BARN FIND! Sinclair ZX81 Found on a farm!

[@JohnSmith-bh4zx]

I've always wondered where to "dig up" a ZX81. You have "planted the seeds" of interest with me. I should "plough" through my Speccy's and re-cap them. Your videos are very clear and to the point unlike some I've watched which "muddy" the point.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

You sir, you just won the Internet today 🤣

[@tailzer42]

Fantastic, its the kind of repair we all secretly want 🤣

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Yes! The worse the condition the better the win when it springs back to life 😁

[@wheelycrafty]

Couldn't help chuckling out loud when you said it's got a good earth.

[@pcm2012]

Looking forward to a second part!!!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Hoping it will be soon!

[@marcusglassford5318]

Would you believe since the internet was invented in 1983 this is the first dirty video I've watched? Had to chuckle "I've made a clean bit" 🙂

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Still have your extensive library of "import" laserdiscs then? 😜

[@miguelrios4602]

Nice unearthing! I dig that! :) Cheers!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thanks! Appreciate the pun! 😆

[@gdutfulkbhh7537]

Nowadays, people put far more care into getting Sinclair machines working than the manufacturer ever did.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

That's very true!

[@station240]

That's not just normal dirt, that's the result of termites building their tunnels in there. Little blighters eat brown cardboard boxes, not just timber. Made a right mess of some electronics I left on the shed floor, which I was going to bin anyway.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I suspect worms were in there too. Would have loved to see it being unearthed in the shed.

[@jaycee1980]

Technically as long as the ULA has survived it's fixable.. but man... :)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

It could end up a bit like triggers broom. 😆

[@JonathanAdamsGB]

Grim yet charmful and fascinating!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Made a grim mess on my desk!

[@ctchich4469]

I got a Commodore C116 cheap from Germany, had half the silt from the Rhine in it. Oddly bar the rust only a dead TED, CPU and a complete keyboard refurb and it works! Enjoyed seeingba ZX81 in similar condition although less aquatic

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Excellent! There will be a part 2 coming soon. Its been through the ultrasonic cleaner now...

[@YawningAngelRetro]

Loved this video. To be honest I expected it to be more rusted up than it was as you took it apart. Please bring it back to life, it deserves as much after what it has been through. 😎

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Given how much dirt found its way inside in so surprised its not just rusted out. I'll definitely be bringing this back to life!

[@EC5ABG]

Ostras!!, mas tierra que un macetero, se podrían plantar patatas👍😂😂

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

🤣🤣🤣

[@christaylor9112]

There's more mud on that than my allotment boots! Perhaps it's an eco computer

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Ill plant it and see if little Sinclair LED watches sprout.

[@EgoShredder]

I would love to see Jan Beta's reaction to repairing this one! www.youtube.com/@JanBeta Most of the rusty stuff he has tackled were Commodore I think, but never any mud lol.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Love Jan's channel. Also I must get round to finishing this one!

[@kwcdata]

"Lets DIG in" hahahahah

[@paulmichaelfreedman8334]

These are the real fun projects. From trash to treasure, or as I call it, from Fcuked to fabulous!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I'll aim a bit lower with this one considering its starting condition. Destroyed to Decent.

[@MrFixiit]

wow this is now turning into an archaeology channel :D

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I'll have to carbon date the soil. 😁

[@franciscomeza8905]

I'm digging the idea lol.

[@RedstoneLP2]

At least it was well grounded

[@retrorobodog]

I once was tempted by an attractive price, after buying the seller said that in the '80s he dropped this ZX81 into the aquarium. haha (I'm curious how?) Electronic components from the "TV head" spilled out. OKAY. I did on AV. Then the white PCB (version 1) with ULA without "back porch" in the video signal. OKAY. I have my ULA ZX81 CPLD. The ZX81 went crazy at times. OKAY. I desoldered all the integrated circuits and cleaned the PCB under them and on the sockets. Prophylactically, I replaced the capacitors and 7805 with 5V converters. I converted 2K to 16K RAM. After a week of playing games, the number 1 key died. I bought a cheap keyboard membrane. haha Too big and in a rectangle, no rounded corners. I did some work with a scalpel. (Removal of the old membrane only hot, be careful not to discolor the housing.) It's been working for 3 years and I'm satisfied.😁

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

That sounds like my kind of adventure! :D

[@desiv1170]

FYI, the RCA socket doesn't "have to stay." The metal tab for the center post had snapped off of the RCA jack on the TS1000 I had picked up a while ago (I didn't notice it because someone had just "slid" it back in place. I didn't see it was snapped till I went to composite mod it and it slid out when I pulled a bit prepping to desolder the original wire...) What I had to do was break up the insides with a small screwdriver and a pliers. And then I was able to compress the jack with the pliers enough to push the jack back inside the modulator box and remove it. Then I was able to replace it with a new jack that just uses a nut to hold it in place... So, you can replace the RCA jack if needed... I would imagine that would work with a ZX81 as well (the modulators look almost identical, except the location of the RCA jack. Farther back on the TS1000 / US ZX81). Looking forward to see more on this...

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Oh! That's great info, thank you. I'll give that some thought when that 81 works it's way to the top of the pile.

