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Creating TZX files in Python
It’s been just shy of 4 years since I published my post on how to load custom samples into the Cheetah SpecDrum software. At some point in that time the software I used to create my TZX files has disappeared from the internet, so I figured it’s time I learned how TZX files work (or…
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This, Jen, is the Internet
This isn’t much more than an “I made a thing” post. You have been warned. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the iconic British sitcom “The IT Crowd”. There are so many memorable quotes and gags, but my favourite has always been “The Internet” from the series 3 episode “The Speech”. I liked…
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The Astable Multivibrator
One of the first circuits I ever build on a breadboard was the ubiquitous astable multivibrator. Two NPN transistors, two capacitors, two LEDs and four resistors. It’s a circuit that just about every electronics engineering student and hobbyist builds at some point in their life. Sure, a 555 in astable mode uses fewer components, and…
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Cheetah SpecDrum 808 Kit
I’ve been playing around with the SpecDrum again and I’ve created another kit for it. You can get 808 sounds any number of ways in 2019 – The TR-8, sample packs, iPhone apps – and now the Cheetah Specdrum. Unfortunately my real SpecDrum isn’t working so well right now, so I’ve had to emulate it.…
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Loading your own samples into the Cheetah SpecDrum
This post was updated on the 2023-05-02 to include a new method of creating SpecDrum TZX files. Matt Back in the 1980s in the UK the Sinclair ZX Spectrum reigned supreme as the king of the home micros. Sure, it didn’t have all of the bells and whistles that other micros of the time had,…
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Introducing the RC2014
Until earlier this year my idea of building my own computer was screwing a bunch of parts into a case and wiring everything together – the most complicated tool required being a crosshead screwdriver. This changed when I found Spencer Owen’s RC2014 project. The kit is available in a few different forms, but I bought…
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Simple Digital Noise Generator
Here’s a little noise-making circuit I’ve been working on. It has a sound reminiscent of vintage sound chips, such as the AY-3-8910. It works by using a D flip flop clocked by a 555 timer to sample and hold the signal from a ring oscillator. The high speed and frequency instability of the ring oscillator…
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Planning circuit layouts with DIY-LC
At some point there will be an Arduino project that is just too good to take apart. You can’t leave it on the breadboard forever, but building a circuit on prototyping board can be confusing for beginners. The best way to make this process easier is to plan the layout of your circuit before you…
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Arduino Tip: 7 segment LED display with 4094 shift register
This is my first Arduino example sketch – hopefully the first of many. This sketch allows you to control a 7 segment LED display using an Arduino and a 4094 shift register. Only 4 data pins are used on the Arduino, rather than 8 if you were to control the 7 segment display directly. For…