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ZX Spectrum Part 1 History with John Grant

Welcome to Floppy Days #115 for June, 2022.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig.  I hope everyone is doing well.

As you know, we are generally following the timeline of computers as they were released to the world.  We have arrived in the year 1982.  1982 was a landmark year for home computers, as there were some significant introductions in this year.  Machines that played a critical part in the rich home computer period of the 1980’s.  In particular, I’m talking about the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64 as well as some other interesting machines.

One of the most impactful computers released at this time was the ZX Spectrum; across the pond in the UK by Sir Clive Sinclair.  This episode kicks off a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics.

The first topic we always start with is history.  I was able to catch up with a person who played a significant role in the history of the Spectrum through his company Nine Tiles.  Of course, I’m talking about Mr. John Grant.  John was kind enough to talk about the work he did on the machine and some of the stories surrounding its development and introduction.  I hope you find this interesting.

I will, as usual, talk about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my never ending quest to discover new modern upgrades for my collection of old machines; as well as bring you news about upcoming shows.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

• XEP-80 II by MyTek (Michael St. Pierre)
• • MyTek Website - https://ataribits.weebly.com/xep80-ii.html 
  • Purchasing XEP-80 II at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/xep80-ii-by-mytek 
• MidiMaze cart + SIO2Midi + cart shells
• • SIO2Midi by MyTek - https://ataribits.weebly.com/midi.html 
  • SIO2Midi at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/midi-for-your-atari-8-bit-400-800-xl-xe-xel-xld 
  • 8-bit cartridge shells at Vintage Computer Center - https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/atari-8-bit-cartridge-shells 
• OSS 4-in-1 cart - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimized_Systems_Software#:~:text=Optimized%20Systems%20Software%20(OSS)%20was,bit%20family%20of%20home%20computers 
• FujiCart + case
• • MyTek Website - https://ataribits.weebly.com/576nuc.html 
  • FujiCart and case at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/myteks-576nuc-atari-computer/products/myteks-576nuc-and-internal-fujinet?variant=39350116024422 
  • Steve Boswell (Mr Robot) site - https://atari8bit.net/ 

Upcoming Shows

• VCF Southeast - July 15-17  Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/ 
• KansasFest 2022 = July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/ 
• VCF West 2022 =  Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/ 
• VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ 
• Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ 

Interview Links

• Grant, who also worked on the guts of Sinclair's ZX80 and ZX81 (and can be heard talking about his experiences in Randy Kindig's Floppy Days podcast), donated the prototype hardware to the museum 
• “The first ZX Spectrum prototype laid bare…” at The Register - https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/05/the_first_zx_spectrum_prototype_laid_bare/