Cute little kit! I don't think ZX is 'my bag' enough to stress over some of those surface mount components. I've specifically screwed up microSD slots in the past, and now resign myself to through-hole breakout board modules for it. 🤣
I'm like 98% sure that that screen tearing on the lines on the loader were present on my 48k rubber keyed Speccy playing on a 14" crt tv back in the 80's (can't be bothered to check) but I am almost certain... Thanks for the vid Ben!
Speccy did screen tearing by default. Took programmers a couple of years to figure out how to sync with the vertical blank and even then lots of games didn't do it.
the pico zx spectrum emulator firmware is very cool, and this design is particuarly cute because it incorprates it's own 40 key keyboard, same as the original 48k The 48K basic mode still has the keyword entry. 128k BASIC has letter by letter entry. The 128k is generally compatible with 48k software so you only ever need to change the mode for certain software that just won't load in 128k mode, and the emulator can handle most tape formats, though at last check it didn't much in the way of turbo loading. You can also use SNA or Z80 files which will load instantly, but have their own drawbacks. Still, for a Spectrum emulator that runs on a $5 Microcontroller, it's hard to argue with the functionality that's in there. 2:31 Sinclair Basic has a PAUSE command. Pause 0 will wait on a keypress IIRC.
Tap and TZX files are actual tape images, which is why you have to "load" them. They were intended to be used as archival formats so they retain the entire experience, including loading screens. Z80 and SNA are developed from the multiface. They were used to create dumps that could be loaded from disks during the actual commercial lifespan of the system. So they load more or less instantly, filling the RAM and the registers to restore the system state, but can't be used to play multiload games.
This is so cool, I build the big fruitbat on my channel a few months back, when the retro is the new black send it to me. And I did my first ever zo spectrum z80 scroller on it. And I have a whole new level of appreciation for the game devs of the ZX, it is so spartan and clunky compared to the C64 and 800XL. Ans therefore I never liked the ZX and didn’t understand the passion for it from the people across the pond, until I played with that fruit bat 40 years later, the spartan nature is sort of cool and challenging. So I wanna build this one too
the reason us Brits loved it back in the day was because it was cheap (I think the 16K version was 99 pounds on launch, way less than the immediate competition), and frankly.. was British. This is 1980s Britain, we are dealing with the loss of a lot of manufacturing jobs, and here is a computer - part of the future - and it was being made in the UK! The latter reason is why the Amstrad and BBC computers were also super popular (with the BBC being installed into schools). Only the C64 of the American computers really made it in (although I started with a VIC20)
@@stephenpalmer9375 as a Dutch guy I lived in the US 1983-1984 and UK 1984-early 1985, because of my dads work. Seeing out 3 countries was such a contrast. Like you said England was so dreary and poor compared to NL, and NL was dreary and poor compared to US (Harrisburg PA). At school we had 5 or 6 AppleII in the class room! In the UK we had 2 BBC micros for the whole school that you had to sign in for them. And we as the oldest primary school kids had more luck getting to use them than the more junior students. The only upside for moving to the UK for me was that my parents had bought me my cousins VIC20 for my birthday. As we moved counties in the summer holiday and my brightest is at the end of August. So we picked that up when we landed back in Amsterdam and my dad had to do some work here before we moved to Ashford Kent. I have a love hate relationship with the VIC20, I loved it because it was MY computer and it was a reprieve from our dreary live in England especially school (which I called prison), what a hell compared to NL and especially the US! Single file into the class, silence in the hallways. School uniforms 🤮Very little “work by yourself” but just hours and hours of mind numbing explanations on a blackboard. And then someone was picked at random to make the sum… uggghhh 🤮 and the cold 1984 winter meant we were stuck in that small terraced house. So I spend days typing in programs from books and slowly learning. I had one friend who has a Speccy but even he came over to play at our place, he loved the Donkey Kong cartridge. Then we moved back and by then my cousin who had taken the money for his VIC20 and upgraded to a C64, but again he didn’t like it so I could borrow it. And eventually I bought it. To me that was the computer I truly love (to this day). A friend has an 800XL which I also liked and another has a Schneider (Amstrad rebranded) and that basic was so powerful! Circles, lines, simple little sprite characters. But the C64 is still the best so simple to program in assembly (except for bit map mode! Whomever thought that screen memory layout was a good idea, never programmed it themselves 😆) Then I inherited the XT from my uncle and I bought an Atari ST in 1990 before going to college. In hindsight I have to admit that I should’ve saved up the extra 150 guilders to but an Amiga with a midi interface. Because it’s so damn fun to write in assembly for! I bought one 4 or 5 years ago, and I adore them. Gosh, us old geezers really saw the whole rise of IT.
