Citizendia

Sinclair ZX Spectrum
The original 1982 ZX Spectrum.
TypeHome computer
Released23 April 1982
DiscontinuedDecember 1990
ProcessorZ80 @ 3. A home computer was a class of Personal computer entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit Microprocessor designed and sold by Zilog from July 1976 onwards 5 MHz and equivalent
Memory16 KB / 48 KB / 128 KB
Operating systemSinclair BASIC

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd. Referred to during development as the ZX81 Colour and ZX82,[1][2] the machine was launched as the ZX Spectrum by Sinclair to highlight the machine's colour display, compared with the black-and-white of its predecessor, the Sinclair ZX81. A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix Kilo -, meaning 1000 is a unit of Information or Computer storage equal to either 1024 Sinclair BASIC (taking its name from innovator Sir Clive Sinclair) is a dialect of the BASIC Programming language used in the 8-bit Home Eight-bit CPUs normally use an 8-bit data bus and a 16-bit address bus which means that their Address space is limited to 64 KBs This is not a "natural A home computer was a class of Personal computer entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics in 1961 to Black-and-white is a number of Monochrome forms in Visual arts. The Sinclair ZX81 Home computer, released by Sinclair Research in 1981, was the follow up to the company's ZX80. [3]

The Spectrum was among the first mainstream audience home computers in the UK, similar in significance to the Commodore 64 in the USA; the C64 was a major rival to the Spectrum in the UK market during the early 1980s (The BBC Microcomputer was another major competitor). The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The introduction of the ZX Spectrum led to a boom of companies producing software and hardware for it. The effects of this are still seen. [4]

Contents

Hardware

ZX Spectrum 48K motherboard (Issue 3B — 1983, heat sink removed)
ZX Spectrum 48K motherboard (Issue 3B — 1983, heat sink removed)

The Spectrum is based on a Zilog Z80A CPU running at 3. The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit Microprocessor designed and sold by Zilog from July 1976 onwards 5 MHz (or NEC D780C-1 clone), the original model Spectrum has 16 KB (16×1024 bytes) of ROM and either 16 KB or 48 KB of RAM. The hertz (symbol Hz) is a measure of Frequency, informally defined as the number of events occurring per Second. A byte (pronounced "bite" baɪt is the basic unit of measurement of information storage in Computer science. The hardware design is by Richard Altwasser of Sinclair Research, while the machine's outward appearance is by Sinclair's industrial designer Rick Dickinson. Rick Dickinson was the in-house Industrial designer of Sinclair Research Ltd. [5]

Video output is through an RF modulator and is designed for use with contemporary portable television sets, for a simple colour graphic display. An RF modulator (for Radio frequency Modulator) is a device that takes a Baseband input signal and outputs a Radio frequency -modulated signal Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Text can be displayed using 32 columns × 24 rows of characters from the ZX Spectrum character set, from a palette of 15 shades: seven colours at two levels of brightness each, plus black. The ZX Spectrum character set is the variant of ASCII used in the British Sinclair Spectrum computers [6] The image resolution is 256×192 with the same colour limitations. Image resolution describes the detail an Image holds The term applies equally to Digital images film images and other types of images [7] The Spectrum has an interesting method of handling colour; to save memory, colour "attributes" were held separately from the pixel bitmap in a 32×24 grid, corresponding to the character cells. In Computer graphics, a bitmap or pixmap is a type of memory organization or Image file format used to store Digital images The An "attribute" consists of a foreground and a background colour, a brightness level (normal or bright) and a flashing "flag" which, when set, causes the two colours to swap at regular intervals. [7] Unfortunately, this scheme leads to what was dubbed colour clash or attribute clash with some bizarre effects in the animated graphics of arcade style games. Attribute clash (or colour clash) was a display artefact caused by limitations in the graphics circuitry of a number of early colour 8-bit Home computers &mdash most This problem became a distinctive feature of the Spectrum and an in-joke among Spectrum users, as well as a point of derision by advocates of other systems. Other machines available around the same time, for example the Amstrad CPC, did not suffer from this problem. The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit Home computers produced by Amstrad Plc during the 1980s and early 1990s The Commodore 64 used colour attributes in a similar way, but a special multicolour mode, hardware sprites and scrolling were used to avoid attribute clash. In Computer graphics, a sprite (also known by other names see Synonyms below is a two-dimensional/three-dimensional Image or Animation that In Computer graphics, Movies, Television, and other kinetic displays scrolling is sliding text images or video across a monitor or display

Sound output is through a beeper on the machine itself. This is capable of producing one channel with 10 octaves over ten semitones, allowing fractional number of semitones. The machine also includes an expansion bus edge connector and audio in/out ports for the connection of a cassette recorder for loading and saving programs and data. An expansion bus is made up of electronic pathways which move information between the code of a computer system including the CPU and RAM, and peripheral devices An edge connector is the portion of a Printed circuit board consisting of traces leading to the edge of the board that are intended to plug into a matching socket A cassette deck is a type of Tape recorder for playing or recording audio Compact cassettes A deck was formerly distinguished from a recorder

