ZX Spectrum in Czechoslovakia by Ellvis In the early 80s, people began to bring the first ZX80 and ZX81. It was not easy and rare, because it was necessary to get to West, pay customs duties (it showed itself here the advantage of early computersSinclair is in size - they can was hidden from customs officers so that they could not notice :). In Czechoslovakia itself it was then almost impossible to buy computer - they were sold only to schools and businesses (yes and were produced in small batches). By the mid-80s, a decent user community had developed 8-bit computers. It was possible to buy such computers in "Tuzex" - special stores where they paid something like coupons instead of money, and it was expensive. People continued bring more and more foreign computers (mostly ZX Spectrum, also Atari, C64, Sharp, but also others). In Czechoslovakia also began to produce some computers - PMD85 and IQ151 (on based on 8080), SAPI (based on Z80), etc. But there was a shortage of them, and they were expensive. A small companyDidaktik (which initially made school accessories such as rulers and boards)started production computers. They started with school computers Didaktik Alfa and Beta (compatible with PMD85, i.e. based on 8080). In 1987 they released Didaktik Gama - a ZX Spectrum clone. stood there original ULA chip from Spectrum, U880D processor (GDR clone of Z80), but in fact it was slightly modified ZX Spectrum Issue 3. Some errors in the ROM were fixed there, added Centronics printer drivers, 80K was installed RAM (2 banks of 32K - switchable via port 127) and parallel interface on i8255. The first version was quite buggy (they were labeled by year production, that is, the first one is Didaktik Gama '87, then there were '88, '89 with a different font and eventually '90), but then they have improved and work well even now. Didaktik Gama on 99.99% compatible with ZX Spectrum, including timings, and very convenient. Didaktik Gama ceased production in 1990 and was replaced by released Didaktik M. It only had 48K RAM, and instead the original ULA was PLM (ULA1) / they say, Soviet - like TZCHVG1/. This affected compatibility (wasn't slow memory), but it was a good case with a decent keyboard. And the fee was done poorly. They stopped producing them in 1993. The last computer fromDidaktik was called Didaktik Kompakt - this Didaktik M with disk drive (D80) in onebody. That's all ended, as far as I know, in 1994. In addition to computers,Didaktik also produced peripherals. One of first devices - Didaktik Melodik, this is the AY interface for ZX Spectrum 48K (including for Didaktik's). stood there small speaker and jack output connector (3.5 mm) with ACB stereo layout. Then there was the Didaktik M/P device - a parallel interface for ZX Spectrum and Didaktik M (there was an i8255 chip and ROM printer drivers, so the device did not work on Didaktik Gama). Didaktik 40 and Didaktik 80 were very popular - disk drives with own operating system (14K ROM and 2K RAM). It was the most common disk system in Czechoslovakia. Didaktik 40 used 5.25" floppies at 360K (DS/DD), and Didaktik 80 3.5" floppy disks The operating system was called MDOS (based on SINDOS) - it allowed you to connect 2 drives, there were 2 versions of this system. /Later the 3rd appeared./ The controller was based on WD2797 (later it was replaced with another one, which is somewhat spoiled compatibility) and also contained an i8255 for parallel interface. Many more different interfaces were produced throughout the country for ZX Spectrum, including the "Dataputer Quick" disk system. She interesting in that it emulated D40/D80, but it also had its own own DOS. /There were a couple more schemes to support CP/M: LEC MemoryExtension (1987) and schemeSinsoft'a(late 80s), but his the SINDOS mentioned is not CP/M: http://retrocip.cz/uplne-alternativni-spectrum/ / At the beginning of 1989, in one popular electronic magazine there was A diagram of a homemade Mistrum clone has been published. She was pretty complex and with non-standard timings, but it could be soldered at home. It was a Spectrum 48K clone. Our economy was somewhat different from the USSR. It was possible buy "currency", but with some difficulties and in limited volumes. As I wrote above, the chain of stores"Tuzex" is just sold foreign goods for coupons called "Bones". This it was quite expensive. As for radio components - they were regularly sold in stores electronics. But often some of them were difficult to get (quartz, some microcircuits, etc.). All this ended in 1990, when Czechoslovakia became to a capitalist country. Article on this topic: http://hackaday.com/2014/12/15/ home-computers-behind-the-iron-curtain/ But I don’t agree with her on everything. * * * Here's whatFactorb wrote: About the exCzechoslovakia: the most common configuration in the 80s was a 48K Speccy with a tape recorder and possibly joystick interface (and all this was connected to a common one TV in the hall or to a small black and white TV). No 128K, AY, or floppy drives. After the fall of the communist government borders were opened, and 128K Spectrums appeared, only in very small quantities. At the same time, appeared other computers, so many (who had money) skip the 128K phase and go straight to Amiga/ST/PC. Didaktik has been producing its modest Speccy clones since 1987. Then around 1991, they released the D40 floppy drive (as it turns out subsequently, incompatible with 128K Spectrum) and Melodik - AY interface with ACB stereo. So no one in particulardidn't know about 128K and AY until the 90s, including me. There were lucky ones like Fuxoft or Busy, who got 128K in the 80s, but this exceptions. I understand that Speccy was considered "low-end", but in the 80s this is what we have was not so. There was no way to legally import computers, there was only a black market (before the advent of Didaktik with its unimportant copies ZX). Spectrum was the name, and have such a computer meant having a constant stream of software ware (99% pirated). The one who had other cars was an outsider, even in the case of C64 - we had too few C64 users. There was a decent number of users Atari XL/XE - much more than C64 users. http://www.pouet.net/topic.php?post=506396
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