@@stephenpalmer9375 but yeah after Wolfgang Kierdorf from Retro is the new black send me the whole Fruit Bat kit and I wrote a small scroller on it, I did get that magic. And add some national pride to mix and sure enough, I get it now. It’s a fun, quirky machine. So I want to build this one too.
@@CallousCoder I’m not going to defend 80s Britain lol. But like you, my VIC20 was my little piece of heaven. And yes it was limited, and all my friends had something better. But it was MINE GODDAMNIT! My friends all had Spectrums though, and from there it was either Amigas or Games Consoles.. and then dreary identical PCs
@@stephenpalmer9375 Lol 😂 The Thatcher era, but it wasn’t that bad I went back for 14 months to work for Betfair in early 2000s I think the Speccy is actually better than the VIC20 with my limited experience I have now. The dreary bleak PCs, yeah… I was underwhelmed when I inherited the IBM XT from my uncle. It had no proper sound and this one not even graphics. And it was sooooo expensive! But again it was mine and the smell of Dunhill cigarette smoke made me remember my uncle. Computers these days don’t create an emotional bond with their users. How fiercely we could defend our computer choice on the playground 🤣 And the whole awesome bedroom game developers here know Europe. Ben Heck is a honorary European bedroom developer 😉
Nice build, would have loved to by the one with the zx keyboard, but instead of switches, it can use real keyboard switches, then you could make yourself a mechanical keyboard zx spectrum :)
Ooo, that’s cute… Does it actually take 20 minutes to load that game? Like it’s real time reading a tape? If so, that’s dedication to emulating the original experience XD Also… can you load from a real tape? That’d be cool I want this in purple…
Im not so keen on the scavenger hunt, looking parts myself, with hint of PCB-way, would great to do something so that when something little comes up, the the component to, so the most have industrial connections to , get the parts, possibly for peanuts, too? the main part of the PCB, they tweak it, Smoove for there manufacturing processes , and may just plug, 9 ping and PICO, just left to install or something? and battery if portability is important? I could also be sure, royally, of the make of the boards designer, and that working into it somewhere also? not as if they were being asked to do something different to what they already doing, just bit more connected up, and looking a lot more service, than just parts suppliers
not so keen on the scavenger hunt, looking parts myself, with hint of PCB-way, would great to do something so that when something little comes up, the the component to, so the most have industrial connections to , get the parts, possibly for peanuts, too? the main part of the PCB, they tweak it, Smoove for there manufacturing processes , and may just plug, 9 ping and PICO, just left to install or something? and battery if portability is important? I could also be sure, royally, of the make of the boards designer, and that working into it somewhere also? not as if they were being asked to do something different to what they already doing, just bit more connected up, and looking a lot more service, than just parts suppliers
It's most likely using a tiny screen because of the limitations of the Raspberry Pi Pico. You could attempt a larger screen, but it would likely need to remain the same resolution, so the result would look something like the terrible screen on the 3DSXL. The individual pixels would be massive and chunky.
I understand your sentiment but Ben Heck's always enjoyed small form factor gaming, and spreading love for low level logic. It's the dude's passion. Personally the output does feel kind of like e-waste, this thing will be useful for less than 5 hours most likely, but that just means this isn't for us
Oh videos galore today. We are getting spoiled! 🙂
All those 4pin tactiles hand soldered...😎
I've missed your videos, glad to see you back :)
Gotta love it when a game starts with fan fic. lol.
Ben doing movie scenes never gets old. 😆
Glad you got around to building it! For folks undertaking this one on their own, I did a step-by-step build video for it on my channel.
Pretty sweet project Ben. Loved my ZX Spectrum eons ago.
