We have now successfully tested the HxC Floppy Disk drive emulator with the Sinclair QL home computer, meaning that you can now copy raw images of Sinclair QL disks to an SD card, and then connect this floppy disk drive emulator to your QL's disk interface and read/write to an SD card instead of floppy disks.

The latest v3.0 of Q-emuLator supports raw disk images, so when that is officially released, you should be able to use that to get software into the raw disk format required.  Then all you need to do, is to convert it using the supplied HxC software, copy it to the SD card and then hey presto, the QL sees it as a floppy disk!

You can copy any number of floppy disk images to your SD card, and then use the buttons on the front of the control panel to set up which disk image is to be seen by the Sinclair QL as FLP1 and which is to be seen as FLP2.

Currently, it only appears to support DD disks.

Ideally, we need to find some power supplies which can be used to power these units - at the moment, we are using an old external floppy disk case.  Also, for some reason, both the Gold Card and the MicroP disk interface we have here needed the cable the other way around to the QL norm!

This means that the HxC Floppy Disk Drive Emulator available from SellMyRetro.com has now been shown to successfully work with all of the following equipment as a complete replacement for the good old floppy disk drive:

• Any computer / piece of equipment that uses PC formatted floppy disks (3.5", 5.25" or even 8" drives)
• Atari ST/STF/Falcon
• Amstrad CPC6128
• Commodore Amiga (currently write only)
• Dragon 32 / 64 (VDK or JVC disk format, which should also therefore work with the Tandy CoCo)
• Emax and Emax II Sampler
• Ensoniq Mirage Sampler
• Korg DSS-1 Synthesizer
• MSX2
• Oberheim DPX1 Sampler
• Oric Computer (with MicroDisk)
• PC
• PC88
• SAM Coupe *.MGT and *.SAD formats
• Sinclair QL raw disk images
• Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3 or Sinclair ZX Spectrum with PlusD disk Interface
• Super Wildcard DS-SWC3201
• Thomson TO8D
• TI99/4A
• x68000

We will be attending the Vintage Computer Festival as it visits the UK for the first time. This is being held at the famous Bletchley Park, home of the National Museum of Computing and where the German Enigma machine was famously cracked during World War II.

We have now added a range of games for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum from Spanish software house CEZ GS to SellMyRetro.com, many of which are little known about, including the great series of games Phantomasa.

Some great software to try out on your Spectrum home computer, all released in the past 5 years !!

At last - new replacement keyboard connectors !

Over the years, we have been asked by various customers about replacements for the connectors on the motherboard into which you plug the keyboard membrane tails. 

On some computers, where an external keyboard has previously been fitted, we have found that the gaps on the keyboard connectors may be too large to hold the keyboard membrane securely.  On other computers, the connectors are either broken or have been removed for some reason.

We have now managed to track down a source of these Molex branded connectors and can offer them in small quantities (most suppliers no longer have them in stock, or demand a minimum order quantity of at least 600!).

We are therefore offering a set of two Molex connectors for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum / ZX80 / ZX81 / TS1000 / TS1500 and TS-2048 motherboard (Molex parts 22-02-3053 and 22-02-3083) providing a 5 pin and an 8 pin connector.

Not easy to fit, as you have to desolder the existing connectors, and resolder these in their place.

Available through sellmyretro.com

More Sinclair QL Items listed on SellMyRetro.com including some rare items.

We have been busy sorting through our stocks in preparation for the Sinclair QL Show and Quanta AGM in Birmingham on Sunday 18th April 2010 (see www.quanta.org.uk for details).

As part of the clearout, we have listed some more items on sellmyretro.com, including the following:


JS ROM Sinclair QL as new - fully working
JM ROM Sinclair QL - exceptional example.

A rare 256K external expansion card - unknown make (does anyone recognise it?)
Various Miracle System external floppy disk drives, including the rare single disk drive and a dual ED disk drive providing the QL with up to 3.2MB of storage on a floppy disk!

Original Software including:
Sinclair QL Karate,
QL Scrabble
American version of the Psion Sinclair QL Software

All items are fully tested and working and you can find a whole lot more items for the Sinclair QL listed on SellMyRetro.com

We have now listed a wealth of Dragon 32 Computer games, including some of the rare cartridge based games, and rare titles such as teh 6809 Assembler/Editor by Q E D Systems on the trading website SellMyRetro.com

Included is a boxed fully working Dragon 32 Home Computer, which in itself is quite rare as the company went out of business shortly after releasing their computers onto the market, with large stocks unsold!

For those of you who have never heard of the Dragon 32 computer - here is the extract from the information on sellmyretro.com

The Dragon 32 Home computer was launched by Dragon Data Limited of Wales in August 1982.

The computer was based on the Motorola MC6809E processor running at 0.89 MHz, together with 32K of RAM, with built in Microsoft BASIC and the ability to load software either from cassette or through the built in cartridge slot.

The processor was an advanced 8-bit CPU design, having, among other things limited 16-bit capabilities. In terms of raw computational power, the Dragon beat most of its contemporary rivals based on the older MOS Technology 6502, and the built-in cartridge slot, with instant loading of games, should have put it head and shoulders above the competition.

Unfortunately, the Dragon 32 was let down by its limited graphis capabilities - with the highest resolution display being 256x192 pixels in 4 colours, which impacted on the attractiveness of the system for games players.

There were striking similarities between the Dragon and the TRS-80 Coco, both being based on a Motorola data sheet design for the MC6883 SAM chip for memory management and peripheral control. The systems were sufficiently similar that a significant fraction of the compiled software produced for one machine would happily run on the other.

Software running via the built-in Microsoft BASIC interpreters also had a high level of compatibility, but only after they were re-tokenized (which could be achieved fairly easily by transferring via cassette tape with appropriate options).

A broad range of peripherals exist for the Dragon 32, and on top of this there are add-ons such as the Dragon's Claw which give the Dragons access to the BBC Micro's large range of accessories (a particularly important factor in the UK home market).

A disk operating system, DragonDOS was supplied as part of the disk controller interface from Dragon Data Ltd.  In addition to the DragonDOS disk operating system, the Dragon 32 is capable of running several others, including FLEX, and even OS-9 which brought UNIX-like multitasking to the platform.

I have recently been passed a couple of Dragon 32 computers and quite a bit of software for sale and this proved to be my first ever look at this machine.

Reminiscent of the TRS-80, but with 4 colour support, it runs an early Microsoft BASIC and oddly lacks lower case characters!  However, bearing in mind that it was first sold in 1983, it was probably one of the first home computers to have a built in rom cartridge socket, as well as being able to load programs from tape.

The games are not too bad for it - although they do suffer from lack of colours - and the sound is quite good (based on the AY-8192 chip).

Overall, the main downside is the lack of memory (only 24K available once it is running) and you wonder why the case has to be so big for the computer (maybe to suggest that the computer was a lot more complicated than it was in reality).  At least they used a Motorola 6809 chip, which is faster than the Z80 in common use at the time.

I guess it was a shame that the company, Dragon Data Limited went out of business all too soon, as the computer shows that they had some very good ideas.

I have now started to list these items on the retro trading website - SellMyRetro.com if anyone is looking for items.

An update to the DivIDE Plus Manual

I have now released an updated version of the DivIDE Plus manual which incorporates several pages of information about the MDOS3 firmware and how to use.  The manual should also apply to the standard DivIDE.

The DivIDE Plus remains one of the best selling modern interfaces for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum - allowing instantaneous loading of games from compact flash card.

At last - a real gem of a ZX80 on eBay - I would guess it is worth £250-£300 and wish it were mine - compare that to the standard of the some of the ZX80s listed on ebay.

New ways of Keeping up to date with auctions on SellMyRetro.com

You can now get up to date listings of new auctions which have been added to the SellMyRetro.com vintage/retro electronics and computers trading website, through Twitter and Facebook. 

