A Blog About Random Computer Subjects
After finishing the beginner’s guide for the Mimas V2 Development Board, I decided to try my hand at a circuit that I previously built with the GAL16V8 chip. I already had the PDS file for the BCD to Hexadecimal LED display, so I decided to try that. First, I needed to figure out what I … Read moreFPGA – Hex LED Display
I recently purchased an FPGA development board. Specifically, the Mimas V2 Spartan 6 board. There’s a really good introduction to this board which you can access by clicking here. The board looks like this: You can connect a micro-USB to USB cable to this board and program it from your PC. Plus, the power from … Read moreThe FPGA
In previous blog posts, I showed how the GAL16V8 operated and how to program it (see here and here). In this blog post, I’m going to discuss the differences between the 16V8 and the 22V10. Here’s the specification sheet for the GAL22V10: Lattice GAL22V10 Specifications. On first inspection, both devices look identical, except for the … Read moreProgramming the GAL22V10
When I wrote my blog post about building an ALU from an EPROM, I intended to use an EPROM from my old bag of parts. Unfortunately, none of my old UV erasable PROMs worked with the programmer. I’m assuming they are old and not usable. So I purchased a pair of 28C64’s from Jameco Electronics. … Read moreBuilding an ALU From EPROM – The Circuit
In my last Vintage post I talked about the first commercially available fully assembled PCs and ended with the Space Invaders video game console. In this blog post I’m going to talk about a few other video games. Galaga I spent so many quarters on Galaga that I probably bought the company owner his/her yacht. … Read moreVintage Hardware – Arcade Games
Summary In this blog post I’m going to talk about some computers that came out in the late 70’s and early 80’s. These are some of the earliest home computers and utilized mostly 8-bit CPUs. Schematics are available and I’ve done some deep-diving into the circuitry to see how these machines were created. The first … Read moreVintage Computer Hardware Design
This blog post is a “what-if” scenario, rather than a practical application. Still, if EPROMs ever become super fast, this is a viable option. I’ve discussed Arithmetic Logic Units in previous posts. I have the circuit for the TTL 74381 and 74382 chips. The circuit is easy to find on the internet and it’s included … Read moreBuilding an ALU from an EPROM
Summary I’ve written quite a few blog posts about legacy code. In this blog post I’m going to discuss how you can deal with classic ASP, why you should deal with it sooner than later and some details of what to do. Classic ASP If you’re running a .Net shop, Classic ASP is about the … Read moreLegacy Code – Dealing with Classic ASP
I’ve always wanted a decoder that did more than the TTL 7447 BCD to seven-segment display decoder did. I wanted the full hexadecimal output. One of my first real projects for the GAL was to create such a chip. I have an old PAL databook that was published by National Semiconductor in 1982. I pulled … Read moreGeneric Array Logic Hexadecimal Display
I’m going to continue this series while it’s still fresh in my mind. In case you missed it, part 1 is here. I learned electronics when I was in High School. I had two years of electronics classes and I also built circuits out of digital logic gates as a hobby. This is in the … Read moreDigital Electronics for the Beginner (Part 2)