Tindie
Stephen C Cousins
Overall Rating:
All Reviews
David | Jan. 24, 2020
A Great Design, Well Documented, and Simple to Build
For SC126 Z180 SBC / Motherboard Kit
First impressions mean a lot. What hit me first about this kit is how compact the design is: at overall dimension of 4" X 6.5" (101 mm X 165 mm), this system is quite compact. It took a couple of days on and off for me to build, but the documentation is clearly written (especially the assembly guide, troubleshooting guide, and user's guide), so making the checks necessary to ensure a successful build before power up are duck soup for anyone who knows how to use a multimeter.
The soldering is somewhat fine work, so having an iron with a finer tip and good heat transfer is imperative. With my aging eyes, use of a stand magnifier was very helpful, but someone with normal vision will find no challenges so long as they are familiar with good soldering and electronic construction techniques. One strong suggestion: READ and FOLLOW the assembly guide. This is the best path forward to a successful build.
There are provisions on the board for such niceties as a remote reset switch, and multiple paths for supplying system power (5 VDC at less than 0.1 a), obvious signs the designer anticipated people building these systems into cases. I definitely have plans for mine.
The included firmware makes this machine truly versatile, able to boot straight to BASIC, FORTH, Z-System, CP/M 2.2, the system Monitor, or from systems stored on any available bootable media (microSD card in my case).
CP/M is an 8-bit system that usually only has 64K of RAM available, and most CP/M systems back in the day ran around 2 to 6 MHZ, with the latter being rare. . This design, with its Z180 CPU, is capable of operating all day long from a USB battery pack (I'm using a 10,000 ma-hour pack presently) at 18.432 MHz, so very fast, and very powerful for an 8-bit system.
Be aware that a serial terminal is needed to communicate with this system. The optional serial adapters sold for the board are well worth having, and will make interfacing this system to serial terminal emulator software like minicom or TeraTerm a simple matter.
My kit took about two weeks to get to the Gulf Coast of the United States from the UK, probably because of heightened security associated with current events (U.S. Customs probably suspected it was a noo-kyoo-lur dee-vice...), but most folks get their kits a bit sooner. It was packed well, and arrived with all components in good condition, ready to go.
There is a strong but small community on the net supporting this system and doing interesting things with it. I hope to see you there!
The soldering is somewhat fine work, so having an iron with a finer tip and good heat transfer is imperative. With my aging eyes, use of a stand magnifier was very helpful, but someone with normal vision will find no challenges so long as they are familiar with good soldering and electronic construction techniques. One strong suggestion: READ and FOLLOW the assembly guide. This is the best path forward to a successful build.
There are provisions on the board for such niceties as a remote reset switch, and multiple paths for supplying system power (5 VDC at less than 0.1 a), obvious signs the designer anticipated people building these systems into cases. I definitely have plans for mine.
The included firmware makes this machine truly versatile, able to boot straight to BASIC, FORTH, Z-System, CP/M 2.2, the system Monitor, or from systems stored on any available bootable media (microSD card in my case).
CP/M is an 8-bit system that usually only has 64K of RAM available, and most CP/M systems back in the day ran around 2 to 6 MHZ, with the latter being rare. . This design, with its Z180 CPU, is capable of operating all day long from a USB battery pack (I'm using a 10,000 ma-hour pack presently) at 18.432 MHz, so very fast, and very powerful for an 8-bit system.
Be aware that a serial terminal is needed to communicate with this system. The optional serial adapters sold for the board are well worth having, and will make interfacing this system to serial terminal emulator software like minicom or TeraTerm a simple matter.
My kit took about two weeks to get to the Gulf Coast of the United States from the UK, probably because of heightened security associated with current events (U.S. Customs probably suspected it was a noo-kyoo-lur dee-vice...), but most folks get their kits a bit sooner. It was packed well, and arrived with all components in good condition, ready to go.
There is a strong but small community on the net supporting this system and doing interesting things with it. I hope to see you there!
Gary | Dec. 6, 2019
Amazing product, easy build, super value!
For SC130 RomWBW CP/M Computer Kit for RC2014
Very much enjoyed building this Z180 computer. The sturdy PCB is well laid out, approx 0.070 inches thick, and about 4x4 inches square. Build time was about 3 hours. It has a Meg of physical memory split evenly between RAM and ROM that the Z180 MMU maps into the Z80's logical space (64K). The clock is 18Mhz, so it is quite fast. The PCB has 2 expansion slots that are RC2014 compatible, so you can add RC2014 project boards or backplanes that are available on Tindie. It came with a USB virtual serial port, and an SDCard expansion peripheral that is used as a disk. The RomWBW software includes CPM, a full size floating point BASIC, a Tiny integer BASIC, Forth, and a small monitor so you can explore and play around with the Z180 registers, memory, and I/O The cost was very reasonable at $56USD which included shipping. I live in Atlanta and received the board in less than a week.
