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!
Category Archives: TIM
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.
Text by Christian:
Since the TIM chip is actually not available, the TIM-1 is unfortunately only useful for people who are in possession of a 6530-004. But, there is still the TIM-2 😉 The idea for the project came up when I got a few MPS 6530-004 by chance. Actually I always wanted to have an affordable KIM-1, but so far I haven’t found one. I also wanted to learn how to use KiCad.

The RRIOT 6530-004 (TIM chip) was sold by MOS only as a kit in the form of the TIM chip, a manual and a schematic. This meant that the computer enthusiast or developer had to assemble the rest of the system themselves. Commercially, the TIM chip was probably only used in the Jolt and Super Jolt. It was not until the KIM-1 that MOS released a complete development and learning system.

TIM-1
With the TIM-1 project a SBC should be created, as authentic and as exact as possible after the original circuit diagram for the TIM chip of MOS. So for the TIM-1 -at least for the mainboard- only those parts should be used which were included in the MOS schematic and by the way only those parts which were available in the mid seventies. The design is based on the KIM-1 and other SBCs from that time. The layout is adapted to the original schematic, i.e. the parts can be found at the same place where they are placed in the schematic. This makes it easy to understand the system from the schematic. The TIM-1 needs 5 V supply voltage. If you use the EIA (RS232) interface, you have to supply -12V and +12V additionally. For the current loop (Teletype) there is an additional -10V supply required, but it can be assumed that -12V is also possible (maybe a Resistor must be changed). The transistor -according to the original schematic- PN2709A is probably a typing error. The PN 2907A will surely be the correct one. For simplified use with a modern terminal emulator the serial interface is led out laterally as TTl level. This allows the system to operate using only 5V and a USB to TTL adapter. The address decoding for the selection of RAM and RRIOT is incomplete, therefore there is a multiple selection over the whole address range. Therefore, when using the expansion card, an external disabling line for the internal RAM and the TIM chip is necessary to avoid address overlaps. Surely this could have been improved right away, but the TIM-1 should be expandable but, as far as possible, conform to the plan of MOS. The 4 SRAMs 2111 (256×4) on the board provide the user with 512 bytes (page 0 and 1). For small programs and for getting to know the TIM-1 this is very sufficient, but for more extensive programs this is of course too little. Therefore, the TIM-1 has received a simple memory expansion. This external card can be equipped with 8 pieces of RAM or EPROM (probably also modern EEPROM) with standard 2k x 8 (e.g. 2016 RAM and 2716 Eprom). A 4kx8 EPROM 2732 can be used as well, here the upper or lower 2 kB must be selected by jumper.
The operation of the TIM-1 is almost completely covered with the TIM manual from MOS.
Since the TIM chip is actually not available, the TIM-1 is unfortunately only useful for people who are in possession of a 6530-004. But, there is still the TIM-2 😉 The idea for the project came up when I got a few MPS 6530-004 by chance. Actually I always wanted to have an affordable KIM-1, but so far I haven’t found one. I also wanted to learn how to use KiCad.

TIM-1 Overview

TIM-1 Setup with Terminal and Papertape

TIM-1 running Lunarlander

TIM 1 Memory and Slot Card

TIM-1 with Expansion
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TIM-1 Schematic |
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TIM-1 Memory MAP |
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TIM-1 Memory Expansion Card |
![]() TIM-1 running Lunarlander |
LUNARLANDER for 6502 and TIM |
LUNAR LANDER for the 6502
HEX File from Mark Garetz´s Listing in Dr. Dobb´s Journal (August 1976).
Just typed in with a little debugging by Christian Ortner in 2023
See also:
TERC KIM-1 Interface set
6502 tester NMOS CMOS 1-8MHz
680x/650x Test system
Backbit Chip Tester PRO V2
KIM-1 and TIM updates
I have added the following to the KIM-2 KIM-3-KIM-4 KIM-5 KIM-6 pages:
– brochure with photos and descriptions and pricelist KIM System Products
– photos of KIM-2 and KIM4 with KIM-4 motherboard with KIM-3b, KIM-5, KIM-6
– brochure TIM System Development Aid with pricelist
The brochure of KIM-5 etc is from Commodore, the KIM-2 RAM was already dropped for a higher capacity KIM-3B. The KIM-5 was still mentioned as product. Alas I have never seen or heard of a KIM-5 in the hands of a user. So the ROMS are lost alas.

