Author Archives: hanso

Commodore Chessmate by Stephen Crane

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Stephen Crane designed a Chessmate hardware emulator some time ago.

He updated his archive on github with a PCB for a low cost variant.

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A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1 Scroll, copy paste of the console. New versions of KIM-...

KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!

The KIM-1 needs 2 edge connectors. The specifications are: card edge; PIN: 44; 3.96mm When you search for those, ...

Magazines: Compute! and Compute II

The pages om Magazines had an update. MICRO has its own page with all Best of MICRO pfds. Compute! and Compute II ar...

All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.

I got hold a about 10 cm of MTU documents. Several I already had in PDF format, some not available yet. I took the oppo...

Improved keypad case and button

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The DIY KIM-1 keypad case and button 3D designs have been slightly improved:

The case has a small cutout around the top edges as the original.

The button has some ribbles as the original has.

See also:

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1 Scroll, copy paste of the console. New versions of KIM-...

KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!

The KIM-1 needs 2 edge connectors. The specifications are: card edge; PIN: 44; 3.96mm When you search for those, ...

Magazines: Compute! and Compute II

The pages om Magazines had an update. MICRO has its own page with all Best of MICRO pfds. Compute! and Compute II ar...

All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.

I got hold a about 10 cm of MTU documents. Several I already had in PDF format, some not available yet. I took the oppo...

A second white KIM-1 enters the collection

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After cleaning up and repairing the keyboard of a white KIM-1 Rev D I found a second one, as new!

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A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1 Scroll, copy paste of the console. New versions of KIM-...

KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!

The KIM-1 needs 2 edge connectors. The specifications are: card edge; PIN: 44; 3.96mm When you search for those, ...

Magazines: Compute! and Compute II

The pages om Magazines had an update. MICRO has its own page with all Best of MICRO pfds. Compute! and Compute II ar...

All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.

I got hold a about 10 cm of MTU documents. Several I already had in PDF format, some not available yet. I took the oppo...

MTU K-1013 FDC with CODOS emulation added to the KIM-1 Simulator.

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MTU K-1013 FDC emulation added to the KIM-1 Simulator.

Eduardo Casino added the FDC support. Now not only the SD Shield but also the upd765 based FDC support allows to run CP/M-65 and the native CODOS for KIM-1 operating systems.

See also:

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1 Scroll, copy paste of the console. New versions of KIM-...

KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!

The KIM-1 needs 2 edge connectors. The specifications are: card edge; PIN: 44; 3.96mm When you search for those, ...

Magazines: Compute! and Compute II

The pages om Magazines had an update. MICRO has its own page with all Best of MICRO pfds. Compute! and Compute II ar...

All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.

I got hold a about 10 cm of MTU documents. Several I already had in PDF format, some not available yet. I took the oppo...

KIM-1 case

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The KIM-1 came from MOS Technology and Commodore without a case or power supply. So you either build your own housing or looked at what other firms sold for the KIM-1.
There was a lot on offer, mostly targeted at system expansion with large cases.

One of the cases you saw quite often was this case. It came with one of my KIM-1’s. Small, simple and effective

A perfect solution for an unexpanded KIM-1. Quite popular in education. Add a power supply and you can start using it without exposing the electronics. The LED display was behind a red plexiglas cover, so that improves readability.

See also:

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1 Scroll, copy paste of the console. New versions of KIM-...

KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!

The KIM-1 needs 2 edge connectors. The specifications are: card edge; PIN: 44; 3.96mm When you search for those, ...

Magazines: Compute! and Compute II

The pages om Magazines had an update. MICRO has its own page with all Best of MICRO pfds. Compute! and Compute II ar...

All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.

I got hold a about 10 cm of MTU documents. Several I already had in PDF format, some not available yet. I took the oppo...

B.E.M. photos made by Gerben Voort

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Brutech, a small Dutch company, made industrial quality microprocessor systems. 6502, 6809, process control.

Gerben Voort acquired a 6502 system and made photos of the system. A backplane, the BEM bus, a 6502 based CPU card, a double VIA card, a battery backed up memory card.
Read more about Brutech here.

