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| Developer | Microdigital Eletrônica |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Microdigital Eletrônica |
| Type | Home computer |
| Release date | 1983; 42 years ago (1983) |
| Operating system | 8K Sinclair BASIC |
| CPU | Z80A @ 3.25 MHz |
| Memory | 2 KBSRAM and 8 KB ofEPROM |
| Removable storage | External Compact Cassette recorder at 300 bps |
| Display | Monochrome display on television; 24 lines × 32 characters or64 × 48 pixels graphics mode |
| Graphics | TTL integrated circuits |
| Power | 9V DC |
| Backward compatibility | ZX81 |
| Predecessor | TK82 |
| Successor | TK83,TK85 |
| Related | TK90X |
TK82C was aSinclair ZX81 clone made byMicrodigital Eletrônica Ltda., a computer company located inBrazil.[1][2][3][4]
The TK82C had theZilog Z80A processor running at 3.25 MHz, 2 KBSRAM and 8 KB ofEPROM with theBASIC interpreter. The C letter stands for "Científico", or "Scientific" in English.
The keyboard was made of layers of conductive (membrane) material and followed the Sinclair layout. The video output was sent via aRF modulator to a TV set tuned atVHF channel 3, and featured black characters on a white background. The maximum resolution was 64 x 44pixels, based onsemigraphic characters useful for games and basic images (seeZX81 character set).
The TK82C included theSLOW function, which permitted the video be shown during the processing (the prior version,TK82, aSinclair ZX80 clone, ran only in fast mode, so the image was not shown during its processing). In reality, theSLOW function was done by an add-on board that was factory-mounted over the main board.
Although being a ZX81 clone, the TK82C did not have theULA chip fromFerranti, used in the former. Instead it was manufactured with a dozen ofTTL integrated circuits, which resulted in a somewhat large power consumption. This could be noted as the computer's case used to become quite hot after some minutes of operation.
Data storage was done inaudio cassette tapes at 300bits per second, and large programs could take up to 6 minutes to load. Audio cables were supplied with the computer for connection with a regular tape recorder.
As the data encoding was entirely done by software, some hacks were made available to allow much faster transfers. Hi-fi recorders were required in order to use the greater speeds with a minimum of reliability.
All software designed to the ZX81 could run in the TK82C with no problems, and vice versa. So it was not uncommon to find software distributed in Brazil, that were nothing more than illegitimate copies of products for the ZX81. However, given the TK82's popularity, a great deal of original software was developed in Brazil as well.
In 1983,Sinclair Research sued Microdigital overcopyright violation because of the unauthorized cloning of its product. Due to political trends from that time, the Brazilian court in charge of the case sided with Microdigital.[5]
The TK82C was replaced by theTK83 (it used a ULA similar chip, as the original ZX81) and by theTK85 (a 16 KB RAM version with a case similar to ZX-Spectrum), more robust and with a better design.
Microdigital later produced theTK90X andTK95, which were clones of theZX Spectrum.
TK82C is also a designation for acopier fromKyocera.
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Compatible or related systems |
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