Speccy Tape App
This application by Wojciech Lazarski allows you to download tape images from the World of Spectrum website and “play” them, via the headphone jack of your iDevice into the home computer.
The application made me feel all warm and nostalgic inside. It displays the loading progress with the familiar beooping sounds and border patterns. I thought I’d try the app yesterday afternoon after completing the composite video modification…
At first I tried to connect the Spectrum to my iPhone using the tape leads supplied with the Spectrum. I could just about get the tape loading bars up on the Spectrum, but even with the volume cranked up I could not get the Spectrum to load the header.
At this point I wondered whether the iPhone was having issues with the tape leads; the 3.5mm jacks are mono and the iPhone clearly accepts a stereo jack with control line.
So I tried a stereo 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable I had lying around but with the same results as before.
At this point the problem was either with the Spectrum or the iPhone. I didn’t have a tape player handy to eliminate the Spectrum so decided to hit the Internet to see if there were any issues with the iPhone output.
It turns out that the application only works if you send an amplified signal to the Spectrum; the iPhone output alone is not sufficiently strong enough for the Spectrum to pick up. Which is a shame, as it would be quite neat to load directly off the iPhone as the app suggests.
Looks like I’ll need to source a cheap battery powered amp and revisit this app at some point…