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Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
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---
title: Sinclair ZX SPECTRUM
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- United Kingdom
years:
- '1982'
cpus:
- Zilog Z80 A
params:
name: ZX SPECTRUM
company: /companies/sinclair
company_name: Sinclair
specs:
- label: NAME
value: ZX SPECTRUM
- label: MANUFACTURER
value: Sinclair
- label: TYPE
value: Home Computer
- label: ORIGIN
value: United Kingdom
- label: YEAR
value: April 1982
- label: END OF PRODUCTION
value: '1984'
- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
value: Sinclair Basic
- label: KEYBOARD
value: QWERTY rubber keyboard (40 keys) with up to 6 functions by keys !
- label: CPU
value: Zilog Z80 A
- label: SPEED
value: 3.5 MHz
- label: RAM
value: 16k or 48k (42k left for programming)
- label: ROM
value: 16k (Basic & OS)
- label: TEXT MODES
value: 32 x 24
- label: GRAPHIC MODES
value: 256 x 192
- label: COLORS
value: 8 with two tones each (normal and bright)
- label: SOUND
value: 1 voice / 10 octaves (Beeper)
- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
value: 23 x 14,4 x 3 cm / 550g
- label: I/O PORTS
value: Expansion port, tape-recorder (1200 bauds), RF video out
- label: POWER SUPPLY
value: External PSU, 9v DC, 1.4A (centre polarity = -ve)
- label: PERIPHERALS
value: ZX printer, ZX microdrives
- label: PRICE
value: |-
16k: 282 (France, 1983) - 48k: 365 (France, 1983)\
16k: £99 (U.K. 1984) - 48k: £125 (U.K. 1984)
tabs:
- photos
- adverts
- hardware
- software
- emulators
- links
- docs
- videos
photos:
- title: ZX SPECTRUM
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: LEFT SIDE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: FRONT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: LEFT SIDE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: RIGHT SIDE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: UPSIDE DOWN
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: KEYBOARD DETAIL
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: DETAIL
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: KEYBOARD PERSPECTIVE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: KEYBOARD
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: REAR
subtitle: ''
text: This is the back of the Spectrum, with an expansion bus, tape-recorder sockets, power in and video output.
image: null
- title: INSIDE
subtitle: ''
text: This is a look inside an old French version (SECAM). The small board badly mounted on the motherboard is a special video card used to comply with the French video system.
image: null
- title: MOTHERBOARD EXPLAINED
subtitle: ''
text: |-
The technical choices of Clive Sinclair follow the reasoning initiated by the ZX-81: one microprocessor, one ROM circuit for the integrated software, one chipset for the Inputs/Outputs, and one for the video, RAM memory and some logical chips. In fact, it is not so easy. Such a motherboard requires thousands of hours of research and tests in engineering and design departments, especially for the design and the mass production of the specialized integrated circuits.
**(1)** TV aerial RF modulator.\
**(2)** Two input/output jacks for a standard cassette recorder.\
**(3)** Chipset in charge of Inputs/Outputs (cassette, keyboard and video display).\
**(4)** Universal connector for numerous peripherals.\
**(5)** Power plug. An external transformer supplies power.\
**(6)** Z80-A microprocessor.\
**(7)** ROM circuit holding the Basic interpreter and Input/Output routines.\
**(8)** Power regulator. Converts 9 volts power from the transformer into a 5 V. regulated tension.\
**(9)** Cooler.\
**(10)** Loudspeaker.\
**(11)** Keyboard connector.\
**(12)** User RAM memory chips.\
**(13)** Video RAM memory chips.\
**(14)** Chipset in charge of text and graphic display.\
**(15)** Clocks (two quartz) for the microprocessor (3.5 Mhz.) and circuits' synchronization.
image: null
- title: MOTHERBOARD ISSUES 1 & 2
subtitle: ''
text: |-
The Speccy was revised 3 times during its production run in this form. If you take the top cover off, you will see the words 'issue X' printed along the bottom edge.
Thanks to Peter James for the issue 2 picture
image: null
- title: MOTHERBOARD ISSUES 3 & 4
subtitle: ''
text: Thanks to Peter James for the pictures
image: null
adverts:
- title: FRENCH ADVERT.
subtitle: ''
text: '''''The Sinclair spirit is in him'''''
image: null
- title: 'FRENCH ADVERT #2'
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: SPECTRUM+ FRENCH AD.
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: ITALIAN AD.
subtitle: ''
text: Courtesy of **http://angelmemories.cjb.net/**
image: null
- title: 'ITALIAN AD #2'
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Special offer including italian books
Courtesy of **http://angelmemories.cjb.net/**
image: null
- title: 'ITALIAN AD #3'
subtitle: ''
text: Courtesy of **http://angelmemories.cjb.net/**
image: null
- title: 'ITALIAN AD #4'
subtitle: ''
text: Courtesy of **http://angelmemories.cjb.net/**
image: null
- title: 'ITALIAN AD #5'
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Upgrade kit to transform a Spectrum into a Spectrum +
Courtesy of **http://angelmemories.cjb.net/**
image: null
- title: GREEK ADVERT (MARCH 1985)
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
hardware:
- title: PERIPHERALS SKETCH
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: ROTRONICS WAFADRIVE
subtitle: ''
text: 'The Wafadrive principle is the same as that of Sinclair MicroDrive. An endless tape runs in a cassette and allows faster access to information than a standard cassette. The Wafadrive cartridges seem to be more reliable than those of Sinclair and offer 3 different storage capacities: 16, 64 or 128 Kb. On the other hand they are definitely slower (up to 10 times for a 128 Kb. cartridge). This is most probably why the Wafadrive didn''t meet a large success in spite of a very powerful word processor provided in the tools cartridge.'
image: null
- title: ORDIVIDUEL
subtitle: ''
text: 395fr (France, september 84)
image: null
- title: STONECHIP
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Stonechip programmable joystick interface.
