Sinclair Computers Discussion

2009-06-30T15:54:00.002Z

We now have some samples of the new Sinclair ZX Spectrum faceplates - see teh RWAP Software forums for more details and pictures

2009-06-26T15:24:00.002Z

New AY Sound Interface for 48K ZX Spectrum

We can now supply Zaxon's Ay-Magic interface which plugs into a standard ZX Spectrum or the ZX Spectrum+ to allow them to play AY sound files. :D

The interface connects to standard PC speakers and has a through connector.

For more details and ordering please see our RWAP Software website

2009-04-25T16:26:00.002Z

We all know how difficult it can be when searching in Google to find which are live sites and which sites can actually sell you equipment, let alone finding that elusive bit of rare hardware or software.

We have therefore decided to launch SellMyRetro.com which will help to bring buyers and traders together, by incorporating a dedicated auction website and a wiki to hold background information on the retro computer scene.

Anyone can list items in the dedicated categories, and traders can decide to open a webstore. Webstores form a place for traders to advertise their services and to form a web-presence, as well as developing their brand.

Traders have two options for advertising their wares / services:

They can open a webstore on SellMyRetro.com for free and use it just to link back to their site, so it forms a free advert. Any items which they choose to list on SellMyRetro.com will be subject to the normal listing and final value fees.
They can pay a monthly subscription for a webstore (£5 per month), which entitles them to 50% off all listing and final value fees.

This allows even small user groups, magazines or public domain sites to advertise their own sites free of charge. The only thing we ask is that your content is relevant to retro computers and games consoles.

SellMyRetro.com is currently in development and will be launched in June 2009, so keep your eyes open for news.

2009-01-19T15:36:00.001Z

This is to let people know that we can now offer a range of spares from our website (www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/sinclairql.html) and have a small stock of external disk drives for use with your QL. Spares range from replacement chips and Minerva ROMs to replacement QL top casings (unused) and power supplies.

Second Hand items for sale:

Amongst other things, our star buys have to be

· 2 x Super Gold Cards,

· an Aurora Motherboard

· an internal eZ-Drive (135MB removal hard disk) for use with QubIDE

We will also be listing some special rare items on ebay over the next few weeks – see: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?type=4&campid=5335864886&toolid=10001&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.co.uk%2Fmerchant%2Frwap_services

At the moment, we currently have listed (amongst other things):

- an Issue 2 Sinclair QL motherboard

- an Issue 5 Sinclair QL motherboard, still uncut, as though it is straight from the production line

- an external keyboard interface which plugs into the ROM port (or at least that is what it appears to be!)

- a set of One per Desk microdrives

- Internal 256K memory expansion board

- Quest Expansion 256K Memory Card (probably one of the most expensive QL add-ons ever made!)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don’t forget the QL’s 25^th Anniversary workshop and show being held by Quanta on 18^th – 19^th April, in Coventry - http://www.quanta.org.uk/news/index.asp#25thworkshop

See us at Byte-Back 2009, at Stoke-on-Trent (7^th-8^th March) - http://www.byte-back.info/

Any questions, please ask.

Rich Mellor

www.rwapsoftware.co.uk

2008-09-15T13:15:00.002Z

We have just renewed our hosting plan with ipower - at just under £4.45 per month, it is a whole lot cheaper than having an ebay shop nowadays (with a lot more storage space and options). Get ipower web hosting from $4.95pm today!

See

On the Sinclair front, we can now offer replacement Sinclair ZX81 Keyboard Membranes (with the keyboard as part of the membrane as on the original). Cost is only £10 plus post and packing - see replacement keyboard membranes on our website. This will also fit the Timex Sinclair TS-1000 ZX81 clone.

