Introduce yourself!

Introduce yourself. Pimp your website, competition, event or other activity here, as long as it's Spectrum related.
User avatar
Uto
Drutt
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:28 am

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Uto »

Hi all,

I'm Carlos, aka Uto, from Madrid. Got a british 48K Spectrum back in 1984 and got in love with it at first sight :-)

Lately I've been quite involved (as fan) in some FPGA solutions, and I'm also learning Z80 assembler, or actually removing rust from the not very good Z80 assembler I knew back in the day.
http://uto.speccy.org
Follow me at @uto_dev
User avatar
Alessandro
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1908
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:10 am
Location: Messina, Italy
Contact:

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Alessandro »

Hi everyone, I just found this forum and decided to join in!

I have been a proud Spectrum user since January 1984, wrote a 702-pages book about it, and every now and then produce some games to boot.

Cheers! :D
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by R-Tape »

Hello all!
Alessandro wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:25 am Hi everyone, I just found this forum and decided to join in!

I have been a proud Spectrum user since January 1984, wrote a 702-pages book about it, and every now and then produce some games to boot.

Cheers! :D
But you're slacking a bit these days aren't you? ;)
User avatar
Alessandro
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1908
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:10 am
Location: Messina, Italy
Contact:

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Alessandro »

R-Tape wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:29 am But you're slacking a bit these days aren't you? ;)
Slacking? :lol:
User avatar
Vampyre
Manic Miner
Posts: 833
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:51 pm
Contact:

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Vampyre »

Hey guys. Most of you probably know who I am already :D

If you don't, I run the zxspectrumreviews.co.uk website (god, I wish I'd thought of a better name for that although the ZXSR acronym is useful) and have been around the scene for about 20 years. I wasn't actually aware of a forum on Spectrum Computing until, well, what's currently going on with WoSF and thought I'd join up as Peter's a good guy and him and the other developers deserve some credit for an excellent site.
ZX Spectrum Reviews REST API: http://zxspectrumreviews.co.uk/
User avatar
1024MAK
Bugaboo
Posts: 3104
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:52 pm
Location: Sunny Somerset in the U.K. in Europe

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by 1024MAK »

Err, I'm not at all sure about joining a forum that is full of err, "Berks" (see the Rank on the membership list...)

But anyway... since this has become popular, and as I'm already consuming lots of time when I should be doing other stuff on WoS forums, Sinclair ZX World forums and many other forums, and as I already support SpectrumComputing.co.uk, it seemed only right that I should join the forums here.

My short history:
Discovered computers in the early 1980's when I was young (my goodness, that seems soooo long ago now...). Used the Acorn BBC Model B Micro in secondary school. After a lot of heavy hints, my parents bought my sister and me a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k for Christmas in 1983. Did the "play games to death" thing (well, until the pocket money ran out...).
In I think (or thereabouts) 1984, got a dk'tronics keyboard, as I was NOT impressed with the QL keyboard, or the Spectrum+ keyboard.

Later when I went to collage, the Speccy was sidelined, as I bought myself an Atari STFM. By now the Spectrum had been heavily modified in the power supply area (don't worry, the original ZX PSU now runs some Christmas lights) as the expansions became too power hungry for the Sinclair 1.4A PSU. The Speccy controlled a "rover" for a while.

Then got a PC. Speccy was retired to the loft. Most games had already been sold (some escaped!)

Then while browsing the web, found StarDot forums. So I wondered about the other computers of the 1980's, and then found WoS. Although I did not join at first. Instead falling in love with the ZX81! (for the first time, as back in 1982/1983, the Zeddy was perceived as "last years thing").

Oh, that's a bit long for a short version :lol:

So
10 PRINT "Hello" : GO TO 10

Mark

PS now have multiple rubber keys, multiple Spectrum+ machines, a couple of +2 (grey)'s, +2B, +3, +3B and a non-working toastrack. Plus various ZX81s and other 1980s and 1990s computers...
:!: Standby alert :!:
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb :dance
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by R-Tape »

Hello!
1024MAK wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:18 pm Err, I'm not at all sure about joining a forum that is full of err, "Berks" (see the Rank on the membership list...)
We're after new suggestions for that.

Berk.
User avatar
Guesser
Manic Miner
Posts: 639
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Guesser »

Oh go on then, you've twisted my arm.

