Welcome to schombi.de
MY RETRO COLLECTION
Last update: 08.12.2020
Contact me on: admin[at]schombi[dot]de
You will always remember your first love. Mine was the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, which made me kind of "exotic" over here in Germany, where everybody else had a C64.
Today I collect, repair and use Spectrums with passion, but also its "relatives", such as QL, ZX81, Sam Coupe. I also like the former rivals, such as C64, Amiga etc.
All computers are in working condition.
At the bottom of this page there is an outlook to what´s on the horizon and also my new arrivals are shown.
I´ve seen too many old 8 and 16 bit computers being dumped. So please, if you have any old computer equipment, that is no longer needed, don´t bin it, just drop me a message. Thank you!
Click on a photo to see bigger images of the items
Sinclair Spectrum related
My first 128K "toastrack" with modified sound and graphics output, done by the well known Ian Gledhill from Wales
A fine "toastrack" from Ben Versteeg, Netherlands with a stereo-mod
A 128K "toastrack" with a brats "signature"; but that´s the only flaw
Another 128K "toastrack". This one I normally use to create IF2 cartridges, hence the cable on the serial port
After long years of searching I finally found a boxed toastrack
The Spectrum 128K was developed for Sinclair by Investronica in Spain. Of course it does have a Spanish keyboard, a Spanish ROM and the famous keypad!
A grey +2 in almost mint condition
A grey +2 made in the UK
One more grey +2, but this one is very special. It has the Profi interface fitted. Initally created by Velesoft, this one was built by Zaxon
A French +2. Beside from the French ROM (K7 messages - LOL), the connectors are labelled in French and the TV out is completely missing
This really was an experience! I got hold of a few Spanish +2 computers, that were left at the Amstrad factory in Spain, when it was closed in ~1990. They came still wrapped in their plastic foil and were fully mint and untouched
A +2B that came with the 007 bundle - lightgun included, shown further down
A +2Be, fitted with an internal IDE interface (design by Zetr0, England) and a CF card
A Spectrum +3, in almost perfect condition
A +3 with a stereo-mod in great condition
A +3e with an internal IDE interface and a CF card
A Spectrum+3e with a 3.5" FDD fitted. To be honest, this drive is much of much more use than the usual 3"
A fine Spectrum+ issue 4S. They´re so reliable
A Spectrum+ fitted with an ISO-ROM and an IF1
An Issue 3 main board in an "upgraded" Spectrum+ case. I added a composite mod, new membrane, a new power conncetor, an additional resistor to overcome the Symbol-Shift-A (Stop) issue and I tried out a DC-DC converter for the first time. This replaces the old voltage regulator and takes away a source of heat, so the heat sink can be taken off
A lovely French Spectrum+ with "Peritel" interface, which creates an RGB signal from the signals on the expansion bus
A DK´Tronics keyboard. This is an Issue two. It has a yellow Issue 4A board in it, along with a "naked" Interface1, plus an extension board for the Microdrive cable
This is the original DK´Tronics keyboard my brother bought ~1985/1986. He was desperate for a wide space key, so he built one himself
Two great keyboards for the Spectrum - the Lo-Profile (later on the company was acquired by Saga) and the very slim and pretty Saga 1 Emperor
This is one of the most impressive hardware projects: The "Just Speccy 128K" from Zaxon. A new 128 with onboard DivMMC, joystick port etc., which fits a rubber case
Right: The Transform keyboard, I found to be a decent home for the JS128K!
A holy grail for all Sinclair fans: An early Issue One rubber Spectrum with the light grey keys. This one even has a 32K addon board
An Issue Two with the "Spider-Mod" fitted. This was done to overcome a problem with an early version of the ULA
An original Issue 2 with 48K and an Issue 3, that I upgraded to 48K
An Issue 3B in very nice condition. Right an early Issue Two, which is left in its original condition, means no composite mod
A special one. This is a 16K Issue Two, which was part of the "Tedeschi" collection. It booted, but crashed at any keystroke. With some help of Heinz J. from the ZX-Team I was able to fix it.
An Issue 4B in great condition from Ben Versteeg, Netherlands.
This colorful 48K machine with new caps, composite mod, DC-DC converter, new membrane etc. was given to me FOR FREE(!) by K.W. from the UK - thanks so much!
On the Spectrum35 event in Cambridge in October 2017 I bought this nice transparent case, which houses now an Issue 4B
I recently replaced the old rubber keyboard on one of my Spectrums with the KDLXS, which was designed by Pokemon from the ZX Team, Germany. Now typing with micro switches!
