For many post-Soviet computer enthusiasts, the ZX Spectrum was the first home computer. And for some, even the starting point in programming. In this material, we again recall the legendary development of the British company Sinclair.

The development of the computer market in the 70s was at an early stage. The industry was still far from making this product mass-produced. Therefore, for the most part, computers were complex devices designed to perform any large-scale tasks. But by the end of the decade, people were wondering, “Why not use these machines as a tool for entertainment?” Their voices were heard, and some manufacturers began to release special kits for self-assembly of the gaming system. However, the disadvantages of this approach far outweighed its few advantages. Firstly, such sets were very difficult to find on sale. Secondly, even if they succeeded, their cost was beyond reasonable. For the money that was asked for a set, it was quite realistic to buy a good used car. And thirdly, there was frankly little software for such sets. Why would a user spend several thousand dollars on a computer for which there is not a single cool application? In short, to develop the idea of ​​creating a device for recreation and entertainment, a different approach was needed. One of them was proposed by the British company Sinclair Research, headed by Clive Sinclair.

The idea of ​​the company was to create the most simple and affordable computer that would combine ease of learning and programming and, of course, low price. This was supposed to solve the main problem of the aforementioned PC building kits - the lack of a software base. Ease of operation would allow users to write numerous applications themselves. This is exactly the path that Sinclair Research took when developing its ZX Spectrum computer. However, before we get to the story of the legend, we will pay a little attention to the history of Sinclair Research itself.

History of Sinclair Research

Clive Sinclair created a company called Sinclair Radionics in 1961. At first, he did not have partners - he developed his business alone. Clive was engaged in the fact that he sold radio components by mail (Sinclair Radionics even produced several successful radio designers). At the same time, Sinclair tried to launch several innovative devices. For example, in 1970, an unusually designed turntable was introduced. Instead of the traditional round record stand, it used a triangular structure with weights mounted on top. According to Sinclair, this reduced the vibrations transmitted from the mount to the playback head and also kept the vinyl record from getting dirty. Nevertheless, almost no one showed interest in the development, and the device never reached the store shelves. More precisely, to the post office of Sinclair himself.

The Neoteric 60 Hi-Fi amplifier repeated the unfortunate fate of the unusual turntable. At that time, the competition in this segment was extremely high, and Sinclair tried to conquer the market with unusual products, which was the Neoteric 60. However, the company was again out of luck - Hi-Fi -amplifier sold badly.

One might get the impression that the first decade of the company was marked exclusively by failed projects. However, financial reports say otherwise: by 1971, the company's annual turnover was 560,000 pounds with a net profit of 90,000 pounds. At the same time, the staff of the company was replenished with 50 new employees. Things were going uphill.

The 1970s can safely be called the "calculator era" of Sinclair. At this time, the company released two models of pocket calculators. One of them became the first commercially successful product. This could not even be prevented by a large number of shortcomings of the device, including their unreliability. The second model was intended for a more serious market, but it never got a foothold. Initially, it was created simply as a device with an extended set of functions, but Sinclair made an attempt to turn the gadget into an office computer, and this attempt failed miserably.

Computer ZX80

In the second half of the 70s, Sinclair Research began developing an inexpensive household computer. Engineer Jim Westwood was responsible for the project. In 1980, the process of creating the device was completed. ZX80 appeared. It was the first computer in the world whose cost did not exceed hundreds of pounds. Also on sale you could find the ZX80 in the form of a kit for self-assembly. This version did cost 79.95 pounds.

The developers managed to achieve such a low price by simplifying the element base and using rather primitive components. The popular at that time Zilog Z80 with a frequency of 3.25 MHz was used as the central processor. And to be more precise, a clone of this "stone" produced by NEC. Crystal had several advantages. It not only had a low cost, but also (due to its internal architecture) required fewer logic chips. The amount of RAM was only 1 KB, but that was enough to run the programs needed by the user. Plus, it was possible to install an additional 16 KB of RAM in the form of expansion cards. The ROM was 4 KB, and the Sinclair BASIC programming language was already sewn into it. And to store the written programs, ordinary tape recorders and audio cassettes were used.

Interestingly, the ZX80 did not have a video controller. The image was formed with minimal participation of iron - the operation was performed primarily due to the software part. The main and very significant drawback of this approach was that the ZX80 was able to display a picture only in those moments when it was not busy executing the program. Before displaying new graphics, the screen simply went blank. By the way, the ZX80 specifications did not provide for the use of any special monitor, an ordinary TV served as a screen, which was also a plus for ordinary users.

As for the “exterior” of the ZX80, the appearance of the computer was more like a game console than a computer. It was a small white plastic box, with a membrane keyboard located on it, on which there were no symbols, only commands. The user simply pressed the register button and selected the appropriate BASIC command. This greatly simplified the process of writing programs.

