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Reliability and clongevity?

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  Reliability and clongevity? "Brian Gaff" <briang1@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2016-05-31 09:28 +0100
    Re: Reliability and clongevity? Guesser <alistair@zxnet.co.uk> - 2016-05-31 12:21 +0100
      Re: Reliability and clongevity? "Brian Gaff" <briang1@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2016-06-01 09:42 +0100
      Re: Reliability and clongevity? Duncan Snowden <duncan_s@talktalk.net> - 2016-06-01 16:51 +0100
        Re: Reliability and clongevity? Guesser <alistair@zxnet.co.uk> - 2016-06-01 17:14 +0100
        Re: Reliability and clongevity? "Chris" <chris.usenet@mail-filter.com> - 2016-06-02 00:59 +0100
    Re: Reliability and clongevity? Volker Bartheld <news2016@bartheld.net> - 2016-06-01 07:58 +0200
      Re: Reliability and clongevity? "Brian Gaff" <briang1@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2016-06-02 19:43 +0100
    Re: Reliability and clongevity? lee.jtcltd@gmail.com - 2016-08-02 07:38 -0700

#4175 — Reliability and clongevity?

 I was just wondering what people are finding with real Speccies as per the 
degeneration of chips and other specific components. are there any  problems 
which will, in the end mean no real machines will still be working. 
Obviously there is the keyboard membranes which are now mostly made from 
other materials than the originals were, but I was thinking about ulas, 
modulators and components made obsolete by time?
 I suppose in the end tvs with analogue tuners will be gone, and then we 
have issues with either modifying to use other inputs or hacking the output 
in some way.

Also how do modern tvs cope with the new wide screen systems?


Brian

-- 
 -----  -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please! 

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#4176

Hi Brian,
There's quite a large cottage industry which has grown up around keeping 
speccies going these days. Until recently the only thing that couldn't 
be replaced was the ULA, but there's now a complete drop in replacement 
based on a modern CPLD available for the 16K/48K. A 128/+2 ULA has been 
completed and should be available shortly. I don't believe there's any 
chance of anything similar for the Amstrad gate array unfortunately 
unless the economies of chip-on-board change just because of the 
physical constraints.
There have been plug in RAM module boards available for some time which 
replace the fragile and obsolete DRAM chips with 5 volt SRAM.

As for UHF tuners disappearing on TVs a lot of people modify their 
speccy for a composite output anyway or use RGB cables on the 128k 
machines as the picture is so much better. Beyond analogue inputs 
disappearing completely there are also people using analogue video to 
HDMI converters with success, both composite and analogue RGB.

People displaying a 4:3 signal on a widescreen telly is a particular bug 
bear of mine. TVs are perfectly capable of using the correct aspect 
ratio and it just means setting it up properly. In the case of using the 
SCART input it can be set automatically by a suitably wired cable.



On 31/05/2016 09:28, Brian Gaff wrote:
>  I was just wondering what people are finding with real Speccies as per the
> degeneration of chips and other specific components. are there any  problems
> which will, in the end mean no real machines will still be working.
> Obviously there is the keyboard membranes which are now mostly made from
> other materials than the originals were, but I was thinking about ulas,
> modulators and components made obsolete by time?
>  I suppose in the end tvs with analogue tuners will be gone, and then we
> have issues with either modifying to use other inputs or hacking the output
> in some way.
>
> Also how do modern tvs cope with the new wide screen systems?
>
>
> Brian
>

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#4180

Yes, but from the point of view of a purist or a museum specimen, 
alterations are not really on, so the ram board, different membrane and 
poking holes etc in the case are a non no, I guess you would need 2, one 
that is working and one that is original.

One thing I did notices was that all the interface 1's I had no longer 
worked. the drives spin and nothing happens.
 Not sure if I have any left now.

As for the gate arrays on the Amstrad, I had to get somebody to change a 
couple of those and it was quite a pain.



