Combination of New and Old

Generally speaking, I love the Raspberry Pi, however I do feel it has a few flaws I wanted to address.  I wondered whether it could be combined with the retro classic Spectrum ZX, and after taking a second look it is remarkable how similar in concept the two machines are.  Sir Clive Sinclair is one of my heroes and is quite apparent how far ahead of his time he really was with this marvel.

So the trick is, can the Spectrum ZX be retrofitted with a Raspberry Pi and still retain the characteristics of the best of both ?

First step was to get a decent donor Spectrum.  This one on eBay was partially working for £30

Removing the lid exposes the fantastic plated through hole 80's technology !  I wanted to preserve the board for old times sake.  The old RF modulator was bypassed so the unit could be viewed on a composite video before testing and setting aside for a rainy day.

Next to come off was the keyboard, the aluminium cover was gently removed and the distinctive rubber keys taken off the membrane.  The membrane had to be trimmed back with scissors due to fractures in the tracks where it joins the PCB.

Due to the cut down, I had to use some black tape to keep the insulator part of the membrane attached to the conductive side, this makes it stronger and less likely the break in the future.


With all the bits off, it's now time to see how this is all going to work...