RETIRED: This product has been retired as it can now be purchased from the Pick'n'Mix range. SC114 is also available as a complete kit.

The aim of this design is to make entry into the RC2014 universe easier and more reliable, by using less components, less soldering, less configuration jumpers and less circuit boards. 

This motherboard can work in a modest way as a single board computer (SBC), yet can easily be expanded to run CP/M and more.

Features

• Z80 running at 7.3728 MHz
• 128k bytes RAM (second 64k not easy to use, so best consider it to be 64k usable)
• 32k bytes ROM, which can be paged out with the usual write to port 0x38
• Simple bit-bang serial port to get you started
• Four RC2014 standard bus sockets
• Simple reset button (no power on reset or reset debounce)
• LED for power and status indication
• Runs the Small Computer Monitor, with ROM BASIC and the CP/M loader included
• Comprehensive documentation

The idea is that you can build the board without even fitting those tedious RC2014 sockets, then test it with the simple bit-bang serial port. This only involves assembling the components shown in the close up picture above. That's 5 chips + oscillator + 6 pin header + a few Rs and Cs + LED + reset button.

It looks like this takes about 175 solder joints. This sounds a lot, but is way fewer than a typical RC2014. There should be a good chance of such a simple circuit working first time. If it doesn't work then it is a relatively simple circuit to troubleshoot. The on-board LED can flash results of the self test, so a serial port problem will not look like a dead processor.

You can then add the four 40 pin RC2014 module sockets. So that's a further 160 solder joints, but it is incremental assembly thus relatively easy to work out where any new fault is.

The next step would be to build and test a proper serial port, such as the official Z80 SIO module. Other modules are also available. Then if you want CP/M all you need to add is the official Compact Flash module and a Compact Flash card with the standard RC2014 CP/M distribution installed. All this is supported by the ROM with no configuration required.

You can even add backplanes from the modular backplane range, although their functionality is limited by the single row standard 40 pin expansion socket on the motherboard.

The motherboard has relatively few components and is thus quite a cheap build, so if it does not prove expandable enough it is not a big deal to discard it, take the useful modules and move to a Pro style system.

Documentation

This product has a user guide (PDF) and an assembly guide (which includes component sourcing and assembly instructions). The Small Computer Monitor has a user guide and a detailed tutorial. These documents can be found at www.scc.me.uk or by following the documentation link below. PCB design files can be found at EasyEDA.com, where you can download Gerber files and order boards.

Notes

• This product is supplied as a PCB only. Components shown in the photographs must be sourced separately.
• It is your responsibility to pay any import duty or taxes charged by your home country.
• My products are made in accordance with the "designed for RC2014" labelling scheme.
• RC2014 is a trademark of RFC2795 Ltd.
• This product is designed for hobby use and is not suitable for industrial, commercial or safety-critical applications.