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Bad signal on my ZX Spectrum+ 48k

G00dYG00dY
edited August 2012 in Hardware
Hi there...

I just got my very first Spectrum, after search high and low for quiet some time :)
But unfortunately, when I plug it in my tv, I don't get any signal, no image... On one of my tv's I get some sort of life sign, but it's not very usefull.. Here is how it looks: http://imgur.com/dZ4lf. If I pull out the cable, the screen changes, so I must be on the right frequency...

Hope you can help me, I'll really like to get to play it...
Post edited by G00dY on

Comments

  • guesserguesser
    edited August 2012
    Does that TV have a fine tuning option? If not you can try tuning the modulator up and down by adjusting the small ferrite screw with a PLASTIC blade.


    RF output really is horrid though and you'd be far better modding the speccy to give a composite video signal instead. It's very easy, just cutting two points and soldering in one wire.
    My rubbish website including the redrawn Amstrad schematics and the Sinclair Wiki.
  • napoleonblownapartenapoleonblownaparte
    edited August 2012
    If you can manage two solder joints then you can mod your Speccy to output composite video to a modern tv - you can see a brief guide with some pictures here.
  • guesserguesser
    edited August 2012
    The TV will have DC blocking on the input anyway so the capacitor is unnecessary. Just a simple bit of wire is fine
    My rubbish website including the redrawn Amstrad schematics and the Sinclair Wiki.
  • G00dYG00dY
    edited August 2012
    Have seen some videos on youtube, at the pictures after the mod, are amazing! But I'm not very good at soldring stuff, have never done it before... But I might got a friend I could ask though, he's some kind of engineer...

    Thank you both for the advises :)
  • WinstonWinston
    edited August 2012
    You can test composite video without soldering (for a permanent solution you need to solder). You can just take a standard RCA composite video lead, make sure the centre part touches the composite going into the modulator and the outer part touches the metal (which is ground) on the modulator.
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