Help setting up

[Tape]

Hey,

I'm new here, so I don't really know what's going on, so I'm sorry if I don't understand what's happening. Anyway, basically, I have this ZX81 Sinclair, and an old black and white TV. The zx was my dad's, and it had sat in the loft for years. Anyway, we hooked it up to the TV, and all was well. We're trying it again now, after about a year, and we just can get it working. We've looked through numerous instruction guides, and the only thing we can think of is that one of the cables are faulty. This doesn't make sense because it hasn't been touched for a year. I tried it on a newer TV, and still no joy. So yeah, any ideas? Sorry, to come here, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to ask. Thanks!

[sirmorris]

Hello Mr. Tape.

Did you try it on the same TV that you originally used a year ago? ZX81s are notorious for being awkward customers when it comes to displays. On most you just see a dark gray screen.

Can you hear anything coming from the REC tape port when you type SAVE"XX"?

It's also worth checking whether you're getting 12-13V on the power supply plug. You'll need a meter for that.

Charlie

[Tape]

Hi,

Yes, and then I tried it on a newer one. No, not at all, the older TV just had the black and white "buzz" colour on the screen, as it doesn't actually work as a TV, if that makes sense? On all the channels it just showed the same jiggling screen, even when the ZX is plugged in. On the newer one it just said "No Signal" on the screen, which is why I thought it was the cables.
I'll check in a moment, and I think I have a meter, I'll go and find it,
Thanks for the help

ps. I'm female ^^

[sirmorris]

Ms Tape..!

Are you US based? I can't really comment on the TV system there, here in the UK things have become trickier since the frequency range used by most domestic games and VCRs was taken over by the 5th terrestrial channel.

If you're not worried by cracking open the little machine then there's a very simply way to get a mostly-composite signal to test with, if you can be bothered to go that far

[Tape]

Hi Sir,

No, I am UK based, but to be honest, I have very little idea of what's going on, my dad normally set it all up, and now he doesn't know what to do, I'm a bit stuck.
I'm a bit (actually, really) scared of breaking it, so I'd rather not if I can avoid it, I think I'll just keep it as a last resort.

edit: Okay, my dad's home now, and he says that it's almost certainly the powerpack, and that he has a spare somewhere.

Edit: It's okay, it's all fixed, it was the powerpack, thanks for your help though

[RWAP]

Glad to hear it was just the power pack - I have spare PSUs here for the ZX81 if anyone else needs one.

Welcome to the forums - hopefully you might like to explore some of the new software which has been released over the past couple of years for the ZX81 - see http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/zx81/zx81_software.html

There are also details of several interesting projects on that site, including SirMorris' ZXMMC interface which is coming along nicely and will allow you to load games instantly from a memory card!