SPECTRUM SET-UPS

                       SPECTRUM SET-UPS                         
                                                               
In this series, we will be asking Speccy programmers what       
set-ups they have. This is an incredibly dull topic but you     
never know what weird things people do with their kits.         
Do send us a textfile detailing your doings.                    
                                                                
This issue we feature the humans from Fountain PDS. Let rip...  
                                                                
We have the full monty of Spectrums minus the +2a/b farce.      
Our 48k rubber key model has a most perculiar quirk; it doesn't 
work. It is an issue 3 with blue keys (the V key seems to have  
been burnt with a fag). It would cost about `20 to repair it but
there is always a chance of picking up another one for about a  
fiver. As it was, this one only cost us `3 so we didn't expect  
it to work in the first place.                                  
                                                                
Our 48+ was obtained from Nottingham Racecourse car-boot sale   
for `20 (plus a tape deck and a bag full of A1 condition        
software). The Multiface 128 is permanantly plugged in the back 
for ripping out fonts and graphics. It also comes in handy for  
playing Elite and Fairlight, two games that don't seem to like  
the 128's. The screen display is not dead centre and it boasts  
the dreaded 'dot crawl' problem but it's a pukka Speccy.        
                                                                
The 128+ (with the radiator!) gives us no end of grief.         
Sometimes the keys 1-5 refuse to work unless you give the       
membrane a good clean. It also suffers from channel drift,      
usually when entering a corner on Wec Le Mans. We've had this   
since 1986 and I forgot to mention that the strips on the I/O   
port are a bit scuffed up so you have to fiddle (Ooh kinky.ED)  
with a joystick interface until it works properly.              
                                                                
The darling of our collection, the grey +2, is in need of being 
put out to grass. The tape mechanism is somewhat fucked so it   
only loads things that I saved with it. The paint from the      
raised letters has worn off and the legends on the tape keys are
just about visible. BUT no other Speccy seems to be compatible  
with 99.9% of the soft/hardware out there. We do need another   
model when we get a +D but until then, our grey friend will chug
on bravely and is promised a restful future.                    
                                                                
We obtained a +3 for `25 from a stupid family who didn't seem to
realise you could buy more than one game for it. The lightgun is
crap anyway so we don't plug that in. We've got 4 discs and     
don't really want anymore. We use it mainly for Tasword and Art 
Studio work but not alot else. Can someone please tell us how to
cure this bollox sound? (Rig up ACB stereo straight from the AY 
to a Hi-Fi.ED)                                                  
                                                               
The ZX81 stays in the box as the 16k RAMpack doesn't work. Have 
you tried writing a program with 1K?                            
                                                                
We havn't got a printer, not even a Sinclair porky scratcher.   
As mentioned, the Multiface is well useful and seeing as how    
Romantic Robot are selling off remaining stocks at `20, can you 
afford not to snap one up. No speech box, no nothing else, just 
masses of software and loads of wires.                          
                                                                
Having all the Speccies means you should be able to load/use    
anything that ever appeared for the computer.                   
                                                                
SEND US YOUR TEXTFILE OF YOUR SET UP (AND PLEASE TRY TO MAKE IT 
INTERESTING!)

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