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Hello from Canada

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:36 am
by Ogien
Hello from Canada,

I finally got my ZX81 (Timex 1000) working after some trials. Originally had a broken keyboard (cracked ribbon) and ULA that did not seem to recognize some keys on the left side (123 QWE etc). However after ordering another Timex 1000 and swapping some parts around I have 1 working 2K Timex 1000.

I am now teaching my son BASIC on it with some breaks to play some 1K gems like Qbert and Flappy Bird.

I also have a 16K Ram pack and a 48K ram pack none of which work so for now I am stuck on 1K games. However I did order a 16K ram pack from sellmyretro.com which should arrive any day. As a side project I may try to fix the 2 RAM packs. The 16K pack seems to have a broken off pin so I was thinking about soldering the connector from the 48K ram pack onto the 16K ram pack to see if I can make a spare.

Attached photo of my ZX81 playing Qbert on my vintage portable Sony Trinitron (the only TV the Timex seems to work on without the screen looking super dark)

Cheers,

Re: Hello from Canada

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:34 am
by Paul
Hello Ogien,
welcome to the board.
Please don't kill a rampack to get a connector. I can send you a new connector for free if you promise not to kill the rampack.
I can also replace it for you. I have a desoldering station.
If you need help to repair them just ask, even if I live on the other side of the world.

Kind regards
Paul

Re: Hello from Canada

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 3:02 pm
by RetroTechie
Much preferable over a RAM pack:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150905141 ... ernal_RAM/

Cheap, fairly easy, no RAM pack wobble, edge connector remains free for other add-ons like sound card, flash card storage etc.

The original 16K RAM packs were poorly designed & an unreliable piece of kit. It's amazing those things worked in the 1st place, and time is not gentle on them. :evil: Imho the best use for them is for display purposes, or (if you 'have' to cut one up) re-use the case to house some small project.

Re: Hello from Canada

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 5:34 pm
by Ogien
Paul wrote: Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:34 am Hello Ogien,
welcome to the board.
Please don't kill a rampack to get a connector. I can send you a new connector for free if you promise not to kill the rampack.
I can also replace it for you. I have a desoldering station.
If you need help to repair them just ask, even if I live on the other side of the world.

Kind regards
Paul
Thank you, that is very kind I may take you up on that.

However I am not planning on killing a working RAM pack. I have 2 that don't work.

1. Does not work for unknown reasons
2. May work but has a broken connector.

Does it not make sense to transfer the connector from the non working pack to the one that may work? Unless you think the other RAM pack is repairable?

I have attached a picture of the 1st broken RAM pack (48K) There is one IC on there that gets very hot quickly on it which I circled. Not sure if that is the problem but in my limited experience very hot ICs are usually not good.

Re: Hello from Canada

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 5:35 pm
by Ogien
RetroTechie wrote: Sun Apr 15, 2018 3:02 pm Much preferable over a RAM pack:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150905141 ... ernal_RAM/

Cheap, fairly easy, no RAM pack wobble, edge connector remains free for other add-ons like sound card, flash card storage etc.

The original 16K RAM packs were poorly designed & an unreliable piece of kit. It's amazing those things worked in the 1st place, and time is not gentle on them. :evil: Imho the best use for them is for display purposes, or (if you 'have' to cut one up) re-use the case to house some small project.
Thank you for that information. I kind of like to keep my retro computers in their original state. I don't mind external modifications like ZExpand etc. But I would rather not mess with the insides unless I had to.

Thanks again though very informative, maybe if I have a working spare in the future :)

Re: Hello from Canada

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:01 pm
by Paul
The quality of the edge Connector in the 80s was very low.
Please send me the broken 48k for repair and I send you a high quality new edge Connector.
Kind regards Paul

Re: Hello from Canada

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:13 pm
by McKlaud
Hi Ogien,

Good that you joined us on here.
Ogien wrote: Sun Apr 15, 2018 5:34 pm I have attached a picture of the 1st broken RAM pack (48K) There is one IC on there that gets very hot quickly on it which I circled. Not sure if that is the problem but in my limited experience very hot ICs are usually not good.
This pointed IC is a voltage regulator and I can be very hot-hot when the juice is taken by any other chips on this board. I would not worry about it as long as it gives a stable +5V on the output.

Re: Hello from Canada

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:58 pm
by dr beep
Ogien wrote: Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:36 am Hello from Canada,

.........

I am now teaching my son BASIC on it with some breaks to play some 1K gems like Qbert and Flappy Bird.

.........

Attached photo of my ZX81 playing Qbert on my vintage portable Sony Trinitron (the only TV the Timex seems to work on without the screen looking super dark)

Cheers,
Hello, welcome to the forum.
Nice to read you like Qbert and K-Bird, but do try others as well. Over 40 games in 1K hires to play.

Greetings,
Johan “Dr Beep” Koelman

Re: Hello from Canada

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:42 am
by Ogien
dr beep wrote: Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:58 pm
Hello, welcome to the forum.
Nice to read you like Qbert and K-Bird, but do try others as well. Over 40 games in 1K hires to play.

Greetings,
Johan “Dr Beep” Koelman
Yes I have collected & tested 23 games so far that seem to work, many of your games (they are awesome) some type ins etc. I can't find a full list anywhere of all 1K software available so its a bit of searching. A few games just don't seem to work on my Timex 1000 like 1K Tetris (which I really really want to work)

Keep up the great work!

Re: Hello from Canada

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:57 am
by Ogien
McKlaud wrote: Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:13 pm Hi Ogien,

Good that you joined us on here.

This pointed IC is a voltage regulator and I can be very hot-hot when the juice is taken by any other chips on this board. I would not worry about it as long as it gives a stable +5V on the output.
Hmm too hot to touch though? It seems to be giving out more then 5V closer to 7