CPC and bundled monitors

[chinnyhill10]

Read somewhere that because the 464 was a 'whole solution'  and didn't include an RF modulator it was exempt from EMI testing ? Hence the total lack of shielding, can remember every time I turned on my 464 the TV would go a bit apeshit.

The design document for the CPC Plus specifically states that the Plus machines had to meet the new EEC standards for 1992.


If you want interference, try a Spectrum. You can pick up the audio on FM, and it destroys any nearby AM radio signal.


I also wonder if having to meet new standards for 1992 also motivated Amstrad to produce the Plus and remove the Spectrum from sale. May have also been a motivation for the CPC Plus.


I also recall the specifications caused headaches for the successors to MGT who were still trying to sell the Sam Coupe.

[Bryce]

If you want interference, try a Spectrum. You can pick up the audio on FM, and it destroys any nearby AM radio signal.

The Spectrum is a disaster (I wonder if the name "Spectrum" referred to the "Radio Spectrum" that it covered ).
The problem is with the way they convert the 9VAC up to 12V DC. The coil in the circuit is a very good transmitter. On the positive side, it's a handy way of testing the computer. If you can't here the coil whining, then the 12V rail is missing and you need to swap the two transistors.

Bryce.

[Sykobee (Briggsy)]

In the 80s, the bundled monitor was great - houses usually only had one TV that accepted RF, the monitor gave a better signal, and meant the computer didn't have to live by the TV, and not be accessible at times when anyone else wanted to use the TV.


However the Pluses should have come with a SCART adapter cable, and the monitors sold separately. OTOH maybe the monitor only cost Amstrad a few quid by then. The Plus needed to be cheaper (amongst other things).


A lot of people upgrading from CPCs to Amigas bought adapter cables to use the old CPC monitor with the Amiga.

[Carnivius]

A lot of people upgrading from CPCs to Amigas bought adapter cables to use the old CPC monitor with the Amiga.

I went from CPC 464 to Amiga 1200 and I never heard of such cables. 

[VincentGR]

I went from CPC 464 to Amiga 1200 and I never heard of such cables. 

I made one back in the days just for fun. I had a 1084.
When I plugged it I saw the difference between the two monitors.
C= 1084 had "black" with great colors and ctm was really awful after that.

[CraigsBar]

I went from CPC 464 to Amiga 1200 and I never heard of such cables. 

It was not just Amigas and STs either.... I got an adaptor cable to use my CTM 640 on my Sega Megadrive


Craig

[chinnyhill10]

I went from CPC 464 to Amiga 1200 and I never heard of such cables. 

They were offered for sale by WAVE who used to take out full page adverts in Amstrad Action.


Also the technical letters page of both New Computer Express and AA frequently featured people asking how to connect a CTM to various machines.

Personally I had a new Phillips monitor with my Amiga 1200. Didn't really want my crusty old CTM with its poor geometry and no speakers stinking up my new A1200!

[Carnivius]

They were offered for sale by WAVE who used to take out full page adverts in Amstrad Action.
Also the technical letters page of both New Computer Express and AA frequently featured people asking how to connect a CTM to various machines.

Can't say I noticed them.  I never paid much attention to techy stuff in them whether it was articles or adverts.  I was all about the games.

[seanb]

It was not just Amigas and STs either.... I got an adaptor cable to use my CTM 640 on my Sega Megadrive

Craig

I got a cable for my Plus monitor for my brothers megadrive back int' daay