Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
9 messages · 2002-09-23 → 2002-09-26 · Yahoo Group era · View archive on archive.org
Participants: William McBrine, Andrew Townsin, Don Dindang, Scott A. Rossell, James Coles, Jody Farr
Preserved from the Timex/Sinclair 2068 Yahoo Group (2001–2019), which is no longer online. Text reproduced from the archive.org archive; email addresses masked.
Messages
1. Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
Andrew Townsin · Mon, 23 Sep 2002 06:07
Hello Everyone - and Thankyou.
I am new to this group but am old to the ways of Sir Clive.
My name is Andrew Townsin, I am a senior Network Engineer with a
global freight management company. I was born in 1966, which made me
ripe in 1981 for a gadjet called a Sinclair Spectrum.
I saved and washed cars and did dishes till the cows came home just
to be able to buy one. I was able to buy one and played with it,
programmed it, did just about everything with it, till 2 am every
school night.(or mum banging on the wall to go to bed)
You guys could probably relate. I even remember typing in all the
lines of code to get hang man to run.(was that ZyLog)
Well that was in Australia and now I'm here in Michigan and like a
first girlfriend (the one you never forget) and now many +2.0GHz
AMDs and Mainframes and OSes later, the first was for nostalgia the
best.
So I had a co-worker in England purchase a Spectrum for 15 pounds
and he shipped it over here for me. It came with lots of games, a
case, and a cassette deck. I tell you it was funny touching those
rubber keys again.
Well I haven't decided whether it is better to buy a PAL to NTSC
converter 400 bucks. Or strip a broken TS2068 for the Colour RF
Modulator.
Any other solutions besides taking it out of its original case are
welcome. I know you guys have limitless knowledge on AB switch
piggyback ROMS but I wanted to keep it the way it was. Just me and a
rubber keyed black box on the old shag carpet with the glow of the
TV lighting the room and sitting fumbling for CYAN Mode really
really late at night.
Oh I don't like writing short one liners like.
Can anyone help me I need a RF mod for an TS2068!!!!
I feel as part of a online discussion group that the discussion is
always left out in our haste to write electronic messages. And the
habit sticks after a while.
Anyway I will wait to see what kind of feedback I get and to see if
I am welcome with my 500 word Postings.
Regards
Andrew D. Townsin
Snr Network Engineer
2. Re: [ts2068] Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
William McBrine · Tue, 24 Sep 2002 11:42
On Mon, 23 Sep 2002, Andrew Townsin wrote:
> You guys could probably relate.
Yep! :-)
> Well I haven't decided whether it is better to buy a PAL to NTSC
> converter 400 bucks. Or strip a broken TS2068 for the Colour RF
> Modulator.
<Shudder> I don't think that would work anyway... you'd probably end up
with a broken Spectrum as well.
There are some monitors that are compatible with both PAL and NTSC. (I'm
told my old Commodore 1084 is one such, but I haven't tested it with a PAL
input yet. It doesn't tune RF, anyway; and the Spectrum doesn't have a
composite output... does it?) Or you could just get a PAL TV, and a power
converter to run it on U.S. power. That would probably be cheaper than
$400. Finally, you could hook up the Spectrum to the input of a TV capture
card in a modern computer -- most capture cards are PAL/NTSC switchable --
and have it display to your VGA monitor. But then you might as well run an
emulator. ;-)
--
William McBrine <[email]>
3. Re: [ts2068] Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
Don Dindang · Tue, 24 Sep 2002 09:34
Hi Andrew,
The easy way is just pull the signal before it go to
the RF mod in ZX Spectrum and connect it to "vedio in
jack" of any TV. It works OK but color may not
correct.
I have tried to replace RF mod of Spectrum with RF mod
of Timex Sinclair 1000 but it didn't work !!!!
I'm going to use RF mod of MC-10 (Radioshack), will
let you know the result.
Watchara
--- Andrew Townsin <[email]> wrote:
> Hello Everyone - and Thankyou.
> I am new to this group but am old to the ways of Sir
> Clive.
