Load TSC BASIC on SWTPc 6800 from Laptop

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	by Bill Degnan - 06/04/2013 15:12
Here is how to load TSC BASIC onto your SWTPc 6800 from your laptop/desktop without disk drive, cassette or teletype, and for some reason you're having trouble sending a papertape image the normal way (papertape image link below). With this method you can slow down down enough to watch the download and use the log capture function of the termainal program to locate a RAM location. 1. You need a working SWTPC 6800 computer with 8K RAM set to 0000 - 3FFF, and a MP-S serial card set for RS232 communications. 2. You need a copy of TeraTerm or similar terminal program installed on your laptop. Also download the specially-prepared TSC BASIC to your laptop. This version is made for a system with MIKBUG or SWTBUG monitor running and an MP-S serial card, only. 3. The SWTPC 6800 with MIKBUG or SWTBUG should be able to communicate with your laptop using the terminal program. From the prompt you should be able to check and edit memory (M 0000), etc. without problems. 4. Set your terminal program to use N/8/1. Baud rate is not important as long as you're able to communicate with your SWTPc. Change the character delay time setting used by your terminal serial port to at least 100 msec, so you can watch for errors while TSC BASIC is being downloaded. You can then adjust more / less of a delay until optimal for you. 5. With your terminal program displaying the MIKBUG or SWTBUG prompt, send the file TSCBASIC.txt. Leave binary UNchecked. 6. Watch as the file is downloaded. Basically what you're doing is simulating the keystrokes entered into the monitor program as if you were typing in TSC BASIC by hand incredibly fast. The character delay is necessary to allow the computer key input buffer to keep up with the simulated keystrokes. 7. When complete, the display will freeze waiting for input. Hit enter on the keyboard to return to the monitor prompt if not already there. 8. Type the command J 0100 [Enter] The computer should respond with the " > " prompt. (I changed the code to use a different prompt than the default ! mark). You can now enter BASIC commands. You can use also use this method to download BASIC programs. You can save BASIC programs by turning on the log capture feature in your terminal software and then LISTing your code. In addition to the file link above, you can also download a copy of the TSC Manual, and MP-S adapted S1 tape file here. Reply