website/content/museum/electronica-cip-04.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Electronica CIP-04	Computers	Home Computer	Romania	1992	MMN-80. East European clone of the Z80-A	name image company company_name specs tabs photos oc_id source CIP-04 /media/museum/photos/electronica_cip256_system_2.jpg /companies/electronica Electronica label value NAME CIP-04 label value MANUFACTURER Electronica label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN Romania label value YEAR 1992 label value END OF PRODUCTION 1994 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE 48K Spectrum BASIC and 128K Spectrum ZX+3 BASIC with +3 DOS (probably) label value KEYBOARD Full-stroke keyboard, QWERTY, 40 keys (same as CIP-64) label value CPU MMN-80. East European clone of the Z80-A label value SPEED 3.5469 MHz label value RAM 256 KB label value ROM 64 KB label value TEXT MODES 32 x 24 label value GRAPHIC MODES 256 x 192 label value COLORS 8 label value SOUND AY-3-8912 3 voice + white noise sound generator label value SIZE / WEIGHT 32.5(W) x 27.5(D) x 7(H) cm. label value I/O PORTS TV/RF, Composite video, tape recorder, serial and parallel ports, expansion bus connector, DC in, joystick label value BUILT IN MEDIA 3.5'' disk drive label value OS CP/M label value POWER SUPPLY External Power supply unit (5V - 2A) label value PERIPHERALS All Sinclair/Spectrum extensions using the expansion bus connector label value PRICE 5000 lei (Romania, 1992) photos title subtitle text image REAR CONNECTORS **(1)** Joyctick DB9 connector\ **(2)** Power supply jack plug. An external PSU supply the power\ **(3)** Expansion/Z80 bus connector\ **(4)** Parallel interface DB 25 connector\ **(5)** Serial port DIN plug\ **(6)** Tape recorder DIN plug\ **(7)** Composite video DIN plug\ **(8)** TV modulator output\ **(9)** Reset switch /media/museum/photos/electronica_cip256_back_1.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE CIP Like the CIP-64, this version doesn't use any ULA custom chip, but only standard East European chips. **(1)** RF/TV aerial modulator\ **(2)** Composite video DIN plug\ **(3)** Tape recorder DIN plug\ **(4)** Serial port DIN plug\ **(5)** Parallel port DB25 connector\ **(6)** FDD controller chip\ **(7)** MMN-80 processor (Z80-A clone)\ **(8)** Expansion/Z80 Bus connector\ **(9)** 2 x 27C256 ROM chips (32 KB x 2)\ **(10)** Joystick DB9 connector\ **(11)** 8 East European memory chips holding 256 KB of RAM /media/museum/photos/electronica_cip256_inside_1.jpg title subtitle text image MOTHERBOARD CLOSE-UP /media/museum/photos/electronica_cip256_motherboard.jpg 704 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230608151713/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=704 2023-06-08

The CIP-04 seems to be a clone of the Sinclair Spectrum +3.

However, despite similar or higher technical features (256 KB of RAM, 64 KB of ROM, built-in Floppy Disk Drives), the system was not compatible with all Spectrums because of its 3.5" FDD instead of the 3" Spectrum model (though the 3.5" FDD was a better choice).

The 64 KB of ROM probably hold the 48K Spectrum BASIC, 128K Spectrum ZX+3 BASIC and CP/M operating system

Additional information from Grecu Cristi:
The CIP-04 is very close to Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3, probably the only +3 clone from Romania. It's ROM software is almost identical; but at power-on the message is "(c)" instead "(c) Amstrad...".
The menu is identical, with loader, 128 BASIC, Calculator and 48K basic. It has the AY-3-8912 sound chip, the video connector is also used for sound output.
The disk is managed through +3DOS, a method cloned from Amstrad's +3. The disk is 3,5", single sided, double density, 40 tracks. It's somekind silly to use 720K floppies, and use only 1/4 of its capacity! But I think this is also cloned from +3. The controller chip is a CM609P, a russian clone of the 8272. Being a total clone, I bet it can also run CP/M.
It has a one-direction parallel port, providing 8 data lines, STROBE and ACK. No PIO was used, it is probably controlled by soft. It also has a serial connector, but no UART is used. Also probably driven by software. Transistors were used instead of the classic MC-1488. Very unprofessional!
Joystick connector: Two Sinclair joystics. Uses keys 1..0.
Memory: Although near the keyboard is said BIG, "256 kbytes", from the 128K basic interpretor we may access only 128 KB. The memory consists of eight K565RU7G, 256 Kbits each. So indeed, it has 256 Kbytes! Two M27C256B (64 KB) hold the ROM software, just like the +3. I also saw about 5 more ROMs, MN74L287, 256*4 bits each. I don't know what are those good for.
Something stupid: The expansion bus is very close to the power supply jack, so there is no space to plug in a peripheral. Not even the original Electronica's joystick interface.
Power supply issues: It needs 5V, plus on the central pin. Careful: Like all the CIPs, it hasn't internal stabiliser. +12V is provided inside for the serial interface and other chips.