Dan, I feel exactly the same as you do. I too bought a dead 102 and found some suspect parts on board. Some burned, corroded. Ni-Cad ok though.
I initially wondered what it would take to design an Model T2 with a Z80 on board. I extracted the mobo of my T2 today and I find the design process daunting to say the least. I don't have any experience designing PCBs. So, my nerve is non-existent. I've built plenty of kits in my past and tearing down Electronic components isn't a big deal to me. Designing, another domain. I do feel that with nearly 40 years of Z80 design in the world, cobbling together a new Z80 mobo would be far more successful for me or a team than if this were 1980. Then there's the discussion over direct replacement (8085C) keeping it pure, not the Z80 route. An exact replacement would mean providing circuits for the modem, the cassette and bar code interface and all the rest. I have a wish list, but all the things I'd like could take the 1980s technology fun out of it. Just for fun, the I'd like to list in order of desire what I'd put in if I could. Back lit hires LCD display. (80 chars?, meh). Z80 at 6 MHZ. Multi bank memory (CP/M 3) NV Hardware for mass storage. Replace AA alkaline batteries with Li-Ion. Some form of wireless. These are thoughts. Not really looking to start a flame war. Given all that, even an 8085C replacement board may be able to eliminate a great deal of the components on the original. I'm guessing here that the original system designed with 1970s parts has been assimilated to fewer. There are a lot of surface mounted parts on board. Something to consider. Thoughts? Anyone. I'd be willing to contribute to a Kickstart too. > On May 9, 2020, at 12:46 PM, calcmandan <[email protected]> > wrote: > > 've been stewing over the discussion on motherboards for a few days now. > Everyone has valid points and, to some degree, I agree with them. When one > needs a replacement mobo, it's simple to pull it from another system because > plenty exist out there. > > Well, be that as it may, it isn't as if new CBM's are being built today. If a > motherboard is sitting in a case and is usable, I'd rather refurbish that unit > than swap it into another case with a bad board. After all, the numbers will > continue to dwindle over time and the price being fetched for them will only > increase. The pull for retro computing seems to be increasing too. Popular > retro youtube channels are bringing attention to the hobby. > > I don't even want to discuss modernized versions of the CBMs with emulated > drives or, even, emulated systems with usb and all that. For me it defeats the > allure of the awesome platforms. They have their place, and yes I run emulated > versions sometimes. > > And that goes the same for our beloved T's. I wuold love to see a new display > PCB with a LCD panel that works with the original design. I don't care if the > resolution matches the original. I just don't want to see these items slowly > disappear, and they will slowly disappear. some people simply won't want to go > through the effort of selling them on ebay. > > I've seen evidence that many of these systems are turning up in China to be > dismantled and working chips being sold individually. For all I know, that > chip > could've come from a perfectly working system. > > I suppose, if it comes down to it, if I come across a CBM with a bad board > that's beyond a simple repair, I'd prefer to pay $35 for a freshly created > board than steal it from another. One more system returned to service beats > one > less. And the extra system could go to someone wishing to have/buy one. > > There's a point to replacing a motherboard, and I'm delighted people are > making > them available. Someone may go through the effort in reproducing the shells > and > mechanical keyboards too, with this momentum I'm seeing. If 3D printers > weren't > so expensive, I'd do it myself. > > Daniel > > ... Visit me at gopher://gcpp.world > --- MultiMail/Linux v0.49 >
