Daryl's Computer Hobby Page
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Hello!   Welcome to my Computer Hobby page.   My name is Daryl Rictor and I've been working (ok, hobbying) with micro-computers since 1979.   Here's a little background about me:


My first computer was a kit called the "COSMAC ELF."   This little jem sported the RCA CDP1802 processor.   It had 256 bytes of RAM, 256 bytes of PROM, and a two-digit hexidecimal display and keypad.   I cut my teeth on machine language with that one and still prefer machine language/assembly over higher level languages for the simple tasks.   You can learn more about the COSMAC ELF here: http://home.wi.rr.com/ruske/cosmacelf/


I later moved up to both Commodore 64 and Apple ][ computers.   I found them easy to program and fun to experiment on.   I wrote several utility programs in assembly on the Commodore, including a touch tone dialer and a game I called Mortar Fire, which was basically two cannons facing each other. Each player took turns entering in the angle (accounting for wind and different heights).   I later ported it to the Apple II and also wrote a few trigonomitry & graphics routines, experimenting in 3-D generation.   Then came the PC boom, and I took up programming in Quick BASIC and later "C".


Lately, I have had the urge to build some specialized controllers and decided the 65C02 would be perfect for the task.   I wanted to be able to develop software on my PC and decided to write a 65C02 Simulator to simplify design and debugging.   Not wanting to re-invent the wheel, I searched for an existing simulator.   This led to me to the AppleWIN emulator.   This is an Apple ][ emulator that runs under Windows.   It's source code was made available in the public domain so I took it, stripped out the Apple ][ specific references, added some more features, and release my "65C02 Simulator for Windows" program.   Information about it is located under the "Windows 65C02 Simulator" tab.   It and its source code are located under the "Downloads" tab.

I used the Simulator to create a simple monitor and miniassembler for my future SBC's.   This program was adopted from the monitor written for the Apple ][ computers.   It's size is approximately 6K and sits in EEPROM from $E800-$FFFF.   It includes RESET initialization of RAM based interrupt vectors and also has a simple BRK handler.   Check it out under the "SBC Software" tab.


My next task was to design and build a simple Single Board Computer (SBC) to run my software on.   Simplicity and a small footprint were my primary design goals.   I constructed my first SBC, now called "SBC-1", in March 2001.   I had the board manufactured by expressPCB.com at a cost of $62 for three boards.   All the details about it are under the "SBC Circuit Boards" tab above.

After spending time with SBC-1 and building some simple I/O devices for it, I discovered that it was under-equipped.   It lacked RS-232 communications and needed more IO ports.   Thus, the birth of "SBC-2 v2.3" in April 2002.   SBC-2 was designed to provide more I/O and improved expandability via an expansion port.   It's size was kept as small as possible but large enough to provide as many options as I could.   Check it out under the "SBC Circuit Boards" tab.

My latest project expands on SBC-2 and the 65c02, using it's big brother, the 65C816 16-bit processor.   SBC-3 has 512k of SRAM, two 65C22 VIA's, and custom Video and SPI interface chips.   It can display 320x200 color images with 8 bits per pixel.   The SPI interface creates a gateway for many off-the-shelf peripherals, including real-time clocks, mass storage, expanded I/O, and more.   It's all wrapped up in a 6.5" x 4" PCB.   Check it out under the "SBC Circuit Boards" tab.


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Have a question?   Check out the SBC Series Projects topic on the www.6502.org Forum.   Or, you can email your questions to me at sbc2@surewest.net



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Site Last updated on July 3, 2008.