From: martin@jarasoft.xs4all.nl (Martin Van Der Zwan) Date sent: 27 Dec 98 12:51:29 GMT Subject: The ZX81 FAQ To: zx81@jarasoft.xs4all.nl (Multiple recipients of The ZX81 mailing list) Send reply to: zx81@jarasoft.xs4all.nl (Multiple recipients of The ZX81 mailing list) Organization: JaRaSoft BBS, Welberg NB, The Netherlands The ZX81 information letter Revised: 27 Dec 1998 =========================== The latest revised parts of the ZX81 FAQ are marked with * First of all I greet all newcomers who just connected to this ZX81 mailinglist and wish you a happy stay with all of us ZX81 enthusiasts. Jack Raats the initiator and moderator of this list asked me to make some kind of reference list to which each one here can refer, to get questions answered and find general information about the ZX81 and the emulators so this is kind of a ZX81 faq list even though there are not many questions asked here yet :-) This list will be posted on a regular basis and I would therefore be very grateful if readers here could mail me if any information in this list is not correct and needs changing or if you have and new information to add to this list, my email address is: martin@jarasoft.xs4all.nl or you can also write comments here. Q So what is this ZX81 Mailinglist all about? A This list was initiated and established by jack Raats with the idea in mind that ZX81 users all over the world could have a forum to which they can be connected with all other ZX81 lovers all over the world. This way users can stay in touch and can be assured that when they ask a question or write about a new development they just made will be send to all those connected, many ZX81 hard/software experts are connected to this list. Q But I don't have a ZX81? A There are ZX81 emulators for different platforms and there are also ZX81's being sold and hardware for it and sometimes someone sells a ZX81 in the newsgroup comp.sys.sinclair, for example there is the homepage by Zebra who sells ZX81's as computer kit's: http://www.users.interport.net/~zebra/ts/ And you can also buy ZX81 hardware at: RMG Enterprices 14784 S Quail Grove Cir Oregon City OR 97045 503 655-7484 (10Am-7Pm Tue-Sat) Fax 503 655-4116 You could also get in touch with the German ZX Team Members, they make a magazine (German) and have a hardware supplier for the ZX81, their site is: http://home.t-online.de/home/p.liebert/connecti.htm Q Are there any good ZX81 emulators for the PC? A A very good one, called Xtender, you can get the latest version at http://www.delhez.demon.nl/ this is Carlo's homepage. Q Can you name a few features this emulator has? A Sure, here are some of the features you can find in Xtender2: - Full low-level emulation of a ZX81. - Fully User-Defined emulated Hardware via configuration file. - Supports both SLOW and FAST mode. - Can handle any ROM-code: for example ZX80, ZX81, Aszmic, Forth, or even a user-developed ROM. - Very realistic video output - not seen before on other ZX81 emulators (AFAIK) - because XTender2 includes a TV-emulator: your PC monitor responds like a real TV-set. - Auto-start ZX81 programs directly from DOS-prompt, or by double-clicking P-file in Windows-95/NT files menu. - Virtual tape interface: SAVE/LOAD your data to/from a virtual tape recorder and see the tape signals being echoed to the screen!! - Significantly improved keyboard handling. The keyboard will never lock, multiple keypresses are possible, and even keyboard matrix errors are emulated properly! - Support for QWERTY, AZERTY and QWERTZ keyboards. - Graphical printer output. - Capable to run any full hi-res, semi hi-res or mixed resolution program (and similar complicated code) correctly. - Slow emulation! (Most users will be very happy about that.) Pentium system is recommended: XTender2 runs at approx. normal ZX81 speed on a 120 MHz Pentium. Q Is this emulator still supported and can I register it? A Yes, there is still support for Xtender(1) and you can register it, encountered bugs will be fixed, the latest version is 1.17 and is available from Carlo's homepage mentioned above, new features however will not be developed for the Xtender(1) version, this development will be continued in the newer version Xtender2. Carlo says 'it would not be fair to forget the people with slower PC's, that's why support for Xtender(1) continues' Thank you Carlo! Microsoft can learn a lesson from this :-) For support for Xtender you can get in touch with Carlo himself: xtender@delhez.demon.nl Another good emulator which is freeware is ZX81 (original name ...) is a ZX81 emulator for DOS and Windows 95 (not NT). Supports ZX81 ROM and runs ZX80 and AszMic ROMs, Slow and Fast modes. Runs