Delays in replacing faulty Spectrums

I THOUGHT you might be interested in a fault in the Christmas batch of 16/48K Spectrums. I bought mine two weeks before Christmas and a month and a half later it stopped working. I returned it to John Lewis in Oxford Street, London to be told that a part in many computers distributed at Christmas had been faulty. I was also told that it would take two months for the faulty part to be replaced. John Lewis then offered me a full refund.

Anybody who bought a Spectrum at Christmas which starts to malfunction, should take it back and demand that something be done about it.

M Coysten

AS A REGULAR reader of Sinclair User I am sorry to say I have joined that ever-growing queue outside Sinclair Ltd. Not the queue for the QL. Not the queue for the Microdrive, but the queue for the return of our Spectrums sent for repair under guarantee.

When I visited my local Spectrum dealer I was greeted with the news that he did not have one but had sent mine for repair. The big question was when would it be returned? The answer was "I have no idea - it is usually about four weeks if you are lucky."

My message to Sinclair is look after the friends you have in the big wide world or they will start looking elsewhere, and nobody wants to do that, especially when you have a splendid machine.

Alan Jones

The immortal Jet Set Willy

I RECENTLY bought Jet Set Willy produced by Software Projects. It is an excellent game and I have found a way of poking in a code so that it is possible to have infinite lives. It has proved very useful and has enabled me to discover all the rooms and find the items without making the game boring. To obtain it you have to type in before loading:

35 POKE 35899,0 (return)
MERGE "" (return)
Load until 'OK' statement
Stop tape
RUN
Start tape

When the game has loaded you will find that when you are killed you will lose no lives. A word of warning - never fall into a room. If you do and find that you die continuously, press Caps Shift and Break and you will have to start all over again.

I have to mention my views on Sinclair User. It is very good apart from the machine code items which are made very complicated and meaningless. I have only once read a helpful machine code item which was in the February 1984 edition, called Sound Effects, which was set out thus:

All other items I have seen have needed an assembler, which I do not have, and offer non-explicit information about the number of errors only an expert would understand. Then the whole routine is put in a program so that it is impossible to work out which does what.

I am a beginner, so in future editions could you please include the dec. code with the Z-80 assembler to explain what is happening more clearly?

David Gibson, aged 15

Advertising sexist games

I WAS DISGUSTED by an advertisement in the May edition of Sinclair User - disgusted that CCS Software can have the nerve to make separate software for girls and boys. It is bad enough to have the boys' games about war and gangsters, such as Battle 1917, Pacific War, War 70, Gangsters and Plunder - even worse to have girls' games about Show Jumping and Diamonds.

Jamie Wynn, aged 11

Thanks for the service

MAY I thank Mr Tobin of Melmark Micro Systems for the excellent and prompt repair to my user-damaged, issue one Spectrum?

After destroying my ULA control chip by adding some extra volts to my keyboard cable, I was on the verge of buying a new Spectrum when I saw the advertisement in the February issue, offering an inclusive repair service for £15.50, and decided to send it to the company. To my disbelief it was returned, working, in only 10 working days.

On re-connecting my homebuilt keyboard I was dismayed to find that the computer crashed whenever certain keys were pressed together. In my haste I assumed that to be due to the fact that the familiar Cockroach modification was no longer there.

In my despair I telephoned the company. It was explained that with the new ULA the modification was no longer required and that some other mistake must have been made in the repair.

To my embarrassment, when I re-checked my cable connections, I discovered that I had let a tiny sliver of solder bridge two adjacent circuit tracks, thus causing the fault.

Far from being annoyed with me for wasting his time, Mr Tobin explained some more of the Spectrum circuit mysteries to me. Many thanks to him and his company for such good service.

Mark Painter

Program Printout

I AM WRITING because I am confused. In nearly all the programs you print for the Spectrum certain parts have pieces underlined. I would be very pleased if you could tell me how you do this.

Every time I have tried to type in your programs they have not worked because I have not been able to get the lines under the parts of the program where they are needed.

Mark Johnson

Attention, all Sinclair users. We receive many letters from frustrated readers who are unable to type in the program listings published in Sinclair User and many assume that the listings are incorrect or incomplete. Those parts of a program which are underlined are to be entered in graphics mode. That and other conventions used to denote graphics characters are explained in detail, every month, on the first page of Program Printout.

It is essential to read those instructions before attempting to type in a program.

