Retro-Tech.Xyz

• 04/02/2024 12:15 AM: -- Very well done playlist on building a Z80 computer! Z80 Computer
• 03/19/2024 02:20 PM: -- Good technical explanation: Motorola 68000 CPU single-stepping on a breadboard experiment
• 03/12/2024 11:30 PM: -- Very cool project: 68k-MBC: Homebrew computer with a 68008 CPU running CP/M-68K | CP/M (68K) single board computer | Hackaday | PCBWAY
• 03/05/2024 01:55 AM: -- 68000 Linux on a Solderless Breadboard | 68 Katy is a hand-built computer based upon a Motorola 68K series CPU, and designed to run the Linux OS.
• 02/27/2024 06:45 AM: -- The retro OPL2 FM synth Yamaha YM3812
• 02/20/2024 03:55 PM: -- Retro sound chip! Microchip AY-3-8910A
• 02/13/2024 12:15 AM: -- Amazing! Breadboard 8088 PC
• 02/06/2024 04:00 PM: -- Wow! Breadboard VGA Controller (for NanoComp)
• 01/30/2024 05:00 AM: -- Uber interesting! Nanocomp 6809 Breadboard Micro
• 01/23/2024 10:55 PM: -- This is very cool Retro programming! Pascal and CP/M on an RC2014 Z80 computer
• 01/16/2024 09:45 PM: -- Z80 I/O: The Madness of Z80 I/O
• 01/09/2024 10:00 PM: -- Good overview of the low-level workings: Zilog Z80 Deep Dive - How does it work?
• 01/02/2024 09:55 PM: -- John's Basement: FPGA Programmable Logic Devices
• 12/26/2023 10:00 PM: -- Space Invaders Arcade Emulator Walkthrough, ZX Spectrum
• 12/19/2023 11:00 PM: -- Looks like a great site w/ lots of good information: Documentation - World Of Spectrum Classic
• 12/12/2023 09:20 PM: -- The ZX Spectrum was a very popular 8 bit computer in the UK and greater Europe based on the Z80: LGR Review | Building a new ZX Spectrum in 2023
• 12/05/2023 06:50 PM: -- Namco Galaga is another very cool arcade game! Based on three Z80 CPU's. How did Z80 multiprocessing work in the Namco Galaga hardware? | Arcade Longplay [535] Galaga
• 11/28/2023 09:35 PM: -- Donkey Kong was a cool arcade game that introduced Mario! Based on a Z80 CPU. Donkey Kong (Original) Full Playthrough
• 11/19/2023 05:20 AM: -- One of the earlier home computers Atari 8-bit family / The Atari 800 is quite capable and impressive.
• 11/10/2023 09:40 PM: -- I did not know about this computer! MITS ALTAIR 680 - Restored Manuals
• 11/05/2023 07:30 PM: -- RC2014 is a simple 8 bit Z80 based modular computer, with many variations. RC2014 Z80 based computer kit that you build today!
• 10/30/2023 09:00 PM: -- Another modern retro computer from the same guy The Byte Attic: A Dual-CPU Computer You Can Rewire With Software -- CERBERUS 2100™
• 10/27/2023 04:15 AM: -- This is really cool: it's a modern retro-like 8 bit computer. I hope to get one at some point soon. Is this the FASTEST and CHEAPEST 8-Bit Computer Ever?
• 10/21/2023 07:45 PM: -- Inexpensive PCB for use w/ the generic EP2C5T144 FPGA board: Z80, 6502, 6809, FPGA Multicomp PCB (EP2C5-DB) the FPGA board available on eBay or AliExpress
• 10/16/2023 07:10 PM: -- Very cool project for creating retro computer systems from an inexpensive FPGA: Grant's MULTICOMP pick and mix computer
• 10/13/2023 03:05 AM: -- MultiCompDE1: Port of Grant Searle's MultiComp to the Terasic DE1
• 10/09/2023 04:45 PM: -- Looks like a good series on breadboarding an i8086 CPU from twigwonderkid
  • Hello World on a breadboard Intel 8086 16bit - part 1
  • Hello World on a breadboard Intel 8086 16bit - part 2
  • Hello World on a breadboard Intel 8086 16bit - part 3
  • Hello World on a breadboard Intel 8086 16bit - 8086 Memory management - part 4
  • Hello World on a breadboard Intel 8086 16bit - 8086 Create Binary file - 8086 machine code - part 5
  • Hello World on a breadboard Intel 8086 16bit - Read 8086 Machine Code - part 6
  • Hello World on a breadboard Intel 8086 16bit - high byte Low byte eproms - part 7
  • Hello World on a breadboard Intel 8086 16bit - ASM86 Jump - part 8
  • Hello World on a breadboard Intel 8086 - I-O OUT instruction - part 9
  • Hello World on a breadboard Intel 8086 - ASM86 compiled and running - part 10
  • Intel 8086 on Breadboard - running Post and other ideas
  • Space Invaders - LCD Display 1602 - Creating Alien character - Intel 8086
  • NASM Compliler - Generating Intel 8086 Binary files
• 10/04/2023 10:55 PM: -- A good video on the Model I. TRS-80 - The Most Popular Personal Computer of 1977. I would have loved one these back then, I'm sure.
