One of the guys at work is setting up a computer museum in the office. The idea is to have as many (working) examples of historic computing devices as we can find. Apparently Google New York has one, and we in London don't want to be outdone. Especially since some of the best early examples of home computers were invented and built over here in the UK.When the email went out asking for people to donate their old computers, I immediately thought of my old ZX81, sitting on top of a wardrobe at my grandad's house. My grandad is an ex-Television Engineer from the days when you could open up a TV and fix it, and he gave me the ZX81 when I was 6 or 7. I gave it back to him for safe keeping when I graduated to an Amiga, but never really lost my love for that little black box of magic with its 1K onboard ram and 16K RAM expansion pack.
So I was delighted this weekend to find that not only was the ZX81 all atill there (RAM expansion pack, manual, power supply, computer) but that in the intervening years my grandad had built it (along with a tape recorder for loading and storing programs) into the inside of a large wooden suitcase (is this the world's first and most antiquated laptop?)
When I got it home, I tentatively connected the RF lead to my ridiculously over-specced Sony flat screen TV and hooked up the power. After tuning in the TV, there was the cursor, a little bit blurry, a little bit of interference - but it works! Not bad after 20 odd years. I mustered as much of my BASIC programming knowledge as I could and set about getting some output. And here are the results!
Taking a leaf through the manual, I remembered the 'special characters' that let you do graphics and the 100 line programs that delighted me when they ran fiorst time (or more likely second or third). Oh heady days...
Well now the ZX81 is headed in to Google and hopefully with a bit of love and care we can have it running in our museum for all to enjoy. I'll post a few more pictures when it is finally in situ.