
	Where results make sense

Topic: Rotronics Wafadrive

In the News (Fri 25 Dec 09)

Northern Trust

Marvin Harrison

Peter Chernin

Gary Locke

Match Play

Penelope Cruz

Mickey Rourke

AR Rahman

Danny Boyle

Hugh Jackman

	HARDWARE FEATURE
		The Wafadrive cartridges do not need protective casings, as the delicate tape is protected by an automatic sliding cover, similar in design to that on the Sony 3 inch microfloppy disks, although the Rotronics protection is made out of plastic instead of metal.
		However, the Wafadrive system does have slight differences because there are always two wafadrives present, as opposed to the numerous Microdrives that could be in the system.
		At the moment this seems to be a serious drawback to the Wafadrive's success, since none of the major software houses are producing their programs on Wafadrive cartridges (this is also a problem that has been encountered by Sinclair itself).
	www.worldofspectrum.org /hardware/feat1.html (2424 words)

	Sinclair User 32 - Hardware World
		THE ROTRONICS Wafadrive is likely to be the main competition to the Sinclair Interface One and microdrives.
		The power for the drives is taken from the Spectrum user port and fed through a ribbon connector which is fitted onto the base of the Wafadrive.
		The Wafadrive is sold with two manuals, two free wafers, a word processor package together with an extra manual describing its use.
	www.sincuser.f9.co.uk /032/hardwre.htm (1414 words)

	comp.sys.sinclair FAQ - ZX Spectrum Peripherals (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-08)
		The Rotronics Wafadrive is similar in concept to the ZX Interface I and Microdrive combination, although quite different in design.
		It attaches to the expansion connector of the original ZX Spectrum and is powered directly by the computer via a short ribbon cable; although a pass-through connector is included, further expansion is limited because of this.
		Although relatively popular as a bulk storage device, the Wafadrive was eventually sold off very inexpensively following the collapse of Rotronics in 1986, and very few commercial applications were available ('Spectral Writer', a word processing package, was included with the drive).
	www.outlawnet.com /~jboatno4/cssfaq/reference/peripherals.htm (2770 words)

	CRASH 48 - Tech Niche
		The Wafadrive mechanism was not developed by Rotronics but by two large firms, Astec and BSR.
		The biggest problem when using the Wafadrive is that it steals more than 2K of the Spectrum's memory as soon as you turn the interface on.
		Wafadrives aren't very fast, but you can get fairly good results if you understand a bit about the way they work.
	www.crashonline.org.uk /48/niche.htm (5323 words)

	Micro Mart - Feature Item
		The format received extremely limited support from software developers, however, and after the sale of Sinclair computers to Amstrad it was effectively killed off.
		An alternative looped tape system for the Spectrum was the Rotronics Wafadrive, an all-in-one double drive unit that accepted cartridges in 16K, 64K and 128K versions (access time decreased with capacity).
		Although it was slower at loading in data than the Microdrive, its lower data density made it a more reliable system and its syntax was much friendlier than the horrendous IF1 commands.
	www.micromart.co.uk /default.aspx?contentid=0a437af8-b1f5-4ffc-a6c8-f567007946de&featureid=1959 (626 words)

	Disk Reference (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-08)
		Within a few years, however, prices had fallen to such an extent that a large number of disk interfaces and drives were available that could be readily, and inexpensively, purchased by the 'average' user.
		In the intervening period, a number of alternative systems were developed, including the Rotronics Wafadrive and ZX Microdrive.
		Although marketed as a floppy-disk drive, the Triton Quick Disk can more accurately categorised as a 'stringly-floppy'-style system, like the ZX Microdrive and Rotronics Wafadrives, since 'disk' access is sequential rather than random.
	www.albertopalladini.it /spectrum/reference/diskreference.htm (1027 words)

	Your Spectrum 16 - Letters Page
		Well, a letter to Rotronics brought an offer of a replacement and this was despatched before they received my Wafadrive.
		A phone call came the same day the Wafadrive was delivered enquiring if things were OK. They weren't, so they suggested my Speccy spent a holiday at their place for a check-up where a faulty ULA was found and replaced.
		The Wafadrive may not be as fast as some but this more than makes up for it.
	www.users.globalnet.co.uk /~jg27paw4/yr16/yr16_19.htm (1964 words)

	Peripherals (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-08)
		The TS2020 is a simple cassette recorder, with built-in loudspeaker, tape counter, tone control and VU meter, designed for use with any of the Timex systems introduced to North America.
		One of the most appealing features is the ability to transfer programs to Microdrive, Disk, Wafadrive or Tape easily and quickly; saved programs can be compressed, and can be re-loaded without a Multiface being attached.
		In addition, it is possible to read through the contents of memory at any time, making the Multiface popular with games players and developers alike.
	www.albertopalladini.it /spectrum/reference/peripherals.htm (3021 words)

	Letters
		I bought a Wafadrive in your last offer and after a few weeks it started to fail.
		They suggested that the Speccy was at fault and provided a short ROM test program together with a quote for repairs.
		And praise indeed for Rotronics, but no less than we've found in our dealings with the company.
	www.ysrnry.co.uk /articles/letters13.htm (4206 words)

