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-----         CS1er V0.96Beta         -----
-----         Windows Version         -----
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-----  The Cassette to FIAD Converter -----
-----        By Dean Corcoran         -----
-----         www.CS1er.com           -----
-----      www.deancorcoran.com       -----
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* Readme.TXT readme file v8 (CS1er Release #8)
* 28th February 2007

* See notes about this release at bottom of this document.

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-------------- Description ----------------
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CS1er is a program used to decode the binary sound of files stored
on cassette tapes, used on Texas Instruments TI99/4a Computers. This
is then saved in 'FIAD' file format used on many TI Emulators.
CS1er's main objective is Data accuracy of badly recorded or damaged
tapes. CS1er now contains the ability to save a FIAD as a Wav file.


This program was originally inspired by Dick Selis's 'Tape994a'. You are 
encouraged to check it out also.

*** THIS PROGRAM IS NOT CONSIDERED COMPLETE ***

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-- READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE PROCEEDING ---
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-- Disclaimer / Warranties / Guarantees / Conditions of use --
CS1er is distrubited "as is" and comes with NO Warranty or Guarantee
at all and of any kind. Nor is there any future guarantee that there
will be any future support and/or upgrades to this program. CS1er
and its author cannot be held responsible for any damages incurred, 
either directly or indirectly from its use or misuse. CS1er is used
at your own risk for your own privelege. You can be assured that CS1er
may have bugs which could cause irratic and / or undesirable behavour.
All distrubutions must adhere to conditions in distrubution notes
mentioned below.

* IT IS A CONDITION OF USE THAT YOU AGREE TO THE ABOVE. IF YOU DO NOT
AGREE TO THE CONDITIONS THEN YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO USE CS1er AND
MUST DELETE CS1er AND ANY ASSOCIATED FILES FROM YOUR POSSESSION.

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---------- System Requirements ------------
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This program has been made to run on a min spec machine for all to use

CS1er should run on any Windows 95 or Later PC system Pentium or above, 
VGA screen or better. CS1er Does take advantage of CPU enhancements.

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---------- Instructions for use -----------
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#See included PDF for more comprehensive documentation.

* Connect your sound source (Cassette Player/TI99/4a) up to the sound 
  input device on your sound card (Line In/Microphone).

* Using a Sound recording program, record the cassette file sound.
  (Try to record at a high volume level, but prevent clipping)
  (Occasional Clipping of sound OK (start of file) but not encouraged)
  (CS1er Will attempt to automatically adjust volume level)

* If possible cut off any excess non-binary sound(noise) at beginning.
  (I advise not to do any digital equalising once recorded)
  (Equalising using Analogue Equaliser prior to entering Computer
   gives better results, Try to roll-off below 250Hz & above 2KHz)

* Save your file as a Mono, 8 bit, 44.1 KHz WAV File. (RIFF Format)
  (Must Have .WAV Extension, CS1er will add this extension if not present)

* Open CS1er.

* Using CS1er open the wav file and press "start" to begin converting.
  CS1er will automatically distinguish between Wav and FIAD files.

  (files are assumed to be a .WAV (RIFF) file recorded in Mono, 8 Bit
  44100 Hz format. CS1er will not load Foreign, corrupt or non-standard
  Wav files and will give an error message if it detects them)

* When finished You will then be prompted to enter the name for the
  FIAD. This name is the name that will be entered into the actual FIAD
  data within the file. This does NOT refer the the filename to be saved
  on your hard disk.

* After Saving as a FIAD file into memory. CS1er will continue to scan
  the WAV file for more recorded files and repeat this process until end
  of WAV is reached.

You will then be returned to the main window where you can select to save
any FIADs that are currently stored in memory to disk as either FIAD
files or Wav files. (Note: It is advised that the internal FIAD name and
the file name be the same. Some emulators will produce errors if the names
are different.)

The output FIAD file should be able to be loaded into V9T9 or any
TI99/4a Emulator which supports FIAD files. If the file saved to disk was
saved as a Wav file then the file can be played back as a sound for
loading the program onto a real TI.

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----------------- Notes ------------------
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Compared to Dick Selis's 'Tape994a' Program, CS1er is very SLOW. I
designed CS1er to be as accurate as possible with noisy, dirty,
corrupt tape files. This required a very comprehensive bit recognising
routine (99% accurate on Shit sound). The added side effect is that it's
able to read some files which my 99/4a can't. (some old tapes which I
thought were gone forever are back). But if you want speed, Use Dick's
excellent program.

* After reading each file from the WAV, CS1er will Jump 4 seconds
  (4 seconds is default) before searching for any following files.
  (Ensure around least 3 second gap between files for best performance)

* Tuning Options for the decoding process and a debuger have been added.
  these are covered in the documentation.

If you find any files which will not work, eMail them and I might
analyse them to make the CS1er more robust.

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---- Known / Possible Bugs / Anomalies ----
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Please forward any bugs you find, either noted here or otherwise to 
me. Please also attach any associated files for analysis.

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--------------- Distribution --------------
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CS1er V0.95b is freeware and can be distrubited freely provided 
it is not manipulated in any form. The CS1er.EXE & Readme.TXT
files must remain together at all times.