Especially since I can use my original avatar that I lost when WoS switched to that awful new forum.
User avatar
Spud
Manic Miner
Posts: 372
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2017 8:50 pm
Contact:

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Spud »

R-Tape wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:25 pm Hello!
1024MAK wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:18 pm Err, I'm not at all sure about joining a forum that is full of err, "Berks" (see the Rank on the membership list...)
We're after new suggestions for that.

Berk.
I did wonder, is it Berk from Trap Door?
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by R-Tape »

Spud wrote: Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:43 pm I did wonder, is it Berk from Trap Door?
Yep that's the one, and blame me for the current ranks, just cobbled together quickly.
User avatar
SkoolKid
Manic Miner
Posts: 403
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:07 pm

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by SkoolKid »

Hi, SkoolKid here.

My hobbies include trying to steer any and every conversation, regardless of topic, towards Skool Daze or Back to Skool (or even SkoolKit!), and also lurking.

That's about it, really.

Nice forum you've got here, by the way. :D
SkoolKit - disassemble a game today
Pyskool - a remake of Skool Daze and Back to Skool
User avatar
kolbeck
Manic Miner
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:04 pm

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by kolbeck »

jmk wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2017 1:11 am
kolbeck wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:57 pm Hello James...

Think we had some chit-chat back about 10 years ago, when I did the native OS/2 version of x128 (NOT the recompiled X/Window version for OS/2)
You probably don't know - but the OS/2 version actually ended up on a danish magazine cover cd ;)
Hi, Thomas.

Ah, you trigger vague memories in my brain. ;)
Vague memories.. just realized it was 20, and NOT 10 years ago :-)
https://api.zxinfo.dk/v3/ - ZXDB API for developers
zxinfo-file-browser - Cross platform app to manage your files
https://zxinfo.dk - another ZXDB frontend
User avatar
Ivanzx
Manic Miner
Posts: 736
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:51 am

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Ivanzx »

I am Ivan, a Spaniard living in Germany for the almost last 8 years! (Ja!)

I bought my first Spectrum, a +2A, in Xmas 1988 and since then I am a Spectrum fanatic. Brought my Speccy to Germany and I fell in love with the Homebrew scene since I came back to the Spectrum in the internet era (2003) although I never got rid of my Spectrum, as I used to play with it in the 90s too ;)
chrrris
Drutt
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:09 pm

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by chrrris »

Testing, testing. One, two. One, two.

Very happy to see a forum appear on this most excellent of Speccy websites. You may or may not know me as "ccowley" from... ummm... another place. I'm not really doing much in the way of speccy stuff at the moment, but I wrote a beeper music thing called beepola and have written some emulators and things in the past. Probably won't be very active on here for now, due to work commitments and other boring stuff, but will be looking in from time to time to see if there's anything I can help with.
User avatar
Einar Saukas
Bugaboo
Posts: 3070
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:48 pm

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Einar Saukas »

Hi all!

I'm Einar Saukas from Brazil. It's nice to see so many familiar faces already!

I have been programming games since I was 12, initially for ZX81 then Spectrum. My Sinclair games are listed here, for other platforms here and here. Some of my popular Spectrum related projects are compressor ZX7/RCS, multicolor engines BIFROST/NIRVANA, reference implementations of FZX and IZX, website zxgraph, and database model ZXDB.

Although Spectrum Computing is one of the websites "powered" by ZXDB (therefore I will be probably answering many questions related to archive and preservation here), notice I'm not administrator or moderator of this forum, just a standard user like everybody else. Therefore I won't be speaking in name of Spectrum Computing, everything I post will be simply my own opinions!
jonathan.needle
Drutt
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:30 pm

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by jonathan.needle »

Hey!

Got my first Spectrum Christmas 1983 "for educational purposes" which meant playing Manic Miner for 2 weeks :D Had the same 48k Speccy (but in a 'Lo Profile' case and with 2 shiny Microdrives) until 1990 when I used by student loan to buy an Amiga 500. Poor speccy was packed up in the loft then. Amiga is probably my favourite home computer of all time.

I'm also the author of the Spectrum emulator, Spectaculator which is coming up to its 16th birthday in December. I'm not very active at the moment but this will hopefully change sometime soon.

Ironically my parents "won" in the end in terms of "for educational purposes" as I'm a software Software Architect now.

