Hello from Huddersfield, and a couple of queries…
Posted: 17 Oct 2021 13:09
Hello everyone,
I'm Richard Hallas, I'm a retro computer enthusiast, and my main roots are in the Acorn and Sinclair worlds, though I'm interested in all old platforms, really. My history in outline is as follows:
1980/81: First computing experiences on a borrowed Commodore PET 2001 (with Scrabble-tile keyboard and inbuilt datasette) – loved it, even though, with hindsight, Commodore BASIC 2 was appalling!
1980: Got a ZX81 and learnt basic BASIC (and at least Sinclair BASIC was decent)
1982: Got a 48K Spectrum and a BBC Model B (yes, I was lucky…)
1980s: Also had some limited experience on other people's machines: Commodore Plus/4 and Amstrad PCW 8256
1986: Got a Spectrum 128 and a BBC Master 128 Turbo (yes, I was lucky again…)
1987–90: At university (studying music with maths as a second subject): got experience on System 6 Macs and Windows 2/3.0 PCs. The Macs crashed all the time and the PCs were just unspeakably awful. Used mainly a Mac SE/30 and it was a great little machine (despite the crashes).
1990: Got the computer of my dreams as a 21st birthday present: an Acorn Archimedes A410/1. Also got a Mac LC for work, though it had little use as I was on the Archimedes almost all the time.
1994: Upgraded to an Acorn Risc PC600 and an Apple Mac Performa 5200
So, from the 80s onwards I've usually been a dual-platform user: first Sinclair & Acorn, then Acorn & Apple. These days I'm almost exclusively a Mac user (currently on a 27" iMac), though I have Parallels Desktop for when I need Windows (not often), and I still have working RISC OS (Acorn) machines that get used too. I've never liked Windows, and avoid it as much as possible even now.
During the 1990s and well into the 2000s I was very heavily involved in the 32-bit Acorn world. I wrote for virtually all the magazines back then, and ended up as editor of RISC User magazine, which was probably the best quality publication at the time. I nearly ended up working for Acorn, in fact (we were in discussions about various things when everything went pear-shaped at Acorn in 1998 and the computer division shut down). In 1999 I set up a CD-ROM magazine called Foundation RISC User, which ran until 2006. At that point, I was supposed to go off and write the official history of Acorn, having been promised financial backing by Hermann Hauser (founder of Acorn). Unfortunately, after I'd given up my job in order to make a serious start on the project, Hauser reneged on his promises to me and let me down totally over the promised funding, so there was no way forward and the whole project fell apart. Plus, I was also left without a job or income. So much for the trustworthiness of famous multi-millionaires.
Computers have always been a serious hobby rather than something I've studied formally, which puts me at a bit of a disadvantage in some ways. E.g. I'd love to understand more about electronics but I have no background in it at all. Nevertheless I learnt enough about programming to write various applications for RISC OS that got published in various places, and I even contributed a handful of OS components. I was also responsible for the new graphic design work introduced in RISC OS 5 in 2002.
Anyway, that's my computing background.
Back in the 80s I used to love to read general-interest computer magazines like PCW and Your Computer, as well as platform-specific ones for Sinclair and Acorn, as I enjoyed keeping up to date with all the new computers that were coming out. Of all the new machines that I lusted after, the one that excited me most was the Memotech MTX512. It just sounded so high quality. In fact, I'd owned a Memotech 16K RAM pack for my ZX81, and I liked the way it was designed in a stylish aluminium enclosure. The Memotech computers were the same thing on a grand scale. They got really good reviews, too, and I wanted one, and for the platform to be a success.
Of course, that isn't how things worked out, and I never even saw a Memotech machine other than in pictures. However, I continued to want one, purely for interest and to tinker with.
Just recently, I was lucky enough to be able to acquire an MTX512 in seemingly nice condition. No original box, sadly, but the machine itself looks good, includes the manual in decent condition, and comes with the original power supply and a selection of software on tape (both games and utilities).
UNFORTUNATELY…
I haven't been able to use it yet, because it doesn't include a TV or monitor lead. It also doesn't include its cassette leads. And I haven't been able to locate any definitive information about any of these yet. So, I'm really hoping that people on here might be able to help me.
• I don't have any old CRT TV with which to test the machine (just the modern 4K screen in the living room…), so the TV port is of limited interest/relevance. Unless it can be used to connect to a composite input on a monitor, and I'm just not sure about that. Can anyone tell me?
