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Loading games on Timex Computer 2048

FranciscoVascoFranciscoVasco
edited February 2008 in Emulators
I've tried some tools published here in this site to try and load games in a Timex Computer 2048 (Spectrum clone) via my portable PC sound card, but never succeeded.

Has anyone here been successful doing this?

Thanks in advance
Francisco Vasco
Post edited by FranciscoVasco on

Comments

  • zxbrunozxbruno
    edited February 2008
    Hi there. By mentioning the TC2048 there's a 90% chance you're Portuguese or Polish. Am I right? I'm a Portuguese living in the U.S. I have a TS1000 and TS2068 here, and a TC2048 and TC2068 in Portugal. :)

    It is my understanding that the output from a pc soundcard isn't loud enough. If I'm not mistaken, some people have solved this problem by connecting the audio cable to the output of the headphones socket on the pc speakers and adjusting the volume. The ideal solution is to use PC speakers with volume, treble and bass control and headphone output. I know you're talking about a laptop, not a desktop, but the speakers option might be the easiest way to solve your issue.
  • FredFred
    edited February 2008
    Just as a counterpoint, I've never had a problem loading any game with playtzx on any of 3 different Mac laptops.

    I use a mono cable and crank the volume up to 100% and that's it! I'm sure that the mac sound hardware is basically the same as that found in PCs, though I have heard that using a mono cable is important for reliability.
  • VertigoVertigo
    edited February 2008
    Perhaps the Mac has a built-in pre-amp as standard and the PC doesn't.
    I tried loading from a PC to my 128K some time ago and it didn't work either, didn't pick the sound up even though it was coming out.
    Perhaps also as mentioned above mono sound is the important bit. Perhaps try using TZX to WAV programme and putting the WAV into a sound editor and convert it to mono before playing it. A pain, yes, but the only thing I can think of for now, unless you have an app that can make your general PC sound output mono.
  • FranciscoVascoFranciscoVasco
    edited February 2008
    Thanks for your responses.

    I was afraid that it had something to do with this particular model, the Timex Computer 2048.

    Yes, I'm portuguese, living in Portugal, in a city called Odivelas.

    I've had this wonderful machine since 04/09/1986. Still works :)
  • GodsGods
    edited February 2008
    FranciscoVasco wrote: »
    Yes, I'm portuguese, living in Portugal, in a city called Odivelas.

    Muitos Portugueses por aqui... :-o
    I myself use the integreted audio amplifier of my commodore 1084 monitor to load games from PC. I connect the PC sound card to the audio RCA and the monitor headphone jack to the speccy.
  • zxbrunozxbruno
    edited February 2008
    FranciscoVasco wrote: »
    Yes, I'm portuguese, living in Portugal, in a city called Odivelas.

    I've had this wonderful machine since 04/09/1986. Still works :)

    :o

    I hope you stay around and keep updated. There's lots of stuff going on.
    If you have access to any portuguese software, please take a look at this page:

    www.worldofspectrum.org/mia

    and check the list of missing portuguese titles. Who knows, maybe you or someone you know has one of the missing tapes.

    If I was living in Portugal I would try to find my old friends and do as much as I could to recover lost hardware, software and books. Lots of important things went into oblivion. :(

    /on-topic:

    http://www.cables4computer.com/producthtml/products/AUD-3010.html

    If it works and you can get a valid mono signal from one of the outputs, it would be a lot easier than having to mess with audio editing and conversion. :)

    I'm 99.9% positive that someone here explained how he used the PC speakers as an amplifier and had good results, but I can't remember his nick.
  • FredFred
    edited February 2008
    Just to be clear I mean a mono 3.5mm cable to 3.5mm cable like those that came with the Speccy for mic/ear connections or this type of thing http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=1170&doy=2m2
  • gasmangasman
    edited February 2008
    Yep, it makes sense that you need to use a mono cable: if you use a stereo one, then the two contacts made at the Spectrum end will be the left channel and the right channel, with no ground, and if you play a mono signal then both of those will be equal, resulting in no voltage at the Spectrum end. (If a stereo cable was all you had, I suppose panning the audio all the way to one side might work.)

    I actually use a cable that goes from a stereo jack to two phono sockets, with a phono-to-mono-jack converter in one of them and the other one left to dangle.
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