Subj : Re: Old Geek Thoughts...
To   : McDoob
From : Jeff
Date : Thu Jan 06 2022 20:38:25

On 06 Jan 2022, McDoob said the following...
 Mc>  Je> As far as not having an actual ZX Spectrum, if you're a decent solder
 Mc>  Je> you can remedy that with Harlequin kit, also available from ByteDelig
 Mc>  Je> 
 Mc> Sure you're not sponsored? ;)

Yep! Not sponsored, just enthused. I've never bought a Harlequin kit from
ByteDelight; I bought mine directly from their creator, Don Superfo. He has a
wide range of Harlequin kits with various capabilities: NTSC, PAL, SD mass
storage, CF mass storage, built-in Wi-Fi modem... However, he doesn't make or
sell the keyboards and cases. I got my keyboards/cases from Djordje Mitik in
China, but he is often backlogged and Chinese shipping can be slow.

 Mc> I used to be pretty good with a soldering iron, but it has been a long
 Mc> time, and I don't have an iron anymore...If I was going to take on a
 Mc> project like that, it'd probably be a C64 clone, though...No offense to
 Mc> ZX Spectrum, but I never owned one, and I did a C64, for a long time.
` 
I didn't own a C64, either, but had some friends who did. If someone made a
C64 kit, though... I'd be all over that.

 Mc>  Je> The original ZX Spectrum required only one specialized chip: the ULA 
 Mc>  Je> early FPGA-like chip). However, it's been reverse-engineered and can 
 Mc>  Je> duplicated with commonly-available logic chips, albeit a large number
 Mc>  Je> them which results in a somewhat tightly-packed circuit board.
 Mc> That's a problem for C64, from what I've heard...I think the SID chip
 Mc> hasn't been reverse-engineered...

Yeah, I don't think so, either. There are still some out there, though;
they're quite popular in the chiptune community, I think. The same is true of
the Atari 8-bits; they had specialized CTIA/GTIA, ANTIC, and POKEY chips.

 Mc> I have a few projects, PiBBS for instance, that should keep me busy for
 Mc> at least the winter, anyway.

Always good to have a hobby, especially in these times! What are your goals
for PiBBS, be they general or specific?

Jeff.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
 * Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)

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