Another rubber 48K. Formerly this Issue 6A lived in a Spectrum+, hence the reset switch with the white cable
This one is a special Sinclair TS2000, intended for the Portugese and American markets. The top cover is identical to the TS 1500, but black. The innards are standard Sinclair throughout
The Stonechip keyboard is a bit bulky, but has some nice features, e.g. with its add-on board a rubber Spectrum goes in as a drop-in replacement etc.
After some research I found out that this keyboard was sold as the "ISS Super Keyboard". To my amazement replacing the membrane is much, much easier than on a normal rubber Spectrum
This black beauty I received from Portugal. The non-standard keyboard with hard plastic keys is quite similar to the ISS, shown above. Apparently it was manufactured by Timex. The membrane can also easily be replaced just by removing six screws. Usability is not great, but it just looks sexy
Another rare keyboard. A Fuller FDS. Interesting, the PSU first connects to the keyboard, then goes to the Spectrum power inlet
This is probably the heaviest and most firm add-on keyboard: The Cheetah 68FX1
Although it´s not a real Sinclair Spectrum, I still count it as one. It´s the Harlequin (evaluation model), which is a 100% Spectrum 48K model, but without ULA. The power circuitry has improved very much, so the power consumption is super-low and there´s no heatsink needed. The Harlequin was enhanced and finally soldered by Ingo Truppel, Germany. It even has a bulit-in test ROM. This board now lives in a Saga Emperor keyboard
The Spectrum 128 Re-Make is a great project made by Jim Askey. There´s stereo sound and superb video on SCART. All chips have sockets
The ZX Omni is a Spectrum 128 clone, based the New Harlequin from SuperFo with 128K ram, integrated divMMC double SD card interface, two joystick 9 pin ports and RGB out - all in a nice, shiny Spectrum case with new keys and membrane
The German packaging for the Spectrum was different to the normal black one
The original Sinclair Interface 1 with a Microdrive in their boxed versions
The original Sinclair Interface 2 with two joystick ports, the ROM slot and a printer connector. This one came in its box and with the joystick port covers on
The boxed 128K version of the Datel Genius Mouse, which came with the OCP Advanced Art Studio. Here a mouse really pays off
A PS/2 PC keyboard interface; a very useful piece of hardware
The Kempston-Mouse 2016 interface comes from Velesoft. Patched games/programs can be controlled by mouse. Also a 6 button gamepad can be added
This is a fixer board for the Spectrum +2A/B or +3, built by Shaos from the US. Now certain interfaces e.g. the +D now can be used on black +2A/B or +3 - a great piece of hardware!
A flash ROM and diagnostics board, which was kindly made for me by Mark K. from England. Many thanks!
The Mirage Microdriver was mainly designed to get software from tape to Microdrive cartridges. Of course, an IF1 is needed
One of my favorite joystick interfaces, a RAM Turbo joystick interface, that provides both, Sinclair and Kempston joystick support plus a ROM slot. Some of them even have a reset button
The cheaper version of a Kempston compatible joystick interface from RAM, the MK2. Also shown the Cheetah and the DK´Tronics ones
With the Comcon interface any key combination can be set to be emulated on a joystick
Joystick interfaces: one made by Dove Microtronix, a Kempston compatible from Nidd Valley and two more Kempston ones
The DK´Tronics Games Player interface. A Kempston compatible joystick interface with an onboard knob to freeze/slow down any program
A Kempston Pro joystick interface with three ports and a ROM slot. To be honest, this is more useful than an IF2, but it doesn´t look that stylish
Another DK´Tronics joystick interface and the Cheetah R.A.T. interface. Compatible with the Kempston standard, but wireless comms with an IR diode - maybe ahead of its time.
The modern version of a Kempston compatible joystick interface. An "Angry Space Invaders" interface done by Lotharek, Poland. Nicely done with red LEDs as the eyes and teeth of the invader. The interface has a tiny reset-switch as well. Thankfully Lotharek added a through-port. God only knows why so many other didn´t do it...