virtually everything (except a chess game) including all known HRG methods I've come across. Z80 debugger with breakpoint & single step. Source code available. Speed locked if required. Freeware. It requires probably about a 486/50 with 4Mb RAM, dependent on app running. Text mode is autodetected and fast rendered. It isn't as fast as Xtender 1 (which cheats :)) The emulator can be found on: http://users.aol.com/autismuk/sinclair.htm Q But I have a Atari? A The are many ZX81 emulators for different computers and operating systems check out: ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair or these WWW sites from which you can also download ZX81 emulators: http://www.freeflight.com/fms/comp/ http://www.uruk.org/~erich/emu/main.html Q Are there any ZX81 programs on the Internet? A Yes many, they are on ftp sites but can also be downloaded from webpages: ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/zx81/utils ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/zx81/snaps/packs ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/zx81/snaps http://edge.edge.net/~krbaker/zx81.html *http://members.xoom.com/zx81 (this homepage also contains the International ZX81 Magazine) Q Are there any ZX81 email magazines? A Yes there is my ZX81 magazine at the International ZX81 Magazine Homepage: www.zx81.base.org or huizen.dds.nl/~jarasoft Or the mirrorsites: http://www.xs4all.nl/~jarasoft http://www.cyberspace.org/~jarasoft Q I have a original ZX81, can I still use those snaps from pub sinclair? A Congratulations, yes you can, Wilf Rigter (also connected to this list) has written a very simple and effective (no hardware needed, just a wire) PC to ZX81 transfer program that load's snap's into you're ZX81. This program can be found on: ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/utils/pc/zxtape.zip ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/utils/pc/zxtape.txt *Q This zxtape utility seems to have trouble with faster computers, are there any updates for faster PC's? *A Yes, newer versions are being developed by Roger Dipaolo, in fact the latest version available can do Saving and Loading. You can get the latest version at: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Ridge/9965/ *Q Is there a disassembly of the ZX81 Rom available on the Internet? *A Yes there is one, although it's not completed yet. You can get it at: http:"//www.ime.usp.br/~einar/zx81roma-v2.zip Q But I don't have direct internet access, can I still get websites and programs? A Yes you can, I also surf the net and get files from ftp sites. This is how you get a program from a ftp site: To: ftpmail@sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk Subject: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- open ftp.nvg.unit.no cd /pub/sinclair/utils/pc size 500k uuencode get zxtape.zip quit This is how get WWW pages, (including programs on them) you can get several pages in one message, just leave a blank line inbetween: To: getweb@usa.healthnet.org Subject: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- get http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/%7Estevemcd/zx81.htm Q Are there any ZX81 Homepages? A Yes many, for example try these: http://edge.edge.net/~krbaker/zx81.html http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk/personal/cpg/zx81/index_old.html http://www.hh.schule.de/hhs/mjaap/zx81.htm http://www.csv.warwick.ac.uk/~mauqx/ http://www.gre.ac.uk/~bm10/zx81.html http://home.t-online.de/home/p.liebert/zx-team.htm http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~stevemcd/zx81.htm http://edge.edge.net/~krbaker/zx81.html http://www.nvg.unit.no/sinclair/zx81-contents.html http://www.netbound.com/jeffg/text/amigavzx Q Is it possible to search the Internet for a ZX81 related site by using only email? A Yes you can, do this: To: getweb@usa.healthnet.org Subject: --------------------------------------------------------------------- http://webcrawler.com/cgi-bin/WebQuery?ZX81 Greetings, Martin >-----------------------------------------------------------------------< > via JaRaSoft BBS, Welberg, The Netherlands =-> The Internet Gate <-= < > FidoNet 2:285/751 - +31-167-540014 V32B/VFc/V34/X75/V42B/UUCP/FAX < > Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his/her own. < >-----------------------------------------------------------------------< ----------- ZX81 MAILSERVER INFO ------------------------------------ To WRITE a new message, send your mailto:zx81@jarasoft.xs4all.nl To UNSUBSCRIBE send a message to mailto:listserv@jarasoft.xs4all.nl with "unsubscribe zx81" in the BODY of your message. 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