Matthew Reed

One of the most famous TRS-80 companies was Alpha Products. If you called technical support at Alpha Products after 1984, you probably spoke to Kevin Tschudi. While working there from 1981 to 1991, he wrote the VS-100 Talker software and Newclock-80 drivers and co-designed the A-Bus system. In this interview, conducted in August 2011, he talks about his experiences at Alpha Products. - Matthew Reed

Dan Gookin is a popular computer book author who has written 120 titles that have sold 12 million copies and been translated into over 30 languages. He is perhaps most famous for DOS for Dummies, his 1991 book which became the fastest selling computer book and launched the For Dummies series that continues today. He also maintains the web site Wambooli. In this interview, conducted in August 2011, he talks about how he started in computers with a TRS-80 Model III. - Matthew Reed

William Demas is the author of many notable TRS-80 games, including Panik, Frogs, Forbidden Planet, and Forbidden City. In this interview, conducted in July 2011, he discusses his TRS-80 games and experiences. - Matthew Reed

NEWDOS 2.1, also known as NEWDOS, NEWDOS/21, and NEWDOS+, was the first alternative disk operating system for the TRS-80 Model I. Introduced in March 1979 by Apparat, Inc. of Denver, Colorado, NEWDOS jump started the entire third-party TRS-80 disk operating system market. NEWDOS was considered by many to be an essential program for the Model I; it is quite possible that NEWDOS was more widely used than Model I TRSDOS itself. - Matthew Reed

I used TRSTools to apply my 2012 date extension patches because I wanted to make the update process as easy as possible for people using an emulated TRS-80 with virtual disks. But for those of us with a "real" physical TRS-80, or who just want to update their disks the old-fashioned way, here are the free patch files for my 2012 date extension update. There are three different sets of patches for three different operating systems: Model 4 LS-DOS 6.3.1, Model III LDOS 5.3.1, and Model I LDOS 5.3.1. Each set consists of an installer JCL file and six patch files. - Matthew Reed

To extend LDOS and LS-DOS file dating past 2011, I decided to use an approach that I devised back in 1993 when I was first writing PERUSE, my TRS-80 file utility. My method stores the new date in the same fields in the directory without taking up any more space or taking away any more file passwords. This approach is automatically compatible with all LDOS/LS-DOS disks and I have yet to encounter a file for which this dating scheme fails. (If you do, please let me know so that I can fix the problem.) With my patches, disks don’t even need to be converted but will just transparently store dates after 2011. My patches also fix a problem occasionally encountered with LDOS 5.3 and LS-DOS 6.3. If an older operating system was used to copy files onto a date converted disk, then the copied files will still have the older user password field. LDOS 5.3 and LS-DOS 6.3 (which replaced the user password with date and time) will interpret that password as a garbled date and time. The patches check... - Matthew Reed

The reason dates past 2011 aren’t allowed in LDOS and LS-DOS relates to the way the year is stored in the TRS-80 disk directory. All major TRS-80 operating systems used roughly the same format for the directory. That format was derived from both the original Model I TRSDOS and VTOS 4.0 (both written by Randy Cook). In the original date format (VTOS 4.0 and later), the date was stored in bytes 1 and 2 of a directory entry. Specifically, the file year was stored in three bits of byte 2. The maximum value that can be stored in three bits is 7, so the original allowed date range was between 1980 and 1987. In 1987, LS-DOS 6.3 and LDOS 5.3 were released by Logical Systems and MISOSYS to address the year limit. Extra space was needed in the directory to extend the dating, which both operating systems achieved by removing the access (also known as user) password. This new dating format became known as “extended dating” or “date converted.” - Matthew Reed

Nothing makes an operating system feel more antiquated than having an expiration date. For TRS-80 users, that expiration date is just around the corner. Model 4 LS-DOS and Model I and III LDOS will stop accepting the date in 2012 and the only solution is to disable the system date or lie about the year. I happen to believe that LDOS and LS-DOS still have life left in them, so I have developed a set of patches to extend date handling to 2079. The result is a 100 year dating window, beginning January 1, 1980 and ending December 31, 2079. The patches are free and there are six patches in the set: - Matthew Reed

The TRS-80 PT-210 Portable Terminal (catalog number 76-1001) was a mobile dumb terminal that provided a way for travelers to access remote computers while on the road. Introduced by Radio Shack in late 1982 for a price of $995.00, the PT-210 was promoted with the slogan “Now there’s a TRS-80 you can take with you on business trips!” The PT-210 weighed 15 pounds and came in a briefcase-style case. It contained a full-size 53-key keyboard, an acoustic coupler that communicated at 110 or 300 baud, and a “whisper-quiet” thermal printer. The catalog description stated: - Matthew Reed