Despite its shortcomings, the ZX80 became hugely successful. Of course, the cost of the gadget also played a major role in this. Already in the first months after the release, a queue formed for the purchase of the ZX80 and there was a shortage of devices, which Sinclair Research did not expect at all.
Computer ZX81

In 1981, the next generation of the computer called the ZX81 was introduced. The cost was further reduced, with the DIY kit now available for the ridiculous price of £49.95. The finished computer was slightly more expensive at £69.99, which was still cheaper than the equivalent ZX80 version. By the way, ZX81 became the first Sinclair device, which was sold not only by mail, but also through retail chains. As for the technical characteristics, the “heart” of the computer was the same NEC Z80 processor with a frequency of 3.25 MHz. The amount of RAM remained the same (1 KB), which caused particular dissatisfaction among users. Such a modest amount of "brains" severely limited the possibilities for creating new applications. Expansion cards could solve the problem, which increased the capacity of RAM to 16 KB, but the cost of some of them was comparable to the price of the ZX81 itself. The amount of ROM has grown to 8 KB, and the embedded language Sinclair BASIC has acquired support for floating point arithmetic.

Interestingly, the ZX81 again did not receive a video controller. To somehow compensate for its absence, Sinclair came up with two modes of operation: slow and fast. In fast mode, the ZX81 performed just like its predecessor, the ZX80. That is, during the execution of the program, the image disappeared from the screen. In slow mode, the screen did not go blank, but it took about 4 times longer to process the program code. Outwardly, the ZX81 was not much different from the ZX80. The plastic case of the computer became black, and the membrane keyboard, which received a slightly different key configuration, remained white for convenience.

As you can see, the ZX81 has received only minor changes. But even this was enough for the computer to sell 8 times the sales of the ZX80.
ZX Spectrum

The launch of the third generation of the ZX computer was scheduled for 1982. You get used to the good, as they say, quickly, so even though the ZX81 offered decent functionality at a more than modest price, users expected new and innovative features from a computer with the working name ZX82. The main difference between the next generation computer was supposed to be color support, because the ZX80 and ZX81 only worked with a monochrome picture. This step was largely influenced by the widespread use of color televisions. In this regard, the name ZX82 was replaced by the speaking ZX Spectrum.

On the hardware side, the ZX Spectrum has undergone several key changes. The Zilog Z80A continued to act as the central processor, but its frequency was increased to 3.5 MHz. The amount of RAM and ROM increased to 16 KB each, and the amount of RAM could even be equal to 48 KB. "Spectrum" really learned how to work with a color image thanks to the appearance of a graphics controller. The video mode supported a resolution of 256x192 pixels and 8 colors with two levels of brightness. It was also provided for the output of one-bit sound through the built-in speaker. In fact, it was an ordinary “tweeter” that rhythmically peeped in games. The appearance of the ZX Spectrum was slightly different from that of the ZX80 and ZX81. The new computer received a different keyboard: the membrane was replaced by full-fledged rubber keys.

Entering and loading programs was carried out from a cassette recorder, which was connected to a computer. Some cassettes even had some sort of digital protection. For example, a game was bundled with a serial number that allowed it to run.

Spectrum proved to be as successful as its predecessors. Starting prices for computers were still democratic: versions with 16 KB and 48 KB of RAM were estimated at 125 and 175 pounds, respectively. And a little later they were reduced to 99.95 and 129.95 pounds.

Subsequently, the ZX Spectrum received several updates. In June 1984, the ZX Spectrum + computer went on sale. It differed from the regular version by the obligatory presence of 48 KB of RAM, as well as a new keyboard, which received an additional reset button. Despite these minor changes, the ZX Spectrum+ outsold the original model. At the same time, some sellers complained about the unreliability of the device, claiming that the percentage of faulty computers reached as much as 30%

ZX Spectrum 128, which appeared in 1986, was developed jointly with the Spanish company Investronica. The fact is that the Spanish government imposed a high tax on all imported computers with 64 KB of RAM and below that do not support Spanish. For Sinclair, the entire European market was important, so together with Investronica, the company set about adapting Spectrum for Spain. The computer received support for 128 KB of RAM, 32 KB of ROM with an improved BASIC editor, three-channel sound via the AY-3-8910 standard, RGB monitor output and MIDI compatibility.

In the same 1986, all rights to the Spectrum brand and computers were transferred to Amstrad. New models received different suffixes: +2, +3, +2A, +2B. In terms of hardware, Amstrad computers received only minor modifications. For example, the ZX Spectrum +2 had a built-in Datacoder cassette recorder. And in the ZX Spectrum +3, the tape recorder was replaced with a floppy drive. Plus, this model became the first Spectrum that could run the CP / M operating system without additional hardware. She became, perhaps, the most controversial in the entire line. For example, the ZX Spectrum +3 RAM was mapped to 64 KB of address space, which resulted in incompatibilities for some games written for the original ZX Spectrum.