• I have a monitor with DVI-I inputs and a converter box that I can use to attach machines to it via VGA, HDMI, SCART and (through another plug-in into the SCART port) composite video (the three red, yellow, white plugs – for which I think white is video and red/yellow audio, which is optional). I've successfully seen video from a composite-modded ZX81 via this route.
My questions are:
1. Is there anything I can do with the TV-out port on my MTX512, other than connect it to an old-style TV (which I don't have)? E.g. I have the modded ZX81 which can connect from this port to the white composite plug on my signal converter box (see above), but I don't know what this involves. I imagine it's a straight choice between UHF output and composite output (a mod that's been made to the ZX81, and won't have been made to the MTX)… but this isn't my field, so I thought I should check.
2. I'm expecting to want to use the MTX512's monitor output. However, this is a connector type I've no prior experience of using. BNC type, I think? What can I do with it? I don't have any suitable input for this type of cable, so I'll need to get either (a) a converter of some sort or (b) a new monitor with a BNC input.
In fact, I am quite tempted to get a new small monitor (probably 8") with multiple input types, as that'd be useful. I've seen a few affordable ones that do have a BNC-type composite input. I'd still need a cable, though. So, my questions are:
(a) If I were to want to get a cable for use with my existing equipment (i.e. to connect to VGA, SCART, HDMI or three-plug R/Y/W composite), can anyone recommend something suitable for me to buy, please?
(b) If I were to get a new small monitor for use with the Memotech, then: (i) again, can someone please confirm the type of cable I'm likely to need (as I believe there's more than one type of BNC connector), and (ii) does the monitor need to support any particular frequency? E.g. many 80s computers produce a 50Hz display, and most modern monitors only support 60Hz, so I'm wary of getting a screen that won't work. NB My existing monitor DOES support 50Hz.
3. I'll also want to interface to a cassette recorder. Can anyone tell me where to get MTX-compatible cassette leads, please?
Thanks very much in advance for any help that may be offered…
PS As a final aside… when I started exploring MTX resources on the web a few days ago, I was quite surprised to discover that the MTX User Club Germany was run by Herbert zur Nedden – interested and surprised because I know Herbert through his strong RISC OS connections. I was aware of him only as a prominent European Acorn enthusiast, and I'd no idea he was into Memotech too. Small world.
I'm Richard Hallas, I'm a retro computer enthusiast, and my main roots are in the Acorn and Sinclair worlds, though I'm interested in all old platforms, really. My history in outline is as follows:
1980/81: First computing experiences on a borrowed Commodore PET 2001 (with Scrabble-tile keyboard and inbuilt datasette) – loved it, even though, with hindsight, Commodore BASIC 2 was appalling!
1980: Got a ZX81 and learnt basic BASIC (and at least Sinclair BASIC was decent)
1982: Got a 48K Spectrum and a BBC Model B (yes, I was lucky…)
1980s: Also had some limited experience on other people's machines: Commodore Plus/4 and Amstrad PCW 8256
1986: Got a Spectrum 128 and a BBC Master 128 Turbo (yes, I was lucky again…)
1987–90: At university (studying music with maths as a second subject): got experience on System 6 Macs and Windows 2/3.0 PCs. The Macs crashed all the time and the PCs were just unspeakably awful. Used mainly a Mac SE/30 and it was a great little machine (despite the crashes).
1990: Got the computer of my dreams as a 21st birthday present: an Acorn Archimedes A410/1. Also got a Mac LC for work, though it had little use as I was on the Archimedes almost all the time.
1994: Upgraded to an Acorn Risc PC600 and an Apple Mac Performa 5200
So, from the 80s onwards I've usually been a dual-platform user: first Sinclair & Acorn, then Acorn & Apple. These days I'm almost exclusively a Mac user (currently on a 27" iMac), though I have Parallels Desktop for when I need Windows (not often), and I still have working RISC OS (Acorn) machines that get used too. I've never liked Windows, and avoid it as much as possible even now.
During the 1990s and well into the 2000s I was very heavily involved in the 32-bit Acorn world. I wrote for virtually all the magazines back then, and ended up as editor of RISC User magazine, which was probably the best quality publication at the time. I nearly ended up working for Acorn, in fact (we were in discussions about various things when everything went pear-shaped at Acorn in 1998 and the computer division shut down). In 1999 I set up a CD-ROM magazine called Foundation RISC User, which ran until 2006. At that point, I was supposed to go off and write the official history of Acorn, having been promised financial backing by Hermann Hauser (founder of Acorn). Unfortunately, after I'd given up my job in order to make a serious start on the project, Hauser reneged on his promises to me and let me down totally over the promised funding, so there was no way forward and the whole project fell apart. Plus, I was also left without a job or income. So much for the trustworthiness of famous multi-millionaires.
