The Spectrum Show EP 121

[@dazzathedazza]

The broken component on the Konix Liberator looks to be a 47Kohm trimmer pot. You should be able to find a suitable replacement from Mouser / RS etc. (or eBay) for a couple of quid.

[@jeffburrell7648]

I am very much looking forward to following the business series. I have often wondered if the budget micros could actually be used for running a business and the series will help to answer that question.

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

Me too. For running small businesses such as keeping the accounts and stock of - say - a corner shop, or a service such as mobile car mechanic, it seems ideal. Maybe you could even run Google corporation using a 48k Spectrum (if you REALLY wanted to that is! 😂). Business, education, and utilities have received such little coverage in this series that I think they need a really good going over.

[@cjh0751]

The Spectrum Show & This Week in Retro . This is what Saturdays were created for.

[@eterenostalgia5088]

I'm Antonio from Italy, i have the "Emulator Spectrum" for my AMIGA 500 classic.

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

Thank you Paul, for entertaining the idea of running a business using a Spectrum. It looks as though you've given it a lot of careful thought as to how you would go about presenting the idea to us, and I'm very appreciative of your efforts. Thank you if it was because of my request that you've done this, but even if not, I still very much look forward to it! 🙂

[@BuckingTheTrend2008]

I’ve been planning the business thing for while, maybe nearly a year. A few people have mentioned non-games content, and I have covered utile before. But now it has a purpose.

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

@@BuckingTheTrend2008 I'm really glad - I DEFINITELY think that this is an area of untapped potential for the channel. The number of utilities I've seen - "pass your driving test", "run your own farm", "project management" etc.-type titles seems bewildering! Best of luck with it!

[@michaelhill6453]

I shall really enjoy the business experiment. What a great idea.

[@HAVOCJKD]

"Last Ninja 2" had a rubber shuriken and ninja mask in its first release that was quite short-lived as kids were (allegedly) whipping the stars at each others heads

[@geoffneil5073]

I think I remember reading that about the shuriken at the time now you mention it.

[@SimRacingCorner]

Fantastic stuff. Always a great day when you post your latest instalment.

[@StephenBlower]

04:50 That game "Ninja Spirit" looks like they had intended to colour the characters as they all have a thick outline, which is what was used to prevent colour clash. It was possibly because they ran out of time and/or memory.

[@Labruskie]

Driller came with a short story, doubling as DRM. It also had a flat map of the playing area that had to be folded in to the 3D shape of the moon the game takes place on...

[@iangough3062]

You forgot the Teletext Parodies "Sceptical 1, 2 & 3" contained on the flip sides of "Bored Of The Rings, The Boggit & The Big Sleeze" I found it quite funny. Always look forwards to your show,takes me back to my youth! Thankyou for making & preserving the memory of this Iconic computer.

[@geoffneil5073]

I've never seen those I might see if I can hunt them out

[@craigwalker3194]

I remember all the extras bundled with games. I always liked the music. A pal of mine had a Low Profile. I didn't think much of it!.

[@37Retro]

Nice work Paul. My favourate thing about this show is seeing ancient old hardware for this system that I never knew existed.

[@billybollockhead5628]

I had rally driver! I loved the box, and the map made it feel something special.. then you play it..

[@spacebwoy]

This reminded me a little of my final 48K Spectrum setup before getting a +3: DKTronics keyboard, Interface II, microdrive and AMX mouse.

[@Pai3000]

Wow! The business idea es really cool!

[@Mysterywhiteboy78]

We had the rubber keyboard 48 k for xmas 1984, then i accidently spilt coffee on it but our dad said 'don't worry, i can get an upgrade! 'and then we ended up with the 48 k plus! Happy memories, still have it in the shed and it still works!

[@Mysterywhiteboy78]

I realise i might've told this story already, so sorry in advance!

