Stephen C Cousins

3,464 orders since Sep 20, 2018

Stowmarket, Suffolk, United Kingdom

Ships from United Kingdom.

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Overall Rating:

Review Breakdown

Average Ratings

Product: (4.97)

Documentation: (4.90)

Shipping: (4.91)

Communication: (4.92)

All Reviews

Megan | Oct. 19, 2021

I'm quite pleased!

For SC131 Pocket-sized Z180 RomWBW CP/M computer kit

The kit came to the US in a little under 3 weeks, for COVID times I'm quite happy with that. The notification that it was sent reached me the day after I put in the order. Clearly, Mr. Cousins is on top of his game.

The kit itself couldn't have been easier to put together. I spent about 3 hours on it including a couple of breaks. The instructions are very good, but if you've got even the most basic assembly skills you'll find that it's obvious which parts go where and in what order. I found that the SD card adaptor mounts with less fussing if one takes the pin headers out of it and replaces them with regular straight headers rather than straightening and shortening the pins it comes with. The whole kit is clearly high quality and extremely well designed and thought through. And even though I ignored the instructions until the very end, it booted right up. It's really not a hard build, rather it's a nice way to spend an afternoon after you've gotten your responsibilities out of the way.

I'm looking forward to getting to grips with a CP/M machine, and seeing what kind of fun I can have with it. Thank you for making such a graceful and inexpensive little kit to tinker with.

Claudiu | Oct. 10, 2021

Excellent retro computing starter kit

For SC130 RomWBW CP/M Computer Kit for RCBus-40pin

Simple and clear documentation on how to assemble the kit and use it. Excellent starter kit for showing to young ones how a computer works.

Adrian | Oct. 1, 2021

A great assortment of PCBs to extend your RC2014

For Pick'n'Mix Boards for RCBus/RC2014

I'm really happy with the high quality of the PCBs and I was impressed by how quickly they arrived. The documentation is very extensive, even including fault good finding instructions. So I'm really looking forward to populating all the boards when my tube of 74HCT688s arrive, and to learn some more Z80 assembly!

Aleksandr Vladimirovich | Sept. 15, 2021

Nice kit.

For SC103 Z80 PIO Module Kit for RC2014/RCBus-40pin+

Great kit! Packaged great. Сomprehensive documentation. Easy to assemble. The seller is a sociable and reliable person.

Aleksandr Vladimirovich | Sept. 15, 2021

Nice kit.

For SC129 Digital I/O Kit for RC2014/RCBus-40pin+

Great kit! Packaged great. Сomprehensive documentation. Easy to assemble. The seller is a sociable and reliable person.

Huw | Aug. 30, 2021

Fantasic kit, just buy one!

For SC131 Pocket-sized Z180 RomWBW CP/M computer kit

I haven't built it yet - it's in the to be built queue. Kit was well packaged and delivered when I expected. Hopefully it will get built next weekend (not much to do during lockdown other than gardening so this will be a priority :-))

Stuart | Aug. 29, 2021

A very nice, neat and powerful CP/M computer project!

For SC131 Pocket-sized Z180 RomWBW CP/M computer kit

Well, first of all I ordered the SC131 from Germany on Wednesday 11 August 2021 and it arrived on Saturday the 21st August, so just 10 days, which was a lot sooner than I expected considering the Brexit supply issues that I kept hearing about, where I had to pay about €17= in customs duty, etc., so not too bad!

This is a very well thought out and neat design, it took me several hours to solder using a fine soldering iron, I took my time to do it neatly, I then cleaned the PCP with PCB cleaner, and examined the circuit board, for dry joints, shorts, etc. with no issues found. I then carried out the initial recommended tests before inserting the IC's, again without any issues.

After inserting the IC's, I thought I would test it using a terminal emulation program, but something wasn't right, as I was not getting the boot screen, and the reset and status LED's were flashing, so I then went though the trouble shooting guide, but again I couldn't find any issues, so I inspected the board again, again I could find anything obviously wrong.

However, the supplied USB cable is a bit short, so I had used a slightly longer lead from another project that apart from being slightly longer, appeared to be exactly the same, so I thought well let try using the supplied USB cable just in case, and sure enough, the unit immediately displayed it test and boot screen, so I then installed the PCB in its very neat case without too much difficulty and tested the unit again without any problems.

