ZX Harlequin 128k Build

Building a ZX Spectrum clone Harlequin 128k donated for the Befriending Scheme Charity auction.
This was a great fun project and the results are excellent. A ZX Spectrum that can output RGB, can be any Spectrum from 48k to the Plus 2A. It can also be a ZX81 (and other computers too!)
All using off-the-shelf components and no custom chips! What an incredible feat of engineering, all in the size of a rubber key ZX Spectrum!
With huge thanks to
Fergus Logan for donating the Harlequin kit!
/ ferguslogan
Lee Smith ‪@leesmithsworkshop‬ for donating the ZX Mechtrum case and keyboard.
Harlequin 128k Github
github.com/DonSuperfo/Superfo...
SECOND CHANNEL!
/ @morefunmakingit2
More Fun Website
www.morefunmakingit.co.uk/
My Twitterings can be found here
/ morefunmakingit
Facebook
/ morefunmakingit
Mastedon
oldbytes.space/@MoreFunMakingIt
Discord Channel
/ discord
00:00 Introduction
02:50 In the Box?
03:33 Another Harlequin?
05:42 The Build
06:35 Montage 1
09:13 Mistake 1
14:11 Montage 2
15:58 Sockets
20:20 Mistake 2
26:31 Capacitors
27:50 Montage 3
33:01 Not A Chip
34:15 Time for Chips
34:44 Montage 4
38:20 The Other bits
42:51 Competition Time!
43:04 Goodbye!

[@ByteDelight]

I actually tried to order from 'low' to 'high', so when you flip the board for soldering, and put it on a desk, parts won't fall out when you solder them. Hence chip sockets first, and caps next. I usually put the board on a tray of some sort, and put in all parts of the same type at once: resistors in one go, transistors, caps. Then I solder one leg from the top of each part, flip the board, cut the legs and solder the other legs. For chip sockets I do one row at a time, use a foam mat to hold the sockets in place, flip the baord, and solder 2 pins of each socket while pushing the board into the foam a bit. After that, the sockets won't move, and you can remove the foam before soldering them completely. I think my record is something of 1h 15min or so, but I usually do 3 or 4 boards at a time nowadays. Maybe I should add these hints (with photos) in the manual. If you think I should, let me know! You could have just pushed in the socket pins that went up in, while heating the soldering. I do this from time to time. These are good quality ones from TME. Great video! Ben

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thanks Ben. I've stolen some of your methods and love the solder one pin and then cut. Really enjoyed building this kit, brilliant work putting it together.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thank you everyone for watching the premier! Sadly the chat broke at the end. Like and Subscribe!!

[@bobbus_74]

Awesome video, Lee. I find it strangely therapeutic, watching all of those chips being slotted in to their sockets. Very satisfying! I watched the whole thing on purpose, too. Like that's a surpise. 😄

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thanks mate! I can count on you to watch every bit. :D

[@mogwaay]

Yes same here, very satisfying 'cruch' as the chips went in!

[@Bergi2000]

I watched the whole thing on purpose. :) ❤

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

You get bonus points for being the first! 10 million and 3 points!

[@mogwaay]

I watched the whole thing on purpose 😊 great build Lee, the combination of a 128k Harlequin, DivMMC and Lee's spectacular Mechtrum is *chef-kiss* it is an excellent item to go up for auction and I hope it raises mega bucks and gives its new owner much joy!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I had my first taste of using it for real today, and its just a brilliant little machine. Definitely going to eventually get one of these for myself!

[@weepingscorpion8739]

I watched the whole thing on purpose! And this along with the 12 hour livestream made me thing that I should get a Harlequin 128k in a Mechtrum system. My parents already have a rubber key Speccy and I think it'd be a shame to mod that too much. Great video.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Well done you! A Mechtrum and harlequin is the ideal spectrum 😍

[@pe1dnn]

Two extra things to watch out for. 1) there are jumpers for PAL and NTSC but the board has traces for PAL. If you want to use the jumpers, cut the traces. 2) There is a mod in the manual for a memory timing issue. It says optional for some demos having trouble, but I found some games have trouble too (e.g. Dizzy). With the mod it works. Not nice to have botch wires but having a board that works always is nice too.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Cheers! I was aware of the bodge but as it worked fine I didnt want to mess around with it any more. I might do it anyway though to save whoever wins the auction any potential problems.

[@Rickyboy_3000]

Thanks for the video. I watched the whole thing on purpose!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I would give you the internet points but they have all been claimed. Please accept this internet points IOU instead.

[@Milkybar3320011]

As a complete novice in electronics, I love how you dumb it all down to a point where it all looks simple. Thanks.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thanks! I am also a novice, I just talk a good game.

