Today I will mostly be learning about z88dk and how to use it to build a better version of CamelForth for my Orton3CX.

Would you ever write "Downdate the counter" as a comment to a line of code that decrements a counter ?

A bit of fault finding on a RC2014 system for another local builder who couldn't get it to work. It turned out to be a couple of dry joints on the SIO board. It was running BASIC by the time I was finished :-)

I've had a fun evening debugging (someone else's) software with LEDs on output ports :-) All working now though :-)

Now I have to learn Forth :-)

I've modified my Orton 3C to move the ROM up to 8000h thus allowing all 32Kbytes of the RAM to be accessed.

More Z80 fun today ! youtu.be/twMihAydZYE

I've been working on this "Prime Factors" programme at home on my 803 emulator, and today I got to run it on the real machine @TNMOC www.peteronion.org.uk/video/PrimeF...

I've been helping a RM380Z owner to try and get the RM CP/M Algol-60 compiler/runtime working. And we've done it! Seems it only likes to run from drives A: to D: as that's all the 380Z supported.

It's been a while since I've written a makefile :-)

A mechanical Fourier Analysis machine ! www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAsM...

I though I would check if my Elliott 803 "prime factors" programme is working correctly. It is

Some reverse engineering at TNMOC today !

My current Orton 3CX setup :-) I've added an inline switch to the 5V supply so I don't have to keep unplugging it every time I want to update the Flash ROM.

URGH! Metoffice new beta forecast page is a step backwards. Much more clicking and scrolling required :-(

"We estimate you package will be delivered between 11:01 and 13:01 today". A two hour long window with start and end specified to the minute ? 🤦‍♂️

Latest developments with my Orton 3CX. #RC2014

Quite pleased with this subroutine which converts the unsigned number in DE into decimal. #Z80 #RC2014

Cheating a bit today... Running ZSID (Z80 version of Digital Research's debugger) under zxcc (CP/M emulator) to debug a bit of Z80 code that wasn't working on my Orton 3C. #RC2014

The latest addition to my Orton 3C. #RC2014

I wonder what I could do with that RML 380Z keyboard that has been sitting on a shelf for many years 🤔 Seems a pretty straight forward interface (8 data + strobe).

I went to bed with an annoying un-fixed bug in a very small bit of Z80 code. 😞 I Woke up at 3:30am with the bug fixed 😀

I've written a small GTK+ application on my PI for capturing the SRecords send on my Orton 3C's bit-banged serial port. It can also send them back while waiting for an "OK" from the 3C after each SRecord. Next step is to handle "SC" which is sent back if the Sum Check byte is incorrect. #RC2014

My #RC2104 Orton 3C has produced its first Motorola SRecord :-) Next to dump a block of RAM, then to write a parser so it can receive SRecords and load the data into RAM .

The Hex Monitor on my Orton 3C is working :-) #RC2014

And now another new peripheral to play with on my Orton 3C. It has hardware de-bounce so it is easy to read from. #RC2014

More code, more switches, more LEDs. The monitor code is now in the EPROM. It copies itself down to 0000h so it runs directly from a reset. I've also found a rather nifty Linux hex-editor called hexcurse. #RC2014

I'm writing coding like it's 1980 again !

My Orton 3C has gained its first new peripherals !

This is my Orton 3CX (3C eXpander) board. It's a i/o port expander for the Orton 3C I bought at the #RC2014 Assembly last weekend. It has a buffered data bus and port decoding for eight input and output ports, and lots of space for devices and connectors.

Time to get the soldering iron out.

A bit of graphics programming on my Z80 today.

After a few "teething problems" my Orton 3C is working :-)

A good morning's work, now time to stop for lunch :-)

Looks like I have some soldering to do tomorrow :-)

I'm looking forward to meeting all the RC2014 enthusiasts who are coming to the inaugural RC2014 Assembly at @tnmoc.bsky.social today.

While not as spectacular as @breakintoprogram.co.uk 's 3D code, I've got my 3D rendering code to work. This started out as a fully featured 3D renderer in C, which I simplified into Algol-60 (for the 803's plotter) and then back to C for my Z80 RC2014 CP/M machine.

Ext kits are going to the RC2014 Assembly event at the National Museum of computing on Saturday. We will be taking our RC2040 and Pico RomWBW kits to sell. www.tnmoc.org/events/2025/... for tickets.

I picked up a few conker the other day while out for a walk. They are now in the fridge to make sure they have a Winter and are ready to germinate in the Spring.

Some detective work needed to find the source of these spurious bit eight holes being punched on what should be a five hole tape. The tape viewer code only shows eight hole tape if any bits above bit five are set, so this should show as five hole not eight hole tape.

After a couple of false starts I've got the 803 running my Algol 3D rendering programme. The cube corner coordinates (before applying the viewing transformation) were also computed by an Algol programme.

I've spent a few days translating bits of this github.com/michalzalobn... into Algol-60 to run on the Elliott 803. And at last it is working, but you have to be patient as it takes 30 minutes to compile and run the program to just draw this cube. More frames will only take about 12 minutes each ;-)

Do you have an RC-2014 (or RCBUS) System ? Next Saturday's RC2014 Assembly at TNMOC is a chance for you to show it off and meet other owners to talk about all things Zilog CPUs. Also we have a special guest joining us via Zoom. Tickets still available from www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rc2014-ass...

had an extraordinary day at @tnmoc.bsky.social with folks from @recursecenter.bsky.social - so so many exhibits, and extraordinarily kind and patient volunteers our whole group was mesmerized by @peteronion.bsky.social's work on the "Elliott 803" - his deep knowledge of it, and incredible emulator.

Oh Dear: "Take your programming skills up a notch" and "Using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to write software" do not belong together. I fear someone has fallen for all the AI hype !

It took me about 1 dayto translate this HCode programme into C, then 3 days to debug it! Eventually I had to add a lot of printfs to the C version and equivalent outputs to the HCode version and then used diff to find out where the game state diverged. But now it runs on my RC2014 CP/M machine :-)

If only someone had invented "programme layout" in the 1960s then reverse engineering this code would be much easier !

I'm back to playing with my RC2014 CP/M machine in preparation for the RC2014 Assembly event on the 20th. Here is the PI calculating algorithm we've recently been playing with on some of the museum's machines implemented in Hi-Tech C. 3:25 for 400 digits.

There's still time to book your place at the forthcoming RC2014 event at The National Museum of Computing. It's a chance to meet other RC2014 builders and users, or to learn about RC2014 and similar systems before deciding to buy and build your first one. www.tnmoc.org/events/2025/...

Today I've been updating the syntax diagrams for my 803 Assembler.