Didaktik 
Didaktik Gama
dida_gama

Didaktik Gama

Produced in the Czecholovak republic in 1987, the Didaktik Gama is a straight forward ZX Spectrum clone, which were very popular in the Eastern European countries in Soviet times.

It had some unique features, such as 80KByte of RAM, which was switchable. It consisted of one block of 16K and two switchable blocks of 32K RAM. The CPU was a Z80 clone and it had a 16KByte ROM chip with a clone of the ZX Spectrum BASIC language

Didaktik started by cloning Tesla's PMD 85 computer, in an effort to make it faster. Then the company changed course and decided to clone a western model, the ZX Spectrum, because of it's popularity.

Sinclair BASIC

Sinclair BASIC was the dialect of the BASIC programming language developed for the ZX series of microcomputers produced by Sinclair Research in the early 1980s. It first appeared on the ZX80 and ZX81, and was later expanded for the ZX Spectrum. Its design reflected the hardware constraints of the machines it ran on, providing a compact interpreter that could fit into limited ROM space while still giving the user access to floating-point arithmetic, simple graphics, and sound on later models. Unlike some other home computer BASICs, Sinclair BASIC tightly integrated with the machine’s display and input system, allowing beginners to quickly see results of their programs.

One of its most distinctive features was the use of single-key keyword entry. Instead of typing out full commands like "PRINT" or "GOTO," users pressed a single key which inserted the entire keyword into the program. This approach minimized typing errors and sped up coding, but also made the system idiosyncratic compared to other BASIC implementations. Each key on the ZX Spectrum’s rubber keyboard had multiple keyword assignments, depending on whether it was pressed with shift or symbol shift, reflecting Sinclair’s attempt to maximize functionality from a minimal physical keyboard design.

Sinclair BASIC also included support for graphics and sound, at least on the Spectrum, which made it more versatile than the versions on the earlier ZX80 and ZX81. Commands like PLOT, DRAW, and SOUND allowed users to build interactive programs and games directly in BASIC, which was important since many Spectrum owners learned to program through it. However, it was slower than machine code, so commercial games typically bypassed it in favor of assembly language. Despite its limitations, Sinclair BASIC became a formative language for a generation of programmers in the UK and Europe, and it remains closely tied to the legacy of low-cost home computing in the 1980s.

CPU - The Zilog Z80

The Z80 quickly became popular in the personal computer market, with many early personal computers, such as the TRS-80 and Sinclair ZX80, using the Z80 as their central processing unit (CPU). It was also widely used in home computers, such as the MSX range, SORD, and the Amstrad CPC, as well as in many arcade games. Additionally, it was also used in other applications such as industrial control systems, and embedded systems. The Z80 was widely used until the mid-1980s, when it was gradually replaced by newer microprocessors such as the Intel 80286 and the Motorola 68000.

The Z80 microprocessor was developed by Zilog, a company founded by Federico Faggin in 1974. The Z80 was released in July 1976, as a successor to the Intel 8080. It was designed to be fully compatible with the 8080, but also included new features such as an improved instruction set, more powerful interrupts, and a more sophisticated memory management system.

Originally the Z80 was intended for use in embedded systems, just as the 8080 CPU. But the combination of compatibility, superior performance to other CPUs of the era, and the affordability led to a widespread use in arcade video game systems, and later in home computers such as the Osborne 1, TRS-80, ColecoVision, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Sega's Master System and many more. The Z-80 ran the original Pac-Man arcade cabinet. The Z-80 was used even in the Game Gear (1990s), and the TI-81 and succeeding graphic calculators.

The Z-80 remained in production until June of 2024, 48 years after its original release. Zilog replaced the processor with its successor the eZ80, an 8-bit microprocessor that features expanded memory addressing up to 16 megabytes, and running up to 50MHz, comparable to a Z80 clocked at 150MHz.

Technical Details
Released 1987
Country Russia
Brand Didaktic
Type Didaktik
Name Didaktik Gama
CPU Class Z80
CPU Z80A @3.5MHz
Memory RAM: 80kB
Sound Chip none
Sound 1-bit sound
Display Chip none
Display 32x24 text, 256x192 graphics
Best Text 32x24
Best Color none
Graphics 256x192
Sprites none
System OS Sinclair BASIC
External Links 🌐
Didaktik Gama - English
Wikipage for the Didaktik Gama - English
Didaktik Gama - Czech
Wikipage for the Didaktik Gama - Czech
Z80 CPU
Wikipedia page on the very popular Z80 8-bit CPU used in many computers of the 1980's era.