Since I've noticed that people would like to discuss non 6502 hardware on this forum and since I and my friends already have a hosting for some Croatian sites,I came to the idea to maybe start a forum where we could discuss all non 6502 related stuff. I am not planning to have 6502 stuff, but something like 68k, x86, arm, and other... It may be good for non 6502 sbc development, for example: i would like to build other sbc projects, but other forums are mainly software related or focused to a specific model... As for the 6502 i would just leave a link that would lead here. By doing that we could keep this forum clean from non 6502 related stuff...

I am not opening anything if there is no interest, and if there is, then there would be a need for additional moderators, ect...

It's a neutrally-related point, but when you were looking for 68000 forums (and I didn't find any) I was going to mention that there's a yahoo group for 1802 which is moderately active.

Also, Hans Otten has a retro forum which has sections for various micros/computers, but it doesn't seem to have a lot of activity.

I think one needs a critical mass. Perhaps working with Hans would be a good idea? At the very least, you'd want to advertise over there, and on other related forums and mailing lists too. A lot of retro fans will have more than one micro!

(I may have said previously: in my view a few topics in General which included 68000 wouldn't be objectionable. If there were enough then one might make an argument for a new section. We had quite a lot of stuff about FPGAs, GALs, CPLDs before we got the Programmable Logic section, and I think a slow pace of adding sections is a good call.)

Cheers
Ed

One other thing, if the forum admins would decide to have non 6502 related stuff here, i really don't know if other experts that don't deal with 6502 would get here to help us, because is mainly a 6502 forum...
The idea would be to attract other people to the new forum that may not know 6502 stuff, and be able to help us with non 6502 project... I am already thinking, after my 6502 and 68k projects are finished, i would like to start building a x86 based sbc, since i found all the parts on Unicornelectronics for a few $. And after that start saving money for a ARM projects...

I've tried to start a message board and it failed because it is really hard to start a message board despite the amount of time I put in. A lot of people are attracted to Facebook. I know someone who started a board and he had trouble getting users after six years so he knows how hard it is to attract users.

I asked a friend to start an Amiga sub board on an IBM message board and people left in droves immediately because they found out it was run on IBM software.

I don't mind the users and moderators discussing other hardware. My question is, "Do you know what others here are into?" I suggest you ask to take an open poll where people tell you what hardware they are interested in and what languages they know. Unless you have a common interest, they would have to commit to share in whatever you are interested in doing and that would include knowledge of specific hardware and specific language..

There are so many microcontrollers out there and they are constantly coming and going. I currently have six different microcontrollers or more and I'm interested in a 32 bit Microchip Pic, a Cortex M4 STM Discovery Board, and the Maple (72 MHZ Arm which is compatible with Arduino). I would study the Beagleboard but I'm not interested in Linux at this point. You wouldn't start an Arduino forum here because there are other forums that other people are more interested in and you couldn't compete right now without changing the forums.

Learning when you have a full time job and obligations means that there are time constraints for a lot of people.

I'm all for other hardware or other non 65xx sub forums. I think you do need a plan. And message boards have to have an excuse to exist; Changing the forums for certain hardware is going to attract people here because??? What is the reason?

A way to answer this is, how much time do you devote to hardware and software? How many times a week do you blog? How many programs or articles do you write a year? What is the reason that the forum is going to succeed? What are you going to do if you don't attract enough users? Where would you get additional users from?

Can other users co-exist with the 6502 family? Why?

This isn't my board but I wouldn't discourage you. I'm all for other forums but you have to have a plan to succeed these days.

I will say that other hardware already exists under programmable logic so something else is going to be connected to FPGAs or 6502 chips. I think 6502.org already has some tolerance because I discussed ways to expand the 6502 line with Gameduino and Arduino.

I would skip x86 and start ARM. But that's just me...
Your forum idea? would be CPU-centric as far as hardware, leaning towards retro (i.e. 6502/6800-6809,1802, 68000,8086) but would also explore newer/faster tech like ARM?. I would check that forum out.
I for one would like to investigate a forum concentrated with retro information....
Alot of present-day IC manufacturers have there own forums though, so maybe you should stay retro?

I would like to be able to have discussions from how to make logic gates with tubes, to the arm and other modern wonders. And the forum would be located on our site, in which i would do some projects, and maybe other users might post their projects... For example: i post my sbc projects, my friend bought an Arduino, somebody else maybe has an arm board...
When i deal with electronic i always like to start from the beginning, as i mentioned in introduce yourself, my firs electronic circuits were made from switches and relays... After that i started using transistors, and after that logic gates. After a while microcontrolers, and now i use real cpu, so since the 6502 is really a cheap cpu, and easy to understand, i started with it, and now i am going to 68k, x86, and newer(that does not mean that i am abandoning the 6502), until i get to arm and all the modern wanders... And as i go i would like to make all this projects, and be able to have forum threads and discuss them(and other stuff). To attract other people, i would need to get the web site going(in english, for now is in croatian), and a bit of luck...