Brian

-- 
 -----  -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Guesser" <alistair@zxnet.co.uk> wrote in message 
news:nijs4n$hvl$1@dont-email.me...
> Hi Brian,
> There's quite a large cottage industry which has grown up around keeping 
> speccies going these days. Until recently the only thing that couldn't be 
> replaced was the ULA, but there's now a complete drop in replacement based 
> on a modern CPLD available for the 16K/48K. A 128/+2 ULA has been 
> completed and should be available shortly. I don't believe there's any 
> chance of anything similar for the Amstrad gate array unfortunately unless 
> the economies of chip-on-board change just because of the physical 
> constraints.
> There have been plug in RAM module boards available for some time which 
> replace the fragile and obsolete DRAM chips with 5 volt SRAM.
>
> As for UHF tuners disappearing on TVs a lot of people modify their speccy 
> for a composite output anyway or use RGB cables on the 128k machines as 
> the picture is so much better. Beyond analogue inputs disappearing 
> completely there are also people using analogue video to HDMI converters 
> with success, both composite and analogue RGB.
>
> People displaying a 4:3 signal on a widescreen telly is a particular bug 
> bear of mine. TVs are perfectly capable of using the correct aspect ratio 
> and it just means setting it up properly. In the case of using the SCART 
> input it can be set automatically by a suitably wired cable.
>
>
>
> On 31/05/2016 09:28, Brian Gaff wrote:
>>  I was just wondering what people are finding with real Speccies as per 
>> the
>> degeneration of chips and other specific components. are there any 
>> problems
>> which will, in the end mean no real machines will still be working.
>> Obviously there is the keyboard membranes which are now mostly made from
>> other materials than the originals were, but I was thinking about ulas,
>> modulators and components made obsolete by time?
>>  I suppose in the end tvs with analogue tuners will be gone, and then we
>> have issues with either modifying to use other inputs or hacking the 
>> output
>> in some way.
>>
>> Also how do modern tvs cope with the new wide screen systems?
>>
>>
>> Brian
>>
> 

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#4181

On Tue, 31 May 2016 12:21:58 +0100
Guesser <alistair@zxnet.co.uk> wrote:

> People displaying a 4:3 signal on a widescreen telly is a particular
> bug bear of mine.

Oh, I hate that. But it might be fun to do a game that
deliberately treats the pixels as "wide", like the VIC-20's. I don't
know how well it would work, mind you. Kind of hard to test on an
emulator.

-- 
Duncan Snowden.

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#4182

On 01/06/2016 16:51, Duncan Snowden wrote:
> Kind of hard to test on an emulator.

Still easier than coding chromatrons was though I'd wager ;)

Guesser.

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#4184

On Wed, 1 Jun 2016 16:51:54 +0100 da kidz on comp.sys.sinclair were rappin'
to MC Duncan Snowden:

> On Tue, 31 May 2016 12:21:58 +0100
> Guesser <alistair@zxnet.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> > People displaying a 4:3 signal on a widescreen telly is a particular
> > bug bear of mine.
> 
> Oh, I hate that. But it might be fun to do a game that
> deliberately treats the pixels as "wide", like the VIC-20's. I don't
> know how well it would work, mind you. Kind of hard to test on an
> emulator.

The Amiga's "PAL:Super Hires Laced" mode works very well if you set
the TV to widescreen (if said TV does de-interlacing).  I imagine
plain old Hires does too although I haven't tried it.

I don't think any of the Speccy's single screenmode would look
reasonable in 16:9, but Tasword 2 had an unfeasibly tiny font which
was taller than it was wide, so that might look OK.

Chris


-- 
+-------------------------------------------+
| Unsatisfactory Software - "because it is" |
|  http://www.unsatisfactorysoftware.co.uk  |
| Your Sinclair: A Celebration              |
+- http://www.yoursinclair.co.uk -----------+

DISCLAIMER: I may be making all this stuff up again.

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#4179

Hi!

On Tue, 31 May 2016 09:28:10 +0100, Brian Gaff wrote:
> I was just wondering what people are finding with real Speccies as per
> the degeneration of chips and other specific components. are there any 
> problems which will, in the end mean no real machines will still be
> working. 

In the end, nothing will be working anymore. Concretely, my original Speccy
(Issue 2) works fine, I've replaced the memory chips to get 2x32k, upped
the voltage regulator with a L78S05CV and some larger capacitors and added
a FBAS/Composite out, similar to
http://www.retrogamescollector.com/simple-zx-spectrum-composite-mod/
, but without deactivating the modulator.

No shot CPU, no fried ULA, no dried caps, no rotten memory

> Obviously there is the keyboard membranes

Ah keyboards. No problem with the LoProfile Professional I bought:
http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=1000235
Seems to hold up better then most of the Chinese crap sold nowadays.

> I was thinking about ulas, 
> modulators and components made obsolete by time?

