From: rmonagha@smu.edu (Robert Monaghan) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: AIM 65 src lst Re: slamming tiny basic? ;-) Re: first assembler? Followup-To: alt.folklore.computers Date: 23 Jul 2000 19:32:46 -0500 Organization: Southern Methodist University Lines: 32 Message-ID: <8lg2re$lfj$1@post.cis.smu.edu> References: <8knfb2$d90@netaxs.com> <8knneu$hpn$1@freenet9.carleton.ca> <8kopbf$krc$1@post.cis.smu.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: post.cis.smu.edu X-Trace: hermes.seas.smu.edu 964398767 7060 129.119.64.23 (24 Jul 2000 00:32:47 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@seas.smu.edu NNTP-Posting-Date: 24 Jul 2000 00:32:47 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!HSNX.atgi.net!cabal11.airnews.net!news.airnews.net!news.smu.edu!smu.edu!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:60410 yeah, pretty dang amazing how much can be done with a few kilobytes back then versus 350 megabytes now to just run win95 and office apps ;-) the most unusual/amazing of the source listings resources I've seen were for the Rockwell AIM65 single board microcomputer - complete source listing of the monitors with all entry points and documented code as part of the system documentation. Since the AIM65 had a 20 character alphanumeric LED display, and a matching 20 character strip printer, it had some decent i/o and printing/editing capability. Later, some inventive types figured out how to rotate and strobe the printer LEDs so as to generate 80 or more character printouts on the strip printer, rotated 90 degrees to the usual width axis, so you could do more normal editor and printer work. Used with an external video terminal, it made for some interesting capabilities ;-) Still remember how amazing it was to see the strip printer print out vertically instead of horizontally, and up to 255 characters per vertical line at that ;-) ;-) And while Microsoft basic in rom for the AIM65 was the usual stuff, it did have the curious feature that there was an indirect call to a routine (arcsine IIRC?) which let you implement your own machine language functions; similarly, the system checked for a ROM in one of the slots, and if an EPROM/ROM was present, started executing a BASIC program there, making the AIM65 an ideal smart datalogger or instrument ;-) sadly, I don't see anything in the standard BASIC stamp or development board series of today which comes close to such standalone systems - the assumption is that you will always interface via a PC - but then, the STAMPS are pretty handy and small ;-) grins bobm -- * Robert Monaghan POB752182 Dallas Tx 75275-2182 rmonagha@post.cis.smu.edu * * Third Party 35mm Lenses: http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/third/index.html * * Medium Format Cameras: http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/index.html megasite*