Floppy Days 124 - ZX Spectrum Part 6 with PJ Evans

Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors:

• 8-Bit Classics

• Arcade Shopper

Welcome to Floppy Days #124 for March, 2023. And I’m your host, Randy Kindig.

We are currently covering the very productive year for home computers of 1982. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. This is the sixth of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, the second and third being coverage of the history of the Spectrum with Alessandro Grussu, the fourth being the interview with the author of the terrific book “The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer”, Mr. Chris Smith, and the sixth covering tech specs for the Speccy with Chris.

The topics covered in this episode include peripherals, using the machine, and magazines. Next episode we will complete the ZX Spectrum coverage, by talking about books, software, ads, modern upgrades, emulation, buying one today, community, and Web sites.

As usual, I will also talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on any new acquisitions that have come my way. In addition, I’ll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I’m aware and share any feedback I’ve gotten.

Before we get started I want to mention that I now have some show sponsors for Floppy Days.

https://www.8bitclassics.com, run by my friend Corey Koltz, is a great place to get vintage computer items. This includes video cables, power supplies, PC boards, cartridges, upgrades and more for a wide variety of vintage computer platforms. In the New Acquisitions section I cover each month on this show, often one of the items I talk about has been ordered from 8-Bit Classics. Corey has been a friend of the show for some time and I really appreciate his support of the podcast. Check out the site… he has some great stuff.

https://www.arcadeshopper.com, run by my friend Greg McGill, is another terrific site to get vintage computer items. Greg has a wide variety of hard-to-find items for a large number of platforms. This is another site that I do and have done a lot of shopping at and have mentioned numerous times on Floppy Days. If anything shows out of stock, just ping Greg through the contact form and he can check whether he has or can get more of the item for you.

I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com. This includes Chris Petzel, Tony Cappellini, laurens, Richard Goulstone, Josh Malone, Andy Collins, Simon McCullough, Jason Moore, Quentin Barnes. I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions and What I’ve Been Up To

• Amiga 1000 - [e-mail]

• Commodore SX-64 repair video by The Commodore Room - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flsn_FD2zpA

Upcoming Shows

• Midwest Gaming Classic - March 31-April 2 - Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/

• VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/

• The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - April 15-16, 2023 - Burbank VFW Hall, Burbank, CA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start

• 31st Annual “Last” CocoFest - April 22-23, 2023 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago, Carol Stream, IL - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/

• Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 29 & 30 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/

• The 64 bits or less Retro Gaming Festival - June 3-4 - Benton County Fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon (sponsored by the PortlandRetro Gaming Expo) - https://www.64bitsorless.com/

• Boatfest Vintage Computer Exposition - June 23-25 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info

• VCF Southwest - June 23-25 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX - http://vcfsw.org

• Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 24-25 - “Interim” Computer Museum, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start j

• KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/

• Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/

• ZZAP! Live 2023 - August 12 - The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED - https://fusionretroevents.co.uk/category/zzap-live/

• VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/

• Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/

• AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net

• Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/

• World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/

Feedback

• Claus, webmaster at www.mtxworld.dk

Using the Machine

• http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/Sinclair/ZXSpectrum

Popular Magazines/Newsletters

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:ZX_Spectrum_magazines

• https://www.old-computers.com/museum/default.asp

• Crash

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_(magazine)

• Modern Crash - https://fusionretrobooks.com/collections/crash-magazine

• articles for Crash written by Paul Evans - https://www.google.com/search?domains=www.crashonline.org.uk&sitesearch=www.crashonline.org.uk&q=paul%20evans

• Your Sinclair

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Sinclair

• Current blog - https://www.ys3.org/

• Sinclair User

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_User

• https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine?&sort=-week&page=2

• Spectrofon

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrofon

• Sinclair Programs

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Programs

• https://archive.org/search?query=Sinclair+Programs&and%5B%5D=mediatype%3A%22texts%22

• ZX Magazin

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Magaz%C3%ADn

References

• Retro 8-bit Computers - http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/

• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum

• Old-Computers.com museum - https://www.old-computers.com/museum/default.asp

• https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/