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Old 22nd Jan 2023, 9:24 pm   #1
Timbucus
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Default More lost MK14 software

Just researching something totally different and came across this interesting advert in Practical Computing December 1979. It had an article called "Getting to grips with the MK-14" Page 84 as a follow up to their review the previous May with some hints and tips on fault finding, then some programming tips. I think I have listed that before. But, in the adverts in the back I saw the attached from MIKOM with an SC/MP assember, sub-routines, payroll and stock systems ?, games etc.. with a new Hex Keyboard and a Cabinet...

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Practical-Computing-Dec-1979-GettingToGrips.pdf
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Old 23rd Jan 2023, 1:34 am   #2
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Thanks for adding this, which I'd not noticed before (Although I was looking at some of those magazine issues recently, for Newbear articles)

They make some interesting claims for their assembler, that it produces faster, more efficient code, the produced-code needs less memory And also say that it produces 'compiled code' so an interpreter is not required.
So are these all compared to BASIC? (which you couldn't run on a standard MK14).
The less-errors over doing assembler by hand, they mention, is surely the real main benefit for a computer that you do program in machine code.
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Old 23rd Jan 2023, 1:40 am   #3
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Another great find by Tim, but do you know what never happens? The authors of these fantastic old MK14 related software and hardware items never emerge from the woodwork to say 'Oh, actually that was mine. In fact, I've still got copies of everything'.

Maybe one day.
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Old 23rd Jan 2023, 9:36 pm   #4
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

I suppose we could write to the address as "Occupier" and ask if anyone left anything there...
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Old 23rd Jan 2023, 10:03 pm   #5
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

I have the MIKOM "Assembler".
It's no such thing (Remember - "<300 bytes"!)
You write the machine code, it generates the offsets.
There is an editing facility that enables code changes. The "coding sheets" format the necessary data.
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Old 24th Jan 2023, 2:20 am   #6
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Well I suppose, they did actually call it a 'Hex Assembler'
(rather than a conventional 'Mnemonics Assembler' - Which would involve a way of entering the full alphabet like a QWERTY keyboard (and probably a VDU display, as well as probably quite a bit more memory).

But I'm sure many would like access to a copy, to try it.
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Old 24th Jan 2023, 2:47 am   #7
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

I'm not in UK at present.
I'll pursue in a month's time. It's a lot of data! ("21 page manual etc ")
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Old 24th Jan 2023, 2:34 pm   #8
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Quote:
Originally Posted by Timbucus View Post
I suppose we could write to the address as "Occupier" and ask if anyone left anything there...
1 Hythe Bridge Street is apparently a pub
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Old 24th Jan 2023, 2:37 pm   #9
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Might be something to do with these people: https://find-and-update.company-info...mpany/05536932

But they were only incorporated in 2005 and this chap would have only been 20 in 1979: https://find-and-update.company-info...Q/appointments
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Old 24th Jan 2023, 4:42 pm   #10
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

And was maybe studying at Oxford at the time?

It will be interesting to know if circuitryboy's documentation has an author's name or credit in it somewhere.
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Old 24th Jan 2023, 10:17 pm   #11
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nickthedentist View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Timbucus View Post
I suppose we could write to the address as "Occupier" and ask if anyone left anything there...
1 Hythe Bridge Street is apparently a pub
I know "working from home" seems to be a rather recent thing but you'd be surprised just how many of the addresses of companies in adverts in the computer and electronic magazines from the late 70s / early 80s were just normal residential homes, even from companies running large half or full page adverts.

It's pretty easy these days to look them up with google street view.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SiriusHardware View Post
Another great find by Tim, but do you know what never happens? The authors of these fantastic old MK14 related software and hardware items never emerge from the woodwork to say 'Oh, actually that was mine. In fact, I've still got copies of everything'.
I still have copies of everything I worked on back in the day for various companies like Watford Electronics and will eventually put it all on Github but sorry nothing for the MK14.
It's probable that some of the people involved in these early companies have died by now but it would be interesting to try and track them down.
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Old 24th Jan 2023, 11:22 pm   #12
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Quote:
you'd be surprised just how many of the addresses of companies in adverts in the computer and electronic magazines from the late 70s / early 80s were just normal residential homes
I often thought that about Science Of Cambridge (6, King's Parade) but a quick drive-by on Streetview shows it to be one innocuous looking little shop of many on a main road in Cambridge.

