Q. I have had a 48K Spectrum for two years and recently bought a Currah speech unit for it. Is there any way to turn the Currah off while leaving it connected so that I can run programs without delving into the wiry wastes at the back of the machine?

Also, does it take up less memory to define numerical constants as a variable store at the start of a Basic program then refer to this store, and which, if either, is faster for the computer to work out?

Rodney Douglas
Nottingham

A. As far as we know there's no way of switching off the Currah without disconnecting it. This is the case with quite a number of peripherals, although with some you'll find your Spectrum operates as if they were disconnected so long as you haven't accessed them since you powered up.

We're not altogether sure what you mean by your memory saving wheeze, but there are ways to save memory on the Spectrum. For example, if you're using the number '3' INT PI will save you space. You'll also save by storing numeric data as strings, then using VAL to turn it into a number. You could also POKE variable values into a safe area in the memory at the start of the program then PEEK them when you want to use them.

Or even flasher, PEEK system variables that you know are going to hold a certain value at the right time. These last are liable to be slower and trickier to use.

Better still why don't you just write shorter programs?