KIM-4 with KIM-3B, KIM-5, KIM-6
See also:
A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1
KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!
Magazines: Compute! and Compute II
All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.
Who were involved in the development of KIM-1 and TIM?
The 6530-002 (the KIM monitor), 6530-003 (the KIM tape routines) and 6530-004 (TIM, the teletype monitor) are in the ROM of these IC’s. Developed in/for/by MOS Technology.
For TIM the Story of TIM (DEMON as Ray Holt called it) tells about Manny Lomas.
It would be nice to know more who did hardware and software design for the KIM-1 (must have been a small team since they are so intertwined) of these innovative early 6502 development.
The story should start with Chuck Peddle and his team. They developed the 6502 and supporting IC’s like 6530 (RRIOT) and 6532 (RIOT).
The story of KIM talks about Don McLaughlin, MOS Technology founder and engineering manager of the project. Peddle and a programming manager named Bob Winterhalt agreed with the idea and the three men began the design. According to MOS Technology employee Al Charpentier, John May did the actual design.
See also:
A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1
KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!
Magazines: Compute! and Compute II
All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.
Superjolt manuals and schematics
I have added Superjolt manuals and schematics to the Jolt pages
See also:
A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1
KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!
Magazines: Compute! and Compute II
All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.
Datac 1000 more information
See also:
A demo of the new facilities in the KIM-1 Simulator 2.2.1
KIM-1 connectors: beware the Chinese cheap variants!
Magazines: Compute! and Compute II
All documents in the MTU pages are now clean and higher quality, about 50 new PDFs.
HDE card cage, floppy drive
Hudson Digital Electronics Inc
Known by advertisments in the KIM-1/User Notes.


See also:
TERC KIM-1 Interface set
6502 tester NMOS CMOS 1-8MHz
680x/650x Test system
Backbit Chip Tester PRO V2
Books for the 6502: KIM-1 and more
KIM-1, AIM-65, SYM-1 and other 6502/65C02/65C816 related books.
A mix of English, German and Dutch books.
On my bookshelf I have quite a collection of books on the 6502 family.
Note that manuals and books that come with systems are shown on the pages of the corresponding system!
See also:
TERC KIM-1 Interface set
6502 tester NMOS CMOS 1-8MHz
680x/650x Test system
Backbit Chip Tester PRO V2
KIM System Products
MOS Technology, as part of Commodore, enhanced their KIM-1 offering with a range of add-on products.
Under the name KIM System Products hardware such a Motherboard (KIM-4), Memory expansions(KIM-2, 3, 3B) and software like the Cross Assembler, the KIM-5 Resident Assembler/Editor, and KIMath.
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KIM System products folder including pricelist |

The Cross-Assembler was used at MOS Technology to create the very first 6502 code, like the KIM-1 ROMs or the TIM ROM (MCS6530-004).
Cross Assembler
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Cross assembler Manual, GE timeshare |
KIMath package
See also the KIM-5 page for KIMath provided as 6540 ROM for the KIM-5 ROM baord.
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KIMATH and MATHPAC KIMATH is a floating point package, 16 digit precision for the KIM-1 6502 system. Original MOS Technology listings, binary, documents in PDF and text format, sources. MATHPAC is a supplement by John Eaton, Dr Dobbs nr 20, to aid in using KIMATH. Original article in PDF and text format with sources and binaries. |
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MOS KIMath Subroutines Programming Manual |

See also:
TERC KIM-1 Interface set
6502 tester NMOS CMOS 1-8MHz
680x/650x Test system
Backbit Chip Tester PRO V2
Datac 1000, a TIM 6502 SBC from 1976
Photos and information thanks to https://oldcomputermuseum.com and https://www.kennettclassic.com/























































































