Hi Lee, Great video such a lot of amazing stuff !! Like you I have just got into the QL, from the video I wasn't sure if you had a PSU for it? They are not easy to get and and can be expensive but it is fairly simple to make one out of a modern 9V supply (CPC PW04605 9V, 2A, 18W, Plug In Power Supply, 2.1mm Plug - PELL0030) and an AC transformer (eBay TEZ6/D230/15-15V Transformer: encapsulated 6VA) I fitted these inside the 48K+ PSU case as it is the same as the QL. You can use Cassette felt pads for microdrive cartridges, I found them a little too thick and just trimmed them down. Hope this help Good luck with everything, look forward to the next video.
I would normaly put this type of video on the second channel, but this was such an amazing donation and contains a couple of very interesting items, including something that could be unique, that I thought a main channel video would be more appropriate. Hopefully youtube will not punish me too much for the non repair/project content!
Hmm.. earlier commenters beat me to these points, but I'll make them anyway. Yes, that looks to be a VIC-20 keyboard, not C64 (although they are compatible). Second, you say Commodore lovers will be mad, but, as someone else said, it just proves the only way to make a Spectrum dead flesh ZX usable is to Frankenstein it together with a much better Commodore keyboard. I'm not a Commodore die-hard, so I don't really care. I love what Sinclair did for the computing industry in Great Britain, but those keyboards and the membranes on the ZX80/81 were abominations only to be despised by even the most kindhearted souls ever to grace the Earth. Congrats on the very generous donation. And a big thanks to John.
Absolutely brilliant to see this haul! I had a spectrum and interface 1 with micro drive back in the day and loved them. The micro drive was surprisingly quick, especially when compared to tapes. I found that it was easy to convert some games to load from micro drive by hacking the tape loader and saving them back out. Don’t ask me how now, these days I can barely remember what I had for breakfast! I sold them for a Sinclair QL that lasted just a couple of months before going faulty. That I really loved! But by then they were selling off old stock and I couldn’t get another. Never had a multiface, I think they were just too expensive for a 15 year old with only a paper round for income! Please get these working again soon. Can’t wait to relive old times via the magic of you tube.
Not to pump up your tyres too much, but this is a classic example of getting out of the community what you put in. Congrats, Lee! Can't wait to see what you do with some of this stuff.
@28:13 That toggle-switch on the PSU does look slightly worrying. - It does seem a bit too tinny to be able to withstand 230 V. But if it is on the 9V output side and properly insulated, it might be alright. 😅 - I would definitely want a peek inside before using it.
Lovely video, It was great seeing a Spectrum with a period keyboard mod. It's quiet entertaining that it was a c64 keyboard. The QL is fascinating, don't think I've ever seen one quiet like that.
Any video from you is interesting and we love your unique presentation style and humour, keep them coming please! Samsung made some of the later 48K boards.
Photograph that Commodore Spectrum before you do anything else with it, so if one of those wires comes adrift you can put it back where it came from! It all looks like a good way to spend a long winter night. Or two. Or three.
It probably is a VIC-20 keyboard. Though Commodore had a habit of using whatever they had lying around at the time, so it's possible that a few C64s left the factory with VIC-20 keys on them.
You could actually learn to type quite proficiently with a rubber keyboard, I did it. Noel's Retro Lab has a bunch of QL videos and he goes over the felt thing, he bought the wrong stuff which was affected by static and someone sent him some proper stuff. Thorn EMI also used to be a software house, I remember having games by them.
I was thinking about starting to get into the retro repair scene, but not sure how the wife will feel about bits of Speccy's and C64's lying around the place!
Not unreasonable to move your wife into the garage, to keep all the Sinclair parts nice and dry and organised in the bedroom. I'm sure she will be fine with the new arrangement! 🤪😇 😁
Think the reuse of the C64 keyboard was just because he could , I got a DK'Tronics replacement case with the full mechanical keyboard in 1983 , worked far better than any other keyboard for the Speccy at the time and was pretty good ( not 100% as good as the C64 keyboard but it did have a separate numbers pad to the side so very useful )
Such an amazing donation, I'm really looking forward to see you working on the Microdrives, the QLs and I think it's properly funny to have a C64 keyboard attached to a Speccy, must get that working if it's not already,: C64 and Speccy peeps can come together 😂 That whole QL board would defo look great at yhe Cave too, working or not, there cant be many of thosr around.