The machine's Sinclair BASIC interpreter is stored in ROM (along with fundamental system-routines) and was written by Steve Vickers on contract from Nine Tiles Ltd. Sinclair BASIC (taking its name from innovator Sir Clive Sinclair) is a dialect of the BASIC Programming language used in the 8-bit Home Steve Vickers is the author of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Home computer ROM Firmware. The Spectrum's chiclet keyboard (on top of a membrane, similar to calculator keys) is marked with BASIC keywords, so that, for example, pressing "G" when in programming mode would insert the BASIC command GO TO. A chiclet keyboard is slang for a Computer keyboard built with an array of small flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like Erasers or GOTO is a statement found in many computer Programming languages It is a combination of the English words go and to [8]

Models

Pre-production designs

Rick Dickinson came up with a number of designs called the ZX82 before the finalised ZX Spectrum. Rick Dickinson was the in-house Industrial designer of Sinclair Research Ltd. A number of the keyboard legends changed during the design phase including ARC becoming CIRCLE, FORE becoming INK and BACK becoming PAPER.

Sinclair Research models

ZX Spectrum 16K/48K (Dimensions (mm): 233x144x30 (WxHxD) @ ~552 grams).
ZX Spectrum 16K/48K (Dimensions (mm): 233x144x30 (WxHxD) @ ~552 grams). [9]

The original ZX Spectrum is remembered for its rubber keyboard, diminutive size and distinctive rainbow motif. It was originally released in 1982 with 16 KB of RAM for £125 Sterling or with 48 KB for £175;[10] these prices were later reduced to £99 and £129 respectively. The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency [11] Owners of the 16 KB model could purchase an internal 32 KB RAM upgrade, which for early "Issue 1" machines consisted of a daughterboard. A daughterboard or daughtercard is a Circuit board meant to be an extension or "daughter" of a Motherboard (or 'mainboard' or occasionally another Later issue machines required the fitting of 8 dynamic RAM chips and a few TTL chips. Transistor–transistor logic ( TTL) is a class of Digital circuits built from Bipolar junction transistors (BJT and Resistors It is called Users could mail their 16K Spectrums to Sinclair to be upgraded to 48 KB versions. To reduce the price, the 32 KB extension used eight faulty 64 kilobit chips with only one half of their capacity working and/or available. A kilobit is a unit of information abbreviated kbit (or kb) The standard definition is 1 kilobit = 103 bit = 1000 Bit. [12] External 32 KB RAMpacks that mounted in the rear expansion slot were also available from third parties. Both machines had 16 KB of onboard ROM.

About 60,000 "Issue 1" ZX Spectrums were manufactured; they can be distinguished from later models by the colour of the keys (light grey for Issue 1, blue-grey for later models). [13]

ZX Spectrum+ (Dimensions (mm): 319x149x38 (WxHxD)).
ZX Spectrum+ (Dimensions (mm): 319x149x38 (WxHxD)). [9]

Planning of the ZX Spectrum+ started in June 1984,[14] and was released in October the same year. [15] This 48 KB Spectrum (development code-name TB[14]) introduced a new QL-style case with an injection-moulded keyboard and a reset button, retailing for £179. The Sinclair QL (for Quantum Leap) was a Personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984 as the successor to the ZX Spectrum 95. [16] A DIY conversion-kit for older machines was also available. Early on, the machine outsold the rubber-key model 2:1; however, some retailers reported very high failure rates.

ZX Spectrum 128
ZX Spectrum 128

Sinclair developed the ZX Spectrum 128 (code-named Derby) in conjunction with their Spanish distributor Investrónica. [17] Investrónica had helped adapt the ZX Spectrum+ to the Spanish market after the Spanish government introduced a special tax on all computers with 64 KB RAM or less which did not support the Spanish alphabet (including ñ) and show messages in Spanish. Ñ (lower case ñ) is a letter of the modern Roman alphabet formed by an N with a diacritical Tilde. [18]

New features included 128 KB RAM, three-channel audio via the AY-3-8912 chip, MIDI compatibility, an RS-232 serial port, an RGB monitor port, 32 KB of ROM including an improved BASIC editor and an external keypad. AY-3-8910 is a 3-voice Programmable Sound Generator (PSG designed by General Instrument, initially for use with their 16-bit CP1610 or one of the PIC1650 series MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface, ˈmɪdi is an industry-standard protocol that enables Electronic musical instruments Computers In Telecommunications, RS-232 (Recommended Standard 232 is a standard for serial binary data signals connecting between a DTE ( Data Terminal Equipment

The machine was simultaneously presented for the first time and launched in September 1985 at the SIMO '85 trade show in Spain, with a price of 44,250 pesetas. SIMO TCI is an International Data Processing Multimedia and Communications Show ( Consumer electronics) held every autumn (7 - 12 November) in Madrid, Spain The peseta ( ISO 4217 code ESP standard abbreviation Pta Pts or Ptas Because of the large amount of unsold Spectrum+ models, Sinclair decided not to start selling in the UK until January 1986 at a price of £179. 95. [19] No external keypad was available for the UK release, although the ROM routines to utilise it and the port itself, which was hastily renamed "AUX", remained.

