Timex Computer (European: TC2048/3256)
European Timex Computer models — TC2048, TC2068, TC3256, and Portuguese/Polish market machines.
57 threads · 506 messages · 2002-05-23 → 2026-06-29
The European Timex Computer line — TC2048, TC2068, the never-released TC3256, plus the Argentine Czerweny CZ1500/CZ2000 and Polish-market UK2048/UK2068 rebadges — is the thread that ties the group's two eras together. The basic lineage was being pieced together in the Yahoo years: Timex's Portuguese subsidiary kept building machines after Timex Computer Corp. (USA) exited in 1984, rode the Spectrum compatibility wave with the TC2048, and shipped the silver TC2068 as a cleaned-up redesign of the TS2068. Early posts from Paulo Leite, Bruno Florindo (zxbruno), Jack Boatwright and Oscar Koepke established the practical knowledge that survives today — that TC2068s could be switched between PAL/NTSC by moving two jumpers and changing the crystal (#1002308), that the Polish black-cased UK2068/UK2048 were the same Portuguese machines (#1003944), and that Zebra Systems and English Micro Connection in the US imported the silver TC2068 and FDD-3000 systems from Portugal (#1002186, #4503). Bruno Florindo's 2017 post sharing the Correio da Manha photos of the 1986 Lisbon factory is still the best primary source the group has for that era (#1003941).
The groups.io era has turned that oral history into chip-level engineering. Claudius (timmy.fatla.eu) reverse-engineered the TC2048 well enough to ship a working Timmy clone, and in the PCB-updates thread he pinned down the most important Spectrum/Timex incompatibility yet documented: the TC2048/TC2068 /INT fires 15 T-states earlier than a ZX Spectrum (14321 vs 14336 T-states), which is why top-border raster demos written for Spectrum crash on real Portuguese hardware (#6971). Alvaro Lopes at the LOAD ZX Museum then produced a CPLD drop-in for the SCLD released under Creative Commons (#4623, #4705) — and in the discussion Claudius spelled out the three-way split the community now treats as settled: the TS2068 uses a PAL-region SCLD with external jumpers and a 14.112 MHz crystal for 60 Hz, the TS2000 SCLD is 60 Hz only with no I signal exposed, and only the TC2068 carries all four RGBI signals out to the edge connector wired to the PAL encoder — making TC2068 RGB output trivial: 6 resistors + 3 diodes gets all 15/16 colours, no sync-stripper needed (#4669, #722). Don Dindang's Timex-Harlequin-2048 clone (a TC2048 clone supporting both home and EXT ROM, github.com/DonSuperfo/Timex-Harlequin-2048) and Adam Trionfo's deep dive into the 1987 TC3256 prototype — with Johnny Red (Joao Encarnado)'s 2003 photos at timex.comboios.info and Portuguese newspaper coverage — extended the recreation work into the unreleased machines (#5103).
Several threads DRIFT into Euro territory from other starting points. The 2024 TS2068 main PCB updates thread (#6932) starts as a US owner's complaint about bodge wires and drifts into Johnny Red explaining that the TC2068 already IS the cleaned-up redesign US owners are wishing for, then into Claudius's WIP replacement-board schematic and Don's Harlequin clone. The 2024 Argentine CZ2000/CZ1500 acquisitions by Carl Miles (#6736, #6840) drift in when Joao Diogo Ramos corrects that there is no TC1500 — all TS1500s were assembled in Portugal — and Luis D'Ardis describes his lost replica of the TS2000 prototype built from a Spectrum board with swapped crystals/modulators (#6750, #6751). The 2021 Timmy demo thread (#188) drifts to ROM differences: author Tygrys confirms his Polish demo used the TC2068 extended ROM and needs RAMTOP set higher than a TS2068 allows, so it cannot run unmodified on US hardware (#413). The TS2068 typeface thread (#6907) drifts into ZX81/TS1000 motherboard origins and whether US-market ZX81s were made in Dundee or at Timex Portugal.