2008-07-01T21:37:00.002Z

New - Broadband Comparison Tool:

2008-06-30T20:11:00.003Z

Spectrum Parts etc

We now have the following parts for sale for a Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer:

2 x boxed Currah U-Slots (enable you to connect two devices to the Spectrum's expansion port). Cost £6 each plus p&p
A boxed microdrive expansion kit (ZX Interface 1, ZX Microdrive unit, network lead, connector and manual) - box is in poor condition unfortunately - £55 for the set (plus p&p of course)
Several new and unused Sinclair ZX Microdrive units complete with sellophane wrapper on the top £25 each
Sinclair ZX Microdrive connectors (fly leads and hard connectors) £10 each
2 x boxed RAM Turbo Spectrum Joystick interfaces (with ROM slot, through connector, reset switch and two joystick ports) £8 each
A SPRINT tape recorder for the ZX Spectrum, manufactured by Challenge Research - it enables tapes to load at higher speed - plugs into the standard expansion port and is rare. Offers please.

Also in stock:

100 x 3.5" 720K DSDD Floppy disks (new, unopened) - ideal for retro computers. £10 for a set of 10 disks plus post and packing.
The Original Xerox 6R90268 Black Toner for the Xerox 8825 / 9930 A0 Laser Engineering Drawing Printers.
2 x Epson Stylus Colour 850 inkjet printers
1 x HP Deskjet 720c Colour inkjet printer
1 x HP Laserjet 4 Laser Printer
1 x Tecktronix Phaser 850DP Solid Ink Printer
1 x OKI C9500 A3 colour Laser printer with duplexing unit
4 x Paper support trays for the Epson Stylus Colour inkjet printers (£5 each)

For more details on the printers etc - view our Second Hand Printers Page

2008-06-16T07:03:00.002Z

We have placed a new item on sale on eBay today - an Original Xerox 6R90268 Black Toner for the Xerox 8825 / 9930 A0 Laser Engineering Drawing Printers.

These cost around £200 new and this one has been sat sealed in its box unused since ordering in July 2007. Alas the printer is no longer with us, so this is surplus to requirements. It is an original Xerox item - the auction ends on 21st June 2008 - so grab a bargain now.

2008-06-01T10:51:00.002Z

We have now obtained some more RAM Expansion cards for the Cambridge Z88 portable computer and have special offers on our Cambridge Z88 page. Supplies are limited. We are also offering 2 x brand new Cambridge Z88 32K EPROM Cartridges for £10, with a price reduction on the Z88 EPROM eraser.

Oops - all the excitement about the ZX80/ZX81 Forum (which has been very busy), we almost forgot to mention our own RWAP Software Forum, which is for discussion of our projects and what people would like to see and help to shape our future direction

Finally, for all those desperate for news on the DivIDE Plus Hard disk interface for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, we have now brought production over to the UK (with the original designers sourcing and providing the kit parts). This should speed up production and we have now received 20 kits to start with. Another 25 are on order, and we are investigating the possibility of ordering another 100 units to ensure that supplies continue.

2008-05-22T19:48:00.003Z

New Sinclair ZX80 / ZX81 Forum opened

We have created a forum specifically for users and developers to discuss the Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 home computers - see http://www.rwapservices.co.uk/ZX80_ZX81/forums/

2008-05-22T19:35:00.004Z

Second Hand Inkjet / Laser and Solid Ink Printers for Sale

New this month is a range of 5 second hand printers - must go by 31st July 2008, include: Epson Stylus Colour 850 inkjet printer, HP Deskjet 720c Colour inkjet printer, HP Laserjet 4 Laser Printer, Tecktronix Phaser 850DP Solid Ink Printer and an OKI C9500 A3 colour Laser printer with duplexing unit. From £55 each, you can't go wrong - get a bargain today.

Details appear on our website (with photos) - see http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/Printers2.html

2008-03-08T11:11:00.004Z

Sinclair ZX81 Keyboard Membranes

We have now found a source for making some ZX81 Keyboard Membranes which will be the same as the original, with the integral touch sensitive keyboard. They will also be self-adhesive, like the originals, making for a nice simple replacement which can be achieved with the aid of a phillips screwdriver and a hairdryer (or small knife). The latter is required to heat up the old membrane or lift it from the ZX81 case.

Cost will be £10 each plus post and packing. We are therefore inviting people to let us know of their interest at this stage, by leaving a comment on our guestbook: http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/membranes.html

We aim to have these on the market by June 2008, so be sure to place an order as soon as possible, in order to avoid disappointment.