[@rimmersbryggeri]

You are absolutely right about the turned pin vs dual wipe sockets.

[@loudscotsbloke]

I watched the whole thing on purpose!!! Awesome build mate. Great to watch.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Well done! And thank you :D

[@michaelstoliker971]

I watched the whole thing (on purpose) because it took me back to when I used to populate controller boards (and others) for gas cabinets for explosive (and other) dangerous gasses. I had no experience at the time but quickly developed an order of operations to make the boards go together smoothly. These were first run boards before we handed the operation over to a third party to do the manufacturing, but in some cases I had to create boards for orders in the hundreds. Our gas cabinets were used by Intel and AMD, so quality had to be high and everything was assembled and tested by me. I also did the programming on some features of the boards including the Input/output panels keyboards and LCD displays. This was the most fun I had in that position as the assembly was mind numbing! But it was satisfying watching the completed boards stack up.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thank you for sharing your memories! 😁

[@maltronik]

I watched the whole thing on purpose too.. 😂❤.. of course I did.. I really love this sort of thing..

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I love that you love this thing! 20 Million points for you!

[@CallousCoder]

I don’t like leave spring sockets. They are the once that either pins get pushed up, or pins are not held properly. I’ve never had any problems with turned pin sockets. They are the durable ones. Also the more expensive ones, that’s a drawback. But basic cheap logic I just solder in anyways. They are robust and hardly ever need to come out. The more expensive ICs socket. But I usually just solder ICs you do that with SMD also 😂 I watch it further tomorrow. I’m curious to see it working.

[@RudysRetroIntel]

Fantastic video and work!! Hopefully, you will surpass your goal for a great charity! Thanks for the build and faults explanation as I would eventually like to build one myself. Looking forward to your live stream and I too watched the while thing on purpose. Just couldn't stop myself :)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Cheers Rudy! I think you would really enjoy this build.

[@JustinBellingerTV]

I watched the whole thing on purpose. Great episode, and looking forward to the livestream / auction.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thank you! Also cant wait!

[@squidjam]

I watched the whole thing on purpose and thanks for not showing the full chase for the errors that you fixed, hope you enjoyed the testing 😉

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

You're very welcome! I didnt feel comfortable publishing a 60 minute video! Testing is well under way. Today I tested Manic Miner loaded from an original tape onto the 128k Toastrack ROM. Glorious!

[@ChrisShadowens]

Excellent video, as always, and I watched the whole thing on purpose!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I might have to share the points out. So many winners!

[@saltire69]

Amazing build, warts n all as per. I would say that I can't believe I watched the whole thing on purpose, but I actually do believe it ;)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

It still amazes me that people watch all of it!

[@eviljonny8446]

I watched the whole thing on purpose. ❤ Great video, really enjoying these spectrum videos

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Cheers Jonny! More coming soon!

[@Doug_in_NC]

I’ve come across the issue with the pins on the sockets pushing out too, so what I do now is press the socket with the blunt end of a pair of tweezers to hold the pins in place instead of pushing the whole socket with my finger when I reflow them. It stops them shifting pretty effectively.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thats a great idea. I will give that a go!

[@PCBWay]

That's really impressive!

[@3vi1J]

That's a lot of sockets! Great job!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thank you!

[@NickT6630]

Excellent video. I watched the whole thing on purpose! :-)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Such a shame all the internet points have now been claimed. But thank you for watching!

[@britlion]

"Do not distribute this manual" he says, reading it out. Lol. I've never seen a harlequin build before actually, so this was cool to see. I did watch the whole thing on purpose, but it was because of this :D

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thanks for watching all of it!

[@RoyAntaw]

I watched the whole thing on purpose! and I'm not completely bonkers.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

One of these statements is irrefutable. 😆

[@cv643d]

I think I agree with you about sockets, I prefer the spring loaded sockets

[@vit9056]

Thank you. This is a wonderful video. I have one question. Why are you using so many sockets instead of soldering the chips directly to the PCB? Probably sometimes there are faulty chips?

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thank you! Exactly as you say. Tracking down a fault is a lot easier if the chips are in sockets.

[@michaelbluecastlestudio665]

Great video and explanation. Im Building a Harlequin as well, lots of fun. Can you explain how you arranged your ROM images? So, wich rom goes into wich area?

[@yaktaur]

I watched the whole thing on purpose! :)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

And you are now the proud owner of TEN MILLION internet points. Congratulations! Also, thank you for watching :D

[@NotMarkKnopfler]

I watched it completely by accident. Thought it was a marital aid video. Imagine my disappointment 😅

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Well if you had been paying attention you would have read between the lines and all your wildest dreams would now be coming true. 😁

[@sweetlilmre]

Great video as always 😊 I've got your flux on order from cpc. Can you recommend a solder?

