Reviews

Perfect kit with all its components, easy to assemble and use.

I ordered the kit fromn France on November 9, 2022 and received it on December 1. <br /> Very good kit delivered well complete. All parts are grouped by categories in separate pockets. <br /> It was a great fun to assemble it, and pictures on this website were a good help. I am very satisfied with this purchase.<br /> But during assembly, pay close attention to the polarities of electrochemical capacitors, LEDs, diodes and resistor networks.<br /> For the electrochemical capacitors in the kit, the negative leg is near the red mark, and on the pcb the square pad is the positive side.<br /> For the two resistor networks, the leg near the indication is the common leg to be inserted in the square pad, but it's best to check with a multimeter.<br /> For diodes and LEDs, unlike capacitors, the pcb square pads are negative sides. The negative leg of a LED is the shortest, to be insert in the square pad.<br /> A K letter is Near each square pad of LEDs. K for Katode (cathode), négative side. <br /> After soldering the polarized capacitors,take care not to put LEDs in the wrong polaritie. The serigraphy of the diodes avoids the error.<br /> No difficulty for the resistors, but checking their values with a multimeter is more safe. No problem with the other components.<br /> After connecting the card to a USB port, some diodes flash, which is a good sign.<br /> Then check, in the device manager of the computer, that the Serial-USB module is detected, and that a com port number is assigned to it. Note this number.<br /> If no com port appears, search for a suitable USB-serial driver on the Silicon-Labs or Prolific websites for example.<br /> Windows 11 does not have the correct driver by default, I downloaded and installed CP210x_Universal_Windows_Driver.zip from Silicon-Labs, it works perfectly.<br /> Then launch Putty (or another serial emulator), configure it as a serial monitor (115200 8 n 1) and indicate it the noted port number (com1, com2,..).<br /> Run the correct configuration. After a scrolling text, appear the cp/m disk A> .<br /> <br /> The red diode D1 (HALT) never lights up. It's normal.<br /> To test it, run this short program in MBASIC. You can only type lines 100 to 500<br /> <br /> 10 REM Test Halt led (D1) of Z80-mbc2. Serge CABALA<br /> 20 PRINT CHR$(27);"[2J";:REM Clear screen<br /> 30 PRINT CHR$(27);"[2;1H";:REM Cursor screen on upper left <br /> 40 PRINT" Testing Halt led (D1 led) of Z80-mbc2":PRINT <br /> 50 PRINT"This program FREEZE Z80 CPU to Turn ON the red HALT led (D1) "<br /> 60 PRINT"When D1 is on, hit RESET key (red button) of mbc2 to restart it"<br /> 70 INPUT"CONTINUE (Y/N)";X$<br /> 80 IF X$"Y" THEN PRINT"TEST aborted": END<br /> 90 PRINT"Now Press mbc2 RESET key" <br /> 100 CLEAR,32000:REM Reserve memory <br /> 200 POKE 32000,&H76:REM HALT code of Z80. Freeze CPU<br /> 300 POKE 32001,&HC9:REM RETurn code of Z80. Never executed, CPU is frozen <br /> 400 DEF USR0=32000:REM define starting adress of language machine <br /> 500 X=USR0(0):REM Jump to 32000<br /> 600 PRINT "RETURN from USR0":REM Never appens, because CPU is frozen<br /> <br />

uTerm Black Kit

Purchased the kit to compliment my recent Z80-MBC2 Black kit. The parts were packaged well and easily identified. Works well with a PS2 keyboard and provides VGA output and powers the Z80-MBC2 board.

Z80-MBC2 Black Edition Kit

Received the kit shipped to the UK in just over a week. The kit was excellently packaged and components separated into relevant categories. Enclosed paperwork had schematic, placement diagrams and bill of materials. All components were leaded and easily identified. The enclosed SD card had all the relevant software pre-loaded. I connected the board to a computer using the enclosed serial-USB adapter. I mounted the board in my own enclosure using a USB bulkhead adapter in order the get the serial connection, this also provided the power to the board. The board has provided me with lots of memories having run CP/M in the 1980's. Later I purchased the uTerm Black board (see separate review) to provide a PS2 keyboard input and VGA monitor output so the serial to USB adapter is no longer required for day to day use but can be connected on the serial output on the uTerm board if required.

super, I repeat .... a super terminal

what a super product - it's a termial with color and different video solutions. Also....you can choose between a lot of standard terminal emulations, ..ADM3 too. <br /> With special escape sequences it is possible to generate simple graphics, line, rectangle, circle, all in color too. This is the terminal I am searching for a long time.