Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!UHHEPG.BITNET!RALPH From: RALPH@UHHEPG.BITNET Newsgroups: comp.os.cpm Subject: Re: Supermicro magazine Message-ID: <8902052300.AA01115@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: 5 Feb 89 20:58:00 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 57 Date: 5-FEB-1989 12:30:18.72 From: Ralph Becker-Szendy RALPH AT UHHEPG To: 0::"info-cpm@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil" Subj: Re: Supermicro magazine writes: >... One card that got my attention offers a free trial issue of a magazine >called SUPERMICRO. It is described as a magazine devoted to VMEbus, Multibus >I/II, STD bus and S-100 bus. It is coverage of the S-100 bus that is of >interest to me. Has anyone subscribed or, at least, seen this magazine? I >hesitate largely because the $24 annual rate is for four issues. A bit >expensive for a few product announcements, don't you think? ... Yes, I subscribed to it for two or three issues, about a year ago (maybe a year and a half). They are now in some cardboard box behind my desk. The first issue I received was still called "S100 magazine", then they renamed themselves. Even at that time it was only 20% S100 coverage, the rest all VME, Multibus etc. Their cp/m coverage (from any non-S10 point of view) was nearly null. I don't think it's worth the price just for its S100 or cp/m coverage; except if you are desperate for the last magazine which has ANY (if little) S100 coverage. By the way ... speaking about cp/m and computer magazines: In Germany (and probably in Austria and Switzerland, too) there is still quite a bit of cp/m activity going on. I think there are three main reasons: (1) A whole lot of industrial control systems, based on the ECB bus (first used by Kontron); many boards are available (often from very small, innovative manufacturers). Many of the industrial control system boards are pretty expensive, but often powerfull (for example, the typical memory board is 64kB static CMOS memory with battery backup !) (2) Two popular German computer magazines picked up on the ECB bus, and had several lines of boards for it. There are several very nice boards available, and you can get empty PC boards and part kits pretty cheap. These days you have a choice of Z80, 64180, Z280, 8088, 68008, and even 68020 and 8086 for your processor on ECB boards, while sharing periphereals. One magazine even did an IBM XT look-alike on ECB boards. (3) The Amstrad cp/m machines (sold under the "Schneider" brand name) are pretty popular in the lower end of home-computers. Getting back to magazines, the two are - "mc" (which these days caters mostly to the IBM, Atari and Amiga market, and is more oriented towards product reviews and software, similar to Byte. Carries a few cp/m or Z80-hardware articles A YEAR, so not worth the price, - "c't" (yes, with an apostrophe in it), which is more hardware and project oriented. Typical projects these days are for example an 68020 adapter board for your Amiga, or a Z80 microcontroller board on 5cm x 8cm with ECB bus adapter (using SMD). Still has on the average a few 8-bit articles per issue. Very much recommended. If you happen to speak German and are interested, send me a message, I can give you the adresses where to subscribe (and even get back issues). If you happen to be close by, drop by my office and look at a stack of c't's. On the other hand, I am probably the only subscriber to this list in Hawaii who speaks German ... Ralph Becker-Szendy RALPH@UHHEPG.PHYS.HAWAII.EDU University of Hawaii / High Energy Physics Group RALPH@UHHEPG.BITNET Watanabe Hall #203, 2505 Correa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822 (808)948-7391