Briel Computers Altair 8800 micro Setup And User'S Manual Download Page 1

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Altair 8800

micro

Setup and Users Manual

JULY 2010 PRELIMINARY MANUAL

Briel Computers

5392 Cornell Blvd

North Ridgeville, OH 44039

Summary of Contents for Altair 8800 micro

Page 1: ...and Users Manual Setup and Users Manual Setup and Users Manual Setup and Users Manual JULY 2010 PRELIMINARY MANUAL Briel Computers Briel Computers Briel Computers Briel Computers 5392 Cornell Blvd Nor...

Page 2: ...vd North Ridgeville OH 44039 USA Copyright 2010 Briel Computers All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 no part of this publicat...

Page 3: ...s knows of the Altair 8800 There have been many discussions on the first personal computer the first home computer but nobody can argue that the Altair set the industry in motion Original Altair 8800...

Page 4: ...ompany that had BASIC that would work on the Altair Paul Allen came to MITS in Albuquerque to demonstrate their program using paper tape it crashed after it displayed Altair Basic The next day a new p...

Page 5: ...ALTAIR 8800 micro Users Manual Briel Computers 2010 page 5...

Page 6: ...ALTAIR 8800 micro Users Manual Briel Computers 2010 page 6...

Page 7: ...several other companies also had clones using the S100 bus system This led to several aftermarket companies developing hardware add on cards for the S100 bus systems By 1977 MITS had reached 6 millio...

Page 8: ...d testing your system 23 Chapter 5 Programming with the front panel 27 Chapter 6 Loading BASIC 29 Chapter 7 Saving memory to an SD card 30 Chapter 8 Loading a text file BASIC program listing 31 Chapte...

Page 9: ...WAIT and HLDA In addition to the missing LED s one AUX switch was also not included on the board The AUX switches were not directly used on the original Altair but the one AUX switch on the Altair mi...

Page 10: ...troller emulate the instruction it breaks it down into steps As the original Altair single steps through code it does so one section of the instruction at a time For example a jump to another address...

Page 11: ...d move the text location to X Y You can do these features using what is called VT100 commands The VT100 commands are essentially code commands that tell the terminal section to perform a specific func...

Page 12: ...r input connector is a 2 5mm connector that accepts DC positive center connector We suggest using a 1A 1000mA 7 9V DC regulated power supply If you connect the system with an incorrect power supply th...

Page 13: ...ilding your kit If you have the assembled system we can guide you to getting it set up What you need for your Altair 8800 micro You can use a VGA monitor or TV with composite input Use a keyboard that...

Page 14: ...you can use both and at the same time My setup has a VGA monitor behind my Altair micro and a small 7 LCD TV that sits right on top of my Altair Please use caution if you place anything on top of the...

Page 15: ...ssible method for assembly with the highest degree of success Inventory your parts for the mainboard from the following list PART QTY ATMEGA 8515 CPU 1 62256 CYPRESS SRAM 1 74HCT573 LATCH 8 PROPELLER...

Page 16: ...e solder should melt with ease Now using your dry towel wipe off the excess solder so that your tip looks solder shiny but with only a very thin coat on the tip This helps transfer the heat to the con...

Page 17: ...of the hole with solder Try not to touch the iron Wait until the solder begins to melt and flow Make sure you are only touching the ring and the resistor wire with the iron Apply enough solder so the...

Page 18: ...e biggest issues with kit building is missed solder spots Make sure you solder every pin correctly Step 6 Install 40 pin headers There are 3 40 pin IDC 100 spacing headers on the mainboard One is used...

Page 19: ...orientation onto the board or you will damage the capacitors and the board Look at the large 100uF capacitor and you will see a negative sign on one side with an arrow That is the negative lead and is...

Page 20: ...TY 2 POSITION SPST SWITCHES 21 3 WAY MOMOMENTARY TOGGLE 3 220 OHM RESISTORS 32 4 7K OR 3 9K OHM RESISTOR PACKS 3 HEADER CONNECTORS 2 RED LED s 32 FRONT PANEL PCB 1 SCREWS 4 While the parts list looks...

