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The ZX Interface 1, launched in 1983, was a peripheral from Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum home computer. Originally intended as a local area network interface for use in school classrooms, it was revised before launch to also act as the controller for up to eight ZX Microdrive high-speed tape-loop cartridge drives. It also included a DE-9 RS-232 interface capable of operating at up to 19.2 kbit/s. At hardware level it was fundamentally a voltage adaptor, the serial protocol being implemented in software by bit-banging. This led to problems when receiving data, but not when transmitting.
A wedge-shaped device fitting underneath the ZX Spectrum, for correct fitment 2 screws needed to be removed from the underside of the Spectrum, the existing screwholes being used by longer screws running through the ZX Interface 1 to stop it from inadvertently becoming detached, the ZX Interface 1 contained 8 kB of ROM comprising the control software for the Microdrives, an RS-232 port and network interface. This extended the error handler in the Sinclair BASIC to allow extra keywords to be used. As this became an official standard, other developers quickly used this mechanism to create language extensions to Sinclair BASIC.
Two further revisions of the device's firmware were made following launch. [1] These aimed to improve ZX Microdrive cartridge formatting and access time, printing functions via the RS-232 interface, and other bugs in the firmware held in the device's internal 8K ROM. Machine code software which used the officially documented entry points ('hook codes') would experience few incompatibility issues; however, programs using non-standard entry points risked incompatibility due to the presence of revised entry points.
The same protocol, renamed QLAN, was later used on the Sinclair QL. This was intended to be interoperable with ZX Net, but due to timing differences interoperability was found to be problematic.
The ZX Interface 1 was incompatible with some later ZX Spectrum models such as the +2A and +3, due to differences in ROM and in the expansion connector. It was therefore impossible to connect and use the Microdrive units with these later models. It did, however, work with the original +2, although the much larger case made the interface an awkward fit.
The device offered two network ports, allowing up to 64 ZX Spectrums to be daisy-chained using network leads up to 3 metres (10 ft) long. The network, called ZX Net, used a bidirectional wire with a proprietary CSMA-like protocol. Data could be sent or received at 100 kbit/s either to or from a numbered workstation, or broadcast to all nodes, allowing one machine to act as a server.
Station number 0 is used to indicate broadcast. Data is transmitted in packets, each a maximum of 255 bytes long; the packet and the header are protected by a checksum. Character transmission uses 1 start bit, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit (the common 8-N-1 configuration).
Main commands: [2]
Select for example 1 as the address of the first computer (station number): [2]
Select 2 for the second computer address: [2]
Which will then transfer the program from "1" to "2".
Other commands: [2]
The Sinclair QL is a personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984, as an upper-end counterpart to the ZX Spectrum.
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. Considered one of the most influential computers ever made, it is also one of the best-selling British computers ever, with over five million units sold. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and around the world in the following years, most notably in Europe, the United States, and Eastern Bloc countries.
The Multiface was a hardware peripheral released by Romantic Robot for several 1980s home computers. The primary function of the device was to dump the computer's memory to external storage. Pressing a red button on the Multiface activated it. As most games of the era did not have a save game feature, the Multiface allowed players to save their position by saving a loadable snapshot of the game. Home computer software of the early 1980s was typically loaded into RAM in one go, with copy protection measures concentrating the loading phase or just after it. The snapshot feature could be used after copy protection routines had been executed, to create a backup that was effectively unprotected against unauthorised distribution. Later models of the Multiface mitigated this by requiring the device to be present when re-loading the dumps into memory, making the dumps useless to people without a Multiface. Software producers also reacted to the threat by using routines that would prevent execution of the product if it detected that a Multiface was present and by loading the software in multiple parts, thus requiring the presence of the original, copy-protected media.
Sinclair BASIC is a dialect of the programming language BASIC used in the 8-bit home computers from Sinclair Research, Timex Sinclair and Amstrad. The Sinclair BASIC interpreter was written by Nine Tiles Networks Ltd.
