_{Cover of the April 1984 issue of Byte}

Subtitled "The Small Systems Journal", for most of its life, Byte wasn't strictly a "home" or personal computer magazine. It covered computers that would have been used by businesses, hobbyists, etc. though it did also, of course, cover home computers. In the early to mid 1980s, issues tended to be huge with this one coming in at about 564 pages. The April 1984 issue includes:

Columns

Build a Scrolling Alphanumeric LED Display - A project for building a scrolling LED display. One character requires two boards including one with 35 LEDs and resistors, and the other includes shift registers and buffer/drivers. Multiple can be used to create larger displays.

User's Column: The Most Fabulous Object in the Entire World - Items covered here include CP/M Utilities, Diser Computer, Omnisphere, Sprinter, Turbo Pascal, Zenith Z-100 Computer, ZP/SIM, and more.

BYTE West Coast: Stylish Output - A look at the PLP100 and PLP200 color graphics terminals and the HP 2225 printer.

Themes

Personal Computer Signal Processing - An introduction to transducers, interfacing, and system development by Bill Englemann and Mark Abraham of Analog Devices. Topics covered include data acquisition and control-system architecture, parallel communications, memory mapped interfaces, and much more.

Planning a Computerized Measurement System - An introduction to digital processing of analog signals.

Designing Systems for Real-Time Applications - Some guidelines for creating a system for real-time applications. Some suggestions here include using a 32-bit processor such as the 68000, having high-speed memory access, operating system suggestions, and more.

Interfacing for Real-Time Control - Designing an interface for a telescope system.

Putting the Apple II Work, Part 1: The Hardware - Using the Apple II as a high-speed data acquisition and analysis system. This project uses the AD7570 from Analog Devices. <br /

_{Table of Contents from the April 1984 issue of Byte}

Reviews

The Rainbow 100 - This computer from DEC can run CP/M-80, CP/M-86, and MS-DOS but uses its own specially formatted disks. It includes both a Z80A CPU and an 8088 CPU and 64K RAM.

Peachtext 5000 - A collection of five business applications including a word processor, thesaurus, spelling, spreadsheet, and list manager.

The Coleco Adam - Coleco's short-lived, ColecoVision compatible computer. Expanding a video game console into a computer always seemed like a good idea but this was poorly executed.

Micro-Logic - A program that provides a way to design digital circuits with your Apple II or IBM PC.

Statistical Software for Microcomputers - A comparison of 24 statistical software packages.

Features

The Mindset Personal Computer - A preview of this unique computer available in multiple configurations. The base system unit is cartridge based and includes an 80186 CPU and 32K RAM. The expansion module adds 96K more RAM as well as a 360K disk drive. The highest end configuration includes an additional 360K drive and additional 128K RAM. This machine in the higher two configurations offer some PC compatibility. However, it's most unique feature was its custom graphics hardware which was conceptually similar to what the Amiga offered. Unfortunately, this system didn't sell well and was only on the market for about a year.

Is BASIC Getting Better? - A look at how BASIC is maturing as a language.

True BASIC - An implementation of ANSI BASIC from the inventors of the BASIC language.

BetterBASIC - This implementation provides a BASIC compiler as well as user defined procedures and functions.

Macintosh BASIC - A version of BASIC for the Macintosh that offers partial compiling and additional tools to simplify writing code.

Professional BASIC - This implementation provides support for the 8087 coprocessor and various debugging tools.

BASIC-09 - A version of BASIC designed to work with the MC6809 CPU and OS9 operating system.

Soviet Microprocessors and Microcomputers - Most Soviet microcomputers at the time relied on multi-chip CPUs. The only single CPU chip in use for microcomputers was something similar to the Intel 8080.

Toward Standardized Video Terminals: ANSI X3.64 Device Control - A description of the latest video terminal standard.

A VIC-20/Commodore 64 Terminal Emulator - A type-in terminal program useful for communicating with mainframes.

_{Table of Contents from the April 1984 issue of Byte (continued)}

Nucleus

Editorial: A Call for Ethical Standards for Personal Computer Magazines - Some standards Byte promises to live up to including no editorial discounts for staff members, no expense-paid trips, no large speaker's fees, etc.

MICROBYTES - IBM announces portable computer, Japanese companies discuss experimental 1-megabit RAM devices; Rose Bowl scoreboard hacked with an Epson HX-20, 8086 breadboard, and two radio modems; and more.

Letters - Letters from readers about simplifying user interfaces, software allegory, the Texas Instruments Professional Computer, the HP-150 Personal Computer, the 8087, and more.

Programming Quickie - Customizing BASIC's INPUT statement on the IBM PC.

BYTE's User to User - Problems getting computer replacement parts, questions about a Sci-Pro 100A monitor, copy protection schemes, and more.

Ask BYTE - Questions answered about IMSAI, the VIC-20 and Apple III disk drives, computer servicing courses, and more.

Book Reviews - Reviews of "Handbook of Microcomputer Based Instrumentation and Controls" and "Microcomputer Interfacing".

What's New? - A brief look at new products including the Starbuck 8232 data-acquisition and control interface, Cyberlynx's Smarthome home control system, Acton Instruments A-Pac BC3 industrial microcomputer, Sinclair QL, CP/M 2.2 Companion 256K for printer spooling or RAM Disk, Flexidraw light pen for the Commodore 64, Microsoft software for the Mac, and more.