Selling

Memotech hardware appears mainly on eBay from time to time. Most usually its on the UK site. Here are some recommendations to sellers, which can also be read from the perspective of a clued-up buyer.

eBay listers are generally very good, but it doesn't hurt to have the checklist at the end of this page.

The label on Memotech MTX keyboards can be very misleading. It might say MTX500, MTX512, MTX512 S2, MTX 2000, Multi-Effect Video Wall, or even something else. But this is actually a very poor guide, or even no guide at all as to what the machine actually is. Over the years, systems have been failing and it seems likely people have been doing the computer equivelent of cut-n-shut in the car industry. My SDX says MTX S2 on the case, but it certainly doesn't have 256KB of RAM. I bought what was labelled as MTX512, only to find out it was an MTX500, ie: it had 32KB of RAM on the motherboard.

The sizes of the DRAM chips on the MTX motherboard doesn't necessarily give a true indication of the amount of memory available. So after startup, its worth displaying the amount of memory available to MTX BASIC, using PRINT PEEK(64122). The motherboard is designed so that 8 x half-working / factory-seconds 64Kbit DRAMs can be inserted, but only the good 32KB of them used.

If it has a MTX512 S2 label, there is a good chance the motherboard has 4256 DRAM chips, and 64KB is visible to MTX BASIC (ie: PRINT PEEK(64122) returns 1), but 208KB is visible in RELCPMH=1 mode.

Some computers that appear as MTX512s with 64KB are actually motherboards with 8 x 32KBit DRAMs, and an additional memory card added in the inside.

Not all Memotech MTXs for sale are working.

Not all Memotech MTXs generate a good stable TV picture. Expect to get a much better picture on a CRT TV rather than LCD.

Not all Memotech MTXs for sale have keyboards in good working order, or keyboards that work at all.

Not all Memotech MTXs come with a PSU.

FDXs are really rare, and often don't work, or the owner often doesn't have system disks to use them.

SDXs are also really rare. They can be old style or new style. They can use 2 x 5.25", 1 x 5.25" or 1 x 3.5" drives. The 3.5" drives are often in the SDX unit case. Some later SDXs with a 3.5" drive also have an extra 512KB of memory, although this may not show up in the memory PEEK above. Some SDX systems also include a combined 80-column and RS232 card inside the MTX case.

FDXs and SDXs can be using different sizes of floppies, typically known as 320KB type 03 or 640KB type 07. This is true for 5.25" and 3.5" systems.

Really really rare items include FDX with 3.5" drive(s), 8" drive add-on to a FDX/HDX, HDX hard disk system (like an FDX), Videowall MTXs and Videowalls themselves.

Checklist

Therefore the recommendations for selling an MTX are :-

• Show photograph of the TV screen once its been powered on
  • One after you've typed in a long message, using lots of keys on the keyboard
  • One after typing PRINT PEEK(64122)
• Show photograph(s) of the outside
• Show photograph(s) of the insides
  • Make sure the writing on the memory chips on the top-left of the board (grid positions B2 to C5) are visible on one of the pictures
  • Make sure whether there are 2 or 3 ROM chips on the bottom-right of the board (grid positions H8 to H10) is visible on one of the pictures
• Show the extras, such as PSU, manual, tapes, etc..

For selling an FDX, use MTX recommendations plus :-

• Show a photograph of the 80 column card output, ideally after having booted to CP/M, and after CONFIG has run, or if you have no boot disk, whilst it is trying to boot
• If it has Silicon disk, show it
• Mention whether you have boot disk(s) and what software you have on disk
• If you have no boot disk, it might be possible to arrange one - ask

For selling an SDX, use MTX recommendations plus :-

• Show a photograph of the SDX unit itself, and the drive(s) it connects to
• Show a photograph of inside the SDX unit
• Show 80 column monitor output, if you have that feature
• Show a photograph of the system having booted to CP/M, if you have this feature
• Show a photograph of the TV output of ROM 3 or possibly ROM 5 (one of these should work), followed by USER DIR, when there is a floppy in the drive. If its a Memotech formatted floppy with a 59K CP/M system, you could see a file listing, else you'll get disk errors. If your system boots CP/M you'll need to use the MTX or MTXL command to switch to MTX BASIC before you can use the above commands
• Mention what software you have on disk
• If you have no floppies, I can send a suitable 3.5" test disk. It might also be possible to arrange a 5.25" test disk, although this is harder

General recommendations for selling misc Memotech items :-

• Photograph boards or software
• Photograph screens showing them in use
• Unsure what you've got? Send me pictures and I'll do my best

If you want to get the attention of Memotech collectors and enthusiasts, then posting to the MEMOTECH MTX-500 Facebook group is one way to do it.