The Z80 processor used in the Spectrum has a 16-bit address bus, which means only 64 KB of memory can be directly addressed. To facilitate the extra 80 KB of RAM the designers used bank switching so that the new memory would be available as eight pages of 16 KB at the top of the address space. Bank switching (also known as "paging" but only loosely related to the ordinary meaning of " Paging " in computing was a technique common in 8-bit The same technique was also used to page between the new 16 KB editor ROM and the original 16 KB BASIC ROM at the bottom of the address space.

The new sound chip and MIDI out abilities were exposed to the BASIC programming language with the command PLAY and a new command SPECTRUM was added to switch the machine into 48K mode. MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface, ˈmɪdi is an industry-standard protocol that enables Electronic musical instruments Computers To enable BASIC programmers to access the additional memory, a RAM disk was created where files could be stored in the additional 80 KB of RAM. The new commands took the place of two existing user-defined-character spaces causing compatibility problems with some BASIC programs.

The Spanish version had the "128K" logo (right, bottom of the computer) in white while the English one had the same logo in red. A logo ( Greek el λογότυπος = el-Latn logotypos is a graphical element ( Ideogram, Symbol, Emblem, Icon, Sign)

Amstrad models

ZX Spectrum +2
ZX Spectrum +2

The ZX Spectrum +2 was Amstrad's first Spectrum, coming shortly after their purchase of the Spectrum range and "Sinclair" brand in 1986. Amstrad is an electronics firm based in Brentwood in Essex, England and founded in 1968 by Sir Alan Michael Sugar in the Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics in 1961 to The machine featured an all-new grey case featuring a spring-loaded keyboard, dual joystick ports, and a built-in cassette recorder dubbed the "Datacorder" (like the Amstrad CPC 464), but was (in all user-visible respects) otherwise identical to the ZX Spectrum 128. The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit Home computers produced by Amstrad Plc during the 1980s and early 1990s Production costs had been reduced and the retail price dropped to £139–£149. [20]

The new keyboard did not include the BASIC keyword markings that were found on earlier Spectrums, except for the keywords LOAD, CODE and RUN which were useful for loading software, this was not a major issue however, as the +2 boasted a little menu system, almost identical to the ZX Spectrum 128, where you could switch between 48k basic programming with the keywords already discussed, and 128k Basic programming which standardised Basic programming for the Spectrum. However, the layout remained identical to that of the 128.

ZX Spectrum +3
ZX Spectrum +3

The ZX Spectrum +3 looked similar to the +2 but featured a built-in 3-inch floppy disk drive (like the Amstrad CPC 6128) instead of the tape drive, and was in a black case. A floppy disk is an increasingly Obsolete data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin flexible ("floppy" Magnetic storage medium encased It was launched in 1987, initially retailed for £249[21] and then later £199[22] and was the only Spectrum capable of running the CP/M operating system without additional hardware. CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers is an Operating system originally created for Intel 8080 / 85 based Microcomputers by Gary Kildall

The +3 saw the addition of two more 16 KB ROMs, now physically implemented as two 32 KB chips. One was home to the second part of the reorganised 128 ROM and the other hosted the +3's disk operating system. This was a modified version of Amstrad's AMSDOS, called +3DOS. AMSDOS is a Disk operating system for the 8-bit Amstrad CPC Computer (and various clones To facilitate the new ROMs and CP/M, the bank-switching was further improved, allowing the ROM to be paged out for another 16 KB of RAM.

Such core changes brought incompatibilities:

Some older 48K, and a few older 128K, games were incompatible with the machine. Arkanoid is an Arcade game developed by Taito in 1986 It is based upon Atari 's Breakout games of the 1970s

The +3 was the final official model of the Spectrum to be manufactured, remaining in production until December 1990. Although still accounting for one third of all home computer sales at the time, production of the model was ceased by Amstrad in an attempt to transfer customers to their CPC range.

ZX Spectrum +2A.
ZX Spectrum +2A.

The ZX Spectrum +2A was produced to homogenise Amstrad's range in 1987. Although the case reads "ZX Spectrum +2", the +2A/B is easily distinguishable from the original +2 as the case was restored to the standard Spectrum black.

The +2A was derived from Amstrad's +3 4. 1 ROM model, using a new motherboard which vastly reduced the chip count, integrating many of them into a new ASIC. The +2A replaced the +3's disk drive and associated hardware with a tape drive, as in the original +2. Originally, Amstrad planned to introduce an additional disk interface, but this never appeared. If an external disk drive was added, the "+2A" on the system OS menu would change to a +3. As with the ZX Spectrum +3, some older 48K, and a few older 128K, games were incompatible with the machine.