• 09/30/2023 10:35 PM: -- This is SO cool!! Tang Nano 20K v9958 replacement. The fact the FPGA can drop into and existing circuit and replace a part shows how FPGA is truly a hardware circuit!
• 09/27/2023 07:05 PM: -- Very well done!! THE 6502 SONG
• 09/23/2023 10:15 PM: -- Very interesting project: APPLE ONE, ON FPGA (GitHub). I need to try it out!!
• 09/20/2023 04:40 PM: -- The 8-Bit Guy also built the Apple 1 clone in the video: How the Apple 1 computer works.
• 09/17/2023 01:00 AM: -- This is a good series about building an Apple 1 clone from the Retro Hack Shack!
• 09/13/2023 02:40 AM: -- This is quite an interesting video from Tech Time Traveler – A Million Dollar Apple Treasure Found? The Lost Apple-1 Prototype! According to one of the comments it sold for $677,000. You really have to be *very* rich to spend that kind of money on something like this. It makes you wonder who bought it.
• 09/08/2023 03:00 AM: -- It’s slow going but I am finally making progress w/ some of my FPGA projects. In particular a project I call “MC6809-FPGA-Pico”. The idea is that it’s a prototype, for testing, for the eventual goal of creating a CoCo3+/4 compatible motherboard + updates. I’m very excited about the progress. The FPGA dev board I am using is the Terasic DE2 (however, when I have a proper PCB fabricated for the prototype, I will be making it work on several Terasic dev boards like the DE1, etc.)
• 09/06/2023 07:45 PM: -- In addition to DOS and Windows 3.1, Windows 95 / 98 are also very much ‘Retro’!! Are they not? Windows 98 is 25 years old. I remember well when both Windows 95 and 98 came out. I was still a young man back then – 32-35 y/o. Therefore I also aim to have Windows 9x content on this site as well – specially programming and technical info.
• 09/03/2023 11:15 PM: -- I would like to get into DOS & Windows 3.1 on this site. They are very ‘Retro’. Got into DOS in 1989 when I got my first PC/XT clone (8088 @ 8MHz, 1MB RAM, 20MB Seagate MFM HD, Hercules video card + green screen monochrome monitor). Then in 1992 I got into Windows 3.1 when I built my first 386SX/16MHz PC/AT w/ 2MB RAM, VGA video and monitor. The first thing I did w/ it was basically alt-tab between DOS sessions. I’d like to get back into DOS and Windows 3.1 programming as part of the Retro hobby.
• 08/31/2023 05:55 PM: -- The Sipeed Tang Nano Board series is a really cool, low cost, set of FPGA’s. Which are ideal for retro projects. They have a 1k, 4k, 9k, and 20k versions. Which refer to # LUTs. I recently bought the Tang Nano 9k unit and have been playing w/ it. So far I like it and plan on doing some blogs / videos about it.
• 08/28/2023 07:00 PM: -- Intel 8080 CPU Emulators in C#. The 8080: Instruction Set.
  • 8080-emulator-net | Back to the '74 with a 8080 emulator.
  • Simple C# CPU Emulation (8080, 6502 and then...)
  • Intel 8080 emulator in C#. Fully functional with a working Space Invaders arcade
  • Collection of eight-bit processor emulators (for various projects) including the 8080.
• 08/24/2023 04:45 PM: -- Space Invaders from 1978 was the first arcade game that I remember playing. Like the Altair 8800, it also used the Intel 8080 CPU.
• 08/21/2023 06:50 PM: -- Hardly a fair comparison, ha!! But very interesting nonetheless: Altair 8800 vs AMD Threadripper: Which is Faster? We test them!
