CPC noob!

[ElB]

Hullo, all!  I've been collecting old computers for a while, and I've recently been given a 464 with a green-screen, MP-1 (I assume -- the badge has come off, and there are no other markings anywhere), and a random assortment of games.  I know pretty much nothing about the CPC -- I only knew one person who owned one back in the day -- so I've got a few questions:

• The modulator seems to be a bit flaky, and the top half of the picture is badly distorted; is it easily repairable, or should I try and track down one in better condition?  (I know I can build a SCART cable, but as a collector I like to have the original bits up and running.)
• Are there any copy-protection schemes that will prevent reliable archiving of the games?  Some of them seem to be on the verge of failing, so I'd like to save them before it's too late; my normal procedure is just to play the tapes in a regular cassette player and sample them at 96KHz then compress the files using FLAC.
• Once archived, is there any way to connect an external audio source to the CPC, or will I need to transfer everything back to cassette again?
• Is there a CPC-specific marketplace anywhere?  eBay doesn't have much to offer.

Thanks!

[ukmarkh]

This should get you started, plus there are many links off it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bv3d3pmA9U

[ElB]

Not quite what I was after, but it's a start -- I was hoping more for an internal connection that I can connect an input jack to, so I'll study the schematics and see if I can figure it out.

[Cholo]

About the MP1 .. donno how to fix it, but you should be able to find another one on ebay or the like fairly easy and fairly cheap too. They also sell remade scart cables on ebay from time to time and it gives you a much MUCH better image. Also note that the MP1 can give you troubles with some games (like Ghost N goblins) that dont show right.

You can also try asking if Dataserve want to fix it.
http://www.dataserve-retro.co.uk
They also have a working colour monitor i see.

Backing up tape games: Sure most games can be saves as wav/voc as a backup. The problem is that most games do have protections on them (loading protections) so you sometimes need to play a lot to get the right recording settings. I use Goldwave myself at mono 22000. Most of the emulators like Winape or Cpce can load wav/voc tapes so you can test if your backup is working.  Or you can use a cd-2-tape adapter to play the audio on your pc and see if it loads in the real cpc. Getting backup back on tapes requires that you have a tape recorder of cause and it can be as tricky to get em back as when recording.

Some also convert the games wav/voc to the small CDT (same as Tzx) format. That sometimes makes the backup much more easy to handle when recording back to tape. Making cdt's are really hard as that involves knowing what protection scheme is used.

Also note that a lot of tapes has already been made to cdt so you can find them online like at Phenix:
http://www.phenixinformatique.com/CPCGAMES/

But i understand if you want to make your own backups of your own tapes too (im doing that also).

[ukmarkh]

Can someone do me a favour? When using my scart connection in conjunction with my 6128 Plus model, in games such as Savage, where the screen shakes, the whole display just turns blue and the picture is momentarily lost. Once the screen image stops shaking, things return to normal. Does anyone else get this problem using a scart connector on a CRT?