!====================================================================! ! ! ! CCCCC TTTTTTT SSSSS AA ! ! C T S A A ! ! C T SSSSS A A ! ! C T S AAAAAA ! ! CCCCC T SSSSS A A ! ! ! ! ! ! N N EEEE W W SSSSS L EEEEE TTTTTTT TTTTTTT EEEEE RRRR ! ! NN N E W W S L E T T E R R ! ! N N N EEE W W W SSSSS L EEE T T EEE RRRR ! ! N NN E W W W W S L E T T E R R ! ! N N EEEE W W SSSSS LLLLL EEEEE T T EEEEE R R ! ! ------------------------------------------------------------------ ! ! ------------------------------------------------------------------ ! ! ! ! Volume 2 May 6. 1987 PO Box 49474 ! ! Number 9 Austin, Tx 78765 ! ! ------------------------------------------------------------------ ! ! Disclaimer: ! ! ------------------------------------------------------------------ ! ! The CENTRAL TEXAS SYSOP ASSOCIATION takes no responsibility ! ! for the contents of the articles contained here, Nor do we ! ! necessarily agree with them; everything here is subject to ! ! debate. We publish everything of interest submitted. ! ! ------------------------------------------------------------------ ! ! ! ! For further information on The CENTRAL TEXAS SYSOP ASSOCIATION ! ! or this newsletter: ! ! CALL : WRITE : ! ! CTSA HOME BBS Central Texas Sysop Association ! ! CTSA UNLIMITED P.O. Box 49474 ! ! (512) 339-7199 Austin, Texas 78765 ! ! ! !====================================================================! This Month's Features: CTSA on the GO - Gene Chesser Through the Editor's Modem - Colby Jordan A Funny Thing Happened in the Documentation - Jim Westbrook Digital Communications with Packet Radio - Ben Thornton, WD5HLS Central Texas Sysop Association Constitution and By-Laws -=[]=- CTSA on the GO "Stormy weather" could characterize the past month at CTSA. The CTSA Unlimited bulletin board is finally up! We now have two phone lines, a new PC's Limited 286-12, two new Hayes 2400 external modems, DOS 3.3, DesQview, and Opus Communications Software. New message areas and file areas have been added to cover a broader spectrum of computers. The most exciting part of the restored CTSA Unlimited will be our NEW SYSOPS! We are adopting SysOps for management of message and file areas. The new format will give users knowledgeable SysOps that can answer questions and test programs and ideas. If you have a special interest please leave a comment. The storm should be over and we can get the bulletin board in first class shape with a little help from everyone. Many new SysOps will be moving files and organizing their areas and need your input. With the new Opus Software we are now ready for the current contest to get into full swing. The contest is to design the ANSI Welcome Screen for the CTSA Unlimited BBS. As you log on you will now have the ability to view welcome screens from contest entries. A questionnaire is also be available for you to vote for your favorite welcome screen. Give us a call and let us know what you think. The number for CTSA Unlimited is 512/339-7199. CTSA is also planning a major presentation for the Austin Computer Fair. The Fair is May 21st through 23rd and the Activities Committee is rounding up helpers. Please check with Tom Scallorn (Buy-A-Boat) or David Powers (The Last Resort) to pitch in and help. A picnic and another raft race entry are in planning. The seasons are changing and so is CTSA. We are looking for some real input from our users. The new CTSA Unlimited SysOps and your regular member sysops need to know the interests of BBS users. We hope to bring a new sensitivity to your needs. Gene Chesser, President CTSA -=[]=- Through the Editor's Modem The CTSA Newsletter grows some more this month! Some fine contributions for CTSA members have made this issue a real joy to put together. Those of you who missed the deadline are certainly welcome to submit something next month or the month after. This is not communications related except that the file was found in my modem travels! - For any of you who have tried to print a newsletter or any text in two columns, I have found a nice solution: Citydesk version 2.2 by Robert S. Shaw of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania. He requests $25.00 for the use of Citydesk and it is well worth it! Citydesk prints two columns, each 60 characters wide and 78 lines per page, in compressed print. Italics, bold, and underline are supported with dot commands. The program is simple to use and worked right out of the archive with my Star SG-10 (Epson and IBM compatible) printer. It is always a joy to find a superb program while making the BBS rounds. This one I found on GEnie and have made it available on CP/M Lives! and have uploaded it to a few of the CTSA boards. A few months ago in this space I discussed how messages on a BBS are the "soul" of a bulletin board. I have recently talked to a few users and have learned perhaps why so many new users to not post messages. Randy Simpson said that he was hardly aware of messages until he logged on to Daniel Aiken's Den of Iniquity, requested validation, and Daniel responded with a welcome message. Randy ,seeing that he had mail waiting, took a look at the messages and has been reading and