For a long time, connecting a ql to a modern monitor has been a problem in two respects. The professional was really for the apple mac market but i didnt have a mac at the time so i wrote it specifically on the ql using digital cs compiler and then later ported it to the mac it was actually a crazy plan that i had and it worked perfectly. Artificial intelligence on the sinclair ql make your micro think pdf 9. A wide range of hardware, including addons, upgrades and interfaces has been developed for the sinclair ql over the years, so much so, that it soon became apparent that the single ql expansion port was not sufficient for the average ql user.
Sinclair ql adventures a microadventurers handbook pdf 9. We sell a wide range of software and services for the retro sinclair ql home computer for you to purchase. Programmi per sinclair ql, 11 programmi in basic per il superbasic del computer sinclair ql. Its actually pretty common for ql software to contain bugs that cause unhandled exceptions as when running on sinclair roms most of these exceptions where simply ignored by qdos and many software authors didnt even have a chance of noticing the problem. Unfortunately the thing never really took off and the world is now dominated by intel based pcs and arm based portable devices.
The sinclair ql for quantum leap, is a personal computer launched by sinclair research in 1984, as an upperend counterpart to the sinclair zx spectrum. It has been some time since there was time to update this blog. Starting from the basics, the internal structure and register. Prism ql14 monitor for sinclair ql computer nightfall. Peter joined psion and started work as software engineer in their london converted warehouse. The programs, appearing months after the launch of the machine, are a sufficient improvement to make the ql a convincing option as an inexpensive business machine or word processor.
This core should support secondary sd card, but i couldnt find a working combination of sd card format and rom. Originally released in 2007, stiqqies has had a small update in 2019 to add home directory support and fix a few minor bugs. Ql software downloads most of the packages on this site are in zip file format ql zip and unzip packages are available from the archivers page on this site, and current versions can also be obtained from the website of the official maintainer of the qdos infozip package, jonathan hudson. This, of course wiped out a massive opportunity for the machine to have an huge established software collection. Sinclair ql tetroid disk interface memory expansion the tetroid disk interface is a memory expansion, disk interface and card reader for the sinclair ql.
Lovely sinclair ql miracle systems in very good condition hardly used. Note i took the opportunity to install the minerva rom v1. Jan 10th 2014 this new website is the repository to host the files of the sinclair ql preservation project sqpp. Its an interesting computer the sinclar ql, well interesting to me because its an underdog. However, there is still a blossoming trade in second hand software on sellmyretro. This page collects a small sampler of qdos software for use on qls and emulators.
I got some tips how to do that at ql mailing list, but the most valuable was experimenting on real ql and looking at excellent jm rom disassembly from c. The ql was the first sinclair computer to break away from the 8 bit z80 processor and to use the new motorola 32 bit 68000 series processor. Games, file handler, sound and graphics programs are included. Unfortunately the thing never really took off and the world is now dominated by intel based pcs and arm based.
Qlpui is a prototype of a modern gui for qdos, running on a q60 video card. It would be interesting to have a development blog for new hardware developments or mods. The prism ql 14 is a color monitor for sinclair ql. This project has been launched as part of the ql is 25 activities way back in 2009. Qemulator is an emulator of the sinclair ql home computer for mac os x and. Supporting two display modes, 256x256 pixels in 8 colours and 512x256 pixels in 4 colours, the sinclair ql was aimed at the small business market. Family tree program for sinclair ql in compiled superbasic and 68000 machine code. A broken sinclair ql from 1984 now functions as an enclosure for the rather more recent raspberry pi. Rwap software is offering the complete sinclair ql games collection 1 10 commercial ql games for only 5. So i wrote a few pieces of software back in the early 90s.
Here at ql heaven we are interested in the old magazines for sale as some have amazing bits of code as listings to type in and play about with. Qblog in spanish, but you could try automatic translation regularly posts articles about the ql and retrocomputing. Blog index and site links software for a sinclair ql. While the inexpensive microdrives sounds like a good idea, they are limited in speed and data capacity. The qlusers mailing list is the traditional virtual meeting place for all things ql. Only the qdos versions of the zip and unzip programs can write and read the qdos metadata. King amongst these was the qls storage devices, the woeful microdrives. Software sites tucows software library shareware cdroms software capsules compilation cdrom images zx spectrum doom level cd featured image all images latest this just in flickr commons occupy wall street flickr cover art usgs maps. It also shows how to use the hardware and software facilities of the ql, including the 8049 second processor. Home news wanted ads guestbook environmental about us contact us site map blog forums. When these were announced on ql forum, many of the early adopters remarked. These are mostly updated versions of older ql software from the company.
