Moggy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 09, 2017 11:17 pmThe caps do come off but are well fixed on so be very careful as there is virtually no gap between the keys unlike the M'Tech and it's very easy to bend/break the key stem underneath if the cap isn't levered off equally.
Thanks Moggy, I think I'll try cleaning the keyboard without removing the caps, I definately don't want to risk breaking any stems!
If it's the 90 degree version I'll be putting the Zxpand+ inside too
sirmorris wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2017 8:35 am
If you want I can modify your ZXpand to have its SD card socket on a flying lead. Another option is to wire up a serial connection so you can squirt new programs on to the SD card.
Really?
AFAIK LOAD "$" loads a program from serial port into the ram. Thus if you load an AUTOSTART program, it will run immediately after loading, so you probably cannot save it to SD. IMHO a special LOAD&STORE (or COPY) command would be necessary to load from serial port and store directly to SD to handle also AUTOSTART programs.
Siggi
My ZX81 web-server: online since 2007, running since dec. 2020 using ZeddyNet hardware http://zx81.ddns.net/ZxTeaM
I collected the FD42 yesterday, I've not had chance to look into it yet but I can see that the board is in the standard layout rather than the 90 degree. I'll take it apart tomorrow and see what's inside of course along with taking some photos It's a bit dirty and the previous owner has written some of the commands on the keys in marker pen but otherwise it looks to be in good shape. Hopefully it will clean up well.
Here's the photos of the Fuller FD42 that I bought. There's not much to see, just simply an issue one board inside the dusty case with an LED added. The keyboard seems to be in good condition or at least it will be after a good clean, I've not yet powered on although I'm intending to use a nice issue 3 board instead.
It seems the previous owner has left the tiny stickers off that go on the ridge at the front of the keys and just used felt tip pen.
Oddly enough they're missing on mine too!
Hopefully it won't turn out to be permanent marker and I can clean them off I think I might have a go at laser printing some reproductions onto some glossy paper. They should last a good while as they'll never be touched on the bottom edge of the keys. I'll have a think about the type of glue to use, maybe something organic like cow gum that I used to use in the reprographics industry. If I bought a sheet of laser labels the glue backing will eventually degrade over time. Some of the expensive 3M double sided glue tape would last decades but maybe that's going a bit too far!