TZXDuino for ZX81

Discussions about Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 Hardware
mcarlson_sb
Posts: 122
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 4:48 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by mcarlson_sb »

I just learned about the TZXDuino from this thread.
I'm about to go grab some spare parts and make one now.

Thanks for sharing!


Edit:
:shock: that was easy :shock:
I had the needed parts laying around.
Breadboarded them and had it up and running with Maxduino in about a half hour.

Tested and it worked great with my Ts1000 without the amp circuit. (Yay! Fewer parts. More simplicity)

It's going to take me significantly longer to model and print an enclosure just to make it look pretty.
rcmolina
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2020 6:52 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by rcmolina »

@Lardo Boffin, you are very ambitious, some years ago I was askinv myseld if this was possible and hw limitations, sd reading library is the main drawback. As you have ecperienced, if you original tape is near 48k your ratko should be good. If not, another option is to use a fast load routine if unprotected and save it in an emulator, but this requires manual and specific knowledge intervention.

@mcarlson_sb, you really have asnonished me, you are sure very god in electronic and programming :D
mcarlson_sb
Posts: 122
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 4:48 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by mcarlson_sb »

rcmolina wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:50 pm @mcarlson_sb, you really have asnonished me, you are sure very god in electronic and programming :D
It was easy because other people did all the hard work. :D

All I had to do was add a few jumper wires where the TZXDuino Readme told me to and download MaxDuino.

That and having way too many spare parts :-)
rcmolina
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2020 6:52 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by rcmolina »

@mcarlson_sb, I'm sure you had also experience with other arduino projects, installing IDE, etc so this run you didn't need to look for this knowledge.

Happy testing,

Rafa
mcarlson_sb
Posts: 122
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 4:48 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by mcarlson_sb »

rcmolina wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 6:53 pm @mcarlson_sb, I'm sure you had also experience with other arduino projects, installing IDE, etc so this run you didn't need to look for this knowledge.
True. Thank you for the compliments.

This evening I finally got around to modeling an enclosure, printing it, and (with my wife's help *) soldering it all up.
Process pictures attached. I was able to keep it pretty small by leaving out the audio amplifier. At least with my Ts1000 it's not needed and works fine without need for volume adjustment straight from the arduino.

If anyone else is interested in making one I'll do my part to make it easier. I'm happy to share my parts list, stl files for the enclosure, and directions on putting it together.

20200724_192232.jpg
20200724_223341.jpg
20200724_223416.jpg
20200724_223443.jpg
20200724_223258.jpg
For wiring instructions see:
https://github.com/sadken/TZXDuino#wiring

For software see the most excellent:
https://github.com/rcmolina/MaxDuino_v1.56

Parts (You can certainly find them cheaper elsewhere. I'm just linking here to show what I used):
Arduino Nano V3
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07D12TW ... asin_title
0.91" OLED IC2 display (128x32)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07FMDB6 ... asin_title
SPI MicroSD card module
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07BJ2P6 ... asin_title
6x6x5 micro switches
https://www.amazon.com/TWTADE-Yellow-Or ... 243&sr=8-5
3.5mm Mono audio jack (male)
https://www.amazon.com/Fancasee-Replace ... io&sr=8-22

Misc:
A little bit of perf board to mount the switches
A tiny bit of glue (we use e6000) to hold the display and perf board in place during assembly.

STL files:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4551815

Cheers,
Matthew


* my wife used to work in a clean room soldering LEDs the size of glitter under a microscope. She considers SMD parts "kind of big" - I totally bow to her soldering prowess and count myself lucky to have married her :D
rcmolina
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2020 6:52 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by rcmolina »

@mcarlson_sb, many thanks for the pictures Matthew, really very cute, the stretch display is very appropiate for this tiny version :)

Happy to see this all the things in a box, a finished project.

-
Rafa
Lardo Boffin
Posts: 2160
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:42 am

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by Lardo Boffin »

rcmolina wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:50 pm @Lardo Boffin, you are very ambitious, some years ago I was askinv myseld if this was possible and hw limitations, sd reading library is the main drawback. As you have ecperienced, if you original tape is near 48k your ratko should be good. If not, another option is to use a fast load routine if unprotected and save it in an emulator, but this requires manual and specific knowledge
Random question but I got an Oric-1 recently - are there any plans to extend this to support them as well? By all accounts Oric’s are a nightmare to get to load from tape so could do with the help!
ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
rcmolina
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2020 6:52 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by rcmolina »

@Lardo Boffin, a short status report on Oric support:

- TAP support: yes, I have the ideas and time to start on this. Now on vacation, it's one of pending things to do. I bought 2 oric atmos also, I need to feed this hungry beasts :D

- they are tzx supported, you can use available tools to convert from cas. Did you watch my videos on youtube?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mjN7hOEns
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vjv4AMevj0A

Try this files: https://gofile.io/d/1IpvdU

Rafa

Ps. Better with a small pause at the beginning of the file
Last edited by rcmolina on Wed Aug 05, 2020 9:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
Lardo Boffin
Posts: 2160
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:42 am

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by Lardo Boffin »

rcmolina wrote: Wed Aug 05, 2020 8:41 am @Lardo Boffin, a short status report on Oric support:

- TAP support: yes, I have the ideas and time to start on this. Now on vacation, it's one of pending things to do. I bought 2 oric atmos also, I need to feed this hungry beasts :D

- they are tzx supported, you can use available tools to convert from cas. Did you watch my videos on youtube?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mjN7hOEns
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vjv4AMevj0A

Rafa

Ps. Better with a small pause at the beginning of the file
I will have a look at the videos thanks!
ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
rcmolina
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2020 6:52 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by rcmolina »

@Lardo Boffin, if you have any problems with id14 attached files, check polarity.
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