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icon14.gif  Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #2] Sat, 31 October 2015 21:21 Go to next message
Andrew B is currently offline  Andrew B
Messages: 467
Registered: October 2015
Location: Near Redmond, WA
Senior Member
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Hello fellow homebrew computer enthusiasts! Welcome to the new RBC forum.

I'll be making a few threads to cover different topics, but I thought it might be fun to start the next phase of our group with some new introductions for everyone.

I'm only 30 so I missed the eras of the S-100-type compueters and the early PCs, but my the first computer my family had was an IBM 5150 that a friend gave us (formerly owned by someone who had worked at IBM's chip fab in Burlington, VT) It had all of the manuals and original IBM software, so it gave me a pretty good start on retro computers. We progressed through another used 8088 (an Epson Equity 1 with the full 640k and CGA) and a Northgate 286, before I finally convinced my family to buy a brand new PC. Even after we had a new family PC, the first PC I had that was just mine was a Packard Bell 486. So I've used a range of different eras of hardware.

The programming skills I learned in BASICA eventually go upgraded to QuickBASIC, then in college to MATLAB and Python. My work is as a mechanical/propulsion engineer designing/building spacecraft subsystems (there's some parts I built when I was at JPL on Mars right now with the Curiosityrover , and now I'm working on the new Dragon 2 crewed spacecraft at SpaceX), but I've gotten a lot out of the skills the original PC gave me in terms of not being scared to write some code to make a job easier or build a board to interface mechanical hardware to electrical hardware.

So far I've built the V1 Zeta+PartPortProp, John's 12-slot backplane for the 505-6058 chassis, the SBC-188, 4MEM, and Color VDU boards, as well as the Spare Time Gizmos SBC-6120 PDP-8 SBC (I'd love to bring a 6120 board into the fold of our ECB bus!Wink. On the S-100 side I just finished Ant's 18-slot backplane and I've got a backlog of the S-100 boards to build a new-build S-100 system. I also distributed the run of 65 of the 6x0x-ATX-6U boards all over the world. I've got a vintage Vector Graphic MZ that I spent a lot of time getting running again - finally got ahold of the matching Mindless Terminal this fall.

Andrew B.

[Updated on: Sun, 30 September 2018 14:38]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #5 is a reply to message #2] Sun, 01 November 2015 05:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
rcini is currently offline  rcini
Messages: 57
Registered: October 2015
Location: Long Island, NY
Member
Hi Andrew!

I, too, missed the original S100 boat, instead coming in with the Commodore VIC-20. Years later, I got into the "vintage computing" hobby by collecting machines that I used when I was a kid (mostly Commodore), moved to minicomputers (the PDP-11...I knew people in the Temple University CS department) and then moved to S100 when I got an Altair followed by an IMSAI. Around that time, I discovered an Altair emulator program written by a guy at Microsoft (which was mostly blinkenlights) which I took over and made the Altair32.

After that, I decided to start building "new" vintage stuff and discovered the ECB Z80 board built by Andrew Lynch. The rest, as they say, is history. Since then I've built systems based on the original Z80 board, the 80188 and the 68k. All great boards to work with.

Glad to be aboard.

Rich


Rich Cini
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #6 is a reply to message #2] Sun, 01 November 2015 06:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
martin_h is currently offline  martin_h
Messages: 1
Registered: October 2015
Junior Member
Hi, I'm 50, so I was a teen when the Apple II and the various CP/M systems were in their prime. So I have a fondness for all the eight bit systems of that era.

I've built a 6502 using Rich Cini's PCB and I am in the process of building a mini-68k system. Since I'll have the backplane and I/O board I'll probably build a Z80 machine down the road and figure out a way to switch back and forth.

I'm also part of an online robot building community, and we post videos of the robots doing various challenges that group members come up with. I also plan to post some additional retro computer videos as well.
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #7 is a reply to message #2] Sun, 01 November 2015 10:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
herman is currently offline  herman
Messages: 1
Registered: October 2015
Junior Member
As for me, I'm 62 years old, cut my teeth on what are now considered retrocomputers. First computer was a Netronics Elf with a whole 4K ram. Getting back into constructing the retrocmputers.

From this group, I've built the V1 Zeta+ParPortProp. Working on the 6x0-ATX single board computer. Hardware completed, just need to burn the software.

Also working on the FPGA multicomp board by Moxham et al.

Looking forward to working through this new forum.

Herman
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #11 is a reply to message #7] Sun, 01 November 2015 17:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
sarah is currently offline  sarah
Messages: 15
Registered: October 2015
Junior Member
Hi All,

I spent my teenage years in the Apple II era, with CP/M via Microsoft SoftCard. My first PC was a kit from Heathkit... '85 or '86 I think. I designed and built a couple of little single board computers in that era, too. Then got pulled into mostly-software for a few decades... I started a second phase of electronics tinkering not quite a decade ago; that time I got an amateur radio license and built an Elecraft K2 before getting pulled away by other things. Now apparently I'm starting the third phase of my electronics tinkering career!

I'm pretty much a newcomer to the N8VEM stuff. My first SBC V2 booted up on the first try last weekend! I'm in the process of ordering more ECB boards to play with.

I also have a little board for the Signetics 2650 CPU in the works. Maybe. It's my first pcb design ever, and the first time I've ever sent anything to a board house, and I didn't build a prototype first, so we'll see how it goes. If it works (or is fixable!) I'll be able to run Signetics' PIPBUG monitor rom on it. I've also put together a little 2650 assembler in Python so I can adjust the code, initially just to be able to change the memory map.

I hope the forum/wiki transition is sorted out soon; it feels like I'm jumping in just as things are starting to fragment and fall apart!

