Find: "Z80 Starter Kit" - any hints?

From: dave dameron <ddameron_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Fri Jul 3 01:48:03 1998

Hi Ethan and all,
At 01:44 AM 7/3/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Yo,
>
> Z80 Starter Kit
> SDS SD Systems
> (C) 1978 MICRO DESIGN CONCEPTS
>
>It packs a Z80 w/PIO and CTC, 8 socketed 2101L RAMs (and room for 8 more!),
>a prototyping area (with labeled address and data bits right there), and two
>(unpopulated) S-100 slots (with pads for -/+16V and +8V) In addition, there's
>jacks for a cassette tape drive (and buttons labelled "cass load" and "cass
>dump"), and below the ROM socket (w/masked programmed ROM "Z-BUG"), a toggle
>switch ("PGM"/"READ") and a 24-pin DIP socket marked "PRO PROGRAMMER".
>
>With all that, I still have questions:
>
> o Is there any info on this? It looks much like a SYM-1 or Elf
> of the day, but with a Z-80.
>
> o What ROMs might it program? 1702? (unlikely because of a lack of
> odd power supply voltages) 2708? There is a pad at one edge of
> the board that snakes over to the PGM/READ button, marked +25V.
> I simply do not know which particular 1978 ROMs used that particular
> programming voltage.
>
> o Why might I have heard of "Z-BUG"? Was it a famous monitor program
> for the Z-80 boards of the late 70's?
>
> o If I can't find a good use for this, does anyone want to make me
> an offer for it? I promise that I won't just go out and post it
> on E-overpay.
>
>Thanks for any hints. I'd love to learn more about the history of this
>thing. I just got it because it was a) affordable, b) a 1970's SBC, and
>c) it has a place to add cards and my own circuits, should I decide that's
>worth the effort. I could always wire on a 6164 RAM and a SCSI chip, but
>then what would I do?
>
>-ethan
>
If you don't find a use for it, I'd be interested. I remember some ads from
SD Sales in old issues of BYTES's, but the single board Z-80 computer didn't
have any S-100 connectors, etc, IIRC.
I enjoy and would like to
a) figure out the monitor code
b) find out what EPROM it would program. If the circuit is simple, it
probably is for a 2716. What size EPROM is the "Z-BUG" in?
c) Find out if it can use or test various S-100 boards, depending on what
signals are provided. Would be an upgrade for my simple S-100 tester.
Thanks,
-Dave
Received on Fri Jul 03 1998 - 01:48:03 BST

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