Thank you for cool video. There is no disk controller on the board. So "Disk" connector just provide all necessary signals for external disk controller, probably clone of Beta Disk Interface This is extended keyboard like on ZX Spectrum+ , additional elements on keyboard PCB used to simulate switching of two keys when pressed one of extended keys. For example pressing on "Delete" key should provide signals from "Shift" and "0" simultaneously.
Ahh, thanks for the explanation about the disk interface - yeah, didn't see an FDC on board (wasn't expecting one). And being an "extended keyboard", maybe that explains why there's so many transistors installed? Never seen that before!
Nice - a DIY Spectrum of the chaotic style not being overly similar to the Leningrad. All the best for getting this one to work. Shouldn't be to hard to identify seeing those 2 SMD/"planar" chips - those were rather uncommon. Also love the SMD style mounted KT315B(?) on the keyboard PCB. Moldovan BYTE also is an exceptionally well built ZX compatible. If you want I can post on the large russian ZX forum which has a thread for identifying unknown/uncommon ZX derivates which has seen some *wild* variants (my favorite being a ZX + TRDOS on an ISA card, used for kniting machines)
Yeah ... I don't think it's even worth trying - I don't have the 5-pin "cube" DIN plug for the power so I'll need to bypass that, then try to figure out the RGBS pinout. I might try powering it on to see what happens, but there's far too many bare capacitor/resistor legs near IC legs that I reckon there's going to be shorts all over the place. I posted you the Dropbox link in the Discord, thanks! Yes, the BYTEs are much nicer ... but still haven't gotten any of the "red" BYTEs (with the Sovietski ULA) to work ... but the "Speccy" BYTEs (no ULA, all discrete) all work with no issues
I love your videos! One suggestion though... more of a constructive criticism. Is there a way you can try a different mic setup so that you're not breathing directly into the mic? There's been a few times I thought I was listening to an obscene phone call. 😂🤣
LOL, no, appreciate it. I think I was positioning the microphone wrong so have tried a new position. I recently got a pair of Røde mics (Wireless GO) ... one connects to my iPhone 13 that is recording and the other clips to my shirt. I've started positioning the shirt mic. more towards my shoulder rather than directly under my chin. I think that solves the "heavy breathing" issue, but then I get a bit too loud when I'm looking to my left and looking at my computer screen (most recent video, TCE #0555). Ultimately, I'd like to get one of those mics on its own articulated arm ... maybe in January!
Yep - it's a well made case, but the inside is a mess. I imagine it would've been quite a chaotic place at the time (just after Soviet breakup), and Moldova remains the poorest country in Europe, hence why I was impressed that "Leonid" aka Лёня managed to get built at all :)
That five-pin power connector look a lot like a Brad-Harrison connector. The layout of the pins at least. The chip that has been put in "Dead-bug" style @15:50 strongly suggests a home-brew PC. Or a mod that was accomplished easier by pulling the chip and flipping it. Did you notice that the keyboard appears to be a hand-drawn layout while the bottom board looks like it was done with an EDA package? And who does all of the board except two chips using through-hole?
Indeed! I was trying to see if there was some mark/name on the motherboard to indicate who designed it ... it doesn't *look* like a Leningrad but no idea! k1.spdns.de/Vintage/Sinclair/82/Clones/Russia/LENINGRAD/
Thats alot of effort to play jet set willy. Would be good to know if the other chips are from the 90’s. Perhaps the roms will have some secrets. It makes me feel very smug about my harlequin build and keyboard with the stick on labels. The means of production is in the hands of the workers!
Hey the struggle was real in old Soviet Russia.... still is. lol This is true TTL Transistor To Transistor logic, the hand built workmanship deserves an applause, true dedication.
Yep - Moldova remains the poorest country of Europe (so always happy to buy stuff from there) and I imagine that it would've been quite chaotic when this was built (just after Soviet breakup) ...
Those keycaps are super cool, are they clear with a piece of paper underneath so that you can make your own labels for them? That is wild. Has to be home-made, nobody sane would manufacture a keyboard that way. edit: Also it is labeled 5V on the power port on the back soooo...yeah probably five volts!
I don't think I've seen so many transistors on a keyboard circuit before! Yeah, they generally took +5V directly, rarely see one with a regulator installed on the motherboard.
Don't know ... I should've taken a closer look at them in the Part 2 video (ruclips.net/video/u8nq27R7kxM/видео.html) ... but I will try to remember in a possible Part 3 (installing reproduction «МОСКВА 128» board) github.com/romychs/moscow-128k
Soviet cash registers were mostly electro-mechanical, and their keycaps were engraved, with paint poured inside (looked like a very advanced comptometer). They are probably from some military equipment: I actually saw a couple radar control stations, they did not have exactly these keycaps, but something like. Laser etching or dye-sub were too hi-tech for that time, and double-shot - does it make sense for military? And it’s cheaper (e.g. in cars, where production numbers are great) to engrave and pour paint, like in cash register.
