Spectrum Computing

Damn you for giving me more temptation to buy a 3D printer, that ender v3 se does look very good...

JD

Just spent a happy half hour reading about what Greaseweazle can do... it looks amazing. And the hardware is cheaper than a Gotek (of course you need a floppy drive to connect to it). I think I'm going to invest in one. GreaseweazleGUI makes it a lot easier... https://desertsagesolutions.com/grease...

Greaseweazle rocks, use it for making Amiga images, only way to do it with a pc...

JD

I take it noone knows of the differences then? There really seems to be very little info about this online which is just weird

JD

Hi, Still looking at getting a Harlequin 128 to build, however I've noticed that the Bytedelight kits are rev 2D, yet 4B is the latest version. Anyone know of a source of a 4B kit, or what the differences are? Can a 2D be turned into a 4B? Any layout differences? It seems every time I try to get one...

Yep used mine for PIC chips, flashing 27c512s on a pi1541+fast load card, and also for testing some 74 series ICs. Works a treat!

JD

There's not much to fix, only a transformer, rectifier Bridge and a smoothing capacitor, so I'd be interested myself

JD

Daft question, but have you tried another tv? Speccies don't play nice with some sets....

JD

Well, that shows the CPU is working, and for the most part the ULA as well....

JD

Excellent job! I only hope you put the board in the case before you fitted the nebula, otherwise you'll have to remove it in order to put in the screw that holds the board down... ask me how I know 😌 Oh, and don't count your chickens just yet - yes, it's giving you a display, but could still have ot...

v1.61 is just a cosmetic improvement: In the Spectrum 128 AY test, the screen shows the channel number being tested instead of changing the border colour.

JD

Email has been sent, I'll let you know when he responds.

JD

I'll pop Phil an email, see if he can tell us what's new

JD

Another one lives again! Good work

JD

If you look at the bottom of that link, there's an option for soldered which comes with the smaller boards soldered onto the ribbon cable, looks like a good idea for the sake of an extra 3 euros!

JD

Can't argue with the price though, when you consider they're only 50% pricier than a standard membrane. Indeed, plus it won't need replacing ever again which is a big plus. Was never a big fan of the plus keyboard, always felt there was too much travel and not enough response, plus the keys seem to...

Whilst I await delivery of my recently won Spectrum Plus, I decided to have a look at the price of keyboard membranes. They're quite a bit dearer for the plus! Anyways, on my travels I came across this: https://www.ginger-electronic.com/en/retro-computer/26-46-48p-kdlx-keyboard-for-sinclair-zx-spect...

Cheers, I'll have a look...


...... and it's now mine. Cheers!

JD

Cheers, I'll have a look...

JD

Hi,

Looking to build a Harlequin, but in need of a case to put it in. Yes, I can buy new ones but I'd like to make it as authentic as possible, so I'm after an original Spectrum or Plus case. Anyone got anything off a scrap Speccy or similar?

Cheers

JD

Well, it came today, nicely packaged. Hooked it up to the pc, installed the software and first thing it did was to update the firmware. Grabbed a c64 dead test cart and pulled the w27c512 off it, read it out and flashed it back in no time, works like a charm! Next thing to do is to order me a Harleq...

@hellraiseruk if you do go for one, it would be good if you let us know how you get on with it. Mark Ordered, says 12 day delivery but we'll see... will let you know how I get on, usefully it allows you to program PIC chips as well, and it has a basic chip tester functionality but no idea how well ...

Pay day next Friday so may well order, God alone knows when it'll arrive!

JD

Done a bit of research, looks like these are the replacement for the tl866 - usb 2.0 and up to 25v programming voltage - 47 quid on aliexpress so might be worth a punt!

JD

One other question, what's the deal with the T48 units? As I'm seeing those popping up a lot too, they the same thing or inferior?

JD