About accessories for ZX Spectrum

However, not only the low cost contributed to the growth in popularity of the ZX Spectrum. A huge number of different “gadgets” were released to the computer, which significantly expanded the functionality of this computer. One such device was the ZX Printer, compatible not only with the Spectrum, but also with the ZX80 and ZX81. The device was connected to a computer using a system connector and used spark printing technology. In such printing, special black paper with aluminum coating was used. The printhead consisted of two closely spaced needles that moved across the width of the page. To print characters, tension was created between the needles, and they burned through the paper in the right place. In total, 32 characters were placed in the line. The very idea of ​​printing at home was truly revolutionary, but it was not possible to fully implement it in the ZX Printer due to the unreliability of the device. Plus, spark printing technology also proved to be not at its best: print quality quickly declined, and the paper surface was fragile.

Another interesting accessory was a ROM module based on a looped magnetic tape called the ZX Microdrive. The volume of such a device was 16 KB. It allowed you to quickly load or save a previously written program. However, the ZX Microdrive never received proper distribution. Users preferred to use time-tested, albeit slower, audio cassettes.

Sinclair also introduced the ZX Interface 1 and ZX Interface 2 expansion cards. Initially, the first was developed as a network interface for organizing a local area network in schools. However, support for simultaneous operation of up to 8 ZX Microdrives was added before the product was released, and the interface was subsequently used primarily to connect these ROM modules. As for the ZX Interface 2, this expansion card had connectors for connecting two joysticks (yes, Sinclair even released a game stick for the ZX Spectrum), a ROM cartridge connector, and a ZX Printer interface. But due to the high cost, the device did not sell well, and a year later it disappeared from store shelves.

In addition, many accessories from third-party manufacturers could be found on sale. For example, especially for Spectrum, devices such as a speech synthesizer (Currah Microspeech), game joysticks, additional digital keyboards, and even a graphics tablet and a drum kit (Cheetah SpecDrum) were produced. Impressive!
About the software

But, of course, not for a huge number of different peripherals fell in love with the ZX Spectrum. The computer was relatively easy to program. In the first half of the 80s, this caused a real boom in the software industry. Both full-fledged companies and single programmers were engaged in writing programs. The development of the Western software market for the ZX Spectrum can be divided into three stages.

During the first stage, which lasted from 1982 to 1984, there is a quantitative growth of the market. There were no large companies yet, and small offices or single writers were engaged in the creation of applications. At the same time, about 80% of the software was games! The first video entertainment was quite primitive: the "grafon" was not very good, and the plot too. Interestingly, already at that time piracy began to flourish.

Good afternoon (optional evening/night).

I want to dedicate my 20th review to the computer that won my heart. I invite you to visit this lamp post. Be sure to mark all the former and current owners of these magnificent devices, share ideas, links, gadgets for our favorite computer. Please lean back in your chair and gradually sink. (The review is very large, contains instructions, diagrams, thoughts on assembling and upgrading)

FOREWORD

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

This man, whom you see from above, is not casual here. This is Clive Marles Sinclair himself, the former owner of Sinclair Radionics, which produced Spectrum computers. This is the same person who wanted to make the cheapest apparatus for work, period. Yes, he did not like games and believed that this was a waste of time and a wrong investment. (I wonder what he would say now, looking at the wildly developing gaming industry). Yes, let the experts correct me, this gentleman went into the invention of electronic bicycles with his head and it seems that he stayed there, making something like this:

Otherwise, it's a completely different story. Today we will talk about a set for self-assembly of a computer, a bygone era, the end of the 80s.

I first met the Spectrum when I was 7 years old, my father assembled it for me. Then I discovered a whole wonderful world of games and programming.
As one good man said - “If you once met the Spectrum, then it will deeply sink into your soul and one day, when it becomes completely unbearable, you will run around the flea markets and look for it.” And it is true. There is only one big BUT. You can buy, of course, on eBay there are lots selling both 48k and 128k models. But one day, when I was "unbearable" looking for information about the Spectrum, I came across this site, which offers ready-made kits for self-assembly of the device.

I was very surprised, people sell and make boards of the Soviet copy of Leningrad 48k with the corrected circuit. There are certainly pros and cons to this option. But guys, here they offer to assemble a computer with their own hands, but what could be cooler than understanding the principles of computer operation at the hardware levels ?! It's just a fairy tale. Naturally, for such work it is desirable to have experience, little, my experience in assembling computers is limited to the RK-86 model from the Radio magazine, compared to the Spectrum, it is a grain of sand, in terms of complexity, and you will have to work hard to debug it.

