Spectrum Computing

Started to check the harness this morning and found evidence of burning on the ULA, socket and one wire next to the ULA so it is a safe bet the ULA is fried I guess. So it's a glorified doorstop currently.

Did the expansion connector key fall out, and are you inserting the shorter ZX-81-width plug it into the wrong place on the longer Spectrum-width board edge? No the key is still there and I’ve tried it directly on the Spectrum and in the back of my IF2 with the same results. I’m going check the con...

dfzx wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:54 pm Just to clarify, do you mean the Spectrum no longer works when you unplug the printer? Or that the Spectrum is OK until the printer is plugged in at which point it shows the fault you describe?

When I plug the printer in the Spectrum exhibits the issues without the printer it works fine.

Hi, I picked up a manky ZX Printer for £20 this week, I was told it was just the belt needed replacing. That doesn't seem to be the whole story. When it arrived the belt had indeed disintegrated, and I found both styli and the little nubbins to hold them on the belt although the belt material is sti...

128K Stunt car Racer all day for me, one of Pete Cooke’s marvels.

@Minilop Thanks for taking the feedback on board and adding an ambient track to the game and congrats on the Crash Smash

Minilop wrote: ↑Thu Sep 01, 2022 10:12 am
Game is available here, get the first dungeon for free, with three more (each is a full 48K/128K game with access codes between each) for just £3
https://minilop.itch.io/hakkenkast

Already bought it

I started off with a 48K Speccy back in '83 and I later bought a C64 when the likes of Mercenary,Paradroid and Uridium were released. These days aside from my Z80 based computers I have a couple of 6502 & 6809 Based computers which include a 64 & C128 Flat. I predominantly use my Spectrum +2...

I have original GAC's for my Spectrum & CPC but I haven't been able to pick up a copy of PAW for either machine sadly. It's a bit fiddly setting up a working disk on the CPM version for the CPC and the manual says to use text editors like HiSoft's ED80 but I just get gibberish when I try and ope...

Both heads are giving me 13 & 90 ohms so the heads seem okay. I think the ULA’s were the problems with these.

I have a couple of bare PCB assemblies from old Microdrives. I’ll dig them out and test them.

For me Urban Upstart was probably the best. It was a decent adventure by Pete Cooke who went on to greater things.

My Pi Zero 2 W is due to arrive today but I won’t be able to test it as I glued my Microdrive case closed as I had no plans to replace my Pi Zero at the time.
I’ll need to speak to Tom about another 1.2B board and build another LOL

Do you think that the new Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W would work in the Oqtadrive? Given it’s a Quad core 64 Bit cpu it may run too fast. I have seen videos of it booting Raspbian a lot faster that the original Pi Zero.

That's great! Initially, I didn't think I'd want a standalone configuration, but by now it's my favorite setup. BTW, VCFB is still on today. The video room of the OqtaDrive exhibition is here: https://bbb.vcfb.de/b/xel-c5e-y6s-m3u I did have a quick peek yesterday but but wasn’t able to stay as my ...

My Oqtadrive is inside a spare Microdrive case now with a new fascia plate and the little motor gives that little extra bit of feedback when the drive is being accessed.

I wonder, have you looked at the Raspberry Pi Pico instead of the Nano? I still have two Picos that have been loitering about my desk since I ordered them last year, that need to be put to some use. At one point during OqtaDrive development I considered switching to the Pico. I thought I had hit a ...

Sorry I haven’t posted a picture of my Oqtadrive yet but I will soon, it works a treat now I have figured out what I had missed off ( turned out to be a jumper ) Toms’ PCB was really nice to build and the software was easy to install. I wonder, have you looked at the Raspberry Pi Pico instead of the...

I would be willing to help, I normally repair/upgrade Oric’s, 64’s and Atari 8-Bits, however, I do repair Speccy’s as well. If you have no joy with any EU members then drop me a line if you want.
My last Speccy was a new build based on the repro issue 3B PCB and that was fun, it’s my main 48K now.

I’ve been playing the beta version for a couple of weeks now and it’s good to see it released properly. I think it’s probably one of if not the best 8-bit version of Asteroids I’ve played. I think it would have been a Crash smash back in the day

Hedge1970 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:56 am Not at home right now but if no one else answers I’ll get back to you tomorrow.

Thanks

Hi
Does anyone know what size the captive screws are for the two that clamp the IF1 to the underside of the Speccy? I know the rest are covered in the service manual but not these ones ( I think )

I still cannot get my head around having machine code in the REM statement

Shame you had a duff one, I fitted one to my IF1 as there was heat damage to the case when I bought it. The only problem I had with it was my own fault. I damaged a track removing the old ULA so I had to bodge it with some Kynar wire. Aside from that I’ve had no problems. The vDrive Microdrive and v...

1 Backpackers guide to the universe
2 Doomsday Castle
3 The Pyramid