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ATPM 3.02
February 1997

Well, this issue marks my one year anniversary column for ATPM and my third wedding anniversary with my lovely wife, Lori. You've seen some of her cover art here, and I hope I can convince her to contribute again.

As a result, this column is "gonna be kinda short," as plans for our anniversary trip have been changing by the hour. "We're goin' to Vegas!" " We're goin' to Santa Barbara!" "We're goin' to Disneyland!" I think we finally settled on Knott's Berry Farm. But that too, is subject to change.

Huge Aircrash, A Subsidiary of Raytheon, Inc.

For those few ATPM readers who haven't heard the news by now, Huge was bought by Raytheon.

The company line is: "As the aerospace industry becomes more competitive, consolidation must take place."

Read: "As a result of shrinking defense industry budgets, the only way to survive, is to merge."

What it means is that GM, the former parent company of Huge, sold out. So now, instead of working for a company that works for another company, I now work for a company that works for a company that has been bought by another company who doesn't know what they have.

Why?

Back when CSC came into the picture, not only did Huge employees become CSC employees, equipment was transferred to CSC ownership. Overnight, the computer on your desktop became property of CSC, Inc. Now, if Raytheon wants to dump the CSC contract, they have that right. However, when the buyout becomes complete (around the turn of next year), CSC can simply say, "No problem. We'll pick up our equipment in the morning." This will leave Raytheon needing roughly a 70 million dollar purchase order for new desktop computers.

So, my job is safe. At least for now. Anyone out there hiring?

MacMan to the Rescue!!

I love this part of my job. I get all sorts of interesting e-mail from all over the world, with problems ranging from how to plug in the keyboard to TV tuners (I'll share that one with you in a moment). That's right, actual questions, from actual Mac users, such as yourself. Keep those questions rolling in and I'll do another "all Q&A" column real soon. After all, what can happen here at Huge/Raytheon?

TV Tuner

I have a Performa 5200 with a UK TV tuner in it. I actually am now in Australia where the TV tuner doesn't quite work. As I understand it, the TV tuner is quite programmable in the frequencies it tunes into. I once had a copy of a shareware program 'TV helper.' This was a control strip module that kind of (but not very well) allowed you to tune into FM radio stations, highlighting the programmability of the tuner card. What I would like to know is there any other programs that work with the TV tuner, ideally with access to all its features in a user programmable manner i.e. I can choose all options. You see I have a problem in that UK channels (PAL) have the sound carrier about 4-5MHz above the video carrier. Whereas Australian channels (PAL B) have the primary audio carrier 5.5Mhz above the video carrier for a given channel. This means I can get the video perfectly and the sound so-so. Or with fine tuning I can get the sound clearer but the video so-so. Is there a way to alter the standard spacing of the carriers in the receiver. I fiddled around in ResEdit with the <Freq> Also and Mtv2 resources with limited success. Australian channels use the FM stereo method of stereo transmission. UK channels use Nicam digital stereo. I can force Apple's video player to tune into FM stereo reception (mode shown on the screen) with the sound coming on momentarily but the sound then doesn't play. Is there a way to stop the auto- mute feature (I think this kicks in when the tuner thinks there is no signal).

I understand there is a FM radio/TV tuner in the USA with applications to suite. Do you know if the applications work with older tuner cards. I can't see why not if the 'TV helper' shareware module can tune FM stations on my card. I just need something better than this particular program.

Basically are there other programs around that allow me to 'fiddle under the bonnet' with all the options of the 5200 video input board and TV tuner.

Thanks so much (in anticipation), for any help or assistance or references you can provide.

Charles
nancarrow@usa.net

P.S. Will you send a reply to me or do you just answer the questions via About This Particular Mac.

Ok, two things here, first, although I only write my column once a month, I do try to answer any and all questions in the order received, as soon as I receive them. Because after all, isn't e-mail instantaneous?

Second, I wanna open this up to our loyal readers, as scanning my vast resources only turned up the TV Helper app mentioned above. So, readers? What do you think? You may either e-mail me at the usual suspects, or e-mail Charles directly.

Installing RAM

Hey there,

I have a Performa 6116 and I've just ordered 16MB of RAM (a pair of eights). Am I gonna be able to put these things in myself? Any Apple warranty I have is expired anyway, so I thought I'd give it a try. Can you tell me how to do the installation, or point me to someone who can?

Appreciatively yours,

Kristina Price
pfam@genesisnetwork.net

Ok, Kristina, take out your Winky-Dink crayon...oops, wait, wrong show. Here's what you do: Fire up your copy of GURU (guide to RAM upgrades, available from the Newer Technology website) for the definitive info. The MacMan compressed version, is as follows: You have two 72-pin SIMM slots on the motherboard, put one chip in each. They should go in only one direction. If there's old memory there, it's a simple matter to take it out. By the way, make sure you turn your Mac off first. Also, a grounding strap is a handy thing to have. Hopefully, the fine folks that sold you the memory will provid you with one.

Spam, Spam, Bacon, & Spam.

Last month, I chatted briefly about what you can do with unsolicited or unwanted e-mail. To recap: If you've ever posted to a newsgroup, someone, somewhere, has your e-Address. This can result in all sorts of offers from people that have nothing better to do with their time than waste bandwidth. My suggestion resulted in the following question:

Hello... in the most recent issue of ATPM you mentioned that it's possible to access real header info from spam e-mails with a command character. However, you didn't mention what the command character is...? Would you mind enlightening me? *smile*

Thanks and keep up the good work!

Regards,
A Loyal Reader

Actually, as it turns out, in Eudora you have to set a preference, and then reopen the message from which you want the header info. What you do in your friendly, neighborhood Eudora program is go to the Special menu, and choose "Settings"... I believe a dialogue box opens and one of the settings is, "Show all Headers." This will reveal to you all the stuff you normally never wanna see, Loyal Reader. Good Luck.

Next month, I'm hoping for a lot of questions from you guys and gals so I can do the aforementioned all Q&A column. If not... Well, I'm sure I'll be able to enlighten you with something stupid that will surely happen here at Huge. Unless I get hired by Disney.

Mike Shields is a perspiring Screen Writer who needs $600,000 to produce his recently finished screenplay. He can be reached at mshields@atpm.com. Or, if you just have a Mac question, that's ok, too.

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