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This board:
1) Second 64K (8kx8) SRAM: CDM6264E3 (datacode 1982)
2) Serial RS232 Interface with 8251 USART
3) Memory mapped 8 bit parallel IN/OUT with LS374 latched outputs and LS244 inputs with one interrupt line
4) Memory mapped co-processor C8231A: 16 bit floating point arithmetic unit running @ 2.5 Mhz
The seven trimmers (all connected to a 555 oscillating circuit) are tuned to play the seven musical notes (Major Scale). The two quad analog/bilateral switch 4016 select the appropriate resistor, according to a seven bits word. The last bit is used to activate or mute the sound. The amplifier is just a simple general purpose low-power amplifying transistor (2N2222A).
L'8 luglio 2015 è stato presentato ufficialmente a Highgate, Londra, la nuova console di videogiochi ZX Vega. Basato sull'architettura del Sinclair ZX Spectrum, il Vega è sviluppato e prodotto dalla Retro Computers Ltd (www.zxvega.co.uk), un'azienda fondata da Clive Sinclair, Chris Smith, David Levy e Paul Andrews ed è stato finanziato attraverso una campagna su Indiegogo che ha raccolto circa 150.000 sterline, il 50% in più del traguardo inizialmente fissato. Io sono stato invitato all'evento, unico italiano presente, in quanto nella dotazione iniziale di 1.000 giochi compare anche il mio Cousin Horace, uscito nell'ottobre 2014 (per saperne di più: www.alessandrogrussu.it/diario-2014-10-01.html).
Nella foto: il Vega accanto alla sua confezione. È evidente il richiamo alle linee del primo modello di ZX Spectrum, disegnato da Rick Dickinson e lanciato nel 1982.
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On the 8th of July, 2015, the ZX Vega, a new videogame console, was officially presented in Highgate, London. Based on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum architecture, the Vega is developed and produced by Retro Computers Ltd (www.zxvega.co.uk), a company founded by Clive Sinclair, Chris Smith, David Levy and Paul Andrews, and it was funded through an Indiegogo campaign which raised about £150,000, 50% more than the initially set target. I was invited, the only one from Italy, because my Cousin Horace, released in October 2014, has been included in the initial set of 1,000 games coming with the console (more on this can be found at: www.alessandrogrussu.it/diario-2014-10-01.html).
Photo: the Vega alongside its box. It is clearly inspired to the appearance of the ZX Spectrum first model, designed by Rick Dickinson and released in 1982.
â—¦ Co-processor manufacturer: AMD (AM9511) or Rochester Electronics replacement, licensed by Intel (c) 1980 (C8231A).
Rochester Electronics is licensed and authorized by semiconductor manufacturers to provide a continuing manufacturing source for mature/discontinued products.
AM9511 APU performs floating point calculations that would be too time-consuming or cumbersome if done on Z80. In addition to the four basic operations, the 9511 can implement transcendental functions (sin, log, etc.), and it can also perform conversion from floating point to fixed point and vice versa. It can also perform operations in 16 or 32 bit fixed point two's complement integer representation.
L'8 luglio 2015 è stato presentato ufficialmente a Highgate, Londra, la nuova console di videogiochi ZX Vega. Basato sull'architettura del Sinclair ZX Spectrum, il Vega è sviluppato e prodotto dalla Retro Computers Ltd (www.zxvega.co.uk), un'azienda fondata da Clive Sinclair, Chris Smith, David Levy e Paul Andrews ed è stato finanziato attraverso una campagna su Indiegogo che ha raccolto circa 150.000 sterline, il 50% in più del traguardo inizialmente fissato. Io sono stato invitato all'evento, unico italiano presente, in quanto nella dotazione iniziale di 1.000 giochi compare anche il mio Cousin Horace, uscito nell'ottobre 2014 (per saperne di più: www.alessandrogrussu.it/diario-2014-10-01.html).
Nella foto: vedere il proprio gioco girare sul Vega non ha prezzo...
On the 8th of July, 2015, the ZX Vega, a new videogame console, was officially presented in Highgate, London. Based on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum architecture, the Vega is developed and produced by Retro Computers Ltd (www.zxvega.co.uk), a company founded by Clive Sinclair, Chris Smith, David Levy and Paul Andrews, and it was funded through an Indiegogo campaign which raised about £150,000, 50% more than the initially set target. I was invited, the only one from Italy, because my Cousin Horace, released in October 2014, has been included in the initial set of 1,000 games coming with the console (more on this can be found at: www.alessandrogrussu.it/diario-2014-10-01.html).
