Good news from the #CZSpectrumPlus that I am trying to get back to life:

having replaced the proprietary #ZX8401 chip with a modern FPGA based replacement, the system now comes up again - wooohooo !! 🥳

I've also replaced the old keyboard membrane which had brittled to oblivion with a new one, however only a fraction of the keys are working. Maybe I need to replace the keyboard "big" ribbon cable connector as well (I already replaced the "small" one).

But things are going into the right dircetion ...

EDIT: I've replaced the "big" / "wide" keyboard connector with a new one and now all keys are working. More footage later, gotta go now to get cat food.

#RetroComputing
#Sinclair
#ZXSpectrum
#Clone
#Argentina
#Czewerny

Today, I picked up my loose ends with regards to the #Czerweny #CZSpectrumPlus, the #rare #ZXSpectrumPlus clone from mid-1980s #Argentina.

Since I was unable to remove the ICs myself (did they use "nuclear solder" back in the day?! Those ICs sat tight in their holes) I asked a friend who had a friend who was up to the job and very professionally removed these at his workshop.

So today I soldered sockets in place and prepared a #Diagnostic #ROM in order to find out what the problem is. Looks bad.

I have already replaced all "lower" RAM chips with new ones, leaving the "upper" RAM as they were.

However, given that *all* memory seems to be faulty, I now expect the #ZX8401 to be the problem. So now I need to get either one of those modern drop-in replacements or start hunting a real one ...

On the up side, video is working and the beeper is beeping. At least.

#ZXSpectrum
#Repair

Back to the #CZSpectrumPlus with the defunct #RAM - in preparation for the repalcement RAM that will arrive toorrow, I tried to de-solder the #IC marked in the photograph, but there were three pins that seemed to be nuke soldered to the #PCB and which I just couldn't free from solder in order to remove the chip. Especially pins 1 and 16 are very hard to come by.

Since I did not want to #heat #damage the PCB I stopped for the moment being to rethink my options. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

Meanwhile, I was able to cleanly remove what seems to be a makeshift fix for the keyboard connector. A fresh one, including a new keyboard membrane, is underway.

#ZXSpectrum
#Clone
#Argentina
#Repair

Here's a question to the #ZXSpectrum and #Sinclair #Experts - I've got a #damaged #CZSpectrumPlus from Argentina which shows the following at power on. Any hint at where to look first? #ULA?!

#Broken
#Speccy
#Help

I am currently in the process of re-structuring my #RetroComputer #collection, swapping individual devices with a collegue of mine. As a result, there's this new entry, the "CZ Spectrum plus" - a #ZXSpectrumPlus clone from #Argentina !!

#CZSpectrumPlus
#ZXSpectrum
#Sinclair
#Clone