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thanks! Loctite Multicore leaded, also from CPC! Its a tad expensive these days though.

[@sweetlilmre]

@@MoreFunMakingIt thank you, I'll definitely pick up a spool. Seems they have a low melt version as well.

[@arminth]

Can't believe, I watched the whole thing on purpose! 😂

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

You only have yourself to blame!

[@davidcocklin2109]

I have only noticed after building this, there is no power on mine after the tracopower 5v reg. I have looked at lots of photos and I have done correct - -tip +out

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Very hard to advise you via text in KZbin comments. Hope you get it sorted

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

I hope that you have sourced your ZILOG Z80A as they have been discontinued.

[@LeftoverBeefcake]

I watched the whole thing on a porpoise, and man, that was totally uncomfortable. Next time I'll use a chair.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Something fishy going on here... 😆🦈

[@willynebula6193]

I watched the whole video and subscribed on purpose.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thank you! You get bonus points. You can decide how many yourself

[@Zhixalom]

@18:47 - ♪ ♫ But while there's moonlight and music and love and romance. Let's face the music and dance! ♫ ♪ 😆

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I was humming this all day!

[@ljubomirculibrk4097]

"Look at sky its full of..." chips

[@albert_vds]

I watched the whole thing on purpose!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Sorry. All the internet points have been claimed :D

[@Edsshed]

Hi, hope you can help me, I'm desperately looking for a spectrum plus keyboard. I'm working on a new mobile spectrum next and need a keyboard to use with it, and am looking for a decent one to use. Do you by chance have one or know someone who does. Willing to pay for it. Also looking for the full tape system for a +2. If you can help I'd be grateful. UK based. Final product will be shown on my youtube when complete.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Hi Ed. I sadly dont have a spare Plus case or keyboard. I know that Lee Smiths Workshop is working on a modern replacement but having some problems getting it to work reliably. Maybe ask him for some help?

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

I wonder why a socket cannot be used to allow DDR2 Memory Modules to be used.

[@IainFothergill_Teschi]

I watched the whole thing on purpose... honest!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Congratulations! 😄

[@MrWaalkman]

Here's 8YO Stephanie building hers 7 years ago: kzbin.info-Q29C5nc-9k Hers worked the first time. No pressure. And Ben is awesome!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

She's a star!

[@davemcegan1827]

I was forced at gunpoint to watch this video and now I am scarred for life 🤪

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

You can spend your 10 Million internet points on therapy! :D

[@markpitts5194]

I watched the whole thing on purpose

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Cheers Mark!

[@stevesgaming7475]

I watched the whole thing on purpose.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Congratulations! Now you all you need to do is sign up to a dodgy pyramid scheme to claim your internet points! :D

[@ArjanvanVught]

I watched the whole thing on purpose ....

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

You're in luck. I just got a new batch of internet points in stock! :D

[@Doug_in_NC]

Me, why would anyone watch someone playing computer games on Twitch instead of playing them themselves? Also me, yay a KZbin soldering video!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Filming the next episode in a hot tub...

[@Doug_in_NC]

Does KZbin allow that sort of thing?😅. Oh, and I watched the whole thing on purpose too 😂

[@Zanaz728]

I watched the whole thing on purpose... Twice..

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Well now you've broken the whole system! You better watch it twice more to even things out

[@Zanaz728]

@@MoreFunMakingIt 😂

[@davidcocklin2109]

A shame ByteDelight does not respond to my emails over 2 month been trying to ask him question.

[@SanguineBrah]

I watched the whole thing by mistake :/

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

The management cannot be held responsible for accidental amazing video viewing!

[@primokarmasilver]

Take my shoes off, how would you know if I did or not. Can I mail you my shoes to prove it??

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

No need! I can smell them from here

[@3dhYT]

I watched the whole thing, but i prefer shorter videos.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Then I am grateful that you made the effort! :D

[@DavidPlass]

I admittedly did not watch the whole thing on purpose... I fast forwarded when the chips were being installed...

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Honestly, I dont blame you. There are only so many minutes and they're very precious things to each person. Thank you for spending the ones that you did watching the good bits! :D

[@DavidPlass]

@@MoreFunMakingIt Well, like the title says, "So...many...chips!" PS Love the channel and how you show your errors and how you correct them.

[@LockFarm]

I watched the whole thing on purpose!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

To claim your internet points just need you to submit to a drug test 😋

[@julianbrown1331]

I watched the whole thing on purpose

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

If you check your account you will find the 10 million internet points have already been transferred! Thank you for your participation! (and thanks for watching!)