2007-12-28T15:20:00.000Z

A January Sale in Retro Computing Gear?

OK it is not unheard of, but not exactly as common as all of the other January sales - this one is being run by us and has a lot of Sinclair QL, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 second hand items at greatly reduced sums (including hardware and software). There is also a wide range of general retro computing books which may be of interest to hardware and software designers. Actually, we even have a set of books for the Psion 3 for sale !!

The sale ends at the end of January 2008, although everything is with limited stocks, so get your order in quick. We also aim to add some more items at the start of January to help clear our shelves for projects in 2008. See the link at the top of our home page (http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk) for details - the sales list is provided as a word document (don't worry, we have virus checked it!) - if you would like it in another format, please ask.

Now what can our customers expect for 2008?

Well, we have our fingers in a few pies at the moment, with the following projects hopefully coming online during 2008:
- Sinclair QL Hardware (not yet confirmed but it will be welcome news for Super Gold Card and Q40 / Q60 users).
- More stock of the DivIDE Plus, hopefully putting our production problems behind us.
- Replacement composite video kits (possibly even an external version) to make your Spectrum,. ZX81, BBC Micro, Sinclair QL (etc) work on a modern TV.
- Joystick interface with a through port (suitable for PlusD and hopefully the original DivIDE hard disk interface).
- Microdrive connectors - both the flexible cable to connect a ZX Microdrive to a ZX Interface 1 or a Sinclair QL, and a replacement "hard connector" to join two ZX Microdrive units together (although they will not be able to be screwed together).

Let's hope 2008 is a good year for retro computing and brings us all some good luck and wealth

We wish all our customers a happy and prosperous new year.

www.rwapservices.co.uk

2007-12-18T13:34:00.000Z

** Merry Christmas to all our Customers and Readers **

Well with 2007 quickly drawing to a close, we would like to take the opportunity of wishing our customers a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Our sites will all continue to run during the festive season, although there will be delays in sending out orders between 22nd December 2007 and 2nd January 2008. We are, however, expecting one last shipment of DivIDE Plus hard disk interfaces for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum before Christmas and will post them as soon as possible (fingers crossed and with luck and a following wind, they might hit UK customers doorsteps in time for Christmas).

We will remain available on MSN and email if you have any queries, or please feel free to contribute to our guestbooks and forums.

Our Sites
RWAP Software Site supporting retro computers and in particular the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Sinclair QL and Commodore 64, with just a spattering of 3" disks, DSDD disks and ADSL Filters.

RWAP Adventures Site providing adventures programs for the Sinclair QL, ZX Spectrum and adventures for use on your PC.

Play Lotto - Why not give it a chance this Christmas, join our online syndicate and see if we can win the Lottery together.

Internet Business Angels - Providing support and advice for people looking to enhance the internet presence of their business.

RWAP Services - Overall website looking at our full range of services, including proof reading, perl programming and website review.

2007-12-01T10:47:00.000Z

Following the end of our financial year, it is perhaps time to look back on the retro computing scene and see where things should go next.

A lot of people ask what use are retro computers in this modern age of super fast PCs with oodles of memory and storage capacity?

Well, as well as there being an active retro scene, with a lot of people wishing to relive their youth and pass on their technical expertise, one avenue that could perhaps be developed further is in the field of robotics. Modern PCs have less and less control over their native hardware, with Microsoft actually removing some low level access from each version of Windows. This can make it very difficult to write software which can communicate effectively with a piece of custom built hardware, such as a robot, or even an old printer.

Add an 8 or 16 bit computer into the equation, such as the Z80 based Sinclair ZX Spectrum, or the 680000 based Sinclair QL, and you have access to a wealth of information on how to access each port, open source operating systems, simple programming tools and active discussion forums where people are more than willing to provide you with the technical assistance you need.

So, what has been happening in each of your key markets over the past 12 months?

Sinclair QL
We are pleased to report that in the past 12 months, we have raised over £1500 for the Sinclair QL user group (Quanta) who will make these funds available for people needing to raise finance in order to pursue development opportunities for the QL. They will be glad to receive detailed proposals and certainly it would be nice to produce a low cost mass storage device, such as a compact flash reader.

