Hi All,
I'm new here having bumped into Dave on the Stardot (Acorn) forum.
Brief Introduction:
I originally had a Dragon 32 and later an Atari ST but have quite a motley collection of 8-bit machines. MTX wise I have a 512 and an RS128 (both recently rescued from the attic), some tapes and a few other bits and pieces.
As the Memotech was a secondary system I don't know an awful lot about them, but happy to help where I can.
John.
Hello from a new member
Re: Hello from a new member
Hi John!
Welcome to the forum, it's a little quiet here at the moment, but hopefully, will pick up as the word spreads,
Regards
Dave
Welcome to the forum, it's a little quiet here at the moment, but hopefully, will pick up as the word spreads,
Regards
Dave
Re: Hello from a new member
Welcome John!
Glad you found your way here
Mark
Glad you found your way here
Mark
Standby alert “There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb
Autumn is here. Bye bye summer 2024...
Not as many MTXs as Dave!
Re: Hello from a new member
A further rummage around has prompted a quick update.
I have now found my PSU for the RS128 (marked with a hand-written sticker 'SDX') and a few more cassettes (and cassette leads too!):
Syntax Software - Edasm Z.80 Macro Assembler
Quadrant 5 Software - Gamestape 1 (no idea what's on it)
Megastar - Downstream Danger - I remember good graphics but never managed to get very far.
Megastar - QUAZZIA
Continental software - Toado
I'm pretty sure this means I have located all of my Memotech gear, although I have yet to power anything on.
John.
I have now found my PSU for the RS128
(marked with a hand-written sticker 'SDX') and a few more cassettes (and cassette leads too!):Syntax Software - Edasm Z.80 Macro Assembler
Quadrant 5 Software - Gamestape 1 (no idea what's on it)
Megastar - Downstream Danger - I remember good graphics but never managed to get very far.
Megastar - QUAZZIA
Continental software - Toado
I'm pretty sure this means I have located all of my Memotech gear, although I have yet to power anything on.
John.
Re: Hello from a new member
Hi John,
I wonder if perhaps you had a disk drive at some point, or at least, the original owner had?
The SDX was an external disk drive, plugged into the expansion port on the left hand side of the MTX, some models did have exactly the same PSU as the MTX. I would love to get my hands on one of these myself! See my SDX notes on this page
http://www.primrosebank.net/computers/m ... ptions.htm
As I said, the RS128 does not have a different PSU, unless of course, the RS128 had the disk drive.
The Quandrant 5 Software Tape is a new one on me, it sounds interesting, I have no games by Quadrant in my listing
http://www.primrosebank.net/computers/m ... ftware.htm
regards
Dave
I wonder if perhaps you had a disk drive at some point, or at least, the original owner had?
The SDX was an external disk drive, plugged into the expansion port on the left hand side of the MTX, some models did have exactly the same PSU as the MTX. I would love to get my hands on one of these myself! See my SDX notes on this page
http://www.primrosebank.net/computers/m ... ptions.htm
As I said, the RS128 does not have a different PSU, unless of course, the RS128 had the disk drive.
The Quandrant 5 Software Tape is a new one on me, it sounds interesting, I have no games by Quadrant in my listing
http://www.primrosebank.net/computers/m ... ftware.htm
regards
Dave
Re: Hello from a new member
Hi Dave,
I didn't have a disk drive, the previous owner didn't mention anything about one either (circa '91). The PSU for the 512 is clearly labeled 'MTX512', the other just 'Memotech Power Supply' with the handwritten 'SDX' underneath. Both are marked with the same output '22.5V AC, 1A, Tapped 18V & 9V'. I may have mixed them up in the past in the past so I'm not quite sure which was which.
The tape doesn't look particularly interesting (I only have the tape itself), I don't have access to a suitable tape recorder at the moment (assuming it's still readable), but it looks like a compilation of some sort.
Your site is pretty comprehensive, the FDX/HDX enclosures look pretty good bits of kit.
John.
I didn't have a disk drive, the previous owner didn't mention anything about one either (circa '91). The PSU for the 512 is clearly labeled 'MTX512', the other just 'Memotech Power Supply' with the handwritten 'SDX' underneath. Both are marked with the same output '22.5V AC, 1A, Tapped 18V & 9V'. I may have mixed them up in the past in the past so I'm not quite sure which was which.
