In this post, I build a HardMPU board and use it to add midi capability to my Xi 8088 home built PC Background Midi stands for “music instrument digital interface”, and is a relatively simple protocol for controlling musical instruments. A midi controller can be a computer, or a keyboard, a sequencer, or any other …
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DIY ISA Game Control Adapter with Parallel IO
In the post, I build an ISA Game Control Adapter with some optional Parallel IO. [No video yet; not sure I’m going to do one, but here’s the picture] Motivation My Xi 8088 homebuilt PC is running a little short on slots, so I wanted to combine the functions of a game control adapter and …
Read MoreCTS256A-AL2 Text-To-Speech Board
In this post, I buld a board that uses the CTS256A-AL2 text to speech and SP0256A-AL2 speech synthesizer chips: Why? “Why? ” seems like a good question to ask. I’ve been working with vintage speech synthesizer ICs lately, and you see the CTS256A-AL2 appear on eBay from time to time. The CSS256A-AL2 is not a …
Read MorePorting from Vonage to Google Voice, 2017
I thought I’d share my experience. I basically followed what other people suggested, Purchase an AT&T pay-as-you-go sim card kit (https://www.att.com/cellphones/prepaidphones/sim-card-kit-phone-prepaid.html). During the ordering process there will be an option to port a number to the sim card. Select that option and enter your Vonage details. You’ll need to know your Vonage Account Number (this …
Read MoreISA Speech Synthesizer board using SP0256A-AL2
I’ve done a few speech synthesizer posts already using the SP0256A-AL2 chip by general instruments. We’re at a relatively fortunate time in that there are some authentic functional chips available on eBay. As always, make sure you do your research and make sure you’re buying from a reputable seller, or at least someone with a …
Read MoreDiagnosing Xi 8088 Stability Issues
Although it seemed to work fine when I first built it, lately I’ve been experiencing some problems with my Xi 8088. The computer is fairly stable with 5 expansion cards installed (compactflash, CPU, OPL 2 (Adlib), Floppy, and VGA. However, it becomes significantly less stable as a sixth and seventh expansion card is installed. This …
Read MoreZ80 Retrocomputing 18 – Z180 CPU Board for RC2014
In this video, I design and build a Z180 CPU Board for the RC2014 Motivation I wanted to try a CPU that runs at faster clock speeds and has more built-in peripherals than the Z80. More built in peripherals means less external boards needed for mundane features, and more room in the backplane for “interesting …
Read MoreZ80 Retrocomputing 17: Enhanced Z80 CPU Board for RC2014
I set out to build a fancier CPU board: Design I wanted the CPU board to have the following features: on-board oscillator, so that a separate clock board is not necessary power-on reset circuit reset header for external reset switch status LEDs for common signals such as RD, WR, MREQ, IOREQ, M1, and HALT Below …
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