The recent show in Birmingham was surprisingly well attended and it is hoped that this enthusiasm can continue. Quanta needs the support of its members and if its membership numbers continue to decline, then we may well see them being wound up and the funds which they hold being given away to Charity, rather than being used for the good of the QL community. Please therefore subscribe to Quanta and renew your subscriptions.

Unfortunately, the one downside for the QL, is the lack of a high quality peripheral to add more speed and memory to the original QL. The Super Gold Card sometimes makes an appearance on the second hand market (although it is as rare as hens' teeth) and it is no longer able to make new ones of these as some of the chips are now obsolete.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum
This has now become our main source of turnover, with replacement keyboard membranes remaining an ever popular (and necessary) item.

We were happy to be able to bring the DivIDE Plus hard disk interface to market in the past 12 months, although delays in manufacture and shipping problems have caused some frustration. These now appear to be behind us, although we still struggle to source certain parts, such as the through connectors and edge connectors. Feedback from customers once they have received this interface has been very positive, with only a few minor issues which people struggle with when they first use the card, pushing us to open our own Spectrum forum.

We have now been able to source replacement flexible connectors to join the ZX Microdrive and ZX Interface 1 units (hopefully we will soon be able to supply the hard connector to join two ZX Microdrive units).

2006/07 has also seen the launch of the ever popular Competition Pro Joystick for the Spectrum and other retro computers (which use the standard Atari joystick socket).

During 2007/08 we hope to build further on the success of the DivIDE Plus, and bring more new products to market, including the composite video kit and Kempston joystick interface with through connector, as well as improved firmware for the DivIDE Plus.

Sinclair ZX81
The main downfall of the ZX81 is the lack of replacement keyboard membranes. These are now failing in large numbers, but with a cost of around £10 to produce, it is unlikely that the market will ever be large enough to warrant a new production run. Kits are still sometimes available on the internet, although you do need to bear in mind that these are now 25+ years old.

Use our website for more information on Sinclair range of computers and available items

www.rwapsoftware.co.uk

2007-11-16T21:12:00.000Z

News In Time for Christmas

Things are indeed looking up - we are hoping to clear the backlog of DivIDE Plus orders by Christmas (20 units on their way from Poland - 16th November, with another 20 soon to follow).
We have reduced the price of our popular Competition Pro Joystick for all retro computers with a 9 pin DIN socket - it is now only £12.50 plus p&p.
Sinclair QL owners will be fighting to get their hands on the latest Super Gold Card - one only and priced at £250, this could be your last chance of getting one as they have not been made in many years and the parts are obsolete.
We now have a small stock of brand new ZX Microdrive Cartridges - £2.50 each plus p&p
We can now also supply the fly leads to connect ZX Microdrive Units to the ZX Interface 1 - at only £10 plus p&p, they are jet black as per the original.

Keep your eyes out for more news as it becomes available and lets hope for a Happy Christmas.

Visit our website RWAP Software for more details on these and other retro computing goodies.

2007-11-12T18:33:00.000Z

Well it is always pleasing to receive good feedback on our customer service.

We have heard back from one ADSL customer, who had had problems for a few months with losing his broadband connection whenever someone used the downstairs phone. He appeared to have enough filters in place, and despite spending several hours to technical helplines (on 0845 numbers), they had time and time again blamed something on his PC setup. We sent some replacement filters, and a quick email to us, with a diagram of his system, and we spotted the issue - he had not plugged his phone extension cable into the "PHONE" socket on a filter. Although there was no real need to use our own filters, he was as pleased as punch that we could resolve the issue so quickly.

Oddly, we were the only ones to mention REN on his phone equipment, which had exceeded the recommended REN 3. Still problem solved, and one more happy customer. By the way, we were surprised that our filters are even cheaper than ARGOS sell them for !!

Now all we need is another 100,000 pleased customers, and we could consider retiring !!

2007-10-27T11:18:00.000Z

Just some useful tips and ideas

OK, we all need to think about anti-virus software and a firewall, but do we take the plunge and spend money on it or risk our data and personal details with one of the free ones, or Microsoft's own firewall (which is heavily attacked).

