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SCART lead for +2B

TrackTrack
edited July 2014 in Hardware
Can anyone clarify if the SCART leads are ok to use from retrocomputershack?

I am a newbie on here and have just read up some old posts on the subject. I didn't really understand the technical stuff but I gathered these leads have a overheating problem as they are a bit of a wiring hack. Then another post said that they improved the leads.

What's the best solution to go for, I definitely can't stay with the RF as the picture on my LCD TV is beyond awful.
Post edited by Track on

Comments

  • guesserguesser
    edited July 2014
    Didn't someone say that the overheating thing was pretty much bogus? Not sure, I remember a "heated discussion" :)

    Certainly they're hacky and whether they work depends mostly on your TV I think. :-)
    My rubbish website including the redrawn Amstrad schematics and the Sinclair Wiki.
  • 1024MAK1024MAK
    edited July 2014
    The "heated" discussion was about another Spectrum model :D Not the 2B.
    Yes, the RGB - SCART cables available from Retrocomputershack for the +2A (black), +2B (black) and +3 work okay with a lot of TVs. However, some of the modern all singing and dancing TV models do not let you select RGB mode by a manual control or setting. They only support automatic switching between composite video and RGB modes. As the Spectrum was not designed to provide all the correct switching signals, all the cables (not just the ones from Retrocomputershack) are "a bit of hack" which may or may not work with these TVs. The only way to know is to try it.

    Mark
    Sinclair FAQ Wiki
    Repair Guides. Spanish Hardware site.
    WoS - can't download? Info here...
    former Meulie Spectrum Archive but no longer available :-(
    Spectranet: the TNFS directory thread

    ! Standby alert !
    “There are four lights!”
    Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb!
    Looking forward to summer in Somerset later in the year :)
  • guesserguesser
    edited July 2014
    Any cable that has an external power input wouldn't be a hack ;)

    Also I almost suspect that it was designed to produce the levels and they just got it wrong. There are stranger things than that happened in the design :)
    My rubbish website including the redrawn Amstrad schematics and the Sinclair Wiki.
  • TrackTrack
    edited July 2014
    Ok, thanks for the advice guys. I guess I will have to have a punt and try that SCART lead. I have a newish Samsung TV and an older Sharp to try it on.

    Are there any other solutions other than SCART? I notice my TV has composite ports at the back. I would be interested to hear what other people use for their displays.
  • 1024MAK1024MAK
    edited July 2014
    Track wrote: »
    Ok, thanks for the advice guys. I guess I will have to have a punt and try that SCART lead. I have a newish Samsung TV and an older Sharp to try it on.

    Are there any other solutions other than SCART? I notice my TV has composite ports at the back. I would be interested to hear what other people use for their displays.
    There are. But if the cable does not work for you, it is possible to do another "hack" and that will work. When you get it, try it and if it does not work, please post up here and we can sort you out. I assume you are in the UK?

    Mark
    Sinclair FAQ Wiki
    Repair Guides. Spanish Hardware site.
    WoS - can't download? Info here...
    former Meulie Spectrum Archive but no longer available :-(
    Spectranet: the TNFS directory thread

    ! Standby alert !
    “There are four lights!”
    Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb!
    Looking forward to summer in Somerset later in the year :)
  • TrackTrack
    edited July 2014
    Yes I am in the UK. Ok, I will give it a go and post if it doesn't work, thanks for the help.
  • TrackTrack
    edited July 2014
    ok, I got the lead and here are my results on the two TVs I have:

    http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag390/alirub/samsung_zps62d5a0b0.jpg

    http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag390/alirub/sharp_zps1a431f36.jpg

    I guess some work needs to be done on the lead.
  • balfordbalford
    edited July 2014
    Actually that's not too bad :)

    You might find that the Samsung, being a newer TV, has all sorts of image enhancement options to improve the picture. These typically don't play well with older equipment such as a Spectrum, so turn them all off.

    B
    The Spectrum Resuscitation Thread - bringing dead Spectrums back to life
    zx-diagnostics - Fixing ZX Spectrums in the 21st Century (wiki)
    Sinclair FAQ Wiki
  • TrackTrack
    edited July 2014
    I had a look at the Samsung options and there were few controls over the picture, I was quite disappointed really. There was nothing that got rid of the grey noise anyway.

    The Sharp TV looks promising, though is the white 'shadow' normal? I am going to dig deeper in the TVs options later.
  • balfordbalford
    edited July 2014
    That's normal for an unmodified Spectrum, although there are methods for improving further, they require changes to the PCB.

    More details are covered in this video.

    B
    The Spectrum Resuscitation Thread - bringing dead Spectrums back to life
    zx-diagnostics - Fixing ZX Spectrums in the 21st Century (wiki)
    Sinclair FAQ Wiki
  • TrackTrack
    edited July 2014
    Thanks for the advice. That was really cool how he fixed that motherboard. It's beyond my skillset though. I am a total newbie at soldering never mind reading schematics but I'm going to learn to do the basic stuff first as I want to fix my +3 sound. I will probably do some test projects before hand though, to get me into it!
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