Relive the Old Days with Intel 8080, Z80, and Motorola 6802 Microprocessor Kits
Old systems have been making a comeback in recent years, with people becoming afflicted with bouts of nostalgia for platforms such as the Commodore 64, Apple II, and Coleco Adam, to name a few. And like all things retro, getting your hands on one of those old machines (functioning or otherwise) can be a long drawn-out endeavor. That doesn’t mean you can’t build one of those old systems, as King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology assistant professor Wichit Sirichote has designed several microcontroller kits based on old CPUs — including the Intel 8080, Z80, and Motorola’s 6802.
For the Intel 8080 kit, Wichit outfitted the 170mm x 170mm PCB with an NFC 8080 CPU, 8224 Oscillator and 8228 bus controller. The board features 32Kb of RAM/32Kb of EPROM, GAL16V8D PLD memory and I/O decoder chip, a 6-digit/7-segmented LED display, and a 28-key keypad. Rounding out the kit is an RS232 Serial port (software controlled via UART), text LCD display (direct CPU bus interface), 2X 20-pin header, 8-bit GPIO1 debugging LED, KIA7042 reset chip, and an MC34063 DC/DC converter and Intersil ICL7660 for supplying +12V and -5V power.
Besides the Intel 8080 kit, Wichit offers a host of others — the RCA CDP1802, Intel 8086/8088, Motorola 6809/68008, 8051 Microcontroller, 6502 Microcontroller, and an 8085 Microcontroller. Wichit supplies all the information needed to recreate his builds, including parts list, schematics, PLD files on his website. He also sells the kits on eBay, which range in the $80 to $175 price points depending on the kit.
