Hermit Retro ZX Spectrum Board Is a Replacement Board for ZX Spectrum Cases

Hermit Retro Products has launched the Raspberry Pi Zero W-powered Hermit Retro ZX Spectrum Board. The board is a replacement board for original, or reproduction, ZX Spectrum cases. Please note that the project does not include the case as shown in the figure.

The board offers a full-size HDMI port, a full-size USB port, and a microSD card slot, along with sockets for joysticks and a 3.5mm 4-pin jack plug that will extend functionality through custom I2C devices. Additionally, there is a push button to display the Fuse menu.

The Hermit Retro ZX Spectrum board will be available in many options, as a bare board only, a DIY kit, and a fully-assembled model You'll receive PCBs, assembly instructions, and a bill of materials only in the bare boards only option. While for the DIY Kit, it will come with PCBs, assembly instructions, and a full set of components including microSD cards. Since no components are provided in the bare boards only option, it is obvious that this is only for those who already have the components ready with them.

Finally, the fully-assembled option will get you a ready to plug-and-play Hermit Retro ZX Spectrum Board with a power supply. It will also come with an SD card image, which will be provided with an open source Fuse emulator running within a buildroot environment as well.

The project has achieved successful testing of the initial prototype of the PCB in the original cases. Few details of the project, like PCB schematics, buildroot source environment, and reference designs for external I2C devices and joystick adapters, will be made available through GitHub later.

Along with some risks and challenges, the project is currently funding on Kickstarter at different pledge levels. The pledge starts at £10 for no reward. The bare boards only for early birds start at £15, while for all the interested developers, the fully-assembled version goes for £125 and up.