A great bundle of the cards needed to build a respectable Z-80 computer system. This is NOT a Heathkit style kit with instructions to walk you through the soldering of every resistor. You'll need to look at online web pages and apply a little thought as you put it together--for me, that was part of the fun!

Once assembled, old timers will recognize it as a spiritual successor to an S100 system. It's an open bus, and I'm already pondering what cards I can add to its open slots. Maybe an ESP32 one to provide Ethernet and Wifi? We'll see.

Shawn | Oct. 19, 2021

I have been having a blast with the kit!

For RC2014 Pro - Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

I love the idea of this hobby kit and it has been an absolute blast learning about it and building it. Writing code for it has brought back so many wonderful memories.

Thank you for putting the kit together.

Dylan | Sept. 26, 2021

Nice kit, worked first time!

For RC2014 Pro - Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

The RC2014 Pro is a nice kit. It took me a while going through all the permutations of kits (Mini, CP/M, etc) to settle on this version.
A couple of minor niggles, the LEDs on the backplane and CF module are very bright. I ended up going through a number of different resistor values to dim them before settling on 22k (yes, a big step up on the 330's that come with the kit). The process of soldering, then removing the resistors is a little tricky and I ended up damaging one of the pads. I'd recommend trying a couple different resistor values before soldering them in place.
It would also be nice if the kit came with a couple extra 20 pin sockets so more of the slots can be the extended version from day one.

Adrian | Sept. 2, 2021

This single card gave my RC2014 a lot more functionallity

For Pageable ROM Module for RC2014 Homebrew Computer

I bought the PCB only and it's a high quality PCB that's a pleasure to solder. It took some careful reading to figure out how to jumper the card, but all the information was available on the RC2014 webpage. The page describing how to decode the ROM labels and the table of how to jumper the Pageable ROM module was all I needed in the end.

Before getting this card I was using the 8 kB Small Computer Monitor only, with this module I can use the 16 kB version of SCM which includes commands to run BASIC or load CP/M.

Super happy with the extended capability and interoperability with the 64 kB RAM module :)

Aleksandr Vladimirovich | July 4, 2021

Nice set.

For RC2014 ZED - Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

Not a bad set, but there are a few nuances. There was no assembly documentation in the package, but it is on the seller's website. There were about 10 badly bent contacts on the memory chip. I thought they would not go to the outlet after straightening, but it seemed to work out. The offered USB CDC Serial Adapter worked without issue on Windows and Ubuntu. The SIO/2 Dual Clock module started operating at 7.3728 MHz after changing the reset circuit of the Dual Clock module resistor R1 to 1 kΩ and capacitor C1 to 4.7 μF.

Justin | April 9, 2021

A board for prototyping

For Prototype PCB for RC2014

There isn't much that you can say, about a prototype board. It has lots of through-holes and a decent sized area for DIP ICs. One fault that I find is that my failing eye-sight has a little trouble with finding the right plated hole to solder when soldering components -- everything is so shiny! :-)

There isn't much room if you want to add address-decoding logic. However, I get around that in my projects by using one board to provide address-decoded "chip-selects" down the spare (user) pins of the RC2014 bus.

I've built one up with the PSOC 5 LP CY8CKIT-059, to tinker with as a multi-functional device, and a couple other designs that are still work in progress!

Ronald | March 25, 2021

Nice little keyboard, easy to assemble.

For Universal Micro Keyboard

Good product. Arrived very quickly. Easy to assemble despite there being no explicit notes of assembly. All components were supplied, even a few extra switches which proved quite handy, as I messed up the very first switch when trying to position that on the board. I soon got the hang of it, and the board was assembled quite quickly after that.
First tested the board using my Arduino and a Arduino sketch I found (https://github.com/semachthemonkey/RC2014-Keyboard). Had to modify the program a little bit and figure out which columns and rows mapped onto which characters. That's when I found that one row of keys wasn't working at all. Out came the multimeter and after some probing about found that I hadn't soldered one of the header pins properly so there was no contact. Soon got that sorted out, and all is working fine now :).

