Ben Heck's ZX Spectrum Mod Part 1

[@mowburnt]

We call it a Zed Ex spectrum in England cause Z is pronounced Zed ;-)

[@Pico_Farad]

Couldn't agree more.

[@Nimmo1492]

Zee Ex Spectrum sounds so wrong!

[@BrightSpark]

***** The names are not wrong, deep frying is also known as "french frying", tho the term is only used very rarely nowadays.

[@Hbomb117]

***** On the side of crisps, I believe Americans have somewhat more of a standing there, seeing as they are an American food.

[@Pico_Farad]

***** Sorry but fries are a Belgian invention.

[@Larry]

ZED X Spectrum. You can mod one, but can't pronounce it, where's the irony in that?

[@gh778jk]

Hear, Hear ! "zee" is what toddlers say, until we correct them and pronounce is "zed" like adults do.... Paddy

[@levicassidy9312]

i'm sorry but where in the name ZXSpectrum do you see "ED" at it's ZX Spectrum not ZEDXSpectrum you fucking moron what do you say wen you say your ABC's do you say x y z or x y zed???? how the hell can you get ED out of the letter Z wen it's just the letter Z that's it!... so there for YOU guys are saying it wrong now STFU

[@gh778jk]

And another snowflake betrays his own ignorance.... it had to happen.... Toodles ! Paddy

[@gh778jk]

Err.... no. I shall not 'stop it'. Maybe it is 'snooty' to point out the fact that people with grammatical anaemia are depleting a language of its character, but that will not stop me pointing that out. It would not be such an issue if those who do this, would not be so ignorant as to point out their own mistakes and use their own ineptitude as a means to highlight their attempts at some sort of spoken 'SMS-lingo'. This happens out of nothing more than intellectual laziness. Another fine example of such an infuriating habit is the incorrect (and abundant) use of the word 'like'. This should only be used in a situation where one is comparing one thing to another. I was , like:"duh" and he was, like: "whot?" are the sort of verbal secretions one would expect to hear amongst the mentally challenged, and not amongst youngsters with a basic education! Other examples are plentiful, but are not needed, I am sure. This type of 'grunting' rather than speaking is a personal choice, so is my attempt to expose it for what it is. A people doesn't do itself any favours by adopting a prepubescent way of speaking and pretending to be proud of it, and in doing so displaying its ignorance. Some will argue that the time of 'BBC English' lays far behind us. Mayhap .... but it remains to be seen if that is a good thing. In the same fashion as public broadcasters once had a responsibility to, in part, be 'the keepers' of a standard language, it can be argued that channels with the sort of viewer-numbers this channel has also have a similar responsibility. No legal point can be argued in this matter to be sure, but there may well be a moral responsibility. It is bad enough that this 'KZbin-diva'- pretends to be an engineer and a hacker, whilst being neither. It would be something, at least, if he would have the decency to commit his technical ineptitudes in a properly spoken manner. To quote the 'best amongst you' , your Commander-in Chief : " sad.... real sad...in a bigly way" Bloody pathetic ! Paddy

[@gh778jk]

I am very much aware that language and pronunciation will not change in the US for the better. Which is rather a pity. In the beginning (early 1800s') visiting English actually complimented the Americans for their purity of language. How things have changed! Of course language changes over time. The thing that 'grinds my gears' , to borrow one of your expressions, is the fact that there is seemingly some uncoordinated movement in the US to infantilise speech.And indeed, some parts of the UK do not fare much better. It is my contention that this is worth opposing. As far as slang or dialects go, that is rather understated compared to other language groups. If I compare this to, say Dutch/ Flemish, my own language, we have a much greater incidence of dialects that are so different in vocabulary and pronunciation, that two people barely a province apart (less than a 100 miles) really can't understand one another of they use their harshest dialect. This is rarely the case in the UK or the US. I disagree with what you define as 'trivial' . Maybe these things are trivial in their own right, they could very well be, but I have lived long enough to know that if one ignores the seemingly trivial matters, the less trivial ones will plummet downwards on the same 'same slippery slope' ! It is a sad state of affairs when one is forced to listen to young people (who are just as bright as we were when at that age, if not more so) who couldn't be bothered to make the slightest effort as far as their prime communication tool is concerned. I can agree that not everybody can have the same regard for language, have the same interest in the history of language or should have the same appreciation for literature, but a minimum standard should and could be enforced. I know that this is a 'dirty word' in the US, but you could all get a grip as far as that goes and get over it! After all, this exchange would be a lot more tiresome if both of us would be of the opinion that we should disregard any and all convention as far as the use of the English language goes. Maybe it is my age, but I have reason to believe that an ordered way of expressing oneself is a reflexion of ones way of thinking. Given the sad state of affairs on that topic, we may decide not to examine that any further. Paddy