I am very impressed with this very neat and interesting project together with its website documentation, etc. and to now be an owner of such a powerful CP/M machine. Many thanks for all of the work required in making such a nice project available to the hobby and retro computer community!

Kevin | Aug. 28, 2021

Great Kit, Great Instructions

For SC130 RomWBW CP/M Computer Kit for RCBus-40pin

Kit arrived in the US after about a week. Board is very well labeled, and laid out for easy assembly. Very complete documentation, including tests for every step. I did not read the directions, and got *extremely* lucky I placed the z180 socket rotated 180 degrees (90 might have been really bad). I socketed the z180 in the correct orientation and it worked - so if you buy this kit and think you know what you are doing, you better pay attention to that at the very least.

If you aren't skilled at reading color codes on resistors, definitely use a multimeter on r10 and r13 to determine which is which.

I had a lot of fun putting this kit together. So much so I will probably buy the s126 kit rather than a rc2014 RTC module, and gift this one to a friend.

Andrew | July 31, 2021

Amazing project!

For SC126 Z180 SBC/Motherboard Kit for RCBus

I wanted to build a RC2014 or compatible kit for some time, the second I saw this I knew it was the one to get. Instructions were well written, there was no confusion in what part went where, and the only issues I came across were caused by myself during assembly. I'm glad that this has been my first CP/M machine, I've been having a blast expanding it, I have no regrets with my purchase, and I wouldn't be afraid to recommend this to anyone else!

Robert | July 3, 2021

Great kit, easy build

For SC114 Z80 Motherboard Kit for RC2014/RCBus-40pin

This kit went together very quickly and easily. It powered up and ran first try. Highly recommended. A great starter system.

Mogens | June 30, 2021

SC137 Board: Really good I2C solution

For Pick'n'Mix Boards for RCBus/RC2014

I got the SC137 I2C bus master board, and I am using it in an SC114 Z80 computer with CP/M 2.2, and software drivers written in Turbo Pascal 3.
Perfect for running a small LCD, or any other I2C devices and sensors you might like to add to your RC2014 system.
High quality PCB, easy to mount and solder components, quick shipping, good packaging.
Highly recommended!

Craig | June 23, 2021

Excellent !

For SC202 Boards for a flexible Z80 computer

Great set of boards. Well designed and amazing documentation. My system is now up and running Thanks !!!

Egor | June 16, 2021

Great kit for beginners!

For SC130 RomWBW CP/M Computer Kit for RCBus-40pin

I was eager to try something of retro-/homebrew flavour, but: 1) I have no experience in this field, 2) I have no soldering skills (nothing aside audio jacks and .1" connection pins), 3) I have little budget to spend.
So, SC130 became my project of choice:
1) It's affordable. One of the most affordable kits on the market, I would say.
2) It's easy to build. The overall design is simple, the layout is clear, the online build instruction is very straightforward. There are not many small descrete components, no SMDs, most soldering points are for DIP sockets and pin headers - it's hard to get in wrong. I was totally new to resistor color encoding and nearly mistook one for another but noticed it in time. It took about two hours from uboxing to fully working board - with no skills and cheapest soldering kit from Ali.
3) It's flexible. You have 2 UARTs and SPI from the start - to connect SD storage and communicate. And RC2014 bus for huge variety of expansions.
4) It's powerful. 512K of RAM&ROM, fast Z180 CPU, fast UARTs, memory banking, RC2014&ROMWBW compatibility - you won't be limited in your projects.
And there is actually a whole "model line" of RC2014 bus boards from SCC - 3 models, you can easily choose the most suitable in terms of affordability, fuctionality and complexity. Well done!

Patrick | June 13, 2021

Nice kit! Fast shipping!

For SC130 RomWBW CP/M Computer Kit for RCBus-40pin

Very happy with my purchase. Kit works very well. Shipping to Canada was very fast! Highly recommend!