Another modern joystick interface. This one also features a reset button and was made by Ben Versteeg from the Netherlands. A boxed Protek one and one more with a reset switch
The Kempston Tri-State features a Kempston (obviously) and a Sinclair port
A simple Kempston joystick interface made by Datel, a rare boxed golden PowerPlay interface, an A.G.B interface from France. The white-ish Kempston joystick interface +3 is something I´ve seen only once in five years and thought it was sprayed ;-)
Two slightly unusual Trojan light pens. The one for the Spectrum +2 comes with an 9-pin joystick connector, where the 48K Version is powered by a monobloc battery
The most common light pen was the dk´tronics one. It came with two versions of the control software: for 16K and 48K
Two different lightguns that were famous in the 80's: Sinclair lightgun, that came with the 128 +2B James Bond 007 bundle and the Cheetah Defender Lightgun, which is of better quality
The Currah uSpeech interface makes your Spectrum talk to you. On the right is the modified version for composite modded Spectrums, as they don´t use the RF cable
A Cheetah SpecDrum interface. Turns your Spectrum into a drum computer. Next the RAM Music Machine - even more versatile, plus MIDI support
This was Cheetahs answer to the uSpeech - the Sweet Talker. I´m quite impressed by this interface. It can easily be programmed and has a through-connector plus a bulit-in amplifier - and it´s bloody loud :-)
The Videoface from Romantic Robot. Once fed by any composite signal, it will digitize whatever it receives. Also short animations can be made. Superb, boxed condition
The Multiface One was quite a revolution at its time. You could "freeze" a game at any time and save the RAM content to a storage device. Thus not much loved by the games industry
This is the rarest of the Multifaces. The Multiface 128. Not easy to get these days and this one even came boxed and almost mint!
A late development was the Multiface 3, that was designed to freeze and copy games that ran on the Spectrum +3, so you could also save a copy to 3" disk
Steve Smith re-engineered the Multiface 128, I ordered the board from China, soldered the components and - hooray - a nicely working Multiface 128
The ZX25 is a packet radio interface, created by Henning Andresen from Denmark
I was totally surprised when I saw this bundle first: The Currah Micropac, which consists of uSpeech and uSlot. What a rare find!
Another recreated interface by Steve Smith: The SpecMate interface. It's an NMI interface, similar to the Multiface, but not as common. This one I soldered myself
Another great piece of hardware from Paul Farrow, England: The Spectra Interface. It generates a crystal clear picture on any 48K Spectrum using SCART, offers an RS232 port, a Kempston connector, reset button and many more functions.
Ben V.´s ZX-HD, which converts the Spectrum video signal to HDMI. Inside lives a Raspberry Pi!
The Ferguson RGB interface added color monitor support to any 16/48K Spectrum, but the choice of monitor was quite limited.
The ZX-VGA-Joy features crystal clear VGA output and a Kempston joystick port
Three sound boosters: The Cheetah Mega-Sound interface. Not much in it, but it brings the beeper sound to your telly. The middle one is a Stonechip Echo Amplifier, which also improves loading/saving. Right is the ZX-Box with a speaker in the case
The Indescomp from Spain offers a serial and a parallel interface
Steve Smith kindly re-engineered the SpecMate interface, an NMI device, which can save the memory content to various devices, such as Microdrive, tape or disc
The RAMprint interface, that acted as an early printer spooler. Word processing software came on-board! Right another printer interface, the Kempston Centronics Interface
The Kempston E Centronics interface comes with a ROM onboard, so no software needs to be loaded
A rare, boxed Tasman printer interface
A DK´Tronics 3-channel AY 3-8912 sound interface plus speaker. Right is a more modern 3-channel sound interface from DivIDE.cz with an AY 3-8912 sound chip
A rare AY interface from Czech Republic, originally made for the Didaktik (Czech Spectrum clone)
The SAApierdalator interface, made by Zaxon. It´s plays tunes with the SAA1099 chip, that it used in the SAM Coupe. Some Spectrum games (e.g. Krunel) also offer SAA support
The Roamntic Robot Multiprint
An Echosoft interface with a Currys Organ Master keyboard. The interface was dead like a smoked trout, but Ingo Truppel brought it back to life. Cheers!
A Challenge Sprint tape player/recorder. Boosts up loading/saving times by a factor of four and gets its power only from the expansion port
The RD Tracer. A device to copy e.g. technical drawings from paper to your Spectrum. Believe it or not, the interface is cased in an audio cassette case
A Sixword Swiftdisk interface and its corresponding Swiftdisk disk drive. No boot-disk required. Note the Sinclair label on the casing. Looks like the bought just Interface 1 cases to fit their product in
The vDriveZX is a fantastic, modern replacement for the Microdrive. It gets manufactured in New Zealand!
Another sought-after disk interface: The Disciple. This is an early MGT product - MGT built the SAM Coupe later on. I have the luxury to own two of them
The MGT PlusD, successor of the Disciple.. Beside from the FDD connector, it features an NMI button and a printer interface.
