On Sat, 24 Oct 2015, Brad wrote:
I was checking out the Altair 8800 kit online (really cool). But I am hoping to one day find a kit or plans to build a Mark-8 replica, since I'm so deep into Radio Electronics features. I know there was a kit out there (Obtronix?). Was it any good? Do I need someone to make a new kit or is the Mark 8 within the realm of the home hobbyist the way the TVT was? Ie. were there ever foil patterns available for those boards or did the kit maker reverse engineer from originals? Is there any likelihood of finding one of the replica kits still out there (I remember seeing one offered for $2000 on Fleabay once.. )
The patterns for most of the Mark-8 pc boards were published in Radio Electronics (except for maybe the cassette interface?). I'm not aware of anyone who has redrawn them having made their versions freely available however. There have been a few people in the past who have offered unpopulated reproduction pc boards at significant cost, but they were beyond my budget for such a hobby project.