Sarah
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #18 is a reply to message #11] Tue, 03 November 2015 08:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
martin8bity is currently offline  martin8bity
Messages: 21
Registered: October 2015
Location: Kurim
Junior Member
Hi All,

I am 44 and from Eastern Europe, so I experienced some of 8-bit computers in late 80's as a teenager. I have never heard of 8-bit Apple nor S100 computers till few years ago when I started to discover US computers. And I like it much. I built most of the N8VEM boards, SCELBI 8H replica, Cosmac Elf 2000 and SBC6120+IOB6120+FP6120 by Spare Time Gizmos. I used to use CP/M on Z80 Sharp MZ-800 and play games on my friends' ZX Spectrum, Atari 800XL or Commodore C64. The Sharp MZ-800 is still my favorite computer and there is quite a lot going on here around it. We created some interface replicas and there is Unicard emulating floppy, RAMdisk and Quick Disk interfaces, adding VGA and Ethernet to this old computer.

Martin


www.8bity.cz
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #24 is a reply to message #18] Fri, 06 November 2015 04:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ewout is currently offline  ewout
Messages: 30
Registered: October 2015
Member
Hello All,

I am 22 and had some very enjoyable childhood experiences with a lot of systems in the mid 90s which my parents got through their work in the computer industry. So as you can guess my love for computers and electronics started very early...
A few I can remember:
- The Philips P2000 (z80 with both CP/M and some proprietary OS)
- S100 based machine (connected to the Philips)
- VME based machine (connected to the Philips)
- A lot of Tulip Intel based computers: system I/Extend (8086), At Compact (80286) and Tulip TR (80386)

Currently studying Studied Embedded System Engineering, mostly the same as Electrical Computer Engineering but more realtime OS and MCU/PLC related. Furthermore still studying for my amateur radio license so I can finally do fun things with (long range) Packet Radio and LoRa for IoT, as I now can't broadcast with more than 200mW legally.

Also I am pretty new to the whole RBC/retro community, besides having build 8051, Z80 and AVR32 based microcomputers and robots for various college assignments.
Planning to build the ECB Z180 SBC Mark IV and the ECB MC68030 CPU boards together with a few boards. (Got the PropIOv3, DualSD, DiskIOv3, MF/PIC, AD/IO and the Bus Monitor.Wink Looking forward to play with CP/M and Fuzix on The Mark IV and with (Net)BSD and (uc)Linux on the MC68030.

[Updated on: Tue, 21 February 2017 00:47]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #26 is a reply to message #24] Fri, 06 November 2015 18:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
computronik is currently offline  computronik
Messages: 5
Registered: October 2015
Location: Spain
Junior Member
Hi all, my first contact with a computer was when I was 16 years old with a MSX , now I have 43 years old .
One of my hobbies was collecting computers for example Amstrad, commodore , zx-spectrum , Msx ..... but when I finished my studies I found that electronic repair and build computers was much more fun.

I have built about a dozen N8VEM pcb´s including the ZETA project from Sergey Kiselev .

I love the CP/M era ! Smile

Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #39 is a reply to message #2] Sun, 08 November 2015 14:35 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jgalinat is currently offline  jgalinat
Messages: 2
Registered: November 2015
Location: New Jersey, USA
Junior Member
Hi everyone,
I am 58 years old and my first computer was an IMSAI 8080 that I built from a kit in 1977. While I had decent soldering skills because of a 2 year electronics degree from a local junior college, I had never built a kit of this magnitude before so I was amazed that it worked on power up. I remember soldering 1600 pins for the 22 slot S-100 backplane in one evening. I started with a Tarbell cassette interface but soon after purchased the North Star floppy disk system. Each disk only held 90k but it was so much more versatile compared to cassette. I sold the system in the early 1980's to purchase an Apple][+. One unique feature of my Apple ][+ system was that I had a Vista A800 floppy controller on it running dual 8" drives. Each DSDD drive stored 1.2MB vs 170K for the Apple Disk ][ under DOS 3.3. Another nice feature of the controller was that if you had a Microsoft Z-80 Softcard installed, you could run CP/M and read & write the CP/M standard SSSD 241Kb disks (77 tracks, one head, 26 each 128 byte sectors per track) to interchange with other 8" drive CP/M systems. I still have that Apple system and have purchased a couple of IMSAI machines in order to restore them to operating condition so I can relive the old days.

Since I enjoy building boards, I have various N8VEM boards either fully or partially completed. The latest board I have built is Josh Bensadon's 8080 AIR (Altair IMSAI Replacement) board. Lately I have been using Josh's built in monitor program to test the stack of 4k, 8k, 16k and 64k boards I have accumulated over the past copy of years. I now have a stack of good boards to restore a system with and a stack that needs some further attention but I am making progress.

Admittedly I am not much of a programmer but I do enjoy building & experimenting with hardware interfacing and have written some small machine language & BASIC programs to test the hardware out.

Normally I am not so verbose but I figured I would give the full story about my interests in retro computing.
Regards,
Jeff Galinat in NJ
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #41 is a reply to message #39] Mon, 09 November 2015 02:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jgalinat is currently offline  jgalinat
Messages: 2
Registered: November 2015
Location: New Jersey, USA
Junior Member
in my prior post I wrote:

[Each DSDD drive stored 1.2MB vs 170K for the Apple Disk ][ under DOS 3.3.]

This is a typo and should have said 140k for the Disk ][.

Jeff
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #54 is a reply to message #41] Wed, 11 November 2015 09:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
w9gb is currently offline  w9gb
Messages: 55
Registered: October 2015
Location: Chicago, IL
Member
Hello All --

