A Nostalgic Case For My Arduino Altair 8800 Clone
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- Last year, I bought an Aduino-based clone of the Altair 8800 computer - it arrived as a bare circuit board and front panel -functional, but a bit awkward to use.
In this video, I'm just going to make a case for it - I'm not aiming for any kind of authenticity or historic accuracy here, rather, I just want something that has a little bit of a nostalgic nod to the look and feel of the original device
If you're interested in buying the board I used in this video, here's a link to the ebay store where I got it:
www.ebay.co.uk...
I actually have my original Altair 8800 sitting in my back room. I used to have CP/M running on it via a Micropolis disk drive. It has a replacement motherboard using a Z80 CPU and a color video card. Due to having too many cards in it I had to beef up the power supply so that the fan sits on the outside of the case.
Woot - I was a kid reading Popular Electronics when they had the 1st one on the cover!
Me too. brings back great memories
I learned more about computer science here and self reflected on my ability to do fun projects. Thank you atomic shrimp
The PDP11 raspberry replica is cool also. That has the first C language compiler ever written. Very amazing how they wrote compilers for C in machine code in such little memory space. Pure genius programmers back then, that’s what fascinates me the most.
If you can understand how they wrote BASIC and C for these early computers you pretty much are genius programmer level.
My first experience with computers was on a Wang 3300 via a teletype connected via an acoustic coupler. Maybe 300 baud. 1977. Programing in BASIC. Saved programs to paper tape. Computer died mid year. Scary how far we have come. Great video. Love your name.
Very cool. I had an S-100 bus computer back in the mid-70's, but no front panel. For nostalgia, I got the "Altair Clone" here in the US, put a PC motherboard in the mostly empty case and have a dual (8080 and PC) computer. Brings back lots of memories.
Oh, this brought back so many memories - thank you for this dose of nostalgia!
Nice IT Crowd reference on the letterboard! Now I'm trapped in this retro computer rabbithole, like a moth in a bath.
Really nice build and great result :-)
This makes me want to get my old Spectrum sorted out and setup - Think I'm going to have to look for an fashioned little tv like I had back then and a cassette recorder too and make a nice area for it now.
I'm young so I don't have any memory of this computer, but it looks very cool and I might go check it out online sometime
I'm old enough to have been alive when this computer first appeared, but I don't have any direct firsthand memory of it - my first computer was a ZX81 - but this is fun to own and enjoy in much the same way as, say, an antique clock (or I guess a well-crafted replica of an antique clock would be a better simile)
Nice.
I wanted to get one of these, too, but still haven't done it.
I'm more interested in the RCA CDP 1802 "COSMAC Elf" computers, which I collect.
I remember that one from Popular Electronics
Looks superb.
Fascinating video! I absolutely love the light box references! Makes the video!
This was fantastic! I look forward to more of these.
Did I see Pong LED?? Now that sounds madly fun 😁
Just discovered your channel, great stuff! Came here to say that's a fantastic build. Almost as fantastic as your shirt! 😁
Hot damned! Geeking out! Now you can play Kill the Bit or play Pong or perform some rudimentary binary calc’s. Lol! Love it though! And your explanation is spot on, by the way
And am I mistaken, but can’t you connect a keyboard and a disk drive as well?
I think there's some additional hardware required to add a disk - this one emulates disks on the SD card, so that's probably enough for me, for now
What does the NuclearCaridea do IRL? Punch old people to watch us cry? Lovely nostalgic build.
Nicely done!
Blinkenlights and no Star Wars movie. Sad day.
I didn’t know that B&Q would cut wood to size. Worth knowing. Thanks
Yeah, it's definitely worth it for a project like this where precision cuts are important. Sometimes they will charge extra for more than 3 cuts per board or something, but it's still worth it
That is a nice little project and the case really looks the part. I wonder if it would be possible to make a VT100 or Wyse terminal or modern equivalent. I know there are 'thin client' devices available which companies use instead of full PCs. But I'm thinking of just a serial screen/keyboard to connect to the 'Altair'. So no local OS. Not sure if that makes sense but... anyhow, I enjoyed the video.
Answer to self... I found this geoffg.net/terminal.html. It could be fun to have the 'Altair' run freestanding i.e. not connected to a PC.
Thanks - I might actually give that a try, especially as it supports USB to serial, so I would not even need to add a conventional serial port to the Altair.
It is interesting though that this device uses a microcontroller to emulate a terminal - that's still probably more computing power in it than would have been in the original host device. I guess that's because we've made so much progress, it's harder to do it the old way than the new way now.
Mr. Shrimp i really love the end video song I just don’t know what it is it sounds really wholesome.
It's called 'Pixellated Autumn Leaves' - from the RUclips music library ;)
AtomicShrimp thanks mr.shrimp
I'm glad my first 8 bitter was an Apple ][ europlus.
Excellent IT Crowd reference there! #yesterdaysjam
Love the laser work !!
What shade of Blue did you use? I couldn't tell in the video.
Rustoleum 'Spa Blue' - not an exact match, but close enough to evoke the right sort of feel
Very interesting
Like the printer 👍
@11:59 just nitpicking...the correct baudrate is 115200, not 115000. Nice project, I like it!
Oh, you're right. My bad - forgetting my roots!
I have a strange feeling that the word board thing in the back on his table has references to The IT Crowd on it.
Wish I had a spare $800-$1000 to copy your rather awesome project!!
It can probably be done for a good deal less than that - I think my total project cost for this has been about 300gbp but the front panel was the critical part - if you get that, the rest can all be DIY for less than 50 dollars (if you have the time and put in more effort than I did here)
The version currently being sold in that eBay store looks really watered down from this, sadly. I might've paid the along price of £73 for what you have here, but certainly not for the current version. Really cool to see this, though!
He also makes a mini arduino shield version (assuming that's what you saw there) - which is really little more than a curiosity as it uses DIP switches. There's not much point trying to use an Altair in earnest unless it has proper toggle switches.
The seller is a great guy though and very responsive to requests - if you let him know what you want, he may be able to make it to order
@@AtomicShrimp, that is fantastic to know, although being kinda in poverty I'll probably just have to satisfy myself with emulation 😁 By the way, I've also watched some of your scam baiting videos and they're hilarious.
I hope to get one day
I run many emulators of old Mainframes and OS's. I have a PIDP8 and a PIDP11(not built yet), I would like an Altair kit but they are very pricey! I retired fro IT a few years ago and tbh for me it had lost its 'fun' many years ago. Now it's just a tool. Which is why I play with the emulators.
It's like stepping into a time machine. I want one!
P.S. Pity that Arduino/ Altair combination isn't for sale anymore. :-(
Yeah, I was really lucky to grab this one when I did. The guy I bought it from on eBay might be amenable to making more of them if people ask him.
Need that build music. Anyone know it?
Dislikes? Really? Because...?
polybius
Ah okay, its not a eurorack drumsequencermodul
can it run doom?
Even $10 calculators are more practical than this now (with a better interface). :-\ I wonder when we'll become obsolete ourselves. 🤔
I don't have a desk-rabbit, but I do have a kitchen-mouse. Wait a second… 😒
Its a emulator. Lol.. but it is really , really , really ... cool..
Simulator - not emulator.
You know “Yesterday’s Jam” doesn’t really work as a thing, because jam lasts for ages.
We're all just drudgeons to them!
AtomicShrimp Yes! If there were such a thing as a drudgeon, that is what we’d be!
But can you eat it?
With enough determination.
But can it run Minecraft ?
In theory, yes, if you don't care about the frame rate
Anyone else think do the assassin altair