[@YawningAngelRetro]

I really enjoy watching your videos. Entertaining and full of useful info. Makes me want to expand my Speccy collection each time I watch an episode. 👍

[@AmbersKnight]

Great episode as always. Interesting idea for a multi-episode feature, I look forward to seeing how the Speccy works as a business machine.

[@gregoryoakman8639]

Great stuff Paul. Like the new series idea, can't wait to see how that progresses.

[@mvl71]

I really like your shows, even though I never owned a Spectrum computer until recently. In the olden days I had an MSX2 computer, and I still have several of those. Last year I got gifted a Spectrum+ but I haven't been able to use it yet. It's boxed and everything is in mint condition. Looking forward to see what it can do. In the mean time I'll be watching your shows. Cheers!

[@mrfavus]

Trantor came with a song on side B, that was quite a good song, If I remember rightly

[@moritz-theunderdog3187]

Many thanks for giving our Beethoven game a go 🙂 By the way we made a nice looking ULAplus version too ;-) Cheers, ZXAMAZE/TEAM MORITZ

[@allanjohnstone]

Love the idea of trying to run a business with a speccy, looking forward to the software feature.

[@AbooSulaymaan]

Another excellent episode. Keep up the good work Paul!

[@MarcKloos]

If your printer ribbon has dried out, use WD-40! I've done it a few times and works a treat.

[@robm8809]

Good tip, WD40 is almost entirely solvent, and not a lubricant as some think, so would be a good choice. :)

[@melthebell33]

Dont forget music wise both 720 and FGTH came with actual free cassettes, as for the Ultimate headcleaners i have Gunfright and Cyberun with them

[@stevesgaming7475]

Another fantastic episide! Thank you so much. I'm really sorry you lost a Spectrum and divMMC, damn.. what a pain.

[@markibrahim8806]

I reemver Rally Driver . I quite enjyed it. But yes it was slow . Pleased you manged to see the cow in the road . Best part of the game . cheers

[@DukeOfKidderminster]

Thanks for the business section; I’ve been looking for ages for someone using the Speccy in a business/ office environment. Looks like it’s going to be interesting.

[@BuckingTheTrend2008]

It is interesting, but it’s almost like another separate show! in fact I am doing it separately and then adding the parts to each episode. It’s a lot of work, and so far things are not as easy as I had hoped (working on part 4 now).

[@DukeOfKidderminster]

Thanks for your hard work. I’d love to set a similar thing up myself but unfortunately I don’t have the money or the space to do so.

[@jezz2k]

Bionic Commando came with a song. No idea who sung it or what its called, but the chorus lyrics included "get it right this time... not make a fool of myself" or something like that.

[@neilt591]

Great episode as always. Seemed to be over quickly and certainly didn't feel like nearly 28 mins!

[@StephenBlower]

15:20 The early Virgin Games had a Song on the B side. Yomp - | Starfire | Sheepwalk | Golf - Which were probably there to help with byers remorse as these games were Basic in every sense of the word.

[@davidhayward119]

The Fighting Fantasy title Forest of Doom also came with the book.

[@TimGilberts]

Excellent episode as usual guys well done. Nice to see another Liberator - I was planning a video on it as well at some point. I only found a flikr photo series when I looked online for them last year so they are pretty rare. I wrote the RS232 and Centronics driver code for KONIX for it and helped them get it working. I still have my boxed one if you need the software or a scan of the manual.

[@BuckingTheTrend2008]

Thanks. A scan of the manual and software would be useful. Do you know which cable to use for the printer? I’d like to get it printing just to finish the review proper.

[@TimGilberts]

@@BuckingTheTrend2008 no problem dropped you a contact on the website.

[@frankowalker4662]

The Konix Liberator looks like a cool bt of kit, sorry to hear about your Speccy and DivMMC though. Ninja Spirit and Rally Driver looked like utter crap, but I might get Beethoven’s Revenge, just for the sound track. :) Using the Speccy for business, Sir Clive would be proud of you !

