Member Profile

Having been brought up on the tail-end of an old education system, where electronic calculators and computers were forbidden and slide rulers were the norm, I was very apprehensive about purchasing an electronic calculator let alone purchase a computer. So, back in 1981, when an ad in an electronics magazine tried to convince me to join the “computer age” by purchasing an inexpensive British computer for the “common man”, I pondered a long while before finally giving in.

I received my ZX-81 in kit form. I assembled it during a long weekend. I was mad about for all of five weeks. Then I stashed it in my closet and went back to my slide ruler. I eventually gave it away to a relative a year later.

After I had learned a bit about microprocessing units in the Service, my attention returned to ZX-81 when I found and purchased a T/S 1000 with a box full of software and books for the sum of $50. Since, I’ve have purchased another from BUY & SELL. I also have a ZX Spectrum+ that I had purchased in Britain; but, until I receive a corrected ULA chip, it’s not functioning.

I am interested in programming, but my main interest is in using the T/S 1000 as a controller. At present, I am trying to use one of the machines to control a motor for a telescope so I can track stars for some astrophotography. I tried interfacing my old slide ruler, but logarithmic time does not track stars to well.