Subj : Re: MS-DOS BBS Term roundup
To   : deon
From : RetroSwim
Date : Fri Dec 19 2025 06:48:29

 de> In the back of my mind, I've always been on the look out for a MiSTer
 de> FPGA (de10-nano), then I started looking again the other day and saw
 de> there was a clone produced. (Dont recall if it was available).

There are two clones on the market: "Mister Pi" from Taki Udon, and one from QMTech. The former is being sold in batches, the latter is available from AliExpress and other marketplaces.

 de> Are they worth it? Do you have any POV on the clones?

I have a lot of fun with my MiSTer. If the price of admission was still that of the Terasic DE10 Nano, I'd probably say no, not worth it unless you have a specific need.

But with the inexpensive clones now available, I say go for it!

The word "clone" usually has some negative connotations, but since MiSTer FPGA isn't really a product per se, but a specification for how RAM, IO, Video DAC, etc connect to the Cyclone FPGA chip, the clones are for all intents and purposes identical to a setup using an original Terasic DE10 Nano board.

Which is all to say, I can't recommend the clones highly enough! :)

 de> Or I just run it under QEMU on my CM5s, thats another option I guess
 de> (and might give me more flexibility for serial port to IP)...

For Ezycom, I think this is the better approach. ao486 on MiSTer only gives you the one virtual modem, so multi-node would be really hard if not impossible to do.

I run Ezycom under a Windows 10 32-bit VM, on a Proxmox host. I use Net2BBS/NetFOSS which handles Telnet connections, and emulates DesqView for multi-node concurrency.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
RetroSwim

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