Yeah me too in 1982, using the Melbourne House Z80 reference, aged a young 10 years old. Working with POKE and no macro-assembler, I wrote mnemonics then translated them to machine-code by hand. A baptism of fire that to this day that I've not forgotten.
I have my ZX-81 (with the 16KB expansion pack) and my ZX-Spectrum (with a microdrive). I think they're in working condition though they haven't been powered up like in 30+ years.
Watching the retrocomputing enthusiasts, apart from obvious things like water damage, it seems that the first thing that one always has to check before attempting to power up is capacitors. A generalism true for all old electronics, rather than Sinclair-specific.
Looks nice, however on laptop screens not all buttons are visible, it took a while to discover I could scroll to find "Assemble and Run".
I still have my zx-81, it powers up but the keyboard membrane is long gone. Learnt z80 assembly on it. Good times.
Yeah me too in 1982, using the Melbourne House Z80 reference, aged a young 10 years old. Working with POKE and no macro-assembler, I wrote mnemonics then translated them to machine-code by hand. A baptism of fire that to this day that I've not forgotten.
This book was the ignition that changed my life... https://archive.org/details/z-80-reference-guide-alan-tullya...
ZX Renew sells replacement membranes for £12 if you want to get it in working order.
I have my ZX-81 (with the 16KB expansion pack) and my ZX-Spectrum (with a microdrive). I think they're in working condition though they haven't been powered up like in 30+ years.
Watching the retrocomputing enthusiasts, apart from obvious things like water damage, it seems that the first thing that one always has to check before attempting to power up is capacitors. A generalism true for all old electronics, rather than Sinclair-specific.
And always assume the C64 power supply will fry the computer. It fails over time by raising the output voltage.
Cool stuff! My first computer was the Timex Sinclair 1000 (when I was 6). Good times!
We did something similar for the Apple II, to compile Merlin assembly into a running emulator instance:
https://paleotronic.com/merlinplus/