I did a bit of a downgrade, I started with a 6502 based PET at school, but wanted a home computer so I bought the ZX-80 as a kit. I was rather upset with the screen blanking and other problems that I was not used to on the PET. But I did learn the assembly language split bus Z-80 from this machine.
And believe it or not it came in useful last year.
I got a new to me espresso machine that had a Z-80 core for it's processor. It was not working, and I used the knowledge I acquired twenty years before of the hardware data and bus and address bus to trace and fix a board that would otherwise have cost me a few hundred dollars to replace.
Just goes to show, you may never know when some bit of obscure knowledge may just be what you need to get a job done. So I have to say I have almost broken even on the ZX-80 after all those years. But I did feel like I got screwed after I built it, compared to the PET. But at that time I didn't know how forward thinking the whole 6502 multiplexed bus would be VS the Z-80's separate address and data bus.
-Cecil
Cecil, that's an excellent story about the coffee machine!
The Z80 had some more advanced capabilities and a separate address and data bus. The MSX-2 range of machines all used it and they were capable of incredible things. I got stuck on a vic-20/c64 so I did learn the Basic and eventually 6502/6510 assembly/machine code and actually ended up doing a couple of demos even.
I did a bit of a downgrade, I started with a 6502 based PET at school, but wanted a home computer so I bought the ZX-80 as a kit. I was rather upset with the screen blanking and other problems that I was not used to on the PET. But I did learn the assembly language split bus Z-80 from this machine.
And believe it or not it came in useful last year.
I got a new to me espresso machine that had a Z-80 core for it's processor. It was not working, and I used the knowledge I acquired twenty years before of the hardware data and bus and address bus to trace and fix a board that would otherwise have cost me a few hundred dollars to replace.
Just goes to show, you may never know when some bit of obscure knowledge may just be what you need to get a job done. So I have to say I have almost broken even on the ZX-80 after all those years. But I did feel like I got screwed after I built it, compared to the PET. But at that time I didn't know how forward thinking the whole 6502 multiplexed bus would be VS the Z-80's separate address and data bus.
-Cecil
Cecil, that's an excellent story about the coffee machine!
The Z80 had some more advanced capabilities and a separate address and data bus. The MSX-2 range of machines all used it and they were capable of incredible things. I got stuck on a vic-20/c64 so I did learn the Basic and eventually 6502/6510 assembly/machine code and actually ended up doing a couple of demos even.
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