Make your own ALTAIR computer based on an Arduino

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/02/26/make-your-own-altair-computer.html

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Another neat project I’ve seen is a PDP-8 emulation with full front panel, powered by a Raspberry Pi and a modified version of SIMH.

I just barely missed out on the era of front panels with toggle switches and blinkenlights, so that user interface doesn’t quite resonate with me, but I did set up a RSTS/E instance on a Pi using an SIMH-emulated PDP-11, approximately duplicating my high school’s system. It was faster on the emulation than the original hardware.

Here’s the Altair IV:

(Actually, I’m looking at a CP/M machine as I type this.)

Oooh, thanks for the link! I learned to program on a PDP 8/S, the toggle switches were a little cooler than on the 8/I (and are surely impossible to source) but it would be a fun project.

Did they get a license from Microsoft to distribute that Basic interpreter?

Arduino? Pfft. I hand-crafted mine out of individual transistors and pure silver solder. Or I would, if I needed another computer, which I don’t, so there!

Oh, OK… Not one of these then.

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Let’s see, if I simulate the Arduino and simulate the front panel…

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Shall we play a game?

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