Apple 1, In The Beginning

Some people claim the Apple 1 was the first true home computer. It was semi complete, including a full keyboard and a TV set abused as monitor.
Here are some articles about the Apple 1 and some replicas, including some software for these machines.

Micro Professor

This is an article about one of the many training computers from the eighties. It's a Z80 based single board computer, in the shape of a book. Here you can find invaluable information in case you own one, without any manuals.
I even throw in a few experiments as well.

Raspberry Pi

Due to unforseen populatiry the Rasberry Pi had a bit of a rough start. After a long, long wait my first Pi has finally arrived. And here's what I do with it....

Constant Current Sink

In my current profession I needed to measure low ohmic resistors quite often. However measuring low ohms is a special art, which requires a (portable) constant current source. This device, together with a strong enough battery, supplies an accurate pre-defined constant current.
As a by-product this Constant Current Sink device can also be used to measure the cappacity of rechargable batteries.

Fluke 8010 / 8012 Interface

A very old dream of mine came true when I finished this project. It enables a standard Fluke 8010 or 8012 to be connected to a computer using the SB-Bus.
Now you can collect the measured values on any type of computer. And as a bonus I've managed to throw in a few extra goodies.
Be sure to read about this project if you own such a meter!

SB-6668 Counter

Here's another long cherished dream of mine that finally came true. Philips used to build very nice and accurate frequency counters back in the eighties. I was very fortunate to be able to buy one from a former colleague of mine.
I gave the counter a new and smarter brain and now it can be connected to the SB-Bus and has some extra ordinary new features. Some of them can only be found on the more expensive counters.
A must-see project if you own a PM-6667 or PM-6668 counter!

6802 Nano computer

I've built this project back in 1993 when it was used for a variety of experiments. This project shows you the most basic microprocessor system you can find, built around the Motorola 6802 processor. It has a total of 128 bytes of RAM and up to 4k of ROM. About 20 general purpose I/O lines complete the system.
I've also included 2 simple programs, but that doesn't mean the circuit can't be used for many more applications.

8049 Spy

Before I started the SB-6668 project I needed to know how the original program of the PM-6668 worked. Therefore I needed a way to read the contents of its microcontroller.
This simple circuit, together with the Nano computer reveals the programs from any 8048 and 8049 controllers.

AVR ISP Dongle

This is not really a project of mine because it is designed by Atmel and it is used to program their AVR processors. I only include it here for my own reference and to show you how I've built mine.

EEPROM Programmer

If only I had received 1 Euro for every I²C or IM bus EEPROM that was programmed using this project I could have gone on a nice holiday with the wife by now.
It is rather an old project, and at first it was run on the Apple ][ computer at work. Later I wrote a program for the IBM PC and it still functions today, even on Windows XP machines!

IR Control

This is not just a single project. It is a collection of several more or less complicated projects which are all related to IR remote control applications.
For instance I've explained in detail how various IR remote protocols are decoded using a PIC processors.

Nikon ML-L1 / ML-L2 IR Remote Control

One of the visitors of my web site notified me about the Nikon IR protocol used by the ML-L1 / ML-L3 remote controls for Nikon (D)SLR cameras. I simply had to build one for myself. All Nikon cameras which can be controlled by the original ML-L1 / ML-L3 remotes should work with this little project.

SAA1064 Display Module

I managed to get hold of some of these display modules. I'm using them for a variety of experiments. Soon I'm going to use one in at least one of my projects.
The module is built around an SAA1064 I²C display driver and drives four 7 segment displays.
If you don't have a ready made module like I do you can easily build one yourself.

Tiny EPROM Simulator

SB-Bus Drivers

UTP Cabel Tester

This simple UTP cable tester can track down cut, shorted and switched wires in UTP cables. Actually it is rather a universal cable tester because with different connectors you can test the connections of just about any type cable you like.

How To Fix A Dead Computer PSU

Doesn't your PC answer to your wake-up call anymore? Probably its power supply is on strike. Here are some tips on how to fix it yourself, if you dare.