leaving messages on a number of boards since then. Hearing Randy relate this made me realize that there are few times when I am new to a BBS do I ever receive mail from a Sysop though I usually leave a message before I log off. Are we failing the users by being aloof? The future of bulletin boards is in our hands. Most of us were nursed along by encouraging Sysops and we must remember to do the same to the new users who call. Don't put down new users for their mistakes, and seeming callousness! We were all new once. Take a minute, leave them a message to encourage their involvement. I have re-evaluated my response to users who just download without reading messages or bulletins and I will make an effort to get acquainted with and help them to become experience, productive users. Think about your users also and see if you can get them more involved, we will all benefit from their interest. -=[]=- A FUNNY THING HAPPENED IN THE DOCUMENTATION? Last October (1986) there was a real rush of folks wanting to set up the latest version of RBBS-PC (CPC 14-1D) and, of course, seeking assistance/advice from those in the sysop community. After some discussion with CTSA members regarding content and taking notes on their suggestions I drafted an outline format of the steps to becoming a sysop using RBBS-PC. This eventually became a released document (published electronically, of course) under the name of CHK.LST and distributed as a service of the CTSA. A copy of this document was forwarded to the author of RBBS-PC, D. Thomas Mack, in late October. In response he left a short message to me on his BBS, The 2nd Ring, expressing thanks for the text contribution to his system. Nothing further was ever received or expected. Or so I thought. Today, April 7, 1987, I actually printed a copy of the documentation for the latest release of RBBS-PC. CTSA is once again, Jeff Porter's DTR patch for QuickBASIC was first, included in the text of RBBS-PC's documentation manual. The ENTIRE text of CHK.LST is now pages 30 through 34! My thanks to Coke Dilworth, Colby Jordan, Gene Chesser, John Hargrove, and Charles Curtis for constructive suggestions and criticism of the original draft. Without you, CHK.LST would still be a fragment on my hard disk. If I have failed to include anyone in the list above, please forgive my lousy memory, and bask in the knowledge that literally hundreds of sysops-to-be will be eternally grateful for getting them over the hurdle of setting up a new system. Jim Westbrook, Vice President CTSA -=[]=- Digital Communications with Packet Radio by Ben Thornton, WD5HLS The Amateur Radio hobby has been in existence since the advent of radio communications. Ever since the beginning, radio amateurs - or hams - have been using radio to provide public service communications, emergency communications, and long distance (international) communications. Amateur Radio??? There are many facets to Amateur Radio that deserve attention, but one of them really stands out: experimentation. It is the only hobby where one can truly experiment with new and unorthodox modes of communication via radio waves. Most folks are probably familiar with some of the more common modes. These include CW (usually Morse Code), Amplitude Modulation (AM), Frequency Modulation (FM), Single Sideband (SSB) and Frequency Shift Keying (FSK - used in Packet Radio and Radioteletype.) Although all of these modes have been in use for many years, none of them provide any reliable means of detecting and correcting errors in transmission of the signal. This is not terribly important in most casual amateur activity, but disaster relief communications and other radio traffic nets need more reliable methods of insuring accuracy in communication; especially when atmospheric conditions are poor. This is equally important in military and business communications. Computers??? In Canada, a group of Vancouver amateurs addressed this problem by borrowing a concept from wire based computer networks and created the first digital packet network (two stations) using radio as the medium rather than wires. This concept treats the radio frequency as a "local area network" with a potentially large number of clients and subscribers sharing the same channel. In the couple of years that followed the first packet radio experiments, more experimentation resulted in several refinements to the system. The earlier protocols used provided virtually error free communications, but they were incapable of providing for more than 3-4 packet stations on one channel. The protocol I will discuss is what is currently in widespread use and represents the method most commonly used by the Packet Radio enthusiast. This is not, however, state-of-the art because the system is in a constant state of change. In particular, there is a movement to create several large networks of packet stations across the U.S. that will rival commercial installations in innovation and capability by using satellites to link them all together. This conversion will require yet more changes to the hardware but the benefits will be worth it! Packet Radio provides, in essence, a relatively inexpensive