Who still uses original hardware

[777]

Apologies if I've told this story before, but when I was a computer technician in the early 90s in an FE College, we ripped out our BBC Econet network. There must have been over 300 BBCs that all went into the skip! We did the same with a huge number of Commodore Pets.

That makes me so sad.

i bet someone pillaged a few. i also threw away a sam coupe 20 years ago, which is probably punishable by death in this forum

[1024MAK]

I also threw away a sam coupe 20 years ago, which is probably punishable by death in this forum

A quick death would be far too lenient...

Mark

[ianace]

Nice..!

I'm guessing you didn't go for a ZX Printer in case it set the fire alarms off..

Very true, they did smell great, bit like old model railways

[flatduckrecords]

I think I lost my +2 in a house move long ago, or perhaps lent it to a friend and forgot, but I spent the last 20 or so years sure it would turn up eventually so I held off buying a replacement. Thankfully I'd kept my modest collection of games and accessories in the intevening years, and I was I finally able to enjoy them again when I gave in around February this year and picked up a +2B on eBay. I used it almost every day until realising what I really wanted was a Toastrack!

Since then, it's been wonderful catching up on 20 years of hardware innovations like Spectranet and DivMMC, as well as old hardware like the venerable Alphacom printer, and even re-created hardware such as the ProjectSPECCY Multiface clone, and the Harlequin.

Maybe it's just nostalgia (it's definitely just nostalgia) but I get a lot of enjoyment from coaxing those old cassettes and players into working. I've learned so much about azimuths and pinch-rollers and the importance of IPA these last few months! Sure, I can instantly load practically any Spectrum game ever realeased from an SD card (or TNFS server!) and I do so when I acutally want to play a game; but discovering a long-lost BASIC type-in (that I had known nothing about) saved by the previous owner of a tape I've now had in my posession for 30 years really felt like re-connecting with my childhood. Pure magic!

I'm also really enjoying going through covertapes (although they seem to be particulary finicky in comparison to commercial tapes). I never had access to the magazines as a kid, but reading Jon North's gossip column in Practical Pokes certainly gives a "flavour" of those times! And yeah, the TZXs are available online, but if it wasn't for the real cassette tapes, I'd never have found Rodney's letters to Tiff about school exams and Nottingham bus station that were recorded onto side B of this particular copy of Play For Your Life!

Fortunately I've got enough space to have my +2B hooked up to a 14" CRT TV set, while the Toastrack has pride of place under the Big Telly (via ZX-HD). I'd been using a WH Smith CPD-8300 to load games, but it's not working reliably now so I recently aquired a Sony TCM-818 which is faring very well. I also have a 48K that I like to think of as my travel Spectrum that I bundle with ZX-HD and DivMMC, you know, for on-the-go microcomputing .

[777]

I also threw away a sam coupe 20 years ago, which is probably punishable by death in this forum

A quick death would be far too lenient...

Mark

actually more like 15 years ago

[Ast A. Moore]

I also have a ZX Spectrum 128 toastrack but that is still awaiting for me to repair it (when I find it again, it’s in storage).

Oh, I looked in there and didn’t find it. You must have moved it elsewhere. Gosh, is that the time? I must be going now. Bye.

[PeterJ]

[I bet someone pillaged a few.

No, no-one was interested back then. Not sure if it's still a thing, but they went to a company who removed the gold from the PCBs.

[clebin]

I recently rescued my old grey +2 from my parents' garage and hooked it up to the living room TV with a SCART adapter. The PSU was shot so I got a new switching power supply. The clicking/crunching noise of the tape recorder has got worse since I last used it, although it doesn't seem to affect loading. I should sort it out though.

I had quite a good collection of tapes already but I've added quite a lot more in the past year or so and a wish list that never seems to get smaller. I definitely think there's something special about the experience of loading games from cassette. The forced change in pace and the ritual aspect of it - it's like a Japanese tea ceremony. I've got a Spectrum Next in my spare room/home office, and I'm finding myself using a tape deck more and more with that too.

[akeley]

I definitely think there's something special about the experience of loading games from cassette. The forced change in pace and the ritual aspect of it - it's like a Japanese tea ceremony.

Right on. It sounds silly, and before I had got into it I thought I will never bother, but it really is fun. The thing about ZX tape loading is that it just ticks so many right boxes: the <5 min timing is perfect, just enough to do a small chore or a cup of tea, the scr$ art is amazing or crap; which is also amazing, you get the funky sounds and bars, and then there's that little "but will it load?" gambling angle.
It also provides a mix of anticipation/appreciation for the game itself I don't get from the insta-DIV loading.

Other micros' tape loading is rather dull compared to ours, and I'm not into it, even though I have some CPC/C64 tapes.

[PeterJ]

[mention]clebin[/mention] and [mention]akeley[/mention]. Do you think loading a game from tape and waiting, makes you think more about which game you choose to load and how long you play it for?