This facility is as the result of an added enhancement to the Enuuk PHPAuction platform through the work of RWAP Services.

Updates to the Sinclair QL Wiki

I have now re-launched the Sinclair QL Wiki with a new theme and added background information on even more software - I have a stack of software still to preserve and add details to the Wiki, but for anyone who was not aware of the wealth and quality of the games published for the Sinclair QL, it is worth a visit.

See the Sinclair QL Wiki for more information

Sinclair ZX81 Graphics in 256 x192 pixels and even 320x240 pixels !!

I have been doing some research into hi-res graphics on the ZX81 and was amazed by the amount of software written to use  this - it was not just limited to Rocket Man and Forty-Niner by Software Farm.

I have yet to find any written to use the hardware solutions - but have listed all that I know about at the Sinclair ZX80/ZX81 Forums

Does anyone know of any others

Sinclair ZX Spectrum News
We have now arranged to take on marketing of two new products for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, both built in the Netherlands to a high standard, and fully compatible with the DivIDE Plus Compact Flash Interface.  We have re-written the manuals to be more user friendly and these products will be listed for sale soon on our new retro computer website - SellMyRetro.com

ZX Spectrum PC Keyboard Interface
The first of these products is the PC Keyboard Interface.  This allows you to connect a UK/US English or Spanish PS/2 keyboard to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and this then replaces the Spectrum's own keyboard.  You can even use a USB keyboard if you have an adaptor. 

The PC Keyboard Interface works perfectly together with the following:

• ZX Spectrum 16K / 48K / 48K+ / 128K / +2
• DivIDE / DivIDE Plus
• MB02 / MB02+IDE – solving compatibility issues at the moment (updated 14 dec 2008)
• Kempston Mouse Turbo (first version)
• ZX-MMC+

There are, however, known compatibility issues with the ZX Spectrum +2A / +2B / +3 - if you wish to use the PC Keyboard Interface with these computers, you will need to make some modifications inside your ZX Spectrum.

The interface even provides you additional function, including the ability to record macros which are retained for when you switch on the Spectrum.

ZX Spectrum K-Mouse 2008 Interface

The second product is the K-Mouse 2008 Interface.  This enables you to connect a PS/2 mouse (or USB version with adaptor) to your ZX Spectrum for use with software - several games have been converted to work with the interface by Velesoft.

This interface also incorporates a Kempston compatible joystick interface, with automatic switching between the two types of control (you cannot use them both at the same time, but pressing a mouse button or moving the joystick diverts control to that peripheral).

You can even add a composite video connector to the interface to provide composite video for a standard Spectrum.

Keep your eyes on our new website sellmyretro.com for details of prices etc.

We have started some more collaborative work to bring additional products to the market.

Sinclair ZX81 News

First of all, following our successful launch of replacement keyboard membranes for the Sinclair ZX81 is software for the Sinclair ZX81, which has mainly come about as a result of the ZX80/ZX81 forums.


Details and downloads are available from our Sinclair ZX81 software page.  This includes example programs showing how to achieve hi-resolution graphics on the Sinclair ZX81 - you need to make a very minor modification to your 16K (or larger) memory pack and install some HRG drivers from the internet.  You can then achieve graphics such as shown here.

We have then started discussions on possible future projects for Sinclair ZX81 hardware, including an SD/MMC card reader, to allow you to load software instantaneously on the Sinclair ZX81, in a similar vein to the DivIDE Plus on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.  We are also considering a ZX81 AY interface, building on from our experience with the Zaxon AY Sound Interface for the ZX Spectrum.

At the moment, we are asking people to contact us to let us know of their interest in the projects and to help us prioritise - if you have any ideas / suggestions as to the best way to implement these projects, then we would love to hear from you.

Details appear on our Sinclair ZX81 Projects Page.

Following a discussion on the ZX80/ZX81 forums - we have now set up a couple of additional pages for Sinclair ZX81 users.

1. A projects page - we have detailed some of the projects we are considering getting designed and built for users.  We welcome your input and confirmation from people who might be interested.  We need to guage the potential market for each project so that we can also keep costs down!

2. A Sinclair ZX81 Software page - this details some of the free software available for download for use with ZX81 emulators on your PC (with the author's permission).

Now we are into 2010 where are RWAP Services?

We have been busy integrating new modifications to the Enuuk auction platform, and expanding our thoughts on the dedicated Enuuk Auction Platform user forums as well as sharing several free modifications to the software, which we hope will eventually be incorporated within the main release.  We have released paid for modifications, including SEO improvements (such as Google Base, Google sitemap and Twitter submission) and enhancements to the messaging system used within Enuuk to allow users to message each other.

We have also moved our own auction website SellMyRetro.com - which concentrates on the retro and vintage computer / electronics market to a new even faster and more reliable server.

For the Sinclair fans out there, we have also now nearly sold all of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum DivIDE Plus hard disk interfaces which we had delivered before Christmas - at last count, there were 6 left.

Finally, we also reflected on our year for 2009 - again another profitable year for the business, with turnover increased to over £25,000 for the year, despite the world wide recession.  This means that we remain a viable business looking forward, there to continue our support for the retro computing scene and bring plenty more exciting products to the market.

With SellMyRetro and the Enuuk PHP Auction Platform starting to find their feet in the market place, we have now launched an unofficial Enuuk Auction Plaform forum for webmasters and developers to meet and discuss the Enuuk Auction Platform and share modifications.

Taking account that SellMyRetro.com has only been in existence for a few weeks, we are pleased to see that we are getting over 100+ visitors per day.

We are currently in the process of persuading traders to open a webstore - there is a great advantage in having a free page advertising their own site on SellMyRetro.com, a site which is squarely aimed at users and collectors of retro electronics and computers,  and therefore people eager to find out more information on these items of equipment and how they can buy more for their collection.   For example, plenty of people are visiting the website looking for Atari 2600 games for example, and it would be great if, even if no items are listed on the site which they are interested in, they could quickly find out the other traders in Atari 2600 games.

Traders have to be mindful that any publicity is good publicity - they can have a free webstore and just link back to their own site, so that people interested in the Atari 2600 for example, can find traders who deal in that games console.  If traders want to list items on the site for sale also, they can either list them as a standard auction, a reverse auction, or a fixed price item.  Fixed price items even get included on Google Base - with no listing fees at present, what do you have to lose?



Come on - support the retro computing and electronics scene by signing up and joining SellMyRetro.com

What a difference a host makes As we have added more auction items to our website - sellmyretro.com, we had become increasingly disappointed with the performance of the site. We looked at the worst performing areas of the Enuuk auction platform code and managed to shave about 70% off the time to generate some of the pages -essential now that we have added a wiki to each category - our skills from programming the Sinclair ZX81 and QL really showing off there on how to squeeze the last ounce of speed out of a system. However, the pages were still terribly slow - we therefore took the plunge to try a different web hosting company and having looked at the competition and features provided, decided to use MagmaHost, which must be one of the best hosts around for running PHP based websites. Not only did the page loading times get slashed by around 90%, but we found the MagmaHost allow you to load additional PEAR packages. It also comes with Zend Optimiser and eAccelerator ready installed to truly drive the best out of the PHP interpreter. Well worth the switch - we wish we had known about MagmaHost earlier.

29 DivIDE Plus interfaces due to arrive Friday 27th November 2009 Well, the good news is that the next batch of interfaces have arrived, just in time to get them out before Christmas. To celebrate this, we are selling some on our website - www.rwapsoftware.co.uk and some on our new auction website - www.sellmyretro.com They will sell out fast, so if you want something fun to open on Christmas Day, get your order in now!

Looks like Father Christmas will be busy again this year...

Dear Santa, This year, I would like some retro computing equipment - in particular, a nice new DivIDE Plus compact flash / IDE interface for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, complete with through connector and pre-loaded firmware, all built into a nice case... Anonymous Speccy User.