means of using personal computers along with radio communications equipment (transmitters and receivers). The equipment can be any HF, VHF, UHF, or microwave devices capable of voiceband communication with at least 3 KHz of bandwidth. This includes the vast majority of the radio equipment used by amateurs and commercial services as well. The latter is an important source of surplus gear for later use in the amateur service. Most packet communications on the HF bands use SSB while the higher frequencies use narrow band FM. The Magic Box The device currently used to get on packet is called a Terminal Node Controller or TNC. These boxes are available in several flavors. One early TNC was implemented on an old XEROX 820 motherboard with special ROM based software to make it a complete TNC. Others are microprocessor based dedicated units designed specifically for Packet Radio. The TNC basically takes outgoing data from a terminal or computer, and bundles it into a packet. It then keys the transmitter and then sends the packet out on the air. Incoming data is treated the opposite way: the receiver receives the packet from the air and sends it to the TNC where the packet is unbundled, checked for errors and then sent to a terminal or computer. One important component is required as an interface between the analog radio equipment and the digital TNC....You guessed it: a MODEM. The modem is basically responsible for converting the digital packets to some form of encoded audio or analog signal suitable for radio transmission and vice-versa. The type of modem used depends on what the data rate and the mode of operation are. More on that later. The most commonly used modem in packet radio is Bell 202 compatible and operates at 1200 baud. It is used mainly for performance reasons, the ready availability on the surplus market notwithstanding. The Bell 202 modem uses Frequency shift (FSK) modulation as opposed to Diphase shift keying (DPSK) which is used in Bell 212 compatible modems. Even though operation is limited to half duplex, FSK is far and away the better performer in the noisy conditions typically found in radio. Most TNC's available today will typically have this type of modem on board as well as the circuitry necessary to control the radio equipment. The first one that was commercially available was made by the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corporation (TAPR) and was called the TNC-1. It was sold as a kit and sold moderately well. The next version was called the TNC-2 and sold much better. It was based on a Z80 micro and a Z80 SCC chip which provided a very cost effective design. Several larger manufacturers such as The Heath Co. and MFJ Electronics now offer TNC-2 clones which offer complete functional compatibility with either the TNC-1 or TNC-2. Typical clones may contain a Bell 202 compatible modem as well as a 300 baud modem for HF work. Some even added circuitry to enable the TNC to support CW (Morse code) or radioteletype modes. It should be noted that packet communications below 28 MHz are limited to 300 baud by FCC regulation. For this reason, a 300 baud modem is needed. Some TNC manufacturers provide this as mentioned above, but most do not. When shopping for TNC's this must be kept in mind if you intend to use this range of frequencies for packet work. On the NET The model which best describes packet radio is that of a large Local Area Network (LAN). The main differences between this and, say, Ethernet are primarily speed (Ethernet is a 50Mbps baseband data link) and in the fact that no wires or cables are needed save the ones connecting your radio to its antenna. The typical station will have a personal computer connected to a TNC via RS-232 port. The TNC hooks up to a radio transceiver using the speaker and microphone connections. The TNC feeds transmit audio through the microphone jack along with the transmitter control line. The speaker jack provides receive audio to the TNC (Fig. 1). /----------------\ | Personal | |-----------------| | | RS-232 | TNC | | Computer |<----------->| | Antenna | | |_________________| |__|__| | | | Modem | | | | \---------------/ |_________________| | ___|_______|___ | |__|__| |_______________| | | | | | Microphone | | Speaker | Cable | | Audio | | | | ____V__________|____ | | Amateur | | | Transceiver |----------/ |__________________| Fig. 1 - A typical Packet Radio station The personal computer uses a communications program, which can be any of the common terminal programs available for personal computers. The only requirement is that it be able to operate in a simple "terminal mode." Note that the serial hardware should be "true RS-232" and provide full support of the handshake lines although this is only necessary if the station is to operate as a "digipeater." "Digipeater" is an acronym for Digital Repeater. Why Packet? As mentioned above the ball basically started rolling when digital communication in the amateur bands was first authorized in Canada by the Canadian Government to to promote research and experimentation in the field. The Canadian and American amateur communities worked closely together