Sinclair ZX81 at 30

[RWAP]

2011 has been a very eventful year for the Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81, with the replacement keyboard layers and rivets for the ZX80 having proved something of a God send for collectors of this rare beast.

 

Alongside the continuing sales of replacement keyboard membranes, there has been a plentiful supply of new software and hardware for the Sinclair ZX81 (which celebrated its 30th year this year) with the following having been released:

• The ZXpand (32K RAM and SD card interface) now available for both the ZX81 and ZX80.
  
• The ZXpand-AY (Full AY sound module for the ZXpand with built in joystick port)
  
• The ZXvid (Replacement UHF modulator for the early ULA based ZX81s which have no back porch and did not work on modern TVs, and provides a stable composite video signal)
  
• The ZXtend (bus extender for the ZX81 - ideal for using the ZXpand with clones!)
  
• The ZX-ULA2 (adds a turbo mode to the ZX81 as well as an M1NOT mod)
  
• A collection of 1K games with hi-res graphics
  
• Boulder Logic
  
• Chopper Drop
  
• The Crystal Frog
  
• Domin8tr1s
  
• Dunric's Adventure
  
• Laby
  
• Lightsout
  
• MazezaM
  
• Minefield
  
• Miner Man
  
• Nanako in Classic Japanese Monster Castle '81
  
• QFrogger
  
• Shogun
  
• Tron Trails
  
• Virus
  
• ZXAKURO
  
• ZX4PAINT
  

Much of the software is described and linked to on my own website - http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/zx81/zx81_software.html

Other utilities have also been released to complement this, such as :

• ZX81 Tape Scraper to quickly make copies of cassettes onto SD memory card (using the ZXpand)
  
• The AY Sound Design Tool- this allows you to set the frequency, volume and mixing (tone and noise) for each of the three channels to create noises for use within programs.
  
• The ZXpand Sound Player - plays AY files in PT3 format stored in a directory on the ZXpand's SD card
  
• ZX81 STC Sound Player - program to play STC format sound files
  
• ZX81 Sound Tracker - music editor and tracker
  
• ZX81 Sound Engine - for playing sounds direct to an AY interface, using BASIC.
  

NOTE: Both STC and PT3 files can be created from MIDI sound files, using Vortex Tracker II for Windows. A good tutorial for using Vortex Tracker II appears at: http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/27/vortex-tracker-ii/

 

This has also helped the ZX81 clones, such as the TS1000, TS1500 and TK85.

 

More details about the ZX81 hardware available appear on the ZX81 section of SellMyRetro.com

 

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and let's hope 2012 is just as productive!

[PFL]

Boy, that's a lot of goodies! It's sp good to see continued development on these platforms. Sound on a ZX81!? Who-da thunk?

[RWAP]

There was a sound card designed and sold in the early 80s (the ZonX-81) - the new ones use the same ports and are compatible with the original

[ClausB]

In 1982 I built a ZX81 kit and was very impressed by how much it could do with so few chips. The next year I upgraded it internally to 8K SRAM (later 16K) and wrote a 256 x 192 graphics driver. Fun stuff.

 

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[Mirage]

Wow! I had no idea! I still have just one boxed unit, gave away all my extras a few years ago (I had a pile of these things, now I wish I'd kept them). I think I might have to pick up a ZXtend. Awesome!