders from BBC Micro users
for his Ultra-Drive.
The new machine, like an improved Hobbit, holds nearly twice
the amount of data - 200k.
It is also claimed to give twice the speed — 1,200 bytes a second.
Ikon are planning to offer a factory upgrade which will put
Hobbits into the Ultra-Drive class.
BP 'build a robot' challenge
BP Oil has challenged Britain's schoolchildren to roll up their
sleeves and tackle the household chores — with a robot.
Winning schools can clean up prize money totalling about £3,000.
The BP Buildarobot competition offers two routes to the finals
at the School of Electrical Engineering, Arborfield, Reading,
in October next year.
One challenges schools to design and construct a freestyle robot
to perform a useful domestic task.
The other, for schools who prefer a set challenge, is to build
a mobile robot butler to serve a drink to two people seated in
a room.
Competitors, who must be under 19 on August 31, 1985, can enter
one or both categories.
Regional finals will decide who goes through to the national
finals.
The first BP Buildarobot competition had its finals last year
and the standard of entry won praise from Minister of State for
Industry and Information Technology, Kenneth Baker, who presented
the prizes.
Ghost walks in a micro store
THE BBC Micro's pul-ling power now apparently stretches beyond
the grave.
For the ghost of electronics pioneer Sebastian de Ferranti materialised
in a northern town recently just to get a glimpse of the machine.
Complete with silver topped cane, tailcoat and bowler hat, the
apparition of the Victorian genius dropped into the Wilmslow Micro
Centre. Cheshire, to see for himself the results of his visionary
dreams of a century ago.
It was all for the benefit of a government film unit which had
resurrected the 19th century gentleman in the form of actor John
Rankin for a television programme about the micro revolution.
The film, which has been booked by 60 TV stations around the
world, aims to highlight the enormous progress made since the
days when de Ferranti became a pioneer in the large scale use
of electricity.
Born in Liverpool in 1864, Sebastian de Ferranti invented Britain's
first major power station.
The company that still bears his name now makes chips for the
BBC Micro and the Electron at its Chadderton factory.
Bank managers are training on the BBC micro
BANK managers from all over the country have been climbing out
of their cupboards, casting aside bowlers and brollies in their
rush to get to grips with the BBC Micro.
They are all making their way to the Bank of Scotland's staff
training centre in Edinburgh where they are being given the opportunity
to work with a new network.
Designed by consultants Commscot. the system combines the BBC
Micro with the Torch Z80 dual disc drive and Torchnet to provide
a low cost flexible network.
Torchnet not only enables individual work stations to communicate
with one another but also to share the use of relatively expensive
additional equipment.
"We have always be lieved that our branch managers should
be in a position to offer something a bit more practical than
sympathy", said Stewart Henderson. manager of the bank's
training department.
"The objective of our investment in this installation is
not to turn our managers into technical consultants or advisers,
but to develop and heighten the awareness which already exists
of the areas in which microtechnology can be of assistance to
our customers".
BARRY WOOD'S TAILPIECE
TO go with their second processor, Acorn seem to have invented
a new form of double speak.
Quoth an Acorn spokesman: "They're available from the warehouse
now, but there may be some delay for new orders while we fulfil
the backlog".
* * *
ACTUALLY, I really do believe there's a warehouse full of the
things — they're probably hidden behind all those Electrons.
* * *
WHAT is certain is that because of the acute shortage of Electrons
Acorn have had an "Out of Stock" notice printed for
W.H. Smiths.
Good luck delivering those, lads ...
* * *
HAS anyone noticed that the QL in Sinclair's new machine stands
for "quantum leap"?
Considering that a quantum leap is probably the smallest "leap"
you can make, I think old Clive is being astonishingly honest.
* * *
"SO", quoth an inquisitive reporter to the ubiquitous
and unifor-mative Acorn spokesman, "your new business machine
will run Unix and Zenix, will it?"
"Who told you that?" cried the A S, aghast.
"You did", came the reply, "in your advert for
a programmer last month ".
* * *
WE had a phone call from an irate reader the other day. Apparently
he'd seen an advert in the mag offering "Plinth for BBC Micro".
He was disgusted when he got a monitor stand and not a high-level
language.
* * *
IN case you're wondering where I was last month, I was in Brazil,
sipping coffee with Ronald Biggs.
And you'll never guess who I saw over there — but don't worry,
Chris, your secret's safe with me ...
* * *
THE hyped-up press releases from software houses get worse and
worse. One of the latest gems announces a "pending release".
I wonder if they'll let me buy it with my "pending money"?
* * *
LATER in the same release they tell us that "the decision
was made to try and create a model program to cater for most all
specifics". Stirring stuff!
* * *
WELL I've got my micro and I've got my ashtray and all I need
now is something to fill it.
Maybe I should take up smoking.
* * *
NEVER mind asking where all the Electrons have got to, I've
got a much more interesting question.
What's happened to all the adverts for the Electron?
* * *
SO an Acorn spokesman denies that they might be dropping Econet.
Very reassuring.
But would you buy a used Econet from an Acorn spokesman?
