Problems with 8008 serial routines that posted

Just a heads up – the serial transmit routines that I have posted with the 8008 applications have serious issues. Though it was working for me, other were using serial ports that weren’t so forgiving and had problems with transmit. Finally Corey Cohen tracked down problems with start and stops bits used with the transmited data. As soon as I get a chance to check out the fixed routines, I’ll be updating all the applications on my 8008 application and BASIC pages. For those of you that can’t wait here is the code for a version that I think will probably work. This version is timed for 2400 baud.

My OS/X emulator was also broken and needs an update, as well.

OUTCHAR:

NDI 177 ; mask MSbit
CAL BITOUT ; STARTBIT
CAL BITOUT ; LSB
CAL BITOUT ; 1
CAL BITOUT ; 2
CAL BITOUT ; 3
CAL BITOUT ; 4
CAL BITOUT ; 5
CAL BITOUT ; 6
CAL BITOUT ; MSB
LDA ; timing delay
LAI 200
OUT OUTPORT ; stop bit
LDI 100 ; and extra for inter character spacing
JMP MORE2

BITOUT:
OUT OUTPORT
RRC ; shift to get next bit
LDI 3
MORE2:
LAA ; nop to delay 5 states to make timing work
DCD
JFZ MORE2
LDI 0 ; delay 8 states
RET

Reproduction SWYFT CARDs Arrived

I just got my reproduction SWYFT CARDs in and they look and work great.

Reproduction SWYFT CARD

Reproduction SWYFT CARD

I’ll be releasing them at VCF east in a few weeks. I’ll also be doing a soldering workshop in which you will be able to build one, even if you are a novice at soldering.

Reproduction and Original SWYFT CARDs

Reproduction and Original SWYFT CARDs

The SWYFT CARD was used as a prototype/proof of principal implementation by Jeff Raskin’s company, after he left Apple after the falling out with Steve Jobs. Later they came out with the SWYFT Computer and the Canon Cat.

Check out the VCF website for details on VCF east 9.1
http://www.vintage.org

regards,
Mike W.

Old Barndoor Telescope Sky Tracker

Barndoor Tracker Movie (click on this link to see movie)

I recently pulled this old 2006 project out of mothballs and it still works. You mount a small camera or telescope on it. You point the axis at the celestial north. Turn it on and it follows the rotation of the earth, so you can take long exposure pictures of the night sky. I only took one roll of film using it and before I was able to take a good look at the results, the negatives disappeared, so I don’t really know how good it worked.

It features speed, direction controls and a clock for timing the exposure.