Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128
My loving mum has brought me back one of these beauties from a carboot sale but I'm haven a slight problem with it
I CAN'T FIND THE ON SWITCH!!!!!!!!!!
All the manual says is "this is the screen you will see when you turn it on or use the reset button at the side"
Any one know how to turn the s.o.b on???
I CAN'T FIND THE ON SWITCH!!!!!!!!!!
All the manual says is "this is the screen you will see when you turn it on or use the reset button at the side"
Any one know how to turn the s.o.b on???
Post edited by Null n Void on
Comments
Pull the plug out to switch it off :)
You might have a problem tuning it in if you are using a modern TV.
I am usin a modern tv any ideas on how to tune it into it? or any alterintave?
I'm goin to try it on an older tv altho I aint sure exactly how achient it is
https://discordapp.com/invite/cZt59EQ
But it should be around where me video tunes in cool
another question is there any signs of it accualy being on?
Speccys will work with older TVS, but they don't like modern digital tuners, so if it is working you'll get a picture, but the signal may wander and you'll probalby have to re-tune it every so often. It depends on the type of TV really but I use several real speccys on a modern tv and it works reasonably well.
Cheers for yer help
If you hear nothing, I'm afraid it's broken...
If there is no clicks when the keys are pressed then either the Spectrum or the powerpack (or both) have died.
Mat
Download the latest version of Bomb Munchies Ver2210 4th July 2020
It can be a pain in the neck messing around with old kit and modern tellies.
Plug the RF-Lead into the back of your VCR where it says TV-IN (or RF-IN or similar)
then if you have a SCART out on your video, it should auto tune.
Or, if you have RF-OUT you can just re-tune a channel on the video, in the same way you would any other tv channel.
(P.S. sorry for the delay in replying, I was busy)
Take care of your 128k while moving !!! ;-)
Spectrum 48k+ / 128k+ / 128k+2 / +2A (2) / +3 with Multiface3
SpeccyPi 128k+3,14...
Yes, I only love the + versions !!!
Maybe he met the girl of his life when looking for the way back home, got a dozen kids and raised them, started some company and retired, built a house at a lake and moving over there now.
He deserves a medal for perseverence!
Or tried to finish 'Mr Wimpy'
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
Not far off with that description actually, met the girl, married her, only 1 kid so far, worked at a start up company, bought a house, now bought a new one near a loch and moving there now. Squeezed in a degree in A.I. as well.
More importantly though I installed a spell checker into my browser and learnt how to talk online, my other posts are atrocious.
Glad you like it, genuine as well, would be great to say we actually got the Speccy fixed after 11 years.
Absolutely :) Just don't go buggering off again until 2025 :grin:
B
zx-diagnostics - Fixing ZX Spectrums in the 21st Century (wiki)
Sinclair FAQ Wiki
Hahahah, indeed: welcome back!
You can check out any time you like, etc
Which shows you how old we are all getting:sad:
On the contrary, it shows that we still haven't grown up. ;)
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
He didn't test it yet, but he mentioned he's planning on looking into it again soon... probably right after his kid graduates from college!
Hopefully not quite that long but yes it is still on hold due to house matters.
In the meantime I've been looking into possible causes for it not working and watching the array of videos on YouTube. Most are about the 48k though but I'm sure many of the principles are the same.
If anyone has any resources they think would be of particular use then please do share.
I've taken a week off work and I plan on getting this system up and running before I go back.
Here are the systems I have:
to the left is the working ZX Spectrum +2 and to the right is the non-working ZX Spectrum +. I'm hoping I can compare systems to help me work out the issue but I'll need to find out how similar they are internally.
I see no-one has replied to my last call for help, that's understandable. I don't plan on just posting asking for help, I'm going to see this through this week and will post along with my progress as I do so that it may help someone else repair their system.
One clear flag for an issue is this strange resin on the power cable:
It has a really strange smell as well, could just be age but I think it has a similar smell to old batteries so perhaps some sort of fault with the power supply itself. I'm going to search through my parts for a spare power adapter and see if that is enough to get it going. I'll also try testing this one with a voltmeter and see if I can register anything.
Will let you know how I get on.
The resin is from the styrofoam the power supply was in.
It's hard to clean it: it seems the rubber of the cable and styrofoam 'melt' together after 30 years, probably due to their chemical composition.
But nothing to worry about: the rubber does not tear apart because of this, at least I never had that (had dozens of supplies in my hand).
Good to know bverstee, I'll most likely wrap the cable in a sandwich bag before storing from now on.
A bit more progress tonight.
I checked the supply with my voltmeter and it is reading fine. The Spectrum also reads a voltage just on the other side of the connector when plugged in:
So that's a good sign because although I have 2 other adjustable power supplies I have lost the connectors for both, great.
Moving on, since the power isn't the issue it must be the system. Opening it up presents us with the following:
The inside of a Spectrum, who'd have thought it!
I remember from a while back I attempted the repair. If I recall correctly I based it purely on looks so I may have soldered in a completely inappropriate part so that's where I'm going to start looking.
You may have already seen it in the previous pics on the right but here it is close up:
I'm not even sure what the part is, I think there are a couple of components that look similar to this. What I do know is it heaps up a lot and fast when plugged in. I'm really surprised at how good my soldering was back then, better than it is now!
Next up is watching and reading more about what this part is actually meant to be and getting it replaced. Any advice to expedite things would be greatly recieved.
It does need to be screwed to the metal heatsink though, preferably with a smear of heatsink compound between both surfaces.
This is because its job is to convert the unregulated voltage (somewhere between 10-12v) from the power brick into a nice stable 5v supply for the board. This process generates a lot of heat, hence the heatsink!
When the machine's plugged in, check the voltages on the left and right pins with a multimeter, with the ground probe on centre (be careful not to short it!)
You should be seeing 5v or near enough on the rightmost pin.
B
zx-diagnostics - Fixing ZX Spectrums in the 21st Century (wiki)
Sinclair FAQ Wiki
That's the voltage I'm getting, around 11v on the left, 5v on the right. Quite glad I solder this in the right way round as I think it was a bit of a 50/50 shot at the time.
I think my soldering also isn't quite as good as I first assumed. I thought I had soldered the wires in place but when I look closer I think they were always there and I just soldered the regulator to them. That's why there are lots of loose strands on the reg pins. I'll get them fixed up and keep looking.
I'm going to run through the tests for the 48K explained in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzgCmldm2H4
Would I be right in thinking many of them still apply to the 128K+ ? (It is surprisingly hard to find information specific to the + and not the +2.)
If the above still don't work I would invest in a RGB to SCART cable. This would end your tuning issue's and if the Speccy is working fine, it will give a far better picture than the old RF output. I would try that before trying to find further faults as you could easily cause further expensive problems if you can't see the what the Speccy is doing. It may just be a faulty TV modulator, but you won't need that with a RGB to SCART cable.