Having looked at the options, we have taken the plunge of renewing our subscription with Symantec and purchased their Norton 360 product, which is quicker than previous versions of Norton Internet Security (so it does not tie the system up as much), has faster scanning, provides its own firewall and antivirus protection and much more.

The advantages of Norton 360 are that it also provides regular backups of your data (full or incremental backups) and also provides 2GB free online storage for you to store your most important files, in case of the all too drastic hard disk failure. One of the bonuses is that when you look at the price tag, of £59.99, this may appear very high, but often PC World has discounted offers and you also must remember that this now includes the facility to install it on 3 computers in the same household, so that works out at just under £20 per PC !!

Not too bad when you think of the damage that one virus can do.

The other trick for this month, has to be to look at switching to the Alliance & Leicester's current account - it still offers the best rate of interest of any current account (6.5% fixed until Jan 2009), excellent online service and you only need fund it with £500pm (most other similar accounts need minimum funding of £1000pm). Keep your eyes open for special offers too - they often offer very high interest bearing savings accounts if you open them at the same time as a current account.

Well worth the small bit of paperwork it takes to switch

2007-10-27T11:04:00.000Z

We have recently had some very successful reports for people using old DOS and emulator programs who are struggling to find a compatible printer. Whilst Printfil has been one product which we have commended in the past for this sort of situation, it is limited to mainly text and does not understand many control codes. We and several others have found that QPCPrint is now a much better alternative, particularly if your program outputs a mixture of text and graphics and expects to output to an EPSON compatible printer. QPCPrint understands a much wider range of ESC/P2 programming codes, and can therefore provide output much closer to the original on any modern Windows Printer - more details and a link to a demonstration version of QPCPrint is available on our webpage dedicated to older printers and printing from DOS / emulators

Why do we need this?

I suppose the answer is that if you have never found that you cannot print from a program, you do not need this. However, many users of emulators and DOS programs find that their program will only send output direct to the parallel port, using its own inbuilt command codes. Many modern printers will not even accept plain text sent to the parallel port (that is if they even connect through the parallel port - most are USB nowadays). As printers have developed, they expect Windows to do all of the hard work and convert text and graphics into something which they can understand without having to convert - this cuts down on the cost of hardware, but means a loss of compatibility with older programs.

How do Printfil and QPCPrint work?

Both Printfil and QPCPrint are Windows based programs, set up as pseudo printer drivers on your computer. They look for any output set to a parallel port (eg. LPT1 is the default), then capture this output and convert it into data which can then be printed on any modern printer connected to Windows. This can be done in the background, or you can use options to view the output and decide which printer to use.

Printfil is the only program of the two which can handle a printer which is actually connected to LPT1. However, QPCPrint is more accurate when it comes to printing from a program which expects an EPSON printer.

Try them both and see what you think. We can offer some advice and assistance if you are struggling.

2007-10-12T17:20:00.000Z

First off for October is two new products for Sinclair ZX Spectrum users:

- a low cost composite video kit which consists of a small board which replaces the Spectrum's own TV modulator (UM1233). This provides excellent output on modern televisions and allows you to get around some of the problems with SCART leads. We need someone to try it on other retro computers which provide a TV out, as it should work with all of them.

We even offer a fitting service if you are worried about the need to open your machine and use a soldering iron.

- now the news that all PlusD users have been waiting for - a Kempston compatible Joystick interface which, although uncased, does have a through port which allows you to plug the PlusD disk interface into the back so you can use the Joystick with games on disk. We have not yet tried it with a DivIDE but see no reason why it won't work.

If you want to order, visit our website devoted to the retro computing scene.

2007-09-01T08:32:00.001Z

Were printers ever easy?

A recent request from a customer has brought some frustration my way I must admit. He wanted a colour printer to use with his ZX Spectrum and Sinclair QL so I provided the Epson Stylus Colour 850. After a little soul searching, I came up with how to print a screen dump in colour from the QL - you need Toolkit II and a small program SDUMP_REXT (the SDUMP commands are already built into the Trump Card, Gold Card and Super Gold Card).