James | May 24, 2021

A wonderful little kit

For SC131 Pocket-sized Z180 RomWBW CP/M computer kit

I can't recommend this kit highly enough. Brillianly designed, packaged, documented and excellent value for money. Took me 3 hours to put together, but only because I havn't built anything like this for 30+ years. Enjoyed every minute of it and haven't stopped playing with CP/M apps over the weekend. Would definitely buy other kits from Stephen Cousins.

Ed | May 14, 2021

Great lockdown present for self!

For SC126 Z180 SBC/Motherboard Kit for RCBus

Quality PCB, no missing components and even a choice of connectors provided.

Worked first time, online documentation is very good.

Delivered quickly.

What more can I say? If you need a CP/M machine in your life and know which end of a soldering iron gets hot, then this is probably the one you need!

Niels | April 27, 2021

Great Product!

For SC110 RCBus-40pin+ Serial and Timer Kit for RC2014

This kit is quite easy to assemble and very well documented. I use it to connect all sorts of serial devices to the second port of the module, including the RC2014 WiFi module. Documentation is very well done and the quality of the PCB and the parts is very good. I can strongly recommend this module to anyone looking for a SIO/2 module with software configurable clock speeds.

Vasily | April 18, 2021

Good quality and fast delivery

For Components for RCBus, RC2014 and Z50Bus

Would be nice to mark flash chips with their content - as seen on the image on the product page.

If you live in EU, take your chance to get tax-free items before 1-July when the 22 EUR duty free limit will be eliminated.

Edward, Chi Yuen | April 16, 2021

Briefly review for SC108 Z80 Processor Module Kit for RC2014

For SC108 Z80 Processor Kit for RC2014/RCBus-40pin+

I like this kit and the received product's quality is very GOOD!!! I will re-order the other RC2014 kit from this excellent supplier again if I find my needs later. Thank you!

Kurt | April 13, 2021

SC406

For SC406 I2C Temperature Sensor Kit (TC74)

I have bought some kits from the SC400 series and can write that the boards are very good.
This module works and my LCD (also I2C with SC407) shows the ambient temperature of my workplace.
Thanks for the good series. I have a lot of fun with this.
Kurt

Vasily | April 11, 2021

Very good value for money

For Pick'n'Mix Boards for RCBus/RC2014

Good quality PCBs, detailed documentation including BOM, volume pricing starts with second PCB.

Unfortunately, from this year I have to pay extra 24% from UK purchases, so it becomes too expensive to buy full kits. Getting bare PCBs and collecting missing components from Mouser/Digikey/Arrow (all have free shipping on orders over 50 EUR and they are delivered on about 3rd day after purchase) is now a significantly cheaper option.

And if you live in EU, take your last chance to get tax-free boards before 1-July when the 22 EUR duty free limit will be eliminated.

Richard | April 6, 2021

No complaints whatsoever

For SC126 Z180 SBC/Motherboard Kit for RCBus

The sc126 motherboard is a great kit. All the parts clearly identified and I had it up and running within a few hours. Lots of great CP/M options to work with and the 2 on board Monitors work very well and are very useful with built-in help information. I have constructed a parallel ports interface for my own projects which works now and I still have to check out the many options and projects available which work using the I2C ports supplied as extras. Lots of fun so far!
Thanks to Mr S.C.!

Bruce | March 27, 2021

SC126 Z180 SBC / Motherboard Kit.

For SC126 Z180 SBC/Motherboard Kit for RCBus

Great kit!
It did take some time to locate all of the documentation to do the following:
- Locate driver for serial port FT232R USB UART FTDI at nematicslab-dot-com
- Create a C: drive for an 8 megabyte CP/M partition

Performance
Disk speed is very good, as is the 18MHz Z180.
Lots of disk space to work on assembler projects

Future Extensions
OS
I plan to create MP/M 1.1 & MP/M 2.1 OS allowing up to 7 consoles/users to demonstrate pre-emptive, real-time, multi-tasking conditions found in 1980s systems such as the Altos 580.
Hardware
The expansion bus will be used to add various floppy & SMD drives as well as serial, parallel and general purpose interfaces.

Summary

Well designed & executed Z180 kit with excellent performance and room to expand with additional hardware & software applications.