Cute little kit! I don't think ZX is 'my bag' enough to stress over some of those surface mount components. I've specifically screwed up microSD slots in the past, and now resign myself to through-hole breakout board modules for it. 🤣
3 vids in one day.
Bud you know you missed us ^_^
We all know Bud is really running the show 😁
Ben, look at what you're drinking! That's not beer, that's coffee! You've had six!
It's Bud-a-palooza!
If anyone sees Santa let him know i want one of these PICO-ZX kits for Christmas!
I'll give him the message 🎅but he's getting a surprise this year in his cocoa, that will not be pure hot chocolate 💩😂 I'm getting revenge 🤣
I'm like 98% sure that that screen tearing on the lines on the loader were present on my 48k rubber keyed Speccy playing on a 14" crt tv back in the 80's (can't be bothered to check) but I am almost certain... Thanks for the vid Ben!
Speccy did screen tearing by default. Took programmers a couple of years to figure out how to sync with the vertical blank and even then lots of games didn't do it.
I Remember seeing this one, Its a Sweet Home-Brew Mini Done Right!
Damn Ben, MacArthur Park AND a SotN reference in one video??? Pulling out all the stops
the number of people who think those tactile buttons make a good d-pad is too damn high.
HAVE AT YOU! classic dracula. always having at someone.
"Your friend..... D!"
48k basic used keywords, 128k doesn't.
Glad to see videos back in force
There's also an alternative ROM you can get for the 48K that allows free typing
3 videos in one day? We're so back, Heckbros. Ben is a TH-camr again. :3
Ok, you won me over with the spaceballs quote.
Ben you can schedule content for release at a later date!!! loving the backlog fill regardless
that's cool. I'd like to see you hook it up to a VGA monitor and see what it looks like
I think you need a keystroke and then it always boots in that mode until you switch. I'll have to find it.
hell yea posting train
I'd love to see a Commodore 64 version. Very cool!
I can cope with "Zee" just not "Pyco". 🙂
Why do all these Canadian TH-camrs think only Brits grew up on Speccies?
I would say I'm not Canadian but Wisconsin is basically "Canada with guns" so yeah :)
I watched this and I was like, wow I need one. Then I remembered I have a steam deck OLED with a "ZED EX" Spectrum emulator on it 🤣
PEE-CO. You're driving me crazy with that Pi-Co ish. Otherwise, great video. Looks like a fun project. Thanks for sharing.
You know he deliberately pronounces it that way to annoy people.
Of course he does...
"Pie Peeco" spelled "Pi Pico" is a really bad name. It's like Microsoft named it or something. "Pico 2000 ME Series S"
you domt have to hit space after the line number btw ;)
Im sure you can load the games instantly with a different setting, this is using real time load
One would think, the docs for this thing are quite literally all over the place.
this is a cute one, I like that it has VGA output option -- the screen is too small. is the schematics for it not available anywhere?
Had to say, nice PCB holder...seen one around 25$ similar. From Menards?...
17:28 Maybe so that the sprites would be more visible and not blend in with the background
Thanks for build this ;)
Does anyone have the link to the stl for that prats/smt box?
the pico zx spectrum emulator firmware is very cool, and this design is particuarly cute because it incorprates it's own 40 key keyboard, same as the original 48k
The 48K basic mode still has the keyword entry. 128k BASIC has letter by letter entry. The 128k is generally compatible with 48k software so you only ever need to change the mode for certain software that just won't load in 128k mode, and the emulator can handle most tape formats, though at last check it didn't much in the way of turbo loading. You can also use SNA or Z80 files which will load instantly, but have their own drawbacks.
Still, for a Spectrum emulator that runs on a $5 Microcontroller, it's hard to argue with the functionality that's in there.
2:31 Sinclair Basic has a PAUSE command. Pause 0 will wait on a keypress IIRC.
Tap and TZX files are actual tape images, which is why you have to "load" them. They were intended to be used as archival formats so they retain the entire experience, including loading screens. Z80 and SNA are developed from the multiface. They were used to create dumps that could be loaded from disks during the actual commercial lifespan of the system. So they load more or less instantly, filling the RAM and the registers to restore the system state, but can't be used to play multiload games.
That keyboard appears to be better than the ZX Spectrum's rubber keys. LOL.
Not a high bar to clear!
