Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

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KayBee
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Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

Post by KayBee »

Hi ZXers,

I am working on a simple game for the ZX-81 and want to use some machine code routines. As a 48 year old I would like to actually finish this game, instead of abandoning it as we did in our teen years. I stumbled across a series of articles by Bob Fraser for the Timex Sinclair User magazine. They are machine code tutorials that are the best I have seen. Archive.org has issues 1-7. The bad news is this series of 5 articles starts in issue 5. So I have only 3 out of 5 parts. If anyone has these articles, I would appreciate your assistance.

Thank you.

KB
MaFli
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Re: Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

Post by MaFli »

It seems that only a handful of magazines were made before it stopped publication.
http://www.worldofspectrum.org/timex/tsuser.htm
Sorry... :-(
Lardo Boffin
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Re: Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

Post by Lardo Boffin »

I personally learnt most of what I know about Z80* from Mastering Machine Code on Your ZX81 (or 80) by Tony Baker. Everything else I learned by asking experts on this site!
These are usually up for sale on eBay assuming there isn't a PDF version you can download.
I don't know if this the best book out there (there are of course loads of good Z80 books) but it does go through a lot of the ZX81 specific stuff such as where to store code and not touching the indexed addressing registers as these are used by the display routines.
The website http://z80-heaven.wikidot.com/instructions-set has also proven useful for looking stuff up.

*some would argue (accurately) this is not a huge amount but I have written a game called runaway car (viewtopic.php?f=4&t=552&start=60) and had a go at Code golf (viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2376&start=10) so I guess it can't be all bad!

Lardo
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1024MAK
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Re: Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

Post by 1024MAK »

Lardo Boffin wrote: Sun May 21, 2017 12:48 am I personally learnt most of what I know about Z80* from Mastering Machine Code on Your ZX81 (or 80) by Tony Baker. Everything else I learned by asking experts on this site!
These are usually up for sale on eBay assuming there isn't a PDF version you can download.
There is both a PDF version and a error corrected HTML version online. I'm mobile, so don't have links to hand.

Mark
ZX81 Variations
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Moggy
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Re: Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

Post by Moggy »

Link here

http://www.users.waitrose.com/~thunor/m ... index.html

Plus a thread here which includes some musings about Tony Baker himself.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=694&p=6228#p6228
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GCHarder
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Re: Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

Post by GCHarder »

Moggy wrote: Sun May 21, 2017 2:04 pm Link here

http://www.users.waitrose.com/~thunor/m ... index.html

Plus a thread here which includes some musings about Tony Baker himself.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=694&p=6228#p6228
That's "herself", it's Toni Baker. I 've seen this error several times before it must've pissed her off I bet.

Regards;

Greg
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1024MAK
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Re: Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

Post by 1024MAK »

With reference to him or her, please read the forum thread that Moggy linked to in the post above.

Mark
ZX81 Variations
ZX81 Chip Pin-outs
ZX81 Video Transistor Buffer Amp

:!: Standby alert :!:
There are four lights!
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb :!:
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
Moggy
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Re: Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

Post by Moggy »

GCHarder wrote: Mon May 22, 2017 1:06 am
Moggy wrote: Sun May 21, 2017 2:04 pm Link here

http://www.users.waitrose.com/~thunor/m ... index.html

Plus a thread here which includes some musings about Tony Baker himself.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=694&p=6228#p6228
That's "herself", it's Toni Baker. I 've seen this error several times before it must've pissed her off I bet.

Regards;

Greg

Thanks for that Mark.

Greg you might want to dig a bit deeper before "correcting" me, read the thread Mark points to then perhaps offer a more informed opinion or come up with an explanation for the four references to gender mentioned.

There is out there a very early magazine interview with Tony Baker which amongst other things refers to the laddish pranks he got up to at the time in the office with his colleagues which for the life of me I cannot find so can only offer it anecdotally.

My version of the book has nice shiny inch high letters on the front saying TONY(masculine), the forward written by someone who met him refers to him as he and the other two curios are self explanatory and the first two are not in my view proof reading errors so as far as I'm concerned the books author was male at the time of writing and in any discussion on this topic nobody can offer a reasonable explanation,for example, to the female gender symbol listed immediately after the authors statement in the foreword about nothing staying the same and here's to the changes , or the deliberate change of the books final program that spell out a masculine version of the authors first name but in later book revisions feminises the authors first name .

I think one thing some think another but as no one here seems to know the author( and by that I don't mean a friend of someone's cousin who once met them in the street) it will only ever be a 50/50 guess on our parts, you say you have seen this "error" before so short of knowing the author personally and as there is zilch netwise about said author, on what basis do you state this to be an error? I offer a talking point about a few curios an opinion nothing more, you seem to be stating some obvious truth based on what I can only guess.

I respect your opinion please respect mine.

One last thing to think about .
Three revisions of this book existed all of which I have seen and two I own, all three bug ridden and error prone with NOT ONE CORRECTION of these errors in any revision so why revise? The only difference between first and last is that any reference to future(gender?) changes has been dropped and that in the foreword and end program he becomes she.
Last edited by Moggy on Mon May 22, 2017 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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1024MAK
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Re: Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

Post by 1024MAK »

Be careful with how you describe people, as in this modern world, there are males with male bodies, females with female bodies, and various variations in between (transgender)... so not 50/50...

Mark
ZX81 Variations
ZX81 Chip Pin-outs
ZX81 Video Transistor Buffer Amp

:!: Standby alert :!:
There are four lights!
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb :!:
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
Moggy
Posts: 3231
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:00 pm

Re: Bob Fraser ZX-81 Machine code articles. Missing parts.

Post by Moggy »

1024MAK wrote: Mon May 22, 2017 3:13 pm Be careful with how you describe people, as in this modern world, there are males with male bodies, females with female bodies, and various variations in between (transgender)... so not 50/50...

Mark
Your opinion is noted Mark and I certainly don't need warnings from anyone but without wishing to send anyone dashing for their safe-space or using trigger words I think most here will understand what I'm trying to say here about a point in time when it was regarded as 50/50.

I trust we are intelligent enough to understand the era I'm referring was more cut and dried in its thinking no offence is offered or should be inferred but at the same time I think people should be allowed to have their own opinion on what is 50/50 or not rather than be told "so not 50/50" . ;)

For the record so as to make my position clear I have have been active in what passed for transgender support since 1972 giving refuge in many cases in my own home to those who were thought of as "different",these days not so much as thankfully we live in more enlightened times and "Queer bashing" has been hopefully consigned to the dustbin of history.
Over the years for wanting to help my brothers and sisters I have been shot in the right knee, right rear thigh and had my "chord" hand smashed by those less enamoured with transgendered people and thought me worse than them which ended my career in professional music. Some of my experiences over the years may explain my being drawn to the above discussion about a thirty odd year old book.

Anyhow much too heavy for zeddy forum so consider me done and back to all things zeddy. :D
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