![]() ![]() In 1990, the development of an analogue of the Z80 was organized in Zelenograd near Moscow at the Scientific Research Institute of Precise Technology (NIITT) and the “Angstrem” plant. After all, the processor itself, developed in 1976 for the microelectronic industry, was not too complicated. Naturally, the thought arose, to start making the processor yourself. The “strapping” of the central processor instead of the original ULA microcircuit was done on small logic microcircuits of the 555 (74LS) series and the like, but the Z80 itself had to be bought from abroad. This article is largely from guest author Vladimir Yakovlev, translated from Russian, and edited/expanded by me.īy the end of the 80s – beginning of the 90s, clones of the British Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer, a simple, cheap computer with a huge library of games originally released in 1982, were being distributed in the USSR. It is this distinction we will focus on today They were though, seperate from the USSR’s own institutional system, so while East Germany had a working Z80 in the early 1980’s the USSR did not. East Germany was all in on the Z80, Romania, Poland and Czechoslovakia made clones of the 8080, Bulgaria, the 68. This resulted in some countries developing similar devices, at rather different times, or different countries focusing on different designs. ![]() They mainly supplied their own local markets (or within other Warsaw Pact countries) but also on occasion provided ICs to the USSR proper, though one would assume an assortment of bureaucratic paperwork was needed for such transfers. These countries had their own IC production, outside of the auspices and direction of the USSR. There were also the various Warsaw Pact countries ( Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania), that were aligned with the USSR but not part of it. In some ways these institutions competed, it was a matter of pride, and funding to come out with new and better designs, all within the confines of the Soviet system. These included analogs of various western parts, some with additional enhancements, as well as domestically designed parts. There were many state run institutions within the USSR that were tasked with making IC’s. Before we get into the fascinating story of the Soviet (specifically the Angstrem) Z80 clone it’s good to understand a bit about the IC industry in the USSR. ![]()
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