The tape doesn't look particularly interesting (I only have the tape itself), I don't have access to a suitable tape recorder at the moment (assuming it's still readable), but it looks like a compilation of some sort.
Your site is pretty comprehensive, the FDX/HDX enclosures look pretty good bits of kit.
John.
Re: Hello from a new member
Hi John,
yes, the FDX is pretty nice -I bought mine new (~1984), I just wish I could get it working again.
Bit of a coincidence, you mentioning the FDX - I got my wife to rescue it from the loft yesterday, I plan on having a serious go at fixing it!
The HDX is very rare, I'm not even certain that Memotech actually sold (m)any, they were very expensive at the time,
regards
Dave
yes, the FDX is pretty nice -I bought mine new (~1984), I just wish I could get it working again.
Bit of a coincidence, you mentioning the FDX - I got my wife to rescue it from the loft yesterday, I plan on having a serious go at fixing it!
The HDX is very rare, I'm not even certain that Memotech actually sold (m)any, they were very expensive at the time,
regards
Dave
Re: Hello from a new member
Brief update, I've now fired up the 512 (or should that be 500 - PRINT PEEK(64122) returns 0).
After working out how to tune my LCD TV to the RF signal, the screen output looks surprisingly stable. The text is clear, the background shimmers a bit and the audio pops from time to time. I was going to look for a composite lead, but it looks OK as it is.
Bearing in mind I bought this from a car boot sale in the early '90s, I'm assuming that it is likely in it's original configuration.
After working out how to tune my LCD TV to the RF signal, the screen output looks surprisingly stable. The text is clear, the background shimmers a bit and the audio pops from time to time. I was going to look for a composite lead, but it looks OK as it is.
Bearing in mind I bought this from a car boot sale in the early '90s, I'm assuming that it is likely in it's original configuration.
Re: Hello from a new member
Hi John,
yes, a Memotech MTX5xx is often not what it says on the lid!
When I bought my "512" from new, it had 32k on the main-board and a 32k memory card **soldered** to the edge connector. No way to get that memory card out easily. I think that they probably upgraded many 32k MTX500s to 512s using a pluggable memory card - it may even be that, back then, memory prices were such that it was cheaper to put another 32k on a card rather than use 64k chips. Or maybe they had an excess of MTX500 boards once the MTX512 was released. Anyway, you're not the first to be caught this way - the PEEK command is good advice for anyone buying off ebay, at least they know what they are getting if the seller gives them that info. I guess the expansion memory card got lost somewhere along the way.
If you open up the case, you can see the memory chips in positions 2C to 5C and 2D to 5D on the board, they are probably OKI Semiconductor M3732L-20RS. I don't suppose it rattles? - The expansion memory might just have fallen off
regards
Dave
yes, a Memotech MTX5xx is often not what it says on the lid!
When I bought my "512" from new, it had 32k on the main-board and a 32k memory card **soldered** to the edge connector. No way to get that memory card out easily. I think that they probably upgraded many 32k MTX500s to 512s using a pluggable memory card - it may even be that, back then, memory prices were such that it was cheaper to put another 32k on a card rather than use 64k chips. Or maybe they had an excess of MTX500 boards once the MTX512 was released. Anyway, you're not the first to be caught this way - the PEEK command is good advice for anyone buying off ebay, at least they know what they are getting if the seller gives them that info. I guess the expansion memory card got lost somewhere along the way.
If you open up the case, you can see the memory chips in positions 2C to 5C and 2D to 5D on the board, they are probably OKI Semiconductor M3732L-20RS. I don't suppose it rattles? - The expansion memory might just have fallen off
regards
Dave
Re: Hello from a new member
Thanks Dave,
Shakes vigorously - No rattles.
As I had a 128K RS128, the thought of a '512 seemed to good a deal for the pittance I probably paid for it. Only later did I realise I'd mis-understood what the numbers meant (not being a Memotechy I 'just assumed'...).
Not grumbling though, they are beautiful machines.
Shakes vigorously - No rattles.
As I had a 128K RS128, the thought of a '512 seemed to good a deal for the pittance I probably paid for it. Only later did I realise I'd mis-understood what the numbers meant (not being a Memotechy I 'just assumed'...).
Not grumbling though, they are beautiful machines.