Quote:
everything I worked on back in the day for various companies like Watford Electronics
I'm guessing that might have been quite Acorn-heavy (a bit off topic for this thread, but a worthy subject for a new one if ever you have time).
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Old 26th Jan 2023, 8:20 am   #13
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Responding to recent posts, I summoned a djinn (Clarke's Third Law) which visualised my datastick collection in UK and reported that:
The company was actually "MICOM"
Proprietors were "A.D. Payne" and "S.L. Payne"
I have 39 document scans in JPG averaging ~1.5 Mbytes apiece.
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Old 26th Jan 2023, 3:29 pm   #14
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

I remember heading up to 6, Kings Parade with newly soldered MK14 that had an issue with a dim display (Dad driving, I was about 11 at the time, late 1970s). I seem to recall that we had to enter through a door next to a newsagent, and head upstairs. A very nice chap soldered a couple of capacitors somewhere I recall and all was good. In retrospect, pretty certain that was Chris Curry. I still have said MK14!
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Old 26th Jan 2023, 5:36 pm   #15
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Quote:
Originally Posted by Profjordan View Post
I remember heading up to 6, Kings Parade with newly soldered MK14 that had an issue with a dim display (Dad driving, I was about 11 at the time, late 1970s). I seem to recall that we had to enter through a door next to a newsagent, and head upstairs. A very nice chap soldered a couple of capacitors somewhere I recall and all was good. In retrospect, pretty certain that was Chris Curry. I still have said MK14!
Is there any chance you could show us what that capacitor mod was? It would be nice to have a record of that.
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Old 26th Jan 2023, 7:53 pm   #16
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Will see if I can dig out the board over the next couple of weeks and post a photo!
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Old 16th Feb 2023, 9:45 pm   #17
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Back from the Arabian Sea, I return us to topic and present your "Assembler":-

(And for the record, I identified Molex 'Soldercon' sockets in March 2021.)
Attached Files
File Type: pdf MICOM Part 1.pdf (3.68 MB, 62 views)
File Type: pdf MICOM Part 2.pdf (3.62 MB, 41 views)
File Type: pdf MICOM Part 3.pdf (3.54 MB, 32 views)
File Type: pdf MICOM Part 4.pdf (3.37 MB, 39 views)
File Type: pdf MICOM Part 5.pdf (783.7 KB, 33 views)
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Old 17th Feb 2023, 9:28 am   #18
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Circuitryboy, thank you very much for taking the time to find and post these interesting documents - they are a really valuable addition to our store of MK14 history. It shows the lengths people went to to try to make the MK14 a more usable machine.

We should probably convert the code sections of the document to hex file form, if only by typing them into a hex editor and saving them or by defining them as .DB statements for SBASM to assemble as Intel Hex.

Are you aware of any errors in any of the hex code listings?
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Old 19th Feb 2023, 12:38 am   #19
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

Yes, thanks circuitryboy for posting these.

I've merged all of these into a single pdf, and OCR'd this which brought size down from 15MB to 8MB. I did also use the Full Acrobat 9 standard 'Reduce File Size' to compress this. But even using maximum setting of Acrobat >= version 9, it still came out to be > 5MB - A bit too-large to attach here.
So I've uploaded it to Google Drive, to share this, as haven't got any other webspace yet.

OCR'd version:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XBA...usp=share_link

And 'compressed' one: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11yq...usp=share_link


I thought it may help with program-listing, but would still need to paste these into a suitable file / hex editor, possibly removing spaces etc. and save that - Not sure there's a way of generating an (Intel etc) Hex file without checksums, and have an editor add these.
Although I did notice a slight narrow blank line through top of one row of original printed hex-dump, so OCR-ing may not have managed to resolve that, possibly leaving as filled-in with bit-map graphics as I've often found most OCRing is rarely 100% (Although at least Acrobat Std. doesn't seem to put wrong charaxters in, and retains the same appearance / font as original)
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Old 19th Feb 2023, 2:19 am   #20
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Default Re: More lost MK14 software

I've found that files are better hosted elsewhere and linked here on the forum, it allows updates and edits whereas on the forum, once the edit window has passed thats it
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