The Timex Sinclair 2068, released in November 1983, was Timex Sinclair's third and last home computer for the United States market. It was also marketed in Canada, Argentina, Portugal and Poland, as Timex Computer 2068.
Miles Gordon Technology, known as MGT, was a small British company, initially specialising in high-quality add-ons for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was founded in June 1986 in Cambridge, England by Alan Miles and Bruce Gordon, former employees of Sinclair Research, after Sinclair sold the rights for the Spectrum to Amstrad. They moved to Swansea, Wales, in May 1989, became a public company in July 1989 and went into receivership in June 1990.
The DISCiPLE is a floppy disk interface for the ZX Spectrum home computer. Designed by Miles Gordon Technology, it was marketed by Rockfort Products and launched in 1986.
The Enterprise is a Zilog Z80-based home computer announced in 1983, but due to a series of delays, was not commercially available until 1985. It was developed by British company Intelligent Software and marketed by Enterprise Computers.
Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge in the 1970s. In 1980, the company entered the home computer market with the ZX80 at £99.95, at that time the cheapest personal computer for sale in the United Kingdom. A year later, the ZX81 became available through retailers, introducing home computing to a generation, with more that 1.5 million sold. In 1982 the ZX Spectrum was released, becoming the UK's best selling computer, and competing aggressively against Commodore and Amstrad.
The ZX Microdrive is a magnetic-tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum home computer. It was proposed as a faster-loading alternative to the cassette and cheaper than a floppy disk, but it suffered from poor reliability and lower speed.
The ZX Interface 2 is a peripheral from Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum home computer released in September 1983. It has two joystick ports and a ROM cartridge slot, which offers instant loading times. The joystick ports are not compatible with the popular Kempston interface, and thus do not work with most Spectrum games released prior to the launch of the ZX Interface 2. In addition, the pass-through expansion bus provided was stripped, only allowing a ZX Printer to be attached.
The ATM Turbo, also known simply as ATM is a ZX Spectrum clone, developed in Moscow in 1991, by two firms, MicroArt and ATM.
The One Per Desk, or OPD, was a British innovative hybrid personal computer and telecommunications terminal based on the hardware of the Sinclair QL. The One Per Desk was built by International Computers Limited (ICL) and launched in the United Kingdom in 1984. It was the result of a collaborative project between ICL, Sinclair Research and British Telecom, begun in 1983, which originally intended to incorporate Sinclair's flat-screen CRT technology.
The Rotronics Wafadrive is a magnetic tape storage peripheral launched in late 1984 for the ZX Spectrum home computer. Each tape is a continuous loop, unlike cassette tape. It was intended to compete with Sinclair's ZX Interface 1 and ZX Microdrive.
In computer networking, DECserver initially referred to a highly successful family of asynchronous console server / terminal server / print server products introduced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and later referred to a class of UNIX-variant application and file server products based upon the MIPS processor. In February 1998, DEC sold its Network Products Business to Cabletron, which then spun out as its own company, Digital Networks, in September 2000.
The Timex Computer 2048 or TC 2048 is a 1984 computer developed by Timex Portugal, at the time part of Timex Sinclair. It was based on the Timex Sinclair 2048 prototype, with a similar redesign case, composite video output, Kempston joystick interface, and additional video modes, while being highly compatible with the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer.
TR-DOS is a disk operating system for the ZX Spectrum with Beta Disc and Beta 128 disc interfaces. TR-DOS and Beta disc were developed by Technology Research Ltd (UK), in 1984. A clone of this interface is also used in the Russian Pentagon and Scorpion machines.
'Commodore 64 disk/tape emulation and data transfer' comprises hardware and software for Commodore 64 disk & tape emulation and for data transfer between either the C64 computer, the Commodore 1541 disk drive or Commodore 1530 Datasette tape deck, and newer computers.
Romantic Robot is a small independent British company that publishes classical music recordings. In the 1980s it designed and produced peripherals and software for home computers.