what a wonderful piece of design the spectrum truly was , i had one and i loved it ..spent many many MANY hours inputting pages of code for simple games , but it was worth it ..had a stack of magazines that provided me with free games the ONLY game i ever purchased was "Daly Thompson's decathlon" which was BRILLIANT !!!
I had a Spectrum 48k back in the mid 80's as I could not afford a C64. I did love my Spectrum though and still love many of the games. I ended up recently purchasing 3 C64 breadbins in varying condition as restoration projects as I feel I missed out on the C64!
I have - probably the only one - a ZX Spectrum which has a combined Composite Video + RF output. Eg. it works with both composite video monitors AND old TV sets that can not handle composite video. This modification was done by a shop owner, in order to allow me to use a composite video monitor; I told the shop owner that I still wanted to be able to use the Spectrum with a TV and he knew enough about electronics to make it hybrid. From the outside, the ZX Spectrum still looks like any other Spectrum. I really wish every Spectrum had this modification. Less than 10 years ago, I gave my Spectrum a new keyboard membrane and a new 'rubber mat'; the new keyboard membrane is much more durable than the original.
I didn't always fit a TRACO but when I did, I always kept the heatsink in place to keep the weight of the Spectrum the same. I also thought it would stop it slipping around with the weight still there. Personal preference I guess. :-)
I've never seen one in real life (except in RUclips videos). I imagine that I would have loved ZXS if I had one as a kid. I had a Commodore and an NES.
Great that the old TV modulator was left in place. Personally, I also leave the old heatsink and regulator in place, even if I replace the regulator with a Trico. Yes, the device in question was not very worn when the text on the rubber keyboard was in very good condition. Fortunately, they can still be replaced. In my own. LOAD button was worn out :)
I loved the speccy, such a fun time when I had one, games are way too complicated these days, those rubber keys were so awesome and easy to use, todays keyboards should be rubber backed and not slippy cheap plastic
Games back then were sometimes complex as well. Just think of all those buttons needed for "Lords of Midnight" or "Elite". "Sim City" got a relaunch recently and the servers were down. 🤨 I suggested in an IT mag's forum to start a ZX Spectrum emulator and play there instead. 😎 Keyboard overlays made life so much easier on the rubber-keyed wonder.
Great editing, great presentation! This was a joy to watch. You could contract to other RUclipsrs in the retro genre to edit and present the complex tech succinctly. Then... ummm... more retro money, I guess?
I had one of these back in the eighties. I am not sure if it is this exact version. I remember I had to load software that came on cassette tapes via my portable cassette player and the whole thing was connected to my 10” Baird portable TV. I used to love the flight simulator programme which in this day and age is laughingly basic, basically a green screen with straight lines that you flew around and landed on. I remember it was so complex to load the software as one would press play and a certain amount of buzzes and chirps would come forth and you had to be right at the computer as it loaded as you would have to look out for a message to pause the tape, press a key then restart the tape. It normally took half an hour to an hour to load and if you made one mistake in timing you had to start right at the beginning! Then of course, when done and the computer was switched off if you wanted to play again you had to go through the whole process once more! I had that computer for 4 years as it failed on me and then had a gap of 26 years before getting a Toshiba laptop in the early naughties! I remember as a working class person this was not a cheap computer, it made the Toshiba look like a bargain and now, we’ll, we know where we are now!
Great summary of impressions with your rubber-keyed wonder. Thanks for sharing! You are severely wrong, however, when it comes to loading times. 1500 Baud (bits/second) meant you had to wait some 5 minutes for a full 48 kB file to load. Any casette recorder of reasonable quality does the job just fine. A C64 with its 1541 flopppy disc drive loaded with 2400 Baud only. So it was not that much faster but WAY more expensive. Yes, I know, speed loaders were the first thing to load on the 1541. A microdrive was a fine thing to have for the ZX Spectrum. Coupled with a Multiface One, of course, for putting stuff on those cartridges. Loading times of 10 seconds were awesome back then.
Digital Integration: F-15 Fighter Pilot or Tomahawk (AH-64 Apache) maybe Tomahawk was one of the games that shipped with the LensLok copy protection system, along with the ZX Spectrum version of Elite
@@oktup And a cursory check proves you're right. I could have sworn mine had the red logo, it's strange the way the mind plays tricks on you after 40-odd years!