Computers have always been a serious hobby rather than something I've studied formally, which puts me at a bit of a disadvantage in some ways. E.g. I'd love to understand more about electronics but I have no background in it at all. Nevertheless I learnt enough about programming to write various applications for RISC OS that got published in various places, and I even contributed a handful of OS components. I was also responsible for the new graphic design work introduced in RISC OS 5 in 2002.
Anyway, that's my computing background.
Back in the 80s I used to love to read general-interest computer magazines like PCW and Your Computer, as well as platform-specific ones for Sinclair and Acorn, as I enjoyed keeping up to date with all the new computers that were coming out. Of all the new machines that I lusted after, the one that excited me most was the Memotech MTX512. It just sounded so high quality. In fact, I'd owned a Memotech 16K RAM pack for my ZX81, and I liked the way it was designed in a stylish aluminium enclosure. The Memotech computers were the same thing on a grand scale. They got really good reviews, too, and I wanted one, and for the platform to be a success.
Of course, that isn't how things worked out, and I never even saw a Memotech machine other than in pictures. However, I continued to want one, purely for interest and to tinker with.
Just recently, I was lucky enough to be able to acquire an MTX512 in seemingly nice condition. No original box, sadly, but the machine itself looks good, includes the manual in decent condition, and comes with the original power supply and a selection of software on tape (both games and utilities).
UNFORTUNATELY…
I haven't been able to use it yet, because it doesn't include a TV or monitor lead. It also doesn't include its cassette leads. And I haven't been able to locate any definitive information about any of these yet. So, I'm really hoping that people on here might be able to help me.
• I don't have any old CRT TV with which to test the machine (just the modern 4K screen in the living room…), so the TV port is of limited interest/relevance. Unless it can be used to connect to a composite input on a monitor, and I'm just not sure about that. Can anyone tell me?
• I have a monitor with DVI-I inputs and a converter box that I can use to attach machines to it via VGA, HDMI, SCART and (through another plug-in into the SCART port) composite video (the three red, yellow, white plugs – for which I think white is video and red/yellow audio, which is optional). I've successfully seen video from a composite-modded ZX81 via this route.
My questions are:
1. Is there anything I can do with the TV-out port on my MTX512, other than connect it to an old-style TV (which I don't have)? E.g. I have the modded ZX81 which can connect from this port to the white composite plug on my signal converter box (see above), but I don't know what this involves. I imagine it's a straight choice between UHF output and composite output (a mod that's been made to the ZX81, and won't have been made to the MTX)… but this isn't my field, so I thought I should check.
2. I'm expecting to want to use the MTX512's monitor output. However, this is a connector type I've no prior experience of using. BNC type, I think? What can I do with it? I don't have any suitable input for this type of cable, so I'll need to get either (a) a converter of some sort or (b) a new monitor with a BNC input.
In fact, I am quite tempted to get a new small monitor (probably 8") with multiple input types, as that'd be useful. I've seen a few affordable ones that do have a BNC-type composite input. I'd still need a cable, though. So, my questions are:
(a) If I were to want to get a cable for use with my existing equipment (i.e. to connect to VGA, SCART, HDMI or three-plug R/Y/W composite), can anyone recommend something suitable for me to buy, please?
(b) If I were to get a new small monitor for use with the Memotech, then: (i) again, can someone please confirm the type of cable I'm likely to need (as I believe there's more than one type of BNC connector), and (ii) does the monitor need to support any particular frequency? E.g. many 80s computers produce a 50Hz display, and most modern monitors only support 60Hz, so I'm wary of getting a screen that won't work. NB My existing monitor DOES support 50Hz.
3. I'll also want to interface to a cassette recorder. Can anyone tell me where to get MTX-compatible cassette leads, please?
Thanks very much in advance for any help that may be offered…
PS As a final aside… when I started exploring MTX resources on the web a few days ago, I was quite surprised to discover that the MTX User Club Germany was run by Herbert zur Nedden – interested and surprised because I know Herbert through his strong RISC OS connections. I was aware of him only as a prominent European Acorn enthusiast, and I'd no idea he was into Memotech too. Small world.