Rediscovering my first...
Like many guys my age (pushing 40) I started computing on a ZX Spectrum. Some time around 1983, we had a 16k, rubber keyed beauty that my mum bought second hand from a work colleague.
Cue playing classics such as Galaxians, Phasorchase, Orbiter, Ground Attack and Haunted Hedges...
It lasted about 18 months before it reverted to a constant purple screen with flashing blocks. No more ZX funtime...
Until Christmas 1985, that is... when Father Christmas surprised me with a Dixons Action Pack.... This contained a 48k Spectrum+, 10 "games" (ahem), Kempston Joystick interface, a Quickshot 1 and a tape player.
This little black beauty worked faultlessly for 4 years, joysticks came and went (until I discovered joystick perfection in the form of the Competition Pro 5000) as did tape players, until finally time itself caught up and Santa again worked his magic and left an Amiga 500 under the tree.
Fast forward 25 years to 2015. The spectrum has seen occasional nostalgic use, but has spent the last 12 years in a plastic Burton's bag, under a table in my old bedroom at my parent's house. Until recently that is when I attempted to demonstrate to my 7 year old twins "how it was in my day".
Inside the bag was one cassette. Renegade, by Imagine. Although I couldn't find the tape lead, to my surprise I managed to load the game at the first attempt using a stereo lead, half pulled out!
The game worked for 30 mins (without half the keyboard - new membrane required methinks) and the kids loved it... then the picture started flickering. Then the game crashed and wouldn't reload, and then the screen went black...
After a couple of days, I tried the old girl again and to my relief, she still works. Chatting to fellow owners on the Spectrum 4Ever Facebook group I realised I probably need some new capacitors and a ULA heatsink.
But this got me thinking... could I get the Spectrum experience without risking going through the inconvenient setup of the classic hardware? Perhaps a Raspberry Pi in a Spectrum+ case, which for all intents and purposes looks indistinguishable from the real thing?
A quick google search showed it had been done before - but now its my turn!
The Case...
OK - so the good news is I'm not going to tear into my beloved Spectrum+ to use the case for this project. I'm a believer in preserving classic hardware as much as possible. So, I took to eBay, and for what I consider a bargain £11.54, I got myself a rather nice, empty, Spectrum+ case....
The case is in great condition - with the exception of one of the rubber feet which appears to have degraded and become a kind of sticky blob. Other than that, 20 minutes with the baby wipes and a Nintendo DS stylus to get into the cracks, and the case is spotless, with no yellowing of the lettering and no grubby deposits on the keys.
A sticker on the back says "Keyb OK" which is a good sign, and interestingly this Spectrum was built by Samsung in Korea. My original one is UK made. The other difference I've found is that the keyboard back plate on this one is steel, whereas on my UK model it's plastic.
From what I've read online, the Samsung models have a much better keyboard membrane which probably explains why this one still works and my original one is now on its way out...
No cuts, no buts.
One of my personal goals for this project: I don't want to modify the case in any way. The other projects I have seen have been great, but the builders seem to have taken a saw to the case to make things fit, mainly around the sockets on the back. I don't want to do that. I'm not overly precious about these things, but I think it's a nice goal to have - keep it looking as original as possible.
Next time...
The first job on my list - getting the keyboard working.
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