I know that the early 48K had white logos, but the ZX81 had a red logo; so did the ZX82. -But some other models might still have had a red logo. Personally, I've only seen ZX Spectrums with white logos, but that doesn't mean there were none with red logos. ;)
I might get excited about the Russian one, as it may have a much better keyboard (possibly). for me, no nostalgia extends to the "dead flash" keyboard.
2:30 You're going to put the warranty seal back on?!?!? I think that would just make future repair needlessly more difficult, right? And, you do realize you're not going to actually get warranty repair, right? It would be amusing to put it back (underneath the screw) as a lark, but, I'd say this is going well beyond restoration and into insanity. It's not even mint condition to begin with. It's like breaking into an old abandoned house, and then doing housecleaning before you leave! 🤣
The original components can be replaced if necessary. These mods mean the Spectrum is more reliable, more useable, and will extend it's life. Stop moaning, it's his Spectrum so he can do with it as he pleases. It's not as if they're even particularly rare!
Agreed. The way he replaced the axial caps with radials was a complete kluge, and the regulator was a real face palmer too... Keep the damn thing as original as possible if you're restoring it. I would have paid more for it before than after.
what a wonderful piece of design the spectrum truly was , i had one and i loved it ..spent many many MANY hours inputting pages of code for simple games , but it was worth it ..had a stack of magazines that provided me with free games the ONLY game i ever purchased was "Daly Thompson's decathlon" which was BRILLIANT !!!
Really nicely put together video, I really enjoyed it ;)
Thanks
8bitsinthebasement, appreciate the feedback and great to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
Fantastic job Jake! Sir Clive would be proud :-) Thanks for sharing and keep up the awesome work.
Thanks Jamie, I really appreciate it. :-)
I had a Spectrum 48k back in the mid 80's as I could not afford a C64. I did love my Spectrum though and still love many of the games. I ended up recently purchasing 3 C64 breadbins in varying condition as restoration projects as I feel I missed out on the C64!
Brilliant well done, what a great restoration
I have - probably the only one - a ZX Spectrum which has a combined Composite Video + RF output.
Eg. it works with both composite video monitors AND old TV sets that can not handle composite video.
This modification was done by a shop owner, in order to allow me to use a composite video monitor; I told the shop owner that I still wanted to be able to use the Spectrum with a TV and he knew enough about electronics to make it hybrid.
From the outside, the ZX Spectrum still looks like any other Spectrum. I really wish every Spectrum had this modification.
Less than 10 years ago, I gave my Spectrum a new keyboard membrane and a new 'rubber mat'; the new keyboard membrane is much more durable than the original.
Thank you for this video. Now I have to get myself a spectrum.
That is nuts!
Awesome work! Looking forward to more videos!
Looks like you have been somewhat blessed by the RUclips Algorithm with this one :) Great video!
Job well done sir.
I didn't always fit a TRACO but when I did, I always kept the heatsink in place to keep the weight of the Spectrum the same.
I also thought it would stop it slipping around with the weight still there.
Personal preference I guess.
:-)
So good. Give this man more subscribers right now!
Nice work.
Fantastic viewing and professional production, thumbed up 😊
Thank you, really appreciate it. :-)
I've never seen one in real life (except in RUclips videos). I imagine that I would have loved ZXS if I had one as a kid. I had a Commodore and an NES.
Great that the old TV modulator was left in place. Personally, I also leave the old heatsink and regulator in place, even if I replace the regulator with a Trico. Yes, the device in question was not very worn when the text on the rubber keyboard was in very good condition. Fortunately, they can still be replaced. In my own. LOAD button was worn out :)
Congratulation Zx Spectrum 48K my first PC. Ehm Homecomputer. 😂
Great job
had one of those when they came out :)
Subbed former 🐉32 owner 🤫
god, i feel old as gandalf now. must give it some love for anniversary..
I loved the speccy, such a fun time when I had one, games are way too complicated these days, those rubber keys were so awesome and easy to use, todays keyboards should be rubber backed and not slippy cheap plastic
Games back then were sometimes complex as well.
Just think of all those buttons needed for "Lords of Midnight" or "Elite".
"Sim City" got a relaunch recently and the servers were down. 🤨
I suggested in an IT mag's forum to start a ZX Spectrum emulator and play there instead. 😎
Keyboard overlays made life so much easier on the rubber-keyed wonder.
@@seraphinberktold7087 I would love a pc keyboard with those rubber keys, the speccy was a awesome thing to have 😁
I had one with same problem in membranes , unfortunately I threw it away at end of 1990s with sad face
they have these at Goodwill per Pound in computer labs
Great editing, great presentation! This was a joy to watch.
