I’ve powered up my non-functioning MTX 512 using a known working power brick and back plate.  I’m still not seeing a signal from the composite output and am getting a blank screen and no sound from the RF output.

The unit is blowing fuses and it seems likely there is a short somewhere.  The ever helpful folks over at the Memorum forums have been eager to help and have been providing some excellent guidance.  It’s clear the previous owner has also made many attempts to revive the Memotech, there are signs all over the board of attempted repairs.  As yet I have not been able to track down where the short is.

I do have a working MTX 512 as well and with it the operator’s manual.  It’s a really interesting read and I’m intrigued by the relative ease with which the machine’s graphical abilities can be accessed.

I typed in a short demo listing which resulted in a spider shaped sprite moving at random around the screen leaving a web trail behind it.  My son saw this and immediately requested that I create a game where a fly would become trapped in the web and eaten by the spider.  I then found myself drawing out an 8×8 grid and creating a sprite.  That really brought back some memories.  If time allows I may attempt such a game.

Loading Games From A Phone

Unlike the Commodore 64 with its proprietary cassette interface, the MTX 512 has, like the Sinclair Spectrum, simple MIC in and Ear out jacks.  Over at MTXWorld there’s an excellent selection of MTX games in WAV sound format.  It’s therefore pretty straightforward to download these, play them via your modern computer’s sound card and load them into the MTX.  All that’s needed is a little bit of fiddling with levels.

It occurred to me it would be fun to try to put a catalogue of games on my phone and load them from there.  I dragged the WAV files into iTunes and converted them to AAC before dragging them onto my phone.  I connected the phone up to the MTX with a suitable audio cable, typed LOAD”” and played the WAV file, in this case a Pac-Man clone.  Nothing happened initially but once I’d turned up the volume to full the game loaded.

Another string in the bow of the MTX 512’s beautifully designed case is the ease of access it offers to the machine’s internals.  Three screws hold the endplates of the case in place, remove these and the top swings up rather like a car bonnet.  Disconnect the keyboard cable and remove one further screw on the bottom of the case and the mainboard slides out with ease.

Endplate Removal

On opening my non-functioning 512 I was presented with a bit of a horror story, clearly someone none too skilled with a soldering iron had made several attempts at repair in a number of areas.  Still, it would be rather churlish of me to complain too much given my own inexperience with soldering.

The first thing you tend to notice when you open up the machine is the prominent electrolytic capacitors on the right of the board.  Unlike most machines of the era, the external power supply for the MTX is a simple transformer, voltage regulation is taken carry of in the machine itself.

Disconnected Capacitor And Other Damage

On close inspection I noticed the fast blow fuse on the board was blown, of the two large electrolytic capacitors, one radial and one axial, the latter was actually disconnected from the board at one end.  There was a fair amount of evidence of poor soldering including some melting to the rear case plastics.

New to the Memotech I enquired at the Memorum forum as to what the best course of action would be.  Everyone there was very helpful and Mark gave me a detailed run down of how to put a meter on the voltage regulators and check for the correct readings.

RF Signal From Working Memotech

I ordered a couple of suitable new capacitors and replaced the originals.  This was relatively straightforward and given my lack of soldering skills completed with much relief without causing any further damage.

On reassembly the machine is still not putting out any video via the composite connection.  There appears to be something coming from the RF output as I can almost tune in to it without quite locking on to the signal, something I can do with the same television and my other working machine.

To be fair however even the soldering on the connections to the video outputs looks suspect so the next task is to unplug the backplate and try the known working one in its place.