The ZX Spectrum +2B signified a manufacturing move from Hong Kong to Taiwan later in 1987. [23]

Clones

See also: Category:ZX Spectrum clones and List of ZX Spectrum clones

Sinclair licensed the Spectrum design to Timex Corporation in the United States. The following is a list of clones of Sinclair Research 's ZX Spectrum Home computer: Official clones The only official clones of the Timex Group BV is the parent of Timex Group USA Inc The latter is located in Middlebury Connecticut, and began in 1854 as Waterbury An enhanced version of the Spectrum with better sound, graphics and other modifications was marketed in the USA by Timex as the Timex Sinclair 2068. The Timex Sinclair 2068 ( TS2068) released in November 1983, was Timex Sinclair 's fourth and last Home computer for the US Timex's derivatives were largely incompatible with Sinclair systems. However, some of the Timex innovations were later adopted by Sinclair Research. A case in point was the abortive Pandora portable Spectrum, whose ULA had the high resolution video mode pioneered in the TS2068. A gate array or uncommitted logic array ( ULA) is an approach to the design and manufacture of Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs Pandora had a flat-screen monitor and Microdrives and was intended to be Sinclair's business portable until Alan Sugar bought the computer side of Sinclair, when he took one look at it and ditched it (a conversation with UK computer journalist Guy Kewney went thus: AS: "Have you seen it?" GK: "Yes" AS: "Well then. Sir Alan Michael Sugar (born 24 March 1947 is an English Entrepreneur, Businessman, and Television personality. Guy Kewney (born April 30, 1946) is a British Journalist. He is best known as a personal computing pundit starting with Personal Computer "). [24]

In the UK, Spectrum peripheral vendor Miles Gordon Technology (MGT) released the SAM Coupé as a potential successor with some Spectrum compatibility. Miles Gordon Technology, known as MGT, was a small British company initially specialising in high-quality add-ons for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum The SAM Coupé is an 8-bit British Home computer that was first released in late 1989 However, by this point, the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST had taken hold of the market, leaving MGT in eventual receivership. The Amiga is a family of Personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. The Atari ST is a home / Personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s

Many unofficial Spectrum clones were produced, especially in Eastern Bloc nations (e. During the Cold War, the term Communist Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) was used to refer to the Soviet Union and countries it either controlled or that were g. in Romania, there were some models produced, like HC-85, HC-90/91, HC 2000 and CIP-02, CIP-03, CIP-04, Cobra, TIM-S, MicroTIM, TIM-S+; CIP-04 and TIM-S+ being clones of Spectrum +3, featuring CP/M and a 5. 25"/3. 5" disk. HC-2000 and Cobra also have a floppy disk interface and an adapted CP/M operating system) and South America (e. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a g. Microdigital TK 90X and TK 95; Czerweny CZ-2000). The TK 90X was the first Brazilian ZX Spectrum clone made in 1985 by Microdigital Eletronica, a company located at São Paulo, Brazil that manufactured The TK 95 Microcomputer was the evolution of TK 90X made in the 1980s by Microdigital Eletronica, a company located at São Paulo, In Russia for example, ZX Spectrum clones were assembled by thousands of small start-ups and distributed though poster ads and street stalls. Over 50 such clone models existed. [25] Some of them are still being produced, such as the Pentagon and ATM Turbo. The Pentagon (Пентагон Home computer is a clone of the British-made Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128. ATM (ATM Turbo is a ZX Spectrum clone developed in Moscow, in 1991 by two firms MicroArt and ATM

In India, Decibells Electronics introduced a licensed version of the Spectrum+ in 1986. Dubbed the "db Spectrum+", it did reasonably well in the Indian market and sold quite a few thousands before the market slowly died away by 1990 or so.

Peripherals

ZX Interface 1
ZX Interface 1
ZX Interface 2
ZX Interface 2
ZX Microdrive
ZX Microdrive
Kempston joystick interface
Kempston joystick interface

Several peripherals for the Spectrum were marketed by Sinclair: the ZX Printer was already on the market,[26] as the ZX Spectrum expansion bus was backwards-compatible with that of the ZX81. A spark printer is an obsolete form of Computer printer which uses a special Paper coated with a layer of Aluminium over a black backing which is In Computer architecture, a bus is a subsystem that transfers data between computer components inside a Computer or between computers In Technology, especially Computing (irrespective of platform a product is said to be backward compatible when it is able to take the place of an older product

The ZX Interface 1 add-on module included 8 KB of ROM, an RS-232 serial port, a proprietary LAN interface (called ZX Net), and an interface for the connection of up to eight ZX Microdrives — somewhat unreliable but speedy tape-loop cartridge storage devices released in July 1983. A Peripheral from Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum Home computer, the ZX Interface 1 was launched in 1983. In Telecommunications, RS-232 (Recommended Standard 232 is a standard for serial binary data signals connecting between a DTE ( Data Terminal Equipment The ZX Microdrive is a Magnetic tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for their [27][28] These were later used in a revised version on the Sinclair QL, whose storage format was electrically compatible but logically incompatible with the Spectrum's. The Sinclair QL (for Quantum Leap) was a Personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984 as the successor to the ZX Spectrum Sinclair also released the ZX Interface 2 which added two joystick ports and a ROM cartridge port. The ZX Interface 2 was a Peripheral from Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum Home computer released in September 1983 [29]

There were also a plethora of third-party hardware addons. The better known of these included the Kempston joystick interface, the Morex Peripherals Centronics/RS-232 interface, the Currah Microspeech unit (speech synthesis),[30] Videoface Digitiser,[31] RAM pack, the Cheetah Marketing SpecDrum,[32] a drum machine, and the Multiface,[33] a snapshot and disassembly tool from Romantic Robot. The Kempston Interface, produced by Kempston Micro Electronics, was the generic name for any interface on Sinclair 's ZX Spectrum series of computers that Centronics Data Computer Corporation was a pioneering American manufacturer of computer printers now remembered primarily for the parallel interface that bears its name Currah is a British Computer Peripheral manufacturer famous mainly for the Speech synthesis cartridges it designed for the ZX Videoface Digitiser is a video digitiser interface for Sinclair ZX Spectrum Home computer. Cheetah Marketing is a United Kingdom -based company that created hardware peripherals and software for home computer systems during the 1980's This article is about the Romantic Robot hardware peripheral For the audio recording device developed by RME, see Multiface (RME. Keyboards were especially popular in view of the original's notorious "dead flesh" feel[34].