A later version of the PlusD, which was produced by Datel. I also have a boxed one. Next to it there is a clone, which was sold by Sintech
The famous Betadisk from Technology Research. Recently I managed to update it to a "double EPROM", containing TR-DOS 4.12 and VISION 1.0, which is a GUI for the Spectrum
Betadisk 128 (V 5.03) in great condition. This one I reveived from ZX team mate Jens. He even gave the cased MicroP floppy to me. Thanks a lot!
The Gammadisk (clever name) was an improved version of the Betadisk. The company MIDAS from Germany added a printer port and a Kempston joystick port. The interface runs TR-DOS 4.12 and is fully compatible with the Betadisk
The ZAX Drive is a FlashFloppy based image loading solution for the Spectrum +3. Made by Zaxon
My Opus Discovery drives
The DivIDE interface can handle an IDE device. Here I´m using an IDE-to-CF card adapter. Mine runs on ESXDOS. The other one I soldered myself and it´s running on the original FATware. Next is another DivIDE, which I soldered myself (*being pround*)
Another DivIDE, which I soldered myself (*being pround*)
The DivIDE+ is an improved version of the standard DivIDE. It features a through-port, an extra IDE port and can run multiple operating systems
The DivMMC is similar to the DivIDE, but uses uSD cards, instead of CF. Built by Zaxon from Poland. The two buttons are NMI and reset. Zaxon also created a piggy-back Kempston interface
The latest development is the DivMMC future, which has a super-compact design, a Kempston port and model auto-detection
Created in the UK by Phil R. the so called Smart Card offers loading from an SD card, 16 ROM "slots" and a Kempston port. Version 2 below is even better
The IF1bis, made by Dan Antohi from South Africa, is a very powerful interface with a uSD slot, USB connector to a server, mouse/joystick port and much more. I just added a back cover
The TZXDuino is an electronic cassette player, which can play TZX files from SD card. I got mine as a kit from Zaxon. The other one is a professional version
A slim version of the DivIDE. It´s called DivIDE2k11 and was manufactured by Lotharek from Poland. The DivMMC AY from Zaxon features an SD interface along with Kempston joystick and AY-sound
This is a boxed Rotronics Wafadrive in mint condition. The wafers (=micro cassettes) used on this drive were supposed to compete with the Microdrives, but were not successful. Wafers are very hard to get these days and sadly enough, they often fail. However, this is still a great collectors item
Not of much use these days, but the Prism VTX 5000 modem is also a collectors item
The Spectranet connects the Spectrum to the outer world through the Ethernet port, so you can connect to certain servers and download programs
Probably the best disk system for the Spectrum, but very hard to get - the MB-02+. This one even came with a Toastrack and is mounted in a fantastic case! Thanks to Ingo T. from the ZX-Team for his help with the repair! The MB-02+ basically is a high-end FDD controller with two 3.5" drives (up to 1.8 MB/disc) plus a CF interface with up to 256 "discs". It has additional RAM, an RTC, battery, joystick port, NMI switch etc.
The MB03+ is a new development from Jan Kucera and features a ton of possibilities: MB-02 on CF card, DivMMC on SD card, DMA, 3xAY, DA sound, Turbosound,...impressive!
ROM cartridges for the Interface 2. They load instantaneously, but were limited to 16K programs. Only ten different titles were ever sold. I have them all :-)
If you want all ten games without going through the long and expensive process auf collecting, there´s the blue cartridge below, which holds all of them plus a few extras
The "Shadow of the Unicorn" module is more than special. You still need to load data from tape, but the module expands the RAM to 80 KB and comes with a joystick port
The SpectROM is a nice piece of hardware from England. Loads a game from an EPROM in a second
The little cartridges I soldered myself. With the DIP switches several 16K games can be chosen. I also did one with a ZIF socket. Antonio V. from Spain made a tiny IF2 clone
The ZX ROM Cartridge Slot is an IF2 remake with model selection and a reset button, developed by Mr. SAM Coupe Colin Piggot
Dandanator is a ROM interface by D. Leon from Spain. V2 simplifies programming and has a Kempston port. Sword of Ianna is a 128K game, delivered on a Dandanator
scroll further down for Sinclair ZX80/81 stuff
Sinclair ZX80/ZX81 related
The grandfather of the Spectrum, the ZX80. This one is in absolute mint condition. The seller was the former general Sinclair distributor for Germany. Next is another ZX80, which got upgraded to ZX81 (keyboard and 8 KB ROM)
The father of the Spectrum - the famous ZX81 with a 64K Memo-tech memory pack, the HRG expansion and a uSwitch keyboard, which got created by Pokemon from Germany
A ZX81 in a rare Dean Electronics keyboard
The Super Moving Keyboard was a great keyboard with even tactile switches, exclusively offered in Germany by ISS
A ZX81 with a so called "Chiclet" keyboard
The original Sinclair 16K add-on was a very popular expansion, but its predesessor for the ZX80 is much harder to find
IMHO the Memotech keyboard is the best keyboard for the ZX81. Plug&Play and very sturdy
A fairly rare Sinclair ZX81 for the US market, made before Timex did the job. It has a channel switch on its back side.