• 08/18/2023 05:45 PM: -- My second favorite arcade game of all time is: Robotron: 2084 (1982 Williams) (WikiPedia). Also based on the Motorola 6809. The motherboard video circuitry includes a blitter.
• 08/16/2023 09:30 PM: -- Arcade game Defender was also based on the Motorola 6809. It's a super fun arcade side shooter. My favorite of all time! Defender - A Historical Perspective Feature - Arcade | Defender Arcade Machine (Williams 1980)
• 08/11/2023 01:20 AM: -- The FM-7 is a very interesting computer that has 2 6809 CPUs from 1982: Fujitsu Micro 7 (FM-7) / Fujitsu FM New 7 Hardware and the spanish verion: This 8-Bit Computer Has Two CPUs (And One Acts As A GPU!)
• 08/08/2023 12:45 AM: -- One of my favorite retro computers: My New CoCo3! since I owned a CoCo3 back in the day!
• 08/05/2023 05:45 PM: -- The TRS-80 / Tandy Color Computer 1, 2, & 3 was a line of computers that used the MC6809 CPU. The TRS-80 Color Computer 1 w/ 4k RAM was My First Computer Ever!
• 08/01/2023 10:10 PM: -- The Motorola 6809 is the most advanced 8 bit CPU from the late 70's. However, it was not the most popular, probabbly due to cost. I can't seem to find many C# emulators of the CPU. However I did find these:
  • Motorola Emulator (6800/6809 - FLEX/OS9/UniFLEX)) console version c#
  • BizHawk: MC6809
  • MC6809 - EightBitNet: Collection of eight-bit processor emulators (for various projects)
• 07/28/2023 05:15 AM: -- I once owned a TK3000 - A Brazilian clone of an Apple IIe. More info on that at a later date. The Apple II series was very successful. As apposed to other 8bit machines which were considered more like game machines, the Apple II series was considered a more serious machine, for business, science, and education. Many schools had Apple II's. The case and keyboard was well designed with easily accessible expansion slots. Something most 8bit computers did not have. At the core was an MOS 6502 CPU.
• 7/26/2023 3:20 PM: -- The 6502 is a significantly historical CPU. Motorola was asking around $300 for the 6800 and six support chips, while MOS Technology came out w/ the 6502 for $25. I need to study and find 6502 CPU emulators in C#.
  • 6502 Emulator in C#
  • MOS 6502 Emulator in C#
  • 6502 emulator written in C# as a portable class library
  • Fully functional 6502 CPU emulator in C#
  • A 6502 emulator in C#
  • My version of a 6502 Emulator written in C#
  • 6502 Emulator written in C#
  • 6502 Emulator written in C#
  • 6502 Emulator in C#
  • An emulator for the MOS 6502 processor in C#
  • 6502 emulator written in C#
  • A moduler 6502 emulator in C#
  • A 6502 CPU emulator in C#
• 7/21/2023 11:00 AM: -- ugBASIC (GitHub) - An isomorphic BASIC language compiler for retrocomputers. User Manual. I really need to check this out!
• 7/19/2023 7:00 AM: -- A game console that has grown on me since I first heard about it is the ColecoVision. In many ways it's quite similar to the MSX 1 - same Z80 CPU chip and same VDC chip, the TMS9918. Video Game Console Library (VGCL): Coleco ColecoVision
• 7/16/2023 8:30 PM: -- For my project that I need various emulators for this might work well as this single project emulates these 8bit CPU's: i8080, M6502, MC6809, Z80 in C#. Collection of eight-bit processor emulators. What is interesting about this project is that there appears to be certain amount of emulation at the chip signal level.
• 7/13/2023 11:55 PM: -- I've searched GitHub for Z80 Emulators written in C#. I'd like to use one in a project I am working on. This is my initial list: I'll look a little more and curate the list and then go through each one and pick one.
  • A C# emulator for the Zilog Z80 CPU
  • A Z80 simulator written in C#
  • An emulator for the VZ200/VZ300 Z80 8-bit CPU based Computer. Written in c#!
  • very basic z80 cpu emulator built using C#
  • A Zilog Z80 emulator written in C#
  • Cycle-accurate Z80 emulator written in C#!
  • Z80 CPU Emulator written in C#
  • Z80 Emulator in C#
  • Building a Z80 emulator in C# as a .NET Standard Class Library.!
