A Place for Real Computer Newbs??

Anything Sinclair ZX Basic related; history, development, tips - differences between BASIC on the ZX80 and ZX81
AmericanPi
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Re: A Place for Real Computer Newbs??

Post by AmericanPi »

dasteph wrote:That's one of Dave Currans USB conversion kits for the Spectrum, there are also ZX81 models available, and he has them for sale on his website http://blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/201 ... -kits.html. The controler and matrix fit into the shell of a dead Sinclair (or other 80s Micro depending on the version you may buy) and allow you to use it a regular PC keyboard. All the keyboard control code is on the Amtel / Arduino chip.
Oh i get it. you just use the Sinclair machine instead of a keyboard. Yea i could see that. Cool.
_is Dave Curran on our forum?
dasteph wrote: I borrowed the basic idea and some of the code he provides in posts about the ZX81 in particular, and my own version of a controller and married it to a Raspberry Pi (and other components). What I called the AZ15 was the result. All the details about that project and other in my blog. https://zx81keyboardadventure.blogspot. ... ne-of.html
That's a cool little project dasteph :)
_is that a Stamp chip your using as a microcontroller :?:
_so, do you have to use the microcontroller :?:
__it's just, since your already using the Rpi can't you task it with running that code :?: Or is there more going on there :?:
NevilleJackson
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Re: A Place for Real Computer Newbs??

Post by NevilleJackson »

I was 11 when I discovered the ZX81 - we had to visit our aunt and uncle (and stay overnight), my uncle said "I've bought something you may be interested in, Nev" and for the next two days eating and sleeping were, frankly, secondary. I got a ZX81 for my 12th birthday, a RAM pack for Christmas and I was away.

I up (down?) graded to a BBC B in 1983 (for my "education") but had a source of games so that was what I did - programming took a sidestep.

These days, browsing forums such as this, I am in awe that a) people are still programming for these machines and b) discovering new techniques to write, well, better programs. What does 48 Kilobytes get you these days?

To think that Clive Sinclair was so p*ssed off because his beloved Spectrum was only used for playing games that he created the QL (a machine YEARS ahead of it's time (ironically, belieing its name)) and AT THE SAME TIME Chris Curry created the Acorn Electron to capture the games market that the Spectrum had, missed the crucial Christmas market of 1983, and subsequently led to the downfall of Acorn.
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dasteph
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Re: A Place for Real Computer Newbs??

Post by dasteph »

AmericanPi wrote: _is that a Stamp chip your using as a microcontroller :?:
_so, do you have to use the microcontroller :?:
__it's just, since your already using the Rpi can't you task it with running that code :?: Or is there more going on there :?:
It's an Arduino compatible board, a Leostick by Freetronics. I looked into using the PI directly for the keyboard, however for a fully functioning keyboard it would required the writing of a keyboard kernel module, activated during the Linux boot process. After some fussing around with that idea, It just ended up being a lot easier and quicker to use a micro controller running as a HID.
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