ZX81
A boys first love
Ahh - boy hood memories!
Anyway, a few wee things that i have gathered as i have been playing again with a machine that i have not touched since i was 10 years old.
Oh, the pic of the board is a ZX81, so i guess the ZX80 would have 1979 stamped on it.
The keyboard: The first ZX81 i bought had a dodgy keyboard, keys 1 through 5 didn't work. Was it the membrane, in which case it was knackered or was it the ribbon cable?
Well this wee keyboard schematic sorted that out for me, it turned out that it was the membrane. Anybody who was skilled at such things would have been left with a machine in the same condition at the end as at the start. I sadly aint skilled, now only two rows of keys work - i am an idiot!
You can of course further your inside investigations, with the Service Manual it is always handy to actually know where the screws are. Oh, the keyboard ribbon cables, just pull out and push in to the wee black clip things.
Software: Firstly, let me say that ZX81stuff.org is a great resource. Lots of software, with previews and a .P file convertor.
P files are the emulator files, but of course you want to convert them to .WAV files so you can play them from your computer to your actual real ZX81. My FTP server has a few files converted to .WAV, so feel free. Should ZX81stuff.org be down for some reason, then drop me a line and i will pass on the software.
Here are a few that could be of interest.
 Yup, there really would not be a point in getting hold of a ZX81 if you did not load up 3D Monster Maze by J K Greye Software. The finest game for the ZX81 in my humble opinion. Played today, its still a great game. You still yell at the screen when T-Rex suddenly appears and you still sweat as you try to leg it down a side corridor. Truly a classic in all ways. Anyway here it is. 3d Monster Maze.wav
Now a word on playing back the WAV files.
Firstly just to say i have had no success getting my iPod to play them back - do not know why, it should work, but it does not. So the computer it is.
I am using a MacBook. I have two cables - one is a standard audio cable, you know, red on one end and white on the other. I managed to get this cable to load software from tape on the first ZX81 - dodgy keyboard - no great issues. I then got another machine with a working keyboard and for some reason this cable would not work. A hour of messing around with sound levels did not help. I tried the old scabby cable that came with the second machine and it worked first time. I do not know why - but something to be aware of.
That aside, i connect it all up, LOAD "" and then NEWLINE and press play on the audio player on the Mac and it works. Best to find a short game if you can to set the audio levels. Loading 3D Monster Maze takes 6mins; it is a bummer when it fails. For me - around 80%-90% seems to work well enough.
Sound: There are various ways to get sound out of the ZX81- which of course does not actually have sound. This software gives you the ability to play tunes and record them on to tape. You then play the tape back to hear the tune. When i was wee, this sounded like magic - i just had to try and see; just what sort of noise would it produce? Well like THIS! You may need to turn your speakers up, it is quite quiet.
And finally i will give you 3D Defender, which was a window view of attacking aliens - bloody hard to play, but i remember spending a fair few hours blasting away. My game play now seems to leave a lot to be desired.
Oh, here is a ZX81 FAQ that might help those that have no bloody idea what a zx81 actually is. The pic below is my second machine which has an adhesive add-on keyboard. Much easier to type on.
Finally - there a few videos i put together on YouTube - so you can see it in action as well as seeing and hearing the printer. Bloody great it is!
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