Its crazy how i have 3 tandy computers and 3 sharp computers and we just had #sharptember AND #septandy and i missed both of them 😭
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Minesnake on the Sharp MZ-80A.
Minesnake on the Sharp MZ-80A.
Minesnake on the Sharp MZ-80A.
Minesnake on the Sharp MZ-80A.
It's almost the end of #sharptember , so I'll finish with some screenshots of my game Minesnake on the MZ-80A. I've learned a lot since I made it, and would have done a lot differently now. But the concept is still good, I think. It's on Itch.io.
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Day 273(30) - As #sharptember comes to an end, a few last words. Remember, a Sharp isn't just for Christmas, it's for life. And like all good relationships you'll have your ups and downs ... 1/2
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Day 272(29) - #sharptember - The month is nearly over, but we can't go without talking about the Latte Caputer, or 'RaTeCaPuter' - radio, television, cassette and, most excitingly, computer! This dates back to 1979, and seems to be based on a similar architecture to their pocket computers ... 1/2
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Custom DOUBLE D controller on top of copies of Libble Rabble and Crazy Climber 1 and 2 for Sharp's X68000
I got around to testing the DOUBLE D on the 3 games can use it on X68000 today. All work as intended just like Libble Rabble for FM Towns.
Closing out #Sharptember in style.
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#Sharptember A chance find amongst a bunch of tapes I won in an auction turned up something pretty interesting, a compilation tape of games written by Col Needham (the inventor of IMDb) and possibly his master tape from which he sold his mail order games. Here's his game "UFO Attack".
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Day 271(28) - #sharptember - As the 80s moved into the 90s, interest in pocket computers moved to laptops and PDAs - but the pocket computer didn't die out in Japan, as they found their ways into schools and universities as cheap tools to teach programming ... 1/2
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Day 270(27) - #sharptember - It wouldn't be Sharp if they didn't come up with two different, and incompatible, ways of solving a problem. If the Sharp PC-1500 and PC-1600 are 'real' computers shrunk down to pocket size, the PC-1245 and PC-1246 are pocket calculators scaled up ... 1/3
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#Sharptember If you replace the CG-ROM file in the emulator with the Japanese one you can play Japanese MZ games with the correct graphics showing. Here's a bit of Namco's Galaxian demonstrating the much coveted single pixel graphic character that was not available in the western ROM.
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Day 269(26) - #sharptember - The last of the 'classic' range of Sharp pocket PCs is the PC-1600 from 1986. We've now got a real Z-80A (3.5Mhz), plus an LH-5803 to ensure compatibility with the PC-1500. There's 16K of RAM (up to 80K), a 156x32 display, RS-232 and optical IO ... 1/2
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Photo of a Sharp scientific calculator (EL-512) and pocket computer (PC-1251). The calculator's screen reads "deAdbEEF" and "HEX", showing that a conversion from decimal to hexadecimal has taken place. The pocket computer's screen reads "FULLY WORKING LCD? NICE!", showing that that LCD on the computer is unusually fully working.
I did pick a couple of new Sharp devices in the month of #sharptember - a programmable scientific calculator, the surprisingly small EL-512, and a "faulty" PC-1251 for parts to replace the front cover on the one I damaged when replacing the LCD. Amazingly, the original LCD on the 1251 fully works!
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#Sharptember The popular "Greedy Gremlins" game, this time for the MZ-80A. I recently rescued this from an official Knights tape - I don't think I realised there was an MZ-80A version until now! It makes use of the 80A's inverse display quite a lot.
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Day 268(25) - #sharptember - Just a year after the PC-1211, Sharp are back with this, the PC-1500 - a proper 8 bit computer in your pocket! Wikipedia says it's a Z-80 in there - it's not really, it's a unique CMOS CPU developed by Sharp that's similar, but not compatible ... 1/3
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Day 267(24) - #sharptember - Another day, another range of Sharp computers. But these adorable machines have a special place in my heart after I fell in love with this one, all the way back in 1980. The Sharp PC-1211 ... 1/3
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Day 266(23) - #sharptember - And finally, we have the stunning, rare and viciously expensive Sharp X68000. I don't own one of these, and looking at their prices online, I suspect I never will. This is Japan's answer to the Amiga or ST, yet it was never sold on these shores ... 1/4
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Day 265(22) - #sharptember - I've just spent the last 21 days breaking down Sharp's MZ range of computers. So I hope you're sitting comfortably when I tell you there's ANOTHER complete range of Sharp micros - the X1 series! ... 1/5
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Sharp MZ-80K with green cursor / space bar / carriage return keys.
A photo from yesterday, of the MZ-80K at the National Museum of Computing @tnmoc.bsky.social. The cursor keys are green. On mine (and every other MZ-80K I've seen) they're yellow. I wonder why this one is so odd? The blue keys are also closer to turquoise. Left in the sunlight too long? #Sharptember
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Day 264(21) - #sharptember - I thought I'd leave the first MZ to last because it's not really a computer in the traditional sense - but it's so bizarre I couldn't ignore it completely. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Sharp MZ-40K ... 1/3
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The Sharp MZ-80A can only use character graphics, but fortunately there are a few characters dedicated to pseudopixels. So I made a picture. #sharptember
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Day 263(20) - #sharptember - Although we might have met all of the 'classic' MZ machines, don't think we're done with the MZ series entirely. Oh no. There's many curious machines in their business line up - like this, the MZ-2800, half Z80B based MZ-2500 clone, half 286 PC ... or ... 1/6
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Day 262(19) - #sharptember - It might look like a bit of up market hi-fi, but this is really the last of the 'classic' range of Sharp MZs - the MZ-2500, or 'Super MZ' from 1985. Alongside the cassette drive, we're now embracing the future with a pair of 3.5" floppies ... 1/3
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Day 260(17) - #sharptember - So here's the second replacement for the MZ-700 - the MZ-800! As I understand it, this one was only (mostly?) for export and took a slightly different route from yesterday's MZ-1500 ... 1/3
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Day 260(17) - #sharptember - In classic Sharp fashion, when it came to replacing the MZ-700, they did so with two similar looking (but very different internally) machines - the Japan-only MZ-1500 and the mostly for export MZ-800 ... 1/3
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#Sharptember One of the more popular assembler environments on the MZ was Avalon's program Zen. It's a simple line editor and here I show a few of the commands. E to enter lines of code. P which prints x number of lines of the program and T to target a line of the program. /1
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Day 259(16) - #sharptember - Blimey, we're over halfway through the month and we've only just got to the MZ-700 ( #sharptober anyone?). Deep down, this is kinda an MZ-80A with colour - and it still loads BASIC off tape - but feels much more like a home microcomputer ... 1/3
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Day 258(15) - #sharptember - While we've got the MZ-2000 on the table, let's take a peek inside. As always, pause to admire the strut that keeps the lid up! ... 1/4
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I made one of these! Not the same model (this is the Sharp MZ-80c)
#3dmodeling #WorldofHorror #sharptember #retro
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Day 257(14) - #sharptember - The MZ-80B was replaced in June 1982 with this, the just as pretty (if not prettier) MZ-2000. Like the 80B, it's got a 4Mhz Z80, 64K of memory and a software controlled tape drive that's quite prone to failure ... 1/2
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