J.E.Lawrie                                                            HINTS-1.
                                                                          v4  

Securing leads on small plugs.
  Small plugs of the type which are used to connect the PSU  to  the  Z88  are
  prone to early failure because of flexing of the connecting wires.  There is
  no suitable anchor provided.  But, you can make one!

  After making good soldered joints, wrap a piece of soft wool around the ends
  of the wires and the joint until you have enough on to make the cap a fairly
  close fit.  Unscrew the cap, smear the wool with a lttle glue and re-fit the
  cap.   If you have done a good job you will have a "moulded" connector which
  will give long service.

Cleaning a dirty keyboard.
  You don't have to have dandruff to get a horrible-looking keyboard  in  just
  an  hour  or  two.  You can cover the keys with plastic sheet but in a short
  time this also looks grubby. The easiest way is to use a strip of  Sellotape
  (or  similar)  first  over  the keys and then, with a "cotton-bud" press the
  tape in between the keys to pick up those bits.

Battery change levels.
  The voltage of rechargeable cells falls  extremely  quickly  when  the  cell
  voltage  gets  down  to  1.1  volts  so  if you use five of these cells in a
  "battery pack" externally you should not use them  below  "BATT  LOW"  which
  occurs at about 5 volts. You risk a "crash" if you do.

  If  you are using alkaline cells (such as Duracells - the best!) you can run
  these until the screen flashes, give them a rest, switch  on  again  and  do
  this repeatedly until it is not possible to carry on.

  Tests have shown that on continuous use Duracells give 4.5 hours to BATT LOW
  and another 9 hours to screen off.  The life of 4 re-chargeable is about 2.5
  hours  and  if you use these inside your Z88 remove them at the first screen
  flash !! or you run the risk of their voltage falling to a level which  will
  cause loss of all files, possibly when you are asleep.

  Remember  -  the  way to get maximum life from any battery is to (1) use the
  mains supply whenever possible.  (2) set the "timeout" at  the  Panel  to  1
  minute.  NOT zero, this is equal to infinite time!

Z88 Books
  There  are  three  good books for the Z88.  These are "Z88 Magic", available
  direct from Rakewell Ltd, and "Z88 Portable Computing" by D.J.Oborne.   This
  latter  one  is  out-of print but you should try Bookends of Devon, on 01548
  854318.  The third is "Z88 - A Dabhand Guide" by Dabs Press.

  If you want to master Basic programming (not machine  code)  then  get  "BBC
  BASIC  (Z80)  Reference Manual for the Z88", by D.J.Mounter and published by
  M-TEC Computer Services (UK).


PLEASE NOTE -This is the first of a series of sheets with hints  and  tips  on
the use of the Z88 computer.  There is no objection to anyone using or passing
on these sheets to others - I only ask that due acknowledgement  be  given  to
the author -

      Jack Lawrie  15, Sycamore Grove, Southam, Leamington Spa  CV33 0EY

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