Edit: It would have boards depending on what is interesting for the users...

Maybe a single forum called "non-6502 cpus and projects". Got myself some avr and arduino I am doing but still prefer the 65C02....

_________________
"My biggest dream in life? Building black plywood Habitrails"

The site is called Iteracija, in English Iteration, so it already has a name .
The site already has a forum and portal, but it is all in Croatian, now we should make another forum, an English one, and a language button for the portal and articles...
Please let me know if some of you might be interested for the forum administration (i am going to need that if we start this)...

I think tubes delivered excellent sound in their day but vacuum tubes aren't something I'm really interested in investing in.

Have you checked out the 7400 Logic Competition?
http://dangerousprototypes.com/category/7400-contest/

The 7400 Logic competition exists on several websites.

My goal is to make a single board computer. I have selected a standard HD44780 4x20 character LCD display to train on. I have an Arduino that I'm going to use to learn on. I may graduate to a 72 MHZ Maple from Maple Labs (ARM). I selected a PS/2 to breadboard adapter and some other parts. The users on the Arduino website have already told me to scale back my plans :(

I haven't selected my last platform for the single board computer. The Arduino is just to practice and learn on for the other peripherals like the LCD. I may want to hack the Gameduino as a GPU.

I'm interested in making a single board computer with this device:

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/STM ... N8XDBeCtgD

If I don't use the above MP4 32 bit Cortex chip then I may use a 32 bit Microchip product with a Pikit 3. I already have a Pikit 2 with two different 8 bit microcontrollers.

I'm interested in the Maximite computer:

http://geoffg.net/maximite.html

I'm also interested in the Beagleboard but I am not excited about Linux.

I have other microcontrollers:

I have a Teensy 2.0:
http://pjrc.com/teensy/index.html

I'm an old Commodore 64, 128 and Amiga user / owner. I've used the Coco color computer and Apple IIe but never owned them.

I've been surveying parts and buying parts and I'm ready to start learning and breadboarding.

I'm going to start with these projects:
http://www.bradsprojects.com/electronic ... rials.html

And then I'm going to learn how to program the HD44780 LCD and maybe port that to other controllers.

And I received four free samples from Microchip so I'm ready to start breadboarding. The other thing that might make it easy is that you can program these chips using Swordfish Basic instead of assembly language.

Let me know if anyone here shares my interest.

As i mentioned i also do other stuff. About the tubes, my dad gave me a bag full of old tv vf tubes which kinda still works, they are not very good for audio amplifiers, and i really don't have any idea what i am going to do with them, so i thought maybe a simple digital device might do... I even downloaded a ibm book on digital logic with tubes.
I see there is some interest after all...

For newcomers: This is an offshoot of the discussion at viewtopic.php?t=1952 . Some of the forum members (including myself) posted their preference there. Ultimately it's up to Mike. We'll see if he agrees with me or if he's wrong . I wouldn't mind a sister forum if he wants to run both and have links on each to the other, but I think this forum needs to keep its focus on 6502 and its relatives and the hardware to support them. That hardware could be as simple as wire-wrap tools or as complex as an MMU or video circuits, but would not venture into other completely separate families of processors except for supporting or emulating the 65 family or seeing what we can learn from them to apply to 65-family projects. I don't see any problem with a rabbit trail here and there, like talking about tubes, but overall the 65 focus needs to remain.

I agree. As I said in another post, I come here due to the relatively narrow focus on the 65xx family and the stuff to which these MPUs and support chips can be connected. Adding subforums for other MPUs would dilute the content here and possibly give rise to a form of chaos.

_________________
x86?  We ain't got no x86.  We don't NEED no stinking x86!

Well... I came here for the 6502 wisdom, but stayed for the rather deep and learned discourse. There are some very interesting individuals here and it is always a pleasure to read their opinions.

Perhaps a single off topic forum would suffice here...?

I also agree, but for a different reason. For us to discuss other MPUs would be harmless enough (and probably quite enjoyable). But, using the 68K family for an example, I'm sure a 68K forum already exists! If we start a separate, independent knowledge base then we're at odds with the notion of one central repository for 68K information.

I'm am glad to hear other MPUs mentioned here, because it helps keep me current and informed. But for any in-depth discussion I think it's best to post a link to the appropriate forum.

-- Jeff

Agreed, we shouldn't be counter-productive to other communities.

I'd be happy to see links posted to other forums: if we manage to collect a few then we can tabulate them in a suitable head post which can be kept updated.

I think both Dajgoro and I looked for 68k forums - I didn't find anything comparable to this one, dealing with say system engineering and bootstrapping a self-build project. But Dajgoro found the easy68k forum and that does seem applicable - not very active, but responsive to self-build queries (in their General Discussion section).

They have an archive of DTACK Grounded in text form.

Cheers
Ed