Spectrum Computing

Hi there!

I was looking for somewhere relaxed, away from Facebook groups to continue the eternal discussion of all things ZX Spectrum. I sort of accepted the Kings Shilling almost two years ago to help create a new ZX Spectrum computer and ever since then, life has been a bit crazy. I have not had time for any of my retro passions. Atari, Acorn, and the main one, Sinclair. Hoping to have some interesting discussions and to learn and maybe impart some knowledge too!

Hi and welcome, Mikecad!

My opinion is that Facebook groups don't compare to good, old forum. Yes, it's easy to browse on phones and to post images, and if you are an admin to maintain it. But it's a wall of text, constantly scrolling, with 10% of valuable content instantly getting buried under 90% of low quality babble. And it's also everything mixed with everything so even if you are interested only in gaming, you end reading about soldering and capacitors.

So if you want some good discussion, definitely go to a forum. This forum

Hi to all, greetings from sunny Portugal

Decided to join this forum as I believe this is the best we have with new stuff, other forums are slowly dying out.

Hope to learn with everyone here and maybe I can actually help with something

Best regards and see you all around

alban lusitanae wrote: ↑Fri Jun 28, 2019 1:59 pm Hi to all, greetings from sunny Portugal

Decided to join this forum as I believe this is the best we have with new stuff, other forums are slowly dying out.

Hope to learn with everyone here and maybe I can actually help with something

Best regards and see you all around

Olá Alban, nice to see you around here! Bem-vindo!

It's always great to see an old WoS friend joining SC! Welcome!

mikecad wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2019 11:39 am Hi there!

Hi Mike, good to see you here.

As a backer, I left the Facebook forum because I don't use FB, and using my other half's FB account got her quite a bit of attention, including several personal and unsolicited requests of one-to-one tuition on the finer points of her assembler.

Still look forward to having the 'big day' revealed here first, right?

Hi peeps!

trying to move away from facebook as a way to get help for may speccy stuff and found this today! seems good so far!

soo... I've a load of speccy stuff.. .probs not more that some on here but still..

I'm super into chiptunes and want to use my speccys and other retro hardware to make noise.. . when i managed to get them all sorted!

I have hardware wise :

Sinclair zx81 (still need to comp mod it to see if it works!)
A 48k that was in a + case and now in a spare rubber key case for now... i think it's a 6a
2x grey +2's (an issue 1 and issue 3)

unfinished projects include a revg harlequin, 2 zxmax48's, a reverse u16, and probably other stuff

I also have a ZX Evolution which i'm planning on rebuilding some harware periferals to use the zx bus interface... which could be interesting!

I have boxes and boxes of games which i dont really use as I have a divmmc which is just easier.. . plus i need to get rid of some stuff as i have a tiny room for everything

and i'm a fan of joysticks too... so there will probably be talk on refubing some of them at some point...

I'll probably have tons of questions for people over the next however long... mainly really dumb stuff lol any how...

feel free to say hi!

Welcome aboard, [mention]Pix Retro[/mention] !

Thanks!... forgot to add i've an omni too! speccy on the go!

Hi folks! Not sure why I didn’t register here before, but here I am! Spent a lot of time on WOS back in the day but lost interest. I didn’t lose interest in Spectrums though.
Looking forward to spending some time reading and posting on the forums!

Glenn wrote: ↑Sat Jul 06, 2019 11:03 pm Hi folks! Not sure why I didn’t register here before, but here I am! Spent a lot of time on WOS back in the day but lost interest. I didn’t lose interest in Spectrums though.
Looking forward to spending some time reading and posting on the forums!

Welcome aboard, Glenn! Nice to see you here.

