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Episode 454: Soldering Up the rc2014 Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

Matt normally does most of his work from the comfort of his Southern California hackerspace, but circumstances have forced him to temporarily retreat to his kitchen table. Unfortunately, that means limited resources and even more limited space to comfortably work. As such, Matt has had to put all of his larger, more bombastic projects on hold for the time being and focus on small devices he can fit in his makeshift kitchen studio. In this video, he'll look at a retro computing project that's been sitting on the back burner for too long: Spencer Owen's "RC2014" Z80 homebrew computer. In this Super Solder episode, Matt will walk through the basic design of the system, assemble its various component boards, and play around with some BASIC programs from his archive./span>

Supplemental Content: 

Bill of Material:

Product Name Manufacturer Quantity Buy Kit
WE1010NA - Soldering Station, WE Series, 120 V, 450 °C, 70 W Weller 1 Buy Now
SMDSWLF .020 1OZ - Solder Wire, No Clean, Lead Free, 0.020 " Diameter, 1 oz Chip Quik 1 Buy Now
Solder Flux, No Clean, Soldering, Pen Applicator, 0.33 fl.oz (US) Kester 1 Buy Now
Swab, Cotton, Low Linting, Clean Room Grade Composite Handle, 3mm x 75mm, Pack of 25 Chemtronics 1 Buy Now
CT100 - Swab, Cotton, Low Linting, Wooden Handle, 16mm x 152mm, Pack of 100 Chemtronics 1 Buy Now
35216 - Dispenser, Pump, Plastic, Alcohol Menda 1 Buy Now
MC-I20 - 3D PRINTER, 200MM X 200MM X 200MM Multicomp 1 Buy Now
MC002549 - 3D PRINTER FILAMENT, PLA, 1.75MM, GREY Multicomp 1 Buy Now

 

Additional Parts:

 

Product Name

RC2014 Full Monty Kit
Attachments:
Z80-Retro-Challenge-1-CPU.pdf
Z80-Retro-Challenge-3-ROM-27512.pdf
Z80-Retro-Challenge-4-RAM-32k.pdf
Z80-Retro-Challenge-6-Serial-IO.pdf
element14 presents
Soldering Up the rc2014 Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

element14 presents  |  About Matt |  Project Videos

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  • in reply to phoenixcomm

    There's certainly something to be said for modern conveniences. I certainly wouldn't want to use something like my SX-64 as a daily driver, but there's a certain charm in using legacy platforms like this as starting points for art projects, historical research, teaching hands-on theory, or even just as a fun challenge or diversion!

     

    You put your time in on production models, so I get it. Sometimes we forget just how good we've got it, technology-wise. It's that ingenuity that I like to celebrate when I dive into a project like this!

     

    And yeah, what goes around does seem to come around eventually I can already see Generation Alpha marveling over how hard we had it back when you could only get 100mbps (at best) download speeds and most people were still playing video games with their hands.

  • Mat, I had a few of them in my day.

    The earliest one was a TDL Z80 CPU card that I had to modify to run the front panel. At Trenton State, my friend Claude Kagan gave me an S-100 HD and controller.    After the AF I went to work for a small company called Interdata. where I was exposed to AMD 2901 so I built a 16-bit version of the beast I would slide into an Interdata chassis. the third one and last was a small SBC that mounted on the bottom of the 3 1/2" Floppy drive.

    I don't want to suffer that much again. In a way, there must be a Great Circle as what goes around, comes around, ie Arduino!

  • in reply to airbornesurfer

    I was for a foreign military so no FAA approval was needed.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to dubbie

    Thanks, Dubbie! And yeah, that's my main limitation right now. I'm working my way up, though

     

    Maybe I'll get Santa to bring me an EPROM programmer this year....

  • in reply to DAB

    As a former helo jockey, I can really appreciate this. Just goes to show how robust that 8085 is!

     

    Did you ever make it through the FAA approval crucible?

  • in reply to DAB

    DAB,

     

    It seems to me that flying without crashing is always a good thing. Plus, it is amazing what could be achieved with an 8085.

     

    Dubbie

  • in reply to dubbie

    I once created an integrated heads down display for a search and rescue helicopter using a couple of 8085 processors.

    One processor handled the display while the other collected the data and calculated the information needed by the pilot.

     

    We put the information over a FLIR display, which enabled the pilot to fly in zero visibility without crashing.

     

    The pilots loved it.

     

    DAB

  • I really enjoyed watching this video. It reminded me of my early work times when I designed 8085 and 8088/6 based microcomputer systems. So much fun. It makes me want to have a go at making an 8085 based system - but I don't think I will though - no EPROM programmer.

     

    Dubbie

  • Nice episode.

     

    I still remember my Z80 computer, also built from a kit called Bigboard.

    About five engineers I worked with all bought the kit and used them at work to give us our own workstations at a time when there was only one or two in the entire building.

     

    The Z80 was a great processor for its era.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to kalebclark

    Thanks, Kaleb! It's a pretty cool kit and a great distraction while in "lockdown". My wife was showing it to her elementary school students and, of course, one immediately asked if it could run Fortnite