Thankfully, I recently got a call from a Mr Claus asking where we were with these interfaces and I could confidently tell him that the backlog had now been cleared and in fact we had shipped 19 interfaces only this week, with another 20 due in next week (week commencing 16th November 2009). Looks like he will be placing an order or two via our website: http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/spectrum/spectrum_storage.html

SellMyRetro.com - a new website to bring collectors, traders and users of retro equipment together. We are still working on a new website - Sell My Retro - which will provide a trading platform akin to the reknown auction site, ebay, but specifically aimed at users, traders and collectors of retro computers, calculators, video, audio and other electronics equipment. We welcome comments on the new site - listed auctions are available to bid on now, but we are developing new features as the site develops. The site has been based on the new Enuuk auction platform from well known auction software provider phpAuction. Although there have been issues with the early versions of Enuuk, we report and get bugs fixed and have also developed our own range of add-on modules which other Enuuk adopters may be interested in installing.

We are continuing to rescue more software for the Sinclair QL and re-release some of it for sale onto the market, thanks to the Sinclair QL Wiki. The latest titles to be re-released are ones by Microdeal - The King (a version of the classic arcade game, Donkey Kong), QL Hopper (a Frogger clone), QL Flight Simulator and the rare Cuthbert in Space. All games can be played on emulators and can be purchased from our RWAP Software website.

Rare Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Sinclair QL Items now listed on ebay. Over the weekend I have been busy sorting through my Sinclair stocks and listed some rare items on ebay - auctions all end on 3rd / 4th October 2009. The items include the following ZX Spectrum ROM cartridges for use with the ZX Interface 2 or RAM Turbo interface with ROM slot, which are always a favourite amongst collectors:

• TransAm Sinclair ROM cartridge by Ultimate Play the Game
• Pssst Sinclair ROM cartridge by Ultimate Play the Game
• Planetoids Sinclair ROM cartridge by Psion
• Hungry Horace Sinclair ROM cartridge by Psion
• Chess Sinclair ROM cartridge by Psion

I have also listed some more Ultimate Play the Games programs - some of which are very rare, in box box formats, or on the silver Sinclair label - as preferred by collectors:

• Atic Atac
• Cookie
• Pssst
• Jet Pac
• Lunar Jetman
• Alien 8
• Knight Lore
• Sabre Wulf
• Pentagram
• Cyberun
• Martianoids
• Gunfright
• Nightshade

There are even some more silver sinclair label games, such as Bubble Buster and Stop the Train. For Sinclair QL fans, I have also listed the following rare items:

• CST Q+4 Expansion Module
• CST Q-Pi Printer Module
• Boxed Sandy 256K Expanderam
• QL Hyperdrive by English Software

See my ebay listings now!

What Software Titles were published for the Sinclair QL? We are continuing to build on the list of software titles published for the Sinclair QL home computer and to incorporate details, with screenshots into the Sinclair QL Wiki To date we have uploaded details on: Arcade Games This includes all of the software written by Janko Mrsic Flogel for the Sinclair QL Alien Hijack - 3D Graphical Adventure by Chisoft. Baron Rouge - game where you fly a small monoplane shooting enemy planes and air ships BJ in 3D Land - platform game, follow up to BJ Returns, but this time in a 3D world BJ Returns - platform game, follow up to QL Caverns Citadel - arcade game - overhead flying - similar to Metropolis Eagle - A scramble type clone - fast and furious Hyperdrive - Formula 1 Car Racing Game Karate - Beat em up - you need to beat your opponents in Karate M-Cosmic - a Graphic Adventure game M-Crunch - a game based on Pacman M-Treasure - a platform game, very similar to QL Cavern Match Point - a 3D Tennis Championship Game Metropolis - arcade game - overhead flying - similar to Citadel Pengi - A game set in the antarctic, where you play a penguin! QL Bounder - platform game similar to the popular Manic Miner on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum QL Meteor Storm - classic arcade game where you have to shoot up the meteors QL Quboids - platform game based on Lode Runner Arcade game Quazimodo - platform game - save Esmerelda from the tower Spook - faithful implementation of Pacman Vroom - Formula 1 Car Racing Game Zapper a shoot 'em up similar to space invaders Board Games Psion Chess - The original chess program for the QL, written by Richard Lang and launched by Psion (designers of the QL Quill, Archive, Abacus and Easel software). QL Reversi - A good implementation of the classic Othello Game. Text Adventures Dark Side of the Moon - Your mission here is to recapture a moonbase and mineral mine. Horrorday - Comic adventure based on the best tradition of hammer horror movies Lost Kingdom of Zkul - A realtime classic dungeons and dragons type adventure. QL Pawn - Famous text adventure by Magnetic Scrolls. Return to Eden - Text and Graphics adventure, which fills 3 disks - released before the Level 9 Adventure of the same name The Prawn - Spoof text adventure based on QL Pawn. West - A realtime text adventure where you play the role of a sheriff Screenshots can be enlarged by clicking on them, and we can supply many of the software titles on disk or microdrive if you have an old version that will no longer load (or if you have moved onto an emulator). Some of this software is still copy protected, so we would like to hear from anyone that has a working version without the copy protection, or is willing to work on the code to remove it. We are also looking for the following software titles, which we can then re-release on the QL market: Funfear - a text adventure by Martin Hopkins (Mert) TechniQL by Talent (I have copies but with copy protection still intact) PCB1 by Talent WIMP by Talent Strip Poker by Talent (I have copies but with copy protection still intact) Toolset by Talent The Lost Pharoah by Talent (I have copies but with copy protection still intact) Type 22 by Talent (I have copies but with copy protection still intact) Basic Ally by Talent Cuthbert in Space by Microdeal The King by Microdeal Crazy Painter by Microdeal Night Nurse by Microdeal Hopper by Microdeal Bridge by Microdeal Can anyone help with these titles?

Welcome News for fans of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum DivIDE Plus We are pleased to say that we have now sourced a more reliable manufacturer for the DivIDE Plus interfaces, who can make them in bulk and have recently placed an order for 100 interfaces, as an initial batch. We expect the first ones to arrive in mid October, so keep your eye on our website, where we will publish details of availability and how to order: ZX Spectrum DivIDE Plus order page You will also note that we have made further improvements to the manual, with more details on some of the other firmware and also updated sections on ResiDOS. Just a small issue here is that we have probably have orders for at least 50 interfaces already, so we can see us placing an order for a further 100 interfaces quite soon!! Please don't forget that we can also supply the AY-Magic sound interfaces which work perfectly with the DivIDE Plus - see our Sinclair ZX Spectrum AY Magic sound interface page Just a reminder - the DivIDE Plus interface works with all ZX Spectrums (although there is an issue with the Portuguese ZX Spectrum+2 which apparently may be rectified by running a wire from the Z80 to the rear expansion port on the Spectrum). It enables the ZX Spectrum to load games instantly from Compact Flash card, or a hard disk. It has a wide range of firmwares available, to give plenty of options for loading and saving files, and has a through connector to allow you to connect to other peripherals. The AY Magic Sound interface allows standard 16K and 48K ZX Spectrums (rubber key and Spectrum+ versions) to play the AY sounds and music developed for the built in AY controller included in the later 128K version computers, which is included in some of the later games developed for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum .

New for September 2009 has been the re-release (by popular demand) of an old QL arcade game, Pengi, which was written by Jochen Merz and previously released on the Gigasoft label. In this colourful game, you control a small Penguin (Pengi) as he tries to survive the antarctic climate. Faced with deadly snobees all around, the only way to survive is by pushing ice blocks onto the snobees and squashing them, before they touch Pengi. You can also collect diamonds to gain additional points. Now available to buy once again, this increases the range of arcade games still available commercially from RWAP Software - purchase QL Pengi

Missing software for the Sinclair QL? We have now amassed a large library of software titles for the Sinclair QL - much of it is unsuitable for second hand sales, as we only have the cartridges, with no manual or box. However, we have started to preserve as much of the software as we can by storing it on our PC (with regular backups to the internet), and are updating the Sinclair QL Computer Wiki with details as we go. We will then be able to make fresh working copies (on microdrive, disk or suitable for use with emulators) for those who can prove that they own the original software. We are also looking for the original copyright holders to contact us, so that we can hopefully bring some of this software back to the Sinclair QL market, either as commercial programs or as public domain. The ones we have converted and tested to date are listed on the RWAP Software pages.

