Sinclair ZX8x

[Chris Savage]

I never owned a Timex Sinclair. Neither the ZX80 or the ZX81. Tynemouth Software has created the Tynemouth Minstrel 2 (ZX80 compatible kit) and the Tynemouth Minstrel 3 (ZX81 Compatible kit). These both fit into an original ZX81 case. I am totally getting one (or both) of these at some point.

[granz]

Cool.

My first real computer (I created a "computer" that played tic-tac-toe when in my early teens (~12-13?)) was an actual Sinclair ZX-81. Since then, I have gotten (and sold  ) a real Sinclair ZX-80. and currently have a few ZX-81/TS-1000 systems. They still hold a special place in my heart - you never forget your first. 

[Chris Savage]

They still hold a special place in my heart - you never forget your first. 

I'm somewhat jealous. I was soooo into Apple and Commodore (and to a degree, Coco), I never thought to get a Sinclair.

[granz]

Hey, Chris, that Tynemouth clone that you showed - are those little SMD pushbuttons? If so, even that would be a huge improvement over the original Sinclairs and Timex systems. How much are they asking? (NM, £125.00 – £155.00 is a bit steep for me.)

[Chris Savage]

Hey, Chris, that Tynemouth clone that you showed - are those little SMD pushbuttons? If so, even that would be a huge improvement over the original Sinclairs and Timex systems. How much are they asking? (NM, £125.00 – £155.00 is a bit steep for me.)

Yeah, these are over in the UK and that's the prices. I am planning on picking up one of each soon. The keyboard option is a PCB with tall-button PCB switches and a second PCB to cover them and allow only the caps to poke through.

[JKnightandKARR]

nice

[MicroNut]

The Timex Sinclair 1000 was my first computer. I lost most of it over time and was able to pick up 2 Timex Sinclair 1000s and the US ZX81 version from ebay and friends. I also picked up a ZX81 clone kit on a forum called ZXMore. One ZX-81 was modded with a newer membrane keyboard and a TV out converter to make it work with newer TVs. I still use a Radio Shack 1980 4" portable black and white tv I picked up at a thrift shop with it.

I also made with both an Arduino Due with TFT and a Propeller with a Serial 2X16 LCD hardware that would read a SD card and convert it to a signal that the in port used for cassettes to load programs. It works almost flawlessly but sadly the code was on a hard drive that went bad. I think the Propeller version would be fairly easy to rebuild but the Due version had touch and enhanced graphics so that would take more time.