Hey Doc --
> From: Doc Shipley <doc_at_mdrconsult.com>
> Well. I was roaming yesterday and found a very nice old Macy's dress
> box. In it was a TS-1000 with the TS-1016 16k memory cartridge, manuals
> cables, and around 10 tapes, including PIM apps & games. After
> soldering a broken joint on the m/b [1], running to WallyWorld at 2:00am
> for a 300ohm-to-75ohm converter, and finally figuring out that I needed
> to turn the brightness all the way up on the TV, the little booger
> works.
Cool! Welcome to the international ZX81/TS-1000 community. There are LOTS
of us out here still finding new applications for these things.
> This is the first computer I've had that was in need of board-level
> repair to start with, simple enough to ID the problem (and not too
> densely populated), and common and cheap enough to "risk" non-essential
> modifications.
Which makes it darn near perfect, IMHO. If only it were just a little tiny
bit faster ;>)
> Texas Instruments trained me as a "Certified Solder
> Sucker" or whatever in 1982, but I really haven't done any electronics
> work since. I build cables, solder all the joints on auto work, and
> stuff, but till last night had truly forgotten the joys of eutectic
> solder. Also till last night, I had truly not realized how much worse
> my eyesight has gotten....
Yeah, that sucks. I need a really bright light about eight inches away
from the work and a super-fine tip to do anything intricate anymore. It's
hell getting old but it sure beats the alternative . . .
> The card-edge cartridge connector is worn nearly through the traces on
> the m/b. If the computer is jostled much at all, it loses the RAM and
> its little mind. Next mod will be to do some (cheesy, yes I know) wire
> patching to the finger traces.
Or, you can make a cable to run between the computer and the RAM pack. Or,
you can make supports for both so that each is stable. Or, you can adapt
or buy a full-size keyboard so that the vibration from typing doesn't
disturb the components.
> I joked last night about just going to the thrifts for a $5 B&W TV,
> but my experience with tuning and brightness matches Jeff Hellige's
> comments, and I may do exactly that if I keep this. What I'll more
> likely do is try Glen Goodwin's idea and tap the composite signal off
> the motherboard.
Yeah, I sent you the schematic earlier. Hope it helped. If you run some
wires from the pcb to the empty forward part of the shell, and use an
in-line female RCA jack, everything fits nicely inside (except the jack)
and the wires connected to the RCA jack will easily pass through the shell
near the "earphone" jack.
> The major question concerns the program tapes. I tried hooking up to
> my stereo, the only cassette player I have anymore, and at any volume,
> it just blows the Timex away. The display goes to hell, it doesn't seem
> to "read" the program, and the display stays scrambled even after the
> cassette stops. The manual states that a "Hi-Fi" tape deck, as opposed
> to a cheap battery-driven portable, may be the source of problems. Does
> anybody have a suggestion or solution? My instinct is that my cheap
> stereo does enough EQ (not optional) to "blur" the signal.
Finding an appropriate cassette recorder can be a challenge, so I would
suggest that you don't hunt for one using tapes of unknown quality. First,
try SAVEing a one line program onto a good-quality (doesn't have to be
great, just good) new blank cassette. Then re-LOAD the program. Try
different volume levels. This is the only way to verify that the recorder
is suitable for both operations. Then try LOADing your other tapes.
Last time I had to hunt for a suitable cassette machine (four years or so
ago) I went through several, including a nice Sony, before I found that the
best match was a Radio Shack (can't believe I'm writing this) Optimus.
Cost about $40, but worth it if you plan on using the TS-1000 very often.
> One of the websites I found last night quotes the promo for the 16k
> cartridge - something like "With the addition of 16 kilobytes of memory,
> the Timex Sinclair 1000 could conceivably store a program of 960 lines,
> but of course. no programmer would ever need to..."
ROFL! Which site? The payroll program I wrote and used at Consolidated
Electronics was well over 960 lines so I had to use a 64KB pack.
For tons of info, links, etc. please visit our ZX-TEAM website at:
http://home.t-online.de/home/p.liebert/zx-team.htm
For a nice listing of available hardware, try Jack Boatwright's site:
http://www3.outlawnet.com/~jboatno4/
Of course, I'll be glad to help you as much as I can, so if you have any
questions please don't hesitate.
Later --
Glen
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Received on Sun Jun 16 2002 - 19:54:19 BST