May June 1980 - Commodore Computers

MAY/JUNE. I 1960. 198O. ISSUE 4.
COMPUTE.
27
COMPUTERS
Boring, Boring,
Boring
Boring, Boring,
Boring
Ron Kushnier
Ron Kushnier
25 Wendy Way
Richboro, PA 18954
Richboro, PA 18954
Sure, everyone knows how exciting it is (Q to play Space
Invaders or some similar game oonn their home computer!
But perhaps the real utility in our machines is
derived fromm uses thal that arc are less dramatic. After all, ,
one of the primary uses forr any machine is to frec free
us from thc the drudgery and mundane routine thatI
burden us in our daily lives; so that we can go off
and think lofty thoughts and delve into the esoteric.
Such an application resulted from a problem '",ith with
the e hca heating system of our new home last winter, winter. I
knew that the heating contractor and the builder were
less than cooperative and thatt if I were to (Q gCt get aany­
where with them I[ would have to produce cold, hard
.lacts. facts. I also knew that according to Murphy, on the
day they would come comc to inspect the thc systcm system, , it would
be sunny and warm and the e heater would exhibit
absolutely no sign of improper design or malfunction.
I[ needed data- lots of data to substantiate te mym y claim.
I[ turned to mym y Pet. Fortunately ata t work, I[ had
alla the peripherals I needed to turn mym y computer
into a digital recording thermometer. I[ had previously
ordered a DAM system (now called micro
Mac) from Conn. . Microcomputer MicroComputer Corp. This set of
devices is designed to LO provide proyjdc an analog-to-digital
analog-LO-digi tal
conversion system which interfaces to the e Pet. Pel. It
came with a TempsensT empscns which has two temperature
lUre
probes good to within a degree Fahrenheit. As an
output device, I used ana n HP model 5150A5 Thermal
Printer.
r.
The program shown gave me a readout of the
time every eyery 15 minutes, the temperature ata t the
floor, 11001', and the temperature at the five foot level.
I left the e Pet on 24 hours a day over the next
several days, annotating a g the e data tapes by hand as
required with such things as the e date, average outdoor
temperature, etc. The time e period provided
enough diverse weather conditions to (Q manifest a
fairly comprehensive comprehensivc variety varielY of heating system
problems.
My M y long rolls s of o r data tapes convinced ced the builder
and heating healing contractor contracLO r that I was serious. And my
impressive collection n of or equipment could not be
challenged.
'T'he The computer's function was boring-sit t there hour
aftcr after hour and print O'ut out numbers. This certainlyy
could nott compare with shooting down a Klingon.
Yct, it provided m y famil y and I wi th a needed
Yet, it provided my family and I with a needed
and useful utility for r which there was no substitute.
.
Program Listing
5 PRINT"fi
PRINT"n
10 OPEN4,4
15 INPUT"HR,MN,SC";HR$,MN$,SC$
;HR$,t1N$,SC$
17 PRINT"fi
20 TI$=HR$+MN$+SC$
30 M$=MID$(TI$,3,2)
31 PRINT"h
32 PRINT"TIME";" " 5 FEET";" " ~ -i
..,FLOOR"
-iFLOOR"
33 GOSUB500
35 PRINT"hH" PRINT".trWI;TI$,HIGH,LOW
; TI$,HIGH,LOIv
36 IFF$=M$THENGOT030
IFF$=M$THENGOTO30
40 IFM$="00"ORM$="15"ORM$="30"ORM$="45" I1 0RM$="lS"ORM$="30"ORM$="45" .., -.
~THENF$=M$:GOT090
-.THENF$=M$:GOTO90
50 GOT030
GOTO30
90 GOSUB500
130 PRINT#4,TI$;HIGH;L0W
, TI$;HIGH;LOW
135 GOT030
GOTO30
500 POKE59426,0: , POKE59426,255 , 255: : ~ -.
^HIGH=PEEK(59471)-20
~HIGH=PEEK(59471)-20
510 POKE59426,1: : POKE59426,255 : ~ -.
-.LOW=PEEK(59471)-20
~LO\'l=PEEK 520 RETURN
59468 ,12