KiCAD is a program for electronics design. It includes schematic editor, PCB editor, Gerber files viewer and some utilities. It has a 3D modelling capability as well, but the render quality is lower than of competitors. Nevertheless it is more than enough for visual design check and enclosure allocation. There are Windows and Linux versions[…]
So, all components are bought and it is time to build the computer. The NZXT Hush 2 case that I’ve chosen is quite convenient for building a computer. The cable management space is wide enough, but the rubber garments on the holes to this space fall away easily which is a bit disappointing. The chosen[…]
Let’s see the components chosen for the Hackintosh from my previous post in details. Motherboard. According to the Internet forums, the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 motherboard has the best support for Mac OS. That’s why I decided to build my Hackintosh based on this board. Apart from the standard devicies, the board has USB 3, 1394a and eSATA[…]
It is time to replace my 2007 iMac. It has been working perfectly for five years and still in a very good condition. But despite of the well optimised Mac OS, 3Gb of RAM, 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 250Gb HDD, it is far behind modern computers. Modern iMacs haven’t impressed me –[…]
In this post I’m going to show what has been done in the project. First of all, an extension board for DE1, that contains a socket for 6502 CPU, was made. I used a toner transfer method to make a PCB. The board connects straight to GPIO0 header on DE1 board: CPU doesn’t require all[…]
Lets discuss the concept of the replica of Agat-7 computer. This version is not final and can be (and most likely will be) adjusted. As usual, all your ideas are welcome! CPU. A Bulgarian 6502 clone CM630 will be used as CPU in the project. But it can be changed to any other 6502 clone[…]
After the trial project of the “UT-88′ computer, lets start with a much more serious project. We will design and build another Soviet computer – AGAT-7. In this case the DE1 board will be used only for prototyping – the computer will be built on its own board. So, lets see what this computer was.[…]
In this post we will check some programs for CP/M and learn how to load your own programs on “RAM-disk”. External command POWER is intended to work with files in a RAM and the “RAM-disk”. It allows to view files, edit them, rename or erase them, as well as to view and edit data in[…]
Finally we reached the most exciting part – we will launch CP/M operation system on “UT-88”. This system was initially developed in 1975 by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. for Intel 8080 based computers. “UT-88” is based on the Soviet analog of this processor (KR580VM80A), so it was possible to adapt it for this[…]
In the previous post we learned how to launch the computer in full configuration. Lets see how it works and what commands MONITOR-F has. As you remember, Monitor-F can be launched from address F800H using the command 7 F800. MONITOR-F setups stack pointer, initialise some constants and variables in memory and makes keyboard initialisation. After that[…]
For those who is wondering what #SIA is: https://t.co/1pnpzqaLJi
3 years ago
The very promising cloud storage solution #SIA is now integrated with backup framework #Duplicati: https://t.co/OTH0IQyPEL
3 years ago
RT @hackaday: How to Build Your Own Google AIY without the Kit https://t.co/mkFhM1yDSb
4 years ago
It is a great article that shows how to deal with KICAD libraries in each project the most efficient way. https://t.co/JJlJTlPpCM
4 years ago
As you may remember, I’ve designed a universal platform for building retro-computers “Retrobyte”. I have successfully tested it by building the “Mikro-80” computer a few months ago and now I’m working on adapting my other retro-computer project “AGAT-7” to this platform. “AGAT-7” requires more functionality than “Retrobyte” has, so I’ve build an extension board for[…]
A blog format is not very suitable for short status updates of my projects, sharing ideas or interesting facts and news. So, I have created a twitter account to supplement the blog. You can now see the latest tweets on the right side of the home page. The detailed articles are still going to be[…]
The computer “Mikro-80” was made in the Soviet Union in 1980 by a team of enthusiasts before in 1982, the magazine “Radio” began publishing its documentations and schematics. In a nutshell, this was the first accessible personal computer in the USSR; in that era, only single digits of people in the country had the ability[…]
In my previous post, I explained my idea of a modular platform for building modern replicas of retro-computers, of which the Rev.A has already been built and tested. In the process, I found a few things to improve: On the silkscreen, the diode D1 was shown incorrectly (the cathode points to the anode) The voltage[…]
During the time I worked on the “Agat-7” replica, I came across the need for constant changes and improvements; these resulted from either new ideas or troubleshooting. Some of these troubleshoots involve tinkering with the circuit board. Currently, I have four different revisions and modifications of PCB’s for “Agat”; this isn’t even the total amount,[…]
The multimedia center in my car is quite useful – it features a built in GPS navigator, a rear-view camera, an MP3 player and several other handy functions. However, its greatest weakness is the inability to play music via Bluetooth. The only supported option is the hands-free bluetooth phone connection mode. To listen to music[…]
Not so long ago I found out about a very interesting computer under the name of Maximite. It is built on the microprocessor PIC, on which are assigned all the main functions of this computer. This small device was made in 2011 and became popular enough so that now some games and programs were made for[…]
In the previous post, I promised to tell you about the holders that I made for the spool of plastic for my 3D printer. In the original kit, there is no holder or support for the plastic and it just sits there next to the printer. The spool, positioned thus, often tangles and requires constant attention. This[…]
It was always a problem to find a proper enclosure for my devices. So, I decided to build a 3D printer for these purposes. It is a great project to build. It can be used not only for customised enclosures but for all sorts of other projects. I didn’t want to buy a pre-build printer[…]
I’m about to finalise my Rev.0 of the modern replica of the retro-computer “AGAT-7”. The next step will be Rev.A design with fixed mistakes, improvements and some new ideas. In this post I’m going to summarise the Rev.0 experience and share with you with some ideas for Rev.A. At the moment the Rev.0 computer starts[…]
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