Sinclair QL Hackers Journal Saved

We have agreed with Tim Swenson, the author of the QL Hacker's Journal to make it available from our Adventure website The QL Hacker's Journal is a publication dedicated to supporting QL programmers and is edited and published by Tim Swenson as a service to the QL Community. 34 issues in all were produced over the years. Direct link to the webpage

Has anyone ever seen one of these before - a clear Sinclair ZX Microdrive Cartridge, so that you can see the workings. On ebay - 7th August 2009 to 17th August 2009. I guess it was produced for promotion material to show the inner workings of the microdrive, although from memory, I don't remember a picture of one - just hand drawn diagrams.... Interesting!

Replacement Sinclair ZX Spectrum faceplates (keyboard escutcheons) are now available - these metal plates go around the rubber keyboard mat to make your Spectrum look brand new and are as close to the original as we can get. Details appear on our Sinclair discussion forum, including pictures. Order them from the RWAP Software ZX Spectrum website.

We now have some samples of the new Sinclair ZX Spectrum faceplates - see teh RWAP Software forums for more details and pictures

New AY Sound Interface for 48K ZX Spectrum We can now supply Zaxon's Ay-Magic interface which plugs into a standard ZX Spectrum or the ZX Spectrum+ to allow them to play AY sound files. :D The interface connects to standard PC speakers and has a through connector. For more details and ordering please see our RWAP Software website

We all know how difficult it can be when searching in Google to find which are live sites and which sites can actually sell you equipment, let alone finding that elusive bit of rare hardware or software.

We have therefore decided to launch SellMyRetro.com which will help to bring buyers and traders together, by incorporating a dedicated auction website and a wiki to hold background information on the retro computer scene.

Anyone can list items in the dedicated categories, and traders can decide to open a webstore. Webstores form a place for traders to advertise their services and to form a web-presence, as well as developing their brand.

Traders have two options for advertising their wares / services:

• They can open a webstore on SellMyRetro.com for free and use it just to link back to their site, so it forms a free advert. Any items which they choose to list on SellMyRetro.com will be subject to the normal listing and final value fees.
• They can pay a monthly subscription for a webstore (£5 per month), which entitles them to 50% off all listing and final value fees.

This allows even small user groups, magazines or public domain sites to advertise their own sites free of charge. The only thing we ask is that your content is relevant to retro computers and games consoles.

SellMyRetro.com is currently in development and will be launched in June 2009, so keep your eyes open for news.

This is to let people know that we can now offer a range of spares from our website (www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/sinclairql.html) and have a small stock of external disk drives for use with your QL. Spares range from replacement chips and Minerva ROMs to replacement QL top casings (unused) and power supplies.

Second Hand items for sale:

Amongst other things, our star buys have to be

· 2 x Super Gold Cards,

· an Aurora Motherboard

· an internal eZ-Drive (135MB removal hard disk) for use with QubIDE

We will also be listing some special rare items on ebay over the next few weeks – see: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?type=4&campid=5335864886&toolid=10001&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.co.uk%2Fmerchant%2Frwap_services

At the moment, we currently have listed (amongst other things):

- an Issue 2 Sinclair QL motherboard

- an Issue 5 Sinclair QL motherboard, still uncut, as though it is straight from the production line

- an external keyboard interface which plugs into the ROM port (or at least that is what it appears to be!)

- a set of One per Desk microdrives

- Internal 256K memory expansion board

- Quest Expansion 256K Memory Card (probably one of the most expensive QL add-ons ever made!)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don’t forget the QL’s 25^th Anniversary workshop and show being held by Quanta on 18^th – 19^th April, in Coventry - http://www.quanta.org.uk/news/index.asp#25thworkshop

See us at Byte-Back 2009, at Stoke-on-Trent (7^th-8^th March) - http://www.byte-back.info/

Any questions, please ask.

Rich Mellor

www.rwapsoftware.co.uk

We have just renewed our hosting plan with ipower - at just under £4.45 per month, it is a whole lot cheaper than having an ebay shop nowadays (with a lot more storage space and options). Get ipower web hosting from $4.95pm today! See On the Sinclair front, we can now offer replacement Sinclair ZX81 Keyboard Membranes (with the keyboard as part of the membrane as on the original). Cost is only £10 plus post and packing - see replacement keyboard membranes on our website. This will also fit the Timex Sinclair TS-1000 ZX81 clone.

New - Broadband Comparison Tool:

Spectrum Parts etc We now have the following parts for sale for a Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer:

• 2 x boxed Currah U-Slots (enable you to connect two devices to the Spectrum's expansion port). Cost £6 each plus p&p
• A boxed microdrive expansion kit (ZX Interface 1, ZX Microdrive unit, network lead, connector and manual) - box is in poor condition unfortunately - £55 for the set (plus p&p of course)
• Several new and unused Sinclair ZX Microdrive units complete with sellophane wrapper on the top £25 each
• Sinclair ZX Microdrive connectors (fly leads and hard connectors) £10 each
• 2 x boxed RAM Turbo Spectrum Joystick interfaces (with ROM slot, through connector, reset switch and two joystick ports) £8 each
• A SPRINT tape recorder for the ZX Spectrum, manufactured by Challenge Research - it enables tapes to load at higher speed - plugs into the standard expansion port and is rare. Offers please.

Also in stock:

• 100 x 3.5" 720K DSDD Floppy disks (new, unopened) - ideal for retro computers. £10 for a set of 10 disks plus post and packing.
• The Original Xerox 6R90268 Black Toner for the Xerox 8825 / 9930 A0 Laser Engineering Drawing Printers.
• 2 x Epson Stylus Colour 850 inkjet printers
• 1 x HP Deskjet 720c Colour inkjet printer
• 1 x HP Laserjet 4 Laser Printer
• 1 x Tecktronix Phaser 850DP Solid Ink Printer
• 1 x OKI C9500 A3 colour Laser printer with duplexing unit
• 4 x Paper support trays for the Epson Stylus Colour inkjet printers (£5 each)

For more details on the printers etc - view our Second Hand Printers Page

We have placed a new item on sale on eBay today - an Original Xerox 6R90268 Black Toner for the Xerox 8825 / 9930 A0 Laser Engineering Drawing Printers. These cost around £200 new and this one has been sat sealed in its box unused since ordering in July 2007. Alas the printer is no longer with us, so this is surplus to requirements. It is an original Xerox item - the auction ends on 21st June 2008 - so grab a bargain now.

We have now obtained some more RAM Expansion cards for the Cambridge Z88 portable computer and have special offers on our Cambridge Z88 page. Supplies are limited. We are also offering 2 x brand new Cambridge Z88 32K EPROM Cartridges for £10, with a price reduction on the Z88 EPROM eraser. Oops - all the excitement about the ZX80/ZX81 Forum (which has been very busy), we almost forgot to mention our own RWAP Software Forum, which is for discussion of our projects and what people would like to see and help to shape our future direction Finally, for all those desperate for news on the DivIDE Plus Hard disk interface for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, we have now brought production over to the UK (with the original designers sourcing and providing the kit parts). This should speed up production and we have now received 20 kits to start with. Another 25 are on order, and we are investigating the possibility of ordering another 100 units to ensure that supplies continue.