395fr (France, january 85)
image: null
- title: VTR
subtitle: ''
text: |-
VTR programmable joystick interface
260fr (France, january 85)
image: null
- title: VISMO
subtitle: ''
text: 250fr (France, january 85)
image: null
- title: SPECTRAVIDEO QUICKSHOT JOYSTICK
subtitle: ''
text: |-
About this joystick, Peter says:\
I think that just about everybody in the UK must remember this joystick! It was cheap and didn't last long but was the joystick most of us used until we could afford the Adonis of the joysticks, the Kempston Competition Pro, but until then this one had to do. The usual point of failure was that the metal contacts in the base would eventually snap off, having been bended backwards and forwards so much that the metal would fatigue and crack. Price: About £10 1983 onwards
Thanks to Peter James for the picture
image: null
- title: EMPEROR
subtitle: ''
text: |-
SAGA1 Emperor Spectrum replacement keyboard.
About this keyboard, Peter adds:\
I bought the Saga Emperor Spectrum replacement keyboard on it's looks and advertising ('Sheer elegance..'), which turned out to be a mistake, as it was not much better than the Speccy's original keyboard. The Saga was not a full-stroke keyboard as such, it used little rubber caps as its suspension for the keys instead of springs and this let you down quite a bit. Also the whole thing was a bit flimsy. It did offer extra keys to aid entering code, but was overall a disappointment, I should have saved my money and bought the plainer looking but much better DK'Tronics keyboard!
Thanks to Peter James for the picture
image: null
- title: STONECHIP KEYBOARD
subtitle: ''
text: |-
A real (?) keyboard for the Spectrum ?\
br> 895fr (France, january 85)
image: null
- title: VTR MODULATOR
subtitle: ''
text: |-
VTR Black & White Modulator
195fr (France, january 85)
image: null
- title: BLACK AND WHITE MODULATOR
subtitle: ''
text: 190fr (France, june 84)
image: null
- title: VISMO PARALLEL INTERFACE
subtitle: ''
text: 1095fr (France, january 85)
image: null
- title: VTR PARALLEL CENTRONICS INTERFACE
subtitle: ''
text: 790fr (France, january 85)
image: null
- title: MODEM PRISM VTX-5000
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: CUSTOM CASES
subtitle: ''
text: Available for Sinclair Spectrum and ZX81
image: null
- title: DISCOVERY SYSTEM
subtitle: ''
text: 'The Discovery system uses the new Sony 3.5'''' diskette to save in full safety the programs and data of the Spectrum or Spectrum+. The diskette has a capacity of 180 KB and a second drive can be installed. The commands of the operating system are similar to those of Sinclair Microdrives. The case includes a power supply and various Spectrum expansion connectors. In short, a lot of hardware qualities, but an incomprehensible defect: the data transfer speed is slower than Microdrives, whereas a disk drive is able to be ten times faster than a tape reader. Discovery did not meet success, certainly for this reason, but also because of its high price, not compatible with the Spectrum''s young users'' purse.'
image: null
- title: INSIDE DISCOVERY
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** Metallic case.\
**(2)** Centronics parallel printer connector.\
**(3)** Spectrum expansion connector.\
**(4)** Discovery to Spectrum connector.\
**(5)** EPROM memory chip holding drive management routines and OS commands.\
**(6)** Sony 3.5'' disc drive. A double side, single density version.\
**(7)** A strange location for the power transformer, under the disk drive and not protected against magnetic fields.\
**(8)** This empty socket receives a 2 Kb. RAM chip when a second disc drive is installed.\
**(9)** 6821 Circuit, in charge of disc drive control.\
**(10)** Each disc drive uses an internal RAM area to avoid using Spectrum RAM.\
**(11)** Atari standard joystick connector.
image: null
- title: INSIDE WAFADRIVE
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** The Wafadrive unit includes two specially designed cartridge drives.\
**(2)** Each cartridge drive has its own motor and electronic control system.\
**(3)** The Wafadrive offers three expansion ports. Unfortunately, they are not compatible with the Spectrum ones and need special cables.\
**(4)** Centronics parallel printer connector.\
**(5)** Spectrum expansion connector for additional peripherals.\
**(6)** 8 Kb. EPROM holding operating system and Basic drives commands.\
**(7)** The Wafadrive is connected to the Spectrum expansion port. It also uses the computer's power supply.\
**(8)** Power Leds.
image: null
- title: WAFADRIVE CARTRIDGE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: CHEETAH JOYSTICK INTERFACE
subtitle: ''
text: Thanks to Peter James for the picture
image: null
- title: KEMPSTON JOYSTICK INTERFACE
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Peter says:\
I'm not sure if this was the first joystick interface for the Spectrum but it defined a standard that was never displaced. Most games carried the words 'Kempston joystick compatible' Says it all really! They later revised the interface to offer 2 joystick connectors
Thanks to Peter James for the picture
image: null
- title: DK'TRONICS SPEECH SYNTHESIZER
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: MAGECO MONITOR
subtitle: ''
text: It cost 75fr in january 85 (France).
