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!)