Involved with Electronics since 1970, that started with SW radio, electrical work, and high school shop electronics.
Built my first Heathkits in 1971 and electrically wired the farm's barn in 1970 (local electrican impressed).
I still repair Weller soldering stations from this era.
--
So, I started with real drafting boards and slide-rules ... by 1973 the first 4-function hand calculators (Bomar, TI SR-10) at ~ $100.
Trips to University of Illinois (no HAL) saw the early Illiac and CDC Plato system.
In Spring 1974, we were shown the first Intel 4004 IC (ceramic, gold pins) in classroom.
Over the next 5-6 years, I spent more time with scientific programming & computing (WATFIV Fortran, CDC Basic, SPSS) and
reading about the Altair, IMSAI, Apple, etc. developments and later seeing early Atari (more game machine than computing).
Hardware building was limited during this period.
---
By 1980, working as an academic advisor -- some exposure to Radio-Shack's early models (1, 2, 4) and TI-99/4.
In graduate school, I purchased an IBM-XT computer and worked with first 3Com Ethernet network with an Altos 586 file server (8086, 10MHz) and various languages, Pascal, C, Basic, Lindo, some Assembler, and early PC packages dBase II, Lotus 1-2-3, WordStar, and early MS Word.
Many of my colleagues had CP/M systems (Heathkit H-100; Kaypro 2/4; NorthStar; home-built S-100 systems) --
ironically I had skipped that step -- starting with 8088/8086 systems -- and approached as clean slate.
During my summer work in 1984 saw the Apple Macintosh introduction (after Apple III disaster).
My specialty work for 15 years were the communication interconnects (analog modems, LAN, early frame-relay, and fibre-optics).
Professional work sprinkled along with variety personal and mini-computers (and OS, languages) from: Pr1me, DEC, Tandem, IBM, Honeywell, AT&T, and HP
---
So, been working with Intel/DOS/Windows environment for 30+ years.
In the late 1980s, worked for 5 years with a variety of Steve Ciarcia's and MicroMint embedded systems (Z80, Z180).
Looking to build a few of the 8-bit systems that I saw or worked with -- but did not DIY build at that time (poor college student).

greg
Chicago

[Updated on: Fri, 13 November 2015 07:58]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #104 is a reply to message #54] Thu, 03 December 2015 16:43 Go to previous messageGo to next message
nealcrook is currently offline  nealcrook
Messages: 127
Registered: October 2015
Location: UK
Senior Member
Hi,

I grew up around the time that Microprocessors were starting to be discussed in the electronics press. I build a Z80-based NASCOM 2 from a kit (the best money my father ever invested in my education) and learned digital electronics and programming from the complete documentation that came with it and from the friendly group of people who I met as a result. These days, I feel nostalgia for the 6809 homebrew system that I sketched out at University but never built. Grant Searle's Multicomp FPGA-based design showed me that I didn't need to dream any longer. I now have a derivative of his hardware to which I have ported FORTH, CUBIX, FLEX and NITROS9. All the RTL and the software is available from my github site.

Neal
UK.
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #106 is a reply to message #104] Fri, 04 December 2015 00:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ian-may is currently offline  ian-may
Messages: 12
Registered: October 2015
Junior Member
Hi,

The first microprocessor I encountered was the MC6800 in 1980 as part of my University degree. We used D2 kits and a cross-assembler on a CDC mainframe. Teletypes were used to punch paper tapes and then to load programs into the D2 kit. In 1981 I bought my first "personal computer" an RCA VIP with a CDP1802. After that I started building my own custom systems mainly using wire wrap. I built 6800, 6809, 1802 and Z80 machines. I built a "portable" Z80 CP/M 2.2 system in a discarded Oscilloscope case with two half height 5.25 inch floppies and a 5 inch green phosphor CRT (which was perfectly readable at 80x24). Next were some of the Rockwell "65" series machines R6511, R6541 and R65FR11 (which has a Forth kernel in on-chip ROM). My fun was finally over when I got a new job and had to start writing programs for MSDOS in both assembler and Turbo C with all the joys of near/far/huge pointers and the various memory models to choose from all courtesy of the brilliance of Intel.

Ian.
Adelaide South Australia
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #268 is a reply to message #106] Wed, 13 January 2016 14:12 Go to previous messageGo to next message
kyeakel is currently offline  kyeakel
Messages: 4
Registered: January 2016
Junior Member
Hi,
I started out programming an IBM Series 1 computer in the late 70's, the first home computer I bought was a Timex Sinclair 1000. Over the years I had TI-99a and the Commodore 64, I then transitioned to the IBM PC, AT, PS2, etc. I now collect and repair many computers, last count I have over 250 computers, most working. I was a member of the N8 forums and have built the ECB computer, backplane, DSKY. I also have built at least 20 of the S100 boards that were offered as well. My current project is completing the N8 home computer I bought but never had time to get to. It was a surprise when I went back to my old links and none of the N8 stuff was working anymore. I looked on this forum and the wiki but didn't see much related to the N8-2312. Hopefully someone here can get me pointed to the last known working ROM and other files to bring it up..

Kipp
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #287 is a reply to message #268] Fri, 29 January 2016 12:40 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Sergey is currently offline  Sergey
Messages: 236
Registered: October 2015
Location: Portland, OR
Senior Member
Hi All,

I've got introduced to computers in mid 80's when I was about 10 years old. I was somewhat lucky: not many people in Soviet Union had access to computers at that time, and both of my parents had computers at work. During that time home computer was mostly a dream, although a few years later several magazines started publishing DIY computer projects: Specialist, Radio 86RK, UT-88 to name a few. They all were based on KR580VM80A (Intel 8080A clone). I had a dream of building my own computer since then, but it took quite some time to realize it...
In late 80's parents bought me a factory made 8080A computer. It was somewhat frustrating - no graphics, bad keyboard. And soon a few of my friends got ZX Specturm clones with nice colorful games, so I was kind of jealous. My tape recorder failed too, so I had no ability to load software, and so I had to learn 8080 opcodes to program it directly from the monitor Smile
Later on (in a few years) I had a ES1841 computer (XT compatible, with 20MB hard drive!), which I earned while working at a small business that bought a railroad car full of these computers. As everything soviet-made nothing worked out of the box, so I had to take these computers apart, test the components on known working system, and then rebuild them.
Then I had (and still have) multiple AT compatibles, anything from 386DX40 to the latest Intel Core i7 Smile And while I built most of them myself, what is exactly the fun in building computers from readily made blocks - motherboards and controllers. So I was really excited when I saw Andrew L. Z80 SBC project: I liked the design, and the fact that the PCB was affordable. So in early 2009 I've ordered the PCB and built it. That was followed by building the backplane and Disk I/O (oh boy, that data separator was difficult to find and expensive).
Next I designed my own Intel 8088 based XT compatible board, somewhat using the ideas from Z80 SBC (e.g. SRAM instead of DRAM). This was followed by Zeta SBC, which was designed as a simpler to build, standalone alternative to Z80 SBC. Next I designed EBC Disk I/O V3 board, and several ISA adapters to extend my XT board (OPL2 card, floppy controller, XT CF Lite v4, Super VGA). I also made respins for the XT board (now named Xi 8088), and Zeta SBC - the V2, which adds Z80 CTC, includes more modern FDC, and has more flexible memory management.