image: null
- title: VTR VOCAL SYNTHESIZER
subtitle: ''
text: 470fr (France, january 85)
image: null
- title: CURRAH SPEECH
subtitle: Vocal synthesizer
text: Just type on the keys and the Spectrum "speaks" with two tones, high and low. There is also a sofware support.
image: null
- title: CHEETAH SPECDRUM
subtitle: ''
text: |-
About the Specdrum, Peter says:\
This was the most fun add-on I ever bought for the Spectrum. You had to connect it to a phono input on a stereo amp, load up the software and away you went. You could enter the rhythm in real time or step time and it had 8 sounds it could play at once. The sound was perfect and still sounds good today. They released some extra drum kit sounds to expand the Specdrum's sound library, Afro Kit and Electro Kit are the ones I remember and purchased. I don’t think any Spectrum should be without this Add-on, it rocks!!
Price: About £30 around 85-86
Thanks to Peter James for the picture
image: null
- title: ALPHACOM 32
subtitle: ''
text: 'Alphacom 32 is the well-known and the cheaper printer for the Spectrum, offering exactly the same features as the ZX Printer : full Spectrum characters set, 32 char. / line and silver plated thermal paper. Alphacom 32 uses its own power supply. june 84 price : 181 -E- (France).'
image: null
- title: FLOYD 40
subtitle: ''
text: 'Floyd 40, from the manufacturer Shiva Marketing, doesn''t seem to be very reliable with its very thin plastic case and its wooden paper axis ! However Floyd features are better than Alphacom ones: use of white thermal paper more readable and less expensive, only one cable to connect it to the Spectrum (power and data) and better printing quality. Moreover, Floyd 40 has larger characters set and printing options : double height and width, text printing in the four directions and more advanced and accurate graphic abilities (5 x 7 dots head). On the other hand, the printing is rather slow and the print width doesn''t exceed 8 cm.'
image: null
- title: ZX-81 THERMAL PRINTER
subtitle: ''
text: |-
This is a small thermal printer (of very poor quality !). It can print all the graphical characters of the Spectrum and can print 9 lines of text per inch. It was possible to make a hard copy of the screen thanks to the "Copy" command.
This tiny thermal printer can also be used with the ZX-Spectrum.
image: null
- title: ZX THERMAL PRINTER
subtitle: Box
text: ''
image: null
- title: ZX INTERFACE 1
subtitle: ''
text: |-
This interface offers an RS232 connector, a Microdrive connector and a network socket to connect up to 64 Spectrums !
This marvel cost 895fr in june 84 (France).
image: null
- title: MICRODRIVES
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Sinclair Microdrives for use with the ZX Interface 1. Up to 8 microdrives can be connected.
Micro-tape Capacity: 80k\
Speed: 5k/s\
Average access time: 3,5s\
Integrated power supply (through computer)\
Micro-tape price: 79fr
940fr (June 84)
image: null
- title: INSIDE A MICRODRIVE
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** Tape driving roller.\
**(2)** Read/write magnetic head, basically the same as a standard tape recorder.\
**(3)** Read/write protection switch.\
**(4)** Cartridge housing.\
**(5)** Power led.\
**(6)** Extension connector allowing up to 8 microdrives to be serial connected.
image: null
- title: INSIDE A MICRODRIVE CARTRIDGE
subtitle: ''
text: The support used in the cartridge is a videotape of 2 mm in width, and 8 meters in length. The video support was chosen for its biggest mechanical resistance. In running mode, the full tape length is covered in about 7 seconds and the information is transferred at 6 Kb. per second (1.5 Kb./sec. for a standard cassette). The recording is made simultaneously on two parallel tracks with a density of 200 bytes per centimeter. The information is organized in sectors of 512 bytes. Any program can be stored or loaded in 15 sec. Maximum. Each cartridge can store up to 100 Kb, but only 85 - 90 are available for the user.
image: null
- title: ZX INTERFACE 2
subtitle: ''
text: |-
This interface offers 2 joystick plugs and 1 cartridge slot.
It cost 351fr in june 84 (France).
image: null
- title: CARTRIDGE
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Sinclair Cartridge for use with the ZX Interface 2. Very few cartridges were produced (less than 10).
It cost 185fr in june 84 (France).
image: null
- title: NUMERIC KEYPAD
subtitle: ''
text: |-
This numenic keypad can be used with the Spectrum +2 and Spectrum 128.