You could contract to other RUclipsrs in the retro genre to edit and present the complex tech succinctly. Then... ummm... more retro money, I guess?
I had one of these back in the eighties. I am not sure if it is this exact version. I remember I had to load software that came on cassette tapes via my portable cassette player and the whole thing was connected to my 10” Baird portable TV. I used to love the flight simulator programme which in this day and age is laughingly basic, basically a green screen with straight lines that you flew around and landed on. I remember it was so complex to load the software as one would press play and a certain amount of buzzes and chirps would come forth and you had to be right at the computer as it loaded as you would have to look out for a message to pause the tape, press a key then restart the tape. It normally took half an hour to an hour to load and if you made one mistake in timing you had to start right at the beginning! Then of course, when done and the computer was switched off if you wanted to play again you had to go through the whole process once more!
I had that computer for 4 years as it failed on me and then had a gap of 26 years before getting a Toshiba laptop in the early naughties! I remember as a working class person this was not a cheap computer, it made the Toshiba look like a bargain and now, we’ll, we know where we are now!
Great summary of impressions with your rubber-keyed wonder. Thanks for sharing!
You are severely wrong, however, when it comes to loading times. 1500 Baud (bits/second) meant you had to wait some 5 minutes for a full 48 kB file to load.
Any casette recorder of reasonable quality does the job just fine.
A C64 with its 1541 flopppy disc drive loaded with 2400 Baud only. So it was not that much faster but WAY more expensive. Yes, I know, speed loaders were the first thing to load on the 1541.
A microdrive was a fine thing to have for the ZX Spectrum. Coupled with a Multiface One, of course, for putting stuff on those cartridges. Loading times of 10 seconds were awesome back then.
Digital Integration: F-15 Fighter Pilot or Tomahawk (AH-64 Apache) maybe
Tomahawk was one of the games that shipped with the LensLok copy protection system, along with the ZX Spectrum version of Elite
Yea they used the reject chips, as long as 32k was available.. you clever dog Clive! And please have links to replacement parts you use
Muy bueno, saludos👍
5:20 -What's a ROMCLIT ?
Todavía conservo uno igual al de la restauración
Does ANYONE remember the oric1? I only ever saw 1 when I was 10.
В моём экземпляре танталовые осевые конденсаторы, военная приёмка.
Wasn't the Sinclair logo originally the same shade of red as the "symbol shift" font? Other than that it looks fantastic!
Some of the later models had a red logo. The rubber key versions were always back.
@@oktup Sure my 16k version had a red logo...
@@oktup And a cursory check proves you're right. I could have sworn mine had the red logo, it's strange the way the mind plays tricks on you after 40-odd years!
I know that the early 48K had white logos, but the ZX81 had a red logo; so did the ZX82.
-But some other models might still have had a red logo.
Personally, I've only seen ZX Spectrums with white logos, but that doesn't mean there were none with red logos. ;)
❤🧡💛💚💙
I have few spectrums still working.....even One russian clone....
I might get excited about the Russian one, as it may have a much better keyboard (possibly). for me, no nostalgia extends to the "dead flash" keyboard.
А у меня лежит с золотыми чипами...
2:30 You're going to put the warranty seal back on?!?!? I think that would just make future repair needlessly more difficult, right? And, you do realize you're not going to actually get warranty repair, right? It would be amusing to put it back (underneath the screw) as a lark, but, I'd say this is going well beyond restoration and into insanity. It's not even mint condition to begin with. It's like breaking into an old abandoned house, and then doing housecleaning before you leave! 🤣
Putting a non genuine seal back.mans a fool
Re capped for the sake of recapping and no longer original with the 7805 removed. Dear oh dear.
But he replaced the warranty sticker!!! 🤣 Sheer insanity.
The original components can be replaced if necessary. These mods mean the Spectrum is more reliable, more useable, and will extend it's life. Stop moaning, it's his Spectrum so he can do with it as he pleases. It's not as if they're even particularly rare!
@@squirlmy hardly insanity. He just wanted it to look the same as he found it, only a lot cleaner that's all.
Agreed. The way he replaced the axial caps with radials was a complete kluge, and the regulator was a real face palmer too... Keep the damn thing as original as possible if you're restoring it. I would have paid more for it before than after.
Would have been nice to use radial caps but otherwise why not modify to extend its life? It’s not like it’s rare or in mint condition
Wow its not game console