I've been quite busy with work and life for the last half a year, but I am still around. I am trying to migrate documentation for the boards that I've designed to RetroBrew Wiki as time allows (anyone wants to help?! Smile).

It is nice to see all of you here. And huge "thank you" to Andrew B. for keeping this project running.
- Sergey

[Updated on: Fri, 29 January 2016 12:41]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #378 is a reply to message #2] Fri, 26 February 2016 08:25 Go to previous messageGo to next message
drs is currently offline  drs
Messages: 1
Registered: February 2016
Junior Member
Hello,

my name is Claudio and I am from Austria. Now 30 years old I have SBC and DiskIO boards before me, ready to be soldered (backplane got caught up in customs).
Building a computer from scratch was on my mind since I was about 10 but all my ventures have either been doomed by my lack of skill at the time or by the time needed to make it work. So a big thanks to all the people that contributed to this project(s) and so shifting the threshhold to actually building a working computer into my reach.
I am building 2 units with a friend, nothing too special SBC V2 with the x8 backplane and DiskIO in a first step, I hope to make a working Network interface in a second (Did this with an atmega before).

My iron is hot now, about to start...
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #549 is a reply to message #378] Fri, 22 April 2016 04:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
creep is currently offline  creep
Messages: 17
Registered: April 2016
Location: Germany
Junior Member
Hello,

newly registered (but already reading longer) in this forum, I'd like to introduce myself, first.

46 years old, I might just be the average or below in this kind of forum. I started experiments with electronics when I was 10 years old, the usual radios, amplifiers, etc.

When I discovered literature about microprocessors (East German Z80 clones) I knew, this would be my future field!
My first computer was an LC-80 (Z80 with calculator like keyboard and 6 digital displays) which made it necessary to learn all the most important Z80 opcodes and was really a good way to understand what's going on inside a computer. My second was a second hand "Amateurcomputer AC-1" which was built after an article series in an East-German magazine. This was a "real" Z80 computer with keyboard, TV connection and still the chance to make a lot of modifications.

In '87 I got my ATARI 600XL, later an ATARI 800XE. Suddenly, the Z80 computers were suspended. During this time, I was in high school and learning a profession. At home with ATARI, at work with CP/M computers, like BC5120 and the "Unix" machine P8000, I learned to program Z80 as well as 6502 processors.

After '89, I first upgraded to ATARI ST, later Commodore Amiga, finally PC. I never again was so involved like I was with the 8-bitters.

After many years just using computers, I first came back to having fun again with the beasts of my youth. I'm active in an ATARI club, I have several other retro computers. But over the years I was always thinking of how to build another Z80 computer. First chance was when I discovered Grant Searle's fantastic web page. I build the FPGA system with the Cyclone II and couldn't believe how simple it is to build (and modify) a fully working CP/M system, nowadays. By the way, I just received my order of 10 PCBs taken from the WIKI material. If anyone still needs one ...

Now, I am setting up the real Z80 computer on a bread board. First part is working fine, I will continue step by step.

This was also the reason to register here. I'm sure, I will run into problems or have questions how to make things better. My next target is to have a Z80 SBC with a bus interface which allows to add components like additional I/O, sound chip, graphics, ...

It is really amazing how much fun it can be to dive into some technology you left many years ago, thinking newer must be better!

Besides, I am working as a research engineer for a big TV manufacturer. First developing digital TV software (low-level), now unfortunately more preparing Excel and PowerPoint sheets.

René


Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #555 is a reply to message #549] Sat, 23 April 2016 15:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Garth is currently offline  Garth
Messages: 29
Registered: April 2016
Location: Southern California
Junior Member
Thankyou Andrew for the membership.

My early interest in electronics was mainly analog, but I took a 6502 class in 1982. My interest in computers started in 1984 when I was working in applications engineering at a VHF/UHF power transistor manufacturer. There was plenty of repetitive testing to be done using a lot of lab instrumentation, and automating the process with a computer controlling the equipment and taking data was very attractive.

There was a ton of wonderful IEEE-488 test equipment to drool over in the thick, hard-bound Hewlett-Packard catalog that came every year. I couldn't afford it, but it didn't take a genius to see the possibilities with making my own computer and rigging up inexpensive substitutes with A/D and D/A converter ICs, relay outputs, etc.. Although my first home-made computer (1985) worked, it was far bigger and more complex than it needed to be, and wasn't very useful. I did learn a lot about what would be good though. I made my first really useful one, with a 65c02, in 1993, and have improved it a lot in the 23 years since then. I've used it in the development of a lot of products for our company that makes communications equipment for private aircraft, in controlling experiments with new ICs and analog circuits, taking data, programming microcontrollers, etc.. In between, one of the rounds of automated test equipment I designed, built, and programmed for my employer around 1991 was based on STD bus ("STD" stands for "Simple To Design"), and used a 65c02 SBC for controlling everything.

I'm starting to build a new workbench computer, this time in a half-rack-width 3U Eurocard cage, and more of everything--speed, memory, I/O bits, A/D and D/A channels and their precision, bigger display and keyboard, much better portability, etc.. It will use the 14MHz 65816 processor, perhaps dual, and hopefully reaching 20MHz, rather than the 65c02.

