Upgrade day! My blue box #RC2014 Pro gets a bump from 3.5.0 to 3.6.0. #RomWBW #CPM #ZSystem #Z80

Photograph of a little blue box that appears to be bigger on the inside. The front panel is adorned with toggle switches, LEDs and a green LCD glowing brightly. Text on the small screen reads RomWBW V3.6.0, Z80 CPU 7.372 MHz, RC2014_std, Ready. Also pictured is a ROM programmer.A desktop computer screenshot showing a white-on-black terminal emulator application. The text shown in the terminal window is the boot message generated by RC2014 RomWBW. It is headed by an ASCII-art RC2014 logo, and a comprehensive dump of system information indicating the attached media and so on. The text ends with the prompt: Boot [H=help]

Pixels!

A photograph of a CRT display showing eight rows of thirty-two 8x8 checkerboard patterns. Each block is a different permutation of colours taken from a palette of eight hues and two and intensities.

Holy hexadecimal Batman! Evidently they make hex editors for Trouserphones now, so you can scrutinise the ZX Spectrum ROM code on-the-go! (Or indeed, on-the-couch).

Cropped iPhone screenshot showing a hex-view of “48.rom”. Two consecutive bytes among many are highlighted. (Other fondleslabs may be available, YMMV).

Good news, everyone! The Sun Machine is coming down and we are gonna have a party. #DarioG #1998 #MiniDisc #HiMD #vinegar #fixed

Battery terminal gently fizzing away in some vinegar.&10;Delicious-looking forbidden green crusty flakes float alluringly.Sony MiniDisc Walkman. Screen display reads&10;"Dario G".

Remember, kids: DO NOT leave the batteries in your stuff!

Today’s chemistry lesson brought to you by Sony™ MiniDisc® Walkman®, the ravages of time and the indefatigable power of entropy.

Partially disassembled Sony MiniDisc Walkman. The batter contacts are crusted green. Soldering tools and cotton buds have been used to start the repair. Close up of a very green and upsettingly crusty batter contacts plate. Big chunks of fizzy bogeys are flaking off. 😋

Go-Go BunnyGun by Ionian Games is out now!

#ZXSpectrum #shmup

The Spectrum Machine Code Reference Guide: Microdrive Interface 1 Complete ROM Disassembly.

(Mince pie for scale. It’s a big book!)

Photograph of a book titled “The Spectrum MACHINE CODE Reference Guide”, subtitled “Microdrive Interface 1 Complete ROM Disassembly”. Also pictured is a mince pie.

HTML is for life, not just for Christmas. This year, give the gift of Open Web.

https://vole.wtf/doctype/

Photograph of three copies of DOCTYPE magazine on a tabletop with Christmas wrapping paper and some unidirectional bondage tape. Also some Scottish islandy booze. The aforementioned books now wrapped and beribboned.

It’s our Office Christmas Party today, so it’s #XmasJumper time!

Design your own unique Yuletide Wooly Pully from the comfort of your ZX Spectrum!

ZX Spectrum loading screen. Text reads "Advanced Christmas Jumper Simulator". Image depicts two people wearing ugly Christmas jumpers.ZX Spectrum mini game. Dancing figure at a Christmas party, wearing a Christmas jumper.A pixel art rendition of a Christmas jumper.

Check out my #swag ¹ and #pickups #haul from Retro Computer Festival 2025 (Gaming Edition)

¹ The real ² swag is the friends we made along the way of course. ✌️🥰

² Freebies are good too though 😆

An asssortment of items I picked up at the event. Comic books, stickers, a Spectrum game, a badge, a promotional beer mat and a couple of flyers. Lovely stuff!

Did I mention I’m an elite top tier pro gamer? #ZX81 #Won #OneGo

Photograph of a museum display featuring a ZX81 computer and a small portable black-and-white television. Text on screen reads: “you have three goes. You won in 1 goes. Another go?”

What can I say? Still got it. #HiScore #Winner #Badge #690 #Dragon

Photograph of micro computers on a table. Three dragons (and a CoCO?) Each computer has a different game, above each display is a high score dry-erase board with scores by Nigel, Robert and Nicholas. High score of 690 by Robert on “Ghost Run”A SAM Coupé pin badge and a “green gamer” badge with a Pac-Man style ghost on the lapel of my jacket.

SEGA Rally? Completed it, mate.

Sega Saturn screen shot. Mountain stage clear! Rank 1st!Sega Rally screenshot. Extra stage clear! Rank 1st! CONGRATULATIONS!Sega Rally ending cutscene/credits. Drivers celebrate standing on the car bonnet. Sega Rally high score entry. The name “BOB” has been entered.

Good morning! I smell #retro #games in the air …

A photograph of a street on a damp November morning. Aliens plummet from the sky apocalyptically but don’t worry because the Earth is defended by a Spectrum+ and a Quazar mechanical keyboard!

I’m heading Down South for the Retro Computer Festival in Cambridge. 🚂 👾

Photograph of Loch Etive on a clear November morning. The sky is blue and the water is still. A couple of moored sailing boats are visible; as is North Connel on the opposite shore.A photo taken at Connel Ferry railway station. The rising sun is peeking through spindly autumn trees. An electronic notice board reads “Glasgow Queen Street”.

Power cut! But don’t worry, we still have music. #EmergencyToastrack #StormAmy #SAA1099P

Photograph showing a computer, screen, battery pack and a mug illuminated by torchlight and the glow of the small screen, in the dark.

Oh you know, just brushing up on my British Standard logic symbols. (I’ve never seen these before).

