Hi, We don't have any problems with the latest Spectrum rebuilds, but me and the other half, would much prefer the old Speccy as it was back in 1982-1984. At 53, we were more than happy to accept it for what it was. Shimering screen, 48k of memory, only 8 colours (15 with BRIGHT command), and sound out of the arse end of a rubbery keyboard. The more people move forward, with modern rebuilds, the more of the "Traditional" Speccy gets left behind. Thanks for another great video. Wayne & Nina 😊😊😊😊😊🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡❤️❤️❤️👏👏👏🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
I managed to pick up lots of hints tips and tricks for SMD work from some of the youtube channels that deal with diagnosis / repair of more modern kit (such as Joey Does Tech, The Cod3r, Northridge Fix etc.). Even if you're not especially interested in what they are fixing, the techniques they use come in handy for this kind of stuff too.
One tip for you: Keep your soldering iron tip clean! I mean sparkling clean. A dirty tip is an inefficient tip. Another tip for you: Refer to the Pico as a Pi Pico and not a Raspberry Pi! Totally different boards so the distinction is important. The Raspberry Pi is a single board computer. The Pi Pico is a microcontroller board.
Great job I'm really enjoying watching your SMD soldering journey - very cool and brave to be so open with comments on all of it and trying people's suggestions, not easy to put yourself out there like that.
Nice SMD work. I need to give paste another go. When you do the 1.4 board, see if PCBWay can make a solder stencil too. may help with the application of paste. Nice project too.
Solder stencil is definitely a smart idea. We used to print all of the solder pads in one go using manual old school printing back in my day (the late Paleolithic, clearly!)
as far as the HDMI port. next time get some kapton tape, and just line it and press the tape down to hold it in place. then flip it over and solder. that will keep it aligned.
@@HappyLittleDiodes the ones without numbers, all black. The shape of the contact varies between the top and bottom side, top covers the entire area, bottom is a bit of a different shape. It doesn't matter functionally, but I'm a bit ocd and like them all the same way up. 😜
I think those keyboard adaptors are passive and only work with keyboards that are designed for USB and PS/2. You can get proper active adaptors, but I have found them to be hit and miss as well.
Nice work, as always! I can't help thinking that hacking an original speccy keyboard on to this board would be the way forwards, especially for the coders amongst us... Way outside of my skill set and ability, but I'm confident you could force the two to play together...
Hi! Yet again, thanks for helping us with the Sinclair Multimeter repair 🫡🫡 Moving onto Sinclair ZX Spectrum micros, me and my other half, would rather stand by the original (out of Sinclair factories re-furbished by people like us) computers anytime. Why don't we try to keep Sinclair as original as possible? At 53, we just find that the modern idea of a Sinclair Spectrum, is an insult to the late Sir Clive, and as such will always fall short.
Hi dude, not seen you in a while. I`m just working on using an Arduino as a voltage sensor on ZX Spectrum so if they go out of spec an alarm will sound to protect the board. I have the 12 volt and 5 volt sensors sorted but can not find the minus voltage shield to measure the -5 volt rail. I did see it on UTube somewhere. Anyway. hope you ok and not picking up too much static off your moustache. :)
There is another very easy speccy emulator to assemble with the pico, get a waveshare rp2040 pizero (not the pico zero) that already has the sd card, the USB and HDMI slots and flash the pico-zxspectrum. That's it, you get a full zx spectrum with HDMI and usb keyb/pads ;)
Are the HDMI connections standard? I mean does the firmware know which pins are used by the board to connect the HDMI connector? Or is there someone else’s firmware? If it works this seems fantastic.
@@NeilPho There is no dedicated HDMI hardware on the pico, all is achieved through the PIO units, so it's software defined. As far as I know the most used library to develop it is the PicoDVI lib, it's very easy to configure (a simple .h header with the used pins). If you mean about the pico-zxspectrum, that's another history, the emulator has multiple versions of the firmware for each board, it works with a lot of models and is as easy as to choose the one you want and drop the firmware :=)
It's a small thing, it's not important but it does make my teeth itch - that isn't a Raspberry Pi, it's a Raspberry Pi Pico - they're different things. The former refers to the single board computers.