to devise some kind of protocol that would not only provide error detection and correction, but automatic message routing as well. This would reduce the possibility of any message being lost or garbled. The initial experiments used the synchronous serial protocol known as HDLC because it offers error detection / recovery and could be implemented in readily available LSI components. This did not, by itself solve the problem with the message routing needs of real-world amateur communications. The solution came in the form of the already-popular CCITT X.25 protocol. This protocol is in widespread use by large computer communications companies (such as TELENET) in their packet switching networks. X.25 uses the HDLC hardware but adds a layer of software above it to provide collision detection and a well thought out packet routing scheme. This bring us to a related subject. An Amateur Standard In 1978 the International Standards Organization (ISO) introduced the Open Systems Interconnections model (OSI) to establish a long term standard to promote compatible data communications between computers. It defines several tiers of complexity or layers ranging from the Physical Layer (dealing directly with hardware) to the Application Layer which is what the operator interacts with. HDLC, or High level Data Link Control, is a bit oriented synchronous serial communications protocol which implements the second OSI layer or Link Layer. It is commonly used for highspeed data communications especially between mainframe computers and in local area networks. The data to be transmitted is bundled into packets or frames along with some overhead data which includes packet length info, error detection CRC's and the destination address. The data is encoded in such a way that it can be sent in a synchronous fashion where a data clock may be recovered from the bit stream. This allows serial transmission at much higher speeds than asynchronous modes. The CCITT X.25 protocol implements the third or Network layer of the OSI model. It handles the network-oriented tasks such as addressing and the routing of data packets. The early experiments with packet radio resulted in a few modifications to the X.25 protocol in order to provide better performance with amateur communications. One change involved changing the address field in each packet to contain the station call signs of the origination and destination stations. Also included in this field is the call sign of any relay stations which are capable of operating as a repeater. These changes to the basic protocol resulted in the new amateur designation AX.25. The protocol specification is available from the American Radio Relay League in the publication: "Amateur Packet Radio Link Layer Protocol, AX.25." Information about the ARRL can be found at the end of this article. Just a Handshake Away Packet Radio communication primarily takes place on single frequency in half duplex mode. This means that TNC's do not transmit and receive at the same time. Instead, all participating stations monitor the frequency for packets which may be addressed to them. When a station needs to transmit, it listens to be sure no other station is already transmitting then it proceeds to transmit a packet. In the event of a collision - a simultaneous transmission by two or more stations, the AX.25 protocol allows one of the stations to retransmit based on a random wait period. Once the destination TNC receives the packet it looks for errors. If there were any, it transmits a Negative Acknowledge (NAK) packet. If there were no errors, an Acknowledge (ACK) packet is transmitted. This handshake occurs the same way whether the transmitting station and the receiving station are communicating directly or via several digipeaters. Since each transmitted packet has an explicit destination, many stations can be using the same frequency at the same time holding many conversations with little degradation in speed. Try holding that many voice conversations on the same frequency! What Can it Do? There are currently three main categories of packet radio communication: 1) Normal simplex operation 2) Digital Repeater or "Digipeater" operation 3) Packet Bulletin Board System (PBBS) operation The normal mode is used when the station operator requests a connection with another station directly without the use of any digipeaters. This includes using a PBBS or "chatting" with one or more other stations. In this mode each line of text sent will be sent as a single packet. The exception to this is when doing file transfers. When a station is in digipeater mode the station is operated unattended and becomes available for other stations to use as a relay station. This allows extending the effective range of communication. In fact, transcontinental packet contacts will be commonplace in the near future as more digipeater sites become operational. The number of these sites is growing rapidly. Digipeaters simply receive packets with their address in the frame header and then retransmit them on the same frequency to the next station in the sequence. The frame header can contain the name of several relay sites as