New CPC 464 owner needs help

joska · 11:15, 14 May 12

I recently aquired a CPC 464 with a broken monitor. I made a SCART-cable and adapted a PSU for it and the CPC seems to be fully working. I can save to and read from the tape recorder as well.

Now, the problem is that I don't have any tapes for it. I have a MSX datarecorder connected to my PC so I can transfer tape-images to real tapes, but most CPC games seems to be disk images. Is it possible to convert a disk-image to a tape-image so I can load them on my real CPC? Or maybe I'm just bad at googling and there's a lot of tape-images out there after all?

Devilmarkus · 11:20, 14 May 12

You can't convert DSK to CDT images.
You of course can filecopy the contents of non-copy protected DSK to a new CDT file. But it's not sure if the CDT then loads as it should.

Best is, that you look for already existing CDT files on CPC-POWER, sauvegarde du patrimoine de l'Amstrad CPC (Almost every game also has a CDT file here)

joska · 11:46, 14 May 12

Quote from: Devilmarkus on 11:20, 14 May 12
Best is, that you look for already existing CDT files on CPC-POWER, sauvegarde du patrimoine de l'Amstrad CPC (Almost every game also has a CDT file here)

Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for

joska · 17:36, 14 May 12

Thanks again, I found an old favorite from back when I had a Sharp MZ 700 - Star Avenger

Not quite as good as I remembered it, but it brought back a lot of memories. Anyway, my LCD TV did not like it and decided to display everything in B/W. So I guess it's time to look for a working monitor or a small CRT TV.

arnoldemu · 17:40, 14 May 12

Quote from: joska on 17:36, 14 May 12
Thanks again, I found an old favorite from back when I had a Sharp MZ 700 - Star Avenger Not quite as good as I remembered it, but it brought back a lot of memories. Anyway, my LCD TV did not like it and decided to display everything in B/W. So I guess it's time to look for a working monitor or a small CRT TV.

It must use R3 trick for scrolling. So you'll need a real CPC monitor to see it correctly. The R3 trick changes some sync timings and modern tvs can't cope with it.

joska · 17:55, 14 May 12

I don't think so, it switched to b/w when the title/loadingscreen was displayed. Same thing happened when I loaded Head over Heels just now. I guess it's just a picky TV. It has some problems with my MSX's as well.

Bryce · 21:10, 14 May 12

Which way did you wire it? Try out the alternative version here, it might solve your B/W problem: TV SCART cable - CPCWiki - The Ultimate Amstrad CPC Community & Encyclopedia!

Bryce.

joska · 22:46, 14 May 12

That's how it's wired I'm afraid.

joska · 22:06, 28 July 12

I just picked up a small (10" !) CRT TV and both the 646 and 6128 is working fine with it

So it was just the TV that was picky.

rpalmer · 07:08, 29 July 12

It is possible to take a CDT or tape file from a PC and connect a tape recorder to create your own tapes.

This will no doubt take some trial and error testing to get it right.

But I have a 6128 and found that I used my ASUS EEE netbook to play WAV files and these seem to work just fine.

Hope these things can help you joska.

As for a monitor you can connect bryces video conversion kit to use a VGA monitor, but you will to supply 5V power as the monitor was used for this and if the monitor is dead then you have no choice.

Regards
rpalmer

joska · 13:17, 29 July 12

Quote from: rpalmer on 07:08, 29 July 12
It is possible to take a CDT or tape file from a PC and connect a tape recorder to create your own tapes.

Yes, this works fine. I have a Spectravideo MSX datarecorder connected to my PC, I use this to create tapes for various 8-bits, including the CPC.

Btw I noticed that the CPC tape connector is very similar to the MSX, it even has the same relay control. A simple adapter should allow MSX datarecorders to work with the CPC.

Bryce · 13:29, 29 July 12

This was the case for many 8-bit tape connectors. The Acorn Electron is almost the same too.

Bryce.

Gryzor · 15:15, 30 July 12

Quote from: joska on 22:06, 28 July 12
I just picked up a small (10" !) CRT TV and both the 646 and 6128 is working fine with it So it was just the TV that was picky.

Do they really sell 10" TVs? Wow.

joska · 20:02, 31 July 12

Quote from: Gryzor on 15:15, 30 July 12
Do they really sell 10" TVs? Wow.

Atleast they did about 15 years ago

It even has a built-in VHS recorder and runs on 12V, so I guess it's meant to be used in caravans/mobile homes.

Bryce · 20:23, 31 July 12

I used to have one of those. They were used alot in Supermarkets and department stores for product display videos. Usually questionable cleaning products and gimmicks.

Bryce.

Gryzor · 13:03, 07 August 12

Would really love to have a small retro TV for my kitchen... not that I watch much TV, mind you, but just for the looks of it...

joska · 10:02, 08 August 12

I have one of these:

10" is really too small. It's acceptable for games, but doing any "work" in mode 2 is hopeless. And a VCR is too retro, even for me

Gryzor · 12:56, 08 August 12

Nah... this one is not retro, just outdated. It's ancient technology stretched into the present

But useful for some purposes - if it can record on the VCR it could be used as a primitive security system...

steve · 19:26, 08 August 12

In the early 80's, there were adverts for devices that allowed the user to back up their hard drives to video tape, for a truly retro experience you could try that.

Bryce · 20:51, 08 August 12

They were terrible. I had the chance to test one once (back then) and the chances of reviving anything from the video tape seemed to be about 30%.

Bryce.

Badstarr · 21:36, 08 August 12

Ha! I had one of those VCR backup things, I got it for about £5 from the electronics boutique. I thought it would be a nice cheap way of avoiding buying a bigger hard disk for my first PC with its rather claustrophobic 8gb drive. It seemed like magic plugging in the PCI Card and then plugging in the coaxial cable to the VCR. Just like loading huge CPC cassette games! Then the magic wore off. I managed to retrieve maybe 3 word files before I gave up and bought a CD Rewriter then gave up and bought a 20gb hard disk.

protek · 09:08, 09 August 12

Quote from: steve on 19:26, 08 August 12
In the early 80's, there were adverts for devices that allowed the user to back up their hard drives to video tape, for a truly retro experience you could try that.

I have the exact opposite. You can back up your video tapes on hard disk. Talk about terrible picture quality.

Gryzor · 12:14, 09 August 12

These machines were still available till the early nineties IIRC. Another backup solution gem: print your data on paper, then sca them back. Seriously.

Bryce · 12:50, 09 August 12

So how much paper would I need to backup my 6TB of data? Obviously I would only print on one side of each sheet to avoid cross-talk

Bryce.

Gryzor · 12:52, 09 August 12

At the time I remember having an 800MB disk. With a small enough symbol set and compression it would not be very impractical. Then you remember how much printer ink costs and it makes sense to have a super SCSI setup to back things up...

News:

New CPC 464 owner needs help