As usual warning:

All responsibility, namely independent penetration into the body of the finished product with subsequent violation of its integrity of performance, lies with the person who committed this action.

In addition to the above, when working with memory chips, use a grounded, antistatic wrist strap so as not to damage the integrity of the chip, just remember to connect Video, RGB, Scart and the like cables only to devices that are turned off.

PREPARING FOR ASSEMBLY

This kit is supplied without RAM, memory chips are used and at the moment it is difficult to find them, you can also use chips, but with minor modifications in the circuit.

Where to get? We dismiss flea markets right away, analyzes also due to the fact that the chips can be damaged, among other things, there are features with this kind of memory, namely, it is sensitive to working in one batch (more precisely, all the chips installed in the machine should preferably be of the same batch, revisions and dates of production, as well as cities of production), I encountered this when assembling RK-86, Soviet memory is too capricious, it is even advisable to buy new chips in bulk, you never know what.

Therefore, having called all the stores in Yekaterinburg, the chips were found in only one - at a fabulously low price. It is understandable who in our time may need such a small RAM, and even so slow.

Especially before buying, I asked to bring a package of chips, so that I could make sure that they were pouring from this particular box. Maybe I was overly suspicious in this decision, but you never know what.

And the following resistor values:

For little things, an audio jack for Jack - 3.5, additional sockets, if you do not want to solder microcircuits. It is possible to install SMD cases of resistors, diodes, capacitors (for example, blocking capacitors can be replaced with SMD).

The tool will require the following set:

1. soldering station / soldering iron with temperature control,

2. oscilloscope (very, even very desirable),

3. multimeter,

4. if there is no oscilloscope, we use a logic analyzer.

SUPPLIED KIT

I often pay little attention to the packaging, because I'm used to deliveries from China, but Russian packaging is always worth a look, I'll put it under the spoiler, whoever wants to take a look, look.

Package

Microcircuits and spare parts were wrapped in a bag and glued with adhesive tape:

The board itself is laid with two pieces of corrugated cardboard and wrapped in packaging polyethylene:

So, let's take a look at this beautiful set of spare parts.

Pay. You know, this board is made at the highest level, just incredibly well. I have not held such high-quality custom boards in my hands for a long time. Wiring, silk-screen printing and inscriptions ... Mmmm magnificence, let's just enjoy:

Some of the inscriptions on the board are breathtaking, I really like them.

I also attach photos in a large size of the board as a whole, in order to fully appreciate the quality of workmanship, it does not smell of handicraft:

The kit comes with cribs for RAM, ROM, CPU chips:

The crumble that comes with the board in the kit. (Beeper, a set of BC547 transistors, capacitors for all the necessary ratings, 2.54mm pin connectors, quartz at 14.000 MHz, diodes):

All logic that is required to run a computer (including CPU and ROM). By the way, ROM - the memory is already flashed by Sinclair BASIC:

For orientation in the microcircuits of the times of the USSR, I drew the following picture:

Of all the microcircuits, not a single military commissar, two marked statics- K561LN2 and K561IE10A and a bunch of various enterprises.

ASSEMBLY

We use the two presented schemes and, if you ever want to figure it out more tightly or run into difficulties, we begin to slowly collect. The most important thing is to keep track of exactly what and where we put.

Also to help the layout of microcircuits and other elements:

The main thing in this matter is not to rush, otherwise you will get completely confused. I started the assembly with little things (capacitors, resistors, diodes). Complete capacitors (blocking, nominal value 104) I changed to my own - Murata Manufacturing. Plant quartz last, due to the fact that it is very close to the resistor R1 and if you solder quartz at the root, the resistor will have to be soldered by surface mounting.

How not to do it!

At first I decided to put everything on DIP sockets ( and it was a big mistake), I thought that if the microcircuit fails, then I can always easily buy it, but in practice everything turned out differently, I collected all the glitches. You can read about glitches and their solutions below.

Toward the end of the assembly, I began to assemble a tape reader module based on the K561LN2 microcircuit, the module diagram is classic, I attach below:

Test run with wired Video cable with CPU and RAM installed:

Strange, but it should be:

It looks like there is something there. Looking at the board, I found a couple of errors:

1. Resistor R2 is not soldered.
2. Resistor R1 is not installed correctly.

I also replaced the remaining capacitors (blocking), with a face value of 104, with Murata. Replaced transistor K315B.

Iiii nothing, after making all the replacements and then turning on the device, I got this:

At the same time, there is 5V in a circle, but the CPU does not start. Sadly. I started looking for the reason, along the way, ordering a logic analyzer.