New Sinclair ZX80 / ZX81 Forum opened We have created a forum specifically for users and developers to discuss the Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 home computers - see http://www.rwapservices.co.uk/ZX80_ZX81/forums/

Second Hand Inkjet / Laser and Solid Ink Printers for Sale New this month is a range of 5 second hand printers - must go by 31st July 2008, include: Epson Stylus Colour 850 inkjet printer, HP Deskjet 720c Colour inkjet printer, HP Laserjet 4 Laser Printer, Tecktronix Phaser 850DP Solid Ink Printer and an OKI C9500 A3 colour Laser printer with duplexing unit. From £55 each, you can't go wrong - get a bargain today. Details appear on our website (with photos) - see http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/Printers2.html

Sinclair ZX81 Keyboard Membranes

We have now found a source for making some ZX81 Keyboard Membranes which will be the same as the original, with the integral touch sensitive keyboard. They will also be self-adhesive, like the originals, making for a nice simple replacement which can be achieved with the aid of a phillips screwdriver and a hairdryer (or small knife). The latter is required to heat up the old membrane or lift it from the ZX81 case.

Cost will be £10 each plus post and packing. We are therefore inviting people to let us know of their interest at this stage, by leaving a comment on our guestbook: http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/membranes.html

We aim to have these on the market by June 2008, so be sure to place an order as soon as possible, in order to avoid disappointment.

A January Sale in Retro Computing Gear?

OK it is not unheard of, but not exactly as common as all of the other January sales - this one is being run by us and has a lot of Sinclair QL, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 second hand items at greatly reduced sums (including hardware and software). There is also a wide range of general retro computing books which may be of interest to hardware and software designers. Actually, we even have a set of books for the Psion 3 for sale !! The sale ends at the end of January 2008, although everything is with limited stocks, so get your order in quick. We also aim to add some more items at the start of January to help clear our shelves for projects in 2008. See the link at the top of our home page (http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk) for details - the sales list is provided as a word document (don't worry, we have virus checked it!) - if you would like it in another format, please ask. Now what can our customers expect for 2008? Well, we have our fingers in a few pies at the moment, with the following projects hopefully coming online during 2008: - Sinclair QL Hardware (not yet confirmed but it will be welcome news for Super Gold Card and Q40 / Q60 users). - More stock of the DivIDE Plus, hopefully putting our production problems behind us. - Replacement composite video kits (possibly even an external version) to make your Spectrum,. ZX81, BBC Micro, Sinclair QL (etc) work on a modern TV. - Joystick interface with a through port (suitable for PlusD and hopefully the original DivIDE hard disk interface). - Microdrive connectors - both the flexible cable to connect a ZX Microdrive to a ZX Interface 1 or a Sinclair QL, and a replacement "hard connector" to join two ZX Microdrive units together (although they will not be able to be screwed together). Let's hope 2008 is a good year for retro computing and brings us all some good luck and wealth We wish all our customers a happy and prosperous new year. www.rwapservices.co.uk

** Merry Christmas to all our Customers and Readers **

Well with 2007 quickly drawing to a close, we would like to take the opportunity of wishing our customers a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Our sites will all continue to run during the festive season, although there will be delays in sending out orders between 22nd December 2007 and 2nd January 2008. We are, however, expecting one last shipment of DivIDE Plus hard disk interfaces for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum before Christmas and will post them as soon as possible (fingers crossed and with luck and a following wind, they might hit UK customers doorsteps in time for Christmas). We will remain available on MSN and email if you have any queries, or please feel free to contribute to our guestbooks and forums. Our Sites RWAP Software Site supporting retro computers and in particular the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Sinclair QL and Commodore 64, with just a spattering of 3" disks, DSDD disks and ADSL Filters. RWAP Adventures Site providing adventures programs for the Sinclair QL, ZX Spectrum and adventures for use on your PC. Play Lotto - Why not give it a chance this Christmas, join our online syndicate and see if we can win the Lottery together. Internet Business Angels - Providing support and advice for people looking to enhance the internet presence of their business. RWAP Services - Overall website looking at our full range of services, including proof reading, perl programming and website review.

Following the end of our financial year, it is perhaps time to look back on the retro computing scene and see where things should go next. A lot of people ask what use are retro computers in this modern age of super fast PCs with oodles of memory and storage capacity? Well, as well as there being an active retro scene, with a lot of people wishing to relive their youth and pass on their technical expertise, one avenue that could perhaps be developed further is in the field of robotics. Modern PCs have less and less control over their native hardware, with Microsoft actually removing some low level access from each version of Windows. This can make it very difficult to write software which can communicate effectively with a piece of custom built hardware, such as a robot, or even an old printer. Add an 8 or 16 bit computer into the equation, such as the Z80 based Sinclair ZX Spectrum, or the 680000 based Sinclair QL, and you have access to a wealth of information on how to access each port, open source operating systems, simple programming tools and active discussion forums where people are more than willing to provide you with the technical assistance you need. So, what has been happening in each of your key markets over the past 12 months? Sinclair QL We are pleased to report that in the past 12 months, we have raised over £1500 for the Sinclair QL user group (Quanta) who will make these funds available for people needing to raise finance in order to pursue development opportunities for the QL. They will be glad to receive detailed proposals and certainly it would be nice to produce a low cost mass storage device, such as a compact flash reader. The recent show in Birmingham was surprisingly well attended and it is hoped that this enthusiasm can continue. Quanta needs the support of its members and if its membership numbers continue to decline, then we may well see them being wound up and the funds which they hold being given away to Charity, rather than being used for the good of the QL community. Please therefore subscribe to Quanta and renew your subscriptions. Unfortunately, the one downside for the QL, is the lack of a high quality peripheral to add more speed and memory to the original QL. The Super Gold Card sometimes makes an appearance on the second hand market (although it is as rare as hens' teeth) and it is no longer able to make new ones of these as some of the chips are now obsolete. Sinclair ZX Spectrum This has now become our main source of turnover, with replacement keyboard membranes remaining an ever popular (and necessary) item. We were happy to be able to bring the DivIDE Plus hard disk interface to market in the past 12 months, although delays in manufacture and shipping problems have caused some frustration. These now appear to be behind us, although we still struggle to source certain parts, such as the through connectors and edge connectors. Feedback from customers once they have received this interface has been very positive, with only a few minor issues which people struggle with when they first use the card, pushing us to open our own Spectrum forum. We have now been able to source replacement flexible connectors to join the ZX Microdrive and ZX Interface 1 units (hopefully we will soon be able to supply the hard connector to join two ZX Microdrive units). 2006/07 has also seen the launch of the ever popular Competition Pro Joystick for the Spectrum and other retro computers (which use the standard Atari joystick socket). During 2007/08 we hope to build further on the success of the DivIDE Plus, and bring more new products to market, including the composite video kit and Kempston joystick interface with through connector, as well as improved firmware for the DivIDE Plus. Sinclair ZX81 The main downfall of the ZX81 is the lack of replacement keyboard membranes. These are now failing in large numbers, but with a cost of around £10 to produce, it is unlikely that the market will ever be large enough to warrant a new production run. Kits are still sometimes available on the internet, although you do need to bear in mind that these are now 25+ years old. Use our website for more information on Sinclair range of computers and available items www.rwapsoftware.co.uk

News In Time for Christmas

1. Things are indeed looking up - we are hoping to clear the backlog of DivIDE Plus orders by Christmas (20 units on their way from Poland - 16th November, with another 20 soon to follow).
2. We have reduced the price of our popular Competition Pro Joystick for all retro computers with a 9 pin DIN socket - it is now only £12.50 plus p&p.
3. Sinclair QL owners will be fighting to get their hands on the latest Super Gold Card - one only and priced at £250, this could be your last chance of getting one as they have not been made in many years and the parts are obsolete.
4. We now have a small stock of brand new ZX Microdrive Cartridges - £2.50 each plus p&p
5. We can now also supply the fly leads to connect ZX Microdrive Units to the ZX Interface 1 - at only £10 plus p&p, they are jet black as per the original.

Keep your eyes out for more news as it becomes available and lets hope for a Happy Christmas. Visit our website RWAP Software for more details on these and other retro computing goodies.

