Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K

INTRO

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was one of the most popular European computers of the 80's. Two models were launched: one with 16 kb RAM and one with 48 kb RAM.

Specifications:
ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRODUCTION: 1982 - 1984
BUILT IN LANGUAGE: Sinclair Basic
KEYBOARD: QWERTY rubber keyboard (40 keys) with up to 6 functions by keys !
CPU: Zilog Z80 A 3.5 MHz
RAM: 16k or 48k (42k left for programming)
ROM: 16k (Basic & OS)
TEXT MODES:   32 x 24
GRAPHIC MODES:   256 x 192
COLORS: 8 with two tones each (normal and bright)
SOUND: 1 voice / 10 octaves (Beeper)
I/O PORTS: Expansion port, tape-recorder (1200 bauds), RF video out
POWER SUPPLY:  External PSU, 9v DC, 1.4A (centre polarity = -ve)
PERIPHERALS: ZX printer, ZX microdrives

Power Supply Unit

Joystick controller

ZX Spectrum 48K and Jostick controller

One of its most "interesting" characteristics is its keyboard! Some keys have more than five (!) functions! It is impossible to type BASIC keywords letter by letter, instead you have to use function keys. A lot of peripherals and programs were developed for this computer.

ZX Spectrum BASIC

Sinclair BASIC was a popular version of the BASIC (Beginner's All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) programming language. Originally Sinlair BASIC was written for the ZX80. On the ZX Spectrum, there are 86 reserved words in Sinclair BASIC, denoting commands (of which there were 50), functions (31), and other keywords (5).

The fact this was retained is a clue as to what Sir Clive originally intended his first colour computer to be, not the games machine as we all now remember it, but instead (and like the ZX81) a multi-use hobbyists machine which could also be used as a tool for programming.

You can find great manual for Sinclair BASIC at World of Spectrum site.

 

GAMING

If we hark back to April 1982, it's not hard to remember why the Spectrum had such a monumental impact on modern gaming. Prior to that we were living in a black and white world of Intellivision-style 'TV games' and endless, (hardly) glorified versions of Pong.

Most Spectrum software was originally distributed on audio cassette tapes. The Spectrum was intended to work with a normal domestic cassette recorder, and despite differences in audio reproduction fidelity, the software loading process was quite reliable, if somewhat slow (by today's standards).

Becouse of that, today we can load games from smartphone, using android apps like TeeZix. 

Enter LOAD "" command on ZX Spectrum, choose tape file in TeeZix and play it. And wait for some time to load game.

According to the 90th issue of the British gaming magazine GamesMaster, the ten biggest games released on the ZX Spectrum were (in descending order) Head Over Heels, Jet Set Willy, Skool Daze, Renegade, R-Type, Knight Lore, Dizzy, The Hobbit, Way Of The Exploding Fist, and Match Day 2 (source: Wikipedia).

Educational Software

Educational titles were not very popular for the ZX Spectrum, no matter how many times we told Mom and Dad that we needed the Speccy for our education, everyone really knew (including Mom and Dad I suspect) that we only wanted to play JetPac. Here's examples of Croatian educational software from that time.