About MainByte.Com

First of all let me thank you for visiting my site! I plan on keeping this site up for as long as I am able, which I hope is a very long, long time. I have enjoyed creating it and have learned so much more about the TI-99 and all that is associated with this fine line. I meet new friends, and though I might not ever meet some of them face to face, they will be friends for life.

This site, if you havn't noticed, is hosted on mainbyte.com. That is me. This is my domain, and it is hosted on chicagowebs.com. No popups, ads, or other annoying things like that.

This site is best viewed in 800 x 600 or better, and yes it is a highly graphic site, which I do explain why later. If you do have any suggestions or comments please feel free to email me. My email can be found on the main page. The main page can be reached anytime by clicking on the TI icon at the top of all pages.

If you don't mind I would appreciate that you sign my guestbook. Not asking for much information here, it just interests me to see where all the TI'ers are coming from. Also don't leave without taking the TI "IQ" Test. This can be found on the main page also.

Enjoy your visit and be sure to come back often as I am still updating and adding items, and I will probably always be doing this!

-- Ron

I decided to create a web presence for the TI line of Home Computers sometime in 1999. I didn't have a lot of equipment then so I didn't have a lot to offer. I then acquired a lot more equipment for the TI line, and started to actually track down projects and upgrades that worked with these parts, due mostly to the help of John Creviston Jr.

In the early part of 2003 I started to re-work my web site. I didn't want to just have a listing of parts that I own, but wanted to make something that could actually be useful and/or helpful to the TI Community. I wanted to be careful not to make just another TI site, or copy something that was already out there. A couple of things I noticed were most picture, drawings, scans and copies where either very hard to read due to low resolution, or just such bad copies as to make them un-readable.

I decided to use my skills with graphics and photography and create scans, graphics and photos that one would be actually able to use, and understand. By using graphics and photos I wanted to be able to show to those of us who are "solderers" that a lot of these projects are "do-able" with clear and concise directions. Last, I wanted to have photos that were large and clear enough to show the TI line in all it's glory.

I hope I have achieved these goals.

About the Author

My name is Ron Reuter, and I am a Senior Network Administrator at Indiana University located in Bloomington, Indiana. My mind is a bit foggy but I seem to remember getting my first computer sometime in 1982. Of course it was a TI-99/4A!! This was my only computer for several years, and my daughter, then 4, grew up using this system. The TI-99 was the system that I learned many of my computer skills on. I have several systems now with all the goodies, including a Geneve, and they are up and running. I am still collecting parts and pieces so I can add more "Stuff" to my site, and my collection. Thank goodness my wife is a very patient person :>)

Other hobbies of mine include: astronomy, programming, graphics, photography, electronics, and pretty much anything with a science flavor.

I use several tools to build and maintain my site. On the software side I use Homesite 5 for most of my HTML needs. I like this product as it keeps the code clean, and does not add items to the source. It is like a text editor for html code. For server side programs I use ASP, as my domain is located on a Windows server. Client side I use javascript, sparsley.

My graphics and photo touchups are all done in Paintshop Pro version 7 and 8 (still learning 8). I think this is one of the greatest graphics programs in the world, and it is about 1/4 the price of the leading one.

On the hardware side I use an Olympus C 2040 digital camera. This camera is getting a bit dated as I purchased it a couple of years ago, but it one of the best, even compared to what is out there now. I also use an an HP scanjet 5300C scanner, nothing special here, just a good work horse that produces very good scans. All of this stuff works on my personal IBM clone, which consists of an Intel P4 2.6 gig proc, and 1 gig of RAM. A 19" monitor and GeForce Video card rounds out the system.