To get away from the topics I've been working on for several months now, I intend to build a small tube audio amplifier and to 'relax' by making a small 'old-school' microcomputer.
I actually came across a Facebook post, while I'm browsing this social network less and less often due to general interest that is very close to absolute emptiness, on a subject that I find interesting: the construction of a small computer resembling the machines of the 80s, and more precisely the Commodore 64.
Nothing fantastic, you might say. Even the 'advertising' picture of the subject can be quite laughable. You'll probably be right, except that...
For years I have been looking for a small machine to turn into a 'thing', a kind of companion that can be used on a daily basis for various 'basic' type applications.
In fact, almost all attempts at new hardware are very ambitious, since it is often about doing 'better' than what was 'before'. Often it starts strong, and then quickly the interest in the subject wanes. In my point of view, the main problem, beyond the difficulty of realization and its cost, is simply the documentation.
Of course, there are always wikis, forums, etc... where the information is not up to date and 'stuffed' with links pointing to the 'detailed' documentation of this or that subject. In fact, it is extremely 'boring'. Which imposes a very slow and tedious learning curve for any newcomer. I faced this type of problem with the MSX machine that I had the opportunity to assemble a few years ago.
Here, none of that. The machine is simple, even simplistic. It only offers basic and functional functions and above all, the designer took the time to publish a book in PDF format that details absolutely everything you need to know to 'play' effectively with this machine. The book is currently 571 pages long that I forced myself to read to see if there was any 'useless padding' of pages, just to make the counter go up. Well no. Everything is there and very well documented.
Frederick John Milens has done a huge amount of documentation work and it is absolutely brilliant. At least there will be no need to spend hours searching on the Internet, and that is a decisive plus.
And then here, in fact, no totally sterile discussions on the characteristics of the machine, which please or not, no sterile disputes either on the choices of the designer and all these sorts of things. The machine is as it is and that's it! You have to do with it, and that's not so bad. So, notice to the real 'reto(or not)-geeks' able to embellish, improve, create with this little machine...
So, I already had printed circuits board made for this little computer. The assembly work will be quite simple given that few components are present on the circuit. Almost 'Zx81'.
There is no need for me to specify the characteristics of the Cody Computer here since absolutely all the information can be found on the site dedicated to it:
