24 Oct
2015
24 Oct
'15
1:03 a.m.
On Sat, 24 Oct 2015, Brad wrote:
I was checking out the Altair 8800 kit online (really
cool). But I am
hoping to one day find a kit or plans to build a Mark-8 replica, since
I'm so deep into Radio Electronics features. I know there was a kit out
there (Obtronix?). Was it any good? Do I need someone to make a new
kit or is the Mark 8 within the realm of the home hobbyist the way the
TVT was? Ie. were there ever foil patterns available for those boards
or did the kit maker reverse engineer from originals? Is there any
likelihood of finding one of the replica kits still out there (I
remember seeing one offered for $2000 on Fleabay once.. )
The patterns for most of the Mark-8 pc boards were published in Radio
Electronics (except for maybe the cassette interface?). I'm not aware of
anyone who has redrawn them having made their versions freely available
however. There have been a few people in the past who have offered
unpopulated reproduction pc boards at significant cost, but they were
beyond my budget for such a hobby project.