Chromasette was the first cassette-based TRS-80 Color Computer magazine produced by David Lagerquist and was an offshoot of CLOAD magazine. The first issue was published July 1981 and the last issue was published in July 1984. Issues were published monthly. While some references cite the price as having been $3.50 USD an issue, it was advertised in Creative Computing magazine in May 1983 as $45 USD a year for 12 issues, $25 USD for 6 issues, or $5 USD each. The first issue contained 5 Basic programs and the "cover" of the electronic magazine (which had to be loaded onto a TRS-80 Color Computer and then run) was dynamic. Included with each cassette was a 5-6 page newsletter explaining the programs included on the cassette, including their PMODE and PCLEAR values (if needed), their locations on tape, and several paragraphs of documentation about each (sometimes suggesting program alterations that change or improve the results). The newsletter contained tips, rumors (for example whether the TRS-80 Color Computer would soon support 5 1⁄4" floppy diskette drives in addition to cassettes for loading and recording software programs), along with other insights. They contained a variety of information about the Color Computer and some of the hardware and software available for it. In addition, they included advertisements. Dave signed only his first name to the CLOAD and Chromasette letters.
Contents
- How cassettes were produced
- Issues
- July 1981
- August 1981
- September 1981
- October 1981
- November 1981
- December 1981
- January 1982
- February 1982
- March 1982
- April 1982
- May 1982
- June 1982
- July 1982
- August 1982
- September 1982
- October 1982
- November 1982
- December 1982
- January 1983
- February 1983
- March 1983
- April 1983
- May 1983
- June 1983
- July 1983
- August 1983
- September 1983
- October 1983
- November 1983
- December 1983
- January 1984
- February 1984
- March 1984
- April 1984
- References
How cassettes were produced
(from comment from David Lagerquist in the April 1983 issue)
"How do we duplicate the 6000 or so cassettes we send out each month? Rose just doesn't sleep! Really, the programs are read off a disk and sent through a line amplifier to 30 cassette recorders hooked up in parallel. The recorders are controlled by a Color Computer through the microphone jack. The 'random' clicking of 30 buttons lets us know that the tapes are done and that it's time to put in some more blank ones. A heck of a way to make a living..."
Issues
The following is an incomplete listing of files included in Chromasette issues.