I don't own many tapes, but do the same thing via .wav files.

[patters]

I had kept my childhood 16K but after fiddling about with it trying to get it to load games via an iPod in 2006 its ULA fried I think. This failure had been on the cards since about 1987 since it often used to fail to load from tape after it had been on a while. I sent it, with another donor Spectrum+ from eBay to some guy from WoS who offered to repair it, but he stopped responding to my PMs and kept the computers.*cough, spit*

Luckily, since the 16K had been in perfect cosmetic condition (pretty rare) I had had the sense to only send him the bare motherboard. I kept that shell safe and didn't really think about Spectrums until January last year. I always knew I'd have to pry the metal keyboard faceplate off to change the broken membrane, but I didn't rate my chances of doing that without wrecking it. Though of course you can buy replacements, I know from repairing the odd mobile phone that reproduction parts are never as good. I happened to spot that Retroleum occasionally sells re-capped, composite modded, and tested bare motherboards for very reasonable rates. I think it was £35. After a nerve-wracking time with a guitar pick and a hairdryer (and some tin foil to protect the rubber keys) I was able to replace the knackered keyboard membrane without bending the original faceplate. My pristine Issue 2 was reborn, but now as a 48K issue 2.

This got me interested in the scene again and of course I had to get a DivMMC. Then I wrote a game I'd abandoned 25 years earlier, and then I got curious about getting a Toastrack, which I had started to scout for back in 2006. So much classier than the childhood +2 I had after the 16K. I recall that Toastracks seldom appeared on eBay in 2006. Many auctions went by in 2019 and I saw they generally fetch in the region of £200, even in battered or 'untested' condition. Then in the run-up to Christmas 2019 I spotted that a guy on eBay jet5y refurbs toastrack machines: re-cap, jailbar fix, audio levels, deep clean. He takes beautiful close-up shots of them that are brochure quality, and the restored machine is pretty much mint. He charged £250 and I was able to use an eBay 10% promotional code to bring that down further. So I paid more or less the same amount for a perfect restored machine as many people pay for 'barn-find' style wrecks, and no mucking around needed. As a piece of design I think it's incredible - it looks modern to this day: pure retrofuturism.

Since then I've bought a TZXduino to occasionally enjoy the ritual pace of tape loading (or at least the sounds), as [mention]clebin[/mention] described it. I have also experimented with trying to find a decent joypad. I never liked joysticks, even back in the day. So far a Megadrive pad wins out over a Master System one (too many accidental diagonals). I think R-Type is the best test of that.

This was the main eBay shot of my Toastrack - I thoroughly recommend the seller, I hope he restores more machines. I've seen him list at least three, all to this same high quality:

[fimbulvetr]

I only use original hardware. No fun for me in emulation. But, I usually use modern storage on my old computers (grey +2, 48k, Atari 800, Tandy CoCo 3, ti99, Apple IIc, Mac SE/30) as old tapes and disks just aren’t that reliable anymore. I still use old storage media occasionally for nostalgia’s sake. Playing with, upgrading, and fixing old hardware is my favourite part of this hobby. The only machine I’ve had since new is the ti99, the rest I’ve picked up here and there over the last 25 years.

[clebin]

@clebin and @akeley. Do you think loading a game from tape and waiting, makes you think more about which game you choose to load and how long you play it for?

I don't own many tapes, but do the same thing via .wav files.

Oh yeah, definitely. Especially if it's a 128k game - after waiting that long there's no way I'm switching it off after 5 minutes! Take Little Computer People - takes an age to load, even longer for the guy to decide to move in, and after all that you become so attached to the little guy that you're loathe to reset the computer and lose him.

Choice is great, but we have so much choice at our fingertips that we're literally rewiring our brains to cope with it all. Clicking through endless YouTube videos or social media feeds, snippets of music from Spotify or Apple Music, you get that instant gratification but in the modern world there's almost an epidemic of anxiety as every thing becomes a distraction from something else. Anything that forces you to slow down, be patient and even be a bit bored sometimes is good for your mental health.

In fact, let's re-market cassette loading for the wellness industry. "Mindfulness and Spectrum games" - we'll make a fortune!

[Morkin]

I find that most 48k games really don't take that long to load, if you've got time to make a cuppa then sorry, you haven't brewed your tea properly and it probably tastes horrible

I went through an eBay tape buying frenzy when I started Speccy collecting, so haven't actually played all my games yet. One thing I like to do when a game is loading is read through the tape's inlay card.

I've had the occasional 'mini-surprise', like my copy of Escape, which contained the original receipt in the box:

[catmeows]

I wonder, how you replay tape files ? Is anyone using cassette player or rather mp3 player/phone ?

[clebin]

I wonder, how you replay tape files ? Is anyone using cassette player or rather mp3 player/phone ?

