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.
November 2020’s issue sees us look back at the virtual London Show, with an in-depth report of the twelve presentations. We investigate the work done to get RISC OS 5.28 running on a Raspberry Pi 4, and take a look at the new Raspberry Pi 400 revealed earlier in the month. There’s even space to look back at Mike Cook’s virtual visit to Wakefield in October, when he spoke about his quest to acquire a laser cutter for his projects and showed us some of the things that he’d made with it.
In October 2020 a Club member shows us the tools and tricks that they use to optimise their desktop, we review StreetFix from Kevin Wells, and look at how it can be used in conjunction with NetSurf and RiscOSM to report problems to your Council. We investigate the graphical techniques used by a BASIC Kaleidoscope generator, and there’s a report on the outcome of the Silver Deuce Auction and charity collection in aid of Wakefield Hospice.
The September 2020 issue contains a report of the August 2020 meeting, featuring various media software, a look back at the PDP-8 with the help of a PiDP8/I replica, and a review of RISC OS desktop productivity. We review R-Comp’s LockScreen, look at adding shortcuts to NetSurf’s Welcome page, and investigate the software in the APDL archives. There’s also space to mention Toolbar, PhotoFiler, FTPc and SiteMatch.
August 2020’s issue has a member relate how they used lock-down to set up a Raspberry Pi 4 to run RISC OS, and the problems that had to be resolved along the way. There’s a look at using AltKeys from XAT to enter non-standard characters, a quick comparison with Rick Murray’s MoreKeys, and some more Teletext-related nostalgia from members. We give an update on the changes to the Club’s email discussion forum, and reveal what we plan to do with part of the very special first prize from the draw at the cancelled Wakefield show.
In July 2020 another member relates how they went about installing a wide-screen monitor with RISC OS, and we look back at the first ‘virtual’ WROCC meeting at which we welcomed members from around the UK. There are several software reviews, looking at some of the options for playing Patience on RISC OS, creating drawfiles and playing games. There’s a look back at Teletext and the possibilities for some digital archaeology, and we join many other parts of the community in paying tribute to Jim Nagel and Archive 24:6.
Indexes
An index of the articles found between issues 6.1 and 37.12 of the newsletter has been produced by John Arthur, 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 37 of The WROCC in April 2020, the tenth 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.
Originally intended for release at the 2020 Wakefield Show, the new compilation contains around 408 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.