>
> My name is Andrew Townsin, I am a senior Network
> Engineer with a
> global freight management company. I was born in
> 1966, which made me
> ripe in 1981 for a gadjet called a Sinclair
> Spectrum.
>
> I saved and washed cars and did dishes till the cows
> came home just
> to be able to buy one. I was able to buy one and
> played with it,
> programmed it, did just about everything with it,
> till 2 am every
> school night.(or mum banging on the wall to go to
> bed)
> You guys could probably relate. I even remember
> typing in all the
> lines of code to get hang man to run.(was that
> ZyLog)
> Well that was in Australia and now I'm here in
> Michigan and like a
> first girlfriend (the one you never forget) and now
> many +2.0GHz
> AMDs and Mainframes and OSes later, the first was
> for nostalgia the
> best.
> So I had a co-worker in England purchase a Spectrum
> for 15 pounds
> and he shipped it over here for me. It came with
> lots of games, a
> case, and a cassette deck. I tell you it was funny
> touching those
> rubber keys again.
> Well I haven't decided whether it is better to buy a
> PAL to NTSC
> converter 400 bucks. Or strip a broken TS2068 for
> the Colour RF
> Modulator.
> Any other solutions besides taking it out of its
> original case are
> welcome. I know you guys have limitless knowledge on
> AB switch
> piggyback ROMS but I wanted to keep it the way it
> was. Just me and a
> rubber keyed black box on the old shag carpet with
> the glow of the
> TV lighting the room and sitting fumbling for CYAN
> Mode really
> really late at night.
>
> Oh I don't like writing short one liners like.
> Can anyone help me I need a RF mod for an TS2068!!!!
>
> I feel as part of a online discussion group that the
> discussion is
> always left out in our haste to write electronic
> messages. And the
> habit sticks after a while.
>
> Anyway I will wait to see what kind of feedback I
> get and to see if
> I am welcome with my 500 word Postings.
>
> Regards
> Andrew D. Townsin
> Snr Network Engineer
>
>
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4. RE: [ts2068] Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
Scott A. Rossell · Tue, 24 Sep 2002 09:54
Hello Andrew!
Thanks for your story. I always enjoy hearing other people's passion for
the early years of Sinclair computing. It reminds me of the most
interesting and fun time of my youth. I was born in '67 and my first
computer was the Sinclair ZX81 for the U.S. market. I had scraped together
as much money as I could while in high school until I could just afford the
kit. I knew electronics well enough to feel confident that I could build
it. But when it arrived, it was already put together and came with a note
apologizing that they had run out of kits. That was fine by me. Funny
thing though, it changed my life. I was steadily entrenched in electronics
and engineering for my future career choice at the time. Then suddenly my
direction changed to programming and mathematics. All because the ZX81
arrived fully assembled instead of in a kit of parts.
Then in 1983 I was able to scrape up twice as much money as before (I had a
paper route) and I bought a Timex/Sinclair 2068 (U.S. Spectrum). Then life
got really interesting. I found the world of modem bulletin board systems
and never looked back. I was hacking telnet ports by 1989 before the rest
of the world even knew there was such a thing as the Internet. I wrote a
300 page book on juvenile computer crime with that plastic 2068 keyboard!
64 column mode word processing and an 80 column dot matrix printer from
Radio Shack using an Aerco parallel port that snapped on the back of the
2068. Ah, those were the days.
Now then, as for your question about the PAL/NTSC RF modulator issue, have
you considered buying a cheap television card for your "2.0+ Gig machine"
and using the built-in PAL setting? You would have to watch the Spectrum on
the computer monitor instead of the television, but you could use full
screen mode to get the same effect.
Good luck to you!
-Scott-
San Diego, California, USA
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Townsin [mailto:[email]]
Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2002 11:07 PM
To: [email]
Subject: [ts2068] Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
Hello Everyone - and Thankyou.
I am new to this group but am old to the ways of Sir Clive.
My name is Andrew Townsin, I am a senior Network Engineer with a
global freight management company. I was born in 1966, which made me
ripe in 1981 for a gadjet called a Sinclair Spectrum.
