I have had a very interesting time with my Elk recently. A word of warning to other readers with so-called "worn out" power sockets on their computers. I used to remove the power plug a lot in order to connect my Spectrum (yes, Sinclair ZX Spectrum), and then found they "wore out". So, I had to jam the wire in between the Elk and Plus 1 then pull it back, or my favourite computer would switch itself off.
On dismantling the computer and removal of the power supply board on the right hand side, I looked at the underside of said board and saw the solder on one of the pegs of the power socket had cracked all the way round. It took about ten minutes and a small blob of solder then the socket was as good as new. Although this may not be the case with all Electrons, I think this fault must account for 99%, because a socket "wearing out" sounds very unlikely.
While the case was open, I took a look at the main board. It is an Issue 6, with a blob of black hard stuff over the ULA instead of the spring-loaded thing. The number (probably serial number) is 205,000. There are four spaces for more chips and a 3-pinned socket with a blue plastic collar over two pins. Does anyone know what these are for?
Much relief for Mr Watts from typing in my typewriter-typed letters [Oh! Thank you God, thank you! - Will]. I have just sent off the princely sum of `151.57 to PRES for an AP3 3.5" ADFS disk upgrade. There are also other things I'm thinking of getting. I'm not too sure of the SLOGGER RX though. Have you seen their catalogue? It's appalling! SLOGGER could do better. Some parts of their catalogue deterred me from buying because it didn't make things clear.
I have also obtained a modem, a GANDALF DM49. If anyone could offer any advice on connecting this to an RS423 port of the software needed for Prestel, Microlink, etc I would be most grateful.
I have written a few small modifications for the excellent Rally Driver game published in EUG #6. They are as follows:
For better sound effects, add the line:
45 ENVELOPE 1,1,1,-1,1,1,1,1,126,0,0,-126,126,126
and change line 410 to:
410 SOUND &11,1,speed%DIV 2+1,4
To add a sixth easy track:
860 IF t%>6 OR t%<1 THEN 820
860 DATA 6,600,100,800,100,800,600,100,600,100,100,600,100
Pressing 6 on the instruction screen selects this new track.
P.S. Does anyone know how to connect an ALPHACOM-32 printer for a ZX Spectrum (sounds of boos and hisses in the background) to the Elk? This printer works very much like the ZX printer.
Alexander Taylor
Newark, Nottinghamshire
Somebody once wrote to me saying they thought EUG mags were very good, considering they were probably produced by the light of a dim 40 Watt bulb in the garden shed! This is not very far from the truth but some people still think that there's an entire workforce behind things like User Groups, PD Libraries and even Slogger Computers.
In the case of EUG, we do have each other to call on for help, but Slogger has really only been one man for quite some time: first, Andrew Hilbig and now Bill Bradbury. Nevertheless, we all have something in common: if we can help, we will!
I'm sure a letter (including SAE) or phonecall to Slogger would clear up any points about 'their' products which you are unsure of.