Mathew, any idea what a near mint TRS-80 PT-210 Portable Terminal (catalog number 76-1001 is going for. I can't seem to find any sale data on the item. I even have a role of the paper for the printer. - Albert N. Milliron

I was saddened to learn that Rick Hanson, long time TRS-80 Model 100 evangelist and enthusiast, died on April 30, 2011. He was the founder of Club 100, a very important Model 100 user group that began in 1983 and still exists today at club100.org. Through Club 100, Rick Hanson repaired Model 100’s and provided them to people and groups that needed them, including newspapers and relief organizations. He also sold Model 100 peripherals and became the sole source of many items as the market contracted. He played a vital role in promoting new Model 100 hardware such as the NADSBox, a memory card storage device designed by Ken Pettit, and the REX, a ROM/RAM add-on designed by Stephen Adolph. He also ran the Club 100 BBS until October 2007. Rick Hanson enjoyed promoting the Model 100, and was featured many times in newspaper articles. He also made a memorable August 2001 appearance on Leo Laporte’s television show on the TechTV channel where he demonstrated the durability of a Model 100 by... - Matthew Reed

Several people have contacted me over the past few weeks to ask if I can do anything about the LS-DOS 2012 problem. The short answer is yes, but here is a brief summary of the "2012 problem" for those of you who don't know what it is. All of the major TRS-80 operating systems (including TRSDOS 6 and LS-DOS 6) modeled the way they stored disk files dates on the file dating scheme created by Randy Cook for his VTOS 4.0 operating system. VTOS 4.0, released in 1980, allowed file dates spanning 1980 to 1987. Back then eight years seemed like a long time, but 1988 eventually approached and something more needed to be done. In mid 1987 Logical Systems introduced LS-DOS 6.3 for the Model 4 and MISOSYS introduced LDOS 5.3 for the Model III and later Model I. Both LS-DOS 6.3 and LDOS 5.3 included many enhancements over previous versions, but their primary reason to exist was to extend file dating to 1999. (In the early 1990's, MISOSYS extended file dating even further in both operating systems... - Matthew Reed

The MegaMem, introduced in early 1990 by Anitek Software Products, was the ultimate memory upgrade solution for the TRS-80 Model III and 4. By using the same high capacity SIP (single in-line package) memory modules that were being used in PC compatibles at the time, the MegaMem allowed a Model 4 to be upgraded as high as 8MB. Unlike the HyperMem, an earlier Anitek memory upgrade product, the MegaMem required no soldering, trace cutting, or other surgery to the computer. Peter Ray, the president of Anitek, described the MegaMem as the upgrade for “people who can spend extra money and hate soldering.” - Matthew Reed

Jim Pickett wrote with an interesting question: I seem to remember that you could look through some of the early TRSDOS disks with SuperZap (a wonderful program) and in some of the blank spots, i.e., unused disk space not holding part of a program, and it had a message like "You rummy buzzard, you" or something like that. The "rummy buzzard" part was the only sure thing. I did a Google search on "rummy buzzard" but didn't get any hits. Does anyone remember this? Many people encountered that "rummy buzzard" message and several explanations were devised to explain it. Joe, you rummy buzzard The best remembered explanation is the "Joe, you rummy buzzard" story. It was related as fact in magazines such as 80 Micro and several user group newsletters, but I don't think it is true, for reasons explained later. Here is the overview: - Matthew Reed

Like many personal computers at the time, the TRS-80 Model I had fairly primitive built-in sound capabilities. That changed in 1980 with the introduction of the Orchestra-80, a small $79.95 unit that plugged into the TRS-80 and could play music with four simultaneous voices over a six octave range. Orchestra-80 was sold by Software Affair, Ltd., a company created by Bryan Eggers and Jon Bokelman. It became one of the best remembered hardware add-ons for the TRS-80. Orchestra-80 had predecessors in two earlier kit products for S-100 computers. In 1977, Software Technology Corporation introduced the STC Music System, which featured “Musical Arrangements by Jon Bokelman.” In 1979, after the STC Music System was no longer available, California Software Co. introduced the Software Music Synthesis System. Also created by Jon Bokelman, the Software Music Synthesis System, or SMS, maintained the same syntax as the STC Music System, even though it was a completely different product. - Matthew Reed

The TRS-80 Model 4, introduced on April 26, 1983, was the continuation of the TRS-80 computer line that had begun with the Model I in 1977. The Model 4 was officially launched for the press on April 27 at an event sponsored by the Boston Computer Society. The Model 4 was 100% compatible with the Model III and was able to run all Model III operating systems and applications. The designers of the Model 4 had taken great pains to ensure this complete compatibility to avoid the same kind of problems encountered when the TRS-80 Model III was introduced. The Model III had been only partially compatible with Model I software and lack of compatibility was viewed as a costly misstep by Radio Shack. Don White, the Model 4 product line manager, stated, “I took it once on the Model I/III incompatibility and I won't go through that again.” The Model 4 originally was available in three configurations: - Matthew Reed