Photo: seeing your game running on the Vega has no price...
There is a reason why I re-sprayed this VIC-20. It was soooooo yellow. No retr0bright solution was available at the time.
When I was spraying the machine, I ran out of paint. You can still see some of the original colour around the edges. Im going to get another can of paint soon and finish the job. Need to get rid of a couple of finger prints too! :)
Dont forget to checkout www.retrocomputers.eu for more info about my retro computer collection.
Puzzles, tests and problems to improve your skills.
Please take a look at www.retrocomputers.eu for more info about my retro computer collection.
A portable DVD player with a video input jack provided a handy test screen for ELF2K's vintage PIXIE (RCA1861) graphics chip output.
For more information about The National Museum of Computing , visit www.tnmoc.org
Please take a look at www.retrocomputers.eu for more info about my retro computer collection.
Please take a look at www.retrocomputers.eu for more info about my retro computers and Raspberry Pi collections.
Texas Instruments created the TMS5220 voice synthesis processor as a means to add realistic speech output to home computers such as the BBC Micro, pinball machines, and children's toys. It acts as a model of the human vocal tract which allows the speech data to be parameterised and hence compressed considerably compared with just storing raw audio samples.
The speech processor can accept data either from a host microprocessor, or from a mask programmed serial ROM - the TMS6100 voice synthesis memory. However, the high cost and minimum order quantities associated with the setup of a mask means that comparatively few TMS6100s were created, and being mask programmed are fixed in operation.
The TMS6100 emulator solves both of these shortfalls by emulating the operation of the original device through the use of a modern 8 bit microcontroller with on board flash memory. When coupled with an original TMS5220 your system can speak once again.
Above info taken from www.sprow.co.uk/bbc/speechupgrade.htm
You can hear some of the speech produced at my blog post at www.retrocomputers.eu/?p=1124
Please take a look at www.retrocomputers.eu for more info about my retro computer collection.
Running an 1802 machine code routine using EF1 sync (not interrupts) to display 36 characters from a message buffer.
MAXIM MAX232: THIS IS NOT a vintage component...sorry but I had only one single power supply rail (+5v) available...
Taken from the "Computer Answers" magazine from July 1983! Magazine cost 75p!
An Atari 800 with 48k RAM is more expensive than todays netbooks!
Dont forget to check out my website retrocomputers.wordpress.com
One of my hobbies is collecting retro-computers, focusing on computers made by Atari. I have currently have eleven different Atari-models, three from Commodore and one other model in my collection.
The Commodore 64 was probably the dream computer for most kids in the early 1980ies. It outperformed most of the contemporary home-computers when it came to graphics and sound in 1982, however the BASIC interpreter was anything but impressive.
Lived in a veritable desert when it came to computer technology in in 1983, if memory serves me correct the VIC 20 me and my four year older brother got for Christmas in 1982 was bought in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, 450 km south of us, we were a bit lucky when a local store mostly sold office equipment like type writers and office computers decided to also sell home computers in form of Commodore 64. My brother and his friend spent much time during the summer of -83 there playing the limited amount of games that were available at the time, then later nagging on our parents to get one for Christmas. So by using most of my and my brothers savings, and selling the VIC 20 we got our precious Commodore 64 for Christmas in 1983.
A few years later we also acquired a 1541 disk drive, as far as I can remember it costed as much as the computer had in 1983. Today you get a quite decent laptop for that kind of money.
I sold mine in 1989, so this is not the one I had back then.
Identification plate on Burroughs TD700 Self-Scan early gas plasma display screen with main control unit and keyboard. Design Level (DL) 4 c1973.
Although the control unit identity plate is stamped for 240 volts, the power supply test points for 5.1v, 12v, -12v, 30v, and -250v were all up to required values on 110 volts AC supply from the variac..!
My very first computer ever was a TRS-80 Model I. It was cookin' with the Level II Basic and 16k upgrade! Woot!
As such, I've always had a soft spot in my retro-computer heart for the TRS-80 line. Yes, they were pretty much the worst of the bunch for graphics (what, a "hires" pixel being a white square 1/8th inch square isn't GOOD enough for you?!?) even compared to the other dino's back then, but just like your first car, first girlfriend, etc....you never quite forget. :)
So, I never liked the fact that the "war posters" in those days called 'em "Trash eighties."
But, now of course, like all things retro, one must embrace the bad as well as the good...so, I took one of my old Model III's from the garage and converted into my very own "TRaSh-80."
(I really should put the real drives back in, just to add to the illusion, but they're too heavy and make the garbage can fall over. When I find a bigger can to mount it on, maybe...)