Page 21: ...hen installing the switches it is best to have the switches in the down position There are 3 switches that are red and they are momentary switches They go in the STEP EXAM and DEP locations and are no...

Page 22: ...e it down the slotted fitting Take the completed mainboard PCB and set it down so it fits on the case and the VGA port and composite video ports go through their holes slightly Screw down the six scre...

Page 23: ...card over to the root directory of the SD card If you try to use subdirectories you will not be able to load BASIC How to format an SD card We will show you how to format an SD card using a Windows PC...

Page 24: ...o Users Manual Briel Computers 2010 page 24 Right mouse button click on the drive that is your SD card and you will get a drop down or up menu of options Move the mouse cursor over Format and left mou...

Page 25: ...allest Allocation unit size of 32KB to help ensure the card is readable with the Altair 8800 micro system You can also see that Quick Format is selected This is ok as long as the card will do a Quick...

Page 26: ...the system will start running when loading is finished If you get the prompt File name to load then type in the name of the file of the version of basic you wish to load In this example we will load 8...

Page 27: ...OP mode you are ready to read write to from memory Let s give it a try Turn off your Altair and put all switches down except OFF and RUN STOP Turn on your Altair If you have a monitor connected to the...

Page 28: ...into the address switches the starting memory location to look at Now lift up the EXAM switch The D0 D7 LED s will now display the value of that memory location Now if you push DOWN on the EXAM switc...

Page 29: ...your screen VGA or TV then you may see an error about the SD card Check your card and try again Type in the name of your file and press ENTER If your file name is 12 characters long it will auto cont...

Page 30: ...remove it would be with a format from your computer If you already had a file with the same name on the SD card it will automatically replace that file with the new one There is no prompt for this so...

Page 31: ...ready to go When you are at the command prompt in BASIC type NEW and press ENTER On your PS 2 keyboard press control and F1 at the same time Now you will be prompted for the name of a file to load Ty...

Page 32: ...AR THE SCREEN 50 PRINT CHR 27 2J 60 REM MOVE THE CURSOR HOME UPPER LEFT 70 PRINT CHR 27 H 80 REM MOVE CURSOR TO Y X ON A SCREEN OF 40 BY 25 ON TV 90 PRINT CHR 27 12 20H 100 REM PRINT AN X ON THE MIDDL...

Page 33: ...typing in the filename If you make a typing error you must power down the unit and start over Once the file name is found on the SD card it will begin loading the file into memory You will see the me...

Page 34: ...section firmware This is done using keyboard commands and not the front panel The other firmware that we perform when needed is the CPU section As the code for emulating the 8080 improves firmware up...

Page 35: ...off the Altair until after the update is complete If this firmware update fails you will have to send in the EEPROM for a replacement After a long 4 minutes the EEPROM will be finished and you will g...

Page 36: ...d to work in the system Try using a different SD card format the card in a PC The front panel is lit but nothing on the VGA Try auto sync mode make sure monitor can do 640X480 The keyboard is not work...

Page 37: ...R1 System RESET Input SB1 3 Switch bank select Output LLE Status LED Latch Enable low Output TXD TTL Level RS232 transmit port Output RXD TTL Level RS232 receive port Input The expansion port is a 40...

Page 38: ...n on off toggle 21 3 WAY MOM TOGGLE 3 100 OHM RESISTORS 2 220 OHM RESISTORS 38 470 OHM RESISTORS 3 560 OHM RESISTOR 1 1K OHM RESISTOR 1 3 3K OHM RESISTORS 5 4 7K OR 3 9K OHM SIP RESISTORS 3 1uF CAPACI...

Page 39: ...upper left corner ESC line columnH Move cursor to screen location v h ESC f Move cursor to upper left corner ESC f Move cursor to upper left corner ESC line columnf Move cursor to sceen location v h E...

Page 40: ...R Esc0n Response terminal is OK DSR Esc3n Response terminal is not OK DSR Esc6n Get cursor position DSR EscLine ColumnR Response cursor is at v h CPR Esc 8 Screen alignment display DECALN Esc 2 1y Con...

Page 41: ...om accident abuse or misapplication of the product shall be assumed by the customer and the Briel Computers shall assume no liability as a consequence of such events under the terms of this warranty W...

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