Sanyo MBC Alive with USB keyboard

[joezilla]

Here's my triple five. Near and dear to me, this was the first computer I ever owned. A colleague of my dad's had three of them and gave me one, maybe in around '87. I'd say it's the machine that got me excited about computers and programming and started my career in the field.

Sadly my original machine isn't around anymore, but I managed to get my hands on a basically unused machine last year (like squeaky clean). Unfortunately, it didn't have a keyboard, but with a little coding and an Arduino, that was a quick solve. If anyone needs the library that translates from a PS/2 or USB keyboard to the Sanyo's proprietary serial keyboard protocol, well, here it is: https://github.com/joezilla/sanyombc-keyboard

And yes, I put a Gotek in the unused slot

 

[seat safety switch]

Super nice! Thank you for sharing the keyboard converter.

What are you running on your MBC-555?

 

[joezilla]

I have all the usual from back in the days - Wordstar, GW Basic, Turbo Pascal. And copies of Dos 1.25 and 2.11. I have little in terms of games, to be honest, and since machine is a DOS machine and has no compatibility with the XT in terms of graphics, it's hard to find things that work. I unfortunately don't have the optional CGA card, and it's impossible to find so far.

P.S. Since you're the leaded solder guy - I'm using your graphics adapter from your blog

 

[seat safety switch]

The CGA card would be a great get. Glad the adapter is working out for you! I hope to have a cooler version down the line.

Also glad to hear Turbo Pascal works well. Do you have a serial card?

 

[joezilla]

I don't have the serial card. Turbo Pascal 3 works well, yes (not enough RAM for 4 though). That was the second language I learned after Basic, on the 555.

 

[seat safety switch]

Last summer, I was trying to make a serial card from the available schematics, although I haven't gotten it to actually work yet.

That is likely to be my oddball serial configuration, or the Kermit port not working 100%, or some combination thereof. Mostly it's because it's been sitting on the shelves waiting for me to take some time to work on it.