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Post by kahuna on Apr 30, 2020 23:20:01 GMT -7
Hello there! You already know how much I love the ZX Spectrum. This is essentially a derivative of one of the best computers ever made  NTSC for the North American market, cartridge slot, AY sound... not exactly a ZX Spectrum but it can be converted in one by just replacing the ROM. I'm looking forward to play around with a couple of recent hardware add-ons that have been released... stay tuned! Here are some photos for your entertainment:  Look at the manual, so colourful and well illustrated! Just a quick note, I had to setup my TV on NTSC N443 to get a clear picture over composite, instead of N358 which is what I normally have for my C64. (nope, see next post...)  Enjoy! |
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Post by kahuna on May 1, 2020 23:47:47 GMT -7
As we were saying yesterday... I've been testing this guy a little bit more. It turns out the NTSC colour standard wasn't the issue of that bad image quality after all. I'm afraid it's the TV itself. I normally use the 4:3 grey TV you see on my photos to connect my C64 over S-Video, and the picture is almost perfect. It seems the problem is the composite input of this TV. Take a look at these photos to compare a cheap Insignia vs. the 4:3 TV.    It's not perfect on the Insignia, but it's way better. Speaking of loading stuff, my 2068 might be slightly deaf... To run the games I had to use a laptop, convert the tap/tzx files to wav, connect an ear-ear (jack) cable between them and play the wav like at 80% of volume. I wasn't able to load them from an Android phone or using a lower volume. As next steps for this 2068 "beast", I plan to clean it thoroughly. Also, there is a buzzing sound around that I don't really like, so I might as well open and take a look at it. Finally, it's quite likely I'll get a new power supply (just in case). And of course, there are a few extra add-ons coming my way, so I'll keep playing around and posting about them. Have fun! |
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Post by ikrananka on May 2, 2020 6:41:14 GMT -7
I use a Dell U2410 monitor for most of my retro gaming, BUT only via VGA or HDMI. Like you've experienced with your Aquos TV, the composite on this Dell monitor has issues. In my case the drop in picture quality using it's composite input makes it almost unusable and this is well documented online.
It can be quite amazing how some displays are sold with some inputs that are next to useless.
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Post by Blaine on May 3, 2020 18:57:26 GMT -7
Looks like a great little machine. I'm looking forward to the opportunity for a closer look.
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Post by KnightFire on May 7, 2020 21:36:05 GMT -7
I've one in my collection too.
A UK ZX80, a USA ZX80, a USA ZX81, a Timex Sinclair 1000, T/S 1500 (and/or a 2048).
I've easily some 50 odd computers 😏
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Post by kahuna on May 23, 2020 22:20:02 GMT -7
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Post by Blaine on May 25, 2020 20:07:50 GMT -7
The collection grows a little...
Do you find the Realistic CTR-69 is better for loading programs than loading from your laptop ? Just wondering if it has more volume.
Looks like a nice little system coming together.
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Post by kahuna on May 25, 2020 23:21:52 GMT -7
The collection grows a little... Do you find the Realistic CTR-69 is better for loading programs than loading from your laptop ? Just wondering if it has more volume. Looks like a nice little system coming together. Just a different way of loading stuff. I have some Spectrum games in tapes so, the cassette player will be helpful if I want to go full-retro-mode. This "Realistic" player (made by RadioShack) has both tone and volume controls. I tried to load a game with the tone half way through and it didn't go well. It turns out the Timex prefers high-pitch "melodies"  I still have a couple of surprises for this guy. Stay tuned for more updates! |
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Post by Blaine on Jun 21, 2020 7:21:50 GMT -7
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Post by kahuna on Jun 26, 2020 10:56:12 GMT -7
Yep, thanks. I already watched it!
Nothing new really, he doesn't mention all the possibilities you have with this Timex. But it's understandable as it was a market failure so the information is very limited.
I'm quite busy these days... hopefully, I can post about this topic soon!
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NTSC for the North American market, cartridge slot, AY sound... not exactly a ZX Spectrum but it can be converted in one by just replacing the ROM. 
Saving and loading data here was probably a pain...
