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Qwerty 68000 Training/Development System...Bob Sander-Cederlof

There is now a plethora of 68000 boards designed to fit inside, or nearly inside, your Apple.  Names like DTACK Grounded, PDQ, Saybrook, and Acorn.

Most of these are aimed at hot-rodding your Apple.  Some come with the UCSD p-System, including Pascal and an Applesoft- compatible BASIC and much more.  Others have a more limited selection.  Most are too costly for most of us, around $1500.

Motorola and others sell development systems based on the 68000 for $10K-30K.  The Apple Lisa makes an excellent development system, at $6995 plus the developer's software kit (when it becomes available).

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"Wait a minute!  I don't even have a spare $1500, let alone $10K!  And I want to get my feet wet first, before diving in over my head!"

"In fact, I want to try my hand at learning 68000 assembly language first.  I need an assembler, some books, and a monitor with step and trace commands.  I would like a hands-on tutorial I can work though at my own pace."

"I can't afford to lay out more than $750 right now.  But I want an expandable system, that can grow with my knowledge and needs."
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Guess what...somebody overheard our thoughts!  Jerry Hansen and Lane Hauck, of Qwerty Inc., have put together a package deal too good to resist:  a complete integrated training and software development package for only $695.

The package includes a card to plug in any slot of your Apple II, II Plus, or //e; a reference manual which leads you through the details of the card, their firmware, and the assembler; a full-fledged macro assembler; the best three reference books, with other booklets and reference cards.  You can use the books in a hands-on tutorial fashion, mastering the 68000 assembly language as you go.

The Q-68 card is the heart of the package.  It is a compact, well-crafted design, with a 68008 microprocessor, 2K bytes of RAM, and 8K bytes of EPROM.  The full Apple address-space can be addressed by the 68008 as well, including any memory expansion cards you may have.  RAM can be expanded on-board to 8K, and EPROM to 32K.  A 50-pin expansion connector allows connection of additional memory, to a total of 1 megabyte.

You don't need any external power supply or chassis.  The card draws a maximum of 400 milliamps.  (While this is more than Apple will recommend, it seems to be well within the capability of the Apple power supply.)  If you don't already have a cooling fan, you will probably want one after installing this card.  The 68008 is the main power user, which fact makes me ever-so-hungry for a CMOS version.
The 68008 is a trimmed-down version of the 68000, with an 8-bit data bus.  The instruction set is unchanged, but it comes in a smaller package:  fewer pins, fewer milliamps, fewer dollars.  On the Q-68 board, the 68008 is clocked at 7.16 MHz.

The Apple 6502 keeps running while the 68008 is executing code; when the 68008 refers to Apple memory, the 68008 slows down to wait for the Apple bus, and the Apple slows to half speed during that cycle.  True multiprocessing is possible.

The Q-68 EPROM is loaded with good things.  You get a comprehensive self-test facility, and an easy-to-use debugging monitor.  The debugging monitor allows you to step and trace through your programs, and set breakpoints.  There are five different display windows you can cycle through with a single keystroke:  Register, Memory, Disassembly, and Breakpoint displays, and a helpful Command Summary.

Qwerty is aiming primarily at the those of us who want to learn 68000 programming and/or develop 68000 software without investing in an expensive complete 68000 system.  However, there are many other exciting possibilities for this board.  Those of you who really do want to speed up your Apple can certainly write code for the purpose.  (Or maybe adapt public domain code already written for other 68K boards.)  The Q-68 card may be used as a powerful controller or co-processor with your yet-to-be-written software.  You can connect the Q-68 to the outside world directly, as well as through the Apple bus.

Now for something truly unique:  the package comes with a special version of the S-C 68000 Cross Assembler.  The S-C manual has been re-written to give 68000 code examples throughout.  New commands have been added to start the Q-68 card, either in debug mode or at full speed.  Three versions are included to provide different memory usage options.

What you get is a near optimum environment both for learning and for serious software development.  Gone are the "load the editor, load-edit-save the source program, load the assembler, assemble, load the loader, load the object program, run into a bug, load the editor...." blues.  With this package you simply edit, assemble, and run directly from RAM.

Programs too large for RAM can be assembled and loaded using multiple source and object files when necessary, but you still never need to reload the editor/assembler or monitor/debugger.

Current users of the S-C Assembler family already know the commands and editing techniques.  You can concentrate on learning the 68000 itself, and the Qwerty debugger, without being distracted by a whole new operating system.  (Later, when you can afford a Lisa or MacIntosh, you will already know the language and can concentrate on learning the operating system.)

Here is another new twist:  Qwerty offers a free 30-day trial period.  If you're not happy with the package for any reason, you can return it within 30 days in salable condition for a full refund.  Qwerty, Inc.  Phone (619) 569-5283.
