ZX-News #20 19 декабря 1996

ZX Клоны

Letters - What are ZX'y ... : Scorpion-256, KAY-128, KAY-256.

             Letters from readers



            (C) Pavel Sokolov



            What are ZX'y.


          Part III (concluded).


             SCORPION ZS 256

             Author - C. Zonov

           St. Petersburg.


  Argue there can be long, users
have developed different opinions about the Scorpion and I only 
limit the ins and outs. Let's start with _nachala_, an 
advertising sheet: 256 K, a ROM from 64 K to 256 K. The Little 
Things with # FD does not take place, although you can put a 
couple of mikruh and a button.



  CP / M (Micro-DOS) is loaded from disk,
but it would be better if it did not have any - programmers 
would laugh while looking at her. Program for CP / M are poorly 
run (Or do not work) ...



  Shadow-service monitor, in my opinion,
really a necessary thing. For programmers and Hacker'ov: a 
simple nick in Basically, shadow businesses themselves, and not 
needed. Shadow service monitor lets you watch a program from 
within, at any time of ... But some prog not "love" him, and 
after output to the monitor often fails to return. Many 
programmers put protection from this monitor, IMHO, is not so

difficult. Another thing is that if
Locking a notorious
port no protection will not help.


  Controller BETA-DISK interface with a digital PLL and the 
protection of +12 V is not turbocharged the best way. How to 
improve it, too many people know - it was written in a computer 
press repeatedly. Connectivity CENTRONICS and RS232C.



  Port FFh (according to my data) is organized not
quite true: this is why CDOS-modem
SCORPION'om does not work. Of course, there is music and math 
coprocessor Yamaha system connector. On the new motherboard 
installed yet and the system slot. 


  Initially the board had been "protected" from pirated fakes 
erasing all labels chips, and there was one chip that

can not be copied. This created
very difficult to repair, especially in
cities far from the center: in St. Petersburg,
For example, joining the firm Scorpion and you
everything is repaired, and in the village of H, in which
perhaps only one man stands
computer, this is much more difficult ...


  But she had little effective protection: after
Six months came on the market and pirated
version of the board, and the full scheme ...


  But do know that recently the developers themselves almost 
completely declassified scheme Scorpion ZS 256 Turbo +.



  The computer itself is widely dispersed because of
"Killed" advertising (there's nothing wrong with not
means) and because of good potential. The only thing that is not
very happy, because this little software, uses these same 
capabilities ... 


  In INT'e on "yellow" card 65.000-66.000
cycles (the slowest machine), and the
green around 70.000.


  Printer Port - # DD?!, So that at COVOX
diodes have to solder ...


  Company Scorpion, unlike many of its competitors, still has 
work to "Hanging" every kind "piece of iron." For example, 
recently appeared SMUC - hard drive controller with a connector 
for PC'shnyh "Widgets." Winchester is working as usual

TR-DOS'ny drive, only with a lot of
"Fixed" drive.


  While an appeal to Winchester via 15616/15619, so all 
programs using the turbo-loaders, ie to direct the programming 
VG'shku on It will not work, and very sorry. However, in order 
that users do not suffer because of this, the firm Scorpion is 
working on adapting loaders, screw, and also agreed with many 
leading programmers that the ones supporting the controller in 
their new prog. 



             128 KAY, KAY 256

           Developer (c) NEMO

            St. Petersburg


  KAY 128K - good computer modification
ZX SPECTRUM 128K without controller BETA-DISK
interface. The board has a music processor AY8910/12, no port 
FFh. About Gluck This machine is known to me - they are likely

all, just a little. The machine did not become popular because 
of the lack BETA-DISK interface, yes, and who now need a PC 
without a floppy drive? 


  KAY 256K. It has 256K of RAM, an expansion port, as in the ZS 
SCORPION'e - 1FFDh, there BETA-DISK controller with a digital 
PLL, which will connect through sistemnyi connector. 


  "Little Things" with # FDh not pass, there is no port
FFh, is used rather coarse decoding addresses, there is a 
Kempston joystick port, interface CENTRONICS, music processor 
AY8910/12, two system connectors. In the latest version 
appeared TURBO mode ... 


  Well that's about all, though, of course,
there are many modifications of any ZX
Spectrum, not to mention the homemade
com. For example:


  ZX-NEXT - Screen 640 x 200, according to my data rather 
"poor" machine. Produced (-Las?) In Moscow.



  Contact CPS128 - Screen 640 x 200.


  Infoton-040 - Screen 512 x 192.


  BALTIC 128, Minsk. - The circuit has a music processor 
AY8910/12, BETA-DISK interface ...



  DELTA SA - is (-las?) In Moscow. This how-to "daughter" of 
Moscow, 48 in the car separate field memories.



  Anqstrem - Moscow. In this model, applied to build counters, 
multiplexers and logic (1515HM1).



  Still, some firms are doing ZX SPECTRUM
on _BMK_ (Basic matrix crystals). For
uninformed in this area: BMC - is like a big chtoto ROM, where 
"stitched" CPU Z80, KR1818VG93 and AY8910/12.



  On such machines generally do not work
programs that use the port instead FDh
7FFDh. So as, sometimes, in a crystal can
"Stitched" any chip not fully ...


  Do not know about the rumored computing system "Eric" with
RAM and 32 MB (!!!). Yes, yes - 32 MB. But he
general hardly compatible with the ZX SPECTRUM ...


  Rumors about the ZX SPECTRUM with two processors
not justified.


  And now I would like to express my gratitude to Nikolay 
Rodionov, Sergey Zonov, Andrew Larchenko, Yuri Kovalevsokomu - 
without their contribution to sinclair'stroenie impossible

imagine modern ZX SPECTRUM.


  In the preparation of this article were partially used 
materials from the magazine "Radio amateur." 


                     Sincerely, Paul.

          SpbZxNet (812/03.00) @ Paul Sokolov


        __________________________