[@MiggyManMike]

And yeah, as others have said the keyboard should be left alone, it's an iconic part of the design.

[@DevastationVlog]

that keyboard WAS the ZX Spectrum, it`s a huge source of nostalgia and essential tothe feel, if he replaces the keyboard or gets rid of it i`m gonna go crazy (just a bit)

[@MiggyManMike]

Technically it was one generation of the speccy, the zx+ had the ql style case :D

[@googaagoogaa12345678]

***** for anything it needs a new keyboard although i hope the bluetooth spectrum comes out so i can use it for my padfone as long as its not like the real spectrum one

[@johanrg70]

Heh, I actually bough a mechanical keyboard to my ZX Spectrum back in the days. Hated that rubber crap. lol

[@1337Shockwav3]

***** Replace the plastic mats with tacticle switches - it's supposed to work quite well, while retaining the dead flesh chiclet keys. I'm using a 3rd party (Fuller FDS) keyboard on my clone tho :)

[@RetroGamesCollector]

Masterpiece of cheap design is exactly right Ben, the whole point of the Zed (it sounds soooo wrong when you say Zee) X Spectrum was that it brought computing to the masses. Great vid, really enjoyed this.

[@ClayMann]

Agree with all your saying, especially the zee sounding wrong heh but maybe worth adding that the ZX80 was the one that kicked it all off, a truly horrendous thing only available as a kit you had to build yourself i believe. I ignored that, too techy for me at the age I was but I did get the sequel, the ZX81 which came ready built! I really should look this up to verify my own memory but I believe it ran at 1mhz and had 1k ram haha. the keyboard was even worse than the ZX Spectrum if you can believe that, it was just a membrane you had to forcefully apply pressure to but I adored it, I literally fell in love with that thing and have never been without a computer since then.

[@johanlaurasia]

I suppose it depends on what side of the pond you're on. In America, Z is Zee, not Zed. One doesn't say Zed Zed Top or X, Y Zed. It's Zee Zee Top and X, Y Zee. So when one calls it Zee X, they're simply saying it in American English.

[@RetroGamesCollector]

Clay Mann my first machine was the ZX81 too, specs are in an article I wrote on my site ( www.retrogamescollector.com/factsheet-sinclair-zx81/ ), the CPU was a tad faster than that at a whopping 3.25MHz :)

[@RetroGamesCollector]

John Laury I can't agree, we don't call Zee Zee Top, Zed Zed Top. the Speccy should have the same courtesy paid to it ;P jk

[@RetroGamesCollector]

Clay Mann Oh, and you could also still buy the ZX81 in kit form too, if you were masochistic enough. ;)

[@AmosS]

About the question about the switch - no, it wasn't on the power supply. You were just supposed to pull the plug out of the back every time you wanted to power it off or power-cycle it.

[@grahampickard3325]

Those switches are expensive. Especially on a colour (color?) computer that cost £129 in 1982.

[@tetsujin_144]

If my computer's only keyboard were a mushy rubber chiclet thing I'd probably be quite fond of single-keystroke shortcuts, too.

[@ASilentS]

"zed ex" what is this "zee ex" nonsense?

[@Allan_Black98]

Americans pronounce the letter "Z"as zee and in the UK we say zed

[@tetsujin_144]

pitbikeboy98 Yeah, we measure things in inches (and fractions thereof), too. It's all pretty fucked up.