Jeep, those orange function keys. And the earliest Vic 20 keyboards had a different pcb where the cables were not soldered from behind in the „middle“ of the Bord but instead brought out to an edge connector with additional holes for some other kind of socket like JST or IDC type. I had only seen a photo of these style of boards once. The were not made by Mitsubishi like the later ones or the c64 keyboards.
blimey, interface one and microdrives, i've been after one for years but they're so expensive on ebay and get snapped up immediately. :( lucky sod mark.. **drools**
I have yet to test, but from what I have read and seen so far they are quite a bit faster. Noel made a great video about them and compared the speed of microdrives to floppy drives and cassette tape. The microdrive was actually the fastest!
LOL, I am not impressed much. Just a box of vintage stuff in poor condition. Well, speakers might be interesting. But I recently (within 3 years timespan) bough a modern 0.25W speaker like that and it is not working properly, even like a pc-speaker :-))
Hi Lee, Great video such a lot of amazing stuff !! Like you I have just got into the QL, from the video I wasn't sure if you had a PSU for it? They are not easy to get and and can be expensive but it is fairly simple to make one out of a modern 9V supply (CPC PW04605 9V, 2A, 18W, Plug In Power Supply, 2.1mm Plug - PELL0030) and an AC transformer (eBay TEZ6/D230/15-15V Transformer: encapsulated 6VA) I fitted these inside the 48K+ PSU case as it is the same as the QL. You can use Cassette felt pads for microdrive cartridges, I found them a little too thick and just trimmed them down. Hope this help Good luck with everything, look forward to the next video.
Great info Byron. I might give the PSU build a go at some point
Hi Lee, Many thanks. I'm also QL newbie and have had a few disasters fixing it. Just let me know if you need any more info.
I would normaly put this type of video on the second channel, but this was such an amazing donation and contains a couple of very interesting items, including something that could be unique, that I thought a main channel video would be more appropriate. Hopefully youtube will not punish me too much for the non repair/project content!
I love all the videos on both channels. Thanks for sharing.
Dear Sir, I am shocked and horrified at the abomination shown at 29:32. I said good day sir !
*How dare you! .gif*
@@MoreFunMakingIt it's actually quite clever !
Hmm.. earlier commenters beat me to these points, but I'll make them anyway. Yes, that looks to be a VIC-20 keyboard, not C64 (although they are compatible). Second, you say Commodore lovers will be mad, but, as someone else said, it just proves the only way to make a Spectrum dead flesh ZX usable is to Frankenstein it together with a much better Commodore keyboard. I'm not a Commodore die-hard, so I don't really care. I love what Sinclair did for the computing industry in Great Britain, but those keyboards and the membranes on the ZX80/81 were abominations only to be despised by even the most kindhearted souls ever to grace the Earth. Congrats on the very generous donation. And a big thanks to John.
Absolutely brilliant to see this haul! I had a spectrum and interface 1 with micro drive back in the day and loved them. The micro drive was surprisingly quick, especially when compared to tapes. I found that it was easy to convert some games to load from micro drive by hacking the tape loader and saving them back out. Don’t ask me how now, these days I can barely remember what I had for breakfast! I sold them for a Sinclair QL that lasted just a couple of months before going faulty. That I really loved! But by then they were selling off old stock and I couldn’t get another. Never had a multiface, I think they were just too expensive for a 15 year old with only a paper round for income!
Please get these working again soon. Can’t wait to relive old times via the magic of you tube.
That QL board with biscuit remnants needs to be displayed in a museum!
100% agree and thats exactly what will be happening :D
@@MoreFunMakingIt I didn't doubt it for a moment. Now I wonder who the lucky curator might be? 🤔lol
The QL is one of the few computers left on my wishlist. Something about that model that just hits you in all the right fuzzy warm retro places.
Not to pump up your tyres too much, but this is a classic example of getting out of the community what you put in. Congrats, Lee! Can't wait to see what you do with some of this stuff.
Keep pumping 🤣
The cat's out of the bag and those ZX Spectrum purists are banging on John's door.
More Speccy & QL heaven! Love it! Plenty to keep you busy, I know how much you love tinkering with these.
You know me well!
Actual pieces of computer history there. Fascinating!
@28:13 That toggle-switch on the PSU does look slightly worrying.
- It does seem a bit too tinny to be able to withstand 230 V. But if it is on the 9V output side and properly insulated, it might be alright. 😅
- I would definitely want a peek inside before using it.
I knew it! The only way to make a Speccy usable is to use Commodore parts! ;-)
Lovely video, It was great seeing a Spectrum with a period keyboard mod. It's quiet entertaining that it was a c64 keyboard. The QL is fascinating, don't think I've ever seen one quiet like that.