I have a 6502 website at http://wilsonminesco.com/ with loads of 6502 (& related) microprocessor articles, primers, tutorials, and links. Much of it can be transferred to other processor families. There's a list of 86 of my own articles here. To support the hobby, I provide 4-megabyte 10ns 5V very hobbyist-friendly SRAM modules, plus tiny SPI-10 flash modules, and hope to provide more small modules in the future to aid in the construction of home computers.


http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources

[Updated on: Wed, 29 November 2017 01:21]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #569 is a reply to message #555] Mon, 25 April 2016 12:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
biged is currently offline  biged
Messages: 9
Registered: April 2016
Junior Member
Hi - just registered recently when this forum got a mention over on 6502.org (which turned out, I think, not to be the first mention.)

I'm a 6502 fan but also interested in all computer history from the abacus onward. I haven't built very much, perhaps the most successful project being a joint one which put a 65816 into a BBC Micro (in fact in several ways, from nearly trivial on a stripboard to something more interesting on a PCB, with a CPLD.) Most recent hardware adventure was building a PiDP-8 kit, again as a joint project.

I got interested in computers before I even had a calculator, but my first computer was a Compukit UK101. After than a Beeb, and some years later an Amiga 500. The Compukit was a kit, and my first major soldering project. It didn't work at first but I revisited all the joints and that fixed it. I don't think I even had a logic probe or multimeter at the time so I'm not sure what I would have done by way of diagnosis, if I'd needed to.

Very nice to see this active forum and wiki!

[Updated on: Mon, 25 April 2016 13:29]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #759 is a reply to message #2] Wed, 08 June 2016 04:51 Go to previous messageGo to next message
tobster is currently offline  tobster
Messages: 11
Registered: June 2016
Location: Denmark
Junior Member
Hi all,

Found this great forum a couple of weeks ago when searching for m68k-related info and stumbled upon John Coffman's KISS-68030.

I'm 38, got interested in computers when I got a C128 back in 1987. Moved on to PC's in the early 90's and later to all sorts of different platforms through my work.

I have also been tinkering with electronics for as long as I can remember. When I was 15-16, I built a Z80-based single board computer which resurfaced last year when I was cleaning out the attic. Plugging it in and seeing that it still works and remembering how much I learned when I built it, sparked an urge to build a more advanced SBC.

So right now I am building a 68030-based computer from scratch with the final goal of getting it to run Linux.

I will soon post a separate topic about this project.
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #1033 is a reply to message #2] Tue, 16 August 2016 04:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
JonB is currently offline  JonB
Messages: 92
Registered: August 2016
Location: UK
Member
Hi

I just joined your forum after being pointed this way by a poster over on the VCF forums. I have the same handle over there (and on *. too). I'm British, live on the south coast of England and middle aged, which means I went through the 80's computer revolution. I learned CESIL, then BASIC. The first machine I laid hands on was a Research Machines 380Z that my school had acquired. It was so precious they kept it locked up in its own little room. My first computer was a ZX81 which I built myself from a kit. I soon learned how limited it was! I did an A level in computing, writing code on a 4032 PET and used CP/M with Wordstar quite a bit. Along the way I acquired a ZX Spectrum and Atari ST, but when the '90s PC boom kicked off, I offloaded all the old toys and had a PC (oh how boring). Later on I programmed system software for flight simulators, then became a computer contractor and worked in the City (of London) for various banks as a programmer. Then, about five years ago, I thought I'd get an ST from eBay to see if I was still interested in computing for fun. That turned out to be an unwise move, as I was bitten by a "collector bug" and now have a fairly extensive collection of retro computers crammed into my study.

Some time ago I stumbled across Grant Searle's site and built a Micro UK101. I had a few days doing the point to point wiring, then a real struggle to get it actually working (the clock was reluctant to tick). This was my first foray into proper digital electronics and although it was frustrating at times, eventually I was rewarded by the sight of the BASIC prompt in a Hyperterm window. Since then I have done a few interesting things, mostly repairing broken 8 bit machines, acquiring the tools required along the way (Z80 ICE, scope, signal monitor, etc). The most epic repair was a Philips P2000C, which is a portable CP/M computer with twin drives and a 9" display. I picked it up for £24 from eBay and the repair work took months but I learned an awful lot doing it (the most important lesson was to walk away from it when getting stuck, and return later with a fresh mind). Now it takes pride of place on my desk and is fittedf with a SCSI2SD card, because it has a SASI port and I wanted a hard drive. Smile

At some point I saw Grant's Cyclone II Multicomp design, and thought I'd have a go at building the CP/M version. I got it running and am now looking to improve on it, which is how I ended up here...

Regards
JonB
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #1037 is a reply to message #1033] Tue, 16 August 2016 10:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
eagletg is currently offline  eagletg
Messages: 3
Registered: August 2016
Junior Member
Thanks for approving my membership! I, too, am one of the VCF guys (but don't hold that against me). I have the same username over there. I'm interested in development of 6502 stuff using a Cyclone II-C.

My first machine was a TI-99/4A. My second was a Commodore 64, after that, a 128! I'm a big computer nerd, and have kept the old stuff around, added to it, and am really back into it now as a hobby.

Will be starting a thread shortly looking for a PCB or offering to make a batch of them and then distribute. Have a few questions first, so those will be covered in my post.
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #1093 is a reply to message #1037] Tue, 06 September 2016 23:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
bingo600 is currently offline  bingo600
Messages: 16
Registered: September 2016
Location: Denmark
Junior Member
Thanx for letting me in.

I'm a 50'ish hobby electronics guy from Denmark.

My first PC was made around 80' and was a 6800/6809 (PCB's made , but self solder) Flex system , made by a Swede- CÅ.
Had to go 20 years ago,when i got my new "Boss .. aka married".

So i felt 20 again when i saw that i could get a new one , but smaller & faster.

I just finished a CycloneII-C system , thanx to forum user nealcrook , who sold me the "MoBo" pCB.

Incredible that one can get a working Flex system for $40

My preferred PC OS is : Linux Mint (Mate)

/Bingo


I prefer linux

[Updated on: Tue, 06 September 2016 23:56]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #1158 is a reply to message #1093] Mon, 19 September 2016 11:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
altairian is currently offline  altairian
Messages: 1
Registered: September 2016
Junior Member
Hi all,

I'm happy to be joining the forum. Back in the mid 70s I had an Altair 8800b that I used while
I was setting up a business selling microcomputers. Somewhere along the way, I lost my ship,
but after wandering around in the desert for 40 years or so, I recently stumbled across an IMSAI 8080
which I am in the process of restoring. I'm hoping that members of this forum will be able
to help me with advice on how to get it going again.