well as the call sign of the destination. PBBS mode is similar to Normal mode except that the conversations are carried on by the station computer rather than the station operator. There are several packet oriented bulletin board software packages available. The most popular seems to be the package written by WA7MBL and runs on IBM PC's and some compatibles. It supports several TNC's and features store and forward message handling. This means you can "mail" a message to a station several hundred miles away or more simply by addressing the message to him and a pathname to route the message. The message will then be sent automatically via other PBBS's to the destination where it will be stored until the recipient reads it. Other PBBS features are similar to those offered by land line based BBS systems. New features are being added to them all the time as the packet community grows. FidoNet watch out! How Fast is Fast? The issue of communications speed or bandwidth is one area where computer communications is constantly being improved. Although most of us consider 1200, 2400 or even 9600 bps mediocre speeds, the wire based services can do little to improve on this because of built in limitations. Until recently, no one ever thought about the possibility of high speed data communications using the telephone lines! It IS possible to install high speed data links that are dedicated for this purpose, but I doubt anyone has ever payed cash for it! The expense is VERY prohibitive. Radio may possibly offer an inexpensive alternative to this solution. This is one area where Packet Radio is breaking new ground. On the lower frequencies (below 28 MHz) the maximum bit rate is limited by the FCC to 300 baud. This is due to the fact that these bands are primarily used for voice communications and would be disrupted by wideband data signals. These channels are limited to voice bandwidths to minimize the problems that result from crowded band conditions. However, as shown in Table (1), the speeds increase with the radio frequency of operation. The higher the frequency, the wider the bandwidth permitted by the FCC. Note that Packet Radio falls under the ASCII category even though in reality the HDLC protocol is considered a bit oriented protocol. Character boundaries are not necessarily meaningful. Frequency Bandwidth limits Codes Permitted --------- ---------------- --------------- < 28 Mhz 300 baud ASCII, BAUDOT, AMTOR, CW 28-50 Mhz 1200 baud ASCII, BAUDOT, AMTOR, CW 50-220 MHz 19.6 kilobaud any >220 Mhz 56 kilobaud any Table 1. FCC bandwidth limitations based on Frequency for digital communications. As Amateur Radio experimentation continues, these limitations are likely to change to permit wider bandwidths in the higher frequencies. With digital communications, the solution to band crowding is likely not to be limiting individual station bandwidths to narrow channels, but rather the solution will be to allow very wide bandwidths, thus permitting efficient time-sharing of the band. This is not yet a reality, but it could happen. The Future of Amateur Radio The use of personal computers and packet controllers by those in the amateur community has resulted in a significant change in the way they conduct their communications. No longer are they limited to slow or antiquated methods such as CW or voice. This is not to say voice is dead; on the contrary - voice is quite efficient for some amateur activities such as conducting organized nets and just plain "hearing the guy on the other end". CW will still have a place in the future as the mode which occupies the least bandwidth and which the human ear can detect quite well in high static conditions. The real change is that amateurs can now move information from one station to another much faster than they could before. Not only that, their stations can be automated enough to relay messages destined for other stations without any operator intervention. This has interesting implications with regard to regulations concerning third party communications. Experiments will be conducted in the future with amateur radio satellites to greatly expand the scope of the Packet Radio community to include many countries, not just many counties! Another device that will be available in the not so distant future is a TNC which will support the TCP/IP internet protocol and thus can serve as a gateway between amateur Packet Radio and local-area-networked computers. Thus, one will be able to access a mainframe in Connecticut from a terminal in a car and use it as a file server! Packet Radio is a very effective blend of two different technologies: radio and computers. The radio community benefits from the increased throughput and reliability. The computer community benefits from its message handling capabilities without any dependency on wire based media. This combined with the higher speeds available in the UHF and microwave bands promise a bright future indeed for Packet Radio. For Further Information The American Radio Relay League 225 Main St. Newington, CT 06111 The 1987 ARRL Radio Amateur's Handbook QST Magazine Any local ham. -=[]=- L.R. Tech Hard Disk Interface