[@w1ldcard1ooo1]

And SOLDER is pronounced sodder?? And ALUMINIUM is ALOOMINUM??? But why....? :D

[@victorreed5590]

I don't pronounce Germany the way German speakers pronounce Deutschland, I don't pronounce Mexico the way Spanish speakers pronounce México, and I don't pronounce Japan the way Japanese speakers pronounce Nippon. If you think I'm going to give more credence to Z=zed in the name of an inanimate object because of where it was originally conceived than I do to the pronunciation of countries according to their official languages, think again. I'm not one of those people that fumbles accents when ordering at ethnic restaurants just to toot my own horn in other people's faces.

[@DevastationVlog]

I know, right? and he said he wanted one so bad but basically spends the entire vid complaining about it...sheesh!

[@Jenny_Digital]

Don't let obnoxious people get under your skin Ben. I own quite a number of Speccys and have made small improvements and repairs to all of them. As for zee vs zed, well that's just a regional difference. There is however something called the DivIDE that'll get yer game a loadin' lightning fast. I got one and it's brilliant though it does come with it's own ROM too. Finally, I've been working on a custom tower case in clear acrylic for my +3 which isn't ready for the world yet.

[@KennyTew2]

This guy does such incredible breakdown and rebuilds of so much retro hardware, yet everyone watching from the UK isn’t paying any attention to anything other than the fact he keeps saying ‘zee x spectrum’ instead of ‘zed x spectrum’

[@MrMortull]

I'm not sure if this has been said already, so please forgive me for not scrolling all the way through what is almost inevitably a long list of people complaining about how you 'mispronounced' Z, but actually the good old Speccy was so incredibly cheap it had *no* form of power switch anywhere on it at all! At least, not as it shipped. To turn the thing on or off you had to crawl in behind you tv and into that snarl of wires and straight up use the wall socket for that. Sinclair were serious about their cost-cutting.

[@BertGrink]

MrMortull Another example of an ingenious way to cut costs was the way the ULA (AKA video chip) accessed the memory; since the generation of a video signal from the data stored in the screen buffer was of utmost importance, they had to prevent the CPU from accessing that area at the same time as the ULA. Where others may have used a few logic gates to separate the two components, Sinclair simply used 8 resistors. This not only saved some money, but actually also saved a small bit of PCB space.

[@RantingGreekGamer]

I took one of those apart a long time ago but i was clueless on what to do. Your knowledge on how the whole thing works is really amazing Ben :)

[@duffywolves]

Dear Ben. this computer was the best thing in my childhood, was using it for almost 10 years. I really loved that computer, and actually I still have it in a good condition. no, there is no reset switch on the power supply, my father did a switch on the computer itself. yes I was totally got used to programming on this computer using the base typing system. it was cool to see what the modern Technic can do with an old computer. thanks for the video!

[@FrankenPC]

I'm loving where this arc is going. Looking forward to the new episodes.

[@jackfrost884]

Just got into the show with this awesome mod. Gota say love the stuff. This is one of those subs where your actually excited to see what comes next!

[@Psycandy]

To reset the spectrum we pulled out the power socket and put it back in again, or typed "PRINT USR 0" to go to address 0 in ROM. And yes, proficiency with keywords made typing commands very, very fast - i.e. PRINT USR 0 was 4 keystrokes and no possibility of a typo.

[@StarDustSid]

You made me subscribe you irritating yank you. The Speccy was the first computer I owned and the most expensive Christmas present I ever had. (I had to put some pocket money towards it myself) It started my programming career and lifelong love of computers. Along with countless other 'bedroom coders'. This wouldn't have been possible without such a cheaply priced computer. Well done Sir Clive.

[@StarDustSid]

nz1to5 We had it hard mate. :-) watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

[@mrnukem]

Ben builds one of the best projects he has ever done and all people can do is complain about how he pronounces "Z"?

