Comment by JKCalhoun
7 months ago
If you wanted to play around with retro hardware the KIM-1 is a fine machine. Actual KIM-1's go for $1K or so on eBay, but fortunately there are a few clone kits out there. For the most part too they use the same chip set as the original.
I have both the PAL-1 [1] and PAL-2 [2] kits and enjoy them both. (For the price difference, I would recommend the PAL-1 if you are just wanting to play around with a retro 6502 computer.)
There are even online KIM-1 emulators if you can figure them out [3][4].
The best jumping off point though is probably Hans' report computer pages [5].
[1] https://www.tindie.com/products/kim1/pal-1-a-mos-6502-powere...
[2] https://www.tindie.com/products/kim1/pal-2-a-mos-6502-powere...
[3] https://maksimkorzh.github.io/KIM-1/
[4] https://maksimkorzh.github.io/KIM-1/
[5] http://retro.hansotten.nl/6502-sbc/kim-1-manuals-and-softwar...
Before anyone runs out and buys a modern-day KIM-1, be sure you know what you're getting.
I got one based on an Arduino (also hooked up to my Mac), and it's more of a simulator than a re-creation. It works fine if you want to play MicroChess and a few little loops and subroutine things in the assembler, but once you get beyond what's in the PDF you find out quickly that you're in a sandbox.
Yeah, that's the KIM Uno.
At the same time, someone getting a full-on KIM-1 clone like I listed above may find that after running MicroChess, etc. that the machine is not that interesting. And that's fair — even in its day people were clamoring for graphics, color … the things the Apple II and Commodore machines followed on with.
The KIM-1 is partly enjoyable because it is simple enough that you can wrap your head around the schematic, how the bus connects RAM, the processor, keypad, LED display. The 6502 chip is also knowable — the KIM-1 is a great machine to learn and play around with 8-bit assembly. And yet it is (or was!) a legitimate machine.
The clones I listed can all be connected via serial to your computer (Mac/PC) of choice. I have never owned the KIM Uno so cannot say if that is possible. It would definitely crimp its utility if it cannot be connected to via serial.
This wild book from 1978 had me (a young teenager) wishing I could afford the (then $400) KIM-1 as it showed how to interface it to a robot of your own creation — interfacing with motor drivers, impact sensors ("How to Build a Computer-Controlled Robot"): https://archive.org/details/howtobuildcomput0000loof
But to your point, yeah, you would need one of the clones I listed in order to interface to this degree.
The clones I listed can all be connected via serial to your computer (Mac/PC) of choice. I have never owned the KIM Uno so cannot say if that is possible.
It is. That's how I use it.
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On GitHub there are PCBs and BOMs to build close to identical KIM-1 boards. And there is even a WIP 6530 replacement so you don't have to substitute a 6532+random logic. That being said there are nice compact 6532 boards that slot right into the 6530 sockets.