for the Tandy Color Computer. Robert Westcott I have been wanting to hookup a hard disk to my CoCo for a long time. The only thing that was standing in my way was the $699.00 price tag on Tandy's own hard disk and the $129.00 dollars for the interface to use it (which by the way can only be used under OS-9). I have found a reasonably inexpensive way to install a hard disk and save $300.00 over Tandy's price. You ask, "Why hookup a $300-$400 hard disk to a $100-$200 CoCo?": first is speed, load times are about 5 to 10 times faster than floppy disk, second is ease of use, no more swapping disks every two seconds (you OS-9 users surely know what I mean). I installed the game CAVE WALKER, available from Tandy, on my hard disk as a test. If you have played this game on disk you already know how ssslllooowww it is because for every level the computer needs to load a new screen. On a hard disk it flys just as if it were in memory...it's unbelievable. To hook up a hard disk to the CoCo you will need the following: 1. a hard disk interface (HDI) 2. a hard disk controller card 3. a hard disk (capacity limited only by the controller card) 4. a case and power supply (needs 5volt and 12volt supplies), with a fan to keep it all cool. These are all general items and will apply to most hard disk installations. Now let's look at the interface (HDI). Since I purchased the L.R. Tech model I will be referring to it for the rest of this article. The L.R. Tech interface comes complete with a ten page user's manual, a diskette full of source code and the various drivers for different controller cards and hard disks. The manual is very informative and contains step-by-step instructions and examples to get the system up and running with very little effort. The diskette also has OS-9 Level 2 versions to let you get a CoCo 3 with 512k hooked up to a hard drive. The L.R. Tech interface is the only one at this time that works on the CoCo 3 with no problems noted. (J&M's, DISTO, RGS, etc. don't seem to work completely from what I've seen in message traffic on Compuserve). Modifying the device descriptors for the various hard drives and controllers is a simple task with the software supplied on the diskette. Simply use OS-9's EDIT command to modify it. The command line looks like this: EDIT /D0(or /D1) disk_config You then scan through the source code (it's short because these are the equates to the device driver) until you find your particular controller, set it to TRUE and set all the others to FALSE. Next find your brand of Hard Drive (ie, Seagate, CMI, etc.) and set it to TRUE and all others to FALSE. If there isn't one with your drives name on it, don't panic! L.R.Tech fixed that too. Just proceed a little further and find a set of equates that say OTHER. Insert the information needed such as #of cylinders, etc., and that's it. You are now ready to assemble the file. Just hit "Q" to quit the EDIT command and type "hconfig" and L.R. Tech's procedure file takes care of the rest and assembles the file. I liked the fact that they took the time to write the software and procedure files, etc. to make the software installation as simple and fail-safe as humanly possible. The construction of the interface itself is excellent. The only flaw observed was a cosmetic one - the paint job, no pretty decals, just functional. The board inside is dual sided (separate ground plane) with all connections gold plated. All chips inside are socketed, making replacements easy. If needed for hardware compatibility (such as with a CoCoMax pak, etc.) there is a jumper wire provided to change the interface's address from the default of $FF74 to $FF70. The interface can be plugged into any open slot on the multipak. I highly recommend this unit if you are considering a hard disk. It comes with a 90 day warranty, and the price is $119.00 and well worth it. I have had mine running for two months now and have had no problems. The next item is the hard disk controller card, I purchased the Western Digital 1002 SHD (L.R. Tech recommends either the WD 1002SHD or preferably the Xebec 1410A controller). The reason for my choice was future compatibility, it seems all manufacturers will let you use the Western Digital but not the Xebec, although it is faster at data transfer. This card takes the commands from the interface and tells the drive what to do. The WD 1002SHD will control two hard drives of the same size. You will need two 50 pin connectors for the interface and the hard disk controller, two 20 pin edge card connectors for the data from hard disk card to the drive and two 34 pin edge card connectors from the controller card to the drive for motor control, etc. A hard disk may not be for everyone, but to me it's like the difference I saw going from a cassette to the disk drive. The improved speed, storage capacity and ease of use have made it worth the $300-$400 it cost. You can decrease the cost by doing some serious shopping around to find good deals. Anyone interested in seeing a hard disk on the CoCo can view my setup to see what to expect. Just call me at 512-385-8605. Approximate prices for system components: Hard disk.......... 5Meg.........