[Updated on: Mon, 19 September 2016 11:01]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #1515 is a reply to message #1158] Thu, 19 January 2017 16:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
smbaker is currently offline  smbaker
Messages: 49
Registered: January 2017
Member
I started sometime back in the 1980s, with a Coco-2. In my mid teens I was writing BBS games on my Tandy 1000. From there I just went to newer and newer PC clones.

These days I'm a programmer by trade, but I still enjoy tinkering with hardware. I've done a lot of projects with the Raspberry Pi and the Parallax Propeller. I've built a Zeta V2. I've built an RC2014 and a dozen or so cards for it. The next thing I plan on building is an Xi 8088. A PC/XT-powered Nixie Tube Clock would make almost no practical sense, so I'll probably make one.

Scott
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #1553 is a reply to message #1515] Wed, 01 February 2017 14:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
josiahw is currently offline  josiahw
Messages: 1
Registered: January 2017
Junior Member
Hi all,

I pretty much missed the 8 bit era (the first computer I programmed on was a Mac Classic), but I've just finished my PhD and and looking for some interesting learning projects in my spare time. I work mostly with mathematical software and machine learning, so learning OS development is a nice and different diversion. There is definitely something magical about older hardware that can be built and understood. I am currently traveling, but beginning research and design to build a Z80 based machine and hopefully play with Fuzix when I have a work area again.

Josiah.
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #1578 is a reply to message #1553] Mon, 06 February 2017 00:56 Go to previous messageGo to next message
supremespod is currently offline  supremespod
Messages: 2
Registered: February 2017
Location: UK
Junior Member

Hello all!

As way of introduction, I've been involved in the development of software since I was 12 - I'm now hurtling towards my 50th Birthday.

Having seen computers head the way of cars - you lift the bonnet(hood - for my cousins across the sea) and all you see is a plastic cover with the words "Do Not Disturb" I feel that by joining the "RetroBrew" community I'm rekindling my youth, back to the days of 8-bit!

My current list of home builds includes a couple of RC2014s(Z80), an L-Star (65c02) and numerous add on boards designed by Dr Scott Baker.

I'd like to thank Dr Scott Baker for his excellent designs and tutorials, Jac Goudsmit for the excellent L-Star kit, Spencer Owen for the RC2014 and Todd Goodman for his help regarding the Zeta 2 that I'm currently building.

Mark.
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #1999 is a reply to message #1578] Sat, 11 March 2017 15:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
mikemac is currently offline  mikemac
Messages: 249
Registered: March 2017
Senior Member
Hi,

I'm in my late 50's. Mostly a SW guy. I've ported BSD to a MIPS M1000, ported Linux to a NEC VR4122, Qualcomm Hexagon, and brought Linux up on many different boards. Did my Master's thesis on VLSI design rule checking and worked on several VLSI tool suites over the years. Wrote a bare metal x86 hypervisor for security.

I had a Sinclair ZX81. I have a Altair 8800 in the garage waiting to be refurbished. Currently working with Renesas Synergy S7 during the day. At night I'm playing with designing a MC68SEC000 16MHz board with up to 12MB of RAM, 3+MB of flash, plus 16550, plus x, y, z, plus a bus, plus ..... Feature creep! Smile

Still lust after my old Sun 3/60m. Best Unix box ever for SW devel. But pales in comparison to my Symbolics Lispm!



Mike
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #2141 is a reply to message #1999] Wed, 29 March 2017 14:32 Go to previous messageGo to next message
plasmo is currently offline  plasmo
Messages: 866
Registered: March 2017
Location: New Mexico, USA
Senior Member
Hi,
My name is Bill Shen. I posted a few 68K designs recently on EASy68k forum under the same moniker of "plasmo" (short for plasmodesma--the thin communication fiber between living cells). A friend suggests that I visit this site because you have active discussions on 68K designs. I'm glad I did. There are lots to read here on various topics.

I'm a 60-year old retired engineer so I'd lived through the microprocessor revolution during my career. My profession was designing & fielding embedded computers for navigation & guidance applications. I designed with 68020/68040 in the first half of my career and ARM7 in the 2nd half. 68K is my favorite, by far. So in my retirement I thought I'll continue to explore the various features of 68K, especially in the desktop environments.

I've rediscovered, as y'all already did, the affordability of pc board. The 10ea-100mmx100mm-for-$10 is a relevation to me. I designed several 68K board use the 100mm format which I've named "Tinyxxx" such as Tiny302, Tiny020, and Tiny030. I will put these designs on the wiki pages but for now you can find more info on them on EASy68k forum if you are interested. I'm currently thinking about a Tiny040. These are cheap & quick path-finding projects to reacquaint myself with 68K family and check out my design tools, but I find myself enjoying the projects enormously. I've drank the cool-aid and am a retrobrew faithful now!
Bill
Edit: links to Tinyxxx
Tiny030: http://www.easy68k.com/EASy68Kforum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t =1590
Tiny020: http://www.easy68k.com/EASy68Kforum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t =1581
Tiny302: http://www.easy68k.com/EASy68Kforum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t =1574

[Updated on: Wed, 29 March 2017 16:54]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #2245 is a reply to message #2141] Tue, 04 April 2017 11:35 Go to previous messageGo to next message
sbrk is currently offline  sbrk
Messages: 1
Registered: March 2017
Junior Member
Hello all,

I'm Zach Metzinger. I've been attached, in one way or another, to a computer for the vast majority of my 41 years. My first machine was a NCR 8150 minicomputer, moving on to 6502-based systems at school and 8086-based systems at home, then on to 6800 and 68000 embedded systems at university.

