The WROCC Newsletter
WROCC members receive a copy of our monthly newsletter, The WROCC. Produced in A5 format, it contains articles on RISC OS and its software, hints and tips, information about the subjects covered in our meetings, and much more.
Copies are produced in PDF format: members can download them from the this page, or have copies emailed to their inbox as soon as they are published. In addition to a ‘one page per A5 sheet’ version, a ‘two-up on A4’ version of each issue is available to help those who prefer to print their copies out for reading.
If you’re not a member but would like to see what you’re missing, a selection of older issues are free to download further down the page.
In February 2022 we take a look back at December’s meeting, where one member had RISC OS on a Raspberry Pi interfacing with some old-school hardware synths while another looked at retro PD on a RiscPC. Chris Hall muses on how to measure areas using drawfiles, sprites and BASIC, there’s a quick tour of Game of Life, and a correspondent reminds us of the power of TopModel.
In the January 2022 issue, we start the new year by taking a look at the latest release of the Iris web browser, and reviewing the Club’s Contributor Award Scheme for those writing for the newsletter. Chris Hall takes a look at how he used drawfiles to create the RingBind document viewer, while Kev Smith recounts how he uses Fireworkz, Impact and Ovation Pro to maintain the newsletter indexes.
The December 2021 issue looks back at our September meeting where Alan Adams explained how RISC OS is used to score canoe slalom competitions, and announces the change of date for the 2022 Wakefield Show. Chris Hall takes a look at the Impression family and the new guide to the suite, and there are some musings on the pitfalls which can be encountered when taking backups. There’s a look ahead to the Club’s AGM in February, the answers to the October Quiz, and a RISC OS themed crossword to further test the general knowledge.
In November 2021 we take a look at the impending changes to the UK’s broadband and telephone market, alternative ARM devices and cross-platform computer magazines. We revisit the subject of extracting a monitor’s display capabilities automatically, which was touched on in October 2021, take a look at Tock and quickly round up October’s software releases. Finally, there’s a report on the Club’s October meeting – which was the first in-person event since the start of 2020 – and those who weren’t able to be there can try out their computer knowledge on Peter Richmond’s quiz.
The October 2021 issue takes a look at recycling old computer hardware for use with RISC OS systems, and we investigate how members of the Club can share their experiences in the pages of the newsletter.
Indexes
An index of the articles found between issues 6.1 and 38.12 of the newsletter has been produced by John Arthur and Kev Smith, and can be downloaded here as a PDF document. Volume 6 coincided with the release of RISC OS, and prior to that the newsletter was mainly short hints and tips.
The Wakefield Back Catalogue
Relaunched following the completion of Volume 38 of The WROCC in April 2021, the eleventh edition of The Wakefield Back Catalogue contains PDF copies of the Club’s monthly newsletters going from The WROCC and Awake right back to the very first “hints & tips” sheet handed out at the April 1983 meeting.
The new compilation contains around 420 issues and is available as a download in these more ‘virtual’ times. It costs £7.50 for non-members, whilst members can buy it for the discounted price of £5.00. To order your copies, complete the Order Form and send it back to us. Contact us if you have any questions.
The WROCC Guide to Networking
Starting in late 2009, the Club has been publishing a series of articles on networking in the newsletter. Two years on, we’ve turned them into a stand-alone guide to the subject of networking RISC OS systems.
Each part of the guide is available in a 20 page A5 printed booklet for £3.00 including P&P, or in PDF form for £1.50. To order your copies, complete the Order Form and send it back to us. Contact us if you have any questions.
By April 2010 there had been enough articles published to create the first 20 page A5 booklet; launched at the 2010 Wakefield Show, this covers the basics of setting up a network that contains RISC OS machines and is available for purchase to members and non-members alike.
The guide introduces us to networking and how to configure IP addresses on a home network, as well as how to make sure that DNS is working correctly. We look at sharing an internet connection, configuring ShareFS and using Samba to view RISC OS files on Windows.
Launched in April 2011 at the Wakefield Show, Part 2 of the WROCC Guide to Networking continues where Part 1 left off and looks at file transfer and the RISC OS firewall.
We cover the use of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and LanManFS to access files stored on Windows, using Sunfish to read files from Linux over NFS and Moonfish to view RISC OS files on Linux. There’s consideration of how filetype mappings work on network filing systems, and details of how to configure the RISC OS Six firewall.
Free samples
Here are some old back-issues of The WROCC, which can be downloaded in PDF format to give an idea of what the newsletter is about. More recent issues are available to members at the top of the page.
The files can be viewed on RISC OS using PDF, which is maintained by Chris Gransden: recent versions (3.00.1.21 or later is required to view the newsletter correctly) can be downloaded for free from www.riscos.info/index.php/PDF.
In the June 2014 issue, the newsletter carried a report of the 2014 Wakefield Show and details of what RISC OS Open had to say at the event. There was a report of the May meeting, where several members looked at interfacing things to a Raspberry Pi, a review of Sine Nomine Software’s RiscOSM mapping software and a guide to changing the iconbar icons used by Uniprint.
Alongside a report on the new risc/pi website, the August 2013 issue of the newsletter reported on the July Meeting’s talks including the options for printing from RISC OS and Peter Richmond’s experiences using RISC OS on the Raspberry Pi. There was also a guide to getting RISC OS up and running on a Pandaboard.
The January 2013 issue of the newsletter contained a report of the December meeting and included the Christmas Quiz questions for readers to try out for themselves. We looked at the inside story of creating the Back Catalogue CDs, and had a preview of the 2013 Wakefield Show. Some of our members looked at using David Pilling’s SyncDiscs for scripting automatic backups and Snapper for taking screenshots. There was also a quick look at NetSurf’s early Javascript progress.
In December 2012 the newsletter reported on the previous month’s visit from Mike Cook, where he had demonstrated his RFID-based music sequencer, some Raspberry Pi-based hardware projects and the ‘Spoonduino’. In his final article, the late Colin Sutton described the Super Hi-Vision equipment used to bring the London Olympics to the big screen in Bradford, we took a look at an early version of RISC OS on the Raspberry Pi, and discussed what was required to connect a modern LCD monitor to a RiscPC.
