Rock steady Eddie.

Finally got around to making an rgb to scart cable for the Einstein.

Rock steady image now on my retro analogue lcd TV.

Much better than the crappy uhf signal.

The colours no longer look washed out.

Happy days!!

It’s just a Hunch!

So … After another month of searching, I have discovered/re-discovered an unreleased game by Ocean Software.

Hunchback was released on most of the home computers of the early 1980s, but I can find no adverts or mentions of it in any of the Einstein magazines.

Was it released then withdrawn? Was it un-released? Who knows.

My copy works in Mame/Mess and on the real hardware so the disk image is good!

It plays very well, although I am rubbish at it) and the graphics are superb for the age of the game (40 years old next year!)

Just goes to show the sorts of quality titles Ocean could have released if the Einstein had sold more units!

Watch out for a You Tube video of it on my channel soon!

Hunting high and low – one mans quest for Nirvana?

The hunt is on for illusive Tatung Einstein software and hardware.

Batman (3D) by Ocean Software
Beach Head 1 & 2

Audio DAC
Hard Drive interface
Speech Synthesiser
Light Pen

I know some of this hardware is featured on www.tatungeinstein.co.uk but unfortunately it is being kept under wraps and not shared, which is quite understandable.

I want to see if it is possible to re-create the hardware using todays production methods to offer these accessories to the new wave of Einstein enthusiasts and collectors that is appearing.

As more Einsteins are listed for sale on eBay, more and more people are able to savour what should have been the best 8-bit micro of the early 1980s.

Fingers crossed I can get somewhere in my quest!

Drop me a message if you have any of the above, or anything that I have missed off my list (Hint: There is a lot of hardware and software that has vanished over the years!)

Thanks. Mike.

UPDATE: Feb 2023

After 12 months of searching, I have located quite a few rare unreleased Einstein games

Airwolf by Elite systems (This runs, but has corrupted graphics, i think, due to a duff disc sector.
Gloop – A paint the walls and make full blocks style game
Alien 8 (yes the one by Ultimate, converted by A.C.G)
Knight Lore (again by Ultimate, converted by A.C.G)
Super Cobra by Konami
Telebunnie
SASA
ZEXL
RoverBall
JetPak by Merlin Software (Like Jetpac on the ZX Spectrum by Ultimate)

Plenty there to keep me going for a few months, testing and checking.

Solder on!

With the demise of my trusty solder station (As seen on a recent repair video on my YouTube channel), i needed a replacement.

These are really expensive for what they are, but needs must.

I found a reasonably priced 2 in 1 digital solder station and heat gun on eBay, so placed the order. It arrived in a couple of days and has now taken pride of place, within easy reach, on the workbench in the Retro Tech Loft studio.

A review video will be compled soon so watch out for it on my YouTube channel. If you subscribe to my channel and hit the notification bell icon, you will be told when it has been uploaded (And any other videos I upload)

Typing in the key of DELL

I recently re-acquired a Dell AT102W mechanical keyboard. I had one of these a few years ago, and foolishly got rid of it when I purchased an RGB gaming keyboard. To be honest, the gaming keyboard looks ok, with its heart beat LEDs, but its nowhere near as good for typing on as the DELL.

It was in quite a sorry state when I purchased it from eBay, Yellowed with age and crusty mc crusty!

A good clean with Isopropyl Alcohol and 14 hours in the sun with B-Blond (40%) and it looks as good a new!

As this is PS2, I had to get a USB to PS2 convertor from eBay, but for £1.99 gbp it was well worth it, and Windows 10 recognised it right away, and I am typing this blog post on it right now! 🙂

I must say, the clicky keyboard sounds eminating from my desk when I type are bringing back some fond memories.

YouTube refurb video coming soon, so go check out my channel, subscribe and hit the notification bell so know when its been posted!

Printer McPrintFace

Recently I bought a ZX Printer along with a Cheetah Sweet Talker interface off eBay.

Sadly, both of these are not working, but there is salvation for the printer. The Sweet Talker is another story!

Watch out for a new video of the ZX Printer refurb, coming soon.

As you can see from the image below, the internal belt has perished making it just feed the paper and not print anything.

A new printer belt has been ordered from eBay, but will take a few weeks to turn up as it has to come from Portugal!

Time to Rewind

Recently, while clearing out some of my old junk tech, I came across a very lost looking VHS cassette tape.

For all you younger viewers, a VHS tape was used in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s to record TV and movies.

Totally obsolete tech now, unless you are using it for archival purposes, and even then the data loss from magnetic degredation can be severe.

Not having a VHS player or recorder for the last, oh I don’t know, 15 years or so, I didn’t want to just throw it in the bin. So, here is my attempt are recycling the once loved format into something that is still useful in 2021.

I present to you the VHS clock-cassette. It looks ok on the office wall! I may even find an old VHS spine image on the web and print it off so it looks like a rental cassette (Block Buster close anyone?)

Total cost of this project: £2.99 for the clock mechanism from everyone’s favourite auction site.

Watch out for the up-coming construction video on my Youtube channel!

NOTE: The numbers are temporary until I can either find a nice clock face to print, or, find my steam punk style letters and numbers (They are lost at the moment, but I know I have some crackers!)