New QL user & owner

[stephen_usher]

That looks like it's an early development machine used internally within Sinclair. The date on the ROMs would be about a month after the announcement of the machine in the media but a few months before the dongle encrusted machines made it into people's hands.

I would be very surprised if the ROMs held a fully working copy of QDOS and SuperBASIC given how early they are.

[M68008]

Only 32KB ROM, interesting, maybe it needs a dongle, or is a pre-release.

[XorA]

Ive noticed from the PCB, its not called a QL its a zx83

[stephen_usher]

Indeed.

Really this machine should be in a museum.

[dilwyn]

Ive noticed from the PCB, its not called a QL its a zx83

Well, that was the original name of the QL pre-launch. The same ZX83 as the ZX8301 and ZX8302 chips.

[MetroZodiac]

After all your comments perhaps this is best left as it is after all, provided it works as it should (some parts naturally may need replacing).

Hopefully the RGB cable will arrive today so I can test, I will update everyone in due course with how it goes.

[XorA]

Ive noticed from the PCB, its not called a QL its a zx83

Well, that was the original name of the QL pre-launch. The same ZX83 as the ZX8301 and ZX8302 chips.

We know that, but it’s the first PCB I’ve personally seen with it written on!

[tofro]

Ive noticed from the PCB, its not called a QL its a zx83

Well, that was the original name of the QL pre-launch. The same ZX83 as the ZX8301 and ZX8302 chips.

Which at least tells us that there was room for 97 more custom chips for future QLs.......

[dilwyn]

Which at least tells us that there was room for 97 more custom chips for future QLs.......

[janbredenbeek]

- Most likely this QL came with a ROM port dongle holding at least additional 16 KB of the firmware (in a third 27128 EPROM IC), usually labelled 8000 (at address 8000 Hex). Do you have got a ROM port dongle or any additional EPROM ICs?

If it's a FB ROM, you might be able to complete it using the QLFB2.8000 image in the Thorn EMI Datatech archive (https://www.sinclairql.net/downloads/TH ... s-SQPP.zip). AFAIK there are no images around of the first 32K of this ROM.
(I've once had the opportunity to test a FB QL at a local computer store, in October 1984. You couldn't edit a 'bad line' and the microdrives gave up on loading Quill soon. Would be a collector's item by now ).