There were numerous disk drive interfaces, including the Abbeydale Designers/Watford Electronics SPDOS, Abbeydale Designers/Kempston KDOS and Opus Discovery. Abbeydale Designers Ltd was a Reading -based software company set up by Dave Farmborough and Dimitri Koveos in 1984. Kempston Micro Electronics was an electronics company specialising in computer Joysticks and related Home computer peripherals during the 1980s The SPDOS and KDOS interfaces were the first to come bundled with Office productivity software (Tasword Word Processor, Masterfile database and OmniCalc spreadsheet). Tasword is a Word processor for the ZX Spectrum developed by Tasman Software This bundle, together with OCP's Stock Control, Finance and Payroll systems, introduced many small businesses to a streamlined, computerised operation. The most popular floppy disk systems (except in East Europe) were the DISCiPLE and +D systems released by Miles Gordon Technology in 1987 and 1988 respectively. DISCiPLE, Miles Gordon Technology 's first product was a Floppy disk interface for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer Miles Gordon Technology, known as MGT, was a small British company initially specialising in high-quality add-ons for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Both systems had the ability to store memory images onto disk snapshots could later be used to restore the Spectrum to its exact previous state. They were also both compatible with the Microdrive command syntax, which made porting existing software much simpler. [35]

During the mid-1980s, the company Micronet800 launched a service allowing users to connect their ZX Spectrums via a Prism Micro Products modem to a bulletin board system known as Micronet hosted by Prestel. Micronet800 was an information provider (IP on Prestel, aimed at the 1980 ’s personal computer market Prism Micro Products Limited was a British company (Registered No Modem (from mo dulator- dem odulator is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode Digital information A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a Computer system running software that allows users to connect and login to Prestel (abbrev from press telephone) the brand name for the UK Post Office 's Viewdata technology was an interactive Videotex system developed This service had some similarities to the Internet, but was proprietary and fee-based.

Software

A screenshot from Rebelstar, a well-known Spectrum game
A screenshot from Rebelstar, a well-known Spectrum game
Main article: ZX Spectrum software

The Spectrum enjoys a vibrant, dedicated fan-base. The Rebelstar games are a series of Turn-based tactics Video games programmed by Julian Gollop. The ZX Spectrum software library currently consists of more than 14000 titles Since it was cheap and simple to learn to use and program, the Spectrum was the starting point for many programmers and technophiles who remember it with nostalgia. The hardware limitations of the Spectrum imposed a special level of creativity on game designers, and so many Spectrum games are very creative and playable even by today's standards. A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather The early Spectrum models' great success as a games platform came in spite of its lack of built-in joystick ports, primitive sound generation, and colour support that was optimised for text display.

The Spectrum family enjoys a very large software library of more than 14,000 titles. [36] While most of these were games, the library was very diverse, including programming language implementations, databases (eg VU-File[37]), word processors (eg Tasword II[38]), spreadsheets (eg VU-Calc[37]), drawing and painting tools (eg OCP Art Studio[39]), and even 3D modelling (eg VU-3D[40][41]). A programming language is an Artificial language that can be used to write programs which control the behavior of a machine particularly a Computer. A Computer Database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system Tasword is a Word processor for the ZX Spectrum developed by Tasman Software A spreadsheet is a Computer application that simulates a paper worksheet

Distribution

Most Spectrum software was originally distributed on audio cassette tapes. The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a Magnetic tape sound The Spectrum was intended to work with a normal domestic cassette recorder,[42] and despite differences in audio reproduction fidelity, the software loading process was quite reliable.

While the ZX Microdrive was initially greeted with good reviews,[43] it never took off as a distribution method due to worries about the quality of the cartridges and piracy. [44] Hence the main use became to complement tape releases, usually utilities and niche products like the Tasword word processing software and Trans Express, (a tape to microdrive copying utility). Word processing is the creation of documents using a Word processor. No games are known to be exclusively released on Microdrive.

