John Sands SEGA SC3000H Installation guide

John Sands
Sega SC3000H
Personal Computer
John Sands
Users Instructions,
Warranty and
Registration Form
Congratulations on owning
The Computer of Tomorrow.
Before using your John Sands Sega
SC3000H, please make sure you read
this manual carefully.
Help us to help you.
Fill in and return the reply
paid card inside.

Users Instructions, Warranty and Registration Form
Console Unit
Precaution: Only turn the power
on when you are sure everything
is connected correctly.
Never insert acartridge when the
power is turned on. Insert the
cartridge first, then switch on.
Side view of Console Unit
Cartridge Slot
Side view ot Console Unit
Joystick Slots
Games Cartridge
Games
Music
Education
BASIC Language.
Cassette Program
Education
Personal Business
Games
Joystick SJ300
lllllll inj [D ® ® ooSI ®Rear view of Console Unit
RF Antenna Socket
Channel Selector Switch
CompositeVideo Socket
Printer Port
Cassette Port
Power Socket
Power Switch

Connecting the John Sands Sega SC3000H Personal Computer
to your homeTV and antenna
Remove the antenna lead from
your television set.
Connect the Computer Cable
to the antenna connection
of your television set.
Illllll 0®®o o
Connect the Computer Cable to the RF
Antenna Socket of the computer.
RCA Connector
75n Connector
Antenna Socket

How to use your John Sands Sega SC3000H Personal Computer
1
.
Turn yourTV to either VHF Channel
3or 4and switch your Computer
Channel Selector to Lfor Channel
3or Hfor Channel 4. Adjust fine
tuning of TV
2.
Insert your John Sands Sega
SC3000 Cartridge, making sure the
power to your computer is turned
off. Push cartridge firmly until the
Sega name is just visible.
3.
After making sure you have
connected everything properly,
plug In the AC Adaptor and then
turn on the Main Switch of the
computer. You’re awayl
Connect cassette player to
SC30CIOH to store and recall
programs, music and data as per
detailed instructions (overleaf) using
the patch leads supplied.
Please look after your computer.
The John Sands Sega SCSOOOH
computer is avery fine and com-
plex piece of equipment. Please
take care when using or handling it.
When not in operation, it is
advisable to always disconnect the
AC Adaptor.
If you ever do strike aproblem,
switch off the computer immediately
and contact the retailer from whom
you bought it.

