AIM65-CPLD-3V3 for sale

Labu Asabu made 5 units of the AIM65-CPLD-3V3 for sale.
The price is 55,000 yen for a full set + accessories.
Shipping costs will be charged. Overseas customers will be charged customs duties for imports.
Email to info@labo-asabu.com

More info here!

aim65_quartus, an FPGA clone

Filippo (shinymetal6) published an alpha version of aim65_quartus, an FPGA clone on his github resource.

Forum discussion on the MisTer forum here.

Here the readme of aim65_quartus by Filippo:

This is an alpha release of a verilog Rockwell AIM65 in an Intel FPGA using the SocKIT board.
The Arrow SocKIT board is a nearly compatible TerASIC DE0 board where MiSTer runs.
This is a MiSTer port on the Arrow SocKIT, and as I have a SocKIT board I used their templates from MiSTer SocKIT FPGA page.

Behind the templates, the structures seem to me very similar, so probably a port on the MiSTer board should be relatively easy, but I don’t have such board.

Basically the aim65_quartus runs like an AIM65 at 1 MHz, has 32KBytes of ram ( who had so much ram ? not me for sure ! ) and excluding printer and tape all the peripherals are in place and runs.

The ROMs come from Hans Hotten funtastic pages, like all the other information I found there.
The 6502 core is the Arlet one, or the Hoglet67 65C02 version based on the Arlet core. This can be selected recompiling the code

The 20 AIM65 alphanumeric displays are routed to a simple video output, some ( quite bad I know ) pictures below.

The MiSTer menu can be used to have the expansion rom with basic, forth and pl/65, again some pictures below

Still with the MiSTer menu the serial port can be enabled, the characters color can be changed and the video can run at full screen

Still to do:

  • find a way to load and store programs, i’m still studying the MiSTer framework
  • fix an annoying behaviour on the serial port, tricky enough
  • find why sometimes the screen jumps
  • fix the keyboard as for now works only with US keyboard
  • a lot of more bugs I have not yet found …
  • As an additional and in my opinion useful add on, I have implemented a clear screen pressing F4, currently not used on real AIM65.
    This too needs a bit of fixing here and there, but when time will leave me to work on it again I will try to fix it

    aim65_quartus in action



    Just booted, R command in action


    Some memory dump


    Basic started


    The board where AIM65 runs …

    Scan of book Microprocessor Systems Engineering

    NEW: Scan of book Microprocessor Systems Engineering, by R.C. Camp, T.A. Smay, C.J. Triska
    Only the AIM 65 System 65 parts

    TIM-1 SBC

    Christian Ortner (mister-freeze at the VzEkC e. V. forum build a SBC with expansion around a TIM IC.
    Here is his projects description of the TIM-1 SBC. TIM-1 OverviewSchematic, images, hex listing of Lunar Lander!

    AIM 65 reproduction AIM65-CPLD-3v3 manual

    The page on the AIM 65 reproduction AIM65-CPLD-3v3 by Yasushi Nagano (Labo Asabu) has now a manual. Quite a large detailed 180+ pages one!

    Working with Mr Nagano, I have translated his manual for the AIM 65 reproduction, the AIM65-CPLD-3v3, from Japanese to English. The manual is now downloadable from this page.

    AH5050 floppy disk system for AIM 65

    In 1983 the company ABM sold a floppy disk system, Commodore IEC 1541 based, for the AIM 65. It also offered a serial interface for the AIM 65 TTY connection and a parallel port.
    The system consists of a PCB with the interfaces, a manual and the AH5050 ROM. The user has to add the Commodore diskdrive and IEC cable.

    The 1541 Commodore drive was quite popular in the 80ties for SBCs, since it was affordable, the serial IEC connection simple (one 7406 TTL IC and a couple of I/O lines) and the drive itself intelligent, the host did not have to implement a DOS with low level drivers and file system. It is slow, and has a low capacity, small SBCs like the AIM 65 are more than happy with that
    Nowadays floppy drives like the 1541 are like dinosaurs. But the SD2IEC 1541 replacement devices are cheap!

    [

    ESCO added detailed information

    wikokom (Willi) posted additional information about his ESCO system.

    Also images of his first KIM-1 in a suitcase~ and current KIM-1.

    KIM-1, MTU Visable Memory, and Memory Tests

    EMUF and MC Die Mikrocomputer-Zeitschrift

    The EMUF pages are a tribute to the work of the editing staff of the German magazine MC Die Mikrocomputer-Zeitschrift on SBC’s.

    EMUF stands for Einplatinen-Mikrocomputer für Universelle Festprogrammierung.

    EMUFs SBC’s are programmable systems, without a monitor program: write a program and store it in an EPROM and run the application type of system. A bit like the modern microcontrollers like the PIC and AVR IC’s and also a bit like the Arduino’s. But with the technology of the 80ties: 8 bit CPU’s like the 65XX and Z80, I/O IC and EPROM and some RAM.

    The first EMUF was published in 1981 in the second edition of the magazine. Later called the EMUF6504, since the CPU is the MOS 6504, a stripped version of the 6502.

    The EMUF pages are reorganized and enhanced with all articles from the MC magazine, Sonderheft 1 and 2 and the book Mit Computern steuern.

    All relevant 6502/AIM/EMUF articles from MC Die Mikrocomputer-Zeitschrift are added to the MC page.

    AIM 65 keyboard replica

    Ralf (ralf02, forum64.de) obtained a working AIM 65, alas without the keyboard.

    So he designed and build one. In his own words:

    Wenn ich an den Rechner 24 Volt (für den Drucker) und 5 Volt anlege, startet er schon einmal. Allerdings war leider keine Tastatur dabei. Es gibt zwar Tastatur-Nachbauten, die bei Ebay & Co für sehr viel Geld verkauft werden, aber ich dachte mir, das kann man doch auch selbst machen. Also habe ich mit KiCad eine Platine entworfen, mit Cherry MX Tastern bestückt, “blanke” Tastenkappen von Amazon draufgesetzt und mit dem Brother Etikettendrucker beklebt.

    Translated:
    When Ralf connected the 24 V (printer) and 5 V, the system started. But the keyboard was missing. Though there are keyboard replicas on ebay , costing quite a lot of money, I decided to build one myself. Kicad for the PCB, Cherry MX keys, blank keycaps and a Brother labelprinter for the lettering.

    The result is a quality keyboard that fits the AIM 65 very well. See here the page with photos and design.