@@Mercury13kiev I feel like I've seen them somewhere, it is a bit of a mystery. A lot of western stuff was making its way over in the early nineties, it looks like they've thrown this together with whatever they could find
@@kenknight5983 Such keycaps are widespread on modern computer-based cash registers. When cash register was an advanced comptometer… they had no room for user’s reprogramming.
@@kenknight5983 Also military and aircraft needed button backlighting, and when they were backlit with bulbs (very small 12V bulbs with two wires sticking outside), the keycaps needed to be physically removed.
Ahhh ... it's short for "Leonid"! Thank you once again! And yes, you are probably correct ... if it did ever work, maybe it worked only briefly. There's far too many capacitor/resistor legs close to IC legs that I wouldn't be surprised if there were shorts all over the place ...
@@Brfff The letter Ё (Yo) grew from Е (Ye), appeared ≈1790. Pronouncing Yo instead of Ye in stressed syllables considered folk language, and language purists refused to talk this way, so the simplest way to convey new pronunciation was adding umlaut to Е, and that explains why Ё was “not-really-a-letter” until mid-USSR. Nowadays Е in alphabetic order is weakly before Ё: they are deemed equal, and if the words are equal this way (передóхнет/передохнёт, заточённый/затóченный), compare weak letters. Umlaut above Ё is still optional. (We don’t call these dots umlaut, but it’s actually umlaut - change of vowel in certain positions.)
![🇲🇩 Москва 128 (Moscow 128) Spectrum Clone: Part 2 (Quick Update) [TCE #0551]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/u8nq27R7kxM/mqdefault.jpg)
![🇲🇩 Москва 128 (Moscow 128) Spectrum Clone: Part 2 (Quick Update) [TCE #0551]](/img/tr.png)
![🇩🇪 Robotron KC 87: Part 3 (Loading Software) [TCE #0557]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PULKpgoy6i4/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you for cool video.
There is no disk controller on the board. So "Disk" connector just provide all necessary signals for external disk controller, probably clone of Beta Disk Interface
This is extended keyboard like on ZX Spectrum+ , additional elements on keyboard PCB used to simulate switching of two keys when pressed one of extended keys. For example pressing on "Delete" key should provide signals from "Shift" and "0" simultaneously.
Ahh, thanks for the explanation about the disk interface - yeah, didn't see an FDC on board (wasn't expecting one). And being an "extended keyboard", maybe that explains why there's so many transistors installed? Never seen that before!
that thing could tell some stories!..that spiderweb power is crazy!
In Soviet Russia you didn't play video games on your TV, the KGB was watching you through the TV. :D :D
Nice - a DIY Spectrum of the chaotic style not being overly similar to the Leningrad. All the best for getting this one to work.
Shouldn't be to hard to identify seeing those 2 SMD/"planar" chips - those were rather uncommon. Also love the SMD style mounted KT315B(?) on the keyboard PCB.
Moldovan BYTE also is an exceptionally well built ZX compatible.
If you want I can post on the large russian ZX forum which has a thread for identifying unknown/uncommon ZX derivates which has seen some *wild* variants (my favorite being a ZX + TRDOS on an ISA card, used for kniting machines)
Yeah ... I don't think it's even worth trying - I don't have the 5-pin "cube" DIN plug for the power so I'll need to bypass that, then try to figure out the RGBS pinout. I might try powering it on to see what happens, but there's far too many bare capacitor/resistor legs near IC legs that I reckon there's going to be shorts all over the place.
I posted you the Dropbox link in the Discord, thanks!
Yes, the BYTEs are much nicer ... but still haven't gotten any of the "red" BYTEs (with the Sovietski ULA) to work ... but the "Speccy" BYTEs (no ULA, all discrete) all work with no issues
@@Brfffregarding shorts - check the red, square caps ... those are prone to going bad and shorting out.
I'm quite happy to leave you to check those caps! 🤓 I'm sick of pricking my fingers on their sharp corners 🫣
I love your videos! One suggestion though... more of a constructive criticism. Is there a way you can try a different mic setup so that you're not breathing directly into the mic? There's been a few times I thought I was listening to an obscene phone call. 😂🤣
LOL, no, appreciate it. I think I was positioning the microphone wrong so have tried a new position. I recently got a pair of Røde mics (Wireless GO) ... one connects to my iPhone 13 that is recording and the other clips to my shirt. I've started positioning the shirt mic. more towards my shoulder rather than directly under my chin. I think that solves the "heavy breathing" issue, but then I get a bit too loud when I'm looking to my left and looking at my computer screen (most recent video, TCE #0555). Ultimately, I'd like to get one of those mics on its own articulated arm ... maybe in January!