In 1986 he wrote a software blitter gmove as an extension to the superbasic language of the ql. Qlvga lets you connect a sinclair ql s rgb video output, from the 8pin din socket, to a monitor or tv with a computer vga video input. Erano registrati anche sulla cartuccia per microdrive allegata. Welcome to dilwyn joness ql information and pd software download pages. The sinclair ql is still strongly supported with a user group uk and bimonthly magazine, as well as the forums. As youll see, display driver for ql dithvide is nothing really difficult. Linus torvalds lbtsoft sinclair ql activities sinclair ql. Use the original sinclair device driver to access microdrive images. Sinclair ql and apple macintosh celebrate 30 years at the computer museum bolo on the epfl cmapus in lausanne, switzerland french. Ive added quite a few ql software packages from qbits to my site this week. The sinclair ql forum is a great web forum for ql related discussions. Rich mellor of rwap released 4 in a series of boxsets of ql software, to mark the 30th anniversary of the sinclair ql. All of the material here is for the sinclair ql and compatible computers and emulators only, unless otherwise stated. The repository sinclair ql preservation project sqpp.
The monitor has an scart input rgb but unfortunately that is not fully compatible with other devices that use the scart output as video. Commercially a failure and a bitter disappointment to gamers at the time hoping that the word quantum and uberfast microdrives would equate to a box of awesomeness and excel spectrum entertainment to new heights. New and improved psion software sinclair user 37 ql news. Quanta the sinclair ql user group sinclair ql wiki for indepth information about the sinclair ql, its hardware and software sinclair ql forum for help and general discussion about the sinclair ql sinclair ql homepage general information pages and the largest download site for software rwap software the last remaining sinclair ql trader. Since i started a real preservation exertion for all the software produced during the 80s and 90s, in order to avoid the socalled digital oblivion, the colleague stefano guida interviewed me about the work being carried out. That does not mean that nothing has been happening in ql heaven.
Some months ago in the sinclair ql italian mailing list we talked about microdrive cartridges imagingdumping. Here is a glimpse at some of things happening here. Sinclair has released version two of the ql bundled psion software, and is shipping it to qlub members as well as with new machines. This former commercial program was originally written by chris boutal and later sold with some updates by rich mellor through rwap software ukas part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of rwap software, it has now been released as freeware, complete with all sources to to. Use it on a ql to create images of your microdrive cartridges also works with any copyprotected software you own that can be used with the emulator. The ql was aimed at the serious home user and professional and executive users markets from small to large businesses and higher educational establishments, but failed to achieve commercial success. Qlpui provides a desktop, mouse pointer, window environment, window themes and scalable fonts select font load replace. Ql discussion lists and blogs follow the official qemulator blog. Media in category sinclair ql the following 23 files are in this category, out of 23 total. It adds 768k memory to the 128 of the plain vanilla ql, totaling the memory to 896 kilobytes. Helpful tips and guides, also new users can ask for help here.
Unfortunately, the ql was slow to market, while sinclair was fixing hardware and software bugs. Defect white screen ram problem replaced parts replaced 3 x 4264 ram. In 1982, tebby was hired by sinclair research as software engineer, part of the companys same grab for talent that brought david karlin into the fold. Backed with the success of the millionsellers zx81 and zx spectrum, sinclair research limited put everything on one card and established a complete ecosystem for the ql. Here are some of the projects that peter worked on in the first 12 months. The sinclair ql home computer was released by sinclair research limited in 1984 the successor to the earlier sinclair computers, the zx80, zx81 and zx spectrum. It has a multitasking operating system and open hardware design. This is the most common format for distributing ql software. The wiki is a great effort, a huge work task and i visit it very often, just to look at the recent updates. A powerful beast for its day 1984 but hobbled by pennypinching design constraints. All of the material here is for the sinclair ql and compatible computers and.
Assembly language programming on the sinclair ql explains all you need to know about programming the 68008 microprocessor, one of the most powerful chips currently available. Over the last few years many long lost items have been resurrected and several thousand files, may it be ql software, documentation or pictures became available again. All the software packages here are for the sinclair ql computer and its. Qlvga lets you connect a sinclair qls rgb video output, from the 8pin din socket, to a monitor or tv with a computer vga video input. The sinclair ql could be used with a tv set or a ttl colour monitor, and had a fullsized keyboard. Unfortunately, over the years, many of the original software houses and authors who supported the sinclair ql have fallen by the wayside or moved onto other markets. Its a very good source for information on soft and hardware and many more about the ql. A q68 was acquired and one irritation was the eddicon could not run on the 512x384 16 bit colour resolution screen as it only used a window 640x480. King amongst these was the ql s storage devices, the woeful microdrives. Stiqqies is a sticky note program for ql systems running window manager 2 which means any system running a recent smsqe or a very recent version of pointer environment on qdos. When it finally did ship in may 1984, some systems had the operating system in an external rom, which was plugged into the back of the system.
Qxlwin is a cross platform application that allows the internal structure of a qxl a sinclair ql emulator pseudo hard drive file to be explored and manipulated almost at will. Tynemouth software llp old computers, new computers, bespoke web design and software development, computer repairs, it and media services uk thursday, 3 december 2015 day 3 sinclair ql usb keyboard. Products for the sinclair ql, z88, zx spectrum and zx81. We are helping to promote both the sinclair zx80zx81 and the sinclair ql through development of new websites, including the sinclair zx80zx81 forums and the sinclair ql wiki which help to increase the amount of information available on the internet about these computers, and enthuse people into developing new hardware and software products. Qemulator is a software emulator of the ql, running as an application in the windows and mac os environments.
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