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TSU Meeting MONDAY — July 7, 2025

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David, James Martin, Paul, Mike, Joe, Jeff Burrell, Ryan, John, Mogli, Phil Bar

Smaller group than usual. James Martin joined for the first time and gave a live demo of his TS2068 powering on for what he believes is the first time in ~37–38 years. The machine boots, but every BASIC command (NEW, PRINT, etc.) produces the same screen output, and one letter looks to be missing pixels. The group's suspicion is a partially stuck RAM chip holding the data bus. Joe (and possibly Carl, once available) offered to take a look. Discussion of suitable cassette decks followed: the Timex 2020 / GE Mini Set 9 remain the proven choice, with prices now around $40–50; David recapped the origin story of George Grimm walking into a Middlebury Radio Shack and being pointed at the Mini Set 9.

Paul brought up his ZX-Band-equipped TS1000 and asked about the green-overlay legends (CAT, CONFIG, LS, ZX-BAND) printed on the membrane keyboard. The group explained that the ZX-Band cartridge ROM overlays parts of the system ROM — COPY becomes CAT and so on — so the existing key positions reach the new commands. Paul got CAT working and Mike linked the manual in the chat. Brief comparison of the original two-board ZX-Band (with a separate sound motherboard) and the all-in-one ZX-Band Plus from Charles Bronson.

Jeff Burrell gave a hardware update on the TS2060 board — the community's modernized take on Timex's never-shipped 2060 BEU — and demoed Gyrus running from a DOCK cartridge. A Raspberry Pi Pico manages storage: at boot it loads the 2068 ROM, an X-ROM, and a cartridge image into static RAM on the board. Confirmed features: memory expansion, joystick input, VGA video, dual AY, WiFi, stereo-ish audio, USB keyboard support, SD-card storage, and an optional RTC for SD-card file timestamps. Ricardo Calcagno got his prototype board running earlier the same day and is leading the Pico storage firmware port. A UK exhibitor asked whether the Pico Video core could emit Spectrum-compatible colors (no "bright black"); Jeff confirmed it's a trivial software switch in the FPGA video core.

Most of the rest of the meeting was VCF Midwest planning (second weekend in September): about five TS members have registered for tables and Mogli is helping coordinate so they sit as one block. David proposed Lou Malnati's deep-dish for the Saturday group dinner since nearby pizza places won't take reservations for 15+; one tab, split after. For outreach he's preparing a trifold brochure with a Z80 BASIC listing, a reproduction Timex Computer Club membership card (~100 to hand out), and a printed banner. Jason runs the Saturday 4–7pm auction. A Jeff also updated on a Baudot/Bodo 5-key chorded-keyboard project — a friend is building the wooden case, the five keys map to the joystick port's four directions + fire, and the cartridge image is being produced with ZMakeBase rebuilt under Turbo C in DOSBox. This led into AROS limitations: no DEF FN, restricted USR-call address ranges, and a helper-function workaround. Phil Bar showed a CP/M-emulator ROM cartridge for the Sinclair QL and prompted a long detour into the Rotronics Waffle Drive (continuous-loop tape, 4–64K depending on length, sold in the US by Damco for both 2068 and Spectrum). David also shared the discovery that a CX-Profile maintenance database on a tape from Paul's old Mechanical Affinity stock turned out to be Willie Jones's 1987 property-maintenance records from West Lafayette, Indiana — identified from the WJ-RH initials in the file. Next meeting: Sunday July 20th at 2pm.

Highlights

  • James Martin powered up his TS2068 for the first time in ~37 years; every command produces identical output, pointing at stuck-bit RAM
  • Jeff Burrell demoed the TS2060 prototype booting Gyrus from a DOCK cartridge via Pico-managed storage (VGA, WiFi, SD, RTC); Ricardo Calcagno got his board running same day
  • Paul worked out that the ZX-Band's green-key legends (CAT, CONFIG, LS) are ROM-overlay commands triggered from the existing key positions
  • VCF Midwest plans firming up: ~5 TS tables coordinated as one block by Mogli, Saturday group dinner at Lou Malnati's, brochures + reproduction Timex Computer Club cards as handouts
  • Phil Bar showed a CP/M-emulator cartridge for the QL and prompted a deep dive on the Rotronics Waffle Drive (continuous-loop tape for 2068 and Spectrum)

Projects discussed: FPGA "Advanced 2068" · TS-Pico · TAP-to-Cart — TS2068 Cartridge Conversion Topics: TS2068 / TC2068 · Hardware projects & new boards · Cartridges, EPROM & dumping · Pico / modern interfaces (UnoDos, etc.) · User group meetings & events · Tape, cassette & loading

Summary generated from the meeting recording; the full transcript is kept in the group's private archive.