Imagesource: https://hackaday.io/

Admittedly, when we talk about old CPUs, it's mostly about the 6502 or the Z80. Guilty. But truth be told, the 6502 usually gets the preference. This needs to be changed urgently, and therefore we are super grateful for the hint and work of one of our faithful readers Paolo Amoroso.

Paolo is more in the Z80 camp and has recently assembled the Z80-MBC2.

This beautiful machine is the successor of the Z80-SBC (single board computer), brings an SD card reader and 128kB banked RAM, so besides CP/M 2.2 also CP/M 3, QP/M and Collapse OS can be run on the box.

But what do you do after the soldering iron has cooled down and you have cured the resulting burns? 🩹

Paolo answers this very question with an interesting series of blog posts. A first look at hardware and software, building a first demo in assembly, a serial connection to chromeOS and an alternative for program upload are the first topics documenting Paolo's journey. More to come.

For those who have always wanted to enter Z80 territory, both the device and especially Paolo's article are highly recommended.