ZX81/TS1000 and/or Spectrum?
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 3:39 pm
My first computer at 17 was the TS1000 2K in the USA. I built it as a kit and later went on to other computers such as the Atari 400, 800XL, 800CE; Apple 2; Tandy and color computer, Commodore C64, SX-64; Amiga 500, 3000, etc. The TS1000 was my first and most memorable. Over the years I have purchased 1-2 of them on ebay and moved and lost track. In the last couple of years I have been privileged to spend time with them again learning assembly language when time permitted but only due the ZXPand wonderful product! I messed with the firmware a bit with Charlie's help and was even able to connect it to an LCD screen and send data. It seems I'm always looking to try different things in technology and see what can and can not be done with them as this interests me a lot. I have worked with a few micro-controllers over the years too such as the Arduino and variants like Teensy 2/3 as well as many Parallax ones like the Basic Stamp 2, SX-28, 48/52, and a few variants of their Propeller multi-core processor. I have been very interested in projects dealing with LED displays and have built some wonderful displays in RGB with other peoples code that I modified. As a trained Electrical Engineer, I have a moderate but not strong software background in development for fun projects but can figure out most software to modify them for my means. So this is my background and history.
I still have a couple of TS1000s with new video circuits and a ZXPand and now my new ZeddyNet card to go out to the internet. I never really had the opportunity to buy a Spectrum when I was younger as it just wasn't sold in the USA that I knew of. I am curious about them and how they differ from the ZX81 besides just the color aspect and perhaps more memory. I would be interested in learning more about them and what is available technology wise (i.e. ZXPand) for them. Where do I start on this to purchasing one (I.e. Ebay?) and making sure it will work with a video monitor (or what I use is a video capture device to an open window on my laptop).
Thanks for reading...
Tim
I still have a couple of TS1000s with new video circuits and a ZXPand and now my new ZeddyNet card to go out to the internet. I never really had the opportunity to buy a Spectrum when I was younger as it just wasn't sold in the USA that I knew of. I am curious about them and how they differ from the ZX81 besides just the color aspect and perhaps more memory. I would be interested in learning more about them and what is available technology wise (i.e. ZXPand) for them. Where do I start on this to purchasing one (I.e. Ebay?) and making sure it will work with a video monitor (or what I use is a video capture device to an open window on my laptop).
Thanks for reading...
Tim