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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!osu-eddie!sutter
From: sutter@osu-eddie.UUCP (Bob Sutterfield)
Newsgroups: net.rumor
Subject: Re: Computer Horror Stories [Funny]
Message-ID: <1494@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Mar-86 00:40:18 EST
Article-I.D.: osu-eddi.1494
Posted: Mon Mar 17 00:40:18 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 18-Mar-86 02:34:52 EST
References: <14700001@hplabsb.UUCP> <476@mmm.UUCP> <9345@ritcv.UUCP> <104@mit-amt.MIT.EDU>
Distribution: net
Organization: OSU Instruction & Research Computer Center
Lines: 25
Summary: Micros, RF interference

In article <104@mit-amt.MIT.EDU>, gerber@mit-amt.MIT.EDU (Andrew S. Gerber) writes:
> ...
> The TRS-80 Model 1 used to put out so much RF interference, that one
> way of adding sound to ANY program was to put a small AM radio right
> by the machine, and listening to the electronic "music".  Some
> programs even used this trait of the trash-80, instead of connecting
> up the external speaker.

One of my earliest and fondest memories of those new-fangled PC's was when a
friend built the first Altair on the block.  It was endowed with something
like 128 bytes of memory, an 8080 CPU, that venerable Altair bus, and a
front panel with switches and lights.  The blinking lights impressed the
girls, but... that's another story.

One issue of Dr Dobb's (I believe) told of how to use timing loops to play
music through an AM radio set near the machine, just as described above.  We
spent several happy hours getting it to play the Star Trek theme Just Right,
loading values for duration and pitch into the display registers from the
toggle switches, and depositing into those precious few bytes of user
memory...  ah, for the good old days!
-- 
-----
Human: Bob Sutterfield
 Mail: sutter@osu-eddie.UUCP    sutterfield-r%osu-20@osu-eddie.UUCP
   or: sutter@ohio-state.ARPA   sutterfield-r%osu-20@ohio-state.ARPA