Hi, Glenn. Don't be shy to post often here

Hi,
since I already used post #1 for a help request, I want to make sure that #2 is about saying hello to everybody.
I am 53 years old and German. My first computer was a 16K Spectrum which set me down a non mainstream path here in Germany where everybody had a VIC20 or C64. There was pretty much no way to buy software here and I had to mail order everything from the UK. To do this, I had to buy a postal order (check) and send it by mail to the seller. It took several weeks, sometimes months before I got my cassette with "new" software.
Anyway, later I got myself an Electron - an even more unknown computer here in Germany. When I went to uni to study computer science, I bought an Atari Mega ST which was my main computer for a long time. The Archimedes was way too expensive for me.
Now, I develop software on IBM mainframe computers and play in my free time with all the nice machines I could never afford back when. Lately, I started repairing a couple of ZX81s and Speccies which let me here.

Welcome to Spectrum Computing, [mention]Wolfgang[/mention]!

Welcome, [mention]Wolfgang[/mention] !

Hi all,

amazingly, I only just registered for the site, despite knowing about it since launch. It's looking really good, so big congrats to all involved - definitely continuing on the good work from WoS, which seems to have fallen by the wayside.

Anyway, hello from Exeter! For you that don't know me, I'm an admin on the Spectrum For Everyone Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/spectrumforeveryone/ ) - pretty much the largest retro Spectrum group there is. I'm also very active in buying and selling retro hardware and software, Sinclair related and otherwise. I also participate in a few other retro groups, such as Commodore For Everyone.

My first computer was an Oric-1, which I got for my sixth birthday in 1986 (when the Oric was already dying and you could get the cheap in the UK). My second computer was a grey Spectrum +2, which I received for Christmas in 1987, and that was life changing. Aside from it starting my love affair with Sinclair computers, it also kicked off my lifelong interest in computers. After five years of owning and loving my Speccy, I moved on to Amiga, and then PC. At uni I took Computer Science and my career since then has been back and forth between programming and tech support (and nowadays, I do both!).

Like most, I kinda lost interest in retro computers around 15-16, just at the point I discovered beer and girls However, when I discovered eBay in 2002, I was very much interested again, although in a silo. I didn't start involving myself in the community until 2013, when I signed up to the Google Group and from there found Facebook groups, and now I can't imagine my life without a daily dose of Speccy talk!

I'm looking forward to a different flavour of conversation here, and to making a contribution to this fledging community and awesome site.

Adam

Welcome [mention]adam[/mention] , great to see you here!

Hello there!

I try to come here on a daily basis to check the news in the wonderful world of Sinclair computers but I hadn't registered yet... so here I am!

Thank you for creating and maintaining this great platform!

XvarZ wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 12:50 pm Hello there!

Welcome!

But please tell us you didn't choose that avatar because you like Red Heat (the game).

R-Tape wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 8:20 pm But please tell us you didn't choose that avatar because you like Red Heat (the game).

The actor is iconic in it's own way (much like the speccy I guess )

But no, the game isn't at all the reason I chose the avatar.

Maybe I should change it. I see it gives the wrong impression...

XvarZ wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 12:08 pm Maybe I should change it. I see it gives the wrong impression...

Not at all! In fact the graphics are the best thing about that game.

At least we can console ourselves with the fact that it was a howler on all systems. I think the speccy version is actually a very good attempt at a crap idea (can't polish a turd and all that). Red Heat should have been a lot more than an eccentric and ropey beatemup.

Hey, actually I kind of liked Red Heat on the Spectrum! A bit samey all across, except for those pesky nurses on the hospital level, but not the worst movie-tie in by a mile - should I remind you of Highlander or Big Trouble in Chinatown?

Anyway: Welcome to the forum!

Hello!

Just thought I'd introduce myself.

I'm James and I became the owner of a Spectrum+ yesterday. It's my first Spectrum and was given to me by a work colleague who found it whilst cleaning out his dads loft. It's boxed, in lovely condition and is complete. It's an issue 6a board.



The Machine does turn on (it didn't seem to at first because I couldn't tune it in), but the membrane is shot as most of the keys don't work and the odd ones that do output incorrect values (this bit worries me)

I'm waiting on a new membrane, a recap kit and a new regulator.

I was directed to here from Stardot by @1024MAK (Thanks Mark).

Hello James.

Welcome to the Spectrum Computing forums

I see you have already posted about your sick Speccy.

I’ll reply over there.

Please do look around the rest of the site, as this is not just a forum.

Mark