Thanks to **www.zonadepruebas.com**
image: null
screenshots:
- title: ALIEN 8
subtitle: ''
text: Excellent isometric game
image: null
- title: ANT ATTACK
subtitle: ''
text: Avoid the giant ants and save the girl in this 3D maze
image: null
- title: ARC OF YESOD
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: ATIC ATAC
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: BACK TO SKOOL
subtitle: Skooldaze ?
text: ''
image: null
- title: BOMBJACK
subtitle: ''
text: Classic game !
image: null
- title: BRUCE LEE
subtitle: ''
text: One of the best game ever
image: null
- title: CHASE HQ
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: CHUCKIE EGG
subtitle: ''
text: Who never played this ??
image: null
- title: COMMANDO
subtitle: ''
text: Excellent conversion
image: null
- title: DAILEY'S THOMPSON DECATHLON
subtitle: ''
text: The best olympic game on the Speccy
image: null
- title: DAN DARE III
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: DOUBLE DRAGON
subtitle: ''
text: A bit messy...
image: null
- title: DUN DARACH
subtitle: ''
text: The guys are walking so smoothly
image: null
- title: ELITE
subtitle: ''
text: The mythic space game ! The father of all other space-games such as Wing-Commander.
image: null
- title: FANTASY WORLD DIZZY
subtitle: ''
text: One of the many games based on the egg-man Dizzy.
image: null
- title: GAUNTLET
subtitle: ''
text: Conversion of the classic arcade game
image: null
- title: GUNFRIGHT
subtitle: ''
text: 3D isometric western game. A must-have !
image: null
- title: IKARI WARRIORS
subtitle: ''
text: As good as Commando !
image: null
- title: IK+
subtitle: International Karate +
text: 3 players fight
image: null
emulators:
- title: EightyOne
url: http://www.chuntey.com/eightyone/
platform: Windows
text: Excellent emulator emulating nearly all ZX computers (80, 81, Spectrums, Timex, etc.). As well as emulating the machines themselves, numerous addon cards are supported, including hi-res graphics, custom character sets, sound and colour cards.
- title: GLECK
url: HTTP://GLECK.EMUUNLIM.COM
platform: Windows
text: Spectrum emulator. Runs on Windows 95 and up, and requires DirectX. Includes a debugger, and emulates also some Southamerican clones
- title: RealSpectrum
url: http://www.ramsoft.bbk.org/realspec.html
platform: Windows
text: complete and innovative Spectrum emulator for DOS and Windows
- title: Spectaculator
url: http://WWW.SPECTACULATOR.COM/
platform: Windows
text: Spectaculator emulates the 16K/48K/128/+2/+2A Spectrums and some additional hardware.
- title: SPIN
url: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/emulators.html
platform: Windows
text: Spectrum emulator running on any version of Windows from '95 onward up to and including XP
- title: Warajavo
url: http://www.void.jump.org/warajevo/
platform: Windows
text: an excellent bosnian emulator for PC compatibles by Zeljko Juric (DOS)
- title: X128
url: http://www.void.jump.org/x128/
platform: Windows
text: Spectrum 48 / 128 / +2 / +3 Emulator
- title: ZX-32
url: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/9932/
platform: Windows
text: Great Win32 Emulator. Very stable, very fast.
- title: MacSpectacle
url: http://little-bat.de/zxsp/download/mac_spectacle/manual.html
platform: Apple
text: One of the most powerful Spectrum emulator
- title: ZXSP
url: http://little-bat.de/zxsp/download/zxsp_mac/zxsp_mac.html
platform: Apple
text: Emulator for PowerMac
- title: Ian's ZX Spectrum page
url: http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/oucl/users/ian.collier/Spectrum/
platform: Unix / Linux
text: the official page of xz80, the emulator for XWindows
- title: xzx
url: http://www.zx-spectrum.net/xzx/
platform: Unix / Linux
text: an other emulator for Linux computers
- title: ASp
url: http://www.greew.freeserve.co.uk/ASp.html
platform: Amiga OS
text: ''
- title: Spec128
url: http://members.tripod.com/~JoeKelleher/Spec128/
platform: RISC OS
text: Emulates a Spectrum 128 for the Acorn
- title: HOB Java Spectrum emulator
url: http://www.twinbee.org/hob/
platform: Other platform
text: Fascinate yourself for hours with this portable Java Spectrum Emulator.
- title: Java On-Line Emulator
url: http://www.zxspec.freeserve.co.uk/java.html
platform: Other platform
text: Plays games on-line !
- title: PocketClive
url: http://pocketclive.emuunlim.com/
platform: Other platform
text: Spectrum 48k and 128k emulator for PocketPC !
- title: QAOP
url: http://wizard.ae.krakow.pl/~jb/qaop/
platform: Other platform
text: Qaop is a ZX Spectrum emulator Java applet
- title: Sinclair Spectrum Emulator 1.1
url: http://www.palmtop.nl/ce/hpc_spectrum.html
platform: Other platform
text: Handheld PCs and Palm-size PCs running Windows CE 2.0 or higher
- title: TEZXAS
url: http://tezxas.ticalc.org/
platform: Other platform
text: ZX Spectrum emulator for TI 89 and 92 calculators !