Despite the popularity of the DISCiPLE and +D systems, most software released for them took the form of utility software. The ZX Spectrum +3 enjoyed much more success when it came to commercial software releases on floppy disk. More than 700 titles were released on 3-inch disk from 1987 to 1997. [36]

Software was also distributed through print media, fan magazines and books. Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally The prevalent language for distribution was the Spectrum's BASIC dialect Sinclair BASIC. Sinclair BASIC (taking its name from innovator Sir Clive Sinclair) is a dialect of the BASIC Programming language used in the 8-bit Home The reader would type the software into the computer by hand, run it, and save it to tape for later use. The software distributed in this way was in general simpler and slower than its assembly language counterparts, and lacked graphics. See the terminology section below for information regarding inconsistent use of the terms assembly and assembler But soon, magazines were printing long lists of checksummed hexadecimal digits with machine code games or tools. A checksum is a form of Redundancy check, a simple way to protect the integrity of data by detecting errors in data that are sent through space ( Telecommunications In Mathematics and Computer science, hexadecimal (also base -, hexa, or hex) is a Numeral system with a There was a vibrant scientific community built around such software, ranging from satellite dish alignment programs to school classroom scheduling programs. A satellite dish is a type of Parabolic antenna that receives or transmits electromagnetic signals to and from another location typically a satellite

Another, unusual, software distribution method was to broadcast the audio stream from the cassette on another medium and have users record it onto an audio cassette themselves. In radio or television shows in e. g. Croatia (Radio 101), Serbia (Ventilator 202), Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Italy (RAI Radio3), Portugal or Brazil, the host would describe a program, instruct the audience to connect a cassette tape recorder to the radio or TV and then broadcast the program over the airwaves in audio format. Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between Radio 101 - Independent radio station with alternative and latest music and breaking news in Croatia. Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country Ventilator 202 (in Serbian language, meaning "Electric fan" 202 was a live Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Some magazines distributed 7" 33⅓ rpm flexidisc records, a variant of regular vinyl records which could be played on a standard record player. The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet or sonosheet) is a phonograph record made of a thin Vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus A gramophone These disks were known as floppy ROMs. The Kansas City standard ( KCS) or Byte standard, is a digital data format for audio cassette drives

Copying and backup software

Most copier software available for the Spectrum was designed for copyright infringement of software through tape duplication. The Copyright infringement of Software (also known as software piracy) refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer Copiers were developed to copy programs from audio tape to microdrive tapes, and later on diskettes. Complex loaders with unusual speeds or encoding were the basis of the Spectrum's copy prevention schemes, although other methods were used including asking for a particular word from the documentation included with the game — often a novella — or another physical device distributed in the software box (e. Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention, or copy restriction, is a technology for preventing the unauthorised reproduction A novella is a written, Fictional Prose Narrative longer than a Novelette but shorter than a Novel. g. Lenslok). Lenslok was a Copy prevention mechanism found in some computer games and other software on the 8bit Atari, Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum As protection became more complex it was almost impossible to use copiers to copy tapes, and the loaders had to be cracked by hand, to produce unprotected versions. Special hardware such as Romantic Robot's Multiface was able to dump a copy of the ZX Spectrum RAM to disk/tape at the press of a button, entirely circumventing the copy protection systems. This article is about the Romantic Robot hardware peripheral For the audio recording device developed by RME, see Multiface (RME.

Most Spectrum software has been digitised in recent years and is available for download in digital form. One popular program for digitising Spectrum software is Taper: it allows connecting a cassette tape player to the line in port of a sound card or, through a simple home-built device, to the parallel port of a PC. In Electrical engineering, a line is more generally any circuit (or loop of an Electrical system A sound card (also known as an audio card is a Computer Expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to/from a computer under A parallel port is a type of interface found on Computers ( personal and otherwise for connecting various peripherals [45] Once in digital form, the software can be executed on one of many existing emulators, on virtually any platform available today. Today, the largest on-line archive of ZX Spectrum software is World of Spectrum, with more than 12,000 titles. World of Spectrum is a Website devoted to cataloging and archiving material for the ZX Spectrum Home computer popular in the 1980s and has been officially The legality of this practice is still in question and a number of authors have explicitly objected to the posting of their software, with which some Spectrum abandonware sites have usually complied. Abandonware refers to Computer software that is no longer sold or supported or whose Copyright ownership may be unclear for various reasons However, for the majority of the software it seems unlikely that any action will ever be taken.

Notable developers

A number of current leading games developers and development companies began their careers on the ZX Spectrum, including David Perry of Shiny Entertainment, and Tim and Chris Stamper (founders of Ultimate Play The Game, now known as Rare, maker of many famous titles for Nintendo and Microsoft game consoles). This article is about David Perry the game developer For the David Perry who was a co-commentator on the UK Video game TV show ' GamesMaster Shiny Entertainment was a Video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and is the creator of several hits such as Earthworm Tim and Chris Stamper (artist and programmer respectively are the co-founders of Ashby Computers & Graphics (better known as Ultimate Play The Game) and later Rare Ultimate Play The Game (often shortened to just Ultimate) was a Video game developer of the early Home computer era Rare Ltd (formerly known as Rareware) is a United Kingdom -based video game development company. is a Multinational corporation headquartered in Kyoto Japan founded on Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational Computer technology Corporation, which rose to dominate the Home computer Other prominent games developers include Matthew Smith (Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy), Jon Ritman (Match Day, Head Over Heels), The Oliver Twins (the Dizzy series), Clive Townsend (Saboteur) and Alan Cox[46]. Matthew Smith (born 1966 is a British computer Game programmer. Manic Miner is a Platform game originally written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith and released by Bug-Byte in 1983 Jet Set Willy is a Computer game originally written for the ZX Spectrum Home computer. Jon Ritman was a software developer in the 1980s working primarily on games for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC home computer range Match Day was a football Computer game, published by Ocean Software in 1984, on the Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Head Over Heels is an Arcade adventure, released in 1987 for several popular 8-bit Home computers and subsequently ported to The Oliver Twins are two British brothers Philip and Andrew Oliver who started to professionally develop Computer games while they were still at school The Dizzy series of Computer games (published by Codemasters) was one of the most Saboteur! is an action game published in 1985 for several 8-bit Home computer formats by Durell Software. Saboteur! is an action game published in 1985 for several 8-bit Home computer formats by Durell Software. Alan Cox (born July 22, 1968 in Solihull, England) is a British Computer programmer heavily involved in the development