Now I have a job writing firmware for (and, occasionally, improving the hardware design of) my company's ARM microcontrollers. On the side, I like to build both microprocessor and microcontroller systems for fun. I've got a large pile of 68k, x86, and some more oddball processors (Am2900, m88k, Alpha) that I'd like to experiment with in the near future.

It's great to find a group of enthusiasts which still want to know how it all works down at the bit level!

--- Zach
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #2268 is a reply to message #2245] Thu, 06 April 2017 22:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
commodorejohn is currently offline  commodorejohn
Messages: 10
Registered: April 2017
Junior Member
Hello! I'm commodorejohn from over on VCF and a few other retrocomputing forums. I've been following the doings of the N8VEM/RBC community off and on for some time now (even built a Zeta SBC a few years back, still need to get it properly set up in a case and do stuff with it) but I finally got around to registering here since I've picked up a spare Xagdin/Gryphon PCB from ajlynch and will undoubtedly have a few questions as I quest to get it up and running...nice to meet you all Smile

[Updated on: Thu, 06 April 2017 22:17]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #2359 is a reply to message #2268] Mon, 10 April 2017 23:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
sebastian is currently offline  sebastian
Messages: 12
Registered: April 2017
Junior Member
Hello, and thanks for letting me in!

I'm Sebastian from Germany, and just a little bit too young to have fully experienced the 8-bit era first hand. Instead, I grew up with DOS and learned Pascal instead of BASIC.
In the 90's, I worked part-time as a service technician, and also became a regular at the kind of almost "Hamfest-like" computer fairs that don't seem to exist anymore today, at least not in Germany. During that time, I collected a lot of hardware items that would have been called "vintage" today, from MDA and similar early video cards to SyQuest and MO drives, even a prototype or pre-production Cx486SLC mainboard with a socketed CPU.
However, most of that is lost - destroyed due to naively choosing an inappropriate storage facility (because living in a small flat and collecting computer stuff does not fit together well). Note to others: A greenhouse, even if not used for growing plants anymore, is not a suitable place for anything of value, especially not electronics.
Working with microcontrollers, which despite their higher integration are in many aspects comparable to the classic 8-bit CPUs, and the fact that most of today's software development seems to consist of putting together modules you don't fully understand and praying that nothing breaks, has led me to appreciate the art that computing was "back in the old days".
So now I'm here, hoping to learn something from the vastly experienced people here, and put to use the things I have already learned from working at an electronics firm.
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #2687 is a reply to message #2359] Tue, 09 May 2017 01:35 Go to previous messageGo to next message
znac049 is currently offline  znac049
Messages: 2
Registered: May 2017
Location: Somerset, UK
Junior Member

Hi,

I'm from the UK and in my 50's. I built my first computer in 1978 - a Compukit UK101 (6502, 4K RAM). I modified it heavily but moved on to other processors as soon as possible, my love being the 6809. I had a Dragon32 which again, I modified heavily - serial ports, extra memory, some latches to control a digital cassete deck (so I could implement a *very* primitive seek mechanism) and loads of other stuff I can't remember. My other love was vector based games and still have a Vectrex, which has both a vector display AND a 6809 - how neat is that?

Work wise, I've written code for everything from Vax, PDP-11, 68k and I still favour C and machine code. For a few years, I did a lot of development in BCPL which is actually a really half decent language. These days, I'm an IT Manager for a company that tests digital devices (TVs, set top boxes)

Back in the day, I could never afford all the hardware I wanted but now, there are all sorts of possibilities, including FPGA. I'm intrigued by the HD6309 in comparison to the 6809 and am busy "Upgrading" John Kent's (with Neal Crook's modifications) 6809 core so it understands the additional 6309 instructions and am making good progress. I'm still intrigued by what can be achieved with this old tech without all the bells and whistles of later developments.

Enough, I think. If you want to know more, just ask Smile

-Bob

[Updated on: Tue, 09 May 2017 01:38]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #2701 is a reply to message #2] Tue, 09 May 2017 11:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
just4fun is currently offline  just4fun
Messages: 273
Registered: May 2017
Location: Dark side of the Moon
Senior Member
Hi,
I'm from Italy. The first computer I used was a Sperry Univac 1100/80 at the University. I had a lot of fun programming it in assembler (the language I like more...) and those days I did a "strange" program to "gain" more CPU time... (nowadays "that" kind of program would be called in an other way...).
The first PC I bought was an IBM XT compatible, so I missed the CP/M age.
Anyway during the 80's I designed and built a simple SBC based on a 8085 CPU that still works.
Recently I have developed a tiny Z80 system with CP/M 2.2 up and running, and currently I'm "porting" the QP/M 2.71 (with a RTC).
I'm here to share some information. I think this is the right place...
(and please don't ask me because I have started to build this things... I really don't know...!!)
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #2916 is a reply to message #2] Sat, 27 May 2017 09:50 Go to previous messageGo to next message
f4hdk is currently offline  f4hdk
Messages: 4
Registered: January 2017
Junior Member
Hello,

I am F4HDK, a hobbyist from France.

I started using computer at school with french computers (Thomson MO5 / TO5), when I was 10 years old.
Then I quickly moved to an Amstrad PC 8086 + 512ko. I discovered software programming with it. It was a lot of fun for me.

Since that time, I have always wanted to understand how computers work, in details, internally.

3 years ago, I wanted to reach this goal. I have read lots of documents about old computer, and N8VEM/retrobrew.
I read about CPU architecture, about computer architecture, about compiler, etc... But it was only theoretical knowledge for me, and to learn by doing something real.

Therefore, I started my own project, which I will describe in an other discussion.

Regards,
F4HDK.
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #3268 is a reply to message #2] Tue, 25 July 2017 10:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
srmaxwell3 is currently offline  srmaxwell3
Messages: 1
Registered: July 2017
Junior Member
I learned FORTRAN during the summer of '72, between my junior and senior years in high school. A year later, the the junior college I was attending got their own computer, an IBM 1130 like the one we wrote FORTRAN for; my music degree ambitions faded as I spent all my time in the computer room.