- title: ZX68
url: http://zx68.8k.com
platform: Other platform
text: Emulator for various 68000 based machines. First version is released for PalmOS
- title: FUSE
url: http://fuse-emulator.sourceforge.net/
platform: Multiplatform
text: Fuse (the Free Unix Spectrum Emulator) is a ZX Spectrum emulator for Unix and MacOS X
- title: SPEC
url: http://WWW.METHEDRINE.DEMON.CO.UK/spec.html
platform: Multiplatform
text: Spec is a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k emulator for the PC. There are two different versions, Spec (freeware for DOS) and SpecX (Shareware for Windows 95/98/NT4).
links:
- title: CRASH, the on-line edition
url: http://www.crashonline.org.uk/
text: Site dedicated to the old well-known magazine
- title: DOCUMENTATION
url: http://www.madhippy.com/8-bit/index.php?machine=sinclair
text: Classic 8-bit Computers / lot of on-line documentations for Sinclair computers. USEFUL !
- title: DOCUMENTATION
url: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/documentation.html#manuals
text: World of Spectrum's documentation page
- title: Good Old Games
url: http://speccy.altervista.org/
text: ZX games and screenshots
- title: Las Spectrum y TK en el Uruguay
url: http://WWW.Z80.UY.TC
text: The story of the ZX Spectrum line and TK line in Uruguay, South America
- title: Number Cruncher
url: http://www.8bit-museum.de/
text: This german website has an excellent Sinclair section
- title: Planet Sinclair
url: http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/
text: THE site to visit ! Everything you need.
- title: Sinclair Nostalgia Products
url: http://surf.to/zx
text: Lot of speccy stuff here and long list of clones
- title: Sinclair ZX Hardware Website
url: http://www.xs4all.nl/~echorod/zx/index.htm
text: Features designs to build your own Sinclair computer
- title: Software Records on Vinyl
url: 'http://www.kempa.com/blog/archives/000053.html '
text: These records contained computer programs as part of the audio.
- title: Speccy.com.ar
url: http://www.speccy.com.ar/
text: Argentine blog dedicated to the Spectrum
- title: Speccyalista
url: HTTP://WWW.SINCLAIR.HU
text: Hungarian Sinclair page
- title: Spectrum Screenshot Heaven
url: http://members.tripod.com/ssh_web/
text: Excellent ! Plenty of speccy screenshots here.
- title: Speecy.CZ
url: http://www.speccy.cz/
text: Nice site with a lot of games, demos, maps, screenshots, cover arts, music, etc...
- title: Steve's Spectrum Page
url: http://ireland.iol.ie/~sjones/
text: Steve collects speccy games and accept requests
- title: Tape Loader Home Page
url: http://perso.club-internet.fr/jgibart/spectl/spectl.html
text: Utility to transfer your zx tapes to the PC
- title: The Incomplete Spectrum ROM Assembly
url: http://www.wearmouth.demon.co.uk/
text: Spectrum ROM assembly text file. Very useful if you want to create your version of the Spectrum Operating System
- title: The Ocean Experience
url: http://www.theoceanexperience.cjb.net/
text: A look into one of the biggest games developers of the 80's and 90's
- title: The Tipshop
url: http://www.the-tipshop.co.uk/
text: A central archive for all Spectrum and SAM games hints, tips, cheats, maps, hacks and pokes. Impressive!
- title: The World of ZX-Spectrum
url: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/
text: This is it. The site you MUST visit first :-)
- title: Virtual TR-DOS
url: HTTP://ZX.DA.RU
text: Belarussian ZX-soft archive (in Russian)
- title: Your Sinclair, a celebration
url: http://www.yoursinclair.co.uk/
text: Tribute to one of the best Spectrum dedicated magazine
- title: z00m's Speccy corner
url: http://zoom.czweb.org/
text: DOCUMENTATION, PICTURES, emulators, AY CHIP
- title: ZX Download page
url: http://zxfiles.hut2.ru/
text: The very best of new ZX Spectrum games both Europe and ex-USSR
- title: ZX Forever
url: http://www.zx-f.ru/
text: Full with new Russian ZX Spectrum games (lots of them are in English language)
- title: ZX Spectrum Games after 1993
url: http://tarjan.uw.hu/zx_gamez_after_93_en.htm
text: Nice article referencing ZX Spectrum games released after 1993!
