Source: Byte – January 1986
Byte was a popular magazine for many years and for most of that time it had a great deal of highly technical content. The last issue was published in 1998. The January 1986 issue features more than 400 pages and includes:
Features
- Product Description: The Atari 520ST – A very detailed and techinical look at the then brand new Atari 520ST.
- Ciarcia’s Circuit Cellar: Build an Analog-to-Digital Converter – Detailed instructions for building a 16-channel 12-bit high-speed A/D converter.
- Product Preview: Q&A – Q&A was a software package from Symantec that combined a word processor with an “intelligent assistant” and included features such as data merge, reporting capabilities and context sensitive help.
- Programming Project: A SIMPL Compiler, Part 2 – Subtitled “Procedures and Functions”, this is the second part of a series on creating a compiler for SIMPL, a high level programming language.
- Creating Reusable Modules – A tutorial on creating reusable modules in Modula-2.
- Programming Insight: Easy 3-D Graphics – Creating a BASIC program that plots 3D surfaces.
Themes
- Introduction – The theme this month is robotics. It’s interesting to see how much of this early robotics stuff has evolved and become common usage today.
- Machine Vision – An overview on what’s new in vision hardware including technical details on current common video cameras as well as solid state CCD based cameras among other things. A comparison of commercially available cameras suitable for machine vision is included.
- Robotic Tactile Sensing – Going hand in hand with vision is touch. Different types of tactile sensing are discussed and a comparison of available sensors is provided.
- Multiple Robotic Manipulators – This article is subtitled “Designing a task-oriented control system for multiple manipulators”. Sensing is one thing but actually doing something is quite another.
- Autonomous Robot Navigation – “Teaching robots to look before they leap.” Robot navigation has come a long way since 1986. Just look at what Tesla is doing today.
- AI in Comoputer Vision – Using artificial intelligence to allow robots to recognize what they see. Another field that has progressed a great deal since 1986.
- Automation in Organic Synthesis – This article discusses the automation to speed up the research process for organic chemical synthesis.
Reviews
- Reviewer’s Notebook – Includes some previews of items that will be reviewed in upcoming issues. Some of those items include Pocket APL, the Ace 2000 (Apple II compatible), and the Quick Data Drive for the Commodore 64.
- Canon’s A-200 – The Canon A-200 is a IBM PC compatible computer featuring 256K of RAM, 5 expansion slots (one in use by the video card), and two 5.25″ 360K disk drives for $2195.
- Color Fox – The Color Fox is a Silver Fox with a color monitor. The Silver Fox is apparently an off the shelf semi PC compatible Sanyo MBC-555 computer that has been enhanced by another company with double-sided quad-density drives (instead of the standard single or double-sided double-density drives) and more video RAM hence making it a bit more PC compatible. The quad density drives were somewhat unusual for a PC. Most either had double-sided double-density (360K) or double-side high-density (1.2MB).
- Eco-C88 C Compiler – A fairly decent, at least at the time, C compiler for MS-DOS computers.
- Inside the Sider – The Sider is a 10-megabyte hard drive for Apple II computers for “only” $695.
- Advantage! for the AT – That Advantage! is a multi-function add-on card for IBM AT (286-based) compatible computers. In includes memory expansion (up to 1.5 MB or 3 MB with a piggyback module), a serial RS-232C port, a parallel printer port and optional second serial port and game port.
- Enable – A nearly $700 software package that includes a word processor, spreadsheet, database management, graphics, communications and more and comes on 3 5.25″ floppy disks.
- Review Feedback – Feedback from readers about previous reviews for the Toshiba P1340, Compaq Deskpro, Stearns Desktop Computer and more.
Kernel
- Computing at Chaos Manor: One Minor Problem – The trials and tribulations of transferring a text file from an NEC PC-8201 portable computer to a Zenith Z-150 via a CompuPro 286/Z80…and other topics.
- Chaos Manor Mail – Mail from readers regarding the 68000 family of CPUs and Apple vs. IBM.
- According to Webster: Benchmarking – Discussions of benchmarking and the characteristics that good benchmarks should have along with some example programs.
- BYTE Japan: Favoring Kanji – NEC upgrades the PC-9801, the most popular line of personal computers in Japan at the time. There are several new variations but the top of the line model now contains a 286 processor. Apple also introduces teh Macintosh in Japan (DynaMac). Plus another look at the Fujitsu FM-16pi portable computer.
- BYTE U.K.: The Acorn RISC Machine – All about the first ARM processor.
- Mathematical Recreations: Euclid’s Algorithm – Implementing Euclid’s algorithm to find greatest common divisors and least common multiples in BASIC among other things.
- Circuit Cellar Feedback – Letters regarding using the BSr X-10 system, finding a UART, and parallel processing.
Departments
- Editorial: A Threat to Future Software – Copyright and patents and their threat to future software development.
- Microbytes – Brief news bits including new color LCDs from Epson and Toshiba; new write-once optical drives from Sony, AGA and Optimem; and the unveiling of the 68070 processor from Signetics and 32332 processor from National Semiconductor.
- Letters – Letters from readers about teh DSI Sieve Benchmark for the Mac, Cauzin Softstrip, Intel’s benchmarking strategy and more.
- What’s New – New products include the HP Vectra 286 based PC, Fantavision animation software for the Apple II, Presto! utlity for CP/M, IPC 320 RAM board 320K expansion for teh PC, Logitech’s Logimouse C7, PortaFile 20MB hard drive for teh PC, The Robotic Computing Kit, new 32-bit floating-point processor from AMD, DAC Easy Word for teh PC, Generic CADD for the PC, MicroPhone telecom software for the Mac, Epson Equity II and Equit III PCs, ACT-1200A and ACT-2400A data-compression units, Rayna Synth-in-a-Box, and more.
- Ask BYTE – Readers ask about RAM expansion for the Apple II, 6502 math utilities, the Prometheus VERSAcard for the Apple II, MIDI to RS-232C conversion, and more.
- Book Reviews – Reviews of Introduction to Robotics, The Microcomputer in Cell and Neurobiology Research and Data Base Management.
- New Services – New disks with BYTE listings and a list of some bulletin boards in Canada.
…and more!
