Silverlock
Well-known member
Over the winter, I'd started a project to take RunCPM and extend it into a complete computer. One with a RTC, serial and parallel port, an ANSI terminal with colour GSX graphics.
I just heard someone in the back ask Why? Well, it kind of took on a life of its own; sometimes you just get carried away with something. Or it carries you away. And it became something to do whilst we were all confined to our neighbourhoods here.
And so here it is: the Teensy Board/Z80. Any resemblance to the old Ampro Little Board/Z80 is completely unintentional, I'm sure.
The populated Teensy Board/Z80. Why all the thru hole parts? Mostly because I had them on hand. A lot of this project was like that. Why the old first generation Raspberry Pi when a Pi Zero would have been so much more compact? Because I had one sitting around just gathering dust!
In its case with the rPi that's the ANSI terminal.
It's alive!
Yes, that's a daisywheel printer. And a modem on the serial port. Granted, it's a WiFi modem, but it looks the part.
Despite sitting in a closet for most of the past 30 years, the printer still works. And you can still get ribbons for it.
And if I can't actually be out in the kayak, at least I can see it on my "35 years too late" computer.
And yes, it's completely impractical and out of date. But it's been a lot of fun to tinker with and get going. Watching Turbo Pascal or Wordstar 4 load in the blink of an eye is oddly enjoyable!
I just heard someone in the back ask Why? Well, it kind of took on a life of its own; sometimes you just get carried away with something. Or it carries you away. And it became something to do whilst we were all confined to our neighbourhoods here.
And so here it is: the Teensy Board/Z80. Any resemblance to the old Ampro Little Board/Z80 is completely unintentional, I'm sure.
The populated Teensy Board/Z80. Why all the thru hole parts? Mostly because I had them on hand. A lot of this project was like that. Why the old first generation Raspberry Pi when a Pi Zero would have been so much more compact? Because I had one sitting around just gathering dust!
In its case with the rPi that's the ANSI terminal.
It's alive!
Yes, that's a daisywheel printer. And a modem on the serial port. Granted, it's a WiFi modem, but it looks the part.
Despite sitting in a closet for most of the past 30 years, the printer still works. And you can still get ribbons for it.
And if I can't actually be out in the kayak, at least I can see it on my "35 years too late" computer.
And yes, it's completely impractical and out of date. But it's been a lot of fun to tinker with and get going. Watching Turbo Pascal or Wordstar 4 load in the blink of an eye is oddly enjoyable!
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