My First Single Board Microcomputer in 1979:
Netronics ELF II
Based on the RCA COSMAC CDP1802 8-bit microprocessor.
- 256 bytes of RAM. later I added 1k of RAM.
- DMA based bitmap graphics using RCA CDP1861 Pixie-graphics chip.
- Hexadecimal keypad for enter your code in HEX.
- Two-digit hexadecimal LED display.
- A single "Q" LED.
- And, 5 expansion slots I never used.
- Have a huge compendium of articles.
Added a video modulator, speaker driver and cassette tape interface for program storage. I put a battery backup under the PCB to keep the RAM alive.
One picture displays some modern chips sets I'm playing with today (2024).
Top Left to right: Adafruit Trinket, BBC Micro:BIT, Arduino UNO.
It' absolutely amazes me as to what they have stuffed into the chips these days.
Was once a member of Association of Computer Experimenters (ACE) in Canada and have all the articles. Today you can get all of them online.
This computer started my 30+ year IT career.
Netronics ELF II (COSMAC) Microcontroller Trainer
Netronics ELF II (COSMAC) Microcontroller with Adafruit Trinket, BBC Micro:BIT, Arduino UNO
Netronics ELF II (COSMAC) Microcontroller Documents
Netronics ELF II (COSMAC) Microcontroller PCB Layout
Netronics ELF II (COSMAC) Microcontroller Schematic