Keeping and Loading your Programs
Before we tell you how to LOAD your program In order to keep It for further use at any time, we’ll explain the way in
which it is kept and used in Random Access Memory -or RAM as it is more frequently called. All information entered
into the computer either by you using the keyboard or from acassette tape (or Micro disk) is held In the form of
BINARY NUMBERS. These numbers are represented by either ONES or ZEROS.
The computer does'this by turning on or off literally tens of thousands of electrical switches known as TRANSISTORS
which are inside integrated circuits or MICRO CHIPS.
The BINARY CODE is something like Morse Code- which has combinations of dots and dashes to represent letters of
the alphabet; numbers as well.
With your computer, once the power is turned off all the switches revert to zeros and your program is lost forever!
If we want to keep apermanent record of the program, it must be transferred to cassette tape.
When you have completed aprogram on your John Sands Sega and wish to keep it, you use the SAVE command.
When this occurs, the computer converts the BINARY CODE into audible sound tones which range from frequencies of
around 3000 Hertz (or cycles per second) which represent the zeros, and around 5000 Hertz which represent the ones.
On atypical SAVE command, aconstant 'leadeh tone of 4seconds Is heard, followed by a burst of File Header Data
which contains the File Name, followed by another 4seconds of constant tone. This is then followed by the program
code being SAVED in bursts of 600 bits per second. (A bit is one eighth of abyte or character.)
You can hear these sounds occurring with the John Sands Sega Data Recorder, or through the loudspeaker of a
cassette recorder if you disconnect the earphone jack.
If we wish to reload the program into the Sega from the cassette tape, we use the BASIC language code LOAD.
The computer will then search over the tape for the leader tone. When it finds the File Name you require, it will
announce the fact on the screen by printing the words FOUND FILE (NAME). It then continues to LOAD the program
code for up to several minutes. When it has completed the job, the words LOADING END will appear on your screen.
The program is now in the computer’s Random Access Memory (RAM), The tape can be stopped, and by pressing
the RUN key you will start the program.
If your Sega cannot find the leader tone, or the particular File Name, it will keep on looking for ever! During the LOAD
or SAVE activities there will be no response from any of the keys on the keyboard, except for RESET
If you know your program is near the beginning of the tape, you should have aFOUND FILE (NAME) response in about
20 seconds. If this'doesn’t happen we suggest you rewind the tape and try again; this time starting with the volume
setting at the mid point and gently increasing it. Hopefully, you will hear something!
When the computer does find the leader tone it will then attempt to LOAD. At any time during the LOAD process, you
may see aTAPE READ ERROR appear on the screen. This means the computer has lost the signal Which is coming
from the tape and the LOAD operation has been discontinued.
There are several causes of this infuriating problem! So it’s best to make sure they never, or hardly ever, occur.
The most common are these:
•Poor quality tape. Always use Low Noise 60 minute, or shorter tapes. Never use Chrome or Metal tapes.
•Kinks in the tape. Never leave the Play button on when you’re not recording,
•Poor quality original recording. Make sure you verify all your SAVES. Make aback up tape of everything too.
•Bad electrical connections. Make sure your leads are not faulty from the recorder to your John Sands Sega.
•Poor alignment of recorder head. This can result in signal loss which is definitely what you don't want! Make sure
you use awell known and reliable recorder.
•Signal recorded too low. Adjust the VU recording level on your cassette deck to give the maximum signal power
without distortion.
From all the above, you can see that to SAVE and LOAD computer program Is quite acritical process. More so, than for
voice or music recording. Asmall loss of signal might not be even noticeable by the human ear -but it's absolutely
vital for your Sega.
You cannot load just part of aprogram either; it’s all or nothing! It’s afunny thing, but some sophisticated hi-fi cassette
decks do not make as reliable computer recorder units as less expensive, portable models. This is because the costly
units very faithfully reproduce high frequency sounds as well as any other noise which may be on the tape.
All this does is to corrupt your data signal and the result is not the one you’re looking for!
The best of all cassette data units are those which have been product especially for use with computers.
These are called 'dedicated' models, and contain special filters which restrict the recorded signals to the frequencies
we want.
You can also expect potential problems if you SAVE a program on one recorder and LOAD it from another.
Nearly all mass produced cassette recorders have slightly different head alignment and signal characteristics.
The equipment you will need
You’ll need arecorder compatible with your John Sands Sega. If you already own aportable or hi-fi cassette recorder,
try it out anyway. Then you’ II need at least one connection cable with standard 3.5mm Earphone Jack on both ends -
or an RCA jack on the recorder end if you are using ahi-fi deck.
And, naturally, agood quality blank audio cassette tape.
Once you've got that list organised, you’re on your way!
How to save your programs
1.Connect the cable from the OUT socket on the back of your John Sands Sega to the IN socket of your John Sands
Sega Data Recorder or the MIC or MICROPHONE socket of your cassette recorder.
2. Advance the tape until the brown, magnetic section is visible on both reels.
Hold down the FUNC key and press the SAVE key on your Sega. The screen will indicate SAVE.
Now type aFile Name-which can be up to 16 characters long.

3. Press the SAVE key of your Data Recorder, or the Record and Play keys of your cassette recorder; then press the
CR key on your Sega. On the screen you will now see SAVING START
This means that your data is now being written to the tape, and can take from one to several minutes, depending on
the length and complexity of your program. When the SAVE is completed you will hear aBEEP and the screen
message will change'to SAVING END.
4. Now we’re going to check that all the information has been SAVED on the tape.
Rewind the tape.
Connect the cable from the OUTsocket of your John Sands Sega Data Recorder, or the Earphone or External
Speaker socket of the cassette recorder to the cassette IN socket on your Sega. If you are not using aData Recorder,
adjust the volume level to %of its maximum.
5. Hold down the FUNC key of the Sega and at the same time press the VERIFY key.
The screen will indicate VERIFY.
Now type in your File Name and press the CR key.
The screen will then show VERIFYING START.
Now press LOAD on the John Sands Sega Data Recorder, or Play on the cassette recorder.
Within 20 seconds you should hear aBEEP and the screen will read FOUND FILE (NAME).
If the words SKIP FILE (NAME) appear, you may have made amistake in the spelling of your FILE (NAME). Check it to
make sure. If you did make amistake, press RESET rewind the tape and try again -this time spelling the file correctly.
(You can omit the file name completely if it is the first file on the tape.)
If no file name is found within 20 or 30 seconds, go through the procedure again -this time increasing the volume on
the recorder. If you still have no success, try another SAVE, or another brand of audio tape. If all else fails, try another
cassette recorder.
How to load your programs
The LOAD procedure is much the same as when you VERIFY.
Here we go
-
1. Connect the cable from the OUT socket of the John Sands Sega Data Recorder, or the earphone or external
speaker socket on.your recorder to the cassette IN socket on your John Sands Sega.
Adjust the volume level to %of its maximum.
2. Hold down the FUNC key and press the LOAD key.
The screen will respond with LOAD.
Now type in your File Name and press the CR key.
The screen will now show LOADING START.
Now press LOAD on the Data Recorder, or Play on the cassette recorder.
Within 20 seconds you should hear aBEEP and the screen should show FOUND FILE (NAME),
if the message SKIP FILE (NAME) appears, you may have made an error in the typing of the File Name. If you did,
press RESET rewind the tape and retry the LOAD with the correct spelling of the File Name. (You can omit the File
Name if it is the first one on the tape.)
If no File Name is found within 20 or 30 seconds, start the procedure over again with more volume on the recorder.
If you're still having no luck, try another cassette tape or recorder.
If there are several programs on your tape, the Sega will search for the particular File Name-showing on the screen
the file names it has skipped over as it keeps searching.
Agood idea, which saves time, is to make anote of the correct position of each particular program by using the
counter of your cassette deck, 'You can then Fast Forward to just before this position when you begin to LOAD.
Now that was really quite simple wasn't it?
The above is an excerpt from "Programming with your John Sands Sega Personal Computer'! published by
John Sands Electronics, 1984.