That flicker characters could be related to lead solder. 😏You never know if it was because of sparkling solder or a bubble on a pin.
This is so cool, I build the big fruitbat on my channel a few months back, when the retro is the new black send it to me. And I did my first ever zo spectrum z80 scroller on it. And I have a whole new level of appreciation for the game devs of the ZX, it is so spartan and clunky compared to the C64 and 800XL.
Ans therefore I never liked the ZX and didn’t understand the passion for it from the people across the pond, until I played with that fruit bat 40 years later, the spartan nature is sort of cool and challenging. So I wanna build this one too
the reason us Brits loved it back in the day was because it was cheap (I think the 16K version was 99 pounds on launch, way less than the immediate competition), and frankly.. was British. This is 1980s Britain, we are dealing with the loss of a lot of manufacturing jobs, and here is a computer - part of the future - and it was being made in the UK! The latter reason is why the Amstrad and BBC computers were also super popular (with the BBC being installed into schools). Only the C64 of the American computers really made it in (although I started with a VIC20)
@@stephenpalmer9375 as a Dutch guy I lived in the US 1983-1984 and UK 1984-early 1985, because of my dads work.
Seeing out 3 countries was such a contrast. Like you said England was so dreary and poor compared to NL, and NL was dreary and poor compared to US (Harrisburg PA).
At school we had 5 or 6 AppleII in the class room!
In the UK we had 2 BBC micros for the whole school that you had to sign in for them. And we as the oldest primary school kids had more luck getting to use them than the more junior students.
The only upside for moving to the UK for me was that my parents had bought me my cousins VIC20 for my birthday. As we moved counties in the summer holiday and my brightest is at the end of August. So we picked that up when we landed back in Amsterdam and my dad had to do some work here before we moved to Ashford Kent.
I have a love hate relationship with the VIC20, I loved it because it was MY computer and it was a reprieve from our dreary live in England especially school (which I called prison), what a hell compared to NL and especially the US! Single file into the class, silence in the hallways. School uniforms 🤮Very little “work by yourself” but just hours and hours of mind numbing explanations on a blackboard. And then someone was picked at random to make the sum… uggghhh 🤮
and the cold 1984 winter meant we were stuck in that small terraced house. So I spend days typing in programs from books and slowly learning.
I had one friend who has a Speccy but even he came over to play at our place, he loved the Donkey Kong cartridge.
Then we moved back and by then my cousin who had taken the money for his VIC20 and upgraded to a C64, but again he didn’t like it so I could borrow it. And eventually I bought it. To me that was the computer I truly love (to this day).
A friend has an 800XL which I also liked and another has a Schneider (Amstrad rebranded) and that basic was so powerful! Circles, lines, simple little sprite characters.
But the C64 is still the best so simple to program in assembly (except for bit map mode! Whomever thought that screen memory layout was a good idea, never programmed it themselves 😆)
Then I inherited the XT from my uncle and I bought an Atari ST in 1990 before going to college. In hindsight I have to admit that I should’ve saved up the extra 150 guilders to but an Amiga with a midi interface. Because it’s so damn fun to write in assembly for!
I bought one 4 or 5 years ago, and I adore them.
Gosh, us old geezers really saw the whole rise of IT.
@@stephenpalmer9375 but yeah after Wolfgang Kierdorf from Retro is the new black send me the whole Fruit Bat kit and I wrote a small scroller on it, I did get that magic. And add some national pride to mix and sure enough, I get it now. It’s a fun, quirky machine. So I want to build this one too.
@@CallousCoder I’m not going to defend 80s Britain lol. But like you, my VIC20 was my little piece of heaven. And yes it was limited, and all my friends had something better. But it was MINE GODDAMNIT!
My friends all had Spectrums though, and from there it was either Amigas or Games Consoles.. and then dreary identical PCs
@@stephenpalmer9375 Lol 😂 The Thatcher era, but it wasn’t that bad I went back for 14 months to work for Betfair in early 2000s
I think the Speccy is actually better than the VIC20 with my limited experience I have now.
The dreary bleak PCs, yeah… I was underwhelmed when I inherited the IBM XT from my uncle. It had no proper sound and this one not even graphics. And it was sooooo expensive! But again it was mine and the smell of Dunhill cigarette smoke made me remember my uncle.