1.5 months passed and there was no result, I already started to get upset, as a notification about the parcel came from the mail - the analyzer arrived.

The signal analyzer is a device based on chips that is a USB2.0 peripheral controller and an 8-channel receiver (I would even say sniffer) that captures from the data lines.

This device works using the software package -.

It seems that everything is there to solve the problem, but the problem remains the same as it was.

I suffered for a long time until I decided to take down all the cribs for microcircuits, leaving only RAM, CPU and ROM.

And lo and behold, everything worked! (But my RK-86 was assembled on the same panels, and everything works)

This is what the debug process looked like:

As a result, long and painfully rechecking everything and cutting off leg 1 from the DD4 chip (K555IE7) with the accompanying soldering to the ground, I got the image:

Face progress. Do not pay attention to the scan, the TV is old and has a problem in this area. Further, if you look closely, you will see that the icon - © is displayed incorrectly, this is the famous problem of the Leningrad 48K computer (incorrect drawing of circles), it is solved as follows, we cut off the track from IR9 -> 1 and LN1-> 10 and solder the following circuit:

In general, when using different manufacturers of logic, you need to individually select the capacitors for the sweep from the DD4 -> IE7 and DD6 -> IE7 microcircuits, in fact, empirically, a capacitor is placed on the first and second between the ground and the 11th leg.

KEYBOARD MANUFACTURING

A computer is certainly good, but without the ability to enter, it makes no sense to have it, so we will make a keyboard!

The keyboard pinout is in the main circuit for Leningrad 48K:

For the keyboard we need:

1. Textolite size 100x160.

(I decided to make a compact keyboard in order to fit the device into a compact case, and in general I like compact keyboards).

2. Laser printer for LUT.

3. The buttons are tactile, the height is selected independently.

Unpacking, marking and cutting:

We prepare and cut out the template for the LUT:

Open the editor and draw the keyboard:

In the editor, it is drawn with a second layer, but let's just say, you don't need to poison this layer, save your time, you shouldn't poison for the sake of poisoning.

For you, I have prepared a ready-made template for printing:

Mirror pattern NO NEED!

Then we print it and cut it out:

For etching, you will need the following kit:

1. 100 ml pharmacy 3% hydrogen peroxide

2. 30 g citric acid

3. 5 g of table salt.

4. Capacity.

For a board of my size, this is enough with my head, and for the speed of etching, I prudently drew polygons, so that the solution would not be wasted.

We transfer it to the workpiece with an iron, I advise you to use the substrate from the oracle:

It can be seen that I corrected the small flaws with a marker resistant to ferric chloride and threw it into the solution:

At the end I got this result. I will say right away that I screwed up, in order for the inscriptions to be clearly visible, I kept it a little longer in the solution and spoiled the tracks in some places:

Well, okay, this is not criminal, we take a wire of 0.5 mm and solder the tracks:

READY FOR LAUNCH

Oh how good he is!

We're starting!

Install the PlayZX application on your phone or tablet:

Using the AUX cable, we cling to the Spectrum, turn on the device and go into download mode ( on the Spectrum keyboard, press J -> while holding SS, press P twice, you will see this entry - LOAD "" and press enter). After that, select the desired image of the game in the phone and click play. The game will be loading.

The program download process is as follows:

Downloaded Saboteur game file:

And of course, an example of loading a program from scratch, let's check the same saboteur:

CONCLUSIONS

And so let's summarize. Buying this computer, you are not just buying a stupid model for assembling similar to Chinese ones, you are gaining a large layer of experience in assembling such computers. As I said before, in my childhood I had a similar computer, although it was 128K and had 5.2-inch floppy disks, in any case I was pleased with the result.

If not for this computer, I would not have acquired a new tool, such as a signal analyzer and a hot tin suction, for desoldering microcircuits and, of course, experience.

Nuances, the platform is completely copied from Leningrad 48K, it can be adjusted to different quartz depending on the complete, logical base, which is very good.
It works stably, using the PlayZX application, you will discover the world of games for the ZXSpectrum, and I myself was surprised by such a large library.

A very large community around the world, by the way, some people release new games for these computers, and also port old NES, for example, Castlevania.

PS. An excellent start in microelectronics for a child and a great pastime for solving a particular problem.

P.S.S. The review turned out to be simply gigantic, but there is so much to tell, but we will have to limit ourselves to the essence, in the next DIY we will make a case for this device and we will screw RGB and SCART, there are ideas to make it in the form of a laptop.

Information to help assemblers Leningrad 48K:

1.
2.
3. Liked the review +253 +425

Do you know what the first mass-produced personal computer was? How did the era of personal computers begin? Some may even remember their very first computer, which was the ZX Spectrum. It is he who is the progenitor of all modern computers. ZX Spectrum lasted on the market for more than 10 years, which is considered a great achievement in the computer world. Spectrum's life was full of interesting facts, myths and misconceptions.