- title: ZX Spectrum in the 21st Century
url: http://tarjan.uw.hu/zxclones_en.htm
text: Nice info about a lot of ZX Spectrum clones and hardware
- title: ZXSPECTICLE
url: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/zxspecticle/
text: News, Reviews, Interviews and the A to Z top ten games
- title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA
url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com
text: Sinclair computers
docs:
- title: ZX SPECTRUM BASIC PROGRAMMING
url: http://www.1000bit.it/support/manuali/sinclair/zxspectrum/start.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**ZX SPECTRUM BASIC PROGRAMMING**](http://www.1000bit.it/support/manuali/sinclair/zxspectrum/start.htm)written by Steven Vickers
 compiled/archived by Chris Owen / Tiziano Garuti\
 type of document : HTML\
 source : [1000Bit](http://www.1000bit.net/)
- title: ZX SPECTRUM INTRODUCTORY MANUAL
url: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/ZXSpectrumIntroduction/
cover: null
text: |-
[**ZX SPECTRUM INTRODUCTORY MANUAL**](http://www.worldofspectrum.org/ZXSpectrumIntroduction/)written by Steven Vickers and Robin Bradbeer
 compiled/archived by Colin Woodcock\
 type of document : HTML\
 source : [www.worldofspectrum.org](http://www.worldofspectrum.org/faq/resources/documents.htm)
- title: ZX SPECTRUM SERVICE MANUAL
url: http://members.lycos.co.uk/eightbitula/48kinfo.html
cover: null
text: |-
[**ZX SPECTRUM SERVICE MANUAL**](http://members.lycos.co.uk/eightbitula/48kinfo.html)written by Sinclair Research Limited
 type of document : HTML\
 source : [The Lil Old Sinclair Computer Technical Information Repository](http://members.lycos.co.uk/eightbitula/)
videos:
- title: ZX Spectrum 80's advert
url: http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=4202568674798941434&hl=fr
text: 'Length: 40 s'
- title: Italian advert
url: http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-435007321076423838&hl=fr
text: 'Length: 16 s'
- title: White Spectrum
url: http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-5726764159018822451&hl=fr
text: 'Length: 57 s'
- title: The Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll years
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCuXC0UgKlc
text: 'Length: 6 min 34 s'
comments:
- author: David (Australia)
date: Tuesday 10th August 2021
text: I think the Spectrum really was the computer that sparked the revolution. The C64 was out of reach of most people, but almost anyone could afford a Spectrum. It had high ( 256x192 ) resolution graphics and enough memory to make some serious games. Because it was cheap enough, it drove the games market more than any other computer, and it''s only recently that the number of PC games has caught up with the number of Spectrum games. Back then, being a geek was very uncool, and programming computers was for nerds, and being a nerd meant being in the untouchable group socially. It''s amazing to see how much the world has moved on from there, and now everyone wants to think they are a geek. Working with the ZX Spectrum taught me to design Z80 based hardware, which got me my first job in a R$D factory designing computers to control video game payment systems.
- author: Riri (France)
date: Friday 27th November 2020
text: Mon expérience sur ZX Spectrum https://riri-linventeur.wixsite.com/les-debrouillards/zx-spectrum
- author: mrfluffybrown (UK)
date: Wednesday 1st August 2018
text: |-
Hi! I''ve stumbled across a couple of real beauties online, an Issue One 16K Spectrum which looks like its in a condition I''ve never seen as good as before. The same seller seems to have unearthed a couple of real gems in terms of collectability value, including original Sinclair literature which I''ve not come across before. Take a look , see wht you think :
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223084601634?ssPageName$STRK:MESELX:IT$\_trksid$p3984.m1558.l2649
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223079077190
- author: Ronald (Dresden)
date: Monday 11th December 2017
text: |-
Hello - my first ZX Spectrum was a self-made which means, all of the functions of the ULA were substituted with logic chips from the 74-series. The first version didn''t have a coloured version, just black/white. Later, a piggy-back board was made. After reunification of Germany, I bought a used ZX Spectrum and added the following modules\
\- Betadisc Interface, 2 Floppy Disk Drives attached\
\- Printer Interface\
\- Kempston Joystick Interface\
To attach all these modules at once, I also had to make a bus extender with industrial connectors.\
The power was supplied by an PC power module, so I had enough 5V / 12V / -12V . It was a quite funny system and I was surprised how you can easily program with that machine even all key have multiple meanings depends on situation and keys pressed.
- author: Nikigre (Slovenia)
date: Sunday 12th February 2017
text: |-
Hello!\
Does anyone know where I can get games and apps for this computer? Because on google a results are about emulated games and apps. But I need a copy of cassette sound.\
Please help! Thank you!
- author: Martin
date: Friday 19th June 2015
text: I had a spectrum +2 when I was a kid, however I bought a zx spectrum 48K last week off an auction site. I seem to be able to get better reliablity with loading using an old tape player on the 48k than I ever did on my +2. I''m impressed that even being over 30 years old it still works.
- author: Diego
date: Wednesday 18th March 2015
text: nel caso fossero ancora disponibili mi interessa
- author: Edoardo (Cagliari)
date: Tuesday 3rd June 2014
text: ciao Gianni sono interessato i gioiellini sono ancora disponibili? :)
- author: gianni (italia)
date: Saturday 24th May 2014
text: |-
regalo a chi ne farà richiesta zx Spectrum 48 con alimentatore originale più zx Spectrum + con tasti rigidi ed in oltre varie cassette con programmi.\
PS. spedizioni a carico destinatario.
- author: Duster (Russia)
date: Thursday 23rd January 2014
text: My first computer was soviet-build clone of Spectrum 48K. I remember a lots of pirate audio-cassetes with cracked games from Poland (most popular string in loader was "Cracked by Bill Gilbert") 15-20 games on each. Whats a wonderful time!
- author: Mark Moore (High Wycombe, England)
date: Thursday 13rd June 2013
text: lol I remember the awful keyboard with the shift-control-stand on head combinations, I had the 16k version with a 32k expansion pack sat in the back ! ... I wrote a load of games in assembler $ basic for the spectrum which were published, fun days !
