Instruction manual
Sharpen Your AIM
A collection of four programs are presented which
enhance the capabilities of the basic AIM
65.
These
pro-
grams improve hex loading, clear memory,
move
memory and slow down the display.
Robert
E.
Babcock
1706 Fawcett Ave.
White Oak,
PA
15131
)
)
Recently several Rockwell AIM-65
microcomputer systems were purchas-
ed
for use in teaching courses in
microprocessors and microcomputers
at
the campus
of
the Pennsylvania State
University at which I teach. These were
intended
to
supplement
the
KIM-1
systems which have been used for that
purpose for the past three years.The
press
of
other activities has prevented
more than intermittent exposure to the
full
capabilities
of
the AIM·65; however,
some basic impressions and evalua-
tions are possible.
Overall, the impression has been
highly favorable. First, due
to
the
similarity
with the KIM-1, the AIM has
been easy to learn.
Even
students with
virtually no exposure to any type
of
microcomputer have had
little
difficulty
in learning
to
use the system effectively.
In
this
regard, the documentation provid-
ed
with the AIM-65 is excellent. The
AIM-65 Microcomputer User's Guide is
easy
to
follow
and has a sizeable
number
of
examples
to
clarify concepts
stated in the material related
to
a por-
tion
of
the system or
its
operation. Iden-
tification
of
many
of
the
most
useful
subroutines and their characteristics
has proved
to
be
a special blessing. The
clock
program used as
an
application
example at the end of the manual in-
volves virtually every mode
of
operation.
It provides
an
excellent base
for
understanding the system and in addi-
tion serves as a firm foundation for a
flexible data sampling and logging
system. Although a few errors exist in
the User's Manual, most are
of
minor
consequence.
December, 1979
Second, the extensive monitor pro-
gram has a great many features not
generally found
in a system
of
this price
class. These features make it possible to
program the AIM more rapidly and with
fewer errors than is possible for
an
essentially identical program using the
KIM-1.The features which come to mind
most readily are the mnemonic entry
capability, the disassembler, and the
text editor. The printer with its hard copy
put the topping
on
the physical at-
tributes
of
the system. Less visible, but
equally as convenient, are the cassette
interface
with
its
much higher speed and
flexibility when compared with the
KIM-1. The ability to use the KIM format
permits the application
of
many KIM pro-
grams
to
the AIM. Finally, the
20
character display with the
ability
to
use
alphanumerics expands the capabilities
of
the AIM-65.
No system is completely
without
its
shortcomings
and the AIM is no excep-
tion. Fortunately, the shortcomings are
few and most are easily corrected. One
of
the problems arises from the fact
that
in the memory modify mode,(I), the pro-
gram is returned
to
the system monitor
after four entries. While all
that
is
necessary
to
return to the modify mode
is to again press
(I),
often when entering
a program from a hex dump format or
entering hex values
into
a table or enter-
ing a short ASCII message statement, it
is easy to forget
to
re-enter
(I).
The
short
program shown below,
HEX
LOAD, uses
the same format as the M followed by
(I)
process but automatically remains in
the modify mode until terminated by
an
ESC.
There is a printout
of
the entered
characters and the address
of
the
lowest byte
just
as in the normal opera-
tion. The only difference is
that
it is no
MICRO
--
The 6502 Journal
longer necessary
to
enter
(I)
after each
four entries. To use
HEX
LOAD, begin
ex-
ecution at 0600 (or the beginning
ad-
dress selected
if
in a different location)
by
the
usual
entries,
"(*)
= 0600",
RETURN,"G", RETURN. The display will
show"
=
".
Enter the address at which
hex entries are to start, RETURN, and
the starting address will
be
displayed
with the prompt
''A''.
Make the desired
hex entries as a continuous string, then
terminate with
ESC.
HEX
LOAD
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