Design – part 4

In part 1 of this series we took a very quick tour through the whole process of designing a product. In part 2 and part 3 we designed the electronics for a digital I/O module. We will now design the circuit board.

Design – part 3

In part 2 of this series we started designing the electronics for our digital I/O interface. In this part we will complete the schematic.

Compact Flash for Z50Bus

SC127, a Compact Flash interface card for the Z50Bus, is now available. Details here.

Design – part 2

In part 1 of this series we took a very quick tour through the whole process of designing a product. We will now begin a much more detailed look at designing a Digital Input/Output interface for a Z80 computer.

Design – part 1

Someone recently asked me a few questions about design, which got me thinking about writing a series of posts for this website.

I hope to encourage anyone who has considered designing their own retro computer add-on, or indeed a whole system, to have a go. Getting that first professional looking PCB in the post is very rewarding and is relatively cheap.

SC126 Released

SC126 Z180 SBC / Motherboard with RomWBW firmware has now been released.

Further details here.

Z180 motherboard

Currently in development is a Z180 motherboard with RC2014 compatible expansion sockets.

Further details here.

RomWBW for SC111

Wayne Warthen’s RomWBW is now available for SC111, Z180 CPU module for RC2014.

SC111 Z180 CPU plus SC119 Z180 Memory

Getting Started

You are probably reading this because the idea of making a computer with retro technology sounds fun. Perhaps you are my age and have fond memories of learning BASIC on an early home computer, or perhaps you’re a product of the mobile phone era and want to experience the early days of micro-electronics.

This article discusses some of the options available.

Z80 Card for Z50Bus

I launched my first kit for the Z80Bus today.

This card is a Z80 processor card which can also be used as a Single Board Computer (SBC). Full details here.

The kit is available on Tindie.

I’ll make the PCB available on its own as soon as I have spare boards.