Minimalist Europe Card Bus (MECB) – Backplane Design
This follows on from my Introduction of the Minimalist Europe Card Bus (MECB), where I outlined my preferred design, for recreating some of my 8-bit CPU experiences from the late …
“Black & Gold Edition” – TL866 Programmer Adapter for 27C322 & 27C400/800/160 EPROMs
The popular TL866II Plus Programmer was recently offered in a special Black Edition. This special Black Edition includes a much higher quality “Aries” branded Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket. To …
TMS9929A VDP Rediscovery and Alternative Retro VRAM Solution
TL;DR The TMS9929A / TMS9928A / TMMS9918A are Video Display Processors produced by Texas Instruments in the Retro 8-bit era of the early 1980’s. They were used in a number …
Minimalist Europe Card Bus (MECB) – Background & Introduction
TL;DR Europe Card Bus (ECB) is a Retro CPU Bus standard from the late 1970’s / early 1980’s. The “Minimalist Europe Card Bus” (as I call it), is a Retro …
Retro 8-bit – Motorola 6809 – 80’s WireWrap Homebrew
I’d been unboxing some of my electronics maker history, that had almost been forgotten after having been packed away in storage for 35 years (or so). One of my first …
My eBay seller frustration (Please use Tindie)
I’ve made my TL866 Programmer Adapter for 27C400/800/160/322 EPROMs available to enthusiasts via eBay, ever since I developed and perfected it a number of years ago (as documented in my …
KOTTO Fume Extractor – Speed Controller
A viewer (@CYAN), asked about the variable speed controller, in my recent KOTTO Fume Extractor video. See my earlier post / video here: https://digicoolthings.com/my-fume-extractor-upgrade-hakko-to-kotto/ So, not being someone who ever …
My Fume Extractor Upgrade – Hakko to Kotto
After years of breathing in the flux fumes that were not being extracted by my Hakko 493 desktop Extractor Fan, and also having space issues when trying to extract fumes …
Solder Reflow using a cheap Preheater
Are you using just a Heat Gun for your SMD Reflow work? Many hobbyists use converted ovens for Reflow, but I’ve always wanted a hot-plate style Reflower. If you have …
Multimeter Test Leads Upgrade / Fluke TL224 Fail!
I thought I’d share my recent multimeter lead experience. It was apparent that I had an issue with my Fluke multimeter leads as I was getting some vague readings. This …