Have the user / assembly manuals for the MicroAce (unlicensed Sinclair
ZX80 clone) been archived anywhere? I did a quick search and I didn't
find anything. If not, is anyone chomping at the bit to have it archived?
I just picked up an interesting set of hardware that I thought was a
Sinclair ZX80 plus an empty MicroAce case, but which turns out to be a
MicroAce Issue 1 PCB installed in a Z80 case (with ZX80 keyboard overlay
fitted, plus the 8K ROM upgrade overlay taped on top). Came in the
original MicroAce box with documentation, sales receipt and a photocopy
of "MicroAce / ZX80 Video Secrets Revealed!" (which I also don't see
archived anywhere)
If this isn't archived anywhere, I'll see what I can do to get this
scanned at some point.
Also -- as an aside, I'm faced with a dilemma: do I restore this thing
back to a MicroAce, or leave it as the frankenstein it is? I have the
original MicroAce overlay (never used -- still has the protective
backing on the sticky side) but it's pretty clear that whoever put this
together assembled it as a ZX80 from day one, for some reason. The
MicroAce is considerably more rare than the ZX80 (which is already
pretty uncommon)... but then again it works fine as is. (Really the
only irreversable step here would be peeling off the ZX80 overlay and
sticking the MicroAce one on.)
- Josh