Trouble-shooting guide
Before you think about calling for help, use this trouble-shooting guide:
Sometimes, you can't get the
computer to do what you expect it
to do. Usually it’s something simple
which you can rectify yourself.
If the problem remains, after
checking through the list below,
please contact your retailer who will
most certainly be able to help you.
No picture on screen:
•Is the power source properly
connected?
•Is the socket outlet properly
plugged in?
•Is the computer channel selector
switched to the correctTVchannel?
Screen flickers or no sound:
•Are the antenna wires properly
and securely connected?
•Are you sure theTVfine tuning
adjustment hasn't been accidentally
changed?
No game sound:
•Is theTV fine tuning correctly •Are any connection cables loose or
adjusted? unconnected?
•Is theTVvolume setting too low?
Unsteady pictures on screen:
•Are the television set settings
forVertical and Horizontal Hold
correctly set?
‘Fringes’ appear on screen during a game:
•Turn the fine adjustment setting of
your television set until the problem
disappears.
‘Fringes’ appear on screen during television programme:
•Is theTVantenna properly
connected?
If you do need service:
Please contact the retailer from
whom you bought your John
Sands Sega SC3000H Personal
Computer.
•Is the TVcolour adjustment correctly
set?
•Is your Cartridge properly 'seated'
in its socket?
•Is the power switch for theTV
turned on?
•Make sure that you have not
confused the RF Terminal with the
Video Terminal at the rear of
the computer.
•Is the cartridge pushed in until the
Sega name is just visible?
•Note: some European made TV
sets will not work without achange
of modulator.

Warranty
1The benefits conferred by this Warranty are in addition to all other rights and remedies in respect of the John Sands
Sega SC3000H Personal Computer and associated John Sands Software Programs to which the purchaser is
entitled under theTrade Practices Act and similar State and Territory Laws of Australia.
2John Sands Limited, trading as John Sands Electronics of 6Bay Street Port Melbourne, Victoria ('John Sands
Electronics') warrants to the original purchaser (the ‘Purchaser’) that the John Sands Sega sold to the Purchaser shall
be free from defects in materials and workmanship for aperiod of 90 days from the date of purchase by the
Purchaser (the ‘Warranty Period’). In the event that adefect covered by this Warranty is discovered within the Warranty
Period, John Sands Electronics will, at its option, either repair or replace the Sega upon delivery of the defective Sega
by the Purchaser to the John Sands Electronics Sega dealer from whom the Sega was purchased.
Any claims under this Warranty must be made by the Purchaser to such dealer within theWarranty Period.
All transport charges incurred by either the Purchaser or John Sands Electronics in connection with aclaim under this
Warranty shall be paid by the purchaser.
TheWarranty will only apply if, during the Warranty Period, the Sega is properly maintained, used and operated in
accordance with the recommendations, instructions and operating limitations specified for the Sega by John Sands
Ei©ctronics
TheWarranty does not apply In the following cases:
a) Defects, damage or malfunctions suffered by or existing in the Sega resulting from improper handling, accident or act
of God, misuse or abuse of the Sega by any person other than John Sands Electronics, failure of electrical power or
failure of air conditioning.
b) Defects, damage or malfunctions suffered by, or existing in the Sega and developing while in transit for repairs,
c) Where repairs or modifications of the Sega are attempted or carried cJt by any person not authorised to do so by
John Sands Electronics.
d) Any other defects, damage or malfunctions not due to defects in materials or workmanship of the Sega.
e) Defects, damage or malfunctions in, or which are attributable to the use of, any modification made to the Sega unless
such modification has been made by, or for, at the direction of John Sands Electronics.
3. The obligations accepted under this Warranty are to be fulfilled by John Sands Electronics, and not any other person,
class of persons, or corporation.
John Sands Electronics
Division of John Sands Limited
Incorporated in New South Wales
6Bay Street Port Melbourne
Victoria 3207 Australia
Telephone [phone]