[@SP330Y]

@The Ben Heck Show I used to work in a computer repair shop in the 1980's that used to repair these every day,along with VIC 20, Commodore 64,BBC microcomputers etc. The ULA chips in the spectrums (I think made by Ferranti) never went wrong,hardly ever did the Z80A processor, what always went wrong was a particular transistor which helped supply 5v was called a ZTX 650,and also the rams went on them,i used to feel with the back of my finger for excess heat on them,remove,socket thm and put a new ram chip in, then do ram test or scope the signal out from each chip. We always had to replace the metal face plates as they always got bent when removing to replace the keyboard membranes which failed a lot. Another bad design was if anything was plugged into the rs232 interface then removed or pulled out whilst turned on, this would blow up the transistor ZTX 650,very common fault. Screen shows a black and white border screen,thats the symptom, hope this info helps. I still got 3 of them boxed in my loft sealed up with an original Kempston joystick and interface,and got games such as Manic Miner,Jetpac,Atit Atac,Jetset Willy and all original books

[@reseng123]

The shortcut keys werent just shortcuts, each keyword had its own ASCII code so the PRINT instruction used up just 1 byte. Not only did it make it easier for the interpreter to syntax check, but it also saved a lot of programming memory.

[@1337Shockwav3]

Oh ... and if you're interested in how the ZX Spectrum and the ARM processor architecture were developed you should watch "Micro Men" by the BBC. Pretty interesting.

[@ClayMann]

Clive Sinclair is also a really interesting person to watch any documentary on or articles about him. Even though the spectrum is his baby, he doesn't actually use a computer at all. That kinda amazes me that a scientist/engineer like him would not want anything to do with computers. He writes on paper!

[@MrThankman360]

There's something so endearing and neat about the ZX Spectrum's game graphics.

[@DaftDude]

Great episode, it's nice seeing Ben doing what he does best. Looking forward to episode 2.

[@RetroSwim]

Ben, the Speccy's video output to the RF modulator is DC biased, you should put a coupling cap (100uF is good) in series with your composite-out. It will often work as-is, but usually colour saturation is better if you AC couple the signal.

[@Ingens_Scherz]

That mainboard looks like an original run 48k Speccy with a genuine Ferranti ULA and big, fat components. It was nice of someone to just send you that! Later models had cloned ULAs made in Poland (had to replace a blown one once and that's what I was sent) and surface mount comps. I learnt everything about computers on Speccys, a seemingly impossible breakthrough after the utterly primitive ZX81s, when I was a kid back in the early 80s. My brother, being the boffin in the family, of course loved to 'mod' it so he built a power switch (mainly because the having to unplug it all the time broke the wire in the cheap jack for the power pack) and an 'on/off' red LED. All very cool and talking points at the computer club. The worst thing was the keyboard which definitely did not like games. Had to replace the membrane several times on our first Speccy until we started buying joysticks. There was not a lot else you could to do up-spec a Speccy in those days! But it was a fantastic, magical time nonetheless for about six years until along came wondrous, even more impossible systems like the all-conquering Amiga!

[@MarcKloos]

Polish ULA's??

[@AcornElectron]

I found one of these at the local tip 2 weeks ago when i was dumping an old monitor. Needed a replacement keyboard membrane and then bang, working. Had jet set willy, manic miner, hobbit, horace goes skiing and a few other tapes with it. Some of the ZX facias were glued on instead of the metal tabs. Always amazes me what people just throw away. Also Ben, its a Zed Ex as we pronounce the letter Z as Zed and not Zee in our alphabet. Ace video, can't wait for the next installment.

[@manro2011]

Hi Ben, I have had a Brazilian version of speccy, very cool. So, modulator voltage was about 12 volts, or even more to get a decent image.

[@segaprophet]

Finally another proper portable build! I really look forward to these.

[@gaming-zombie1392]

I saw it as a kid in movies but never in person... Love your vids...

[@jimchabai3163]

We didn't get the Spectrum here in North America or the ZX81, but we did get the Timex Sinclair computers which were basically the same thing. The TS2000 was very similar to the ZX Spectrum. It wasn't popular here, most were getting the Vic-20 instead, or if you could afford it, the Commodore 64.

[@ClayMann]

Got caught up in the comments and completely forgot to add that this video was fantastic, really enjoyed it.

[@SuperDang2011]

The speccy was a amazing machine in its day so much entertainment squeezed out of 48k and a massive back catalog of games

[@kjamison5951]

There was no power switch on the ZX or on the PSU. You plugged it in and it worked. I picked one up for about $30 at a local auction. While there was no outer cardboard box, the styrene form was intact. Bobby-dazzler!

