On the World of Spectrum forums there's been some interesting posts on Spectrums that are slowly dying. For those that don't know, the ULA was a custom chip and can't be replaced. FPGA technology allows the spectrum to live on in an (albeit emulated) hardware form.
I've got two back home. Is there some reason the ULA will eventually die on it's own, or are they safely stored in the closet for the generations to come?
All electronics is bound to die as it ages, due to latent chemical reactions. Chances are, ULA will last longer when unused.
One problem with Sinclair ULAs is that, unlike e.g. logic gate or CPU they can't be readily replaced by a commodity component. ULA is custom-mask chip produced by order in small quantities, the key issue here is scarcity.
Dang! I should have archived the source to the Sega FPGA system I made as a senior design project. At the time, it required a relatively expensive FPGA, but that was a decade ago; it would probably fit on an el-cheapo FPGA nowadays.
Oh? The problem is that the color TV i have (a older phillips 20" CRT) does not seem to be able to pick up the signal. It worked fine on a really old black and white tv we had earlier. Toobad someone decided to throw it out at some point..
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[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 49.5 ms ] threadI think the PC keyboard and the VGA monitor take away part of the fun.
But I am the guy who wants to build a Symbolics keyboard for his PC. I am not an example of sanity.
Several implementations of classic arcade games and home micros are available, and Mike is just finishing up a board for these sort of projects.
One problem with Sinclair ULAs is that, unlike e.g. logic gate or CPU they can't be readily replaced by a commodity component. ULA is custom-mask chip produced by order in small quantities, the key issue here is scarcity.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimig [2] http://hackaday.com/2010/01/07/suska-open-source-atari-st/ [3] http://hardware.atari.org/vhdl/vhdl.htm