Loading your programmes.
Before we tell you how to LOAD your program in order to keep it for
further use at any time, well explain the way in which it is kept and used
in Random Access Memory-or RAM as it is more frequently called.
All information entered into the computer either by you using the
keyboard or from acassette tape (or adisc) is held in the form of
BINARY NUMBERS. These numbers are represented by either ONES
or ZEROS.
The computer does this by turning on or off literally tens of thousands
of electrical switches known as TRANSISTORS which are inside
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS or MICRO CHIPS.
The BINARY CODE is something like Morse Code-which has
combinations of dots and dashes to represent letters of the alphabet;
numbers as well.
With your computer, once the power is turned off all the switches revert
to zeros and your program is lost forever! If we want to keep aperm-
anent record of the program, it must be transferred to cassette tape.
When you have completed aprogram on your John Sands Sega and
wish to keep it, you use the SAVE command. When this occurs, the
computer converts the BINARY CODE into audible sound tones which
range from frequencies of around 3000 Hertz (or cycles per second)
which represent the zeros, and around 5000 Hertz which represent
the ones.
On atypical SAVE command, aconstant ‘leader’ tone of 4seconds is
heard, followed by aburst of File Header Data which contains the File
Name, followed by another 4seconds of constant tone. This is then
followed by the program code being SAVED in bursts of 600 bits
per second.
You can hearlhese sounds occurring over the cassette recorder
loudspeaker if you disconnect the earphone jack.
If we wish to reload the program into the Sega from the cassette tape,
we use the BASIC command LOAD. The computer will then search
over the tape for the leader tone. When it finds the File Name you
require, it will announce the fact on the screen by printing the words
FOUND FILE (NAME). It then continues to LOAD the program code for
up to several minutes. When it has completed the job, the words
LOADING END will appear on your screen.
The program is now in the computer's Random Access Memory (RAM).
The tape can be stopped, and by pressing the RUN key you will start
the program.
If your Sega cannot find the leader tone, or the particular File Name, it
will keep on looking forever! During the LOAD or SAVE activities, there
wil! be no response from any of the keys on the keyboard, except for
RESET
!f you know your program is near the beginning of the tape, you should
have aFOUND FILE (NAME) response in about 20 seconds. If this
doesn’t happen we suggest you rewind the tape and try again; this
time starting with the volume setting at the mid point and gently
increasing it. Hopefully, you will hear something!
When the computer does find the leader tone it will then attempt to
LOAD. At any time during the LOAD process, you may see aTAPE
READ ERROR appear on the screen. This means the computer has lost
the signal which is coming from the tape and the LOAD operation has
been discontinued.
There are several causes of this infuriating problem! So it’s best to make
sure they never, or hardly ever, occur.
The most common are these;
Poor quality tape. Always use Low Noise 60 minute, or shorter tapes.
Never use Chrome or Metal tapes.
Kinks in the tape. Never leave the Play button on when you’re not
recording.
Poor quality original recording. Make sure you verify all your SAVES.
Make aback-up tape of everything too.
Bad electrical connections. Make sure your leads are not faulty from
the recorder to your John Sands Sega.
Poor alignment of recorder head. This can result in signal loss which is
definitely what you don’t want! Make sure you use awell-known and
reliable recorder.
Signal recorded too low. Adjust the VU recording level on your cassette
deck to give the maximum signal power without distortion.
From all the above, you can see that to SAVE and LOAD computer
programs is quite acritical process. More so, than for voice or music
recording. Asmall loss of signal might not be even noticeable by the
human ear- but It’s absolutely vital for your Sega. You cannot load just
part of aprogram either; it’s all or nothing!
It’s afunny thing, but some sophisticated hi-fi cassette decks do not
make as reliable computer recorder units as less expensive, portable
models. This is because the costly units very faithfully reproduce high
frequency sounds as well as any other noise which may be on the
tape. All this does is to corrupt your data signal and the result is not the
one you’re looking for!
The best of all cassette data units are those which have been produced
especially for use with computers. These are called 'dedicated' models,
and contain special filters which restrict the recorded signals to the
frequencies we want.
You can also expect potential problems if you SAVE aprogram on
one recorder and LOAD it from another. Nearly all mass produced
cassette recorders have slightly different head alignment and signal
characteristics.
If you SAVE a program using aparticular recorder, we suggest you use
the same recorder to LOAD the program wherever possible.
The equipment you will need.
You’ll need arecorder compatible with your John Sands Sega. If you
already own aportable or hi-fi cassette recorder, try it out anyway.
Then you’ll need at least one connection cable with standard 3.5 mm
Earphone Jack on both ends-or an RCA jack on the recorder end if
you are using ahi-fi deck.
And, naturally, agood quality blank audio cassette tape.
Once you've got that list organised, you’re on your way!
How to save your programs.
1.Connect the cable from the OUT socket on the back of your John
Sands Sega to the MIC or MICROPHONE socket of your recorder.
2. Advance the tape until the brown, magnetic section is visible on
both reels.
Hold down the FUNC key and press the SAVE key on your Sega.
The screen will indicate SAVE.
Now type aFile Name-which can be up to 16 characters long.
3. Press the Record and Play keys of your cassette recorder; then
press the CR key on your Sega.
On the screen you will now see SAVING START
This means that your data is now being written to the tape, and can
take from one to several minutes, depending on the length and
complexity of your program.
When the SAVE is completed you will hear aBEEP and the screen
message will change to SAVING, END.
4. Now we’re going to check that all the information has been SAVED
on the tape.
Rewind the tape.
Connect the cable from the Earphone or External Speaker socket of
the recorder to the cassette IN socket on your Sega. Adjust the volume
level of the recorder to %of its maximum.
5. Hold down the FUNC key of the Sega and at the same time press the
VERIFY key.
The screen will indicate VERIFY.
Now type in your File Name and press the CR key.
The screen will then showVERIFYING START
Now press Play on the recorder.
Within 20 seconds you should hear aBEEP and the screen will read
FOUND FILE (NAME).