[@TrevHead10]

Such a fascinating episode, thx for making it.

[@rjday753]

I used to repair those during the 80's :) Be careful not to lift the pads when you are soldering, they were produced very cheaply.

[@shawson]

Absolutely mental! I grew up with these computers- it blows my mind to see someone take one apart and mess with how the innards should work!! how do you even get into this kind of stuff? Where do you being to learn this??

[@lberia]

Very cool Ben! I love that line in your outtakes at the end of the show "boring wiring ensues!" You need to use that as a cut graphic. I too have a ZX-81 as well as a TRS-80 model I Level II with the 32k expansion interface in my basement. One day I'd like to build an interface to run that with a PC.

[@purrbox7514]

The youtube comments section has taught me that 99% of human responses and behaviours can be predicted. This is why it's so easy to build machines to replace them and they definitely won't say Zed or Zee...

[@creeek3]

Interesting, I had a few of these and really got me into computing! I had connected to it a "Micro drive" which was very similar to the old 8 track tape loop system and was very fast (in its day). Then I got an "Opus Discovery" drive, which was a standard 720k floppy drive, this was much much better.

[@TheDutyPaid]

Funny I been using my old ZX as a door stop for the last 3 years I also have 6 in the garage. Did not know there was any value in them?

[@mynewschannel3100]

I bought an add on for the Speccy called a Disciple. It used a 5.25" or 3.5" floppy drive instead of tape deck or the dreaded micro drive from Sinclair. Cut my teeth on Z80 assembly language on this machine and its predecessor the ZX81. Thank you Rodnay Zaks :) I cloned some of the Atari 800's games from scratch, happy days :)

[@Sloposse]

I've got a disciple. Best interface ever made for the speccy :D

[@tomtitt2786]

Lovely! The biggest legacy of Sinclair's Spectrum series is a game you may have heard about called Grand Theft Auto..which was created by DMA Design..a company in Dundee in Scotland who produced games for the Spectrum. They became inspired by a Spectrum driving game called Turbo Esprit, changed their name to RockStar, and went on to produce the most successful and longest running video game in history. (And yes, I had a ZX Spectrum;-)

[@aljr357]

I wanted one of these back in the eighties when my friend came back from a summer trip to England and brought one back I thought it was so cool that it played tapes that were games. What did I know as a kid lol.

[@Practicedummy1]

You have Space Shuttle Pinball? You are killing me! As a pinball fan, I couldn't have a pinball collection without that game. :D

[@nozmoking1]

Are we saying the Timex Sinclair 1000 Z80 basic is still being produced in the U.K? It looks the same except that the TS1000 had a cheaper membrane keyboard. What a trip...

[@TheTurnipKing]

19:45 A lot of the Spectrum's design came from the ZX80 and ZX81, which had, if you can imagine, an even worse keyboard. The shortcut keys were designed to minimise the amount of typing you had to do on the keyboard. They take some getting used to, but the end result is quite efficient, much like the Speccy itself.

[@BertGrink]

That tiny screen at around 12:30 is very cute, what brand/model is it? The poor display on the monitor is most likely caused by the incomplete video signal generated by the Speccy, I have read something about it missing either the front porch or the back porch, i can't remember which is which, but the upshoot of it is that many modern flat screens have difficulties with the signal.

[@ADYDASNZ]

19:08 - as a UK kid i dont remember any power switch at all, just the mains plug out of the wall / GPO switch to off.. then on to restart

[@billypoe3703]

I always wanted one of these as a kid. There was this pharmacy, near to where I lived, they always had it on display. I had the chance to buy one but the economy took a dive and I had to give up the money for food, clothing, and petrol.

[@MagikGimp]

+Michael Sanders Computers in chemists. Ah, those were the days!

[@cjmillsnun]

Boots by any chance?

[@cemx86]

Ben made a mistake at 3:00 when he refers to an "RF Regulator". It is actually an "RF Modulator" which converts (modulates) the computer's video output into a signal that a TV can received on it's antenna input. VERY few people had a video monitor during this era - but I did!