- author: moroz1999 (Tallinn/Estonia)
date: Sunday 5th May 2013
text: |-
I hope nobody will be against posting a link to my little project here, as I''m sure it can be really interesting to many ZX-Spectrum fans.\
http://zx.maros.pri.ee/eng/ - this is a ZX-Art, a largest collection of ZX-Spectrum classic games loading screens and modern demoscene art.
- author: Roger (ulster)
date: Thursday 28th February 2013
text: |-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v$zsjTpFR0oYQ
please can anyone help lcd add hmpr bit 5$6 mode 3 interlaced with intra frame compression think gassman and naxtcross might be the only ones with a clue
- author: rj (ulster uk)
date: Tuesday 22nd November 2011
text: |-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v$EmwW_6kUdHw
please post this link to youtube\
hope yu can find your way to the real great sam sites on the net
- author: Costel (Romania)
date: Tuesday 8th February 2011
text: TZX files store each and every pulse of a tape, so an audio can be built from it quit easily.
- author: Johnny
date: Tuesday 1st February 2011
text: |-
Hi. ....
Has anyone put the speccy onto a FPGA chip or made a single chip modern spectrum ??
The Amstrad CPC been done, they can run at 24MHz plus !!! so why not the spectrum ??
- author: Dave (England)
date: Tuesday 1st February 2011
text: I''m looking for a software database with SPECTRUM games and stuff in their original AUDIO format , so I can transfer them to 3" Disc. Most old software has been turned into digital files like TZX for emulators. Please leave comment if you can help !!
- author: Vic Flange
date: Monday 29th November 2010
text: Tasword is a good Spectrum word processor.
- author: Jamie (UK)
date: Monday 22nd November 2010
text: |-
I want one! Going to buy one from eBay!
Never had a spectrum. Got a powerbook 150 (apple). My dad had the original one. I have my powerbook for old games, but my Dadonly has his Core2 Duo Dull Dell.
Might get one for me too!
Any advise?\
Can you get programmes e.g Word Processing Software??
Jamie
- author: Mark (UK)
date: Monday 21st June 2010
text: |-
The Spectrum had a wonderful feel to it, almost organic imho. I spent for too much of my youth tapping away at this little gem.
I had the original rubber key 48K, the + and the +2, but my heart will always be with that little rubber keyed masterpiece.
- author: Noir (Hungary)
date: Friday 21st May 2010
text: |-
The 3.5 Mhz CPU speed was quite fair for 3D games, which run more smootly on the Spectrum than on a C64 for example with 1Mhz (or 1.6Mhz?) CPU (there was one where you had to deploy towers on a space station and another one where you had to run through a egyptian tomb, I forgot the names$ does anybody remember VU3D from Psion btw.? :)))). No VIC or SID chips unfortunatelly :(\
However it''s a 8bit CPU, the Z80 has instruments for 16bit operations and plenty of registers (A,B,C,D,E,H,L which are the 8 bit ones and BC, DE, HL which are the 16bit ones!), which were really great to work with that time!\
I still had the guy in one of the boxes somewhere in the basement :) :(
- author: User
date: Wednesday 8th April 2009
text: |-
There should be important additional info in description at site about graphics of Zpectrum:
Each 8x8 pixel block have: 3 bit foreground color, 3 bit background color, 1 bit brightness, and 1 bit flashing.
http://wapedia. mobi/en/Attribute_clash
- author: Andy Pagin (UK)
date: Thursday 19th March 2009
text: |-
A little known feature of the Spectrum was that you could redirect the error handling to run your own custom process in ram.
The practical upshot of this was that was you could write your own commands and add them seamlessly to the Sinclair Basic set
How? Simple, write the ‘command’ in machine code and redirect the error handler to it’s address by changing a system variable.
Then when you type your command in, the command line interpreter doesn’t recognise it, and calls your custom error handler, which then\
Runs your custom command!
I remember I used this technique to add a few missing functions to the Microdrives, such as the capability to re-open an existing file for writing.
Sinclair originally hoped the Spectrum would sell well to schools as an educational tool, and as a result the user manual that came with the machine was utterly superb. Not only did it have a complete and very easy to follow BASIC tutorial, but it explained a lot about how the machine worked, and even introduced Z80 machine code. Thanks to this amazing little machine (and the ZX81) I’ve now been a professional programmer for over 25 years.
- author: David Davies (UK)
date: Tuesday 6th November 2007
text: |-
The 16K Issue One Spectrum is undoubtedly the rarest of them all. I was once offered £400 for my boxed unit (which has been with us since 1983) despite it being broken.
The Issue One shows its Sinclair kit machine heritage ... it has rough hand-drawn tracks on the PCB and no silk screen. In addition the ULA chip (the only custom chip on the board - basically a complex logic chip) had a bug in it. This led to Sinclair adding the 'spider' to correct the problem. This was just another standard logic chip added to the board with thick wire so that it rises above the board.
- author: Saltor (Taranto - Italy)
date: Monday 7th May 2007
text: Happy birthday, old friend.
- author: Christian (Cumbria, UK)
date: Wednesday 4th April 2007
text: My first ever computer ! in xmas 83 (I was 9) and a whole new world openned up......That horizons tape (naff!) and Trans am (Ultimate) and Pogo (Ocean - q-bert clone) were the first games I got.......sniff,sniff......
