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I don't get the point of this...

Chuck(G)

Chuck(G)

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... Gotta admit, it kind of lost me too. If you just wanted a variable speed pulse input to the MCU on the trainer you could have done it with a 555 timer. Using a PI Pico is like squashing a fly with the Titanic.
 
I have this vague memory of a guy on one of the classic macintosh forums that used to make endless videos in which he used AppleScript plus the Macintalk speech synth on an old Beige toaster mac to ask Siri on an iPhone to "do something" for it. (They've have titles along the lines of "512K Macintosh commands Siri to DOWNLOAD software from the INTERNET!".) This feels kind of like that, but opposite. "MODERN COMPUTER asks microcontroller from 1975 to BLINK LIGHTS!".

Eh, it's something to do with yourself, I guess.
 
It's weird - he is using the Pico to push the INCR button, basically... not sure this counts as an extension or "enhancement" to the system.

The Pico offers great potential for building hardware extensions for such systems though - for example, check out my PicoRAM 2090 for the Microtronic, which offers:

- SRAM emulation
- SD card interface (load / save of memory dumps from / to SD card)
- Speech synthesis
- Sound
- Text and graphics output
- a Real Time Clock (the Microtronic has one, but it is not battery-buffered - I intercepted its LOAD TIME op-code to read the time from the RTC, by basically "mirroring in" a complex sub-program - that's possible because I am serving the RAM with the Pico, so I can basically compute and materialize arbitrary memory content based on certain states; more detail on the Github)



github.com

GitHub - lambdamikel/picoram2090: A Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040)-based 2114 SRAM Emulator for the Busch 2090 Microtronic Computer System

A Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040)-based 2114 SRAM Emulator for the Busch 2090 Microtronic Computer System - lambdamikel/picoram2090
github.com github.com

Unfortunately, such extensions are impossible for the Science Fair trainer, as there are no "real" external address / data bus, so nothing to extend :ROFLMAO:
 
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Chuck(G) said:
No doubt Hans Camenzind is scratching his head from the Great Beyond. :)
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I mean this is kind of standard practice now right? Have you bought or rented a new car? You have an IPAD blocking 25$ of your view and blindind you at night; and you need to logon to it and you cant turn it off and godfordid you have buttons or knobs.. touchscreen, the worst input method ever. What am I getting at? Something that worked over complicated and made worse... the new way of doing things. Same with refrigerators, washer/dryers, everything eletric/electronic.. More complicated needlessly yet more disposable.
 
My NAVY Destroyer didnt have any touch screen controls!! We had real dials and switches and knobs.. Really well made controls. What kind of made up bullshit is that.
 
My washer and dryer are about 35 years old. They work fine and I've repaired them over the years. If I had to buy a new, glitzy overpriced model, I'd have a real problem. When I finally shed my F150 a few months ago (didn't use it much), it was in perfect running order--kept running ever since I bought it new in 1992. I probably couldn't do that with a modern vehicle--too much plastic and electronics. I could go on...sometimes I feel that I'm living in a museum.
 
Chuck(G) said:
My washer and dryer are about 35 years old. They work fine and I've repaired them over the years. If I had to buy a new, glitzy overpriced model, I'd have a real problem. When I finally shed my F150 a few months ago (didn't use it much), it was in perfect running order--kept running ever since I bought it new in 1992. I probably couldn't do that with a modern vehicle--too much plastic and electronics. I could go on...sometimes I feel that I'm living in a museum.
Click to expand...
Yeah I can relate. My House came Korean (LG) washer dryers that are just godawful, so I installed my 1984 Whirlpool dryer which I can easily and cheaply keep going indefinitely because of how inexpensive all the components are and easy to get (sans the dryer temp knob which has to be old stock and I accidentally broke when I replaced the original 1984 heater last year). The bosch range I replaced with a GE. The bosh convection oven and dishwasher are still a daily annoyance to me.

I ended up selling my Kenmore washer when we bought the house as my wife liked the shiny new LG one.... Big mistake. I mean the unit doesnt even have an agitator and its a low water usage unit..... in other words its crap. Old appliances are much easier to fix than vintage computers and you can keep them going indefinitely.
 
LambdaMikel said:
It's weird - he is using the Pico to push the INCR button, basically... not sure this counts as an extension or "enhancement" to the system.

The Pico offers great potential for building hardware extensions for such systems though - for example, check out my PicoRAM 2090 for the Microtronic, which offers:
Click to expand...
The old microcomputer trainer cited had the purpose of teaching fundamentals of computing. The Pi seems to have a different purpose.
Even the trainer kit, in my opinion, falls short. It doesn't, for example, show you how to construct a half-adder. But then, we're graduating kids from college with degrees who couldn't tell you how an ALU operates in detail.
I get it--I'm old. :(
 
Chuck(G) said:
The old microcomputer trainer cited had the purpose of teaching fundamentals of computing. The Pi seems to have a different purpose.
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You just don't understand the fundamentals of computing. It involves three things:
1. Hardware. This is what you pay money to buy, but the vendor who sold it to you still owns it.
2. Software. This is easily changed and updated, so that the vendor can change what you bought.
3. Data. This is what you create to be owned by the vendor.

Oh, wait, I forgot the fourth one.
4. Advertising. This is the attention you must give to the vendor to sell, so that they can make even more money from you.
 
Chuck(G) said:
The old microcomputer trainer cited had the purpose of teaching fundamentals of computing. The Pi seems to have a different purpose.
Even the trainer kit, in my opinion, falls short. It doesn't, for example, show you how to construct a half-adder. But then, we're graduating kids from college with degrees who couldn't tell you how an ALU operates in detail.
I get it--I'm old. :(
Click to expand...
Hey those kids are all unique and special in their own way and should get ribbons for just showing up.... Know your place Chuck.
 
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