Also, Jeff Minter ported some of his Commodore VIC-20 games for the ZX Spectrum. Jeff 'Yak' Minter (born in Reading, April 22 1962) is a British computer / Video game designer and programmer The VIC-20 ( Germany: VC-20; Japan: VIC-1001) is an 8-bit Home computer which was sold by Commodore Business Machines [47]

Community

The ZX Spectrum enjoyed a very strong community early on. Several dedicated magazines were released including Sinclair User (1982), Your Sinclair (1983) and CRASH (1984). This is a list of Magazines marketed primarily for Computer and Technology Enthusiasts or users Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of Home computers most specifically Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated was a British Computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum Home computer. Early on they were very technically oriented with type-in programs and machine code tutorials. Later on they became almost completely game-oriented. Several general contemporary computer magazines covered the ZX Spectrum in more or less detail. They included Computer Gamer, Computer and Video Games, Computing Today, Popular Computing Weekly, Your Computer and The Games Machine. Computer Gamer was a Video game magazine published in the United Kingdom by Argus Specialist Publications, covering home gaming Computer and Video Games ( CVG) is a Video game Magazine and website published in the United Kingdom. Computing Today was a computer magazine published by Argus Specialist Publications, it was printed in the UK from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s Popular Computing Weekly was a Computer magazine in the UK published from the early 1980s until the early 1990s For the Australian magazine see Your Computer (Australian magazine. The Games Machine was a Video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield [1]

The Spectrum is affectionately known as the Speccy by elements of its fan following. [48]

More than 80 electronic magazines existed, mostly in Russian. This is a list of Magazines marketed primarily for Computer and Technology Enthusiasts or users Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Most notable of them were AlchNews (UK), ZX-Format (Russia), and Spectrofon (Russia). Spectrofon was an electronic magazine for ZX Spectrum produced in Russia by the developer group STEP Interactive from Moscow.

