6502.org

The 6502 primer's prerequisites are spelled out near the bottom of the first page, under the heading "Expectations and nonExpectations." They are very, very basic, requiring only acquaintance (not detailed knowledge) of the things in the list. Someone with absolutely zero background in digital electronics would have trouble understanding the primer; so a couple of books are recommended. The primer is always getting improved, and if I find website recommendations to add for these absolute ground-level basics, I will. (To be honest, I have not really looked; but so far the few I have run across have not been ideal.)

I am one of those builders.

I stumbled upon his videos, and it rekindled an old curiosity. I think the videos have their place -- they are uncluttered and are just enough to get going. I randomly found them, and they inspired me, and it eventually led me to forums where far more advanced topics are covered and more rigorous processes are followed. It was a good stepping stone for me. By this point, I'd discovered 6502.org, Garth's site, Dawid Buchwald’s projects, George Foot's YT channel, etc.

I wanted to learn a little about the fabrication side, since it seemed achievable at a low price point. I poured over tutorials and read PCB design reviews. I transcribed Eater's computer schematic to Easy EDA and designed a dual layer PCB for it. I was a little intimidated with manual routing, so my approach was to manually route VCC and then move the components around until it was "easier" for the auto-router to work (judging mostly by via count). I figured at 1MHz and 100x100mm, a poorly designed board would probably still work. I had the board fabricated at JLCPCB, for less than $7 USD shipped! My poorly designed board actually worked, as I just powered it up tonight to see it run a hello world program. I’ve just been continually amazed the whole time throughout this process.

I'm at the point now, where I'd like to proceed further, so here I am. Breadboards are more my speed, but I'm ready to dive in deeper. Not really sure where I'm going next, but I'm excited.

What’s needed around the DS1233? I’ve been looking for an example schematic to follow.

Looks very good!

and, well, if you want a challenge - get a keyboard hooked up and make EhBASIC work on it

Cheers,

-Gordon

Welcome, schlachet, and thanks for sharing your story! Do feel free to start a project thread, or to Introduce Yourself.

Per the datasheet - You can see an example circuit on this neat power module design for the RC2014 backplane, but ultimately is just a power regulator and reset circuit for a 5v microprocessor.