Sinclair ZX Spectrum Manual 

Third Edition 2013 ©2012 by Paul Farrow www.fruitcake.plus.com www.zxresourcecentre.co.uk ...

Second edition 2012 Third edition 2013 ©2012 Paul Farrow Front cover illustration by John Harris, and used with kind permission. Prints of his artwork used for the original ZX Spectrum manual covers are available from: www.alisoneldred.com/thumbsJohnHarris-Prints-3-1.html ...

A guide to the features provided by the SPECTRA interface. CHAPTER 2 Setting up the interface Page 9 How to attach the SPECTRA interface to the Spectrum and how to configure its settings. CHAPTER 3 SCART connection Page 15 Describes the SCART connection to a TV, including details on the wiring of the cable required and how to enable sound output. Discusses the purpose of the video signal absent indicator LED and ho ...

48K Spectrum (50 Hz model only). It will not operate with a 128K Spectrum. The SPECTRA interface provides the following facilities:  SCART connectivity using RGB to provide a clearer, brighter and better centred picture than that achievable using the standard TV connection.  Sound output through the television speaker(s).  New display modes, ...

the core logic that controls the facilities of the SPECTRA interface. It is a high capacity complex programmable logic device (CPLD) and is analogous to the uncommitted logic array (ULA) inside the Spectrum. The interface includes a set of switches that allow specific features to be individually enabled or disabled, thereby achieving maximum compatibility wi ...

Before handling the SPECTRA interface it is advisable to touch a grounded metal object to ensure you are free of static charge, e.g. external bare metal section of the casing of a plugged in desktop PC. The board should then only be held by its edges to reduce the risk of electrostatic discharge damaging the circuitry. The SPECTRA interface is mounted on four plastic legs, one per corner of the board. If not already fi ...

connected devices therefore sets its access priority to the ROM address space. The highest priority position is at the end of the chain of devices, with priority decreasing the closer to the Spectrum a device gets. The lowest priority ROM is always the one inside the Spectrum. To ensure all connected ROM based devices coexist without conflict, it is necessary ...

BASIC error occurs or when particular BASIC commands are executed, e.g. ZX Interface 1, floppy disk interface, Centronics printer interface. 2. The device temporarily overrides the Spectrum’s ROM when instigated by manual intervention from the user, e.g. pressing the transfer button on a device such as Romantic Robot’s Multiface or Datel’s Snapshot. Note that ...

that were designed to supplement or interrupt the Spectrum’s BASIC ROM to be connected behind it and to operate on the modified version instead, e.g. Multiface, Centronics printer interface. When used in this configuration, the SPECTRA interface should ideally be connected immediately behind the Spectrum, but this may not always be possible, e.g. when a ZX I ...

a standard SCART cable. It outputs a RGB signal to produce a high quality picture, and allows the Spectrum’s sound to be played through the television’s speaker(s). It also provides the necessary control voltages required to instruct the television to automatically select the RGB signal of the SCART socket. The majority of commercially availa ...

1 1 Audio out right Audio in right 2 2 Audio in right Audio ground 4 4 Audio ground Audio out left 3 3 Audio out left Audio in left 6 6 Audio in left Blue video ground 5 5 Blue video ground Blue video 7 7 Blue video Function switching 8 8 Function switching Green video ground 9 9 Green video ground Not used 10 10 Not used Green video 11 11 Green video Not used 12 12 Not used Red video ground 13 13 Red vide ...