Aki (Factor6): My Weird Setup

Aki (as Factor6): My Weird Setup

I'd like to express a reaction to the article called Spectrum Set-ups in Subliminal Extacy #2. They described their Spectrum setups, so will do I.

In fact I have two real Spectrum computers. One, the 128+ with a radiator :) I use it the most. Mainly that weird thing on the right side produces a lot of heat which I need when Speccying during cold winter nights =) My 128K Plus doesn't seem like a very often used thing. I take care about it very much! Every day I brush its expansion bus pins with a toothpaste and every second day I take my Speccy to the bathroom to clean all keys.

Well, not really :) But it doesn't seem to be hardly used, tho'.

I bought it from a guy who programmed in Basic and mostly played games.

The original membrane was unusable, you could only switch it on, press Enter (no other key did work) and load some game from tape, play it with a joystick (or load up UNUSED demo by Omega, heh ;-) I changed the membrane and everything was OK! But when I got a disk drive, I found out that the computer isn't modified to work with D40/D80 - the most known disk system in CZ/SK.

Damn!

I asked Tritol, who was living near me to modify my Spectrum, because he did a similar modification to his +2A. OK, after about a month he did it, added an ACB stereo as well, a switch between real 128 mode and D80 mode (USR 0 mode with all D40/D80 functions enabled), and made one very cool permanent modification: burned out a chip that ensures +12V voltage inside the computer! 8-( Fortunately, the Speccy runs, but a TV modulator doesn't work and there is no BRIGHT effect visible. Dunno if it's caused by that +12V damage. Speccy works and that's the main thing.

I'm no longer using the D80, since I bought an MB02+, the best thing for my Speccy in the world! It's basic version. When I've been to the 8BC labs they got me to buy extra RTC for halfprice. So I have an MB02+ with 128K SRAM and RTC, one Mitsumi FDD and that's all. And the MB02+ has very good emulator of D80, so I can use my old disks on it!

My Plus is connected to an old Commodore 1085S monitor through RGB, which has quite good picture. I used to have an EGA monitor which was connected using a sync converter made by Pepa Benkovsky, but it was very old monitor and using of C1085 I find more comfortable for me.

My second Spectrum is very big hybrid. It's a Didaktik M in a case from the +2A. I got this +2A many years ago, it was fucked up, the main ULA chip was gone. So I decided to remake the Didaktik M I got from a friend for free into the +2A case.

It wasn't easy, lotsa drilling, screwing and so on, but it works! The most tricky part was to adapt the +2A keyboard to Didaktik's mainboard. +2A/+3 has very strange connection of keyboard and it's not the same as on 48/128/+2. I had to find the right pin on both sides - each the keyboard and that shitty Didaktik. But it's been almost 3 years. Now, my Didaktik M is closed in a box together with D80 diskdrive and Melodik (an AY sound interface) and it would be really miracle if I took it out :-/

Oh, I remembered! I have about two or three fucked Didaktik Gamas somewhere. No chance to get 'em work :-/ That's all from my Speccy compatible hardware. I have to mention a Scorpion ZS 256, too, which I got from Raver/PhT, but it's not complete, yet. I have only keyboard and motherboard of it. I'm waiting when he'll send me the rest of it. When I get it, I'll write some next blah about that russian toy.