This backplane is a must-have if you're working with multiple designs. The Z50Bus and RCBus 80-pin standards are long-needed conventions that really empowers the community to create interoperable hardware and drivers. I am ecstatic to have this board which gives me full access to every piece of hardware I own from every modular computer I own.

I really love this little backplane. It's perfect for a compact, z180 system with a small footprint yet complete feature set. Very easy to assemble.

This kit is an excellent, classic Z80 computer! It runs lots of software, including standalone BASIC and FORTH, two machine code monitors, and the classic OS’es CP/M 2.2, Z-System, and CP/M 3 - aka CP/M Plus.

Shipping is fast, and the kit arrives neatly packaged in a very compact cardboard box/envelope. Steve’s kits are always very high quality, and this one is no exception. I have bought and built several of the SC kits before and never had any issues. I also think the price of this board makes it a very good deal.

The package includes a parts list in print, and on the website, you will find all the detailed documentation you need for building and using this kit. You must add the power supply and a Compact Flash (CF) card yourself, otherwise, everything is in the package. You can run the board without the CF, but then you have no external storage. I have successfully tested a cheap micro SD to CF card adapter on the board, so that could be an option for you too.

I would say that you need “moderate/intermediate” soldering skills to build this kit; it’s not at all difficult, but there are many solder joints to do. If you follow the detailed assembly guide carefully, step by step, you won’t get lost in the process. Also, the PCB has a very nice layout, labeled with much detail as to which part goes where which is very helpful.

I like the RCBus which is compatible with RC2014 but adds enhancements. So there are lots of expansion boards compatible with the SC720, both from Steve and other sources as well. I like the use of a voltage regulator, providing a stable power supply for the board. The small LEDs with housing are a nice detail, adding to the good looks of the board.

In terms of software, the SC720 is well supported by two user-selectable flash ROMs, one with an excellent Monitor and BASIC, and the other one with RomWBW, which is a powerful set of tools, including CP/M. This software has been around for quite some time, and is very mature, stable and high quality; everything (HW+SW) is open source, thank you - this is great work crafted by some very enthusiastic people, highly appreciated. I mostly run CP/M 3 from Compact Flash, which just happens to be my personal preference.

The SC720 hardware and software offer many features, all integrated into one motherboard. If you like computing like in the ‘70s and ‘80s this is a good buy.

Conclusion: Highly recommended, high-quality kit!

This is the second of the Stephen Cousins RC2014 motherboard kits I've built. A very nice board, though I prefer the SC130 for its compactness and elegance. Quite a number of build options and versatile for its inclusion of switchable boot ROMs.

I do have a couple of minor quibbles. I don't much care for the bent pin headers protruding over the side of the board, though the customer can substitute straight heads (this requires some planning, in order to avoid blocking the female headers at the ports). And, in the otherwise excellent documentation, one of the final tests requires measuring voltage at a couple of pins of the Z180 socket, but with no pin diagram (68 pins to choose from!). Please add a pin diagram / pictorial to the documentation, Stephen.

I would not recommend this kit to the beginning kit builder, as is of medium+ complexity, with many solder joints. Start with something simpler, such as the SC114, to get some experience soldering and kit building. Or, better yet, start with a very simple and cheap kit, say a 555 LED flasher, with only a few solder joints, and practice, practice, practice soldering. Cold solder joints and bridges are the most common cause of kit failure.

Marginal notation: It would be nice to have a plug-in video board, composite video, VGA, or even HDMI. For that matter, why don't I wish for a keyboard interface?

Summary: An excellent kit for anyone into Z80 or CP/M programming at a very reasonable price.

I've been building kits for over a half century. Started with the venerable Heathkits and continued from there. This has to be the best engineered and documented kit I've ever laid my hands on. Ships in less than two weeks from the UK to the US, thanks to reliable Royal Mail.

Points to watch.
1) Care must be taken in bending the pins of the ICs so they snap into the sockets. Not so easy when you're a senior and your hands are not as steady as they once were.
2) USB ports on some laptops may not supply enough current to power the board reliably. Some Thinkpad models are notorious for this.
3) Be careful to supply 5v and only 5v through the barrel jack. 9v or 12v will damage the ICs and render the board inoperable. I made this mistake and had to replace chips, one by one, in order to restore the board to full function.