Hans | Nov. 23, 2019
This kit is too good!
For SC126 Z180 SBC / Motherboard Kit
It took me an afternoon to assemble this kit, download Turbo Pascal, WordStar and dBase II and run them like it was 1984! Highly recommended!
Ross | Nov. 3, 2019
Great little kit, exceptional documentation.
For SC126 Z180 SBC / Motherboard Kit
A great little through-hole kit that can be put together on the kitchen table in a couple hours or less into a working 8-bit computer that has the same retro user feel (but smaller and faster) as the early 1980's homebrew and commercial machines. The online documentation is exceptional- user's guide, circuit description, detailed assembly instructions, ROMs- all of it right there.
Randy | Oct. 25, 2019
Great kit design with great instructions for a low price
For SC126 Z180 SBC / Motherboard Kit
This kit was mostly easy to assemble, even with the large number of solder points, but low parts count. Some of the ground-plane solder points took a lot of time to get hot enough for solder to flow, as they nearly fully surrounded with copper. Having two vertical expansion slots plus one horizontal backplane expansion slot is fantastic and I've had great success with multiple RC2014-style cards inserted. SD card adapter and serial adapter worked without any problems and I had a fully-functional serial CP/M system in very little time. The included parts sheet is very useful and the online assembly instructions were clear and organized well, and included testing instructions along the way to verify critical points (much appreciated). Shipping took a little long (from UK to US), and there wasn't an option for a tracking number that I saw, so it was a bit of a wait, but the box was well packed and arrived in great condition. I'm looking forward to more kits from this Maker. Fantastic value for the price!
Donald | Oct. 11, 2019
Fun new dev board
For SC126 Z180 SBC / Motherboard Kit
I'm enjoying using the new SC126 development board based on the Z180.
My only complaint is that the manual needs to be gone through with a fine-tooth comb so ppl know which jumper does what. Just because the SC130 has been released recently is NO excuse to not go back and clean things up. Thanks.
My only complaint is that the manual needs to be gone through with a fine-tooth comb so ppl know which jumper does what. Just because the SC130 has been released recently is NO excuse to not go back and clean things up. Thanks.
Response from Stephen C Cousins | Oct. 17, 2019
Thanks for the feedback.
Jumper settings are described in the SC126 User Guide. I just checked this document and it does describe the function of each of the jumpers. I did, however, find one mistake which I have now corrected.
I have also added a link to the user guide in the section of the assembly guide where it illustrates the initial jumper settings for testing the board. Hopefully, that will make it more obvious where to find further details.
Jumper settings are described in the SC126 User Guide. I just checked this document and it does describe the function of each of the jumpers. I did, however, find one mistake which I have now corrected.
I have also added a link to the user guide in the section of the assembly guide where it illustrates the initial jumper settings for testing the board. Hopefully, that will make it more obvious where to find further details.
Tuukka | Sept. 10, 2019
Great product at low price!
For SC126 Z180 SBC / Motherboard Kit
The kit arrived fast, and was very easy to assemble. A few hours after opening the package I was up and running the RomWBW CP/M - of course it depends on your soldering skills, but the board is easy to solder and silkscreened on both sides. I was prepared to flash the monitor roms myself, but even that was not necessary since the kit included ready to run flash chips!
Assembly instructions are very good - follow those and you just can't get it wrong. Some experimentation was needed in getting an SD card formatted and running CP/M, it was not crystal clear whether you should use the WBW or SCM monitor ROM. But carefully reading all documents resulted in success.
Even a one liner documentation comment on the ROM-drive CP/M programs would be useful. Some info can be found on RomWBW github page, and some by just running the programs. I installed an xmodem file transfer program, and only shortly after that noticed there was XM.COM already on the rom-drive.
Anyway, half the fun is finding out what you have. And with this kit, you have plenty to discover!
Assembly instructions are very good - follow those and you just can't get it wrong. Some experimentation was needed in getting an SD card formatted and running CP/M, it was not crystal clear whether you should use the WBW or SCM monitor ROM. But carefully reading all documents resulted in success.
Even a one liner documentation comment on the ROM-drive CP/M programs would be useful. Some info can be found on RomWBW github page, and some by just running the programs. I installed an xmodem file transfer program, and only shortly after that noticed there was XM.COM already on the rom-drive.
Anyway, half the fun is finding out what you have. And with this kit, you have plenty to discover!
Response from Stephen C Cousins | Sept. 11, 2019
Thanks for the feedback. I've now added a note and a few links at the end of the assembly guide. There is information on my site about preparing an SD card etc. but I can see how you were left without guidance at the end of the assembly. Hopefully, the additional notes and links will help.