I saved and washed cars and did dishes till the cows came home just
to be able to buy one. I was able to buy one and played with it,
programmed it, did just about everything with it, till 2 am every
school night.(or mum banging on the wall to go to bed)
You guys could probably relate. I even remember typing in all the
lines of code to get hang man to run.(was that ZyLog)
Well that was in Australia and now I'm here in Michigan and like a
first girlfriend (the one you never forget) and now many +2.0GHz
AMDs and Mainframes and OSes later, the first was for nostalgia the
best.
So I had a co-worker in England purchase a Spectrum for 15 pounds
and he shipped it over here for me. It came with lots of games, a
case, and a cassette deck. I tell you it was funny touching those
rubber keys again.
Well I haven't decided whether it is better to buy a PAL to NTSC
converter 400 bucks. Or strip a broken TS2068 for the Colour RF
Modulator.
Any other solutions besides taking it out of its original case are
welcome. I know you guys have limitless knowledge on AB switch
piggyback ROMS but I wanted to keep it the way it was. Just me and a
rubber keyed black box on the old shag carpet with the glow of the
TV lighting the room and sitting fumbling for CYAN Mode really
really late at night.
Oh I don't like writing short one liners like.
Can anyone help me I need a RF mod for an TS2068!!!!
I feel as part of a online discussion group that the discussion is
always left out in our haste to write electronic messages. And the
habit sticks after a while.
Anyway I will wait to see what kind of feedback I get and to see if
I am welcome with my 500 word Postings.
Regards
Andrew D. Townsin
Snr Network Engineer
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email]
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
5. RE: [ts2068] Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
James Coles · Wed, 25 Sep 2002 23:00
I brought a Spectrum 128k (not +2 or +3) from England in 1990 with an
English TV and loads of games. I bought a 220 to 120v converter and hey
presto, I have one of the few Spectrum 128ks left and one if not the
only working one in Canada.
One liner (too sleepy to give a lengthy reply),
James
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Townsin [mailto:[email]]
Sent: September 23, 2002 2:07 AM
To: [email]
Subject: [ts2068] Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
Hello Everyone - and Thankyou.
I am new to this group but am old to the ways of Sir Clive.
My name is Andrew Townsin, I am a senior Network Engineer with a
global freight management company. I was born in 1966, which made me
ripe in 1981 for a gadjet called a Sinclair Spectrum.
I saved and washed cars and did dishes till the cows came home just
to be able to buy one. I was able to buy one and played with it,
programmed it, did just about everything with it, till 2 am every
school night.(or mum banging on the wall to go to bed)
You guys could probably relate. I even remember typing in all the
lines of code to get hang man to run.(was that ZyLog)
Well that was in Australia and now I'm here in Michigan and like a
first girlfriend (the one you never forget) and now many +2.0GHz
AMDs and Mainframes and OSes later, the first was for nostalgia the
best.
So I had a co-worker in England purchase a Spectrum for 15 pounds
and he shipped it over here for me. It came with lots of games, a
case, and a cassette deck. I tell you it was funny touching those
rubber keys again.
Well I haven't decided whether it is better to buy a PAL to NTSC
converter 400 bucks. Or strip a broken TS2068 for the Colour RF
Modulator.
Any other solutions besides taking it out of its original case are
welcome. I know you guys have limitless knowledge on AB switch
piggyback ROMS but I wanted to keep it the way it was. Just me and a
rubber keyed black box on the old shag carpet with the glow of the
TV lighting the room and sitting fumbling for CYAN Mode really
really late at night.
Oh I don't like writing short one liners like.
Can anyone help me I need a RF mod for an TS2068!!!!
I feel as part of a online discussion group that the discussion is
always left out in our haste to write electronic messages. And the
habit sticks after a while.
Anyway I will wait to see what kind of feedback I get and to see if
I am welcome with my 500 word Postings.
Regards
Andrew D. Townsin
Snr Network Engineer
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email]
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo!
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> Terms of Service.
6. Re: [ts2068] Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
William McBrine · Thu, 26 Sep 2002 15:44
On Tue, 24 Sep 2002, Don Dindang wrote:
> The easy way is just pull the signal before it go to
> the RF mod in ZX Spectrum
You have a strange notion of "easy". ;-)
> and connect it to "vedio in jack" of any TV. It works OK but color may
> not correct.