I would appreciate anyone wishing to hold a copy on a web-site or 
compilation CD to email me the details of their distribution/publication
and credit my Name & email shown where it can be seen near the file's
location. (I believe this is common respect)

Source Code has not currently been released.

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---------- Possible Future Plans ----------
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* Code optimisations & performance improvements.
    - Always looking at this.

* Full FIAD file manager (put on hold. There are other apps that do this.)
    - Save to FIAD or DOAD
    - DOAD File manager
    - Renaming of internal filenames
    - Player for loading to real TI99/4A Cassette interface
    - Recorder for Saving from real TI99/4A Cassette interface


Please eMail any Suggestions.

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--------------- Known Bugs ----------------
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* DC Offset still in experimental stage.
* FIAD's produced.. possible incompatibilities in some emulators
    - I have had reports of trouble with V9T9 this will be investigated.

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------------- Troubleshooting -------------
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* If a file comes up with many errors try increasing volume (+50% ?)
  in a WAV file editor.
* CS1er depends heavily on recognising the Datamark at the beginning
  of each record within the file, otherwise the records get out of place.
  Note in the status window if there are periods where data is not being
  picked up. If this is the case adjust settings and retry. Common symptom
  results in not all records being read. 

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--------------- Technical -----------------
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No additional notes in this release.

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------------ Version History --------------
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NOTE: Development of CS1er has been put on hold and no further releases are planned
      after the release of V0.95b. If bugs are discovered and reported I may investigate
      but no fix can be promised. No new features will be implemented.


V0.96b     * Bug Fix only. No New Features
 (R8)      - Bug Fix in Wav Save, Systems would crash.


V0.95b     * CS1er Improvements and Bug Fixes
 (R7)      - Bug Fix in AutoVolume, Was not Bi-Polar as it is supposed to be.
           - Bug fix in TI Source code display for ON GOTO/ON GOSUB.
           - New Manual Record Debug @ Bit level.
           - Performance increase. (New Compiler)
           - Automatic Detection of bad datamarks in Wav file.
           - Options window implemented.


V0.94b     * CS1er Improvements and Bug Fixes
 (R6)      - Major performance increase during decoding.. :)
           - Bitshape can now be manipulated for Detection and recognition independently.
           - Added Extra Bitshape to Recognition (Triangle 2)
           - Added Import and Export functions to Record Debugger. (Allows external interaction)
           - Recognition engine rework for better results.
           - Fixed bug in Record Debugger which caused operational problems.
           - Fixed bug displaying incorrect position in Wav
           - Removed some unnecessary info from Status Window.
           - Documentation not updated in this release (Includes old v0.93b Docs)


V0.93b     * CS1er Bug Fix Release
 (R5)      - Fixed bug which caused Wav files to be saved with incorrect number of records.
           - Some minor cosmetic changes made.
           - Documentation updated to V1.1 for 0.93b and some corrections made.
           - Documentation now included in PDF form.


v0.92b     * CS1er Functionality Improvements.
 (R4)      - Now possible to display TI BASIC source from within the FIAD (TIBText integrated)
             A number of bugs were located in TIBTXT during the port. These are now fixed.
           - Bit patern masks can be internally manipulated.
             Choose (Natural, Sine, Square, Triangle)
           - Added Debugger. The Debugger collects good records from multiple passes using
             different tuning settings.
           - Added DC Offset Alternative data recognition routines has been added (Experimental)
           - Added Clear button for Logging screen. (normal operation appends to bottom of log)
           - Manual Tuning of the engine can now be performed to help with decoding bad files.
           - Support for TIFILES file format added and a more tolerant FIAD loading routine.
           - Auto Volume Routine Rewritten. More accurate & uses dual phase (DC offset) (adjusts
             both sides of DC Offset for DC skewed sound) Creates huge decoding benefits.
           - Bit detection routine re-written and now more accurate.
           - Fixed & updated Log screen which was inacurate.
           - Monitor now displays more useful information. (Volume, DC offset)
           - Better 1st Sync Detection. Uses Auto Volume to help with detection.
           - 1st Release of Documentation (V1)
           

v0.9b R1   * CS1er ported to Windows (Actually R3)
 (R3)      - Added loading of FIADS.
           - Added support for saving to WAV.
           - Added Storage of Multiple FIAD.
           - Added resiliant file recognition.
             (Detects invalid file formats & distinguishes between Wav & FIAD files)
           - Added 'on-the-fly' switching of Monitor & Status viewing.
           - Added Conversion Log window.
           - Removed Support for Mask files (Bit shapes now integrated in exe)
           - Removed some basic manual debugging routines (to be optimised in later releases)
           - Some fixes applied to original routines.
           - No code optimisations have been performed in this release.

 -= Older DOS Versions =- 

V0.5a Beta - Will read multiple files stored in one WAV.
 (R2)        (No need to separate whole Tape side into different WAVs)
           - Slight Speed improvement & Code Optimisations.
           - Fixed Bug (Sometimes confuse start of Sync with Data Mark)

V0.4 Beta  - First Release.
 (R1)

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------------- Contact details -------------
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Dean Corcoran ( Pokey )

URL: www.cs1er.com
     www.deancorcoran.com

eMail: pokeystuff@yahoo.com.au

Sydney Australia.

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