Instructions for connecting the Novag Star Sapphire 1003 chess computer to a personal computer do not exist; this article corrects the deficiency in the user’s manual. Instructions are provided here in concise, summary, and compendious forms.

Concise

Set the serial connection parameters as listed here:

• Bits per second = 57,600
• Data bits = 8
• Parity = None
• Stop bits = 1
• Flow control = None

Summary

To communicate with the Novag Star Sapphire 1003 from a personal computer, a serial connection is required using the cable supplied with the unit. To do this you must use a spare serial port on your computer and terminal emulation software to logically connect to this port with the serial connection parameters set as shown in the previous section.

Specific details of the configuration of hardware and software will differ, depending on the type of operating system used. Compendious details of a connection under the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system, running on a personal computer, are provided in the next section.

Compendious

Compendious instructions for connecting the Novag Star Sapphire chess computer to a personal computer running the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system are provided here.

Establish a new HyperTerminal

Establish a new HyperTerminal connection as described here as a sequence of menu items:

1. Start→Programs→Accessories→Communications→HyperTerminal.
   
2. 
   In the Connection Description window, for the New Connection, enter Star Sapphire in the Name field.
   
   Select and appropriate icon the click on the OK button.
   
3. 
   In the Connect To box, ignore the fields Country/region, Area Code, and Phone Number.
   
   Select the Communication Port to which the serial cable is connected in the Connect using drop-down menu — COM1, COM2, etc. Usually it will be COM1 unless this is in use already. Accept your settings by clicking on the OK button.
   
4. 
   In the COM1 Properties window, set the Port Settings as listed here:
   
   
   Bits per second = 57,600
   
   Data bits = 8
   
   Parity = None
   
   Stop bits = 1
   
   Flow control = None
   
5. 
   Put the new HyperTerminal on your desk-top for convenient access by selecting:
   
   
   Start→Programs→Accessories→Communications→HyperTerminal.
   
   
   Right-click on the Star Sapphire menu item then select copy from the pop-up menu that appears.
   
   
   Note: There are two HyperTerminal menu items; pick the one marked by the folder-shaped icon.
   
   
   Left-click on a blank part of your desk-top to clear the chain of menus from the screen, then right-click in a blank spot and then select Paste Shortcut from the pop-up menu.
   
   
   An icon labelled Shortcut to Star Sapphire.ht will appear on your desk-top.
   
   
   Rename it to just Star Sapphire by right clicking on it and then selectRename from the pop-up menu that appears.
   

Connecting the Star Sapphire

6. 
   Turn off your Star Sapphire.
   
7. 
   Connect the cable between the Star Sapphire and the PC.
   
8. 
   Double-click the Star Sapphire icon.
   
9. 
   Turn on the Star Sapphire
   

Printing the Move-list to the PC

10. 
    Load or play a game then select function 55 PrintGm. The move-list should appear in the Star Sapphire - HyperTerminal window.
    
11. 
    Select all, copy, then paste into another application or print to a text file. Printing to a text file requires installation of a generic text-only printer driver; how to do this is beyond the scope of this article.
    
12. 
    Have fun!