See also:

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1 Scroll, copy paste of the console. New versions of KIM-...

KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!

The KIM-1 needs 2 edge connectors. The specifications are: card edge; PIN: 44; 3.96mm When you search for those, ...

Magazines: Compute! and Compute II

The pages om Magazines had an update. MICRO has its own page with all Best of MICRO pfds. Compute! and Compute II ar...

All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.

I got hold a about 10 cm of MTU documents. Several I already had in PDF format, some not available yet. I took the oppo...

KIM-1, what changed in the Revisions?

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I know of seven KIM-1 revisions, labeled Rev A-G and the first one unlabeled. Rev C is unknown!

What changed between these revisions?

Not much. The PCB underwent several changes around the logo area, from KIM-1 MOS to Commodore C-MOS. That happened from Rev A to Rev D, indicating the takeover by Commodore of MOS Technology. And some small numbers/artefacts etched in various Revs. The big change was in the clock circuit between the first edition and Rev A.

Some have serial numbers, the first ones on the back on the right, later had stamped/written numbers like PAxxx (Palo Alto) and SCxxx (Santa Clara) of Commodore production facilities

Clock circuit change
The first batch of KIM-1 suffered from the issue that the clock would not start. It was fixed in Rev A, with more components and a change in PCB layout.

Read more

See also:

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1 Scroll, copy paste of the console. New versions of KIM-...

KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!

The KIM-1 needs 2 edge connectors. The specifications are: card edge; PIN: 44; 3.96mm When you search for those, ...

Magazines: Compute! and Compute II

The pages om Magazines had an update. MICRO has its own page with all Best of MICRO pfds. Compute! and Compute II ar...

All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.

I got hold a about 10 cm of MTU documents. Several I already had in PDF format, some not available yet. I took the oppo...

Jolt replica by Eduardo Casino

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Eduardo Casino has created a faithful replica of the Jolt single board computer. Tested! Working!
The replica design is available on GitHub, A faithful reproduction of the JOLT

More on the Jolt here.

A faithful replica of the Microcomputer Associates Inc. JOLT computer, based on photos and information gathered from various sources on the internet.

The JOLT was the first 6502‑based computer kit to be commercially released, beating the KIM‑1 to market by several weeks; the latter would launch in January of the following year. It is a small SBC featuring a 6820 PIA and the 6530‑004 RIOT, also known as TIM‑1. It includes 512 bytes of RAM, a teletype interface, and an RS‑232 interface. The 6530‑004 contains, in its 1K ROM, the monitor software DEMON, also simply referred to as TIM.

See also:

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1 Scroll, copy paste of the console. New versions of KIM-...

KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!

The KIM-1 needs 2 edge connectors. The specifications are: card edge; PIN: 44; 3.96mm When you search for those, ...

Magazines: Compute! and Compute II

The pages om Magazines had an update. MICRO has its own page with all Best of MICRO pfds. Compute! and Compute II ar...

All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.

I got hold a about 10 cm of MTU documents. Several I already had in PDF format, some not available yet. I took the oppo...

New versions of KIM-1 Simulator V2.0.0 and TIM Simulator V0.9

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The KIM-1 Simulator has seen a large update.
A new piece of hardware is added, the SD Card/RTC Shield by Corsham Technology.
This addition has been written by Eduardo Casino. Lots of code contributed, thanks Eduardo!
He also added support for two operating systems using the SD Shield, xKIM by Bob Applegate and CP/M-65 by David Given.

The problem with local language keyboard layouts is solved by Eduardo. Now the host operating system takes care of the different layout.

The documentation has been enhanced and moved from a local limited html file to an online version.

Enjoy! See it here.

The keyboard and online improvements have been ported by me to the TIM/Jolt Simulator.

Download it here.

See also:

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1 Scroll, copy paste of the console. New versions of KIM-...

KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!

The KIM-1 needs 2 edge connectors. The specifications are: card edge; PIN: 44; 3.96mm When you search for those, ...

Magazines: Compute! and Compute II

The pages om Magazines had an update. MICRO has its own page with all Best of MICRO pfds. Compute! and Compute II ar...

All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.