David | March 18, 2021

My First Retro Z80 RC2014 Pro

For RC2014 Pro - Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

This has certainly rekindled my love of this technology. I have thoroughly enjoyed building this kit. I must say that the soldering is extremely easy if you use Multicomp 0.7mm Low Activation No-Clean 60/40 solder. All the holes are through plated which is nice. I started by scanning each of the PCB's first so I had a copy of all the PCB tracks just in case I had to do some trouble-shooting. Once I had soldered all of the sockets onto the PCB's I clean them using Isopropyl alcohol. I took all the precautions to static and used an antistatic wrist strap. Then I checked the boards for any missing joints before inserting the chips.
I started testing the clock board first just to see if I had a clock signal and voltages were correct across the backplane. Then I mounted the boards as suggested in the assembly guide.
The instructions. This was just a little confusing as there are many pictures of each board and each one had slightly different jumper arrangements. However, the clue is in the title - 'Z80 Pro CP/M'. I printed off the guide for this set up and set the jumpers accordingly. Now assembled I powered up and used the serial adaptor that I ordered with the kit and it worked. :-)
I do think an instruction booklet my be of some benefit as I could have quite easily wasted time looking for the faults. The first screen greeting is so important to give you a smile once you know you have success in you soldering.
I salute the designer for this excellent kit.

Aaron | Feb. 19, 2021

Excellent as always

For CP/M Upgrade Kit for RC2014 Classic or Classic II

I have one of the old RC2014 Full Monty kits, and wanted to run something a little bit punchier than BASIC. I thought I would have to grab all the modules a la carte, but here they are in one place! Works perfectly. I was playing Zork in only a few hours!

Assembly is mostly a matter of matching components to the silkscreen, but I was confused about the page signal between the ROM and RAM. The kit storefront pictures the RAM module with a jumper in the "LINK" marker, but this isn't what you need to do! You need to use the helpfully-included jumper wire to connect the bottom of the header marked "LINK" on the RAM module to the 4th pin on the enhanced bus on the ROM module. This is completely described in the linked documentation (with pictures, even!) but it was the only part that confused me so I mention it in case anybody else is confused.

Always happy with the quality of RC2014 kits!

Willy | Feb. 19, 2021

Very nice board

For RC2014 IDE Hard Drive Module

I only ordered the PCB board because import taxes where killing me on my other purchases. But that is besides the point. I love this board it took really only 30 minute to solder it up and get it installed on the PRO back-plane. The only reference material I had consult for assembling this board was the diode part that I had to look up in the documentation. Worked out of the box with RomWBW with a small laptop harddisk. No need for the external power supply as the disk really did not need a lot of current.

Very satisfied with the purchase. Also very nice communication with Spencer about other things.

Stephen | Jan. 13, 2021

Excellent starter kit for Z80.

For RC2014 Mini - Single Board Z80 Computer Kit

Well packed, simple to build, well documented. In terms of CPU power, quite capable. The potential connectivity to a Raspberry Pi leads to some interesting possibilities.

The ROM contains MS Basic and a monitor with a simple assembler/disassembler but the lack of a storage medium restricts its possibilities for developing you own programs. This capability is provided by the RC2014 Mini CP/M Upgrade lit.

Scott | Jan. 5, 2021

Great quality product, shipped quickly and easy to assemble.

For RC2014 Classic II - Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

I'd been looking at the RC2014 for some time and finally took the plunge over the Black-Cyber-Friday-Monday weekend. The kit of parts arrived within two days in a small flat-pack box. Beware, if you take the stuff out, you most likely won't be able to pack it all back in again and shut the lid.

I assembled the various boards over the Christmas holiday period and took my time, completing one board per day and testing each before moving on to the next one. I am fairly experienced with kits such as these so I found the available documentation quite satisfactory for the basic Classic II kit and the Raspberry Pi Terminal module- the Digital I/O board documentation was slightly lacking in that I could only find the assembly guide for the earlier version - the layouts are somewhat different - however apart from one error on my part, the I/O board went together OK and fired up on the second attempt. Nothing got hot, blew up or emmitted the magic white smoke. At least, not yet!

The quality of the PCB's is excellent and the through plated holes are easy to solder, but I would suggest a fine tip on the soldering iron and not too much solder. A multi-meter although not essential, is useful for checking components prior to assembly, especially if like me, you struggle to see the colour bands on the resistors these days. One of those all in one component testers is also quite useful, but again, not essential. I have not needed to break out the scope or logic analyser so far.

I think my one criticism of the RC2014 Classic II kit, is the lack of ability to store and retrieve programs, so my first addition to the setup would be to add a Cassette/Floppy/Compact flash storage system along with the necessary code. At the moment I, like others, have to use the PC terminal program to load and store my work. A frustration being that the Raspberry Pi terminal setup is just that, a terminal and no more. Perhaps a Pi ZeroW option with stripped down OS with the ability to load and store to it's SD card is the next step forward?

But regardless of the above criticism, the RC2014 is a great concept and introduces, or reintroduces people to the joys of simple 8 bit computing where you can see what's going on and get to understand computers in their basic form, yet take it to any level you wish to.

