This is a project, that I’ve been working on and – on and off – documenting on this website for a while now. With the first form-factor build in my hands and testing to being, it deserves the top spot on the page.

This work aims at replacing (almost) any 40-pin DIP package chip from the yore for which manufacturing has stopped and is not available anymore. It is based on an FPGA, so it can emulate digital designs, but otherwise rather universal. It can operate from anything between 5 and 12V, it can take power on any pins in any combination, as long as no negative supplies are present.

As the first application of this technology, I’ve ported the T80 processor (a Z80 replacement written in VHDL) onto this platform, aiming it as a drop-in replacement for the venerable Z80 that was recently discontinued.

It is still work in progress, there are still bugs to iron out, but there is promise: UnIC can boot into CP/M, execute Batman, LocoScript, even boot and run SymbOS on a PCW8256:

The project is sponsored (i.e. I got a discount from them on the manufacturing of the PCB and assembly costs) by PCBWay. As you might have guessed, they are a company making a living by making PCBs for you. That being said, they do a lot of other things, such as 3D printing, injection molding or even CNC machining. If you need things to be made, they are an option. You should check them out!