Donald | March 15, 2021

SC118 Z80 Processor Card Kit is a great product

For SC118 Z80 Processor Card Kit for Z50Bus

SC118 Z80 Processor Card Kit is easy to assemble. Initial powerup testing indicated that the system BIOS runs correctly with a flashing of the green LED.

Jeff | March 13, 2021

High quality kits, easy assembly, fast shipping

For SC130 RomWBW CP/M Computer Kit for RCBus-40pin

Four of us at my company each bought the SC130 computer kit and the SC129 Digital I/O board, just for fun. I haven't soldered in a decade but I put the kit together easily. I think it took about 3 hours for both the SC129 and SC130 kits, not rushing. The computer started up on the first try. I've been having fun writing blinkenlights programs in BASIC.

It took about 7 days for the kits to arrive, shipped from England to the east coast of the USA. This was in Feb of 2021.

It was a pleasure doing business with Steven Cousins. Thanks!

Mogens | March 5, 2021

Perfect kit for a Z50Bus CP/M 3 system

For SC140 Z180 Processor Card Kit for Z50Bus

Top quality! Everything packed safely, no missing parts, quick delivery.
Clear and easy to follow assembly instructions, including nice hints for testing the assembled board before mounting ICs, thus reducing the risk of error.
This is a reasonably easy build if you have a little soldering experience.
I really like the Z50Bus, which is mechanically stable, making it easy to insert and remove additional cards safely.
My setup is built on an SC128 backplane, also available from Steve.
The kit worked 100% on first power-on after assembly.
The RomWBW software provided with the kit contains much useful CP/M software. Personally, I am using CP/M 3 which runs very well on the SC140.

If you want to build a robust Z50Bus system, this card and the SC128 backplane is the perfect start (note that the SC140 can run completely standalone as a single-board computer).

I highly recommend this product, and also the other kits provided by Steve.

Gwendolyn | March 4, 2021

An adorable little machine you'll leave connected 24/7!

For SC131 Pocket-sized Z180 RomWBW CP/M computer kit

I'm a big fan of retro computing. I cut my teeth on a Sigma 9 mainframe, learning both FORTRAN and BASIC on it, using a briefcase-model printing terminal with an acoustic coupler. But the real fun started when *personal* computers became a thing. My father got a TI 99/4a, and later, an Apple II, then an IBM XT clone. At college, I worked with Apple II, II+, IIe, and that newfangled "IBM PC" the library bought on an educational institution discount. After I graduated, I briefly worked for Radio Shack, and got their "Model 100" proto-laptop, but a later employer had a roomful of old computers we could buy. I paid $50 for a complete NEC 8001 computer, with two floppy drives and a green-screen text monitor. It ran a version of CP/M that was so efficient, it fit in 2K, leaving 62K -- a huge amount of RAM for the day! -- left for the user. My first shareware programs were written on that beast in Z80 assembler.

I built an Altair-Duino a couple of years ago, and I love it a lot, but it's a) an emulation of CP/M, and b) an 8080 emulation at that. So a lot of my favorite programs wouldn't work on it. So when I saw the SC131, and what it could do, I snapped it up. I even sprung for the extra couple of bucks for the pretty translucent blue case. When it arrived, I dove into construction, and had it built in an evening.

I. Love. This. Computer.

The manual suggests just leaving it up and running all the time, and I do. I've had uptimes around 400-500 hours without a reboot. I downloaded a bunch of programs for it, and use ExtraPuTTY to access it. ExtraPuTTY is a fork of PuTTY that has built-in file transfer, so I could use Xmodem to send my downloaded code to the SC131. Shortly, I had both Turbo Pascal and dBase running perfectly on it! Super Star Trek, the Colossal Cave, and some useful utilities were also installed. (I'm still looking for a pseudo-Lord of the Rings D&D-type game I once saw in the early 70's called "Hobbit" that I played on a mainframe while at the sci-fi convention Windycon III. I know it mentions a deity named Yngwie in it, but haven't found it yet. I don't THINK it's a reference to Yngwie Malmsteen...but I'm not 100% certain.)