Is it a way of avoiding the hdmi licence fee? Or more likely because it started with the VGA as an option (I have done a similar project that fits into a proper rubber key case which is just vga only so you have to do the audio separately). I guess it’s one for a future revision?
Yep! It has a AY and speaker out on a EAR port, AY is emulated rather well for all demos I could find. Also it emulates TRDOS with support for up to 4 drives, which are mounted and dismounted separately.
@@HappyLittleDiodes It's on the board as a second chip. Not sure how it interacts. the A8PicoCart project uses them. Just wondering if that might allow MBs of flash storage for a project like this. The boards are a few cents more.
@@HappyLittleDiodes I took a look at the Murmulator site and they are using the 4MB one, this would be the same except with 16MB. So it would give more space. Thanks
It depends on the firmware you're using. Tecnocat has been busy making improvements and sharing with us in the discord, including English instructions. Try v0.96.15
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi,
We don't have any problems with the latest Spectrum rebuilds, but me and the other half, would much prefer the old Speccy as it was back in 1982-1984.
At 53, we were more than happy to accept it for what it was. Shimering screen, 48k of memory, only 8 colours (15 with BRIGHT command), and sound out of the arse end of a rubbery keyboard.
The more people move forward, with modern rebuilds, the more of the "Traditional" Speccy gets left behind.
Thanks for another great video.
Wayne & Nina
😊😊😊😊😊🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡❤️❤️❤️👏👏👏🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
I managed to pick up lots of hints tips and tricks for SMD work from some of the youtube channels that deal with diagnosis / repair of more modern kit (such as Joey Does Tech, The Cod3r, Northridge Fix etc.). Even if you're not especially interested in what they are fixing, the techniques they use come in handy for this kind of stuff too.
One tip for you: Keep your soldering iron tip clean! I mean sparkling clean. A dirty tip is an inefficient tip.
Another tip for you: Refer to the Pico as a Pi Pico and not a Raspberry Pi! Totally different boards so the distinction is important. The Raspberry Pi is a single board computer. The Pi Pico is a microcontroller board.
Got it!
You can use a gumfix to position correctly in place connectors before soldering them. Sometimes I use painting tape too.
Great job I'm really enjoying watching your SMD soldering journey - very cool and brave to be so open with comments on all of it and trying people's suggestions, not easy to put yourself out there like that.
Nice SMD work. I need to give paste another go. When you do the 1.4 board, see if PCBWay can make a solder stencil too. may help with the application of paste. Nice project too.
That's a good idea! I'll chat to them
Solder stencil is definitely a smart idea. We used to print all of the solder pads in one go using manual old school printing back in my day (the late Paleolithic, clearly!)
FWIW, when the components stand up, it's called a Tombstone. Lewis Rossmann tends to flood with flux when doing rework, no bad thing.
as far as the HDMI port. next time get some kapton tape, and just line it and press the tape down to hold it in place. then flip it over and solder. that will keep it aligned.
So many upside down resistors, my OCD is going off... :) For drag soldering a 'K' tip works a lot better than the wedge you're using.
Which resistors are upside down?
@@HappyLittleDiodes the ones without numbers, all black. The shape of the contact varies between the top and bottom side, top covers the entire area, bottom is a bit of a different shape. It doesn't matter functionally, but I'm a bit ocd and like them all the same way up. 😜
@jonathanwhiteside6092 I never noticed! It's subtle isn't it... Lesson learned
I've just checked all the resistors I had for this project and the underside of them all is white, so I guess they can't be upside down
@@HappyLittleDiodes weird, the contacts are usually different top to bottom, oh well, as long as it works 😁
I think those keyboard adaptors are passive and only work with keyboards that are designed for USB and PS/2. You can get proper active adaptors, but I have found them to be hit and miss as well.
Nice work, as always! I can't help thinking that hacking an original speccy keyboard on to this board would be the way forwards, especially for the coders amongst us... Way outside of my skill set and ability, but I'm confident you could force the two to play together...
Flux pens are for the birds. Get a syringe of tacky flux.
I somewhat disagree, any flux is better than none 😊. The tacky flux is nice though. I use the Amtech stuff Luis Rossman sells on his site.
I really wish you had put all the resistors the right way up. Otherwise enjoyed watching, must get my soldering iron warmed up!