[@jrhiiel1]

Hay Ben I'm interested in the Little moniter., Can you tell me where you purchase it. thanks jack

[@yorgle]

Years ago I snagged a ZX-81, and i had plans to mount a pocket tv on the top, and a portable CD player on the bottom to store games, to make a little pocket computer. I was having problems with the tv out from the thing, so I never finished the project. heh.

[@NordicGameplays]

Ben says he was bitten by the electronics bug, but where do one start? I have bough an open Circuit board to start with something small, but I have no idea where to start. And I don't want to just buy pre-fixed components and add them on and make it do something, but build something from scratch. Any suggestions would be great!

[@nutin2new547]

Great episode! I for one would love to see more retro computer hacks like this, or even modding of modern computers at this low level type stuff!! keep it up we love your shows Ben!

[@codewizard58]

Opus Discovery 1 is a floppy disk drive for the ZX Spectrum. The manual that comes with the ZX Sectrum has a circuit diagram at the back...

[@ChannelReuploads9451]

I know its 4 years for this video, but the ZX Spectrum has "DivIDE" for attachment of IDE interface drives (SD and CF cards included).

[@ShinPlays]

I forgot all about this Batman game, I spent ages playing it as a kid. Great game

[@Anythingoes88]

You did well to get this far without zapping any of the chips. The five functions per key thing was nothing to do with its cheapness, but a novel way of entering commands without guesswork since they were all written down on the keyboard, except you did have to search for them, some being a few key presses away using a double shift system. There was no power switch except to pull the plug or to use the switch on the mains socket! (which were then becoming mandatory on U.K.ones).

[@Beer_Dad1975]

My first computer which I bought with paper round money back in 1986! Nostalgia! UK English (and thus most ex British Colonies) uses "Zed" instead of "Zee" for Z, which is why it's "Zed Ex Spectrum"

[@PauloSilva111]

The Ben Heck Show 3:40 you can check Brazilian clones, TK90X and TK95, they are very alike ZX-Spectrum 48kb, and using PAL-M (which is a kind of NTSC with PAL colour, you might know it) - i guess it provides a lot of clues of which are the main differences between 50hz and 60hz tv systems from a ZX-Spectrum compatible

[@flapjackboy]

I believe Timex made licensed ZX Spectrum models for the US market.

[@ClarissaVincent]

Beep

[@MarkParkTech]

They sure did. My first computer was one of the Timex versions.

[@DevastationVlog]

They`re very rare though

[@1337Shockwav3]

Did they ... also the ZX Spectrum was extensively cloned/bootleged in the east block. They managed to substitute the custom video chip (ULA) with standard 74-series logic and add quite some nice add-ons. The most modern incarnation from russia is the FPGA based "ZX Evolution", while being 99.8% compatible to the original spectrum, it also has an extended mode, kind of on par with the Amiga 500

[@tavishord7871]

It was the Timex sinclair 1000 I beleive...

[@Karagianis]

You mention the 16k and 48k models of the spectrum, there was a 128k version too. Also if you don't like the rubber keys, the 128k model also had conventional keys.

[@MikeJones-rf9fl]

I think the original computer was pretty nice. There isn't much need to modify it. That's just my opinion though; I'm sure many people will enjoy this one!

[@HAXXORAUDIO]

Sad to see the rubber keys go... The 'dead flesh' keyboard was lovely to use.

[@PauloSilva111]

The Ben Heck Show 2:26 - ZX-Spectrum was an evolution of ZX-80 and ZX-81 - the keyboard is directly connected to a 16-bit i/o port (i guess ZX-80, ZX-81, Jupiter-Ace and Sam-Coupé are exactly the same)

[@TheOldgeezah]

The key motivation of Clive Sinclair was to provide new technology at the lowest price before everyone else. This led to missed release deadlines, buggy hard and software and the use of the cheapest components he could find including reject gear. Hence the cruddy design and construction of his products. Notwithstanding, his the spectrum and earlier computers had a hell of a following of enthusiasts. He really helped ignite the home computer enthusiast movement.

[@AmosS]

About the keys being hard to get used to - yes, it was annoying at first but once you get used to it you could type programs pretty quickly (plus it must have saved memory because the BASIC keywords could be represented by code instead of the full literal string).

