[HN Gopher] My 1976 KIM-1
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My 1976 KIM-1
Author : jgrahamc
Score : 78 points
Date : 2023-11-06 12:24 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (blog.jgc.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (blog.jgc.org)
| blackhaz wrote:
| Holy cow. It is incredible how versatile this little thing is. I
| wonder if anyone has succeeded building a personal computer out
| of it, with keyboard and tape.
| classichasclass wrote:
| Of course. There are many such examples of homebrew kits with
| tape and TTY; I routinely use a serial port connection as TTY
| over the 20mA current loop with my briefcase KIM that also has
| the tape lines brought out to a 1/4" TRS jack, though uploading
| binaries over the serial link is more handy for testing. The
| TVT 6 5/8 was an easy to assemble video board, or the cool kids
| had an MTU 8K RAM expansion that emitted the contents as a
| 320x200 composite image.
|
| In fact, the AIM-65 was basically a heavily expanded KIM with a
| LED screen, printer, keyboard and tape all in one box from the
| factory.
| TedDoesntTalk wrote:
| You like the word 'handy'. It's in the blog post twice and
| once in your comment here.
| cpach wrote:
| It wasn't 'classichasclass who wrote the blog post...
| jgrahamc wrote:
| I suppose I do, but to make you happy I've changed one use
| of handy to nifty.
| TedDoesntTalk wrote:
| Trivia: handy means 'mobile phone' in Austrian German
| whartung wrote:
| Trivia bit.
|
| For those that don't know, the Cal Poly Universities at
| Pomona and San Luis Obispo collaborate on the annual Rose
| Parade Float.
|
| Back in the day, they would win awards for their motion
| control and animation work. Much of that work was done down
| at Pomona.
|
| And the computer they used as the control computer in those
| early days was the AIM-65.
| djmips wrote:
| Dave's Garage on YouTube has some videos on him aquiring a
| fairly built out Kim-1 with keyboard and video display IIRC.
| mysterydip wrote:
| I remember many years ago a school teacher let me borrow a book
| where someone made a robot out of a KIM-1:
| https://cyberneticzoo.com/cyberneticanimals/1976-mike-microt...
| dboreham wrote:
| Not sure if that was ironic, but the Apple I , then Apple II
| was exactly that. Also the PET.
| blackhaz wrote:
| Sorry, this was before my times and in a land far away. I
| started with the ZX Spectrum.
| timbit42 wrote:
| Yes. This is exactly what happened.
|
| The KIM-1 (Keyboard Input Monitor) was created by Chuck Peddle
| at MOS Technology, which later was bought by Commodore, so the
| MOS Technology KIM-1 became the Commodore KIM-1. (Source:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIM-1)
|
| Peddle then expanded the KIM-1 into the Commodore PET 2001 with
| case, monitor, keyboard and tape drive all built in. The 2 KB
| TIM (Terminal Input Monitor) ROM in the KIM-1 was expanded into
| the 4 KB KERNAL ROM in the PET. (Source:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_PET)
|
| Of course, then the PET was upgraded with additional models
| including the 3032, 4032, 8032, 8096, 8296 and the SuperPET,
| then the CBM-II series and the Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64,
| Commodore 16, Plus/4, Commodore 128 and the unreleased
| Commodore 65.
| spandextwins wrote:
| Aah, the memories! Glad there's emulators for most of these
| things, anyone can try them out virtually. Of course it ain't the
| same as pushing buttons on the real thing, but it's still fun!
| krallja wrote:
| If you like to push buttons, I have tried these 2 options:
|
| 1, Kim Uno: https://obsolescence.wixsite.com/obsolescence/kim-
| uno-get-or... - it is basically an Arduino emulating all the
| hardware of the KIM-1. Battery-powered, and fits in your
| (large) pocket.
|
| 2, PAL-1 replica board:
| https://www.tindie.com/products/tkoak/pal-1-a-mos-6502-power...
| - uses more-commonly-available parts than an original KIM-1
| (e.g., 65C02 instead of the original NMOS part, and a
| RIOT+EPROM, instead of a mask-programmed RRIOT) but still a lot
| of fun to solder together. The creator has also made an
| expansion port and lots of gadgets to attach to it, including
| an optional backplane. Works with a DE-9 serial port! I have
| connected mine to a Digital VT520 serial terminal, among other
| things.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| PAL-1 is excellent.
| fjfaase wrote:
| If I am not mistaken, we had a pratical where we had to use a
| KIM-1, when I was studying computer science. I guess this was in
| 1982.
| anonymousiam wrote:
| I nearly bought one, but ended up getting a Synertek SYM-1
| instead. It was great in its day, and quite capable as a
| development platform. (I had a terminal connected to the serial
| port, tape recorder for loading/storing content, added the BASIC
| ROM and the Editor/Assembler ROM, and doubled the RAM to 8KB.)
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SYM-1
| woadwarrior01 wrote:
| I had an uncle who'd built a KIM-1 clone (Elektor Junior[1]),
| with a kit from the Indian Elektor magazine. As a kid, he'd never
| let me touch it. I think it was one of the factors that got me
| into programming, a few years later.
|
| [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektor_Junior_Computer
| dannyobrien wrote:
| I swear I can still recite a bunch of hex for 6502 opcodes,
| burned in after entering them painstakingly into a monitor
| program.
| wkjagt wrote:
| The only ones I can remember are A9, 20 and 00.
| whartung wrote:
| The KIM-1 was my first computer, my Dad got it for me in my
| Junior year of High School. I had great fun working through the
| First Book of KIM.
|
| I tried my hand at assorted electronics experiments, but managed
| to shove 9v into one of the PIO pins, frying it.
|
| I did replace the 6530 chip, but never installed it. I actually
| still have it somewhere, still in its anti-static foam.
| qingcharles wrote:
| Reminder that the OP has a whole HN-style site for retro:
|
| https://twostopbits.com/news
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| My first was a Commodore VIC-20 (1981, I think), with a machine
| language monitor module.
|
| It only had 3KB of RAM, so any program of worth was written in
| machine code.
| timbit42 wrote:
| The VIC-20 actually has 5 KB of RAM but 1.5 KB of that is used
| by zero page, the stack, the OS KERNAL and BASIC, leaving 3.5
| KB of RAM for BASIC or binary programs. The VIC-20 can be
| expanded up to 40 KB of RAM but 8 KB of that is not contiguous
| resulting in a maximum of 28,159 bytes free in BASIC.
| dang wrote:
| Recent and related:
|
| _Commodore /MOS KIM-1 (2004)_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38148892 - Nov 2023 (12
| comments)
|
| More:
|
| _Refurb weekend(s): Commodore /MOS KIM-1_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36644841 - July 2023 (16
| comments)
|
| _The KIM-1 that sounds like Stephen Hawking (or: "jitbanging"
| DECtalk)_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36009401 - May
| 2023 (3 comments)
|
| _What the KIM-1 really needs is bubble memory_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32715071 - Sept 2022 (10
| comments)
|
| _KIMplement - A KIM-1 emulator for the Commodore 64_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28476074 - Sept 2021 (6
| comments)
|
| _Show HN: A MOS Kim-1 Simulator for iOS and macOS_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27932865 - July 2021 (1
| comment)
| fiddlosopher wrote:
| This was my first computer, too. I have fond memories of
| programming it in 6502 machine language and saving programs on
| cassette tape. I still have it, along with the power supply my
| grandfather built from the specs they provided in the user
| manual. And it still works!
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(page generated 2023-11-06 21:00 UTC)