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From: knnngt@ukma.UUCP (Alan Kennington)
Newsgroups: net.micro.atari
Subject: Re: Reply to: Questions about ST vs. AMIGA
Message-ID: <2425@ukma.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 21-Dec-85 04:27:04 EST
Article-I.D.: ukma.2425
Posted: Sat Dec 21 04:27:04 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Dec-85 00:18:20 EST
Reply-To: knnngt@ukma.UUCP (Alan Kennington)
Distribution: net.micro.atari
Organization: Univ. of KY Mathematical Sciences
Lines: 50
Keywords: ST sttalk VT52
Summary: comments on ST

+++++++Line eaters do not exist any more, do they?++++++++

	Just a few comments about the ST.
	In answer to question about power supply compatibility with Europe,
the story Atari people told me is that since the disk drive and computer
run on DC power supplies, there is no problem. You just buy the European
power supply (ie device for converting AC to DC) in Europe. I was told they 
might have a few European power supplies lying around in the US, and that
a dealer could get hold of them, probably. The SM124 runs at 70 Hz, a fact
that is well documented in magazines etc. It would actually be a good idea
to have some sort of listing of all the articles on the ST written in magazines.
	I for one would like to know exactly which issue of BYTE had the
technical article on the ST. A lot of questions asked here are answered in the
articles I read before buying an ST. Now the monitor actually plugs directly
into the wall. So I am not quite so clear as to how to adapt the monitor to
50 Hz Power. But at least the sync is not derived from the 60 Hz waveform,
which is cause for some optimism in this regard.
	The delightful screen quality that results from a combination of
70 Hz scanning + non-reflective screen + etc. etc. is one of the pleasures of
the ST. Does anyone know how to spread the dots over the full screen???
	On the subject of ST/Amiga comparisons, it certainly is noce to
get new information, especially when one is trying to make a decision on
a purchase, but questions like which one has the best screen, software etc.
are unanswerable. Questions about comparisons should be very specific, and
the questioner should invest in copies of the dozen or so articles that have
appeared lately. 
	Incidentally, I'm using my ST at the moment in VT52 Emulation mode
over a phone line to a VAX to write this note. The VT52 Em does 99% of things
just as the vi editor on UNIX wants it to. (Sometimes it makes an error
counting lines and positions the cursor on the screen one line above where
it is in the file.) But I must say that the copy of STTALK I have makes a
complete and utter mess of the very same commands from vi. 
	STTALK is perfect at communicating files via XMODEM, and the CAPTURE
mode also works perfectly. But instructions from vi just push the cursor to the
right of the screen, from which it never escapes. Hence I have had to leave
STTALK for the VT52 emulator to write this note.
	The VT52 Emulator has just made the error I mentioned. I escaped
from insert mode to replace two erroneous characters. And when I went back to
inserting, the cursor appeared one line above where it was (hopefully) in the
file. I'll have to check if this is truly so.
	Has anybody else found these problems, and if so, do you know the
solution(s)? 
	Another problem is line noise at 1200 baud. Every 15 characters or
so at 1200 baud, the VAX seems to receive a ^C from me. (With roughly
Poisson distribution of arrival.) So I suffer with 300 baud. This makes
reading superfluous info/questions painful.
	The version of STTALK I use is V1.0. I also have version 0.95. Has
a version later than 1.0 yet appeared?
				So long,
					Alan Kennington.