Prototypes & rarities
Prototypes, unreleased hardware, and rare one-off Timex/Sinclair machines.
31 threads · 331 messages · 2015-07-04 → 2026-10-16
The best-documented rarity is the Timex Sinclair 2000, the near-Spectrum shown at the 1983 Winter CES. Adam Trionfo found its photo in the April 1983 Creative Computing. Carl Miles summarized the accepted story: it failed FCC emissions testing, and rather than wait about six months for certification, Timex added the AY sound chip, joystick ports and its own SCLD, producing the 2068. The naming thread adds the intermediate names TS2072 and TS2048, which João Diogo Ramos documented from a press-release photo and David Anderson from period product art. The 2026 Ferranti Files thread filled in the shielding side. Jon found a TS1000 ULA spec, Timex Dundee's Spectrum issue 3 schematic and the Microdrive ULA in the documents, but no 2068 SCLD schematic. David noted that the 2000 used a 1500-style case and that Timex tested several shielding coatings. João said Timex Portugal handled the TS1000/1500 FCC process and that former Timex Portugal staff had NTSC ULAs.
NTSC Spectrums come up repeatedly. In the Lou Galie threads (2012-2015), Al Hartman owned one that came through Zebra from a Brooklyn liquidator of Timex stock. Bruno Florindo pointed out that the Chilean NTSC Spectrums are documented in Chris Smith's ULA book. Don Dindang relayed a collector's description of lab-built 48Ks on channel 33, TC2068 and TC2048 units and clear 2068 cases. David later sold a new-old-stock, unassembled NTSC Spectrum from Timex Middlebury and two TS 2000 prototype motherboards. His 2021 parts-bin haul included engineering-sample TS1500 and TS2068 SCLDs and pre-production 2068 ROMs. Richard Atkinson suggested adapting Spectrum emulator test suites to tell the SCLD revisions apart. Carl recreated what can't be bought. He converted an Argentine CZ2000 into a TS2000 look-alike and documented its Issue 6A board, 6C001E-7 ULA, PAL-Nc crystal and VHF modulator. He also painted and labelled a TS2065 Microdrive replica, planning to fit a vDrive and test it through an Interface 1.
The unreleased follow-ons rest mostly on documents. Lon Hildreth, a Timex programmer, lent David a box of papers that confirmed details of the TS2060 BEU, the TS2065 Microdrive and TS2070 cartridges, and CP/M plans. David scanned and posted the Bank Switching Controller Chip spec and a draft Microdrive/LAN spec; Jeff Burrell called the 2060 spec a roadmap for hardware designers. In the same thread, Hugo Pinto described the LOAD ZX Museum's TENET work, and Gustavo Pane traced the 64-column code to Carol Corcoran's first version. Johnny Red's photos of the Timex Portugal TC3256 (about 1987) and Portuguese press coverage started a long thread. Billy Skyrme, Timex's head of R&D, described a TS3068 "on par with the Amiga 1000" to the LIST user group in 1988; David advised treating those accounts with caution. Smaller finds include Jimmy Ipock's TS1000 EPROM Store Demonstrator, an Astec cartridge shell from the Bill Miller collection, and Clark Calkins's account of a Timex Exatron Stringy Floppy with his ZCP/M. Off-topic drift includes the Cambridge Z88 and MK14 threads and a VCF Midwest planning thread where Carl listed the prototypes he would show.
Key threads
- Timex Sinclair 2000 Picture and News from "Creative Computing" (April 1983) (#1562 on groups.io) — The WCES 1983 photo of the TS2000 and Carl Miles's summary of how FCC failure led to the 2068.
- Ferranti jackpot (#2 on groups.io) — Ferranti documents (TS1000 ULA spec, Dundee schematics, Microdrive ULA), NTSC Spectrum shielding and Timex Portugal's FCC role.
- CZ2000 to TS2000 Prototype Conversion Project (#603 on groups.io) — Carl's TS2000 recreation from an Argentine CZ2000, with a detailed teardown of its board, ULA and modulator.
- Timex Computer 3256 Prototype (#824 on groups.io) — The unreleased Timex Portugal TC3256, Johnny Red's photos and Portuguese press coverage.
- You must see this (#888 on groups.io) — Lon Hildreth's preserved Timex documents and what they reveal about the TS2060, TS2065 and TS2070.
- "64 Column Mode Support" from T/S BASIC; was: New Timex documents uploaded (#837 on groups.io) — Scanned internal specs (bank switching chip, draft Microdrive/LAN) plus LOAD ZX Museum's TENET project.
- My continuing conversation with Mr. Lou Galie (part 2) (#1622 on groups.io) — The search for US NTSC Spectrums: Al Hartman's Zebra-sourced unit and FCC-test modifications.
- Timex goodies (#1533 on groups.io) — Engineering-sample SCLDs and pre-production 2068 ROMs from a Timex insider's parts bins.
- Anyone seen my Timex Sinclair 2065 Microdrive? (#761 on groups.io) — Carl's TS2065 Microdrive recreation and plans to test it with an Interface 1 and vDrive.
- Billy Skyrme (from Timex) on the TS2068 and TS3068 (#716 on groups.io) — Timex's R&D head on the unreleased TS3068, with caveats about the sources.
- Timex Store Demonstrator for TS1000 (#1431 on groups.io) — A rare in-store EPROM demo board identified and run on a real TS1000.
All threads (31)
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