Interesting how the case is better than the real one but the wiring inside wow🤭
Yep - it's a well made case, but the inside is a mess. I imagine it would've been quite a chaotic place at the time (just after Soviet breakup), and Moldova remains the poorest country in Europe, hence why I was impressed that "Leonid" aka Лёня managed to get built at all :)
That five-pin power connector look a lot like a Brad-Harrison connector. The layout of the pins at least.
The chip that has been put in "Dead-bug" style @15:50 strongly suggests a home-brew PC. Or a mod that was accomplished easier by pulling the chip and flipping it.
Did you notice that the keyboard appears to be a hand-drawn layout while the bottom board looks like it was done with an EDA package? And who does all of the board except two chips using through-hole?
Indeed! I was trying to see if there was some mark/name on the motherboard to indicate who designed it ... it doesn't *look* like a Leningrad but no idea!
k1.spdns.de/Vintage/Sinclair/82/Clones/Russia/LENINGRAD/
Thats alot of effort to play jet set willy. Would be good to know if the other chips are from the 90’s. Perhaps the roms will have some secrets. It makes me feel very smug about my harlequin build and keyboard with the stick on labels. The means of production is in the hands of the workers!
Hey the struggle was real in old Soviet Russia.... still is. lol This is true TTL Transistor To Transistor logic, the hand built workmanship deserves an applause, true dedication.
Yep - Moldova remains the poorest country of Europe (so always happy to buy stuff from there) and I imagine that it would've been quite chaotic when this was built (just after Soviet breakup) ...
Those keycaps are super cool, are they clear with a piece of paper underneath so that you can make your own labels for them? That is wild. Has to be home-made, nobody sane would manufacture a keyboard that way.
edit: Also it is labeled 5V on the power port on the back soooo...yeah probably five volts!
I don't think I've seen so many transistors on a keyboard circuit before! Yeah, they generally took +5V directly, rarely see one with a regulator installed on the motherboard.
The underside of the main board reminds me of the underside radios from the 1940s.
Those key caps look familiar. Were they on cash registers?
Don't know ... I should've taken a closer look at them in the Part 2 video (ruclips.net/video/u8nq27R7kxM/видео.html) ... but I will try to remember in a possible Part 3 (installing reproduction «МОСКВА 128» board)
github.com/romychs/moscow-128k
Soviet cash registers were mostly electro-mechanical, and their keycaps were engraved, with paint poured inside (looked like a very advanced comptometer). They are probably from some military equipment: I actually saw a couple radar control stations, they did not have exactly these keycaps, but something like. Laser etching or dye-sub were too hi-tech for that time, and double-shot - does it make sense for military? And it’s cheaper (e.g. in cars, where production numbers are great) to engrave and pour paint, like in cash register.
@@Mercury13kiev I feel like I've seen them somewhere, it is a bit of a mystery. A lot of western stuff was making its way over in the early nineties, it looks like they've thrown this together with whatever they could find
@@kenknight5983 Such keycaps are widespread on modern computer-based cash registers. When cash register was an advanced comptometer… they had no room for user’s reprogramming.
@@kenknight5983 Also military and aircraft needed button backlighting, and when they were backlit with bulbs (very small 12V bulbs with two wires sticking outside), the keycaps needed to be physically removed.
ЛЕНЯ = Лëня - it is short variant of man name Leonid.
МОН = monitor
КЕМП = Kempston
ИНТ 1/2 = two more joysticks
ЛЁНЯ = Leonid
Hell bad assembly quality, has it ever worked?
Ahhh ... it's short for "Leonid"! Thank you once again! And yes, you are probably correct ... if it did ever work, maybe it worked only briefly. There's far too many capacitor/resistor legs close to IC legs that I wouldn't be surprised if there were shorts all over the place ...
@@Brfff The letter Ё (Yo) grew from Е (Ye), appeared ≈1790. Pronouncing Yo instead of Ye in stressed syllables considered folk language, and language purists refused to talk this way, so the simplest way to convey new pronunciation was adding umlaut to Е, and that explains why Ё was “not-really-a-letter” until mid-USSR. Nowadays Е in alphabetic order is weakly before Ё: they are deemed equal, and if the words are equal this way (передóхнет/передохнёт, заточённый/затóченный), compare weak letters. Umlaut above Ё is still optional. (We don’t call these dots umlaut, but it’s actually umlaut - change of vowel in certain positions.)