Well it is always pleasing to receive good feedback on our customer service. We have heard back from one ADSL customer, who had had problems for a few months with losing his broadband connection whenever someone used the downstairs phone. He appeared to have enough filters in place, and despite spending several hours to technical helplines (on 0845 numbers), they had time and time again blamed something on his PC setup. We sent some replacement filters, and a quick email to us, with a diagram of his system, and we spotted the issue - he had not plugged his phone extension cable into the "PHONE" socket on a filter. Although there was no real need to use our own filters, he was as pleased as punch that we could resolve the issue so quickly. Oddly, we were the only ones to mention REN on his phone equipment, which had exceeded the recommended REN 3. Still problem solved, and one more happy customer. By the way, we were surprised that our filters are even cheaper than ARGOS sell them for !! Now all we need is another 100,000 pleased customers, and we could consider retiring !!

Just some useful tips and ideas OK, we all need to think about anti-virus software and a firewall, but do we take the plunge and spend money on it or risk our data and personal details with one of the free ones, or Microsoft's own firewall (which is heavily attacked). Having looked at the options, we have taken the plunge of renewing our subscription with Symantec and purchased their Norton 360 product, which is quicker than previous versions of Norton Internet Security (so it does not tie the system up as much), has faster scanning, provides its own firewall and antivirus protection and much more. The advantages of Norton 360 are that it also provides regular backups of your data (full or incremental backups) and also provides 2GB free online storage for you to store your most important files, in case of the all too drastic hard disk failure. One of the bonuses is that when you look at the price tag, of £59.99, this may appear very high, but often PC World has discounted offers and you also must remember that this now includes the facility to install it on 3 computers in the same household, so that works out at just under £20 per PC !! Not too bad when you think of the damage that one virus can do. The other trick for this month, has to be to look at switching to the Alliance & Leicester's current account - it still offers the best rate of interest of any current account (6.5% fixed until Jan 2009), excellent online service and you only need fund it with £500pm (most other similar accounts need minimum funding of £1000pm). Keep your eyes open for special offers too - they often offer very high interest bearing savings accounts if you open them at the same time as a current account. Well worth the small bit of paperwork it takes to switch

We have recently had some very successful reports for people using old DOS and emulator programs who are struggling to find a compatible printer. Whilst Printfil has been one product which we have commended in the past for this sort of situation, it is limited to mainly text and does not understand many control codes. We and several others have found that QPCPrint is now a much better alternative, particularly if your program outputs a mixture of text and graphics and expects to output to an EPSON compatible printer. QPCPrint understands a much wider range of ESC/P2 programming codes, and can therefore provide output much closer to the original on any modern Windows Printer - more details and a link to a demonstration version of QPCPrint is available on our webpage dedicated to older printers and printing from DOS / emulators Why do we need this? I suppose the answer is that if you have never found that you cannot print from a program, you do not need this. However, many users of emulators and DOS programs find that their program will only send output direct to the parallel port, using its own inbuilt command codes. Many modern printers will not even accept plain text sent to the parallel port (that is if they even connect through the parallel port - most are USB nowadays). As printers have developed, they expect Windows to do all of the hard work and convert text and graphics into something which they can understand without having to convert - this cuts down on the cost of hardware, but means a loss of compatibility with older programs. How do Printfil and QPCPrint work? Both Printfil and QPCPrint are Windows based programs, set up as pseudo printer drivers on your computer. They look for any output set to a parallel port (eg. LPT1 is the default), then capture this output and convert it into data which can then be printed on any modern printer connected to Windows. This can be done in the background, or you can use options to view the output and decide which printer to use. Printfil is the only program of the two which can handle a printer which is actually connected to LPT1. However, QPCPrint is more accurate when it comes to printing from a program which expects an EPSON printer. Try them both and see what you think. We can offer some advice and assistance if you are struggling.

First off for October is two new products for Sinclair ZX Spectrum users: - a low cost composite video kit which consists of a small board which replaces the Spectrum's own TV modulator (UM1233). This provides excellent output on modern televisions and allows you to get around some of the problems with SCART leads. We need someone to try it on other retro computers which provide a TV out, as it should work with all of them. We even offer a fitting service if you are worried about the need to open your machine and use a soldering iron. - now the news that all PlusD users have been waiting for - a Kempston compatible Joystick interface which, although uncased, does have a through port which allows you to plug the PlusD disk interface into the back so you can use the Joystick with games on disk. We have not yet tried it with a DivIDE but see no reason why it won't work. If you want to order, visit our website devoted to the retro computing scene.

Were printers ever easy? A recent request from a customer has brought some frustration my way I must admit. He wanted a colour printer to use with his ZX Spectrum and Sinclair QL so I provided the Epson Stylus Colour 850. After a little soul searching, I came up with how to print a screen dump in colour from the QL - you need Toolkit II and a small program SDUMP_REXT (the SDUMP commands are already built into the Trump Card, Gold Card and Super Gold Card). Easy if a little slow - now you just do LRESPR mdv1_sdump_rext SDP_DEV ser1 SDP_SET 8,2 SDUMP 512,256,0,0 and hey presto. However, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum is a different kettle of fish. I have tried numerous interfaces, including the PlusD's built in centronics interface, and all I seem to get is black and white screen dumps. I am told that I may need to find some more software, but looking on the worldofspectrum archives, cannot find anything suitable for any of the 6 different printer interfaces I have, including the Kempston one. Maybe I am just missing the manual for the ZX LPRINT III or maybe it's that no-one ever produced a colour screen dump for an Epson printer to run on the ZX Spectrum. Come on - someone must know something and managed this in the past !!

Hmm not too much happening here in the Sinclair world - I have put a few more things on ebay for the Sinclair QL under rwap_services user name - just do a search for Sinclair QL on ebay, and you will find some ROM cartridges and a complete ICE package, going for a song. I am still waiting on delivery of the last batch of DivIDE Plus interfaces - dratted post office do take some time to deliver a small parcel from Poland, so in the meantime, I have invested in upgrading my television package to Sky. At least it means that i am not limited to a handful of channels available on Freeview in the local area (no ITV or Channel 4 on freeview around here), and I could make use of the existing satellite dish and cabling, so all I needed was a set top box and a viewing card. It does make me laugh though, when you look back 10 years, people expected TV to be free (except for the television licence) and moaned if their telephone bill was over £100 for the quarter. Nowadays, most homes have a telephone line (£11pm), a mobile phone (ave. £35pm), internet (£15-£18 pm) and a digital TV package (on Sky this starts at £15pm up to £45pm). Cable can look to be a cheaper option, with the basic Digital TV and telephone rental at £16.50pm, and better broadband, but then you look at the cost of making telephone calls, and add in the fact that there are so many more channels on the basic Sky system (including Sky One), and much better, faster interactive and think maybe, just maybe satellite might be an option (not as if you have a lot of choice if you are not in a cable area). At least Sky have now changed their pricing structure, so you can choose the different packages to make up your TV choice, and you get free broadband and evening and weekend telephone calls, then £15pm does not seem all that bad. Have a look at the Sky Digital comparison page The one thing that did surprise me, was that even with our rural location, we can still get Sky Broadband for nothing !! Well worth a try I guess.