You can convert them to WAV with a utility. It also depends on whether your MP3 player or phone limits the volume too much for your Spectrum.

That was a problem for me when I hooked my 48k up to an ancient 2nd generation iPod (Firewire model). I had to install some custom firmware (Rockbox, from memory) to be able to crank up the volume high enough to get things to load.

[p13z]

You can convert them to WAV with a utility. It also depends on whether your MP3 player or phone limits the volume too much for your Spectrum.

That was a problem for me when I hooked my 48k up to an ancient 2nd generation iPod (Firewire model). I had to install some custom firmware (Rockbox, from memory) to be able to crank up the volume high enough to get things to load.

Having a powered audio/headphone out loud enough to make a Speccy load is against the law in Europe. Pretty much any modern audio equipment will need some kind of workaround or boost to load games reliably.

[Turrican]

I always use mine.

[zx64]

I wonder, how you replay tape files ? Is anyone using cassette player or rather mp3 player/phone ?

For cassettes I use my old Walkman

[zxcygnus]

Me, I am still using several original computers. From my very first computer "Didaktik Gama 80k" i have only mainboard (still working), because i rebuilt it to more capable Didaktik Gama 192k.

https://cygnus.speccy.cz/popis_prestavb ... a-192k.php

Later i bought Amstrad ZX Spectrum 128k +2 which i consider the best (almost) original ZX Spectrum. It is 100% compatible with 128k toastrack, but have better keyboard by my opinion. After some modifications (ACB stereo, VGA output, internal KMouse...) with Betadisk and with paralell interface (chip 8255 on ports 31, 63, 95 for Kempston joystick and printers etc...) it have almost everything i need.

In time i got my first ZX Spectrum (Didaktik Gama is almost 100% compatible with ZXS 48k, it even have original ULA 6C001E7) i used tapes, but i relativelly soon replaced it by first disk drive Didaktik 40. It worked fine, but for grey 128k +2 i needed money and Didaktik 40 was not compatible. So i sold this disk drive. Soon after i built my first Betadisk. It works perfectly with 128k +2 and i am still using it.

Of course i am using almost all storage media. Today mostly CF and SD cards with DivIDE, i really like ESX DOS, but i am still using floppy disks too. Diskettes are still reliable enough (for me), fast enough (for ZX Spectrum).

[akeley]

I wonder, how you replay tape files ? Is anyone using cassette player or rather mp3 player/phone ?

You can play .tap files directly from your computer with Winamp. There are also other methods.

[Ast A. Moore]

ZX Spectrum 128k +2 . . . is 100% compatible with 128k toastrack

Not quite. I mean, hardware-wise, it is, but the differences in the ROMs break a few games.

[zxcygnus]

ZX Spectrum 128k +2 . . . is 100% compatible with 128k toastrack

Not quite. I mean, hardware-wise, it is, but the differences in the ROMs break a few games.

Can be true.

But i didn't mention i have inside my +2 modification ISOROM128, part of it is original 128k ROM, not slightly modified Amstrad version. Second part is ISOROM which is basically modified 48k ROM with additional software in 128k page of ROM.

I am aware about incompatibilities between ROMs and by my opinion difference between 128k toastrack and 128k +2 grey are really small. There are ROMs much more less compatible.

From the other side, because i am using ISOROM i cannot run several games and demos with it (i don't remember what, it is uncommonly). But for most use ISOROM is so comfortable with TRDOS so i consider incompatibilities as minor. If this happen i can just switch to other ROM and run game/demo with it, or load other ROM from file if i want.

Just for curiosity - what exactly doesn't work with Amstrad 128k +2 ROM?

[Ast A. Moore]

Just for curiosity - what exactly doesn't work with Amstrad 128k +2 ROM?

Can’t think of many off the top of my head, but I did have to fix the machine detection routine in Soldier of Fortune (among other things) so that AY sounds would play properly on a Toastrack.

[Hedge1970]

I wonder, how you replay tape files ? Is anyone using cassette player or rather mp3 player/phone ?

When I first got back into it I bought a modern old school tape player and it would not load anything I tried a few cables but nothing would work. I later found out it was the output volumes of modern kit is just not enough. So I then but the bullet and bought an old 80s/90s refurbed tape player off eBay and have not had any trouble since.

I don’t use it a lot but only when necessary. Over the last few years there where a couple of games I could not find good TAP or TZX files of so ended up buying the tape off eBay and loading it. Also when I was playing Elite I originally started with saving to tape, then went to real Microdrives and a Multiface 1 then the Microdrives tapes started to fail so I bought a Vdrive ZX which is a great bit of modern day old school kit. Finally the Multiface started to break - internal wires came loose and the button failed - so I ended up finishing the last few hours of the game back on good old tape.

It’s so good to see so many of us still using these old computers.