The Z80-MBC2 has a multi-boot capability and can run CP/M 2.2, QP/M 2.71 and CP/M 3 (128KB banked memory supported), so you can use a very large amount of SW with it (e.g. If you want the 16x GPIO expansion (GPE option) add a MCP23017 too. More, using an Arduino bootloader, It can be easily programmed with the well known Arduino IDE. The Atmega32A MCU acts as an I/O subsystem, 'emulating' the EPROM and all the I/O components.

So I've mixed old and 'new' parts to make an unique design that doesn't need any legacy EPROM programmer or fancy ICs, using easy to find components. They are simple to understand and you can find a lot of documentation and books for free, and allow to build real computers with all the needed function blocks (CPU, I/O, RAM, ROM/EPROM, etc.).īut generally they use hard to find parts, and require outdated instruments like an EPROM programmer and eraser or a GAL programmer, and simpler ones have very limited features. There is an other option using some older part as 8bit CPUs (the so called 'retrocomputing').

they hide the inner part because they use a MCU (Micro Controller Unit) or a SOC (System On Chip) so you can't touch the CPU, I/O, the internal bus and all these stuff that are what makes a computer work. But this boards have all the same 'limit'. If you are curious about how a computer works and interacts with 'external things', nowadays there are a lot of boards ready to play like Arduino or Raspberry and many others.

Download z 80 cpu