Leif | Aug. 26, 2019
Great product but not for the beginner in soldering
For SC126 Z180 SBC / Motherboard Kit
Had been looking for a Z180 based product quite some time and was considering the RC2014 with an addon board. But then this showed up and with brexit coming it was best to act quickly.
Delivery was quick. 8 days from UK to SE of which I suspect the most was here in Sweden. It was posted the same day as ordered.
Took good time to read all the instructions available on the homepage before doing any soldering. Good instructions even if I choose to do things in a slightly different order. The only thing I miss is a bit more information on the included software. But it could be just that I have not looked close enough. There is plenty of information on ROMWBW, CP/M and ZSDOS on the internet. You just need to filter to find what's relevant and what's not for exactly this product.
The kit is complete down to the last little resistor and even includes some rubber feet. PCB was of high quality as far as I could tell. But one thing that might make this unsuitable for beginners in soldering is the thermal reliefs for pins connected to the ground plane. Some of these gave me a real problem and I consider myself as experienced.
Now, if there only was a matching graphics card to mount piggyback to this board....
Delivery was quick. 8 days from UK to SE of which I suspect the most was here in Sweden. It was posted the same day as ordered.
Took good time to read all the instructions available on the homepage before doing any soldering. Good instructions even if I choose to do things in a slightly different order. The only thing I miss is a bit more information on the included software. But it could be just that I have not looked close enough. There is plenty of information on ROMWBW, CP/M and ZSDOS on the internet. You just need to filter to find what's relevant and what's not for exactly this product.
The kit is complete down to the last little resistor and even includes some rubber feet. PCB was of high quality as far as I could tell. But one thing that might make this unsuitable for beginners in soldering is the thermal reliefs for pins connected to the ground plane. Some of these gave me a real problem and I consider myself as experienced.
Now, if there only was a matching graphics card to mount piggyback to this board....
Response from Stephen C Cousins | Sept. 11, 2019
Thanks for the feedback.
I think you are correct, there needs to be more information about the included software. There is quite a bit on my website, especially about the Small Computer Monitor, but I need to add more to better explain the rest. I also note the point about how this documentation needs to relate to specific products.
The issue of thermal reliefs is an interesting one, thanks. I'll try to improve this on any updates to SC126 and on future designs.
I think you are correct, there needs to be more information about the included software. There is quite a bit on my website, especially about the Small Computer Monitor, but I need to add more to better explain the rest. I also note the point about how this documentation needs to relate to specific products.
The issue of thermal reliefs is an interesting one, thanks. I'll try to improve this on any updates to SC126 and on future designs.
Response from Stephen C Cousins | Sept. 11, 2019
Thanks for the feedback.
I think you are correct, there needs to be more information about the included software. There is quite a bit on my website, especially about the Small Computer Monitor, but I need to add more to better explain the rest. I also note the point about how this documentation needs to relate to specific products.
The issue of thermal reliefs is an interesting one, thanks. I'll try to improve this on any updates to SC126 and on future designs.
I think you are correct, there needs to be more information about the included software. There is quite a bit on my website, especially about the Small Computer Monitor, but I need to add more to better explain the rest. I also note the point about how this documentation needs to relate to specific products.
The issue of thermal reliefs is an interesting one, thanks. I'll try to improve this on any updates to SC126 and on future designs.
Paul | May 22, 2019
backplane is useful little board, used with Z50 bus adapter.
For Modular Backplane Boards for RC2014
Bought the backplane and Z50 bus adapter together to complement my Linc80. Only just started to populate Stephen's boards but they show great promise to aid the inveterate fiddler. I anticipate that it will be useful to plug in the odd 2014 module, but my interest is mostly in more ready exposure of the Z50 bus.
There is no buffering at these boards, and particularly at the adapter card this may be of concern to some where there is exposure of the bare CPU bus. But oddly over the last 40 years I have found the Z80 CPU inputs/outputs to be strikingly tolerent of abuse, and really guys, if you lift the bonnet then you do have to be careful where you drop the spanner.
True, there is no documentation for the backplane, but there is a schematic and the thing is just passive.
So, Stephen, thanks for all the work here and at the monitor.
There is no buffering at these boards, and particularly at the adapter card this may be of concern to some where there is exposure of the bare CPU bus. But oddly over the last 40 years I have found the Z80 CPU inputs/outputs to be strikingly tolerent of abuse, and really guys, if you lift the bonnet then you do have to be careful where you drop the spanner.
True, there is no documentation for the backplane, but there is a schematic and the thing is just passive.
So, Stephen, thanks for all the work here and at the monitor.
Response from Stephen C Cousins | Sept. 11, 2019
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, it was a bad move on my part listing the product on Tindie before completing the documentation. As of June 2019, the product has complete documentation including an assembly guide and a user guide.