Now there's an offer too good to miss - I have just had an email from our hosting company, iPowerweb - they are having a sale and offering their hosting plans at $4.95pm (for either 12 month or 24 month contracts) until 6th July 2007. They are an excellent hosting company, with good support and minimal downtime (not sure I can remember the last time). Read our comparisons at: Internet Business Angels

DivIDE Plus Interface After a few hiccups with the final production model, we have now resolved the last remaining issues and expect to start shipping direct to customers soon - progress against the waiting list can be seen on the link from our web page. We have also now added a Frequently Asked Questions section to assist customers. Epson 850 Colour Inkjet Printers Just in case you have not noticed, but we have another fresh stock of refurbished Epson Stylus 850 Colour Inkjet Printers for sale, as well as low cost original Epson ink cartridges for this great little printer. The Epson Stylus 850 supports DOS programs, industrial machines, as well as Sinclair and Commodore computers (etc), as it has full ESC/P2 support, can handle ASCII text and has a parallel port - all features sadly missing from 99% of modern printers. New Joysticks for Retro Computers We can now offer brand new Competition Pro Joysticks (Kempston compatible) for a wide range of computers. Unlike the ones you find on ebay, these are not the USB model, but come complete with standard 9 pin DIN connector, to enable them to plug into your computer's standard joystick port - suitable for: ZX Spectrum, ZX80, ZX81, Sinclair QL, Commdore 64, Vic-20, Amiga, Atari, MSX Computers, Amstrad CPC Please remember you may need a joystick interface !!

OK the auction ended - not quite a whimper - thanks to all our customers for their support. We do currently have another Gold Card for sale £110 if anyone wants it.

Super Gold Card and Gold Card up for grabs We are running a closed bid auction for a fully tested and working

• 1 x Miracle Systems Gold Card (2MB RAM, 68000 Chip, Disk Interface, Parallel Interface)
• 1 x Miracle Systems Super Gold Card (4MB RAM, 68020 Chip, Disk Interface, Parallel Interface)

They have been tested and come complete with photocopied manuals. We have decided that we will invite closed bids to purchase each item. We are inviting offers over UKP:100 for the Gold Card and offers over UKP:150 for the Super Gold Card (these figures are a substantial discount over the last ones sold on ebay!). Closing date will be 12pm British Summer Time on 8th May 2007. The cards will be sold to the highest bid for each card recieved by that date (subject to the interfaces being tested). If you wish to bid for either item, please send an email to richATnospamrwapservices.co.uk (remove nospam word) with either: "Gold Card Bid" or "Super Gold Card Bid" as the subject, and with details of your offer. PLEASE NOTE: YOU WILL NEED TO PLACE A SEPARATE BID FOR EACH ITEM Terms and Conditions -------------------- 1. No bids received after 8th May 2007 12pm (BST) will be considered. 2. The highest bid for each item will be deemed to be the winner. However, if someone bids on both items and wins both, then they will have the option to only purchase one item. 3. Post and packing (and insurance) will be added to the highest bid and payment must be made by PayPal, Nochex, or Google Checkout to rich@rwapservices.co.uk before 12th May 2007, otherwise it will be offered to the next highest bidder. 4. We reserve the right to withdraw the items from the bidding process should they prove to be non-working during testing. 5. The decision of RWAP Software and the Quanta treasurer as to the winning bid will be final. If you have any questions, please email us at richATnospamrwapservices.co.uk with "GC/SGC Bid Query" as the subject.

Wow, this is a busy day for us. Membranes turn up (page has now been updated by the way). We have also got some new Kempston compatible Competition Pro joysticks for use with Sinclair QL, Sinclair ZX80, ZX81, ZX Spectrum, Commodore C64, Vic-20, SX64, C128, Amiga computers, Atari Computers, Amstrad / Schneider CPC and MSX Systems. 9 pin DIN connection and a switched - what more could you ask for. See: http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/spectrum.html However, some even better news !! The ZX Spectrum DivIDE Plus Interface is on its way. We expect to start shipping to customers during May, and will be fulfilling orders on a first come first served basis. We have ordered enough parts to make 100 units at the rate of 10 per week, and already sold 45 so get your order in quick! More details appear on http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/spectrum/spectrum_storage.html What more could a Speccy user ask for?

First Exciting News of the Day We now have in stock some more brand new replacement keyboard membranes for the original rubber key speccy (16K and 48K). They have been manufactured in 2007 and are an even higher quality than the last batch. So if your Sinclair ZX Spectrum is lacking from a few keys or responsiveness, you now know where to look... See http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/membranes.html (will update the webpage later).

Hmm a couple of things happening this weekend, which may be of interest to ZX Spectrum users - have a look at our main website for updated news on Monday (16th April 2007). Might just be some good news for those struggling with their old rubber keyed Spectrums!!

Some more interesting news for those of you looking for compatible printers for DOS based programs, or retro-computer users looking for printers for a Sinclair QL / ZX Spectrum / BBc Micro etc - we have sourced some more of the excellent Epson Stylus Colour 850 Inkjet printers, which have a parallel interface (centronics) and support full ESC/P2 codes and plain text, rather than expecting Windows to do all the hard work. We even have a couple of Epson Stylus Colour 900 printers if you get in quick !! Rich

Just to let you all know of some excellent customer service I recently experienced when ordering a new bed from Sleeping Solutions - they were unable to supply the specific bed which I ordered, due to a manufacturing problem at Silentnight, but instead agreed to provide me with a more expensive bed, with only a small increase in how much I had to pay. Excellent communications, fast to respond and very helpful - what more can you ask from an online store?

Following recent discussions on the ql-user mailing list and the World of Spectrum forums, we have identified that there is a distinct lack of information about the hardware and software that has been released for the Sinclair QL over the years. We have therefore just started a new Wiki - http://www.rwapadventures.com/ql_wiki and would welcome contributions frrom QL users, ex-authors and ex- traders to help build this resource.

Another Satisfied Customer Again we were contacted by a customer who recently had TalkTalk broadband installed. Since installation there was a slight buzzing on the phone and the phone did not ring out when someone called. They had spoken with TalkTalk customer services who provided a replacement broadband filter (they confirmed that all equipment needing a filter had one installed). However, this did not fix the problem. Two more broadband filters later and still no sound of ringing phones. The customer saw our own website where we described this problem and decided to try one of our low cost ADSL Filters. A phone call about 10 minutes after the customer received our broadband filter, and they confirmed that all was working fine now. TalkTalk broadband filter = £14.50. Our Broadband filter = £5 Well worth the saving !!

Review of 2006 This year has been quite successful for our various businesses: http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk http://www.rwapadventures.com http://www.playlotto.org.uk http://www.rwapservices.co.uk http://www.internetbusinessangels.com We have sold over 200 keyboard membranes for the ZX Spectrum and Sinclair QL computers and been able to add PlusD floppy disk interfaces to our catalogue of hardware and software for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. We are now short of external floppy disk drives to meet the demand. We have also expanded our range of websites (adding 2 more - a site detailing Online Lottery Syndicate Systems and one providing Advice on Setting up an Internet Business to the stable). Our site dedicated to the Sinclair computers (RWAP Software) has also seen a revamp, as well as new sections on the ICL One Per Desk Computer. In the last quarter of the year, we have been working closely with a hardware designer in Poland to design a new version of the divIDE hard disk interface for the ZX Spectrum, and it is hoped to launch this in 2007. This should prove very popular with around 20 pre-orders received already. One of the big sellers this year has been our ever-popular ADSL./DSL Line filter, which more and more people are reporting is resolving their problem with ADSL broadband and telephones that do not ring. On the down side, we have now exhausted our supplies of Epson Stylus Colour 850 Inkjet printers which leaves us unable to meet the needs of a growing number of customers who seek inkjet printers capable of printing plain text and with a parallel port. At least users of the QPC2 Sinclair QL emulator for Windows have access to QPCPrint which works well to allow access to the latest printers, and those able to run their program in a DOS box under Windows can utilise the Printfil utility in a similar way. The other problem area for Sinclair QL users is the lack of any high end expansion cards for the Sinclair QL (the Gold Card and Super Gold Card previously sold by Miracle Systems of York). There is a sever shortage of these cards, although we are considering investigating a new production run, if there is sufficient interest bearing in mind the anticipated cost of around £250. Finally, we have almost exhausted our stock of new microdrive units and Cambridge Z88 computers - thankyou to all those who have purchased these over the past couple of years. Looking Forward to 2007 What will 2007 have in store for Sinclair users? 2007 is the 25th anniversary of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, so we would like to celebrate in style. We continue to investigate the possibility of getting some replacement keyboard face plates made for the original rubber key Spectrum and hope to be able to start selling the new divIDE hard disk interface at the end of January. Software continues to be developed for the Spectrum and Sinclair QL computers, although it is mainly now all public domain or freeware. The lack of new killer applications will not help the existing traders to survive. However there remains a strong band of enthusiasts, always willing to help either community and to help recycle the ever present list of second hand items for sale. Hopefully 2007 will see us in a new base of operations with more room for stock and better working environment. Finally, we would like to wish all of our customers and colleagues a very Happy and Prosperous New Year

Support RWAP Software (a plea)

We are looking to raise funds to help us move to a new home and continue our support of retro computers through the development of new projects. We have recently launched a new site http://www.playlotto.org.uk to help encourage people to join our lottery syndicate.

