front panels

From: Jack Peacock <peacock_at_simconv.com>
Date: Mon Feb 23 17:06:36 1998

On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, Sam Ismail Replied:
>> I also had one homebrew S-100 with the Wameco front panel, which used hex
>> displays for address and data but otherwise was identical to the IMSAI
front
>> panel. Does anyone remember other front panel S-100 cards besides MITS,
>> IMSAI, Ithaca, and Wameco? Wasn't there a Byte-8 sold by Olson
Electronics
>> for a while that also had a front panel?

>Yes, the Byte-8 had a front panel with, I believe, a hex keypad and a two
>digit 7-segment LED display.

Was that just a display driven from a boot ROM or was it a real front panel,
with displays directly driven from the bus, examine/deposit, single step,
etc.? Usually a hex keypad meant a simulated front panel (CPU actually
running a debug program in the boot ROM). A true front panel needed 16 LEDs
or 4 hex digits for address, 8 LEDs or 2 hex digits for data, and at least 8
status LEDs for bus signals (SINP, SOUT, MEMR, INTA, etc.). All the panels
I have seen also had an extra 8 LED latched output port and sense switch
input port.
Received on Mon Feb 23 1998 - 17:06:36 GMT