Divarin
Veteran Member
Hi all. I've had a Sinclair Spectrum +2 (gray model) in my collection and haven't been able to use it due to not being able to get reliable video out of it.
First off, I am aware of the manufacturing issue where transistors were installed backwards and have already reversed the one transistor that's related to video output.
Second, for reference I am in the US (NTSC land) but I do have one monitor (a Marshall Lynx) that will work with both NTSC and PAL signals. I also have another PAL monitor (it's an LCD tv/monitor designed for use on a piece of Nautilus exercise equipment).
The Lynx has the following inputs available: VGA, Composite, DVI, YPrPb, S-Video
The Nautilus has the following inputs available: VGA, Composite, RGB, S-Video, RF (PAL only)
Now here's what I have tried:
I picked up an RGB to SCART cable from Retro Computer Shack.
I don't have any SCART input so...
First I picked up a cheap SCART to Composite adapter, which I now know isn't doing any kind of active translation it's just taking the composite signal (if there is one) and passing it along. If I hook this up then I get an almost black signal but if you turn the brightness way up and squint you can see the computer is working. I'm assuming either there is no composite coming out of the computer on this port (given the port is labeled RGB that makes sense) or the scart cable from Retro Computer Shack just didn't wire it up.
As for the Nautilus I tried to connect the RF output of the spectrum to this monitor's RF input but unfortunately I don't have the remote for the monitor and it seems that it's impossible to program the channels without it so I'm stuck on channel 1, and I don't see anything there. I did also try connecting the computer to an NTSC tv and go through the channels thinking maybe I'd see something even if it was all messed up but didn't see anything. I really don't know what channel I'm supposed to be tuning into, but regardless I'd prefer not to use RF anyway if I can avoid it.
Then I picked up a SCART RGB breakout cable which has BNC connectors for Red, Green, Blue, Yellow (presumed composite) and two RCA connectors: Red, White (I presume this is right/left audio)
I connected the Red, Green, Blue to the Lynx's Pr, Y, Pb jacks (respectively) and got no signal.
Then I figured that maybe the Lynx is trying to sync on green but there's no sync on either of these cables, only on the composite so I connected the Yellow to the Y jack and got a purple flickering picture (computer appears to be running fine)
Also, there is a 4th BNC connector on the Lynx near the Y Pb Pr jacks but has no label. I thought maybe this is for external sync so I tried connecting the yellow cable there but this didn't do anything. Maybe it's not wired up? I don't know why they put a BNC connector there if it doesn't do anything.
So, my next best guess is that somehow I need to get the sync signal mixed in with the green and pipe that into Y but if the only sync is on the composite won't that cause a lot of issues with Red, Green, Blue, and Sync all being mixed together?
That's where I am right now.
First off, I am aware of the manufacturing issue where transistors were installed backwards and have already reversed the one transistor that's related to video output.
Second, for reference I am in the US (NTSC land) but I do have one monitor (a Marshall Lynx) that will work with both NTSC and PAL signals. I also have another PAL monitor (it's an LCD tv/monitor designed for use on a piece of Nautilus exercise equipment).
The Lynx has the following inputs available: VGA, Composite, DVI, YPrPb, S-Video
The Nautilus has the following inputs available: VGA, Composite, RGB, S-Video, RF (PAL only)
Now here's what I have tried:
I picked up an RGB to SCART cable from Retro Computer Shack.
I don't have any SCART input so...
First I picked up a cheap SCART to Composite adapter, which I now know isn't doing any kind of active translation it's just taking the composite signal (if there is one) and passing it along. If I hook this up then I get an almost black signal but if you turn the brightness way up and squint you can see the computer is working. I'm assuming either there is no composite coming out of the computer on this port (given the port is labeled RGB that makes sense) or the scart cable from Retro Computer Shack just didn't wire it up.
As for the Nautilus I tried to connect the RF output of the spectrum to this monitor's RF input but unfortunately I don't have the remote for the monitor and it seems that it's impossible to program the channels without it so I'm stuck on channel 1, and I don't see anything there. I did also try connecting the computer to an NTSC tv and go through the channels thinking maybe I'd see something even if it was all messed up but didn't see anything. I really don't know what channel I'm supposed to be tuning into, but regardless I'd prefer not to use RF anyway if I can avoid it.
Then I picked up a SCART RGB breakout cable which has BNC connectors for Red, Green, Blue, Yellow (presumed composite) and two RCA connectors: Red, White (I presume this is right/left audio)
I connected the Red, Green, Blue to the Lynx's Pr, Y, Pb jacks (respectively) and got no signal.
Then I figured that maybe the Lynx is trying to sync on green but there's no sync on either of these cables, only on the composite so I connected the Yellow to the Y jack and got a purple flickering picture (computer appears to be running fine)
Also, there is a 4th BNC connector on the Lynx near the Y Pb Pr jacks but has no label. I thought maybe this is for external sync so I tried connecting the yellow cable there but this didn't do anything. Maybe it's not wired up? I don't know why they put a BNC connector there if it doesn't do anything.
So, my next best guess is that somehow I need to get the sync signal mixed in with the green and pipe that into Y but if the only sync is on the composite won't that cause a lot of issues with Red, Green, Blue, and Sync all being mixed together?
That's where I am right now.