Easy if a little slow - now you just do
LRESPR mdv1_sdump_rext
SDP_DEV ser1
SDP_SET 8,2
SDUMP 512,256,0,0

and hey presto.

However, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum is a different kettle of fish. I have tried numerous interfaces, including the PlusD's built in centronics interface, and all I seem to get is black and white screen dumps. I am told that I may need to find some more software, but looking on the worldofspectrum archives, cannot find anything suitable for any of the 6 different printer interfaces I have, including the Kempston one. Maybe I am just missing the manual for the ZX LPRINT III or maybe it's that no-one ever produced a colour screen dump for an Epson printer to run on the ZX Spectrum.

Come on - someone must know something and managed this in the past !!

2007-08-31T16:26:00.000Z

Hmm not too much happening here in the Sinclair world - I have put a few more things on ebay for the Sinclair QL under rwap_services user name - just do a search for Sinclair QL on ebay, and you will find some ROM cartridges and a complete ICE package, going for a song.

I am still waiting on delivery of the last batch of DivIDE Plus interfaces - dratted post office do take some time to deliver a small parcel from Poland, so in the meantime, I have invested in upgrading my television package to Sky.

At least it means that i am not limited to a handful of channels available on Freeview in the local area (no ITV or Channel 4 on freeview around here), and I could make use of the existing satellite dish and cabling, so all I needed was a set top box and a viewing card.

It does make me laugh though, when you look back 10 years, people expected TV to be free (except for the television licence) and moaned if their telephone bill was over £100 for the quarter. Nowadays, most homes have a telephone line (£11pm), a mobile phone (ave. £35pm), internet (£15-£18 pm) and a digital TV package (on Sky this starts at £15pm up to £45pm). Cable can look to be a cheaper option, with the basic Digital TV and telephone rental at £16.50pm, and better broadband, but then you look at the cost of making telephone calls, and add in the fact that there are so many more channels on the basic Sky system (including Sky One), and much better, faster interactive and think maybe, just maybe satellite might be an option (not as if you have a lot of choice if you are not in a cable area).

At least Sky have now changed their pricing structure, so you can choose the different packages to make up your TV choice, and you get free broadband and evening and weekend telephone calls, then £15pm does not seem all that bad. Have a look at the Sky Digital comparison page

The one thing that did surprise me, was that even with our rural location, we can still get Sky Broadband for nothing !!

Well worth a try I guess.

2007-06-28T07:06:00.000Z

Now there's an offer too good to miss - I have just had an email from our hosting company, iPowerweb - they are having a sale and offering their hosting plans at $4.95pm (for either 12 month or 24 month contracts) until 6th July 2007. They are an excellent hosting company, with good support and minimal downtime (not sure I can remember the last time).

Read our comparisons at: Internet Business Angels

2007-06-10T07:32:00.000Z

DivIDE Plus Interface
After a few hiccups with the final production model, we have now resolved the last remaining issues and expect to start shipping direct to customers soon - progress against the waiting list can be seen on the link from our web page. We have also now added a Frequently Asked Questions section to assist customers.

Epson 850 Colour Inkjet Printers
Just in case you have not noticed, but we have another fresh stock of refurbished Epson Stylus 850 Colour Inkjet Printers for sale, as well as low cost original Epson ink cartridges for this great little printer. The Epson Stylus 850 supports DOS programs, industrial machines, as well as Sinclair and Commodore computers (etc), as it has full ESC/P2 support, can handle ASCII text and has a parallel port - all features sadly missing from 99% of modern printers.

New Joysticks for Retro Computers
We can now offer brand new Competition Pro Joysticks (Kempston compatible) for a wide range of computers. Unlike the ones you find on ebay, these are not the USB model, but come complete with standard 9 pin DIN connector, to enable them to plug into your computer's standard joystick port - suitable for: ZX Spectrum, ZX80, ZX81, Sinclair QL, Commdore 64, Vic-20, Amiga, Atari, MSX Computers, Amstrad CPC

Please remember you may need a joystick interface !!

2007-05-17T07:10:00.001Z

OK the auction ended - not quite a whimper - thanks to all our customers for their support. We do currently have another Gold Card for sale £110 if anyone wants it.