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User Manual
Please read these instructions before attempting to connect or use the +3WiFi card!
Warning! Never plug in or remove the WiFi card while the machine is powered on! Doing so we most likely damage your computer and the card itself. You have been warned! We accept no responsibility for any damage caused to your machine caused by removing / inserting the card with power applied, or inserting the card upside down, or anything else silly.
Congratulations on purchasing the fastest WiFi adapter available for your ZX Spectrum +2A/+3! Prepare to connect your Spectrum to the information super-highway at blistering 56k speeds.
In all seriousness, thanks for purchasing a WiFi card from us, we really appreciate it! If you need any help or support with anything, please don't hesitate to contact us as hello@planet-retro.co.uk.
The WiFi card works by connecting to the printer port of a Spectrum +2A or +3. To get the most out of the card, the +3E ROMs and an IDE / Compact Flash interface card are recommended, as these will give you more storage space and built-in functionality to run snapshot files.
It is possible to load snapshots on a vanilla +2A/+3 by using the Z80 snapshot loader found here: https://worldofspectrum.org/zxplus3e/software.html
An alternative +3E ROM that supports loading TAP files can be found here: https://github.com/dejotaerre/p3e8b-tap-support
If you need +3E ROMs or an internal Simple IDE interface, please contact us at hello@planet-retro.co.uk.
If you do not have a Gotek (or other) floppy emulator, you'll need to purchase a disk with the software from us, or somehow write the disk image to a real disk to use on your +3/+2A.
You'll need a USB micro-B cable and suitable 5V USB PSU to power the WiFi card. These are not supplied.
Important: If using USB power to power the WiFi card (which is the default if you've not modded your Spectrum to power the card from the printer port edge connector) you should always 1) power on the Spectrum first, then 2) power on the WiFi card. The blue LED on the card should flash briefly when initially powered on. No damage will occur from powering the card first, then the Spectrum, but it will not start up correctly and will not connect to WiFi.
The +3WiFi card connects to the printer port of your Spectrum +2A/+3. Ensure your computer is switched off, and gently push the card socket on to the printer port edge connector until it's fully home. The WiFi adapter, jumpers and other components should be facing you (i.e. component + silk screen / writing face up).
The WiFi card is powered by an external USB cable, or via the printer port, with an internal modification to the Spectrum. Jumper J1 sets where the power comes from. When the jumper is set towards the USB port (i.e. pins 1 and 2 connected together), the card is powered via the USB socket. When the jumper is set closest to the Spectrum (pins 2 and 3 connected together), the card is powered via the ZX Spectrum itself.
The card is shipped with J1 pins 1 and 2 connected, i.e. USB port powered.
Note: Powering the card directly from the +2A/+3 printer port edge connector requires a wire to be soldered inside the Spectrum to bring 5v out to the port. Without this modification, the card must be powered via a USB cable. See below for more information.
If you did not order the WiFi set up + software disk along with your WiFi card, you'll need to download a disk image and either write it to a real disk, or use a Gotek (or similar) floppy emulator to set up the card. The latest disk image can be downloaded from here.
Once you have the disk or image available, use the Loader option from the Spectrum main menu if using drive A, or, if using drive B, drop in to +3 BASIC and run:
LOAD "B:": LOAD "DISK"
Once the program has loaded, you'll be presented with three options:
0. WiFi Config
1. Load uGophy
2. Load debug tool
If you've not done so before, you'll want to select option 0, which will allow you to enter your WiFi network details. Press '0' and enter your SSID and password. You'll be asked to confirm these are correct - double check them and press 'y' to write the 'IW.CFG' file to the current drive. This file is used by the other programs on the disk to connect to your WiFi network.
Once that's done, after a short delay you'll be bounced back to the main menu. From here, select option '2', which will attempt to connect to your WiFi network. If all is well, you'll eventually see a 'WiFi connected!' message, and the border will be green. At this point you can reset your machine and load uGophy (option '1' from the menu).
Note: Again, we take no responsibility for you damaging your machine of WiFi card. Do not do this modification unless you are confident with a soldering iron and know what you're doing!
A single wire can be soldered inside your Spectrum to power the WiFi card, negating the need for the external USB cable. Once the wire has been soldered, J1 can be set to pins 2-3 (closest to the Spectrum) to power the card.
A wire should be soldered from the +5V of the tape connector, to pin 15 (3rd pin from the right with the Spectrum facing you as normal, and the edge connector at the back). Please see the image below for a clear indication of where the wire should go.
Be very careful that once soldered the wire is not touching pins either side of pin 15!
More software will be available for the card in the future. For now a port of the excellent uGophy tool is provided, which will allow you to browse Gopher sites online. The keys to use are as follows:
- Up/Down arrow keys - Move up or down a line
- Left/Right array keys - Jump Back / Forwards a screen page
- 'b' - Go back one URL
- 'n' - Enter URL
- Space / Enter - Select item to view / download
The debug tool should always be run initially after setting up a new card, as it displays some useful information that can help us troubleshoot any issues, should they arise.
Some pointers for using the debug tool:
- The first text you see should be 'AT+RST' - this is the reset command being sent to the card. There will be a one second delay after this.
- After that things should happen quite quickly - you'll see border flashes to indicate we're talking to the card, as well as debug text appearing on the screen showing what commands we're sending.
- There will be another short delay after we send the SSID and password to the card, as it needs to join the network and be assigned an IP address
- If the process stops at any point with a black or red border, please double check your SSID and password are correct and try the 'WiFi Config' option again, if the problem persists, please take a photo of the debug output and send it to us (feel free to blur out your WiFi details).
If an application (uGophy or the debug tool) freezes with a static border colour, this can also be used to help diagnose any potential issues:
- Black border, non-responsive - Application may have crashed, possible WiFi card hardware fault
- Black or Red Border - Possible WiFi card hardware fault
- Magenta border - Software fault, most likely incorrect SSID / password or bad WiFi signal
If you're repeatedly seeing black / red borders and are unable to connect to WiFi, you should contact us.