Computers these days don’t create an emotional bond with their users. How fiercely we could defend our computer choice on the playground 🤣
And the whole awesome bedroom game developers here know Europe.
Ben Heck is a honorary European bedroom developer 😉
Nice build, would have loved to by the one with the zx keyboard, but instead of switches, it can use real keyboard switches, then you could make yourself a mechanical keyboard zx spectrum :)
THREE VIDEOS TODAY???
13:53 That music is my childhood.
(I'm British.)
(Mnnrrrrr)
LOVE U BEN ❤
Nice Red Letter Media reference. 🤣
AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
those type-c lithium chargers are suppose to charge 18650 not lipos , lipos will be swollen after a couple of charges
Those have a TP4056 Chips, which is perfectly capable of charging 1S LiPo Batteries
And why is that? Voltages are the same
I became happy at 10:32
Ooo, that’s cute…
Does it actually take 20 minutes to load that game? Like it’s real time reading a tape? If so, that’s dedication to emulating the original experience XD
Also… can you load from a real tape? That’d be cool
I want this in purple…
Yes it's real-time. I assume there's a faster way but I haven't found that option.
I'll have to try some of these new games on the Ben Heck Zx Portable computer, which I just realised is 48K and won't play Castlevania
Im not so keen on the scavenger hunt, looking parts myself, with hint of PCB-way, would great to do something so that when something little comes up, the the component to, so the most have industrial connections to , get the parts, possibly for peanuts, too? the main part of the PCB, they tweak it, Smoove for there manufacturing processes , and may just plug, 9 ping and PICO, just left to install or something? and battery if portability is important? I could also be sure, royally, of the make of the boards designer, and that working into it somewhere also? not as if they were being asked to do something different to what they already doing, just bit more connected up, and looking a lot more service, than just parts suppliers
Ben...the 2 of us....the 3 of us....
Wow. This musta been shot a long time ago. Texas pinball fest is over - like, for awhile now. Looks like Ben's been stacking videos in the closet.
This was recent, by these other video's standards. February of 2024.
Too bad he doesn't sell kits on the website, only boards or fully assembled things.
not so keen on the scavenger hunt, looking parts myself, with hint of PCB-way, would great to do something so that when something little comes up, the the component to, so the most have industrial connections to , get the parts, possibly for peanuts, too? the main part of the PCB, they tweak it, Smoove for there manufacturing processes , and may just plug, 9 ping and PICO, just left to install or something? and battery if portability is important? I could also be sure, royally, of the make of the boards designer, and that working into it somewhere also? not as if they were being asked to do something different to what they already doing, just bit more connected up, and looking a lot more service, than just parts suppliers
advent calendar
That's it!
australia sir
very common usb charger/boost board
dammit Ben now i want to play uncharted!
"THEY DRUGGED HIM!"
Eric the Fruit Bat?
Someone should make a modern operating system for these microcontroller computers. These cheap microcontroller computers are ideal for hacking.
Advent calendar
Is your father's brother named Robert?
What is a man??
Bob's my dad, not my uncle.
He's my uncle.
It's 2024... No more portables with tiny screens.
It's most likely using a tiny screen because of the limitations of the Raspberry Pi Pico. You could attempt a larger screen, but it would likely need to remain the same resolution, so the result would look something like the terrible screen on the 3DSXL. The individual pixels would be massive and chunky.
I understand your sentiment but Ben Heck's always enjoyed small form factor gaming, and spreading love for low level logic. It's the dude's passion. Personally the output does feel kind of like e-waste, this thing will be useful for less than 5 hours most likely, but that just means this isn't for us
Wait, Louis Rossmann isn't black pilled enough? I thought you were all sunshine and light? 😆I totally get where you are coming from!
.1 mili-pauls of flux
Ok, starting by scrolling left in a game is just weird.
Port over that crappy “ robot game “ from dave lol
Is that a swastika on the PCB?
Yeah it definitely was, which is odd .
Yep. Now I don't wanna watch anymore.
@@hiredgoon4269 oh no, poor you
Where? I can't see it.
@@hiredgoon4269 You do know that it is an ancient symbol in many Asian religions and perverted by Adolph and the most evil gang of men ever.