The kit does require some care when constructing it. The tolerances when fitting the case are very tight, and you do need to clip your pins and leads after soldering. I filed a couple down as well. I also installed a socket for the crystal oscillator. One was mentioned, but not actually supplied...but I had a bunch of the correct socket, so I supplied my own. My next trick will be fitting a tiny project box around the FTDI serial board, with strain reliefs to prevent the USB or ribbon cable from disconnecting, and protecting the board from the environment. But, even these fiddly bits made it a fun little project to build. If you enjoy such projects, and love retro computing and operating systems like CP/M, this is a great little kit to build.

Andy | Feb. 13, 2021

Prompt delivery, high quality kit as always from Stephen

For SC129 Digital I/O Kit for RC2014/RCBus-40pin+

Was bought to give me some more general purpose I/O for my SC126. Excellent quality kit. Clear instructions, neatly arranged, very easy to assemble.

Kurt | Feb. 8, 2021

SC138

For SC138 I2C Memory Card Kit

Great, fits exactly into the collection.
I2C with Z80 have not yet used 1984-85.

I'm looking forward to more kits from Steven.

Kurt

Vladimir | Jan. 29, 2021

Great DIY computer kit

For SC126 Z180 SBC/Motherboard Kit for RCBus

Shipping was fast, despite COVID-19 situation. SC126 (small computer 126 i think) very smart designed and easy to assemble. Documentation written own by Stephen is comprehensive, easy to read (even with my skill, ha ha). I highly recommend this kit for purchase.

James | Jan. 28, 2021

It's really fantastic

For SC114 Z80 Motherboard Kit for RC2014/RCBus-40pin

I'm one of those who didn't grow up with the machines the RC2014 design was inspired by, so when I wanted to get into hardware that wasn't a microcontroller, I grabbed one of these, due to the low cost and obvious simplicity.

The build process is very easy and quick, thanks in no small part to the stellar documentation. The quality of the boards is very good, and the entire kit went together for me in less than two hours (it even worked on the first boot!)

I also had a lot of questions, since usually my RAM, ROM and CPU aren't separate entities sharing a single bus, and Stephen was very kindly able to offer me answers and the tools to look for more information. With this kit, I went from knowing relatively little about the whole enterprise to designing some of my own add on boards for specific projects I wanted to tackle.

I really can't recommend the SC114 (or probably any board Stephen makes) enough!

Kurt | Jan. 26, 2021

SC137+SC38

For SC137 I2C Bus Master Kit for RC2014/RCBus-40pin

A wonderful part. The kit was described very well. No problems building up.
The instructions for the test are very good again. The kit sc138 is worthwhile and should also be bought.
I2C has always been with me. I have rewritten Steven's program a bit to work directly under CP / M.
To be recommended without reservation.
Kurt

Andy | Jan. 1, 2021

Great kit, fast postage, great support, many thanks!

For SC126 Z180 SBC/Motherboard Kit for RCBus

I bought this to learn Z80 assembly - something I failed to do when I was younger with my ZX Spectrum, but always felt it's something I should return to now I know a little more about how things work ;-) The quality of this kit is fantastic - really good instructions to follow, great support materials with the schematics, board layout and firmware source all easily available. Plus, plenty of explansion and development available to go beyond the board in the future.

A couple of suggestions for Stephen:

(1) a "getting started" guide which takes you through accessing the onboard peripherals. I'm aiming to drive a TFT LCD through the SPI and I've been digging around the documentation a fair bit to find out how to access it and drive things like the CS. All part of the learning though!

(2) provide a header for the 8 output LEDs, so it's easy for them to drive other things. I need an extra output pin and I've ended up using the I2C port's SCL but it would have been easier to have started with the LED output port.

Thanks again for a great product - really enjoying my return to the Z80 :-)

Richard | Dec. 27, 2020

Excellent

For SC130 RomWBW CP/M Computer Kit for RCBus-40pin

Received my SC130 quickly but only allowed to assemble it after Christmas! Full documentation and assembly guide, well packaged. Printed circuit very good quality. Assembly took 45 mins but may be longer if not experienced. Worked first time. Just written first 8080 style code with Ed. Takes me back! This is not the first kit or board from this seller and all are excellent with very efficient service. Richard Wilkins

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