There appear to be few limits as to what can be achieved; the RC2014 ecosystem appears endless and the community forum and groups are useful for ideas and troubleshooting. All in All - Highly Recommended.

Jeffrey | Dec. 18, 2020

With this version the CF module is NOT soldered!

For Compact Flash Module for CP/M RC2014 Computer

This is the second CF Module I purchased. The CF Module on the first was already soldered. This one is not. It is a surface mount item and far too close for my 70 year old hands and eyes. If you cannot solder a very close pitch, do not order this kit.

PS. I believe there is a drop down option on the purchase selection to order the soldered version at extra cost. I just saw that when I ordered another.

Damon | Dec. 11, 2020

Satisfying experience all around

For RC2014 ZED - Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

I enjoy soldering, and have a temperature controlled iron. I think that's a must for the roughly 1000 joints in this kit. Most of the work is self-explanatory. Most questions can be answered by referring to the boards' silkscreens. Only occasionally did I have to find a schematic online, or refer to the seller's website to understand things. Of the many hundreds of parts, I was only missing two bypass capacitors.

It booted right up. I loaded CP/M and started editing in WordStar. I was instantly transported back to my first programming job in 1981.

Great work! Highly recommended!

Joseph | Dec. 10, 2020

Perfect for a begginner!

For RC2014 Classic II - Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

I bought this after reaching out to a Facebook group looking for inexpensive kit computers. I have never done any soldering projects before but I have a little experience using Arduinos. This kit was easy to assemble and included quality instructions. I plan on buying the cpm compact flash card and a memory expansion in the near future. I would rate this kit a 9.5/10!

Marcin | Dec. 9, 2020

Good job

For Universal Micro Keyboard

I ordered bare PCB together with laser cut case, equipped it with switches, M328, assembled everything together, and... it works fine!
Nice idea for making it compatible with ZX hardware, so it could be useful for debugging purposes, or even as a (temporary) replacement keyboard in some cases.
Many thanks!

Shiela | Dec. 4, 2020

Excellent upgrade from the basic kit clock

For RC2014 Dual Clock Module

This is easy to jumper for various clock speeds / baud rates. It opens up some interesting options. I needed it when using the RS232 kit and needed to communicate at 9600bps, which worked well. I believe it makes manual stepping possible too although I haven't tried that yet.

It also has the larger form factor to fit in with many of the other modules.

Niels | Dec. 3, 2020

A must-have module for dual SIO/2 board owners!

For RC2014 Dual Clock Module

There are many ways to use of this fine module, but I bought it mainly because I wanted to have port B of my SIO/2 module clocked at 9600 baud in order to connect to several BBS systems on the 'net - and it works like a charm.

Building the module is straightforward and is done rather quick and the documentation is very well written. The quality of the PCB and the individual parts is very good and shipping to EU mainland took less than 10 days.

I can recommend this module to anyone looking for a way to use lower baud rates for SIO/2 serial communication.

Mark | Nov. 22, 2020

Works Great... But PiGFX needs work

For Raspberry Pi Zero Serial Terminal for RC2014

Great little board that is very simple in design and with the PiGFX software supplied by a third party, it allows for easy connection to a USB keyboard and a HDMI monitor. But the PiGFX software needs some work, and it doesn't help that the link from the suppliers documentation is old and doesn't go to the latest version of the software.

If you are developing your code on a PC and transfering to the RC2014 via a serial connection, then this board is great to make use of your creation. But if you would like to develop software on the RC2014 and using this as your interface, then its lack of file loading and saving to the SD card is a setback. PiGFX is seemingly still being worked on, and is open source, so we might get these limitations fixed... one day.

Mitchell | Nov. 16, 2020

What they said

For RC2014 Pro - Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

Mirroring what others have said.

The quality of the PCB's is excellent. Everything was organized and well packed. Documentation is available per module on the rc2014 site. It's a bit skimpy in areas but good overall.

Building it was a lot of fun. I'm decent with a soldering iron but don't have any significant understanding of the inner workings of the Z80. I would say I still don't but I certainly know a lot more now than I did a few weeks ago! I had a couple of little hiccups but I was able to iron (pun intended) those out. Point being is it's absolutely something a beginner to the hobby can attempt.

