25 Oct
2013
25 Oct
'13
6:21 p.m.
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ZX80 clone) been archived anywhere?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
26 Oct
26 Oct
4:57 a.m.
Josh Dersch <derschjo at gmail.com> writes:
Have the user / assembly manuals for the MicroAce
(unlicensed Sinclair
ZX80 clone) been archived anywhere?
Hmm -- are you sure it's unlicensed?
The review of it in BYTE claims that it's "manufactured under a license
from Sinclair Research Limited", and says that the
reviewer contacted
Sinclair for more information about it -- you would have thought
that if
it weren't licensed then Sinclair might have said something. ;-)
It's in the April 1981 issue on page 60:
https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1981-04/1981_04_BYTE_06-04_Future_…
It'd definitely be interesting to archive the manuals, but I suspect the
content will be nearly identical to the Sinclair ones from the comments
in the review.
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?
MicroAces are rare, but I'm sure MicroAces built into ZX80 cases are
even rarer! ;-) I'd leave it as it is.
--
Adam Sampson <ats at offog.org> <http://offog.org/>
9:10 a.m.
On 10/26/2013 4:57 AM, Adam Sampson wrote:
I've left it as is so far, except I took the liberty of carefully
removing the ZX81 keyboard overlay that was crudely taped on. The ZX80
keyboard looks much nicer (though the key legends don't match up with
the updated ROM...)
- Josh
Josh Dersch <derschjo at gmail.com> writes:
I've read the article, but I've also read stuff here and there stating
that Sinclair sued MicroAce, and that afterwards they entered into an
agreement to license the design (and ROM). I can't find any solid
references for this information, however. The manuals, ROM chips, PCBs,
etc. and other documentation make absolutely zero mention of Sinclair
anywhere.
Have the user / assembly manuals for the MicroAce
(unlicensed Sinclair
ZX80 clone) been archived anywhere?
Hmm -- are you sure it's unlicensed?
The review of it in BYTE claims that it's "manufactured under a license
from Sinclair Research Limited", and says that the reviewer contacted
Sinclair for more information about it -- you would have thought that if
it weren't licensed then Sinclair might have said something. ;-)
It's in the April 1981 issue on page 60:
https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1981-04/1981_04_BYTE_06-04_Future_…
It'd definitely be interesting to archive the manuals, but I suspect the
content will be nearly identical to the Sinclair ones from the comments
in the review.
As far as I can tell, the manuals are considerably different (though
they obviously cover very similar material).
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?
MicroAces are rare, but
I'm sure MicroAces built into ZX80 cases are
even rarer! ;-) I'd leave it as it is.
4075
days inactive
4075
days old
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ats＠offog.org -
derschjo＠gmail.com