The TRS-80 Model 4D (catalog number 26-1070) was Radio Shack's final entry in the line of TRS-80 computers that began in 1977 with the Model I. Many people (myself included) consider it to be the best TRS-80 and one of the finest 8-bit computers ever produced. Introduced in late 1985 at a price of $1199.00, the Model 4D was completely compatible with the Model 4 that it replaced and the wide range of Model 4 and Model III hardware and software. Unlike previous TRS-80 computers, the Model 4D was branded by Tandy (the parent company of Radio Shack) rather than Radio Shack itself. The full name was the “Tandy TRS-80 Model 4D Microcomputer System.” Also unlike previous models, there was no cassette version of the Model 4D and it doesn’t appear that it was ever sold outside of the United States and Canada. The Model 4D differed from the original Model 4 in several areas: - Matthew Reed

Just about all computer software has taken inspiration from other software that has preceded it, and operating systems are no exception. For example, it is well known that MS-DOS was based on CP/M, with some ideas borrowed from TOPS-20. Windows has strong structural similarities to VMS (both were designed by Dave Cutler). CP/M was itself inspired by TOPS-10. UNIX was inspired by Multics. And the list goes on. But what was the inspiration for TRSDOS, the disk operating system for the TRS-80? Randy Cook designed TRSDOS from scratch in 1978, but I think Datapoint DOS was his model. Datapoint DOS was the operating system for computers sold by Datapoint Corporation (originally CTC), such as the Datapoint 2200. Randy Cook had worked at Datapoint and it seems reasonable to assume that he was familiar with its concepts. For example, here are three representative characteristics present in TRSDOS and all TRS-80 operating systems derived from it: - Matthew Reed

In the early days of microcomputers, many considered learning Pascal to be the logical next step for beginning programmers after learning BASIC. Alcor Pascal, sold by Alcor Systems of Garland, Texas, was a “complete Jensen and Wirth Standard Pascal” and a popular choice for TRS-80 users who wanted to expand their programming horizons. In addition to the TRS-80 versions (which cost $199.00), Alcor Systems also sold Alcor Pascal versions for CP/M (including the Apple II with the Microsoft CP/M SoftCard) and later on for MS-DOS computers. Starting in 1983, Radio Shack began selling licensed versions of Alcor Pascal for the Model I/III (catalog number 26-2211) and the Model 4 (catalog number 26-2212). Both versions cost $249.95 Alcor Pascal had its origins in 1978 as a Pascal compiler for CP/M systems, a history that was detailed in the first issue of the Alcor Systems Newsletter in 1982: - Matthew Reed

In March 1979, a company named World Power Systems began running multi-page advertisement in many popular computer magazines, including Byte, Creative Computing, Interface Age, and Kilobaud Microcomputing. World Power Systems, founded by Jim Anderson, advertised a number of interesting and unusual products for the TRS-80 and S-100 computers at prices that seemed almost too good to be true. As it turned out, they were too good to be true; Jim Anderson was actually a prison escapee named Norman Henry Hunt and World Power Systems was an elaborate scam that ended up costing customers and suppliers hundreds of thousands of dollars. - Matthew Reed

The original TRS-80 Microcomputer System, later known as the TRS-80 Model I, shipped with Level I BASIC when it was introduced on August 3, 1977. An improved Level II BASIC written by Microsoft was announced at the time but was released some time later. Over the lifetime of the Model I, Radio Shack used four different versions of the Level II ROM even though the part number (26-1120) remained the same. Radio Shack never officially named the ROM versions, or even acknowledged the existence of any version other than the last, so the names used were created by users. - Matthew Reed

BYTE: The Small Systems Journal was one of the longest running computer magazines and also one of the most popular. It was published from September 1975 to July 1998 and at one point in the 1980’s was the largest magazine in the country. In addition to the United States version, there were also twenty licensed editions of BYTE published in other countries. BYTE was described by editor Carl Helmers in the premiere issue as “a monthly compendium of information for the owners and users of the new microcomputer systems becoming widely available at moderate cost.” It began at the start of the microcomputer revolution, even before mass-marketed computers were widely available, but also spanned into the age of the Internet and the World Wide Web. - Matthew Reed

The TRS-80 Multi-Pen Plotter (catalog number 26-1191) was similar to the earlier TRS-80 Plotter/Printer (catalog number 26-1190), but offered one important new feature: the ability to print in color. Described as an “intelligent plotter,” the Multi-Pen Plotter used replaceable colored pens to print on paper or transparencies. Even at a price of $1995.00, the Multi-Pen Plotter was cheaper than many other color output alternatives available at the time. In fact, the catalog description states that the Plotter “brings an affordable price to color graphics!” - Matthew Reed