Matthew Zenkar
PO Box 12534
Rochester, NY 14612-0534
USA
716-663-2048 after 6pm
eastern time
October 8, 1987
SINCLAIR COMPUTER USERS SOCIETY
C/O MR PAUL HILL
JOHNSON CITY, NY 13790
USA
Dear Prospective Customer:
I have a new RAM expansion board available for the Sinclair QL computer which is presently being advertised in Computer Shopper Magazine and Sinclair QL World Magazine. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about my expansion.
With the RAM board installed, you will have a total RAM memory area of 640K available. With multitasking software that is available from other sources, you will be able to load and run all four of the software packages that were included with the computer. While the programs do not run simultaneously, you are able to keep them resident and switch back and forth between them. With RAM disk software, also available from other sources, you will be able to configure the RAM expansion into a very fast RAM DISK which is about one-hundred times faster than a floppy disk.
The board plugs into the expansion port and is small enough so that you can reinstall the expansion port cover if you are not using another interface. With four-layer printed circuit technology, I bring every single line of the expansion port to the other side of my board so that you can plug in another interface and run it simultaneously with my RAM board. The expansion port on my board is the same electrically as that within the QL itself. Some of the other RAM expansions, like the one made by Miracle Systems, do not do this. The result is that some of the available disk interfaces will not work with their board. My board will work with any available disk interface with the exception of three and with those three, it will not work only because the memory on them will occupy the same space as it does on my board. These three are the SANDY 256K SUPER Q BOARD, SANDY 512K SUPER Q BOARD, and MIRACLE SYSTEMS TRUMP CARD. (I do not sell any of these interfaces.) However, it will work with the unexpanded SANDY SUPER Q BOARD which has no additional memory on it. The result will be something like the TRUMP CARD except, the total available RAM area will be 640K.
I believe I have done what I have set out to do and that is, design the best available RAM expansion for the Sinclair QL computer. The only board on the market that even comes close to preforming as well as mine does is the RAM board made by CST. Their advertisement in “Sinclair QL World Magazine” boast that their board is the only board available that operates with the high performance of “zero-wait state operation”. Not any more. QL owners in general have also experienced the unpleasent fact that most interfaces draw large amounts of power causing excessive heating and power surge problems, especially when used in conjuntion with disk interfaces. Special circuitry on my board enables me to shut off all unused circuits when not needed, unlike the circuits on other boards which remain active, thusly reducing the overall amount of current consumed by the board. Also, I am including in the circuitry a special kind of surge suppression device which because of its response time will eliminate any power line noise from within the entire QL power system. The cover I am supplying for other interfaces is black-anodized aluminum, unlike the painted and plastic covers offered by other manufacturers.
I am so confident in the reliability and the fact that you will like this board that I am offering a guarantee and a warantee with the unit.
Guarantee: If for any reason other than outlined below, you are not satisfied with your MZ512K RAM expansion board within thirty days after you receive it, return it postage paid to me for a full refund.
Warantee: If your unit should fail for any reason other than outlined below due to defects in materials and workmanship during the first five-years of ownership, return it to me postage paid. Include funds sufficient for the return postage; I will repair and return your unit in a timely manner.
The guarantee or warantee will not cover problems arising from owner misuse, abuse, or problems arising from use of the board with Sinclair QL computers that have been modified to operate at clock speeds greater than the normal 7.5 MHZ.
If you were to order the CST 512K RAM expansion you would have to pay $230.00 for it as compared with my price of $130.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling.
Should you choose to order my unit for your QL, send check or money order for $135.00 made payable to Matthew Zenkar; or, include your VISA/MC card number, expiration date, and signature to the address given at the top of this letter. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Matthew Zenkar