My first time (with a computer)
Here and there on the web I’ve noticed a bunch of people relating stories about their first experiences with computers, so I thought I’d join in.
Monthly Archives: April 2018
Getting to grips with the parallel interface
The Centronics interface seemed such an intrinsic part of a computer’s architecture that, to those of us whose computing coming-of-age was in the 1970s or 1980s, it seemed unimaginable that it would all but disappear. Who knew that serial interfaces would one day reign supreme? There’s something still very satisfying about hooking up a parallel connection, with fat cables and… Read more »
First PCB and more mistakes
Okay, so I’ve already fessed up to some errors I made with my first-ever PCB. Now I’ve discovered another, and it’s a doozy. It’s also a valuable lesson. I’m waiting for a few bits of kit in order to do surface mount soldering. I’ll be writing more about this when it’s all installed (but as a teaser, it’s a hot… Read more »
6502: more fun with clocks
Things can get a little confusing with the 6502 microprocessor’s clocks. The datasheet details three clock pins which, for the current version of the chip are PHI2, PHI2O and PHI1O. And with older versions of the 6502 you’ll see PHI1 instead of PHI2. As I detailed in a previous post, the situation is actually simpler that it first seems. It… Read more »
Zolatron 64: riding the address bus
The Zolatron 64 6502-based homebrew computer has a 16-bit address bus and I want to be able to interact with it manually. How do we do that? The answer is a front panel with switches and lights, as outlined in the last post. But it’s going to be a bit more complicated than just wiring each line of the bus… Read more »
Zolatron 64: initial thoughts on a front panel
Any self-respecting retro-style homebrew computer needs two things – switches and blinkenlights. Otherwise, why bother? I haven’t got a working computer yet but already I’m thinking about a front panel for it. This will be inspired, to some extent, by the Altair 8800 and also by the PDP-8, both of which I have in the form of modern replica kits…. Read more »
A PCB virgin no longer
Well, it’s happened. My first PCBs have arrived. Now it’s just a matter of summoning the courage to solder on the parts and see if it works. This is the board I designed as part of my Eagle vs KiCad series. It breaks out a Centronics-compatible DB25 socket, with the data lines being driven by a shift register. There’s a… Read more »
Debouncing fun with Schmitt triggers and capacitors
You simply can’t trust switches. You think they’re either on or off, but the truth is that, in getting from one state to the other, they can change their mind many times. This is a phenomenon known as switch bounce and it happens because switches aren’t perfect. Just at the point where they are making or breaking contact, certain mechanical… Read more »
Zolatron 6502 homebrew computer – clocking in
Sometimes the things that confuse you most turn out to have the simplest solutions – and so it was with the clock for my Zolatron 6502 homebrew computer. First, let’s deal with the 6502’s clock pins. There are three of them and they’re called PHI1O, PHI2 and PHI2O – except when they’re not. Older versions of the 6502 have PHI1… Read more »
Epson MX-80 Part 4 – ESR check of the dodgy caps
It seems strange that both the capacitors and the transformer – the chief suspects in the investigation as to why my Epson MX-80 F/T III dot matrix printer belched out smoke – tested fine with a multimeter. As far as the capacitors were concerned, I measured resistance directly across their leads (having removed them from the circuit board) looking for… Read more »
Zolatron 6502 homebrew computer – a few tweaks
Within a couple of hours of posting the schematic for the main board of my Zolatron 6502 homebrew computer the doubts had already started to set in. I made the mistake of visiting Grant Searle’s site. I’m already familiar with his work having built one of his projects (an FPGA-based CP/M computer), and so I know he’s forgotten more than… Read more »
Zolatron 6502 homebrew computer – main board
Well, things are finally happening and I actually have a schematic for the main board of the Zolatron 64 6502-based homebrew computer. I’m not saying it’s a good schematic. And I’m certainly not claiming that it will work. But it passes the Electrical Rules Check and I don’t think I’ve missed anything out. So that’s an achievement in itself. Click on… Read more »
Zolatron 6502 computer: decoding the RAM more reliably
In my earlier post on address decoding logic, I mapped out a fairly simple way of dividing up the 64k address space for my 6502-based retro computer. But maybe it was too simple. There is one slight complication – easily fixed, but which will require the introduction of another chip. And the reason for this is something lacking in memory…. Read more »
Zolatron 64 6502 computer: the backplane dilemma
Having looked at a lot of homebrew computers online, including the popular RC2014, it seemed obvious that the best way of going about my own project is to opt for a backplane design. But maybe it’s too obvious. Just as I was ready to get started with designing the Zolatron 64 I stumbled across this page (via the excellent 6502.org… Read more »
Epson MX-80 Part 3 – well, this is strange
And so to the next instalment of trying to get my Epson MX-80 F/T III dot matrix printer back up and working. Previously on Epson MX-80… Just over a year ago, lots of smoke came out accompanied by a crackling noise. I’ve removed the main smoothing capacitors from the PCB and tested them. They seem fine. I tested the transformer…. Read more »