• 7/9/2023 12:30 AM: -- I believe the two most popular MSX emulators are: blueMSX (SourceForge) & openMSX (GitHub). It seems quite a few sites claim that blueMSX is the best which may be dated information while openMSX claims to 'aim for perfetion'. I will do a direct comparison and review of the two when I find the time.
• 7/4/2023 10:45 PM: -- The MSX is a cool retro computer from the 80's that was popular in Japan, Europe, Brazil ... but not in the US: MSX Computer. It was a standard that allowed different manufactures to create compatible machines. MSX.org | WebMSX. The MSX uses the Z80 CPU.
• 7/1/2023 2:35 AM: -- NES Emulation: [PC] BEST NES emulator on PC 2023 - Mesen Setup (Cheats, Zapper & Disk Famicom) / Top 5 NES Emulators to use in 2023 / 11 Best NES Emulator For PC in 2023
• 6/29/2023 3:50 PM: -- Blog: Nintendo Entertainment System
• 6/25/2023 12:00 AM: -- A good video of the Altair 8800 from Dave's Garage: The Computer that Birthed BASIC and led to Microsoft! And an interesting article on how it came about: The Altair 8800: The Machine That Launched the PC Revolution.
• 6/23/2023 11:50 PM: -- IMSAI 8080 Replica Build from The Taylor and Amy Show.
• 6/19/2023 10:10 PM: -- The IMSAI 8080: The Altair 8800's Most Popular Clone
• 6/19/2023 10:00 PM: -- The MITS Altair 8800 and the IMSAI 8080 are fascinating to me. These along w/ the KIM-1 and the SWTPC (and possibly some others) were the state of the art hobby computers of 1975. I was just 12 y/o. To bad I was not around someone at that age that was into these early computers and electronics. These are relevant to me since in the process of learning digital electronics such as CPU's / RAM / ROM (and FPGA programming these components) these are the simplest machines to understand. And at the fundamental core of computer technology today that has not changed. What has changed is the speed, capacity, size, and complexity. Good videos that compares the MITS Altair 8800 vs IMSAI 8080 pt. 1 | MITS Altair 8800 vs IMSAI 8080 pt. 2
• 6/15/2023 12:25 AM: -- An NES emulator for the Pi Pico: NES emulator for Raspberry Pi Pico | GitHub.
• 6/11/2023 11:45 PM: -- The PIO is what makes the Raspberry Pi Pico stand out. You can do really fast I/O that does not use either of the two CPU cores.
  • What is PIO | Programmable I/O on Raspberry Pi Pico: a basic introduction
  • Really good: In-depth: Raspberry Pi Pico's PIO - programmable I/O!
  • An excellent series on the Raspberry Pi Pico PIO!
• 6/7/2023 11:20 PM: -- The Raspberry Pi Pico is super interesting. There are many possible fascinating retro projects:
  • Apple II VGA and a fast Z80 CPU
  • Picocomputer 6502
  • Emulate RAM/ROM For A 6502 Using a Raspberry Pi Pico
  • C64 Pico project!
• 6/3/2023 10:20 PM: -- PCem is a very cool PC Emulator! Instead of using hardware virtualization like VirtualBox / VMWare Workstation Player / and Hyper-V it emulates the hardware in software from the CPU to all the peripheral components such as the hard-drive, video controller, screen, etc. Here's a good video by PhilsComputerLab demonstrating PCem Windows 98 Setup (Pentium II +Voodoo 3, all files provided).
• 5/29/2023 12:30 AM: -- These are the 8 bit CPU's I'd like to be covering in my blogs and projects: My favorite is of course the Motorola 6809 / Hitachi 6309. But my second favorite is the Zilog Z80. Then tied for third place are the rest of the 8 bitters such as the Motorola 6800/1/2/3, the MOS 6502 and the Intel 8080/85.
• 5/25/2023 6:20 PM: -- This is a great series and a great project... I still want to buy his kit, go through the videos and follow the project. Build a 6502 computer. What might be cool is to duplicate what he has done but do it w/ an FPGA. Also, A 6809 version of this would be awesome.
• 5/22/2023 10:55 PM: -- Commander X16 is a very interesting project. It's a modern retro computer made with primarily through the hole parts that are still readily available today. There's also an emulator. Adrian's Video: What makes the Commander X16 so great?
• 5/19/2023 10:35 PM: -- Blog: FPGA -vs- Software Emulation
• 5/16/2023 7:05 PM: -- Blog: Is FPGA Emulation?