Karsten | Nov. 11, 2020

Back to the eighties with a lot of fun

For RC2014 Mini - Single Board Z80 Computer Kit

After one week of delivery (to Germany – this is acceptable) it took me about four hours to build up the kit. I have ordered this kit plus the CP/M extension board. The documentation (printed in 4c) is well and helps a lot, the PCB quality is almost Apple-like. :)

At the first try with my Mac and »minicom« I did'nt see any files on the cf-card. It was a software configuration problem. Now it is well connected over the »Serial« app. dBASE II, WordStar, MBasic – everything works without any issues. After hours of operation, no crashes or temperature problems.

Thanks for the fun, Spencer.

Mogens | Oct. 19, 2020

Simple and effective way to add Wifi to your system

For ESP8266 Wifi Module For RC2014

This module is quite easy to assemble - even if two of the components are surface mount. I use a little snippet of masking tape to fix the component until a couple of solder points are made.
Out of the box, the module supports "mirroring" of TX and RX of the serial port to Wifi - meaning that you can use telnet or similar software to establish a wireless connection to your small computer. However, as the ESP8266 is a programmable microcontroller, you could possibly do a lot more with the module.

I have succesfully tested the module in the following systems:
1) SC126 Z180 computer (the Z180 has built-in SIOs).
2) SC114 Z80 computer, fitted with Z80 SIO/0 module (SC132).
3) SC114 Z80 computer, fitted with MC68B50 (Serial and Storage module #61) and digital IO module (SC129).
4) RC2014 Mini

I had a little troubleshooting in the beginning, due to a resistor with wrong value (always double-check component values...).
But Spencer quickly spotted the problem, and I got it working by replacing the resistor. Very helpful and kind service from Spencer, thank you!

I can highly recommend the modules provided by Spencer.

Stephen | Oct. 19, 2020

RC2014 Mini Z80 single board computer

For RC2014 Mini - Single Board Z80 Computer Kit

The RC2014 Mini (Z80 single board computer) is a great piece of kit. It comes with all the parts ready sorted and clear instructions on assembly. For the most part soldering is straight forward. All chips have sockets and most of the links use pin-heads. There are one or two places where capacitor legs come close to chip socket legs so bridging has to be avoided and wire links use both North-South and East-West orientation in different places (which initially threw me) but even for some-one like me, whose soldering skills are basic, assembly proved to be straightforward and enjoyable. After careful inspection the assembly looked good and the board worked first time. The main issue I had was that with no on-board storage (i.e. no flash RAM or SD card) the board relies on a hook-up to a PC to be usable even if the Pi-zero is hooked up for keyboard and display. However I recently bought the CP/M kit with compact flash which should make the kit truly stand-alone (even if it is no longer a single board computer in this configuration). Overall I am very pleased with the RC2014 Mini and would recommend it wholeheartedly for anyone interested in simple assembly kits and retro processors.

Alexander | Oct. 13, 2020

Very Nice Kit

For RC2014 Pro - Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

Very nice kit, build quality is very good. Being new to electronics I found the documentation lacking and not very clear but again that's probably down to me not being an experienced builder more than anything. Took me a few months to get round to assembly but once I did it came together pretty quick I even enjoyed putting on all the headers. I've now got the challenge of getting it to work. I've managed to power it on with no pops, bangs or smoke so I'm winning I think.

Shiela | Oct. 12, 2020

Not so much useful as essential

For CP/M Upgrade Kit for RC2014 Classic or Classic II

For me the CP/M kit 'completes' the basic RC2014. Of course it's never complete, there's always something new to add on and play with. I sometimes strip the system right back but have always used the compact flash and CP/M ever since I added this kit.

It's great to be able to store everything right there on the RC2014 itself.

As usual it's all through-hole, so it's fun to assemble. The CF card socket is surface mount, but that comes ready-soldered.

Ettore | Sept. 30, 2020

buono

For Raspberry Pi Zero Serial Terminal for RC2014

Peccato per la mancanza della raspberry pi zero, e della relativa documentazione comunque sempre presente una buona serigrafia sul circuito stampato

Ettore | Sept. 30, 2020

Sufficente

For YM2149 Sound Card for RC2014 Retro Computer

Produzione ottima qualità peccato per la mancanza sia del chip più importante ma sopratutto una consegna di 3 card sonore invece di una sola oltre penalizzare il conto penalizza anche la spedizione restituzione e rimborso.