However, we are also asking for small donations to help develop new projects - current projects include:

• Purchase of our first house (big enough to house all our stock) !!
• Development of a floppy disk interface for the ICL One Per Desk (OPD) and Merlin Tonto Computers (we have already developed circuit diagrams)
• Development of an enhanced divIDE hard disk interface for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum - this will include a through port and a CF (Compact Flash) Card connector rather than a standard IDE connector. We are also investigating the possibility of allowing you to connect both a PlusD Floppy Disk Interface and the divIDE at the same time.
• Release of a Windows version of QWord based on the Q-emuLator Sinclair QL emulator.

If you want to see these projects see the light of day, please make a contribution (£5 suggested).

If you make a contribution of more than £10 we will add a link back to your web site to our own site:

divIDE for Sinclair ZX Spectrum Designed

We have completed the design work on the divIDE hard disk interface for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Our version will include a through port to allow you to connect other peripherals, an integrated Compact Flash connector (so you can use a Compact Flash card rather than needing desk space for a hard disk and PSU), and the operating system will be on a Flash EPROM to allow you to upload a different version easily. Unlike the PlusD interface, the divIDE will work with all models of the ZX Spectrum, including the Spectrum+2A,+2B and Spectrum+3 as well as the earlier models. We are looking at the possibility of being able to use the divIDE at the same time as the ZX Microdrive or even a PlusD disk drive, in order to provide the maximum flexibility possible for users. All this for around £48 plus p&p.

Production expected in September / October 2006

Update on divIDE Hard Disk Interfaces We have chosen the divIDE hard disk interface for the ZX Spectrum and will shortly be producing some of these for sale. We have redesigned the circuit board to suit CF cards to use as the hard disk (rather than an IDE hard disk) and expect the boards to be available for around £45. This forms a useful accompaniment to the Plus-D floppy disk drive interface which we currently supply. If you are interested in supporting this project and placing a pre-order, please get in contact with us as soon as possible. Rich Mellor www.rwapsoftware.co.uk

We have acquired a wide range of additional second hand items for the Sinclair QL, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and even the ZX81. It is taking us a little while to sort through all of these items, so please keep looking at our pages for more updates. Amongst the items received has been a stock of external floppy disk drives for use with the Sinclair QL and ZX Spectrum disk interfaces - so get your order in quick if you need one. If you are interested in any item, please contact us before ordering to ensure that it is still in stock.

Hard Disks for ZX Spectrum We need your feedback !! Having secured Plus-D floppy disk drive interfaces for the Speccy, we have been thinking about hard disks. The problem is finding external hard disk drives which can be used (modern ones are all USB drives whereas we need IDE). The one option is to use a flash card slot, so you can write to a flash card, but there the problem is that they have a limited write cycle (about 100,000 writes). You can use a standard IDE hard disk, with a PC power supply, but it looks unsightly We welcome you views on what you would like to see.

Living up to our promises As promised earlier in the year, we have secured a small supply of Plus-D floppy disk interfaces for the ZX Spectrum - we have some second hand disk drives to go with them and are pleased to say that they even have the parallel interface built in which proved so useful on the original model. We have tested them and find them to be of a very good quality, and for £48 you get the interface, centronics lead and printed manual as well as a 12 months guarantee. We have even spoken with Miles Kinloch and received his permission to release the expanded ROM (v1b) for the interface. We are currently talking with Betasoft (Andy Wright) to see if they will also release Betados which has a lot of additional features over G+DOS - these will both be available as optional extras if agreed. Have a look at: http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/spectrum.html for details of all our storage options for the humble ZX Spectrum - now you can be truly freed from cassettes !!

The downfall with Sinclair computers has always been related to the keyboard - that is why so many suppliers provided alternatives. However, if you want to keep your Spectrum or QL working in original condition, you will often find that you need to replace a keyboard membrane when a key or two stop working. The good news was that in 2003 we managed to get a new production run of QL keyboard membranes which had long been out of production. Now a new challenge faces us. The original ZX Spectrum (16K and 48K) used a rubber keyboard mat which had various keywords emblazened on it - this mat is also surrounded by a metal faceplate which has the Sinclair 3 stripe logo and the remainder of the keywords. The mat tends to get discoloured with use and the keywords can wear badly. The plate gets scratched and dented and is missing from some people's machines. Unfortunately, we sold the last faceplate a couple of years ago and now we are running desparately short of the rubber keyboard mats - we are down to the last box of 20, so if yours is starting to look a bit haggard, you had better order a replacement soon - none of the usual suppliers have any more stock either!! We are still looking for a manufacturer for these parts - if you know of one willing to make them in small quantities (max 500 units), then please get in touch - it would benefit the whole Spectrum community.

If you are looking to make or save money from the internet - you could do worse than look at our reviews on RWAP Services. Virtual World Direct is one scheme which has been proved to improve your odds of winning a prize on the UK National Lottery (to 1 in 13) and the Euromillions Draw.

Adventures for Sinclair Computers In case you are looking for adventure programs for the Sinclair QL or the ZX Spectrum, we have created a new website of our own dedicated to adventure programs - RWAP Adventures. RWAP Adventures contains some public domain adventures for the Sinclair QL, along with second hand adventure software for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. We also provide the ability to purchase various of our own adventures (and those of Talent Computer Systems) for the Sinclair QL, together with guestbooks where you can ask for hints and tips and leave clues for other players. Our adventures currently covered are:

• Return To Eden
• The Prawn (this is a spoof of the infamous PAWN by Magnetic Scrolls)
• Lost Kingdom of Zkul
• West
• Nemesis MKII
• Horrorday

We have also used the QL2K Sinclair QL emulator to enable PC users with no knowledge of the QL to play the following adventures:

• Return to Eden
• The Prawn
• Lost Kingdom of Zkul
• West

We welcome feedback on our adventures and are always willing to help.

Please also remember to look at our other websites: Internet Business Angels and RWAP Services

Getting files onto the Sinclair QL Following a recent discussion on the ql-users mailing list about a simple guide to transferring software downloaded from the internet onto the Sinclair QL, Dilwyn Jones has usefully added such a guide to his website which resolves some of the common problems and misunderstandings, including why programs unzipped on a Windows PC will not run on the QL. This also comes to one of the other main divisions in the QL community - there are people who have moved with the time and use the latest systems and emulators, and those who are still insistant upon using the original black box. The latter are missing out on the ability to run the latest operating systems and some great software (such as our own full colour Sinclair QL game QWord). At the very least, the unreliability of microdrive cartridges (particularly when they contain software that is some 20 years old) means that people should consider purchasing a second hand disk interface and memory expansion and external disk drive. Maybe this is why we need a replacement for the now hard to find Super Gold Card to provide the impetus for more people to upgrade.

ZX Microdrives With all the Sinclair ZX Microdrives which were made over the years, it is surprisingly difficult to find the right connectors to join them together. Tony Firshman has made some leads to join them to ZX Interface 1s, but the hard connector to link two individual microdrives is a bit of a pain. Maybe if you have some lying around you could offer them back into the community??