All correspondence should be addressed to:
'''AMSOFT Brentwood House<br> 169 Kings Road<br> Brentwood Essex<br> CM14 4EF'''
All maintenance and service on the product must be carried out by AMSOFT authorized dealers. Neither AMSOFT nor AMSTRAD can accept any liability whatsoever for any loss or damage caused by service or maintenance by unauthorized personnel. This guide is intended only to assist the reader in the use of the product, and therefore AMSOFT and AMSTRAD shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever arising from the use of any information or particulars in, or any error or omission in, this manual or any incorrect use of the product.
<center>CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research Inc. <br>Z80 is a trademark of Zilog Inc. AMSDOS, CPC464, CPC664, CPC6128, DDI-1, and FD-1 are trademarks of AMSTRAD. First Published 1985
Written by Roland Perry <br>Illustrated by Alexander Martin
Electronics and SIO drivers by MEJ Electronics
Programming by AMSOFT:
Printer re-direction, PRESTEL, and TERMINAL by David Radisic <br>File transfer by Vik Olliver Concepts by Roland Perry Consolidation and ROM housekeeping by Cliff Lawson<br>Edited by Ivor Spital Published by AMSTRAD<br>Typeset by KAMSET typesetting graphics (Brentwood)</center>
Concepts by Roland Perry Consolidation and ROM housekeeping by Cliff Lawson Edited by Ivor Spital
Published by AMSTRAD Typeset by KAMSET typesetting graphics (Brentwood)
AMSTRAD is a registered trademark of AMSTRAD Consumer Electronics plc. Unauthorized use of the trademarks or word AMSTRAD is strictly forbidden. When you have fitted the AMSTRAD RS232C to your computer, you have the means to communicate with printers, modems, and other computers. Implementing such a link is often regarded as a very mysterious and complicated business, if only because of the serial interface‘s inherent flexibility and versatility. To help you use your AMSTRAD RS232C serial interface, we have provided instructions in the form of ‘magic spells‘. Simply select those spells which are relevant to your application by identifying the accompanying sketches.
A full technical explanation is available in a series of appendices. The examples in these ‘spells‘ are not intended to be an exhaustive survey of all the possible uses of the RS232C. They do represent, however, the majority of applications encountered.
The AMSTRAD RS232C serial interface, and these instructions, are suitable for use with the AMSTRAD CPC464, CPC664 and CPC6128 computers. The AMSTRAD RS232C works equally well with any of these computers. Some of the applications referred to work best with a disc drive, although cassette tape storage is usable as an alternative. Some disc drive applications will require CP/M 2.2 (supplied with both the CPC664, and with the DDI-1 add-on disc system for the CPC464), or CP/M Plus (supplied with the CPC6 128).
When operating in BASIC, the additional commands provided for the RS232C are programmed in a ROM supplied inside the RS232C and are accessed by keywords starting with a bar | symbol. The bar symbol is obtained by pressing
[SHIFT]@
The CP/M When operating in BASIC, the additional commands referred to provided for the RS232C are supplied on your standard CP/M system disc. The use of a serial interface allows you to connect equipment together using very simple wires up to 50 feet long. It is possible, using a modern, to convert the signals programmed in these wires into a form in which they can be sent almost any distance to another modern, over standard telephone lines. Most equipment manufacturers have agreed ROM supplied inside the connection details to RS232C and are accessed by keywords starting with a standard called ‘RS232C‘bar | symbol. It The bar symbol is also possible to connect devices which conform to the alternative ‘RS423‘ standard. <br>obtained by pressing
== Spell 1: Connecting the RS232C to your computer ==
'''[SHIFT]'''@
[[Image:RS232_illu_p5.jpg|400px]]
The CP/M commands referred to are supplied on your standard CP/M system disc. The use of a serial interface allows you to connect equipment together using very simple wires up to 50 feet long. It is possible, using a modern, to convert the signals in these wires into a form in which they can be sent almost any distance to another modern, over standard telephone lines. Most equipment manufacturers have agreed the connection details to a standard called ‘RS232C‘. It is also possible to connect devices which conform to the alternative ‘RS423‘ standard. <br>
Switch off the computer and remove anything connected to the computer‘s port marked ‘EXPANSION‘ or ‘FLOPPY DISC‘.
== Spell 1: Connecting the RS232C to your computer ==
[[Image:RS232 illu p5.jpg|400px]]
<br>
[[Image:RS232_illu_p5_2Switch off the computer and remove anything connected to the computer‘s port marked ‘EXPANSION‘ or ‘FLOPPY DISC‘.jpg|400px]]
== Spell 1: Connecting the RS232C to your computer ==
[[Image:RS232 illu p5 2.jpg|400px]]
<br>
Switch off the computer and remove anything connected to the computer‘s port marked ‘EXPANSION‘ or ‘FLOPPY DISC‘.
Switch on any additional expansion interfaces, connect the power supply unit on the RS232C to the mains supply, and switch on your computer, in that order. A ‘wake-up‘ message similar to the following will appear on the screen:
<br>
[[Image:RS232 illu p6.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:RS232_illu_p6.jpg|400px]] <br>
Always switch off in reverse order to the above, before disconnecting the RS232C (or any additional expansion interfaces) from the computer.