The ZXpand is a great SD card interface for the ZX81. It has an AY sound card piggy-back. The successor ZXpand+ is a modern redesign and more compact
This French interface from VTR can take ROM cartridges, so you can play without loading times
The Memotech Centronics interface
The Seikosha adapter GP-05020 allowed the user to connect a Spectrum GP50S printer to the ZX81. This one is also a mint Jürgen Schumpich item
The ZON X sound interface enabled the ZX81 with AY sound
This is a lovely ZX80 Replica kit from Bulgaria
That´s the boxed, German version of the ZX81 and a 16 KB RAM pack
Sinclair QL
related
Non-Sinclair computers
scroll further down for misc retro items
Misc Sinclair and others
On the repair bench - on the way - about to be photographed
() The Recreated ZX Spectrum
() Sinclair C5
() PCW 9512+
() UDG4ZXpand
() The C64 mini
() The C64
() Spectrum Interface 3
() BBC Compact
() BDI interface
() AGF Joystick interface II
() White GoldCard remake for the QL
() Bugfixed Multiface 128 interface
() MGT Lifetime Drive
() Ami2PC
() AMX Mouse
() Sega Mega Drive Mini
() ZX1541 Interface for the ZX81
() QL-VGA
() ZX-Ecutor for the SAM Coupe with ROM cart
() DivMMC enjoy
() Nintendo Game&Watch remake
This is a UK Sinclair QL with a JM ROM and the rare Schön keyboard. It´s a whole new typing feeling. It also has a red power LED to match the ones on the Microdrives ;-)
A German QL. It got equipped with a QL-SD interface, so the orginal MGG ROMs have been removed and got replaced by a modified one (JSL1), which also contains a Minerva ROM. You can either replace MDV2_ or move it towards the external ROM slot
A rare QL from Finland with its Finnish keyboard layout and the MGY ROM
Three more QLs...
The TR (Technology Research) Delta interface. Comes with an additional 128 KB of RAM
The M.C.S disk interface is a rare disk drive interface for the QL, here in the 0K version, without additional RAM
The Sandy SuperQBoard, which is an FDD controller, parallel interface, TK2 and 512 KB of RAM.
The Micro-P floppy controller and floppy drive labelled "Sinclair". Both the interface and the drive came in mint condition and work great! Even better, I managed to upgrade the original EPROM to a "QFLP", which replaces the unusual FDK_ with the normal FLP_ command
This ExpandeRAM, a great 512 KB memory upgrade for the QL, came to me with a non-promising white screen. After replacing all RAM chips, it´s back to life again. I also have a second one with box and cover
Another floppy controller. This is an early 0K version of the PCML Q+ Disk interface. Below is a version with RAM fitted
Paul V. (Mister QL-SD) manufactured this 512K RAM expansion
A 512K RAM expansion for the QL with a through-port
A rare, late version of the Sandy Super Thru-Con RAM for QL. Earlier versions used an additional daughter board to make 512K out of a 256K version
The famous Trump Card, which provides 786 KB in addition to the FDD controller
The QubIDE. José Leandro from Spain recreated the IDE interface and made it available to the community in FEB 2015 for a very reasonable price
The TDI from Novosibirsk is really a Jack of all trades device. It give the QL a total of 896 KB RAM, TK2, floppy interface and CF mass storage
The original Gold Card from Miracle Systems: 68000 processor @16 MHz and 2 MB RAM
Later came the Gold Card 2 and the board color was changed to red
The later model was called Gold Card 3. All cards were part of an estate, which I bought from a friendly widow for a fair price
Even more powerful with a 68020 processor @24 MHz and 4 MB RAM, the Super Gold Card
A PCML+ 512K RAM expansion. I really like to see all chips socketed.
Tandata offered a complete communication suite for the QL: Q-Mod, Q-Connect and Q-Call along with the required software
The Mice is a ROM module with a mouse attached. The ICE software is on the ROM as well, starts up straight away and offers an easy to use a GUI
The ROMdisq was an expansion by Tony Firshman for the QL ROM port. It allows data to be loaded/saved from/to chip. Various sizes were available, mine is 2 MB
This is a rare Sinclair QL printer. It still works and new ink ribbons are still available. Came with the serial cable for German QLs
Actually I have two QL printers. The second one, kindly donated by Elmar D., seems to be a very early one, labeled as SP-1000CPC, but with a QL ROM and board
More printer accessories for the QL (German version with the 9-pin connectors). Both boxed and untouched
A Miracle Centronics interface for British QLs
On most modern displays, the QL HiRes mode is not shown correctly. This old Prism QL14 color monitor does a perfect job.