Problems with Microdrives

LAST NOVEMBER I received two Microdrives for the Spectrum and, to date, have used them on a daily basis. At first I experienced no trouble and found them very useful. I decided to rearrange my computer room and experienced a series of strange results - every possible combination of crash, loading, saving and running problems.

The computer and drives are all contained in a spongefilled case. I discovered that the entire set-up was heavily charged with static. If I continually wiped all items with a damp cloth or a zero stat gun I cleared all my problems temporarily.

I discovered the root cause; the TV was moved too close and the static from the television was spilling over and upsetting the drives. A cure was to move the TV 2 ft. away. So it appears that the Microdrives do not operate in a static field. That may be the cause of some of the problems other people have experienced with Microdrives.

B G Cornhill

Many other readers have written offering the same advice.

Leaving the QL queue

SADLY, Sinclair will lose four of its outstanding orders for the QL. How many others have been forced to the same decision, I wonder, and why four orders?

My original application for a QL was seven days after the news of its launch. In seeking to obtain the computer within the time stated originally I now hold four orders confirmed by Sinclair. Not knowing anybody else locally who has ordered the machine, I trust that it is not company policy to increase demand for the machine.

Now with growing doubts about the machine and the justification for my order being cost-effective, I have had to cancel all four orders.

A H Darge

Bug in Space Station

I BOUGHT Space Station Zebra by Beyond and while playing it I found a major bug in the program. If you line-up your laser sights anywhere on the far right-hand side and fire, you will destroy the incoming invader, no matter where he is on the screen.

After you have done that about 20 times you win.

K P Cox

Gilbert factor inconsistent

AS I often refer to the Gilbert Factor as a guide to purchase for games, I was puzzled when checking the Software Directory Cassette Round-up in the May edition of Sinclair User. I noticed that Adventure No. 1 by Abersoft was given six points and Colossal Caves by CP eight points. I cannot understand the points system as they are both the same game.

J M Cheal

The Colossal Cavern type of adventure has been around for some time, since its conception on a mainframe computer. Since then several companies have produced versions for the Spectrum and ZX-81, including CP, Abersoft - now sold by Melbourne House - Level Nine and Syrtis, to name a few. All the versions are slightly different. Melbourne House changed the Abersoft adventure when it took over the program. The Gilbert Factor takes plot into account but also layout and presentation. When reviewed the CP Colossal Caves was considered a better version than that from Abersoft.

Game rating set too high

I RECENTLY bought Hunter Killer from Protek for the 48K Spectrum. It has no right to have a Gilbert Factor of nine. It is very slow, boring and too easy to play. You are the commander of an 'S' type submarine trying to sink an enemy sub. You are on one side of the sea, the enemy near the shore on the far side.

It is very slow; once it took me half an hour before I saw the enemy and then another five minutes before it was in range - at top speed. You cannot do anything while you are trying to get to him.

It says it has 18 control functions. In that half-hour I could use four, going fast or slow, or raising and lowering the periscope. The animated sea view is a line bobbing up and down. The 3D target looks like a flat bucket moving towards you.

Visible torpedo tracks are a few dots going towards the enemy submarine - not even getting halfway there before the sub blows up. The only good thing about it is the control room and chart room graphics but it is useless having good graphics if the game is rubbish.

Paul Tomes, aged 13

Hunter Killer is a program which makes use of all the Spectrum facilities. The graphics are superb and the real-time action, admittedly a little slow, stands apart from any other program. No doubt better programs will be developed but until then it is one of the best in its class.

Adventures in Italy

I AM an Italian reader of your splendid magazine Sinclair User. I have a 48K Spectrum and I would like to correspond with some English readers to compare notes and experiences.

I am very interested in adventure games, especially Circus, Ten Little Indians, Perseus and Andromeda. Can anybody give me a little help in solving those games?

Enrico Angelini

Wanted: information on the software scene

HAVE YOU any more information on the Software Farm high-resolution games for the ZX-81. What other titles are to follow and when?

Philip Taylor

Software Farm plans to release a new series of high-resolution games for the ZX-81 in a few months. Although they are in an advanced state of preparation, the company will not disclose anything about them.

Computer Rentals Ltd produces a high-resolution toolkit for the 16K ZX-81.

I AM anxious to obtain the following tapes for the 48K Spectrum - Grand National, Tennis, Basketball, Boxing.

A J Burrington

The only titles on the market we could find are Tennis and Grand National. Tennis can be obtained from Winters, Doncaster. Grand National is available from Computer Rentals Ltd or from W H Smith.