Community-history threads recur in both eras. Andrew Owen's "American Cousins" interview with Bruno Florindo for an unpublished CIRCE revival fanzine is referenced as the canonical writeup of why Portugal succeeded where the US failed — TC2048 + Spectrum-wave timing (#1510, #1475). The 2025 RTP-aired Timex Portugal documentary (now subtitled at loadzx.com/timexdoc) gives a polished public summary of the Portugal-to-UK-USA-Poland-Argentina supply chain (#7702). On the artifact side, the "Timex Sinclair key thing" acquired by the LOAD ZX Museum (#8542), TC2068 sleeve/label photos contributed by Johnny Red showing the painted-over Sinclair logo (#7704), and David Anderson's RGB-to-HDMI adapter prompting a TC2068 variant inquiry from Europe (#716) all document the ongoing cross-Atlantic conversation. The Portuguese contingent — Johnny Red, Joao Diogo Ramos, Hugo Pinto, Alvaro Lopes — has become a permanent fixture on the bi-monthly Zoom calls, and Adam Trionfo's Google-translated Portuguese greeting (#5154) is a small marker of that integration.
Key threads
- Any TS 2068 main PCB updates? (#6932 on groups.io) — Johnny Red explains the TC2068 was the cleaned-up Portuguese redesign with 128K compatibility added by Polish modders; Don Dindang shares his Timex-Harlequin-2048 clone; Claudius pins down the TC2048/TC2068 /INT timing — 14321 T-states vs 14336 — that breaks Spectrum top-border demos on real Portuguese hardware.
- Interesting announcements from last night's Load ZX Museum livestream (#4623 on groups.io) — Alvaro Lopes's CC-licensed CPLD drop-in replacement for the TC2068/TC2048 SCLD; Claudius's reply is the clearest statement on the list of the three-way TS2068-PAL / TS2000 / TC2068 SCLD split, RGBI on the edge connector, and the 14.112 MHz crystal for 60 Hz mode.
- NTSC Spectrum (#1808 on groups.io) — Yahoo-era thread where Paulo Leite confirms his black Portuguese TC2068 switched to NTSC/60 Hz by moving two jumpers and swapping the crystal, pointing at Jarek Adamski's TC2068 schematics (8bit.yarek.pl) — the original source for the PAL/NTSC jumper folklore the group still relies on. Jack Boatwright documents EMC/Zebra TC2068 imports.
- Timex Portugal in 1986 (pictures) (#1543 on groups.io) — Bruno Florindo's 2017 Correio da Manha photo set of the Lisbon factory floor; Oscar Koepke notes the same machines were sold in Poland in black cases as UK2068/UK2048 — best primary visual record of Timex Portugal at peak.
- Timex Computer 3256 Prototype (#783 on groups.io) — 47-message reconstruction of the unreleased 1987 Portuguese TC3256, drawing on Johnny Red's photos at timex.comboios.info/tc3256proto.html and Portuguese press coverage. Best single thread on what could have been Timex's next-generation machine.
- Picked these up recently from Argentina (CZ2000/CZ1500) (#578 on groups.io) — Carl Miles's hands-on teardown of a Czerweny CZ2000 — Issue 6A Spectrum PCB, 6C001E-7 PAL ULA, PAL-Nc 3.582056 MHz crystal, ASTEC VHF modulator — and Joao Diogo Ramos's correction that there is no 'TC1500' (all TS1500s were Portuguese). Drift-in: anchors the South American Spectrum-clone branch.
- Sadness for Timex Computer Corp. (#1303 on groups.io) — Bruno Florindo and Andrew Owen reference the unpublished CIRCE 'American Cousins' interview explaining why Timex Portugal succeeded (TC2048 + Spectrum wave) where Timex USA failed; Tim Swenson recounts the FCC delays that gave the US TS2068 its late, ROM-incompatible launch.
- Help with Timmy Demo for 2068 (#1466 on groups.io) — Drift-in: Polish demo author Tygrys confirms Timmy was written against the TC2068 extended ROM and won't run unmodified on a TS2068 because of ROM/RAMTOP differences — concrete case of Euro-vs-US software incompatibility in practice.
- Timex Portugal documentary now with English subtitles (#388 on groups.io) — The 2025 RTP-aired Portuguese documentary at loadzx.com/timexdoc covers Timex Portugal's production for UK, USA, Portugal, Poland and Argentina — the single best public-facing synthesis of the whole story the group has been assembling.
- Online User Group Meeting Feb 7 9pm EST (#1410 on groups.io) — Drift-in: David Anderson's RGB-to-HDMI adapter for TS2068 prompts a Europe inquiry about TC2068 compatibility; Claudius explains TC2068 RGB is trivial because all four RGBI signals plus CSYNC are on the edge connector — 6 resistors + 3 diodes is enough.
All threads (57)
↳ marks a thread where this topic begins mid-conversation — the link jumps to the message where it starts.