Sinclair ZX80 / ZX81 / Z88 Forums

Moggy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 3:26 pm

Lardo Boffin wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 2:51 pm Well, its been a while but clearly the therapy has not worked…


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A fairly nice issue one, working, with some very nice books. I don’t think I had any for the ZX80.

As suspected from the soft spongy feet it is a fairly early one, ROM 550 so bugged for maths.


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Ram chips socketed so looks like it could be a kit build.
I believe the ZX80 companion book is a bit of an holy grail. some 12 years have passed since someone wondered if it was ok to post a scan of it though it never came to pass.

I will post a scan of it and hope not to get sued…

We will however have to ignore the ‘contemporary’ markings some eejut made 40 years ago…

Oh dear, I knew this may happen if I bunged some money at Lardo by buying bits from him…

Moggy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 3:26 pm Ram chips socketed so looks like it could be a kit build.

Also all the capacitors and resistors look very neat and tidy pointing to someone taking care and attention during construction.

Given the ZX80 books, maybe a ZX80 owner upgraded to a kit ZX81.

But more importantly, does it work?

Mark

1024MAK wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 3:51 pm Oh dear, I knew this may happen if I bunged some money at Lardo by buying bits from him…

Moggy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 3:26 pm Ram chips socketed so looks like it could be a kit build.

Also all the capacitors and resistors look very neat and tidy pointing to someone taking care and attention during construction.

Given the ZX80 books, maybe a ZX80 owner upgraded to a kit ZX81.

But more importantly, does it work?

Mark

The money from the keyboard covers went to Mrs B.

It does work, well, the K appears (very dark as expected). The keyboard is in need of trimming or replacing. Will test it properly later on.

To be honest I mostly bought it for the books. The idea being selling on the zeddy will pretty much cover the cost of all if it so some free books!

Given what's been posted over the years I think you are safe on that score Lardo.

Give us a shout if you want the later ROM should you not have it, or not as the case may be. Also if for your own use you fancy a crack at the Big Bang ROM I can send you an EPROM programmed with said doo-dah if you don't possess it already.

Moggy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 4:48 pm Given what's been posted over the years I think you are safe on that score Lardo.

Give us a shout if you want the later ROM should you not have it, or not as the case may be. Also if for your own use you fancy a crack at the Big Bang ROM I can send you an EPROM programmed with said doo-dah if you don't possess it already.

Thanks Moggy, greatly appreciated. I think I will most likely sell it as is, as it is an early bugged ROM and I don’t like messing around with them.

Quite a good picture considering!

Where, if I may be so bold, does Lardo make his purchases? I'm after a wreck to salvage a ULA chip but even the worst condition 'can't test not sure if working' machines on eBay seem to go for £40 or so which is way too much considering a vLA81 can be had for about £25 when in stock.

patters wrote: ↑Wed Oct 13, 2021 8:48 pm Where, if I may be so bold, does Lardo make his purchases? I'm after a wreck to salvage a ULA chip but even the worst condition 'can't test not sure if working' machines on eBay seem to go for £40 or so which is way too much considering a vLA81 can be had for about £25 when in stock.

Ebay and a lot of patience. From time to time they come up as buy it now for £20 or so, but obviously they don’t hang around long.

Sometimes auctions are set to finish at a poor time so people forget to bid at the end so you get a bargain.

Recently though prices of these (and many other such computers) have done nothing but increase. Its not just people starting them high - I have seen some very dodgy ones go for frankly silly money at auction.

A very nice condition, working ‘stealth model’ issue one and ZX RAM Pack (also working and apparently worth lol money as it says ZX RAM pack, not ZX81 RAM pack, at least according to some people on a popular auction site).


Very shiny!!!

I may need to do something with the ULA socket though!

Lardo Boffin wrote: ↑Sun Nov 28, 2021 4:33 pm… and ZX RAM Pack (also working and apparently worth lol money as it says ZX RAM pack, not ZX81 RAM pack, at least according to some people on a popular auction site).

They must all be worth stacks of money then, as most black cased Sinclair RAM packs have “ZX 16K RAM” on them

Mark