To begin with, let's get acquainted with the person who is considered the creator of the ZX Spectrum. His name is Clive Sinclair.

Clive Marles Sinclair was born in Surrey, near Richmond, on July 30, 1940. His father and grandfather were engineers. Clive himself followed in the same footsteps. Already in 1962, Sinclair created Sinclair Radionics, producing kits for assembling radio receivers and sound amplifiers. The company has a rapidly growing reputation as a pioneer in consumer electronics.

Since 1972, the company has been manufacturing electronic watches, portable televisions and tools. In July 1979, Clive Sinclair retired from Sinclair Radionics and established a new company, Sinclair Research Ltd. This is where the story of our ZX Spectrum begins.

The first Sinclair ZX80 product was produced in February 1980, it was the first sub-£100 computer in the world. Its dimensions were 218 × 170 × 50mm and it weighed 340 grams. The ZX 80 wasn't very successful, but it started selling pretty well.

In 1981, the logical release of a new version, the Sinclair ZX81, followed. It was much cheaper than its predecessor and cost £69. Over a million ZX81s were produced in two years and Sinclair earned over £400 million. After selling 10% of the company's shares and giving away 5% of the shares to his employees, he retained 85% of the shares, which gave him the opportunity to make ambitious and unprofessional decisions.

ZX Spectrum 48

Riding on the wave of success, Sinclair Research releases its most popular computer ever. This happens in 1982. "ZX Spectrum 48" had 16 KB of ROM, into which a dialect of the BASIC language, the so-called Sinclair BASIC, was flashed. This same ROM program provided the basic I/O and user interface.

There were huge problems with the release of the ZX Spectrum. A huge number of orders fell on Sinclair's company, up to 40 thousand. The real opportunity was to produce only 5000 ZX Spectrum per month. Sinclair constantly lied in interviews, announced the release of MicroDrive, which was supposed to add additional kilobytes to the Spectrum model with 16 kilobytes of RAM. Factories could not cope with a huge number of orders, huge queues appeared: 40,000 people waited from 4 to 5 months for their ZX Spectrum, and Sinclair periodically spoke publicly, assuring that the situation was fixed and the problems were behind.

The truth soon surfaced. Sinclair's reputation was badly damaged. Contrary to common misconception, Sinclair himself knew almost nothing about computer architecture, but he took part in the design of the keyboard for the ZX Spectrum. The result was a terrible and uncomfortable rubber keyboard, which everyone soon abandoned. You could buy an additional keyboard for 40 pounds.

Despite the setbacks with the ZX Spectrum, Clive Sinclair remains a hugely popular man in the UK. Mainly due to the prevalence of ZX81, whose sales make up 40% of all computers sold in England. The company was forced to release a new version of Spectrum in order not to lose user confidence in this platform. Since June 1984, the developers have been preparing the ZX Spectrum +, which was released in October of the same year.

It was a "Spectrum" with 48 KB of memory, an updated case and keyboard; There is a reset button on the case. Pretty quickly, the new model began to sell twice as much as the previous one; however, some sellers spoke of a high percentage of breakdowns. On top of that, the ZX Spectrum+ came with the same awful keyboard.

Investronica helped adapt the ZX Spectrum+ to the Spanish market after the Spanish government imposed a special tax on all non-Spanish-language computers with 64KB or less memory.

The new model contained 128 KB of RAM, three-channel audio via AY-3-8912, MIDI compatibility, an RS-232 port, RGB monitor output, and 32 KB of ROM with an improved BASIC editor.

The car was first presented and put on sale in September 1985 in Spain. In the UK, due to a large number of unsold Spectrum+s, sales were delayed until February 1986; the starting price was set at 179.95 pounds.

The Z80 processor has a 16-bit address bus, which means it can only directly address 64 KB of memory. To access an additional 80 KB of RAM, a memory bank switching technique was used, so the RAM was available in the form of eight pages plugged into the top of the address space. Switching between the new 16 KB ROM and the original 16 KB ROM at the bottom of the address space was done in a similar way.

To use the new sound capabilities in Sinclair BASIC, the PLAY instruction appeared, to switch to the Spectrum 48K mode - SPECTRUM. The new instructions took the place of the two existing "User Defined Symbols", which caused compatibility issues with some older BASIC programs.

With the release of the ZX Spectrum128, the history of Sinclair Research ends. It ends rather abruptly. In 1982 and 1983, Clive Sinclair's profits were £13.5 million, despite the fact that he owned 85% of the company's shares. However, in 83-85, the ambitious Sir, confident in his genius, sponsored various projects, such as an electric car, a flat-panel TV and a new computer model (Sinclair QL).