The black "Schön" keyboard (see above) is not easy to find, but I did not know they also had a white one with a keyboard interface
This is my first SAM Coupe. Made by Miles Gordon Technology (MGT) equipped with 512 KB RAM and a Trinity interface (provides SD card mass storage and ethernet port). Upgraded with a Quazar Surround sound card and a Trinity boot ROM. Recently it got a Quazar PC keyboard interface fitted
My second Sam Coupe. It had the 3.0 ROM, 512KB and a replacement FDD already equipped. I installed a HDD boot ROM and fitted the ATOM HDD interface.Very good read/write performance
My third Sam Coupe. In almost mint condition with the original FDD fitted. Also equipped with 512 KB. Did not even know that ROM 2.1 existed and ROM 1.0 was also sent with the Sam. When it arrived this beauty really made my day!
My fourth SAM also is in great condition and came with another Trinity interface. I replaced the broken FDD, installed a bay cover and a case for the Trinity
My fifth SAM, also equipped with 512K RAM, but with two floppy drives
My sixth SAM. This is a SAM Elite, was which sold by West Coast Computers. It has a built-in printer interface in the left bay and came with ROM 3.5 and 512K RAM
My seventh SAM looks a bit unusual.
It´s a512K model with no logo, 1 FDD, a Trinity SD interface, Trinity boot ROM, red bay cover and bezel; a bit unusual
My eighth SAM has 512K, 1 FDD, an internal ATOM interface with SD card and a very special short stroke keyboard, made by Len Bennett
Another brilliant piece of hardware from Colin Piggot. This is a SID interface for the Sam Coupe. Just add a MOS 6581 sound chip from the Commodore 64. During my visit to Edinburgh, Colin modified the interface to the latest revision e.g. with a DC-DC converter, so no external PSU is needed
The orginal SAM mouse interface
The Comms Interface, which adds a serial and a parallel port to the Sam Coupe
A bit bare, but a great addon for any SAM: The 1MB RAM expansion
For the 25th birthday of the SAM Coupe Robin Evans did this drawing and I luckily got hold of a signed copy, later came a canvas of the SR26 cover
This is for sure THE crown jewel in my collection. Back in 1989 fourty prototype ASIC chips were built, later on 20 of them got framed and signed by Bruce Gordon
Maybe I should play the lottery: Like a bolt out of the blue I came accross a second golden ASIC... :-)
The SAM SDI interface allowed to connect a standard external 3.5" drive. Works great, but only seems to be supported by SAMDOS
The SAM Messenger is actually a Spectrum interface. It connects to the Spectrum expansion port and can copy the content of the RAM to the SAM - via MIDI!
The Q68 is a modern version of the QL, featuring dual SD ports, VGA, PS/2 keyboard and mouse more RAM, higher speed etc.
The long awaited Spectrum NEXT. I added an acrylic glass case, additional RAM, an RTC module and a capacitor to the original board
Three years after backing the Spectrum NEXT on Kickstarter, she finally arrived: The cased Spectrum NEXT Accelerated, beautifully designed by Rick Dickinson. What a great machine it is!