See also

References

  1. ^ Dickinson, Rick. The history of computing hardware starting at 1960 is marked by the conversion from Vacuum tube to solid state devices such as the Transistor and later The ZX Spectrum is generally considered to have limited graphical capabilities in comparison to other Home computers of the same era such as the Commodore 64, This is a sortable list of games for the ZX Spectrum Home computer. The following is a list of clones of Sinclair Research 's ZX Spectrum Home computer: Official clones The only official clones of the The ZX Spectrum software library currently consists of more than 14000 titles The SAM Coupé is an 8-bit British Home computer that was first released in late 1989 Rick Dickinson was the in-house Industrial designer of Sinclair Research Ltd. specLOGO02. Sinclair Spectrum development. Retrieved on 2007-07-24. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1132 - Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily.
  2. ^ Dickinson, Rick. Rick Dickinson was the in-house Industrial designer of Sinclair Research Ltd. specModel01. Sinclair Spectrum development. Retrieved on 2007-07-24. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1132 - Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily.
  3. ^ Klooster, Erik. SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM : the good, old 'speccy'. Computer Museum. Retrieved on 2006-04-19. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1012 - Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich London. 1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer
  4. ^ How the Spectrum began a revolution. BBC (23 April 2007). Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Retrieved on 2007-06-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 70 - Titus and his Roman Legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem
  5. ^ Owen, Chris. ZX Spectrum 16K/48K. Planet Sinclair. Retrieved on 2006-08-15. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed
  6. ^ Vickers, Steven (1982). "Introduction", Sinclair ZX Spectrum BASIC Programming. Sinclair Research Ltd. Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics in 1961 to Retrieved on 2006-08-23. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 79 - Mount Vesuvius begins stirring on the feast day of Vulcan the Roman god of fire  
  7. ^ a b Vickers, Steven (1982). "Colours", Sinclair ZX Spectrum BASIC Programming. Sinclair Research Ltd. Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics in 1961 to Retrieved on 2006-08-23. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 79 - Mount Vesuvius begins stirring on the feast day of Vulcan the Roman god of fire  
  8. ^ Vickers, Steven (1982). "Basic programming concepts", Sinclair ZX Spectrum BASIC Programming. Sinclair Research Ltd. Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics in 1961 to Retrieved on 2006-09-19. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 335 - Dalmatius is raised to the rank of Caesar by his uncle Constantine I.  
  9. ^ a b The Machines. The Home Computers Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-05-20. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 325 - The First Council of Nicaea &ndash the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church is held
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  11. ^ "News: Spectrum prices are slashed" (June 1983). Sinclair User (15): 13. Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of Home computers most specifically  
  12. ^ Goodwin, Simon (September 1984). "Suddenly, it's the 64K Spectrum!". Your Spectrum (7): 33–34. Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated was a British Computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers  
  13. ^ Owen, Chris. Spectrum 48K Versions. Planet Sinclair. Retrieved on 2006-04-24. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to
  14. ^ a b Denham, Sue (December 1984). "The Secret That Was Spectrum+". Your Spectrum (10): 104.  
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  17. ^ Bourne, Chris (November 1985). "News: Launch of the Spectrum 128 in Spain". Sinclair User (44): 5. Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of Home computers most specifically  
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  19. ^ "Clive discovers games — at last" (April 1985). Sinclair User (49): 53. Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of Home computers most specifically  
  20. ^ Phillips, Max (November 1986). "ZX Spectrum +2". Your Sinclair (11): 47. Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated was a British Computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers  
  21. ^ South, Phil (July 1987). "It's here. . . the Spectrum +3". Your Sinclair (17): 22–23. Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated was a British Computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers  
  22. ^ Amstrad (November 1987). Amstrad is an electronics firm based in Brentwood in Essex, England and founded in 1968 by Sir Alan Michael Sugar in the "The new Sinclair has one big disk advantage". Sinclair User (68): 2–3. Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of Home computers most specifically  
  23. ^ Kendal, Philip (2000-01-06). 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Events 1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King Sinclair ZX Spectrum FAQ: Question 14. Planet Sinclair. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France.
  24. ^ Rupert Goodwins (2002-05-12). Rupert Goodwins (born May 23, 1965) is a British writer broadcaster and technology Journalist. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. "Sinclair Loki Superspectrum". comp.sys.sinclair. (Web link). Retrieved on 2006-11-08. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration
  25. ^ Owen, Chris. Clones and variants. Planet Sinclair. Retrieved on 2006-10-26. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 740 - An Earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death
  26. ^ Owen, Chris. ZX Printer. Planet Sinclair. Retrieved on 2006-08-24. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar 's General Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River
  27. ^ "News: Some surprises in the Microdrive" (September 1983). Sinclair User (18): 15. Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of Home computers most specifically  
  28. ^ Adams, Stephen (October 1983). "Hardware World: Spectrum receives its biggest improvement". Sinclair User (19): 27–29. Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of Home computers most specifically  
  29. ^ "Hardware World: Sinclair cartridges may be out of step" (December 1983). Sinclair User (21): 35. Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of Home computers most specifically  
  30. ^ "Hardware World: Clear speech from Currah module" (December 1983). Sinclair User (21): 40. Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of Home computers most specifically  
  31. ^ Frey, Franco (February 1987). "Tech Niche: Videoface to Face". CRASH (37): 86–87. Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum Home computer.  
  32. ^ Bates, Jon (April 1986). "Tech Niche: SpecDrum". CRASH (27): 100. Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum Home computer.  
  33. ^ Frey, Franco (March 1986). "Tech Niche: Multifaceted device". CRASH (36): 86. Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum Home computer.  
  34. ^ "Hardware World: Emperor Looks Good" (October 1984). Sinclair User (31): 31. Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of Home computers most specifically  
  35. ^ Frey, Franco (March 1987). "Tech Niche: Pure Gospel". CRASH (38): 82–83. Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum Home computer.  
  36. ^ a b Heide, Martijn van der. Archive!. World of Spectrum. Retrieved on 2006-08-11. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation
  37. ^ a b Pearce, Nick (October/November 1982). "Zap! Pow! Boom!". ZX Computing: 75.  
  38. ^ Wetherill, Steven (June 1984). "Tasword Two: The Word Processor". CRASH! (5): 126.  
  39. ^ Gilbert, John (October 1985). "Art Studio". Sinclair User (43): 28.  
  40. ^ Carter, Alasdair (October/November 1983). "VU-3D". ZX Computing: 76–77.  
  41. ^ Psion Vu-3D. Retrieved on 2007-01-18. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 350 - Generallus Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans and proclaims himself Emperor
  42. ^ Vickers, Steven; and Bradbeer, Robin (1982). Steve Vickers is the author of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Home computer ROM Firmware. "6. Using the cassette recorder", Sinclair ZX Spectrum: Introduction. Sinclair Research Ltd, 21. Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics in 1961 to Retrieved on 2007-08-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire  
  43. ^ Frey, Franco (May 1984). "Epicventuring and Multiplayer Networking". CRASH (4): 46–47. Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum Home computer.  
  44. ^ Foot, Cathy (November 1985). "Microdrive revisited". CRASH (22): 8.  
  45. ^ Heide, Martijn van der. Taper. Retrieved on 2006-10-26. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 740 - An Earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death
  46. ^ Bezroukov, Nikolai. Alan Cox: and the Art of Making Beta Code Work. Portraits of Open Source Pioneers. Retrieved on 2007-01-18. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 350 - Generallus Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans and proclaims himself Emperor
  47. ^ Minter, Jeff. Llamasoft History - Part 8 - The Dawn of Llamasoft. Retrieved on 2007-09-26. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a
  48. ^ "The YS Top 100 Speccy Games Of All Time (Ever!)" (October 1991). Your Sinclair (70): 31. Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated was a British Computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers  

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