He entrusted the design of the car to a company that specialized in assembling washing machines. Nobody bought cars. The flat TV didn't work either. The new computer lagged behind in quality, power and price from its competitors. In 1985, in order to avoid bankruptcy, Clive managed to persuade the Dixons trademark to conclude a deal with him for 10 million pounds.

Around the same time, his wife leaves him. Reason: banal betrayal, which lasted for several months. Apparently here Sinclair felt that it was time to leave the computer business. There is an opinion that Sinclair went bankrupt, in fact it is not. Sinclair managed to leave quite beautifully and to his advantage. In 1986, the situation is improving and it seems that the company is about to get back on its feet. However, on April 7th, Sir Clive Sinclair unexpectedly retires from the computer industry. When the company is sold, Clive receives £5 million in cash.

All rights to Spectrum computers have been transferred to Amstrad, which continues to successfully develop the Spectrum line. Finally, a new comfortable keyboard has been created, which has come to replace the mutant from Sinclair. Amstrad has released the ZX Spectrum +2. The car had a gray body with a spring-loaded keyboard, two joystick ports, and a built-in cassette recorder called the "Datacorder" (as in the "Amstrad CPC 464"), but otherwise the car was completely identical to the "ZX Spectrum 128".

The price of production has been reduced, bringing retail prices down to £139-149. The new keyboard did not have BASIC keywords, except for LOAD , CODE and RUN , which were needed to run programs, but this was not a big problem, since the "+2" had a menu system similar to the menu in the "ZX Spectrum 128" , where you could switch between the old BASIC 48K and BASIC 128K with a set of keywords letter by letter.

ZX Spectrum +3

The ZX Spectrum +3 looked similar to the "+2" model, but contained a 3-inch floppy disk drive instead of a tape recorder. The body was black. The model was released in 1987 with a starting price of £249, which later dropped to £199.

It was the first "Spectrum" capable of running the CP/M operating system without additional hardware. In "+3" there were 2 more 16 KB ROMs, in the form of a single 32 KB chip. Half of this volume was occupied by the second part of the reorganized 128 ROM, the second half - by the disk operating system + 3DOS, which in fact was a modified version of AMSDOS.

To be able to use other operating systems, the memory bank switching mechanism was changed in such a way that RAM could be mapped to all 64 KB of the address space. Such fundamental changes led to a number of incompatibilities, some games for 48K and several games for 128K stopped working on the new machine.

The ZX Spectrum +3 was the last official Spectrum model to go into production; production of the model continued until December 1990. Although Spectrum sales at the time accounted for a third of all home computer sales, Amstrad ceased production in an attempt to convert consumers to the CPC line.

In 1987, the ZX Spectrum +2A was released. It was made in order to make the line of cars more homogeneous. The case still had the inscription "ZX Spectrum +2", but the color of the case again became black, like in the first models.

"+2A" was made on the basis of "+3", with a 4.1 ROM model and with a motherboard on which the number of chips was significantly reduced - most of them were integrated into the ASIC chip.

The disc drive and hardware from the "+3" model was replaced with a cassette drive, as in the original "+2". Initially, Amstrad planned to provide a disk interface, but this was never done. As with the ZX Spectrum +3, some 48K games and a few 128K games were not compatible with this model.

Devices for computers ZX Spectrum

The ZX Printer is a printing device developed by Sinclair Research Ltd for use with the Sinclair ZX81 and ZX Spectrum computers and released in November 1981. In the US, the device was produced by Timex Corporation under the name TS 2040 Personal Printer, in Portugal - under the name Timex Printer.

The ZX Microdrive is a high-speed storage device released in 1983 by Sinclair Research for the ZX Spectrum computer. Also used for Sinclair QL and One Per Desk computers.

The device is a replaceable cartridge with a looped, "endless" magnetic tape. When working with this device, it seems that you are working with a disk drive. Up to eight microdrives can be connected at the same time. The capacity of one microdrive is approximately 100 kilobytes.

Kempston Interface

Kempston Interface - an external device for the ZX Spectrum computer, developed by Kempston Micro Electronics and released in 1983 - an interface for connecting a joystick. The interface was connected to the ZX Spectrum system connector and allowed the use of Atari-compatible joysticks with a DE-9 connector that became the de facto standard. The device was priced at £15.00.

Sir Sinclair's Chivalry Times

And what did Clive Sinclair do after he left the business? 5 million was more than enough for him to lead a wild life. The end of the 90s for Sir Sinclair can be called the Time of Knightly Fun. He was repeatedly (about 10 times) caught in the company of young actresses, models and strippers aged 20-22. However, all relationships ended very quickly, there could be no talk of any love.

