schwager (02/18/83)
#N:uiucdcs:10500016:000:1959 uiucdcs!schwager Feb 17 20:15:00 1983 ok, as long as nobody else wants to talk... i have a question that i hope some one can respond to with some enlightening information. my little zx81 works just fine, even though the 16k rampack likes to lose contact once in a while and destroy my programs. but thats beside the point. my main problem is this: for one brief length of time, when i was able to borrow my friend's cheap Radio Shack tape recorder, i enjoyed the luxury of being able to save and retrieve my programs on and off tape. ever since, and for a long time before, not one of the tape recorders i used ever loaded a program from tape reliably. yes, even after hours of adjusting the volume and/or tone controls i met only failure. whats wrong? is it me? you see, im becoming quite upset with my little machine. i give it weeks to live. i think my tape is ok; i use a maxell normal bias (type LN). maybe its the tape recorders ive used, but i wonder really because ive tried 4 or 5. to wit: a honeywell portable, a GE portable, a sony boom box, a panasonic portable, and maybe another, im not sure. even with the radio shack it took me an hour to get it to where i could load a program with any sort of reliability. do i just have a lemon? it seems very finicky with the volume controls. or do i just expect too much for my $100 (i dont think so)? oh, well... enough complaining. if anybody can help, id appreciate it. on the positive side of the zx81/timex 1000-- i built the kit version (this could relate to some of my problems above, but then again it did work on the RS recorder) so if someone is in dire need of the circuit diagram ill be glad to copy it for them. just send me unix mail or respond to this note and we can arrange to have it sent to you. also i was able to attach a full size keyboard to my machine. if there are some non-hardware folk out there who might be interested in how it is done ill be glad to let them know. -mike uiucdcs!schwager
root (02/25/83)
#R:uiucdcs:10500016:iuvax:1800001:000:375 iuvax!root Feb 23 19:59:00 1983 I have had no problems using various tape recorders with my timex 1000 so I guess I'm not much help as far as that is concerned. I was wondering if you could tell me how you attached a regular keyboard. Is it possible to upgrade memory without buying their 16K Rampack? Also, do you know how to set up an RS232 interface inexpensively? Thanks! Scott Jones pur-ee!iuvax!saj
paul (03/05/83)
Some information about the Timex/Sinclair tape loading problems:
I, too, ran into some tape save/load problems on my ZX81 that was
built from a kit. My problems seemed to be based upon the amount
of distortion present in the tape recorder. So, I purchased a
rather inexpensive (about $35.00) tape recorder with reasonable
specs. I now use my Panasonic model RQ-2739 with much success (a
load will fail about 1 in 100 times using inexpensive tape). The
trick my ZX likes, is to have the volume fairly high and the tone
control about mid-position. This model also has a handy tape
counter. I've used this tape recorder on one other ZX81 with good
results also.
Well, I hope this answers some of your questions. If not, mail me
a note and I'll do what I can. I'm NOT a Times/Sinclair expert.
Paul Manno
Medical Systems Development Corp
(...decvax!duke!mcnc!msdc!paul)