The classic Amiga 500 from Commodore. This one is in very nice condition and has a memory expansion (I removed the battery, of course) and a Gotek fitted
This great A500 bundle I got from my fellow-patient Martha F., who I met in hospital. It also has a memory expansion
Commodore Amiga 600HD donated by my colleague Johnny E. from Denmark. Instead of the hard disk I fitted an internal memory upgrade, a CF adapter and a 4GB CF card
A beautiful Amiga 3000 in a Micronik Tower, powered by a 68040 CPU and a Picasso IV graphics card
Commodore Amiga 1200 (with an internal 4GB CF card I installed). This one sat in a container in India for seventeen years and was re-imported by Petro Tyschtschenko. After re-seating the Kickstart ROMs, it worked. I fitted a 32MB 68030 Blizzard turbo card
The C16 was Commodores attempt to also serve the entry level with reduced features at a lower price. This one has an internal total of 64KB RAM
The Plus/4 was considered to be the high-end model of the 264 series
Left the classic Commodore C64, the "bread box", then the late "ALDI" C64 in superb condition and then the flat C64 C
The Commodore VC-20 came before the C64. By default it had 5 KB of RAM, but this one has a 16 KB expansion. Next is the early VIC-20 with a 9V AC power-in
The UK1541 from Poland and the nice TapeCart with its DIY flasher
The orginal C128D with the handle and the "Blechdiesel" C128D, metal version
The Uniprom 64 cartridge I received as a DIY kit and I did the final assembly. The socket can be fitted with any EPROM up to 128K
On the right, the Behr-Bonz VC-20 Multicartridge from Canada
The Kryoflux offers a bridge between a modern PC and an old floppy drive. It can read out and archive old disksettes without taking care about any copy protection
The MIST is a fantastic FPGA based machine, that can run various cores, such as Amiga, ST, Spectrum, SAM Coupe, C16 and many more. Mine features MIDI connectors
Another great FPGA-based board: The ZX-UNO. Unbelievably tiny, less than 9 x 6 cm
A Schneider (Germanized Amstrad) CPC 464 and the British CPC 464. For a short time the CPC 664 with a built-in 3" disk drive was sold, then came the CPC 6128 with 128K RAM and also an FDD
The Amstrad 6128+ was an attempt to revive the 8-bit business by adding additional features to existing hardware, but it failed. On this unit RAM, keyboard and the disk drive needed a repair
Amstrad NC100 Notepad. This is a Z80 based portable computer, which was released in 1992. Data gets saved to an SRAM card. Runs on 4 AA batteries or a 6V PSU
The advanced version of the NC100, is called NC200 and features a 3.5" drive and an SRAM slot
The Atari Portfolio was an early PC-compatible palmtop computer and was released by Atari in 1989. On the right hand side there´s an optional parallel interface
A Cambridge Computers Z88, which actually is a Sinclair, but when it came out, the name "Sinclair" was already sold to Amstrad
Almost unknown here in Germany, but in France this was a famous 8-bit computer, the Thomson TO7/70 with the built-in light-pen
The Thomson MO6 I got from my colleague Xavier M., who played with this computer, when he was a kid. After some smoke and lots of dirt, it´s fully working now
Beckman used to re-brand Spectrums for Scandinavian countries. The 48K Spectrum is quite rare, but the Spectrum+, which I bought from a Swedish immigrant in the US, was totally unknown to me
The TK90X is a Spectrum 48K clone from Brazil. The original membrane was gone completely, so I installed a tactile switches replacement
A Timex-Sinclair 2068 from the US.
Interesting enough it requires 15V instead of the standard 9V. Both the Timex-Sinclair and the Timex have an ON/OFF switch - a real Spectrum never had one
This is a Timex Computer 2068 from Portugal. With the Spectrum emulator cartridge (inserted), which is more or less just an original Spectrum ROM, it runs the vast majority of Spectrum software
The Timex Computer 2048 from Portugal is an improved version of the Spectrum 48K. Beside a built-in Kempston joystick port and a composite video connector it features an improved ULA chip
The Timex TS1000 was an NTSC version of the ZX81 for the US market. The white keyboard is an aftermarket one
The ZX Spectrum Vega is an, ARM SoC based, computer that mimics the ZX Spectrum. It can be connected to a display via AV-in and has 1000 preloaded titles
A Didaktik Gama, which is a Czech Spectrum clone. It was given to me by Norbert O. from Wittenberg. Next to it is the Didaktik M, which was the successor. The last one was the Kompakt. Basically an "M" but with an internal 3.5" disk drive. It also features a SCART connector
After the CPC era, Amstrad wanted to focus more on the professional market and they introduced the PCW series (in Germany known as "Joyce"). The 8512 had 512 KB of RAM and two 3" drives. It used CP/M. Here it runs the amazing SymbOS
The next evolutionary step was the PcW10, with 512 KB, B/W monitor and a 3.5" DD disk drive
The last model was the PcW16, with a Z80 running on 16 MHz and a whole new OS (Roseanne), running from flash memory
The amazing "Blue Angel". This is a multi-machine, which is based on an ALTERA FPGA Cylone ll. The board can synthesise multiple systems, such as ZX81, Spectrum etc. The ZX-Team created an add-on board, which gives access to Vdrive, VGA etc.
