March 17, 2017 AT 12:34 pm
CALCULON/80: Z-80 Microprocessor-based Homebrew Microcomputer
This is a gorgeous project by Jack Engqvist Johansson with some good documentation including additional shots, schematics, and decision-making thoughts over on his website.
Memory: 64 KiB read-write RAM, 4 KiB ROM
CPU: Z80A (4 MHz)
Peripherals:1x RS-232 (DTE, DB9S, Flow Control: RTS/CTS) 1x UART 2x 16-bit timers IDE Host Interface (16-bit read, 8-bit write, no interrupts or DMA) 2x 8-bit GPIO output ports 2x 8-bit GPIO input ports
Here are pictures of the breadboard prototype and un-populated PCBs:
This website documents the building of a computer based on the Z-80 microprocessor. The intentions of this was to have fun and learn. The project starts simple with only some ICs in a test circuit and ends with a complete computer, with ROM, RAM, I/O and storage. A minimum requirement was that it should be capable of running CP/M and being accessible through a serial interface (RS-232).
I have not yet ported any operating system to the computer, but when I do, I will post it here. Same goes with the technical documentation and other interesting things.
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I probably still have diskettes that have version of C/PM on them that this thing could run… 🙂