Taylor and Amy Build The Feertech MicroBeast

See https://feertech.com/microbeast/

This is an 8 bit kit with the the following design goals:

  • A complete, self-contained 8-bit computer kit that can be built without specialist tools.
  • Genuine 8-bit design, don't cheat with "support" processors that are more powerful than the main CPU.
  • All development, from applications to firmware, can be done without expensive or obscure tools.
  • Use standard connectors. No odd or outdated adapters adding to clutter.
  • Use only currently manufactured and available components. 8 bit shouldn't mean obsolete.
  • Can be expanded, customised and hacked - with full access to the CPU bus.
  • Intentional, honest design - make choices, not excuses.
  • Keep costs down, but don't cut corners.

The result is this:

  • Self contained 8-bit computer kit in a box
  • Unique 24 character, 14 segment display & virtual console
  • 47 Key keyboard
  • Z80 CPU 8-10Mhz
  • 512K RAM, 512K Flash ROM
  • Power and data over USB C
  • Battery backed Real time clock
  • Running CP/M 2.2
  • GPIO Header: 12 I/O pins
  • FTDI port, Speaker, aux power input
  • I2C Header: Control I2C devices
  • RC2014 compatible expansion bus

That is really cool. I didn't know CP/M 2.2 could address mapped memory. The Z80, AFAIK, has only 16 bit address bus, so they must have some sort of paged memory subsystem because they have a total of one Megabyte of memory in this. I am wondering whether maybe CP/M 2.2 had some sort of support for paged memory. It wouldn't be much more than a system call to code like this to switch a certain logical page to a certain physical page. It runs original Microsoft Basic code! See https://github.com/brouhaha/cpm22 for assembler source. See also Dr. Volker Barthelmann´s C compiler http://www.compilers.de/vbcc.html.

Curious things about this video: they never let you see them saudering anything: it's all done off camera, and they seem to be careful to use British pronunciation. Feertech is based in Fulbourn.

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On Sunday evening I was talking to Phil Kruman who was out with his sons flying drones on Stourbridge common. We talked about the local vintage computer scene and he mentioned a whole slew of old 8-bit machines like the Oric-1 (Tangerine Computer Systems) that I'd completely forgotten about that were all developed in and around Cambridge. There were dozens of companies!

Here's Phil on the Dystopian mindset that seemed to be around in the largest of the Cambridge computer companies:

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