The Seventies Board

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This is my little dream project so that i can run all the machines before my own time in a handy package on a real terminal, i am from 1982 and almost all machines this little project will run are from before that, from the dawn of home computer time. Ok, the PDP11 is a stretch here, but nobody would have stopped a wealthy enthusiast from owning one, or? ;)

I might never own one of the real machines this project will run but my motto is "Retro for the masses, not for the classes" anyway, so alas, lets make that dream come true.

It all started when i stumbled upon the sourcecode of the Pico_1140 by Ian Schofield, bodged a board and SD card together and had some fun with it. The emulation seemed solid enough but the setup was janky at best. Looked at it and got to work, adding a translation layer from VT100 or ADM-3A to either one, adding a nice menu and then adding, as of this writting, two other guest until i were where i am now.

The project was on hiatus for a year as i had family problems to attend to and to fix up, but now i finally have time again to work on this.

Whats currently implemented:

PDP11 based on Pico_1140
- Runs Unix V6.
- Runs RT11.
- Any other OS from that era will surely boot.
Z80 based on the implementation of the Z80 MBC2, reimplemented without using that projects code.
- Can run all versions of CP/M.
- Runs Fuzix.
- Surely runs many more.
Apple 1
- With injection of either binaries or text files.
Everything accessible trough a fancy TUI!

Whats next or in the works:

An orthodox filemanager, i want this system to be truly stand-alone.
Being able to switch disk images around.
Guests:
- My own Z80 machine, LionsZ80
- Commodore KIM-1 and PET (with translation to ASCII as near as possible, with DECs graphic symbols and IBM/DOS extended ASCII selectable)
- CHIP8, maybe even as a full 1802 emulation.
- SC/MP, always wanted one, now i do my own ;)
- SWTPC 6800

I will also sell some kits on Tindy later, the two SMD parts will be pre-soldered. Can't sell fully soldered ones or i would need to mess with the Stiftung EAR and Take-e-way, not for a hobby project, no thanks. ;)

Code and board files can be found here: https://github.com/bastetfurry/TheSeventiesBoard

Files

70sBoardGerbers_20251113.zip

Zip Archive - 245.97 kB - 11/13/2025 at 18:54

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SeventiesBoard_Linux_x64.zip

PC version compiled for x64 Linux, contains SD card image needed for PC version. Download this, even if you intend to compile this for your platform yourself.

Zip Archive - 13.87 MB - 11/13/2025 at 11:40

Download

70sBoardGerber.zip

Zip Archive - 246.44 kB - 11/12/2025 at 17:59

Download

SeventiesBoard.uf2

uf2 - 739.50 kB - 11/12/2025 at 17:53

Download

Project Logs

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Groupbuy of the beta version

Alexandra Bastet Stehr • 11/13/2025 at 12:10 • 0 comments

Added some files, a Linux PC precompiled version for the curios, the u2f for the ones that want to hack together one.

And there is a groupbuy over on Forum64 if you are interested: https://www.forum64.de/index.php?thread/159630-sammelbestellung-the-seventies-board-beta/

You can also send me a PM over here if you don't want to register over on Forum 64.

By the way, is it normal that new projects get pestered with spam and phishing attacks? This is my first release over here and i wonder... two PMs from accounts that pretend to be Hackaday till now and a "coldcall" mail from a certain PCB house.

Discussions

villaromba wrote 4 days ago

Is there a schematic & BOM please?

Are you sure? yes | no

monsonite wrote 11/13/2025 at 19:18

There is also a version of MINT written in C - so a Pi Pico could also appear as a MINT Machine - and a lot faster because it is not emulating an 8-bit like Z80 or 6502

Are you sure? yes | no

monsonite wrote 11/13/2025 at 16:27

Hi - I also like the "simple" 8-bit CPUs from the 1970s.

And yes - the Pi Pico can easily emulate several of these, like 6502, Z80, 1802 etc.

I was brought up with Z80, on a ZX81 and other machines. But once you learn one CPU architecture and instruction set, it is very difficult (for me) to switch to another.

So now that I am semi-retired, I would like to learn 6502 and 1802 assembly language - and your project appeals, because the Pi Pico is so cheap and easy to use.

But, I think I would still struggle to switch between the different mnemonics and programming toots, so I came up with an idea for a tiny, bytecode, interpreted language called MINT.

MINT is a bit like Forth, stack-based RPN, but a lot smaller resource requirements - only about 1700 bytes for the interpreter on a Z80.

MINT uses printable ascii characters to make a very concise source code. A MINT program written for a Z80 will run on a 6502, 1802 or whichever CPU you wish, provided that it has a MINT interpreter.

https://github.com/orgMINT/MINT

A 6502 version of the MINT interpreter is here:

https://github.com/agsb/6502.MINT/tree/main/arch/6502

Are you sure? yes | no

Alexandra Bastet Stehr wrote 11/13/2025 at 19:00

I know how to use 6502 and Z80, at least in my opinion it is not that hard to switch between CPUs if they follow the same base idea and are not somewhere out there bordering the esolang territory.

Care to port your MINT Interpreter to the Z80 MBC2, as emulated in my project, or, even better, CP/M? Then it could run on any Z80 system that can run CP/M.

I would gladly add it to the SD card and hence to the distribution.

Are you sure? yes | no

monsonite wrote 11/13/2025 at 19:15

Let me look at the MBC2. MINT only requires a UART interface, or emulated getchar and putchar

Are you sure? yes | no

The Seventies Board

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