Dream 6800 40th Anniversary

Posted by musovern on Jul 18th, 2019 in Dream 6800 40th Anniversary | 2 comments

Dream 6800 40th Anniversay vintage computer, Has been designed by David Fry (UK), has completed an elegant re-design of the DREAM using a double-sided PCB (pictured below). It has an on-board switchmode regulator for the +5V supply and a DC/DC converter for negative 5V. Memory has been upgraded to 4KB using two 6116 RAM chips. The EPROM can be a 2716 or 2732 type. Otherwise, David’s design remains faithful to the original. The download includes KiCad PCB design files and Gerber files for board fabrication.

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Nascom 2

Posted by musovern on Jun 27th, 2019 in Nascom 2 | 0 comments

The Nascom 1 and 2 were single-board computer kits issued in the United Kingdom in 1977 and 1979, respectively, based on the Zilog Z80 and including a keyboard and video interface, a serial port that could be used to store data on a tape cassette using the Kansas City standard, and two 8-bit parallel ports. At that time, including a full keyboard and video display interface was uncommon, as most microcomputer kits were then delivered with only a hexadecimal keypad and seven-segment display. To minimize cost, the buyer had to assemble a Nascom by hand-soldering about 3,000 joints on the single circuit board.

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Apple 1

Posted by musovern on May 27th, 2019 in Apple, Vintage Computers | 1 comment

The story of the development of the Apple I is well known and has become a “legend”.

Steve Wozniak, who was working for Hewlett-Packard at the time, wanted to build his own computer. He couldn’t afford the Intel 8080 CPU, which was very popular, as it was used in the Altair 8800 and IMSAI 8080, but was very expensive. He would have used the Motorola 6800 but it was also much too expensive. Finally he decided to build his computer around the MOS 6502 CPU, which was pretty compatible with the Motorola 6800.

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