• 5/13/2023 10:10 PM: -- Blog: What are FPGAs?
• 5/8/2023 11:55 PM: -- Another electronics and learning tool and really nifty simulator is this one: Electronic Circuit Simulator (GitHub). This superb tool does both analog and digital.
• 5/4/2023 9:40 PM: -- This software is a really good tool for learning digital electronics and for designing and simulating digital circuits: Digital logic design tool and simulator
• 4/30/2023 5:15 PM: -- I have an affinity for the SWTPC (Wikipedia | Computing History). It's definitely a computer I would like to duplicate in FPGA. It might have already been done. But since it is such a simple computer I would like to re-do it myself as an exercise in learning FPGA programming.
  • The 8-bit home computer from 1975 you've never heard of
  • Let's try to get the SWTPC 6800 computer working
  • It was a long road to booting DOS68 on the old SWTPC 6800
  • Searching for bad RAM on a 45 year old SWTPC 4K RAM board
• 4/26/2023 7:55 PM: -- I would like to see a simple FPGA implementation of the KIM-1. Check out this video PAL-1 computer (KIM-1 replica) of The Taylor and Amy Show who built the PAL-1 computer, a KIM-1 replica.
• 4/26/2023 7:45 PM: -- Programming in C on the KIM-1
  • RETRO C 1977: a C Compiler for the KIM-1
  • Coding Graphics in C: SetPixel, LineDraw, Moire and More!
  • C and Assembly Language: How To!
• 4/26/2023 7:35 PM: -- Interesting videos on the KIM-1. A system I would loved to have back in the day.
  • I Bought the Oldest PC on eBay! Unboxing the KIM-1
  • I Build & Run Microsoft BASIC from the Original Sources for the 1977 KIM-1
  • Computer Stuff YOU Should Know! Dave introduces and explains the RIOT chips from his venerable 1977 Revision A KIM-1
  • Inside the 1977 KIM-1: CPU, Video, RAM, ROM and more!
  • The Most Powerful PC of 1977: Best of the Best!
  • Vintage KIM-1: Disaster to Redemption
• 4/24/2023 10:25 PM: -- I've been following this YouTube channel Mister Retro Wolf. If you're interested in learning how to go about recreating a retro system in FPGA then this guy shows us a great example of how to go about it. It's absolutely fascinating and he's done a great job of it. I too want to create a MiSTer core down the road. Perhaps the SWTPC, if no one beats me to it. I would like to help improve various cores as well.
• 4/21/2023 11:30 PM: -- I enjoyed watching these. I would have loved to own one these back in the day before I got my first CoCo. I would've learned so much. I like the way he mixes old tech w/ new tech. It goes along w/ the spirit of what I have in mind for this site. What might be cool is to create a virtual ETA-3400 using FPGA as an exercise to learn FPGA.
  • Heathkit ET-3400 Part 1: Designing and building an ETA-3400 Memory/IO Accessory
  • Heathkit ET-3400 Part 2: ET-3400 vs ET-3400-A, Cassette Interface, ADC Experiment
  • Heathkit ET-3400 Part 3: The ET-3404 6809 adapter, cloned
• 4/18/2023 6:40 AM: -- This is really awesome: 8bitworkshop.com | GitHub. I would love see an installable offline version of this written in C# (or Java). The HDL / Verilog emulation w/ emulated video is really awesome!
• 4/15/2023 3:55 PM: -- This is a pretty cool project: 486 Breadboard Computer | GitHub. I get quite nostalgic for the 386/486 and 586 (Pentium) class CPUs. They are all good targets for hobby projects using the real chips. And there is still lot's of them around. We would be hard pressed to run a 586/100MHz in FPGA's. Only very high end and expensive FPGA's could do that. (Let alone something like a Pentium 233MHz MMX)
• 4/12/2023 9:15 PM: -- We'll be covering electronic projects extensively. Primarily for retro, but also mixing vintage and modern. We'll be covering how to read and create schematics and PCBs. This looks like a really good series of videos on KiCad.
• 4/9/2023 2:30 AM: -- So what is up with the domain name "retro-tech.xyz"? Well ... my host gave me credit for a free .xyz domain and the renewal rate is cheap! Also, it has a unique sound to it? It's the XYZs of retro tech (instead of the ABCs) but primarily because it was free! :) :)
• 4/9/2023 1:30 AM: -- Site covering computer / console / and arcade technology from the mid 70's through the 90's comming soon!