On Sat, 7 Jun 1997, Marvin wrote:
Allison J Parent wrote:
The module was a "upgrade product for those
wating a 8088 and having only
z80 cpu. By unplugging the z80 and putting in the card you could run 16bit
apps.
Does this mean it would work in place of any 8080 CPU? Any idea what
the 8 pin header on the component side of the board was used for? This
is interesting since these past comments are the first I have heard
about the module!
The 8080 is a 40-pin package. The Z-80 is a 48-pin package. If I
remember correctly (my life in computers started with the Z-80, really,
since my friend with the Altair when I was in the USAF didn't let me at
the hardware, he knew my [inclined to injure myself] soldering skills).
This generally means that an adapter was needed to plug a Z-80 into a
board designed for a 8080. But I started my real computer career when
computers showed up where you didn't have to count the pins on the CPU,
specifically the TRS-80 (later renamed the Model One). I remember the
first time I looked down into a Model 16 and saw the MC68000 and wondered
why the hell that thing wasn't climbing up the side of the Empire State
Building.
--
Ward Griffiths
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within
the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." --Claire Wolfe