[@Bergi2000]

„Dig deeper“ 😂😂👍

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

It's nice to be adjectives/appreciated 😉🤣

[@Bergi2000]

@@MoreFunMakingIt :) earned! Good work and nice vid. Weiter so! :)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thank you 😁

[@martindejong3974]

I call this an archeological find LOL. But except for the modulator, and the keyboard membrane this ZX-81 might well work! I can imagine that 3000 years from now aliens will dig this up and go crazy about it!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Small spoiler for the follow up episode... All the chips in sockets tested working on another machine!

[@RudysRetroIntel]

Boy, the machine needs a lot of love. Hopefully, you can save it

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I feel confident. I half expected it to just work with all the dirt still inside 😂

[@roxyknight4909]

Thats hilarious 😂

[@terosaarela4555]

That looks like a fine canditate for the ultrasonic cleaner.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Definitely!

[@michaelstoliker971]

It just needs a light tidy.

[@OzRetrocomp]

Flippin' 'eck! Was that poor thing used as a literal doorstop?

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Actually found in a barn. Or a shed on a farm, which I still think qualifies as a barn. Roof was open to the elements and lots of weather for inside!

[@leesmithsworkshop]

Forget the Plus 3, this is Acid Atari 800xl level of dirty.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

🤣 Nothing was as bad as the Acid Atari!

[@DaveVelociraptor]

Ultrasonic!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I'm dying to get it in the bathtub and see if it shines.

[@RetroTechorDie]

One day I want to get my hands on a ZX81, I hope mine will be in MUCH better condition. This was a good watch!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

We can make that happen 😉

[@paulb4uk]

Keep looking on ebay i managed to get an issue one sold as untested for £20 and it works fine.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

@@paulb4uk that's a steal!

[@RetroTechorDie]

@@paulb4uk True, but I am trying to convince the wife to make a trip across the pond, might as well pick up some vintage computers when we do!

[@elfenmagix8173]

Beware! That ZX81 was part of some underground Computing Movement!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Haha! Top punnage!

[@DavidGouge]

Was anybody else's first reaction "Poor thing!"? 😂

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

That was exactly my first thought!

[@johnbarleycorn_]

If you're going to be desoldering anything on this board, be very careful. When I was a kid, I destroyed my original ZX81 trying to do an internal RAM upgrade in part because I was inexperienced in desoldering stuff and had the wrong tools. A few years back, I needed to recover a part from that board and, despite being more experienced and having the right tools, still had difficulty getting the part out. The net result in both cases was destroyed tracks/through hole plating. If you have a replacement RAM chip I'd recommend cutting the legs on the installed chip and remove them a pin at a time. The sockets will be a bit trickier.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I will approach it with the attitude it will fall apart if I breath too loud. 😁

[@Rockythefishman]

Now with extra mud :)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Worms are an optional extra!

[@geezerdiamond]

That was hilarious! Have fun sorting it out 😂

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

It's a perfect project for me. I can't wait to get started!

[@geezerdiamond]

@@MoreFunMakingIt Watching this again and I'd be so tempted to deoxit the sockets and reseat the chips, and give it another whirl on power 😀

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I'll do that when I make the restoration episode 😁

[@InfiniteLoop]

On the silkscreen is a pic of a chip, what went there?

[@TheXJ12]

So, what happened to it in the end ?

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

It's still waiting for me to fix it. Been a bit busy 😆

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

A bath and scrub with baby soap should clean out the sockets.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Probably. I think I'll replace them anyway. Just to be sure.

[@pcroom34]

Dying to see Part 2, please send me a message when you have made part 2, would love to get my hands on that, them chips need to be removed and sonic bath for many hours

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I have a few projects to clear off the bench before I can get round to this one.😃

[@Jayoldstuff1]

Wow that one is worse than the one I've just pulled out of a pigeon infested abandoned building.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Pigeons can do some serious damage!

[@RetroBytesUK]

I looks like it had been buried in a field to keep it safe.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Are you saying this is treasure? Viking raiding party approach the village and you grab your most prized possessions and quickly dig a hole before they pillage all the micro computers! I can see that

[@RetroBytesUK]

@@MoreFunMakingIt It that or someone was planning on make life more for future archaeologists. Far more fun than pottery.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I can just see future Tony Robinson explaining how primitive man might have used such a strange tool. Mick would give a historical perspective on how early nerd would use this device to simulate being chased by a dinosaur around a maze. Phil would find some tenuous reason to brew some nasty ale that tastes of mud.

[@haeleth7218]

How on earth (no pun intended) did it get soil inside it?!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I wonder if it was partly ants and partly worms.

[@СеменХеруимов]

Очень весело :)

[@Spiderelectron]

Now I feel itchy...

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I'd only just waxed my workbench!

[@telemedic5142]

Is that an earth leakage fault?

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

No idea! :D

[@RetroSegaDev]

Poor thing!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

It's come to the right place!

[@chaoticsystem2211]

So you destroyed a perfectly good home for all those barn creatures!?

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

¦JACK NICOLSON NODDING GIF¦ 😉

[@KvaGram]

I think it's broken. :D

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

For now!

[@hyzenthlay7151]

No grounding issues I guess...

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

It comes fully earthed. 😂 We're just digging a hole here.

[@paulmichaelfreedman8334]

@@MoreFunMakingIt Good thing your terrace needed raising...

[@jorgenuviola1666]

need, whater, soap and brush very urgent

[@sirtinley-knot2944]

please don't let this be fake! 🤔🤔

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I can understand your scepticism given what else you can find on the Internet. But I promise this is genuine.

[@marcelhh2101]

Fake!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

🤣