6502.org

Hey guys It all started with the Sym-1, that got me hooked and I learnt the basics with that. Eventually I was able to get a terminal and it became more comfortable to program. A year later the Ohio Superboard came out and I had to have one, it had tv output and built-in keyboard. That became my main system. In the meantime work-wise I got a job programming 6802 based industrial controller-cards.

In the early 80's I found a book "6502 Systems Programming" by Thomas Windeknecht. Apart from the programming info it had an assembler called Brevity. I quickly adapted it so that it worked on the Superboard and it was heaven, until then I had been hand assembling. I had tried some assemblers but never really took to them, Brevity was/is brilliant, it turned my Superboard into a development system.

Then in '85 I returned to England, the beginning of the end, computer-wise, I had a Spectrum128 for a while until the Atari 520ST and Amiga 500 then I was seduced by the PC. It pretty well stopped my programming. Life went on and on.

Until last year, I discovered the Arduino and it got me back into both hardware and software, easy to use and great fun. And then it happened in February, I saw Quinn's blog about building Veronica. Very inspirational and I got the urge to build a system.

Being a bit of a pack-rat, I still have a load of chips from the '80s - 6502, 6502A, 65C02, 6532, 6522, 6545, 6845, 6850 plus 68xx and Z80 family chips, I've even got some 8255s. I also still have most of the books and data books like the 1983 Synertek Data book.

So, what am I doing now? Well, I've built the Meeprommer and I'm bread-boarding a 6502 based system as I would really like to get back to Brevity. Though I have 2716, 2732 and 6116, I will be using 62256 and28256 purely because of their size. In the mean-time, I'm also looking for an assembler that has output compatible with the Meeprommer. I'm also "revising" on 6502 MC as it has been over 30 years since the last time I used it...

Welcome aboard!
Where were you before you came back to the UK?

Hi BDD, I left England in '71 and lived around Europe for a while, Germany, Holland and Norway, then in '77 I moved to Vancouver, Canada until '85. I had no electronics experience or education I was a civil engineer/architect. Living in Vancouver opened up opportunities that changed my interests and my computing addiction started.

Thanks for telling your story lenzjo!

Hi BigEd, no problem, it was interesting reading other's so I felt why not.

Interesting. I've traveled to all those places, except The Netherlands. I did sail past The Netherlands, though, when I was in the U.S. Navy. In fact, we were headed to Plymouth at the time to meet up with some Royal Navy ships and embark on NATO exercises. We spent two days at Plymouth, and it was there that many of my shipmates had their first taste of British beer. An amusing story came out of that visit as well, having to do with the temperature at which pints are served in a typical British pub.

Then you missed out on the best. Of all the places I've been, the Dutch are one of the nicest people I've had the good fortune to live amongst.

Alas, my health has declined in the last several years, so any kind of international travel is probably not in the cards anymore. Heck, I have trouble making it up the stairs sometimes.

Good to hear! Greetings from a dutch guy born near Amsterdam long long ago, now living in the woods in the south.

Tak care BDD, I also feel that aging is taking its toll. The stairs are sometimes tough, but I do travel around in Europe as much as I can, just take it slowly.

Hallo HansO hoe gaat het met je? I've lived in Amsterdam twice (early '70s and mid '80s) for a total of about 2.5-3 years. Yeah.. age and it's effects have a way of creeping up on us. I now use crutches about the house and a chair outside. But I don't let them define who I am or what I can do, it's just a bit of a hassle getting trips organized at times.

Edit:
Almost forgot... HansO the link to your site goes to a blank page

It should not be blank, its up at the moment. Though I will update, enhance and modernize it the coming time to a Wordpress site

I just checked and Hans' site is up and running.

All I was getting was a blank screen with "[vhost v2] release 2.2.5" top left. Cleared the cache etc. still the same. I just rebooted and now I can see the site

I'll use this opportunity to offer a quick PSA to our predominantly male group.

• misconception: osteoporosis is for little old ladies. I'm a middle-aged male, diagnosed early -- thank goodness!
• misconception: osteoporosis is easy to avoid; just eat calcium. In fact the missing link is Vitamin D, without which calcium cannot be absorbed.

You may say (as I did), "Hey -- I generally eat pretty well; the D should be okay." However, the realities of modern North American food mean Vitamin D is a matter that requires specific attention. Unless you are giving explicit consideration to your Vitamin D intake, it is probably inadequate.

A daily Vitamin D supplement is cheap insurance against horrible suffering later in life (due to a spine or hip fracture, for instance). Naturally the supplements are a life-long commitment. I buy mine at the supermarket -- about $.07 per pill.

-- Jeff

I know this is strange, and I also hate to belabor material not related to Introductions on a 6502 Intro thread, but I've read about vitamin D.

Check me, but I've heard it from a source (Dr. John Cannell) on a very convincing radio infomercial that Vitamin D is a corticosteroid that affects many organs in the body.

Anyway, I bought a month's worth of the supplement and I swore my back felt better. I had been driving 1hr to work each morning and when I got out of the car I had back pain until I started the Vitamin D supplements. I remember it seemed to take about a week.
In the Infomercial, he had mentioned it would take about 6 months to notice a difference in things like fingernails, etc.

I'm not 100% sold on Vitamin D alone, as someone here has said, most of it comes from sun exposure. Dr. Cannell made that clear as well.

Anyway, my aged father now has some painful back problems. Does he listen to me? No. Does he go outside to gather the suns rays for vitamin D generation? No, his back hurts too much.

Ah, what do I know anyway.

Keep your eyes open! And your ears.