$89.00 - 125.00 10Meg........$129.00 - 200.00 20Meg........$189.00 - 300.00 Controller.........WD 1002 SHD...$99.00 - 120.00 Xebec 1410A..$109.00 - 200.00 Interface..........L.R. Tech....$119.00 Cabinet & Power Supply..........$72.00 - 150.00 Robert Westcott 1430 Frontier Valley Dr. #88 Austin, Texas 78741 Phone: 512-385-8605 -=[]=- C E N T R A L T E X A S S Y S O P A S S O C I A T I O N - CONSTITUTION - ___________________________________________________________________________ ARTICLE 1 The name of this organization shall be the CENTRAL TEXAS SYSOP ASSOCIATION, hereinafter referred to as the 'CTSA'. Said CTSA is organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, including for such purposes, the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law). ARTICLE 2 - OBJECTIVES [a] To disseminate knowledge relating to the SYSOPS of Personal Computers. [b] To promote and to hold exhibitions of instruments, apparatus or other appliances associated with its application. [c] To recognize members and/or non-members deserving of recognition for their contribution toward better understanding of the Personal Computer. [d] To affiliate with societies or associations having like interests in computer sciences. ARTICLE 3 - MEMBERSHIP [a] Anyone sincerely interested in promoting the CTSA's objectives may apply to the CTSA for membership. Upon acceptance the applicant will be deemed a member for all applicable purposes. [b] There is only one class of membership, individual. There is no 'busi- ness' or 'corporate' membership class. Any member's immediate family living under one roof are extended all club benefits except the right to vote or hold office. ARTICLE 4 - CONTROL [a] The affairs of the CTSA shall be controlled and managed by a group of Directors, hereinafter collectively referred to as the 'Board of Direc- tors', to consist of the heads of the Committees and the Officers. The Pow- ers and Duties of the Board of Directors shall be set forth in the BY-LAWS. [b] No member of the Board of Directors shall hold office in the same position for a period in excess two (2) consecutive years. [c] Any member misrepresenting themselves, or whose actions reflect unfavorably on the CTSA, may be expelled be a majority vote of the Board of Directors. ARTICLE 5 - BY-LAWS The CTSA may pass whatever BY-LAWS it deems necessary for the efficient control and management of its affairs, and the carrying out of its objec- tives. No such BY-LAW shall be contrary to law- civil, criminal, or other- wise. ARTICLE 6 - AMENDMENTS Amendments and additions to either the CONSTITUTION and/or BY-LAWS may be enacted at any regular meeting of the CTSA. No amendment or additions to either the CONSTITUTION and/or BY-LAWS may take place unless the matter is dealt with by Notice of Motion. The minimum requirement necessary to carry such changes shall be a two-third majority of members present at time of voting. Deletions will be dealt with in the same manner. ARTICLE 7 - PROPERTY & INCOME [a] All properties and income of the CTSA shall remain the sole property of the CTSA, irrespective of the source by which the said properties and in- come were derived. Such properties and income shall be used to promote the CTSA's objectives. [b] No part of the net earnings of the organization shall inure to the ben- efit of or be distributable to its members, trustees, officers, or other private persons, except that the organization shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth in Ar- ticle 2 hereof. No substantial part of the activities of the organization shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the organization shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. Notwith- standing any other provision of these articles, the organization shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by an organization exempt from Federal Income Tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or corresponding provision of any future United States Revenue Law) or (b)by an organization, contributions to which are deductible under section 170(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Reve- nue Law). ___________________________________________________________________________ BY-LAWS ___________________________________________________________________________ PARAGRAPH 1 - OFFICERS [a] Officers of the CTSA shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secreta- ry, and a Treasurer. Duties and responsibilities are the same as outlined in Robert's Rules of Order. [b] Without limiting the foregoing qualifications for Officers the follow- ing conditions shall apply: [c] The President shall preside as Chairman at all meetings and shall ensure that the meeting is conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order. In addition, he will decide questions of order. He will also be a signing official for official documents of the CTSA. [d] The Vice-President shall take the place of the President in his ab- sence. [e] The Treasurer shall receive and deposit all monies in an account in the name of the club. The Treasurer will also be required to maintain proper books