Build a TzxDuino-Reloaded to Load Games on Your Vintage Computer

As with many other computers from the era, games and other software were commonly loaded onto the Spectravideo SV-328 from cassette tapes. The SV-328 is the computer on which the MSX standard was based and so it did accept ROM cartridges, but it was often easier for users to get their hands on cassettes that could be easily copied from friends. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find working cassette tapes today. Even if you have some, vintage computers can be extremely temperamental when loading from some cassette players. That’s why you will want to follow Noel’s video tutorial to build a TzxDuino-Reloaded to load games on your Spectravideo SV-328 (and many others).

After building your TzxDuino-Reloaded, which was originally designed by Andrew Beer and Duncan Edwards, you’ll be able to easily download ROMs from the internet and load them onto your real Spectravideo SV-328 hardware. You don’t actually need dedicated hardware to accomplish this, because you can simply play audio recordings of game cassettes on your smartphone with the audio output going to the SV-328. The advantage of the TzxDuino-Reloaded is that it converts ROM files, with original game data stored digitally as bits and bytes, into audio output. That means you don’t have to worry about errors caused by imperfect audio recordings. You can also play homebrews and games that were never released on cassette. This isn’t, however, as fast as loading games from disk drive emulators, because it still needs to send data by encoding it as audio.

Noel’s video walks you through every step of the TzxDuino-Reloaded build process. That board is essentially a DIY shield for an Arduino Nano. It contains an OLED display to show file information, a microSD card adapter for storing ROMs, buttons to control playback, and an amplifier for the audio output. Assembling the board will require soldering several SMD components, but most makers can handle the job if they’re very careful. The Arduino is easy to program with the provided sketch. The board design does have some flaws, but Noel explains how you can work around those issues. The great thing is that you’ll be able to use your TzxDuino-Reloaded with several other retrocomputers, including any MSX computer, the ZX Spectrum, and most Amstrad computers. Disk drive emulators are superior in pretty much every way, but this is a more affordable DIY option that works with a wider range of computer models.