If the words SKIP FILE (NAME) appear, you may have made amistake
in the spelling of your FILE (NAME). Check it to make sure,
if you did make amistake, press RESET rewind the tape and try
again -this time spelling the file correctly. (You can omit the file name
completely if it islhe first file on the tape.)
If no file name is found within 20 or 30 seconds, go through the
procedure again-this time increasing the volume on the recorder,
if you still have no success, try another SAVE, or another brand of audio
tape, if all else fails, try another cassette recorder.
How to load your programs.
The LOAD procedure is much the same as when you VERIFY
Here we go-
1.Connect the cable from the earphone or external speaker socket on
your recorder to the cassette IN socket on your John Sands Sega.
Adjust the volume level to %of its maximum.
2. Hold down the FUNC key and press the LOAD key.
The screen will respond with LOAD.
Now type in your File Name and press the OR key.
The screen will now show LOADING START
Now press Play on the recorder.
Within 20 seconds you should hear aBEEP and the screen should
show FOUND FILE (NAME).
If the message SKIP FILE (NAME) appears, you may have made an
error in the typing of the File Name.
If you did, press RESET rewind the tape and retry the LOAD with the
correct spelling of the File Name. (You can omit the File Name if it is
the first one on the tape.)
If no File Name is found within 20 to 30 seconds, start the procedure
over again with more volume on the recorder.
If you’re still having no luck, try another cassette tape or recorder.
If there are several programs on your tape, the Sega will search for
the particular File Name- showing on the screen the file names it has
skipped over as it keeps searching.
Agood idea, which saves time, is to make anote of the correct position
of each particular program by using the counter of your cassette deck.
You can then Fast Forward to just before this position when you begin
to LOAD.
Now that was really quite simple wasn’t it?
The above is an excerpt from “Programming Your John Sands Sega”
published by John Sands Electronics, 1984.
John Sands Electronics
Division of John Sands Limited
Incorporated in New South Wales
6Bay Street Port Melbourne
Victoria 3207 Australia
Telephone [phone] Telex AA34206