🇬🇧 Minstrel 2 (Sinclair ZX80 Clone): Part 1 (Build & Testing) [TCE #0607]
64Let's build the Minstrel 2, a ZX80 compatible computer from Dave Curran at Tynemouth Software. It's part of a series of computers that Dave has designed and refined over the years, including the Minstrel 3 (ZX81), Minstrel 4th & 4D (Jupiter Ace) and MiniPET.
It includes both 4K Integer BASIC and 8K Floating Point BASIC.
I got the kit a few years ago - mine is v2.6, where as the latest available is v2.9 which has some improvements over this board, including the ZX80 pixel synchronisation problem (see below).
Loading software via the tape interface was a bit tricky. Files are available in various formats such as .O, .P, and .P81. Using tools like mame-castool and another converter didn't really work. It was only when I found some already-generated WAV files that I could get it to work - these can be found here:
http://qrp.gr/zx80/software.htm
There is a cut-down version of the ZXpand available which makes loading files a lot simpler.
As I'm using an LCD display an artefact of the ZX80's original design becomes easily visible on the screen - Dave has a post about this on his blog and has fixed it in the current Minstrel 2 version:
http://blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2022/09/minstrel-2-pixel-synchronisation-part-1.html
Dave's Tindie store:
https://www.tindie.com/stores/tynemouth/
00:00 ... Intro
00:30 ... Troubleshooting
05:40 ... Power on - OK!
06:40 ... Trying to load - NOK
07:55 ... New Minstrel boards to build
08:50 ... The Culverdon watch
11:55 ... Minstrel expansion boards
13:45 ... Loading PACMAN (4K version)
18:50 ... Loading ZX80-KONG (4K version)
23:15 ... Final thoughts
24:10 ... Channel thanks & Outro
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