[@EvanBThompson]

Really liked the new feature of setup for business. Can't wait for next month.

[@ByteDelight]

Both were fixed ;)

[@frankowalker4662]

@@ByteDelight Nice one, Ben. )

[@AlanPope]

Many (20+) years ago I worked with a guy who was (in a previous life) a Spectrum software publisher. He was amazed to discover emulators and online archives of games and other software. I found the thing he wrote "Finance Manager" (which may be of interest to your business segment). We downloaded it and span it up in an emulator. He said "This is different!". Turns out someone had taken his FM software, modified it (in a good way, adding reporting functions as I recall) and published it under a different name. Might be worth looking for Finance Manager - it's pretty boring looking white text menu on black background.

[@ggbarnum765]

I used to have one of those konix boxes, forgot all about it till i saw this... wonder whatever happened to it..

[@alsatusmd1A13]

Re: running a business with a ZX Spectrum Ironically, it was already competing rather unfavorably with several established models on that front the moment Sinclair released it, e. g.: Tandy TRS-80 (1977) 64 characters x 8 dots wide Apple II (1977) 40 characters x 7 dots wide Commodore PET (1977) 40 characters x 8 dots wide

[@BuckingTheTrend2008]

The price of those machines were eye watering! people didn’t want to pay what would equate to three or four times the price, especially if they could manage with the Speccy. The question is, could they? We’ll see :-)

[@alsatusmd1A13]

@@BuckingTheTrend2008 Especially not for the Apple II with its barely larger screen!

[@mark-andrews]

The Spectrum as a business tool, yes a great idea to see if it is viable, wow a huge financial outlay, thus far.

[@BuckingTheTrend2008]

The bulk is the hardware. The software, buying it at the time wasn’t bad, but now it is either impossible to get or expensive.

[@Calumma13]

Another great episode. Another extra was the small book that came with Wrath of Magra. I remember reviews at the time praising the booklet and pointing out how it outshined the game!

[@robm8809]

I had "The Wrath of Magra" back in the day, I'd love to see the book again, it had excellent artwork as I remember, but it's never been scanned and is difficult to find as a physical copy.

[@geoffneil5073]

The only thing I remember about "The Wrath of Magra" is that it was talked about for months in Crash

[@robm8809]

@@geoffneil5073 I can't remember much about the game, but did like the art-nouveau inspired art in the book.

[@Calumma13]

The game wasn't very good to be honest. Book was excellent though - and I still have my copy.

[@mr.y.mysterious.video1]

The game that teaches you to surf..... I find that very hard to believe!

[@BuckingTheTrend2008]

I did review it a while back… very odd idea!

[@mr.y.mysterious.video1]

@@BuckingTheTrend2008 and you can now surf I trust 😀

[@GadgetUK164]

If you would like I can fix that Spectrum free of charge. The DivMMC probably needs a new CPLD, if its a future was 8 bit one perhaps they can repair that for you?

[@BuckingTheTrend2008]

Thanks, but it’s been fixed now along with DivMMC. I often blow things up with all the hardware I test, so I’ll keep your offer for later ;-)

[@Labruskie]

I suppose the Konix add on could be called a Flair 0... Think about it... (Just in case no one gets this joke, these are your search words; Sinclair, Flair, Konix, Jaguar)

[@geordielass5535]

I'll be really interestested to see if it would have been viable to run a business in the early 80s using only a Spectrum. Though 2 questions came straight to mind - firstly, would it have occurred to someone in the early 80s to use a computer for even half the things we take for granted HAVE to be done on computers now? And, I'm afraid, secondly, wouldn't the BBC Micro have been a more obvious choice for a business, at least from a hardware point of view? (That's sacrilege here, I know, sorry. 😳)

[@jfla5700]

The rally game should have been called Sunday driver.

