BI-PAK ZON X Sound Module

ZON X by BI-PAK

The ZON X is a programmable Sound Generator for use with ZX81 and Spectrum. It is the successor of the ZON X-81 module, which was incompatible with the ZX Spectrum, because it used the A4 address line.

It contains an AY-3-8912 three-channel sound chip with amplifier, loudspeaker and volume control in a 6in. x 3in. x 2in. box. Everything was powered from the computer.

As the device is I/O-mapped it requires machine code on the ZX81 but their REM-located sample machine code is simple and relocatable and thus can coexist with other REM-based machine code. The ZX Spectrum Basic provides the 'OUT' statement to access i/o mapped peripherals and therefore the ZON X can be accessed directly from Basic without the help of machine code.

BI-PAK ZON X used the AY chip

"Make amazing sounds with your Spectrum." 8 octaves, 3 channels with full control over pitch, volume, tones and noise, all with envelope control. Usable in your own Basic or M/C programs. Because this devices used the A4 address space, it is not compatible with the Interface 1 and Micrdrive. Because this was originaly a ZX81 interface, a small additional board is required. It sits between the ZON X and the Speccy, and contains a 3.5 Mhz oscillator to stabilise the frequency. Sinclair User Dec 83/Apr 83.

Differences to the ZON X-81

The ZON X-81 used an i/o address with A4=0. This was incompatible with other Sinclair peripherals, e.g. the Interface 1, and thus Bi-Pak had to change the i/o address. It now uses an i/o address with A0=1 to A4=1 instead of A0=1 to A3=1 plus A4=0. (note: the exact decoded address of the ZON X-81 is not yet verified.)

Tech info (PCB issue 5)

Sound chip          AY-3-8192
Clock               cpu clock at bus connector pin /Clk ÷ 2 
Connected lines     /CLK, /IORQ, /WR, A0 - A4, A7
                    (these are all identical for ZX81 and Spectrum)
 
Address decoding:
 
    74LS11 triple 3-AND:
 
        and1 = A3+A2+A4
        and2 = A1+A0
        and3 = and1+nor1+and2
 
    74LS02 quad 2-NOR:
 
        nor1 = !( /wr | /iorq )
        nor2 = !A7
        nor3 = !( nor2 | nor4 )     = A7 + and1+nor1+and2
        nor4 = !and3                = !(and1+nor1+and2)
 
    AY-3-8192:
 
        AY.BC1  = nor3 = A3+A2+A1+A0+A4+!(wr|iorq) + A7
        AY.BC2  = +5V  = 1
        AY.BDIR = and3 = A3+A2+A1+A0+A4+!(wr|iorq)
        AY.A8   = +5V  = 1
 
        BC1     BDIR    Function
 
        0       0       Inactive
        0       1       Write to register   = A3+A2+A1+A0+A4+!(wr|iorq) + A7=0
        1       0       Read from register  = this is not possible
        1       1       Select register     = A3+A2+A1+A0+A4+!(wr|iorq) + A7=1
 
i/o addresses used in ZX81 sample code:
 
    out 0xDF            select register
    out 0x0F            write to register       THIS IS WRONG!
    This should be 'out 0x1F' instead!
 
suggested i/o addresses for ZX Spectrum:
 
    out 0xFF            select register
    out 0x7F            write to register

The sample code from the ZON X manual for the ZX81 should not work, because they set A4=0 when writing to the selected register: 'OUT 0x0F'. This is very likely an error in the documentation, which was 'upgraded' from the ZON X-81 manual, and the ZON X sample code for the ZX81 should have used 0xDF and 0x1F. Basically you can also use the Specci addresses, but the ZX81 addresses are choosen to allow typing them in in a REM statement in Basic.

Archive

Name	Letzte Änderung	Länge
Bi-Pak ZON X-81 Sound Module/	2019-08-22 19:20	13
XL/	2019-08-20 05:24	9
ZON X Manual/	2019-08-20 05:24	25
2006-02-06 £8.68.jpg size: 400 × 220	2006-02-15 09:26	17546
2006-11-12 €6.49.jpg size: 374 × 400	2006-11-16 14:50	46351
All the stuff.jpg size: 800 × 600	2007-08-02 15:38	63973
Box - one side.jpg size: 852 × 586	2007-08-02 15:43	69983
Box - other side.jpg size: 849 × 588	2007-08-02 15:43	53947
Connection to ZX Spectrum.png size: 400 × 220	2007-08-01 13:23	37144
Connection to ZX81.png size: 400 × 220	2007-08-01 13:24	33220
PCB iss5 rear side.jpg size: 600 × 450	2007-08-02 16:10	60207
PCB issue 5.jpg size: 800 × 458	2007-08-02 15:53	86384
PCP iss5 top side.jpg size: 600 × 450	2007-08-02 16:02	58356
ZON X - Box view-1.jpg size: 600 × 450	2007-08-01 20:08	55939
ZON X - Box view-2.jpg size: 600 × 450	2007-08-01 20:09	48029
ZON X - Box view-3.jpg size: 400 × 400	2007-08-01 20:12	29948
ZON X Box Pop Art.jpg size: 600 × 450	2007-08-02 16:16	65856
ZON X Box.jpg size: 600 × 450	2007-08-02 16:15	38495

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ZON X by BI-PAK

BI-PAK ZON X used the AY chip

Differences to the ZON X-81

Tech info (PCB issue 5)

Archive