	HARDWARE FEATURE
		In the previous Hardware article we looked at the Rotronics wafadrive.
		However, users will not be limited only to Opus drives since the company claims that standard 5.25inch disk drives can also be added in the same manner.
		In common with Rotronics, Opus's philosophy in designing the machine is to provide not only a mass storage
	www.worldofspectrum.org /hardware/feat9.html (1519 words)

	comp.sys.sinclair FAQ - ZX Spectrum Documents (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-08)
		This.pdf version was produced by Alvin Albrecht, and is one of the few techincal references available for this machine.
		The original User Manual for the Wafadrive is believed to be missing, with no online copy having been produced or made widely available.
		However, the 'Command Summary' documentation has been converted to HTML format by Geoff Wearmouth (see the links page) and is available from Classic 8-Bit Computers.
	www.8bit-museum.de /cssfaq/resources/documents.htm (942 words)

	Wafadrive Model RW 2302 ZX Spectrum, Rotronics
		Retro Computer Hardware: Sinclair ZX Spectrum hardware and peripherals: Wafadrive Model RW 2302 ZX Spectrum
		Wafadrive Rotronics Model RW 2302 16/48 Version boxed
		Send us an email and we will try to help you as soon as possible.
	www.clive.nl /detail/23177 (87 words)

	Sinclair User 42 - News
		IF YOUR business is in chaos, SMT, in conjunction with Rotronics, may have just the package to sort out the mess.
		The package comprises a Spectrum Plus, Rotronics wafadrive, Rotronics DX85 printer, four wafers, a Centronics lead and three pieces of software - Finance Manager, Address Manager and Stock Manager - from Oxford Computer Publishing.
		The package would cost £540 if items were bought individually, but is currently available at £485 inclusive.
	www.sincuser.f9.co.uk /042/news.htm (2205 words)

	rotronics - Clive.nl
		Your search for rotronics found the following documents (of 3271 documents searched):
		Wafadrive Rotronics Model RW 2302 16/48 Version boxed, Rotronics
		Product information Wafadrive Model RW 2302 ZX Spectrum,
	www.clive.nl /cgi-bin/search/search.pl?Terms=rotronics (60 words)

	Documents (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-08)
		This.pdf version was produced by Alvin Albrecht, and is one of the few technical references available for this machine.
		The original User Manual for the Wafadrive is now available from World of Spectrum..
		If you need to repair a Sinclair machine, or are interested in learning more about how the systems are designed and constructed, the following Service Manuals may be of use to you.
	www.srcf.ucam.org /~pak21/cssfaq/resources/documents.htm (1220 words)

	CRASH 45 - News
		Logic Sales, which had bought Rotronics's £130 Wafadrives for a fiver each when the company crashed, managed to sell more than 180 at the fair - for £15 each!
		(The Wafadrive uses little square wafers that contain loose tape in 16K, 32K or 48K sizes; it has a dual drive and RS232/Centronics interfaces.)
		On the comms side, Micronet had a stand and sold VTXs and subscriptions in large quantities; Spectre Comms sold a new ROM for the VTX which makes it do wonderful things.
	www.crashonline.org.uk /45/news.htm (715 words)

	Usenet replayer's FAQ collection: comp.sys.cbm
		If you really wanted to use continuous tape on a Spectrum then Rotronics
		Wafadrive were more reliable and had better features.
		Is it true that the C=64 BASIC cannot do hi-res graphics?
	www.usenet-replayer.com /faq/comp.sys.cbm.html (1087 words)

	comp.sys.sinclair FAQ - Emulators - MS-DOS (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-08)
		Video modes are reproduced faithfully, and can be extensively configured.
		Also emulates the Multiface 1 / 128, Multiprint, the MGT DISCiPLE disc interface, the Opus Discovery, Rotronics Wafadrive, ZX Interface I (with networking support) and Microdrives, the Beta128 disc interface, the Kempston Mouse, several different audio interfaces, and more.
		Audio is well emulated, and can be extensively configured.
	www.outlawnet.com /~jboatno4/cssfaq/emulators/msdos.htm (596 words)

	Phonemark "Quick Data Drive" - info?, also WTD Commodore 15xx drive, info. (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-08)
		For curiosity's sake, I removed the cover and noticed that it uses a BSR (what ever happened to them?) mechanism.
		After a quick search online, I found out that the Rotronics Wafadrive (sp?) uses a very similar, if not identical type of cartridge.
		Does anyone have a spare QOS cartridge and/or a few blanks they feel like parting with?
	www.classiccmp.org /pipermail/cctalk/2003-January/013351.html (370 words)

	[No title]
		Source: Sinclair User May 84 Name: Rotronics Portable Case Manufacturer: SMT Price: £34.49 Blurb: The best accessory for your micro.
		Source: Sinclair User Oct 83 Name: Rotronics Wafadrive Manufacturer: SMT Price: £99.95 Blurb: Mass data storage unit.
		Source: ZX Computing Aug/Sep 85 Name: RZ1 Manufacturer: Stephen Adams Price: £20.00 Blurb: Allows you to control the tape motor and input/output select.
	www.phys.uni.torun.pl /~jacek/zx/doc/hardw99.txt (14156 words)

Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)