Sinclair zx spectrum portable full#
Sinclair zx spectrum portable portable#

The microcontroller for the keyboard is an Arduino Pro Micro. The joystick will double-up as a controller for the emulator's menu system and a mouse for interacting with the underlying Linux system, so I also added a small secondary button. I decided to use a 5-way tactile navigation switch on the left and a large fire button on the right. The joystick controls then went into the remaining space immediately above the keyboard. The switches are surface mount versions which have a softer feel and are less noisy than their more common through-hole counterparts, but either should work as their body sizes are almost identical. The protoboards we're using are a standard 7x9cm (26x31 holes) available online from many retailers. Starting with some protoboards and a big pile of tactile switches, I experimented with a few ideas and settled on the staggered layout shown in the photos. We may be building a handheld emulated device which shares nothing in common with the original Spectrum internals but, with careful design, it should be possible to create something which feels reminiscent of the 80s computing experience. Getting the keyboard right is the key to capturing the look and feel of the original ZX Spectrum. With all this in mind, I drafted a block diagram to help me understand the various components. Instant: I hated tape loading in the 80s and I can't imagine I've grown any fonder of it in the intervening years.Adventure games, sure, but I don't just want to play adventure games so it's going to need a joystick. Joystick: I was never into playing platform games with a keyboard.

Sinclair zx spectrum portable full#

To get the full experience, it needs to have those wonderful keyword keys. Keyboard: I don't just want to play games, I also want to program it.Portable: It needs to be something I can play with on the sofa or on a lazy afternoon in the garden.Cheap: I have far too many projects to spend large sums of money on a bit of fun nostalgia.

Sinclair zx spectrum portable portable#

So, what do I want from my portable ZX Spectrum?

The choice at this stage was to either follow the path of the awesome Ben Heck and shrink original ZX hardware into something portable or to cheat and use emulation on a small single-board computer. This was fun for a while but I really wanted a dedicated device - preferably something small, portable and self-contained to fit in with my lifestyle. Having recently discovered some communities focused on older computers on the web, I decided I wanted to relive some of that nostalgia for myself and installed the Fuse emulator on my MacBook. My first computer - one which holds a special place in my heart - was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K.

I'm a child of the 80s and have fond memories of the 8-bit computers of that era.