[@ilmostro749]

You mentioned in the video the Speccy has some circuitry to step up 9 volt to 12 volt. Have you got any links to this type of circuit. I need to take a 5 volt input and turn it into a 9 volt output.

[@johanlaurasia]

The practice of using bad 64k RAM chips was common back in those days, Radio Shack did the same thing on the original Color Computer which came in a 4k, 16k, and 32k models. The 32k models had bad 64k ram chips and just used the "good side". Thing is, faulty 64k chips became hard to come by, so Radio Shack had to use fully working 64k chips for the 32k model, so most original series Color Computers that have 32k have fully working 64k chips, and the machine has always had an all RAM mode from day 1. When the Color Computer 2 came along, they sold it in 16k and 64k models only. Oddly, only the very last CoCo 1's were called 64k machines. The Color Computer 3 took things further by adding an MMU and allowing upgrades to 512k, and hacks have extended that to 2 Meg. Speaking of which, when are you going to do a Color Computer Mod !!!! I'd love to see a portable CoCo 3 !!! There's still tons of them around, and there's still a vibrant vintage CoCo crowd still active. We're counting on you Ben!!! The dual boot ROM was totally kickin' btw!!! Great idea!!!

[@aljr357]

Is there a way to upgrade my laser in my Dreamcast to a more reliable Lazers that doesn't breakdown so easy . I don't know if that's true that they breakdown but I'm hoping mine doesn't.

[@hardcore8uk]

excellent video dude, I grew up with the Speccy here in Scotland. would like to see you install a ULAPlus video for 256 colours

[@b4ux1t3-tech]

I have been looking at hex editors for about a week now, as I wanted to do some older-model computer programming (just for fun and edification). Which editor would you recommend? Anyone answer, I'll give them all a try, assuming they're freeware.

[@lincolnyellick]

Excited for more heck!

[@davielee0]

This is awesome! I really can't wait to see the next part. It was how so many of us Brits learned to program and of course play games. Check out Micromen on youtube for the back story. Micro Men Without it there would probably be no ARM cpus and hence, the iPhone and Android devices would be very different.

[@Liofa73]

Tape volume was important for loading some games. We used to have tapes full of games and would write the volume level on the tape insert, beside each game.

[@Andz200zx]

Can't wait for part two!

[@JohnTaylorDev]

Yup the 'Zed' X Spectrum was my first computer and I'm looking forward to seeing part 2 :) The ZX Spectrum also had a few unofficial clones in its day from what I remember :)

[@offperception]

There is an modern loading system for this computer. It's called DivIDE and uses Compactflash cards. It plugs into the interface slot.

[@Tuxy79]

What a neat little system!

[@jesset2550]

Yah

[@nozmoking1]

Wow - I haven't seen one of those little red teardrop screwdrivers with the blue spring metal wire stripper in years. That might even be the one I lost...

[@blackcountryme]

But how much do you replace before it isnt a Speccy anymore? It was a decent machine for games at the time... you had to have an imagination with the graphics though. No power switch AT ALL.. or reset switch on that model. I still have a 128k "Toast rack" version with a heat sink you could light a cig on!

[@dave4shmups]

Excellent video! Ben said that most LCD TVs made in the last 10 years can accept NTSC and PAL signals-what are some good brands? Because I would love to get some PAL gaming platforms, like the Spectrum. But I don't need a large HDTV, because I just need a 4:3 display for retro games.

[@Larry]

Most? He should mean "all"

[@dave4shmups]

But I thought you specifically had to look for region-free HD TVs? I've found websites that sell them, but I'm just looking for an LCD TV that can accept a PAL signal, and has a good 4:3 aspect ratio mode. Which makes and models should I be looking for? I'm confused.

[@CaptainSouthbird]

David Halligan "Region free" might not be the right term, given that usually refers to devices or signals that have some kind of locale locking (e.g. DVDs.) However, if your concern is just supporting PAL in an area that primarily has/sells NTSC displays, just get a PAL-to-NTSC converter... might run you somewhere around $50. Unless you really wanted to dedicate a TV solely to your PAL setup I guess.

[@dave4shmups]

Supporting PAL here is my concern, just with standard RCA jacks, but I have no idea which PAL-NTSC converters are the best.