Any video from you is interesting and we love your unique presentation style and humour, keep them coming please! Samsung made some of the later 48K boards.
Wow! Such a neat bit of stuff to get! Love that Frankensteined mash up! The ql board in that pre snapped state is so cool too!
Photograph that Commodore Spectrum before you do anything else with it, so if one of those wires comes adrift you can put it back where it came from! It all looks like a good way to spend a long winter night. Or two. Or three.
Will do!
That QL board is very cool indeed, and I LOVE the C64 keyboard addon, well done John 😁
I had a good laugh when seeing the Frankenstein c64 / spectrum. - awesome stuff!
It really made me grin when I first opened the box 😁
I guess you plan to restart ZX Spectrum and Accessories production soon with all the stuff you got...😂
Is it not a VIC-20 keyboard? More likely, in terms of colouring and time frame, perhaps?
Got a few C64's here with that same keyboard.
Also a Vic20 🤣
Commodore used them in both
It probably is a VIC-20 keyboard. Though Commodore had a habit of using whatever they had lying around at the time, so it's possible that a few C64s left the factory with VIC-20 keys on them.
Do you think John would be up for an interview at the Cave or with you? I'm sure his recollections and stories would be fascinating
Thats the intention.
@@MoreFunMakingItAmazing!
You could actually learn to type quite proficiently with a rubber keyboard, I did it. Noel's Retro Lab has a bunch of QL videos and he goes over the felt thing, he bought the wrong stuff which was affected by static and someone sent him some proper stuff. Thorn EMI also used to be a software house, I remember having games by them.
Hell yeah I love Factory reject stuff, I have a bunch of Sony and Nintendo stuff mostly modern but a few things going back to the gameboy
So much amazing stuff! There’s a lot of fun (and time!) to be had going through that lot! That’s your Christmas break sorted 😂
Break?!?! What is this break concept of which you speak? 🤣
What a super kind and amazing donation of parts!
I was thinking about starting to get into the retro repair scene, but not sure how the wife will feel about bits of Speccy's and C64's lying around the place!
Its a hobby that takes up a lot of space if you let it. But I know there are many that work out of storage boxes on their kitchen counter.
Not unreasonable to move your wife into the garage, to keep all the Sinclair parts nice and dry and organised in the bedroom. I'm sure she will be fine with the new arrangement! 🤪😇 😁
@@EgoShredder Now there is an idea I hadn't considered! I like your thinking.. She'll be fine I'm sure😁🤪
Lee in the candystore! 😂
Exactly! 🤣
Think the reuse of the C64 keyboard was just because he could , I got a DK'Tronics replacement case with the full mechanical keyboard in 1983 , worked far better than any other keyboard for the Speccy at the time and was pretty good ( not 100% as good as the C64 keyboard but it did have a separate numbers pad to the side so very useful )
what a treasure trove - fascinating
oh wow. that QL board!
Such an amazing donation, I'm really looking forward to see you working on the Microdrives, the QLs and I think it's properly funny to have a C64 keyboard attached to a Speccy, must get that working if it's not already,: C64 and Speccy peeps can come together 😂 That whole QL board would defo look great at yhe Cave too, working or not, there cant be many of thosr around.
Looks more like a VIC20 keyboard …..
Jeep, those orange function keys. And the earliest Vic 20 keyboards had a different pcb where the cables were not soldered from behind in the „middle“ of the Bord but instead brought out to an edge connector with additional holes for some other kind of socket like JST or IDC type. I had only seen a photo of these style of boards once. The were not made by Mitsubishi like the later ones or the c64 keyboards.
Nice donation i got a majour donation of Amigas and Ataris so i know the feeling. Love your channel have a nice day
blimey, interface one and microdrives, i've been after one for years but they're so expensive on ebay and get snapped up immediately. :( lucky sod mark.. **drools**
How fast was a microdrive compared to a normal cassette? 🤔
I have yet to test, but from what I have read and seen so far they are quite a bit faster. Noel made a great video about them and compared the speed of microdrives to floppy drives and cassette tape. The microdrive was actually the fastest!
Noel shows the speed compared to tape and amstrad floppy.
A microdrive can read the entire 100k tape in 8 seconds. However, bad reads can slow this down a lot.
😍 Amazing.
Was there supposed to be a transistor that drives the reset line or something.
Comment to appease the algorithm god and plead with them not to punish you for sharing this goodness with us 😅
LOL, I am not impressed much. Just a box of vintage stuff in poor condition. Well, speakers might be interesting. But I recently (within 3 years timespan) bough a modern 0.25W speaker like that and it is not working properly, even like a pc-speaker :-))