- author: Martin Hitchings (Oxford)
date: Tuesday 2nd January 2007
text: The 48k Speccy was my first computer which I got for Christmas in '82 or possibly '83 and I remember playing Chequered Flag and competing for lap times with my mum! It did get pretty battered and beaten over the years and I amassed a huge collection of games for it too, my favourite of which had to be Ant Attack. After a couple of years, the connector where the power cable plugged in became loose and somtimes it would turn itself off. My parents very kindly sent it off for a keyboard upgrade to the Saga 1 Emperor which kind of looked like a basic PC keyboard, but also gave me the reset switch I desperately needed (instead of taping the cable to the desk to stop it from moving). The only downside to this was that the keyboard didnt have all of the commands onthe keys like the old rubber one but also, the stickers after much bashing, came off! Those were the days.....
- author: Christian H. (Iceland)
date: Saturday 21st October 2006
text: the spectrum was a brilliant piece of hardware, although technically better home computers were available at the time this one was extremely affordable and usable. got me introduced to my current line of work in computers. thanks sinclair and not at least zilog.
- author: Alkis Philon (Athens, Greece)
date: Friday 3rd February 2006
text: My first computer...just seeing pictures of it brings tears to my eyes! Sir Clive, thank you and God bless you!
- author: steve rayner (england)
date: Monday 4th April 2005
text: |-
does anyone here use the zeus assembler?\
i am trying to use it on a spectrum +3, in 128k mode. Each time i exit using the Q command, it resets the machine. Therefore i cannot save my source code to disk.
If anyone here does use it, is there any way around this? I really want to use it in 128k mode so that i can utilize the disk drive.
- author: Andy Malcolm (Norwich, UK)
date: Friday 1st April 2005
text: Still the best computer ever made!
- author: Ian Gillman (UK)
date: Tuesday 8th March 2005
text: I had one of the original spectrums in January 1982. My father knew a guy who worked for Sinclair (we lived near Cambridge) and we obtained one of the machines before its official release. As you know, a lot of people learned programming on a Spectrum (or Speccy as we used to call it) but did you know that a lot of people like myself started out by debugging other peoples code. There was a magazine called "Sinclair Programs" which would publish BASIC listings for small programs that users had written. Unfortunately the magazine had typos in quite a few listings and in order to make the programs work we spent many evenings debugging them.
- author: Nigel (New Zealand)
date: Tuesday 27th April 2004
text: Keys like dead flesh
- author: pino ficara ( )
date: Sunday 27th July 2003
text: The biggest problem I had was the AC adapter, it was supposed to convert from 220VAC to 12VDC, but it was converting to 17VAC instead. The poor Spectrum's case was so hot I could use it to cook eggs. A friend of mine (Gianka) help me modifying the diods bridge inside the adapter. If I remeber correctly we installed on the bridge a 7812 chip.
- author: Grant (UK)
date: Monday 23rd June 2003
text: Nice one, thanks oliver
- author: Olivier (France)
date: Thursday 19th June 2003
text: Of course it is possible. You should find here (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/utilities.html) tools to do so. The idea is to convert .TAP files for example into .WAV files and load them diretly into the Speccy. MP3s won't work that much as there are compressed files, and so all frequencies are not present as in the original...
- author: Grant (UK)
date: Thursday 19th June 2003
text: hey, does anyone know of a way of downloading roms for the spectrum, and then loading then playing them on a real one?, maybe if they were as sound , in mp3 format?,
- author: Hernan (Argentina)
date: Monday 27th May 2002
text: 'The ZX Spectrum was manufactured in Argentina by Czerweny, a electric motor company! Two models were made: the CZ Spectrum, identical to the ZX except for 2 DIN connectors for Sinclair Joysticks and a useful reset button ;-D ; and the CZ Spectrum+, identical to the ZX Spectrum+.'
related:
- /museum/czerweny-cz-2000
- /museum/czerweny-spectrum
- /museum/czerweny-spectrum-plus
- /museum/elwro-800-junior
- /museum/sinclair-zx-spectrum-128
- /museum/sinclair-zx-spectrum-2
- /museum/sinclair-zx-spectrum-3
- /museum/sinclair-zx-spectrum-480
oc_id: 223
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230602045153/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=223
date: '2023-06-02'
---
The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was one of the most popular European computers of the 80's. Two models were launched: one with 16 kb RAM and one with 48 kb RAM.
One of its most "interesting" characteristics is its keyboard! Some keys have more than five (!) functions! It is impossible to type BASIC keywords letter by letter, instead you have to use function keys. A lot of peripherals and programs were developed for this computer. It seems that several models of this computers were launched (at least 3), but I've no technical details about them. It was replaced in 1984 by the Spectrum + and in 1985 by the [Spectrum 128](/museum/sinclair-zx-spectrum-128/).
Alan Wilson reports to us :
The 16K version of the computer had only the 16K ram chips loaded, while the 48K version had both banks full.
To keep the prices down Sinclair used faulty 64K chips (internally 2 X 32K). All the chips in the 32K bank of RAM had to have the same half of the 64K chips working. A link was fitted on the pcb in order to choose the first half or the second half.
It was possible with a few logic chips for the experimenter to have access to the faulty 32K bank.