exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

PhilC wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:21

Icky wrote: 29 Sep 2023 12:10

I once had a friend receive a CPC464 from another friend :) - you know who you are :)

EDIT: Nice looking specimen though @rubber_jonnie

I think that friend still has that CPC from your friend.

@rubber_jonnie I've got some clc dandanator mini pcbs, will send you a couple when I get time.

Oooh, that would be awesome, thank you.

stephen_usher wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:16

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 12:38

Yes, it really is very tidy.

The keys are a little faded and very slightly yellowed. You can tell which way the light was shining in the person's (bed?) room.

I had to replace play button on the tape drive, replace the left shift key and stick a new -/= key back on as the post had been partly broken, oh and clean it all. The belts on the tape drive also needed replacing.

Well sir, you did a great job on it, and I personally don't worry about a bit of yellowing.

stephen_usher wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:19

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:16 From things I've seen, it is a cracking machine, so I'm looking forward to giving it a proper try out.

Unfortunately most games don't use the full capability of the machine and are (very) lazy Spectrum ports. Some seem to load a spectrum game patch program in and then load the spectrum game, with the same loading pattern on the border and loading sound.

That doesn't really surprise me, it happened a lot at the time, and porting from the Speccy was easy. IIRC the MSX also got quite a few Speccy ports that really didn't show off how good the MSX was. Z80 again, easy lazy port.

I'm hoping there may be at least some games that show it off nicely though, and possibly some newer homebrew.

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:24

stephen_usher wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:10 The Spectrum+2B has a lot in common with the CPC464 internally as when the Amstrad engineers re-engineered the spectrum they used a lot of the CPC's design.

I'm not surprised by that at all. It certainly shouts Amstrad once you open it up.

Mine is a 2A, though apparently the differences between the A & B models are largely minor revisions and manufacturing location.

The non-Sinclair +2s (dark grey, not light grey) also have different RGB pin-outs to the +128K and original +2. Use the wrong cable and you damage things. I've no idea why Amstrad changed it.

stephen_usher wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:38

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:24

I'm not surprised by that at all. It certainly shouts Amstrad once you open it up.

Mine is a 2A, though apparently the differences between the A & B models are largely minor revisions and manufacturing location.

The non-Sinclair +2s (dark grey, not light grey) also have different RGB pin-outs to the +128K and original +2. Use the wrong cable and you damage things. I've no idea why Amstrad changed it.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was to cut costs, you know what Alan Sugar was like.

Mine is a black 128k +2.

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 14:20

stephen_usher wrote: 29 Sep 2023 13:38

The non-Sinclair +2s (dark grey, not light grey) also have different RGB pin-outs to the +128K and original +2. Use the wrong cable and you damage things. I've no idea why Amstrad changed it.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was to cut costs, you know what Alan Sugar was like.

Mine is a black 128k +2.

There are same signals, it's the same connector but the outputs are shuffled, as is the ground.

stephen_usher wrote: 29 Sep 2023 14:36

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 14:20

I wouldn't be surprised if it was to cut costs, you know what Alan Sugar was like.

Mine is a black 128k +2.

There are same signals, it's the same connector but the outputs are shuffled, as is the ground.

Well that's just odd...

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 14:41

stephen_usher wrote: 29 Sep 2023 14:36

There are same signals, it's the same connector but the outputs are shuffled, as is the ground.

Well that's just odd...

That's Amstrad.

stephen_usher wrote: 29 Sep 2023 14:43

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Sep 2023 14:41

Well that's just odd...

That's Amstrad.

It certainly is.

Had a nice SCART lead for the CPC arrive from CoolNovelties today.

Whilst I'm really not feeling well enough to sit down and play with the CPC, I wanted to test the lead, and the picture quality through my OSSC is outstanding.

I need to have a look at the PSU though, it's the one that came with the OSSC originally and that interferes with the image. It'll do for now, but I either need to find another 5v PSU or resolve the issue with this one.

Can't be bothered to do either ATM, stupid covid :(