Are some the wrong way up?? 😭
I've just checked all the resistors I had for this project and the underside of them all is white, so I guess they can't be upside down
I think it looked that way as some you had were labelled and some not
Hi! Yet again, thanks for helping us with the Sinclair Multimeter repair 🫡🫡
Moving onto Sinclair ZX Spectrum micros, me and my other half, would rather stand by the original (out of Sinclair factories re-furbished by people like us) computers anytime. Why don't we try to keep Sinclair as original as possible?
At 53, we just find that the modern idea of a Sinclair Spectrum, is an insult to the late Sir Clive, and as such will always fall short.
I prefer the originals too, but these are fun to build
Hi dude, not seen you in a while. I`m just working on using an Arduino as a voltage sensor on ZX Spectrum so if they go out of spec an alarm will sound to protect the board. I have the 12 volt and 5 volt sensors sorted but can not find the minus voltage shield to measure the -5 volt rail. I did see it on UTube somewhere. Anyway. hope you ok and not picking up too much static off your moustache. :)
Could you just reverse the polarity when you hook up the minus 5? (Only half joking, I don't know)
Thanks for the content
There is another very easy speccy emulator to assemble with the pico, get a waveshare rp2040 pizero (not the pico zero) that already has the sd card, the USB and HDMI slots and flash the pico-zxspectrum. That's it, you get a full zx spectrum with HDMI and usb keyb/pads ;)
Great tip!
Are the HDMI connections standard? I mean does the firmware know which pins are used by the board to connect the HDMI connector? Or is there someone else’s firmware? If it works this seems fantastic.
@@NeilPho There is no dedicated HDMI hardware on the pico, all is achieved through the PIO units, so it's software defined. As far as I know the most used library to develop it is the PicoDVI lib, it's very easy to configure (a simple .h header with the used pins).
If you mean about the pico-zxspectrum, that's another history, the emulator has multiple versions of the firmware for each board, it works with a lot of models and is as easy as to choose the one you want and drop the firmware :=)
Thank you for the comprehensive and helpful comment.
Se podría hacer también con una esp32, imprimir 3d la caja del z80 y teclado del zx spectrum controlado con un arduino nano. Buen trabajo👍👌🏻
It's a small thing, it's not important but it does make my teeth itch - that isn't a Raspberry Pi, it's a Raspberry Pi Pico - they're different things. The former refers to the single board computers.
You're absolutely right
I'm wondering why they didn't route audio through the HDMI?
Is it a way of avoiding the hdmi licence fee? Or more likely because it started with the VGA as an option (I have done a similar project that fits into a proper rubber key case which is just vga only so you have to do the audio separately). I guess it’s one for a future revision?
Does it have all the audio capabilities of the 128K?
Yep! It has a AY and speaker out on a EAR port, AY is emulated rather well for all demos I could find. Also it emulates TRDOS with support for up to 4 drives, which are mounted and dismounted separately.
I have a number of Pico clones with 16 MB of flash. using them for an Atari cart project. Can the ZX emu SW use this flash too?
So is the larger flash memory external?
@@HappyLittleDiodes It's on the board as a second chip. Not sure how it interacts. the A8PicoCart project uses them. Just wondering if that might allow MBs of flash storage for a project like this. The boards are a few cents more.
@@HappyLittleDiodes I took a look at the Murmulator site and they are using the 4MB one, this would be the same except with 16MB. So it would give more space.
Thanks
How do you see the SD Card from the keyboard?
It depends on the firmware you're using. Tecnocat has been busy making improvements and sharing with us in the discord, including English instructions. Try v0.96.15
How do you connect a joystick?
There are instructions to solder one in available, however, the newer revisions include space for a joystick port
@@HappyLittleDiodes it must be NES-9pin compatible one. Do not mess it with SEGA's one.
Am I missing something here? The location of the gerber files isn't obvious.
I added a link to the description, some translation may be necessary!
@@HappyLittleDiodes Thankyou sir, my Google skills were failing me! Looks like a good one this 😁
V 1.2 has R14 and R20 and cannot find the value of them.
Have you checked out murmulator.ru?
@@HappyLittleDiodes Yes not very clear in there for V 1.2 and you - it does say no BOM for them but near same. So looks like work it out yourself.
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