16 Mar
2002
16 Mar
'02
2:07 p.m.
From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
But surely, if you link up a different keyboard (good
idea as the Zx81
keyboard is unusable IMHO), and then use an LCD display then there's not
much of the original ZX81 left.
Sure there is. If you change the keyboard and monitor on a PC it's still a
PC -- same for the ZX81. In most cases we're just adding peripheral i/o
devices, RAM, and beefier PSUs and mounting the whole mess in a larger
enclosure.
OTOH I saw plenty of plain black ZX81s at this year's meeting, used to
demonstrate software.
> Sure, some of these operations are slow, but the
point is that we're
doing
> a *lot* with "obsolete" hardware. If
we can get this kind of
functionality
That applies to a number of serious old-computer user groups, actually...
Yup, it's great that there are so many people out there still fanatically
hacking so many different machines . . .
Glen
0/0
17 Mar
17 Mar
6:02 a.m.
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8:27 p.m.
> > But surely, if you link up a different
keyboard (good idea as the Zx81
> > keyboard is unusable IMHO), and then use an LCD display then there's not
> > much of the original ZX81 left.
> Sure there is. If you change the keyboard and
monitor on a PC it's still a
> PC -- same for the ZX81. In most cases we're just adding peripheral i/o
My point is that there are only 4 chips in the ZX81.
The CPU, 1K RAM,
BASIC ROM, and the ULA. The ULA is mostly concerned with video output and
address deconding.
And the ZX81 BASIC is so unpleasant (single-key entry
-- YUK!)
Hey, I liked it!
Therefore it's probably as easy to start with a
bare CPU chip...
Maybe, but then you have to make a board, and at least a ZX
compatible edge connector for all the great perhipherals ...
So after all, using a ZX81 is just a cheap way to get exactly
this.
[1] People who used ZX81s for robotics normally added
a 6116 CMOS RAM (at
least) onto the expansion connector and removed (or at least disabled)
the power-hungry interal RAM.
Wasn't the ZX81 board already prepared to use a 6116 instead ?
At least all the kit boards I ever had (I bought ZX81s only as
kits) did go well with it.
Gruss
H.
--
VCF Europa 3.0 am 27./28. April 2002 in Muenchen
http://www.vcfe.org/
18 Mar
18 Mar
11:01 a.m.
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19 Mar
19 Mar
6 a.m.
At 01:01 AM 3/19/02 +0000, Tony wrote:
Well, if you're going to make an external keyboard, LCD interface,
digitiser, etc, then you're going to have to make some boards as well.
Might as well just stick the Z80 on one of them.
That's true but I think they just enjoy seeing who can hang the most
stuff off of a ZX81. Sort of like the guys that see who can put the biggest
engine inside a Chevy Vega!
Joe
Therefore it's probably as easy to start with a
bare CPU chip...
Maybe, but then you have to make a board, and at least a ZX
compatible edge connector for all the great perhipherals ...
So after all, using a ZX81 is just a cheap way to get exactly
this. 
6:45 a.m.
Joe wrote:
I kind of thought the ZX81 was a VW Bug :)
--
Ben Franchuk - Dawn * 12/24 bit cpu *
www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk/index.html
Well, if
you're going to make an external keyboard, LCD interface,
digitiser, etc, then you're going to have to make some boards as well.
Might as well just stick the Z80 on one of them.
That's true but I think they just enjoy seeing who can hang the most
stuff off of a ZX81. Sort of like the guys that see who can put the biggest
engine inside a Chevy Vega!
Joe 
7:06 a.m.
On Tue, 19 Mar 2002, Ben Franchuk wrote:
In that case, the Buick V-6 is a good choice. It needs a bit of body work
to fit, although in a bus it fits almost as if it were meant to be there.
Is there a Linux port for the ZX81?
stuff off of a
ZX81. Sort of like the guys that see who can put the biggest
engine inside a Chevy Vega!
I kind of thought the ZX81 was a VW Bug :) 
7:11 a.m.
Hi,
Ben Franchuk <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca> said:
Joe wrote:
I kind of thought the ZX81 was a VW Bug :)
I've seen one of _those_ with a V8 ;-)
--
Cheers,
Stan Barr stanb(a)dial.pipex.com
The future was never like this!
Well, if
you're going to make an external keyboard, LCD interface,
digitiser, etc, then you're going to have to make some boards as well.
Might as well just stick the Z80 on one of them.
That's true but I think they just enjoy seeing who can hang the most
stuff off of a ZX81. Sort of like the guys that see who can put the biggest
engine inside a Chevy Vega!
Joe
11:09 p.m.
> >Well, if you're going to make an external
keyboard, LCD interface,
> >digitiser, etc, then you're going to have to make some boards as well.
> >Might as well just stick the Z80 on one of them.
> That's true but I think they just enjoy
seeing who can hang the most
> stuff off of a ZX81. Sort of like the guys that see who can put the biggest
> engine inside a Chevy Vega!
I kind of thought the ZX81 was a VW Bug :)
Which reminds me that the VW is still one real neat tuning
object. Possibly the closest to US Hot Rods we have (German
Law is a bit different. There is no 'if the car is older than
xxx no new regulations apply and you may do whatever you want'
regulation. If an old car is not registered for some time you
eiter bring him bac in 100% original state to reactivate the
licence, or if you modify it, it has to comply to all actual
regulations). Usualy all the muscle cars are build with actual
cars. but a small but still vivid scene of Beetle geeks is
alive - just two weeks ago I saw a brand new redone 1950 VW
(two rear window version) which _almost_ looked like original.
Just a bit lower - looking inside everything looked regular,
except the racing seets ... and asking the owner I learnd that
it had a complete new frame with a racing break system and a
230 horese power turbo charged 2.5 liter engine ... good for
going long distance at 140+ mp/h (230 km/h) on the Autobahn.
Sounds like a ZX81 running a web browser and TCP/IP.
:))
Gruss
H.
--
VCF Europa 3.0 am 27./28. April 2002 in Muenchen
http://www.vcfe.org/
8315
days inactive
8319
days old
8 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
acme_ent＠bellsouth.net -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
bfranchuk＠jetnet.ab.ca -
cisin＠xenosoft.com -
Hans.Franke＠mch20.sbs.de -
rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com -
stanb＠dial.pipex.com