No probs. Microdrive felt foams disintegrated and the BASF tape suffered
from print through. The former can be fixed by using standard adhesive foam
tape and the original felt thingie, the latter only by reformatting (=data
loss) or rocket science/low level forensic analysis.

The ULA could be replaced by a CPLD, check out
http://opencores.org/project,zx_ula
http://www.zxdesign.info/harlequin.shtml
, this would be your only choice if you can't source some antique Ferranti
stock.

> I suppose in the end tvs with analogue tuners will be gone, and then we 
> have issues with either modifying to use other inputs or hacking the output 
> in some way.

http://www.retrogamescollector.com/simple-zx-spectrum-composite-mod/
worked well for me. Yeah, it's a hack and people who want their device 100%
stock will already start hyperventilating.

> Also how do modern tvs cope with the new wide screen systems?

They all have a 4:3 letterbox mode, adding some black stripes to both
sides.

Greets,
Volker

-- 
@:  W E B 2 0 1 6 at B A R T H E L D dot N E T
3W: www.bartheld.net

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#4185

Did not Simtech have some new membranes, there is one in mine.


Brian

-- 
 -----  -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Volker Bartheld" <news2016@bartheld.net> wrote in message 
news:1s5bgmkbhuor7.dlg@news.bartheld.net...
> Hi!
>
> On Tue, 31 May 2016 09:28:10 +0100, Brian Gaff wrote:
>> I was just wondering what people are finding with real Speccies as per
>> the degeneration of chips and other specific components. are there any
>> problems which will, in the end mean no real machines will still be
>> working.
>
> In the end, nothing will be working anymore. Concretely, my original 
> Speccy
> (Issue 2) works fine, I've replaced the memory chips to get 2x32k, upped
> the voltage regulator with a L78S05CV and some larger capacitors and added
> a FBAS/Composite out, similar to
> http://www.retrogamescollector.com/simple-zx-spectrum-composite-mod/
> , but without deactivating the modulator.
>
> No shot CPU, no fried ULA, no dried caps, no rotten memory
>
>> Obviously there is the keyboard membranes
>
> Ah keyboards. No problem with the LoProfile Professional I bought:
> http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=1000235
> Seems to hold up better then most of the Chinese crap sold nowadays.
>
>> I was thinking about ulas,
>> modulators and components made obsolete by time?
>
> No probs. Microdrive felt foams disintegrated and the BASF tape suffered
> from print through. The former can be fixed by using standard adhesive 
> foam
> tape and the original felt thingie, the latter only by reformatting (=data
> loss) or rocket science/low level forensic analysis.
>
> The ULA could be replaced by a CPLD, check out
> http://opencores.org/project,zx_ula
> http://www.zxdesign.info/harlequin.shtml
> , this would be your only choice if you can't source some antique Ferranti
> stock.
>
>> I suppose in the end tvs with analogue tuners will be gone, and then we
>> have issues with either modifying to use other inputs or hacking the 
>> output
>> in some way.
>
> http://www.retrogamescollector.com/simple-zx-spectrum-composite-mod/
> worked well for me. Yeah, it's a hack and people who want their device 
> 100%
> stock will already start hyperventilating.
>
>> Also how do modern tvs cope with the new wide screen systems?
>
> They all have a 4:3 letterbox mode, adding some black stripes to both
> sides.
>
> Greets,
> Volker
>
> -- 
> @:  W E B 2 0 1 6 at B A R T H E L D dot N E T
> 3W: www.bartheld.net 

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#4213

Seems to me that if you've got a Sinclair system that still works, it's probably one of the better ones and if you're lucky it'll go on forever. I've got a fully working ZX81, and a Spectrum +2 (grey case) that until recently was in full working order, but at the moment the datacorder is knackered. Not sure what the problem is, but the motor won't run at all - must get it seen to at some point. I can load off an emulator or external tape recorder using one of those in-car adaptor tape thingies, which is a bit fiddly but generally works, and I have a Divide Enjoy for loading off memory cards. Also got a ZXpand for the ZX81, so using the machines is a lot easier than it was back in the day!

I use an RGB-to-SCART lead on my Speccy so I can use modern TVs. Picture is absolutely crystal clear on my LG TV, but not very good on a slightly older Samsung. Sound is bad though, but I think this is a common +2 problem.

I use a little analogue portable for my ZX81.

Lee

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