Ettore | Sept. 23, 2020

Sufficente

For Universal Micro Keyboard

La pecca è sempre le istruzioni sia per il software che il montaggio, comunque qualcosa si vede anche su youtube.
La disponibilità alla comunicazione o eccellente.
Saluti
Ettore Frigo

Ettore | Sept. 23, 2020

Sufficente

For DS1302 Real Time Clock Module for RC2014

Manca di documentazione montaggio o assemblaggio, fattura buona del circuito stampato, grazie della vostra disponibilità alla comunicazione.
Cordiali saluti
Ettore Frigo

David | Sept. 21, 2020

Fantastic addition to the RC2014 Full Monty

For CP/M Upgrade Kit for RC2014 Classic or Classic II

Indeed, the documentation isn't perfect, but my advice is read it all through fully a few times. It is easy to miss bits, like needing to re-use parts from the boards you will replace. On the plus side this kit adds so much more to the RC2014, as well as extra RAM, the storage is a great addition so you don't have to start from scratch on each boot. Also introducing the CP/M OS instead of being limited to Basic brings with it a whole host of software you can find online. The CF comes set up with a number of CP/M drives, C: with some utilities and commands and A: with download.com for transferring files and the rest for storing your own files and CP/M software you can find online and transfer to the card via the terminal software. This caught me out for a while as I was unable to successfully transfer anything more than a few small files through the terminal. I found an article explaining that the transfer was too fast for the CPU and described a way to modify the clock to generate a lower baud rate, however I continued searching and discovered that the modification was not necessary to sort this issue. Instead it just required ensuring that RTS/CTS flow control was being used, which through Tera Term was simple enough to select in the settings. After that I was transferring everything, Fortran and C compilers, Zork I, II and III and more at full speed to the CF card with ease.

Currently looking for a way to add one or two 5.25" floppy drives, for the ultimate retro CP/M experience for project source files etc., and then keep the compilers, utilities and the like on the CF "hard drive" as it were.

Andrew | Sept. 19, 2020

Enjoyable kit - retrotastic childhood Basic experience

For RC2014 Pro - Homebrew Z80 Computer Kit

Relatively easy to build ( I'm an experienced electronic engineer ) although it does require a little hunting for details , and a couple of items may have you scratching your head for a short while ( the unmarked resistor values on the SIO card , the dual row headers which need pins extracting , the uncertainty about splitting the single row pins , the lack of a 7805 and associated capacitors on the motherboard , need to install 5v link on SIO board to power Usb serial adapter, a few concerns about plated holes under a couple of IC sockets which looked like they may have needed links , they don't ). Took me about 3 hours to build - worked first time. The issues are mostly just due to having to skip between the various pages and the build guides don't appear to be quite uptodate for the latest version.

Andrew | Sept. 5, 2020

Good addition to RC2014 board

For 512k ROM 512k RAM RomWBW Module for RC2014

Buying this enabled me to run CP/M on my RC2014 system. In addition, a single board replaces the previous 2 boards for the ROM and RAM. Plus using flash chips works well with my flash chip programmer.
Easy build, no problems.

Andrew | Sept. 5, 2020

Storage for RC2014

For Compact Flash Module for CP/M RC2014 Computer

Bought the kit without the CF socket pre-soldered. Definitely not one for inexperienced solderers. Needs a very fine soldering iron, a steady hand, solder paste and plenty of desoldering wick to clean up the inevitable solder bridges.

Worked well with CP/M and z-system.

Patrick | Aug. 13, 2020

Very tight little board, does as advertised

For RC2014 IDE Hard Drive Module

Got this board to kit out my z180 computer. Very quick to put together, and the included sheet is helpful to make sure that there are no parts missing.
There isn't any other documentation, so if you want to figure out how to set up a disk, you'll have to find it online.

I even put a chip in backward by accident but the board still works after flipping it the right way round!

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Tindie

RFC2795 Ltd

Overall Rating:

Review Breakdown

Average Ratings

All Reviews

An excellent Z-80 starter kit

I have been having a blast with the kit!

Nice kit, worked first time!

This single card gave my RC2014 a lot more functionallity

Nice set.

A board for prototyping

Nice little keyboard, easy to assemble.

My First Retro Z80 RC2014 Pro

Excellent as always

Very nice board

Excellent starter kit for Z80.

Great quality product, shipped quickly and easy to assemble.

With this version the CF module is NOT soldered!

Satisfying experience all around

Perfect for a begginner!

Good job

Excellent upgrade from the basic kit clock

A must-have module for dual SIO/2 board owners!

Works Great... But PiGFX needs work

What they said

Back to the eighties with a lot of fun

Simple and effective way to add Wifi to your system

RC2014 Mini Z80 single board computer

Very Nice Kit

Not so much useful as essential

buono

Sufficente

Sufficente

Sufficente

Fantastic addition to the RC2014 Full Monty

Enjoyable kit - retrotastic childhood Basic experience

Good addition to RC2014 board

Storage for RC2014

Very tight little board, does as advertised