In 2004, Sinclair distinguished himself by inventing the bicycle. He shows the world a folding bike of his own design A-bike. The uniqueness of the bike is that it folds easily and fits into a backpack. It is worth noting that this invention did not bring any dividends.

Such were the beginning and end of the invention stories of the legendary Clive Sinclair. Recently, Sinclair has been into poker. A couple of times his games were shown on TV, his winnings amounted to 25,000 pounds.

In conclusion, here are the main myths and misconceptions regarding Clive Sinclair and the ZX Spectrum:

“Sinclair didn't invent the Spectrum, he had little understanding of PC architecture at all.

- the wildest delusion, Sinclair made millions on the Spectrum.

- another misconception, there were more advanced IBM computers, but they were much more expensive.

- every two years, an improved Spectrum modification was produced.

- Sinclair didn't go bankrupt, he sold Sinclair Research for 5 million and left the business.

The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal computer developed by British company Sinclair Research Ltd. way back in 1982. In the 80s of the last century, it was one of the most popular computers in Europe, and by the 90s, numerous clones of the ZX Spectrum had reached our country.

Many of our readers will surely remember the various modifications of this computer, as well as the fact that games had to be loaded into its memory from audio cassettes using a cassette recorder, watching on the monitor (or TV) screen a series of flashes and multi-colored stripes that occur during the download process.

The computer was developed on the basis of the Zilog Z80 microprocessor, popular in those years, which was later used to create such well-known devices as MSX, Commodore 128, Sega Master System, Neo Geo, Game Boy, Game Gear, Game Boy Advance and many others. But, despite the rather limited graphics capabilities, and the ZX Spectrum was capable of displaying only 15 different colors on the screen, this computer was used exclusively for running games in 90% of cases.

British company Elite Systems, which now employs some of the creators of the original ZX Spectrum, has set itself the goal of resurrecting the once popular computer and making it much more convenient than it was more than thirty years ago. For example, in order not to have to download games from audiocassettes that are outdated in all respects, you can simply purchase a digital copy of the game on Google Play or the App Store. Of course, for greater convenience, you will need physical buttons, and not an ordinary touchscreen, which is why it is planned to release a special Bluetooth keyboard with a one-on-one design repeating the original ZX Spectrum.

This keyboard will seamlessly connect to your tablet, smartphone, or even Apple TV if you want to comfortably play on your TV screen. Agree - a very pleasant journey into the distant past, you can arrange one of the free evenings.

This Bluetooth keyboard will cost around £40 (something in the region of 2000 rubles), not including shipping. At the moment, the initiators of the project are trying to raise 60,000 pounds on Kickstarter to begin full-scale production of the gaming device. You can already now support them with a ruble if you feel an uncontrollable attack of nostalgia.

The computer went on sale on 23 April 1982 and was priced at £125 for the 16 KB variant and £175 for the 48 KB variant. Subsequently, the price was reduced to £99 and £129 respectively.

The main advantage and achievement of the computer was its low cost. However, it was achieved at the cost of savings on all components and reduced performance compared to other home computers of the time.

The computer hardware was designed by Richard Altwasser. The firmware (BASIC interpreter in ROM) was developed by Nine Tiles, directly by Steven Vickers. Computer appearance design by Rick Dickinson. The computer came with a Psion software cassette (the cassette included an Arkanoid-like game written in BASIC).

Among users, a diminutive form of the computer name is common - Speccy, used for all computers of the ZX Spectrum line. The name was first used in Your Sinclair? In Russian, this version of the name is pronounced as specky, however some distribution has an erroneous pronunciation spacey. The original source that spread this pronunciation is unknown.

In the 1990s in Russia, ZX Spectrum-compatible computers were often referred to as Sinclairs(according to the name of the manufacturer). This version of the name is incorrect, since the ZX Spectrum is not the only computer released by Sinclair Research.

Also in the domestic literature, there is often an incorrect spelling of the full name - ZX Spectrum. There is no hyphen in the original literature and the inscription on the computer case.

Specifications

• Processor: Zilog Z80A at 3.5 MHz
• RAM: 16 KB minimum, 48 KB full
• Video: the only video mode is graphic 256 x 192 dots, 8 colors with two brightness levels
• Keyboard: rubber 40-button for original model, plastic 58-button for Spectrum +
• Connectors:
  • System connector
  • MIC- tape recorder output
  • EAR- input reading from a tape recorder
  • High frequency TV output (PAL standard)

Board versions

In total, during the release of the ZX Spectrum and ZX Spectrum + 6 versions of the boards were produced.

The price difference between the 16K and 48K options was less than the cost of any memory expansion kits.