Analogue tones of a ZX Spectrum Load set to ride again via podcast project.
SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM CODE
The annotated source code shows how it was done
SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM SOFTWARE
Sadly, between COVID and Brexit, Tynemouth Software is closed for now, but you can still buy its kits from the Future Was 8-Bit.
Tynemouth Software makes a range of retro kits and bits. Once you've mastered a bit of soldering, you can move up to a compatible clone. The source code is on Github, it can drive a VGA screen, and it saves programs to an onboard EEPROM. It's a re-implementation rather than a direct clone, so it can't run ZX-80 machine code, but you still get Sinclair BASIC. You can build your own Sinclair clone this way today, and you won't need a paper-round to pay for it. No, by hand-soldering components onto a PCB. Not slotting a few cards into a motherboard and bunging it in case anyone can do that. Sinclair Research started out selling kits that the buyer assembled themselves, and arguably this is still the best way to know about a computer: to build it yourself. There's a lot more to modern Sinclair clones than snazzy packaged remakes, though. Which is why there's so much enthusiasm for the reborn ZX Spectrum Next.
SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM PRO
For a lot of us, that was true: many a seasoned tech pro started out learning BASIC on an eight-bitter – and if they were a Brit, the odds were it was a Sinclair. But it's not the only modern Sinclair clone – and a quick way to get your hands on one is to build your own.īack in the nostalgia era for many a middle-aged geek, one of the selling points for the early home computers was that they were educational. Still waiting for your Spectrum Next to arrive? Yeah, us too.