[@ByteDelight]

You can't / shouldn't use HD disks with the PlusD with any drive: a real DD drive or an HD drive will both work just fine, but only with DD disks. It might work for a bit, but the HD disks contain different material compared to DD diskettes; HD disks will lose data easily in a DD drive, or HD drive acting as DD (with the HD hole closed/taped over on the diskette). I'm actually buying used DD disks and refurbishing these (cleaning, formatting and testing). In the past I've been able to buy new lots of DD disks, but not anymore so I'm afraid.

[@darkfalzx]

Can someone pretty please link me to the version of AGD that allows for 24x24 sprites?

[@dav1dbone]

How does the liberator power the spectrum, is it putting 5volts in through the edge connector? So it must bypass the 5v regulator, confused, because the zx spectrum has internally derived voltages?

[@geoffneil5073]

Looking at it I think it just passes through the power supply to the Speccy

[@dav1dbone]

@@geoffneil5073 I'm not sure it does? If you skip to 1:10 there's a rear edge view and there's no power connection made. If the device is sending all required voltages in via the edge connector, this is handy as it means a broken Spectrum might be powered-on, certainly tested? Could be wrong though:-))

[@geoffneil5073]

@@dav1dbone You are right, so the power must be going through the edge connector. It doesn't look like there's a voltage regulator on the Liberator board either 😐

[@dav1dbone]

​@@geoffneil5073 I'm wondering if there is a rudimentary power circuit built in? Would be nice to see the pcb with the lid off:-) - looking at the video it's not obvious, presumably the power socket has traces to the gnd and +5V on the edge connector, how this would work is beyond me, would need to check the zx schematic to see if this goes into the 7805 regulator, first thoughts are that the edge connector carries the 5V that is derived from the OUTPUT of the regulator, not the input - if it is, then it makes perfect sense.

[@RandomRetr0]

never seen one of these

[@eidolonfilmsukuk8456]

The Konix killed your spectrum? Some kind of power surge? 19 had a Paul Hardcastle music cassette, as did Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Soft Aid had the and aid single included on tape. There was a Shaky game included on one of his albums if that counts. Poster with Game Over 2. One of the advantages of the original rubber keyboard version was it's overlays when we got one. No other version.had this advantage. I have some homemade games from Ts Software, who seems to have been a schoolkid who wrote games to sell at his school. The opposite side of the tapes have a school related magazine (just pages of text) included

[@geoffneil5073]

I don't think I even knew that there was a game of 19. I know what you mean about the overlays on later models, I remember occasionally laying my Elite overlay over my 128 toast-rack keyboard to remind me of the keys

[@eidolonfilmsukuk8456]

@@geoffneil5073 there was supposed to be a series of '19' games. The first one is 'boot camp', where the soldier is in training. It wasn't very good really, although it's been so long since I've played it that I've forgotten why. There were never any more, so I guess it didn't sell well.

[@geoffneil5073]

@@eidolonfilmsukuk8456 It sounds like it was trying to cash on on the success of the record and it didn't work

[@LeonardCrassman]

Ouch the Konix trashed your speccy? :(

[@alanwoodworth9506]

I think a lot of dubious The Power House games came with a music track. Got to be better than the games!

[@billybollockhead5628]

Iirc the rally game needed two joysticks plugged in.. doesn’t stop it being quite possibly the worst game I owned growing up.. I spent all my pocket money on it too, thinking the nice box must’ve meant it was good .. first lesson of buyers remorse… hard one too.. 😢

[@andrewbevan4662]

Wouldn't it have been easier and cheaper just to allow users to redefine the keys rather than manufacturing keyboard overlays...

[@gwishart]

Redefining the keys won't necessarily help you remember what they all do, especially in more complex games like Elite with 30 different control keys.

[@JimmyCall]

Only if the Spectrum had the GameBoy GFX means, and the colour attribute.

[@dobythedog]

Seriously, as a Spectrum owner back when they were new, In looking back now, Spectrum games were all crap.