Jon.
--
Jonathan Needle
Spectaculator Creator
http://www.spectaculator.com/
User avatar
Morpheus
Microbot
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:18 pm
Location: Hurworth-On-Tees, UK
Contact:

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Morpheus »

Hi,
Just signed up and wanted to say hello. I live up in the NE of England and have been a Spectrum user since i was a young teenager when my Dad took me down to W.H Smiths to get my first 48K Spectrum. I had already bought Manic Miner, Horace & the Spiders and Atic Atac leading up to it so i was hyped up.
I first got a glimpse of a Spectrum in out School Tech Drawing class when our teacher was playing The Hobbit while we were working, it ended up where all of us were stood looking over his shoulder at the end and he decided to start a computer club. Over the next few months we all eventually got our own computers, some got C64's or BBC's one lad even got an Oric-1 but most of us got a Spectrum. A decent spec computer that didn't cost a fortune. Coming from playing Asteroids on a Atari VCS2600 to Manic Miner or Atic Atac was just mind boggling at the time. Then i started to learn BASIC, mess about with FORTH and Z80 Assembler.
I have had various spectrum's over the years as my old 48K eventually was beyond repair and i now have a 128K +2A and i'm saving up for one of the divMMC Future wigets to make life a bit easier.

So Hello everyone :D
R Tape loading error, 0:1
User avatar
Guesser
Manic Miner
Posts: 639
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Guesser »

I suppose I should do this properly and say I'm mostly interested in hardware and firmware/utility software. Documenting old hardware, digitising schematics, and of course trying to get people to contribute to the faq wiki.
I've drifted away from speccy projects over the last few years and spend more time in the teletext hobbyist community writing software and stuff, but recently the two have collided again when I bought a volex teletext adapter for the spectrum on eBay which I am now reverse engineering and documenting for preservation.

The community run teletext service "Teefax" received (well, via a raspberry pi and a UHF modulator) by my Spectrum+
Image
User avatar
SkoolKid
Manic Miner
Posts: 403
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:07 pm

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by SkoolKid »

Having properly read through this thread, I feel bad for not even mentioning when I got my first Speccy in the crappy intro I gave earlier.

<clears throat>

I got my first ZX Spectrum - a rubber-keyed 48K model - for Christmas in 1982, and have been a computer programmer ever since. One or two replacement Spectrums later, I stopped using the machine around 1990 (I think). The last replacement currently rests somewhere in the attic, and owing to me being clueless about hardware and in Canada where they have weird electrics and stuff, I have no idea how to power it up or connect it to a display. :(

My earlier comment about Skool Daze and Back to Skool was accurate, by the way. Those games were among the first to get me interested in reverse engineering, and in recent years I've completed and published full disassemblies of those two games, along with Contact Sam Cruise, Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy.

And that really is it now.
SkoolKit - disassemble a game today
Pyskool - a remake of Skool Daze and Back to Skool
User avatar
1024MAK
Bugaboo
Posts: 3104
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:52 pm
Location: Sunny Somerset in the U.K. in Europe

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by 1024MAK »

SkoolKid wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:46 pmI got my first ZX Spectrum - a rubber-keyed 48K model - for Christmas in 1982, and have been a computer programmer ever since. One or two replacement Spectrums later, I stopped using the machine around 1990 (I think). The last replacement currently rests somewhere in the attic, and owing to me being clueless about hardware and in Canada where they have weird electrics and stuff, I have no idea how to power it up or connect it to a display. :(
Assuming you have a 48k Spectrum here. Any decent PSU that outputs 8V to 10V DC at 1.4A (or more) of the correct polarity will power a 48k Speccy.
The trouble you will have, is finding a TV that will be happy with the UHF TV output...
It becomes easier if someone modifies your Spectrum so that the UHF output is converted to composite video. Then you get to play the game of "will it accept a 625 line, 15625Hz, 50Hz PAL colour picture?" Unless of course, you have/can find a multi standard TV set...

Mark
:!: Standby alert :!:
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb :dance
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
User avatar
Stefan
Manic Miner
Posts: 792
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:51 pm
Location: Belgium
Contact:

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by Stefan »

Hi I'm Stefan,

I got my first rubber keyed Spectrum 48k around about 1984 in Auckland, NZ. My Dad got a new job which went with a company car so the family car (an Austin Maxi) could be sold and was used to finance the Speccy. In NZ you could buy the Spectrum with or without a power supply. We got it without since we already had an Atari 2600 which also had a 9V power supply... a few days later we also had a proper Sinclair power supply. Another cost cutting feature was to use the hi-fi cassette deck for loading and saving.... a few too many days later we also had a proper datacorder.