Yeah, color may not be correct (in fact it will probably be absent),
because you're trying to display a PAL signal on an NTSC display. If it
works at all, it's mostly by luck. (I have a DVD player that I can switch
to PAL output, so I have seen how my NTSC TV handles it -- stretched out,
flickering, and no color. I'm not confident that all NTSC TVs would handle
it even that well.)
> I'm going to use RF mod of MC-10 (Radioshack), will let you know the
> result.
Please don't mangle the poor innocent MC-10. It won't work anyway. Its RF
modulator expects an NTSC input.
--
William McBrine <[email]>
7. Re: [ts2068] Re: Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
William McBrine · Thu, 26 Sep 2002 15:47
On Thu, 26 Sep 2002, Jody Farr wrote:
> A friend of mine from Sweden suggests that you might be able to route
> the signal through a VCR. Some of the newer ones do the conversion on
> playback.
Yeah, if you have a VCR from Sweden, or elsewhere in Europe. Their VCRs
are often dual-standard. U.S. VCRs tend not to be, AFAIK.
--
William McBrine <[email]>
8. Re: Old Spectrum Newbie TS2068
Jody Farr · Thu, 26 Sep 2002 18:17
A friend of mine from Sweden suggests that you might be able to
route the signal through a VCR. Some of the newer ones do the
conversion on playback. I have no idea how accurate this is, just
passing it along.
--- In ts2068@y..., "Andrew Townsin" <andrew_townsin@y...> wrote:
> Hello Everyone - and Thankyou.
> I am new to this group but am old to the ways of Sir Clive.
>
> My name is Andrew Townsin, I am a senior Network Engineer with a
> global freight management company. I was born in 1966, which made
me
> ripe in 1981 for a gadjet called a Sinclair Spectrum.
>
> I saved and washed cars and did dishes till the cows came home
just
> to be able to buy one. I was able to buy one and played with it,
> programmed it, did just about everything with it, till 2 am every
> school night.(or mum banging on the wall to go to bed)
> You guys could probably relate. I even remember typing in all the
> lines of code to get hang man to run.(was that ZyLog)
> Well that was in Australia and now I'm here in Michigan and like a
> first girlfriend (the one you never forget) and now many +2.0GHz
> AMDs and Mainframes and OSes later, the first was for nostalgia
the
> best.
> So I had a co-worker in England purchase a Spectrum for 15 pounds
> and he shipped it over here for me. It came with lots of games, a
> case, and a cassette deck. I tell you it was funny touching those
> rubber keys again.
> Well I haven't decided whether it is better to buy a PAL to NTSC
> converter 400 bucks. Or strip a broken TS2068 for the Colour RF
> Modulator.
> Any other solutions besides taking it out of its original case are
> welcome. I know you guys have limitless knowledge on AB switch
> piggyback ROMS but I wanted to keep it the way it was. Just me and
a
> rubber keyed black box on the old shag carpet with the glow of the
> TV lighting the room and sitting fumbling for CYAN Mode really
> really late at night.
>
> Oh I don't like writing short one liners like.
> Can anyone help me I need a RF mod for an TS2068!!!!
>
> I feel as part of a online discussion group that the discussion is
> always left out in our haste to write electronic messages. And the
> habit sticks after a while.
>
> Anyway I will wait to see what kind of feedback I get and to see
if
> I am welcome with my 500 word Postings.
>
> Regards
> Andrew D. Townsin
> Snr Network Engineer
9. MC-10
William McBrine · Thu, 26 Sep 2002 18:59
BTW, the MC-10 is interesting from a Sinclair user's perspective, because
it was a blatant attempt to copy various elements of the Sinclair design
(keyboard tokens, form factor, external memory module (!), thermal
printer), without being at all a clone, since internally it was a
variation on the TRS-80 CoCo. Why those particular elements were chosen
for copying is a curiosity... I suppose it was mostly to keep the price
down, while the keyboard tokens were just the only way to make such a
small keyboard viable.
--
William McBrine <[email]>