One more development from the ZX-Team, the ZXMore. It currently runs ZX80 and ZX81, there is a 6.5 MHz mode and there will be Spectrum and CP/M modes
The Lambda is a ZX81 clone from Hongkong. It has quite a few nice options, such as Composite out, sound, better keyboard
This BBC Micro Model B has 64 KB RAM and is able to work with a 3.5" FDD
The BBC Master was the successor to the BBC Micro Model B, released in 1986. Mine got upgraded with a triple ROM and an IDE Interface by Bas G. from the UK
The Acorn Electron was a cheaper version of the BBC Micro. Mine has a Plus 1 extension, a recorder and a GoSDC interface
The Oric-1 was another British computer from the early eighties. It was based on a 6502 CPU and created by Tangerine Computer Systems. The Oric Atmos was the successor of the Oric-1 and featured an improved keyboard and a bug-fixed ROM
Dragon 32, a Welsh 8-bit computer based on a Motorola 6809 CPU. This one has the Multicartridge installed. I also got an analog Tandy joystick from the US, which works just great
The Dragon 64 was the successor to the Dragon 32. Beside from more RAM (64 KB in total of course), it had a different color and an additional serial port. I had to learn the hard way that it also had a different PSU board installed, where 12 instead of 5V was generated
The Tandy TRS-80 CoCo2 is the American stepbrother of the Dragon. This one is a PAL 230V version from Australia and I upgraded the RAM and the ROM
The MultiCartridge was designed by Roland S. from Augsburg and offers more than 60 programs and games to be loaded from EPROM. Selection is done via the two switches and shown on the display. Very professionally made
Right: By pure accident I got hold of this black box (just opened it to take the photo). When I spotted it on Ebay, I had a vague idea what it might be. When it arrived, I found a fully working floppy controller for the Dragon 32. Auction price: 1 GBP..
The DragonMMC is a modern mass storage device, which also works on the Tandy CoCo series
Atari 2600 VCS CX model, which I modded to composite signal output. The 7800 was Ataris attempt to fight against other 8-bit consoles, like the NES, but with little success only. However, it was backwards compatible, so one could play the old 2600 titles
Sometimes this little old Gameboy Pocket brings more joy than a modern smartphone, not to mention that the batteries last longer. Right is one the most modern item in my collection, a Sony PSP. I hardly played with it, but after I jailbroke it, it runs a Spectrum emulator :-)
The Nintendo Gameboy Advance can play all the classic Gameboy cartridges, some even colored, plus the GBA cartridges. The SP version next to it had a backlight added
The Nintendo NES Classic Mini is a nice way to play some classics, so is the SNES Mini
After Schneider stopped collaboration with Amstrad, they released a few successful PCs. This is the "Euro AT", a 286 with 1 MB of RAM and a HDD. The FDD I got repaired with the help of Harald from the ZX-Team. In good Amstrad tradition, Schneider used a rare and unusual 26 pin FDD without a power connector
An Atari Mega ST, which is a later version of the original ST. Finally Atari called it "Mega 1", because of the 1 MB RAM built-in.
The Atari 800 XL was competing against the C64. II added a SIO2SD interface
The Philips VG-8020 MSX and the Philips MSX 2 VG-8235, which got equipped with an SD-512 memory/SD card cartridge
This is the Matra Alice, a French TRS-80 clone. The box design was done by the famous artist Moebius
This nice Amstrad GX4000, which is the console version of the 6128 Plus, sat in its box for almost 25 years. The latest add-on is the C4CPC multi cart from France, which also works on the 6128+
A Sinclair DM2 multimeter. I also have a second one, which comes boxed with leads and instructions
Another 70's item. The Sinclair Digital Multimeter PDM35 in great condition
A Sinclair DM235
The HP 18C Business Consultant was released in 1986
The oldest item in my collection, same year of manufacture as me - 1972! The very first calculator that really fitted a shirt pocket - the Sinclair Executive. With new batteries it still works; after four decades!
Slightly younger (1977), but certainly pieces of beauty: The silver and black Sinclair Sovereign calculators. In absolute mint condition
The Sinclair Microvision MTV1B from 1978. Right, the Sinclair FTV1 pocket television from 1984. According to the seller, the MTVB1 formerly belonged to the marketing manager of Sinclair, Cambridge. Both TVs are still working, unfortunately there´s no aerial signal any longer
The Sinclair Scientific I received as a kit from the US. It´s powered by an Arduino emulating the original TMC0805 chip
The Sinclair X1 radio was released in 1997 for less than 10 GBP
The tiny Z-1 in-ear radio came out in the late 90s. This one is absolutely mint and was a former part of the Tedeschi collection
The Amstrad CT-1 radio is a nice item for a retro enthusiast, but the older T101 is much more stylish
'The Sinclair APC 386SX was a rebranded Amstrad 3386. Running on 20 MHz. Given to me by my good friend and colleague Axel R.
Maybe still one of the tiniest printers: the ZX Printer, that used silver thermal paper. Mine is in mint condition