[@CaptainSouthbird]

David Halligan In this sort of case, I usually go to Amazon and sort by user rating.

[@buggerlugz6753]

dktronics did many addon cards that enable you to boot games directly from storage. Think there's even a module for ram and chip testing that does this.

[@MrMalky1550]

loved this episode being from the uk i remember these well. so shocked to see him update it to use sd ram :)

[@partack1]

Much love for the ZX spectrum. Great video, Ben =3

[@stephenthornber1961]

Zee X Spectrum sounds so wrong lol.. sorry man, Zed X Spectrum ;) - great video btw

[@Philbrush]

I reckon it would look good in something the size of a 3DS XL with the lower screen section being the keyboard instead of the touch screen (or a touchscreen keyboard, but don't know if that's possible)!

[@SlavTiger]

"Hello World." Something magical about making a computer say that as a test.

[@codewizard58]

The full circuit diagrams are in the manual. I still have a the manual, the ROM disassembler etc. I still mod my ZX Spectrum..

[@PauloSilva111]

The Ben Heck Show 19:33 very affordable, easy to program stuff (see that significant amount of good spanish games coded for that back in the 80's, mostly from hobbysts (and published by labels like Dinamic, Opera, Topo, etc.), just as an example), lots of software (see the World of Spectrum repository! and people are still coding there! like me!), lots of magazines available about - the combination of all of these factors made ZX-Spectrum a really popular machine, that i really wonder why was not that popular in United States and Japan that time as well...

[@Theoriginalborgy]

Great mod and love it as a old school Speccy user back in 1982 I'm originally from England but now live in Canada both say "Zed" by the way.

[@garydagget7738]

Oh, man, this takes me back. It was a godawful machine, but popular. Nobody really liked the speccy itself, but it had THE BEST selection of games. Because of the funky audio setup, you could even use it to do some rudimentary sampling. Of course, the first thing I did was gut it and stuff it into a DKtronics keyboard case so I could program it a little more comfortably. Turned out I enjoyed programming far more than playing games (although I wasn't particularly good at either), so I sold it and bought an Acorn Electron, which was a far more capable (and expandable) machine, even if it did have slightly less memory and a pitiful selection of games. Oh, and no, there wasn't a power switch on the PSU...unless you count the switch on the mains socket into which the PSU was plugged.

[@FernandoMassa1976]

I'd love to see you do this with a Commodore Amiga 1200. Please think about

[@garethlight2734]

I got my ZX (ZED X) in 1986 as my first computer. couldnt afford games then so save d all my pocket money till end of month to but your Sinclair magazine where there were game you could program your own games. I've still got it with original box and a whole bin bag full of games....oh happy days.

[@timrichter1980]

Glorious project. Now, what about a portable Amstrad CPC? Not too much custom chips, therefore doable I think...I would like to see a portable C64, but it has way too much custom chips, I think. And for the CPC, he can rely on his Specci experience, both are Z80.

[@inceywincey3278]

I hope you keep the rubber keys - it made the Speccy! The 48K + was the plastic keyed version but somehow it was never the same.

[@dieabe]

Hey!! when do you think you'll post the second part?? Thanks!

[@element14presents]

Thanks for watching the show! I'm working on this as an on-going project - instead of trying to rush through it for the sake of back-to-back episodes, I'm taking my time with the build so it can be as cool as possible (and so that I don't ruin the only ZX Spectrum I have). Stay tuned to see more progress!

[@dieabe]

Cool Thanks so much for the answer!!

[@MrGunman98]

Can u make a video with some more ideas and tutorials for rasberry pi it would be amazing and list what iteams and materials u used i would love to follow and make one of ur projects for myself

[@suineg1]

Wow! Never seen this version of ZX spectrum. Mine was bigger (like a huge gaming keyboard) and with integrated cassette thing.

[@akaishi1583]

The reason the spectrum had no power switch was because most countries in the former British empire have switches on the wall sockets, so switches on the computer was not necessary.

[@spacepirateivynova]

A direct correlation to one's soldering skill can be based off of how many burns on their hands. Judging by my hands, I'm a damn surgeon with one of these things. I've gone so far to build my own SLI bridge with a 1/2mm tolerance in parallelism (it works just fine).