Cycle-exact Spectrum Emulation

I’m pleased to report that there is now a cycle-exact Spectrum 48 emulator config for the V6Z80P! This core simulates a PAL ZX Spectrum 48K and supports the enhanced ULA (“64 color mode”) , a tape player and a Kempston joystick interface. The CPU clock frequency can be changed on-the-fly to 3.5MHz, 7MHz, 14MHz.

Full credit to Alessandro Dorigatti  – for it is he who has twiddled the Spartan2’s bits to perfection :) 
Kudos too, to Chris Smith for his book “The ZX Spectrum ULA; how to design a microcomputer” which Alessandro tells me was invaluable in making the config.

The emulator is currently a first release so requires a bit of manual set up each time its run but it works a treat and  I’m sure we’ll soon have a .tap selector menu etc. BTW: There’s still some V6Z80Ps up for grabs…  :)

In other news I’ve received the latest revision on the EZ8oP PCB and successfully soldered/tested it so those should become  available more readily now (it’s still just me and a soldering iron, mind you:)