I got hold a about 10 cm of MTU documents. Several I already had in PDF format, some not available yet. I took the oppo...

XKIM on the KIM-1 Simulator

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xKIM is developed by Bob Applegate to support his SD-Shield.
By adding SD Card/RTC Shield support to the KIM-1 Simulator by Eduardo Casino we can run xKIM there now!

KIM                                                                                              
0200 00                                                                                          
0201 48                                                                                          
E000 
E000 4C G

Extended KIM Monitor v1.8 by Corsham Technologies, LLC
www.corshamtech.com

>?
Available commands:

  ? ........... Show this help
  C ........... Show clock
  D ........... Disk directory
  E xxxx ...... Edit memory
  H xxxx xxxx . Hex dump memory
  J xxxx ...... Jump to address
  K ........... Go to KIM monitor
  L ........... Load HEX file
  M xxxx xxxx . Memory test
  O xxxx xxxx . Calculate branch offset
  P ........... Ping disk controller
  S xxxx xxxx . Save memory to file
  T ........... Type disk file
  K ........... Go to KIM monitor
  ! ........... Do a cold start


>C
Date: 03/25/2026, 15:16:47

>Disk Directory...
   bootsdshield-kimrom.bin
   bootsdshield.bin
   bootsdshield.pap
   CPM-BOOT.DSK
   kb9.ihex
   KIM-1 simulator start.jpg
   kim-1-sdshield.zip
   kimsimSETTINGS.jpg
   M2000.BIN
   newimage.dsk
   SD.cfg
   SDMP1.jpg
   SDMP2.jpg
   SDMP3.jpg
   SDMP4.jpg
   SDMP5.jpg

>T - Enter filename: SD.CFG
# SD Card Disk Configuration
# Format: drive:filename or driveR:filename (for read-only)
0:CPM-BOOT.DSK
1:newimage.dsk

>S 2000-2199
Enter filename, or Enter to display to console: K2000.BIN
..........................
>Disk Directory...
   bootsdshield-kimrom.bin
   bootsdshield.bin
   bootsdshield.pap
   CPM-BOOT.DSK
   K2000.BIN
   kb9.ihex
   KIM-1 simulator start.jpg
   kim-1-sdshield.zip
   kimsimSETTINGS.jpg
   M2000.BIN
   newimage.dsk
   SD.cfg
   SDMP1.jpg
   SDMP2.jpg
   SDMP3.jpg
   SDMP4.jpg
   SDMP5.jpg

>T - Enter filename: M2000.BIN
:102000001510922D4C000020902860A00CA900997A
:10201000922D8810FA4CD425A9FF8D942DA9008DFE
:102020009E2D60084898488A48AD942D3004A00041
:10203000911A68AA68A8682860A51A49FF2D952DED
:102040008D952DA51B49FF2D962D8D962D18602061
:10205000CD20A90F204325B02BA00CB11A8522A0BA
:102060001FB10E911A8810F920A923A00CB11AC52E
:1020700022F00AA9009002A980A00F911AA522A01F
:102080000C911A186020CD20206428A90F20432528
:102090009037A900A010911AC8C020D0F9A9E5A0D6
:1020A00000911AA901204325B01FA001B11A910E79
:1020B000C8C020D0F7ADB12DA000910E20AF26A949
:1020C0000120D22720A9231860A9FF3860A00EA9FB
:1020D00000911AA000B11A8D942D290FAACA1003DD
:1020E000AEB02DADB12D911A8A4CD42520D320202D
:1020F000A625206428A00EB11A10021860A90F208E
:01210000439B
:00000001FF
>
>L
Enter filename, or Enter to load from console: m2000.bin
.................
Success!

See also:

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1

A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1 Scroll, copy paste of the console. New versions of KIM-...

KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!

The KIM-1 needs 2 edge connectors. The specifications are: card edge; PIN: 44; 3.96mm When you search for those, ...

Magazines: Compute! and Compute II

The pages om Magazines had an update. MICRO has its own page with all Best of MICRO pfds. Compute! and Compute II ar...

All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.

I got hold a about 10 cm of MTU documents. Several I already had in PDF format, some not available yet. I took the oppo...