ICE Felix HC 2000

Between 1992 and 1994 the Romanian company ICE Felix manufactured the HC 2000 microcomputer that came with a built-in floppy disk drive and there was a version with a built-in tape recorder.

Features

ManufacturerICE Felix
Country of originRomania
Manufactured1992 - 1994
Built-in languageSinclair BASIC
KeyboardFull stroke 51 keys
CPUZilog Z80A
CPU frequency3.5 MHz
RAM64 KB
ROM48 KB (BASIC interpreter (16K), CP/M BIOS (8K) and IF1 disk interface (8K)
Text modes32 chars x 24 lines (Spectrum mode) - 80 chars x 25 lines (CP/M mode)
Graphic modes256 x 192 pixels
Colors16 (8 colours in normal or bright modes)
SoundBeeper (10 octaves)
Dimensions50 (W) x 20 (D) x 6 (H) cm
I/O portsTV/RF, RGB, Joystick, ZX-Expansion Bus , Tape recorder, Power supply, RS-232 , external floppy disk drive
Built-in media3.5" floppy drive unit / 720Kb
Operating SystemSinclair BASIC or CP/M
Power supplyExternal power supply unit, +5V (for TTL chips), +12V, -12V (for the serial interface)

Chips

CPUZilog Z80 Z084004PSC
FDCCM609P 8839, Russian clone of Intel 8272
RAMIntersil ICM44C64-80
ROMIntel D27C256
FDD ROMIntel D27C256
FDD RAMHyundai HY6116ALP-10

Connectors

RS 232 connectorRGB connectorJoystick
1. CTS1. SHVL1. Left
2. DTR2. Ground2. Right
3. RxData3. Red3. Up
4. TxData4. Green4. Fire
5. Network Connection5. Blue5. n.c.
6. Serial ground6. Ground6. n.c.
7. Serial ground7. Composite Out7. Joystick 1 select
8. Serial ground8. Horizontal Sync8. Joystick 2 select
9. Network ground9. Vertical Sync9. Down
Edge ConnectorAudioPower
A15 - 1 - A141. In1. +9V
A13 - 2 - A122. Ground2. Ground
D7 - 3 - +5v3. Out3. Ground
NC - 4 - NC4. In4. +9V
SLOT - 5 - SLOT5. +5V5. +9V
D0 - 6 - GND6. Ground
D1 - 7 - GND7. Ground
D2 - 8 - CK8. +9V
D6 - 9 - A0
D5 - 10 - A1
D3 - 11 - A2
D4 - 12 - A3
INT - 13 - IORGE
NMI - 14 - GND
HALT - 15 - NC
MREQ - 16 - NC
IORQ - 17 - NC
RD - 18 - NC
WR - 19 - BUSRQ
NC - 20 - RESET
WAIT - 21 - A7
NC - 22 - A6
NC - 23 - A5
M1 - 24 - A4
RFSH - 25 - ROMCS
A8 - 26 - BUSACK
A10 - 27 - A9
NC - 28 - A11

Connecting to a display

Unless you want to use the ICE Felix display or a TV tuner, you can use the RGB video connector from the HC 2000 to convert the signal to VGA (CGA to VGA converter). One that is cheap and easy to use is Gonbes GBS-8220 CGA/EGA/YUV to VGA converter (manual ). Besides the converter, you will need a cable with a D-SUB 9 pin male connector at one side, that gets plugged into the HC 2000. The connections should be as following:

  • Red Video to Red Wire ( R )
  • Green Video to Green Wire ( G )
  • Blue Video to Blue Wire ( B )
  • Horizontal Sync to Gray Wire ( S )
  • Vertical Sync to Yellow Wire ( VS )
  • Ground to Black Wire

Another option is to take Composite Out (pin 7 from the D-SUB DE-9 video connector) and ground (pin 2) and route them to SCART or RCA connectors. If you’re going for a D-SUB DE-9 to RCA cable, pin 2 (DE-9) should go to RCA barrel and pin 7 (DE-9) to RCA central pin. A D-SUB DE-9 to SCART cable should connect pin 2 (DE-9) to pin 17 (SCART) and pin 7 (DE-9) to pin 19 (SCART).

Additional info