&10;The good author's guide to explaining projects&10;IF YOU WISH to submit articles to sinclair Projects we would appreciate it if you adhere to the following rules.&10;Although they are not exclusive it would help us to evaluate projects if there is some element of compatibility between different pre-sentations.&10;&10;• All manuscripts should be typed with double-line spacing.&10;• Logic symbols should follow British Standards.&10;• Circuit symbols should follow&10;British Standards.&10;• Circuit diagrams should have the values of the components shown, not a reference to a component table.&10;• Parts of integrated circuits should be designated&10;in this way&10;1/4 74LS14, not ICSa for example.&10;• All circuits should be designed for construction using standard Vero-board. Any printed circuit board designs are likely to be returned for conversion. Submission of a project based on a PCB will not exclude future publication.&10;• Any constructional detail which is unusual or slightly complicated should be illustrated with simple hand-drawn diagrams, showing how it can be implemented.&10;&10;For those who are unfamiliar with British Standards logic symbols, they are shown here. The reason for using BS symbols is simple, although controversial; they are used extensively in the British educational system and in British industry. As most of our readership is in those areas we use circuit symbols which are most familiar.&10;&10;U.S.:&10;AND&10;NAND&10;OR&10;NOR&10;NOT&10;EXCLUSIVE OR&10;&10;BRITISH STANDARD:&10;AND&10;NAND&10;OR&10;NOR&10;NOT&10;EXCLUSIVE OR&10;&10;SINCLAIR PROJECTS June/ July 1983&10;June/July 1983&10;An independent magazine published by ECC Publications&10;SINCLAIR PROJECTS&10;&10;&10;THE MAGAZINE FOR THE SERIOUS SINCLAIR USER&10;&10;&10;SIX GREAT PROJECTS&10;CENTRAL HEATING PART II&10;GRAPH PLOTTER&10;DECODER PART II&10;SOUND GENERATOR&10;JOYSTICK FIRE BUTTON&10;SAVE AND LOAD&10;

Have you ever wanted to load arbitrary Microdrive files using machine code, but Sinclair’s hook codes let you down? Well: want no longer and behold: SHADOWLOAD!

#zxSpectrum #microdrive #interface1 #asm #z80

Photograph of a ZX Microdrive unit. Its single baleful red eye glimmers with menace; its tongue stuck out at you in defiance. Or it might just be an unilluminated red LED and a partially-inserted Microdrive cartridge, but who can say.

0x002A

Good morning! (It’s Snorkin’ Time!) ☕️🎩

Photograph, outdoors, garden. In the foreground a WhatHoSnorkers coffee mug with an Aeropress atop, such that it looks like Snorkers is wearing a top-hat. (Well sort of). The mug is on a little table and is next to a Cambridge Computer Z88 portable computer. The sun is rising in the background. It is evidently Snorking Time™️.

I just finished building my new PC! #RC2014 #RomWBW #Z80 #CP/M

Photograph of a little blue box with switches lights and small LCD screen.Computer with the lid removed. Inside are blue modular circuit boards and several wires connecting them here and there. Photograph of the assembly process. The main backplane is pictured with a few modules connected, and the front panel is propped up nearby being tested. Multimeter and soldering iron in the background.

Upgrade time! I’ve added a combined 512K ROM / 512K RAM card to my RC2014 which replaces the two respective cards from my old setup and also brings the RomWBW system to explore. I’ve had the upgrade kit since the Retro Computer Festival in November and finally built it tonight! #Z80 #CPM

RC2014 Pro modular computer. The combined RAM and ROM card has been separated from the backplane.RC2014 powered-up with green LEDs glowing brightly.

I love an 80s computing book with completely unhinged technology metaphors.

Photograph of the from cover of “The Hacker’s Handbook” a ZX Spectrum 48K communications guide by Longman publishing. The illustration depicts orbital ZX Spectrums encircling the globe.A diagram from the book. The concept of duplex send and receive communication lines is, for (presumably) some reason, illustrated as two pairs of handlebars with the brake lines connected such that pulling the right hand brake lever raises a flag on the left hand lever of the other side.Another illustration and more abject nonsense. A cartoon of a car driving on a winding road that passes over a bridge and ends up at a car park. Along the way a police officer is marshalling traffic. The road is suppose to represent the telephone; the cop is software; the road (“highway”) also represent the cable; the eight lanes (annotated but neither depicted nor explained) lead to the car park with eight spaces that represents the screen.Biblically-accurate rendering of RS232 from the perspective of the computer. Allegedly. I quite like this one to be honest, I might get it as my next tattoo. We’re back to handlebars but this time with six brakes and umpteen flags. The brake lines are labelled TxD, RxD, CTS, RTS, DTR, DSR, circuit common, and DCD.

What ho, Saturday‽

A photograph of my desk with a book, a notepad, a pencil, a mug of tea and a calculator.

Happy upgrade day, gang! (I retired my clunky old bodge-wired external IDE interface in favour of a sleek internal fancy one). #ZXSpectrum #Plus3e

A ZX Spectrum +3e main board in a clear Perspex sandwich (in lieu of its original case). Inside can be seen all the gubbins including a new IDE interface with a bright red LED.A picture showing the IDE interface in more detail. It has taken the place of the Z80 processor. The adaptor sits in the old DIP socket and extends to the right, where the floppy drive would normally be mounted, but in this system has been removed. A CF card is attached. Instead of the original DIP Z80, this board has a surface mounted QFP variant (which is much smaller). Not quite in shot is one of the two EPROMs which have replaced the original mask ROMs.