The Raspberry Pi in a Cassette

The entire Raspberry Pi Zero did not fit into the 80-year-old Sinclair ZX Spectrum cassette with the help of a cutting tool.

The British home computer ZX Spectrum has been used by many people since 1982 – as well as the Bastler Stuart Brand, which has a housing for the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W from one of the older cassettes. “Cassette shutters provide a large format factor,” says Magpi Magazine. However, the place is still there for a Raspberry Pi Zero button.

Raspberry Pi fits into a standard cassette

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The question was: How can the small computer be plugged into the cassette, without the aesthetics being lost and some parts of the magnetic straps being removed? You would have to cut a piece of Raspberry Pis with a dremel.

Four GPIO pins were secured so that the mainboard passes into the shaft. In another place, the bastler separated two of the four screwdrivers, so that the board could be placed in the linked corner of the cassette.

The pi also works, although a part of the board has been cut. “I’ve lost some GPIO ports. But that’s what it looks like to get the band right out,” said Bastler. In addition, there are several functional GPIO pins to connect the Pi with a power switch and an additional controller.

This is governed by two USB-A-ports, which support the Micro-USB-Port and Mini-HDMI of the Pi. Two other ports are available for analog audio and video signals and are directly connected to the Pi Zero. Closely want to close the 80’s hardware brand. At that time, USB was not widely available. For the locks and the Micro-SD card reader, add more loos to the cassette. Even a heat sink is still there.

To join the ZX Spectrum, Bastler installed the Deban-Variant Dietpi and launched the ZX Spectrum Emulator. “I had it closed in 16 seconds to the boot. The cooling body meant that I could safely charge Zero W and a couple of seconds later.”

The successful project now stands apart from a collection of various other retro devices. Dazu offers several cards, a convertible Game Boy and other handhelds with analog buttons. Brand next project is already on: a music box from the 80s, the cassettes are sold and so Retro-Games are played.

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