Greetings from Denmark

Introduce yourself to your fellow forum members - what was your journey into the Sinclair world?
Post Reply
FortyNiner
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2019 12:10 pm
Location: Denmark
Contact:

Greetings from Denmark

Post by FortyNiner »

Admittedly, I had not given my ZX81 much thought over the past thirty years.
In the back of my mind however, I knew I had one stored away in "one of those boxes" in the attic along with all the other dusty hardware
I could never get myself to ditch -yet never found the time to play with.

I knew my Zeddy didn't work after letting out the "blue smoke monster" some time in the eighties.
But there it was: a pristine copy, still in its original polystyrene box at a local fleamarket.
You could tell by the flatness of the SHIFT button it hadn't seen much use.
Trying to disguise my excitement, I whispered to my wife
"Look! a genuine ZX81. I once stabbed one to death with my soldering iron."
"That's...err... great," she replied. Much to my annoyance, her disinterest was genuine.

"How much?" I asked the vendor, who was busy chatting up a pretty girl with blue eyes.
"Ten kroner? (2 US$)" he tried, expecting to haggle about the price.
"DEAL!" I screamed and slammed a 10 Kroner piece on the desk, hid the goods under my coat and cackled like
a maniac all the way back to the car.

Throughout the drive back, I stroked the ZX81 gently as if it were a baby kitten.
"You know," I said. "If it wasn't for this thing, I'd never have become a programmer."
My wife shrugged. "What if it doesn't work?"
"Then I'll MAKE it work, by God. This is NOSTALGIA."

So, anyway. Greetings from a Danish greymuzzle, and thank you all for letting me join your community.
It's great to be around fellow connoisseurs of that old eight bit purity, again.
User avatar
RetroTechie
Posts: 379
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 12:16 am
Location: Hengelo, NL
Contact:

Re: Greetings from Denmark

Post by RetroTechie »

Great story there, FortyNiner! And welcome to this forum. :D

That was an excellent deal you got there. Guess eBay wasn't seller's cup of tea... :lol: ZX81's are still easy to find, but they are slowly becoming more rare (and more expensive). Haven't seen one on a flea market in years.

Anyway seems you may have one or two ZX81's to repair soon. You have come to the right place... some people on here have built 'em from scratch. :o So feel free to ask any questions you may have! And in the meanwhile there's emulators of course. Very useful & convenient even if you have a working ZX81 at your disposal. Not to mention FPGA based and similar options.
User avatar
mrtinb
Posts: 1906
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2015 5:44 pm
Location: Denmark
Contact:

Re: Greetings from Denmark

Post by mrtinb »

Velkommen.

We are a few from Denmark here already.

If you have some stuff for the ZX81 in Danish. I’ve scanned an issue of ZXdata’s Danish magazine ZinX, and posted it here in the forum.
Martin
https://zx.rtin.be
ZX81, Lambda 8300, Commodore 64, Mac G4 Cube
User avatar
Mozartkügel
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2019 10:59 pm
Location: Finland
Contact:

Re: Greetings from Denmark

Post by Mozartkügel »

Haha, great story! Got many good laughs from it! :mrgreen:
User avatar
1024MAK
Posts: 5103
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:56 am
Location: Looking forward to summer in Somerset, UK...

Re: Greetings from Denmark

Post by 1024MAK »

Hello and welcome to our forum FortyNiner!

:D :D :D

Best short story I have read in a while 8-) :D

I hope you enjoy the forum :D

We are happy to help if you have any questions.

Mark
ZX81 Variations
ZX81 Chip Pin-outs
ZX81 Video Transistor Buffer Amp

:!: 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 later in the year.
Post Reply