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Super-80 rebuild project

PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:06 am
by SeanKennedy
Those that are *really* interested are probably across the Yahoo group (May be registration required), but by way of an update for the rest, there has been substantial progress over the last few months. The chaps doing the board tracing from original schematics and a component stripped original have made CAD drawings available, and submitted them for a limited production run of around 10-20 boards. These came back looking better than the original, although not quite the right shade of green. This V1 board has been built up by a couple of chaps so far, and only one fault in the transcribing has been found - and will be fixed in the V2 board. V2 will probably include the "high speed" tape interface upgrade as an option, and possibly on board video expansion. Also support for alternate keyboard keys, and multiple holes for the large capacitors which are tricky to get in the original lead pitch configuration (as was the tape relay).

One adventurous chap even went so far as to build a BoM for a supplier in Silicon Valley that has all the right old bits, and popped across on a shopping trip to pick up several. The keyboard is still taking a bit of time, but the guys are hoping to leverage off a Microbee project that is getting a stack made so there will potentially be some Super-80s with White and Black keys.

I hoping to get a V2 with keyboard kit (with luck before my aging eyes pack up and I cant solder!) - will keep you posted.

Re: Super-80 rebuild project

PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:19 am
by tezza
Great stuff Sean,

I remember seeing Super-80 kits back in the day.

These is a large amount of "retro-maker" activity these days. I've just written a blog entry on a modern video adapter that allows an NTSC Atari look good in PAL for example. A hard disk FreHD adaptor has just been made for the System 80. Things are appearing all the time.

Post some pictures when the project is finished!

Re: Super-80 rebuild project

PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 4:29 pm
by Carcenomy
Yeah Retromaker stuff is really taking off, the Amiga scene has never been healthier as a result. Good to see other platforms feeling the love!

Re: Super-80 rebuild project

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 1:15 pm
by SeanKennedy
Kind of related - pics from the Melbourne mini vintage computer faire last weekend.

http://avitech.com.au/?page_id=3132

A classic Super-80 donated it's keyboard to run with a repro board one - and a kit in the middle for kicks. (Board #1?)