[HN Gopher] Couch to 64k, a.k.a. Building a Z80 Breadboard Compu...
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Couch to 64k, a.k.a. Building a Z80 Breadboard Computer (2020)
Author : AlexeyBrin
Score : 107 points
Date : 2022-07-03 11:11 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (bread80.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (bread80.com)
| j_m_b wrote:
| Love these kinds of writeups! I've been learning 6502 for NES
| programming because I too have the nostalgia factor for these old
| machines.
| kurupt213 wrote:
| I feel like the arduino is cheating
| krallja wrote:
| It's only used to generate a very low clock rate. It's replaced
| with a 4MHz oscillator later in the series.
| II2II wrote:
| Using the Arduino is a great idea. It can provide scaffolding
| during the development process, and can replaced with something
| better suited to the task when they are ready.
| ddingus wrote:
| The test harness! When one lacks more sophisticated gear,
| this is a great way to get started and have a chance at
| success.
|
| BTW: I love Propeller chips for this purpose!
|
| They are multiprocessors in both the parallel and concurrent
| sense and that makes them quite useful! One can build up
| simple scopes, logic analyzers, signal generators, and other
| useful tools and use the chip to both display output, measure
| and more.
| colejohnson66 wrote:
| All it's doing is generating a clock. How's that cheating?
| dazzawazza wrote:
| I know what you mean but I actually thought it was quite a cool
| way to start out and as someone else has said, it is replaced
| later.
| trzy wrote:
| This is super cool. When I was in college I used a breadboarded
| Z80 with an FPGA to build a really simple video game system with
| VGA output and a Genesis controller for input. The schematics,
| source code, and project write up are still on my home page
| (http://trzy.org -- near the bottom). I should probably throw it
| up on GitHub.
| [deleted]
| cpcallen wrote:
| For anyone not familiar with it: the title is (presumably) a
| reference to the NHS "Couch to 5K" program[1] and app[2].
|
| [1]: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/running-and-aerobic-
| ex... [2]: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/nhs-couch-
| to-5k/id1082307672
| fuzzfactor wrote:
| I was wondering about that, I didn't see anything about the
| couch in the text but I was thinking about it.
|
| One of the essential first steps in many a worthwhile project
| is to focus the necessary determination, whatever it takes, on
| initially getting up off the couch.
|
| Myself, I went without a couch for years.
|
| Would highly recommend.
| ABS wrote:
| nitpick: the original C25K has nothing to do with the NHS, it
| was made and popularised by the folks at coolrunning.com
| killingtime74 wrote:
| For anyone wanting to get fit, highly recommend this program. I
| went from not being fit to running a half marathon in about six
| months
| [deleted]
| elvis70 wrote:
| This is the first part of a series:
| http://bread80.com/category/couch-to-64k/
| krallja wrote:
| If you don't want to deal with breadboards, there are lots of
| cheap (under $50) programmable Z80 computers out there; here are
| a few I've collected:
|
| * Timex-Sinclair 1000 (American ZX81 with double the RAM -- an
| entire 2KiB!)
|
| * TI 81-86 graphing calculators
|
| * Verifone Tranz 330 https://www.bigmessowires.com/mozart-
| tranz-330/
|
| * Cidco MailStation https://jcs.org/2019/05/03/mailstation
|
| Also, for a bit more money, there are lots of new hobbyist
| computers out there, including the RC2014, Stephen C. Cousins'
| "SC___" series, and the MinZ / eZ-Tiny series. You can solder
| them together and program however you like, oftentimes including
| booting CP/M off of ROM, MicroSD, Compact Flash, or floppy.
| [deleted]
| billti wrote:
| Nice. After decades of high level software development, I'm
| starting to get back in to microcontroller/processor and "bare
| metal" development. I first learned to code with Basic and
| Assembly on the Z80 inside the early Sinclair products. I'm
| having fun now with the ARM cores in the various cheap Raspberry
| products (the Pi 4b and Pico so far).
|
| I did come across the Ben Eater series which looks awesome too.
| (https://eater.net/). I'm excited to try and build a video card
| from scratch!
|
| There's so many options today it's almost overwhelming. I've been
| trying to think how to best introduce my youngest without
| bewildering him. Anyone had success on a "low level" path with
| young kids that kept them entertained?
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(page generated 2022-07-03 23:01 UTC)