My friend's dad was an official games dealer for JK Grey and various other labels in NZ, so we got most of the games pretty soon after release - I recall having tried about 5 different original (he did the official duplicating) Travels with Trashman tapes before getting one to load.

In 1987 I bought a DISCiPLE disk interface with a 5.25" drive (on holiday in The Netherlands). This had a bad (just an old version I think) ROM, which was replaced later. Enter the cracking era in which I spent most of my time converting multi-load tape games to load from disc. I also bought a SAGA Emperor One keyboard - which was great.

I really loved the 48k multi-channel beeper tunes. FOLLIN FOLLIN FOLLIN FOLLIN!

In 1988 we moved back to The Netherlands where my 48k died. Some repair shop said it was broken - I was convinced they had swapped my one out for a different one (which is still in the room I'm typing this). I bought a 128k toastie. Loved the AY tunes even more.

Bought a SAM Coupé around 1991 as a logical upgrade from the Speccy.

First converted some Speccy demos and games to load from SAM including AY sound, moved on to some demo coding, wrote the SAM MOD player and later the SAM port of Sophistry.

Still amazed at some of the tunes being cranked out of the 8 bits - Yerzmyey, MMCM, FrankT and many many more....
chrrris
Drutt
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:09 pm

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by chrrris »

Guesser wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:16 pm recently the two have collided again when I bought a volex teletext adapter for the spectrum on eBay which I am now reverse engineering and documenting for preservation.
I had one of those Volex TTX adaptors back in the 80s. Loved it! Thought it worked very well too.

I *really* wanted a Prism VTX modem but my parents overruled that one due to (completely justified, with hindsight) fears about the size of the phone bills I'd probably rack up. So had to made do with my Volex. At least it looked like a Prism VTX, sat under the rubber-keyed speccy :)
User avatar
RMartins
Manic Miner
Posts: 776
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 3:26 pm

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by RMartins »

My first computer was a ZX Spectrum 48K, that I learned to program on my own in BASIC, and from that time on, I was hooked on computers.
After that I went to college and university always following a digital path footprint.
What I love the most is the power to control machines up to the last chip and bit.

I'm a Software Developer by profession, since 1998, but recently returned to my origins, since I always wanted to make a game in Assembly for ZX, but in 1982 I was still a kid, and the assembly programming, specially using bytes, instead of instructions, was elusive to me.

I also have a reasonable background in 3D modelling, electronics, robotics and mechanics, which helps a lot while developing my own projects, for ZX and beyond.

I'm also an avid RC enthusiast, for cars, planes and Quad Copters (I build my own).

In the last years, I have been slowly building my own Retro Computer Museum.
I have the full Sinclair range, with several "instances" of each machine, some Atari 2600 (Vader, 6 and 4 selectors, Junior, etc...), Commodore 64 and Amigas (500, 500+ and 600), some Game Boys too, and some other bits and pieces.

I'm Portuguese (born in Mozambique), living in Portugal (Lisbon).
User avatar
hitm4n
Manic Miner
Posts: 604
Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2017 12:56 pm

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by hitm4n »

Hitm4n here. I see many names i know, AndyC, Dunny, Einar, Sokurah. Many from ye olde Retro Remakes, many from WOS. Soon as i saw the ZXDB shenanigansover there and read about this place gaining a forum, i was over here in a shot. Brought back so many memories just signing up to a forum! Don't think ive had to do that in years.

Have to once again publically thank Einar for his ZXDB work, AndyC for assisting (and anyone else) and Peter Jones (have i got the right guy here) for this beautiful site and forum. Anyone and everyone else who made this site happen. Thanks.

I'm very much a lurker, i'll read most threads, will visit regularly, will chip in now and then when i feel i have something useful to say (not very often), or if i feel its something super witty (also, not very often).

Have fun.
I don't have anything cool to put here, so i'll just be off now to see a priest with yeast stuck between his teeth and his friend called Keith who's a hairpiece thief...
User avatar
blucey
Manic Miner
Posts: 822
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2017 9:46 am

Re: Introduce yourself!

Post by blucey »

Hi, I'm Blucey. I've been on WoS forever. I usually start threads called 'Good or Horrible' on there. Not really interested in anything but the games. So you won't see me in hardware threads.
Post Reply