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Forum What can a 1980's 8 bit computer do?
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What can a 1980's 8 bit computer do?

unixbob
unixbob over 9 years ago

Ben's done stuff recreating 1980's computers like the ZX Spectrum with 8 bit processors available today.  I wonder if he could do it the other way around.  There's been a rise in the popularity of 8 bit processors, mainly due to Arduino's.  So could Ben repurpose an old commodore 64, ZX Specturm or an old Apple computer and wire it up to do similar projects that we see arduino's used for.  Perhaps something GPIO related with blinky lights, motors, etc.

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  • rsc
    rsc over 9 years ago +4
    In 1986 I ran an entire theater lighting system from a Sinclair microAce. We used a random number generator and some PAR cans with red and yellow gel frames to simulate a crackling fire scene. We also…
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  • rsc
    rsc over 9 years ago

    In 1986 I ran an entire theater lighting system from a Sinclair microAce.  We used a random number generator and some PAR cans with red and yellow gel frames to simulate a crackling fire scene.

    We also ran hundreds of pairs of LEDs hidden in the walls to simulate mice and rats in a dungeon scene blinking them randomly throughout the show.

    Here's a link to a program for running lights from a PC parallel port I published back then in Circuit Cellar (It runs in DOS written in TurboC and hardware access using inline assembly code)

    ftp://ftp.circuitcellar.com/pub/Circuit_Cellar/1991/CC_Issue_020/LIGHTCTL.ZIP

    Scott

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  • rsc
    rsc over 9 years ago

    In 1986 I ran an entire theater lighting system from a Sinclair microAce.  We used a random number generator and some PAR cans with red and yellow gel frames to simulate a crackling fire scene.

    We also ran hundreds of pairs of LEDs hidden in the walls to simulate mice and rats in a dungeon scene blinking them randomly throughout the show.

    Here's a link to a program for running lights from a PC parallel port I published back then in Circuit Cellar (It runs in DOS written in TurboC and hardware access using inline assembly code)

    ftp://ftp.circuitcellar.com/pub/Circuit_Cellar/1991/CC_Issue_020/LIGHTCTL.ZIP

    Scott

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