Zilog Z80 bites the dust

A z80 system was the first one I built back in the late 70s (wire wrapped a board! with S100 bus connector! Had a working (well 40 minute maximum uptime) S-100 bus system!). So it's kind of sad, but like most old things, they pass away into the past (but at least I got me a PiDP-10 to recreate some other 70s memories :-).

Anyway, for those looking to recreate some CP/M memories, this may be the last chance to grab a RC2014, IMSAI replica, or equivalent kit at least before they're redesigned for more available chips. Or build your own from scratch while they're still in stock at distributors.

As technology continues to move forward, getting smaller and faster, there will continue to be a growing list of chips that drop off the edge and into the abyss.  

 PiDP-10 sounds awesome...My first job was all about various PDP-11's running RT-11.

Indeed, the 11 was my first exposure to UNIX (v6?), though I didn't really do much UNIX until much later with a VAX/BSD. And you can (still) get a PiDP-11/70 too (maximum blinkylights :-)  https://pidp.net/

I have a few Z80 chips waiting for a rainy day project which I've never got around to : (

A few years ago, I decided I wanted to rejuvinate CP/M onto a microcontroller, and started the porting exercise (it's written in old-fashioned C, none of it compiles, lots of changes are needed! - I didn't use the assembler port of CP/M, since I wanted it to work on many devices, not Z80). I worked on it bit-by-bit most evenings for a month. I think I must be more than 50% complete, but never got around to finishing that either! I kind of hoped anyone else would do and publish it, it so I could just use theirs.

The vision was to reuse CP/M as a kind of fallback program for users to be able to configure things, view log files, save configs etc., if a user held down a GPIO pin or whatever at startup. Overkill admittedly, but it seems a shame to ignore CP/M and let it die : (

End of an era.   

Zilog Z80. They have been producing it until today!

My first was the PDP-11/04 used by Environment Canada to collect weather data that was converted to paper tape reader punch and then sent to national weather center.

Blue and Gold PDP-11/??, might have been fours, were used in the major air traffic control systems. I monitored the upgrades but never physically worked on the equipment. More talented guys that me did that.

Incidentally there's a book that might be of interest to people.

I can't say it's written like a bestseller, but the guy isn't a journalist or author, he created the Z80!. So I take back even the slightest criticism in that previous sentence : ) Plus, it's a first-hand account, so that's also a significant positive.

and thus my collection of "will use them later" Z80 peripherals got a historic value :)