Category: Vintage Computers

Posted on by

Parts obsolescence and new SS-30 USB board

During the past few years it has been difficult to source the USB interface used on the KIM Clone and SS-30 USB serial board.  I had to resort to black market parts while waiting for orders from large distributors to slowly arrive.  Well, that chip has been discontinued and replaced with a new chip.

The fastest way to test a new design with the new chip was to update the SS-30 USB board… a re-spin of the KIM Clone is coming, but not soon.  So, here is the new board:

The new chip is at the far right, underneath the USB connector.  Fewer pins so a bit easier to solder!  The labels on the TX/RC LEDs have been fixed to show the right direction.  The baud rate oscillator socket can take either 8 or 14 pin devices.  There are no other changes from the previous version of the board.

 

Posted on by

Updates to Two Boards

Updates to KIM Clone I/O board and KIM Clone Prototype boards!  Minor changes, but changes nonetheless.

KIM Clone Prototyping Board

One of my customers noted that the labels for signals on the prototype board were upside down when the board was plugged into the KIM Clone.  For some reason I never noticed it, but he was definitely correct!  So the rev 3 board fixes that problem:

When the board is rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise all the labels will be facing the right way.

BTW I have a bunch of the rev 2 bare boards.  If anyone is interested in getting some, very cheaply, let me know and we can certainly work out a deal!

KIM Clone I/O Board

The minor changes to this board were driven by my desires.  Rev 6 boards have one big improvement and some minor changes:

  • It has added 19200 baud, along with 9600, 4800, 2400 and 1200.  Yes, the oscillator has increased to 4.9152 MHz.  Very easy to get.
  • The footprint for the oscillator can take 8 or 14 pin devices.  Only a concern for those building bare boards.
  • Silkscreen fixes.  The picture above is an earlier version so it does not have all the silkscreen fixes. The important one is JP11 which had no label before but needs to be jumpered to get RS-232 receive data.

The 19200 baud was for one of my projects… adding an Atari SIO connector so the KIM Clone can talk to old Atari 8 bit computer peripherals.

The oscillator footprint might seem odd, but this device/footprint is part of my CAD library and for years people have asked why the oscillator on any given board used either 8 or 14 pin packages.  Well, new boards will have the new footprint and can support either.