exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

I posted the other day on my general chat about the PiDP -8/I kit that I'd just received, so time to get on with the build :)

This is how it arrived:


And first off was a parts sort:


And there are a lot of LED's!!


Luckily I had a suitable spare RPi 3 B+, which is more than suitable for the task.

Next up I need to set up the RPi and make sure the software side is good, and then get soldering. The front panel looks great under the protective film, so should look great once finished.

Overall kit quality is very similar to the Altairduino, and I think the build time will be similar. The switch quality is really nice, better than the Altair, with rockers that match the original very nicely, albeit scaled down.

Looking forward to getting the build proper underway.

:dualthumbup:

Oh wow, that's going to be one beautiful machine!

agranlund wrote: 21 Apr 2024 13:52 Oh wow, that's going to be one beautiful machine!

It will be, but boy are there a lot of LEDs to solder in!!!

Some progress today, a bit behind where I wanted to be on account of jobs needing doing in the garden, I'll I'll keep pressing on.


PCB assembly - 86 LEDs to install, and each LED has a standoff:


Very slow going and I haven't even started soldering the LEDs in yet, though the diodes and resistors are done.

I have to say, the silk screen is good, with diode directions and resistor values clearly marked. In addition, there is a little picture silkscreened on that shows the long leg of the LED going to the left and states that's how they all go, so it is pretty easy to remember.

Build process is very like the Altairduino, with the RPi on the back like the Arduino in the Altair.

More as I progress.

More progress made, the rest of the parts are installed including the RPi and the switches, though the switches need to have the soldering completed.


The switches are the hardest part, it's a case of soldering in one corner, then make sure the alignment is good and the switch is sitting flat, then moving on to the next one and doing the same to ensure good alignment all the way along.

It's sometimes necessary to reheat the solder for minor adjustments, but now they are all nicely aligned I can do the rest of the soldering.

Nearly finished now, and I have run a test package that's included and proved all the LEDs and switches work, so it's looking good.

:dualthumbup: :D

And there's more - it's finished!!

:girldance:

This is the final assembly before the front cover is fitted:


And finished and booted:


What can't be seen here is the awesome flickering of the LEDs that mimics the neons of the original, it really is spectacular :)

Because it's running round a PI it is possible to hook up an HDMI lead and get to the PiDP 8/I emulator on the RPi desktop, but I want to hook up serial to use it in a more traditional manner.

I have had the Altairduino hooked up to a terminal, so it's only fair I do that here too.

If you like to build stuff, I can really recommend this, the Altairduino and uKenbak-1, they are not too trying, but fun to build and offer a lot of interesting activity once completed.

Like the Altairduino, the PiDP uses Octal, which I find quite refreshing and easy to understand.

If I can get to a Cyber Legends, then I think these three, plus the OSI 600D would definitely be worth bringing.

Yay, another fun project !

:D

HigashiJun wrote: 22 Apr 2024 04:56 Yay, another fun project !

:D

It certainly was :)

Need to build the 610 expansion board for the OSI next :)