and records and furnish a yearly report for audit by his successor, together with any funds in his possession. All disbursements made by the Treasurer - unless authorized by special resolution passed by a majority of the Board of Directors, shall be supported by vouchers and/or canceled checks. [f] Signing privileges for checks shall be decided by the Board of Direc- tors. A minimum of two (2) signatures is required. PARAGRAPH 2 - COMMITTEES The CTSA may institute committees when needed. Committees will be governed by BY-LAWS. They will be responsible directly to the Board of Directors. [a] Once a committee has been established and operating efficiently rules governing same shall be added to the CTSA's BY-LAWS concerning the particular committee. PARAGRAPH 3 - MEMBERSHIP DUES [a] All Board of Directors members and actively serving committee members shall enjoy the privilege of membership fee exemption in lieu of services rendered. [b] Each member shall be invoiced at the beginning of each fiscal year. Members who have not paid their dues within sixty (60) days of the billing date shall automatically cease to be members, and shall no longer receive the benefits of membership until reinstated. PARAGRAPH 4 - ELECTIONS [a] No member of the CTSA shall be permitted to stand for election or to cast a vote or to be represented by proxy unless they are a paid up member is good standing. [b] No member shall nominate any member for a position without first having received his or her assurance of their intent to stand for election. [c] The Chairman of the Nomination Committee shall be appointed by the Board of Directors. [d] A minimum of thirty (30) days advance notice will be given in the News- letter to remind members of the election. The Chairman of the Nomination Committee shall call for nominations at the July meeting. Those who had already submitted their request for nominations will confirm their intent to stand for nomination. [e] A ballot will be prepared for distribution at the August election meeting. Ballots will be counted immediately following the casting of same. The results will be announced to the membership as soon as they become available, and published in the next newsletter. [f] Each paid-up member is entitled to a single vote. A member that is unable to attend the election may arrange to be represented by proxy. [g] A proxy shall conform to the standard requirements of membership and must be in writing. Proxy forms will be available to members upon request. [h] The duly elected officers shall be installed at the end of the August meeting, before the adjournment. PARAGRAPH 5 - FINANCIAL [a] The fiscal year shall be the calendar year. [b] The Board of Directors shall set the Membership dues at the September meeting. The fee shall be determined according to the budget requirements for the next fiscal year. The Board of Directors decision in this regard is final. [c] The CTSA shall keep correct and complete books and records of account and shall also keep minutes of the proceedings of its members, Board of Directors, and shall keep at the registered or principal office a record giving the names and addresses of members entitled to vote. All books and records of the association may be inspected by any member company or his agent or attorney for any purpose at any reasonable time. [d] All securities and monies owned by the CTSA shall be deposited with one or more banks, trust companies, or other financial institutions as selected by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors shall be empowered to execute, on behalf of the CTSA, any such documents, or banking resolutions and the like that may arise from time to time. PARAGRAPH 6 - DISSOLUTION In the event of dissolution of the CTSA all assets remaining after payment of any obligations shall be utilized to establish a Scholarship in Computer Science at an area college. The choice of the college shall be made by the Directors at the time of the dissolution of the CTSA. This Constitution and BY-LAWS shall become effective on and after September 1, 1985. This Constitution and BY-LAWS were amended by a two-thirds majority vote June 12, 1986 at the General Meeting. Approved by the Board of Directors, as signed below: -=[]=- The Editor Has the Last Word! Once again I wrap up the newsletter with a plea! Please upload your articles to CP/M Lives! at (512)258-8468. We did well this month with articles - but what of next month? The Bulletin Board histories that ran for a couple of months were popular with readers based on comments received. CTSA Sysops take note! Boost your ego, see your name in print, tell the tale of the birth and growth of your bulletin board in these pages! We have only heard from Daniel Aiken, Tom Scallorn and Ron Hawkins but there are hundreds of fascinating stories out there waiting to be told. Until next month! See you at the computer fair! And don't forget: Call your favorite BBS today and thank the Sysop because even Sysops need love! /\ * * * * * EX SYSOP * * * * in * * * * Trunk! * * * * * \/ The above was suggested by Tom Grover. We would all be ex-Sysops were it not for our users! (eof)