Over many years, I did software engineering with the likes of TDL/Xitan (ZBUG, XPIP), Lexicon (a character and graphic termainl), DEC (VAX DEBUG, VAX FORTRAN, DEC FORTRAN, ULTRIX, FORTRAN for RISC, DEC C), Borland (the RTL for a never-released FORTRAN compiler, debuggers), Applied Microsystems (CodeTEST, SoftLogic), Intel (MS VC++ floating point code generation), Google (infrastructure).

The first computer I owned was an S-100 bus, with Xitan Z80 CPU, system monitor board, 64K RAM board, floppy disk controller, and 2 each 8" and 5.25" floppies. My first C compiler was Leor Zolman's BDS C. (I gave him his first hardcopy listing for the compiler and runtime.Wink Later on, I had several other Z-80 machines, including an IMSAI, but they're all gone, now. Sigh.

Since I first saw the specifications for the Zilog Z800, later calls the Z280, I've wanted to own a machine for which to build a C compiler, an OS (e.g. MINIX), etc. I wasn't able to afford Tilmann Reh's CPU280 at the time, so more recently I started writing a Z280 emulator. While doing some on-line searching, I found this forum and it's new effort to reproduce Tilmann's machine. So... darn... cool! Maybe I'll be able to afford one, this time. Nonetheless, I'm trying to step up my efforts on the emulator. Maybe we can learn what the Z280 might've been like with, e.g. a bigger cache? 16-byte bursts, for instructions *and* data? Branch prediction?

Thanks, folks, for helping to bring back fond memories, and sustain old dreams. Smile

Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #3270 is a reply to message #3268] Tue, 25 July 2017 11:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
supremespod is currently offline  supremespod
Messages: 2
Registered: February 2017
Location: UK
Junior Member

If you're interested in building a "new" Z80 machine have a look at the RC2014 - I've built a few of them.

Welcome to the forum.

Mark Riley
(SupremeSpod)
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #3870 is a reply to message #3270] Tue, 28 November 2017 22:35 Go to previous messageGo to next message
feilipu is currently offline  feilipu
Messages: 4
Registered: November 2017
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Junior Member

Thanks for allowing me to join the retrobrew forum.

My main interest is in 8 bit computing, and in the intersection of hardware and software. I didn't do any software or hardware (if you exclude punching cards for a PDP-11 in Uni labs) until relatively recently. For me, it is a way to stave off mental atrophy caused by too many years in engineering sales.

I started out with AVR devices in the Arduino form factor, although I never got interested in their IDE. After building quite a bit of code, I found that the ATmega328p RAM/Flash was too small, and built a Goldilocks sized ATmega1284p device with friends.

Later, I extended the Goldilocks to incorporate analogue capabilities (so missing from the AVR), and had a bit of fun with 8 bit DSP and synthesizers.

I became interested in the Z80 during the 40th anniversary year, and decided to build "Yet Another Z180" SBC. Of course, it had to be the fastest thing that I could build, so it actually uses a Z180 CPU, together with a AMD Am9511a-1 APU, for its heart. I've tried to integrate modern I/O, so that it is useful as an embedded platform, and as a stand alone computer.

Currently, I'm working on finishing up the basic I/O to support banking, and I intend over the next 6 months to build a CP/M bios shim, and integrate the FreeRTOS to allow multiple applications to run concurrently.

Thanks again for the welcome.

Phillip

`feilipu`


You can flog a dead horse to water, but the grass is always greener on the flip side.

I sell on Tindie
GitHub YAZ180
Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #4187 is a reply to message #3870] Sun, 28 January 2018 21:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jblang is currently offline  jblang
Messages: 1
Registered: January 2018
Junior Member
Hi Everyone,

I've just joined the forum and wanted to introduce myself and my project. If people are interested in discussing it I can start a separate topic but I thought I would start here. I have built a breadboard Z80 Computer with an AVR microcontroller functioning as the boot loader and providing IO. I have the original Burcon Altair 8800 CP/M and the CP/M from the SIMH AltairZ80 emulator running on it unmodified. More details can be found on the Github project which I can't yet post a link to but you can find under user jblang, project z80ctrl. I have ordered an RC2014 kit, yet to be delivered, and currently my plan for the project is to produce a plug-in module for the RC2014. There are some schematics and a PCB layout in the github repo for my preliminary design.

A little about me: the first computer I used, around age 7, was my dad's Heathkit H89 running CP/M. From there I went on to use PCs for many years. I became interested in electronics and particularly microcontrollers around 2012 and have been tinkering ever since. For the last couple of years I have become more interested in retrocomputing, first with the C64, and now with my own builds. In addition to my interest in old computers, I've restored quite a few old tube radios. I have a blog on Medium called Adventures in Electronics, where I've written up some of my projects. I am a relatively new ham radio operator, call sign KG5TVD, although lately I've been a bit bored with it and haven't been on the air in a few months.

[Updated on: Sun, 28 January 2018 21:38]

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Re: Welcome to the new RBC Forum & introductions [message #4188 is a reply to message #4187] Mon, 29 January 2018 08:32 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
djrm is currently offline  djrm
Messages: 1
Registered: January 2018
Junior Member
Greetings everyone, I've been lurking here for a few months reading about the multicomp and now I'm a member and have my own Cyclone IIc system running both 6809 and Z80. I've been interested in 6809 since building a simple system way back when to run figForth which I typed in the hex core manually from a listing and blew a set of 2716's. finally driving an old hall effect keyboard and 2x40 LCD. I still have the circuit boards and would like to get them working again - hopefully the eproms still have their data intact. The sources are probably on a tape or microdrive somwhere!

More recently I have resurrected a TA Matmos CP/M computer and also built a RC2014, these have been my first Z80 machines, I have always used 6502/6809/68000 type devices previously. Starting on a Ohio C1P and then Sinclair QLs.

It is fascinating seeing what can be done with the multicomp design, it is quite an alien programming environment, I'm not sure if I'll get the hang of FPGA programming/ I always wanted a Dragon64 so being able to run NITROS9 is a very welcome bonus.

Kind regards, David.
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